VILE EVIL HIDES UNDER THE VEIL

Chapter 1925: Naya’s Battle Trance & S-Rank Breakthrough

While the sea wyverns and the demon beasts battled, Naya was busy taking on a group of Raashim's Templars.

On any other day, outside of Baga Island, these opponents wouldn't have posed a threat to her, no matter how hard they tried.

Even though they were A-Ranked entities like her, they were merely worshippers of the Raashim Temple, not part of its true battle-ready elites.

However, the Raashim Temple had activated all kinds of defensive and offensive measures in response to Eren's raid on their home territory. They also made use of non-combat veterans to deal with the threat.

As such, Naya found herself enemies that she hadn't included in the report she made to Eren before they set off for the Baga Island.

Three A-Ranked Templars had used one such reserved measure to suppress Naya.

As a black panther-type demon beast, Naya had greater vitality and resilience than most beings. But even she couldn't easily handle three A-Ranked opponents who were using a Battle Formation against her.

In her humanoid form, Naya hovered above the sea's surface, facing two women who appeared to be in the late stage of A-Rank and a young-looking merman who was an initial-stage A-Ranker.

Eren had only asked the sea wyverns to be spared during the raid. The rest of the Raashim Temple's forces were of no use to him. In fact, he preferred killing as many as he could. Unless the practitioners surrendered themselves and took fealty oaths using Menaka's Mesh acting as a medium, Eren's subordinates were free to kill as many of their opponents as they could. Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire

As such, Naya had no obligations to pull her punches. She was determined to kill her opponents. However, just because she was allowed to didn't mean she could do it easily.

The three Raashim Templars stood inside a massive mana circle—an offensive-type Battle Formation that allowed them to combine their power and launch volleys of fire-element slashes, as if wielding a giant sword of superior caliber.

Naya specialized in the ice element. Though she shared the same elemental affinity as Roza, her combat style was entirely different.

She could manipulate the surrounding seawater to create panther-shaped ice beasts, commanding them to do her bidding. Whether for offense or defense, her summoned ice creatures could counter anything in her path.

After all, Naya was once Birmond's demon beast. As a scion of House Remus in Anfang, renowned for its summoning legacies, Birmond had been a highly skilled summoner-class Ranker in his lifetime.

Under his guidance, Naya had learned a great deal about summoning magic. After coming to Labh Salem with Eren, she had continued to study and refine her abilities even further. After five years of staying in a witch-dominated world, she changed her battle style drastically and specialized in summoning magic.

Naya's ice beasts were equipped with ice wings, granting them superior agility and maneuverability. Each one possessed the strength of a mid-stage A-Ranked entity, and she had five of them at her disposal.

She used two ice beasts for attack and two for defense. The remaining one stayed on standby, allowing her to shift between offense and defense as needed.

The sea churned beneath Naya as her opponents stood inside their glowing mana circle. A fiery aura surrounded them, and with a sharp command, they unleashed a volley of fire-element slashes. Blades of molten energy sliced through the air, aiming to tear through her defenses. Rather than formless fire, these slashes had the magical density of magma, which made them even more resistant to simple defensive measures.

Naya reacted swiftly. She summoned her ice beasts—five massive panther-like creatures with glowing blue eyes and wings of solid ice. Two lunged forward, intercepting the attacks with thick ice barriers, while the other two circled around for a counterattack. The last one stayed close, ready to assist wherever needed.

The battle raged on. The fire slashes melted the ice in places, sending steam hissing into the air, but Naya's control over her element remained firm.

Her beasts moved with deadly precision, attacking and defending as if they shared a single mind. Yet, the three opponents pushed her back, their synchronized attacks overwhelming her defenses bit by bit.

Then, something changed.

As Naya fought, something deep within her awakened. A strange clarity washed over her, and the world around her seemed to slow. She had entered a Battle Trance.

Her mind no longer processed the fight in words or conscious thoughts. Instead, she felt the flow of water, the weight of ice, the way the elements moved, shifted, breathed. She could sense the very nature of her magic like never before.

Her ice beasts also changed.

Their forms became more solid, more real. Their icy skin shimmered with a deeper glow, and their eyes radiated even more intelligence than before. They were no longer just constructs of mana. At this point, they acted as sentient beings, infused with her evolving understanding of water and ice.

Their strength surged. They roared, their power rising to the level of late-stage A-Rank entities—something she had once thought impossible. After all, Naya herself was in the late-stage A-Rank. How could she summon five beasts of the same rank? Under normal circumstances, the universal laws of equivalent exchange wouldn't allow her to summon such beings.

The three Templars sensed the shift. Their confident expressions faltered. The merman, the weakest among them, hesitated for a split second. That was all Naya needed.

With a sharp command, one of her ice beasts lunged at the merman, its fangs sinking deep into his torso. He screamed, trying to escape, but another beast slashed at him with icy claws, freezing his wounds solid.

The other two Templars tried to save him, launching a desperate barrage of fiery slashes. But Naya pushed forward. She sacrificed one of her ice beasts, letting it take the full force of their attacks. The creature shattered, pieces of glowing ice scattering into the sea.

Naya flinched, feeling a sharp pain in her Soul Space—a deep, unnatural ache. Losing a special summoned beast in such a way harmed her soul, but she endured it. The soul-related injury was even more prominent because she was under the effects of Battle Trance.

The merman let out one final gasp before his body froze over, turning into a statue of ice. Then, with a crack, he shattered.

The Battle Formation collapsed.

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Trivia: Naya was first introduced in chapter 836. Battle Trance was first mentioned in chapter 1162. The instance of Battle Trance-induced breakthrough first happened in chapter 1410.

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