Chapter 22: Satan  

Is he trying to build prestige in front of others?  

To others, it might look like a mentor aiding his disciple, but Rita saw through Talos’s intentions clearly.  

Just as her mood soured from his intrusion, a flurry of slender arrows shot like lightning, tearing into Baal’s torso.  

“Did you have to burn everything like that?”  

A cold voice came from behind.  

It was Floria who had pierced Baal’s heart.  

It was likely the first time Rita heard Floria’s voice since leaving the temple.  

Even in this situation, she exuded the distinct air of the Children of the Forest.  

Rita didn’t bother explaining the elemental advantage. 

Floria, at her level, would already know.  

Moreover, seeing Eilin at Floria’s position made it obvious.  

Eilin… he deliberately sent Floria to my side.  

It was probably Floria’s way of greeting her. 

With that in mind, Rita added subtly,  

“It reacts sensitively to its face. Please target the face if possible.”  

She couldn’t outright say the forehead was its weak point.  

Being too precise would raise suspicion.  

Fortunately, though vague, Floria followed without question.  

“With two mages here, I’ll approach.”  

Glancing at Talos, Floria gripped her bow like a spear.  

Curious about her intent, Rita turned her head. 

In an instant, Floria sprang forward like a beast, landing in front of Baal.  

Her movements were on a different level from Rita’s light close-combat.  

Recognizing her presence, Baal swung its arm, but Floria raised her bow to block.  

Then, like a warrior, she used the sharp end of the bow to strike Baal’s face.  

That’s…  

Rita’s eyes widened at the agile maneuver.  

In her past life, Floria was just a face in her memory.  

They hadn’t fought together due to different units, so Rita hadn’t known her skill. 

Up close, Floria was as formidable as any warrior.  

If she becomes supreme-rank, she’ll be a sight to behold.  

That thought led Rita to consider the mana stone Baal would leave upon death.  

Maybe I should give the next mana stone to Floria…  

It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered absorbing it herself, as Talos had.  

But as a supreme-rank mage, breaking it wouldn’t do much for me. 

1 planned to give it to Blena or Seth, but they’re still too inexperienced. 

For efficiency, someone like Floria should absorb it first.  

For the larger battles ahead, they needed more allies of her caliber.  

Having already pegged Floria as a potential supreme-rank candidate, Rita mulled over this as Floria engaged Baal in close combat.  

Baal’s thick, tail-like lower body seemed to hinder it, making its movements awkward in close quarters.  

Floria used her smaller frame to aggressively press the attack. Skilled in martial arts, her kicks repeatedly buckled Baal’s knees, and the sharp bow tip deftly grazed its head.  

When Baal’s mouth opened, she leapt onto its neck, choking it to the ground.  

She had seen the acidic fluid that attacked Rita earlier.  

When Floria occasionally lost the rhythm, giving Baal an opening, Rita stepped in.  

Her crimson flashes targeted Baal’s head, diverting its attention.  

Floria used those moments to press forward again, overwhelming Baal.  

Talos, unable to use magic recklessly due to Floria’s proximity, was stunned.  

Even a slight misstep could harm Floria, yet Rita cast attack spells without hesitation.  

It was something only someone utterly confident in their aim could do.  

“How did that girl become so…”  

As Talos marveled, Rita remained unfazed.  

Floria, too, moved without flinching as the flashes grazed her.  

Under their combined assault, Baal, unable to mount a proper counter, was steadily pushed back.  

But even that was blocked by the fiery pit Rita had set earlier.  

With a guttural growl, Baal’s arms began to glow red.  

Floria, noticing, faltered for a moment.  

In that instant, both arms were severed.  

A blade of wind, dangerously threading between Floria and Baal, sliced through its scythe-like arms cleanly.  

“Lady Floria!”  

Rita warned, in case Floria was startled by the regenerating arms.  

Floria, retreating, swallowed hard.  

She had been briefed: when Baal’s arms glowed red, a sword aura would follow, and its severed limbs would regenerate quickly.  

“Are you alright?”  

“Yes…”  

After confirming Floria’s safety, Eilin stepped forward.  

Having compressed immense mana from a high vantage point, Eilin took a calm breath in the clear line of sight.  

He flicked his fingers on the bowstring. 

A deafening roar accompanied a golden arrow’s flight.  

Rita, preparing a follow-up attack expecting it to hit Baal’s face, widened her eyes.  

The ground shook, and the air grew heavy.  

A beastly roar followed, echoing through the air. 

As everyone froze, a fierce wind swept from the east.  

Faces paled under the intense pressure strong enough to snap trees.  

“W-what is that…?”  

A priest pointed at the sky above the forest, horrified.  

Over the shadowed, darkened forest, a black lizard flapped its wings like a bird.  

Its transparent, membrane-like wings beat relentlessly, generating wind.  

The lizard, covered in vivid hexagonal scales, flicked its forked tongue and opened its maw.  

Black flames spewed from its purple mouth, swallowing the forest.  

“Damn it…!”  

[Origin: Iskis]  

[Name: Satan]  

[Rank: Adult – First-Class]  

[Attribute: Fire]  

Rita, recognizing it, felt dismayed.  

Its appearance and wings matched her memory, but it was strangely larger than in her past life.  

Based on visible information, the Satan from her previous life was likely underdeveloped.  

But why has this life’s Satan grown so quickly? 

And where was it hiding until now?  

Something was off.  

The timing of Iskis’s emergence, too. 

Something’s wrong… but where did it go wrong?  

Amid her confusion, the lizard-like Satan let out a low growl.  

Having come to aid its kin, Satan unleashed black flames.  

“Everyone, dodge!”  

Rita shouted, tackling the stunned Floria to the ground and rolling out of Satan’s attack range.  

Floria, scratched up, grimaced.  

But seeing her previous position erased without a trace, she froze in horror.  

“Argh!”  

The sound of roaring flames filled the air.  

Scorching heat rose, and pained groans echoed from somewhere.  

Rita’s skin stung from the heat.  

Still, she craned her neck to assess the situation.  

The sky remained dark, and fierce winds kept blowing.  

Satan spewed a few more flames, then grabbed Baal and turned away.  

As the winds died down and the sky cleared, Rita stood up. Baal, Satan, and the few remaining sub-adults had vanished.  

“Is everyone alright?!”  

“There’s… an injured person here!”  

“It seems most of us are safe!”  

Excluding the already deceased Obern, there were fortunately no major casualties.  

Having escaped danger, everyone sighed in relief, but Rita was stunned by Satan’s appearance.  

Why? 

Weren’t the fragments supposed to guard their own territories?  

She questioned and pondered endlessly.  

Then, it hit her.  

In her past life, the fragments appeared all at once after completing their breeding, with established territories, allowing for individual defeats.  

But in this life, her intervention exposed the fragments when they were still few.  

They hadn’t fully matured or established territories.  

Thus, their activity zones overlapped, likely leading them to sense and cooperate with each other.  

Did I cause this? 

Then now…  

Realizing this, Rita despaired.  

If this continued, they’d likely face multiple fragments at once, as they did today.  

It was truly the worst-case scenario.  

  ***

Rita’s pursuit team spent thirty minutes sprawled across the ravaged field.  

While the elders mourned Obern’s body, the priests urgently contacted the eastern pursuit team.  

The high-grade mana stones from the Mage Tower should’ve ensured smooth communication, but the priests, after a prolonged struggle, turned back with dismayed faces.  

“It’s a disaster! The eastern team with the Saint is retreating after heavy losses. They’re facing a massive group of monsters too…”  

Amid silent screams, Rita sprang up.  

“Creation Woven from Dreams.”  

A small bird formed in her hand and soared into the sky. 

Closing her eyes, Rita shared its vision.  

Hovering high above, the bird surveyed northern Lagos.  

The nearby area was quiet, but the eastern forest was stirring slightly.  

The swaying of dense trees suggested large creatures moving in droves.  

Without someone like me who can pinpoint weak points, their attacks must’ve been sloppy, and their formation collapsed quickly.  

Though Satan and Baal had fled further north, the eastern team, isolated without Rita, was in danger.  

“We need to move now. It looks like another large group is heading east. If this continues, Saint Mikael’s team will be in peril.”  

The elders’ faces turned ashen.  

Their expressions screamed dread at reliving that hell.  

Even Talos, the Tower Master, looked dazed, causing Rita’s eyes to narrow sharply.  

“The Saint is in danger?! We must go save him!”  

“What’s the damage report?”  

Eilin, unusually calm, asked the pale priest.  

The priest, on the verge of tears, shook his head.  

Communication with Mikael’s team was cut off. 

Rita quickly interjected,  

“Contact the kingdom, temple, and Mage Tower for reinforcements. The flying creature earlier is likely a leader, so we can’t handle this alone anymore. Priests, request aid from the kingdom and temple. One of the elders, return to the Mage Tower and gather mages.”  

The temple members trembled in fear.  

As they frantically tried to make contact, Torgo from the Tracking Division, standing by Obern’s body, suddenly spoke up.  

“Rita, you may be supreme-rank, but there are senior Tower members here. That commanding tone isn’t a good look, so watch yourself.”  

Rita’s gaze turned icy at the out-of-place reprimand. 

She couldn’t fathom how her words sounded like orders.  

Ignoring Torgo, she turned to Talos.  

“Surely, Master, you don’t share that opinion?”  

Talos’s eyes wavered at her cold question.  

Glancing between Torgo and Rita, he forced a strained smile and addressed Torgo.  

“Now, now, calm down. Doesn’t Rita’s urgency make sense? You all saw those creatures firsthand. If this continues, it’ll get dangerous. We’ve already lost our dear colleague, Obern. We don’t have time to be rigid in a situation like this.”  

Patting Torgo’s shoulder, Talos urged calm.  

The matter seemed resolved, but Rita’s expression remained sour.  

He didn’t deny that I was being presumptuous.  

Talos smiled benevolently, as if he’d done her a favor.  

Though she had wanted to avoid friction with them, in that moment, Rita changed her mind.  

They weren’t worth her respect.