CHAPTER 43: AGAINST THE INVINCIBLE CHAOS—2

Cutting through the harsh blizzard swiftly, Zariel flew upwards. Then she halted. I couldn’t comprehend what she was up to. I couldn’t see what she was up to.

But one thing I was sure about was that she was going to do some crazy stuff.

Then it began occurring.

Like a beam of light, thunder spanned where she halted from, covering the sky with an inconspicuous barrier. It surrounded a vast area.

It surrounded us.

The blizzard didn’t leave any effect inside this barrier—as though time itself had frozen within it.

Zariel came down with a proud smile again.

"What did you do, Zariel," I asked.

"Oh, nothing much. Just cast a barrier made of my electric field around us. It’ll prevent the harsh weather from outside. We can now take down the demon with ease."

She punched her left palm with her right fist.

"If you were capable of doing that why didn’t you do it sooner, you idiot?" I yelled, "I was freezing to death, you know!"

"Don’t yell at me, you dummy! It’s not my fault. You were so motivated detecting the demon that it hardly occurred to me."

She yelled back, folding her arms and making a balloon face as she turned her head rightwards.

"Jeez! What are you so mad—"

My words were cut short as I sensed something approaching. It was the demon. He intended to go against Zariel this time.

His fangs were blocked by the metal part of the Strom Arc I was holding. The clash released sparks of flares.

Now that the blizzard had stopped within the barrier, my accuracy was doing a great job detecting the enemy.

He was fast. Even without concealing himself within the snowy environment, he was very nimble.

My hands shook as I was blocking his fangs.

"You know? Anger is an ugly impression that hardly suits you." I murmured sarcastically, "If you wish your hands to stay well, don’t thing about laying a finger on her."

I pulled the string and fired an arrow.

He got away.

Then we heard the echo of his laugh.

The sinister laughter echoed through the surroundings.

"Don’t get worked up, specimen." The voice touched my ears like a distant memory—it lingered there, but there was no specific source. "Just because you’ve stopped the blizzard doesn’t mean you can stop me as well. I will eat your emotions and of course, the annoying little fairy’s too."

"Zariel, he called you annoying." I teased. The situation was dire, yet I deliberately teased her. It was funny how she reacted afterward.

"Excuse me?" her face reddened in anger, then she yelled, "I’ll have you know, he called me annoying because his attacks don’t pose any threat to me. I am a Seraphyll after all. No matter how strong a demon is, we always have advantages over the—"

She was about to finish her words but she couldn’t.

I pulled the string and unleashed an arrow towards her.

The arrow pierced through the wind. Moving closely to Zariel’s cheek, it landed a blow on the demon behind her.

"Gyyy!!!" Zariel shouted and flew back to my side, "Come on Zanthrix! Warn me before doing something crazy like that." She punched me with her tiny fists, "I thought you were attacking me instead of the demon. It scared me for a second."

"Cut it out, Zariel. I didn’t get the time to warn you. He was so close." I replied and looked where the demon fell back to, "Besides, I already told you to stay sharp, didn’t I?"

"Oops! My bad." She smiled.

At a distance, I saw the demon pulling out the arrow that stuck to his forehead. He was pissed. I could tell that.

"You damn annoyances! You turned the—"

A few more arrows hit him. Before he could heal or ill-talk again, I took a step and unleashed some powerful arrows at him. They pierced his rotten skin and stuck to it.

"Infuriating...It’s utterly infuriating—"

Again.

I hit him again. I wasn’t there to hear whatever rubbish he had to speak. I was there to take him down as soon as possible. On top of that, the sooner Zariel and I would finish him, the better. There was Shika to save as well.

Of course, it would be challenging. I know that. He was S-ranked. I, on the other hand, was only D-ranked.

In the case of strength and abilities, he outstood me. In case of ranks too. He was far superior to me. However, having a Seraphyll—regardless of inferior incarnation or not— there was an opportunity for us to take him down.

’No, I will take him down.’ I thought as I unleashed a few consecutive arrows.

He vanished.

Then steeply he appeared just before my face, his face lacing with rage.

"Forget breaking your physical endurance, specimen. I’ll kill you then I’ll chew you up—"

"Do whatever you like." I replied, catching somewhat up to his agility, "But in the end, you’ll be dead."

As he closed in with his wing-attached claws, I unleashed a small but effective arrow at his chin.

It was unpredictable—nearly impossible for any archer to attack in that range.

Regardless, I did and hit on the spot I aimed.

"Zariel!"

"On it! Thunder Embrace!"

With my mark, she used one of her chaotic wide-range attacks.

This time she didn’t hesitate. If she were, the demon might’ve fled before that.

[Damage sustained!]

[Health: 1440/1860]

Of course, I was caught in too. The electrical attack was immense. I could feel it.

I could feel the current surging through me. I could feel the sudden muscle contraction, the burning sensation and my body being numb—as if the electrical current had disrupted my entire nervous system.

The chaotic thunder continued rumbling like a raging beast. It was tremendous.

While I sustained some minor injuries, the demon was at the center of the attack. He would unmistakably sustain severe damages—or at least that was what I had anticipated.

Perhaps, I underestimated the S-ranked demon too much. It led me to my ignorance, and I failed to realize that he, too, possessed unpredictable abilities.

He took the full thunder, yeah, but that didn’t affect him as much as a nail-size. He deflected the attack, using his spell—which then hit the barrier Zariel had cast earlier.

The already existing electric field-bound barrier clashed with the overwhelming thunder Zariel had unleashed. It caused a massive explosion.

Consequently, the barrier shattered with a deafening sound.

The merciless blizzard once again blinded us.