“Uh… cough cough!”
The Shadow Demon clutched its chest, coughing up a mouthful of black blood.
That shockwave earlier had slammed hard into its chest, and combined with crashing into the tree, its internal organs were nearly shattered.
‘How is this pink-haired girl so strong?’
‘The intel from my familiar said she was just a High Swordsman who had barely reached Level 3 swordsmanship.’
‘But that flame shockwave just now—that was Sword Qi.’
‘Could she be a Level 5 Magic Swordsman?’
The Shadow Demon struggled to its feet, its mind racing.
After years of assassinations, it had a thorough understanding of the human swordsmanship system.
Human swordsmanship was divided into ten levels.
For the first eight levels, every two levels formed a rank: Levels 1~2 were Swordsmen, then High Swordsman, Magic Swordsman, Sword Master, Level 9 was Sword Saint, and then there was the legendary Sword God, said to be achieved only by that Yin Hui Jian Ji.
Within this system, the most critical threshold was the leap from High Swordsman to Magic Swordsman.
Because a Magic Swordsman had awakened Sword Qi—no longer just using Mana to strengthen the body and blade, but able to materialize Mana into various solid forms to attack the enemy.
Just like that flame shockwave earlier.
As far as it knew, among the students at that academy, only those in the third year or above could reach the Magic Swordsman level.
‘Damn it, that intel was fake!’
‘My intel has never been wrong before—why did it fail this time?’
‘That pink-haired girl is a Magic Swordsman. I definitely can’t beat her. I have to escape.’
‘When I get back, I need to change my familiar. This false intel nearly got me killed.’
The Shadow Demon reached a hand into its black robe, groping for the Black Smoke Bomb it had prepared, planning to create a smokescreen and flee.
But all it touched were two shattered fragments.
‘Huh?’
The Shadow Demon froze.
‘When did this Black Smoke Bomb break?’
It jerked its head up to look at the pink-haired girl.
The pink-haired girl tilted her head, glanced at it, and the corner of her mouth curled slightly.
‘When did she…?’
In the Shadow Demon’s mind flashed the image of that earlier strike—the flame shockwave had hit exactly, dead-on, the spot where it had hidden the Black Smoke Bomb.
‘How did she even know where the Black Smoke Bomb was?’
The Shadow Demon suddenly felt panicked.
In all its years of assassination, this was the first time it had encountered an opponent who could completely seal off its escape route.
“Hehehe… hahaha…”
Suddenly, it lowered its head, letting out a low laugh.
‘A monster like this has appeared in the empire’s academy?’
‘She’s only a first-year and already a Magic Swordsman. At that academy’s training pace, probably…’
‘No, I can’t let her live. She will become the greatest threat to the Demon Race in the future!’
It made up its mind—at any cost, it would kill her here.
“You leave me no choice.”
The Shadow Demon raised its dagger in its right hand, aimed at its own chest, and plunged it in deep.
Black blood poured from the wound, rapidly gathering toward the dagger.
“Urgh…”
The Shadow Demon staggered in pain, but it didn’t fall.
Instead, it lifted its head and shouted:
“Great Flame Demon God, your humble servant offers a sacrifice here.”
It drove the dagger deeper, its voice growing more feverish.
“I offer my flesh and soul. Grant me the power to burn everything! Let those ants who dare trample the Demon Race’s dignity be reduced to ashes in your wrath!”
Hearing the Shadow Demon’s cry, Duoluolisi knew this was bad.
This was the Shadow Demon’s last resort—giving up everything to trade for the Flame Demon God’s power and transform into a Flame Demon.
The Flame Demon God was the Demon God of the Demon Clan, one of the Three Demon Gods.
His Hellfire could burn everything.
Any living thing killed by Hellfire could not be revived even by Undead Resurrection Magic.
Wherever the flames passed, nothing would grow for a hundred years.
As subordinates of the Demon Clan, the Shadow Demon Clan naturally had the right to trade with the Flame Demon God.
But the price was that shortly after becoming a Flame Demon, its soul would completely dissipate, turning it into a mindless puppet.
No one would willingly do this unless absolutely necessary.
In this part of the story, only if you dragged out the fight with the Shadow Demon too long would it be forced to use this move.
Reaching this stage meant they had entered the worst route.
She calculated the time—it seemed to coincide with the exact moment in the game.
‘No, I have to interrupt its transformation. Once it becomes a Flame Demon, it’ll be a nightmare.’
Duoluolisi felt completely drained.
In her current state, she couldn’t possibly rush over to stop the Shadow Demon’s transformation.
That left only Feili.
‘She’s been reborn so many times, she should know to interrupt the spellcasting, right?’
But then Duoluolisi noticed that Feili was still smiling at her.
‘Turn around and look, would you?!’
‘It’s about to transform, and you’re still staring at me? Am I that pretty?!’
‘Hurry up and interrupt it!’
“Quick…”
Just as Duoluolisi started to speak, Feili seemed to realize the gravity of the situation and finally turned around.
‘Whew… finally…’
But Feili just crossed her arms and silently watched the Shadow Demon transform, like she was watching a show.
‘Seriously? You’re just going to watch?’
‘Does its transformation have nothing to do with you?’
Duoluolisi panicked and ignored her exhaustion, stepping forward two paces—only for Feili to reach out and block her.
“Don’t rush, little miss~ It’s fine. Let it transform.”
Feili wore an expression like she had everything under control, which made Duoluolisi freeze.
‘Let it transform?’
‘Are you saying you can beat a Flame Demon?’
Boom!
A jet of black flame erupted from the Shadow Demon’s body, like Hellfire from the abyss, devouring its form.
“Aaaaargh!”
The Shadow Demon let out a painful roar.
When the flames cleared, what stood in its place was no longer the black-robed figure.
Its body had doubled in size.
Two demon horns jutted from its head, and its eyes had become two blazing balls of Black Flame.
Black Flame coalesced into a black core on its chest, and its entire body was covered in dark red rock armor, with glowing lava flowing through the cracks.
The Flame Demon raised its right arm, slowly clenching its fist, feeling the Black Flame flickering between its fingers.
“So this is the power of a Demon God?”
Then it laughed.
“Hahahaha! Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”
Its laughter abruptly stopped.
It lowered its head, locking onto the pink-haired girl still holding that pose.
“Pink-haired brat, you looked down on me earlier, didn’t you?”
It raised both arms, two balls of black flame igniting in its hands.
“Now, taste the power of this Hellfire!”
The Flame Demon swung both arms, and two balls of Black Flame howled toward Feili.
Feili lowered her arms, elegantly drew her sword, and swept it upward lightly.
The Black Flame was cut in half, passing by her sides and hitting two trees behind her.
The trees were quickly consumed by the Black Flame, leaving not even ash behind.
“Hmm~ So this is the power of a Demon God?”
Feili’s tone was full of disappointment.
“So impressive~”
“You!”
The Flame Demon flew into a rage, swinging both arms repeatedly, sending ball after ball of Black Flame raining down on Feili.
Feili didn’t dodge or avoid.
Her blade danced lightly in the air, slicing every Black Flame ball in half.
The surroundings blazed everywhere, turning into a scorched wasteland.
But within the cone-shaped area behind her, not a single spark could get close—it remained completely untouched.
“Impossible!”
The Flame Demon’s eyes, burning with Black Flame, went wide.
“How can you withstand Hellfire?”
“Have you finished your moves, Mr. Flame Demon?”
Seeing that the Flame Demon had stopped its assault, Feili rested her sword on her shoulder.
“If you’re done, then it’s my turn~”
She raised her sword high above her head, and the blade reignited with crimson flame.
But this time, the flame was even hotter than before, illuminating the entire forest.
Then she turned her head and winked at Duoluolisi.
“Little miss, watch closely now~”