“Step, step, step…”

The Crimson figure sprinted through the rainy night. Every step landed heavily on the wet ground, sending splashes flying like burning flames against the darkness.

She raced through winding streets and narrow alleys. Beneath the dim yellow streetlights, her figure looked both lonely and resolute.

Her face was touched by a sickly pallor, yet an unyielding light still flickered in her eyes.

Behind her, Azure moved like a leopard stalking through the night. The blue high boots formed from her Magic Armor only brushed the ground, making not a sound.

She was light on her feet, yet powerful. Each step seemed to shorten the distance between them.

Her blade-sharp gaze locked onto the Crimson figure ahead, as if saying:

“No matter where you run, I’ll catch up to you.”

In the darkness, their chase grew fiercer by the second.

The houses lining both sides of the street cast mottled shadows through the thin fog and sheets of rain. The shadows stretched the figures of Crimson and Azure longer and longer, until both disappeared into the bottomless darkness.

But to Azure and Crimson, everything else was merely scenery.

At that moment, only one thought filled their minds—catch up, or escape.

This chase was not merely a contest of Mana and endurance. It was also a clash of will and conviction.

Crimson darted into an alley.

At a narrow entrance, Azure suddenly accelerated. Her body shot toward Crimson like an arrow loosed from its bow.

Crimson sensed Azure closing in behind her. She knew there was nowhere left to run.

So she drew a deep breath, turned around, and prepared to face this final confrontation.

Their figures crossed in the dim alley, while the shadows beneath their feet split apart. It was as if the boundary between two worlds had shattered at that moment.

They stood apart, yet remained closely connected.

The wind of their fists howled. The air seemed to tear apart, giving rise to shrill, piercing screams.

Their feet moved in chaos. Every step landed on the rhythm of the other’s attack, each trying to find an opening.

Around Crimson, crimson Mana coiled like flames. At times, it took the shape of Blades. At others, it condensed into shields.

It intertwined with Azure’s power and erupted in bursts of dazzling light.

“You can’t escape anymore. Come back, Crimson… Come with me.”

Azure’s voice echoed through the night.

Her voice was colder than the rain.

The rain mercilessly soaked their hair, then slid down their foreheads. It mingled with their sweat before drenching their clothes.

In the rain, Crimson silently lowered her head. The light in her eyes gradually dimmed.

She knew her path of escape had reached its end.

Azure drew her Wand from her waist. She took a Magic Stone from the case and placed it in the center of the Wand.

The conical device gave a light push.

The Magic Stone shattered, and the Mana within surged out, gathering at the tip of the Wand.

Azure aimed the Wand at Crimson’s brow. Her expression remained unchanged, but a trace of inexplicable disgust showed in her eyes.

The next moment, however, that disgust was suppressed.

“I’m not going back with you.”

Crimson’s voice pierced through the rain.

A thread of crimson Mana gathered between her palms. It could erupt at any moment.

Azure raised her Wand at once. A silver magic bullet shot toward Crimson’s face.

Crimson swung the crimson Mana in her palm and slapped the magic bullet away.

“Clang!”

The magic bullet smashed into the wall with a deafening boom. Even the surrounding rain trembled from the impact.

The light at the alley entrance swayed violently, as if it might go out at any moment.

The wavering light blurred Azure’s figure, making her look like a hazy silhouette appearing and vanishing in the rainy night.

Crimson seized the chance to launch a fierce attack.

Her figure raced through the dim alley entrance. Every step sent water splashing into the air.

Crimson Mana churned around her, burning like roaring flames. She swung both palms and closed in on Azure, trying to shatter that hazy silhouette.

But when Crimson’s attack touched the blurred figure, it scattered into a curtain of water.

The next second, Azure appeared behind Crimson.

The tip of her Wand held pressure far beyond that of Chapter Three. It seemed ready to blast the figure before her and the surrounding area into fragments.

“Stop!”

A fierce wind swept up the raindrops.

A cyan figure tore through the curtain of rain and charged straight toward the center of the battlefield.

The Zone Fifteen Guardian raised the Wind King Barrier. Howling winds formed an invisible wall of air and struck Azure away.

She knocked Azure’s Wand into the air with her sword.

But the Mana stored inside the Wand did not disperse. Instead, it carved a dazzling trail through the sky.

A pillar of light shot into the heavens and scattered the rain clouds above.

The rain gradually stopped.

“You’re Crimson, aren’t you?”

The Zone Fifteen Guardian’s gaze fell upon Crimson behind her.

Crimson’s body was covered in wounds of various sizes. Her cheeks were pale from excessive blood loss.

Rain mixed with blood and soaked into her injuries, leaving her skin strangely white.

“Go. I’ll hold her off. Night Frost is around the corner!”

“No. We’ll go together—”

Before Crimson could finish, Azure charged forward.

Without her Wand, the Mana fluctuations around Azure had weakened considerably. Now that she had lost her weapon, she gave the Zone Fifteen Guardian the impression that even someone at Chapter Three could defeat her.

The Zone Fifteen Guardian raised her sword and stood in front of Crimson, covering her retreat.

Azure’s attacks landed against the Guardian’s blade, but they were weak and powerless.

Step by step, the two of them reached the alley’s corner.

There, a Formation rose into place and enveloped them both.

“This is a Formation disc. It can conceal our figures and presence. We’ll be safe for now.”

Azure simply walked straight through the Formation without stopping.

After Azure left, the two of them passed through a patch of nearby grass and reached the edge of the alley on the other side.

“Where’s Night Frost?”

Crimson looked around, but she couldn’t find any trace of Night Frost.

Meanwhile, the Zone Fifteen Guardian kept retreating step by step.

As Crimson watched the Guardian’s distant figure, a trace of unease surfaced in her heart. She tightly gripped the Magic Stone, ready to erupt at any moment.

Beneath Crimson’s feet, where there had been nothing before, an extremely complex Formation suddenly unfolded.

Crimson’s eyes widened.

Who would have thought there was another Formation disc hidden here?

The Zone Fifteen Guardian’s retreat just now had been to avoid being caught in it.

“What are you doing?! Aren’t we companions?!”

Crimson struck the Formation with all her strength.

But the Zone Fifteen Guardian outside the Formation gave no answer. She seemed to be waiting for the right moment.

“Stop pretending, Guardian of the Seventh District. We know your plan.”

After a long silence, the Zone Fifteen Guardian finally spoke.

A faint smile touched her face.

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Crimson continued pounding on the barrier, making it ripple with light. Her expression showed that she truly didn’t understand what the Zone Fifteen Guardian was saying.

“Fine. You want proof…”

The Zone Fifteen Guardian beckoned.

“Come down.”

A crimson figure descended and landed before the Zone Fifteen Guardian.

She looked exactly like the Crimson trapped inside the glass barrier. But her eyes held far more vitality and confidence.

“She’s fake!”

Crimson hammered on the barrier.

Ripples spread across its surface, but her shouts and actions never reached the Zone Fifteen Guardian’s ears.

Instead, they only amused her.

“I’m not some monk from a famous classic who came here to watch you argue over whether ‘you’re real’ or ‘I’m fake.’”

“We have proof, of course. That’s how we know you’re the fake one.”

Crimson suddenly fell silent inside the barrier.

Azure couldn’t possibly fail to find her from such a short distance. But Azure still hadn’t appeared.

There was only one possibility—she had been held back.

That meant they had hard evidence proving she was fake.

“Then there’s no need to keep pretending.”

A pair of scissors appeared in Crimson’s hand.

She gave them a light wave.

The building before her was sliced diagonally and collapsed. Fragments rained down as dust billowed into the air.

Then her face began to melt.

The features of the Guardian of the Seventh District emerged.

The Crimson inside the barrier had been the Guardian of the Seventh District in disguise all along.

Two days ago, Azure had informed the Guardian of the Seventh District that Crimson had escaped.

But Azure had come up with a plan that would kill two birds with one stone.

The Guardian of the Seventh District would disguise herself as Crimson, while Azure would pursue her.

That way, they could lure the real Crimson out and locate Night Frost and the others at the same time.

It was a perfect two-for-one plan.

And today was their first “performance” after rehearsing it.

“How did you know?!”

The Guardian of the Seventh District took one step forward.

A second Array Pattern appeared, gathering the surrounding droplets and shaping them into a wall of water.

“It’s simple.”

Night Frost landed on the rooftop.

At the same time, Azure appeared before the Guardian of the Seventh District with a dark expression.

“I met Crimson two days ago.”

“When I appeared in the sky, I wasn’t merely chatting with you. I released a strand of Mana fluctuation and ignited the half of a ribbon Crimson once gave me.”

“Because of that ribbon, we soon reunited with Crimson.”

Night Frost took the ribbon from her robes.

Its phantom still contained a faint image of Crimson. But the ribbon had become incredibly fragile.

The moment Night Frost brought it out, the wind scattered it into particles of Mana.

Nearby, Crimson covered her mouth and laughed.

“And there’s something else. Your acting was terrible…”

“You’re all at Chapter Three, yet you were still putting on such a childish show.”

“There’s a word that suits you perfectly. What was it again…? Oh, right. ‘Clowns.’”

“Actually, Night Frost and the others originally wanted to take me away.”

“But I wanted to settle things with you, Azure. And the Zone Fifteen Guardian and Night Frost had grudges against you too, so they stayed behind.”

To be honest, Night Frost felt the same way.

Their performance had been far too unconvincing.

Azure’s expression darkened.

She drew a Wand from within her robes.

The Wand that had been knocked away earlier was a cheap imitation. This one was her usual Wand.

She raised it and aimed at the three people before her.

A Magic Cannon fired instantly.

“Hey, hey! Aren’t you worried your followers will start suspecting you if you fire a Magic Cannon here…?”

Night Frost leaped lightly into the air and dodged the blast.

Facing the Guardian of the Seventh District, she continued:

“It’s fine. I had them evacuate long ago. After all, a god needs a home of her own.”

“No wonder things have been quieter lately. But the Fourth District is only so large. Where could you have sent them?”

Night Frost hadn’t expected her casual question to receive an answer.

The Guardian of the Seventh District gripped her scissors and swung them forward. A wave of air swept out, carrying her voice straight into Night Frost’s ears.

“Somewhere else, of course.”