"You know how to seal an Alpha Grade gate?"

"Not yet. But I'm a fast learner."

Ayaka laughed, a sharp sound without humour. "You're either brave or insane. Maybe both. Let's do this."

They split, each taking a side of the field. The Ashlings poured toward them like a wave of living fire.

Akira formed two swords of ice, the blades crystallising in his hands with razor-sharp edges. The first Ashling reached him, and he bisected it with a single swing. It exploded into steam and ash.

[ASHLING ELIMINATED]

[+10 PP]

But three more immediately took their place. They moved faster than the normal variants, their Cinder Step ability letting them teleport in rapid succession. One appeared behind him, claws raised to strike.

Akira spun, his left sword coming up in a defensive arc. The blade caught the Ashling mid-lunge, freezing it solid before it shattered.

[ASHLING ELIMINATED]

[+10 PP]

"They're stronger!" he called to Ayaka.

"Tell me something I don't know!" She grabbed an Ashling by the head and slammed it into the ground, her fist glowing with purple energy. The impact created a small crater, and the creature's flames extinguished instantly.

Two more rushed her, using Heat Haze to create distortions. But Ayaka's demonic senses weren't fooled. She caught them both by their throats and crushed them at the same time.

Akira was forced to use more ice, forming a shield to block a barrage of Ember Flicks from five Ashlings working in coordination. The projectiles hit his barrier with sizzling impacts, each one hot enough to melt steel.

"We're not going to last long at this rate," Ai warned. "You're burning through essence faster than you can regenerate. And there are more coming through the gate every second."

She was right. Even as they fought, more Ashlings were emerging, and behind them, something bigger was starting to take shape in the gateway.

"Ayaka! We need to close that gate now!"

"I'm a little busy!" She was surrounded by seven Ashlings, all attacking at once. Her movements were a blur, but even she was starting to show signs of strain.

Akira made a decision. He couldn't fight conservatively anymore.

He slammed both palms into the ground and channelled every drop of ice essence he could muster. The temperature dropped so fast that frost spread across the entire athletics field in seconds. The grass turned white, the air filled with ice crystals, and every Ashling within fifty feet simply froze solid.

[ASHLING ELIMINATED x12]

[+120 PP]

"Show off!" Ayaka finished off her remaining opponents and sprinted toward him. "But we still have a problem!"

The shape in the gateway had finished forming. What stepped through made both of them stop cold.

It had a humanoid shape, but it was easily nine feet tall, and its whole body was made of living fire. The Ashlings were small and like little devils, but this creature was a warrior. It wore armour made of melted rock and carried a sword that looked like hard, clear lava.

[GATE GUARDIAN DETECTED]

[FLAME KNIGHT CAPTAIN - RANK B]

[WARNING: RECOMMENDED PARTY SIZE: 4-6 HUNTERS]

[CURRENT PARTY SIZE: 2]

The Flame Knight looked at them with eyes that burned like furnaces. When it spoke, its voice was like the roar of a wildfire.

"Mortals dare interfere with the Flame Court's expansion? You will burn for this insult."

It raised its massive sword, and the temperature spiked even higher. The frozen grass began to melt, puddles of water instantly evaporating.

Akira and Ayaka stood back-to-back, weapons ready.

"Got any brilliant ideas?" Ayaka asked.

"Working on it. You ever fought a Rank-B guardian before?"

"I wouldn't even dare think about it before now."

"Great. So we're screwed."

"Completely."

The Flame Knight charged, its sword leaving a trail of fire in its wake. The blade came down where they'd been standing with enough force to crack the earth. Akira and Ayaka barely rolled away in time.

"Split up!" Akira shouted. "Divide its attention!"

They broke apart, circling the massive creature from opposite sides. Akira formed ice javelins and launched them in rapid succession. Each one hit the knight's armour and exploded into steam, but none penetrated.

Ayaka went for the legs, using her speed to dart in and deliver a powerful kick to the creature's knee. The impact sent cracks through the molten rock armour, but the knight barely staggered.

"Its armour regenerates!" she warned, diving away from a retaliatory strike. "We need to hit the core!"

"Where's the core?"

"Usually the chest! But we have to break through the armour first!"

The Flame Knight seemed to realise their strategy. It planted its sword in the ground, and suddenly pillars of fire erupted around them… a circle of flames that cut off their escape routes.

"We're trapped!" Akira formed an ice wall to shield himself from the intense heat, but he could feel it melting already.

He pressed his back against the melting ice wall, feeling the heat radiating through it like a physical force. The circle of fire pillars surrounded them completely, turning the athletics field into an arena with only two possible outcomes… victory or death.

"Ai, I need options," he thought urgently. "What are we dealing with here?"

"Starting tactical analysis now, darling. Keep it busy while I scan for weaknesses. This will take about ninety seconds."

Ninety seconds. That might as well be ninety years with a nine-foot-tall fire monster trying to kill them.

The Flame Knight pulled its sword from the ground, and the pillars of fire intensified, creating a dome of heat that made the air shimmer.

Akira could see Ayaka on the other side of the arena, crouched low, purple energy crackling around her fists.

"We can't let it control the battlefield!" Ayaka shouted. "If it pins us down, we're finished!"

She was right. Defensive play would get them killed.

Akira formed his ice blades again and charged. The Flame Knight swung its massive sword in a horizontal arc, but Akira slid beneath it, using his enhanced Dexterity to go low. He came up inside the knight's guard and drove both blades toward its chest.

The ice made contact with the molten armour and hissed violently, steam exploding between them. For a brief moment, Akira thought he'd penetrated, but the armour simply reformed, pushing his blades back.

"Damn it!"

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