*BAM*
Jared delivered a loud punch tongue side of the face of one of the attackers and successfully sent him flying backward.
The attacker never got the opportunity to hit the ground though, as a flaming violet arrow hit him mere seconds after he was punched...
*Whoosh*
*Boom!*
... Instantly burning him up and reaping all of his sexual essence for a smiling Rita who digested it with joy at the dominant feeling that was born of the dominant side of her bloodline.
Once Jared had thrown his punch, two attackers, both females and with lithe physiques that granted them a sort of superior agility, sprung at him.
One of them leaped onto his back and wielded a deadly-looking dagger that she attempted to drive through his neck.
Rita was not having any of that though as she shot an arrow at the lady who, being at the Cosmic Pagoda realm was able to follow the arrow's path and smack it aside with her dagger coated with Cosmic energy.
While she successfully swatted Rita's attack aside (at least that was what it seemed like for now) it allowed Jared the precious few seconds he needed to swing her off his back and then attempt to drive his cosmic armament through her...
*Clang!*
... but ultimately failed as she quickly defended herself with her dagger artifact while the other lady mover in for a decisive strike.
*Bam!*
The attack was however intercepted by an angry-looking Lillian whose eyes were now a fiendish blood-red and was excluding fiendish fog and fiendish presence that affected the lady despite her stronger cultivation.
Her interception worked even better with her having used Executioner's wide blade like a bashing shield.
Meanwhile, the lady who Jared had attempted to stab through and had deflected his hit could suddenly feel her body heating up.
Being as insidious as it was, a single tongue of lust flame had snuck through her pores by Rita's command.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtMaking smart use of her preoccupation with battling Jared and her pride at having smacked away such a 'slow and weak attack'.
Within her, the tongue of flame grew and now was no longer at a level she could attempt to fight with the use of Cosmic energy purging.
"Arrrrgghhhhh"
Jared leaped away from her the moment she started to yell in agony and spared her only one second of his time as her body was rapidly getting burned to a crisp.
Rita once again reaping the gains.
Meanwhile, Lillian was now engaged in combat with the lady she had bashed away and while she felt invigorated by the blood essence she had so far reaped from the bodies of all the dead, it was not to the extent that she was suddenly capable of battling and winning against this Cosmic Pagoda realm expert.
Sure, she could have called Jared's attention away from his opponent but there was still one card she had left to play,
"Might as well use it" she said in a low voice before leaping back and joining her hands together and began quickly forming seals and imbuing those seals with Blood fiend energy.
Lillian and Arya the Alchemist shared a bond.
(You would remember Arya as the main Antagonist, or more accurately 'the one to beat' in volume one)
Despite all that had happened in the past, that remained a fact and once the civil war was over and Arya was conquered, Arya no longer saw any real use in keeping most of her secrets to herself anymore.
Not to mention that when all was said and done, Arya remained Lillian's mentor and Lillian remained Arya's protege.
Arya had taught Lillian no more than a mere basis, a smaller version, of the grand spell she (Arya) had used to refine the cultivation of all those she had prepared earlier to further increase her own strength.
Sure, the spell was tagged a 'Devil' spell but having attempted it (not completely but at least halfway) once, Lillian knew her Fiendish demonic bloodline would more than do the trick.
Plus, she felt the smaller version was better though.
Not only because it did not require nearly as much prep time but also because it was actually perfect for her current situation.
The speed with which she formed the multiple seals was such that she was done before her opponent could truly take advantage of her lapse.
Not that she didn't try.
The lady shot cosmic Aurora at Lillian, but still making use of the Fiendish bloodline, Lillian was at least able to avoid the brunt of the blast.
Only getting knocked back by its force and suffering a few bruises and a broken rib or two.
"Mnnghhh"
She could not help groan but was ultimately still smiling as her spell was ready.
Once she was done with her seal forming, she charged the spell towards the spot she was standing where it lay as the invisible trap it was meant to be.
Maybe it was the muddling of their minds and the absolute focus all those within the semi-dome had on killing all those within until they were the only ones left, but the lady did not stop to study where Lillian was standing.
She did send forth another aurora though but that was mainly because it was what she felt like doing and not because she had sensed a trap lay waiting for her.
Case in point,
The moment Lillian used the emergence of her cosmic phenomenon as well the fogs of her fiendish bloodline to defend against the attack while leaping away while knowing fully well that they would prove to not be enough, the lady charged in at her with her cosmic Armament ready...
... In hopes of taking advantage of Lillian's lack of balance at that moment and skewering her.
Alas, the moment she was even remotely close to Lillian, the blood knight grinned, and the spell circle which she had attached to her feet to follow wherever she would go and activate the moment another foreign body was in its range appeared.
The lady's eyes widened and in that split second, she had the opportunity to leap out is the circle, to not be caught by Lillian's trap before the entrapment took full effect but instead, she attacked.
Maybe she could have managed to escape had she leaped away and maybe Lillian would have successfully prevented her escape, we will never know...
One thing we know for sure though, is that Lillian's entrapment plan was a success and the last thing the Lady saw, as her lithe and agile body withered as all its blood essence was siphoned by the diabolical spell and transferred to a fiendishly hungry-looking Lillian, was her opponent's absolute reveling in the siphoning act.
When it was all done and the husk of a body fell to the tomb ground, Lillian was on a high and as she could still power the spell for a few more minutes, she called to Jared as a partner with which she began picking off as many of the tomb raiders as she could.
And so the number of those within the Semi-dome continued to dwindle and soon only four were left standing.
The large man that had first made a move for the key, Lillian, Rita, and an exhausted-looking Jared.
Even though a suggestion to fight by their sides had been planted in Jared's mind, he was still more than lucid enough to be in awe of the ladies' stamina.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThey had been nearly as active as he and they still. looked primed for battle.
Of course, in all actuality, looks were quite deceiving in this case.
While Lillian and Rita did indeed have better stamina and endurance on account of being demons, they were also exhausted and were now almost completely incapable of making full, prime use of their bloodlines.
Rita could not spam lust arrows like before but she was even better off than Lillian whose spell had been most draining on her bloodline inclined abilities.
The buff man flexed his cultivation at the peak stage of the Cosmic Pagoda realm happily though.
He looked the more better off of the four.
Considering the key was still floating in front of the double doors, Rita felt it was safe to assume he had been more preoccupied with bashing in heads rather than actually getting the key.
The Array of selfishness (as she was now calling it) might have had a thing to do with it but she had a feeling the man had brutal nature that would see him kill to accomplish his own eds even without the Array's effects.
While she had nothing against such a mindset, the fact that that mindset was now turned against her would just not fly.
Lilian and Rita shared a look.
Maybe they could defeat him if they tried but they were exhausted and he was in much better shape to fight than they were.
Already, they had fought those above their cultivation with both ladies still at the Cosmic Phenomenon realm and there was no way Jared, with his Early-stage Cosmic Pagoda realm cultivation, had a chance against the buff man.
He could try of course, but he was likely to fail.
They both saw only one path to victory...
Rita took quick steps towards the buff man and ordered Jared to follow her lead as she imbued herself with lust flames for an increase in strength as they engaged him in battle they were sure to lose...
Even though Rita and Jared initiated, they still went on the defensive while they bought time for Lillian to retrieve her portable Teleportation circle Scroll and tweak the coordinates so that when Rita and Jared directed the buff man's attention closer, she was ready to activate it and slam it towards him...
... Rita leaped out of the way to one side and Jared leaped to the other, the man's eyes widened and made to evade while sending a cosmic Aurora in hopes of destroying it but it was too late.
The Circle activated and he was teleported away...
.... Along with his Aurora.