A loud booming sound rang out in the battlefield, but it wasn't the Gargoyle charge towards the army. Lune lowered her shield in surprise. Nothing came crashing down on her, not the claw, not the body of the monster, not the gut of her ripped comrade. Nothing but the cold breeze of the night.

The monster was lying on the ground, holding its chest with a pained expression, but where he fell was not on the kingdom's side. He fell on the fire elemental's side, crushing flat those under him.

Before she could ask what happened, a voice answered her."Weakling."

A red hooded woman descended from the sky slowly. The wind raged like a storm around her yet it did not touch her and did not harm her. The wind that could rip limbs apart, danced around her like an armor. From her exposed face, Lune could see her long, slender ear and her dark brown suntanned skin.

'Dark elf' Lune thought.

On her chest was a metal plate with the carving of a dragon. Lune knew who she was. She was a member of 'Miracle' adventurer party. Alesi Valera Sanna, that was her name. A red hood covered her pale white hair. Red cape fluttered behind her. A scale armor made from hydra's scale, adorned with fine jewelry protected her body. Twin daggers sheathed on her hips.

----

Theo watched from the side as the Gargoyle swooped down. He was in no danger and felt no obligation to stop it, nor could he stop the charge of a monster ten times taller than himself even if he wanted to.

The same couldn't be said for Ed though. The moment he saw it, he rushed to where the Gargoyle was heading, trying to stop it.

Theo grabbed and stopped him from rushing to an early death. He struggled and screamed for a time, but Theo was much stronger than him. "Let me go, Theo! I must stop it!"

"What can you do Ed?!"

"I'll figure it out somehow, but If I don't do anything many will die."

"And if you go there, then the only thing going to change is an increase in the number of death. Your death." Ed struggled again, but he stopped.

Ed watched in horror as the front line was massacred, as the battlefield was rained down with the severed limbs and blood. Ed's legs trembled and he fell on his knees. Theo let him go now that he didn't rush to his death anymore.

Suddenly, a screech came from the monster. Ed looked the monster again with his teary eyes, half expecting for another sight of a massacre. But there was no massacre.

The monster's body was pushed, no, thrown back by a massive ball of wind. In the center of it all was a red hooded girl hovering in the air.

Theo stared in surprise at the sudden turn of event. Ed stood up and ran towards the Gargoyle. Theo broke out from his dumb stare and followed Ed while killing any Fire Elementals along the way. Lyana and Vivi, who then realized where Theo went, followed him from behind and covered his flank.

The monster rose up, its arm raised once again, preparing its most powerful skill. Fire erupted and swirled around its arm. Its eyes focused solely on the red hooded woman.

The sky turned red. The ground shook. Both armies froze on the spot, seeing its immense power. The woman yawned, not impressed.

The monster went into a raging frenzy after the woman display of mockery. Now it didn't care anymore whether his attack hit friends or foe. He was hell bent to kill the girl.

The monster canceled the skill and ducked. An arrow grazed its head and destroyed one of its horns. If it was late at dodging the arrow even if just for a moment, his head would have been pierced if not blown by the arrow.

A black haired oriental woman held a massive Warbow behind the defensive line. She gritted her teeth and clicked her tongue, disappointed when the monster dodged her attack. The monster charged and swiped its claw wildly. His raging blood made him lose all sense of rationality.

It stumbled on something. Its left foot was stuck and its right was hit by something, hard. The massive burning body crashed to the ground, creating a localized earthquake and a small eruption of fire around it.

The monster looked at its own feet. The left was tangled by a huge thorned vine and on its right was a full plated knight with a massive shield and massive Warhammer. The Gargoyle recognized the knight, it was the same knight who blocked its most powerful attack before. She swung her Warhammer at the monster's feet once more, grinding the bone to dust.

The monster screamed in pain, but that's not all. The vines on the left leg grew and crept up, slowly entangling the Gargoyle more and more, until its whole body was entangled and punctured by the thorns.

The Gargoyle opened its mouth in pain and fire gushed forth. When it calmed down enough to see what was in front of it, it screamed. Then the scream stopped.

A slim straight sword stabbed its forehead and through its thick skull, snuffing out the flame that was its life. In the end, it was Vex, who finished the monster. She made a wry smile thinking about how her friends would protest her for stealing the kill.

She pulled the sword and turned her back away. Three women were already waiting for her with the annoyed face behind her.

She let out a laugh. "Hahaha. Sorry, sorry."

"Vex that's not fair!" Tomoe pouted. "I would have had it."

"What are you talking about Tomoe? Captain stole it from me." Said a woman next to Tomoe. She was Brylia Mjevon, also one of the members of Miracle. Her gold hair was let loose and touched her thigh. She was tall, not as tall as Lune, but still taller than most men and women. Aside from her fair skin, she boasted a beautiful face and an excellent bust size.

Her silk white clothes covered her front and her back, but revealed her side and some part of her breast, making it look sexy. Who knew why did she wear that kind of revealing clothes, but most that looked at her didn't care. In her hand was a white staff with intricate carving on it. It glowed with an otherworldly light, illuminating those around it. The wood that it was made of looked ancient and magical in origin.

"Did you all forget who stopped it in the first place?" Said Valera. She rolled her eyes and sighed, then walked away. "I'm going back to camp first."

"Lady Valera!" Lune suddenly called her.

Valera stopped her feet and turned toward the voice. Lune was kneeling with her hammer on the ground. "Thank you! Words can't describe my feeling, but thank you. Thank you for saving my men. If you hadn't come I don't know what would have happened."

"I didn't do it to save your men."

"Still, in the end, you save them. I can't think how to repay you."

"I don't need anything from you. Just told your men that weaklings must stand by the side and just watch."

"Hey hey, Valera. Don't you think that you're being too rude?" Vex asked.

"Tell me, Vex, am I wrong?" Before Vex could answer she continued speaking. "Don't get me wrong. Weaklings are useful when fighting cockroaches, but when the strong one arrived, they just stood there in fear. They become nothing more than an obstacle." She looked at Lune again. "Next time a monster like that appears, tell your men to move out of the way. I'm not going to be so nice next time, if they stood in my way, I'll kill them just like I kill my enemy."

Valera walked away again.

Vex tapped Lune's shoulder. "Don't take her words to the heart. She may appear like that, but that's because she has to look tough. She can't afford to look soft in front of others."

Vex looked behind her. The fire elementals were running for their lives after their commander was defeated. The army was pursuing them.

The battle was over..... or so she thought.

Sweat broke from her skin. The air suddenly turned hot like she was standing next to a burning stove. A similar screech rang through the battlefield.

The Gargoyle corpse was lit once more with a renewed flame. All of its wound gone like it was never wounded in the first place.

"What?" She was so shocked that she couldn't react in time to the burning claw that was coming right at her head.

-----

Theo and Ed watched from afar as the Gargoyle fell to the earth once more. Its body was so massive that they could feel the earth shake the moment it touched the ground.

They stopped for a moment.

Relief washed over Ed as he watched as Vex drove her blade through the monster's skull. A smile appeared on his face, but not on Theo's. Theo grimaced as he saw Vex and her team celebrate their early victories.

"Ed. What is your most powerful Ice or water spell?" Theo asked.

"My ice dragon breath, why?"

"Prepare it. The Gargoyle isn't dead yet."

"What? But she stabbed its brain. There's no way it's still alive."

"Lava Gargoyle, especially a higher leveled one could revive themselves once. I don't know why a Dragon ranked Adventurers like them doesn't know it, but then again, Lava Gargoyle is one of the rarest monsters there is." He grabbed Ed and looked behind him at Vivi and Lyana.

"Don't stop yet! We must go on!" Just as Theo started to run, the Gargoyle wound began to heal.

"Ed, can you hit it from this range?"

"No, we must get closer."

"Then I'll go first." Theo let go of Ed. His feet muscle bulged as he used all his might to propel his body forward.

He ran as swift as the wind. Using his superhuman senses so that he didn't crash into anyone or anything. He put his sword on his hips and assumed an Iai stance.

The fire inside the Gargoyle body was reignited as all of its wounds regenerated. "[Serene Slash]!"

The drew his sword and swiftly cut the hand. It was not covered with Aura or magic, he cut it without much trouble.

The Gargoyle screamed. "Vex! Snap out of it." Theo shouted. Vex shook her head and immediately assumed a battle stance. Tomoe drew her bow and Bry raised her staff. Valera turned to look at the commotion, but chose not to move from her position.

The Gargoyle, now with its right hand removed, opened its mouth. Inside was a great fire ready to be released.

"ED!"

Ed took a deep breath. His cheek puffed along with his chest and throat, it made him look somewhat like a doll. "[Ice Dragon Breath]!"

A mighty roar rang out. Cold icy wind swept over the Gargoyle body. Anything it touched crystallized and froze instantly. Not even the fire and lava was spared from the cold merciless death. The ice wasn't normal, not by any means.

Everyone who saw it, except Theo, had their eyes and mouth opened in shock. No one there had ever seen something like that. Magic like that was beyond the scope of mortals Stopping fire? Sure. Cooling Lava into a rock? Normal. But freezing fire and lava while they retained their color and shape? That shouldn't be possible.

Ed body stumbled backward and he fell to the ground. Sweat covered his skin like he was just taking a bath. After fighting the fire elementals, his mana was barely enough for him to use [Dragon's breath] without blacking out. Even then he struggled to retain his consciousness.

Theo slowly walked to Ed to congratulate him.

Out of nowhere a red hood fell on Ed. Valera grabbed Ed's by the neck and pulled him near his face. Her face was brimming red.

"What did you do?!" Ed was exhausted and unable to answer. "Who are you?! How can you do something like that?!" She yelled in front of his face.

Theo ran to Ed side, but Valera raised her arm and a strong gale pushed Theo back. Vex then rushed to Valera, trying to stop her.

"Valera, what are you doing?" She pulled Valera off Ed's body, but she brushed her hand. Seeing that Ed couldn't answer her question, she turned to Theo.

"What is he?!" She pointed at Ed.

"Theo!" Lyana called him. She and Vivi had just caught up with him. They were also visibly exhausted, not as much as Ed though.

Valera observed Lyana and Vivi. Her eyes wide open much to Vex surprise, she had never seen Valera reacted like that. "Y-Y-You!" Val shouted.

"What's wrong Val?" Vex asked. She was intrigued by Theo and his party that could make even the stoic cold Valera show so much emotion.

"She's a D-" Theo shivered. He had forgotten, Val was a mage, and a powerful one no less. Of course, she could see through Lyana's disguise.

'Fuck this is bad' He screwed up so bad. There was no way to cover that up if her identity was revealed.

Valera glanced at Ed, then at Theo. Her eyes were full of confusion and question. "N-nothing." Valera continued.

'What?' That was what Theo thought. He was thoroughly puzzled. He couldn't grasp the situation. What did Valera think? What was going on in her mind? Theo was relieved, of course, but he couldn't find any reason for Valera to not reveal Lyana's identity.

"Still." Valera glared Theo after realizing that he was the party leader. "You! Come to my tent at once!"