Fires had begun breaking out all over Hilos City.
The two of them pushed through the panicked crowds, doing their best to circle around the flying demons circling in the sky.
After great difficulty they finally reached the east gate, only to discover that the gate had already been completely blocked by raging flames.
There was no doubt the demons had done this.
But in water magic, Ed only knew the lowest-tier Water Ball spell, which was completely useless against such a blaze.
Bailis only controlled wind and fire magic.
With no other choice, he could only lead Bailis in another direction and hurry toward the north gate along the side streets.
Yet Heaven itself seemed unwilling to let the pair escape so easily.
When Ed and Bailis were only a few hundred meters from the north gate, a figure descended from the sky and blocked their path.
Ed sized up the uninvited guest before him.
It had a humanoid body with charred fire-red skin.
Its hands ended in beast-like claws, and a pair of broad wings sprouted from its back, the tendons and bones protruding especially powerfully.
Although Ed had never encountered a demon with this appearance before, he had seen records of it.
“Is this a demon?”
Bailis leaned against him and asked in a small voice.
Ed nodded slowly.
“It’s the winged race.”
He said.
“They can fly and are skilled with fire magic. Watch out for its hands. They say it can slice a wild boar clean in half, sharper than most blades.”
“Little human brat, looks like you know quite a bit about us.”
Ed’s body stiffened violently. He looked at the demon with slight disbelief.
The demon raised its head disdainfully and snorted white vapor from its nostrils.
“What’s the matter? Shocked to hear us demons speaking your human common tongue?”
The winged demon laughed ferociously, its wings behind it slowly flapping and lifting it up and down in the air.
“Humans are truly ignorant and backward. Your records of us probably haven’t advanced past the level from over a thousand years ago, right?”
“I really don’t know why so many in the clan opposed this operation. With just a few more hands, taking this whole stretch of land would be no problem at all.”
The words that followed seemed to be muttered to itself, or perhaps a sigh.
“How many of you came?”
Ed regained his senses, drew his sword, and asked cautiously.
“Ten thousand? Thirty thousand? Or more?”
“Trying to fish for information?”
The winged demon came back to itself. Its wings flapped sharply and it shot forward like an arrow from a bowstring.
“Then trade your life for it!”
“Dodge!”
Ed shouted in a low voice.
He shoved the dazed girl aside, raised his sword, and charged straight at the winged demon’s gleaming cold claws.
Clang!
Sword and claws clashed together.
Ed’s body was pressed down hard by the tremendous impact, but he still managed to block the strike.
Seeing its ambush fail, the winged demon puffed out its cheeks and opened its mouth, spraying a jet of flame straight at Ed’s head!
“Ed!”
The girl cried out in alarm.
She raised her hand, aiming her palm at the entangled human and demon, but after a moment of hesitation she did not launch her attack.
They were too close. She was afraid of hitting Ed by mistake.
Fortunately Ed executed a nimble shift of force.
The winged demon immediately lost its balance, and the flame spray veered crookedly, failing to harm him in the slightest.
Good chance!
A sharp light flashed in Ed’s eyes.
He thrust his sword forward, intending to kill the winged demon right then, but the creature reacted just as quickly.
Its wings flapped hard and it retreated several meters at once.
It cursed in the demon tongue that Ed could not understand, then pounced at him again.
But this time the winged demon had learned. It no longer clashed claws against sword.
Instead it kept searching for the right angle, trying to avoid the blade while leaving wounds on Ed with its claws and fire magic.
During this brief exchange, Ed quickly realized one thing.
Although this winged demon was not particularly strong, its flying speed was far faster than his own movement on the ground.
If he let it fly around and wear him down, he might really be dragged to death by this thing.
What to do? Use a spell?
He should have chanted in advance, but it was too late to regret it now.
This winged demon looked quite cunning and would definitely not give him time to chant.
Ed frowned deeply, but before he could think of another solution, several wind blades suddenly shot out from the side, flying fiercely toward the winged demon!
It was greatly startled and hurriedly flapped its wings to rise into the sky and dodge the wind blades.
“Who? Which human mage dares to ambush me?”
It roared angrily, head turning alertly in all directions.
“No, not a spell, it’s magic? Who? Come out! This human is the one I set my eyes on. You’d better not try to steal him from me!”
The rest of its words switched back to the demon tongue.
Although Ed could not understand, he guessed it was probably cursing the nonexistent fellow clansman quite viciously.
“Ed!”
Bailis ran to his side with worry.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Well done, Bailis.”
Ed said in a low voice.
The girl showed a faint smile.
Ed gripped the sword hilt.
Taking advantage of the winged demon’s confusion, he chanted the incantation rapidly.
Mana flowed out from his body quickly but steadily.
The sharp-eyed winged demon also noticed his action.
After one final sweep of the area and failing to find the ambusher, it pounced down from the sky once more.
“Die, human!”
“Stall it, Bailis!”
Ed shouted in a low voice. He had already finished chanting one spell.
A thin layer of flowing wind now swirled around his body—the second-tier wind spell, Swiftness, which could temporarily increase his own speed.
In this situation it would let Ed keep up with the winged demon’s flying speed for the time being.
But merely keeping up was not enough.
He had to make sure he killed it here, or it would be troublesome if it escaped and called more demons to surround them.
So he did not stop chanting, only hoping the girl beside him could buy him even a few seconds.
The winged demon swooped down like a gale, its claws flashing with piercing cold light. But at a certain height it suddenly halted its dive.
“Want to lure me down? I’m not stupid enough to fall for that!”
It laughed loudly and puffed out its cheeks.
A surging flame sprayed from its mouth in a straight line, seemingly about to swallow Ed whole in the next second.
But at that moment, several other flames suddenly shot out.
Although their power was not as strong as the winged demon’s flames, their sheer number was enough. For a short time they actually suppressed the winged demon and forced it back.
“What the hell?”
The winged demon glared and quickly shut its mouth to cut off the magic, leaving the path of the opposing flames.
“Still the smell of mana? Who is it this time?”
It looked over angrily, only to discover to its surprise that it was an ordinary human girl.
Human? A girl? Fire magic?
It narrowed its small eyes, then suddenly widened them and burst into roaring laughter.
“Hahaha! I’m really this lucky! The moment I show up I run into the most important target!”
“The most important target?”
A low youth’s voice rang out. Ed had now finished the final incantation.
A thin layer of flowing, cloud-like light wind slowly moved around both his body and the blade of his sword.
Third-tier wind spell—Wind Enchantment.
And,
Second-tier wind spell—Swiftness.
“You’d better explain yourself clearly.”
Ed raised his sword and pointed it at the winged demon in the air.
“Or else, careful I don’t slice both your wings clean off.”