Using the remaining magic power in her body to activate the "Regeneration Pump" and avoid infection by the Mutation Factor, Ivette brushed the dust from her shoulder and stepped out of the shallow pit.
She was not at all surprised by the Six-armed Demon's betrayal. In fact, both sides knew perfectly well that they were each on the other's kill list.
After preventing the Tide Worm Queen's evolution, she would definitely find a way to kill the Six-armed Demon, because she could not allow another Fourth Stage Mutant to be born. Conversely, the Six-armed Demon would also seek a chance to kill her, because it knew that this silver-haired girl of astonishing strength would never permit another similar threat to emerge.
Their cooperation had lacked any foundation of trust from beginning to end. The reason neither had exposed the other and had instead pretended to cooperate was not only because their goals aligned, but also because each harbored ulterior motives and hoped to deceive the other into placing some trust in them—though neither succeeded.
"The Tide Worm Queen wasn't about to advance to the Fourth Stage. It was recovering from its injuries, wasn't it?" Ivette suddenly asked after a moment of silence.
"Ha... hahahahahaha—!!" After a brief dead silence, the Six-armed Demon burst into uncontrolled laughter, mingling wild delight with smug satisfaction.
As though it had finally heard the line it had been waiting for, it said with immense satisfaction, "Foolish human, you noticed? But it's too late!"
"That's right. There was never any Overlord from the very beginning. I made it all up! No Mutated Creatures that entered the Fourth Stage had ever appeared on this island, so how would I know what an Overlord was?"
"I merely wanted to toy with you, to make you and the largest nest here wear down each other's strength so I could reap the benefits!"
"What pitiful, pathetic fools. You had no way to verify whether this was true or false. Whether it was truth or lies, you had to venture deep into the Corrupt Forest and investigate, obediently becoming my pawns."
"So when I said I was the most intelligent Perfect Lifeform, I wasn't lying at all, was I?"
Ivette watched it quietly, showing no anger, shame, or regret at its words.
When the Six-armed Demon had blatantly held back during the earlier battle, she had already sensed something. She had even come very close to guessing the truth.
But first, its acting had been convincing. It truly resembled some pathetic weakling that excelled at agility, was poor at frontal combat, and was not especially dangerous. Second, just as it had said, she could not rest easy without seeing the Mother Nest's condition for herself.
Under the influence of that anxiety, she had tolerated it more than she should have and wasted far more magic power than necessary.
At its core, this was an open scheme created through an information gap. Even knowing it was a trap, she still had to step into it.
After thinking for a moment, she asked again, "Is this your special ability?"
She had wondered about it before. Since Third Stage Mutants possessed magic power, there ought to be some means for them to use it. She had previously believed the Six-armed Demon's speed came from consuming magic power, but even so, its performance had not seemed particularly formidable. At most, it was good at surviving and exceptionally skilled at escaping.
Now it seemed that was not the case. Its true special ability was likely this six-armed, six-winged combat form. Judging by the aura of power it exuded, none of the previous Third-Rank Aberrations could even compare to it.
"Sharp of you." The Six-armed Demon chuckled softly, stretched its body, then picked up the Alloy Combat Blade from the ground and held it in its hand. After giving it a swing, however, it tossed it far away—it had enough arms already, and using a long blade made it easy to injure itself. More importantly, it did not want Ivette to get it and create further complications.
"On this entire island, you are the only one qualified to witness my 'peak form.' Be proud, human mage. Be proud, human mage. I am only one step away from my fourth evolution! To die at the hands of the strongest Perfect Lifeform on the island, the one with the highest evolutionary rank—even in death, you should feel honored!"
With that, it became a blurred phantom, tracing a slight arc as it slashed toward Ivette.
Ivette's pupils contracted slightly. Instinctively, she summoned a blue-white Rune Ring at her side, and a bolt of lightning shot from it. Yet it failed to hit, only blasting a patch of scorched earth into the ground.
After dodging three lightning strikes in succession, the Six-armed Demon finally found an opening and closed in. Its claw and bone blade slashed respectively at the silver-haired girl's neck and waist.
Wrapped in a wild green gale, Ivette leaned backward to evade, though a lock of silver hair before her forehead was sliced apart. Then Rune Rings appeared in both her palms, and flames surged forth, temporarily forcing the Six-armed Demon back.
As the flowing light scattered, the two figures collided and separated in an instant.
During this initial exchange, Ivette had not been injured, but she had practically walked through the gates of death. One slight misstep, and her neck might have been severed.
The Six-armed Demon had also been scorched in the face by intense heat. Though it had retreated the instant it made contact, the corners of its mouth still slowly turned downward, making it look rather grim.
It realized its advantage did not seem so great after all. In particular, even after entering its peak form, the silver-haired girl's spells could still break through its defenses. That was truly infuriating, because its defenses could be broken before activating its peak form, and they could still be broken afterward. Had it activated this peak form for nothing?
Of course, it was not quite that bad. At least compared with before, after entering its peak form, it could now break through the silver-haired girl's defensive magic in return. It was not completely useless.
Thus, the battle became a duel between two glass cannons: a fragile mage and a fragile assassin. Both had to take extreme care not to let the other touch them while seeking chances to wound the other. Each danced upon a blade's edge.
A few seconds later, the Six-armed Demon attacked once more, circling Ivette like a shadow. From time to time, it abruptly closed the distance, struck, and retreated at once.
Around Ivette floated Rune Rings of ice, fire, wind, and lightning, like loyal guards stationed in four directions. Whenever an attack came from any direction, she could intercept it at the fastest speed and buy time for her evasions at the very limit.
This exchange of counters continued for several minutes. When they pulled apart once more, Ivette staggered, breathing heavily. Her pure white dress was torn in several places, revealing the garment beneath. Long, narrow wounds had also appeared on her forearm and shoulder, blood steadily seeping from them.
Crimson blood soaked through the fabric as the Mutation Factor spread wildly beneath her skin... The accumulated effects left her aura weaker than it had ever been.
The Six-armed Demon was not in good condition either. Large portions of the scales on its body had melted or been scorched, and it had lost two wings from its back, greatly impairing its ability to fly.
Yet the corners of its mouth rose ever more joyfully, carrying an air of smugness and cruelty.
Yes, it had already noticed. This mage's magic power was nearing its limit. Her aura was now like a candle flame in the wind, and the spells she cast were no longer as powerful and forceful as before!
Though it did not know why she had yet to be infected by the Mutation Factor, that did not matter. The next attack would be her death!
Its heart burned with excitement. It took flight again, its membranous wings beating madly as it pushed its speed to the limit, transforming into a diving black rainbow as it launched a fatal killing strike.
At the same time, however, it remained extremely vigilant and prepared to retreat at the first touch. After all, it still had a second, third, and fourth chance to attack, while the mage opposite it surely had few tricks left.
"Die!" In an instant, the demon's mad laughter and the bone-chilling gleam of its blade descended almost simultaneously.
Ivette still chose to evade, her slender, frail figure like a lamb struggling desperately beneath a wolf's jaws.
But this time, she did not immediately widen the distance as she had before.
Instead, she turned sideways. Her jade-like palm seized the perfect moment and grabbed the Six-armed Demon's bone blade with all her strength. No matter how sharply the wound in her hand hurt, she refused to let go.
Then dense, layered Rune Rings appeared around the Six-armed Demon at such close range.
The Six-armed Demon's expression changed instantly. It had anticipated that she might be holding something back, but this hidden card was far too enormous.
It immediately thrust the bone blade in its other hand fiercely toward the girl's heart, intending to force her back. Yet strangely, as the bone blade fell, the magical defense it had just been able to shatter erupted with crimson light. Hard as iron, it directly deflected its attack!
Break through her defenses?
It... couldn't break through her defenses?
Why couldn't it break through them? It clearly still could just moments ago!
It froze, then saw the silver-haired girl's exquisite, lifeless face. The corners of her mouth slowly, incredibly slowly, curved upward into a tiny arc of smugness, disdain, and malice.
"You... tricked me..." At death's door, the Six-armed Demon suddenly understood.
What broken defenses, what weakness—it had all been an illusion! From the first ambush onward, every time it had shattered her defenses, it had been intentional on the silver-haired girl's part. Her goal was to make it believe it had a chance to kill her!
Only under that illusion would it refuse to flee and instead actively offer her an opportunity, allowing Ivette to restrain at close range this king of speed that was nearly impossible to catch!
To set this trap, she had even been willing to risk being cut, infected by the Mutation Factor, and even dying from a single mistake!
But... it was too late to sacrifice an arm to save itself now.
In an instant, amid belated despair, dazzling magical particles converged and erupted outward like a supernova.
In the final second before its consciousness vanished, the Six-armed Demon saw an enormous Elemental Flower blooming beneath the azure sky, shimmering with magnificent colors.