Chapter 88 - Immolation

The SS Rank Water Slayer glared at Ignis Silva menacingly.

"No, I have not forgotten, Ignis."

"Is that so? Good for you then, Luken."

The latter responded and walked away to lead the Fire Slayer squad.

"I guess we are going to have to go with Vale's squad, then."

Faust Keisuke said as he was sharpening his weapon in preparation for a battle.

"That seems to be the case. We did have a tad bit of luck in our side this once, though."

Luken's eyebrows shot up.

"Really, how so?"

He asked.

"The Angels are still deep in their slumbers in these ginormous hives, we did not get here just late enough for them to emerge from them."

Gavin responded firmly.

Vale Ashford, Ajay, and Sae'jal began their scouting task by sliding down the plateau in a slow and quiet manner, just not loud enough to attract any hidden Angel's attention.

The three of them observed the desolate place.

Nothing was teeming of life over here.

There were stumps of trees, but that was all they ever were, stumps. Some of them had fallen down as if it was struck down by an unknown force.

"Leaves are not present in every single tree."

Sae'jal remarked. His brows wrinkled, indicating curiosity.

His fingers ran through the dead and barren trees.

They crumbled under the single force of his hand's stroke, turning into nothing but dust as it united with the snowfall.

Vale Ashford had noticed this and was perplexed herself.

"What sort of snow causes trees to decay like this?"

She asked.

"Maybe it could have been the snow mixed with something else? Possibly an effect of that?"

Ajay said.

"No. It could not have been the snow being modified or any other natural phenomena."

Her silver eyes fixated on the two large hives towering over them as though they were mere felines looking up to a human being's size.

Its dark aura was definitely palpable once they were this close to them. The smell was unbearable as well.

"We are going to have to get used to the smell of these disgusting hives." Vale placed her scarf and pulled it upwards, covering her mouth and nose. "It shall smell even worse once it is set ablaze, trust me on that."

The two S Rank Slayers with her mimicked her and covered their mouths and nose as well and nodded afterwards.

"Keep your eyes peeled, one has to keep it up above the sky, and the other one and I should keep surveying the ground level below."

She gave them the order to always be aware, as they were the 'eyes' of the Operation Phoenix and all of its members here with them right now.

"A squadron cannot function without a de-facto leader, and after that leader is to be culled in the line of duty, the second in command has to step up, I am sure you guys have heard of this time and time again during your rookie days, but reconnaissance tasks are different. No matter how efficient the leaders above us are, they will always be caught off guard without our guidance and support. For the phoenix to fly without coming into contact with walls and such, it must possess eyes to see it first."

Vale finished her order with a speech that was empowering both Ajay and Sae'jal.

Every single Slayer present here knew the implications of what might happen if they ever make a single tiny mistake during this mission, and that would be an utter and catastrophic failure.

And this type of burden was resting on the backs of Vale Ashford, the S Rank Wind Slayer. Ignis Silva and the Emperor Nicholas had trusted that her reputation preceded her. That she was worthy of the nickname which was 'The Specter.'

Vale knew this as well. She did not want to become a burden for any person for as long as she lived. That was her code. Her way of life, as some might call it.

As the three of them focused their eyes on the surroundings, covering all the areas while moving slowly, careful not to draw in much unwanted attention from the Angel guards, if there were any.

Time seemed as though it was stopped, the Slayers up above were keen and prepared to strike if there were ever Angels in the vicinity, that was for sure.

The S Rank Slayers gripped their steel armaments, grimoires, blades, swords, and other weapons. 

Fire Slayers had their grimoires opened to a specific page different from each individual one of them. 

"Whatever strongest Fire spell you are able to muster up and use, make sure you are prepared to let hellfire rain from above at these disgusting hives!"

Vale Ashford and her squad finished surveying the location near the hives, concluding that it was in fact, empty.

They checked the hive and entered it. The Angels were still in place, sleeping, waiting for their chance to burn humanity themselves if kept alive.

The Specter raised her hand from below, indicating that they were going to be finding a way upwards from the other side, and that the 'Hellfire' part of the Operation Phoenix was going to be given a green light.

Ignis Silva grinned and gazed at the abyss which were the hives.

He pointed at them and prepared to throw his red playing cards as the first sign of attack.

The SS Rank Fire Slayer's hands let loose a barrage of red playing cards stained by his own blood to make much stronger explosions as a result.

It was followed by the other Fire Slayers letting loose and not holding back. Each one of them had been given a meter or more apart in order to avoid crossfire.

Snowy grounds had their white coating melted from the heat of the flames.

Gavin stared at Ignis Silva, eagerly waiting on him to give the Serpent Summoner the signal to summon something massive.

"Do it, Gavin Khalil."

The leader of the Inferno Garden said with such dedication in his eyes.

With that, Gavin took out his grimoire and summoned the Elder Wyrm herself, Ryoko. The same dragon who lit Luken Regalia's cigarette up when they were still on route to the Grand Castle with Vale Ashford on the carriage trip.

Shockwaves were sent from the area of proximity where Gavin had summoned the mighty beast.

Black dark scales covered it up as its red eyes were burning with intensity.

The Elder Wyrm Ryoko was one of the oldest and strongest monsters that were able to be summoned by Gavin.

She was the perfect one to summon since she specialized in burning things down to a crisp to the point of nothing but ashes.

"What is thy bidding, Master Gavin?"

The dragon's feminine yet intense voice asked.

Gavin pointed at the black hives.

Once Ryoko's eyes locked in on them, there was an expression of disgust that was apparent on the dragon's face.

"I know." Gavin said. "I will explain it to you later, everything down to the bone about what the hell these things are, but for now, I am going to have to ask you to fly up above and breathe fire onto these things."

"I shall gladly do thy bidding, Master Gavin."

Ryoko said that, but as she was about to fly, she had noticed Luken's sweating face.

"H-Hey! Long time no see, Ryoko!"

The S Rank Water Slayer nervously chuckled and greeted the dragon.

His greetings fell on deaf ears, however, as the dragon ignored him and proceeded to ignite the hives.

The non Fire Slayers were just positioned at the back, wary of approaching too close to the hives that they might be burnt down by their fellow Fire Slayers by mistake.

Finally, Vale and her squad made their way up, although it was snowing, the three of them were riddled with sweat down to their necks.

Luken Regalia stared at them.

"What? Do you have a problem, Luken?"

The Specter asked him.

"O-Oh no, no, no, not at all! Damn you guys are sweaty, is it really that hot down there?"

He asked.

"You should ask that yourself."

She replied.

Luken was using his black coat as a make shift fan.

"Well yeah, I mean I do know how hot it is here, with all the Fire people led by the maniac Ignis, I was just asking how much different it would be from down there."

He said nervously.

"Was that really something you wish you might have asked?"

Vale was annoyed.

The hives were burning.

Coupled with the immolation were the hundreds of voices of Angels crying out in pain.

"Deserves you right you filthy creatures! Burn to ashes and feel the wrath of mankind!"

Ignis Silva shouted.

Hector Incendium was busy casting spells himself at the hives down below.

His face was as expressionless as ever, but the same cannot be said about the intensity of the spells he was letting loose. 

"Hey, Gavin."

Luken pulled him.

"Do you think Zach could do something like that?"

"With proper training and without his smart ass attitude, I am sure of it."