Su Nian responded immediately after hearing Little Violet’s voice.
“Little Violet! Where are you? Can you see the portal from there?”
“Can you close it?”
‘I see it. That pitch-black gate… it’s a super long-distance spatial portal! I… I should be able to close it!’
Little Violet’s voice was accompanied by the sharp whistling of wind caused by rapid movement.
Clearly, she was sprinting toward the Floating Fortress at an incredible speed.
However, Little Violet’s next words made Su Nian frown.
‘But this spatial portal is too large. The energy stabilizing it is beyond imagination. If I try to close it alone, it will take 1 hour!’
‘1 hour?’
Su Nian’s peripheral vision swept across the deck, which was littered with rampaging demonic shadows and splattered flesh.
The soldiers’ defensive line had long since collapsed.
Screams rose and fell, blending into a continuous wall of sound.
Forget 1 hour—in another 10 minutes, the entire Floating Fortress and everyone left alive on it would be completely swallowed by this black tide of death.
“Can I help close the portal?” Su Nian’s voice trembled slightly.
‘Master, you don’t know spatial magic. You can’t help me on an energy level…’
Little Violet’s voice was full of helplessness.
‘Spatial magic.’ Su Nian murmured to herself.
Her gaze shifted uncontrollably toward the man not far away.
He was fighting amidst the demonic tide, yet he looked as though he were merely taking a leisurely stroll.
That Horned Demon bastard.
He also possessed spatial magic.
If he were willing to help, his strength combined with Little Violet’s would likely drastically reduce the time needed to close the portal.
But…
Ask the Horned Demon for help?
Ask that bastard who had imprisoned her, treated her like a toy, and left countless marks of humiliation on her body every night?
It was like bargaining with a tiger!
This wasn’t just as simple as asking for a favor.
Mentally and in terms of power, it would be an absolute admission that she was inferior to him and needed to rely on him.
Yet, right now…
She had to admit that in this near-certain death trap, that Horned Demon bastard might truly be her only and last hope.
“Boom!”
A deafening explosion interrupted her thoughts.
A massive stone pillar swung by a War Troll slammed into the nearby observation deck, causing it to collapse.
Countless fragments of rubble flew in all directions with terrifying kinetic energy.
A young noble girl, who had just been cheering for her with eyes full of hope, was struck by a flying stone.
Her petite body flew off like a broken kite.
She let out a short scream and then went silent.
Blood stained her beautiful skirt red.
Behind Su Nian, Lise and Amy trembled in the wake of the violent shockwave.
Their faces were covered in tears, but they still forced themselves to use their newly awakened, weak magic to try and protect each other.
That orange-red flame was only the size of a fingernail.
That soft glow was like the light of a firefly.
In this hellish scene, they were so faint they looked as if they could be extinguished at any moment.
Su Nian’s gaze swept across this living purgatory and then over the two pairs of eyes behind her, filled with fear and dependence.
She couldn’t hesitate any longer.
The last trace of struggle in the girl’s sky-blue eyes was replaced by absolute resolve.
She took a deep breath and quickly chanted.
A sturdy water-blue barrier instantly expanded, firmly protecting everyone from Magic Feather Fantasy.
After doing this, she began to walk.
One step, two steps.
She walked toward that familiar yet hateful back.
Chu Tian seemed to have sensed her intentions long ago.
He casually twirled the Starlight Ruling Sword in his hand, and a dazzling wave of starlight Sword Qi swept out, instantly clearing all the Demon Race enemies within 10 meters and creating a temporary vacuum.
Then, he turned around at his own pace.
That incomparably handsome face wore the playful smile she hated most.
“What’s wrong? Are you out of magic? Did you come to seek your Master’s protection?”
Chu Tian spoke with feigned nonchalance.
That natural sense of control in his tone made Su Nian almost grind her teeth to dust.
In this situation, he had to maintain his omnipotent image.
He absolutely could not show even a hint of struggle or helplessness in front of the girl.
Su Nian forcibly suppressed the urge to condense an Illusive Flamewater Barrier and blast it directly into his face.
She looked up, meeting the deep, mocking eyes of the Horned Demon.
Every word she spoke felt like it was being squeezed through her teeth.
“That gate…” Her voice was dry and raspy, barely sounding like her own.
“It’s a spatial portal. My magic attacks are useless against it.” She paused, looking away before finally spitting out the rest, “So… I need Master’s help.”
“My Contract Beast can close it, but it will take too long. If your spatial magic works with it, it should speed up the process.”
[“Ding! Host proactively sought help from Master, Humiliation Value +200,000!”]
[“Ding! Spirit Road resilience, Falling (43%) → (41%)”]
(An Enchantment Mark will be generated when the falling value reaches 40%)
‘Hmm…? Only 1% left…?’
‘Never mind that for now. Dealing with the current crisis is more important!’
A flash of surprise quickly crossed Chu Tian’s deep eyes, which then turned into a look of near-appreciative scrutiny.
Working with that Ling Cat that possessed spatial abilities to close the portal…
This plan had also just taken shape in his mind.
It seemed they were thinking the same thing.
As expected of the woman he had chosen.
However, Su Nian was completely unable to read the “appreciation” in the Horned Demon’s complex gaze.
In her eyes, the faint smile on his face carried a perverted intent that made her soul shudder.
“Please…” Su Nian was getting anxious.
Since she had already thrown away her pride, she might as well go all the way.
It wasn’t like this was the first time she had done something like this…
The blue, star-like eyes that usually held the coldness of ice and the pride of stars were now veiled in a thin layer of mist.
Reflected in the demonic flames and firelight, she looked exceptionally fragile and piteous.
“As long as you can help Little Violet… and close that portal as quickly as possible… in the future…”
“In the future, you can do whatever you want…”
This promise, carrying strong implications and infinite possibilities, rippled silently through Chu Tian’s heart.
He almost couldn’t control the upward curve of his lips.
He had already been thinking of how to break the stalemate.
Now, the girl had come up with a plan for him, and this unexpected bonus had fallen into his lap.
He would be a fool not to take it.
“Fine.” Chu Tian gave a brief, concise agreement.
His voice carried a hint of genuine pleasure that even he hadn’t noticed.
In the next moment, his tall frame didn’t delay.
With a slight shimmer, he turned into a blurred afterimage and vanished from the spot.
By now, Chu Tian had already sensed the spatial fluctuations coming from a distance.
It was clearly Su Nian’s purple Ling Cat.
When Chu Tian reappeared, he was already at the edge of the Floating Fortress dozens of meters away, meeting up with the purple lightning-fast Ling Cat, Little Violet.
Little Violet’s method for breaking the portal wasn’t to use brute force.
Her plan was to use her powerful spatial talent to interfere with, disrupt, and even distort the normal flow of spatial energy in the portal’s area.
As long as the stability of those spatial coordinates was destroyed, the long-distance portal—which relied on massive energy to be forced open—would collapse and fail on its own due to the loss of precise positioning.