Milian was burning while its guardian argued over what to do with one girl.

Melody couldn’t even bring herself to get angry. It was too pathetic. Then she realized she put herself through pain and brutal lacerations to save these idiots.

Now she simply sad.
 
“I don’t get it!” One adventurer argued. “Why don’t we just kill her?”

“That would be a waste,” one bearded adventurer said. “Look at her body. She should fetch quite a handsome prices from the slave market after a little cleaning.”

“Oh, shut up!” An eye-patch woman slinging a broken arm jabbed at one man. “I’m the one this bitch rob! Only I have the right to sell her!”

“Don’t you dare!” Another man yelled at the eye-patch woman. “It took all of us to bring her down! The share should get divided equally between all of us!”

“You did nothing!” One unkemptly dressed man called out. “How about this! We divide the share by contributions. My team suffers the most casualty taking her down. We should receive the lion share.”

“Don’t try to sneak your way in this! Ours did the most damage!”

Melody listened to the sad comedic skid with depressive amusement. This torture was simultaneously pathetic and sad. It was like watching a person getting maul to death by a goat.
 
“Just shut up and kill me already,” the young demoness groaned. “Death is better than this.”

“SHUT UP! You think you are in the position to act like a smart-mouth right now?”

“You know boss; why don't we strip her down and make her our-“

“Shut up all of you.”
 
The voice was cold and chilling. Everyone turned to see the old man glaring reproachfully at them. Silence immediately came to the area courtesy of the threatening air oozing out of the old man like sun rays.

“You all need to respond to the Emergency Charter. Illma Zoldia Road isn’t the type who let you get away with retarding.”
 
“What about this little bitch?” An adventurer swung a kick at Melody’s face.

The kick connected squarely in her face. However, exhausted and beaten as she were, Melody's superior toughness still showed. The girl tanked the blow without flinching while glaring back at the kicker so intensely that he backed away.

“Enough,” the old man said. “I'll be keeping watch over her.”

“Like hell, we know you plan to take her for yourself?”

“Isn’t the fact that I'm one of the widely known adventurers in this town enough for you?” The old man replied. “You all know where I live. If I break this deal, you can find me anytime. Moreover, I am the one who dealt her the most damage. I got the most say in what we should do with her. Right now, you are wasting time while a dragon continues to rampage.”

“But-“

“Do you think you have a connection to survive Illma Zoldia Road’s punishment after delaying her order?”

The adventurers said nothing.
 
“Fine! We’re leaving guys!”

One by one, the adventurers left. Some threw back a curse at the young girl before walking away, some part of the crowd glanced back angrily, but most departed without saying a word. At long last, the girl and the old man was left alone.

“Why are you doing this?” Melody started.
 
“For profit, mostly,” the old man said. “This is the best way for me to get out of this alive.”

“What?!” Melody spoke in shock.

The old man sat cross leg before liting his cigarette.

“It is a tactical decision,” the old man said. “But if this is a Sicilian Ghost Dragon, then fighting its head-on is suicide. Meanwhile, I need to protect my position in the adventurer’s guide, so this is the best option I have. Send those stupid youngsters to die in the fire first, then came in later when the victor is clear. Hopefully, Illma will get kill by the dragon, and everything will go back to normal. If the dragon lost, I can say I am guarding you. Either way, I survive.”

“Then why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because you are a thief and an annoyance. Between your words and mine who would take yours seriously. Plus, if I cu-“ 

BANG!

A pillar of rock sent the old man crashing into a house. He tried to climb up, but a second pillar smashed his consciousness into the ground.

“Geez, basic forms of cowardice truly plague all ages.” A stuffy voice spoke from behind Melody’s back. “And I think I would get to retire in peace after all those stupid wars.”

The pillory locking the young demoness in place magically dissolved into muds, leaving Melody sitting on the ground, blinking at her rescuer.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Obi-wan Kenobi,” said an old-dwarf. “Should we get you a drink and a patch-up, Princess of Demonic Continent?”

…

On the other side of the town, another decisive battle raged.

An explosion blasted Luxinna off a roof and lighted few of the remaining building on fire. The elf landed on a nearby house, sending pieces of red tiles flying from her landing. Luxinna picked herself up and ran as another lance of fire turned the ground she stood on to rubble. 

Without a doubt, the fight went disastrously for the elf.

On the roof behind her, Illma Zoldia Road stepped into the moonlight.

The full moon cast a black, ominous figure, towering above the fleeing elf. Despite holding the high ground, Illma was resisting the urge to tear her hair out. The elf was fast, almost too fast. She couldn’t land a solid hit on her at all.

Illma clenched her teeth; time to go all-out.

The Untouchable called upon her Skill. A red pool of ominous light flowed from below her feet like an ocean corruption. 

Then she cast her spell.

“[Sacrificial Rite: Bloodstain Blossom].”

Seven crimsons orbs materialized behind Illma and lashed toward Luxinna in a blaze of dark-red trails. The elf leaped back, preparing for a counter-attack until her body shook. A chilling, blood-curling pain in her stomach shuddered through her body as if her intestine was burning. 

Luxinna bit off the scream, but that pause was enough for an orb to come close enough.

The orb's power completely overshadowed the previous attack. It nearly collapsed the house below her in one collision before exploding, blowing the building and Luxinna herself into the sky. The elf grimaced from damage before quickly realizing she had six more attacks to fight off. 

Luxinna landed on a roof nearby, tossing three knives into those orbs, setting-off three crimson explosions. However, the elf underestimated the explosions that, despite being a good 20 meters away, was powerful enough to send her flying. Luxinna bounced across the roof with her ears ringing. Nevertheless, she managed to intercept a few more orbs with her knives before falling off the roof. Luckily, she caught its edge in time and hung on with all her strength. 

But the resulting blast didn't stop. It overcame the barrier of distance, rocking the house and knocking the windows off their hinge. The elf huffed, blinking out her tears as the pain in her stomach light her nerves on fire.

What the heck was that?

Then the entire house blew up, blasting Luxinna into the street below. Then, around her, everything exploded.

In the distance, Illma watched the orbs rendered entire blocks to ash and smiled.

The little freak must be dead at this point.

…

Luxinna wasn’t dead.

With luck and speed, the elf survived the explosion, albeit barely, mostly due to her golden armor dampening the blast. 

Exhausted, Luxinna dragged herself from the carnage, discretely making her way across a dampened alley. She hoped to find a place to hide, but instead, a light of a busy street met her.

She blinked. Then a dreadful realization struck.

In her battle with Illma, Luxinna didn’t stay in a particular area. Given that her only ace over Illma was her superior agility, honed from years venturing the Lightwell forest, the elf used it to the very fullest. She Leaped roof-to-roof, dodging lances and columns of flames, hoping to trick Illma into over-spending her mana.

But she didn’t notice the direction the battle was taking her. The constant movement took her from the North-East side of the town down to the South East. Right in the middle of an unevacuated area.

“This is bad,” she talked to herself. 

“No,” said the voice above her. “This is excellent. With you annoyingly refuse to die, murdering those plebian will be an excellent stress relief.” 

Luxinna’s heart sank.

Illma Zoldia Road stood on the roof above before gliding down on the cloud of fire. The Untouchable landed with only Luxinna between her and innocent civilian.

“You know, this isn’t the first time I do this,” Illma said cheerily. “Lure trashes into the plebian then blow 'em all up. Those screaming are excellent for my mental health.”

Illma’s hand glowed red as an ominous crimson light pooled beneath her.

“[Sacrificial Rite: Bloodstain Edge],” Illma laughed. “Run as you want bitch! My [Blossom] marked anyone who survived its barrage with a locator curse. There are nowhere you can hide!”

Luxinna glanced behind her.

A bar stood behind her. Inside it, a woman was being cat-called by a cheerful-looking man. One bartender called his friend out for being a pain, while two customers laughed at the mundanely of it all. Among the outdoors tables, two kids were pretending to be an adventurer. One, in particular, was a boy holding a toy staff, playing as a mage.

Despite the chaos blowing up a block nearby, these people still believed everything would be fine. For them, the dragon and explosion were just like a random hurricane. They thought, wholeheartedly, that after tonight everything would go back to normal. The area might get crowded from the evacuees, but they faced the challenge with a welcoming attitude; ignorantly continuing their lives despite a mass-murderer visited.

Luxinna couldn’t dodge; her moral wouldn’t stand her letting those innocent people taking these blows for her.

“Die,” Illma Zoldia Road slashed her hand, unleashing a crimson blade.
 
The elf gritted her teeth and let loose magic of her own.
 
The two light, gold, and crimson lit up the entire block.
 
…
 
In another part of Millian, a certain goddess was losing her mind.
 
“What do we do?!” Cytortia screamed at the sky. “F-U3 fails! And Lux is fighting that monster one-on-one. Scathach, what do we do?”

Scathach was biting her nail nervously. It was the first time Cytortia saw Scathach this afraid.

“Launch F-U3,” Scathach ordered, sweating with nervousness. “Seven syringes is still better than zero.”

“What about Luxinna?”

Scathach didn’t answer that question. She didn’t want to tell the goddess that this wasn’t the first time someone tried to put a pointy object into Illma’s heart. She didn’t want to tell Cytortia that all of those hopeful assassins ended up dead.

Worse was even those double-digit body-count failed to reveal any useful information on Illma’s ability.

Scathach wouldn't even give Luxinna 14% percent chance of survival.

But, still, she wished for a miracle.

…
 
Outside Millain, a tower of fire started to die down.
 
A crafter, dressed in ceremonial garb, started dancing; calling upon the spirits to bless the weapon of the heart of the paladin.

... 

It was a calm night when the two men chatted over a drink.
 
“Is the business that gloomy?” One man asked.
 
Another man pinched the bridge of his nose.

“The Untouchable ruins the business,” he replied. “People won’t visit when they felt their life hanging on the line. It gets worse this month. Everyone tried to keep it normal, but it was like we are under a steel grip.”

“Hah, I know the solution for you, my man. A trip to the brothel can fix any-“

 Suddenly a crimson glow bathed them.

“What is th-“

Without warning, something cannonballed into the bar with speed barely visible to the eyes. The object sped past the men and embedded itself into the wall with a force of the canon, splintering the impact zone into smithereens.

It was a shambling body of Luxinna. The elf was breathing, but the crashed of power left her battered. Blood seeped from multiple scratches across her body. The right sleeve of reinforced uniform had been torn away from the blast, revealing a new bleeding slash-wound on her arm.

The men stared. The crowd gathered to see what was happening until they heard the voice that sent a chill down their spine.

“I have to say I am annoyed,” Illma Zoldia Road walked out from the dark alley. “Do you happen to share a gene with a cockroach, you bitch?"

The crowd barely believed their eyes.

“Il-Illma,” a bartender pointed at the Untouchable monster. “ILLMA ZOLDIA ROAD! EVERYONE RUN!”
 
All of a sudden, the crowd ran, screaming and crying for their lives. The two chatting men tried to find a way of the pub, but the only exit brought them in front of Illma’s firing range. The two children playing outside the bar shrank to the nearest corner, one burst into tear. The waitress screamed and dove for cover, while the bartender hunkered down and started prying.

They knew it was hopeless. That was the fate of the weak in the jaw of the strong.

“Annoying,” Illma turned and pointed at crying children, her finger bright with flames. “I always hate the brat’s crying noise.”
 
The children cried, but the older one still mustered up the courage to shield the younger boy from the flame. He closed his eyes, feeling the flash of red and gold cut by, but he felt nothing.

“Get inside the bar and find a place to hide. I’ll handle her.”

The boy opened up his eyes to see himself shielded by a beautiful glass flower while everything around him burns. A tattered figure that wasn't there the moment before held the golden light. She was bleeding, leaning on her knee, but her voice was far from defeat.

“Handle me?” Illma laughed. “Look at you! You can’t even land a scratch!”

Behind her mask, Luxinna's teeth clenched as she gathered the strength to stand up. Her mind was spinning. She knew an animal's body language. Heartbeat and muscle never lied to her. Years surviving and hunting predator in the forest with only senses and smart taught her to rely on all her instinct. She needed to focus. Rem beat her because she got distracted and she can’t let that happened here.

That last taunt was a bluff. Luxinna landed a hit, but Illma tried to convince her she failed to do a single thing. Why? The elf mentally revised the entire fight for a hint.

Those weird sense of pain in her stomach, the same agony ripping her arm apart even now, then the electric shock before any of those; those must be a core of Illma ability.

Wait.

Electric shock? How did she get shocked? Isn’t its Illma who got tasered? And isn’t those previous attacks too powerful? If Illma could demolish the entire block in the beginning, how did one agile elf survive this long? Those special attacks must take something out of Illma.

Then it hit Luxinna. Maybe those sense of pain was the magic's recoil, and the reason she felt it was the same as the reason she got the electric shock.
 
“Oh, I think I land something,” Luxinna tested the water. “Only I’m feeling it instead of you.”

Illma’s eyes widened.

“Oh, you think you work out something!” She quickly countered. “Too bad! You are dead wrong.”

Bingo, Luxinna thought. Illma was lying. The Untouchable’s ability was pain transmission. Illma could transmit the sense of pain to her opponent. Given how Illma used the [Sacrificail Rite] special attack sparingly, she couldn’t send the actual injury just the pain.

Now the elf only needed to ask herself one more question.

How does she beat a sociopath armed with an automatic magic shield, pain transmitting ability, and an over-power attack that exploit the full-force of pain transmission?