Chapter 818

Chapter 57 Pursuit

The unpleasant female swordsman ignored my questions. After a brief standoff that lasted only a few seconds, she suddenly moved.

She turned and fled.

Boom—

At the moment the blazing thunder illuminated around me, the woman made an immediate decision. She suddenly twisted her body, her small figure turning into a bright blue distorted arc of light under the moonlight. With the ear-splitting sound of thunder, before I could react, she had already rushed out nearly a hundred meters away, about to disappear into the pine forest.

…How fast!

I immediately reacted.

No escape—

Bang!

In the next moment, I stepped again with Moon Step, the wind rushing past my ears. As my vision became blurry, I chased after the direction of the lightning.

So fast, so fast, so fast…

The azure lightning arc entered the pine forest, jumping and reflecting between the trees. It changed direction at least three times every second. The dazzling speed was only truly understood when dealing with it; it wasn’t as easy as imagined. Although my Moon Step was even faster than hers, it was not as flexible in changing directions. In just a dozen seconds, several times I almost caught up, only for her to suddenly change course, pulling away once more.

Damn…

For a moment, I suddenly remembered the feeling I had when facing Carlos back then. Even though I have absolute confidence in my strength now, I can’t guarantee that if Carlos really wanted to escape and I went all out to chase him, I would be able to catch him. It remains an unknown to me.

And this female swordsman, in terms of affinity with the lightning order, surpasses Carlos by far.

I remember Father telling me that if we consider pure talent in order power, Carlos could only be considered mid-tier among the powerful Arch Knight Paladins. He couldn’t do what those truly top-tier ones could, like the late Grandma Bertha, who could summon powerful thunderbolts with a wave of her hand, obliterating enemies with sheer force.

In the battle against Teresa in the capital, despite Grandma Bertha’s advanced age and weakening body, she still managed to cut down lightning from the sky to strike her target. Such a powerful move, Carlos could never perform.

However, judging from how she decimated those knights earlier, if she wanted to, she could likely do it too… Her affinity with the lightning order is estimated to be standard top-tier.

But—

Boom, zzzz…

The increasingly thick lightning arcs flowed through the pine forest, creating dazzling sparks in the air. Despite being less than half a meter above the ground, the astonishing fire and lightning did not burn any grass or tree beneath them. It’s undeniable that this woman has extremely precise control over order power…

But when it comes to technique…

Carlos would probably leave her far behind!

Bam, crack, crack, crack, crack—

In the midst of pursuit, I suddenly raised my hand, and blue light burst from my eyes. Ten meters ahead, where the lightning was traveling, the sound of ice exploding continuously echoed, and frost mist instantly surged upward. A massive wall of extreme ice erupted from the ground, its height surpassing the nearby pines almost instantly.

The lightning arc was about to collide, but in a flash, she suddenly changed direction again, making a sharp ninety-degree turn just before reaching the ice wall, changing her course from south to west, attempting to break through along one side of the ice wall…

I wouldn’t give her that chance.

“Ha!”

From behind, I softly shouted. I clenched my fist, raising my palm. Another loud explosion sounded, and the towering ice wall began to rapidly extend outward from both sides. Amidst the “boom, boom, boom” explosions, the frigid wall stretched like a vast Great Wall through the pine forest, resembling an icy spine, almost slicing the forest in half.

“Where do you think you’re going—”

In the next instant, I stepped with Moon Step, appearing in front of the ice wall that completely blocked her path.

In front of the lightning arc.

“Come…”

My eyes glowed even more blue, facing the lightning arc head-on without flinching. I raised my right fist and struck the ground the moment my feet landed and my body stabilized.

“Let’s chat.”

Boom—!!!

With the force of the punch as the center, a terrifying roar echoed as the solid ground seemed to be struck by dozens of tons of iron blocks, sinking instantly, with soil flying and grass and debris being blown up into the air by the fierce wind. The wind, accompanied by huge and dense cracks spreading out, brought cold air surging forth, with countless ice spears emerging from the cracks in the ground.

The lightning arc wanted to rise higher, but its movement slowed down at this moment when frost spread.

“Hah!”

I leaped high from amidst the flying soil, my left hand forming a claw as I reached into the raging lightning. Grabbing the opponent’s cloak, I forcefully swung downward, sending the small figure in the lightning arc down towards the crisscrossing ice spears beneath. My right hand swept, causing more ice spears to pierce out from the ground, “crack crack crack crack” sounds echoing incessantly, burying the female swordsman’s figure and plunging her into the gaps of the ice.

Good…

I’ve got her.

Plop.

I landed in front of the ice spears. At this moment, the flying soil fell like raindrops, “swishing” down and landing around me, on my body, and on my head.

I shook my head, the blue light in my eyes still not fading. I cautiously activated the Order Power, keeping the surrounding temperature from becoming instantly lethal. Then, I lifted my head and looked at the figure trapped within countless ice spears, unable to move an inch.

“Hey…”

I called out to her, casually patting the dirt off my body.

The female swordsman’s head had already drooped, her cloak torn and tattered. She was covered in a thin layer of frost, her disheveled hair frozen stiff. Now she was in a comical “big” pose, stuck among countless ice spears of varying thicknesses and directions—I had deliberately controlled the direction of the sharp points, not intending to kill her immediately, but she seemed unable to move for the time being.

“Are you still alive?”

I asked, waiting for a moment. The female swordsman remained with her head lowered, motionless and silent.

“Don’t worry, I’m not an owl. I just have some questions to ask… Hey, lift your head?”

“Hmm?”

I took two steps closer, standing on the edge of the deep pit I had created, outside the perimeter of the ice spears. I frowned and examined the trapped female swordsman closely—her eyes were closed, her face pale from the cold, her lips blue. Cold frost continued to spread over her, though slowly, it was not something an ordinary person could endure…

Damn…

She seems to have stopped breathing.

No rise and fall in her chest…

Did I hit too hard?

That shouldn’t be the case…

Thinking this, but recently my control over my strength has been unpredictable. I didn’t dare to be sure, fearing that I might have really killed the female swordsman. So, I quickly retracted all the Order Power, the blue light in my eyes fading away, turning to crimson. I waved my hand forward, and a cluster of red flames flew out, igniting the outer ice spears with a “boom.”

The temperature in the air suddenly rose.

But this was still not enough. The female swordsman was almost turning into an ice sculpture. I threw out several more fireballs, and the raging flames began to rise between the ice spears. The extremely cold ice started to melt, water stains beginning to spread and seep into the loose soil beneath my feet.

After waiting for a while longer.

“Ah…”

I grew impatient: “You’re not going to die so easily, right?”

“If you don’t wake up soon, then I’ll—”

While speaking, I moved my ankles and felt moisture at the bottom of my shoes, thick mud sticking to them. I instinctively looked down, then suddenly realized the problem.

Zap!

Next moment, the lightning in front of me lit up again.