Thud thud thud——!
The Dragonkin Demon’s onslaught came like a raging storm against Teresa’s shield, the sheer force causing blood to trickle from the corner of her mouth.
Yet, in return, her longsword had slashed the demon’s flesh, turning it into a bloody mess.
Just then, a new flash of swordlight struck from behind the Dragonkin Demon, forcing it to retreat from Teresa’s front and granting her a moment to catch her breath.
“Pella?”
Teresa blinked slightly in surprise as she recognized the owner of the swordlight.
Seizing the opportunity, Pella and several other squad members stood shoulder to shoulder with Teresa, their faces grave as they stared at the Dragonkin Demon.
“Captain, we’re not going to abandon you to face this alone.”
“You all…”
“And us as well!”
At that moment, the Leanna Squad appeared before them, facing the Dragonkin Demon without any sign of retreat.
“As the Captain, I would never abandon a single squad member.”
With just those words, she quashed Teresa’s attempt to urge them to withdraw.
After a brief silence, Teresa took a deep breath and said, “Then let’s fight it out!”
Wiping the blood from her lips, she fixed her gaze on the Dragonkin Demon.
Divine Grace flared wildly around her, and this time, a fierce battle desire ignited in her eyes.
Like an ant provoking a giant, the Dragonkin Demon, sensing its contempt, grew furious.
It looked down on the group of young girls with a cruel smile curling its lips.
“Since you want to come and die, I’ll gladly oblige!”
With that, it slammed both hands into the earth.
The fortress floor cracked and shattered instantly, and chaotic Abyssal Magic burst forth from beneath like sharp spikes.
Teresa leapt into the air, granting all the female Rose Knights icy-blue wings.
Leanna took the lead, diving toward the Dragonkin Demon like a hawk, with Meilin covering her.
Sally’s arrows, charged with Joina’s lightning, transformed into streaks of blue light in midair, interrupting the demon’s attempt to grasp Leanna and Meilin.
Aelia healed the wounds of everyone, allowing their injuries to mend quickly.
On Teresa’s squad’s side, Pella and the others coordinated perfectly as well.
Under their combined efforts, the Dragonkin Demon’s body grew riddled with wounds, its momentum suppressed.
Whenever it tried to focus on taking down one Knight, Teresa would appear to block its attacks with her shield.
The shield, forged from concentrated Divine Grace, was unbreakable even under the demon’s overwhelming power.
However, the gap in strength between them was impossible to ignore.
The Dragonkin Demon licked the wounds on its arm with its tongue, crimson eyes flashing with savage light.
“If I’m going to get hurt, then I won’t hold back!”
It dodged Teresa’s shield, then bore through Leanna and Meilin’s assault.
Before anyone could react, it suddenly appeared in front of Aelia.
“Die!”
“Aelia!”
The demon’s massive hand lunged for the girl’s small head.
Aelia instinctively tried to dodge, but it was too late; her face paled as the claws looming over her grew larger and larger.
Whoosh——!
But just then, a roaring wind sounded in her ears.
An unexpected heavy hammer crashed down behind her, striking the Dragonkin Demon’s head with a heavy thud and sending it flying away from Aelia, who was moments from death.
Afterward, a somewhat playful voice sounded next to her.
“Hey, you two squads risking your lives to challenge the strongest demon in this fortress—did you forget you have other teammates? Our Order of Knights isn’t just made up of ten people.”
Aelia froze in surprise, then quickly turned her head.
Seeing who had arrived, joy surged in her heart.
A petite loli stood atop the roof, shouldering a heavy hammer several times her size.
Beside her stood four female Rose Knights.
“The Aixi Squad?!”
“Hmph, did you forget the support signal?”
The loli at the forefront snorted coldly, causing Aelia to purse her lips awkwardly.
Inside the Sand Fortress, the demons were in rebellion.
The Leanna Squad had deliberately refrained from sending a support signal, fearing that other squads would rush in hastily and put themselves in danger.
After all, each squad had its own formidable demons to contend with.
Crack——
A noise came from the ruins in the distance.
The Dragonkin Demon, buried beneath the rubble, stretched out a hand, pushing aside the stones and standing up again.
“Forget about that for now.”
Seeing that it hadn’t suffered serious injury from the hammer strike, loli Aixi lowered her weapon and wiped the smile from her face, growing serious.
“The Third Squad, Aixi Squad, here to support!”
Tick tick tick——
Rain began to fall from the sky, quickly turning into a heavy downpour.
Within the storm, the wind howled fiercely.
The moment the Dragonkin Demon encountered the raging wind, strange slashes appeared across its body.
Someone was moving within the rain, but no ordinary eyes could see them.
At the same time, beyond the misty rain in the distance, a few robed girls appeared.
They silently chanted, and the Magic in the air grew oppressively dense, as if ominous thunder hid within the dark clouds above.
The Fourth and Fifth Squads!
Leanna recognized them at a glance.
The Dragonkin Demon panted heavily, unleashing its full strength.
“More of you? You think numbers will be enough to defeat me?!”
It roared and launched back into battle against the girls.
But this time was different.
It was completely on the defensive.
Teresa blocked every attack.
The slashes in the rain, the hidden magic, even the nearly exhausted Leanna and Meilin—all dealt damage to it.
Its strength drained rapidly.
Covered in wounds, it resorted to wildly swinging its arms, like swatting flies, attempting to repel the girls closing in.
The girls were equally exhausted.
Even the reinforcements from the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Squads had fought through many demons before reaching this point to aid Leanna and the others.
Their stamina was nearly spent.
At this moment, the Dragonkin Demon and the girls were battling with nothing but sheer willpower.
Unfortunately for the demon, this group of girls never feared a contest of will.
After over a month of Life-and-Death Training, their resolve was as hard as steel.
Seizing the moment, Leanna thrust her sword through the demon’s chest.
The demon, enraged by the wound, punched Teresa and Leanna away with a heavy blow.
As they flew back, Leanna shouted,
“Now! Sally!”
Sizzle—!
Sally pulled her bowstring taut with all her might.
Joina’s lightning charged the arrow, making it blaze like a bolt of crackling electricity.
Whoosh—!
The arrow tore through the air, aimed at the Dragonkin Demon.
The demon instinctively leapt upward to evade it, but Aixi suddenly appeared behind it and brought her heavy hammer down hard on its back.
“Go back!”
Thud—!
The heavy sound echoed throughout the Sand Fortress.
The demon was slammed backward, and the wayward arrow, guided by the storm’s wild wind, pierced the demon’s heart.
In the next moment, from the hole in its chest, ice-blue electric cracks and sacred golden light rapidly spread across its entire body.
“…Impossible…”
It gasped out the words with difficulty before its massive form collapsed with a thunderous crash in the silence.
It dissolved into countless sparks of electricity and light, vanishing into the deathly still air of the Sand Fortress.