“Was it your trump card?” The level-three dran asked while looking at Aleen. “I noticed that you had a plan hidden, but I never thought it would be so effective. A magic pet that is able to ignore defenses and is good at concealing itself. To be honest, if not because I was wary of your trump card, I would have fallen for it.”

Aleen was confused inside his mind, but he did not show it. Actually, he did not even know that Aya and Lily were nearby.

But the level-three dran was certain that it was Aleen’s plan. Although he was one level higher than Aleen and the others, he was a bit wary of them. After all, his level-three companion died while facing them.

But now that he knew their trump card, the level-three dran was completely confident about killing them.

“Unfortunately, that trick will not work again.” The dran shook his head and took a deep breath. His presence surged against Aleen and the others froze the mana in the surroundings. “Now that I know the cat's attacks can ignore defenses, it will be unable to touch me.” Then, he clenched his fist.

Instantly, Aleen felt the space around them changing.

A powerful pressure pressed Aleen and the others. Aleen found hard to move his body, much less escape from there.

It was the same technique he used before, but on a bigger scale. It was probably a variation of his first skill but focused on suppressing the enemy instead of attacking them.

While Aleen and the others were struggling to move their bodies, the level-three dran took a step forward.

His right hand formed a fist, and a translucid glow surrounded it. Aleen was sure that this attack would be stronger than the ones before.

Under Aleen and the others’ grave gazes, the level-three dran swung his punch down.

Claire desperately created another bird of fire to burn the pressure surrounding them, but when it was burnt, it was already too late for Claire and Aya to escape. Helpless, Aleen could only take a defensive stance and get ready to receive the blow and shiel them.

Lily tried to attack the level-three again, but the dran was ready for it. He simply sneered and kicked her away. He did not stop the fist and looked at them with a complacent expression.

“Lily!” Cried Aya, but Lily did not answer. Aya's face turned pale, but she could only look as Lily was fell unconscious.

In the next instant, the punch impacted Aleen’s sword.

Dark Night cracked up. It stopped the punch briefly before breaking into tens of pieces that flew away.

Then, the punch continued its path.

Finally, it reached Aleen.

But at that moment, a glint flashed on Aleen's eyes.

Lightning Movement was activated, but Aleen did not use it to move away. If he moved away, then Claire and Aya had to suffer the brunt of the attack.

Instead, he sidestepped the blow and hugged the level-three dran's body.

The level-three dran put on an expression of surprise. Although this move of Aleen would allow him to evade the attack and protect the girls’ lives, it was the same as sealing his fate. The next attack surely would be his end.

At most, it would gain Aleen half a second of time.

However, half a second was more than enough for him.

“Finally, you are close enough…” Aleen muttered with a smile.

The level-three dran’s face changed. But before he could understand Aleen’s goal, an intense heat suddenly appeared.

With Claire as the center, a wave of flames filled the surroundings. The flames burned fiercely and reflected a fiery red glow on Claire’s eyes.

Then, an incredible transformation occurred in the flames.

The wave of flames converged into Claire’s body, and a pair of fiery wings took shape behind her. The wings extended majestically and aroused the flames in the surroundings. Then, a giant bird of fire came out of Claire's body.

“Chirp!!!” The bird chirped pridefully and stared at the level-three dran with its crimson red eyes. It showed an expression of disdain as though that powerful enemy was not worthy enough of standing before it. Then, it flapped its wings.

The temperature in the surroundings increased for more than one thousand degrees, but strangely, it did not hurt Aleen and Aya. The level-three dran, on the other hand, was forced to activate his defensive skill to protect himself from the strong temperatures.

However, the power of an eternal flame was not something that a weak level-three could bear.

The next instant, the bird of fire flew towards him.

The level-three dran tried to evade the attack, but Aleen was holding him in place. Although he managed to move a bit, it was not enough to escape away from the attack.

“Damn it!” The level-three cursed and punched Aleen in the stomach. Aleen’s body flew away and crashed against the floor while vomiting a great amount of blood. But although he was seriously injured, he managed to earn enough time for the bird of fire to reach the level-three dran.

Out of options, the dran could only try to confront the giant bird of fire head-on. He sent all his mana towards his hand and punched the bird with all his strength. His muscled bulged up, and the laws of power filled his punch. It created a powerful glow that crushed everything in its path.

In this life and death situation, the level-three dran’s skill had a breakthrough and became even stronger.

But everything was useless facing the supreme fire belonging to an eternal flame.

The laws filling the punch were burned into cinders, followed by the dran’s hand, then his arm, and finally his body.

“Ahhhhh!!!” The level-three dran screamed in pain, but nobody could stop the flames created by the bird of fire. In seconds, not even ashes remained from the level-three's body.

“Chiiiiiiirrrrrppppppp!!!” The bird of fire roared in pride and spread his wings arrogantly. Its eyes looked at Aleen and Aya fixedly, and then, it returned to Claire’s body.

No sound could be heard in the entire forest.