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Tafel watched the lords struggle to protect their guild members from Vur’s wide-ranged breath attack. The Flame Lord and Shadow Lord were doing the worst at it because they were lying on the ground near Vur without moving. The Lightning Lord should’ve been called the gold lord because he had placed a giant sheet of gold in front of his guild members and sent lightning through it, causing it to heat up and melt the incoming icicles.
“Excuse me,” Ashley said, causing Tafel to turn her head away from the action. The Light Lord nodded at the demon. “Do you have any snacks?”
Tafel raised an eyebrow. “I guess?” Her horns flashed silver, and a portal appeared beside her. She withdrew a few mangoes and handed them to Ashley. “Will that work?”
Ashley took one of the mangoes and glanced down at the white dog she was holding with her left hand. She brought the mango near the dog’s nose, and it took a sniff before biting into the fruit. A smile appeared on Ashley’s face as she retrieved the rest of the mangoes and stuffed them into Puddles’ mouth, holding his jaws open. Puddles stared at Alice with his jaw unhinged, stuffed to the brim with green, red, and orange mangoes.
Tafel didn’t say a word as she closed her portal and turned her attention back onto Vur’s fight. Only the lords were strong enough to move under the combined pressure of Vur’s gravity and Mistle’s imitation heavy water. Not only did they have to protect their subordinates from Vur’s attacks, but a woman dressed in black armor was roaming around the battlefield, hitting the helpless people on the back of their heads with the hilt of her sword.
“Wait,” Tafel said and turned her head to the side. Mary was no longer standing next to her. “When did she get over there? What is she doing?”
“Isn’t that the Virtuous Hand’s newest weapon?” Ashley asked and shrugged her shoulders, lifting Puddles, who had been slipping out of her grip, a little higher along her side. “A red-haired woman wearing a pure-black set of armor.” Ashley narrowed her eyes at Tafel. “Didn’t you say you had no connections to the Virtuous Hand?”
Tafel scratched her head. “At the time, we didn’t know it, so we didn’t lie to you,” Tafel said. “Besides, Mary isn’t a part of the Virtuous Hand anymore. She might’ve entered the tower a little earlier than us and took over the Virtuous Hand, but when she found us, she quit and joined the Extreme Heat Clan.”
Ashley nodded. “So, why is she beating the members of the elemental guild alliance?” she asked. “Is the Extreme Heat Clan going against the alliance?”
“Well….” Tafel rubbed her chin. Technically, Vur was one of the higher-ups in the Extreme Heat Clan because Deowi stepped down and forfeited his authority to Vur. Also, the statement the Martial Lord had made about Vur initiating the fight was true. From an outside point of view…. “Yeah. I guess we are. Once Vur finishes trouncing all the lords, the Extreme Heat Clan is going to be the new ruler of tower.”
“How long were you planning this?” Ashley asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Plan?” Tafel asked in return. The demon shook her head. “I’m sure Vur had a faint idea of doing this, but there definitely wasn’t a well-thought-out plan. The opportunity presented itself, so Vur took it. To quote someone I really look up to, ‘if you see something valuable on the ground, you pick it up.’ The title of strongest in the tower was ripe for the taking when all the lords showed up in the same place as once.”
Screams rang through the air, and Ashley turned her attention onto the battle. Vur had simply walked around the Martial Lord, ignoring the man’s provocations, and picked up the Water Lord with his left paw. The man created a sphere of water around himself, but Vur poked it with his claw, and the sphere collapsed like a bubble, the water spilling onto the ground as it slipped through Vur’s paw.
“How are you exerting control over my water?” the Water Lord asked with a defeated expression on his face. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Stella said, her torso popping out of Vur’s snout. “You’re too weak. It might be your water, but if you can’t hold onto it, then there’s nothing stopping people from using it against you.”
The Water Lord furrowed his brow, but he wasn’t given that much time to think. Vur lifted his right paw and flicked the Water Lord’s forehead, knocking the man out in an instant. Vur’s golden eyes crossed as he looked at the tip of his snout. “How many lords are left?”
“You beat the Flame Lord, Shadow Lord, and Water Lord,” Stella said, holding up one finger every time she mentioned a victim. “Ashley and her friend, the Wind Lord, gave up.” Stella lowered her hands and nodded. “That means there are four lords left: the Martial Lord, the Lightning Lord, the Frost Lord, and…, uh, one other guy.”
“Earth Lord!” the Earth Lord shouted. “I’m the Earth Lord, not just some other guy!”
“Deedee, crush him,” Stella said. After a second of no crushing occurring, Stella frowned and disappeared inside Vur’s body.
“Alright, alright,” Diamant said from the brown runes on Vur’s leg. “I’m going. Stop rushing me.”
Stella’s voice echoed out of Vur’s leg. “I’m not rushing you.”
“Then, if not rushing, what do you call standing there while glaring at me with your hands on your hips?”
“Pressuring you into action.”
The brown runes on Vur’s leg flickered. “Can you … not do that?”
“Can you show that dirt guy who’s the boss?”
Vur ignored the voices and narrowed his eyes at the Frost Lord. The man gulped. “Looks like I’m next, huh?” he asked. “In that case….” He dropped to his knees, pointed his face at the ground, closed his eyes, and clasped his hands over his head. “Please, spare me. I surrender.”
Ouyang Feng’s eyes bulged. “Frostie!? What the hell!”