Everything around me within thirty meters turned to a vortex of green and black dust as the flames consumed every ghoul in their path.

The only beings still whole within the flames were me and Aika.

Then, just as suddenly as the flames had erupted, they vanished.

I immediately rushed to her as she fell to the ground, clutching her jaw and coughing. I dropped beside her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Hey, hey, you good?"

She turned toward me, but she couldn't speak. Dark blood pooled from her mouth, dripping over the hand she used to clutch her jaw.

'Shit!'

Her entire jaw was crushed.

Reaching out into my inventory, I pulled out another health elixir and began frantically searching for a way to administer it, forcing the vial's contents past her broken teeth and into her throat.

Though the flames had annihilated everything within thirty meters, that only gave us a few seconds of respite. By the time I whipped my head around, I saw a multitude of ghouls already closing in on us from all sides.

Gritting my teeth, I looked back to Aika, "Please, return..."

She frowned and shook her head lightly in refusal, letting me know that she could still fight.

But I couldn't let her continue in this condition. Moreover, with the sheer numbers surrounding us, fighting felt pointless. I leaned closer and repeated, "Please, Aika… I need you to return."

Her eyes which were already clouded with pain and exhaustion, briefly flashed with stubborn determination.

After a moment of heavy hesitation, she looked away and slowly dissolved into wisps of black smoke that trailed back to my arm.

Now kneeling alone and ready to die, I exhaled and raised my head to see a ghoul with its spear almost upon me.

However…

Just when I thought it was over… and just before the spear reached my chest, a massive hand slammed down from the side. The unseen creature snatched the head of the attacking ghoul, and with a sickening crunch, smashed the ghoul's skull onto the ground, sending blood splattering everywhere.

My eyes widened as I saw the terrifying creature that had saved me.

At first glance, it looked vaguely like a woman, with massive golden horns that curved like brilliant crescent moons protruding from her head. Her mottled grey skin had large scales running along her arms, and she was dressed in a gold armor that had streaks of dark, dried red. A large crown of vivid, red-hot flames danced and shimmered around her head.

She was both beautiful and demonic, both terrifying and alluring, both massive and graceful.

'Who…'

I was about to question who or what this creature that had suddenly appeared was, when a barrage of notifications suddenly erupted, filling the space in front of me.

[The character Celeste Anele Martini has activated her bonded ability: Queen after Death.]

[The Character Queen Celeste has met the conditions to use her exclusive skills.]

[The Character Queen Celeste is currently enraged.]

[Target of rage: Goat-headed ghouls]

[Due to the effect of the attribute: Berserker, a level shall be added to the character Queen Celeste, for every minute she is enraged until her mana runs out.]

[Current Level: 17—>18]

…What?!

I swallowed in disbelief. I couldn't fathom what I had just read.

But just then, Celeste let out a deafening roar that sent chills down my spine.

Before I could even react, she was gone in a blur. The next instant, she reappeared between two ghouls, snatching their heads and smashing them together with a sickening crunch, which exploded into a cloud of pulverized bone and crimson spray.

Without pausing, she grabbed both lifeless bodies, spun, and hurled them like massive, weighted clubs into a few other ghouls, sending them tumbling.

Then she gave another deafening roar and another notification popped up.

[Current Level: 18—>19]

Just then, a ghoul darted at her with its spear. But before the weapon could pierce her, she grabbed the shaft of the spear, raised it high, then slammed the ghoul onto the floor hard. Taking two quick steps, she raised her foot and stomped, crushing the ghoul's head into a pulp.

Then she vanished in a blur and instantly reappeared with her hand already pierced through another ghoul, emerging from its back while clutching the creature's heart.

I watched a bloody scene of utter carnage unfold for a full minute, the dead bodies of the ghouls dropping in their dozens. And by the time she let out another chillingly terrifying roar, another notification popped up.

[Current Level: 19—>20]

But just as that happened, a massive arrow the size of a man's forearm sliced through the air, slamming into her chest. She slowly looked down at the embedded shaft, then gripped it, tearing it free with a sickening rip of flesh and bone.

She had barely tossed the bloody weapon aside when a second arrow cracked into her side, followed by a third that punched into her back, and a fourth that skewered her shoulder. She staggered under the volley, but before she could recover, a final arrow whipped through the air, piercing her skull and driving her head back violently.

…Before I could even panic, a notification popped up.

[The exclusive skill: Thou Shall Not Die has been automatically activated.]

Instantly, her head violently snapped forward into place. All the arrows embedding her body shrieked with intense, unnatural heat as they were instantly incinerated, and the gaping wounds on her body began sealing shut until her grey skin was once again flawless.

Then she gracefully extended her arm and began speaking in a foreign language. As she spoke, seven whips of pure, red flame began to slowly form around her, coiling and snapping around her form. Each of the whips had what looked like a sharp blade at the edge.

While this was happening, a notification flashed before my eyes.

[The character Queen Celeste has activated the exclusive skill: Demon Queen's Chains.]

Then, as if released from a spring, the whips shot through the air like living, fiery snakes, passing clean through the heads of the ghouls, killing them instantly before whipping to the next target. Blood erupted in violent sprays as the ghouls around fell in staggering numbers.

Within seconds, the entire space around us was eerily quiet, littered only with the smoking corpses of the dead ghouls.

However, I didn't even have time to process what the hell had just happened and the bloody victory that had just occurred, because right then, two notifications flared before my eyes, forcing me to snap my attention away from Celeste.

[The character Evelyn Marcus is dead.]

[The character Dion Athamas is badly injured.]

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