"I think I'm in love," the Prince of Agartha, Prince Kieron, said as he looked at Seraphina.
He was the third Prince of Agartha and was closest to Lux's age.
However, he was not the only one who had become infatuated with the angelic beauty that Lux had summoned. The other Princes of Agartha felt the same, and they all eyed the beauty on the battlefield with great interest.
Seraphina, who was not aware that she had captured the hearts of mortals around her, swung her blades left and right, successfully fending off the Rankers whom she had intercepted.
One of her tendril-like wings caught the foot of one of the Rankers and raised him high up in the air before slamming him against the ground. A moment later, she threw the criminal onto where the Manticores were duking it out with each other.
As to what fate fell upon that man, she didn't care. There were still over a dozen Rankers who were doing their best to reach her Master, so she had no time to spare to look at someone who'd probably be maimed to death.
"Out of fifteen, eight got past her," Gaap commented. "Your Battle Angel is good, but she is fighting opponents of the same rank as her. This is an expected result."
Lux nodded and eyed the eight Rankers that were looking at him and Gaap with bloodshot eyes.
If his Master summoned his Named Creatures, these eight Rankers would be easily subdued in no time. However, since Gaap had asked him to handle them himself, Lux decided that it was time to show off his abilities as well.
Just like Eiko, the first thing that Lux did was summon his Doppelgangers. After this skill was upgraded into the [SSR] Rank, it had become stronger than ever before.
"Bone Storm!"
The Five Clones said at the same time, and five tornadoes composed of pieces of jagged bones rose from the ground. These bones were as sharp as razors and could instantly rend pieces of flesh unless it was protected by strong armor.
These five tornadoes zigzagged across the battlefield, forcing the Eight Rankers to evade them with everything they had.
While his opponents were busy evading the tornadoes that were blocking their path, the Half-Elf smirked and used his skill, Death Ward [Epic].
A crimson flower bloomed at the center of the five tornadoes, and it unleashed a barrage of necrotic energy balls on the Rankers, acting like a magical turret.
The Rankers were already having a hard time dealing with the Bone Storms, and now, they had to evade the bombardment that was flying in their direction.
Due to how sudden the attack was, the Rankers were hit by the Death Ward's Necrotic Energy balls.
This pushed two of them within the suction area of the tornado, making them scream in fear and pain.
A moment later, a taint of red could be seen in one of the tornadoes that had pulled one of the Rankers within its deadly embrace.
One of the Rankers who specialized in the Earth Element was able to coat himself in a protective Dome of Earth, rendering the bone tornado's attack ineffective.
"I got you now!" One of the Rankers used a speed acceleration ability, allowing him to get close to Lux.
Without another word, he slashed at the Half-Elf with an evil grin on his face, for he was sure that after doing so, he would regain his freedom.
However, the moment his blade touched the Half-Elf's body, Lux turned into a Blood Mist, completely negating the attack.
A few seconds later, he appeared behind the Ranker that slashed him and pointed his finger directly at his enemy's back.
"Finger of Death!' Lux shouted.
A red-lightning bolt shot out of the Half-Elf's finger, hitting the enemy at point-blank range.
Although this skill couldn't instantly kill a Human and only worked on Monsters, it was still bound to give them enough pain that would make them wish that they had died instead.
A blood-curdling scream escaped the Ranker's lips as his body crashed towards the ground, creating a six-meter-wide crater. Of course, the Ranker wasn't dead but only suffering from great pain, which was enough to immobilize him for half a minute.
"""Finger of Death!"""
Lux's other clones also used this ability and hit three out of the five remaining targets.
The two other Rankers eyed each other before dashing toward the Half-Elf. One came from his left, and the other from the right.
Although there were other Clones on the battlefield, they had already locked down the original's position.
They had no intention of fighting clones because, by common sense, they knew that as long as they killed Lux, his replicas would disappear as well.
One of the Rankers threw a dagger at Lux, forcing the Half-Elf dodge to the side. However, that attack was merely a diversion, and his real intention was to use the dagger to close the distance in order to deliver his killing blow.
When the dagger flew past the Half-Elf, the Ranker swapped locations with it, making him appear directly behind his target.
He then transformed his arm into a blade and swung it at Lux's neck, with the intention of chopping it off completely.
Just like he did earlier, Lux transformed into a blood mist, completely negating the attack. However, his opponent had already predicted this and followed up with a roundhouse kick in mid-air.
He had timed the kick properly to ensure that his attack would definitely hit his target.
Just like his arm, he had transformed his leg into a sharp blade, which cut the Half-Elf's body cleanly in half.
However, instead of seeing blood spray in every direction, the Half-Elf he killed turned into particles of light.
"That was close," Gaap muttered as he watched the battle from the ground. "Good thing he managed to swap with his clone on time. These criminals do have a few tricks in their sleeves."
All of the criminals that had been chosen to participate in the battle had killed countless people.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that they were perhaps Agartha's most seasoned fighters.
When Eiko launched her counterattack, some of them suffered injuries, but most of them reacted in time.
Even though most of them were injured, they didn't let their injury affect their performance and fought back against Eiko and her summoned army.
They weren't second-rate Rankers.
All of them were experienced, cold-blooded Killers.
"They will be a good addition to Master's fighting force," Asmodeus, who had appeared beside Gaap, commented. "We just have to kill them in order to make that happen."
"Can you?" Gaap asked back with amusement.
"Do you even need to ask?" Asmodeus chuckled. "Master hadn't given us any orders yet. Maybe he wants to try out all the skills he gained during his breakthrough, as well as the skills he hasn't used in the past. This is a perfect opportunity to test them against opponents that are stronger than him. I'm sure that he is thinking along those lines."
As his Lord's Equal, Asmodeus could tell what Lux was thinking most of the time. Because of this, none of his Named Creatures had moved in order to help their Master, who hadn't fought personally in a long while.
Usually, Lux would just let his Undead Minions and Covenant Members do the killing for him.
But, now he was a Ranker.
It was time to test how he would measure up against opponents who were almost the same Rank as him, without depending on his faithful Summons who were currently on the side, patiently waiting for his call.
