I’m Really Not Trying to Be Chased by the Heroine as the Villainous Playboy! – Chapter 857

Chapter 70: Igniting the Heart’s Fire

Totally unprepared and not even bothering to prepare, the arrogance of the Acid Dragon King fired Charlotte up. Naturally, she wasn’t going to be polite about it.

“This is entirely your fault!”

The [Flame Sovereign] could manipulate flames at will, not just attaching them to her body but transforming them into any shape she desired.

[Weapon Projection: Fire] allowed her to craft weapons from flames, achieving a similar effect.

Charlotte knocked an arrow, a red shaft spiraling together as it rested against the bowstring.

The arrow zipped forth, its explosive force even staggering the griffon back a step.

The shrill sound of the arrow was like a roar of flames, and in an instant, the target was engulfed in a sea of fire.

[Lionheart] showcased the peak explosive power of her bloodline vividly.

Any pureblood dragon would have their scales shattered and be ablaze by now.

But how could the defense of the Seven Great Heavenly Dragons be so easily breached?

The Acid King casually dispersed the raging flames, still unbothered. “Hey, hey, put in a bit more effort…?”

A shadow fell above him.

He looked up to see Charlotte hovering over him, with a massive fireball over a hundred meters in diameter appearing out of nowhere, finally showing a hint of surprise.

This was a fireball purely formed from the primordial flames.

Simple and crude, yet terrifying enough.

Like a sun’s descent.

A crimson mushroom cloud erupted explosively at the heart of the royal capital.

The pressure from the scarlet flames surged, and Croleyen finally felt the searing heat against his skin, even the flesh beneath his scales began to fester.

But Croleyen’s smile only grew colder.

He suddenly opened his hands, transforming them into dragon claws, crossing them.

Green flashes like ghostly lightning, Croleyen yanked apart the exploding crimson flames with pure brute force.

His clothes were nearly incinerated; his flesh was a mess, yet the ghostly green scales remained intact, bringing him immense pleasure.

“Very good, very good! Just like that!”

“Come on, little cat!”

Charlotte fell from the griffon, her breathing starting to tremble, inevitably revealing signs of fatigue.

That last attack had drained most of her extraordinary power, and gathering so much again was impossible.

But she hadn’t expected to take down her opponent with the power of a Sequence 5.

It was only her last chance, like Rob, breaking through the high ranks at the edge of life and death.

Thinking this, Charlotte gritted her teeth, holding up her faltering stance, and dashed at Croleyen.

“Want to brawl? Bring it on, I can play!”

The clash of their fists reverberated like heavy hammers shaking the ground.

Punches, grabs, kicks—this wasn’t fighting; it was like a beast’s ferocious bites morphing into a storm of fire that pushed Croleyen back repeatedly.

The frenzied battle ignited her bloodline, and Charlotte felt a force stirring within her, her pounding heart like a drumbeat intensifying.

Advancement to higher ranks was not impossible.

However, retreating didn’t mean she was weak.

No attack could pierce Croleyen’s defense, and as he confirmed that Charlotte’s extraordinary power was waning without any other means, his expression finally darkened.

“Is this it? If it’s only this much, I couldn’t be bothered to keep playing.”

“Enough with the chatter!”

Charlotte’s fiery spinning kick was caught by Croleyen with one hand, refusing to budge.

Croleyen showed a bloodthirsty grin: “Such weak limbs, I might as well snap them clean off~”

In the next second, the golden-red griffon charged in.

This time it didn’t inflict any damage, but it forced Croleyen to swat the griffon away, creating a brief opening.

In that instant, Charlotte threw another punch.

It was unexpected but not frightening; her weak strikes couldn’t shatter dragon scales, such a tiny attack even made Croleyen want to laugh.

Until the flaming fist struck his face.

Behind the girl surged the Lion King of the Flame Abyss.

Like the Lionheart King risking everything for a single blow.

“!”

Scarlet flames roared, turning into a blazing nebula.

Croleyen was sent sprawling, his body flying straight through the ruins.

Stunned for several seconds, he reached up to touch his cheek and felt a trickle of blood seeping from shattered dragon scales.

“Ha…”

“Ha ha…”

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Awesome! Just awesome! I never thought a mere mortal besides that king could wield the primordial flames to this degree!”

Croleyen clutched his cheek and laughed his head off, acid oozing uncontrollably from his mouth, his human skin rotting to reveal more of his deep scales.

“Hey, keep it coming! Let me see more of your flames!”

“Back in the First Era, I loved hunting those fiery cats, keep it going, little cat!”

However, this time Charlotte didn’t retaliate; her face remained grim.

In that brief moment, she had indeed touched the threshold of Sequence 4.

Any Sequence 5 would have been ecstatic to have such talent, even dimming the title of certain top-tier prodigies from the western continent.

But in that moment, it symbolized despair.

After struggling to reach that threshold but failing to break through, this meant the last chance for her to advance to Sequence 4 had slipped away.

Seeing Charlotte hesitate, Croleyen’s expression turned disappointed.

“Guess what? Ants will always be ants, huh? You have the bloodline, but you just can’t unleash your true power.”

“Boring, time to die.”

A killing intent surged like a tsunami, and the sense of crisis peaked; Charlotte instinctively dodged backward.

Croleyen slashed with his hand, the dazzling oil-green blade sweeping across.

Like a hot knife through butter, houses crumbled and collapsed in large chunks, entire blocks fell to the acid.

A casual strike from a high-rank surpassed the fireball Charlotte had gathered with all her might.

Drenched in the torrential acid rain, Charlotte slumped in the ruins, her spirits hitting rock bottom.

She couldn’t win. There was no way to win at her mid-tier level.

Facing the full force of the Seven Great Heavenly Dragons, Charlotte felt the same despair as when she faced the Crimson Blood Dragon.

Looking at the figure in the distance strolling casually through the acid rain, Charlotte trembled, her fingers quivering, yet unable to move a single finger.

This was what it felt like to be a lamb led to slaughter.

Sadness, anger, hatred, and unwillingness. She’d tried to ignite all the emotions she had ever felt to urge the [Lionheart] bloodline, but in the end, all that responded was the cold, hard reality.

Until now, her boiling heartbeat gradually quieted, frozen by fear.

What was the heart’s fire? Maybe she would never find the answer.

In a daze, Charlotte felt the world go eerily quiet.

Incredibly, in her final moments, what came to mind wasn’t regret for the kingdom, nor fear of the dragons.

Ah, if Roy saw me in this pathetic state, he’d definitely be disappointed—

Until the crimson dragon flames ripped through the sky, and golden lightning pierced the clouds.

The ghostly green figure was forced back by the dragon flames, revealing the black-haired griffon knight, Roy, in front of her.

Sunlight spilled down.

Crimson eyes reflected a figure that shone brighter than the remnants of light breaking through the clouds.

Charlotte felt clearly that something within her cold, silent heart had been ignited.