Shelia, despite her bloodied and battered appearance, calmly stood back up, dispying a cold resolve that seemed to overshadow her serious injuries. Her abyss-like eyes gleamed with a cold light as she respoo Ace's challenge. "If you insist."

  As the sound of her voice faded, her previously bck battle-qi took on a subtle but noticeable purple hue, signifying a deeper e to the ws of darkness.

  Ace's eyes flickered when he observed this ge. Until now, Shelia had relied solely on her prowess as a warrior, uimating her young oppo. But now, she was tapping into her insights into the ws of darkness for the first time in this battle.

  Ace was only mildly surprised, quickly realising that, like her daughter, Shelia had gained insight into the profound mystery of evil. However, in terms of the depth of prehension, she gged far behind him. Yet, due to the disparity in cultivation levels, Aew he couldn't afford to uimate her.

  "[Devil Armour]," Shelia uttered coldly as her aura shifted, causing a bckish-purple energy to envelop her form.

  Ace observed as Shelia transformed into a devilish figure, t over two meters tall, plete with two menag horns and flickering bckish-purple skin. Although he sensed a greater threat from her now, Ace remained unfazed. He possessed the ability to interrupt Shelia's transformation, but he chose to use her newfound power as a means to test his own strength.

  Ireacherous enviro of the Necropolis of the Gods, Aew that the challenges he would front had the potential to end his life in an instant. To safeguard not only himself but also those he held dear, he o rapidly increase his strength. And what better opportunity to do so than by fag off against the injured leader of the Cult of Darkness?

  As their eyes locked, sparks seemed to fly between Ad Shelia. Then, without hesitation, both warriors surged forward simultaneously, their palpable killing is igniting the air around them.

  The battle between Ad the transformed Shelia unfolded with a frenzied iy. At the beginning of their csh, Ace found himself easily overpowered and suppressed by Shelia's monstrous physical abilities. She stood like a mythical beast in a semi-humanoid form, her two-meter-tall frame exuding an overwhelming presence.

  Shelia's spearmanship, though exceedingly simple, gained her the upper hand due to her incredible physical prowess. Each of her spear strikes was like the furious blow of a celestial giant, shattering Ace's fiery aura with ease.

  Ace felt his energy depleting rapidly with each csh. Every time Shelia's simple yet incredibly powerful spear strikes mao nd, they easily tore apart his fiery skin-tight aura, leaving him vulnerable, f Ace to spend a substantial portion of his energy instantly iing the corruptive energy that Shelia's attacks carried as her insights into the profound mystery of evil had made her energy highly poisonous, adding a perilous dimension to their battle.

  Still, his eyes never wavered. He ignored his injuries and ever-growing fatigue, fog solely on honing his “Bzing Give Art”.

  It was because of his incredible skill level that allowed him to barely hang on against Shelia's relentless onsught. However, as the battle raged on, Shelia became more frantic with her attacks. She sehat Ace was making noticeable improvements despite his rapid exhaustioermio defeat him swiftly, she pressed forward with frantic determination, unwilling to allow Aprove any more.

  Unfortunately, as the duel tinued, Shelia's desperation only seemed to grow, fuelled by the realisation that Ace's improvement was outpag her efforts to defeat him. By the time she fully prehended his rate ress, Ace had reached a point where he could not only hold his own but engage her in a fierd banced exge of blows. The battlefield crackled with fiery energy and the palpable tension of their relentless struggle.

  Amira had just fireating Leona's injuries, her gaze fixed oetle between Ad Shelia. With each passing moment, Ace's injuries accumuted, and Amira couldn't help but watch with a mixture of worry and a hint of infatuation.

  As a practitioner who had suffered the corrosive effects of the profound mystery of evil in the past, Amira knew firsthand the excruciating pain that Ace must be enduring. Yet, his unwavering focus otle and his determination to prevail despite the pain were simply captivating.

  Her attention was so absorbed by the fight that she almost didn't notice the low growl emanating from Leona beside her, warnihat something was amiss.

  In the fines of the Necropolis of the Gods, where their spiritual essence was greatly restricted, Leona's heightened senses, particurly her sense of smell, still remained sharp. She had detected the approach of the Magma Demons before anyone else.

  Soon after Leona's warning, a faint rumbling on the searing hard grouh their feet firmed her suspis. Ace's battle was like a bea, signalling their preseo the native creatures of the ruins.

  Amira uood the impending danger and quickly made her decision. She turo Leona, summoniwin katanas with determination in her eyes.

  ", Leona," Amira said, her voice resolute. "You and I will deal with these Magma Demons."

  With resolve in her heart, Amira activated her Viz bloodline, juring a massive phantom of an ahat mirrored her appearahis transformation instantly boosted both her warrior and mage cultivation by a whole level, propelling them to the te stages of the eighth rank.

  With newfound power surging through her, Amira's feet barely touched the ground as she transformed into a streak of light. She charged fearlessly into the approag horde of over 50 Magma Demons, ready to face the threat head-on and ensure Ace's safety.

  Amira and Leona faced the oning horde of fifty Magma Demons, each of which was at the early stages of the saint realm. The intetle that ensued was a testament to their determination and strength.

  Amira wielded her twin katanas with grad precision, exeg the "Bright Stance" of her self-created "Bright Sky Sword Art."

  Her attacks were swift and precise, resembling the embodiment of light itself. Each strike was like a ray of pure energy, cutting through the Magma Demons with incredible speed and accuracy. Her attacks radiated a sense of purity, seemingly wanting to illumihe already bright dimension of the Necropolis of the Gods, as though she was silently deg that her light would always shine brightest.

  Though Amira wasn't as powerful as Ace, she dispyed remarkable skill and trol. She moved gracefully through the battlefield, engaging multiple Magma Demons at ohout being overwhelmed. Her movements were a dance of light and steel, and her eruggled to keep up with her blinding speed.

  Leona, in her Divi form, fought with a savage and primal style. She utilised her immense physical strength and searing fmes, tearing through some with powerful swipes of her cws, iing others with her crimson fmes, and snapping her jaws with deadly accuracy. Her attacks were brutal and effective, leaving no room for mercy.

  While their fighting styles couldn't have been more different, Amira and Leona plemented each other perfectly. They seemed to share an unspoken uanding, c each other's fws and ots. Amira's precision and agility allowed her to protect Leona from any creatures that slipped past, while Leona's brute ford durability held the front line against the Magma Demons' relentless assaults.

  Together, they formed a formidable team, creating a deadly synergy that carved a path through the Demons. Their goal was clear: to protect Ace, who was locked in a fierce battle behind them.

  In the final moments of their intetle, Ad Shelia were both severely iheir bodies battered and their strength waning. Ace, in particur, appeared to be on his st legs, his body covered in a myriad of corroded stab wounds, but the fire in his eyes burned just as brightly as ever.

  Shelia, oher hand, was filled with a mix of emotions. Part of her desperately wao rid the world of Ace's presend for all, to fulfil her duty to the Cult of Darkness. Yet, another part of her couldn't help but admire Ace's incredible talent aermination.

  Experieng Ace's abilities firsthand was a revetion. She had heard about his talents and withe results in person, but being in a battle with him was airely different experience. She had never entered a talent like Ace before, and she doubted the world would ever see another of his calibre again.

  In an alternate reality, she wished that Ace had been born into her family instead, that their destinies were different. However, with their histories and the flicts between the Cult of Darkness and the Gol Empire, there were only two possible outes: victory or defeat. For her family, for the exalted Sn of Darkness, she couldn't afford to lose.

  Oher side, Ace's resolve was unwavering. The Cult of Darkness had crossed his bottom line ooo many times, and now that his strength had reached its current level, he was determio exact vengeance.

  With their injuries and fatigue weighing them down, Ad Shelia shot forward for the final csh.

  As they eriking range, Shelia thrust her spear with all her might, invoking her ultimate teique, "[Devilish Destroyer]."

  A purplish-bck spear light shot forward, carryiructive force that threateo annihite anything in its path. The faint howling sound it produced seemed to attack the very souls of those who heard it.

  Simultaneously, Aleashed his ultimate teique, "[Myriad Point vergence]." In an instant, he struck four times with blinding speed, each thrust accurately striking the tip of Shelia's spear. The strikes appeared to verge into one, hitting their mark simultaneously and releasiating explosions of fiery energy.

  During his fight with Linley, Ace had only been able to perform three simultaneous strikes when using [Myriad Point vergence], but now, after his battle with Shelia, not only had his [Bzing Give Art] been further refined, his insights into the fused mysteries of fire essend explosions had also deepened signifitly during his battle with Shelia. His prehension of the 'cepts' and 'Profound Mysteries' of fire seemingly able to work hand in hand, allowing him to refine oh the use of the other.

  The impact of their ultimate teiques created an explosion so colossal that even Amira, Leona, and the nearby Magma Demons struggled to maintain their footing. The shockwave rippled through the first floor of the Necropolis, threatening to e everything in its path.

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