"Blue Dragon's Descent!"
"Dark Slash!"
The two attacks collided in the air, sending sparks flying in every direction.
Iris held firm and tried to push Ampelos' attack back, and the Satyr did the same.
A few seconds later, the Dark Slash was slowly gaining momentum, pushing the Blue Dragon back despite Iris' efforts to win their clash.
Half a minute later, the blade cut the blue dragon in half and continued its trajectory toward the blue-haired beauty, who immediately flew sideways to evade it.
Suddenly, and without any warning, Iris heard the whistling of wind.
At that exact moment, a black shell that was the size of a round mirror appeared a meter away from Iris' neck.
When the young lady finally understood what happened, she saw a silver needle sticking out from the center of the black shell. If it weren't for the black shell's protection, it would have hit her neck.
Ampelos clicked his tongue because his follow-up attack failed. The needle he shot toward Iris using his blowpipe contained a very powerful paralyzing poison.
He thought that he had the battle under his control, but it seemed that his opponent had a few aces up her sleeve.
'Thank you, Myrtle,' Iris said to her Black Turtle, whose specialty was defense.
In their Bestial Forms, each of Iris Guardian Beasts were powerful in their own right. They were all Argonaut-Ranked Alpha Monsters, so they weren't weak.
However, the moment they merged with Iris, their specialties were heightened, giving them a drastic boost.
Myrtle, the Black Turtle specialized in defense.
Lapiz the Blue Dragon, specialized in powerful attacks.
Hanz, the White Tiger, specialized in speed, agility, dexterity, as well as an overall increase in Physical Strength.
Zoe, the Red Phoenix specialized in long-ranged attacks, flight, regeneration, and increased resistance against magical attacks, and status debuffs.
Together, her Guardian Spirits ensured that Iris would be able to stand against stronger opponents even if she was only an E-Ranker.
The Leader of the Satyr, who refused to use any deadly attacks against Iris, was in a dilemma.
His original plan was to overpower the young lady with his Dark Slash at a decreased speed, giving her a chance to evade it. While she was focused on doing that, he would use his blowpipe to end the battle.
It was a perfect plan, but because things didn't go according to his expectations, his opponent would now be more wary of future sneak attacks.
'I guess I have no choice,' Ampelos thought before summoning a lyre in his hand.
His fingers then lightly plucked its strings, creating beautiful music that slowly grew in intensity with each passing second.
Iris, who was hovering in the air, casually moved to the side, causing something to fly past her, making her hair flutter.
After a brief pause, Iris once again dodged to the side and did it a third time. As Ampelos' rhapsody rose to the next level, the young lady kept on dodging the invisible attacks that were flying in her direction.
The only reason why she was able to do this was due to her White Tiger, Hanz.
One of its unique abilities was primal roar, allowing it to attack with supersonic shockwaves in its Bestial Form.
Because of this, Iris was quite familiar with sound wave attacks and was able to predict their trajectory with the White Tiger's help.
As if understanding how his opponent was able to dodge his invisible strikes, Ampelos strummed the string as if he were slashing the lyre in half.
Iris then raised her right hand, with her palms open.
"Tiger's Roar!" Iris shouted and a deafening roar of a tiger spread in the surroundings, creating a shockwave that nullified Ampelos' Sound Wave Attack that was meant to hit a wide area.
"You are starting to annoy me, Young Lady," Ampelos said in a cold and deadly tone. "If I wanted to kill you, I could do it anytime."
"I know," Iris replied. "But since you have no plans to kill me, you will not be able to defeat me."
"Don't push me," Ampelos growled. "As long as you don't die from my attack, I will be able to nurse you back to health. Although I dislike doing it, I can just slice off your limbs, making you unable to do anything. I admit that it will lower the thrill of ravaging you, but you are leaving me with no other choice."
The Satyr then summoned his short sword again, making it glow in a purplish hue.
'I'll just cut off her arms first,' Ampelos thought. 'Once she is defenseless, she will no longer have a means to resist.'
Iris could tell that Ampelos no longer planned on holding back. Because of this, she pressed her palms together, gathering the power of her four Legendary Beasts for one single attack that would contain all of her power.
"Infinity Edge!" Ampelos roared as he swung his sword, creating countless Crescent Blades with different colors that flew toward Iris.
Iris then unleashed her own concentrated attack, with the intention of drilling a hole in the Satyr's chest, obliterating his heart.
"Ruinous Prayer!" Iris shouted and unleashed a four-colored ray of light that flew toward her opponent like a rail gun.
The crescent blades that were on its path were all shattered like pieces of glass, shocking Ampelos because he didn't expect Iris' final strike to be so strong.
Because of this, he was forced to dodge to the side, but the ray still brushed past his body, leaving a trail of blood on his chest.
The Crescent Blades that survived Iris' spell were about to land on her body when suddenly a blue beam of light flew through the barrier and appeared in front of her.
"Ei!"
One by one, the Crescent Blades shattered, failing to reach their target. Iris then looked at the little girl who was standing in front of her with her arms spread wide, shielding her from harm.
"E-Eiko?"
"Ma!"
The little girl immediately hugged Iris and kissed her cheeks repeatedly. After having had her fill, she then spat two orbs of light towards the ground.
A moment later, Lux and Gaap appeared, making Ampelos growl in anger. He had long wanted to vent his frustration on something or someone because the lady he wanted to embrace was resisting him with all of her might.
"Good! Good! Good!" Ampelos clenched his fists, making the muscles in his body bulge. "You came here to rescue her, right? Well sorry to disappoint you, but the only thing you will get is a one-way ticket to hell!"
Just as the Satyr was about to lunge at the two newcomers, a gigantic shadow was cast upon his body.
Lux, who had seen how his fiance was about to be sliced up by the Satyr's attack, was very angry at the moment.
Because of this, he had summoned the Giant Skeleton King, in its basic form.
As if feeling the wrath of his Master, the Skeleton King, who was hundreds of meters tall, materialized out of thin air and broke the red dome of light that prevented Iris from escaping earlier.
It then raised its gigantic foot, which made Ampelos subconsciously take a step back.
"The only one going to hell today is none other than you!" Lux growled. "Now, die!"
As if given the signal to strike, the Giant Skeleton King then stomped its foot towards the Satyr, crushing Ampelos under his foot.
