“Justice…”
Anna sneered, raising her sword and pointing it at Damir’s outstretched hand.
“So, joining the Demon King’s Army, trampling your own mission, deceiving and harming your own kin—this is your justice, Damir?”
Anna swung her sword, beheading a restless demon nearby with a single slash.
“I prefer to call it revenge—a romantic, grand revenge.”
A near-mad obsession surged in Damir’s eyes.
“I’ll make those who betrayed me… pay tenfold, a hundredfold.”
The arrow is on the string; it cannot but be released.
Damir slowly lifted his Longbow, aiming the Arrow right between Anna’s brows.
“I always thought you were the one who understood me best, Annastasia.”
A trace of regret flashed across his face. With a sudden force from his middle and index fingers, the Arrow inscribed with explosive magic shot howling towards Anna.
Words had failed; now he was truly serious.
“I do not accept your justice, Damir.”
Azure magical patterns glowed upon her sword’s edge. Anna drew a deep breath and charged straight into the path of the flying Arrow.
She raised her blade, cleaving the Arrow in two with a single stroke. The explosive magic erupted behind her, the fire and shockwave forming a radiant backdrop.
With blinding speed, she darted low along the ground to Damir’s side, mercilessly slashing at his hands gripping the bow.
Damir quickly turned his bow sideways, smashing it against Anna’s shoulders. He nocked the bowstring once more, a Magic Arrow formed of pure mana shimmering upon it. If Anna didn’t withdraw her attack, this Arrow would pierce her throat.
Yet Anna suddenly vanished before him, ghost-like.
Damir frantically adjusted his aim, but Anna’s blade swept across his left leg, slicing so deep it nearly severed his Achilles tendon.
He staggered back, hastily retreating. The Arrow in his hand fired into the ground, raising a Lightning Barrier crackling at their feet.
Anna braced herself on the ground, leaping high, her body spinning in the air. The sword traced a crescent arc, landing precisely on Damir’s right shoulder.
Anna had shown restraint—otherwise, that slash would have taken his whole arm.
“Even now, you hold back, Annastasia?”
Damir let out a cold laugh, suddenly falling back, using his good leg to brace the bow, his left hand straining with all its strength to draw the string.
His movements were lightning-fast; before Anna could raise her sword, that Magic Arrow had already pierced her right shoulder.
Anna staggered back two steps, looking down at the gaping, blood-gushing wound, then switched her sword to her left hand.
Her right arm hung limp, as if struck by lightning, useless as a dead snake. Pain gnawed at her mind like fire ants, yet her expression remained unchanged as she severed Damir’s good hand with one swing.
Damir’s whole body shuddered violently from the pain, cold sweat dripping from his hair onto the ground, but he clenched his jaw, uttered not a word, his eyes locked unblinkingly on Anna.
“You held back too, Damir.”
Anna walked past him, giving him a cold sidelong glance.
“It was just a miss. I was aiming for your throat.”
Damir was still sneering, but Anna didn’t even turn her head as she walked forward.
She tossed aside her sword, her gaze sweeping over the soldiers holding bows and arrows. Some faces she vaguely recognized—veterans from the expeditionary force, old comrades who had once followed the Hero of the Bow.
With each step Anna took, the group of soldiers moved to meet her, drawing their blades, ready to fight her to the death.
None among them did not know Anna. They knew charging forward meant certain death, yet they still unsheathed their blades and attacked their former comrade.
A ball of fire fell from the sky, engulfing the group of soldiers in an instant.
Flames licked Anna’s clothes; she quickly shed her outerwear, leaving only a short inner shirt.
Her gaze pierced through the wall of fire, landing straight on the burly, bearded man at the head of the Bridge.
Wululu—a wicked sorcerer without father or mother, the butcher behind countless atrocities, a pure villain.
He styled himself as the Punisher, delivering divine retribution to all the world’s sinners. Yet he never realized that he himself was the true culprit behind so many broken families and shattered lives.
To burn Anna, he was willing to attack his own allies.
He waved his hand, and countless skeleton soldiers from the Demon King’s Army surged forth like a tide, flooding over Anna and her companions on the Bridge.
Firelight gathered in his palm, spreading out to form a Fire Orb. The moment he hurled the Fire Orb, an Ice Wall rose up in the air, blocking it head-on.
Ice and fire collided in midair, melting into water. It was as if a torrential rainstorm poured down upon the Bridge.
In the distance, the sun was setting behind the mountains, the moon climbing into the clouds, the sky dim and dusky.
A rainy night. The Bridge. Those holding swords. And the Demon King’s minions.
The sword was cold; the blood was hot.
Anna stood proudly before the tide of monsters, like a majestic Dragon.
There was not a trace of fear in her; she simply raised her sword and met the onrushing horde.
She was not fighting alone. The air grew ever colder, as if even the clouds had frozen. Hailstones constantly crashed down from the sky, striking the monstrous wave and spraying up splashes.
Each time a patrol missile launched from the Bridgehead, an icicle intercepted it with perfect precision—Ophelia would never allow any threat to interfere with her Anna.
She would not permit any obstacle before her sword.
Suddenly, Anna’s back slammed into solid armor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jessica’s blood-soaked figure.
Her sword was chipped all over, her armor more dented than before. Her shield was utterly shattered; all she held was the remnant of what once was.
Blood streamed down her forehead. Gritting her teeth, Jessica tightened her grip on her sword.
“Don’t push yourself.”
Anna sounded worried.
“I’m fine.”
Jessica took a deep breath and raised her sword. Though her arm trembled with exhaustion, she clenched her hand ever tighter, her eyes clear as a mirror as she stared at the monster horde before her.
“Can you cover me?”
Anna’s gaze never left Wululu.
She had to break through to him—only then could Lidia seize her one, fatal opportunity.
“I can.”
Jessica’s voice was soft, her words trembling at the end, yet filled with unshakable resolve.
“My back is yours.”
Suddenly, Anna moved. She slashed her way forward against the tide, surging ahead like a skiff cutting through crashing waves.
The skeleton soldiers howled, trying to surround her, but Jessica’s Iron Armor was a wall they could not cross.
Like a rampart, she stood firm behind Anna. Blades hacked at her armor to no avail—she would simply turn and cleave a skeleton in two.
Just as Anna was about to reach Wululu, she halted. The skeleton soldiers beat her to it, closing the encirclement, and Wululu leapt down from the Bridgehead, approaching the trapped Anna and Jessica.
He spat out the grass stem he’d been chewing, his face lighting up with amused anticipation.
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