Elemental Flower

Ivette, using the last of her magic to activate the "Regeneration Pump" to prevent infection by the mutation factor, brushed the dust off her shoulders and stepped out of the shallow pit.

She wasn't surprised by the Six-armed Demon's sneak attack; in fact, both sides knew they were on each other's kill list.

After eliminating the "Tide Worm Queen's" evolution, she would definitely find a way to kill the Six-armed Demon, as she couldn't allow another Stage Four Aberration to be born. Conversely, the Six-armed Demon would also look for an opportunity to kill her, as it knew this silver-haired girl with astonishing strength would never allow another similar threat to exist.

Their cooperation from beginning to end had no basis of trust. The reason they didn't expose each other and feigned cooperation was that, besides having a common goal, both sides had their own hidden agendas, hoping to gain a degree of trust—though neither succeeded.

"The 'Tide Worm Queen' wasn't about to advance to Stage Four, it was recovering from injuries, wasn't it?" Ivette suddenly asked after a moment of silence.

"Ha... Hahahahahah—!!" After a brief moment of dead silence, the Six-armed Demon let out a burst of uncontrollable laughter mixed with ecstasy and triumph.

As if finally getting to deliver a long-awaited line, it said with satisfaction, "Foolish human, you figured it out? But it's too late!"

"That's right, there was no lord from the beginning. I made that up! No mutated creature on the island has ever reached Stage Four, how would I know what a lord is?"

"I just wanted to play with you, to let you and the largest nest here exhaust each other's strength, so I could pick up the scraps!"

"How pathetic. You couldn't verify the truth of the matter. Whether it was true or false, you had to venture deep into the corrupted forest. You obediently became my pawn."

"So, I was telling the truth when I said I'm the most intelligent perfect creature, right?"

Ivette watched it quietly, showing no anger, shame, or regret at its words.

During their previous fight, when the Six-armed Demon had been blatantly slacking off and not exerting itself, she had already had a premonition, almost guessing the truth.

But firstly, the Six-armed Demon's acting was good, making it seem like a weakling that excelled in agility but not frontal combat, and one that wasn't very dangerous. Secondly, as the Six-armed Demon had said, she couldn't be at ease without seeing the situation at the main nest for herself.

Under the influence of this anxiety, she had shown it more tolerance and also expended more magic than she should have.

This was essentially a premeditated plan that exploited a difference in information, but even knowing it was a trap, she had to step into it.

After thinking for a moment, she asked again, "Is this your special ability?"

She had been suspicious before. Since Stage Three Aberrations had magic, there should be a way for them to use it. She had initially thought the Six-armed Demon's speed came from consuming magic, but even so, its performance hadn't seemed that strong, at most just good at surviving and having excellent escape capabilities.

Now it seemed that wasn't the case. Its true special ability should be this current six-armed, six-winged combat form. Judging by the aura of power it exuded, it was nothing compared to any previous Stage Three Aberration.

"You're quite sharp," the Six-armed Demon chuckled, stretching its body. It then picked up the Alloy Combat Blade from the ground and held it. However, after swinging it once, it tossed it away—it had too many arms, and using a long blade easily led to self-injury. More importantly, it didn't want Ivette to get her hands on it, to avoid complications.

"On this entire island, you are currently the only one qualified to witness my 'full power.' Be proud, human mage, be proud, human mage! I am only one step away from my fourth evolution! You should feel honored even in death to die by the hands of the island's strongest, most evolved perfect creature!"

With that, it turned into a blurry phantom, circling slightly in an arc, and attacked Ivette.

Ivette's pupils constricted slightly. Instinctively, she summoned a blue and white runic circle from her side. A lightning snake shot out but missed, only causing a patch of scorched earth to erupt on the ground.

After evading three lightning strikes, the Six-armed Demon, finally seizing an opportunity, lunged forward. Its claws and bone blades slashed towards the silver-haired girl's neck and waist, respectively.

Wrapped in a gust of green wind, Ivette leaned back to dodge, a strand of her silver bangs being sliced off. Then, runic circles appeared in her palms, and flames erupted, temporarily forcing the Six-armed Demon back.

As the streams of light dispersed, the two figures separated as quickly as they had clashed.

In this initial probing, although Ivette was unharmed, she had narrowly escaped death. With the slightest carelessness, her neck could have been severed.

The Six-armed Demon, on the other hand, had its face seared by the high temperature. Although it retreated immediately, its mouth was slowly turning downwards, giving it a somewhat sullen look.

It realized its advantage wasn't as great as it seemed. Especially since, even in its full power state, the silver-haired girl's spells could still break through its defenses. This was genuinely frustrating, because it was being breached before activating its full power state, and it was still being breached after activating it, making the full power state seem pointless.

Of course, it wasn't entirely useless. At least compared to before, after activating its full power state, it could now break through the silver-haired girl's defensive magic in return, so it wasn't completely useless.

Thus, the battle turned into a duel between two fragile combatants: one a fragile mage, the other a fragile assassin. Both had to be extremely careful not to be touched by the other, while also finding opportunities to wound their opponent, each dancing on the edge of a blade.

A few seconds later, the Six-armed Demon attacked again, circling Ivette like a shadow, occasionally closing the distance abruptly to launch an attack before immediately retreating.

Ivette, meanwhile, was surrounded by runic circles of ice, fire, wind, and lightning, like loyal guards, constantly pointing in four directions. If an attack came from any direction, she could intercept it at maximum speed and buy herself time for her extreme evasions.

This exchange of blows continued for several minutes. When the two figures separated once more, Ivette was staggering, her breathing rapid. Her pure white dress was torn in several places, revealing the lining. Furthermore, she had sustained narrow wounds on her forearm and shoulder, both of which were bleeding profusely.

Crimson stained the fabric, and the mutation factor spread wildly beneath her skin. The accumulation of status effects caused her aura to become unprecedentedly weak.

The Six-armed Demon was also not in good condition. Large areas of its scales had melted and were scorched, and two of its back wings were missing, significantly hindering its flight capabilities.

However, the corners of its mouth turned upwards with increasing joy, imbued with a sense of triumph and cruelty.

Yes, it had discovered that the mage's magic was nearing its limit. Her aura was like a candle in the wind, and the spells she cast were no longer as powerful as before!

It didn't know why she hadn't been infected by the mutation factor yet, but it didn't matter. The next attack would be her death!

Its heart burned with excitement, and it flew up again, its membranous wings beating frantically to maximize its speed, turning into a diving black streak to launch a fatal finishing blow.

Yet, it remained extremely vigilant, ready to retreat at the first touch. After all, it still had second, third, and fourth chances to attack, but the mage opposite her surely had few trump cards left.

"Die!" In an instant, the demon's wild laughter and the bone-chilling glint of the blade arrived almost simultaneously.

Ivette still chose to dodge, her slender, fragile form like a lamb desperately struggling in the jaws of a wolf.

But this time, she didn't immediately create distance as she had before.

Instead, she turned sideways, her jade-like palm seizing the Six-armed Demon's bone blade with precise timing. She held on tightly, ignoring the stinging pain of the wounds on her hand.

Then, dense, layered runic circles materialized around the Six-armed Demon at point-blank range.

The Six-armed Demon's expression changed instantly. Although it had anticipated that the opponent would hold something back, this something was far too significant.

It immediately thrust its other bone blade towards the girl's heart, trying to force her to retreat. But, strangely, as the bone blade descended, the magic defense that had been easily shattered moments before now glowed red, firm and unyielding as iron, repelling its attack!

Defense broken?

It… can't break through my defenses?

Why can't it break through? It could just fine a moment ago?

It froze, then saw the silver-haired girl's stunning, lifeless face. At her mouth, an incredibly slow, upward curve formed, revealing a smug, contemptuous, and utterly malicious little smile.

"You… lied to me…" At death's door, the Six-armed Demon suddenly understood.

Breaking defenses, weakness – it was all a facade! From the very first surprise attack, every time it shattered the opponent's defenses, it was all on purpose by the silver-haired girl. Her goal was to make it believe it had a chance to kill her!

Only under this illusion would it not flee. Instead, it would actively give her an opening, allowing Ivette to get close enough to restrain it, the king of speed who was almost impossible to catch!

To set this trap, she was even willing to risk being cut, infected by mutation factors, or even accidentally dying!

But… it was already too late to sever an arm and survive.

In an instant, amidst its belated despair, brilliant magic particles converged, expanding outwards like a supernova.

In the last second before its consciousness faded, the Six-armed Demon saw a colossal, magnificently colored Elemental Flower blooming against the azure sky.