The air inside the townhouse foyer was thick enough to choke a lesser hunter to death.
Zen stood perfectly still, his muscles screaming in agony as the D-Rank suppression ring choked off his internal mana reserves.
The freezing ash from the Grave of the Forgotten was still clinging to his tactical jacket, but the cold was nothing compared to the suffocating heat of the four S-Rank auras currently suffocating the room.
"I said," Valeria began, her voice dropping a full octave as she casually rested her massive black-steel broadsword against the marble floor, "you left your left flank exposed for a quarter of a second. That is unacceptable. We are sparring. Now."
Her crimson eyes were completely dilated. The Vanguard Goddess was practically vibrating with predatory adrenaline.
"He is not fighting you, you meathead," Aurelia snapped, stepping in front of Valeria.
