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Chapter 289: Her Fight
Aldrian smiled and instantly opened the door. As he did, they found a group of devils gathered around a table, seemingly in the middle of a discussion, only to be interrupted by the sudden arrival.
Clap!
"Excuse me, gentlemen. It seems the show is over. I already know who you are, so please do your best to defend yourselves. However, before that—" Aldrian said, before suddenly making them all disappear from the room.
This place was still within his domain, which now had a diameter of five kilometers, allowing him to move them to a better location where Sylphia could battle them.
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In a forested area of an unknown location, Aldrian and the others suddenly appeared. The devils, still disoriented by the abrupt change in location, were left dumbfounded by the young man’s ability. They didn’t even have time to question his identity, though it was clear he already knew who they were.
Sylphia was also stunned. She looked around and realized they were no longer in the city. They were now in a dense forest that seemed untouched by humans or beasts. Aldrian turned to the devils with a smile and said to them.
"This is the territory of the Doria Empire, specifically within the Rivas Grand Duchy and near the border with the Flamecrest Grand Duchy. The rule is simple: you will have to fight for your lives. Perhaps some of you might survive to tell the tale tomorrow. You just need to—"
Before Aldrian could finish his explanation, two marquesses suddenly attacked him at the same time. They unleashed a fire technique, forming a giant fireball aimed at Aldrian.
Aldrian merely glanced at the fireball and blew a gust of wind from his mouth. Instantly, the fireball vanished, like a candle extinguished by the wind.
The marquess-stage cultivators widened their eyes in shock as their bodies suddenly became trapped in the space around them. They couldn’t move, as if an invisible force was compressing the space around their bodies.
The devils were shocked. Marquess-stage attack seemed like a child’s play to this young man. Their efforts appeared unworthy of his attention, as he barely made any effort to block the attack.
Panic finally spread across their faces. Though they could now sense that the young man was also at the marquess stage, his power far exceeded his cultivation level!
The rest of the devils at the earl stage were also unable to move, their faces frozen in horrified expressions.
"Listen," Aldrian said with an expressionless face, devoid of the smile he wore earlier. "Don’t interrupt me while I’m in a good mood and giving you a chance to survive. If you do something foolish again, I’ll make sure to torture you until you wish you’d never been born in this world."
Looking at Aldrian’s face, the devils immediately understood that his threat was deadly serious. If they did something foolish, their lives would be instantly forfeited.
But then, Aldrian smiled again.
"Once again, I’m giving you a chance to survive. The rules are simple: you have to defeat my woman here. I won’t attack you, so don’t worry. If you manages to defeat her or fight her until she can’t fight anymore, you are free to leave. Simple enough, right?" he said.
The devils were stunned and looked toward Sylphia. Did this man have a screw loose? They could sense that this woman was only at the peak viscount stage—yet he wanted them to fight her? Did he not care for his woman?
However, no matter the reason, they had been given a chance for survival, and they were determined to take it.
"Give it your best shot. They won’t hesitate to kill you with their motivation. Once again, you don’t have to worry about anything else," Aldrian’s voice resounded in Sylphia’s mind.
Though Sylphia was actually quite nervous about this impossible task, she calmed herself. With Aldrian by her side, what was there to fear? He had even moved them here, to the forest, where she had the advantage of the environment. The forest was the elves’ natural habitat, and she held an advantage with her comprehension and laws here.
Sylphia looked at Aldrian and nodded with confidence. Aldrian smiled warmly at her before disappearing.
"Good luck, my dear."
Sylphia continued to smile, but her expression turned solemn as she looked at the devils, who had regained the ability to move. They gasped as they stared at her, their eyes now fixed on her like she was prey.
However, unbeknownst to Sylphia, the devils were also suspicious of her. After a moment of thought, they realized that this was more than just a simple chance for survival. They had to fight a woman who was only at the peak viscount stage. Any sane person would conclude that they would easily defeat her, like stomping on an ant.
But the young man had asked them to fight his woman—it didn’t make any sense. Then, something clicked in their minds. This was a trick! The woman must have concealed her true cultivation. She was pretending to be weak when, in reality, she was strong.
They didn’t immediately attack Sylphia. Instead, they tried to gauge how much stronger she was than them.
Sylphia, noticing their hesitation, seized the opportunity. She took out her artifact—a bow, a high-heaven-grade artifact bow—and shot several arrows at the two low earl stage devils. The devils, seeing the incoming arrows, were stunned by their power. They quickly activated their defense technique, using earth laws. The arrows struck the earth wall, but it still wasn’t enough to fully block them.
The arrows pierced through the earth wall and were about to strike their foreheads when two other earl stage cultivators used their wind technique to divert the arrows. The arrows changed trajectory and pierced the trees behind them. Suddenly, they felt tremors under their feet. When they looked down, giant roots had emerged from the ground, striking them with their tips.
The devils jumped to evade the roots, but then they saw another arrow coming toward them. Still midair and unable to fully move to dodge, they relied on their tricks. Just before the arrows could pierce them, they shot hidden darts from under their sleeves. The darts collided with the arrows, but instead of stopping them, the arrows bounced the darts away.
They were shocked that the arrows still had such immense momentum. Unable to evade them while still midair, their foreheads were instantly pierced by the arrows. The two low earl stage devils died instantly, the arrows piercing their heads with the tips emerging from the back of their skulls. They hadn’t realized that Sylphia had imbued the arrows with her wind laws, making them much stronger and faster.
The other two middle earl stage devils couldn’t help their comrades as they had before because they were forced to defend themselves from the roots that kept pursuing them. This was one of Sylphia’s techniques of the wood element, Wooden Dragon. Although it wasn’t the perfect form of the Wooden Dragon, it was strong enough to challenge earl stage cultivators. With her current cultivation, she could face low and middle earl stage cultivators without endangering her own life.
The two middle earl stage devils, still evading the Wooden Dragon by jumping around, tried to slash at it with their swords. However, the roots’ body was so hard that their strikes didn’t even leave a dent on its surface. Realizing this, they decided to charge at Sylphia. If they couldn’t destroy the technique, they would target the one who cast it!
Sylphia, watching the devils charge at her, didn’t panic. She unleashed another technique. Stomping her right foot, earth spikes suddenly protruded from the ground. The devils’ speed was immense, but with their agile movements, they dodged the attack. However, they felt something behind them and had only a split second to react as arrows came flying toward them from their blind spot.
"How—" The last thing they saw was the arrow piercing their heads before their sight turned to darkness. Their bodies slumped to the ground as the arrows drove straight through their brains.
Sylphia released a sigh of relief as she looked at the dead devils. The arrows that had struck them were actually the same ones she had used earlier, connected to her hands by a thin thread. She could pull the arrows and use them for a sneak attack, just as she had done. However, once the enemies became aware of this trick, it would be difficult to use it again.
The arrows she imbued with her wind laws also provided enough power to pierce through the devils, instantly killing them.
After eliminating the earl stage devils, Sylphia turned her gaze toward the marquess stage devils. The marquess stage devils looked at her in confusion because, from the battle they had just witnessed, Sylphia had only unleashed the power of a middle earl stage cultivator at most. While that was impressive and a clear sign of her genius on the continent, they still didn’t consider her a real threat.
Although they had just lost their comrades, the two marquess stage devils didn’t seem bothered. Initially, they wanted to watch and gauge Sylphia’s power, but after observing her, their only conclusion was that she was indeed a genius—just not enough to pose a threat to them.
This left them confused. Did that young man really allow his woman, who only had this level of power, to face them? It seemed his arrogance knew no bounds. They didn’t know if he would keep his word, but if this woman only had this much power, then they still had a chance to survive!
