The moment the flames collided with the Skinbutcher… it was hell on earth.

Quite literally.

A massive pillar of fire roared upward, devouring the creature entirely.

The air rippled and the ground itself sizzled beneath the inferno.

The explosion of light was blinding enough to make Esme raise her arm over her face, breathing through the suffocating waves of hot air.

For a brief moment… it looked like it was over.

"Is it… over?" she whispered with her voice trembling.

The fear in her voice could be heard… she never thought she'd live long enough to ask that question.

Her knees felt weak. "Th… thank you for saving me."

"Don't thank me yet." Azel's eyes stayed fixed on the flames. "It's not dead."

And then she saw why.

A foot stepped through the wall of fire.

It was charred… but still moving.

The Skinbutcher emerged with its body smoldering and steam pouring off its skin in violent bursts.

The patchwork flesh was melting and yet it walked. The stitched mask turned toward them, the empty eyeholes glowing.

Then, without so much as a gesture, it raised a hand.

With a single sweep of its knife, the inferno vanished.

The flames collapsed in on themselves and extinguished completely as though the air had been sucked dry of mana.

Varen's jaw fell open. "What the… hell?"

He froze. The monster's gaze shifted toward him and for the first time, the proud Second Prince of Starbloom felt something grip him that he hadn't experienced in years.

Fear.

His body refused to move.

His fingers twitched uselessly as the Skinbutcher lifted its arm again, hurling a knife so fast it whistled through the air.

Varen didn't even have time to raise his hand.

But the blade never hit.

A bone dagger intercepted it midair, both weapons clanging apart in a burst of sparks.

"Get your head in the game!" Azel shouted with a glare. "I don't want a bounty on my head for letting a prince die!"

That snapped Varen back. He jumped down from the tree with his hands flaring with mana.

Azel, meanwhile, scooped Esme into his arms and dashed backward.

He ran into the water… except he didn't fall in.

He stood on it.

The water rippled beneath his feet like glass.

'I knew this water walking technique Steven taught me would come in handy,' he thought.

He pulled a small white bell from his inventory.

"He said I should ring it, right…" He rang it once.

There was no sound.

He rang it again.

Still nothing.

"Fuck… is this thing broken?"

Esme's voice trembled. "Azel… are you doing something?"

"Yeah, trying to not die," he muttered under his breath, slipping the bell away.

His hand rose instead, gathering light.

'I'm a divine practitioner, right?' he thought. 'All of them said it… but I've never actually tried divine magic before.'

Sure his regular magic was very strong since they were gotten in the planes, but he had barely tried adding divinity to them…

For this situation… If aura and mana couldn't touch it, then divinity might be the only answer.

Several shards of ice materialized in the air around him, spinning rapidly until they shaped into long, spear-like javelins.

The water beneath his feet froze in a faint circle as his mana surged outward.

"Skin… Skin… Skin… Beautiful skin…"

The voice came from everywhere.

The Skinbutcher's words crawled into their ears like whispers from a nightmare.

Then the creature lunged, its body blurring across the water's surface heading for Azel. Varen who was continuously barraging with his fire magic watched his spells vanish before they even touched the monster like they didn't exist.

So he did the only logical thing… The prince gritted his teeth, pouring more mana into his attacks. "Why won't you burn, you monster?!"

Azel pushed divine energy into the javelins.

The air around him changed instantly.

'Feels like… Kyone's sword,' he thought briefly, recalling the divine relic from the Winter Region. He still had it with him and at this point, he wanted to use it… however he was already bringing too much attention to himself.

He didn't waste another second.

"Go."

The javelins fired in a single burst… streaks of silver that tore through the air faster than sound.

The impact was brutal.

THUK! THUK! THUK!

Each spear punched through the Skinbutcher's body, ripping through its flesh like paper.

Holes burst open across its torso and limbs, divine frost spreading through its wounds.

The creature stumbled, its knife clattering into the water as it screamed… a guttural, ear-splitting sound that didn't sound human at all.

Azel didn't hesitate. He thrust his hand forward, sending another wave of divine ice javelins into the same spot.

The Butcher's body convulsed and then fell backward, crashing into the water with a loud splash.

Steam hissed violently as the divine energy reacted with the cursed flesh.

Azel exhaled heavily, lowering his arm. "So divinity does work on you…"

He leaped forward, placing Esme down gently on the shore.

She looked pale and was still shaking.

"You okay?"

She nodded weakly, clutching her knees.

"Good," he said, turning back toward the water. "Because I'm about to make sure this bastard never crawls out again."

He gathered more mana, mixing it with divine essence… preparing to unleash a combined bombardment of holy and ice spears to erase the creature completely.

But the plan didn't last even five seconds.

The water rippled.

Something moved.

A blur surged up from beneath the surface, tearing the water apart as it rose.

Azel caught the shape immediately.

'No way… it's already healed?'

The holes he'd pierced through were still freezing but now they were closing, steam erupting from them as the Skinbutcher's flesh reformed in seconds.

Its head tilted and the same hollow eyes locked onto him again.

'I really don't know what to do…' Azel thought grimly.

He drew a bone sword in one motion.

"Get the fuck out of here," he ordered sharply.

Esme hesitated for a moment, then nodded, grabbing her bag. "O-Okay…"

She turned and ran, stumbling a few steps before gaining her footing. She didn't look back and just ran as fast as her legs could take her…

The Butcher lunged again.

But before its knife could touch Azel…

A blur cut through the air.

There was a boom followed by a shockwave that made the trees bend.

The Skinbutcher's body went flying.

Azel's eyes widened as the creature slammed headfirst into a tree… the impact so hard that its skull burst apart in a crimson spray.

Flesh splattered against the bark, blood dripping down the trunk and soaking the earth.

The entire place went silent.

A figure stepped into view, wiping blood from his boot with a calm expression.

"Woah," the man said with a grin. "Sorry, I was dealing with some troublesome students."

It was Sebastian.

He looked at the corpse or what was left of it and whistled softly. "So that's the Skinbutcher, huh? I've heard a lot worse."

He nudged the body with his foot, unfazed by the gore. "Huh. It's a lot weaker than I made it out to be."

Azel stared at him, speechless.

'Weaker? That thing just shrugged off royal fire magic and divine ice javelins…'

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