Asher returned to Alyssa, with half of his nano armor covered in murky red blood.
"What happened?" Alyssa stood up and asked.
"I just met some Hyelthers," Asher said.
"Are you done eating?" he asked.
"Yeah, I have recovered most of my mana," Alyssa replied.
The food they received was specially enriched with mana and other nutrients that not only helped them recover their mana but also replenished their energy.
Alyssa followed Asher as he walked forward. For her, Asher was strange. Unlike others, he didn't hate her, but he also didn't try to get along with her like Venessa did.
She came to the spot where Asher had defeated the three Hyelthers, and she could see blood on the ground, some of which had dried up due to the heat. Alyssa was using her mana to actively protect her body from the heat, and Asher was doing the same, but he was utilizing aura instead of mana.
For mages who never used their physical might, aura was useless, so they used their mana to shield themselves from situations like this.
Asher looked at the big crack in the wall, which was wide enough to let the three-meter-tall Hyelthers pass through it. Using his mana sense, Asher stepped out of it, and the view changed slightly from the previous part of the dungeon.
They could see lava pools on the edge, and around 15 Kirons were sitting near them, chewing on the few dead Hyelthers whose hearts had been ripped out.
'Vialmir,' Alyssa thought in her mind.
It was strange, but Vialmir never hurt beasts like Kirone. Some people had a theory that there was a hierarchy among monsters, but it was never proved as a lot of inconsistencies arose when they took SS or SSS Rank Dungeons into account. The higher the dungeon level, the more complex and intricate the inside would become.
"Should we do the same?" Alyssa was speaking, but Asher raised his finger to his lips and pointed at the lava pool.
Alyssa squinted her eyes as she saw something moving in the lava pool.
A Vialmir. She didn't think that the Vialmir would be present in the pool of lava, and knowing that there were at least 15 Kirons in front of them and a Vialmir, this was not a fight that was advantageous for them in any way.
The fact that the Vialmir had the source of lava so near him would make it highly difficult for them to defeat it.
Asher stepped back, and Alyssa quietly followed him. Coming a bit farther from the previous position, Alyssa finally spoke out.
"I will try and fight the Kirons, and you should focus on the Vialmir." No matter what, Alyssa could not think of a better plan than this.
It would be extremely hard for her to fight against 15 Kirons, but if Asher could somehow handle the Vialmir, they had a good chance of winning that battle.
Asher thought for a bit. Alyssa's idea was decent, but only if she was a D-Rank like Asher. Right now, at E+ Rank, her attacks were not that powerful either.
"How many Ice Lances can you throw at the same time?" Asher asked Alyssa.
"About 35-40," Alyssa replied.
Asher explained his plan to Alyssa, and thinking about it for a second, Alyssa agreed to it as well. Although it was a bit risky, it was still a better idea than hers, but it depended a lot on Asher.
Both of them walked a bit and reached the point from where they could easily see the Kirons and the hidden Vialmir who was probably sleeping after eating the Hyelthers.
Asher masked his presence as much as he could. He softened the sound of his feet by applying mana to them. Although it required delicate control, his Mana Flow Rank A allowed him to do this quite easily.
"Bring forth, I call upon Ice," Alyssa materialized a few long rods around her.
Channeling her mana, Alyssa made the Kirons notice her, but the Vialmir hadn't moved for now. Alyssa threw around 15 Rods that were twice the size of Ice Lance, making a fence-like structure to trap 10 Kirons behind the fence, but the rest 5 were still out and now they were running towards Alyssa, who was breathing a bit heavily.
"Ice Lance," although it was difficult to chant twice like this in succession, their life depended on this.
The rest of the Kirons were attacking the Ice Fence to break it, and slowly few shards of ice were breaking onto the ground and melting into water.
"Swift Strike," Asher dashed in a zigzag motion, cutting through 5 Kirons at once.
Making Alyssa the bait for the Kirons and accelerating himself by using mana, he managed to outspeed the Kirons.
[Host has gained 500 EXP]
[Host has gained 500 EXP]
[Host has gained 500 EXP]
[Host has gained 500 EXP]
[Host has gained 500 EXP]
The moment Asher flared his mana, the Vialmir woke up. Alyssa was still far, and the Kirons' senses were sharper than the Vialmir, so they could spot Alyssa easily. Still, Vialmir only noticed Asher when he used mana to kill 5 Kirons at once.
The 10 Kirons were still trying to breakthrough the Ice Rods, but Alyssa had given around 70% of her mana to make them sturdy enough, so it needed some time to break. However, the heat of the environment was also affecting the Ice Rods, which would surely break in 2 minutes.
"SCRREEEEEEEEEEECH!" After the ear-deafening cry of the Vialmir, a whip of lava came out to attack Asher, but he dodged it quite easily.
A four-eyed monster with a wide jaw was burning more than the previous Vialmir, which meant this Vialmir had a lot of reserve than the previous Vialmir, and his bursts would be even more powerful.
Asher boosted his Aura to the maximum. It was the first time he had flared his mana this much, but he needed to finish that Vialmir as fast as possible.
Asher's crimson eyes were shining through the deep blue hue around him. The Vialmir dashed with his claws out, but Asher did not move from his position. His eyes focused on the node in front of him.
"Swift Strike," Asher said as he dashed towards the rushing Vialmir, closing the distance abruptly.
The Vialmir saw the blade coming out towards him, and a sense of danger arose in its mind. The Vialmir dodged Asher's attack as all his limbs started burning furiously.
The moment the Vialmir had taken Asher as a threat to his existence, he brought out his full power to kill Asher immediately. The whips extended out of his claws, making Asher dodge repeatedly as the strikes made a deep cut on the ground.
*bam* *bam*
Seeing that the human was faster than it had expected, the Vialmir bursted fire around its limbs as it dashed towards Asher.
Asher used a lot of mana to suddenly burst forward and collide with the Vialmir.
He turned his hand and covered the blade's edge with denser aura. As the Vialmir approached near him.
*Clang*
The Vialmir's hand bounced off Asher's blade but it couldn't push the monster back. This was not what Asher wanted either. He twisted his right hand as he raised his sword above the Vialmir's chest.
The Vialmir raised its claws and brought them upwards, aiming to attack Asher's head and rip it off.
"DESCEND!!" Alyssa used the most gravity magic she could at the moment, maintaining the Ice Lance above her head.
Asher could feel the heaviness above him but it also increased the weight of his sword considerably. He pushed the sword downwards to the Vialmir, which was about to hit Asher's head with its claw.
*SLASH*
Blue blood spurted on Asher's face as he slashed through the shoulder of the Vialmir with his sword, cutting the monster's body into two parts, ending its life.
[ Host has gained 5000 EXP]
*Boom*
However, as they were fighting, the fence around the Kirons broke due to an attack similar to a fire arrow, breaking the Ice Rods that had stopped the rest of the Kirons from attacking Asher while he fought the Vialmir.
The sudden explosion took Alyssa's attention as she stared at the smoke where the Ice rods were broken.
"What?" Alyssa said, her eyes going wide.
The sight she saw made her face frown greatly.
"SCRREEEEEEEEEEECH!"
"SCRREEEEEEEEEEECH!"
The deafening cry of two monsters could be heard as Alyssa saw the Kirons running towards Asher, and behind them were two Vialmirs.
Their jaws were wide open as one of the Vialmirs dashed faster than the Kirons present there.
"GET BACK!!" Alyssa shouted as she fired all her Ice Lances to somehow save Asher.
The second Vialmir noticed Alyssa's presence, and its claw came out as the Vialmir got ready to attack Alyssa, who was busy firing her Ice Lance.
'Is this how we die?' A thought rose in her head.
Her senses went into hyperfocused mode as a few of her Ice Lances managed to hit a few running Kirons, but she saw that Asher was not moving from his spot.
"Time Dilation," Asher muttered as he disappeared from his spot.
Asher looked around himself as everything was moving slower than him, even the sound of the monsters was reaching him slower. But his senses were still sharp.
His eyes went towards the second Vialmir, and he dashed towards it.
Two Seconds.
In two seconds, Alyssa saw all the monsters fall to the ground. Suddenly, she felt a presence near her and saw that Asher was standing beside her.
He was covered in blue blood, but his crimson colored eyes were shining.
She noticed Asher, who was staring forward, looking at nothing.
She could not see it, but there was a green glow around Asher's neck.
She looked back at the ground and saw a pool of blood in front of her. Every single monster in front of them was beheaded, with even their limbs detached from their bodies.
"What...?" This shocked her.
What had happened? How were all the monsters dead? How was Asher standing beside her? She didn't know the answer, so she turned towards Asher.
One... Two... Three... Four...
Getting no answer from him, she was about to speak out when Asher clutched his heart and fell to his knees, coughing blood immediately.
He was about to fall completely, but Alyssa grabbed him immediately, not knowing what was happening to him.
