Many came with their egos as large as a mountain but flew with no shame.

Meanwhile, while thousands of warriors decided to save their skins instead of facing the monstrosity, shooting beams of fire from all nine heads. Alina and her team advanced.

As they moved, Alina opened her palm, and three disc-shaped items appeared. She made one float up, and then, when she was just 500 meters away from the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion, she formed a hand seal.

The formation disc released a purple light, then a beam shot up, manifesting a large formation. It opened and expanded at once, reaching a width of 4 km.

It created a containment field that encased both the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion and her team. This was to ensure no one disturbs them and to keep the beast confined so it does not run rampant, causing more destruction as it did two weeks ago.

Of course, under normal circumstances, if this containment were created by the beast, it would be bad for them. However, the moment the formation had taken effect, the beast felt trapped.

"Aetheris, Velyra, get on it."

Aetheris transformed, taking on his towering form, becoming the flaming tyrant for this battle. He stood 40 meters tall, but even with this transformation, he was still dwarfed by the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion, who stood 120 meters tall.

However, his sword also took on a 60-meter length and became more colossal, enabling him to channel more of his strength, so he could unleash a terrifying slash, the kind that causes the ground to tremble and crack.

The impact pushed the beast back, but it sustained no injuries.

Velyra didn't stand idle either. She may appear like an atom in front of this colossus; however, when she unleashed a terrifying sword arc made from blood, it pushed the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion back a few steps.

ROAR

All nine heads roared, but before it could move, Lilian raised her staff and summoned a flaming dragon, one that dwarfed the colossal lion.

Its wings expanded, and just when the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion was about to make a move on Aetheris and Velyra, the flaming dragon unleashed a dragon breath.

This forced the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion to move back a few steps.

Velyra took the chance to move closer and land a cut. However, just when she was advancing, one of the giant heads saw her and attacked, shooting a flame beam.

Velyra conjured a blood shield, but when the beam landed on it, it cracked and shattered. Thankfully, before the beam could land on her, Alina formed a hand seal and teleported her away.

"Thank you," Velyra said, but wasted no time, running back into battle.

Alina, however, seemed to have sensed something, making her frown... "All nine heads are aware, meaning to catch it off guard, we must engage all nine heads, taking hold of its focus completely. However, it will be difficult.

"Aetheris was already keeping it occupied like the brute he is. However, whenever Velyra tries to get close, one of the nine heads always notices her.

"It was like the heads had been programmed to become aware just when a threat was coming, regardless of how engaged or occupied they were.

"Even worse, all the openings I am seeing are false. It is like it allowed me to see those openings so it could ambush us."

Alina focused her attention on the battlefield.

Overhead, three layers of formations were spinning: one creating a containment around them, one looking for openings, and the last boosting the strength and stamina of her teammates.

The three formations weren't at all strong, but the more they remained active, the stronger they became. Alina always made her formations adapt as they stayed active longer.

"I hate to admit it, but an archer would come in handy right about now," Alina said to herself, the image of Unity's smug expression appearing in her mind.

She quickly wipes that image from her mind.

Lilian was perfectly distracting the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion like she was instructed to; however, the moment Velyra or Aetheris tried to make a close move on it, one of the heads always spotted them.

Suddenly, Lilian made a bold move, transforming her staff into a spear and moving at blinding speed. She managed to get within 3 meters of the lion. However, before she could attack, one of the nine heads noticed her and attacked.

However, before the fire beam could reach her, she smiled and winked. "Gotcha."

She burst into flames and spread away. She reformed into her stunning self. However, the near-death move she made gave Velyra an opening.

She slipped under the lion's surveillance, and before it could sense her, she was already standing beside one of its four legs.

Her sword moved with blinding speed and landed on its leg. However, instead of seeing a cut and blood pouring out, what occurred was rather heartbreaking.

CLANG

When Velyra's sword connected with the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion's leg, the sound of metal striking metal was what happened.

The cut she expected didn't happen. Instead, she found herself in danger of being crushed to pulp. The Nine-Headed Flaming Lion raised its leg and took a heavy stomp, aiming to crush Velyra.

Velyra smirked and turned to blood mist. She reappeared and reformed into her stunning self several meters from the lion.

However, it seemed to have marked her, since she had managed to land a blow on her. So when one of its heads saw her reappear, it blasted through the barrage of attacks it was being bombarded with and aimed to kill the red-skinned beauty who dared to sneak up on it.

Velyra held a calm gaze; however, she felt the pressure fall on her. Luckily, Alina had already deployed her 4th formation.

A green formation with so many complex arrays appeared in the air, and from its centre, a large dagger appeared.

She pointed toward the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion, and the dagger shot forward, forcing the lion to prioritise its heads over killing a bug.

Naturally, it was much more intelligent than one would expect, so it chose to save its skin. What followed, however, was barrages of daggers, each radiating intense power.

They rained down with deadly intensity. Velyra retreated back and stopped beside Alina... "Looks like we have a huge metallic problem."

Alina smiled, looking at the Nine-Headed Flaming Lion taking on the rain of daggers and barrage from Aetheris and Lilian.

They were doing their best, but not even a drop of blood could be seen on its colossal body. In fact, all their attacks were being stopped by the metallic coating on the lion.

"Yeah. It seems we are in hot soup this time around." Alina took a moment to examine the scene of the battle before turning to Velyra.

"How about we play dirty?"

"I am open to anything," Velyra said, looking at the giant metallic lion tanking all bombardments coming from Aetheris, Lilian, and the formation.

"Since Veydris hasn't made his move yet, it means he had long seen the beast had a much tougher hide than what his sword could cut. If he could speak, I am sure he would have alerted us, but since we found out the hard way, we must change plans.

"So how about we shamelessly play hide and seek with it?"

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