It took just a moment for the man in the red cloak to realize he was in trouble. One breath inside the mist created by Hera made his lungs burn, his skin itch, and his eyes water. He tried moving away, but the wind clones intercepted the movement, blocking him from leaving that area. The Empress knew the clones would be there for only a minute, and the mist she created lasted 30 seconds unless she was to use the skill again.

With Gale in hand, she lunged forward, going for a stab while triggering the [Galeforce] skill to deal more damage. At the same time, the two clones also used the same skill, starting to cut the man in the red cloak with its effects. He jumped toward one of the clones, bringing down his katana with an overhead slash. The clones worked together to block the attack, but a wave of red energy flew from the blade, damaging the wind versions of Hera. Not wanting to waste her opportunity, the Ophidianite rushed forward, the flames created by Forge's skill licking the side of her hands and boosting her recovery. She used a [Grasshopper Stab] trying to hit the man, but despite everything, he still managed to defend against the blow. The Empress already suspected it, but it seemed like this person was at a higher level than her or at least more specialized in combat.

She tried to sweep his leg, forcing him to step away, but she cloned the same, kicking him twice. That move gave a small opening for the Ophidianite to hit the man; she quickly spun Gale, making a small cut on the human's arm. As the wind created by the spear fanned the flames of Sacred Fire, it increased the damage dealt by the strike. Following that up, the clones did the same, striking with their spears simultaneously, coming from opposite directions. Raising the sheath of his katana, he tried to block the attacks, but despite his best efforts, his position was too awkward to deflect the blows completely. Still, he managed to brace himself enough to stop them from dealing too much damage. Or that was what he expected to happen. He believed that clone skills were always weaker than the original, but that wasn't the case here. Not only did the clones have the same attributes as Hera, but they also dealt almost 50% more damage than the Ophidianite.

Hera covered her tail in a venomous spike from her [Venomous Arsenal], an elongated blade, almost like a scorpion's stinger. She used it to attack the man along the clones, aiming at his legs; in addition, she sent out a couple of poison needles but aimed at his legs. The last thing she wanted right now was to hit one of her teammates by accident. However, the spells hit a barrier that seemed to be protecting him from magical attacks. Why the clones were able to hit him even with that in effect was something that the Empress didn't understand, but now wasn't the time to think about that.

The man with a red cloak sheathed his katana; a second later, he drew it while spinning in a circle and creating a large wave of energy coming out of him. His cloak now changed, becoming much shorter while the weapon in his hand grew to almost double its size as it glowed in a menacing red. Both clones created by Gale blocked the attack, taking some damage in the process, but Hera ended up being the one who got the most hurt. The katana itself didn't hit her, but the energy wave did, cutting the side of her armor and making her topple to the side as blood started to flow from the wound. Not wanting to miss his chance, the human ignored the wind duplicates. He tried to bring his katana down to kill the original, but a few centimeters before reaching his target, a floating hammer together with two wind clones of the weapon appeared; the clones made a V shape with the handles pouting up while the original Forge appeared from underneath them, holding off the attack completely.

"The fuck is that?!" the man snarled and tried to push the katana down, but he quickly had to give up that idea, jumping over Hera as the Empress' wind clones tried to strike him.

As he flipped in the air, three small blades shot out from the diadem on the Ophidianite's head. They were covered in flames, just like the entire court, and were able to make some cuts on the human's face. At the same time, Dusa triggered her [Viper Gaze] skill. A flash of purple light came from the eyes of the snake carved in the diadem, and the man instantly felt his body slowing down.

Hera jumped to her feet as Forge, and his duplicates came swinging just as the man landed. All of them quickly tapped both Gale and Dusa to give the [Echoing Enchantment]. Both got the same effect, an increase in the likelihood of chance-based effects, and that effect would stack depending on how many weapons had that effect at the same time. This was the 'Echoing' part of the skill. Once he buffed someone like that, all other buffs during the duration of the first one would be the same, and the more of those buffs were active, the stronger they would be.

Spinning Gale again, the Empress used a [Grasshopper Slash] to respond to the attacks, but she wasn't able to hit. Instead, her blow was parried by the man who used the heat to push the spear to the side. Thankfully, the katana was now too big for him to wield it with one hand. He also seemed to be making a point of not letting the blade touch the ground for some reason. Hera's clones dashed from the side, about to strike at him using the [Whirlwind Dance] skill of the spear, but before they were able to hit the man, they vanished. The 30 seconds were over, and the duplicates were now gone.

"Ha!" the man smiled and started attacking again. Despite the size of the katana, he was able to move it considerably fast, even if it was still slower than when the fight started. Hera could see that his eyes were still watering, and his skin was slightly red.

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With a flick of her hand, the Ophidianite tossed a spore field around the man, trying to trigger her [Ailment Mastery]. Apparently, the [Toxic Mist] was considered to be a single ailment even if it was able to do several things at once. The man with the red cloak didn't seem to care, as if he now was already aware of the possibility of being hit by some ailment, and continued pushing forward, trying to slash Hera with his now almost two-meter-long katana. Thankfully, his speed didn't seem to be increasing anymore, allowing the Empress to push for a stalemate. All she had to do was wait for the rest of her team to finish their fights and come to her aid. If that took too long, she would call one of her titled blades. But for now, she didn't want to risk giving the humans an opportunity to escape with the box. Another 20 seconds went by, with the Ophidianite evading most attacks by a hair but still being hit by a few. Each strike from this long katana cut her armor like butter and made her skin sizzle and dry out at the same time. As if her own blood was literally boiling before leaving her body. That didn't happen all at once, and it would take several blows to actually make her skin crack like paper, but it was still something she had to worry about.

'We are coming!' DJ, Chris, and Ink said at the same time. The Empress had a rough idea of where they were located, even if she wasn't paying attention. DJ and Chris were coming from the left, while Ink came from behind her.

That flicker of distraction was exactly what the man was looking for. He stepped forward, closing in the distance as the katana changed, returning to its original size but now emanating a blood-red light that was strong enough to change the color of the surrounding area. Making an upward swing, red energy started to detach from his weapon. The Empress wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen, but he was sure that being hit by that was the last thing she wanted. Tipping her body back, she used her tail to pull herself back even faster to dodge the blow. If this worked, she was going to evade the skill, spell, or whatever it was by a hair. Dusa also realized what was going to happen and sent out the hidden blade of the diadem to attempt to block or at least change the direction of that magic.

As the red energy blade touched the hidden blade, for the first time since being part of the court, Dusa's [Seal of Reflection] was triggered. The attack created by the human suddenly flipped, going back to the man in the red cloak instead of continuing to follow Hera. After using that skill, the man was exposed. He wasn't able to move fast enough to block, dodge, or do anything about the attack, his own attack that came back at him, opening a large gash across his chest.

Hera tried to pull herself up to follow up that blow, but she wasn't in a good position to do that. Luckily, this was a one-on-one fight. Roan came rushing from the side, slamming both of his hand axes on the side of the human's chest, opening up even more the gash that was created by his own attack. Just after him, Flint came running from the direction that Hera was looking at. He jumped, triggering his piston fist to deliver a powerful blow imbued with electricity to the back of the man's head. Neria also joined in, sending an arrow of high-pressure water that pierced the man's chest but wasn't enough to go through him. Skyler's spell was next, a sonic boom that slammed against the man's head, making his eyes pop.

What Hera wasn't able to realize was that during the entire fight, not only the Pool of Styx was helping, but Vash was constantly buffing the party, even using his new tune, the Melody of the Phoenix, to help them heal and maintain her stamina. He still wasn't able to perform it perfectly to give them the phoenix mote that could function as a second life. However, that wasn't necessary for this fight.

Hera jumped back, using her tail to prop her up as she pivoted forward. Pushing with her left leg, the Ophidianite lunged forward, using the [Grasshopper Stab] skill with Gale aiming at the middle of the man's body. In all reality, the man in the red cloak was likely already dead, but she didn't want to risk it. The human fell to the ground, his katana clattering to the side and the red cloak returning to its previous long shape. The Empress looked down, sweat dripping from her neck and blood still coming out of the various wounds that covered her body.

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Human Corpse

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Her [Observe] confirmed that this person was now dead, and she turned around. All the other members of her team were done with their fights. They had killed their targets without exception.

"Are you ok?" Neria rushed over, and as soon as she saw the wounds, she started healing the explorer.

"I'm ok…" Hera replied between breaths. Even with all the skills, spells, and effects increasing her stamina, she was still tired.

Vash landed by the Ophidianite's side, "Can I just ask one thing? Why didn't you use that graveyard skill? The one that lets you bring more blades? Your court ended up helping us and not you. Did you forget again?"

"I wanted to use that skill as a surprise move," Hera said between breaths before sitting on the ground and asking for a moment. After a few seconds, she continued, "I didn't have a chance. That skill takes a moment to set up, and I was worried that asking one of my titled blades for help would give them an opening to go for the box and run."

"Ah… Maybe you should use it as an opener if it takes that long," Flint suggested, now also sitting on the floor.

"It doesn't take that long. But I didn't have a chance to think, only to react. The last time I used that skill in a fight, I was fighting a dragon in the sky, and I managed to pull it off without a problem. This was just… too much," Hera replied.

"But you are ok now, right?" Livy's voice was full of worry. She and the other titled blades were still close to the box, unwilling to move away until the rest of the team confirmed that the danger had passed.

"I am. Thank you for looking after the box. That should be really important," Hera patted herself down, thanked Neria for the healing and got up, moving towards the titled blades. It was time to figure out what was in that box, what was so important for the lab that the humans were willing to die trying to protect it.