"Only one, huh. I think that I've been severely underestimated."
Lilia had been observing the people and demons that had suddenly appeared around each of her companions with the help of her magic.
She had found that everyone else was outnumbered, with at least three individuals for every one of them.
However, from a portal that had opened up near her, only a single person had appeared.
Normally most people would not be upset that they had less ambushers attacking them, but Lilia felt that she was being looked down on. It was as if the enemy forces were saying that they considered her to be the weakest member of Marcus' party.
"You're not the only one disgruntled with this situation. I'm the one that got relegated to disposing of a little girl." The cloaked figure approaching Lilia said with a scoff.
From his build and voice, she could tell that he was a large man with a powerful build.
The strength he exuded was also the real deal. Before her was no low-level lackey but a high-level demon from what she could tell.
However, when he threw off the baggy cloak he was wearing, Lilia recognized the person that was confronting her. She had never met him before, but his description had been given to her.
"You're Argus, aren't you? My brother and Mrazivý told me about you."
Standing before her was a man that had large crown of horns. fiendish claws, pure red eyes, and skin that looked normal in some places but had a bluish hue in others with small prikes growing out of him. As if he had been sewn together like patchwork clothing. The process that had given him demonic powers was clearly not perfect.
"Ah, so you've heard of me." The man replied dramatically. "Yes, I'm Argus. Since my superior does not get along well with the person leading this mission, I was given the least desirable task. Expect, it seems that I may have actually gotten quite lucky. You are something else. Never have I felt such a desire to kill something before."
Argus could not fully explain it himself, but some instinct within him was commanding him to tear Lilia apart.
Being an Empyrean Lilia was considered a type of divine being. Her existence was in complete opposition to a demonic entity like Argus.
Without a further exchange of words, the two of them began to fight.
Argus was the first to act, gripping his amethros war hammer tightly with both of his hands and swinging down on Lilia.
It was an attack empowered by his unique skill Eruption Crash and held enough power behind it to topple a mountain.
Plummeting down towards her opponent after using a mana barrier platform as a springboard, Lilia slammed her hands into Argus' torso.
A plume of dust and dirt shot up into the sky and the entire area was riddled with fissures from the impact.
"If nothing else, your durability is pretty high."
Even after receiving Lilia's finisher, Argus was not dead and had even gotten back on his feet.
At the last moment he had unleashed a counterattack he had been preparing and managed to prevent himself from being completely crushed.
Still, he was in bad shape, with a huge dent in his stomach and blood flowing out of his body from several severe injuries.
Lilia on the other hand had only a single small scratch on her face where Argus' war hammer had grazed her.
A single drop of red blood that looked like it had flakes of gold in it flowed down her face for only a second before her regeneration skill sealed up the wound.
"To think I would be pushed so far by you. It shouldn't be possible. A child not even twenty years old should not have this kind of power." Argus said, his eyes burning with wrath and envy.
For most of his life he had sought greater and greater strength. He had trained hard, fought perilous threats, and in the end even made a deal with demons to grow ever more powerful.
Yet Lilia's existence almost seemed to be a mockery of his struggles.
He could only believe that some unbelievably lucky encounter had led her to receive the strength she currently wielded. And he was not altogether wrong.
Without meeting Marcus, she never would have achieved her current level and obtained all of the powerful skills at her disposal.
Nevertheless, that did not mean her own difficulties in gaining the abilities she currently possessed were negligible.
For a time, she had truly lost everything, and it was only through her own efforts and determination that she preserved through the training Marcus gave her and the immense dangers of the Special Dungeon that had rapidly advanced her to where she was now.
"If you have any other regrets, I'd voice them now. This will be your last chance." Lilli said, preparing an attack to finish Argus off.
"Yes, I suppose that I do have one more regret. That I am forced to use this against you."
"Primeval Aspect."