Sicily’s seaside was meant to be a haven of love and harmony.

—Or so it should have been.

But now…

“Xier! You can’t run! Taste my Fire Lotus!”

A russet-haired woman hurled a pale blue fire lotus at the lithe figure ahead.

At the shout, the girl didn’t even glance back—she dove face-first into the sand. Her form was so textbook-perfect it would’ve made Ryosuke’s前世 special forces blush.

The fire lotus whistled toward the calm sea…

***Splash!***

A colossal geyser erupted.

“Whoa! A tyrant truly is a tyrant—even her own handmaiden isn’t spared! Tsk tsk… such *guts*!”

Far out at sea, a teenage girl whooped, vanishing ten meters farther in a blink.

Thankfully, this stretch of beach was isolated by reefs. Otherwise, panic would’ve spread.

Even so, the explosion drew stares from the outer shore.

“Wow! Mama! Look! Fireworks!” chirped a child.

The elegant woman beside him instantly flicked his forehead.

“Idiot! Did I ever teach you fireworks look like *that*?!”

The boy pouted, rubbing his head. “Then… what *is* it, Mama?”

The lady’s eyes grew dreamy. “It’s… *water*… *fireworks*!”

***Thud!*** People around her face-planted en masse.

Back to the main act.

The fire lotus thrower? Our tyrant, Saori.

The girl who shamed special forces? Her maid, Xier.

And the one showboating far offshore—

Ahem. Best left unmentioned.

She’d already shamed the Radiant Ten Stars.

Xier rose slowly from the sand, turning her head with mechanical stiffness. Her hollow voice seemed to echo from abyssal darkness.

“Young Mistress… was this *really* necessary…?”

Seeing Xier no longer flee, Saori slowed her pace, stepping closer.

“Hmph. You dared conspire with outsiders to mock me. You knew the consequences, Xier!”

“Young Mistress!” Xier retorted sharply. “*You* forced my hand!”

Xier planted her feet, fiery energy swirling around her.

Saori flicked her hair back, hand on hip—her curves unmistakable.

“Ten years… It’s been ten years since we last fought, Xier…”

“Time flies…” Xier murmured, lost in memory. “I still remember you as a baby—so innocent.”

“Xier, I’m *two years older* than you!” Saori flashed a victory sign—emphasizing the “two years.”

But to Xier, those two fingers were a blatant provocation.

“So… this battle is unavoidable…”

Xier crouched low, her usual playfulness replaced by grim focus. *Is this even a magic stance?*

“Come then! Xier! Our master-servant duel after ten years!” Saori roared, every inch the tyrant.

“Go, Xier! Big sister’s got your back!” Kozi yelled from waist-deep water, ignoring whether they heard. Her Battle Qi’s “shifting” nature kept her steady even in deep waves.

*How far am I from shore?* Saori and Xier were barely specks now. *Got carried away again…*

Kozi smirked, recalling her brilliant scheme. *Heh. Genius, as always. Even tyrants fall to me…*

On the beach, the duel was inevitable.

Their auras surged, whipping the wind into chaos.

“Bring it, Xier!”

“Prepare yourself, Young Mistress!”

They charged—then

—tumbled together in the sand.

“I tickle! I tickle! Surrender already, Young Mistress!” Xier’s hands shot into Saori’s ribs. Saori collapsed in breathless giggles.

“Not done yet!” Xier flipped Saori over, pinning her down. Her hands snaked sideways—then *squeezed*.

“Ahahaha! Xier! Stop! I surrender! I SURRENDER!”

Kozi’s jaw dropped. Her eye twitched.

*I expected a real fight…*

“This sucks! So boring!” She slapped the water in fury—

***SPLASH!***

A geyser ten times taller blasted skyward.

Outer shore chaos erupted anew.

“Again?!”

“Hey… could it really be… *water fireworks*?!”

“Ugh… suddenly feels terrifying…”

“Let’s quit…”

“Yeah… come back tomorrow…”

The crowd that mocked the lady earlier slunk away, ashamed.

The towering water column caught Saori’s attention.

Kozi froze mid-rage.

*Since when does a slap do THAT? I didn’t even use Battle Qi…*

Saori’s expression turned grave. Xier stood silently at her right rear—

their battle stance, honed over years.

Kozi’s Battle Qi recoiled instinctively. *Something terrifying’s down there…*

Beneath Sicily’s distant waves—

—a sea monster lurked.

Its aura screamed *seventh-tier beast*.

Not as mighty as the Emerald Dragon, but far beyond Kozi’s solo strength.

The beast had slept peacefully here for centuries.

Until today.

Three nuisances had churned the sea with magic and Battle Qi.

“Kozi! Get back!” Saori yelled. Confident in her dual magic-martial prowess, she knew: a water-dwelling beast held the advantage.

Both she and Xier wielded fire.

Fighting underwater meant one thing—

—certain defeat.

“No kidding!” Kozi shot back, unleashing her full strength. A deep violet barrier enveloped her.

No more hiding—

—Peak Fighter King!

She became a violet streak racing shoreward.

Behind her, crushing pressure closed in.

“Wahhh! Why me?!” Kozi sobbed, whipping ten energy serpents backward. They struck something—

***BOOM!***

The backlash hurled her skyward. Her barrier flickered. A mere shockwave had rattled a Peak Fighter King.

Such was seventh-tier might.

“Xier!” Saori cried. She launched herself like purple lightning toward Kozi.

Four years ago, she’d shown Great Fighter strength at the Radiant Ten Stars trials. Now?

Her violet aura proved it—

—Fighter King class!

Xier was ready. At Saori’s call, she unleashed a translucent fire dragon. It roared across the waves—

—to block the beast’s assault.

A colossal water column erupted. Xier’s dragon met it head-on.

***Hssssk!*** Steam hissed violently.

The dragon dissolved within seconds.

But that second bought Saori time.

Mid-air, Saori flung nine violet fire lotuses. They detonated in sequence against the geyser.

Kozi snapped out of her daze. Ten serpents coiled with Saori’s lotuses, biting the water column.

Though strangers in battle, their coordination was flawless.

The water column shattered their attacks—yet still surged dozens of meters upward before collapsing.

*This* was seventh-tier power.

And this beast paled beside the Poison Fog Swamp’s Emerald Dragon.

Saori lowered Kozi onto the sand. Xier rushed to support them.

Arm in arm, they retreated.

The sea calmed—but they knew it was still there.

Closing in.

“Young Mistress…” Xier whispered weakly. Even Kozi leaned on Saori.

Unspoken, Saori had become their anchor.

“It’s fine. Lure it ashore… then drive it back,” Saori said, forcing calm. Her voice trembled slightly.

Kozi had seen real battles—but even her shoulders shook.

*Who’d expect a tourist paradise to hide a monster like this?!*

Suddenly, the sea boiled like a cauldron.

A ten-meter-wide eyeball surfaced.

The three gasped. A beast this size could wipe out the entire beach.

Yet—

Their shock deepened as the eyeball froze. Half a second later, it let out a terrified wail and vanished. Only a dark shadow fled into the depths.

The beast had seen more than three girls.

Behind them strolled a silver-haired youth.

His ordinary eyes held:

—arrogance that scorned all beneath heaven;

—dominance that conquered earth and sky;

—as if, in the next breath, he would reign over all creation.

To the beast, he was no mere youth.

He was a silver ice-frost dragon coiled above the shore—

—its scythe-like, ice-carved claws gripping a battered Emerald Dragon—

—roaring toward the heavens.