Execution

"Awooo!!!"

The Mist Demon threw back its head and roared. Pain made it unable to keep its balance, forcing it down onto one knee.

That gave Marcus the perfect chance to execute it.

Marcus stomped forward, swinging his round shield with tremendous force and smashing it viciously into the Mist Demon's hideous head!

"Bang!"

Nearly half of the Mist Demon's head was smashed apart. Thick red-and-white fluids burst out, leaving it dazed and its head tilted to one side, exposing its neck.

A cold gleam split through the mist as the battle blade followed, chopping straight for its neck!

"Splurt...!"

The blade bit into flesh, and blood sprayed out.

But the Mist Demon's faint energy barrier was still functioning. Marcus's battle blade actually became lodged halfway through its neck, unable to advance any farther!

The Mist Demon's savage nature was completely provoked.

"Roar...!"

It twisted its head desperately, its powerful bones and muscles clamping together. Marcus could not pull out his blade, and its edge even began to warp slightly!

Both sides gritted their teeth and began a contest of strength. Neither could give ground at this moment!

But the battle blade was already nearing its limit. If this continued, the degree of warping would exceed what the metal's toughness could withstand.

The Mist Demon opened its mouth wide, revealing rows of terrifyingly pale, sharp teeth.

It slowly stretched toward Marcus, intending to bite off the human's head in a single mouthful!

"You beast...!"

Vales's face hardened. He immediately drew the curved blade at his waist, preparing to rush in and help.

Fireball!

At that critical moment, Zeliel's second Fireball finished charging and struck the wound on the Mist Demon's neck with precision.

"Bang!"

"Beautiful!"

Marcus's eyes lit up.

The Fireball exploded against the Mist Demon in a burst of sparks. Magic power and the energy barrier eroded each other, and its final line of defense vanished with them.

All resistance suddenly disappeared, leaving Marcus's battle blade unobstructed.

The Mist Demon's movements stalled, its vicious expression freezing with them.

"Die!!!"

With Marcus's roar, he brought the blade down with all his strength!

The blade smoothly sliced through muscle, brutally severed the spine, and finally emerged from the other side!

"Splurt!"

The Mist Demon's head rolled to the ground as foul black blood shot into the sky like blooming fireworks.

The enormous headless body swayed, then crashed to the ground.

The Mist Demon was dead!

Zeliel's taut nerves finally relaxed. He collapsed onto the ground, his chest heaving as he let out a long breath.

[The party has slain a Mist Demon (juvenile), gaining a large amount of experience.]

lv.2-lv.3, level up!

Two levels in a single day. His distributable attribute points increased by another four.

This time, Zeliel did not choose to increase Spirit. Instead, he assigned them to Intelligence.

His Intelligence rose from 66 to 70.

Zeliel suddenly felt that his use of magic power had become smoother, and the structural formula of Fireball seemed a little clearer to him as well.

At the same time, due to the strong correlation mechanism of Intelligence, his Charisma increased by one point to 46.

After allocating his points, Zeliel focused on his talent skills.

No changes appeared on that section of the panel. Gray text merely surfaced, showing the condition for unlocking the next talent skill:

[Reach Lower Mage.]

In the mage class system of the Candia Continent, the ranks from lowest to highest were Magic Apprentice, Lower Mage, Intermediate Mage, and Upper Mage.

After breaking through to Upper Mage, one had to choose a unique advancement path. Every class had its own area of expertise.

However, people at that level were all renowned powerhouses. Zeliel was still quite far from them.

As for Lower Mage...

Zeliel naturally had not reached the level of a Lower Mage yet.

I wonder whether I even count as a Magic Apprentice... Zeliel mused to himself.

Mage rankings were independent of warrior, ranger, and assassin rankings. The Adventurers' Association had no authority over them; only the Mages' Guild could conduct the assessment and issue certified mage badges.

Looking at the Mist Demon's enormous headless corpse, Zeliel felt immensely relieved.

Fortunately, it had only been a juvenile, and he had luckily sensed its movements in advance. That was why the party had managed to slay it.

Otherwise, the outcome would truly have been uncertain.

After killing the Mist Demon, Marcus and Vales also dropped to the ground.

They panted heavily, calming their racing hearts, their faces full of the relief of survivors.

Zeliel looked at Gray, who was lying off to the side.

"Gray? How are you?"

"Still alive..."

Gray's voice was weak and listless.

His luck had been quite good too. The Mist Demon's second attack had not struck his chest again. It had only shattered Gray's longsword, and the flying metal fragments had failed to injure crucial areas such as his eyes or neck.

However, Gray's face had been cut, and several metal shards were embedded in his shoulder. Blood continued to stream down.

Vales pushed himself up and walked over to Gray, hovering his hand above him.

"Don't move. Let me take a look."

Vales tore open Gray's ruined hardened leather armor and inner lining, exposing the skin on his chest.

The Mist Demon's strike had been truly terrifying. Vales could clearly see that Gray's chest had sunk in slightly.

Several of his ribs had definitely broken, but the bone fragments probably had not damaged internal organs such as his lungs. Otherwise, Gray would already be dead.

There was no laceration on his chest, yet bloody fluid still seeped through his skin, forming a bruise-like mark across his chest.

Zeliel watched from the side, secretly horrified.

If I took a hit like that... I'd probably already be dead, right?

The bruising on Gray's chest could not be treated for now, so Vales shifted his attention to the metal shards embedded in Gray's shoulder.

Cleaning the wounds and stopping the bleeding were the priority.

"Zeliel, start a fire and heat the knife. Bring over the Firethroat Wine and the medical kit too."

Zeliel followed Vales's instructions, while Marcus silently kept watch around them to prevent any further accidents.

Vales took the knife Zeliel handed him and blew on the heat rising from it.

"Bear with it. Don't scream like a ghost," Vales said.

"Do I look like some woman to you?" Gray tugged the corner of his mouth into a faint smile.

Vales used the knife tip to precisely cut open the flesh caught around the metal fragment, then pinched its edge.

Gray's eyelids began to twitch, and his body involuntarily tensed.

Zeliel promptly stuffed a piece of cloth into Gray's mouth for him to bite down on.

Vales exerted force with two fingers and yanked outward!

"Splurt!"

With a teeth-grating sound, a small twisted shard of iron was pulled out, accompanied by a tiny jet of blood.

"Urgh, hahahahaha..."

Gray's body stiffened violently. His howl was completely muffled in his mouth, and by the end, it somehow sounded almost like laughter.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Zeliel seemed to catch a flash of pleasure across Vales's face.