Sairao moved toward Enrico's possible allies, searching specifically for the dark elves. Now that he had obtained so many elf sacrifices, the number required had dropped. Before he needed fifty dark elf sacrifices—now it had decreased to only thirty. He had created them specifically to be the best sacrifices, far more valuable than any human or normal elf that could exist.
"Only thirty more for my body to be ready."
His eyes observed every movement of the enemies, ignoring the battles and focusing only on finding what belonged to him. Seeing a dark elf fighting two elves at the same time, he noticed the magic surrounding the elf's body seemed stronger than before for some reason. Possibly it had been enhanced by some powerful item.
'Perfect. That means I only need to sacrifice twenty-seven with this improved magic.'
And the first one had already been obtained. Quickly he covered his hand with crimson magic, and the elf's head was torn off cleanly. Raising his hand behind him, he absorbed the elf's soul essence filled with magic and made it disappear, sending it somewhere where all the previous sacrifices had been gathered. Leaving the shocked elves behind, he continued on his path.
'Now only twenty-six left. I'm so close.'
And in that battlefield he would undoubtedly find the rest. Once again he found dark elves—but not just one. There were five advancing through attacks from some enemies: three female dark elves and two males. That meant only twenty-one more would remain. He was about to launch forward when his face was struck by a distortion in space that sent him in the opposite direction.
"I wanted to fight that elf, but I don't see her anywhere, so I guess it'll be you."
Sairao stopped easily and looked ahead. The girl in front of him was undoubtedly a sixth-circle mage. Facing a seventh-circle mage like him was practically useless unless someone had a plan or spatial magic to keep up. In almost one hundred percent of cases he had seen, that had never truly happened before.
"You're quite confident to face me."
Victoria said nothing and simply advanced toward him. The moment she reached him, both were swallowed by Sairao's own magic, surprising Victoria for a moment. Before disappearing again with her spatial teleport, she struck Sairao in the back with a kick coated in spatial mana.
Falling forward, he placed his hand behind him and a crimson explosion erupted where Victoria had been. She reappeared at a distance after teleporting again. Her magic was one of the few things that allowed her to fight a seventh-circle mage, because honestly she had never seen how Enrico and Kai had developed their speed abilities. Otherwise she might have tried something similar—and in fact she was thinking about that exact thing while this battle was happening.
'I could use my magic to enhance only my physical abilities… but the problem is I only have one affinity.'
Fighting without fully using her affinity would be disadvantageous, so for now she would see if her teleportation could keep up with his movements. With her senses heightened far beyond normal, she noticed something below her and disappeared instantly from the spot just as crimson magic enveloped it.
Crimson magic was Sairao's third affinity, developed by him long ago and passed down afterward. The barrier forming in that place was an effect of that magic.
'No one can discover that a battle is happening here because this is its own dimension.'
Launching forward, he used his sacrifice magic on his body. Several human souls who had formed contracts with him rested in his palm. By sacrificing them, his magic increased by thirty percent. Raising his hands, he used sacrifice magic on the small souls he had scattered across the battlefield, detonating each one and trying to trap Victoria within those explosions to injure her.
Creating her spatial sword, she sliced through the explosions, opening a small gap to remain safe. As she tried to advance, she suddenly felt herself restrained by chains. Looking back, she saw the red circle of Sairao's curse magic binding her with black chains. Victoria felt her mana being drained and immediately cut the chains with her sword.
'Crimson magic, sacrifice magic, and curse magic… three affinities. This will be difficult. But if I win, I'll reach another level.'
A smile appeared on her face as she moved behind Sairao with her sword raised. Activating the full extent of her ability, she cut through space itself, forcing Sairao to step back. A small cut appeared on his chin, leaving him surprised.
'She managed to injure me?'
Touching the wound, his eyes turned furious. Immediately he used his curse magic, creating several red magic circles in the area. From each circle, crimson claws reached toward Victoria. Because this magic was even stronger than the previous one, Victoria had to teleport repeatedly to avoid being caught.
'I don't know what they are, but if those claws touch me something bad will happen. I can feel it.'
Her senses were so heightened that she could perceive every danger on the battlefield when she focused to the extreme—and in this fight, extreme concentration was exactly what she needed. As she crouched to avoid another claw, she felt her head struck by a devastating kick that disoriented her for a moment.
Sairao was directly behind her, his body filled with crimson magic. From him erupted red fists striking multiple parts of Victoria's body. If it hadn't been for the spatial barrier she had placed around herself before the fight began, she would have undoubtedly died from that attack. The situation was becoming dangerous—especially since her barrier was cracking with every blow while blood streamed from her face.
'Damn it. I need to get out of here. I'm completely at a disadvantage.'
Channeling the maximum amount of mana into her sword, she decided to risk her next move. Sairao allowed the red fists to keep striking her while he prepared another spell with his free hand. Suddenly he felt something different and stepped back just in time to dodge the sword charged with spatial mana.
"Nice try—"
Suddenly he felt the zone he had created being cut. Looking behind him, he saw a slash appear in the barrier. Victoria seized that moment to teleport out of the place, escaping the dangerous zone. Sairao's face showed irritation as he followed her outside. He had been caught by that strategy, and it angered him.
'I'll kill that girl—'
Just as he was about to grab Victoria's head, a kick struck his face, sending him crashing to the ground. Both he and Victoria looked surprised as Enrico stood there with his leg raised, his dull eyes directed straight at Sairao.
He had come here to claim his next prey—and he would not leave without winning this fight.