Laflez now had a completely different appearance. Blue markings ran across his body, the result of the core he had absorbed, and, thanks to a portion of the power granted by the evil god Sairao, he had reached the level of a Nartheis Faizes Level 2. Behind him, several Elves with deteriorated appearances, their bodies partially decomposed, remained motionless. They were the Elves who had been forcibly corrupted.
Since an Elf could not enter that area, Sairao had transformed their bodies into another type of being, giving them the name Failures. Further behind them were five Faizes-level Nartheis, the main fighters of that attack.
"Very well. If anything happens, I will take over your body for a while."
A shadow spoke beside Laflez, who simply obeyed the orders he had received. Sairao had been observing the barrier ever since he noticed those children entering the dungeon and interfering with his plan.
His objective was to gather the power necessary to create his new body again and eliminate Val'Drakar once and for all, but, since he was constantly being interrupted by the God of Blessings, he could not withdraw all the power at once and had to do it little by little.
'But, since these worms appeared, I had to bring everything forward, even if it is in an incomplete way.'
He had already used part of his power to break the rule left behind by his greatest failure and would now need to use even more to break that barrier. If his power were classified according to the levels used by the Nartheis, at that moment he would be at the level of a Ranvil.
'It is still not enough. But I also cannot let my sacrifices to create my body leave this place.'
Only a few of them remained before his body would be complete and he could finally descend into the original world. Perhaps, if those children had not appeared, he could have completed the plan in nine years.
"Prepare yourself. I will be waiting in the shadows for the right moment. And do not disappoint me after all the power I gave you, Laflez."
Sairao disappeared into the shadows the instant the barrier began to fall.
Laflez and the soldiers immediately ran toward the protected area. One of the five main Nartheis was at the front of everyone. It was a brown creature with four arms and only one eye in the center of its forehead.
As soon as it advanced several meters after the barrier fell, it was greeted by a double kick covered in fire, sending it backward and striking several of the Failures that were coming right behind it. The bodies of the corrupted Elves were also thrown away.
The first one to appear before them was Enrico, with the same dull eyes as before.
The Failures ran toward him, but were met by six Zero Impacts in succession. The attacks struck the enemies and violently pushed them away.
Laflez immediately jumped toward Enrico, but a red sword appeared before him and forced him to retreat.
"Old friend, let the boy fight the others and come to me. That way, I can put you to rest."
Val'Drakar stood before him. There was a feeling of sadness surrounding the guardian as he watched the one who had once been his companion.
Laflez assumed an attacking stance, dropping onto all fours. He accumulated magic in his mouth and then bit the air itself.
Val'Drakar, who was already expecting that, quickly took two steps backward. In the place where he had previously been, an enormous earth mouth appeared and bit the ground.
"As always, techniques that require you to move very little... Lazy lizard."
An explosion occurred on the left side of the field, sending several Failures flying away. Valença had fired an Incandescent Ray much more powerful than any she had ever used before. It was not only because she had reached Circle 2. Incandis was also increasing the strength of her magic.
"I'm much stronger now... That means I'm the second strongest in Class A, right, Incandis?"
Incandis seemed confused, as he did not know what that meant, but still agreed.
A hawk-like Nartheis Faizes appeared in the sky, using wind magic to create a current that spun around Valença, closing off her possible escape routes. The girl felt a tremor coming from below and immediately jumped.
A creature resembling a worm emerged from the ground, trying to devour her.
"Incandescent Ray!"
The attack struck the creature directly and opened an enormous hole in the middle of its body. Realizing that it could not take another blow like that, the Nartheis began regenerating as much as it could before diving back into the ground.
Above, the hawk let out a cry that distorted the wind around it, leaving Valença disoriented for a brief moment. It was enough time for the creature to descend rapidly, preparing an attack.
"Quil!"
Incandis noticed the danger and made Valença regain her senses in time to dodge the blow.
Those two were not ordinary Faizes Level 1. Working together, they would be capable of posing an even greater threat than Val'Drakar's own strength at his base power.
"This is going to be difficult."
A drop of sweat ran down Valença's forehead, but she calmed down when she noticed how Enrico was fighting against three Faizes-level Nartheis.
'As always...'
Spinning her staff, she thought of only one thing: she would overcome that difficulty to become stronger.
Meanwhile, Enrico dodged the attack of the four-armed Nartheis. Jumping into the air, he spun his body and also avoided the attack of another Nartheis, whose appearance was formed by an orange liquid. Still in the air, Enrico launched two fireballs, pushing the two enemies away.
A second later, however, a tail wrapped around his body.
The third Nartheis had the appearance of a green snake with horns similar to those of a ram.
Enrico accumulated fire magic in his own body, causing the flames to burn the creature's skin. The pressure from the tail weakened for a moment, and that was enough for him to use his brute strength and free himself.
The three Nartheis attacked at the same time.
Enrico assumed a stance with both arms above his waist, and four Zero Impact strikes hit the three enemies, pushing them backward. The four-armed Nartheis received two of the attacks directly.
Using Charged Impulse, Enrico advanced and struck the four-armed monster with a knee. Then, he launched a small burst of fire toward the snake's face.
Part of the orange liquid ended up stuck to Enrico's clothes, paralyzing his movements.
Then, five liquid attacks were fired at him, striking his body repeatedly.
Enrico quickly began incinerating his own clothes and the liquid that was stuck to them. When the flames disappeared, only his pants remained, along with a small amount of his shirt.
He looked at the enemies surrounding him and assumed a fighting stance.
It was the same stance Val'Drakar had seen during those nights of training.
The snake-shaped Nartheis opened its mouth and fired a jet of poison at Enrico. He narrowly dodged it and advanced rapidly. As he raised his arm slightly, a red glow appeared around him.
Enrico delivered a single blow.
An enormous hole appeared in the snake's body, which ended up being split in half. The blow had struck exactly where its core was.
The two remaining Nartheis prepared to attack upon noticing the condition of Enrico's arm. His fingers were almost broken, and his skin had been burned by his own attack.
That meant he could not use that technique continuously.
Enrico simply lowered his arms, leaving them loose as they swayed in the air. Then, he assumed a completely open guard.
He was preparing his next move.