"She's coming in fast!"
"This is it everyone!"
Devon's teeth, his stance firm. Flames burned around his body. But beneath all that, what no one saw was his vision getting blurry and a sharp headache throbbing from the back of his head.
He recognised this feeling.
It was the disorientation an Esper felt when they were on the path toward losing control.
He couldn't afford that.
Not now. Not when they were so close to—
"Devon!" Viktor yelled beside him, arms spread out in preparation as the Queen centipede drew closer. "Thermal shield formation!"
Despite his faltering focus, it all snapped back in place when Devon heard those words. He knew this formation like the back of his hand.
Viktor went first, clenching his fists. That caused an ice wall to rise from the ground, towering like a mountain over the S-rank Espers. Devon exhaled, the fire coating his body blinking for a heartbeat.
SCREEEEEK!
The Queen centipede's scream made him act. He clasped his hands, creating a massive wall of yellow flames that stood right in front of Viktor's ice wall. It was made in such a way that the Queen would ram into Viktor's ice first.
Unfortunately, their idea came crashing quite literally.
A monstrous amount of acid was spat from the queen, searing enough to melt down the ice wall within a couple of seconds. The Espers backed up, the heat from the acid burning the very air around them.
"Fuck!" Alisha cursed. "That thing isn't slowing down!"
"Move out!"
Everyone struggled out of the way as the Queen burst past the fiery wall in a blur. A Glacier Talon S-rank with flight should've found it easier to escape.
Instead, he was the perfect first target.
"Mordecai!" Viktor roared in horror as the queen caught his comrade between her mandibles.
Blood splattered from the man's stomach while the queen's eyes glowing with a malevolent light. His hands dangled as he fought to free himself—
—Futile.
With a violent crunch, the S rank was reduced to nothing but scattered organs and limbs, which fell to the already bloody desert sands.
Across the battlefield, within the hurdled line of Guides, Ambrose watched all this with trepidation. While the system blinked, a meter showed the decline of Devon's energy before mania set in.
[Devon's EP: 7170/10000]
[Frenzy Threshold: 3000]
'So if they're able to defeat that thing without Devon using massive firepower anymore…' Ambrose's thoughts trailed. 'He should be fine. At least, enough for Guide Han to regulate him.'
[By my motherboard… You can't be that slow.]
Ambrose's brows furrowed.
Huh?
"Hey," a guide from Glacier Falcon nudged his shoulder harshly, almost making him stumble. "C-Rank. You'd better stay focused if you want to live."
The other one sniggered. "He doesn't even have a good enough weapon to at least stand a chance. Why did Phoenix Flight bring him?"
At the mention of his guild, his eyes flicked to the only other Guide with him.
Han.
Disdain and something dangerously malicious flashed in those dark orbs. His head was angled toward Ambrose, letting him know he was watching. And judging.
Embarrassment, shame and irritation swelled in Ambrose's cheeks.
Did these bastards really have the time to mock him? After the horrors happening just a few hundred meters ahead of them?
The battle between the S-ranks and Queen centipede had reached an intensity that shook the desert grounds stretching for miles. Heat surged through the air. Cloud-splitting screams resounded.
All in an effort to bring down one S-rank monster.
The disparity between monsters and humans truly felt like heaven and earth right now.
[Devon's EP: 6660/10000!]
[WARNING: Guide Intervention Required]
Wait… what?!
Alarmed by how fast it was dropping, Ambrose's head swung back to the battle. Sure enough, he was just in time to witness Devon launch himself into the sky like a rocket—magnificent fire constructs forming below him.
Chains.
The chains coiled around the Queen before she could move away from them. Some tied around as many of her legs as possible. Others emerged underneath her, wrapping around the midsection of her body.
Then a few caught her head, hindering her even further.
SCREEEEEK!
Her screech this time wasn't one of a monarch about to enact judgment. It was a desperate cry.
From this distance, Ambrose spotted the cold smirk curling Devon's lips as he thundered from the sky:
"Rain hell!"
The combat type S-Rank from Phoenix Flight let out a booming shout before darting fists-first at the Queen. One punch on one of her numerous legs made her stagger.
He went on, moving like lightning between each of her legs. Alisha went next—but not with a sonic scream. This time, she wiggled her fingers in the air, as if playing a stringed instrument.
True sound manipulation.
One precise twist of her wrist sent a concentrated sound wave at the queen's skull. She screeched, breaking some of the fire chains.
'Crap.' Ambrose cursed mentally. 'They will have to exert themselves more.'
Devon was unforgiving with his onslaught. He crossed his arms, summoning tens of chains that interconnected just a few meters above the Queen.
The chains didn't end there, forming a large flaming net. As the net fell on the queen, Viktor charged next. Frost blasts, ice spears and timed ice spikes that hit her stomach formed in just two seconds.
At this point, the A-ranked Espers tagged in, riled up by the fight of the S ranks.
Under the brunt of such heavy bombardment, the Queen cried with pain. There was only so much her exoskeleton could take. Moreover, the fire net and chains gave her continuous burns.
This was it.
Victory never felt so close.
[Devon's EP: 6055/10000.]
Like a curse from the universe, that notification from the system was followed by something that made Ambrose's heart drop.
The queen's eyes bled with a darker shade of red. Not glowed.
Bled.
She managed to move her head until she was staring at the burning orange sky. Straight to Devon.
Meanwhile, chills crawled down the fire-type Esper's spine. The flames under his feet which kept him levitating flickered like failing light bulbs.
Simply because of that one stare.
"Devon!" Ambrose screamed, taking three frantic steps forward. "Devon, look out!"
Too late.
An acidic yellow spit sprayed out of the queen's mandibles like a fountain. It went high, heading for the puny S-rank Esper responsible for her entrapment.
With only a few milliseconds to spare, Devon managed to create a blazing ball of condensed fire around himself. It was, however, barely enough.
BOOM!
The impact of the acid on the fireball made an explosion so powerful that heat waves and gales hit the team hundreds of meters below.
Soon, the fireball dissipated as Devon plummeted like a meteor. As he crashed into the desert sands far away from the battle grounds—vision getting blurrier—he didn't think of his grandfather.
Or about the dreams he failed to fulfil.
His thoughts were consumed with one C-rank Guide.
Even in a situation where his fate was uncertain. He craved his presence. His touch. His… his voice…
"Devon!"
Yes.
Just like that.
"Devon!"
Okay, maybe with less shouting.
The last thing he felt before everything went black was two hands on his shoulder. And a scent that soothed his mind and heart.