The living watched with fearful eyes as the terrible scene unfolded into something akin to death itself.
The scent of sulfur assailed their nostrils as fire spread out, burning everything along its path.
In the midst of the heat, deep, bloody eyes glowed behind the gray curtain of smog. It was as if hell had
come to the land of the living, and the mortals who bore witness cowered in its presence.
Amid the hundred venomous beasts that screamed violently, a ringing silence came across everyone's
ears. All people trembled at this display of power.
Buzz, buzz! It was at this moment that a strong urge throbbed within Ricky. The erratic change had
incited a kind of hunger in the Chaotic Fire Zone. He could feel its desire to absorb the black plague.
'Kristen's blood eyes are powerful, ' he thought to himself. 'It would be enough to summon energy as
powerful as the peculiar fire and sacred fire.' Ricky closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The outbreak of this black plague was by nature more powerful than the three kinds of fire energy he
held in his body as Kristen was of a higher rank than him. Through the Chaotic Fire Zone, Ricky had a
strong feeling that the black flames would never disappear unless Kristen controlled it with her blood
eyes.
As this thought came over him, Ricky's eyes were drawn to the trail of fire. It was mercilessly burning
not only animals, but also the earth in the Black Marsh.
Earth, as they all knew, could not be burnt by any sacred fire. But the scene that Ricky was witnessing
with his very eyes defied this very fact. He kept his eyes on the fire, as if to make sure he was not
seeing an illusion. And there it was. The Earth burned into a crisp until it disappeared at the touch of
the black flames.
'What fire is this!?' Ricky asked in his head. He had never seen anything like it.
The air crackled and the tongues of black fire spread even further.
It had not been long, but the flames had already burned nearly a hundred beasts to death. And as if
that wasn't enough, it continued to incinerate bodies until everything had been reduced to ash.
The black flames gathered around Kristen, changing configuration slowly.
"Die!" Rattus stood in shock at the scene. Kristen turned to him, her eyes filled with a murderous glint.
At this moment, the black flames coiled and curved until it had formed into the outline of an eye.
Immediately, the eye of fire shot a black flame arrow that flew straight to Rattus' direction.
Sensing danger, Rattus recovered from his trance brought about by the pervasive smell of death and
countered the attack. With a ferocious look, he turned to Kristen and screamed, "This little trick of yours
is nothing but fraud. You really think you can subdue a beast tamer with your flimsy fire? You have a
long way to go, little girl." The black flames had burned nearly a hundred fierce beasts to death at once,
and Rattus was also agitated. He calmed himself with the thought that it was only due to the lack of
preparation. The flames had caught them by surprise. So the beasts had no time to escape.
But all this convincing Rattus told himself did not amount to much. He did not have the Chaotic Fire
Zone like Ricky. It was not possible for him feel the real power of the black flames. This ignorance was
his weakness.
Rattus roared again.
Immediately, the beasts started to gather once again. They charged straight to Kristen's direction.
"Rattus is no fool. He also fights with his head. He is going straight for Kristen. Once the source of all
this power is defeated, the energy of the flames will also be gone," Ricky murmured, watching the two
go against each other. "He may also know that Kristen can't control the flames for long. The blood eyes
are already bleeding from the exertion."
Turning to Tyson, he said quickly, "Tyson! Let us attack those beasts and distract them. That should
buy Kristen enough time to concentrate on Rattus." Tyson nodded at his suggestion.
"Alright!" he answered. He turned to the beasts and prepared to attack.
But before they could commence the plan, the situation changed once again. They saw the black
arrows of flame multiply and fly straight to the beasts. Ricky and Tyson did not move. They were
confused about what was happening.
With lightning speed, the arrows changed their trajectory, passing through the space between the
snarling beasts and hitting Rattus directly. Ricky and Tyson were almost unable to follow the arrows
with their eyes until they saw it land on Rattus.
Rattus was also caught off guard. He did not even have enough time to understand what was
happening until an arrow shot straight into his chest.
'How could she suddenly create so many arrows with such speed?' Ricky marveled at what he had just
witnessed. It was not far from possible that Kristen might have reached the peak of the eighth grade of
Bone Reinforcement. She had grown immensely from this one battle.
Tyson watched, unmoving. He had yet to comprehend what had just happened. The next thing he knew
was that Rattus was on the ground. He was dead.
Had it not been for his mastery of two Supreme Skills and his two powerful zones, Ricky would have
been the same as Tyson.
"Kristen! Her eyes!" Immediately, Kristen's bleeding eyes came to Ricky's mind. He tore his gaze from
the fallen beasts and Rattus and turned to look quickly at her. Trails of blood flowed out from her eyes
like crimson rivers, staining her face.
It was at this moment that Kristen's proud bearing dropped. Her body staggered and she fell forward,
only managing to kneel to stop herself from completely falling. She heaved, as if the very act of
breathing was a herculean task. Her shoulders shook. It seemed as if she would faint any moment.
"Kristen!" Ricky and Tyson were immediately heading towards her. They were no longer thinking of
anything else. They reached her quickly and grasped her staggering body to help her up.
Just then, a blood-curdling scream ripped through the air.
Rattus' body writhed in agony as the black flames claimed him. Soon, not even his bones were visible.
Roar! With the death, the fierce beasts collapsed one after another with a great thud. The others fled
quickly, trying to escape the black flames.
"Tyson, I will stay here. You go and catch the Rats' two allies. They must know where his resources are
hidden. If we let them escape, everything today would be for nothing!" Ricky said firmly. The members
of the Rats' were fleeing the scene like cowardly animals. There was no way they would let those
vermin escape.
Tyson nodded quickly. "Alright. Leave them to me. You take care of Kristen first." Going after the Rats'
allies would not take much. Tyson ran forward and followed them.
"Kristen, are you alright?" Ricky asked, his voice laced with worry. Kristen's eyes had not ceased their
bleeding.
Reaching for his pocket, he took out a Recovery Pill and let her take it.
The pill could not only be used to heal poison. It could also restore a warrior's physical strength.
Kristen swallowed it down, but even the pill's potency did little except give her body a little of her
strength back. She had taken too much damage from battle. Using the black flames had backfired and
taken a toll on Kristen's body. She was not able to contain the huge amount of energy and she was
now feeling the consequences.
Seeing this, Ricky took out two more Recovery Pills and handed them to her. Fear rose in his heart as
he looked at her weak state. He would never be able to forgive himself if he let her die here.
But instead of taking the pills, Kristen feebly pushed Ricky's hand away. "Ricky, even a thousand
Recovery Pills won't help me now. This is the price of the blood eye," she said. At her words, Ricky's
fear was slowly being taken over with helplessness.
Refusing to believe her completely, he insisted that she take them.
But Kristen just shook her head. Leaning on his arms, she stood up.
"Kristen, what are you doing? If you won't take the pills, then just sit down and rest," Ricky said, not
understanding why she was standing up despite her weakened state.
Kristen staggered, but her eyes shone with determination. "I have to be quick and take advantage of
this time. I can still use the blood eyes and I have to take care of these flames. The fire will burn down
everything unless there is an array deployer to seal them!" Kristen said slowly.
She took a deep breath. Then, opening her eyes once again, she used what was left of her energy to
summon the blood eyes.
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