"Kill him! Even if you have to lay down your lives, I want that imperial dog dead!"

A household matriarch commanded her people to commence their attack, intending to use them as cannon fodders to exhaust Vaan's strength. Other supremacist matriarchs also voiced similar orders.

Without knowing the extent of Vaan's strength, they didn't intend to risk their own necks to find out.

"Die—!!!"

Shortly after the witches sentenced Vaan to death, thousands of battle witches fired their offensive spells at once.

However, Vaan calmly faced the incoming spells without any intention of evading them. Instead, a spherical field of blue flames quickly covered his body, shielding him from the attacks.

Against a Peak-stage Demigod-rank fire barrier, all ice spells evaporated, fire spells extinguished, earth spells crumbled, and wind spells absorbed, restoring the barrier's durability and strengthening it instead.

Due to the overwhelming difference in power, the battle witches simply couldn't breach Vaan's fire barrier, no matter how big of a numerical advantage they had.

"The fire barrier is too sturdy! Our spells are useless against it, my Lady! Please give us further instructions! What should we do?"

"Keep pressing the attack! I don't believe that imperial dog can keep up the fire barrier forever! Surely, our attacks must have some effect, no matter insignificant they are! Even ants can take down an elephant with enough numbers!"

With the matriarch's orders spoken, the battle witches stubbornly bombarded Vaan's fire barrier without any consideration for their mana reserve. They believed Vaan took a greater toll enduring all their attacks and would cave in at some point.

However, they had no idea Vaan's fire ability borrowed the force of the Fire Law; it was a divine power. Thus, their hopes of exhausting his magic power were futile, for he was using none, to begin with.

Only his mental strength was considered, and the mental strength of a Peak-stage Demigod-rank soul wasn't so easy to tire.

"My Lady, that man's fire ability is still as sturdy as ever! It still hasn't shown signs of weakening under our barrage of attacks!"

After bombarding the fire barrier with offensive spells for twenty minutes straight, the battle witches began to lose hope, wondering if victory was within the realms of possibility for them. The more time passed, the greater their realization regarding Vaan's strength.

Even if they didn't fear death, powerlessness was a different form of despair. They would question why they needed to keep struggling when their efforts were fruitless.

"Go after the Vossens! Yes, Vossens had sided with this imperial dog! If we capture them, the imperial dog will have no choice but to come out of his shell!"

"Focus your attacks on the Vossen's magic tower! Take down their magic defense system!"

Shortly after the matriarchs directed, the battle witches shifted their attentions to the Vossen Household's magic tower and redirected their attacks.

They needed to achieve at least something to keep their morale up. Otherwise, everyone would be disheartened by their futile attempts.

Nevertheless, a new towering pillar of blue flames covered the Vossen Household's magic tower, shielding it from the bombardment of spells.

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When the battle witches witnessed its majestic and towering presence, they felt a sense of helplessness.

"Was this the right thing to do? Perhaps, we should have listened to what the man had to say.. With this much power, he could kill all of us if he wanted to."

"It's a bit too late to reflect on our matriarchs' decision now. We can only keep going forward!"

Doubts started sprouting in the battle witches' hearts, but they still followed their orders.

Meanwhile, Vaan considered how he should beat so many witches into submission.

After all, beating up a few witches was not the same as beating up several tens of thousands. It would take too much time to go through them all one by one; he didn't have enough limbs to swing around.

Thus, he needed a suitable method for mass beating.

'Let's do that,' Vaan decided on an idea.

Shortly after, his fire barrier suddenly pulsated, blasting outward, shattering all incoming spells, and striking the surrounding battle witches.

"Ahhh—!"

Numerous battle witches were sent flying like broken kites with their strings cut, only suffering from the shockwave. They were unharmed by the blue flames as they didn't burn as hot as they appeared.

Vaan couldn't keep killing indiscriminately if we wanted to use them alive.

"I'm still.. alive? The blue flames didn't burn me? How is that possible?"

"The imperial dog has broken out of his shell! This is our chance to kill him! Don't waste the opportunity! He must not have much strength left after enduring our attacks for so long—!

Following the battle witches' surprise, the matriarchs excitedly barked new orders. But they quickly noticed something wrong when they saw Vaan's ridiculing, smug look.

"Hold on! Something isn't right—!"

"Did you all have fun shooting your spells indiscriminately, only to achieve nothing? Well, your playtime is over. Now, it's my turn to attack."

After Vaan declared his intent to attack, his super-inflated fire barrier suddenly fragmented, transforming into several thousands of condensed fire fists.

At the same time, the ground was suddenly lifted like it was under an anti-gravity spell. Large masses of earth crumbled apart before they coated the fire fists and formed a rocky, hard, and heavy outer shell.

"Have a taste of my Thoussand Dog-Beating Fists."

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Numerous rocky fire fists rained down on the battle witches, smashing them in the faces and other parts of their bodies, knocking out their teeth and breaking their bones.

"Ah, nooo—!"

Painful wails resounded across the battlefield as the rocky fire fists bombarded the battle witches, shattering their hastily conjured shields and battering their bodies with heavy blows.

Left, left, right, left jabs, right hook, and uppercut!

While Vaan seemingly boxed the empty air, thousands of battle witches fell victim to his bone-crushing rocky fire fists that almost moved in tandem with his movements.

Of course, he didn't need to use physical movements to control the thousands of rocky fire fists, but they still assisted to some degree. It was mostly for self-entertainment.

"Ahh—! He's too strong!"

"Retreat! Retreat and reorganize the formation!"

The matriarchs barked out their commands amidst the chaotic and disorganized mob as the battle witches desperately fended off Vaan's rocky fire fists.