The MoonStar team had no time to lament over the disappearance of their comrade. Gutcha's declaration was loud and clear, at least making them slightly relieved that Cristina is in safe hands.

With one less person, the difficulty of the trial significantly increased. Cristina and Ardor are the main vanguard of the team and now one is gone, leaving the sword-wielding youth with all the pressure.

The Hell Griffin, no longer bothered by the black tornado and the spear sweeps, directed its attention toward the closest human, Ardor.

Its wings flapped faster, unleashing bursts of dark and red flames, covering the sky and the arena, even pushing everyone to the back.

Each person used a technique to defend themselves, Shu Ru's Godspirit extinguished the flames, Bora's arrows split the fire, Ho Qing's Phoenix fire clashed against the Griffin's and resulted in sparks and blast waves. Last but not least, Rosea, who stood at the far back and protected herself with a thick dome made of her signature pink-colored ice.

Unfortunately for the youngsters, the Hell Griffin had just started attacking seriously, its enormous body was being lifted to the air, its mouth, made of only bones, opening wide and spitting what seemed to be fingernail-sized moving mouths. The Void Mouths numbered in thousands, covering the sky and opening and closing with an unseen speed, making them even creepier.

Not knowing what to do against this unfamiliar power, the youngsters retreated to the back while using their defensive abilities. To their surprise, the void mouths easily devoured everything in their path, be it Sword Essence, ice, fire, or even intangible Energy the Godspirit was made of.

The onslaught of the Hell Griffin began, startling not only its disadvantaged opponents but also all the inside and outside spectators.

"You expect us to defeat something like that?"

Cosima, one of the two members of the Demonic team, creased her brows, visibly worried and stupefied. She turned her head and asked the motionlessly standing Pigolo.

Most of the other teams opted to stay away from the pigolo, disliking the ominous and sinister aura of Dark Magic that was emanating from his body.

"Not defeat, just fight for five minutes."

"That monster can defeat a God Monarch!"- Cosima

"Quiet, Cosima."

Marjory nudged her junior and signaled for her to keep her mouth shut, however, the demon girl didn't stop.

"Teams like ours will fail if we fight that. The ones with more numbers clearly have an advantage."

Hearing this, Gutcha snickered and shrugged his shoulders.

"So what? Some Trials favor big-number teams and others do the opposite. I have no say in this. Perhaps you'd like to talk to my boss? Should I schedule a private meeting?"

The last spoken questions were obviously to mock the angered Cosima. The pigolo motioned for her to sit down and added,

"If you don't like it then you're free to leave, no one's going to stop you."

"That's no what-"

Cosima was dragged to the side by Marjory, she was even forced to sit down, her body unable to fight back against her senior's domineering power.

…

"I could've been there to help… I could have…"

Cristina muttered begrudgingly, sneaking a couple of glances at Arthur and Lucy. Now that she's been healed, she felt refreshed and in peak state. The pain and exhaustion were replaced by a sensation of clarity and power. Sadly for her, she was disqualified and could only watch her comrades struggle against the Hell Griffin.

The immense undead made of flaming bones had gone on an absolute rampage. One of its wings became jet black then it unleashed a huge amount of black flames, covering the sky and extinguishing Ho Qing's flames then blowing him to the ground, his body crushing on the arena's unbreakable tiles then rolling a few times before laying there, seemingly lifeless.

The next to get attacked was Rosea, who vainly retaliated by shooting over a dozen icicles at the incoming beast. The girl let out a desperate cry, raising another ice barrier, which barely blocked some of the blunt, though she was still hit, her left leg broken as one of the relatively large bones of the griffin's foot had stepped on it.

The only one was somewhat managed to completely block and even injure the enraged undead monster was, surprisingly, Bora. He shocked the audience for the second time as he dodged the griffin's flames and the Void Mouths by zigzagging in a slippery manner while at the same time pulling his bowstring and firing one arrow after the other.

He always hit the same place, the bones on the griffin's leg wing, and after several successful attempts, they shattered in pieces, resulting in the fall of the large monster.

Bora's did not hesitate, invoking his GodSpirit, which a peculiar one, disposable after one use. His GodSpirit was actually an arrow, which can be used once every a long period of time as it takes time to recover, or so he told Arthur, at least.

The GodSpirit, or more precisely, the arrow, had a simple, unimpressive appearance. He put it in his bow and pulled the bowstring for the nth time, his hands trembling from exhausting and the extreme Nether Energy consumption. Still, the youth persevered and was able to shoot the arrow, which enlarged as it made its way toward the falling Griffin.

It traveled at a high-velocity, its size half of the griffin's wing and pulsating with a high concentration of Nether Energy. The falling beast was unable to defend itself, rendering it helpless against the incoming projectile, which totally pulverized its right wing and nailed it to the arena.

Knowing that this is their best chance to inflict as damage as they could and perhaps even defeat the undead, the rest of the MoonStar Team joined Bora, each person using their strongest skill or technique.

Ho Qing, half-conscious and burned by the black flames, summoned the screeching Phoenix then immediately fell flat on his face. Rosea unleashed a series of pink ice that surged from the ground and, at a quick pace, made its way toward the target.

As for Shu Ru and Ardor, they cooperated, the former assisting the latter by significantly boosting his Sword Essence using her sect's mysterious cultivation technique.

Mirages of the sword-wielding youth appeared next to him, all of them imitating his actions, jumping in the air and stabbing their swords forth.

They weren't just intangible mirages, however, as all of them were able to piece the griffin's bones and, though not as strong as the main Ardor, still did considerable damage.