While others saw a warrior decimating the foes she came across, all William saw was a wave of water—calmly flowing through the battlefield and engulfing everything in its way.

Emma was neither a violent attacker nor a submissive defender. She was like a judge—whoever she faced met their judgment instantly, without the girl receiving a single scratch in return.

She was never panicking or taking a cautious step back. She didn't need to. She knew her strength and her enemies' weakness.

It was as if they were waiting to be exterminated, and Emma, being a benevolent angel, delivered death to them with a single touch.

Dhak

On the screen, the ground cracked beneath Emma's boots as a hydra hurled itself at her—not snapping, not spitting flame, but throwing its own body forward in blind desperation.

She stepped inside the arc.

Steel whispered.

Her left short sword slid up from below, clean and precise, severing the head at the base before the creature even realized it had overextended. The body slammed past her, lifeless, its heat washing over her back without touching her skin.

Another hydra followed immediately, then another—no spacing, no caution. They weren't hunting anymore.

They were panicking.

Emma twisted on the ball of her foot, skirts of heat curling around her legs as she moved. Her right blade flashed once—horizontal, restrained—cutting through scales and bone in a single motion. The head spun away, flames sputtering out mid-air.

She didn't pause.

A third lunged low, jaws wide, trying to crush her legs by sheer mass. Emma vaulted onto its neck, boots finding purchase for half a breath. Her blades crossed downward—X-shaped—and the head came free with a wet, final sound.

She landed lightly, already turning.

Fire surged behind her. She ducked without looking, the heat passing where her neck had been a heartbeat ago. Her left arm extended backward, sword trailing like an afterthought—yet the timing was exact. The blade caught the charging hydra as it closed, slicing clean through the joint where the neck met the body.

It collapsed at her feet.

What made it beautiful wasn't speed alone.

It was certainty.

Emma didn't waste motion. Every step shortened the distance. Every turn placed her exactly where the hydras shouldn't have allowed her to be. She moved as if she already knew where they would fail—and guided them there.

Watching her fight, William sighed and muttered under his breath, "How can someone resist falling in love with you?"

….

[Inside the dungeon]

Emma finally breathed a long sigh as the last hydra fell, her blade dripping with their thick blood.

The whole floor was littered with the dead bodies of the crawlers, but along with them, her two teammates had fallen too.

Emma turned toward Mia, who was groaning while clutching her bleeding leg. However, just as she was about to step toward her—

Grrrr

Two red eyes appeared in the shadows. They were several feet above the ground. A menacing presence filled the space as the creature glared at Emma hatefully.

Emma sighed. "Sorry, can't help you two." Her voice reached Dorothy and Mia before she added, "Take cover and wait for the battle to end. I won't take long."

The two of them glanced at each other before Mia teleported toward Dorothy, and carrying her, they hid behind one of the pillars—not too far away, in case Emma needed assistance.

The silver head whipped her blades, the blood of the hydras splattering on the ground as she responded to the beast's glare with her own bloodlust.

The air on the floor felt thicker than the blood she had spilled.

The tension elevated, as if two apex predators had come across each other for a duel to claim the territory.

As it took a few steps forward, the ground thundered under its weight.

Its body was long and broad, stretching across the battlefield like a living siege engine. Dark crimson skin covered it—thick, scarred, and dull like dried blood. Every scale looked heavy enough to stop steel.

Its chest rose once. Heat bled into the air.

Two burning eyes locked onto Emma, low and predatory. Its jaws parted just enough to show rows of blunt, crushing teeth, built not to tear—but to break.

"I-It's a drake…" Mia's voice trembled as she gazed at the beast, her eyes stretched wide.

Dorothy gritted her teeth. She was too powerless to even move her feet, let alone help her.

However, Emma didn't break a sweat and faced the beast with unwavering confidence.

It was true that after joining Kevin's team, she hadn't had to fight a threat of this level all alone—but that wasn't going to stop her.

"Fuuu…" releasing a breath, she crouched and lunged straight at the monster's mouth, her blade extended.

The drake twirled instantly, its massive body turning at an unbelievable pace as its thick tail came into view.

Emma gritted her teeth and chanted two barriers—one shattered instantly upon being hit by the tail, while the other worked as a stair to provide her a platform.

She jumped higher, her blade twirling in her hand as she threw it perpendicularly downward, straight at the monster's skull.

CLANG

It landed, but left nothing more than a scratch.

The drake looked straight at Emma, its maw parted.

Emma spread her fingers, her lips moving in a chant, and as she landed, she planted her palm against the ground—several spell circles spread around her, and a volley of flames shot toward her at the same time.

KHRIEK

Several barriers formed between the two beings, getting crushed under the violent force of the flames, but the sheer number of the protective glass gave Emma enough time to escape.

But the source of the flames was not fixed to a place.

The drake moved its head, following Emma, the flames only growing more violent.

Emma kept running, feeling the flames inches away from her.

However, what concerned her was her two party members. The dungeon floor was round, and if she continued to run, she would put them in danger.

"Screw it," she came to a skidding halt, a barrier materializing before her as she met the fiery geyser head-on.

The barrier groaned under the pressure. If not for her focusing everything into this single spell, she might have lost this battle of resistance.

Her teeth clenched tight—no escape route, no time to chant a bigger spell.

KRIEK

The barrier trembled, cracks forming.

Mia pushed herself off the ground, ready to help Emma somehow despite her body protesting.

Dorothy also removed the glove from her left hand. Her aether had already been spent during the last battle, but she couldn't abandon her captain when she needed them the most.

In the common hall too, William's eyes narrowed as he realized how Emma had cornered herself in an attempt to protect her friends.

A sense of tension befell the common hall and William as he stared at Emma, struggling against the violent flames—which had already begun to consume her.

The monster was not slowing down, nor showing any sign of exhaustion.

Sooner or later, the barrier would snap, and then….

"Huh?"

"Are they…"

"…what?"

Just then, something changed.

William's eyes parted wide as he saw it.

An angel.

°°°°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. I believe giving Emma her time to grow is very necessary for the story.

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