This Will Hurt My Lifespan

Amanda ascended to the top of the mountain at her highest speed before coming to a quick stop where she had fought Abe.

Bernice was up there taking care of Emma and Hester who were still unconscious.

Upon seeing Amanda, Bernice shrieked a little and warily backed away.

"Who are you? Why did you shoot me?!"

"I deeply apologize for that."

Amanda put Abe on the ground and deeply bowed to express her sincerity.

"My name is Amanda Bliss. I was under an [Enslaved] enchantment which meant I was being controlled by others. I was ordered to kill any outsiders who got too close. I was released from this enchantment by Sir George and I owe him a heavy favor. I truly feel guilty and want to apologize."

A huge pillar of fire abruptly appeared not too far away that ascended to the heavens, pushing away all the nearby clouds and rapidly melting everything in the vicinity.

"ROAR!" A giant flaming ape twice it's original size appeared out of the pillar of fire and let out a ferocious roar that seemed to shake the heavens. The height of the ape reached the clouds.

At the same time, the auras of two people pushed back against this heat and aura. One of them was demonic magus and the other was dark magus. Bernice recognized the second one but not the first one.

Amanda appeared next to Bernice with Abe and raised her left hand, releasing a skill that generated a large shield around everyone.

*Hiss*

A second later, the surrounding ground began to steam as snow melted and the temperature rapidly rose. The blood stains from the fight on the ground turned into a red mist that rose into the air.

A huge burst of wind appeared that pushed away the steam and uplifted small rocks into the air.

"U-h, what-"

"I suggest you quickly heal your friend." Amanda again put him down next to Bernice.

"Hii! Abe?!"

Bernice shrieked at Abe's terrible condition.

Abe's chest was partially caved in, with bruises and cuts everywhere with his face being covered in dried-up blood. He seemed to be barely alive because his breathing was shallow and coarse.

"[Advanced Healing]!"

Bernice released all her healing magus from her opened magus nodes which flooded her body.

Her two irises turned a golden color as a divine-like radiance enveloped her body, forming a golden aura around her body that spread a few dozen meters in all directions.

At this moment, she seemed to have turned angelic.

A double-layered healing ring appeared above Abe's body and released divine sparkles that slowly descended and entered his body.

His body began to glow a little as the bruises and cuts began to visible heal.

Abe's caved chest started to return to normal shape as his breathing improved at a visible rate. His pale face returned to a normal flush face and his condition finally stabilized.

Bernice collapsed a few minutes later after exhausting all her healing magus. She fell onto her butt and heavily panted with a tired expression.

If this was a normal person, Bernice would not have expended much energy.

However, the cost of healing increases exponentially the higher the rank of the injured particularly if they have high physical attributes. For someone like Abe who invests in his body, the cost is especially high even if he is a rank lower than her.

"T-Thank you for shielding us." Bernice looked up at Amanda and thanked her.

"You... aren't resentful?" Amanda turned her head over to Bernice in surprise.

"It's hard for me to be resentful if someone sincerely apologizes." Bernice weakly smiled. "You have your own circumstances, and I can't blame you if are being controlled against your will."

"Wait, I nearly killed your friend and shot you, and you believe what I said?" Amanda's eyes widened in confusion. This was the first person she has met that has reacted this way.

"You didn't seem like you were lying. You could easily kill all of us in our current state, so I don't think you would be protecting us if you were lying." Bernice explained her reasoning.

Amanda bit her lip but said nothing.

She turned her attention back to the giant flaming ape.

...

George and Melissa ascended to a height right below cloud level.

While he maintained indifference as usual, her expression was gloomy after being forced to suppress her anger.

The distance between each other was only a few dozen feet, causing their aura's to clash against each other and form sparks that caused reality itself to tremble. Their energies are not exactly friendly to each other since demonic magus does not originate from this world.

The influence of the flaming ape continued to increase.

The entire area has been turning into a lava field, merging multiple dormant volcanoes that had been destroyed in the earlier fighting. They only added fuel to the flames.

Huge forest fires at the very edge released tons of smoke that was rapidly blotting out the sky.

"Your goal will be to suppress the flaming ape's movements and launch occasional attacks until I am ready. You are free to use any of your skills. My plan is to..."

"Okay." Melissa heavily nodded after he explained his plan.

George disappeared almost instantly as he ascended upwards.

Melissa took a deep breath as her eyes and expression turned extremely cold.

"[Shadow Chains]."

Enormous holes of darkness appeared at the surface as chains of pure darkness left them. The size of these chains were the largest Melissa has ever conjured and they rived the power of rank SS powerhouses.

These chains rose to the sky and enveloped the entire flaming ape.

"ROAR!"

The flaming ape released another roar of fury as it tried to move.

The chains suppressed some of the heat as they tightly clung to the limbs of the ape. Sparks would be released each time the ape tried to move but to no avail.

Melissa squinted her eyes as she slowly increased the amount of dark magus being consumed.

She was not informed of the 'links' transferring energy into the flaming ape so she was confused why it was growing stronger. The only thing she knew is that the shadow chains will be broken in less than a minute at this rate.

Hundreds of giant shadow daggers materialized out of thin air and were flung at the giant flaming ape. Lava-like blood splashed out of the body of the ape as the daggers penetrated deep.

The flaming ape released for the hundredth time another roar of fury as it tried to move its hand and grab the dagger, but the limbs were still held in place.

The ape's flaming body shined even brighter in response.

The daggers trembled for a second and were forcefully pulled out by explosive energy, sending jets of flames out the wounds. The shadow daggers turned into a mist and dissipated while the wounds rapidly healed.

The sheer power of the flaming ape turned Melissa's thoughts grim.

Even with the power granted to her, she could barely suppress the flaming ape. The feeling of not being able to do more was frustrating for her.

This frustration turned into anger that exploded within her after being suppressed.

"Not enough! I need more!"

Melissa clenched her chest and her heart made an audible heartbeat.

*Thump Thump*

Her vast aura exploded in size as she drew out all the power granted to her. Her entire aura turned into black flames that absorbed all the light in the area.

The black chains gleamed as they became engulfed in black flames, tightening even further.

The flaming ape roared as it was brought into a kneeling position. The intense glow from the ape's body and the searing flames around it dimmed significantly.

"Die! [Shadow Daggers]! [Shadow Clone]!"

Over a thousand enormous shadow daggers materialized into existence along with over a thousand hill-sized shadow clones. The shadow daggers and clones were engulfed in ferocious black flames.

A flash of inspiration appeared in Melissa's mind and she moved with that idea.

All of the clones reached out and grabbed a shadow dagger next to them, forming an army of shadow clones with two daggers instead of one.

[Conditions have been met! The new skill, <Shadow Army>, has been created!]

A user interface appeared in front of her to notify her of this, but she brushed this aside.

The shadow army created an overwhelming presence as they flew towards the ape.

They moved like an assassin, creating huge gashes across every surface of the flaming ape as it was torn apart. Tons of flaming blood spewed out and splashed onto the lava field below.

The flaming ape continually roared in agony as huge chunks of flesh were torn off. The ape went berserk as it tried to break free but again to no avail.

Like last time, the ape unleashed jets of flames through the injuries which managed to destroy many of the shadow assassins.

Although the shadow assassins were created a ton of damage, the injuries were being healed at a visible rate. Not only that, but the power of the ape was still increasing and speeding up the regeneration.

George ascended a thousand feet directly above the head of the giant flaming ape.

He coldly stared at the ape from above and slowly scanned the entire creature, noting down every detail externally and internally. He ignored the fighting from Melissa.

After a minute of analyzing, he finally managed to discover the anomaly core.

Amanda had told him it was in the heart, but he had to look very closely since it is throughout hidden within the heart. He finally found a tiny complex sphere of mysterious codes in the center that was incredibly camouflaged with the fiery blood itself.

"This will hurt my lifespan."

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Notes:

* N/A