The nine Grand Elders attempted to kill the enemies before them. However, what they didn't anticipate was the power each of their enemies hold. The nine Grand Elders had initially assumed that the power of the enemies that didn't fight were as strong as the ones who had fought. If the others had the same strength and prowess as Tyn, Fior, and Morgal, then they would have been difficult but not impossible to deal with. After all, the three Grand Elders who lost their lives were considered the weakest three among themselves. However, that was not the case. As they met each other in full force, the slime rushed ahead and spat out some sort of jelly-like substance towards them. Everyone parted and flew off in different directions. The jelly-like substance splashed onto the floor where it began to sizzle. It was a type of strong acid! But they did not have the time to worry about it as two screams erupted. Two bodies fell to the ground, their heads gone.

"Xan! Haly!" One of the Firebirds screamed. The two headless bodies were naturally two of the remaining Grand Elders. They had died way too fast. The other Firebirds furiously scanned their opponents for the culprit until their eyes landed on the two bloodied heads lying next to the feet of the black Firebird.

That was right. It was Blackie who swiftly and mercilessly ripped off the heads of the two former Grand Elders. It was something that he and Agaricus had planned ahead of time. As soon as Agaricus forced the charging enemies to separate from each other, he would attack the nearest enemy. Unfortunately for Xan and Haly, they were the closest ones to Blackie. There was no personal grudge as the hatred Blackie has was towards the Firebird clan as a whole, Xan and Haly was just unlucky. Anyways, as soon as the remaining Grand Elders saw who it was that had killed two of their own, they roared in pain and loss and converged towards Blackie. However, this was what Blackie had intended. He needed to divert the Firebirds attention to him so that his fellow comrades could ambush and deal some significant damage. The Firebirds lunged towards the black Firebird, intent on tearing him to pieces. With only Blackie in their bloodshot eyes, they did not notice the slight and swift movements edging towards their blind sides...until it was too late.

Kabuto lowered his horn in order for Kalia to climb on. With a heave, he launched the young Queen Beetle into the air. Kalia arched towards the nearest Firebird and spat out a deadly viscous liquid, melting away the Firebird. The screaming Grand Elder plummeted to the ground where Kabuto had his horn raised up. With the help of gravity, the Firebird collided with Kabuto's horn and was impaled. She struggled fiercely for a while but with each struggle, she slid further down the horn and the pierced wound grew bigger. After a few seconds, the Firebird breathed her last breath and died. Nearby Firebirds heard her scream and turned to look but was bombarded with a few more screams from the opposite side. Two more Firebird Grand Elders had perished from decisive attacks. One from Sulnu who had disoriented one of the Firebirds with a Wind Blast, causing the Firebird to stumble in the air. As the Firebird drooped down to steady himself, Sulnu landed on his back and clamped her jaws onto the Firebird's neck. The Grand Elder struggled in pain as he screeched out a deafening shout. The Firebird tried to flare up his flames in order to burn and shake off the bastard on top of him. However, not only was there no reaction, but the pain in his neck increased. His strength began to seep out and his mind clouded. Seconds later, he died from suffocation and blood loss.

The other Firebird that died was killed by Agaricus who threw a glob of slime accurately onto the Firebird. This slime was different from the acid that he spewed out earlier and instead, it was a small clone of his. This clone, once it collided with the Firebird, it began to consume and absorb regardless of the fiery flames on the Firebird. No matter how much the Firebird tried to burn or tear off the slime, it continued to expand and consume his body. The slime continued to relentlessly grow as it covered up the Firebird's body and eat away his flames...his flesh...his essence. With a heart-wrenching scream, the Firebird died as his corpse fell to the ground. Once the slime completely engulfed the body and consumed it, it began to slither back towards Agaricus where it merged with the main body. The nutrients and the essence absorbed was then transferred to Agaricus. The remaining four Grand Elders, having witnessed the deaths of three of their own, halted their movements and quickly retreated to the ceiling of the cavern. They had underestimated the strengths of their opponents and were now outnumbered. They needed to distance themselves from the enemies in order to regroup and think of a plan.

"What should we do?" One of the Firebirds asked as he glanced at a blood red Firebird, who seemed to be the oldest and strongest member of the remaining Grand Elders.

"What can we do?" The blood red Firebird grimaced. "We already know that this will be a losing battle. Our objective isn't to win but to buy time for our young ones to flee. They are the keys to our clan's survival."

"I-I know that...I'm just can't accept this humiliating outcome. Kuros...Janei...Nil...they all died without inflicting any damage. It's essentially a dog's death!"

"Flit! I forbid you from destroying their reputation! They may have died worthlessly, but they were able to hold up the enemies' time...which is the time our descendants needed in order to escape!"

"I-I'm sorry. I misspoke."

"Now all that's left is to decide on our next step. What should we do in order to buy more time?"

While the Firebirds were conversing, Ranger glared at them as he walked towards their direction. Ranger looked back and motioned Minos to follow. Stealthily, they were able to get within fifty meters from the Firebirds. Ranger motioned Minos to hoist his tower shield up and protect Ranger from any attacks in case the Firebirds noticed them and started attacking. Then, Ranger reached towards his back and pulled out three arrows. Upon nocking the three arrows, he took aim and fired those arrows towards the Firebirds. Quickly, before the arrows covered a lot of distance, Ranger nocked another arrow and swiftly let it fly. The arrow followed behind the three arrows, hiding in the three arrows' shadows. The Firebirds immediately sensed danger and saw the incoming arrows. From their point of view coupled with the fact that they did not see the arrows being released, they did not see the hidden arrow. The Firebirds scattered hastily, allowing the three arrows to fly past them. One of the Grand Elders sighed in relief but suddenly a searing pain coursed through her left wing. She glanced over and saw an arrow sticking out of her wing. How? Didn't she dodge all three arrows? No way...there was a fourth!

With one of her wings out of commission, the female Grand Elder could do nothing but spiral to the ground where a giant minotaur met her with a swing of his toothed greatsword. Like the three Grand Elders before her, she too had died without doing anything. While the three remaining Firebirds tear up at the sight of losing another one of their clan, the Grand Lich God End stepped up and raised his hand towards them. With a grunt, a wave of dark essence smashed emitted from his hand and crashed into the three Grand Elders, disorienting them and sending them tumbling down to the ground. Stein was ready for them as he unsheathed his two blades and started hacking away at the fallen Firebirds. While they were being taken care of, Blackie was staring at the hole in the wall...or rather at the place where me and his father went.

Not good! Blackie thought as an uneasy feeling washed over him. He glanced to the others and told them that he will go check on me. He personally knew the power of the Patriarch of the Firebirds and that any distraction could prove harmful to me. Without another word, Blackie rushed into the hole.