This is just about the worst thing that could’ve happened to us. The group of Light Continent troops looks to be about fifty strong, though some of them seem to be slaves, like for combat and healing.

And all around us, there’s a lot of other people, wearing raggedy clothes and covered in dirt, most of them with dead looks in their eyes, hardly paying us any attention whatsoever.

On top of that, there’s a familiar looking structure a couple dozen meters away to my left...no doubt about it, that’s the entrance to a Labyrinth. The Dead Zone Labyrinth, said to be the most dangerous one in the world.

We could fly off back towards Obsidian, but...we might as well take out these Light Continent troops before that.

Suddenly, as a blast of wind came shooting towards me, I swiftly put up a barrier using a Light Attribute Spell, blocking the blast in time, cracks spreading out across my barrier upon impact.

Not too bad, my barriers are pretty powerful...well, these people seem eager to attack us, so we might as well oblige...

"Hey, we can fight them, right?" Inquired Izzy eagerly.

"Mhm, they attacked first, so we have no reason to hold back. Try not to kill the ones who have collars around their necks if possible, just knock them out or something. Kill the rest," I remarked, before bringing out my whip as she spread out her wings and shot forward, several cries of pain and alarm ringing out as she ripped through the troops like paper, tearing them apart before unleashing a blast of blue flames, scorching several of them into ash.

Hey, come on, leave some for me.

"All of you, surround and exterminate this Demon! I shall handle the other one!" Suddenly exclaimed one of the men, turning his gaze towards me before yanking a chain attached to the collar of one of the slaves, a young woman as he snapped at her, "Come with me, Heretic! Make yourself useful!"

A Heretic, huh? Stupid of him to announce that, now I know that she can use all four Elemental Magics and both Attributes.

Hm, this guy seems to be pretty strong, and the slave girl is powerful too...after my Contract was formed, I gained to ability to sense the potency of a person’s Mana, it doesn’t really work at a distance, but it lets me approximate how powerful someone is when they’re within mid-range or so, so it’s pretty useful.

Alright, then, this could be a good opportunity to test out my new abilities for real. I can’t draw on my Contract and transform at the moment, and I won’t be able to for a while, but it’s fine. Ordinary humans aren’t a threat to me anymore...

"Izzy, you can take care of the rest, leave this one to me!" I called out to her, as the man and his slave approached me.

"Got it!"

"I don’t know how you Dark Continent bastards knew that we were here, but even with a Demon under your command, coming here alone was arrogant of you," Remarked the man approaching me, charging up a swirling Elemental Water Spell as he chanted, "Now, Manifest Soul Weapon: Heavenly Lance!"

A large, glowing white lance appeared in his left hand, as he swung it across the air, before swiftly thrusting it in my direction, firing out a piercing shockwave at me.

I swiftly raised my arm and cracked my whip straight down while rapidly extending it, his eyes widening as I sliced through his attack and dissipated it, before I rapidly stiffened and extended my whip straight at him.

He leapt off to his right in alarm, grimacing as I grazed the side of his left arm with my whip, slicing through his armor and leaving a small cut on his skin, blood trickling down from the wound as he fired out the swirling water blast he’d been charging straight at me, which rapidly expanded as it closed in on me.

Oh, not bad, he was compressing it while charging it up, giving it plenty of momentum, and when he fired it, it sharply expanded, widening its range. Hm, at that size...I’m completely obscured from his vision.

I smirked as I sank into my shadow, the water blast shooting past from from above as I dropped into the shadows and floated over towards the man’s shadow...

I’ll skewer him right through the heart from behind and-...huh?

I stared in shock and disbelief at my arm, as someone grabbed hold of my forearm, right before I could extend my whip...impossible, h-how?

"Well, this isn’t good," I remarked with a grimace, as I stared at a massive fireball right in front of me.

I quickly unleashed a powerful burst of wind from my body, letting out a stifled hiss of pain as several streaks of flames hit me, before I rapidly shot up through the shadow above, emerging back outside.

My eyes widened as the man swiftly spun around and slashed at me with his lance, which I just barely blocked with the dagger end of my whip handle, before being hit by a burst of lightning shooting out of his shadow, followed by a blast of wind that sent me flying away.

As I went flying back through the air, I cracked my whip at the man with a rapid flick of my wrist while airborne, the length of my whip glowing brighter and brighter.

He raised his lance defensively in response, and as my whip collided against his weapon...a powerful explosion burst out, eliciting a startled cry of pain and alarm from the man, as I regained my balance in midair and landed on my feet, skidding back slightly.

"Well, that was new...that’s the first time I’ve ever been in danger while down in the shadows," I remarked with a wry smile...as the slave girl emerged from the man’s shadow, the dust from my explosion slowly starting to clear...

_____________________________________________ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP