Just as the voice of Leimue suddenly stopped at the word “hua”, his figure vanished without any warning in front of everyone! And when Leimue reappeared, he was already standing less than half a meter away from Agate, his right hand extended levelly, nearly pressed tightly against Agate’s head.
“Hmm?!” In that instant, Agate’s nerves, already on high alert, instinctively tensed to the limit. He didn’t see it! In that split second, Agate realized he had completely failed to catch Leimue’s movement!
Linoah, the red-haired girl Xiao Xi, and the female students from Almace Academy—all of them wore expressions of shock identical to Agate’s.
Teleportation! That word flashed through nearly everyone’s mind simultaneously.
However, compared to those who hadn’t seen Leimue move, Zhang Wen, who had managed to catch a glimpse of Leimue’s movement, was probably ten times more shocked. Because only he knew that Leimue had definitely not teleported! It was that his speed exceeded the limit of what anyone’s eyes could perceive!
Even now, with Zhang Wen’s vision enhanced by both the Spring Water Technique and the Primordial Stone, he still couldn’t keep up with Leimue’s movements, only catching faint afterimages left by his movement. What’s more terrifying was that, generally speaking, when someone moved at such an incredible speed like Leimue, they would definitely stir up a violent gust of wind along the way.
Yet, while moving at such high speed, Leimue somehow managed to eliminate nearly all the air vibrations around him. That was why his high-speed movement appeared as if it were teleportation, leaving no trace at all.
What a terrifying guy! Zhang Wen thought with a bitter smile.
“…You’ll die, you know.” Leimue whispered softly as he suddenly appeared beside Agate, a faint glimmer of light flashing casually from his palm.
As the light flashed, a shocking shockwave instantly exploded from where Agate stood. Where the shockwave reached, century-old trees were effortlessly snapped, everything was swept into the air by the wind. The ground, too, was left with a massive crater, as if struck by a meteor.
Agate, at the center of the shockwave, was sent flying backward like he had been hit by a missile. The forest echoed with the sound of trees breaking, and dust filled the sky.
“Brother!” The red-haired girl cried anxiously, rushing recklessly out of the woods without hesitation.
“Hehe.” Leimue licked his lips, a cold smile appearing on his face. His figure disappeared abruptly again. In the next moment, Leimue had already appeared above the red-haired girl, his spread fingers just covering her head.
“Ahh!” The red-haired girl finally screamed in terror the moment Leimue appeared. Then, the faint glow in Leimue’s palm lit up again.
But just as Leimue was about to unleash the same devastating blow he had used on Agate upon the red-haired girl—who absolutely couldn’t withstand it—his expression suddenly changed. Then, Leimue abruptly raised his palm upward.
Boom!
A massive dragon of flame appeared without warning above Leimue, roaring downward, and collided violently with a wall shimmering faintly with green light. It exploded, turning the space above Leimue into a hellish inferno of fire. Leimue himself, bearing the downward impact of the fire dragon, was involuntarily pressed down slightly by the immense pressure.
Leimue frowned slightly, his body instantly vanishing again and reappearing dozens of meters away. At the same time he retreated, the red-haired girl was caught mid-air by Agate, who had lunged toward her, and pulled rapidly backward.
“Are you okay? Xiao Xi!” As soon as they landed, Agate anxiously asked the girl.
“Ah. I’m fine. What about you? Are you okay?” The red-haired girl shook her head, looking at Agate with some fear. Right now, she was more worried about Agate, who had taken Leimue’s attack.
“Don’t worry! I’ll send that bastard straight to hell right away.” Agate smiled at the girl, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and slowly turned around. The pair of pupils gradually overtaken by a deep red color clearly showed that the Flame Demon Agate had truly become enraged this time.
“Haha! Get angry, get angry! If you don’t give it your all, tonight won’t be perfect enough!” Leimue still wore his usual smile, spreading his palm toward Agate.
“Hmph! If you’re so eager to die, I’ll gladly oblige you!” Agate shouted furiously, the tip of his great sword suddenly forming a nearly white-hot fireball.
Spinning rapidly, the fireball at the tip of the great sword quickly expanded, growing from the size of a ping-pong ball to one large enough to envelop Agate’s entire body in the blink of an eye.
Then, with a tremendous roar that shook the forest, the front of the white-hot fireball suddenly exploded. A rotating fire shockwave, like a laser cannon, roared toward Leimue.
“Hehe.” Leimue smiled faintly, his body vanishing abruptly again. However, this time Leimue’s disappearance didn’t leave Agate helpless. On the contrary, a faint smirk of relief appeared on Agate’s face. He swung the great sword in his hand, the flame at the front of the blade seemingly merging with it, moving in sync with Agate’s actions.
Boom! The flaming great sword swept across the ground. This time, the trees struck by the blade didn’t even catch fire—they were vaporized in an instant, and even the ground was burned into a shiny crystalline layer by the terrifying high temperatures.
After swinging the sword a few times, Agate himself suddenly seemed to learn teleportation, disappearing from his spot. Linoah and the others all bit their lips tightly, staying fully alert, fearing Agate might suddenly appear beside them like Leimue.
However, Zhang Wen knew that Agate hadn’t disappeared like Leimue. He had charged into that blindingly bright white flame! Using the great sword’s massive attack range, Agate had successfully restricted Leimue’s movement area. Now, he was continuously closing in on Leimue’s position along with the flame’s path.
Less than a second later, Agate burst out of the white flame at high speed, the great sword in his hand raised high above his head.
Peng! Leimue finally clashed head-on with Agate for the first time. Both were sent flying backward, and violent shockwaves once again swept across the already devastated ground.
“Tch! Not only is his speed impressive, his strength in a direct confrontation isn’t weak either.” Agate spat fiercely, almost simultaneously landing with Leimue.
In that brief clash, although Agate seemed to have the upper hand, forcing Leimue into a direct confrontation, Agate himself knew clearly—it wasn’t that Leimue couldn’t avoid a direct fight with him, but that Leimue had seen through his true condition.
After unleashing a powerful move like “Holy Sword” with full strength, even Agate, known for his abundant combat energy, couldn’t have much strength left for a direct confrontation. In that head-on clash, Leimue had still firmly held the advantage.
“Xiao Xi, you go first.” Agate waved at the red-haired girl.
“Okay, be careful!”
Although he still had some hidden cards yet to be revealed, judging from Leimue’s current displayed strength, it wouldn’t be easy for Agate to defeat him. The red-haired girl also understood that if she stayed here, she would only hinder Agate. Thus, she nodded without hesitation and turned to retreat into the dark forest.
Seeing this, Isaya, who had remained silent all along, flashed her figure, seemingly attempting to flank and chase after the red-haired girl. However, before she could take a few steps, Agate’s great sword already blocked her path.
“Captain Leimue!” Isaya turned back in dissatisfaction, her gaze shifting to Leimue, who stood leisurely not far away. Obviously, Agate blocking her path was clearly a result of Leimue’s deliberate tolerance.
“Hehe, the Emperor’s orders were only for the heads of the Society members. That girl doesn’t seem to be a member of the Society, does she?” Leimue shrugged casually with a smile.
“Hmph! Not a Society member? You’re just worried that if she stays here, Agate won’t be able to fight you at full strength, right? Otherwise, why didn’t you show even a hint of mercy when you used her to provoke Agate earlier?” Isaya muttered bitterly in her heart. But knowing Leimue’s personality well, the female vice-commander reluctantly dissipated the combat energy she had just raised, leaped a few times, and retreated back to Zhang Wen’s side.
“Come on!” Agate turned the great sword in his hand, flames erupting from his body again, and with the roar of combat energy bursting forth, he charged toward Leimue.
“Hehe!” Leimue laughed excitedly, his figure vanishing abruptly into the air.
Boom! Boom! Agate swung the great sword without sparing any strength. Each attack almost turned the area around him, within several meters to dozens of meters, into a flaming hell.
Leimue’s figure kept flickering in and out of sight beside Agate. Although Agate’s attacks never managed to touch Leimue’s body, the latter’s expression no longer held the earlier ease.
“Hmph! Is Agate trying to commit suicide with attacks like this? Even if he has combat energy more than twice that of a divine-ranked expert, his energy isn’t infinite, right?” Isaya, who had unknowingly walked behind Zhang Wen, muttered to herself.
“No. It’s not like that.” Zhang Wen looked at the female vice-commander and gently shook his head. “Right now, Leimue does have the upper hand, but Agate is definitely not wasting his effort completely. He knows that Leimue’s perception and speed are superior to his, so he’s using this energy-consuming fighting style on purpose. Haven’t you noticed? Leimue’s movements have become increasingly predictable.”
Isaya observed for a long time before gradually realizing that compared to the beginning of the fight, Leimue’s frequency of appearing had indeed increased.
“How could this happen?” The female vice-commander, who knew Leimue’s strength well, widened her eyes in disbelief.
“It’s simple.” Zhang Wen extended his hand, guiding Isaya’s gaze to the ground beneath Leimue and Agate’s feet.
Only then did Isaya realize that, without her noticing, the battlefield where Leimue and Agate fought was now filled with countless melted craters of various sizes. And in many of these craters, red flames of combat energy still burned. It was these craters that affected Leimue’s speed.
“Hmph!” Isaya snorted, unconsciously biting her lip.
On the battlefield, the pressure Agate exerted on Leimue was increasing over time. However, the leader of the Hawk Guards showed no sign of tension, instead displaying a faint excitement.
“Hehe! That’s right. You really are a once-in-a-century genius. In such a short time, you’ve come up with such a simple yet effective fighting method.” Leimue kept murmuring to himself, his gaze on Agate like someone admiring a rare treasure.
“Hmph! I don’t need your praise. Just get ready to go to hell.” Agate swung his sword again, creating a bottomless pit on the right side of the ground. From the pit, many stones were flung out, already flying toward Leimue’s side, and were deflected aside by a green glow that flickered past them at the last moment.
“Hehe. Looks like you still don’t understand. Haven’t I said before? Having confidence is good, but if it goes too far…”
Leimue narrowed his eyes slightly, his face once again showing an eerie smile.
“Arrogant bastard!” Agate slashed his sword, a massive flame roaring toward his side.
This time, Leimue’s figure happened to flicker slightly just as the flame was about to hit. “Hmph!” Agate couldn’t help but show a trace of satisfaction. But moments later, when the flame struck the ground and dissipated, the satisfaction on his face vanished completely.
From the feeling of the flame hitting the ground, Agate knew he hadn’t touched Leimue at all. Looking at the empty ground not far away, Agate instinctively gritted his teeth. Then, the faint red flame that had been covering Agate’s entire body suddenly surged wildly into the great sword in his hand.
“Haaah!” Agate roared, slashing fiercely forward as if mad. Boom! A massive column of fire rose in front of Agate, covering an area of dozens of meters around.
But before Agate, who had unleashed this ultimate move, could even catch his breath, his eyes widened in shock. Because just after he had unleashed all his strength in that ultimate move, he could clearly sense Leimue’s position—that guy was right behind him!
“…You’ll die, you know.” Leimue’s voice seemed to ring in Agate’s ear. Agate, exhausted, gritted his teeth and swung his great sword behind him, barely managing to block Leimue’s attack.
Clang! A crisp metallic sound. Leimue grunted, his body sliding backward several meters. Agate, on the other hand, was sent flying again. When he rolled back to the ground, a trickle of blood had already seeped from the corner of his mouth.
“Oh? So you weren’t seriously injured even by that? Haha! No wonder you’re the Flame Demon Agate, a genius indeed!” Leimue laughed even more excitedly.
“Tch!” Agate spat out a mouthful of blood-mixed saliva, glaring coldly at Leimue. “You’re celebrating too early. The second round has just begun. Our outcome is still hard to predict!”
“Hehe, exactly what I want.” Leimue also eagerly spread his arms.
The two divine-ranked experts quickly prepared for another fierce battle. Intense combat energy fluctuations once again covered this small patch of forest, already ruined beyond recognition. But just then, a deep, magnetic voice suddenly entered everyone’s ears.
“Enough. Do not keep this old man waiting. I hate waiting.” The content of the voice was short, but the tone was unquestionably commanding.
When he heard it, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but feel startled. Because the voice felt very strange to him. With his current spiritual perception, he could clearly feel that the speaker was far beyond his line of sight. Yet, he could hear the words as clearly as if the speaker were right beside him.
Then, Zhang Wen saw Isaya and others around him also showing expressions of surprise, obviously having heard the strange voice as well. Surprisingly, Agate nearby sheathed his great sword.
“Tch! That wasn’t satisfying at all.” Agate spat, his figure quickly vanishing into the depths of the forest. Leimue, who had gained the upper hand in the first round, didn’t try to stop him at all, just narrowing his eyes coldly and watching Agate leave.
“Captain Leimue!” Isaya angrily shouted, her blue light flashing as she drew out two short blades, clearly intending to chase after Agate and stop him. Meanwhile, Linoah, standing on the other side of Zhang Wen, suddenly showed an expression of shock, as if she had seen a ghost.
Although Linoah’s murmured words were almost inaudible, Zhang Wen, with his sharp hearing, still caught them.
“The King… It’s actually the King! The King has really moved!”
The King? Who could that be?
The title Linoah mentioned made Zhang Wen frown. Zhang Wen, familiar with Iron Mask, vaguely remembered hearing the same title from his old friend’s mouth once. And when Iron Mask mentioned this title, even his usually expressionless face showed a trace of reverence, like a low-ranked gladiator facing Iron Mask.
“…So the King has actually left his throne. Society… this survival competition of ours is really full of unexpected surprises. Hehehehe.” Leimue laughed chillingly, gazing into the distance for a long time before his figure suddenly flashed, appearing beside Isaya.
“Captain Leimue, why didn’t you stop Agate? And who was that pretentious person just now?” As soon as she saw Leimue, Isaya couldn’t help but frown and loudly question.
“Agate? Hehe… He’s a very good prey. Such a perfect prey, if he were killed half-heartedly, I wouldn’t be happy at all.” Leimue chuckled, his gaze drifting into the distance, eyes gleaming with fanatical and dangerous excitement.
“Captain Leimue, have you forgotten the Emperor’s orders?”
“Hehe, of course not. But if the Society could make the King leave his throne, aren’t you curious to know why?”
“What? You mean… the person who spoke just now is… the King?” Isaya’s eyes widened in shock along with Leimue’s words.
“Hehe… The show has just begun. We’d better leave quickly. It wouldn’t be good to miss the exciting scenes.” Leimue said with a smiling face, intentionally or unintentionally glancing at Zhang Wen not far away.
“Yes, Captain.” Following Leimue’s gaze, Isaya coldly glanced at Zhang Wen and the others. “It’s dangerous here. You’ve all seen it, right? If you want to live, leave quickly. Forget about the survival competition. With what happened in Casares, Princess is definitely not going to enter Almice Academy anymore.”
“…What did you say?”
“Are you joking?!” Finally, the cold declaration from Isaya caused the female students, who had been anxious all night, to erupt.
“You mean that all of us risking our lives to participate in the survival competition was completely meaningless?” The first to speak was Amelis, her pretty face flushed with anger. “If you people knew all along that the Society’s assassins would appear, didn’t you know from the start that Princess would never be allowed to stay in Casares? If that’s the case, why didn’t you just tell us earlier? We wouldn’t mind being bait to lure the Society members out! Casares people have never feared death when sacrificing for the country!
But what do you mean now? Are you treating us all as gullible cowards?”
“…” Amelis’s fierce questioning left Isaya speechless. She silently looked at the beautiful girl, whose chest was heaving with emotion, and for the first time, a rare trace of embarrassment appeared on her icy face.
Indeed, what Amelis said was spot on. Before this survival competition even began, Princess Sophia’s fate had already been decided. Casares simply did not have the qualification to accept the eldest princess.
Although the one who made this decision wasn’t Leimue or herself, but another Hawk Guard captain named Mura who came with them, Leimue had ultimately agreed with Mura’s judgment. Moreover, the decision to hide the truth from Governor Temiso and Almice Academy afterward was undoubtedly made by Leimue and herself.
“That’s right. If you think that way, then your participation in this survival competition was indeed meaningless.” Leimue suddenly appeared beside Isaya, saying with his cold voice.
“What?” Amelis and the other two girls all clenched their fists tightly. If they hadn’t just witnessed Leimue’s terrifying strength, the girls might have rushed forward to punch him already.
“Hehe. Don’t you understand yet? If there was no matter of Princess Sophia’s enrollment, would you still have participated in this survival competition? The students of Almice Academy are only this level. Your participation in the survival competition is indeed a meaningless waste of energy. As for deception… before you ask others for the truth, you’d better check if you have the qualification to know it.”
Leimue completely ignored the girls’ anger. He didn’t even turn his body around, only half-turning his head to speak to the girls before disappearing into the forest with Isaya.
“Captain, thank you.” As soon as the group from Almice Academy disappeared from sight, Isaya immediately thanked Leimue.
“Hmm? Why thank me?” Even while asking, Leimue’s expression didn’t change at all.
“Thank you for helping me just now. Those few girls are students from Almice Academy, closely related to the nobles of Casares. With the Casares people’s unity and exclusivity, if they spread your words back to Almice Academy, it might be very unfavorable for your future.” Isaya also showed a trace of barely perceptible worry.
“Hehe… So what? How could I watch my lovely Isaya get into trouble just for my own future?”
“Captain Leimue, please don’t say such ambiguous things.” Isaya’s concern instantly vanished, replaced by a cold seriousness on her face.
“What an unlovable deputy.” Leimue shrugged boredly.
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