The explosion of fire resounded through the entire battlefield. All the fighting seemed to stop for a brief moment, and everyone’s attention was drawn to this enormous tower of flames that reached for the sky.

Red himself froze on the spot as the heat waves hit his body. He stared at the fire in horror and awe, but a few seconds later, the flames started to dissipate and died down. The boy didn’t forget his current assignment, either. He focused on his crimson sense, searching for the fluctuation he felt in that spot mere moments ago.

It was no longer there.

‘Did they miss?’

Just as Red was questioning himself, he felt another fluctuation suddenly appear in his crimson sense right above the alpha wolf. This presence was strong, even stronger than the Greater Ring Realm monster, and it seemed to stir in rage.

Red looked over at the wolf. Then he saw it.

A human figure, floating in the air above the monster. Its body seemed to be half consumed by flames, which seemed to be quickly dying down. As the fire disappeared, Red was offered a glimpse of this person’s appearance.

It was a bald, middle-aged man of a diminutive stature. He was wearing patched up clothing made up of various furs and animal hides, resembling a savage in appearance, and his facial features did him no favors either. His face seemed weathered and full of scars, one of which included a missing left ear, with sharp features and eyes set apart a bit too far apart to look natural.

Red was immediately able to guess his identity.

The beast master.

The man’s expression was twisted in rage and his eyes searched around the battlefield in a hurry, before settling down on Red. Killing intent flared in his expression, and the boy shivered.

The beast master roared in a hoarse voice. “Little bastard!”

The wolf the man was floating over seemed to share its anger and opened its mouth wide. Red didn’t hesitate and turned around to run. He heard another bout of ice mist coming in his direction and knew he had no chance to dodge it.

Then, a moment later, he felt another fluctuation on par with the beast master appear behind him. There was a sudden explosion of Spiritual Energy and the death Red was expecting didn’t arrive.

He stopped running and turned around. He finally saw the figure of his savior.

A tall woman stood in front of him with a raised hand glowing with an orange energy that seemed to deflect the ice mist away. Her black hair was tied in a long braid that reached her very waist, and she seemed to be wearing a dark blue martial robe embroidered with fine golden lines. There were no pouches or items in her person other than a silvery ring located in her lifted hand.

Red was unable to see her face from his position, but he could tell from her fluctuation that the woman was as calm and serene as the most experienced experts the boy had seen before.

Eventually, the white mist dissipated in front of her, and she looked back at Red. The woman had noble and elegant facial features, unbefitting the coldness she seemed to display with her expression, and with piercing dark brown eyes that seemed to look past any pretenses the boy could put up.

“Take him away.” She said in a cold tone.

Red was confused by her words, before he felt another strong fluctuation approach him from behind. He looked over in a hurry, noticing the Baron standing right behind him.

The man bowed slightly towards the woman before looking at Red. “We need to go, child.”

The boy was still bewildered, but he just nodded. He didn’t want to be in the vicinity of the battle between these two powerful individuals.

The Baron unceremoniously grabbed him by the collar of his uniform before dashing away, towards the other side of the river. Red looked behind them, noticing the two experts still had yet to do their first move, assessing each other.

When they finally landed on the other side of the river, the Baron put him down.

“The beast master can’t keep his focus on the horde anymore.” the man said. “The wolves are in disarray.”

Red looked over at the battlefield. Indeed, it was as the Baron said. No longer were the wolves acting as a cohesive unit, and now they were simply attacking anyone closest to them. This seemed to relieve the pressure on the center of the army, and in turn on his companions.

Still, from here, Red could still see Eiwin's figure struggling against the two Lesser Ring Realm wolves on her own, with Allen shielded by an omnidirectional barrier as he tried and failed to distract the monsters.

The boy frowned and looked over at the Baron. “You need to help my sect.”

The Baron smiled and nodded. “I was already planning to.”

The man dashed away without hesitation, and before he even got close to his targets, a green light flashed from his body. Immediately, wolves around him began to fall without even noticing what was happening, and the Baron cleared a path for himself towards Red’s companions.

The two Lesser Ring Realm wolves seemed to notice his approach and turned around before letting out weary growls. Yet, they didn’t seem to notice the light flashing above their head.

The line of green light shot down into one of the wolves’ spine, making it howl in pain and stumble on its feet. The dagger bust through the other side, and before its companion could even notice what was happening, the flying weapon shot into its neck, piercing through to the other side in an explosion of blood.

The wolves didn’t have time to collect themselves or mount a defense. The dagger continued to pierce and slash at their bodies and in a matter of seconds, life was quickly leaving them.

Just like that, two Lesser Ring Realm beasts were killed by the Baron and his magical treasure. As soon as that happened, the whole human army roared in celebration while the wolves now looked fearfully at the Baron’s figure.

Red was relieved and impressed at the same time. He wasn’t certain whether the Baron’s power came from his flying dagger or from his cultivation at the Later Lesser Ring Realm, but it was clear that not even common Lesser Ring Realm monster could measure up to him. This made the boy curious.

If the Baron was this strong already, how strong would Hector and that invisible cultivator be?

As if to answer his question, an explosion echoed on the other side of the river. Red looked over and he saw the light of Spiritual Energy flashing. The female cultivator seemed to be on the move, while the alpha wolf and the beast master acted in tandem to keep her away.

What seemed to be dozens of fine strings of fire shot out from the woman’s sleeves as she flanked her opponents. These strings then grew into thick ropes of flames that weaved their way through the air like snakes before flying towards the beast master.

The man landed on the wolf’s back in a hurry before putting its hand down onto its fur. A white light flashed from the alpha’s body as it seemed to grow ever so stronger. It howled and a white mist of ice and snow exploded from its fur, covering its surroundings even farther than before.

The fire snakes seemed to lose its power as soon as they entered this domain, but even then they persisted long enough to clash against the wolf’s body. There were dozens of explosions as the flames hit the monster, and the beast howled in pain.

“You sect bitch! I will kill you even if it’s the last thing I do!” The beast master seemed to lose his mind as he saw his pet being hurt.

His body began to glow and, in turn, the alpha’s body too became ever so brighter with the white light. Suddenly, solid ice began to grow from the monster’s fur, covering its entire body in a matter of a few seconds.

No, the alpha seemed to be covered by a layered ice armor enclosing all of its body but its face. The woman paid no attention to this and simply continued to conjure those fire snakes while flanking around the wolf.

This time, however, when these fire lines clashed against its body, all they caused was a mere shattering of ice, which seemed to reform in just a few seconds. The wolf was mostly unharmed.

The beast master howled in laughter at this. “Now go! Kill her!”

The wolf did as much, charging towards the woman with maddened eyes. She didn’t seem bothered by this, and simply retreated while still conjuring the fire snakes with increased frequency.

Still, the wolf was faster than her and was quick to gain ground on the woman, while her attacks didn’t seem to be having as much of an effect any longer.

The beast master continued to laugh hysterically. “You can’t run! You can’t escape!”

Red frowned. Was this the extent of her capabilities?

As if to answer his question, the boy notice something happening above them. The majority of the fire snakes no longer were aiming towards the wolf, instead gathering a few hundred meters above the creature into a large fire orb. This orb was growing by the second as more and more fire lines gathered into it.

Eventually, the energy gathered in that orb seemed to be strong enough to catch the self-absorbed beast master.

His expression changed once he looked up. “Shit!”

As soon as he noticed that, though, the female cultivator made a downward motion with her hand. Suddenly, an enormous fire snake materialized from the fire orb, flying down towards the wolf.

The creature didn’t even have time to react. A giant fire explosion happened upon impact, and the impact and heatwave seemed to reach even Red on the other side of the river. He covered his face slightly and squinted his eyes, hoping to spot what had happened as soon as the dust and smoke dissipated.

His reply came soon enough. The alpha wolf was sprawled on the ground, its ice armor completely shattered as the fire of the snake burned its way down onto its very spine. The monster was stirring weakly, but it was clear that life was quickly leaving its body.

Just like that, their biggest threat was dead. There was, however, no sign of the beast master anywhere.

Red frowned and looked around, before spotting a figure shoot out from the cloud of smoke towards the air. It was so fast that the boy had a hard time keeping up with it. Whatever the case, it seemed like the beast master was intent on retreating.

“You’ll pay for this! All of you will face your reckoning!” His words echoed through the battlefield.

The woman made no motion to chase after him, putting her hands behind her back as she stared at his escaping figure. This left Red confused, but suddenly something seemed to change.

The beast master slowed down mid-air, as if his movements were going through a quagmire. Soon enough, he was frozen in the air, looking around in horror and confusion.

Then, around the man, something materialized before Red’s very eyes. It was a simple watery surface at first, before becoming something more distinct, more consistent. More real.

It was a river flowing through the air, surrounding the beast master, and above this river stood a floating purple sword that Red recognized.

The Deep Sea Sword.

“It seems we’ve finally caught the cockroach, haven’t we?” A familiar voice echoed through the battlefield.

Their elder had finally returned.