Side story: Gravel Scales (5)
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The 7,000-word main text has been updated today, in chapters 107 and 108.
--
Leonite finally understood completely that from the very beginning, it was the Wave Hermit Shadu who had discovered her first!
That damned lizard rogue managed to hide his Saint Rank energy fluctuations so perfectly, without a single leak.
The feigned defeat and escape, the being left behind... it was all a carefully crafted performance by this cunning lizardman! From the moment they met, he deliberately feigned weakness to set a trap, and then, with a single blow, he effectively crippled her!
Regardless of whether that little girl was a factor or not, and regardless of her own choices at the time, she was destined to fall into this trap!
The most ridiculous thing is that, as one of the Quarter Hand of the Plundering Clock, Leonite's mission deep into this desert, besides collecting lizardmen eggs, was more importantly to find this elusive "Wave Hermit."
Following the mission instructions, once located, she will use her most proficient assassination techniques to launch a surprise attack and kill this legendary hermit!
However, he did eventually meet him, but was dragged into a trap in just one encounter!
A deep sense of humiliation and resentment gnawed at Leonite's heart like a venomous snake. She let out a roar like a wounded beast, ignoring the excruciating pain from the grit rubbing against her body and the disruption of her strength, and lashed out with a vicious claw, forcing Shadu back dozens of steps!
At the same time, like a ghost, Ruixiuli seized the brief respite in the sandstorm and burst into the fray! He gathered all his strength and unleashed a slash at the unsteady Leonite. The blade sliced across her ribs, leaving a trail of blood!
Although his strength is far inferior to that of the two Saint Rank, he is still adept at seizing opportunities to gain an advantage.
Leonite retaliated with a claw strike, sending Ruixiuli flying once more. Ignoring the new wound on her body, a ruthless glint flashed in her eyes, and a thick, inky beam of dark spiritual energy, exuding an ominous aura, shot out like a viper's hiss, coiling around Shadu who had just regained his footing!
"Abyss - Soul Devourer!"
Shadu felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, as if his soul had been thrown into an icy river, and his senses instantly became confused and blurred.
"Watch out! It's a soul-based ability!" Shadu warned Ruixiuli, his tall body suddenly sinking into the yellow sand beneath his feet. The sand seemed to come alive, covering and enveloping him, rapidly washing away and dissipating the negative energy that was eroding his soul.
On this desolate desert battlefield, there were no living beings to kill and provide soul power for Leonite to devour. She had just unleashed "Abyss Soul Devour" entirely by burning her own Abyss essence, forcibly overdrawing her power!
The backlash turned her face ashen. But disregarding the consequences, she seized this precious opportunity and turned to flee at full speed toward the edge of the sandstorm barrier!
"Trying to run?!" Ruixiuli barely landed, a cold glint in his eyes. He held his bone sword horizontally and chanted an incantation, "With bone as the blade, with blood as the medium, the Blood Curse!"
Dark Magic Power, like invisible ripples, instantly swept across Leonite's body!
"Curse Blade: Bloodlust!"
Leonite looked down in horror to see that the wound on her ribs, which had been slashed by Ruixiuli's longsword, was now bleeding profusely, as if drawn by an invisible force.
Worse still, the tiny wounds all over his body, pierced by the Shadu, seemed to be infected by this vicious curse, and blood beads began to ooze out!
"Damn brat!" Leonite had to stop running and, like a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey, abruptly changed direction.
We must first deal with Ruixiuli, that insidious curse caster!
****
Midway through, the yellow sand beneath Leonite's feet suddenly churned up without warning! The Shadu, which had been anticipated, burst forth from the ground!
As he burst forth from the sand, a colossal rock pillar, imbued with pure earth Magic Power and shimmering with a solidified, earthy-yellow light at its tip, hurtled toward Leonite like a death fang!
"Rock Annihilation Thorn!"
Boom--!
Leonite let out a piercing scream, using all her Magic Power to create a dark energy barrier around her body, which withstood the attack from the rock pillar.
But this is the desert, the absolute home ground of the lizardman Shadu! His eyes were cold, and he swung his staff again without any mercy!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
One after another, sharp, enormous spikes of earth and rock, radiating the fury of the earth, burst forth from the sand! They appeared precisely in Leonite's path as she rolled and dodged, relentlessly piercing and crushing her! Finally, with a desperate roar and the rumbling sound of rocks closing in, Leonite was buried alive beneath a cold stone mound made of enormous rock spikes!
****
Call--!
Shadu's tense nerves suddenly relaxed. The immense exhaustion caused his legs to buckle, and he collapsed onto the sand, panting heavily.
As a war wizard who excels at sustained control of the battlefield and utilizing the environment, he is actually quite afraid of this high-burst, short-term life-or-death combat style. What's more, his opponent today is stronger than him in terms of raw power!
This is unbelievable! When did such a powerful, yet completely unheard-of, Saint Rank being appear in this world? Shadu was filled with doubt.
"Hey! How are you?!" He forced himself to lift his head and called out to Ruixiuli in the distance, his voice hoarse with exhaustion.
"Cough... cough... it'll do, I won't die." Ruixiuli, leaning on his sword, knelt on the ground, coughed a few times, and spat out some sand mixed with blood and foam.
He gazed at the spot where Shadu had delivered that astonishing initial attack, his eyes gleaming with genuine admiration, "That 'Sandstorm' move was truly cool!"
"That's called 'Wild Sands - Infinite'!" Shadu corrected impatiently, panting heavily. "What? Want to learn it? Considering we fought side-by-side today, I might as well teach you."
"... But I'm a necromancer." Ruixiuli gave a helpless, wry smile. "Can I learn your sand control technique?"
"Let's give it a try," Shadu seemed to perk up a bit. "Maybe... we can use bone fragments instead of gravel?"
****
As the starry sky faded from its deep hue, the faint Dawn began to break through the eastern horizon, casting a hazy gray-white hue over the edges of the cold sand dunes.
A hand covered in cracks and scorch marks, streaked with dark red lava patterns, quietly emerged from the crevice of the broken rocks where Leonite was buried.
Beneath the rocks lay Leonite's shattered remains. At this moment, her form had drastically changed! Her hair had turned pink, and her body was slender and bony, like basalt scorched by hellfire, covered with deep, spiderweb-like cracks.
An energy stream, emitting an ominous dark red glow, flowed slowly out like lava, accompanied by a rapid loss of life force.
Leonite's remaining consciousness drove her outstretched hand, laboriously pointing it at the unsuspecting Ruixiuli not far away! Gathering the power of her crumbling soul essence, a silent, dark beam of light shot out with a whoosh:
"Abyss..."
This fluctuation was so subtle that Ruixiuli was completely unaware of it!
"Watch out!" Shadu roared immediately to warn them!
Upon hearing the warning, Ruixiuli looked up in horror, only to find the shadow of death already upon him! He resignedly closed his eyes—
Suddenly, a short figure appeared and blocked his way!
It's Lulu! She's come back sometime ago.
Puff!
The beam of light silently pierced the little girl's chest. Lulu's once vibrant eyes instantly lost all their luster, becoming empty and blank. Her small body, like a puppet with its strings cut, slumped softly onto the cold sand.
"No--!" Ruixiuli's eyes widened in horror!
Shadu roared, forcibly squeezing out the last bit of strength from his body to support himself and launch another fatal attack.
With a flash of light, "Rock Annihilation Spike" sent an even more condensed rock spike hurtling through the air and striking Leonite's mangled body!
This blow completely extinguished Leonite's last embers of life. Her inhuman body shattered and peeled away rapidly, as if corroded by strong acid, eventually turning into wisps of black smoke that vanished completely into the desert night wind before dawn, leaving no trace.
Ruixiuli scrambled to Lulu's side, trembling as he cradled the little girl's cold body. His fingers eagerly searched her neck—her heartbeat and breathing were still there, weak but steady, yet no matter how he called out to her or patted her, Lulu's eyes remained tightly shut, showing no sign of waking.
Her brown hair was stained with sand, revealing a strange pink highlight.
A cacophony of voices and hurried footsteps drifted from afar, and a group of lizardman warriors appeared atop the dune, led by Stacy!
She arrived with reinforcements from the Date Camp!
"Stacy, come quick!" Ruixiuli shouted, "Lulu's hurt!"
"They're here!"
--
February 26, 272 of the Stars Calendar, the day after the Battle of Sacred Mountain.
Dome Mountains, Final Bone Mad Machines Sheltered Valley Camp.
The residential area originally intended for trainees has been requisitioned and transformed into a medical center. Most of the patients are prisoners rescued from Divine Might Prison.
The violent shockwave from the thermobaric explosion caused them some new injuries such as nosebleeds and dizziness, but what needed to be addressed more were the branding marks, whip marks, and trauma from their arduous labor.
However, a small number of wounded soldiers were injured in the fierce battle, such as Jielusi.
The pink-haired girl lay peacefully in the hospital bed, but Stacy knew she still hadn't recovered from the backlash of her Shadow Form.
If anyone gets too close to the bedside, his eyes will instantly lose focus, becoming empty and lifeless, and then his body will suddenly launch an attack.
For some reason, Stacy felt a sense of familiarity about the energy emanating from Jielusi. But as a doctor, she had seen far too many strange patients and illnesses to recall which particular experience this feeling of familiarity stemmed from.
However, there is another problem that needs to be addressed right now.
"Tell me the truth!" Stacy stood with her arms crossed, a serious expression on her face, her gaze fixed on Ruixiuli on the other bed. "What exactly did you do to Jielusi?"
This is not Jielusi's hospital room; Jielusi has violently broken in.
What's puzzling is that Jielusi, who attacked everyone indiscriminately, didn't go berserk after seeing Ruixiuli. Instead, she climbed onto the empty hospital bed next to him and curled up to lie down.
Stacy glanced at Jielusi again to make sure she was breathing evenly and had even turned over in relaxation, sleeping quite soundly.
This just doesn't make sense no matter how you look at it!
Lying in his hospital Ruixiuli immediately pointed to his face, covered in corrosive wounds, and said, "Look at me! Do you think I still have the ability to hurt that young girl?"
Stacy narrowed her eyes, sized him up, and then slowly said, "That's what happened before. You always call yourself an honest man, you scum!"
"Hey! That's going too far!" Ruixiuli sat up straight, raised a finger to the ceiling, and swore, "I have never had any intimate contact with any girl!"
Rumble--!!!
A deafeningly loud clap of thunder suddenly exploded without warning among the nearby steep mountain peaks!
Both of them were startled by the sudden loud noise and turned to look out the window at the same time—where they saw a clear blue sky.
"... Could it really be true? I can't possibly be...?" Ruixiuli was also uneasy about this strange "celestial phenomenon," his face filled with confusion.
"Illiterate!" Stacy rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. "That's a special weather phenomenon that occasionally occurs in high-altitude areas due to the combined effects of 'orographic uplift' and 'local thermal convection'—'a bolt from the blue!'"
She paused, then said, "Alright, since that's the case, the job of taking care of Jielusi is yours!"
After saying that, he turned to leave.
"Hey, hey, wait a minute!" Ruixiuli protested immediately, "I'm a patient too!"
"Oh?" Stacy stopped and turned back to give him a smile that was anything but gentle. "Then, as your attending physician, I hereby announce that you are now discharged!"
(~`) zZ...ヽ(`⌒)ノ...(￢￢)