"How much mana did you have?" Ron suddenly asked, ignoring my words.

"..." Hearing no reply from me, he began to explain, "We need to stop this ritual. Though her talent might be strong against this dark magic, she needs a massive amount of mana to break this spell."

"Oh, how much do we need?" I asked, of course, I’m not gonna tell him about my mana reserve quantity.

"Forget it, and kill that shadow, that might help you in stopping this ritual." In Ron’s words, I felt like he was underestimating me. It didn’t matter; I had already planned on leaving with Emi, with our void eyes, our escape was confirmed, and this battle won’t really affect us much.

I glanced at my mana pool and felt relieved.

[Mana: 2445/4200]

I had gotten an extra 400 mana added with that Sky Heart talent. Currently, I have more than enough to leave this place safely.

I turned to that shadow, which was burning in hellfire and under Emi’s light of hope. It was crawling like a helpless snail, looking for shelter. I raised my hand, intensified the hellfire, but obviously, it wasn’t enough to burn it down.

It got really high resistance to hellfire, and I couldn’t use all my mana just to burn this shadow, when I’m not sure about the win.

"How long are we going to continue like this?" Emi asked; she knew her light could only slow it down and do nothing else.

I didn’t have an answer to her question, I didn’t know how to deal with this shadow monster, and there was also that shapeshifter, both of which were unique monsters. I have killed the demoness, who should just be a puppet of the Overlord. So much time had passed, and we still hadn’t got to see the Overlord.

I didn’t even have any surprise element left once he joined the battle. I didn’t have any hopes from Ron or Adrine from outside the spell. I knew these great clan heirs were always useless in times of danger.

Luckily, I didn’t have to think too much about it, as my mind gave me a clear answer; at least I should get that shapeshifter monster core. With that monster core, all this chaos and suffering wouldn’t feel as bad as it felt now.

"Keep eyes on this shadow..." I told Emi and went after the shapeshifter with Void Eyes, activated. My plan, as always, was simple: get close, deliver the finishing blow, take the core, and run away.

With a clear goal and an escape plan in my mind, I closed the distance between us. I didn’t jump into battle instantly, waiting for the right time. After all, this shapeshifter had the top-tier survival instinct, which I had seen earlier. So, this time I won’t gonna make a fool of myself. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

I observed the Undead Warrior and Shapeshifter fight closely, as I felt like I was getting the pattern it was using to fight my Undead Warrior. It Transformation might not be planned, instead they were his instinct.

I continue observing them, while Emi was trying her best to stop the shadow from running around, keeping it under her light of hope.

After watching for a while, I finally decided to take action; my claws were ready to rip the head of this monster.

As it turned into the Golem attacking the Undead warrior from behind, my claws went for his head. As he usual before, I could even touch him. He turned into a mouse, dodging my attack easily.

Boom!

But I was ready for this as its body fell on the ground, the earth cracked open, ready to swallow this tiny mouse. He instantly transformed into a tiny bird, wanting to fly away, but the strong wind pressure instantly pushed him into the ground, locking him in the ground.

I didn’t even waste a second; my palm instantly went into the ground for this tiny thing, but before it could happen, it changed into a Golem again.

Boom!

His head exploded instantly, as I had already opened the portal for Mink, and he delivered the finishing shot accurately as always.

"Che... Cha..."

Mink stood on that headless body, announcing his victory against this shapeshifter monster. While I didn’t celebrate with him, thrusting my hand into the monster’s heart. I took out that crimson monster core. I was eager to refine it through the system; I didn’t know what kind of talent I might get from it. But if I could get this transformation talent, then it would really be a massive boost in my power. And I could also be able to play hero without showing my face. A childhood dream.

’System, refine it,’ I gave the internal command to the system, and the monster vanished from my hand.

[-500 Perverted Points]

[Timer: 23:59:59]

The cost was high, the rewards might also be high, if a little bit of luck worked for me.

I turned to Emi and the shadow; they were still struggling. My hellfire hadn’t really done much harm to this shadowy monster.

It was still crawling towards Selina and Alex. I didn’t know what it was planning, but it won’t be anything good from these two idiots.

Clink~

I suddenly heard a very subtle sound of something falling on the ground. I had been on high alert since entering the battlefield, and even the subtle sounds were clearly audible to me.

I quickly turned around and saw that the obsidian ring Ron had been wearing this entire time had fallen off his hand. I looked at Ron, who was standing amid the rune prison, looking down at the rune once again. The sight felt eerie to look at, as a strange kind of fear spread through my body. I could feel something was wrong with him.

Suddenly, he lifted his right leg and lightly placed it at the centre of the rune.

Boom!

I saw the entire crimson rune, which even my full strength attack couldn’t leave a scratch on, shattering under his feet. I wasn’t expecting him to pull out a move like that. Emi being able to use her Light of Hope to break the rune was already good enough for me.

But breaking it with brute force... I couldn’t imagine... at least for now.