Chapter 1093: Devouring Black Flame
After half a minute of probing, Rafael and the others had already retreated to a safe distance, while Leon still couldn't find the right moment to strike at the Sky Rank Bloodbone Orc's true body.
Leon frowned, shaping his torrent of spells into a massive ring that encircled the Sky Rank Bloodbone Orc, trying to restrict its movements.
In just a few seconds, the Bloodbone Orc curled its lips into a disdainful sneer.
“Foolish mortal, think you can trap me? Clearly, you’ve never heard the saying from the Blazeforge Realm: Never try to imprison a Bloodbone Orc...”
With provocative agility, the Bloodbone Orc darted back and forth three or four times within Leon's spell circle. For a creature this fast, Leon's magical barrier might as well have been a polite suggestion.
Leon let out a cold laugh, unfazed by the orc’s taunts. As the Bloodbone Orc broke through the spell torrent for the third time, Leon unleashed a torrent of fire—erupting into a sea of flames that engulfed hundreds of meters.
The Bloodbone Orc’s sneer never left his face.
“Pathetic human...”
Behind Leon’s fiery display, the real threat lurked—the Devouring Black Flame. Even the smallest trace could spell disaster.
With that, the Bloodbone Orc erupted with battle aura. His slender sword sliced through the flames seven or eight times, each strike sending out a razor-thin wave of energy that pierced the sea of fire. But the Devouring Black Flame clung stubbornly to his bones, refusing to be purged—even stripping away his bone armor wouldn’t save him now.
Leon let out a cold laugh—there was no way he’d bother stopping that guy.
Suddenly, as the Sky Rank Bloodbone Orc charged halfway through the sea of fire, a piercing, anguished scream erupted from him.
Blinding battle aura burst forth, power erupting in waves. In the blink of an eye, the orc shot out from the fiery sea, black-gray flames licking hungrily across his body.
The layer of Bone Armor covering his body seemed to decay in an instant, as if it had weathered a million years—chunks of bone fell away at terrifying speed, scattering to the ground...
At first, only his back was burning with Devouring Black Flame, but in less than a second, the black fire began spreading rapidly along the Bone Armor covering his body.
The Devouring Black Flame specializes in burning bone. For other races, even if they’re infected, it’s easy enough to purge with a surge of magic or battle aura—after all, if it hasn’t reached the bones, its spread is slow and weak. When it’s just on the skin, it’s almost trivial to drive it away.
But Bloodbone Orcs are a different story. Their damned gift lets them control their bones, extending them outside the body to form layers of Bone Armor. The stronger the Bloodbone Orc, the more extensive the coverage.
Once the Devouring Black Flame infects bone—especially strong bone—it’s like pouring oil on a fire. The speed and ferocity of its spread are downright terrifying.
Leon’s magic surged all around, looking like nothing but wild, raging flames. But those fire spells were just a smokescreen for the Devouring Black Flame hidden within. All it took was a single spark—one trace—and that was more than enough.
The Sky Rank Bloodbone Orc screamed in agony as he flew hundreds of meters away, but even his battle aura couldn’t purge the Devouring Black Flame. The black-gray fire seemed rooted deep in his bones—he couldn’t even shed his Bone Armor to escape it.
Suddenly, the Sky Rank Bloodbone Orc roared in fury. The layer of Bone Armor covering his body shattered, sending shards of bone flying in all directions.
Any bone infected by the Devouring Black Flame broke apart instantly, falling away from his body. In a flash, his skin was left slick with fresh blood.
Those bones were all his own, extended outside his body as armor. Now, it was as if half his skeleton had been shattered at once—the pain was so intense, the Bloodbone Orc's face turned deathly pale.
The bone fragments infected by the Devouring Black Flame lost all resistance once separated from his body. In seconds, the black fire engulfed them completely, burning them into nothing in three or four heartbeats.
After that, the Sky Rank Bloodbone Orc glared fiercely at Leon, then split into five phantom afterimages, each darting off in a different direction.
In less than three seconds, all five phantoms disappeared beyond a thousand meters...
Leon raised an eyebrow, pausing for a moment—clearly, that Sky Rank Bloodbone Orc was already long gone.
The ability in the Bloodbone Orc's innate magic tattoos is rare; only a handful possess it. Each phantom afterimage carries the same aura and identical waves of power.
Combined with the Bloodbone Orc's natural speed, a brief distraction is all it takes for them to escape completely.
Leon sighed regretfully—too bad he hadn’t managed to finish that guy off.