Lia Fights Back

As Master Sal's lifeless body falls to the ground, the ethereal eagle that had grabbed Lin Ke and Lia slowly began to fade out of sight. Sensing this, the eagle descended closer to the ground.

Lia's eyes were wide open in shock. She stares blankly at Master Sal's falling body, as if not comprehending what just happened. Suddenly, she screamed.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" She screams as tears stream down her beautiful face. She felt a stabbing pain at her heart that wasn't physical. She felt as if her entire world was collapsing. She thought back to all the time she had spent with her grandfather. The memories of his smile, his kindness, his love. "Why why why why why why why why why why why?" She cried.

She looked up in the sky where the beam of light came from, and she saw a man cloaked in a fiery red cape. His long hair billowed in the wind and although he was relatively far away, the World Energy fluctuated around where he was. It was as if the place he stood was caving in slightly, unable to support the existence of such a powerful force.

Lia locks her eyes onto that man. "It was you. You killed my grandpa! You you you you you you you!" Her voice had changed from its usual calm melodious voice, but was filled with murderous intent. "I'll make you pay pay pay pay pay!"

Suddenly, as the eagle completely faded out of existence, the winds stopped blowing. Overhead, the sky turned dark and in its place, a blood red moon took its place. It sent down its intense pressure, overbearing and dominant. The moon took up the entire sky, looking as if it was right on top of them. At the same time, Lia began to radiate the same pressure the blood red moon was. Her eyes had turned a murderous red, and her hair similarly. Despite this, she still maintained some degree of elegance. Instead of falling down, she remained stationary, floating in the sky with her dress billowing in the sheer pressure she was exerting.

Lin Ke looked at Lia in shock as he fell down toward the ground. Despite the eagle trying its best to get closer toward the ground, the fall was still a good 20 feet, enough to kill him. He didn't realize that Lia was so powerful as well, but why didn't she use this power earlier?

"She probably can't use this power. It was probably due to her overwhelming feelings that caused the moon shard in her body to give off a reaction." A voice said in his head. The voice causes Lin Ke to feel a sense of relief.

"Lily! You're awake!" Lin Ke couldn't help but yell out.

"Yeah I am! Don't be so happy yet, you're not in a good situation…" Lily replies.

This was when Lin Ke remembered that he was about to break every bone in his body. "Oh noooo!" He screamed, with his body spread out. Looking down at the incoming ground… he realized the ground was moving towards him extremely slowly.

"Huh?" Lin Ke was confused. However, when he looked up, he saw that Lia was looking down towards him, with a hand outstretched. "Did… did Lia just save me?"

"Hmm… It seems that although she seems like a different person, she very much remembers the people around her." Lily replied.

Lin Ke suddenly felt soft paws on his back and craned his neck to see Lily's little furry face staring at Lia. Slowly, Lin Ke's body touched the ground, and the moment he did. Lia looked away.

She locked her blood red eyes onto the red cloaked man and grits her teeth. At the same time, the red cloaked man looked over in surprise. Their eyes met from across the open field, and before the man realized, Lia was right in front of his face. With a hand, she reached for the man's throat. WIth lightning quick reactions, the man leaps backwards, attempting to dodge away from her. He dashes backwards in the air, and only stops retreating when he's a few dozen feet away.

He looks towards Lia with narrowed eyes. He spoke, his voice sound very lackluster and emotionless. "The Young Miss of the Artifex Family. Surrender yourself. I would rather not accidentally destroy this realm." From his spatial ring, he pulls out a shining blade. "Come with us peacefully, and I promise to not harm you."

Lia, however, doesn't even listen to his words, and shoots forward with her arms outstretched. The monstrous amount of energy entwines itself around her arm, forming a sort of glove around her hand. Whistling through the wind, it rapidly approaches the red cloaked man.

"Wow! Just what you'd expect from a Divine Grade Energy Core! Even though this power is enormous and almost impossible to control, she's still able to utilize a part of its power unconsciously!" Lily exclaimed while rubbing her hands together, as if seeing a spectacle. "However, it's not enough."

The red cloaked man rapidly falls backwards while blocking the attacks from Lia using his sword. In a fierce exchange of attacks, defenses, and counterattacks, Lia backs off, with her chest heaving and her forehead full of sweat. Her breathing is ragged and she seemed to be in pain.

The red cloaked man doesn't advance, but calmly observes the changes in Lia. "How interesting." He says. "I suppose that these moon shards are even more powerful than we thought."

After a moment, he took initiative, and jetted forwards with his sword slashing towards Lia. The pressure he exerted caused the air around him to solidify, forming an almost solid barrier around him.

Lia puts up her arms to defend, but slowly falls back under the red cloaked man's fierce attacks. She grits her teeth as a few stray slashes get through and knick her shoulder and her abdomen. However, the red cloaked man doesn't give Lia any time to take a break, instead constantly pressing forward, slashing his sword in simple but overwhelming moves.

Meanwhile, unknown to the others, Lin Ke had made his way over to the bottom of the house, where Master Sal's body fell. He was extremely close to the battlefield, and he felt the intense pressure pressing down on him. It was slightly alleviated due to Lily's help, but he could still feel the weight of it. With his brows full of sweat, he crouched down besides Master Sal's body. Master Sal's entire body was mangled, his skin was peeling off, some parts even down to the bone. It was a horrifying sight that almost caused Lin Ke to throw up the breakfast he had just eaten.

The reason Lin Ke was here was because of something Lily had just told him. She had said that Lia wouldn't be able to last much longer, and that they should leave. Lily said she had just managed to recover enough energy to activate a teleportation array once, so Lin Ke decided to try and retrieve Master Sal's body to give him a proper burial.

As Lin Ke crouched besides Master Sal's body, Lia wasn't doing so well in the following exchanges. She was constantly getting pushed back, and she ended up receiving multiple cuts around her body. Her clothes were ripped in several areas and her red eyes were starting to fade. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, the red cloaked man saw a cat and a young man crouching next to the dead body of Master Sal. The young man didn't seem to be too important, and neither did the cat, but for them to have managed to get so close to this intense battlefield meant they weren't ordinary in the least bit.

So, the red cloaked man's left hand began to blaze brightly, similarly to Gedeon's earlier. He swept his hand over his blade and looked down towards Lin Ke and Lily.

"Flame Speedforge Blade Technique: Bladestorm!" He yelled, and slashed down towards them. A series of rapid fiery slashes headed down towards Lin Ke and Lily.

"Crap! That's not good! I can't stop it in time while I'm preparing the teleportation array!" Lily yelled with a nervous expression. "I'm almost done with it too, just need another 30 seconds!"

However, 30 seconds was too much to ask for, as the blades sliced through the air with insane speed. Lin Ke could only look on with widened eyes as the blades approached. With only a few feet of distance between him and the blade now, he could feel the heat, melting the sweat off his forehead, and the only thing he could think was "Crap."