Actually, Epirna wasn’t very pleased with the current situation.
It’s a one-versus-three fight. Logically, the three on the other side should have been relentlessly charging at her, pushing her to the brink, but they weren’t. It’s more like a wheel battle than a one-versus-three.
With people she needs to protect right behind her, and their numbers not being small, she can’t focus solely on attacking and has to conserve some strength. Those guys are daring to hide their cards against her.
“I hate this kind of fight. Give it your all.”
A hostage is only valuable if they’re alive. A dead hostage has no value.
Even knowing that, she tried to kill them all without any room for negotiation, not because she’s foolish, but because she truly wanted those three to go all out without holding back.
“Or I’ll really kill you all.”
The Mountain King’s aura, encompassing mountains and rivers, exploded. A heavy, oppressive pressure like Mount Tai pressed down from all sides. Yet, something stood firm against that pressure. Epirna sharply turned her head.
Only now, after fully unleashing her power, did she barely sense something. How deeply hidden it was, she only realized now, with a deadly assassin right before her eyes.
For the first time, she made a stiff, tense expression. Even the magical power consumed while emitting her aura was too precious, so she withdrew it. She began to crazily absorb magical power from all around.
She condensed the power of steel energy, forming a shield to protect herself. A mass of darkness, piercing through the museum’s outer wall, came crashing down on her.
The dragon-slaying technique, Dragon Breath, exerted tremendous pressure on the shield, shattering it like a glass bottle. But she bought some time. Epirna exhaled a white mist from her mouth.
Boom!
The steel energy, this time taking the form of something huge and massive, broke through the ceiling and soared.
Even the Victory Museum of the Beast Liberation War, built with all the care and strength possible, couldn’t withstand this.
Ominous sounds began to echo from everywhere, showing signs of complete collapse.
“This crazy woman! There are my subordinates here too, and you really don’t care about anything!”
“Uncle, what’s going on! You said she’d back off if we showed her strength, but there’s no sign of that!”
“Wolf lady. Let’s deal with the small stuff later. First, let’s save the people.”
The pillars broke, and the ceiling collapsed entirely. The three masters had no chance to attack Epirna.
They had to use their energy techniques to shatter the falling ceiling pieces to protect the people. Leon, burning a large piece with flame energy, widened his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.
“A mountain.”
The steel shield, now more like a steel mountain, grew endlessly without limit, rising like a hill.
“This is impossible. Even with her growth, this is… too different from before!”
She suppressed the Dragon Breath with a massive chunk of energy, blocking it outright. The mountain-like mass was cratered and shattered, but it was still blocked.
Epirna’s expression wasn’t great either. For the first time, a look of fatigue crossed her face. But it was brief, and she soon regained her composure.
“Something’s off here. Unless there’s a mistake…”
The lion was shaken. The Epirna he knew was qualitatively and quantitatively far different.
He even suspected that the priest backing them up might have made a mistake, inadvertently restoring Epirna.
“Her stamina is absurd. Something’s wrong here. This is…”
Ardein’s expression hardened too. To replenish such a massive amount of magical power in one go?
Even with the help of divine power, they could barely manage it. Could Epirna really do this on her own? Has she surpassed the master level?
He had felt this way only once before, when facing Yanid, who held the Dragon Heart.
Without the help of external artifacts, truly reaching that level purely by skill is rare. The only candidate would be Emperor Harmail.
“Unless she’s not just drawing in surrounding magical power but completely dominating it, this is impossible.”
Even Xerox couldn’t do it on his own and needed the help of Heron’s sword. None of the three here have reached that level.
Even in a vast world, such a strong individual is rare, perhaps one in an era. Unlike the two who looked deflated, Roka was still burning with fighting spirit.
She had seen the sun, the moon, and a gigantic firebird. Steel mountains or whatever, her fighting spirit wasn’t dead. But Epirna no longer looked back at the wolf.
“Who are you?”
The tiger growled, looking around. For a brief moment, she sensed something, but it hid even deeper.
Such incredible stealth skills. The King of Shadows. And the friend of darkness.
The Black Dragon, specialized in stealth, ambush, and curses, has an innate talent for this. Even other dragons find it hard to detect when it hides.
“Won’t you come out?”
The tiger smiled broadly. She was truly excited.
For the first time in a long while, she had met a worthy challenger. The tiger never refuses a challenge. The woman laughed deeply and clapped her hands.
Whoosh!
Sharp energy blades danced around her, converging. The refined steel energy compressed, becoming even sharper.
Ten thousand strands of energy became one, reducing the number but increasing the power. A hundred such strands erupted at once.
If you won’t come out, I’ll make you. No makeshift cabin will block this now. It’ll pierce through without any resistance.
“Let’s see if you can hide even when they’re all dead.”
The three masters raised their power. Before they could act, a black wind swept down from the sky. Black wings spread wide, blocking the energy blades as it landed.
A slender white arm reached out, catching the first energy blade with her hand. Then, with a crushing grip, she shattered it. An unbelievable strength and durability.
“What, what is that lady? How is her body so tough!”
Leon was shocked. Even as a martial artist, he couldn’t dream of such a feat. Grabbing a steel energy blade bare-handed would shatter the hand and ruin the arm.
Clang!
That hard hand moved like the wind. Without even wrapping it in magical power, pure magical energy surged into the dragon scales covering her hand.
The hand, infused with pure magical power, transformed like a dragon’s, with scales rising. It plucked the steel energy blades like weeds and threw them away.
Some were flung into the sky, some buried into the ground. Some were shattered with a hand chop, others crushed in her grip.
The sound of metal clashing echoed each time her hand met the energy blades. The three masters, and even the tiger, looked visibly flustered.
“Wow, I’ve been completely wasting my time. That’s true martial prowess. I was just a frog in a well. To think one could become so strong with just two fists.”
“Yanid? Why is she here now…”
“Do you know her? Is she some kind of escort sent by the empire?”
Ardein shook her head bitterly. If the empire had the ability to assign such a strong escort, honestly, the temple wouldn’t have dared to target the royal family.
“Who are you?”
The tiger growled. Two horns and wings. A appearance that couldn’t possibly be a beastman.
Could it be the Demon Emperor Harmail, only heard of in rumors? But Harmail has white hair, and there’s no mention of such wings.
To think she dyed her hair and made fake wings to appear here is, even to herself, nonsense.
Facing the intruder, who seemed neither human nor beastman, Epirna warned.
“You don’t seem to be a beastman or a human. Why are you interfering here? This is my territory. Don’t get in my way.”
“If you don’t come, I won’t go.”
The girl spread her wings wide, as if protecting those behind her. She retorted, staring at Epirna.
“If you want to fight, then fight. If you bully the innocent, I’ll step in too.”
“Hmm.”
So, she’s not joining the fight but interfering? Epirna made a somewhat strange expression. But if she’s not attacking, the tiger didn’t want to provoke her first.
Winning isn’t the issue; even if she wins, there’s no guarantee she can kill her. A woman tough enough to break steel energy with her bare hands.
Letting her escape alive would bring endless trouble. Better not to provoke her at all.
