"Hey, don't just stand there, it's not over yet! Daydreaming during a battle will get you killed!"

Tiran swiftly beheaded the black Elf archer with a single sword strike, but his movements did not stop there. His blood-stained sword traced a complete arc in the air, flinging blood and freezing the moisture in the air into a rough but exceedingly sharp ice blade, which then descended from the sky.

Upon witnessing this, the two black Elves almost cursed out loud. This was outrageous! Tiran had just displayed a Chi intensity of no more than level seven, which was barely considered entering the threshold of a high-ranking knight. If he had fought using the same tactics as before, he would have exhausted himself by now. But he had somehow managed to conjure such a large ice blade?

"Retreat, something's not right with this guy...?!" The shadowy assassin, who had just entertained the thought of backing off, stumbled and almost fell as he tried to step back, only to find both his feet frozen in solid ice.

"Damn it! When did this happen?! Was it from that Chi outburst just now?" The assassin's mind was in chaos. He immediately used the weapon in his hand to break the ice surrounding his feet, but a deathly roar echoed above his head.

Crack!

The ice blade descended with tremendous force, striking the defenseless assassin directly and leaving only a severed body. Blood splattered three meters away, dripping onto the boots of the black Elf swordsman who was still standing.

"Oh my, perhaps that was a bit too brutal. It's like a restricted scene."

The corpse of the black Elf on the ground had been cut in half along the crack made by the ice blade. The wound was frozen by the cold, not allowing any blood to flow, forming a blood-red frost at the injury. The disfigured face still held an expression of astonishment.

Hmph, even without the power of a Holy Rank, I am invincible. Tiran leaned on his sword, slightly out of breath. His other hand covered his slightly contorted face due to pain. It was a good deal to have killed two opponents while enduring two arrows, but it hurt so much that tears were welling up.

"You're the last one standing over there, even though I know you won't understand, I still have to say it. Cleanse your neck and prepare to die!"

Suppressing the pain in his left shoulder, Tiran coldly smiled as he broke the arrow shaft. The intense pain caused his lips to twitch involuntarily... Ouch! It hurts so much! The protagonists in novels always look cool when they do this!

After all, I've only recovered this little bit of strength, and yet I'm barely holding up against three opponents... Luckily, they're far enough away that they can't tell, so it doesn't affect my momentum.

After all his companions fell, the black Elf swordsman, fueled by anger instead of fear, widened his eyes and let out two roars that Tiran completely didn't understand. Then, he reversed his grip on his knife and severed his own wrist vein, allowing fresh blood to flow freely.

The crimson blood had just begun to flow from the wound when it turned from deep red to pitch black, coiling and winding like a snake, leaving runic tattoos on the swordsman's skin. His presence surged at the same time.

"...Berserk mode? Hmph, such an unoriginal trick. Looks like I'm not the only one cheating," the princess muttered as she gripped her sword and charged forward. The black aura on the curved blade in the swordsman's hand had intensified several times. Seeing Tiran charge straight at him, he also swung his blade.

In that instant, Tiran sensed the danger and immediately halted his steps. Then, a pitch-black sword wind grazed his face, leaving a deep groove on the ground and striking a lamppost behind him. The metal pole crashed to the ground, and the shattered glass of the lampshade bounced around. The evening light grew even dimmer.

"Roar!!!" In the state of frenzy, the black Elf bladesman seemed to struggle to keep his consciousness clear. While roaring wildly, he swung his curved blade continuously, causing a black torrent of energy to surge and form a raging gust of wind that spanned over ten meters. Within an instant, multiple sharp and unstoppable gusts of wind were unleashed, either demolishing buildings or lifting the ground, leaving Tiran slightly amazed.

Wow, he's slashing so recklessly without considering accuracy. Although his strength is so formidable that it would be difficult for me to block a direct attack, it seems like a waste for someone without an infinite mana buff. Where did he get so much Chi from?

Nevertheless, it seems that I'm just as fearless.

"Unlimited Blade Works!"

Planting the blade into the ground, a sparkling frost quickly spread out, covering an area of dozens of meters, releasing a chilling aura and creating numerous ice blade formations on the ground. This formation of blades effectively withstood the bladesman's wild slashes.

"It seems he's truly lost his clarity."

Although engulfed in the pirate-edition sword technique concocted by Tiran with a whimsical name, the bladesman chose not to retreat and continued to stand his ground, unleashing his attacks. A clear-minded warrior would not make such a choice.

Well, it's time to attack without hesitation!

Tiran extended her palm and forcefully swung it downwards. Countless ice crystals condensed from the frosty cloud above rained down on the bladesman like droplets of a storm. Being preoccupied with the continuous slashes, the bladesman was unable to attend to what was above him and was soon pierced by multiple ice blades.

"He's mine!"

During the pause in the gust of wind, Tiran leaped out of the sword formation and delivered a strike. With the support of the infinite mana buff, even after several bursts of attacks, Tiran's blade retained its frosty chill. Even before touching the black Elf bladesman's skin, it frosted over half of his body.

But... something's not right!

That frost is not the result of my Chi! Tiran realized something was amiss. Her Level 7 ice attribute Chi couldn't produce such intensity. And there's an enemy!

"Thank you for your sacrifice, Laurent."

In mid-air, a woman with pale golden hair manifested herself, gracefully landing on the ground. With a flick of her wrist, a staff appeared, and a cyan-hued magic circle emerged beneath the black Elf bladesman's feet.

"Freeze."

This old schemer, who would have expected her here? Even after losing two comrades and rendering two incapacitated, she still wouldn't appear. And when she finally made her move, she attacked not only Tiran but her own teammate as well, timing it perfectly to coincide with Tiran passing by the bladesman.

"You! Are you even sparing your own comrades?"

Despite trying her best to dodge, Tiran's right half of the body was still encapsulated in ice. The cold pierced through her skin and into her body, seemingly freezing even her blood, causing her Chi to dissipate. Not far away, the bladesman and the black Elf that Tiran had initially knocked unconscious were both completely frozen, appearing dead.

This is bad. The princess swallowed her saliva.

"It's alright. He had just used his last resort technique, so he shouldn't be able to recover." With golden hair flowing, the woman walked straight toward Tiran without even sparing a glance at the fallen comrade.

She can speak the human language? And... she's not black-skinned?

"Haha, if you're surprised. Learning the human language isn't that difficult. As for my skin... I am, to some extent, a member of the Holy Temple Priest family. Don't compare me with those fallen black Elves, Your Highness."

The golden-haired woman extended her right hand and lightly grazed Tiran's cheek with two fingers, brushing against the wound caused by the arrow.

The wound sent waves of slight pain, which was so fine that it felt a bit itchy, causing Tiran to furrow his brow. This guy... Although he sounded like he was with the Black Elf, he looked different from those grunts who were solely focused on causing destruction, and he even recognized Tiran.

But it seemed like their goal was Coco.

"My name is Agatha. Of course, Your Highness wouldn't recognize me, but I know about your relationship with Princess Coco," Agatha said with a smile.

Huh... huh?!

"However, time is a bit tight. I thought Ciella was not around, which I assume was a mistake. Let's get straight to the point. Your Highness, do you know where Princess Coco is? As an exchange, I can consider not exposing the fact that you no longer have the combat power of a Holy Rank. Don't lie, I can tell," Agatha asked with a smile, glancing at the sky where the magitech devices were still guiding the battle forces in the academy city.

Actually, Agatha's primary goal was to directly capture Coco, but she didn't expect Ciella, who had been missing for a long time, to still be in the academy city. And since a few Black Elf had encountered Tiran here, she could only settle for second best.

Tiran stared at her face for a while, then sighed suddenly, shrugged his unfrozen shoulder, and smirked, making an extremely arrogant pose as he hummingly said, "If you feel like saying it, then say it. The thing I, Tiran Elysian, like most is telling off self-righteous people!"

Well... even though he responded like this, Princess Coco was actually quite anxious.

This Agatha was quite strong; she seemed to belong to the hyper-spec Ninth Level, and Aya might not be able to handle her. Luckily, the other Black Elf who were aware of their own capabilities were all dead. As long as Ciella could hold Agatha back, they could prevent the information from leaking.

"That's not entirely accurate. It was within my expectations. I just thought it would save a lot of trouble if you told me directly, Your Highness," Agatha touched her cheek and thought for a moment before answering.

"Just out of curiosity, what do you plan to do?" Tiran felt a bit panicked as he met her gaze.

"For example... capturing you and subjecting you to harsh tortures, then showing your pitiful state to Princess Coco. Princess Coco should be unable to resist coming to find you, right?"

"Do you have any other plans? I'm actually a little afraid of pain. But if you want to capture me..."

The dumb dragon didn't want to be called that, so he might as well summon Little Fei Zi using the Angel Covenant.

Submerging his consciousness into the imprint of the Angel Covenant, Tiran gave instructions through the covenant, grinned, and said, "But it won't be that easy!"

Silence fell.

"By the way, Your Highness, if you want to summon that dragon, I used a spell to temporarily disrupt the magical elements in this area. The summoning information won't be able to spread," Agatha smiled slightly, curtsying with her skirt as if at a fancy dinner.

Tiran's smile froze on his face, and he forced a few awkward laughs, thinking that things had really gotten out of hand this time.

"Well then, Your Highness, let's leave now," Agatha clapped her hands, and an invisible blade of psychic energy effortlessly cut through the ice freezing Tiran, while pushing the cut ice block towards the direction of leaving the city.

"Hey, wait a minute, tell me why you're capturing Coco! Maybe I can help solve the problem! Hey, hey, don't push! Don't rush!"

Agatha, on the other hand, paid no attention to Tiran. She casually threw a seed on the ground, and it rapidly grew into a plant, its roots piercing through the floor tiles, reaching a height of a person.

"I'm leaving the city, so go ahead," Agatha said to a blooming flower at the top of the plant.

With those words, the plant withered just as suddenly as it had grown.

…

Ciella, who remained high above the exhibition venue, overseeing the World Eye, sensed the anomaly. She furrowed her brows momentarily, then relaxed.

"So, they want to confuse us, huh? If I were the only one here, I would have to go and check it out. But it seems unnecessary now. I'll leave that to you over there. I'll focus on catching these little bugs," Ciella said, twirling the orb in her hand. She glanced briefly in the direction of the island in the lake and didn't look again.