After the promised match, Alex and Artemia, together with the unconscious Maria, left to explore their surrounding.
Half an hour later, they didn't find anything, and they decided to camp for tonight. Maria was still unconscious, but her nightmares seemed to have disappeared; she was sleeping soundlessly.
Alex returned to his training while Artemia sat on the bed beside Maria.
After a moment of silence, she summoned her status.
[Artemia Eretria Von Havens]
Class: Lightning Goddess
Age: 19 ???
Female
Race: High Human
Rank 15 [Demigod]
Level 149
Experience Value: 1000/5100200
MP: 9115/9115
Magic: Lightning/Ice Magic
Attack: 2515
Defense: 1815
Agility: 1915
Intelligence: 1715
Luck: 1715
Gift: Noble Fantasm
BP: 80
SP: 60
Skills: [Ice Slash Level 4] [Ice Blast Level 8] [Close Quarters Combat Level 10 Max] [Ice Arrows Level 10] [Sword Art Level 10] [Thousand Ice Steps Level 3] [Ultimate Lightning Level 10] [Flash Level 10]
Special Abilities: [Lightning Goddess Mode] [Ice Domain Level 1] [Nineteen Layered Lightning Chain Level 9]
Titles: [Reincarnator] [Noble Queen] [Human's Goddess [Huntress] [Slayer]
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShockingly she had leveled up thrice with the Immortal Snake's XP. Artemia licked her lips; it would have been great if there were few more easy preys like that. If the poor snake were still alive she would have puked blood on the spot.
''Sigh! Should I use my skill points?" Artemia considered for a moment before shaking her head.
''Let's not do that for now. I shall wait for a while.''
''Huh? Who is it?" Artemia felt her special communication vibrating for a moment, and she picked the call.
''What is it?" She asked the other party.
[Sorry, master, we lost track of the target. She disappeared beyond the border after destroying several hidden laboratories. What should we do?] The other party reported, that it was the second in command in the princess's shadow legions.
''Huh! Okay, don't do anything for now. I'll contact you later.'' Artemia said before cutting off the communication. She had asked her men to sneakily follow Incursio and report back to her if she did something that would cause trouble for Alex or the empire.
''I guess she must have detected them and escaped after playing around. I'm curious what is her real goal?" Artemia wondered but couldn't find the answer, so she stopped thinking about it.
•••••
Meanwhile, in another location, the sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight shone on the green leaves.
A group of people was surrounding a petite girl with long white hair with a nasty grin.
''Finally, the prey has stopped.'' The leader of this group, a woman in red, said.
The petite girl who had her head lowered since sometimes suddenly lifted it and her eyes shone. Her lips curved up in a devilish smirk.
BOOOM
A terrifying aura rose from the petite girl's body while a dark radiance emitted out of her body.
The red-haired woman and her goons were alarmed by the little girl's aura. But when they looked at each other again they believed they wouldn't lose, after all they were 15 people in their group. They were thugs, former adventurers; a few hours ago, someone hired them to teach this little girl a lesson; they had been handsomely paid. They must not fail, even if the target happened to be slightly stronger than predicted.
Just how exactly 1 would fare against the 15?!
As far as they were concerned, the question didn't even need to be answered. The result of this fight couldn't be more obvious.
The dark radiance around Incursio's body was like an ominous start. Slowly, the radiance curled up like raging flame and transformed into dozens of what resembled vines.
The vines danced in the air, radiating a menacing presence on the battlefield.
"Eh~ You guys look extremely confident in your abilities," Incursio said as one vine whipped out with a loud screeching sound.
"Let's see just how well-founded it is." She had a devilish grin when she uttered this.
Fwoosh!
The dark vine penetrated the air and transformed into a blurry line as it shot forward.
One of the armed men in front was shocked by the sudden assault. Before he could even fully register the coming attack and defend with his halberd, the vine pierced through his neck, creating a large bloody hole.
The man fell on the ground, with a loud thud. His body twitched for a moment before he entered into eternal sleep. He died one shot, one kill.
"Here, I thought you had a reason for your confidence," Incursio shook her head in disappointment. She had expected more from the men hired by that asshole; she thought he would have at least buffed them up as he loved doing this.
The remaining armed men were stunned by the instant death of their comrade. Everything happened in such a quick time that they didn't even get to react, much less help him.
"Just what happened?! I only heard that man's voice and..."
"I didn't even see that vine fully before Keller was killed."
"Damn! We must be on guards; otherwise, we would be next."
They looked at the bloody hole in their comrade's neck and knew this was not an illusion. They had lost a comrade before even the real battle began.
"I should stand in the last position for providing support," An armed man tried to move out of his original position. He believed this would give him some security against those vines.
"Silence," Their leader's expression turned cold.
She stepped in front of her subordinates and signaled them to get their wits back.
"This is no time to panic," The red-haired woman turned toward one of her subordinates.
"Take him down."
"I will; you can rest assured on this," The man commanded the armed men into battle position. Those men used a bow; they aimed their bow at Incursio and fired.
Swoosh! Swoosh!!!
Incursio's dark vines around him whipped out to face the coming arrows.
BANG
The arrows stuck on the vines, and they shattered apart into fragments. It was like they had struck a steel wall.
The shattered pieces fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, one of the second men in command, a subordinate marked shot a fireball at Incursio.
BOOM
Incursio blocked the fireball with her vines. She was swallowed in the aftermath giving the illusion that she was touched.
''It should have done some damage, right?" One of the thugs wondered aloud.
"No," Their leader answered in a cold voice.
"She is fine."
"What?!" The others were startled.
All they could see was black smoke and nothing more.
The next moment, a strong gale originated from the blast area, ripping apart the smoke and dust.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIncursio was standing there, without the slightest bit of injury. Much less traces of blood; there was not even dust on her robe.
Suddenly, the assassin in the group appeared behind Incursio and launched an attack. The others smiled when they saw this.
Despite facing such an attack from behind, Incursio's lips were still curled up in a nasty grin.
She stepped to the side and dodged the dagger before saying.
''Explode!"
Bang!
The man exploded into a gory mist. Incursio had disappeared from where she was. She reappeared in the middle of five men and unleashed her dark vines.
RIPPPP
The sound of air being sliced apart reverberated in the forest and bodies getting pierced.
"Ahhhh!"
''Ahhhhh!"
The next moment, blood splattered in the air, and five men fell to the ground with a loud sound.
The remaining men fell chill down their spines, and they all launched an attack.
Incursio calmly moved, dodging their attacks before counterattacking. She decided to become a bit more serious. She flicked her fingers, and dozen of fireballs were created.
''Please save us leader.''
They finally realized what was happening to them, making them regret their decision to launch those attacks.
BOOOM
A loud sound of explosion resounded through the area. Multiple-color flames curled out in all directions from the point of explosion.
The explosion was in the shape of a massive sphere of dazzling flames as it expanded further and further, destroying everything in its path.
The second in command and the remaining men have already backed away from the blast range. They knew the explosion was coming, so they evaded on time.
But this didn't give them the slightest bit of joy. They had witnessed the startling turn of events before the explosion occurred.
Everything happened instantly, and there was no time to help their comrades. The men clenched their fists tightly, and their bodies trembled as they thought of the losses.
Slowly, the flames of the explosion extinguished to reveal a giant crater. There was not even a single trace of a human body.
The remaining men were expecting this, but when they saw the crater, they felt weak in their knees.
"What? They have been wiped out from existence.''
None of them ever wanted to die in a way in which there was not even a corpse left.
They were only four of them remaining, which means in the span of fifteen minutes, Incursio had killed eleven men. It was a massacre; they regretted taking this mission.
''Won't you come out before I kill them all?" Suddenly Incursio asked.