Even with the enhanced endurance of an Exsomnis, Wander's body still suffered from the heat: it pumped out so much sweats that both Wander and Doom Mark felt their consciousness fade and their vision blurred at times. They looked at Maria, who was nonchalantly inspecting the area. Her body was as cool as ice, leading them to believe she was the only reason they had not passed out right away.

            " How can you not faint yet?" asked Doom Mark.

            " Don't talk. It will dry your mouth and throat."

            Doom Mark closed his mouth quickly. He kept running forward, sometimes turning left or right as Maria told him to. The heat became more of a nightmare as they advanced. Maria's body emitted cool air, enabling Doom Mark to stay on his feet. The fynbos started to rustle, as if they were asking each other why the strangers had not  blacked out yet. The rustling sound became louder and louder until Maria, Doom Mark and Wander reached an area where the plants were dwarf and frail, only half as tall as the others.

            " Put me down ," said Maria " stand close to me. Things are about to heat up."

            Doom Mark released her. The girl stood still for a brief period, seemingly absorbing the air around her. She stretched her arms forward with her hands opened, then slowly closed them using much more force than a normal person would. Without warning, she made a violent gesture as if she was ripping a piece of paper.

            The space itself shattered as if it was made of glass. A rumbling noise burst out; gales engulfed the field, making all the fynbos stoop to the ground. Wander and Doom Mark was awestruck at the crack in the air that was slowly becoming more apparent. Amidst the supposed emptiness, a cave entrance appeared, like a hidden lines of texts only manifested when hovering on fire.

            " Brace yourself. The firestorm is coming," Maria said.

            The cave entrance sucked in all the wind, screaming out a scorching flame like a dragon. Maria stood still, unfazed. A transparent shield kept her safe from the attack, constantly cooling off the heat. The attack stopped after a minute. The heat, however, did not. It got to the point where the scenery turned all hazy under the high temperature. A huge creature emerged from the entrance.

            Wander instantly felt intimidated when he saw the creature. It was nearly 9 feet tall, covered in fire with the legs of a lion, only more muscular. Its arms were the size of a tree trunk; one swing seemed to be enough to break all the bones in a fully grown hunter's body.

            " What is that thing, Maria?" asked Doom Mark, frowning.

            " The legendary familiar, Ignitus," Maria answered.

            " We are officially doomed," said Wander.

            " That wasn't pun intended, was it?," said Doom Mark .

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           Ignitus charged at the intruders like a rocket. He left behind a trail of fire that quickly engulfed the surroundings. His advance was met with the indifferent attitude of the intruders  he deemed insolent enough to break into his home.  The strange girl looked at him with empty eyes while the demon behind her trusted her enough to remain calm.

            He leapt off the ground , swinging his arms up, ready to slam them down at his enemies. Right at the moment his arms moved up, the girl shot a blue beam at him. The attack caught him by surprise, disrupting the flow of his movement. Nonetheless, he quickly got over the surprise; his body instinctively curled up into a sphere that deflected the beam.  He plunged himself at the duo.

            Ignitus  had never been in doubt of this attack. He invented it 380 years ago, just before Samundo's resurrection. Since then, he had laid waste to thousands of demons, destroyed hundreds of building and ended the lives of 4 demonized hunters. The sphere was a constant stream of fire propelling itself forward with increasing momentum. Its force increased by seconds, putting relentless pressure on its enemies. Ignitus could sustain this form for 10 minutes; most of his opponents surrender in seconds, the strongest in 5 minutes. An attack created for pure destruction.

            The girl, to his surprise, did not flinch at the threat coming at her. She stood with confidence, hands behind her back.

            " Such arrogance will cost you your life," thought Ignitus " no shield can save you."

            Ignitus' body slammed against his opponent's shield. He had expected to break it in mere seconds. The clash, indeed, only lasted less than two second. However, it was not because his attack had broken it,  but rather he felt something was off about it. For a fraction of second, his momentum seemed to diminish. At first he thought it was his imagination; it took him the next second to confirm that the sphere did slow down. He immediately bounced back from the shield. He relinquished the idea of a direct attack, circling the two intruders, trapping them in a circle of fire. He closed in on them, intending to remove their source of oxygen. However, the shield had increased tenfold in size, preventing him from approaching the two.

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            " Let's make this a battle of endurance then," he thought " either she runs out of energy, or I do."

            Ignitus charged at the shield with no hesitance. He did not believe his pool of energy could be inferior to that of a young girl. The clash between his body and the shield emitted an increasingly loud buzz. The fire from his body burned everything around him except for the shield.

            Ignitus realized his body began to suffer fatigue. His muscles were aching. His breath grew short.

            " Impossible. It hasn't even been 5 minutes," he thought.

            The decreasing momentum had become so apparent that he could feel its detrimental effects rising by the second. His body seemed to gain hundreds of kilogram as time passed, a phenomenon he had never encountered before. Contrary to his state, the shield showed no sign of breaking down. He could never have imagined the battle would end with him on the losing side.

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            Doom Mark and Wander could not believe the sight in front of their eyes. Just minutes ago, the fire sphere charging at them, albeit huge, was only the size of a four-seat car. Now, it had grown to the size of a container truck. It was no longer a fire sphere but rather a mini sun covered in a strange substance that  multiplied as the fire increased in intensity. They watched the sphere, expecting it to detonate any second and set everything on fire. To their relief, it slowly shrank to the size of a bus, then a car; finally, Ignitus could be seen again, covered in the substance, glaring at them. He staggered; the fire on his body melted like water. Before long, a man was standing in his place.

            Maria stepped towards him. Ignitus was much taller than her, so she positioned herself at a distance that did not force her to look up to observe his facial expression.

            " Good afternoon, High Ignitus," said she. "Pardon our intrusion. We hold no ill-will towards you, King of the South."

            " I find it hard to believe, considering one of you is a demon and you ripped apart my Halcyon," Ignitus glared at her.

            " My apology. I had to do it for my friend's sake," said Maria. " Normally, I would have let your spell make me unconscious. I know you use this spell to check whether those intruding Vuur can be allowed to advance. However, with him, things get complicated. I'm quite sure you would kill us both, or at least, him, had I not destroyed your Halcyon to have a direct confrontation with you."

            " Yes, I would certainly do that. Give me a reason to give up that intention."

            " He is not a demon, High Ignitus."

            The familiar glanced at Doom Mark then burst out laughing.

            " That thing is exuding Demex like crazy. Did you really think I would buy your lie?"

            " Wander, your blood."

            Wander knew what his friend was going to do. He told Doom Mark to acquiesce to her request. The being made a small cut on Wander's finger, letting his blood drip out.

            Ignitus's face twisted into a grimace of disgust as he saw the green liquid. Maria, on the other hand, let the blood fall on her hand without flinching. She whispered an incantation. Her fingertip illuminated as she touched the blood. Nothing happened.

            "Type 3 thermal. No reaction," Ignitus frowned. " Little demon, come here."

            Ignitus  grabbed Wander's shoulders, lifting him off the ground and staring into his eyes.

            "Mr. Fire Pikachu is making me uncomfortable," said Doom Mark to Wander.

            "Let's hope his hands do not wander," Wander said.

            "Stop, you are making me even more uncomfortable."

            After a while, Ignitus let Doom Mark down. He scratched his chin." This is bizarre. If he's not a demon, what is he?"

            " I'm a demon hunter." said Doom Mark.

            " Deactivate this form then."

            " Well, I can't." Doom Mark fidgeted.

            Maria sighed. She put her hand on his head." I think you better sleep for a while."

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Sorry for the late update! Dear readers, I want to ask: Who is your favorite characters thus far?