Chapter 205: Chapter 204: Results Without an Answer
The flames dissipated.
Shana clenched the blade in her hand, staring intently at the blue bear before her.
“You again? Brat?”
Seeing Shana appear before her, Marjorine’s tone also turned sour once more.
“Last time you stopped me from finding Lamy, and now you’re hindering me from destroying this Follower of the Crimson Realm? Are you really a Fire Mist Warrior or not?”
“……”
...
Faced with Marjorine’s questioning, Shana didn’t know how to respond for a moment. As the other had said, she was a Crusader with the Fiery Eye, and protecting a Follower of the Crimson Realm was surprising enough, but now, she was actually defending another one…
Yet, she didn’t know why, but just moments ago, seeing Tilia facing Marjorine’s attack without changing her expression, Shana couldn’t help but take action. She felt as if by standing by and watching, she would lose something important, something that wasn’t about others, but about herself.
But what exactly it was, Shana couldn’t find the answer at that moment.
“I dislike her too, but you can’t kill her here. The mission of a Fire Mist Warrior is to maintain the balance of the world, not to kill the innocent!”
“Wrong, the mission of a Fire Mist Warrior is to eliminate all the Followers of the Crimson Realm!”
“Then……”
Hearing Marjorine’s response, Shana gripped her blade tighter once again.
“I will just have to beat you into submission!!”
The battle started once more.
But this time, it was between two Fire Mist Warriors.
“Haah———!!”
Before the massive blue bear, the young girl roared and swung her flame-engulfed Longsword, slicing it in two. However, the bear split by the girl quickly dissolved into streaks of fire and vanished into the air. Soon after, the air began to twist, and several figures of the same blue bear appeared again, surrounding the girl.
It was that move again!
Gripping the blade, watching the illusory bears around her, Shana frowned. She had learned from Aralastor that Marjorine was a very exceptional Free Master. During their first battle, it was because she rashly attacked Marjorine’s Illusions that she was caught in a trap and ultimately defeated.
But now……
“Really, you brat, you think you can use the same move against me again?”
The spinning bear clones mocked, and Shana, frowning, scrutinized her enemy. In that moment, she suddenly recalled what Fang Zheng had told her after her defeat.
“You see, before, you didn’t know each other, so you were cautious and wary because you were unfamiliar with each other’s fighting styles. But now, the enemy thinks she knows your style and will instinctively rely on her experience from the last fight to predict your moves. If you improve quickly enough, won’t you be able to surprise her then?”
Right, she had been progressing during this time! If this woman still judged her by her last performance, then she was sorely mistaken!
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“Ha!”
With that thought, Shana gripped her weapon again, took a quick step forward, and swung down at the bear. Her blade effortlessly sliced through the creature, dispelling one of the illusions. Immediately, she moved again towards the second illusion. But simultaneously, the circling bear clones began to spin again, opening their mouths to shoot fireballs at Shana.
“Hahaha, futile, futile, little girl, is that all you’ve got?”
Indeed, just as Fang Zheng had said!
Dodging a fireball with a roll, Shana couldn’t help but smirk. This whole scene was a mere replay of their last battle, perhaps that woman thought it would be enough to finish her off.
But…… people change!
Dodging another fireball with a roll, Shana quickly scanned the bear clones before her and clenched her blade tightly.
Right, it’s like playing cards, there’s a time to play the trump card, and now…… this is the chance!
“Go—————!!”
As the fireball was sprayed at the girl once more, Shana let out a roar and raised the longsword in her hand high above her head. In the next moment, raging flames erupted from the blade, instantly forming a flame great blade over ten meters in length.
“What?!!”
Marjorine was shocked at this scene; she had never expected the little girl she toyed with so casually to suddenly unleash such immense power. And before she could react, Shana, with a furious cry, swung down the flame great blade with all her might!
“Boom!!”
The howling Fire of the Red Lotus exploded upon hitting the ground like a flood, engulfing Marjorine’s giant bear incarnation entirely within it. The roaring flames scattered in every direction, as if turning everything into merciless ash. And immediately after, within the fiery waves, an area suddenly swelled, ballooned, and then with a “bang” of an explosion, a charred and sorry-looking blue giant bear flew out from the flames, rapidly retreating backwards.
“What’s with this kid? Why has she become so strong?”
Marjorine’s eyes widened in terror as she stared with lingering fear at the burning flames before her. Shana showed no display of strength during their last battle and was easily defeated by her. That was why Marjorine didn’t take Shana seriously this time, seeing the young girl as nothing but stubbornly unyielding. However, what Marjorine hadn’t expected was that, in just a few days, the girl’s strength had increased to such an extent!
At the same time, Marjorine heard her partner’s voice near her ear.
“Be careful, Marjorine!”
“What?”
Before she could finish speaking, Marjorine saw the flames in front of her suddenly burst open, and Shana’s petite body shot out like a bullet. The red flames condensed into a pair of dazzling wings behind her, propelling the girl forward at high speed.
This is bad!
Seeing this, Marjorine’s heart leapt into her throat, and she quickly raised her hands, trying to use the Free Method to block this sword strike. But with a flash of the blade, the blue giant bear’s paws were immediately severed, and right after that, the flamming longsword thrust straight into the creature’s massive body.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
With flames and screams soaring into the sky, the battle also finally came to a close.
“Well done.”
Looking at the distant column of fire, Fang Zheng nodded in satisfaction, then turned his head towards Tilia beside him.
“I’m sorry, Tilia, for putting you at risk.”
“It’s nothing, Elder Brother.”
At Fang Zheng’s words, Tilia revealed a gentle smile.
“As long as it’s for you, Elder Brother, I’m willing to do anything… and now… Elder Brother…”
While speaking, Tilia threw herself into Fang Zheng’s embrace, pressing closely to him, and lifted her head, gazing at him like a puppy begging for treats from its master.
“I know, the Power of Existence is running out, right?”
As he caressed Tilia’s head, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly. Tilia’s emotional intelligence was so much higher than Shana’s, it was off the chart—just look at the way she’s acting now, making it impossible for him to refuse. But… it somehow felt a little criminal.
Looking at Tilia with her eyes half-closed, begging for a kiss, Fang Zheng felt his heart pounding. Carefully considered, Tilia was only about thirteen or fourteen years old, perhaps a bit more mature than Shana. But compared to the high school students he taught, she was still a child… Yet she took the initiative in this manner… *cough cough*, it was a good thing she was a Follower of the Crimson Realm, not a human, otherwise a three-year sentence might be inevitable…
Anyway, better to deal with it quickly, and it did feel rather good.
Glancing at the flames not far away, Fang Zheng bent down and kissed the girl’s cherry lips.
“Mmm…”
Feeling that fiery power penetrate deep within her, Tilia let out a soft moan and then wrapped her arms tightly around Fang Zheng.
But Fang Zheng failed to notice that at the same time, at the edge of his vision, a line appeared that said “Achievement Progress 2/5”.
And then it quietly disappeared.