Chapter 242: A Strong Foe That Transcends Dimensions

“Laws, get down! Now!”

“…Boom!!” The thunderous roar of exploding flames drowned out Glock’s shouts.

Magical energy suddenly burst outwards, having been released from its compressed state, creating a heatwave that knocked everyone present off their feet.

The forceful explosion sent massive chunks of rubble crashing downwards, burying several individuals in black gowns.

“Cough, cough… Laws, are you alright??” After stumbling to his feet, Glock quickly checked on his companion to see if he had survived the explosion.

“Sq-Squad Leader… I-I’m okay. This small injury won’t stop me.” Laws held onto his badly mangled and charred arm and got up to his feet with great difficulty.

“You’re hurt.” Glock furrowed his brows.

“I can manage, Squad Leader. You should take the scroll and leave first. I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”

“Enough.” Glock cut Laws off, giving him no time to explain himself. He then took him by the shoulder and guided him towards the exit.

He could only assure the safety of himself and his companion. Despite their temporary partnership, the enigmatic cultists would have to navigate the impending peril on their own.

“Where might the two of you be heading?” The crisp and melodious voice of a woman stopped the duo in their tracks.

Their gaze swiftly moving upwards, they discovered a strikingly beautiful girl at the peak of her youth, standing before the cave’s entrance. Her blue hair moved gracefully with the wind as a smile of ridicule played on her lips.

“You…” Fully aware that looks could be deceiving, Glock did not let his guard down for even a second, as he looked at the blue-haired girl who blocked their path with a wary eye.

“How unfortunate. There are too many hindrances in this cave for me to take you vermin out in one go.” The blue-haired girl snuffed out the flame in her fingertip with a look of regret.

“You’re a demon??” With one arm around Laws for support, Glock reached for the shortsword on his waist.

When their killing intent was awakened, demons were known to release large amounts of magic.

Yet, Glock found it remarkably strange he could not sense any magical fluctuations emanating from the girl; She resembled a calm pool of water, devoid of any ripples.

Despite the disparity between logic and reality, the scene before his eyes had forced him to rule out the possibility of her being human.

“Sssh… No need to yell. There are mightier demons around, and even they know better than to bellow like you pests.” The blue-haired girl placed a finger lightly against her lips and motioned for them to be quiet.

“Look, Miss, if I recall correctly, there’s no bad blood between us, is there? Why’d you attack us without a word?” Glock tactfully chose not to cut off all ties with this demon, instead opting to steer clear of her as much as possible.

“No bad blood, you say? Hmm… That seems to be true…” The blue-haired girl pondered for a moment.

“So, there’s really no reason for us to fight to the death, wouldn’t you agr-…” Before he could finish speaking, a sudden premonition of danger caused his eyes to widen. Without hesitation, he hastily pushed Laws aside and threw himself to the ground.

“Whoosh! A dagger, glowing with a purplish magical aura, flew past the spot where the duo had been standing earlier.

“Seriously, what’s the point in dodging? Wouldn’t it be easier if you obediently accept your end and die? Vermin like you that plague the world are too blind to understand your destiny,” The blue-haired girl played with her hair in frustration.

“You…” Frustrated, Glock found himself wondering why she was not behaving as he anticipated.

Realizing further dialogue was futile, he unsheathed his short sword and positioned himself in front of the injured Law, like an unyielding iron tower.

“Resorting to cowardly surprise attacks, I see. So much for peaceful discussion.” He coldly harrumphed.

“Huh? A peaceful discussion? With you? Are you even worthy of that?” The blue-haired girl drew her enchanted sword, glowing like starfire, from her waist. Her mocking smile twisted into one of cold, merciless killing intent.

“There’s no one involved with the Ancestral God Cult who’s innocent! How dare you think of reasoning with me?? Save your arguments for Hades!”

The starfire sword in her grip sliced through the air with otherworldly ease, its fiery edge leaving behind a trail of crimson as it made its way towards him.

“Clank!!” A shortsword deflected the blade at the very last second, causing a shower of boiling sparks to erupt from the impact.

In that fleeting second, the air was filled with the continuous sound of metal on metal, as their swords clashed no fewer than 10 times in a blinding flurry.

Hot sparks burst out in succession in the pitch-black cave, casting light on their silhouettes with each clang of metal.

As someone trusted with important tasks by the Chivalric Group’s leaders, Glock was naturally ranked among the top amongst the newcomers. His instinctive reactions and well-honed sword skills allowed him to engage in several exchanges with the girl, despite the odds.

Much to his astonishment, the girl – who looked significantly younger than him – possessed not only a mysterious ability but also an equally exceptional skill in swordsmanship.

Despite giving his all in those 10 clashes, his opponent remained as cool and collected as before.

‘If this girl is human… she’d be nothing short of a bona-fide genius.’

With each exchange, Glock’s disadvantages became more evident.

The difference in their swordsmanship and weapons was evident, and only grew more pronounced as the lethal sparks from her starfire sword injured him further with each clash.

As time went on, Glock’s injuries began to accumulate. The girl maintained her effortless demeanor, as if she was merely toying with him.

For a knight, anything less than their adversary’s full strength in combat was a grave insult to their honor…

“Clink! Clang!” As the fierce exchange of steel rang out, the crimson sparks brought on by her strike sliced Glock’s charred and bent shortsword into two, putting an end to his desperate resistance.

“Guh!…” Her relentless knee strike smashed into his abdomen, breaking through his muscular defenses, which had been hardened through countless battles.

He crumpled to the ground, his body contorting incessantly as spasms ripped through him.

“Quietly accept your fate and die, parasite.” The girl spoke as she stepped on Glock’s chest. The sparking longsword in her hand struck down towards him, like the deadly fangs of a viper.

“Clang!” However, something deflected her sword mid-swing, causing its tip to skid off target and bury itself deep in the rock beside him.

“Are you the little mouse causing all this trouble?” A cold, clear voice pierced through the darkness. The sudden sound sent shivers down her spine.

“Who’s there?” The girl with blue hair narrowed her eyes. Beneath the surface, however, she was secretly clutching the ingredients for a spell while silently reciting an incantation.

“Thud, thud, thud…” The footsteps were faint, yet they were enough to make one instinctively raise their guard.

A streak of silver light briefly appeared in the darkness.

Seizing the right moment, the blue-haired girl unleashed a blast of electrically-charged magical energy into the darkness.

[Intermediate rank – Thunder Explosion]

“Crack!…” The barrage of lightning left nothing but scorched ground in its wake.

‘That couldn’t have been enough to finish it, right?’

The blue-haired girl’s brows furrowed slightly, as she had a nagging suspicion that there was more to the situation than met the eye.

She had felt a surge of magical energy behind her a moment ago, so intense it made her break out in a cold sweat.

Perhaps it was just her senses playing tricks on her. After all, a magical energy of this magnitude bordered on the line of limitlessness. It was simply not something the power of a troll grand chieftain could compare. Unless the Evil God had returned to the mortal world, she could not fathom any sacred being having such an enormous reservoir of magical energy.

“Swoosh!!” Before she could process her thoughts, a sharp scythe sliced through the air, disappearing in the shadows as quickly as it appeared.

The blue-haired girl paused briefly to touch her cheek, which had begun to bleed. Suddenly her eyes narrowed and she turned to look behind her.

“Flap, flap, flap…” A scarlet bat, made entirely from magic, settled on the silver-haired girl’s hands.

“‘*Slurp*~ Mmm, your blood is so sweet, commoner~” The girl, whose silver hair turned cherry at its tips, licked the bat’s wings clean of blood. She then flashed a smile at the blue-haired girl, revealing her sharp fangs in the process.

“At first, I planned to chop off your head and call it a day. But now… I’ve changed my mind.” A maniacal smile, sinister yet alluring, appeared on her doll-like face.

“I’ll empty every drop of blood from your body until there’s nothing left.” Cherrywing declared, her face filled with avarice as she licked her lips.

“You’re a vampire…” The blue-haired girl’s tone was filled with wariness.

“Hey, get out of here if you can. Father had ordered me not to let anything happen to you,” Cherrywing spoke to the duo without turning around.

Creatures that failed to ignite her interest or she could not kill for various reasons were unworthy of her gaze.

Glock neither had the time nor energy to care about her reaction. Although he was completely baffled by the unfolding events, he understood that his best course of action right now was to flee for his life.

He had no intention of pointlessly dying in this godforsaken place at all.

After slinging Law, who had fallen unconscious to the side, over his shoulders, he stuffed the scattered scrolls into his pocket and staggered his way towards the entrance.

“Where are you going?” The blue-haired girl chided.

With a chant, a magical bow snapped into existence in her hands. She drew the strings, causing arrows to shoot forth like streaks of light towards the two knights already scrambling to escape.

But even those lightning-fast arrows proved no match for Cherrywing. With a flick of her wrist, she snatched them from the air, crushing them to dust in her grasp.

“What…” The blue-haired ‘girl’ was shocked. Someone had actually intercepted ‘her’ magical arrows with their bare hands – it was a feat beyond his wildest imaginations.

“Eyes on me, sweetie. There’s nothing I despise more than being ignored.” A swarm of small scarlet bats danced around the vampire.

Step by step, the blue-haired ‘girl’ began to fall back. Facing this formidable and mysterious opponent, his arsenal of tactics felt as useful as dust.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Hey, why aren’t you fighting back? It’s no fun if the prey doesn’t struggle.… Oh, I get it now — You’re a sorcerer, so you need time to chant, right?” Cherrywing tapped her lips with her finger.

“Fine. I’ll give you a chance to use your spells against me.”

The blue-haired ‘girl’ was briefly taken aback. Gazing at the smiling silver-haired girl, he stretched his hand towards the spell-casting materials in his pocket.

[Origin Unknown | Intermediate Class: Corrupt Hydro Slash]

The dark-purplish water blades were easily deflected by the swarm of small scarlet bats fluttering before Cherrywing.

“Tch…” He had invested a great deal of magical energy into that intermediate spell, only to have it easily deflected by his opponent. His reserves had been exhausted in an instant.

The difference in their strengths was like night and day.

He questioned whether he would meet her end here, before he could finish her mission.

Clenching his teeth tightly, the young ‘girl’ stared at the silver-haired girl before him, frustration swelling in his heart.

He contemplated whether to escape at that moment and regretted not saving up a teleportation scroll for such a moment.

“Is that all the tricks you have up your sleeve? In that case, allow me to demonstrate mine.”

Without warning, six pairs of demon wings appeared behind Cherrywing.

The magic surging from her was so overwhelming, it threatened to pulverize him into bits. The cavern shook violently, ominous cracks snaking across the ground like a shattered mirror as if it were about to be ground into dust under its might.

‘What… the hell is going on?!’

The young ‘girl’ covered his incessantly bleeding lips, disbelief etched on his face.

Even without [magic], the mere use of [Primordial Power] possessed such might…

Despite feeling like he was in the midst of a tempest, he could hear the melodious chant of the girl.

[Primordial Vein— The Projection of the Primordial God]

————————————

In the area outside of Swan Goose Castle.

“Did we… miss something?” Huo Lei looked up at the sky, with eyes filled with confusion.

He was not alone; Ji Bai, Lin, and Pian Zi had also fallen silent.

They stared in numb disbelief, their gazes drawn to the spectral figure: Twice the height of a clock tower, the projection of the Grim Reaper loomed upwards in the sky, a massive, curved scythe clutched in its spectral hand.