"Let's act together!" Vicente called to Rory, drawing his friend nearer.",

Layla dashed through the area, her feet and hands shimmering with mana, vigilant for fire-powered magical creatures already attacking their group.

Sarah joined her, while Onyx cast his aura of darkness over the Ifrit.

Vicente and Rory were the dominant warriors in this battle. As they were about to soar over the magma lake, the two merged their powers, just as they had against the 3rd-stage vampire in Saltstar City.

The mana in the area transformed under the influence of Vicente's third pentagram and Rory's second pentagram, causing black clouds to form rapidly in the sky, accompanied by bursts of lightning.

Strong winds whipped up as the flames from Rory's Fire Avatar intensified the storm's condensation resulting from their combined powers.

Sand from the surrounding hills was whipped into the air as lightning struck down one of the peak 4th-stage creatures, obliterating it instantly.

One moment, the creature was charging toward its enemies, and the next, it was simply gone, erased by the lightning!

Some of the fire monsters had no time to react to the sudden onslaught. Before they knew it, they were in dire straits, some even having to repair their body parts in the magma lake to avoid being swept away by the fierce winds.

The Ifrit felt the impact of the storm as it withstood the assault of tiny blades the size of water droplets attempting to pierce its form.

"Shit! These two are more powerful together than I realized!"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Ifrit quickly adjusted its strategy, summoning its creatures closer for protection.

Unfortunately for it, apart from Onyx's aura pressuring it, Vicente alone could already give it a good, competitive fight.

But by combining his powers with Rory's and Onyx's help, Vicente put the Ifrit in a terrible situation, where the flame monster could hardly move and only had to worry about defending itself.

But today's outcome wouldn't be as difficult as other previous hunts. At the beginning of the journey, the entire group was weaker. Therefore, it was more difficult to deal with Low-level Paragons.

But now the party had two Paragons of its own and several extra pentagrams!

The moment Casey entered the creature's mind, the flame demon faced death as it watched its summons being destroyed one by one by the combined powers of Vicente and Rory, as well as the actions of Onyx, Sarah, and Layla.

Suddenly, rain poured down on the area, further weakening these already frail creatures that were typically more resilient in hot environments.

With the rain Vicente brought, the heat in the area dropped a bit, weakening the enemy's side considerably.

Seeing his chance to act against the tired, less powerful and mentally vulnerable Ifrit, Rory stepped forward and focused his magical powers on his target's vital organs.

The Ifrit despaired, but when it tried to move its mana to defend itself, it was surprised by a blow even stronger than Rory's.

"Shit!" As it tried to defend itself against Vicente, it allowed itself to be attacked by Rory.

Rory was determined. He mercilessly touched the back of his opponent's head before Layla carried him off.

Boom!

The Ifrit's head then exploded, revealing Rory's special power, explosion!

As the creature's head disappeared, its body fell into the magma lake, while the creatures it had summoned were all dead.

Vicente and his companions slowed down as they saw their enemy fall.

'He's dead.' Torne confirmed to his master as Vicente walked away from the burning area where Rory was.

"Rory, we'll wait for you outside this hot area. We can't continue here!" He said, feeling his whole body sweating heavily, but still feeling burns here and there.

The same was true for the others, who were already out of the hottest area without a second thought.

Rory readily accepted his companions' retreat before sitting down over the body of the Ifrit floating in the magma. Thus began the absorption of his fourth pentagram!

...

A few hours later, Vicente and his companions had already recovered from the previous battle.

As they waited for Rory 2 kilometers away from the magma lake, surrounded by flames, they sensed Rory's success.

Burning Inferno!

The red-haired young man's four pentagrams appeared, and then, under the watchful eyes of his companions, Rory unveiled his new ability.

Around him, 15 flame portals materialized, summoning 14 High-

level Mages and one Earth Sovereign to the area.

"For now, I can't summon as many creatures as the Ifrit. But once I advance, I'll increase those numbers by 50% to 100%, and they'll all be Earth Sovereigns!" Rory said, his face lit up with joy, feeling the immense power he had just harnessed from the potent pentagram.

The pentagram left by the Ifrit was green, but not all essences of a color were identical. This pentagram was 85% of the way to cyan-grade!

Rory could never develop this pentagram as it had been formed by the Ifrit, and only the Ifrit could alter it. Yet, this power would immediately enhance his capabilities!

'I'm almost there!' he thought, dissipating his ability as he finally moved away from the burning area, optimistic about his future prospects.

"That's an impressive power, Rory!" Vicente exclaimed, smiling delightfully at his friend's success and recognizing the great potential for Rory's new ability.

If Rory could ascend to become a Mid-level Paragon in the future, he could summon Low-level Paragons, a capability that might prove helpful, perhaps even more than the power Vice's cyan pentagram would offer.

The entire group was happy for Rory, congratulating the young redhead and wondering how things would turn out for him in the future.

However, after about two minutes of celebration and positive thoughts, they couldn't help but turn their attention to one fact. Almost all of them had already received their pentagrams! It was finally time for them to go to the north of the continent to hunt for Vicente's pentagram!

Rory looked at his friend, who was as eager to absorb a pentagram as he was to advance to the level of a Sky Sovereign.

"Time to go in search of your cyan essence, Vicente. Are you ready?"

"Hmm, let's go to the Valley of Lightning. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to get my pentagram there."

With that, the group left for the Valley of Lightning, an area in the continent's north!