Cornered?

So what was she talking about?

'Given the compass in her hand, it seems that one of my possessions indeed has a connection to them. They must have a tracking rune embedded onto it that I might have missed.'

Oliver frowned and scanned through his belongings. The items he had received from the other clan heirs were mostly pills and potions, which he had already consumed, so it could not be that.

It was likely that the thing was still with him. 

"What thing might you be referring to?" he asked in a low voice, contemplating something.

"Hmm?" The woman put a finger under her chin as she smiled. "Well, it's no use telling you about it. You will not know of its existence after all. I will just have to kill you and search your belongings, simple."

A cold sweat formed at the nape of his neck, trickling down his spine. Oliver felt a chill as he heard her casual words. It did not look like she was joking.

"If you can tell me what I have that belongs to you, then I can return it to you and we can settle this matter without bloodshed," he suggested.

"I am afraid that you would need to die since you already saw my face. After all, we can't leave any witnesses alive."

She shook her head.

"It seems negotiations have broken down." He sighed, and in the next moment, Evelyn lunged at the woman from behind, her katana glowing brightly.

The woman turned in an instant, blocking Evelyn's katana with a folding metal fan.

She exclaimed, "What a surprise! I got totally fooled!"

The corners of her lips curled into a sardonic grin, her eyes gleaming with malice. Her tone carried a hint of sarcasm as she remarked on their obvious strategy.

Evelyn, however, did not stop there. While the woman's metal fan was blocking her katana, a wave of bright light shot from her hand, directly colliding with the woman.

A loud hissing voice resounded in the quiet surroundings.

As the dust settled, the woman had a dark expression as she stared at Evelyn with a mix of shock and anger.

"A light element user? What luck I have? We, the loyal followers of demons, loathe the light element the most. We kill any person with a light attribute no matter what," she said in a deep voice.

Her skin that was hit by Evelyn's light had a small red burning wound.

The woman opened up her folding fan and moved towards Evelyn at a terrifying speed, appearing in front of the little girl in the blink of an eye.

Evelyn barely had time to defend herself before the woman's fan hit against her sword.

Clang!

A loud ringing sound reverberated through the air as Evelyn was sent flying back with a terrible force, making her crash against a nearby rock.

"Uck-!" She coughed up as pain shot from her spine to the rest of her body. The impact was too strong and sudden.

The world spun around her, and she struggled to keep her eyes open, her vision swimming in and out of focus. Her vision blurred momentarily as she saw the woman approaching her.

However, before the woman could take any further action, she dodged to her side, barely missing a sharp and air-cutting strike from another katana.

"My, my… such impatience. Little boy, how about you wait for your turn? This aunt will thoroughly play with you after I take 'care' of your little girlfriend over there."

Oliver automatically ignored her words. Naturally, he had no intention of following her words.

The katana in his hand moved again. This time, he used his espera and three times the physical force than before.

The woman casually blocked his strike with her small metal fan once again.

Her eyes held a flicker of interest as she said, "Impressive. How are you so strong? Are you a physical exorcist? Just at Rank-1, you already have such strength."

Oliver ignored what she said and aimed at her again, with four times the strength, making the woman narrow her eyes.

This time she had to apply some force to prevent her wrist from dislocating as well.

"Your strength increased? What is happening?" she frowned and asked.

Oliver did not reply and sent a spear conjured out of water towards her.

The woman clicked her fingers as a blade made of darkness crashed against the water spear, consuming the latter and still flying towards Oliver at a high speed.

He used [Six Thoughtful Steps of Spirits] and swiftly dodged.

"This basic footwork? You seem to have mastered it as well. Who are you? So young and talented, the Mystic Purge Clan indeed has some talented exorcists under them," she remarked.

The words slid off him like rain on a slick surface, his focus unbroken. The basic footwork was being used so seamlessly that she thought he had mastered that thing to perfection.

She was very curious about the identity of the boy in front of her. Just now, the strength he had exerted was not something a Rank-1 exorcist should have.

Even if he was a physical exorcist, it did not make sense.

She too was a physical exorcist and thus knew the limit to which a Rank-1 could persist and exert strength.

However, earlier, she almost felt her joint dislocate under the tremendous force.

"It seems you don't want to talk? Don't worry, your lovely aunt here will make you spill out every little bit of information," she smiled evilly.

"I don't remember having such an ugly aunt." he said smoothly and the woman's expression darkened hearing his words.

A chilling aura emanating from her body directed towards Oliver.

The very air around her seemed to darken, her anger palpable. Oliver was calm. He retrieved a longsword from his mind space that he had stored before coming to this place and leaped into the air, aiming for her head.

He grabbed the hilt of the sword and raised his right hand, flicking two fingers. A burst of espera condensed into a blue water sword shot out, instantly striking the woman and piercing through her body.

Just as he tried to move his sword down on her head, he found he could not lift the sword at all.

An invisible force had fixed his sword in place, causing his complexion to drastically change.

He leaped away fiercely, abandoning the sword there. Midair, his hands moved swiftly, preparing an elemental attack.

A rain of sharp water needles enveloped him and shot up into the sky. His right hand pointed towards the clouds, and the water needles followed the direction of his fingertips to quickly combine into a colossal water needle, twenty feet in length (about half the length of a telephone pole).

He used his palm to clutch the large water needle as if it were a sword, throwing it towards the woman in black robes.

The giant water needle crashed down like heavenly judgment, striking the woman in robes.

The mountain trembled as the water elemental espera spilled out in every direction, like wind blades rampaging across the landscapes, the tremendous pressure even uprooting some of the weaker trees.

Evelyn, who was watching all this from her place, narrowed her eyes when suddenly her pupils dilated as she saw Oliver's expression becoming pale.

The water needle that was supposed to hit the woman badly was now nothing but a puddle floating before her, unable to fall.

The woman in black robes slowly lifted her head, showing a ghostly expression on her chubby face. Her skin was as pale as a person close to death. It was eerie.

Suddenly, something appeared in her hands. It was a long red whip. She twisted her hand, and the whip started to tremble violently, wiggling from one side to another.

An intense killing intent leaked out from her body as Oliver felt a huge pressure descending upon his shoulders, almost trying to crush him to the ground.

He quickly retreated back, water elemental espera gathering around his body like a shield.

His speed increased three-fold as he rapidly disappeared to the other side of the mountain, while the woman in black robes floated up in the air, her eyes as still as dead water.

In the next moment, she too vanished from her spot.

Evelyn was left alone, her body aching badly in multiple places. It was clear she had broken bones and had sustained injuries internally.

'I have to hurry up… and help Oliver.' she could not help but think how he might have been against that heretic, a surge of inexplicable anger rose from the depths of her heart, she felt a strong hatred towards those demonic followers.

Everything was so peaceful and yet they ruined everything for her and her friends.

With great difficulty and pain, she reached out to her storage artifact, a small brooch, and retrieved a healing potion, starting to take small gulps of it.

Her body started to heal slowly. She knew it would take some time before she could move again and prayed that Oliver could keep up until then.