167.2. Who’s There?

167.2. Who’s There?

“Don’t let up! We need to hold them off until the city is fully evacuated!”

Judging by the haphazard mess of the streets below, I highly doubted that that would happen anytime soon. I didn’t join Edithe as she decimated dozens upon dozens of monsters at a time.

“I’m not really good at fighting from afar.”

The guard captain narrowed her eyes.

“I… then help your friend down below—”

But Daniel cut her off.

“Salvos, you can fly, can’t you?”

I paused, tilting my head back.

“Yes?”

“I know it’s a risk, but—”

“You want me to fly over them and burn them to slow their approach, don’t you?”

He pursed his lips but did not deny it. I hefted my sack and leaned it against the wall.

“I’ll do it. Just do your thing, alright?”

“Thank you.”

He ran down the steps as I took a deep breath. There was a spark. A blue glow that descended upon me. I wreathed my body in flaming armor. It almost solidified around me, protection equivalent to a Medium Grade Armor. Then I spread my arms wide, the flaming armor unfurling behind my back.

It covered the wings that sprouted from my skin, burning the black blood before anyone could see it oozing off me. Or would it be red blood, since I was ‘partially mortal’? A pair of brilliant, burning wings revealed itself as heads turned to face me. I grinned, lying as I whispered.

“Flaming wings.”

Was that even a real Skill? I just said it so people would think I wasn’t using a Skill that only Demons had. The guard captain seemed fooled by it, at least.

“That’s…”

I patted Edithe on the shoulder before leaping off the walls. The guard captain stared for a moment, before snapping at the other watchers to focus on the monsters.

As I soared through the air and got closer to the army of vicious, terrifying creatures, I readied myself for what was to come. I spotted the Saeves down below, already picking up rocks. The Gatho Mammoths wouldn’t be able to reach me, but the Scavenger Yetis had powerful ice magic to toss my way.

And the most worrying one of all were the Mindreapers. I squinted at the figures floating far above the others, like they were somehow better than the others. And they were, in a sense. They were what enabled this army to form.

I knew what to do. But first, I had to draw their attention.

I quickly zipped over the front lines of the army, releasing a flaming breath into their numbers. It incinerated everything in an instant as I flew over them, mouth open, spewing powerful, magical flames. Hundreds of monsters died. They stood no chance against me. The ones behind them tried to fight back. They slung magic and projectiles my way, but I mostly managed to avoid their flurry of attacks.

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Some struck true. When a thousand pebbles were thrown, even I couldn’t avoid all of it. But I wasn’t an idiot. I knew what to dodge and what to ignore. The small orbs of fire would splash off my magical protection. But the lances of ice, the boulders that were hurled high up into the air, and the bolts of lightning would have actually been felt if I weren’t protected.

So, I evaded those. I made sure those didn’t touch me. I managed to stave off taking any damage for the longest while… until I heard the sound magic blaring in my ears.