Tower of Heaven

The two things that Artemia noticed first were both equally important.

First, her Earth Sage strength was gone and replaced with that of an ordinary Core Formation Realm cultivator. Second, she could no longer transform back into her original form.

Surrounded by enemies, neither was good thing.

'On the bright side, those guys aren't focused on me.'

There was clearly something wrong with the demons. They weren't in their right minds. Rather than attacking specific targets, they attacked any non-demonic entity in their vicinity and moved towards the smell of vital aura.

Such instinctual movements led the majority of the demons in the crowd to pile over each other to climb over the upper walls and reach the population below.

The aura of death had a disgusting stench to it. Artemia had never experienced it before, but smelling it now, she was able to relate it to the strange aura that had populated the realm this past week.

Nevertheless, such matters were unimportant. Even if the hundreds of spectators weren't going to overwhelm her, Artemia still had a problem on her hands.

'It isn't just Barthold. The three demons who were working in the medical team are also a problem.'

They were moving slowly, so Artemia had a second to observe her situation.

Unfortunately, as the medical team was taking Barthold into the medical bay when things went wrong, they were blocking the only exit.

'The medical team from the clan is behind me.'

They managed to flee to that position. Well, at least some of them did. Still, they weren't safe.

'I need to keep the healers alive. If there's anyone who can stop the rampaging demons, it's people with power like them.'

In the end, there was no choice. Artemia couldn't just use a roundabout method and escape. She had to fight.

'And in a situation where I'm bound to lose…'

Despite her misfortune, Artemia still grinned.

It was an attitude she learned from her father.

'...I should always attack first.'

Like a mad dog who'd lost its owner, like a lion who'd been driven into a corner…

'...like a dragon who has been enraged.'

Though they were suppressed, the domineering techniques of the Azure Dragon still had their impact.

[Reigning Steps]

Artemia used it once more, but her target was no longer far away. She crossed the other half of the arena and arrived in front of the frenzied demons, interrupting them as they devoured the corpses on the ground.

[Flow of Water]

Raising her hand, she summoned a great amount of qi. It was needed in order to support her techniques.

A stream appeared in the air. It circled the four demons on the arena floor before they noticed Artemia's presence.

[Strike]

With one command, the entire stream was turned into an array of water spikes that struck towards their center point.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

'I somewhat expected it, but it still sucks.'

Artemia gritted her teeth. The demons took no damage from the attack. At most, the water spikes only alerted them to her presence. They looked up from their feast like beasts with blood covering their faces,

And like beasts, they pounced.

Artemia's face paled.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Their attacks were not consistent, but their numbers covered their weaknesses. The only benefit of this situation was the fact that the demons weren't using the techniques that their minds and bodies knew. They were only using qi as beasts would use qi.

The attacks they used were linear, mainly utilizing their claws and teeth. They punched with all four limbs, and though they occasionally stood up, they moved faster and attacked better when they were grounded.

These were the natural instincts that demons had before their race evolved. There was no reason for them to be displaying themselves now.

However, they were, and Artemia was not in a position to deal with it.

'Shit!'

She couldn't retreat endlessly. There was limited room in the arena and she had to stay far enough away from the surviving healers to keep them unaffected.

Still, she couldn't fight back.

[Dragon's Breath]

As she was not in her dragon form, it didn't have an immense effect, but it was the most she could do.

Boom!

A huge burst of water exited her palms and turned the arena floor into mud. The movements of the demons were slowed, giving Artemia a little more maneuverability.

[Azure Dragon Tail Whip]

Spinning in a circle, she summoned a dragon tail made of water and smashed the demons back. Once again, she did no damage, but there was space between them now.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

[Flow of Water]

The demons approached and attacked again. Artemia clenched her jaw and dodged two of them, but she was forced to take two of the attacks in order to set up her own.

Gashes were torn into her side and leg. The water spikes that formed and clashed into the demons only appeared after the injuries were already made.

[Sky-Piercing Needle]
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It was not a technique of the Azure Dragon Clan but instead something Artemia learned on her own.

The domineering power of her clan's techniques wasn't enough. She needed precision. She needed to strike places where even these enhanced demons were weak.

Two needles flew through the sky. As the demons turned around to face her once more, two of them were struck.

One of the needles just barely missed and pierced just a few centimeters into Barthold's forehead, and the second hit its target properly.

Skreee!

The demon healer let out a feral screech. His left eye exploded into a mass of fluid, causing him great pain.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Eyes and ears, noses and mouths. These were the only places Artemia could target. She kept aiming for those places and landed her attacks rarely. The demons moved around too much for her to be accurate.

Eventually, they would lose their vision and Artemia could hope to kill them, but that was it.

'That's all I can do.'

Artemia didn't have an immense amount of battle experience, but she could tell that there wasn't a way for her to turn around this situation. Even if they were blind, even if they were deaf, as long as they had their sense of smell, these demons could always find her.

And with their noses so protected by dense skin and bone, she was unable to take that sense from them in the short term.

'Even if I try to use my head like all of you tell me to…'

In this confined environment that couldn't help her, against these enemies that she couldn't damage…

'...just how am I supposed to fight?'

She attacked over and over again. Using the space she granted herself, she attacked and attacked and attacked.

[Azure Dragon Roar]

[Overturning Seas]

[Great Wall of Thunder]

It didn't matter. It didn't matter what she did because of that damn crimson moon.

'Because of that moon, the strength I had is gone.'

At the same time, those frenzied demons were empowered.

Every time they moved, the ground shook and shattered. She didn't know about the healers, but Barthold definitely didn't have this kind of power beforehand.

'At this point, trying to get out of it alone is just stupid.'

Artemia knew it well. She needed a rescue.

Luckily for her, it wasn't just on the way. It was already close.

Atlas approached the arena at full speed, his body moving so fast that the surrounding demons couldn't touch him.

He wasn't just here to rescue her, but to provide her with the opportunity to fight back.

And, of course, that was precisely what she wanted most of all.