“I got separated from everyone… D*mn.”
Igni cursed as she held her shoulders in pain.
While she was getting spun within the tornado, a large rock smashed into her back, breaking her wings. It was painful, but more than that, it was inconvenient now that she can’t fly.
“I need to regroup with everyone.”
Igni limped as she tried to walk forward. However, walls covered all sides around her, as if she were stuck in a basin.
“Am I trapped here?” 𝐞𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺
She quickly realized the walls were bending inward, closer to an open-top dome than a basin. There’s no way she could scale it; she would just fall. She could simply fly out if her wings were fine, though, making her click her tongue in irritation.
*Screech*
While she was walking forward, something approached her rapidly from behind. Igni kicked it away by reflex, only to notice that it was a spider-like demon that was about a foot tall.
It was weak, about 4th level; however, as she turned around, Igni was greeted by thousands of them rushing forward.
“Don’t bother me, you insects!”
With anger, Igni released a breath of fire, covering an arc in front of her that extended to about a hundred meters. Although the fire managed to scorch a lot of the spiders, they simply detoured from the burning space and continued forward.
“I got surrounded…”
As she was preoccupied with the ones right before her, the others circled around her and completed their encirclement. Igni had no choice but to break through in one direction to escape.
As she was about to release another fire breath, the nearby spiders shot her with a sticky ball of thread. It stuck to her body and made it harder to move. As the sticky thread dried, it became as hard as a metal wire. In an instant, Igni was completely immobilized.
“You think you got me with this? Think again!”
Igni released her power. As a Fire Dragon, she can manipulate the Fire energy in her body as if it were the most effortless thing to do. Flame surged from all over her, burning the thread that clung all over her body.
“I liked that dress, you know? Now I’m naked.”
However, after burning the thread, even her clothes got burned away. Fortunately, she could use the tongues of flame to cover her delicate parts, hiding them from view.
“I have no time to play with you guys. Get out of the way!”
With an angry shout, Igni charged toward the nearest wall. All the spiders along the way either got stepped on or got burned by the flames covering her body. Not a single demon was able to stop her literal fiery charge.
When she reached the wall, the flames covering her body vanished as smoke rose from her hot skin. Even as a Flame Dragon, she wasn’t really immune to fire. She did have a high tolerance, but there was still a limit to what she could endure.
She continued running along the walls as is, searching for a place to hide. Although she could handle the enemies coming at her, she was powerless against their numbers. The only ending that Igni could imagine was her running out of energy and dying under the continuous waves of demons.
After running about half of the dome, she finally found a small cavity in the walls. It was a cave that was large enough to fit a bear through. Igni didn’t hesitate and entered. After going in about a few meters, she turned around and prepared to fight the incoming demons.
“Come, I’ll pulverize you all!”
Igni proved that her race name, Viscountess of Burning Rage, wasn’t just for show. The flames covered her entire body, making her hair fly up and turn a bloody red hue. An armor composed of intangible flames covered every inch of her body, resembling a small dragon crouching.
As Igni prepared, the demons started coming in one by one, then by the dozens, before coming in by the hundreds. Soon, the floor, walls, and ceiling were crawling with spiders, a scene that would send someone with arachnophobia straight into shock.
The raging flame covering Igni burned any spider that got close. They didn’t manage to last a few seconds before turning into ashes. Just her standing there was enough to send the little critters to hell.
The situation continued for quite a while. However, soon, Igni became lightheaded and had a hard time breathing. The oxygen supply within the cave was almost used up, making the flames covering her weaken in intensity.
Although Igni wanted to conserve her stamina for searching around later, given the situation, she can’t be stingy about it anymore. She minimized the flame to only cover her body like an armor as she charged forward.
“[Flame Clad: Battle Mode]”
As she chanted, the fire around her started solidifying and turning into actual armor: a breastplate that exposed her shoulders and navel, armguards, leg guards, and a skirt of fire. If the exposure was minimized a bit more, then it would be similar to bikini armor.
With a wave of her hand, a sword made of flame appeared. She gripped it and waved toward the incoming spiders.
The sword didn’t turn them to ashes like the previous conflagration. Instead, the cut was charred instantly, leaving a burning wound on each spider she slashed.
In a single breath, she weaved across hundreds of spiders and managed to slash each of them at least once. It was quick and elegant swordsmanship that would enrapture onlookers. Igni was like a flaming valkyrie that descended on the battlefield.
Igni charged ahead, towards the entrance of the cave. There, she started waving the sword around in a blur. As she passed, spiders with burning wounds fell one by one. Even if the demons tried to shoot their sticky white thread, it would evaporate before even touching her body. The demons could literally do nothing but wait for their demise.
If Igni could maintain her pace, then she could eventually eliminate the whole swarm. However, the number of spiders around was almost infinite. Igni was worried if her stamina would last.
As she was about to retreat to catch her breath, a wide space in front of her got covered in a black veil, a familiar skill. Igni smiled as she craned her head above, seeing her slowly descending ally.
“Fang!”