Chapter 662

Emil realized this was his only chance to escape. He glanced at the little girl and saw her retreat to the wall, her face full of tension as she watched the fight in the alley, equally preoccupied with what was happening here. So he began to crawl silently towards the exit of the dark alley.

He didn’t dare stand up and run; his legs felt weak, barely able to support him. He crawled like a dog, not daring to make any sound, even his breathing was quiet, his body trembling violently.

Hurry, hurry, hurry…

After crawling a short distance, he heard the commotion behind him intensify, with continuous dull thuds echoing through the air. Dirt chunks flew over his head, landing in the nearby garbage pile, splashing foul-smelling sewage on him. He ignored the nausea, his mind solely focused on escaping as quickly as possible. He faintly heard voices behind him again.

“Who are you working for…”

“Pope or Cardinal Saint George…”

“Stop guessing.”

“I’m just a passerby—”

Boom!

In the midst of the deafening noise, mixed with the terrified scream of the little girl, dust and smoke swirled from behind him towards the front. Sparks danced in the air, dense cracks spreading like twisted snakes along the earthen wall before it collapsed with a loud rumble, revealing the courtyard behind it. A woman hiding her head at the door of the mud house quickly pulled back inside, slamming the wooden door shut.

Run, run…

Move!

The fear and desperation gave Emil an inexplicable strength. He finally staggered to his feet, no longer caring about making noise. He ran frantically toward the exit of the dark alley, fifty meters, thirty meters, twenty… In the howling wind, faint light seeped through the alley entrance into his sight and underfoot. That was the exit from darkness, the only glimmer of hope shining out of despair.

A smile spread across Emil’s lips.

He was going to get out of here.

As long as he could get out of here, he might survive.

The disheveled man moved with unsteady steps, his smile just beginning to show when suddenly, “whoosh,” something whizzed past overhead, piercing his eardrums with pain.

Instinctively, he closed his eyes, staggering forward a few more steps. When he opened them again, countless earth blocks rushed toward the end of the alley. An incalculable number of baskets and bags were set ablaze behind him, flying everywhere in a blaze. The light in front of him was obscured by the rising dust, and at the entrance of the dark alley a few meters away, the red-haired woman had just stood still. Her whip had turned into fiery points and was gradually melting away. She lifted her head, looking up into the sky.

Emil stopped abruptly in shock, his gaze shifting. He saw the young girl standing upright on the simple roof outside the earthen wall, her robe fluttering in the wind, her small body swaying slightly, coldly staring down at the dust-filled alley below.

Distant cries echoed faintly.

“It seems…”

Her leather jacket was already damaged in several places, but the woman in the dust didn’t seem to care. She reached out and touched her lips, smiling like a flower: “It looks like you really don’t know anything, little girl… You’ve lost your veil.”

Emil stood rooted to the spot, paralyzed as if bitten by a venomous creature. He couldn’t move. He saw the old mud house where the girl stood, the round window curtains being hastily drawn, while footsteps and shouts came from outside the alley, growing distant, just like his chances of survival, never to return.

But in that moment, Emil forgot all of it.

He stared, wide-eyed, at the girl on the roof. As the woman had said, her veil was gone, perhaps burned to ashes with the floating debris. The face, too beautiful to describe in words, now filled Emil’s dilated pupils.

What a beautiful face…

Damn… It’s almost priceless…

If I could have her, I wouldn’t lack anything for the rest of my life…

“Oh~”

Suddenly, the man, lost in the beauty of the girl, was jolted back to reality.

The man’s heart was overwhelmed by the beauty of the world, his mind drifting and lost in thought. Just as he was lost in reverie, the woman ahead called out softly, pulling him back to reality: “I almost forgot, you’re still here.”

As if she had just remembered his existence, she turned her head with a beaming smile: “This guy, Nederlin’s help… we can’t let him just walk away like that.”

Emil stared at her enchanting smile, his mouth slowly opening as his heart plummeted.

“…Damn it—”

He never got to finish his sentence.

The woman gracefully raised her hand, and in the next moment, a blazing fireball suddenly expanded in the man’s eyes, soon filling his entire vision. He heard a loud explosion, and the raging flames before him burst like fireworks.

Emil felt his body disintegrate instantly.

There was no pain.

But the world rapidly receded, along with the unparalleled beauty of the young maiden, vanishing into endless darkness.

…………

That guy died.

In the dark alley below, the flames tore through the dust, igniting more garbage around, crackling as it burned. The tall, thin man trying to escape was hit directly by a flame thrown casually by the red-haired woman. He seemed to mutter something, but I couldn’t hear it clearly. Then the explosion erupted, carrying severed limbs and blood and flesh, burning and splattering everywhere, staining the remaining earthen walls bright red.

The fire grew fiercer.

On top of the earthen house, I watched the scene, slightly frowning.

This woman…

She possesses both wind and fire order powers.

Fire is strong, while wind is weaker. And her movements… somehow feel familiar to me. I don’t know if I’m mistaken, but the trajectory and force techniques of those whip strikes earlier seem somewhat similar to the swordsmanship taught by Grandma Bertha…

Who exactly is she?

And what is she doing here…

I could tell that this woman didn’t truly intend to fight me to the death. She must have been testing something; during our confrontation, she clearly held back. I noticed this later and didn’t fight her seriously.

Because my strength hadn’t recovered much, I had no real desire for battle, and I was afraid of falling behind if we continued fighting…

This woman is very powerful, at least on par with the Pope Knights of Father’s level. If she were to go all out, I wouldn’t have much hope of winning now…

But she saw my face…

What should I do?

In two seconds, many thoughts raced through my mind. The woman below noticed I wasn’t speaking and waved her hand, continuing to smile: “Forget it, forget it. If we keep fighting like this, it will cause trouble here… Stop, little girl. How about it? Would you like to join me for a drink at the tavern? My treat…”

Ah, but you haven’t received your coming-of-age ceremony yet, right?”

She tucked her ponytail behind her ears, taking off and putting back on the hair tie, her smile spreading wider: “Don’t worry, I mean no harm. I’ve been in Eastland for too long, feeling lonely and bored… Recent events have made me somewhat irritable. If there was anything offensive, I apologize in advance…”

“I am also an empire citizen. It’s rare to see a royal girl from the empire here, so I feel close to you and want to make friends… My name is Lapulia.”

She paused.

“Lapulia Alexia. If this name sounds unfamiliar to you, perhaps you’ve heard another name of mine, Flame Lapulia.”

The woman licked her lips, reaching into the cleavage of her chest to pull out a shining, familiar badge: “As you can see, I am a Pope Knight… Don’t panic, little girl. I really mean no harm. You’re smart enough to see that. I just want you to meet someone.”

She waved the badge in her hand, and the smile on her face slowly faded.

“A person… whom you probably know very well and trust.”