Chapter 263
Sera knew the truth—this was no ordinary opponent.
Every strike, every movement he made revealed layers of complexity she hadn’t expected. He was raw, unrefined, yet capable of creating cracks in her seemingly unbreakable dominance.
She needed to end this quickly—not just to save face in front of her subordinates but to preserve her own confidence. She couldn’t allow someone weaker to keep her occupied for so long.
Oliver was visibly struggling, gritting his teeth as he endured her relentless blows. His breathing grew heavier with each passing second, a faint wheeze accompanying the labored rise and fall of his chest. It was hard for him to fathom how someone with such a slender frame could unleash such powerful and heavy strikes.
“Ugh,” he groaned as she kicked his thigh from the left, sending him off balance and rolling to the ground.
The dull, heavy thud of his body hitting the muddy ground echoed briefly, accompanied by the faint splash of displaced water. The cold mud seeped into his clothes, adding to the weight pressing him down.
Pain shot through his leg, radiating upward with every movement. The muddy ground felt cold against his palms as he pushed himself up, his chest heaving. He quickly steadied himself, half-kneeling with the support of his sword.
Blood trickled from his mouth, a thin crimson line gliding over his chin as he wiped it away with the back of his hand. The metallic taste lingered, a bitter reminder of how close he was to the edge.
Blood dripped from his lip where he’d bitten down too hard, but he ignored it, his focus locked on the advancing figure before him. Panting, he applied a thin, icy layer over his wound. His leg throbbed, but the frost dulled the pain just enough for him to move.
The frost spread slowly, shimmering faintly under the dim light as it crept over his injury like crystalline vines. The chill bit into his skin, numbing the ache but sending a shiver down his spine.
The faint shimmer of frost glinted under the dim light as he struggled to stand.
“Ice element, hmm,” Sera remarked, eyeing the crystalline formation.
Her gaze lingered, sharp and probing. The frost wasn’t just practical—it was deliberate, controlled. It told her that, despite his apparent weakness, he still had more to show.
“You’re still holding back, even now?” she sneered. “I don’t believe you defeated Drul with just your weapon skills. If you did, then he deserved to die for being unable to handle such an amateur.”
She pointed her sword forward, looking down at him with eyes glowing faintly. Dark energy swirled around her blade like tendrils of smoke, poised to strike. “Human, show me. What are you hiding?”
Tilting her sword slightly, she added, “If not, I will kill you.”
Oliver didn’t doubt her. The murderous intent radiating from her was proof enough of her sincerity.
Just as her sword neared him, a torrent of pitch-black flames erupted from him, surging rapidly toward her blade and engulfing everything around them.
The flames surged outward like a tidal wave, their inky blackness devouring the space between them in an instant.
The sudden burst of heat and energy illuminated the battlefield. The flames roared like a living beast, consuming everything in their path.
The air grew stifling, thick with the acrid scent of burning earth. Shadows danced wildly in the fiery glow, their shapes twisting and writhing as if alive.
The surrounding demons stumbled back, shielding their faces from the overwhelming heat.
Their normally rigid composure shattered as they recoiled instinctively, some raising their arms, others staggering away with startled cries. The sheer intensity of the flames seemed to scorch the courage out of them.
Sera jumped back instantly. Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized her weapon. The solid metallic surface of her specially crafted sword was engulfed in black flames, burning fiercely.
The fire clung to the blade like a living parasite, its dark tendrils hissing and snapping as they fed off the weapon’s energy.
She swung her sword in a rapid flurry of movements. The speed of her strikes generated powerful gusts of wind, yet the flames clung stubbornly to the blade.
‘What is this fire? It wasn’t extinguished by the wind?’ Sera observed keenly, peering into the flickering blaze.
Each ember crackled ominously, resisting her attempts to snuff it out. It wasn’t just fire—it was something far more insidious, an elemental force that defied her understanding.
Despite its comforting color, the flame’s attribute felt sickening. ‘Is there a specific condition to nullify it? Or a special material?’ She pondered the possibilities.
Her mind raced as she recalled centuries of battle knowledge and history she was taught, searching for something—anything—that resembled this strange energy. But nothing came close.
She felt she could brute-force the flame to extinguish, but that wouldn’t be efficient. This fire was strange and worth preserving for study.
‘This needs to be investigated as well,’ she thought, recognizing its harmful effect on demons. It reminded her of the cursed Holy element.
The memory sent a faint shiver down her spine. The Holy element—something she had encountered only once before—had left scars on countless veterans both physical and mental. This flame carried the same weight of danger.
A glass bottle appeared in her other hand—a rare artifact from her storage ring.
Its surface shimmered faintly, runes etched along its sides glowing softly as it activated. The bottle pulsed with containment power, designed to capture and store even the most volatile of substances.
In an instant, the sword shrank, fitting perfectly into the bottle along with the fire.
‘To think I’d have to use this rare artifact now. But if I can uncover the origin of this flame, it’ll be worth it.’ She stored the bottle back in her ring and summoned another gleaming sword.
The new blade glimmered with an ominous red hue, its edges serrated like the teeth of a beast.
Her gaze returned to the human boy stabilizing himself amid the black flames. It was almost as if he were using his last line of defense to buy time.
His figure was a silhouette against the roaring fire, battered but unbroken. There was a grim determination in the way he held himself, his body trembling but his eyes steady.
Sera frowned. How should she breach the barrier of flames?
She stared at the boy at the center of the blaze, their eyes meeting once more. There was a provocative glint in his gaze, an icy calm that felt strangely familiar.