"Ugh...!?"
The sharp, piercing pain made Wilhelmina's mind go blank for an instant.
By the time she regained her senses, blood had already spilled from her shoulder, staining the ground around her red.
Wilhelmina's heart jolted.
"So fast...!"
Even as she was shaken, Wilhelmina proved herself worthy of being a Flame Haze Warrior who had fought on the front lines for centuries. She spun around almost reflexively, sending white ribbons whipping out from her Treasure Tool to coil around her body and instantly form a white sphere.
"Rip—!"
The next instant, a tearing sound like fabric being ripped rang out again. A frigid blade flashed across the sphere of white ribbons, forcibly slicing the newly formed shield in half.
Had Wilhelmina not taken such defensive measures, her other shoulder might have been slashed open by now as well.
"Pretty quick reactions. I guess you really do have plenty of combat experience?"
With that casual laugh, Fang Li's figure seemed to melt into the wind and sand, turning into a phantom as he streaked around the spherical white ribbon barrier at astonishing speed.
In an instant, streaks of blade light swept in from all directions, raising a storm of flashing blades that enveloped it.
"Rip—rip—rip—rip—"
The white ribbon sphere was immediately caught amid the blade lights, continuously cut apart by countless slashes and scattering fragments of torn cloth.
"Clang—!"
Yet those torn fragments lit up one after another with cherry-colored flames as if refusing to be outdone. Segments of Inherent Formulas rose among them and exploded in succession.
"Boom boom boom boom boom—!"
Countless explosions erupted at once, waves of cherry-colored fire expanding again and again, carrying intense heat as they blanketed the surrounding area.
Yet even these countless explosions could not catch up to that phantom-like figure. It was almost