Elemental Cats

But there was one way Mindle could make sure that the demonic energy didn't corrode the firestorm. By making the firestorm hers instead of something that she was merely controlling. It would be difficult, but not as difficult as keeping the demonic energy away from her. Besides, she had also noticed how the firestorm happily followed her lead. Now, she only had to see how far it was willing to go or adjust to suit her wishes.

Mindle communicated her plan to Toz, and although he was a little surprised, he gladly helped her proceed as he used his flames to restrain the leaking demonic energy as much as possible. If Mindle wanted to succeed with what she was going to do, even the slightest amount of demonic energy would interfere and likely ruin her plan.

Mindle needed Toz's help to make sure that didn't happen. And as soon as Toz had somehow managed to get the Blood Fiend's leaking demonic energy under control, Mindle began contorting the tornado of fire mana. It bent and twisted like an old tree.

But as time passed, the tornado grew smaller, more condensed, and the fire mana grew tighter before gradually taking on a recognizable shape.

Mindle had taken control of the firestorm and turned it into a huge cat in her image. Mindle had gone from a cut cat that fit snugly in Toz's arms to a giant behemoth that was at least twice as tall as the Blood Fiend. And the first thing Mindle did when she became the big cat was to stomp on the Blood Fiend with all her might.

The cat's paw of fire blazed down through the air and struck the Blood Fiend with enough force to shake the ground and crack the earth. Mindle's strike created a shockwave of blood and fire that spread out in a circle across the battlefield.

Mindle's strike successfully flattened the Blood Fiend and turned the humanoid into a puddle of blood. The troops of the Alliance of Kingdoms wanted to cheer at the sight of that. But Toz, Mindle, Kahglia, the Flesh Golem, and the Death Knight, who were close enough to sense it, knew that it wasn't the end. Not by a long shot.

Just like when they struck the Blood Fiend and managed to disrupt its body, even by a little, the Blood Fiend didn't really take any damage. With a surge of magic from the magic circle spread out across the plane, the Blood Fiend got a quick restoration, and its body returned to its previous state.

It seemed like there was an inexhaustible tank of blood and demonic energy supporting the Blood Fiend from behind. Even after Mindle squashed it and splattered its previous body across the battlefield, the Blood Fiend's size remained unchanged, and its power was as great as ever as it met Mindle's next stomp with a push upward.

The Blood Fiend stretched its body and shot toward Mindle's feet with fierce momentum. But with the power of an entire mana storm concentrated in her paw, Mindle still squashed the Blood Fiend.

It wasn't noticeable yet. But with his mana vision, Toz saw it. Each strike that Mindle landed on the Blood Fiend consumed an incredible amount of mana. And unlike the Blood Fiend, the fire storm wasn't backed by an endless source of power. When Mindle turned the tornado into a cat, it lost the ability to grow by ensnaring the nearby mana.

But even if the firestorm lost mana with each strike Mindle unleashed, it wasn't as if Mindle could just stop hitting the Blood Fiend. Not doing anything would damage the Blood Fiend even less. Besides, the firestorm would eventually dissipate on its own when Mindle couldn't maintain it anymore. So, it would be best to use it to do as much damage as possible to the Blood Fiend.

And if not the Blood Fiend, Mindle could target the center of the magic circle that was below the Blood Fiend. Each strike she unleashed was powerful enough to power through the Blood Fiend and pummel the ground. She created a crater, and she continued digging it deeper every time the magic circle surged and restored the Blood Fiend.

But the phantom cat of fire was rapidly losing strength. It wasn't long before it started shrinking. It went from twice the Blood Fiend's height to one and a half times its size. Her strikes were still powerful enough to one-shot the Blood Fiend. But it was clear from the weakening intensity of the earthquakes that Mindle was losing strength.

But as far as Toz could tell, the Blood Fiend remained mostly unweakened, despite all the blood that Mindle had burned or sent flying. The situation wasn't looking good. If things continued this way, things might really be over for them.

However, Toz didn't give up hope yet. Since he had his void and space magic, he was confident that he could grab the cats and flee. It would be difficult to save everyone else, but he should be able to save the most important people like Kahglia, General Scoll, and his remaining subordinates.

But before it came to that, he had to see what Lucy had in store or what he had done during the time he was separated from the others. Maybe Lucy had managed to achieve something that would lead to a different result than them having to flee the plane. However, Toz kept his wishes in moderation. Based on what the other cats told him, Lucy might have just as well made things even more difficult and chaotic.

Eventually, Mindle's gigantic phantom cat of fire was only slightly taller than the blood Fiend. And her strikes no longer smashed the Blood Fiend in one go. She needed to hit it at least twice before it splattered over the ground.

And when Mindle shrunk to below the Blood Fiend's height, she needed three strikes. But she was relentless and didn't stop attacking for even a second, despite the Blood Fiend's endless resurrections.

However, a change occurred after Mindle splattered apart the Blood Fiend for the umpteenth time.