Lurking in Shadows

Immediately those who were adept in close combat rushed forward as they engaged in a combat with the group of people dressed in black.

Clank!! Clank!!

As the weapons of both the group clashed against each other, sounds produced from the collision of metals echoed. At the same time sparks were sent flying.

At the front line, those individual adept with weapon clasped their weapons while at the rear those who looked like mages started their chanting.

"By the fiery forge and heat untold, I call upon the heat of old. Let flickering flames bring life anew and by the power of fire, my wish will be true. Come forth the fire from the depth of sun— Razing Inferno"

Suddenly as one of the individuals finished his chant, some changes started taking place in the surrounding as out of nowhere the temperature of the surrounding increased drastically while at the same time lots of tiny sparks formed in thin air.

Those sparks in turn collided with each other at a pace that was impossible to observe with mortal eyes. Within a blink of an eye, a fiery ball of fire about 100 cm in diameter appeared out of nowhere before the individual who had casted it.

Heat generated from that fireball burnt many dried leaves present at the vicinity while at the same time, it's light dispelled the darkness of the forest up-to certain radius and illuminated the battle field.

Those who had charged ahead with weapons, rejoiced upon noticing this change. Meanwhile those who were on the receiving end contorted their face in annoyance.

Clearly, they were not happy about this change.

In fact, the priority target of those individuals dressed in black were those magicians in the rear. But while going for their neck, they were obstructed by those annoying guys wielding weapons.

No sooner had the previous individual who had casted razing inferno spell had finished his casting, others who were chanting beside him also finished their chants.

A fiery ball of fire, a lightning spear, a shield made up of water and couple of converged wind which resembled sharp blades flew towards the individual dressed in black and the girl with blue hair.

Yet Seraphina remained rather calm.

Not even a spec of fear could be seen in her fearless grey eyes. In fact, instead of fear, her eyes were right now sparkling with mockery.

Slightly curling the corner of her lips, a haughty smile adorned her innocent looking face, "Bam!!"

She vocalized that word in rather complacent manner. And no sooner had she finished articulating those words, the fiery ball of fire which seemed unstoppable vapourised in an instant as it vanished in thin air; the same way it was produced within a blink of an eye.

The same happened with other spells that were aimed towards her.

"What?"

"How?"

Witnessing this unusual change, the individuals who had casted this spell and the ones who were rejoicing a moment ago, their brows arched as their pupils constricted while their jaw dropped to the point that a fist could fit in it— they were flabbergasted beyond expectation.

"Hahaha"

Looking at their flabbergasted expression, a subtle chuckle escaped her mouth.

Immediately one of the individuals came to a realisation upon witnessing this strange phenomenon, "She's got a dispeller"

The dispeller however had only a limited range. And thus, it couldn't protect her other allies. Yet she seemed unbothered by that fact.

Who cared if they died or lived? They were just pesky mercenaries hired by her. If they died then it just meant that they weren't qualified enough in the first place.

"Oh, you recognised it so soon? I couldn't expect less from the wiz of our class"

Maintaining her haughty demeanour, she praised the individual who figured out the reason behind this unknown phenomenon. However, the next instant, the smile on her face faded away as her expression turned sour.

"Tch…, weaklings"

Bitterly clicking her tongue, she murmured with a dissatisfied tone while diverting her gaze towards the headless corpse of one of the individuals dressed in black.

One of the black hooded individuals had fallen prey to the sharp wind blades after failing to dodge the wind blades which were aimed towards them.

"Don't worry everyone, although she's got a dispeller, we can still reduce her numbers and deal with her at the end"

Regaining his composure, one of the individuals dressed extravagantly in some kind of fancy armour spoke while tightening his grip on his sword. And as he tightened the grip on his sword, suddenly the light emanating from his sword became even more brighter as the thin layer of aura which was coating his sword grew exponentially.

It was like as if somebody had spilled oil on his sword and set it ablaze.

Taking the command, he rushed forward while most of them were still in somewhat dumbfounded and unguarded situation.

Initiating an attack, he caught one of the mercenaries off-guard and managed to take his hands from his slash. It wasn't only the aura on his blade which had thickened. Right now, he was overflowing with strength and he was faster and shaper than before.

"Yes, Leonard is right. We can still defeat them if we remain coolheaded and combine our strength"

Another individual rallied.

Soon, they all regained their composure and came back to their senses. The presence of the dispeller no longer bothered them. Magic may not harm her but dispeller couldn't prevent sword attacks or any sort of physical attacks.

If they persevered enough, they were bound to get out of this miserable situation alive.

However no sooner had they made up their minds, several arrows and daggers coated with aura and poison flowed towards them from their blind spots.

Within an instant, many of them dropped dead while only two among their impressive 12 members team remained standing. Yet even the faces of those two betrayed this carnage of a scene.

Unbothered by the death of their teammates, one of them heaved a deep sigh as he lifted the corner of his lips, revealing a smile on his face, "Hah…, It's so difficult playing hero"

This was the same individual who had taken the arm of one of the black hooded individuals and encouraged others to rally against Seraphina.

From within the shadows, several people dressed in black made their appearance. This were the same individuals who had hidden themselves in the shadows and fired those arrows and daggers towards those miserable individuals who were going up against Seraphina.