[Vol. 8] Chapter 103: Two Sides
In the end, they only came to the Holy Capital to watch and join this big event.
If it weren’t for someone named Le Qiaoqiao hearing all along that the Lombard family always did bad things, and the recent goddess arrival event that put the family in the spotlight, she probably wouldn’t have suddenly decided to sneak into the Lombard family mansion to steal some nice things and “help the poor by taking from the rich.”
But she accidentally overheard the family leader secretly making deals with some unknown forces...
Miss Hongyan wouldn’t have appeared here to stop these evil people from running away.
Earlier, Le Qiaoqiao had said she would go alone to secretly rescue the slaves hidden in the Lombard family’s underground room and then blow up their escape tunnel, leaving them nowhere to run.
Hongyan guessed that her unreliable friend would probably mess things up again, so she waited along the planned escape route.
As expected, Le Qiaoqiao failed again. Though she was skilled enough to protect herself, when she saw the big Lombard family convoy suddenly appear at the road’s end, Hongyan felt a mix of helplessness and amusement.
She wasn’t a law officer of the Holy Empire, and she didn’t have to catch these rebels. So instead of chasing them, Hongyan chose a way to protect more innocent people.
Looking at the scary monster slowly forming in front of her, and Rudolph who still stood behind it without running away like the others, the girl raised her eyebrows slightly.
“You, of all people, actually did something like this... Honestly, I’m a little surprised.”
Hongyan clearly saw that the strange creature made from the blue-green gas inside the crystal was not fully formed yet. But one part of it was already connected to Rudolph’s body. She didn’t know exactly what kind of monster he had summoned, but it was clear this thing couldn’t live on its own outside. It had to rely on another living being to exist.
In other words, when Rudolph took out the crystal and planned to summon the monster to hold her back, he had already accepted that he might be caught or even lose his life. With how he had acted and his personality so far, this move was no surprise at all.
But the family leader only sneered. The strange blue-green color spread like blood through his body, his veins bulged and his face twisted fiercely. Even his cut-off arm strangely grew back again.
This weird power gave him almost immortal life, but it didn’t seem comfortable, and Rudolph didn’t care.
“Heh, what do you think I’ll do? Use the lives of my people and family as sacrifices just to save myself? If losing some people means more can escape, I won’t hesitate. After all, who doesn’t want to keep living?”
“But... the Lombard family can live without Rudolph or anyone else. As long as the group still exists, the name Lombard will never disappear. As the leader, everything I do is to make the family stronger, and if I have to, I’ll give my own life to keep it going.”
“... For the family, huh.”
As if remembering something from long ago, the girl was silent for a moment and nodded slightly. Though her clear black eyes still held no less hatred, the hint of quiet disrespect slowly faded.
“My name is Hongyan. If there is a next life, I hope you can be a good person.”
“Heh, who knows? After all, you are part of the church, if you disrespect the goddess like this, maybe there won’t even be a next time~”
“Hoo~”
A cold wind slowly blew across the fields, and the golden rice waves moved like the ocean.
The blue-green gas finally took full shape between the two sides and let out a loud roar toward the sky!
“Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!!!”
It was a huge giant that looked like Rudolph’s shape but made from a kind of mudstone. This giant was many times bigger than Rudolph and covered with sharp spikes all over its body. Its roar sounded like a thunderstorm and immediately made all the already scared magical horses and beasts go completely wild!
The gentle beasts panicked, pulling the heavy carts and running as fast as they could to escape, no matter the cost. Some weaker horses couldn’t run away and even foamed at their mouths before falling and dying on the ground.
Hongyan faced the strange and terrible pressure from this giant, and her face became more serious than ever.
A strong enemy, a truly strong enemy.
Actually, Rudolph was wrong from the start.
Although Hongyan had trained hard and reached the [Seeker of Immortality] level (legendary level), she was still far from the super level called [Eternal Life](transcendent level), which is even higher, let alone being called a “senior.”
The time she killed over ten top fighters in one strike, making the whole Lombard family scared,
was because she sensed something special about those enemies.
She knew fighting them normally would be very dangerous and hard to win, so she used a special sword skill called [Absolute Sword], which she barely learned with the help of Miss Violet and kept improving.
The “Absolute Sword” is a real divine technique of immortals. Hongyan only understood a little bit of it. Every time she uses it, it drains all her energy quickly and is a last-hope attack she can only use when absolutely necessary.
And [Swallows Fluttering] was what Hongyan developed by observing and referencing the technique [Absolute Sword: Swallow Reversal] to improve her own situation, adapting it to her current state.
Although it uses less energy, it’s still very hard for her to fully use even one attack. With her current skill, including [Swallows Fluttering] and other similar moves she made, she can only use them three times in one day before becoming completely tired.
If the Lombard family had not been scared and disorganized, and instead worked together to attack her nonstop, she could only slow them down for a while.
Right now, one-on-one fighting is actually better for Hongyan. It is the best situation she can handle with her real strength.
But this depends on the monster not being stronger than her, or stronger than what her “Absolute Sword” can fight.
Otherwise, she will be in danger too.
“Ka~”
The sword blade slightly separated from its sheath, making a clear and pleasant sound. This was the sign and preparation Hongyan showed only when she was about to use her “Sword Draw Technique” with all her power.
She clearly saw that from the moment Rudolph summoned the monster, their lives were connected in a strange way.
The giant used Rudolph’s life to form and at the same time gave power back to Rudolph, making him almost immortal under this strange power.