“S-She can use magic! Could she be a Saint Cultivator?!”
“B-Big Brother, what do we do? They can control mana! We’re no match for them!”
The towering flames erupted all around them. The men, who’d been grinning lecherously just moments ago, lost their nerve in an instant.
What kind of joke was this? They might be a pack of scum and thugs, but at the end of the day, they were only ordinary people, a little stronger than most. How could they possibly stand against a Saint Cultivator?!
Many of them had legs that were trembling. They wanted to run, but flames had already sealed off every side. There was nowhere to go. All they could do was remain trapped here by the fire.
If their opponent had only just started learning magic, the thugs might’ve had a chance by rushing her all at once. But looking at the towering flames all around them, there was no way she was a complete beginner.
For now, the flames had only formed a circle around everyone present. If she’d wanted to, she could’ve burned them all to ash just moments ago. How could they possibly have had a chance to fight back?
“A-A spell on this scale… Only a Saint Cultivator of Upper Rank could pull that off!”
“Big Brother, what should we do?”
Cai Ni didn’t answer his two brothers.
He was too stunned to speak. The moment the flames burst into life, his heart had clenched hard, and he was suddenly back on the battlefield, facing enemy Saint Cultivators. That had been… utterly terrifying!
“Kneel…”
Cai Ni said slowly.
“Boss…”
“B-Big Brother, what do you mean?”
The others could hardly believe their ears. Their boss could be a little too cautious, but he’d never backed down when facing an opponent before.
And now, facing this silver-haired girl, he was telling his men to kneel?
“Didn’t you hear me? I said, kneel!”
Cai Ni roared at the others. Then he threw down his own sword first and knelt before the silver-haired girl.
Everyone knew they were no match for the girl in front of them. But there were so many of them, and none of them had thought of surrendering outright. They’d all been counting on their boss to come up with a plan.
But a moment’s thought was all it took to see the truth. With such an enormous gap in strength, and their escape routes sealed off, there was no room for any scheme or trick to work.
Even the Empty Fort Strategy needed a zither and a few wounded soldiers. What did Cai Ni have? Apart from the pack of scum behind him, nothing. So begging for forgiveness on his knees was the best he could do.
Not everyone could figure that out, of course. But with their boss already on his knees, who could possibly keep playing the hero? Even their hot-tempered second-in-command was kneeling right alongside him.
The others had no choice but to follow Cai Ni’s example. They threw down their weapons and knelt before the silver-haired girl.
“We surrender! Please, Your Grace, show mercy and spare this worthless life!”
After saying that, Cai Ni braced both hands against the ground and kowtowed to Bai Ye three times, not caring in the slightest about his dignity.
The only thing on his mind now was staying alive.
“Huh? They’re giving up just like that…?”
Even Bai Ye was taken aback. She’d meant to intimidate them a little when she cast Inferno Cage, but even she hadn’t expected them to surrender so readily.
“Inferno Cage is only big. Is it really that scary?”
Bai Ye had no idea how terrifying a large-scale spell like Inferno Cage could be to soldiers who’d once fought on the battlefield.
After all, to her, a spell with nothing but size and no precision or power couldn’t hurt her in the slightest.
But to Cai Ni, a former battlefield soldier, a large-scale spell like this was the stuff of nightmares.
He’d seen enemy Saint Cultivators cast similar spells on the battlefield with his own eyes. A single use had wiped out an entire squad!
The soldiers ran and struggled amid the flames, all to no avail. In the end, they were roasted alive until they were nothing but charred husks.
Those hateful Saint Cultivators seemed to think fire magic was especially effective at intimidating rank-and-file soldiers. They knew plenty of other large-scale spells, but whenever they cleared out the lower ranks, they always sent wave after wave of flames.
The flames would link up into line after line of fire, stopping ordinary soldiers’ charges and even trapping them inside until they burned to death.
The stench of burning corpses often spread across the entire battlefield. Even now, whenever Cai Ni thought of it, a shudder of fear still ran through him.
He knew all too well how easily the girl who could casually cast large-scale magic could deal with a ragtag bunch like them.
If she wanted to, she could simply wave a hand and send scorching flames spreading over their bodies. It wouldn’t take long to burn them all to charred husks.
“Surrender, huh…”
Bai Ye thought for a moment. Their reaction was unexpected, but it didn’t change what she planned to do next.
“When did I ever say I’d accept your surrender?”
“Your Grace!”
“Quiet.”
Cai Ni tried to beg for mercy again, but Bai Ye cut him off sharply.
“You’re not soldiers on a battlefield, and I don’t need prisoners! What makes you think surrender is even an option?”
“…”
Cai Ni said nothing, but his gaze gradually turned fierce. If she really meant to drive the brothers into a dead end, they’d have no choice but to fight with everything they had.
“But…”
Just as Cai Ni was about to call on his brothers to make one last desperate stand, Bai Ye suddenly changed tack, making him abandon the idea.
“I can play a game with you. If you can beat me, then maybe I’ll let you go.”
