“LIEN!!!” Watching the force field that her cherished friend had painstakingly built fall into pieces, the Clan Master yelled out in agony. In her current state, she could hardly care about the enemy that she was facing. All she wanted to do was run back to the mountain and check on the wellbeing of her precious clansmen.

“Hey, what are you trying to achieve? Averting your eyes from the opponent you’re facing?” Malgen mockingly belittled the stunned Enfen. Using his Thargrak Golem, he playfully swiped the distressed Clan Master, forcing her attention back onto him.

“SHUT UP!!! I HAVE NO TIME FOR YOU!!!” In a hysteric rage, Enfen used her mystic armament to send numerous killer swipes down the Brahmin’s way. Unfortunately, it was only able to scratch the surface of the Thargrak Golem. As if waiting for that moment, Malgen waved his hands like a conductor, summoning out a second phantom right on top of Enfen and controlled it to launch a heavy punch right at the poor woman’s body. Unable to evade in time, all that the Clan Master could do was brace for impact and pray that the defensive mystic armament of hers could do the job.

“In a fight against Spirit Emperors, one false move means death. I wonder who the hell raised you that way...” Watching the red-haired woman fall from the skies, Malgen lightly muttered out.

“Tskkk, I can’t return back to affirm the safety of Lien and the others… ARGGHHHH!!! Screw it!!! I’m going to knock this guy’s head into the abyss!!!” The Clan Master exclaimed in sorrow, after ridding herself of the rubble that lay on top of her. No matter how she looked at it, she was the only one who could halt Malgen’s advances into the Mountain.

Finally deciding to go all out, Enfen gathered a significant amount of spiritual energy, forcing the damp grass around her to burn in fear. Heat waves radiated out from the ground as if it were the middle of a blistering hot afternoon and a patch of red aura filled the battlefield. Congregating her mana, the Clan Master concentrated everything that she had upon the two opened palms of hers, as an illusory flower began to form.

The flickering flames surrounding the middle-aged woman began to move closer towards the transcendent Spirit as if they were subjects waiting to greet their emperor. Almost instantaneously, a crimson red rose bloomed within the compounds of the Clan Master’s hands, sending a surge of red energy bursting out. Embers of the eternally burning rose sparked off, reigniting the flames that surrounded the Clan Master of the Frie Clan, making her look like a fire deity that had descended upon the mortal realm.

“You’re pissing me off flying about in the sky… Come fight me on the ground you asshole! *Sky of Flames!!!*.” Raising her Eternal Burning Rose towards the levitating Brahmin, the Clan Master cast her spiritual ability. At that moment, the darkened night had seemed to have turned into day as a blanket of fire covered the entire sky. Fireballs that resembled falling meteors fell onto the earth, targetting the many flying mounts of the Black Masks, Malgen’s included.

“Hahaha!!! What an ability! Fine! I’ll humour you!!!” Admiring the Clan Master’s mighty ability, Malgen abandoned his mount and descended rapidly towards the ground, where the pissed off Enfen was waiting.

“A mystic armament, a talented Spirit Emperor of the Frie Clan, and not to mention, the environmental advantage that you have… It looks like I’m in a pinch huh?” After causing a crater at the location in which he landed at, Malgen casually stated out how much of a pinch he was in. “Looks like I get to go all out for once… You know, I was getting bored of killing Spirit Users less powerful than myself!!! *Gravity Field!*.”

Fully summoning out the Thargrak Golem, Malgen performed a zone of control ability. The Clan Master felt her shoulders dropping down rapidly as a crushing pressure, one of the likes that she had never experienced before, mounted upon her body. Gritting her teeth, Enfen used the Mystic armament that she had to ease the burden that she was under, therefore, allowing her to remain standing within the gravity field that Malgen had summoned.

“Hoho, as expected a Mystic Armament is indeed worth its salt. To be able to remain expressionless even after I maximised the gravity field… Not many people can achieve that you know? I’m slightly hurt...” Although his expression was hidden behind the mask, Enfen could tell that the Brahmin was taking on a haughty attitude, as if he was schooling a junior that wasn’t able to harm him in the slightest.

“Looking down on me would be the last thing that you do!!! *Vines of the Burning Rose!!!*” Casting yet another spiritual ability, the Clan Master created tens of thousands of vines that wreathed with the same type of fire that her Eternal Burning Rose had. Covering the entire fields in just a few short seconds, Malgen was forced to jump into the air, to prevent himself from being entangled with the thorny vines that thirsted for his flesh. Sadly, he was not safer in the skies above. The Sky of Flames that the Clan Master had created remained firmly atop the battlefield, and whenever Malgen came close to it, tens of fireballs prevented his ascent.

“Two zone of control abilities? Wow, you have really chosen an odd route in your cultivation.” Bombarded by attacks from above and below, all the Malgen could do was to fully summon out his Thargrak Golem to protect his body from any external damage. With its legs elongated towards the ground, thousands of thorny burning vines wrapped themselves upon the stone feet of the Thargrak Golem, preventing it from moving any further.

“Now you really pissed me off. *Earthen Spikes!!!*” Concentrating his mana on the feet of his Thargrak Golem, Malgen created hundreds of sharp spikes that rose from the ground, piercing the menacing creepers on the floor. He had even focused heavily on attacking the cause of his agony, the Clan Master. However, as if expecting the Brahmin’s counter-attack, Enfen had encased herself in an image of the Eternal Burning Rose in her hands and protected herself from any harm that the earthen spikes could cause her.

“Two zone of control abilities and a protective ability that burns out all types of attacks huh… With that, won’t you be able to destroy a battalion with ease? Not to mention you have a mystic armament… If I were a general of an army, you would probably be my worst nightmare...” Malgen half-heartedly praised his opponent’s expertise. From the short exchange that he had with the Clan Master, he could already tell that her spiritual abilities were catered to fighting against large groups. With a Spirit Emperor like her on the Frie Clan’s side, no standing army in the world would have an easy fight against the turtled up clan.

“But focusing on that one aspect has opened up a major flaw in your battle techniques! Against a one-on-one Battle Spirit Emperor like myself, you’re clearly inferior!!!” Malgen smiled broadly as he pointed out the weakness of his opponent. Controlling the Thargrak Golem to combine with his body, the Brahmin armoured himself up, with a Spiritual Body Enhancement technique.

“...” The Clan Master watched on silently as her opponent changed up his battle style. After her initial probing, she could tell that the sturdiness of the Thargrak Golem wasn’t something that her Eternal Burning Rose could easily break through. Only her trump card, which expended a significant portion of her mana, could stand a chance in injuring Malgen. Therefore, it wasn’t worth the effort to challenge the Brahmin in a head-to-head exchange.

Malgen didn’t possess the ideal warrior body. His scrawny build and thin waist suggested that he wouldn’t be able to take on even a single hit from a much larger opponent. However, when the Thargrak Golem merged with him, the bony Brahmin seemed to have transformed into another being. His height was now over three metres and the spiritual pressure being released from his body nearly doubled.

“BRACE YOURSELF!!!” Kicking off from his position, Malgen turned into a bright earthen light as he charged straight for the Clan Master who was well-protected by the phantom of the Eternal Burning Rose. In a time period of a few seconds, the frightening Spirit Emperor launched hundreds of explosive fists upon the barrier that protected Enfen. Only after the vines from the ground and the fireballs from the sky descended upon his body, did Malgen make a quick retreat.

“Damn… Your defences aren’t too shabby huh...” Looking down at his knuckles, Malgen watched as the golem armour protecting him had turned into mush as the flames melted his punches. It was the first time in ages since his golem armour had sustained that much damage. Naturally, Enfen didn’t come out from that exchange unscathed. The barrier that was supposed to protect her no matter what had shown signs of decay. Evidently, the power from Malgen’s strikes did much more damage than she had expected.

‘ARGGHHHH!!! Why must such a strong person come to Frie Mountain?!?! Damn it, senior Edward, you better return here quickly!!!’ The Clan Master cursed her fate, at the same time she called out to the absent First Elder to make his prompt return.

‘I’ll just have to hold him off for a while longer… It looks like those elders from the Athenaeum have resolved the issue with the descending lava...’ Turning her attention to the flowing lava that was threatening the structures of the Frie Clan, the Clan Master felt her tense heart ease up a little as one of her worries was lifted. Closing her eyes, she circulated her mana once more and fixed the broken parts of her rose barrier. ‘Senior Edward! You better return soon, else the Frie Clan would no longer be here!!!’

~~~

“Chief Librarian! You have saved us!!!” A tired and spent voice exclaimed out from the bustling quadrangle of the Main Hale. The Shrine Maiden, who had been busy supplying mana to the force field that protected the mountain, had been blown backwards when the horrendous laser hit and blew apart the peak of the dormant volcano.

Molten lava spewed viciously down from the top and descended upon the poor souls below, causing widespread panic and fear. Unable to move even a single finger, the Shrine Maiden just lay there helpless, waiting for the glowing orange liquid to claim her life. Fortunately, before that could happen, the Chief Librarian triggered a device in the Athenaeum that dissipated all forms of molten lava, narrowly saving the thousands of lives atop the mountain.

“Not to worry. Did you honestly think that our ancestors would let us build our base on top of a volcano, just to let it all be destroyed by a little eruption? We have planned for this situation hundreds if not thousands of times over the years.” The Chief Librarian smiled as she reassured the worried Shrine Maiden. “But this is bad… Some of our safehouses had been destroyed by the impact… Judging from the situation below, no one lost their lives, but we need to move our children to a more secure location.”

“You’re right… Give me a few minutes… To recuperate… I’ll help you...” The Shrine Maiden weakly uttered out. Unfortunately, her body wasn’t functioning the same way that she wanted to.

“Haha, you have done enough, Lien!!! Leave the rest to us! You and Enfen all share the same traits. Trying to shoulder things by yourself. Have some faith in us, the elders of the Clan!!!” With a wry smile, the Chief Librarian sent a little mana into the weakened white-robed woman’s body. At the same time, multiple bright red lights flew across the mountain, landing on the places where help was most needed.

Typically, the elders on the council would rule and dictate how the clan would move forward. However, in these times of peril, every additional helping hand was a significant boost to the recovery of the clan. Unified by the same desire to survive, the elders of the clan assisted in any way that they could. It didn’t matter if they were from the First or Second Elder’s division. The only thing on their minds was to protect their families.

“Chief Librarian… Yeah, we have been shouldering too much… We’ll leave the rest to you guys...” Falling onto her back, the Shrine Maiden opted to recover her spiritual energy without worrying about the wellbeing of the clan as a whole.

“Yeah… Leave the rest to us!!!”