Hostage

"Bang!!!"

Sheris narrowly dodged the blow. Ul stomped down on the ground beneath her, and the stone-paved street instantly split with several cracks.

With nearly twice the physical strength of an ordinary person, combined with the special force-generating techniques of the Guga Combat Arts, Ul could unleash astonishing power.

Ul attacked decisively. He knew exactly what his advantage was.

His first strike missed.

He immediately launched his next assault.

Ul braced one hand against the ground, twisting his body into a bizarre position. Then he spun around and kicked Sheris in the abdomen.

"Pfft!"

The two consecutive blows struck Sheris's badly injured body, making her spit out a mouthful of blood.

Ul's hand-to-hand combat skills weren't strong. In fact, they were downright weak.

He had been learning for far too short a time. So far, he had only grasped the general framework of many of the Guga Combat Arts' techniques. In the eyes of any hand-to-hand combat expert, his crude moves were riddled with openings.

But... Sheris wasn't a hand-to-hand combat expert.

Not only that.

Sheris had never even learned hand-to-hand combat, and she was badly injured.

So, faced with Ul's assault, she couldn't find any way to counterattack.

......

Ul didn't dare give Sheris the slightest opening.

His only advantages now were his crude hand-to-hand skills and his uninjured body. He had to make the most of them.

After all, in terms of physical strength alone, Sheris might not be any weaker than Ul.

Ul stuck close to Sheris, giving her no chance to cast a spell.

Whenever Sheris tried to focus and construct a Magic Circle, Ul would strike with a Heavy Strike, forcing her to interrupt the process.

Sheris was fighting an incredibly frustrating battle.

She had probably never experienced one this frustrating in her life.

A Mage with as much combat experience as her would usually have a set of specialized tricks for dealing with hand-to-hand combat experts. But her injuries were simply too severe. No matter how skillful she was, she could hardly put those techniques to use.

What's more,

although the boy's hand-to-hand combat skills were poor, his attacks were strangely vicious. Nearly every move was aimed at her vital points, and more than once, he had given her a cold sweat.

"You bastard!!!"

After who knew how long,

Sheris was finally driven to her limit by Ul's assault. She cursed and prepared to force out a spell.

But before she could make a move, a glint flashed in Ul's eyes. He seized an opening she had left and slammed his fist into her ribs...

"Crack!"

The crisp sound of a bone breaking rang out.

Sheris's face turned white in an instant. Clutching her abdomen in pain, she staggered backward several steps...

All color drained from Sheris's face.

The blow had been too heavy.

As she felt her body growing weaker, a wave of panic rose in Sheris's heart.

She suddenly realized that if she didn't find a way to deal with the hateful brat in front of her today, she might really lose here.

As Ul rushed toward her, Sheris glanced around in a panic...

Suddenly!

Sheris spotted a figure, and a glint appeared in her eyes.

"Whoosh!"

A gust of wind swept past her ears.

Sheris gritted her teeth and glared at Ul with bloodshot eyes. Then she deliberately thrust out her chest and took Ul's blow head-on. Using its force, she sent herself flying.

But before she had flown far, Sheris suddenly scrambled to her feet, cast a basic acceleration spell, and dashed toward a certain part of the battlefield...

Sheris's sudden, strange behavior left Ul momentarily stunned.

After seeing what she did,

Ul's first thought was, This woman wants to run.

But the shout from Jelka quickly dispelled that idea.

"Watch out! Stop her!"

As Sheris's "old rival," Jelka knew her far better than Ul did. Almost as soon as Sheris moved, she guessed what Sheris was planning.

After shouting, Jelka dragged her exhausted body toward Sheris. Unfortunately, she had overused her magic power and had no strength left. She had barely taken a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

Taking advantage of that moment, Sheris reached her destination.

Under Ul's gaze, Sheris suddenly grabbed the unconscious Jeris and looked at Ul with a cold expression. "Don't move! If you don't want your companion to die, stop right where you are."

"Stop!"

Before Ul could speak, Jelka shouted at Sheris in fury. "This is between the two of us. Don't drag anyone else into it!"

"What a joke. I already told you that if Fairy Tail dared to interfere, you'd better be ready for us to retaliate."

"Don't you think that's despicable?"

"Hahaha... What does it matter? Blame that brat for insisting on meddling. If I'd killed him earlier, none of this would have happened. This whole situation is his own fault..." Sheris laughed, her face twisting with glee.

"Brat, do you want to save your companion? If you do, trade your life for his!" Sheris gripped Jeris by the throat, a cruel smile curling her lips.

"Let him go... This has nothing to do with him. If you insist on trading a life, take mine..."

"Shut up, you bitch! I'm not interested in your life. I only want that brat dead." After yelling at Jelka, Sheris turned to Ul and continued cruelly, "Well? Have you made up your mind, brat? You're running out of time."

The smile on Sheris's lips was twisted. She relished having other people's lives in the palm of her hand. And when she saw those so-called companions foolishly offer up their lives for one another, her pleasure reached its peak!

......

Ul: "......"

Ever since Sheris grabbed Jeris, Ul had remained silent.

In Sheris and Jelka's eyes, his silence seemed to show that he was "torn inside." In reality, only Ul knew that he was simply speechless.

To be honest!

When Ul heard Jelka say she was willing to give her life for Jeris, he was deeply moved...

Compared to his previous life,

the people around him in this life were clearly more sincere and more open with their feelings.

However!

Ul wanted no part of Jelka's "foolish idea."

It might have been understandable if someone else didn't know, but how could Ul possibly give his life for Jeris? Let's not forget that Ul was the one who had given Jeris those injuries in the first place!

But after Sheris grabbed Jeris, an idea suddenly came to Ul.

And once it surfaced, he couldn't push it back down.

So!

With Jelka frantic and Sheris gloating,

Ul quickly constructed a Magic Circle. In an instant, an earth-colored circle formed in front of him. A long spear made entirely of rock shot out of it, flying straight at Sheris.

Low-tier magic—Rock Spear!

The Rock Spear appeared so suddenly that neither Jelka nor Sheris had anticipated Ul's move.

In the blink of an eye,

there was a "squelch."

The nearly two-meter-long Rock Spear pierced through two figures, spraying a burst of blood...