### Chapter 35: The Suddenly Appearing Audience
Zzzz.
On the charred body raised by the long sword, sparks of electricity flickered, sending jolts of agony through the burnt muscles, causing limbs to twitch uncontrollably.
The woman looked thoroughly done for, with a bloody scalp still ablaze, her face a mess of charred skin and melted features. Smoke wafted from the rags of her clothing, revealing a set of stark white teeth, some missing for good.
Yet, there was still a faint sign of life flickering in her mouth.
Sword Demon Anacelis casually glanced at her, then swung her blade lightly to the side. The woman’s body slid off the sword blade, rolling away in a hilarious “glug-glug” manner. Anacelis looked down at her fur coat with a twinge of displeasure.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the twitching limbs of the woman on the ground and sauntered over again. Raising her sword, the blade crackled with thunder light as she aimed for that charred, pulp-like head.
In the next moment, flashes of golden light erupted, revealing a man named Ramiel suddenly crouching on the ground, shielding the burnt woman. With a swift motion, he whipped up a glowing blade that clashed with Anacelis’s descending sword.
Clang—!
The sound of screeching metal rang out, sparks flying everywhere.
It seemed like this slip was already in Anacelis’s expectations. With an expression as calm as a still pond, she transformed into a bolt of lightning, zipping away in an instant. Her long sword, riddled with nicks, flared with electricity, and before anyone could blink, there were countless afterimages of the blade rushing forward like a storm, engulfing both of them in a whirlwind of sharp sound and fury!
Ramiel stood his ground, refusing to back down as he clung to the woman, facing the onslaught of incoming sword rain. His face grim, he met the attack head-on, his movements turning into a blur—a cacophony of clashing metal filled the air—
Clang-clang-clang-clang-thud-thud!
He managed to block most of the attacks, wielding his glowing blade with precision, yet the speed of Anacelis proved too much; his shoulder and arm were quickly pierced. Their figures danced around the fallen woman, golden and electric energies weaving together in a display of bl**d and sparks, with Ramiel just barely thwarting a couple of potentially deadly blows.
At the height of the action, the woman who looked like she was about to expire suddenly opened one bl**d-red eye.
“Ughhhhhh—”~
She let out a scream that didn’t sound human at all, and with explosive force, she sprang off the ground as if fired from a cannon!
In that very moment, she took another sword strike from Anacelis, the blade crackling with electricity as it pierced through her abdomen, causing her charred body to shake uncontrollably, her tortured expression morphing into an enraged visage, looking like a demon clawing its way out of hell, and she managed to grab the blade directly.
Anacelis’s eyes widened in surprise.
She tried to yank her sword back but couldn’t shake it loose. In less than a heartbeat, a surge of golden light enveloped the woman, and the horrific wounds began to heal. At the same time, the woman raised her left fist, the power behind it roaring and glowing with an almost blinding light as she aimed for Anacelis’s face.
“**… You—”
Amidst the bizarre and garbled shout, that punch flew out like an artillery shell, creating a tidal wave of wind, the immense force violently ripping through the snowy ground, even distorting sound so that the entire night seemed to fall into weightlessness, snowflakes soaring and scattering as though in a slow-motion dream.
The massive boom and tremor didn’t release until a split second later, the wind howling violently, sweeping debris to either side. If time could be slowed, even a commander peering over from near a hundred meters away would have his eyes wide in shock, his half-hidden face behind a helmet trembling like waves.
Boom!!!
That sound rippled with lasting shock, as if echoing from the furthest corners of the world, expanding from the terrifying backlash, quickly reaching a piercing peak.
“Ah—”
The woman’s anguished scream shattered the chaos, and in less than a second, she had cleared a patch of snow a hundred meters around her. Ramiel, who was about to counterattack, got flung away by the wind, while in the center of the explosion, a flash of electric light flickered and vanished in an instant.
In the center of the raging storm, the healing lights around the woman accelerated wildly, countless fireflies bursting forth from her shimmering golden form, diving into those gruesome wounds, blackened scabs falling away as muscle regrew and her skin began to take shape again.
A moment later, she staggered two steps forward, her other eye fluttering open, scanning the whirling winds. Her furious curses became clearer: “Screw you, I’m going to k*ll you, I’m definitely going to k*ll you… screw you…”
As Ramiel was still spinning in mid-air, beginning to regain his balance, he realized he was about to fall and locked his gaze on the spot where the woman stood. His expression tightened as he recognized her temper; she had completely lost her mind, which could only lead to disaster and cause things to spiral out of control.
“Emily, calm down!!”
There was no choice; the Sword Demon had to be dealt with first.
As this thought crossed his mind, a sudden “whoosh” echoed through the winds—countless bolts of electricity streaming from the ground, from the dead trees and the walls, forming an awe-inspiring web of arcs heading towards a distant point. One bolt even zipped past Ramiel’s head.
Landing back on the ground, he braced himself and stepped back a few meters, watching as golden and blue lights wove together in frantic harmony. Facing the thunderous storm, he leaped forward with astonishing speed, closing the distance!
The torrent of electricity flickered for just an instant before vanishing, the afterimage of that electric core lingering in the air. In the next moment, sounds of battle erupted in the darkness with a “swish-swish,” the air trembling slightly, intermingled with the booming echoes of divine miracles, the woman’s frantic screams. Ramiel took it all in, furrowing his brow as he accelerated back toward the fray.
In just a few seconds, he’d covered half the distance, when suddenly, another “whoosh” filled the air—the electric light they’d gathered reignited, taking on a terrifying azure hue that illuminated the surroundings as brightly as day. The silhouettes of both women in combat became crystal clear, frozen mid-air:
The Sword Demon had wrested the long sword from Emily’s grip, but it was obviously broken. Meanwhile, her other hand pressed against Emily’s chest, bolts of raw electric fury blasting out from Emily’s back, tearing through the ground below.
Crash—
Just as the scene returned to darkness, Ramiel shielded his eyes and slowed his pace. He could hear the ongoing battle ahead, its sounds fluctuating, the battlefield seemingly stretching away, but then in the next moment, an explosion brought it rushing back close…
Debris rolling and clashing, the snow beneath the initial punch had created a massive, fan-shaped crater, and the relentless shock waves expanded with each pulse of lightning and golden radiance. Ramiel danced at the fringes of the battlefield, his eyes glued to the dance of radiance as they intersected and flowed.
At one moment, he suddenly stopped, taking a wide stance, arms extended. With a resounding “bang,” he caught the woman flying out of the darkness.
Swoosh—
Her feet slid back in the scorched sludge, the tremendous force finally halting.
Ramiel breathed out heavily, setting the woman down. She stood panting, her tattered clothes a testament to her struggles, her face marred with dark marks. Yet, her injuries appeared mostly healed; the left side of her chest displayed only a singed hole, with no more bl**d flowing from it. Even her hair seemed to have grown back a bit, messy on her head.
“Take a deep breath, calm down,” Ramiel instructed, his voice tinged with an unmistakable hint of frustration.
After such a brief bout, the Sword Demon’s tenacity was much more troublesome than he had anticipated; dispatching her quickly would be no easy task.
“Get away from me!”
Emily shouted, her face contorting as she reached to shove him aside. He caught her wrist with a sharp “crack!” She turned to unleash her fury on Ramiel, finding his icy, emotionless gaze waiting for her.
“If we keep wasting time like this, we won’t be able to leave at all,” he said, with no room for negotiation. “From now on, I’m helping you k*ll her.”
Emily hesitated for a moment, unable to maintain eye contact with Ramiel.
“Whatever you say…”
Zzzz—
The blazing blue arcs flickered over the broken sword as Sword Demon Anacelis strode back from the darkness, stepping into view.
“Ramiel.”
She called out, her breath a bit ragged, clearly worn out. The snowy fur she wore was nearly as tattered and filthy as Emily’s attire, and her right hand, which clutched the broken sword, hung awkwardly at her side.
Anacelis then placed her left hand on her right shoulder, and with a sharp “crack,” popped her dislocated shoulder back into place, her expression remaining unaffected, and from a distance, she darkly threatened them: “Tell me how my mother died, and I might spare your lives.”
“Wow.”
Ramiel couldn’t help but smirk, “That’s some big talk.”
He had no intention of questioning why she hadn’t died or why she had intervened here—such queries were meaningless now.
Buzz—
Amidst the humming of divine miracles, a faint golden glow once more enveloped him. Meanwhile, Emily could hardly contain her impulses, letting out two sharp, insane laughs as she cracked her knuckles, clearly on the verge of charging in again.
On the other side, Anacelis gripped the broken sword, tearing strips from her clothing to wrap around her right hand, tying it to the hilt with a tight knot. The electricity danced around her, coiling along the broken blade until it extended to nearly two meters!
Holding that electrified blade, she gazed at the two of them, her indifferent eyes carrying an undertone of malice.
The battle was on the brink of eruption.
But just as they were about to strike, Ramiel suddenly felt an inexplicable chill rise from his spine.
Something felt off.
The surrounding air had grown eerily still…
Too still.
The chaos on the walls just a moment ago had abruptly quieted, as if everyone had been caught off guard and it had all stopped in an instant.
After a moment, Ramiel realized something and shot his head up.
He saw someone standing in the night sky.
Standing atop a floating solid ice platform, looking down at the three, they loomed like a colossal figure surveying tiny ants below.
