While Erin was thankful that the cavalries had arrived but she was feeling a little bit conflicted as her supposed liberators turned out to also be foes of hers.

“What do we have here?” Lucan said as he stepped in front of all the other paladins who parted like clouds after a rain. The Venerers followed closely behind him as they were his tail. “Hmm… who’s this? A familiar face? That’s unexpected. Well, it’s a little bit expected, Lady Erynthea.”

“Lucan…” Erin responded dryly. Her attention wasn’t solely on Lucan. A female Venerer behind Lucan was glaring at Erin with a fiery gaze. With the pair of swords by her side, Erin surmised the female Venerer to be Saril, the one Amyra gave a good thrashing.

“It would seem Ruva’s fortune had graced me today.” Lucan chuckled in delight. “Stay right there, Lady Erynthea. You have a lot to answer for. Don’t try to run.”

“What an idiot. If I could, do you think I would still be here? Here’s an epiphany for you; if people had a choice, none of them would want to be in your presence.”

“Say what you will now, Fae,” Lucan scoffed. “You are secondary.” His gaze shifted to the black hulking twisted figure beside her. His expression contorted with disgust at the sight of Darius’ Demoid form.

“Sir, that’s a Demoid,” said the paladin standing closest to Lucan.

“Of course, I know that, you dunce.”

“Ruvans…” Darius growled, chewing the accursed word in his mouth. “There’s just no end to you hounds… You just keep pouring out one after another. Different masters but the same breed of dogs!”

“What are you blabbering about, Demon?” Lucan sneered. “Well, not that I cared about what you have to say.”

“What a coincidence. Neither do I, Ruva hound.”

“So uncouth but what can be expected of a heretic like you? For defying the grace and commandments of Ruva, I hereby sentence you to die, Demon!”

“You first, Ruva hounds!” Darius bellowed and amassed a large amount of black lightning into his palm.

“Sir, he’s attempting something!” cried the same paladin who warned Lucan before.

Lucan ignored the paladin’s obvious commentary and merely commanded his peers to prepare for an attack. “Give up, Demon! You’re no match against us. You are just one Demon against all of us. What hopes do you have?”

Darius guffawed. “We shall see.” He curled his lips in a contemptuous manner and raised his arm with his palm facing the ceiling.

Saril rushed forward without a foreword and lunged at Darius. However, her sudden assault was repelled by a field of black lightning that appeared around Darius as the lightning in his palm grew bigger and bigger.

“Saril, get back in line!” Lucan shouted. “What were you thinking!?”

“But Sir, shouldn’t we—”

“If we kill him now, the amassed magic would still go rampant. So get your arse back here!”

Saril tutted and retreated back into the fray of her siblings by faith.

“Oh, fuck…” Erin muttered. She blasted the cage with bolts of lightning but the cage shook slightly and showed no sign of crumbling. “What the… Oi, the lot of you! Get me out of this cage!” she screamed at the Ruvans.

“Silence, Fae!” Lucan shot back and cast her presence out of his mind. “Cast a barrier around us with the utmost strength now!”

The paladins and the Venerers began chanting and casting a barrier around themselves.

“Damn it! What a bunch of shams!” Erin scoffed loudly at the Ruvans as she kicked and punched at the cage but to no avail. The cage was extremely sturdy and tough. She barely even chipped at the bars.

Darius was bellowing in laughter seeing Erin and the Ruvans squirming around for their lives. “Empty threats and hollow words. Now prepare to greet Lady Death!”

Erin kept ramming and bashing the cage but her efforts amounted to nothing. The cage stayed upright. The diagram had drained her of too much strength and Mana. Even her Lightning Magic spells produced no fruitful results.

“Curse it all… Do I have to reveal my trump card before I’m even close to the mastermind?” There were so many people present at the moment and none of them was someone she wished to have her secrets be known to, especially a secret such as the Revenant skill. Who knew what these zealots would say of her should they find out she was undying?

Darius let out another triumphant shout as he finally released the black lightning he had been amassing. In front of these many people that were no better than strangers, Erin had to come to a compromise. She activated Lust and entered Lust Deviant state as the mass bolts of lightning struck the ceiling.

The Ruvans had long since completed their barrier and were only waiting for Darius to disperse his amassed magic. The black lightning seeped into the cracks that formed all over the ceiling and amplified the destruction. The ruination spread to the walls and the grounds along with the black lightning.

“Son of a bitch!” Erin cried out infuriatingly as she smashed apart the cage with her fists clad in Arcane Armour, augmented by her Lust-enhanced stats. She dove out of the diagram and quickly cast all of the defensive spells she knew. She conjured multiple Arcane Aegis on top of her as the ceiling came crashing down.

All the while the destruction was happening and spreading, Darius was laughing his heart and mind out. He himself was not spared of the devastation but he didn’t mind. He was a Demoid and death doesn’t come easy for a Demoid. He was soon buried in a mountain of debris.

After the ceiling had crumbled, the earth followed in the destruction. Pieces of dirt and rocks broke apart from the foundation and collapsed onto the already present mountains of debris. Erin was barely holding out from the initial collapse and she was only holding out due to her enhanced stats. She was also using Storm Shell to deflect the collapse.

When the cave-in came to an end, Erin was trapped in darkness, left with only thin streams of light through the gaps. She was relieved to see there was at least some light which meant that the collapse had exposed them to the outside, which also meant she wasn’t buried too deep under.

However, it was not yet the moment for Erin to feel completely relieved yet. She was still trapped under layers of rocks, dirt, and concrete. She could easily move the debris with her current stats but that was very likely to make her circumstance worse.

At present, the layers of her defensive spells were preventing the debris from crushing her, but they could only delay her demise for so long. Her Mana was finite in spite of her incredible Mana reserve and her Mana Harvest skill.

“Now what…” she muttered grimly. In addition to her rapidly draining Mana, her physical constitution was faring well too. She would have already fainted if it wasn’t for her Lust Deviant state.

As Erin was racking her brain for an idea, she felt something had changed. Obviously, it wasn’t the terrain that she was referring to but the tenor of the vicinity. Despite her current plight, it became easier for her to breathe and she felt refreshed.

“What the… Could it be…?”

An abrupt tremor that was coursing through the debris around her interrupted her thoughts.

“Another collapse? An aftershock?” Erin wondered but her speculation was dispelled when she saw traces of black lightning crackling around the dirt and rocks. Suddenly the huge pile of debris on top of her was reduced into ashes and dust by a strong blast of black lightning. The light of the sun poured onto her.

“This is most splendid. You survived, vixen.”

Erin looked up and found the figure of Darius in his Demoid form standing over her. Instead of words of gratitude, she threw a glare at him.

“What? No gratitude?”

“We both know why you rescued me. My death will be a blight on you and this valley.”

Darius scowled. “Ungrateful bitch.”

“Don’t be so down. I am still grateful.”

“You are?”

“Of course. After all, you gave me an opportunity.”

“Opportunity for what?” Darius questioned but the answer came immediately. His face deformed with rage and terror as his lips halted. He leapt away as Erin conjured a sword moulded of cyan lightning and slashed at him.

To fuel her defensive spells, she had been using Mana Harvest repeatedly to get every last drop of Mana she could. Darius’ black lightning had left a lot of residues behind which she was able to convert into Mana through Mana Harvest. Moreover, the vicinity was suddenly flooded with Exalted Spirits. She surmised the Vault had been opened accidentally as a result of Darius’ outburst.

“Fucking bitch!” Darius snarled. He swung his claws at Erin but she twirled around his claws and flourished her sword around as she swirled around him.

The next thing Darius knew, his left arm had come off his shoulder. “Impossible! What have you done!? How could you—”

“You don’t need to know,” Erin retorted and pressed her assault. She still couldn’t use her Spatial Magic and Unique Talents against Darius but she still had her Lightning Magic and Spirit Magic. In her Lust Deviant state, this was more than enough.

Darius tried to create some distance between them but Erin kept the gap short and unleashed a flurry of attacks upon him.

“You forgot the futility of facing against me!” Darius roared and swung his claws wildly in retaliation.

Erin’s speed was akin to turning herself into lightning. She sped behind him and struck.

Darius was just as fast but his claws could not save him from her thrust. He forewent blocking Erin’s strike and veered from her thrust.

Erin’s movements followed him. Her blade was immediately upon him the moment after he dodged. He spun to the side but Erin spun with him. Her tails lunged at him and he deflected her offhanded assault with his claws. He groaned as he repelled the underhanded attack. He saw his claws were lightly charred.

“I was hurt by the Spirits… Preposterous! This is impossible!” Darius glared at Erin intensely. “Just what have you done? Spirit Magic should not be this effective.”

“Normal Spirits, yes.”

“Normal Spirits? What are you talking about?”

Erin shrugged. “Nothing,” she replied and lunged, brandishing another lightning sword in her other hand. These lightning swords were actually a variant of Storm Glaive but with the use of the Exalted Spirits, she changed the form of the spell, much like how she founded her Unique Talent, Bespoke. It was also through the aid of Exalted Spirits.

“This is absurd… How can this be happening!?” Darius grouched as he struggled to dodge each of Erin’s strikes. He had expended a lot of his Mana to protect himself from the collapse. He had suffered considerable injuries but he had mended himself, though at the cost of an immense amount of his Mana. He was a half-Demon but Mana was still the sustenance for his spells and skills, unlike true Demons who drew their sustenance from hell.

As the fight dragged on, Darius’ movements became lacking and his Demoid powers faded. With the regress of his prowess, his severed arm was beginning to take its toll. It had been bleeding profusely for the past few minutes. With his Demonic powers diminishing, so was his vigour.

Erin was relentless in her assault. She herself was also on borrowed time. The longer she was in Lust Deviant state, the more she would have to indulge in her lust later on. With her augmented stats, Darius couldn’t even put a scratch on her. In fact, she did not take a single step back in this fight. Eventually, she sliced off his other arm and forced him onto his knees with her lightning-moulded blade pressing against his neck.

“You were hiding your true strength all along?” Darius muttered in between his pants. His Demoid form was no more. He was now just a man, an enfeebled man who could barely gather his breaths.

“One must be discreet when facing an individual such as Marduk.”

Darius chuckled. “Would I be correct in assuming you still have more up your sleeves?”

Erin’s gaze narrowed. “I’m no fool, Marduk.”

Darius guffawed, or at least the one controlling his body did. “Impressive, Lady Erynthea.”

“We finally met… in a way.”

“Since when did you realise?”

“Darius is no highborn. You spoke like a highborn just now. And he’s not the inquisitive type.”

“Not bad, Lady Erynthea. I have to thank you. His will is strong but with your help, you weakened him enough for me to take control. Thank you, Lady Erynthea.”

Erin snorted “...And here I was wondering why you just let the dissent and strife be. They’re just bait, to lure in your other enemies and to gather intelligence about them.”

“Brilliant, won’t you agree?”

“Disgustingly so.”

“Everything’s fair in love and war, Lady Erynthea. You are just one surprise after another. Just what more are you hiding?”

“You’re welcome to keep guessing.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now.”

Erin raised an eyebrow.

“Even if you won’t tell me, you will show me.”

Erin frowned.

“It’s too late now, Lady Erynthea.”

Just then, a series of explosions could be heard in the direction where the city was.