Alephee was flying using her Wind-Fire Wings.
Her wings were smaller than Eren's and had more runic details on them. The wind-fire shards served as feathers that left a blazing trail in the sky as she traversed at breakneck speeds.
Alephee's speed and agility using Wind-Fire Wings were also many levels higher than Eren's. It was as if she had taken his spells and made them work better for herself.
The homunculus soon reached the location she wanted to and saw a bizarre sight in front of her. She stopped midair and remained motionless as she tried to make sense of things.
Nico was furiously staring at Argo. Eren's demon beast had many wounds on his body. He was in his complete eagle form, maintaining eye contact with Nico as he hovered in front of him at a distance.
Some of Argo's feathers had been destroyed exposing the flesh underneath. His mana fluctuations were unsteady and it was clear that he had many internal injuries. Even his left eye looked like it had been pierced by Nico's arrow. The blood bled from Argo's left eye even after he kept it closed.
However, Argo looked happy. He looked at Nico with a human-like expression on his face as he tightened his grip around something he was holding with one of his claws.
'Hm? Those are…'
Alephee had suspicions in her mind as she looked at the organ Argo was gripping with his eagle claw. She then looked at Nico's beast carefully and confirmed her suspicions.
Argo had injured Shal's cloaca in their aerial fight, giving the condor a huge trauma. Argo ripped out the demon beast's cavity and spilled its intestines to yank his balls from his body.
Shal had already screamed his heart out against Argo's misadventure. But Argo looked like he was not done mocking the pair just yet.
Argo flew a bit higher and brought his claw forward. He then crushed the organ he was holding in his vice before releasing an ear-piercing eagle cry.
Shal screamed in anger and decided to attack Argo right then and there. Blood dripped from his hanging intestines when he started to move.
Nico couldn't believe that a demon beast could be so vicious and vengeful. He had literally tore off the demon beast's balls that were hiding deep in his anatomy. Argo relied on his epic-tier physique and unparalleled control of his flying skills to pull off this feat.
Shal was ready to exact revenge on Argo. However, he was stopped by Nico who knew Argo was planning a plot against him and his demon beast by baiting them. He decided that Shal was not fit to deal with Argo.
Nico was about to attack Argo with one of his precise attacks. But he suddenly saw Alephee looking at the scene from a distance and was shocked by it. He couldn't believe that someone like her could sneak up on the scene so effortlessly.
"Who the…"
Nico looked at Alephee warily. He then remembered Goro's brief report mentioning something about a girl in a black dress that was with Eren. His vigilance was raised when he made that association in his head. He decided to change the question he wanted to pose to Alephee.
"The fact that you are here… did you manage to kill Goro as well?"
Alephee's chain of thoughts was broken when Nico asked her a question. She looked at him and pondered before answering him.
"Hmm. You can say that. You are the only remaining pair from the ambush team."
Alephee said casually like it didn't mean anything to her. She then looked at Argo before speaking up.
"Argo, your job is done here. Get to Eren while I deal with them. Don't worry. Your portion of Har Jahar meat won't be deducted."
Alephee thought that Eren was being too harsh on Argo for wanting him to take care of two C-Rank entities at the same time. That too in a limited period. And the crazy bird was willing to do it.
Of course, the butcher was only trying to bring out Argo's potential by giving him difficult tasks. But the homunculus judged that Eren was being as harsh on the beast as he was on himself. Thus, she relieved him of his duty and decided to handle Nico and Shal all by herself.
When Alephee's suggestion reached Argo, his one functioning eye shone in delight. He released another eagle cry before approaching Alephee. The homunculus threw a vial of Ice Fairy's Kiss at the demon beast, which fixed his pierced eye and mended some of his injuries.
Nico had used this opportunity to attack both Alephee and Argo. But the homunculus raised her hand and cast her time-element spell.
Total Control!
This was also one of Eren's spells. He would use it as a support-type spell to expedite or delay the effects of his spells. However, Alephee used the spell differently, casting it on her opponents' spells to delay their casting.
Alephee did this so effortlessly that Nico thought it was his mistake that his spells were not giving him the intended effect. His arrows manifest slowly. His wind-element slashes also materialized at a slow rate as if they were cast inside a near-stagnant world.
By the time the effects of Total Control wore off, Nico lost control of the spells and made them disperse. Argo was also absent from the scene, leaving the ranker from Demonmir's faction alone with Alephee.
Nico gulped empty air when he thought of how Alephee was able to affect his spells simply by casting support-type spells. A cold drop of sweat ran down his neck as he looked at the stoic-looking girl in front of her.
The fact that Alephee could interfere with others' spells gave her a huge advantage. The bald man didn't know the limitations of something he had just learned about. He didn't know how to fight her even though she seemed to be a rank lower than him.
Alephee smiled when she looked at Nico and observed his thoughts. She flapped her radiant wings behind her before speaking up.
"You should be glad that it is me and not Eren. At least I don't make a mess out of my opponents."
Saying that the homunculus turned the pages of her grimoire using a wave of her hands before casting her spells. It was safe to say that Nico Chains and his demon beast weren't going to survive the ordeal.
