Chapter 179: Azure Fire Burning the Moon, bl**d Stained Royal City (13)
“Run! This way—!”
In the distance, a robust man in a blue-white cloak was rallying the crowd to flee.
The civilians scattered like startled chickens, too scared to even scream. I spotted a girl who looked suspiciously like Sarah… She seemed to lock eyes with me for a moment before joining the throng and running off into the distance.
Could that be Sarah?
It was too dark to see clearly… Ah, now isn’t the time to think about that.
I shook my head lightly, stumbling as I did.
…I’m feeling a bit dizzy.
A hot rush coursed down the back of my head and into my neck… but it quickly stopped.
I looked up at the night sky, which was ablaze like a blazing sun.
Scarlet flames churned above, resembling a cataclysmic apocalypse. Massive explosions echoed overhead, roaring like thunder and shaking the Royal City.
At the heart of the inferno, a slender figure surrounded by swirling winds was gracefully maneuvering around the monster’s gigantic body. She dodged striking flames while her sword danced, slicing through the beast again and again, flesh and bone splattering everywhere.
“Howl—”
The monster seemed to be seriously injured. It let out a horrifying wail, trailing infernal flames and thick, black smoke as it plummeted down like a shooting star.
We can’t let it land here…
That prickly feeling in my heart shot through my body again. As I felt my injuries slowly healing, I took two steps forward, and with a “boom,” an ice pillar shot up beneath me, launching me into the night sky like a cannonball. As the wind roared past my ears, I zeroed in on the fiery meteor hurtling down. As soon as I sensed the right distance, I pushed off the ice platform and sharply turned in mid-air, zig-zagging to the monster’s right side.
“Victoria! Get out of the way—!”
As I shouted, I raised both hands in front of me, palms open, scanning below… Those people were running way too slowly; it seemed like everyone was elsewhere. The only clear space was a small plaza several streets away.
I’m aiming for that.
In an instant, I made my decision as Victoria just barely managed to pull back.
The next moment, a dazzling blue light erupted around me.
“Ah—!”
Boom—!!!
I gave it everything I had.
Thick ice mist glittered with countless ice crystal shards, pouring from my palms. A surge of frost powered up and swallowed the monster in the air.
Crack—crack—
My vision was enveloped in the ice mist, becoming blurry.
In the center of the cold wave, the menacing infernal flames were consumed by the bone-chilling temperature, immediately dimming and swaying. The monster’s body was battered, its descent redirected toward the distant plaza, accompanied by the sound of cracking ice.
Okay… I’ve managed to freeze it for now.
I was falling again.
At the same time, a wave of fatigue crashed over me.
I felt like… I couldn’t hold on much longer…
Whoosh—
The wind whipped around me, my hair slapping against my face.
Out of the corner of my eye, Victoria deftly maneuvered around the ice mist, her figure tracing a beautiful arc in the air as she dashed toward me and wrapped one arm around me tightly.
“Whoosh!”
I couldn’t help but let out a breath.
She’s holding me too tightly… My arms are squished against my chest, it hurts.
Crash—!
The monster smashed into the plaza, shattering the majestic lion statue in the center. As dust flew, its hand was crushed, sending countless shards of meat and bone scattering in all directions.
“Are you… okay?”
Victoria’s voice remained ice-cold, though tinged with a slightly panicked breath.
She looked a bit worse for wear at that moment. Her dress was burnt in several places, and she had lost a shoe. A severe burn marked her arm, her golden hair was all over the place, the ends curling wildly, and her face was a bit blackened from smoke… Yet even so, it failed to hide her beauty.
“Not… really…”
I barely managed to utter a word before the wind rushed into my mouth.
Without a pause, after pulling me close, Victoria immediately swung her sword again. A massive wind blade formed in an instant and then shot towards the monster’s falling direction with a piercing shriek. She adjusted her position mid-air, locking me tightly against her side as she dove toward the small plaza.
The strong wind roared around us, making my ears throb.
Boom—!
The wind blade sliced through debris and struck the monster squarely, cleaving its frozen body in half.
But we both knew that wouldn’t be enough to k*ll it.
…But I was already so tired.
So exhausted, my head started spinning. Even though my chest felt like it was on fire from her grip, I didn’t want to make a sound.
I sensed my strength waning.
This wasn’t due to overusing Frost Order… The power of Order inside me was still strong, and I could probably last a long time; I could feel that clearly. My body, however, was weak.
I knew very well that this state was because of the earlier healing I had undergone.
It drained the power of the Abyss.
Grr—
I was really hungry, super hungry.
I could even feel my stomach churning.
I wanted to eat something… anything… what to eat… what could I eat…
Sniff, sniff.
The smell surrounding me was all Victoria… the human scent… mixed with the char of burning flames… like roast meat.
So enticing…
I really wanted to take a bite of her.
Smack!
Suddenly, I felt a light tap on my forehead.
“You still have the energy to mess around?”
“…Huh?”
Snapping back to reality, I realized I had unconsciously taken a bite out of the arm Victoria was holding me with.
My heart skipped a beat; I jolted back to reality and immediately let go.
Saliva stretched into a long string, dropping from my chin… itchy.
I pinched my thigh to shake myself awake, trying to find an excuse to explain to her. The words that came out were: “I just, wanted to taste…”
Well, it tasted salty.
What am I doing…
Victoria frowned slightly, her gaze fixed ahead: “Focus.”
Thud.
She gently landed on the circular plaza, setting me down while her right hand swung the sword again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Grrrr—”
The sudden roar behind me jolted me from my daze.
…Oh right, I’m still in the middle of a fight!
This isn’t good…
Feeling the searing heat behind me, I bit my tongue and spun around.
In my line of sight, the monster’s severed lower half melted swiftly in the flames, scattering… and once again reformed into a writhing mass of flesh, disappearing into the hollow space of its head. Countless scarlet bloodlines gushed from its broken spine—forming a new body.
The monster slowly lifted its head in the firelight, its menacing facial bones once again turning toward me.
“Grrrr—”
Infernal flames surged forth, accompanied by its howl.
…Moon Step!
Whoosh—
I executed the Moon Step, sidestepping as the raging flames roared past, distorting the very air around me. After appearing more than ten meters away, I felt my legs give way, rolling twice on the ground before thud, my face collided with the flowerbed in the plaza.
Ouch, ouch, ouch…
I nearly cried.
No way… If this keeps up, we’ll lose.
If we lose… then all the people in the Royal City… I can’t lose, I won’t lose…
I struggled to rise, wiping my mouth clean of drool, and shouted at Victoria hovering above: “Think of something, force it out of the city—!”
As long as it’s out of the city… I can k*ll it.
