Black flames roared around Ember as her transformation took its complete form.

The monster struck first, opening its mouth and unleashing a roar accompanied by a wave of bluish energy. The impact sent rocks crashing down from the ceiling, and the pressure almost pushed Ember back. She drove her sword into the ground, absorbing the shock with a confident gaze. In her transformed state, her expression grew even more arrogant.

"Is that all…?" the queen of hell whispered with a confident smile, then lunged forward.

With a single motion, the redhead slashed the air with her blade, releasing a surge of black fire that struck the monster's flank. The creature howled in pain but quickly retaliated with its tail, which was lined with jagged bones.

Ember spun her body, dodging by a hair's breadth, then leaped onto the tail, sprinting along it like an improvised bridge until she reached the monster's shoulder height. Her body flared with an incandescent aura, and her sword erupted in a vertical strike that cleaved into the creature's neck.

The blood that gushed out was thick, almost glowing, and corroded the ground like acid. Yet, the blow wasn't enough to sever its head.

"Grrr!" The beast roared, staggering back with heavy steps.

On the other side of the chamber, Sophia barked rapid orders. The group moved in perfect synchronization, holding back the swarm. But even while keeping her composure, Sophia couldn't help but steal glances at the redhead facing the titan.

The monster raised both hands, conjuring orbs of blue energy that began multiplying in the air. With a snap, hundreds of projectiles shot out in every direction, raining destruction across the chamber.

"Shit!" one of the soldiers yelled, but Ember was already moving. She hurled herself into the oncoming barrage, spinning midair and unleashing a cyclone of black flames that devoured the projectiles, burning them to ash.

When the fiery whirlwind faded, Ember was breathing heavily, spending energy like that was draining, which was why she planned to end the fight quickly.

The woman leveled her sword at the monster and cast <Fireball>. Dozens of black fireballs appeared around her, flying toward the beast. The monster desperately summoned a barrier of bone to shield itself, but grunted in pain as the blasts struck home.

Its eyes glowed even brighter, and with a furious roar, it split its chest open, revealing a pulsating rift of energy, its core. From it, a colossal surge of blue power fired like a cannon straight at Ember.

The redhead smiled, as if she had been waiting for exactly that.

"Now we're talking…"

She raised her sword with both hands, and black flames gathered at the tip. It was time to show off the new ability she had gained from her recent level-up. She activated <Black Sun>.

A black sphere of flames quickly formed at the tip of her sword, growing rapidly. Then, she unleashed it. The attack collided with the monster's blast, and for a few seconds, the entire chamber shook as if it would collapse. The blue light and black fire clashed, swirling in a vortex of pure destruction.

With a shout, Ember charged through the beam, slicing through its energy with her blade until she completely broke through the creature's defense. In a perfect arc, she struck the core in the beast's chest.

The impact was devastating. A black explosion engulfed the entire room, swallowing both Ember and the monster. The ground trembled, the ceiling shook, and for a few moments, no one could see anything beyond the infernal blaze.

As the dust began to settle, the colossal creature's body collapsed with a thunderous crash, cracking the ground. The core had been shattered into pieces.

From the center of the smoke, Ember walked slowly, black flames still crackling around her. Her expression was arrogant, as if none of it had been particularly challenging.

"Don't worry, I'll handle the minions now," she said confidently, trying to muster energy for another attack. But she could barely stay on her feet.

Before she could strike, her body gave out, and she collapsed forward. Before she hit the ground, Sophia rushed to her side and caught her.

"Idiot… one day you'll get yourself killed like this," Sophia grumbled as she poured her mana into Ember's body to help her recover.

The black flames around Ember began to fade, and her transformation ended. Thanks to the blonde's impressive skills, Ember recovered enough to lead her group in wiping out the overwhelming number of remaining monsters.

After a battle like that, the group naturally decided to return once they had collected everything necessary. The silver lining of the unexpected encounter was that they had an astonishingly successful hunt that day.

Back at Enki's reception, Sophia and Ember handled the formalities to verify the number of monsters killed and collect their payment.

As part of their cooperation agreement, Sophia's team took 50% of the profits, a deal Ember always complained was extortion, given her team had far more members.

Deep down, though, she knew it was a fair arrangement. It was thanks to Sophia that she could keep hunting like this.

Formally, rewards were only given to the main hunting group, so Sophia and Ember went to the Salamanders' headquarters to collect their payment, which was still being calculated.

Ember submitted the report of their hunt to the Salamanders' administrative staff, and then she and Sophia waited in a room for the reward to be finalized. The two sat in awkward silence, unsure of what to say to each other, until a man with a red beard and muscular arms entered the room.

"Well, ladies, it looks like you did an excellent job," he said with a broad smile.

He handed a check with the payment to Sophia, whose eyes widened at the amount. Before she could say anything, the man turned to Ember and continued.

"One more thing, your ranking has been updated. Congratulations on becoming the top-ranked hunter. I didn't expect you to achieve that in just six months."

Ember's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open in an exaggerated expression of shock. Unable to contain her joy, she jumped up and celebrated.

"I did it!"

Succession within the Darnel clan was determined simply: the strongest became the clan leader. To decide who was the strongest, a tournament was held every four years with four competitors.

One was chosen from among the students, a young member. Two were older, established clan members, and the final competitor was the current clan leader.

That tournament was happening at the end of the year, and Ember wanted to qualify. She knew that becoming the clan leader would allow her to help Davi more. The way to qualify as a student was to reach the top of the Salamanders' hunting ranking.

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