King Leoric traded sword strikes with Aina and gauged her power, speed, and reaction time.
As a former Saint, he had fought many battles, and had a front row seat when the Abyssal Creatures descended upon the world.
In short, he had very rich battle experience, which he still retained even after death.
After exchanging a few blows with Aina, the Wraith King finally understood how to effectively neutralize her without killing her.
According to Keoza, if Aina was killed inside the Domain, she would be expelled from it and returned to the real world.
This was not the scenario that they wanted, and their goal was only to neutralize her. They needed to buy time until Keoza patched up his Domain, preventing Aina from escaping it.
Fortunately, Aina seemed to have no intention of leaving until all of the enemies in front of her were dead.
His Wraith Knights formed a barricade that stood between his battle with Aina, and Lux, preventing the Angel of Vengeance from targeting the Half-Elf.
After nearly five minutes of fighting against Aina, King Leoric shared his thoughts with Lux, who was being protected by his subordinates.
'Lux, I have one good news and one bad news,' King Leoric said through telepathy as he continued to fight against the Angel of Vengeance, whose attacks were becoming more fierce with each passing minute. 'Which one do you want to hear first?'
'The bad news,' Lux replied.
'Well, the bad news is that, currently, I am the only one that can contend with Aina,' King Leoric stated. 'Also, I alone cannot defeat her. At most, I can prevent her from attacking you and the others, but that is the best I can do.'
'And the good news is?'
'The good news is that in a battle of attrition, I am confident that I will win. We can just wait it out until she regains her senses. But, we will not know when that will be, so I have a proposal.'
The Wraith King proposed his plan, which Lux found to be quite risky, but effective.
'Understood, we will do that,' Lux replied before giving his orders to his subordinates through telepathy.
After getting their orders, Lux's army positioned themselves in a V-Formation, with Pazuzu at the very center.
After Orion died, he was the only one that could tank Aina's attack, and Lux planned to use that opportunity to deal the final blow to the doll-like beauty who still hadn't regained her senses.
After everyone moved in position, Lux's plague wing Gargoyles flew towards Aina and unleashed their Poison Smog, covering the skies in a green cloud of poisonous smog.
Lux didn't know if Aina had gained a resistance to poison and diseases that could potentially decrease her fighting ability.
He didn't have any hopes that the first phase of their strategy would work, but since there was no harm in trying, he still ordered his subordinates to follow the plan that the Wraith King had devised.
Aina, who had been covered by the Poisonous Smog didn't show any reaction at first, but the Wraith King, who had been fighting against her, noticed that her movements had become a bit sluggish.
As an Undead, the Wraith King was immune to Poison, as well as diseases that could weaken his ability to fight.
The Plague Wing Gargoyle's Unique Ability, Plague Bearer, increased the chance of inflicting those who had been exposed to their attacks with poison and disease.
Lux had experienced this when he was still in the Beginner's Village, and he understood just how annoying this ability was.
Aina, who probably realized that the Poisonous Smog was making her feel uncomfortable, distanced herself from the Wraith King as she tried to break free from the smog that covered her surroundings.
However, just as she was about to break through it, she felt a strong pull coming from the ground.
Pazuzu had activated his Duel [EX], and forced Aina to exchange blows with him.
"She's coming," ALL-MITE said.
Diablo, Ishtar, Asmodeus, Revon, Zagan, and Lazarus nodded their heads in affirmation.
"Ithaqua, don't die again, okay?" Asmodeus said as he summoned the Creature of the Cold White Silence to his side.
The Giant Wendigo-like creature nodded its head and summoned a raging blizzard that easily turned the visibility to zero.
Aina, who had been affected by the skill, Duel [EX], could not see anything in front of her, but she knew where her target was.
Once the skill, Duel [EX], was activated, a blow must be exchanged no matter what.
Even Lux admitted that the skill was completely broken, but since he and his subordinates were the only ones that could use it, he didn't mind it being broken!
Knowing that he wouldn't survive Aina's tendril-like wings, Pazuzu didn't hesitate and activated his Shield Wall, and braced for the upcoming attack.
Just like he expected, Aina used her wings to slash at the Fortress Defender with a vengeance.
However, the tendrils didn't hit their target because Revon's flying swords, Zagan's black lightning bolts, Diablo's sword slashes, Lazarus' Ice Rays, Ishtar's Power Shot, and ALL-MITE'S smash, repelled them all.
Aina might be a High-Ranker, but her tendril-like wings weren't as strong as her.
If they were targeted individually, they could be repelled according to King Leoric's assumption.
Fortunately, his idea was correct, which created an opportunity for Lux's subordinates to neutralize one of Aina's deadly weapons.
Due to the blizzard, giving zero visibility, Aina didn't see the Giant Crystal Dragon that was hovering high up in the heavens.
Lux had used the Poison Smog of his Plague-Wing Gargoyles to create a smokescreen that allowed him to fly upwards.
Once he was in position, Pazuzu then used his Duel [EX] to make Aina dive towards the ground.
After that, Ithaqua used the Blizzard to reduce the visibility in the surroundings, preventing Aina from seeing Lux's Trump Card in the sky.
'I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice,' Lux thought as he opened his mouth wide to unleash an attack that would neutralize the Angel of Vengeance that they were fighting with everything they had.
"Crystal Dragon's Breath!"
From above the heavens a shimmering Dragon Breath descended in full force. Lux knew that his subordinates would be caught up in the attack, but that was fine.
His subordinates knew that even if they turned into crystal statues, no real harm would be done to them.
Aina, who wasn't aware of the attack that came from above, didn't manage to react in time before the Crystal Dragon Breath bathed her Divine Body with its crystallized might.
She tried to resist it using her fiery flames, and burn the crystals that were slowly encasing her body.
For a brief moment, the White Flames managed to burn away the crystals that were spreading across her body. However, Lux didn't relent in his attack and continued to squeeze out everything he could to make this attack work.
As Lux and Aina fought tooth and nail against each other, Bedivere, who had also been summoned by Lux, pointed his finger towards the Angel of Vengeance, who was resisting his Master's attack.
"Duel [EX]!" Bedivere shouted, making Aina's body shudder.
He was one of Lux's subordinates that had gained this ability after being reborn, but he rarely used it because Orion and Pazuzu were always there to face the brunt of the enemy's attack.
However, at this very critical moment, the Dragon Knight took one for the team and forced Aina to fight against him.
Due to this compelling urge to target the Dragon Knight, who was hovering in the sky, Aina's attempt to use her flames to repel the crystals that were spreading over her body failed completely.
In just a matter of seconds, the doll-like beauty was turned into a crystal statue, making Lux, who had given everything in his last attack, pant for breath.
Now that Aina had finally been encased in crystals, the immediate danger was over.
However, that didn't mean that they could let their guard down.
Even though Aina had turned into a statue, the white flames inside her body remained.
"Although her chances of breaking free are slim, the chance still exists," Keoza's words reached Lux's ears. "Until I say otherwise, do not dispel the crystals that are keeping her in place, do you understand?"
"Yes," Lux replied.
The Half-Elf took a deep breath before descending towards the ground to rest. He never thought that his duel with Aina would trigger the World's Blessing and transform the doll-like beauty into a Ranker.
Lux didn't want to admit it, but he felt a little envious of Aina. He had also wanted to become a Ranker, but the doll-like beauty beat him to becoming one.
But, after witnessing the kind of Tribulation that Aina underwent in order to become a Ranker, the Half-Elf started to feel anxious about his own breakthrough, which would be happening very soon.
