‘Did he turn into a demon after being assimilated…?’
Through the eyes of her doppelganger on the ground, Sephy, who was floating above the city using Wind Magic, easily judged the current situation.
She had originally intended to follow this official and uproot the faction he had planted in the city, but the man seemed to have realized her intentions halfway through.
He had been desperately trying to break through the net to escape to the outskirts.
Sephy, of course, would not let him have his way. From the rooftops to the ground, and from the ground to the underground… her doppelgangers were everywhere.
Under her command, they evacuated the crowds in the streets and easily blocked every escape route for the group.
In a sense, she was the city. No one could escape her grasp without her permission.
Therefore, the current turn of events had not actually exceeded her control.
When she saw the box in the official’s hand from the terrace earlier, she had already deduced its contents.
Even in her vast knowledge, there was only one thing in the world that could emit such a low temperature —
‘The Frosted Demon Sword. Only this was unexpected. But that’s fine… it saves me the effort of having to retrieve it.’
The recurrence of Vera’s old illness made her realize that the treatment plan she had designed in the past still had flaws.
To improve the plan, it was necessary to conduct further research on that object.
She had planned to visit the Imperial Capital recently to retrieve it, but she hadn’t expected these people to bring it right to her doorstep.
Thus, she descended from the sky, landing in front of the official who had now transformed into a Frost Demon.
The road was already covered in a layer of frost, so she did not touch the ground directly, instead floating in the air extremely close to it.
“Sa — ge — “
“Are you still conscious? It seems very strong emotions are supporting your will.”
The demon roared and swung the Demon Sword, slashing out a streak of azure Sword Qi.
Everywhere the Sword Qi passed, things froze instantly.
Sephy raised her hand, and an ascending Mana Barrier blocked the attack.
Crack.
A crack appeared on her barrier as frost continued to spread, and an arctic chill seeped through the fissure.
She commanded her surrounding doppelgangers to retreat. The sudden drop in temperature had already made their movements sluggish.
Furthermore, the spells they were equipped with did not possess the power to break through the ice armor covering the demon.
Moreover, she could feel that the soldiers of the City Defense Force were already very close.
If they got involved, handling the situation would become a bit troublesome.
“Sigh…”
She let out a weary sigh. She could not manipulate the mana within targets she was not physically touching.
Consequently, she could not deal with the demon in front of her the same way she had handled the Blood Demon. The fastest method left was only one —
“INCINERATE.”
As she gave the order, a storm of flames swept over the demon.
The interval between her casting the spell and the phenomenon occurring was incredibly short… so short that the demon’s second swing had not even fully descended.
The demon let out a twisted, agonized howl within the firestorm.
However, the Demon Sword continued to release its mana, contending with the high temperatures that sought to melt the ice on the demon’s body.
Seeing that the effect was insufficient, Sephy frowned and continued her command.
“RAISE THE TEMPERATURE.”
The scale of the firestorm doubled instantly. The temperature at the center of the storm now exceeded that of the iron-smelting furnace in the Cyrus Factory.
The rising heat even began to slowly melt the road surface. Red-hot lava splashed out with the storm, hitting the barriers she had pre-emptively set up.
This was to prevent the lava from splashing onto the surrounding buildings… she wanted to protect the streets from excessive damage as much as possible.
‘It has been burning for one minute… it should be about finished.’
From the outside, it was impossible to see what the demon at the center of the firestorm looked like, but Sephy’s Sage’s Eye could clearly see the flow and changes of mana.
In her eyes, the violent mana belonging to the Frosted Demon Sword had completely lost its activity under the intense heat of the flames —
This meant the official should have been released from his demonization.
She immediately waved her hand to disperse the storm. Obtaining the Demon Sword was important… but she couldn’t allow such an important suspect to be reduced to ash and slag.
As she expected, as the storm dissipated, a man with half his body frozen into ice lay collapsed in the center of the lava pit.
The reason the lava had not submerged him was that the chill emitted by the Demon Sword had rapidly cooled the approaching molten rock.
Sephy knew the man was still alive… but she also knew he wouldn’t live for much longer. The damage caused by the Demon Sword and the demonization was fatal.
Unlike Vera, this man did not possess the massive amount of mana required to wield the Demon Sword — his mana aptitude was mediocre at best.
“How absurd… what kind of emotion is worth giving up your precious life for? I cannot understand it.”
She felt no sympathy, only pity. Stepping through the void, she walked forward.
After casting a healing magic spell to barely sustain his life, she picked up the sword that had settled down.
“It has been a long time…”
The moment she gripped the sword, her hand frosted over as if touching an icy lake — just as it had for its previous owners.
“Be quiet.”
She knew the Demon Sword was issuing a challenge to its wielder.
The frost vanished like a receding tide only once she poured her own mana into the hilt.
She seemed to hear someone speaking in her mind… but she merely shook her head slightly, and the voice disappeared without a trace.
Behind her, the soldiers of the City Defense Force finally arrived.
“Is it over…? Did the Master Sages arrest these thieves?”
They looked around, finding that the doppelgangers had already restrained several suspects and tossed them under the streetlamps.
Then, they looked in surprise at the lava pit in the center of the intersection and Sephy, who was floating in the air.
“Master Sage, is the one lying at your feet the ringleader?”
“Yes. Take all these people into custody, and then come with me to the Honglian Palace… today has been exhausting — “
Holding the sword, she went to wave her hand casually at the soldiers — only to find that her hand was gone.
“Master… Sage?”
The soldiers were stunned. They watched as the hand of the Master Sage holding the sword inexplicably fell to the ground.
Sephy turned her head back and saw a Black Shadow. It looked like a mass of pitch-black darkness.
Even the interplay of moonlight and lamplight could not illuminate it in the slightest.
Its presence made the surrounding world fall into darkness… as if the world was meant to be dark in the first place.
“Who are you… how dare you harm the Master Sage!”
Several soldiers drew their military sabers and rushed toward it with bloodshot eyes.
“Don’t come over! You stu — “
Sephy’s scream was cut short. Before the eyes of the soldiers, her head separated from her neck and rolled across the ground.
Her petite body remained in its previous posture, standing stiffly in place.
The soldiers froze as well, unable to believe what they were seeing.
The face of the Black Shadow was a void, showing nothing.
Yet, the soldiers felt as though it was smiling at them.