Before Liuna could react, the girl had already turned to her.
A fist came crashing down.
Liuna instinctively rolled to dodge. The fist hit the ground, and the soil within a radius of over a meter collapsed, rocks and earth flying up from the shockwave.
Luo Sha realized this Inquisition girl not only had counter damage ability but also Earth Magic.
And her cross finally revealed its true form at this moment.
The girl reached into the shattered cross and pulled out a pure white longsword.
That huge cross wasn’t just a weapon.
It was actually a large, disguised scabbard.
The girl took off the wooden box on her back, removed her coat, pulled off her gloves and bracers. She cut and discarded the chainmail, revealing a close-fitting shirt. Then she applied Wind Magic around herself. A gale rose at her feet, spinning faster and faster, like layered transparent blades.
“Time…”
She raised the pure white longsword.
“…for judgment.”
Luo Sha immediately created distance.
But the girl’s figure vanished from her spot the next second.
No, not vanish.
It was so fast that an afterimage remained, while her true body was already right in front of her.
Clang!
The pure white longsword pressed down on Luo Sha’s straight sword. The force was so great that she could barely stand and had to drop to one knee to brace against the attack. At the same time, the residual Wind Magic at the original spot suddenly coalesced into a humanoid afterimage and swept toward Liuna.
Liuna raised her sword to block but was sent flying by the powerful wind blade. Her arms were slashed open with several bloody cuts.
“Miss!”
Luo Sha tried to turn back but was suppressed by the girl.
She tried to infuse her sword with Light Magic, but as soon as the light flared, it was twisted and obscured by the gale. The girl spun her sword hilt and slammed it into Luo Sha’s face, then drew another rapier with her left hand and slashed horizontally.
Luo Sha barely dodged, but still got her shoulder cut.
The next moment, the girl’s right longsword struck her breastplate, and the left rapier immediately hit the same spot.
Fire Magic exploded four times in succession.
Luo Sha’s armor shattered completely. She stumbled back several steps, blood dripping from her lips.
She could not fall.
Because behind her was Liuna.
The girl seemed to realize that too.
She suddenly stopped attacking, turned to look at Liuna, and smiled slyly.
“Let’s play a game.”
She threw her left rapier at Liuna.
The rapier turned into a white light, flying straight at Liuna’s chest.
Luo Sha didn’t hesitate. She immediately charged to block the sword.
She blocked that sword.
But the girl appeared in front of her at the same moment, her right longsword thrusting at Luo Sha’s throat.
This attack forced Luo Sha to make a choice.
Save her mistress, or face the enemy already upon her.
Luo Sha had no second choice.
She grabbed her broken weapon and forcefully parried the girl’s powerful spinning slash. The immense force shattered the sword, and the recoil knocked the girl back.
But the price was Luo Sha’s right eye being cut.
The intense pain flooded her entire body, adrenaline pumping wildly.
Half her world went dark instantly, and then her left eyelashes were also covered in some blood.
Seeing blood gushing from Luo Sha’s right eye, Liuna froze.
“Luo Sha!”
But Luo Sha didn’t stop. She quickly wiped the blood from her left eye with the back of her left hand and immediately launched a second attack.
The girl’s recoil left a brief opening, and she seized it.
She charged.
The girl’s cross-shaped pupils lit up again, trying to lock on for counter damage.
But Luo Sha stared intently at the girl’s right eye, not retreating, not dodging, not even blinking.
She thrust her sword into the girl’s right eye.
At the same moment, the wound on her own right eye burst out blood again.
Gritting her teeth, Luo Sha pinned the girl to the ground. The blade was controlled with extreme precision, only penetrating the eyeball and the fatal spot behind it, preventing excess counter damage from spreading elsewhere.
Then, she smeared the blood flowing from her right eye into the girl’s left eye.
The girl’s smile finally froze. Luo Sha immediately thrust her sword through the girl’s right brain.
The Inquisition girl’s body trembled violently, then completely lost strength.
Luo Sha released her sword and knelt to the ground.
She gasped for breath, pressing her right hand to her chest.
Her right eye was already blind.
And before the adrenaline wore off, she had to prevent infection and fever.
She panted for a short while, then did something Liuna would never forget.
Luo Sha reached out, forced her fingers into her own eye socket, and directly pulled out her now-ruined right eye.
Then, she walked over to the dead Inquisition girl and crouched down.
Liuna was trembling all over from the sight.
“Luo Sha, what are you going to do…”
Luo Sha did not answer.
She reached inside and pulled out the girl’s left eye.
Then, she pressed it into her own right eye socket and used healing magic to try to graft it.
But the backlash caused a severe burning sensation in her right eye socket.
Luo Sha clamped her legs, enduring the pain, and stumbled into a tree trunk. She saw the patterns of the Oracle flash in her mind, starting to rebound damage onto Luo Sha herself. The pain stabbed from the eye socket into her skull, then spread along nerves to her limbs and bones.
She was forced to accept the near-death counter damage.
She braced herself with her hands on the ground, cold sweat dripping continuously, coughing up mouthful after mouthful of blood. In her originally brown hair, a single strand turned white in just a few seconds.
Liuna ran over and supported her, holding Luo Sha’s hand tightly with her cold hand.
“Luo Sha… are you okay? Just now… why did you do something like that?!”
Luo Sha struggled to open her remaining left eye.
Her right eye was a bloody mess, unable to open normally.
“A necessary price… Miss.”
Liuna fell silent.
Necessary. It was the word she hated most.
Her father had once said that a lord’s responsibility was necessary, that she must learn combat skills and noble etiquette.
And now, Luo Sha used the same word, placing her right eye and half her life before Liuna.
Liuna gripped her short sword, her voice a little hoarse.
“Maybe we should rest here for a while. I’ll keep watch for you.”
Luo Sha shook her head.
She tried to stand, but as soon as she got up, she nearly fell.
“This is no place to stay, Miss. Go… hurry and go…”
She knew how bad her condition was.
This crude grafting couldn’t possibly last long. The enemy’s magic eye carried the power of the Oracle, and she had just forcibly connected an organ that didn’t belong to her body. Rejection, neural backlash, spiritual contamination constantly tortured her mind.
She had to reach a city as soon as possible and find a doctor to treat her eye.
Otherwise, not just her right eye, but her entire body would be dragged down by that eye.
Luo Sha suddenly remembered that cup of green liquid.
Back then, the master had given that drink to the young lady, awakening her affinity for natural magic. Why could the young lady endure it, while she herself, just by implanting an eye, suffered so much pain from this foreign object?
Then the pain erupted again.
This time, it was no longer confined to her brain but spread to her muscles. Her legs began to twitch, her fingertips lost sensation.
“Luo Sha?!”
Liuna turned pale with fear.
“What should I do…”
Luo Sha tried to reach out for the horses, only to realize that the war horses had already died from the trap and attack. She gritted her teeth and took a step, but her legs completely gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
Her consciousness began to go dark.
She grabbed Liuna’s hem, and then, her hand suddenly released.
Liuna stood still, breathing rapidly, her mind in chaos.
Father was dead.
Mana was also sealed.
Luo Sha had fallen because of her.
‘If only I had been more useful… if I were smarter… Father wouldn’t have died… and Luo Sha wouldn’t…’
Liuna bit her lip until she tasted blood.
“I have to… hurry…!”
She bent down and lifted Luo Sha.
Luo Sha was taller and heavier than her. Without mana, every step Liuna took was painful. Her shoulders ached, her legs were weak, but she still slowly helped Luo Sha into the forest.
She didn’t know how long she walked before she saw a camp ahead.
The camp had already been destroyed.
The fence was broken, the gate collapsed, a few merchant caravans were overturned on the ground, and the area was full of dead people. Merchants, guards, horses—all lay silently in the mud. This place had clearly been attacked too. Judging by the decorations, it was a mountain bandit stronghold.
‘Could it be… the Inquisition’s people…?’
Liuna had no strength left to be scared.
She gently placed Luo Sha at the edge of the camp and forced herself to search for anything usable.
A gold coin pouch.
A few pieces of dry rations.
A handheld firework tube.
She looked at the firework tube, her eyes moving slightly.
“At this point… I can only gamble.”
She lit the firework tube.
Whoosh—
A red firework shot into the sky, exploding above the forest.
That ball of light glowed a dazzling red.
***
Inside the Magic Academy of Vylindross, Ailuwei was standing at a high point near the main tower.
She was originally following Wei’erna’s arrangements, observing the city and its surroundings for any suspicious activity. The sea breeze blew from afar, passing over her ice-blue dragon wings and the layered roofs and canals of the Water City.
Then, she saw the red firework rising from the direction of the forest.
Ailuwei frowned slightly.
“…”
She recognized a distress signal.
She was silent for a few seconds, then spread her dragon wings.
“I’ll go check.”
Five minutes later, Ailuwei landed outside the destroyed camp.
Liuna was startled by the sudden shadow and immediately drew her sword.
She saw the ice-blue dragon wings, the tail, and the dragon pupils.
“You… don’t come near me!”
Liuna’s hand holding the sword trembled.
She was covered in mud, her clothes torn, her arms still bearing bloodstains from the wind blade cuts. On the other side, Luo Sha was half-unconscious, leaning against a broken wooden crate, her right eye bleeding through the makeshift bandage, her face terrifyingly pale.
Ailuwei looked at them, then at the corpses all around.
“What are you doing?”
“What are you going to do…”
Liuna gritted her teeth and raised her sword.
If her mana were still there, she could at least shoot, at least run, at least use Wind Magic to create distance.
But now, she couldn’t do anything. She was as useless as trash.
Ailuwei sighed and gently flicked her dragon tail.
Slap!
Liuna’s sword was easily knocked away and fell to the ground.
“Can we talk now?”
Liuna froze.
“Are you… not here to kill us?”
Ailuwei looked confused.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because…”
Liuna couldn’t continue.
Ailuwei looked at her and said:
“If I needed to do that, would I talk to you?”
Liuna slowly calmed down, her voice lowering.
“I’m sorry. I was… a bit agitated.”
Ailuwei looked at Luo Sha.
“Can you answer my earlier question now?”
Liuna took a deep breath, trying to organize her words.
“We just escaped from the border town. She is my maid and also my guard. Her condition is critical now. If we can’t get to a city for treatment soon… she might die. That’s why I launched the signal flare, to see if I could attract someone…”
Ailuwei did not immediately agree.
She recalled what Wei’erna had said earlier.
The border town was destroyed by the Ice Shadow Group, and a heretic inquisitor was about to arrive at the border town.
But who could know if these two were assassins from those two factions, sent to infiltrate the city to investigate or assassinate? If they were hiding magic stones, waiting for a demihuman to help them and then turn them into a monster…
Ailuwei didn’t like trouble.
Especially trouble that would involve the Inquisition.
At that moment, Luo Sha struggled to open her left eye.
Her vision was blurry, only seeing a mass of ice-blue shadow, like some kind of walking ice cream.
Ailuwei noticed that gaze and was silent for a moment.
“…?”
Why was this dying person looking at her like she was food?
Luo Sha endured the pain and spoke intermittently:
“My eye… is almost blind. With just me and the young lady, we can’t make it to the hospital. Sir, if possible… could you lend a hand? I will never forget this kindness.”
Ailuwei thought for a moment.
“I suppose I can.”
A glimmer of hope finally appeared in Liuna’s eyes.
“Really?”
“But I need to be sure you won’t attack me.”
“We won’t hurt you, I promise.”
“Just verbal promises aren’t enough.”
Luo Sha said weakly:
“If you have concerns, sir, you can bind me…”
Just then, footsteps came from a distance.
Ailuwei turned her head.