Orman carefully scrutinized Xuefei without making a move. He merely rested his hand lightly on the sword hilt, stroking the embossed golden patterns etched upon it.
Then, something strange happened…
“Gazing at the Past” failed to take effect?
This was the first time it had happened since he received the blessing. In a situation like this, Omni-Vision might still prove useful, but even it had its limits—at best, it could reveal the composition of the opponent’s physical structure.
Scales comparable to the strongest Divine Soldiers… Maryvega would probably be unable to contain her curiosity and demand one from this creature upon seeing her. After all, they were the hardest substances in existence…
But Maryvega likely couldn’t defeat her.
Orman concluded that the girl before him was different from any Dark Filth he had ever faced as an adversary.
The oppressive aura radiating from her entire body wasn’t the extreme evil unique to Dark Filth, nor an obsession so profound it could warp matter itself. It was the Nihility in her eyes.
No trace of self-importance. No arrogance. No pity…
She didn’t seem like an enemy, nor a friend. Not a stranger, nor an intimate companion who had shared hardships.
For the first time, Orman felt this way.
That was why his first instinct wasn’t to fight this Evil Dragon—who was, objectively speaking, a manifestation of Dark Filth—but to figure out exactly what she was… from every angle.
“Who are you?”
Xuefei gave no answer.
A sudden gust whistled past Orman’s ears. Sensing the shift in the air, he whipped out his sword to block in front of him. At the same instant, a devastating punch—the likes of which he hadn’t encountered in a century—crashed against his Holy Sword. The violent shockwave nearly tore the blade from his unprepared grasp, the weapon that had been his constant companion for countless years.
Purple radiance scattered around them, rippling neatly through the ruins amid a deafening, crystalline clang. Sparks erupted like fireworks as the ground beneath Orman’s feet sank deeper and deeper. He looked up to see a deep purple scaly claw locked in a desperate struggle with his Holy Sword.
“Bang—!”
Orman frowned.
Can’t hold it?
But her power wasn’t as overwhelming as he’d imagined. What trick was she using?
His own—
In the critical moment, Orman thrust forward his white scabbard to parry. It shattered with a crisp crack, hurling him a thousand meters away…
Orman’s body tumbled through the melting ice and snow until he drove the Holy Sword into the ground, barely steadying himself.
“An ambush? That’s hardly the etiquette of a true swordsman.”
“Roar? You know about that?”
Xuefei came to a halt atop a snow hill fifty meters from where Orman had risen, flakes of flying snow settling on her silver-white hair. She looked like the true mistress of the ice and snow—stunningly, heart-stoppingly beautiful.
“I could tell from the battle’s rhythm,” Orman said, steadying his stance and brushing snow from his clothes.
“Do you know? The value of my scabbard alone surpasses any weapon on this continent.”
Xuefei narrowed her eyes.
She could see Orman was shocked by her strength.
But Xuefei herself felt a twinge of panic…
That strike had been nearly her maximum effort—not quite her all-out power, but against an utterly unprepared foe, the damage was far less than she’d expected.
It had only shattered his scabbard.
Yet Orman’s body was virtually unscathed. Did the scabbard transfer damage? Or did he possess some ability to redirect harm and destruction? Or was there an invisible barrier around him blocking her attack?
“My apologies, but it seems my Holy Sword has vanished somewhere,” Xuefei said. The amber pendant at her chest gleamed brightly.
Orman shot her a meaningful glance. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, as if realization had dawned. Though “Gazing at the Past” had failed, he could still guess what manner of being Xuefei was.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Indeed. Twice… or maybe three times? We couldn’t have crossed paths during the Tide of Dark Filth. I wasn’t born yet.”
Orman drew his Holy Sword and advanced slowly toward Xuefei, the blade carving a narrow furrow in the ground.
“What a pity. You’re strong, but those who oppose me meet only one of two fates… death, or an eternity sealed away, never to see the light of day.”
Their second clash began.
Xuefei narrowed her eyes, tracking the arc of his attack and preparing her counter.
Judging by first impressions, Orman’s most memorable assaults were undoubtedly those slashes that came after passing through the Space Gate.
In other words, his deadliest weapon was the Holy Sword.
Although he couldn’t discern the Holy Sword’s true might, the man before him required no such embellishment. With nothing but a human body, he had forged a soul beyond mortal limits and wielded light magic surpassing any Light Envoy Xuefei had ever encountered.
Even as these thoughts raced through her mind, the first wave of sword qi from the slash hurtled toward her.
So fast!
No wonder they hadn’t been able to dodge.
Anyone else would likely have been cleaved in two by this utterly unreasonable power…
Xuefei raised her arm. The sword qi collided with the scales encasing it, ringing out with the clear chime of metal striking metal.
Yet as the slash’s devastation rent the earth into jagged fissures, Xuefei stood unscathed amid the chaos. A thin plume of smoke rose from her arm, born of the intense heat—nothing more.
Xuefei parted her lips slightly, but Orman remained oblivious.
“No effect, huh? As expected of a dragon—the pinnacle of defense,” Orman remarked in admiration, raising his right arm in the same motion.
“But have you exhausted your arsenal already? If you’re this desperate so soon, then perhaps I overestimated you.”
In the next instant, Xuefei planted her shapely legs firmly on the ground. She crouched forward, her lithe waist and spine merging seamlessly with her draconic tail into a graceful, aerodynamic curve. This elegant poise clashed sharply with the cute air she exuded—contrasted by the jet-black breath that now erupted from her maw.
No sound accompanied it. In its wake, silence reigned absolute.
Had Orman not snapped out of his defensive stance in that split second and twisted aside, Xuefei was certain the attack would have struck true.
Yet to ferret out Orman’s hidden aces, she had no intention of relenting.
Xuefei exhaled a cluster of pitch-black, hyper-dense projectiles. They arced through the air in an elliptical formation before slamming into the ground. Upon impact, they shattered in a chain reaction of muted explosions. Lingering wisps of demonic energy scorched everything in their radius, spreading outward like a contagion, eroding all they touched. The moment the barrage ceased, Xuefei dropped to all fours—and in the blink of an eye, only a flurry of ice and snow marked her former position.
“Bang!”
The dark magic-infused strike hammered into the earth with crushing force. Needless to say, Orman evaded it entirely.
“Is that right? So that’s your ability…” Xuefei murmured with a wry smile.
