By now, the sky should have brightened.
But thick black clouds loomed overhead, pouring relentless rain, allowing only faint slivers of sunlight to pierce through, signaling to all living things that the sun had risen.
Aurora and the other two had found an abandoned elf cave to take shelter from the storm.
“What should we do…”
Outside, the thunder rumbled continuously.
Saga looked up anxiously at the dark clouds hanging over the cave entrance.
The only relief was that the visibility had improved considerably—it was no longer pitch black as before, when one couldn’t see a hand in front of their face.
But even with this faint light, it wouldn’t affect that monster.
If they tried flying through the heavy rain now, and that creature spotted them from the ground, it would probably strike them out of the sky.
They had witnessed its incredible leaping ability—it could easily jump over ten meters high. Flying low would put them well within its claw’s reach.
But flying too high carried the risk of being struck by lightning.
Both options were dangerous.
Besides, the three of them were already exhausted. They weren’t sure if they still had enough energy to control their brooms all the way back to the academy.
“Soon, the academy’s floating movement magic will activate… by then, we probably won’t even be able to catch up.”
“And…”
Xiao Mo looked over at Aurora, who was leaning against the wall, barely conscious.
“I’m afraid Miss Eve won’t last much longer…”
Her paper insect messenger was continuously relaying information: Aurora’s vital signs were steadily declining.
Even though the bleeding had stopped, the blood that had already spilled couldn’t be recovered. Her organs were deteriorating due to blood loss. Without prompt treatment, she wouldn’t last much longer…
“Miss Eve! You can’t fall asleep here!”
Saga hurried to Aurora’s side and gently lifted her into her arms.
She called her name softly. When Aurora opened her eyes, she finally felt some relief.
“It’s okay… I can hold on a bit longer…”
“Miss Eve… it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on gathering herbs, you wouldn’t be like this.”
“If I hadn’t fainted back then, you wouldn’t have had to face that monster alone…”
She spoke with self-reproach, tears dropping onto the ground, mixing with the rain.
“Now’s not the time for that, Saga.”
Xiao Mo’s voice came from nearby, firm and resolute, unlike Saga’s fragile tone.
She knew that if Saga sank deeper into despair, she might be the first to collapse.
Hearing this, Saga lowered her head and obediently fell silent, though her sorrow remained evident.
But compared to her own condition, Aurora was more concerned about that purple-haired girl.
She had gone alone to hunt the monster. Hours had passed with no word…
Worrying about her, Aurora’s body was reaching its limit.
Her consciousness wavered again, her eyelids fluttering open and shut involuntarily.
Seeing Aurora near collapse, Xiao Mo spoke up once more: “We can’t just wait here any longer.”
She grabbed her broom and moved toward the cave entrance.
“We have to leave immediately.”
“If we wait any longer, who knows how long it’ll be.”
Waiting now would only lead to worse outcomes. It was better to set out and seek a breakthrough.
“But it’s still pouring outside…”
“I can cast basic rain avoidance magic, though it won’t completely block the rain.”
She took out a magic branch from her sleeve and, after a brief chant, waved it twice toward Aurora and Saga.
A thin veil-like barrier appeared around them.
“This magic can only last about an hour. We have to hurry.”
“I’ll carry Miss Aurora!”
Saga lifted her broom, made it hover, and carefully placed Aurora on top.
Once seated, she controlled the broom to slowly rise.
“Hold onto my waist, Miss Eve.”
“Mm.”
Aurora gently wrapped her arms around Saga’s waist, pressing her face against her back.
Her strength was as delicate as a sheet of paper brushing across the skin—so fragile it seemed it could be blown away by a breeze.
Saga asked worriedly, “Can you hold on?”
“Probably… just about.”
“Then we’re leaving.”
After exchanging a glance with Xiao Mo, Saga steered the broom out of the cave.
“I wonder how that purple-haired girl is doing?” Saga said to the faintly conscious Aurora as they flew.
She needed to constantly gauge Aurora’s awareness to ensure her condition was stable, and talking was the best way.
“That girl… do you know what class she’s in… or her name?” Aurora weakly responded.
“No idea, but I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
“You have.” Suddenly, Xiao Mo flew over from the side and said to them,
“Did you forget? She gave a speech as the freshman representative at the opening ceremony.”
“You even said back then her gaze was kind of terrifying.”
“Freshman representative?” Saga recalled, then exclaimed in surprise, “Could she be the top of our grade?!”
“That’s her. I think her name’s Xia Albert?”
“Al-Albert? She’s the child of our Head of Discipline?!” Saga’s eyes went wide, disbelief evident.
That perpetually icy-faced woman actually had a child?!
Although Albert was undeniably stunning—the kind of cold beauty many admired—Saga still couldn’t believe someone could have won her heart! This was definitely gossip material for later.
Boom!
A sudden tremor echoed in the distance.
The three of them looked toward the forest, where a purple magic circle radiated light in the sky.
“That’s…”
Before they could finish, a purple figure leapt into the air, standing atop the magic circle.
“That’s her!” Saga shouted.
Xia held a massive black blade, plunging it into the center of the magic circle.
Magical runes began to glow around her, indicating she was chanting a spell.
In the next moment, a blinding purple beam shot out from the magic circle, accompanied by a roar that shook the entire land.
When the beam ended, the magic circle in the air gradually faded. Xia, exhausted, began to fall from the sky…
“Catch her!”
The two controlled their brooms and quickly flew forward. Compared to Saga, who was carrying Aurora, Xiao Mo was faster and caught Xia just before she hit the ground.
Looking at the massive crater left behind and the monster reduced to rubble, Xiao Mo couldn’t help but feel a flicker of fear toward Xia’s strength.
She looked to be about the same age but was terrifyingly powerful.
Her body was covered in wounds, yet they were visibly healing before their eyes.
“Quick… we have to go.” Xia suddenly spoke from within Xiao Mo’s arms.
“That thing… it’s undying.”
As she spoke, the sticky sounds of regeneration came from the crater.
The monster’s body was slowly reforming, its charred flesh piecing itself back together until it took on that half-human, half-demon appearance once more…
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.