Chapter 299
BOSS Learned Mechanics
After inputting Mana, Eivass applied slight pressure with three fingers, sending the red card in his hand, which was bursting with flame streams, flying out.
The butterfly card, spinning in mid-air as it flew, spewed golden-red flames, transforming into a flying disc of burning fire.
It spun out of the dilapidated door, and then flames erupted from its center—
Four deep crimson butterfly wings, stern like a sunset, emerged from within, with pure black ashes forming the outermost layer. As it burned, it continued to shed black ash like snow, while in the center, a girl, curled up like an infant, slowly opened her body and stretched.
She originally appeared to be younger than Yulia, but now she looked about the same age. She was still wearing the black gauze dress that burned like a widow’s attire, but her size had increased from eighty centimeters to about one meter and thirty to forty centimeters.
Her long black hair reached her ankles, moving as if in a breeze. Her dark red pupils were filled with killing intent.
The moment the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames appeared, it immediately opened its mouth, and lava-like radiance condensed at its lips.
It rapidly expanded, and an extremely hot, deep crimson flame stream burst forth!
The heatwave churned up a storm, blowing surrounding dust and broken grass in all directions. Even the grass about half a meter around the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames was flattened by the wind pressure, rustling and shaking. Then, they began to turn yellow at a visible speed, subsequently igniting on their own.
The flame stream plunged squarely into the crowd—
These Demon Scholars had not expected that after casually breaking into a village house, a powerful and hostile Phantom Demon would suddenly appear.
The protective rituals they had prepared were meant to resist bullets, arrows, and explosives—after all, even a Fourth Tier expert would unlikely be able to withstand approaching demon hordes.
To pose a threat to them, the best method was ranged attacks. This was precisely why they had prepared countermeasures in advance.
This was honed through countless battles.
However, their defenses were completely useless against the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames.
As the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames slowly rotated its flame stream—she only needed to shift her angle slightly, but at the tip, it resulted in a displacement of several meters. Those people were roasted and screamed, their entire bodies burning with flames and turning into charcoal.
In an instant, five to six people were killed by the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames!
After releasing the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, Eivass immediately turned and commanded Lily, “Go into the shadows first, Lily.”
“Yes.”
Lily hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Seeing Eivass suddenly attacked and nearly injured protecting her, a fierce rage ignited within her. This was not related to her resonance with the Path of Adaptation, but rather influenced by the Path of Love.
However, Lily did not lose her reason.
After all, she was only a Second Tier Assassin and Witch. Even with the trump card of transforming into a werewolf, it would be meaningless in such a large-scale battle.
She would only become a burden to Eivass, requiring the Shadow Demon to protect one more person.
So, Lily slipped into the shadow beneath Eivass’s feet, and the Shadow Demon, which had been hidden within her body, returned to Eivass.
Feeling the renewed connection with the Shadow Demon and the Fury perceived from it, Eivass felt a tinge of regret.
If only he had the Shepherd’s Method now… perhaps he could have pacified the Shadow Demon.
—This ritual is too troublesome.
Eivass even felt his temper worsening slightly.
“Prioritize destroying the ritual, Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames.”
After giving the command to the Little Butterfly, Eivass turned to the Shadow Demon and ordered, “Protect me, Shadow Demon—I permit you to devour them.”
“To this day, I no longer find that rotting flesh appealing, my dear Master…”
The Shadow Demon let out an increasingly dry, hoarse, and almost mad laugh, “You’ve made my palate too discerning…”
The dark, mud-like shadow churned and boiled, slowly spreading across the ground.
The next moment, a Shadow Wolf, covered in ferocious shadow tentacles and entirely black save for its scarlet pupils, slowly emerged.
This was a form the Shadow Demon had never displayed before—
At this moment, the wooden door, which had been mostly blown apart by the fireball, was violently kicked open from the outside!
A Deformed Demon with a ferocious face, accompanied by two alien-like, winged crawling demons, charged in with bared fangs and claws.
Their strategic thinking was clear—in the complete absence of command, at least three Demon Scholars immediately realized that the butterfly-shaped Phantom Demon was likely the product of a ritual.
If it was summoned through a ritual… whether it was a prayer on the Path of Devotion or a ritual by a Ritualist Mage, destroying the ritual site would cause it to dissipate!
Therefore, instead of probing attacks on the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames, they changed their plan to attack Eivass and destroy the ritual!
If not for the Shadow Demon, they might have succeeded.
However, now, Eivass didn’t even need to give commands.
A sharp shadow, like a shark’s fin rising from the sea, sliced through—dividing the Deformed Demon in two!
Then, the Shadow Wolf, covered in tentacles, emerged from the end of the shadow shark fin. Its tentacles transformed into countless sharp, slender shadow spears, making it resemble a sea urchin, instantly piercing the bodies of the two crawling demons!
The shadow, carrying strong corrosive power, rapidly corroded and destroyed their bodies.
Eivass, not overconfident enough to rush out of the room and expose himself to the Demon Scholars’ view, cautiously squatted in a corner of the house, looking at the battle outside through the equally dilapidated window with his peripheral vision.
Fifth Tier Demon Scholars were not to be trifled with.
After the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames inflicted considerable casualties at the start, its damage was quickly suppressed—the Giant rapidly constructed a ritual for the [Flame Immunity Barrier]. That deep crimson barrier effectively reduced the temperature of the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames’ flame stream.
The originally focused and condensed flame stream, like a laser cannon, turned into scattered tongues of fire after passing through the barrier. The temperature was still high but had lost its penetrating power.
This was still because the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames’ caliber was high enough—if it hadn’t carried the mark of a High-Tier Phantom Demon, it probably wouldn’t have turned into tongues of fire but would have been blocked entirely outside the barrier.
But even so, the opponents were unable to effectively counterattack.
After all, the Butterfly of Paradoxical Flames could fly, and it was quite fast.
Under Eivass’s careful guidance during his daily blood-feeding, she no longer fought solely on instinct—in simple terms, she had learned to dodge mechanics.
She now resembled a bomber, opening the demonic eyes on her twelve butterfly wings.
While flying at high speed to evade spells, she continuously shot lasers from those twelve eyes.
She was very intelligent, attacking the foundation of the ritual.
Her attacks, after passing through the [Flame Immunity Barrier], still had enough power to cause damage to the core components of the ritual. With just two strafes, the barrier visibly became transparent. She even killed two more people while under the [Flame Immunity Barrier].
Seeing this, the Giant finally realized—this was a High-Tier Phantom Demon.
A Fourth Tier High-Tier Phantom Demon was an enemy on par with himself.
If he wanted to continue hiding his strength, it was no longer possible.
And to unleash power beyond the Fourth Tier… being a Demon Scholar was not enough.
—He needed to be a Demon Avatar.
