Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

The powerful tsunami of fire was dangerous, but it had taken the snake-like a couple of seconds to unleash it. That meant he couldn't do it without preparation. Now that they knew that, Zach's familiars and the Nilma chief just needed to watch out for any tells that he was using any powerful moves and react accordingly.

He was stronger than them. There was no doubt about it and no shame in admitting it. But he wasn't invincible.

The difficult part would be stopping him from fleeing once they managed to injure him. But that was a matter for then. Right now, their priority was enduring the heat and getting close to the fiery snake.

Fortunately, they had Zach's barriers and Mandra's magic to keep the intruder's fire and heat in check while working through his defense.

With fire wrapped around his scaly limbs, the intruder made it difficult to approach. Flames and sparks leaped and jumped at them each time he swung his arms and legs. Tiny dots of fire or fist-sized balls were flung at them and tried to turn them into smoldering cinders.

Yanael, who was in the center of their formation, braced herself and accepted every last one that came her way. Her shield and sword infused and covered with sacred energy were more than durable enough to handle the blows.

But she wasn't just taking the hits. Her wings gave her speed that could almost rival the Nilma chief's. She could dodge the intruder's attacks if she wanted to, she just didn't. Since she was strong enough to handle his attacks, she was naturally also strong enough to attack him.

Yanael's speed, durability, and strength made her a threat to the intruder. He could not ignore her and focus on the others. He had to pay attention to every single one of her moves.

If he didn't notice the slight turn of her front foot, he would be slow to react to the blinding slash that cut through the air like a gold silk fan, sacred energy overflowing from the weapon that cut through any magic the intruder tried to use to block.

Absorbing the magical treasure of one of the barbarians who tried to take Rittel into her bracelet had proved useful. It was to the point where Zach wondered how such a magic-ignoring sword had ended up in the ends of that barbarian. It would have been much more useful in someone like the Nilma chief's hands.@@novelbin@@

Whatever. Now it's properties belonged to Yanael's sword.

However, that still wasn't enough to properly get through the intruder's scales. Or maybe it was, and that was why the intruder had started dodging instead of accepting even a single scratch if he could. If he couldn't dodge, he would minimize the damage by rolling on the ground or spinning in the air like an arrow.

The intruder was strong, limber, athletic, and flexible. On top of that, he also possessed powerful innate magic.

However, as Yanael analyzed him, she could tell that was it.

He didn't fall for the same feint twice, but he used the same way of dealing with it after that. He didn't come up with new moves, ways to dodge, or attacks in the middle of the fight, and the way he used his magic was the same as in the beginning.

He was strong. He was not talented.

But he seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of fire energy and stamina. Still, the longer the fight progressed, the more favorable it became for Yanael, even without the others' help. She was confident she could take him by herself given enough time.

In a short few exchanges, Yanael had already minimized the precursing movements she made that alerted her opponent of her attacks. She noticed that every time she made a wide slash with her sword, the intruder reacted almost instantly. But other times, her sword was already almost acquainted with his skin when he reacted.

Yanael watched the intruder's eyes closely and analyzed her own movements.

She rectified it. She didn't need to twist her foot to draw out a maximal amount of strength from her slash.

She also condensed and improved the flow of her sacred energy. It stopped leaking out of her sword. Instead, it was almost perfectly contained within, fortifying and sharpening it beyond compare. The flow of sacred energy within her body also improved as she got used to fighting with the support of four wings instead of two and the changes to her speed, strength, and balance they caused. Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire

Yanael grew more and more comfortable with her increased strength from her evolution since it was the first time she was having a proper fight where she could push herself to her limits without worrying about their surroundings or who she was sparring with.

Her movements became smoother, and her sword turned into a paintbrush with golden ink as she drew smooth strokes in the air. Her joints, wrist, elbow, shoulder, waist, hips, knees, ankles, and toes, all moved in soft harmony. She was not one being made of a bunch of tiny interconnected parts. She wasn't those parts trying to work together to control her sword and shield to fight.

She was one. Her sword was one. She and her sword together was one.

With a resolute expression, Yanael transformed her shield back into a bracelet and gripped her sword with both hands. She closed her eyes as she felt her sacred energy flow between herself and her sword like the sword was part of her body.

The intruder stopped for a moment as the pressure of the sacred energy from Yanael faded. At the same time, she closed her eyes, stopped attacking, and held her sword with both hands right in front of her.

The intruder didn't know what was going on, but he knew it was an opening.

Before the others, who did not have as easy a time withstanding his fire, interfered, the intruder attacked, red fire swallowing his body before converging on his outstretched arms.