The Battle Qi wings burning with crimson flames behind Ailiya retracted, and the two of them landed steadily at the bottom of the valley.
The ground beneath their feet looked utterly desolate. The forest that should have been thick with trees suddenly stopped growing here.
“This is the place.”
Ailiya dropped to one knee on the ground. She pinched a small bit of scorched black soil with her fingertips, brought it to the tip of her nose and sniffed, then threw the clump of dirt to the ground with a look of disgust.
“This is the scent of thunder and shadow magic!”
“The smell is very strong.”
Seraphina stumbled and slid off her back. Her legs went weak, and she nearly fell to her knees. It was only thanks to Ailiya’s quick reflexes that she managed to catch her.
Seraphina completely ignored her own loss of composure and swept her gaze over the ruins around them.
“It’s Yisela!”
“Yisela must have stopped here!”
She staggered into the ruins, sensing the broken tree trunks and the scorched black rocks.
Ailiya followed behind her. As a top-tier swordswoman, her intuition immediately told her something was off.
“Wait, this isn’t right.”
Ailiya suddenly stopped in front of a deep crater—the mark left by Ting Xiao’s lightning strike.
She followed the traces a few steps forward and then saw the furrows where the magic beast called Yesha had torn the earth with its claws.
Ailiya pointed at the crisscrossing beast tracks on the ground.
“Come look at this.”
“The lightning struck here, and Yesha’s claw marks also converge here!”
“But after this point, there’s nothing.”
She spun around and looked at Seraphina.
“It’s as if…”
“They chased them here and then suddenly vanished into thin air.”
“Or else they were taken away by something.”
“Taken away by something?”
Seraphina muttered to herself, her body swaying. She lifted her head abruptly, a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she stared intensely at Ailiya.
Ailiya felt uncomfortable under that hopeful gaze. She turned her head away, her tone stiffening.
“Do you have any tracking magic on you?”
“Or any ability to sense something?”
“I’m a swordswoman, not a mage.”
“How can you…!”
Seraphina’s voice suddenly rose, carrying an urgency she couldn’t suppress.
“As a Sword Saint, how can you not even do this? You’ve gotten so weak!”
The moment the words left her mouth, even Seraphina herself was stunned. She immediately regretted it. She knew she shouldn’t have said that, but she couldn’t control the anxiety and helplessness inside her.
She felt cornered, as if everything was going wrong and there was nothing she could do to change it. The only thing she could hold onto was this once-mighty swordswoman in front of her, but now even she seemed so unreliable.
But Ailiya didn’t give her any chance to apologize. Those words had clearly struck a nerve.
“What did you say?”
Ailiya’s face darkened instantly. “Say that again if you dare.”
“I…”
“You what?!”
Ailiya spun around, her voice rising several pitches.
“Do you think I wanted to end up like this?”
“I came all this way not to listen to you complain about me!”
“I’m not complaining!”
“You’re not?”
Ailiya took a big step forward, the red Battle Qi flickering on her skin.
“What exactly did you mean by what you just said?”
“’How can you not even do this’—do you think I can’t help you find someone?”
“Or do you think I’m completely useless and worthless?”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“Then what did you mean!”
Ailiya’s voice was as cold as ice. “You can’t find that little brat, so you’re taking your anger out on me, aren’t you?”
Seraphina’s lips began to tremble. “I’m not taking it out on you!”
“You’re not?”
Ailiya let out a cold laugh. “Then what did you mean by that?”
“Explain yourself!”
“I…”
Seraphina’s eyes reddened, and her voice began to shake.
“I’m just anxious!”
“Why do you have to hold onto a single sentence!”
“I’m holding onto it?”
Ailiya was also getting irritated. She didn’t know why she was holding onto it, but she couldn’t help it.
“You’re the one who poked me first!”
“I traveled all this way to save you and carried you the whole way.”
“And this is how you treat me?”
“I’m so sorry, Saintess?”
“I didn’t poke you…”
“You didn’t?”
Ailiya’s voice grew louder and louder. “Do you think everyone in the world owes you something?”
“Just because you’re the Saintess, you think you’re something special?”
“And your little silver dragon is so great?”
Ailiya showed no sign of backing down. “I said it, so what?”
Seraphina lifted her head abruptly, her tears finally spilling from her eyes.
“Let me tell you, she’s just a little evil dragon who only causes trouble.”
“How dare you say that about her!”
“How dare you say that about her!”
“You people from the Holy Light Kingdom are nothing but trouble!”
“Your Temple Master is a waste, and so are you. Even your little brat is better than you!”
“Stop it!”
“I’ll say what I want!”
Ailiya’s eyes blazed with anger. “What’s the point of arguing with me here?”
“Do you think if you win this argument, your little brat will come running back?”
“If you were really capable, you shouldn’t have let her lure those magic beasts away alone!”
Those words struck the deepest pain in Seraphina’s heart. Her tears suddenly burst forth.
“Do you think I wanted this!”
“Do you think I don’t feel the pain!”
She choked, her voice breaking. “Then why are you crying!”
Ailiya’s voice also turned hoarse, carrying an anger she couldn’t even explain.
“What good is crying?”
“If you really care, save your tears for when she comes back!”
The two of them stood facing each other, both panting and trembling. One was in tears, the other had reddened eyes.
Several seconds of silence passed. Then Seraphina reached out her hand. Smack!
A slap landed on Ailiya’s forehead. Smack!
The sound wasn’t loud, but it was especially crisp in the empty valley. Ailiya was stunned. She covered her forehead, looking incredulously at the Saintess who was trembling all over and crying uncontrollably.
“You…!”
“Shut up!”
Seraphina’s voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, but every word carried a stubbornness she had never shown before.
“You called me a waste!”
“What about you?”
“Weren’t you also defeated by her?”
“What right do you have to mock me here!”
Ailiya opened her mouth to retort, but the words got stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back.
Seraphina wiped away her tears with one hand, turned around, and stumbled toward the depths of the ruins.
“I don’t want to argue with you!”
Her voice drifted back from ahead—hoarse, weary, yet with a stubbornness that brooked no doubt.
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