“Whew, I feel a lot better after letting it all out.”

Lucia waved her feather fan and looked at the flames raging all around her. For some reason, she felt a sense of satisfaction.

As the soldiers behind her trembled, a plume of black smoke suddenly rose in the distance. A burly figure strode out of it.

“Th-that was close. I nearly got swallowed by the sea of flames.”

The one who emerged from the black smoke and walked up to Lucia was the chief who commanded the magical beasts.

His body was now charred black all over, and his once-thick coat of cow hair was gone.

If he washed himself clean, he’d surely be bald from head to toe.

Seeing an enemy who looked like he’d be difficult to deal with approach, Lucia glanced at the chief and let out a startled cry.

“Unbelievable...”

The chief assumed she was amazed that he was still alive after being blasted more than ten times.

Then Lucia told him what had really shocked her.

“I can’t believe there’s a cow in this world with no hair...”

Lucia could barely hide her surprise. Even the fan in her hand lowered, while her slightly parted lips revealed what was going through her mind.

“My hair got burned off because of you!”

The chief couldn’t hold back any longer. He roared at her without a shred of dignity, and the sound made the surrounding flames flicker.

“I did something like that...? Did I? Why don’t I remember?”

Lucia hadn’t seen the chief when she set the fire earlier, so she had no recollection of him being burned before.

To him, her perfectly reasonable question sounded like an excuse.

“Damn it! I thought demons would be easier to get along with, but you’re just as sly as humans!”

At first, the chief had wanted to try settling things through conversation.

The magical beasts he’d brought with him had all been wiped out, but not long ago, he truly hadn’t wanted to fight Lucia.

For one thing, Lucia’s own strength gave him plenty of reason to be wary.

But once he decided there was no way to communicate with her, he had no choice but to treat the demon before him as a target, too.

Sensing the chief’s killing intent, the commander who’d been arguing with Lucia moments earlier now took the initiative to warn her, worried for her safety.

“Careful! He might turn back into his true form!”

Not long after the warning rang out, the soldiers called from behind them.

“Maybe he’s a giant yak.”

“Could be a super-sized water buffalo.”

“No, no. I think he’s a monster with a horse’s head and a cow’s body!”

At that, the chief let out an angry roar.

“I’m not going to transform! What do you people think my true form is?”

Different races had different forms that represented the peak of their strength.

For example, among dragons, being able to fully take human form was one way to measure a dragon’s abilities.

Even so, a dragon’s strongest form was still its original one: its dragon form.

The sea folk were much the same, with the merfolk as the sole exception.

As for magical beasts, they were strongest while maintaining or taking on human form.

If they turned into giant beasts, their strength would inevitably drop by a great deal. From that, it was clear that...

The chief wasn’t about to give up his current form.

Besides, a human form offered greater agility.

If his body grew several times larger, he’d become a massive target—and every attack his enemies made would hit him.

What’s the point of making things harder for yourself?

At least, the chief didn’t see the point.

The next moment, he raised both axes into an attacking stance and charged forward, closing in with a swift assault.

Lucia shifted backward, retreating step by step. As she went, she raised her fan and began casting earth magic.

The ground beneath her feet immediately bulged upward. A rock weighing around a hundred jin—about 110 pounds—quickly tore free of the earth, spun through the air, and shot toward the chief’s head.

The chief was no less skilled. He had no intention of dodging the fast-approaching attack; instead, he swiftly swung one short axe forward.

With a crack, the rock—larger than his entire body—was sliced in half, and a rain of fragments fell to the ground.

He’d done well. As if urging him to keep it up, Lucia got serious, and even more protrusions rose from beneath the earth.

Then more rocks came crashing down on the chief.

Same speed, same size, more of them for the same price! Lucia’s earth-magic “bonus bundle” came free—as long as he paid with his life!

Kachakachakachakachakachakachaka!

The chief’s arms rose and fell at lightning speed, like a skilled chef chopping vegetables. Rock fragments kept falling on either side of his shoulders.

After the final sharp crack, the chief had smashed every rock that came at him to pieces.

At the same time, he’d closed much of the distance between himself and Lucia.

After one more step, he was right in front of his target, his muscular arms poised to rise.

Just then, the tiny fragments came together again. Before the chief could bring down his axes, they formed an even larger rock.

The chief caught sight of the rock locking onto him again from the corner of his eye. Lucia took the chance to move away from him.

Then the rock hurtled toward him at incredible speed, and the chief ducked just in time.

Though he reacted quickly, a sharp corner of the rock still scraped his scalp, leaving a thin cut. A string of beads of blood immediately dripped to the ground.

The chief didn’t look down, so he failed to notice that his blood, staining the ground, was now flowing toward the nearby area along an unnatural path...

The next second, having barely dodged the huge rock, the chief twisted his body into a sideways flip and spun backward through the air.

As one shoulder lined up with the rock below, he pressed down with his palm and drove one short axe into the boulder’s surface.

Then, spinning rapidly, he switched which shoulder faced forward and brought his other short axe down on the rock.

The target was so large that one strike wasn’t enough, so the chief landed two attacks in quick succession.

Only then did he manage to shatter the boulder completely. This time, the fragments couldn’t possibly come back together.

He’d taken a minor injury a moment ago, but it wasn’t serious. The chief still thought he could win.

After breaking through Lucia’s attack and landing on the ground, he immediately went on the offensive, charging again with a deadly look in his eyes!

Lucia’s favorite “elegant fighting style” was to end a battle without getting into close combat with her opponent.

But by now, she clearly understood...

Her opponent was too strong for her to hold anything back. If she wanted to go home, she had to give it everything she had.

With a sigh, Lucia stopped retreating and immediately launched an attack of her own.

She put on a do-or-die act and charged straight at him, but the moment their strength met, she slipped away like an eel.

Then Lucia’s figure blurred. Using her agility, she slipped past his right side.

The chief stayed calm and swung his massive hand toward Lucia.

Just as that tremendous force was about to hit her, she moved again, darting to his left in a flash.

To be safe, she even slowed down slightly on purpose. Once she’d made him react in that direction, she switched back to her original course.

Though the chief fighting her had been completely fooled into shifting his weight, he still didn’t panic.

He stretched out a leg and swept it toward his opponent, not to cause damage but simply to stop her from moving.

Right then, Lucia’s lips curled with delight. She leapt and planted her foot squarely on the chief’s left ankle, intending to use it to spring away.

The expected crack of a breaking bone rang out, but the smile vanished from Lucia’s lips.

She realized that she hadn’t gained even the slightest push from it. The force she’d put in had vanished as if it had fallen into the sea.

Though she’d broken her opponent’s ankle, a powerful suction sprang from the spot and clung to Lucia, dragging her body back instead of letting it surge forward.

After barely regaining her balance, Lucia tensed her right arm and swung it backhanded toward the top of the chief’s head.

But the next instant, her opponent didn’t dodge at all. He raised his other leg and kicked straight toward her heart.

Lucia knew exactly what would happen: if she changed her move now, she’d definitely be stuck in place.

With that in mind, she took a risk. She raised her left hand, layered in several coats of magic, and poured even more power into her palm, striking at the chief’s head with greater speed and force.

With both of them on the verge of killing each other, the chief gave a low growl. Faced with the threat of death, he finally changed his move.

The chief tilted his shoulder, barely avoiding a vital spot, but his kick changed direction as a result.

Then came a crunch. Lucia shattered his shoulder, while his kick struck a painful spot just above her waist.

The rare pain made Lucia knit her delicate brows.

She shook her head a few times to clear the dizziness, then noticed...

Her opponent, the chief, wasn’t faring any better.

As he lowered his head, the chief spat out a mouthful of blood, but he didn’t fall. He remained standing right where he was.

From the moment they began fighting to the moment they passed each other, no more than two or three seconds had gone by.

Even so, both of them knew exactly what had happened.

If either one of them had been even slightly weaker, or a little slower to react, they’d likely be a lifeless corpse by now.

Just as Lucia seemed unable to attack again, the chief immediately gathered all his strength. His right foot snapped up like a bolt of lightning and slammed toward her face.

Even with his left foot injured, he could move and still kick that fast. The physical prowess of magical beasts was truly impressive.

Lucia showed no sign of panic. She turned her body slightly to dodge her opponent’s thunderous strike, while also controlling a row of blades within her fan and extending them outward.