Chapter 26: Back-to-Back
“I’m sorry, Ara. You have to learn to fight,” Bai said, her voice low, as they approached the arctic calamity.
“Fight…?” Ara said, counting on her fingers. “Ara knows how to fight.”
“No, Ara, I mean a real fight. Not one where you sacrifice your emotions, your own well-being, for a momentary burst of power.”
She cupped Ara’s face in her hands. “We don’t want a repeat of what happened, do we?”
“No…” Ara nodded, her small fists clenched. “Ara will try.”
…
“Squad combat is different from a one-on-one duel, or a large-scale battle. Unless you have overwhelming strength, individual skill isn’t enough. It’s all about teamwork.”
“We have to play to our strengths, and exploit their weaknesses… to maximize our combat efficiency.”
“But there are only two of us. Most squad tactics are useless. Our weakness is our numbers. Our strength is our flexibility, and our… understanding of each other.”
Bai put her hands on Ara’s shoulders and turned her around.
Then she turned herself, so they were standing back-to-back.
“So Ara, I’ll watch your back, and you watch mine.”
“If an enemy attacks from a blind spot, we’ll be each other’s shield.”
“Our goal is to quickly take down their leader. Without him, their squad will be a disorganized mess.”
“…”
Yin Hui, watching the two small figures, his expression serious.
“It seems you’ve learned a lot in the human Empire…”
“When outnumbered, this is… the best, and only, option.”
“But you’re facing me—”
“Let’s see how strong you are…”
He hadn’t reported Bai’s presence to Elthorp. Although his mission was to find her, not the Snow Maiden’s heritage.
A glint of excitement appeared in his eyes, a hunger for a good fight.
But although his gaze was on Bai, she felt a strange, hidden something in his eyes.
But there was no time to think. The battle had already begun.
The “Soul Slayers,” true to their name, were an elite unit of the Evil Blade Legion, one of the most formidable in the Abyss.
In an instant, they had surrounded Bai and Ara, blocking all their escape routes.
And at the same time, two dark blades flashed through the air, and a volley of cold, hard light shot towards them, forcing them to face the attack head-on.
It had all happened in a matter of seconds. Yin Hui knew that even he would have been hard-pressed to defend against such an attack.
But… this was the Frigid Lands. And Bai was now an Ice Demon.
Even if she was inexperienced with her bloodline and its spells, she had learned the [Frost Calamity] domain from Ice Lily.
In a breath, a wall of pure frost appeared, blocking the incoming blades.
At the same time, Ara, her purple hair swirling around her, unleashed her own power.
—Authority: [City Breaker]!
A wave of immense power erupted, shattering even Bai’s frost shield, the ground cracking, a maelstrom of ice and snow.
The “Soul Slayers,” their formation broken, were sent flying.
After her promise to Bai, Ara had suppressed her emotional powers, and her abilities had reverted to the nine Authorities of the North Empire.
The other Authorities were either too powerful, or too difficult to control. The nine “original Authorities” were more stable.
But even so, with her nine Authorities, she was still far more powerful than an ordinary Calamity Class being.
Yin Hui, seeing his advantage lost, drew his Evil Blade and activated his own Authority.
—Authority: [Soul Sever].
Unlike the human sword-based Authority, [Execution], which required a great deal of skill, Yin Hui’s [Soul Sever] was a purely destructive power.
His Evil Blade glowed with a pale blue light, extending to a length of forty meters, a massive, ethereal sword.
And more importantly, in this state, his blade could pierce through souls, a devastating blow to even a formless demon, a counter to the Dread Demons.
He brought the sword down, and a cloud of ice and mist erupted, blocking Bai and Ara’s advance, giving the “Soul Slayers” a chance to regroup.
But in doing so, he had also abandoned his squad, entering the fray himself.
The moment he attacked, Bai changed course, charging towards him.
Her goal was clear. Take down the leader, and the squad would crumble.
And with Bai’s advance, Ara activated her [Absolute Negation] domain, and even Yin Hui, for a brief moment, was unable to access his Demonic Runes, his squad’s regrouping faltering.
Bai was also affected, but she was less reliant on her Demonic Runes.
Her frost sword was a blur of motion, the Qin family’s ultimate technique, the [Lingering Mountain Nine Folds], aimed at Yin Hui, her pale blue eyes now bloodshot, a sign of her [Bloodfire Ascension].
“One slash!”
“Two slashes!”
“Three slashes!”
Yin Hui, after blocking three slashes, was struggling. He knew the nature of the [Lingering Mountain Nine Folds] and knew he couldn’t let her continue.
He burned his own life force, breaking through the [Absolute Negation] domain, and unleashed his [Soul Sever] again, meeting Bai’s frost sword.
And at the same time, the “Soul Slayers” had reformed, their attacks coming from all sides, a pincer movement.
In an instant, the tables had turned.
“Ugh…”
But Bai’s expression was calm, her eyes closed, her heartbeat slowing, until it almost stopped.
In that moment, time itself seemed to slow, a strange, silent peace settling over the battlefield.
And then, a single, cold light, a light that shone brighter than any sun in this arctic calamity.
“Freeze!”
