Chapter 8: The First Battle After Rebirth

“It seems that if I don’t teach you a lesson, you won’t understand why the flowers are so red.”

Jocelyn cracked her fists together, the armor clashing with a crisp clang.

“Courting death.”

Kairui shoved the girl named Naili aside, pulled out an exquisitely crafted magic wand from his chest, poured a bit of sulfur powder into his right palm from its base, and instantly, waves of scorching magical power surged through the air.

“Fireball? So you’re still just an apprentice.”

Jocelyn’s sharp gaze pierced straight through his strength.

“To play with such magic before the famous Ding Ding Da Ming Da Fa Shi, isn’t that a bit too ridiculous?”

Listening to her words, Ellen, who had been a bit anxious, relaxed as well.

His Zhesi Gem had been buried in the World-Destroying Demon Flame, leaving not a trace of magic in his body.

But with Jocelyn so confident, it seemed that as the Master of Destruction, she hadn’t lost her power completely.

After all, she was still clad in heavy armor.

As long as even one percent of her strength remained, dealing with someone who had only just learned Fireball should be more than enough.

Thinking this, Ellen settled his heart.

“How dare you look down on me!”

Kairui stared at the two ‘men’ with odd behaviors before him, shock quickly turning into a sense of offense.

He forcefully drew on the magic within him, gathering searing fire elements into his palm, forming a fist-sized fireball that shot toward the two like a meteor.

The two stood tall and unmoving, an aura of masters about them.

Even Kairui couldn’t help but wonder if these two strange men really were experts.

That illusion lasted right up until the fireball was about to hit.

In the final second, Ellen and Jocelyn met each other’s gaze.

It was as if a thousand years passed in an instant.

From confusion to sudden realization—so you too…

They didn’t even have time to speak, but their combat instincts kicked in.

They protected their vital points and retreated with all their might.

The fist-sized fireball exploded violently.

Jocelyn, in her heavy armor, simply fell to the ground, while Ellen crashed down with his chest scorched and face blackened.

“Hahaha, I thought I’d run into some big shot.”

Kairui laughed gleefully, gathering magic into his right hand once more, the fire elements burning hot.

“Two vagrants… even if you die here, it’s no big deal.”

A strange urge to kill rose from the depths of his heart.

His magic was running dry, yet he couldn’t suppress that murderous urge.

Was this the recklessness of drunkenness?

Naili knelt on the ground, golden eyes shining with tears.

Her voice trembled as she pleaded,

“Young master Kairui, please forgive them. They’re just two madmen passing by. There’s no need…”

“Shut up!”

Kairui kicked her harshly, eyes fierce as he glared at the slowly sitting Jocelyn and the still-unconscious Ellen.

Kill them!

A violent, unspeakable aura seeped from the depths beneath the town, threading through the stone floor and gathering upon him.

He hated these two, especially that strange man lying there.

How could something so irritating exist?

Kairui recalled the bystander he’d killed before the castle.

His father said it was a thief, and the City-State Court could only declare him innocent.

He remembered the judge’s gavel falling.

He hadn’t felt the relief he’d expected, but instead a clear pleasure—sprouting from the heart, a mysterious sense of satisfaction.

Only now did he realize that was a thrill—the thrill of escaping guilt.

So, killing wasn’t hard.

He had to kill him!

It was as if a voice urged him by his ear.

Only if this man died could Naili accept him peacefully, and he could return to a calm life, to before his mother died, to the days when his father was still normal.

He could even stop drinking in the future and return to the City-State Academy to continue his studies.

As long as he killed him!

Kairui gripped his wand tightly.

Black magical elements oozed between his fingers, merging into the fireball with deadly menace.

Meanwhile, Ellen was lost in a dream.

A gentle white light slowly healed him, mending his wounds.

At the same time, cold chains of light followed the healing glow, snaking into his soul.

Ellen could almost see Reina’s pale blue, pity-filled eyes—like lakes—her power strengthening as the chains increased.

A scorching, sharp sword energy suddenly slashed at the chains, forcibly encasing his soul, as if claiming sovereignty.

Then a cool breeze swept through, trying to pull him away from the other two forces.

Three marks on his lower abdomen blazed like awakened volcanoes.

Crimson, pure white, and emerald green lights erupted fiercely, a powerful possessiveness exploding from the depths of his soul, as if threatening to tear him into three pieces!

At that moment, the other three in the alley sensed his strangeness.

Terrifying elemental fluctuations crackled around him, lightning and thunder, and even the white light symbolizing pure faith flickered.

Hate! Hate! So hateful—he must die quickly. Only by killing him could he breathe again.

The power deep within the town gasped, continuously channeling black energy through the stone cracks into Kairui.

Kairui’s face twisted in fury.

The fireball swelled, now as large as a human head.

Feeling the surging killing intent, Jocelyn’s pupils shrank.

She couldn’t wait any longer!

She shouted, dragging her injured body and controlling the massive armor, charging at Kairui like a wild bull.

In that life-or-death instant, Ellen’s eyes flew open!

At that most desperate moment, a familiar sensation arose from his chest—where the Zhesi Gem once resided.

That gem, though devoured by demon flames, now gave off a faint, cool spring, moistening his once-dried soul.

It was [Clarity]!

The lingering law of the Zhesi Gem, reignited in response to his overwhelming will to survive and the turmoil within!

The coolness spread rapidly, like an invisible, steady hand gently soothing the three restless ‘volcanoes’ in his abdomen.

The struggle didn’t cease, but a superior ‘logic’ temporarily suppressed and calmed them, forming a fragile, short-lived balance that circled the core of ‘Zhesi’.

The agony within him eased by more than half!

At the same time, the ‘law track’ of Kairui’s incoming Fireball—the flow of magical power—became visible to Ellen as clear threads in his ‘perception’.

This perception far outstripped sight, reaching the very essence!

It was the [Insight] of the Zhesi Gem—the world slowed down, every elemental path in the air visible as luminous lines.

He saw Kairui’s ferocious face as he flung the fireball.

He saw Naili’s terrified expression as she leaned against the wall.

He saw Jocelyn’s reckless charge.

Within the fireball, the red fire ‘law track’ mingled with traces of black earth elements.

Was it demonic energy?

The doubt flashed by—he’d already mapped the fireball’s trajectory.

“Squat down, keep your head down!”

Ellen shouted hoarsely, flinging himself to the right.

Jocelyn’s trust in Ellen was absolute; she obeyed instantly.

The fireball, the size of a human head, grazed past her scalp and Ellen’s side, slamming into the wall behind and exploding.

The blast punched a huge dent in the thick stone.

Kairui froze, stunned they’d dodged, then, annoyed, raised his hand to cast another Fireball—this one swirling with black energy, forming rapidly.

But Ellen moved faster!

No—not faster in action, but in ‘anticipation’!

As Kairui began to shape the Fireball along its law track, Ellen had already ‘seen’ its entire path.

He didn’t even need much magic—he barely had any left.

Instead, he picked up a broken brass candlestick from the ground, gathered all his strength, and hurled it with precision toward the ‘end point’ of the trajectory!

“Whoosh!”

The candlestick cut through the air—not directly at Kairui, but at an empty spot to his right.

To Jocelyn and Naili, the move made no sense.

But in the next instant, Kairui’s Fireball formed.

A massive black orb shot from his palm—right into the path of the flying candlestick!

“Pa!”

The candlestick and the fireball, filled with terrible energy, collided in midair!

The fireball’s energy destabilized, detonating early!

The backlash sent Kairui flying into the wall and then crashing to the ground.

He was completely dazed, unable to comprehend what had happened.

How could an ordinary person without magic defeat a mage?

Even if he was just an apprentice, Kairui struggled to rise.

“Impossible…you…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence.

Jocelyn didn’t understand the principle, but her long experience fighting on the Taya Continent told her—the chance had come!

She charged again, slamming him to the ground.

Ellen forced himself up, walked to Kairui’s side, and, under his terrified gaze, raised his foot and struck his back skull with his heel.

Kairui grunted, eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.

Silence returned to the alley, broken only by the heavy breathing of three people.

Jocelyn collapsed, looking at the equally battered but now sharp-eyed Ellen.

She tried to grin but winced at the pain.

“Li Zi…that new look of yours, along with that last move…kinda cool!”

Naili crept over, timid.

The girl was about fifteen or sixteen, her cute form barely hidden under a flaxen dress.

She looked at the unconscious Kairui, then at the two mysterious, powerful ‘vagrants’, her eyes filled with both gratitude and fear.

“Th…thank you…”

Ellen didn’t answer immediately.

He stared down at his hands, feeling the precarious balance of three forces within, and the faint but resolute ‘Zhesi Echo’ in his mind.

They probably already knew he was revived.

No, in fact, his revival ritual must have been performed by them.

The road home was cut off.

Former teammates had become the most dangerous ‘hunters’; he’d lost almost all his power and gained even heavier shackles.

The path ahead seemed utterly dark.

But if he could survive the demon flames of destruction, and reclaim the power of ‘Zhesi’ in despair…

He raised his head, gazing at the strange, real sky beyond the alley, a complicated curve at his lips.

“Fourth,”

He whispered.

“Looks like we’ll have to find the way home all over again.”

They retained their old knowledge and perspective, but all abilities were stripped away.

“Starting over, huh? That’s still better than last time.”

Jocelyn was the definition of an optimist.

And the first step in starting over, of course, was to ‘borrow’ some money and clothes from young master Kairui.

***

In the Central Imperial Palace of the Taya Empire, Imperial Princess Belinda finished her daily duties but did not rest.

Instead, she summoned the two lieutenants of the ‘Blood Thorn’ Heavy Cavalry.

With the old emperor long ill, her every move drew the attention of all factions.

Since Belinda’s birth, the court ministers had gathered around the Eldest Imperial Princess Da Funi.

Few had any real contact with the pampered youngest princess.

No one expected her to suddenly leave the palace alone, lead troops against the Demon King, disappear, then join an unknown Demon-Sealing Squad.

Against all odds, they fought step by step, ultimately defeating the legendary Sin Demon King and ending the ‘Last Dark Dynasty.’

Now, the Group Portrait of the Five Chosen Saviors stood in every royal city, the glow of a savior bathing Belinda as the only candidate for the Imperial Heir of the Taya Empire.

Unfortunately, since the end of the Demon-Sealing War three years ago, she locked herself in the castle, sending all affairs to her sister after finishing routine business.

Aside from occasionally meeting a few renowned Imperial Magicians, she had no desire to see anyone.

The sudden summoning of the Imperial Guard Heavy Cavalry startled all factions.

They spent fortunes seeking the truth but found only that the Blood Thorn Heavy Cavalry had dispersed, spreading throughout the empire, with some scouting teams even entering other principalities.

The official reason for this action was—to hunt down the remaining followers of the Demon King.

But those with insight noticed that these elite cavalry seemed to be searching for someone.