"What's the situation?"

"There's a fire Spirit guarding it. We can't advance."

A young man clad in golden armor politely replied to the deacon, who unhappily snorted and gazed at the volcano. If they go back empty-handed, all their previous would have gone to waste.

Moreover, their main target seemed to have vanished into thin air, unless he purposely exposes himself, there's no way they can find him.

The reason they treaded this perilous land and climbed this mountain is getting their hand on the bead and the dragon blood. Not many knew that this was but a normal mountain which drastically changed when a drop of blood of an adult Empyrian Fire dragon fell there.

The bead isn't as important as the drop of blood, which has countless benefits. It would allow anyone to obtain a small number of the dragon's powers and enhance the potency fire techniques. It's something sought by many people, especially those hailing from sects that rely on the Fire Attribute.

The problem was the Fire Spirit that was born from this rough environment, which is a perfect place for it to grow stronger the longer it lived here.

The Deacon included, there were twelve people, eight of which are God Monarchs and the rest are at the peak Sovereign. Their cultivation is weakened but they can still use powerful techniques.

With one hand on her temple, deeply pondering about her available choices, the woman(deacon)assessed her current situation and sent a few of her subordinates to scout the area and ascertain that they're indeed alone.

If they're going to fight the Fire Spirit, they must be united and wholly focused on the enemy, there must be no disturbance whatsoever.

The Deacon spent thirty whole minutes talking about their plan and repeatedly warning them to be careful. Unfortunately, no one noticed the invisible figure hearing them some distance away.

Lucy, who was ready to engage at any given moment, stared at the group of Holy Knights, who jumped below and took a favorable spot where there's a considerable mass of land, which is safer as the volcano can't reach it.

The drop of blood is supposed to be deep inside the volcano, as for the bead, it was growing on top of a blood-red grass, which sprouted from within the lava.

The Fire Spirit didn't show itself as they haven't tried anything yet. All of them were sweating profusely from the heat, even breathing became slightly difficult due to the suffocating Fire Energy lingering in the area.

'You don't have to act, I'll finish them quietly.'-Arthur

Arthur stopped Lucy, who was about to jump at them and slaughter them all. It was better to wait until they are a bit distracted albeit the little difference it would make.

They are way weaker than the couple and they can't be considered a threat. The Fire Spirit, however, is another thing.

Arthur planned to get rid of them when they started fighting and 'save' the Fire Spirit. The Deacon severely underestimated the Spirit, which was paying close attention to the Holy Knights.

…

Once the white-robbed woman gave the signal, one of her Holy Knights jumped on the lava and closed in on the bead, planning to snatch it. The man only took three steps before a huge entity appeared from within the magma, causing it to splash to all corners.

The man already expected it, he raised his shield to block the boiling hot lava before jumping back, landing near his comrades.

The Fire Spirit was literally made of fire, its two eyes were shining with blood-red as it glared at the invaders. It didn't bother talking and immediately started retaliating.

The 'safe' land they were standing on was covered with lava then bombarded with a raging wave of hot flames.

Just when it thought it had gotten rid of the annoying pests, a blinding white light vaporized the lava and pushed the flames away.

The light purified everything in its way, causing the fire spirit to retreat two steps. It raised its enormous hand and punched the tiny human, which formed a circular formation and raised their shield.

The eight shields expanded in size then formed a bigger golden shield which blocked the incoming flaming fist. The deacon waved her staff and cast a white blast which hit the Fire Spirit and caused a huge chunk of its body to disappear.

Although a powerful attack, it was useless as the Fire Spirit recovered in a few seconds. This place was its home and the amount of Fire Energy present was enough for it to heal itself more than a hundred times.

The Fire Spirit was about to attack again only for a big black cube to appear out of nowhere. The people from the Holy Dominion were even more confused.

Their world became that of darkness, not being able to see a thing. This, however, was but the beginning of a long, and painful nightmare.

The air soon became toxic, thick chains sprung from the ground and bound them bodies, breaking some of their bones and rendering unable to even lift a finger.

"USE YOUR HOLY HEARTS!"

The deacon hysterically shouted once she saw what's happening. Without a doubt, it was Dark Magic. Only a malevolent and ominous magic like that could do this.

Although her reaction was fast, her words reached them a bit too late as a weird liquid fell on them, melting their limbs and faces.

The lethal acid showed no mercy as it melted their shield, weapons, and even went through their condensed Light Energy. Only the deacon and another woman were lucky enough to spit a golden light which caused the thick chains to crumble.

They retreated to the back, barely avoiding the falling acid only for the deacon's last subordinate to stop coughing blood.

The highly toxic air quickly started showing its effects. Moreover, Dark Magic consumes its target, and such a process is faster when the targets are Light Magic users.

The Deacon cast a powerful healing spell to help the suffering woman but it was futile as wrinkles appeared on her face and her skin became paler.

…

Arthur stood next to Lucy and watched the dying knights with a smirk on his face. He was pretty satisfied with his arsenal of skills. He's able to effortlessly kill them without having to personally show himself. Maybe the acid was a bit of an overkill but it was necessary to make their deaths painful and miserable.

'Fanatic believers, dogs that serve a non-existent God.'

Claud commented as he witnessed the occurring events with an emotionless face. Very soon, things quietened inside the black cube only for it to suddenly split in two as a golden light flew from the inside, destroying the roof and disappearing into the sky.

Arthur clearly saw a bloodied woman who enveloped by that light. Whatever she used, it couldn't be used multiple times. It seemed to be an ultimate escaping technique. Even if he uses the White Tiger, he won't be able to catch up to her, however, that didn't mean he'll let this matter go.

She's still in the Secret Realm and can't escape, sooner or later, she'll meet up with the rest of her group and that will be the perfect opportunity for him to get rid of all of them together.

Delia was together with them but her fate is unknown, it all depends on how she'll act.

The black cube soon vanished, Arthur and Lucy walked closer to the silent Fire Spirit, which stared back at them but wasn't as hostile as before.

"Master, I think this is a golden chance!"

The Tri-Spirit excitedly talked to Arthur and asked for permission to speak with the Fire Spirit.

Soon, a square composed of three differently-shaped triangles appeared in front of Arthur. The Fire Spirit immediately recognized the Spirit and was flabbergasted.

Its body contracted until it was three meters in height. It leaned its head closer to the Tri-Spirit and made some weird sounds.

"It is the first time I see Spirit with three attributes."

The square bounced up and down while replying

"Pleasure to meet you."

"It is nice to see another kin in this barren land."

The Fire Spirit's tone became softer, the heat suffocating the environment greatly decreased too.

After they exchanged a short greeting, there was an awkward silence which was quickly broken by the Tri-Spirit.

"I'll cut through the chase and say what's on my mind."

The Fire Spirit nodded its head

"I am listening."

"I want to merge with you."

Speechless, the Fire Spirit could only remain silent, unable to understand or believe what it just heard.

"Let me clearly explain my words. As you may have noticed, I am a special Spirit thus I have abilities others don't, such as merging with other Spirits to strengthen myself."

The Fire Spirit snickered and retorted

"Isn't it more like absorption then?"

The Tri-Spirit spun in a circle while responding

"No, merging with me is becoming part of us, just like what I did previously. Believe it or not, I was once an Earth Spirit. I'm the controlling it right now because the other is still young and innocent."