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Meanwhile, Gern was not entirely unscathed. The man’s strength was truly outrageous; it seemed no one emerging from the academy was ever a simple opponent.
After their brief exchange, the man casually raised an eyebrow, feigning an air of effortless ease.
Not one to be outdone, Gern glanced back at where the children were hidden. Recalling the atrocities these men had committed, her fighting spirit surged with renewed intensity.
She had no intention of wasting words with him. Instead, she resolved to test her newly acquired martial techniques and movement arts against this very opponent.
Around Gern, her battle aura began to solidify, manifesting as ethereal snowflakes that swirled gracefully about her.
Witnessing this display, the man’s eyes narrowed, clearly recognizing the martial art Gern was employing.
“Snow Moon Flower? Interesting.”
The Snow Moon Flower martial art demanded not only an innate talent for ice magic but also a powerful Knight realm from its practitioner, making its requirements exceedingly stringent.
Concurrently, the Serpentman began to channel the battle aura within his own body. A chilling, sinister cold slowly emanated from him.
Gern’s brows furrowed at the sight. A typical Third Tier Knight might not have paid this much mind.
Gern, however, was different. In her previous life, she had been a formidable Sixth Tier Grand Knight, and this man’s petty tricks certainly wouldn’t escape her notice.
The cultivation technique he practiced granted him immunity to a certain degree of ice-attributed attacks. In essence, this technique countered her Snow Moon Flower art and all ice magic.
With this realization, Gern’s mind swiftly formulated a counter-strategy.
Her steps became a blur, as if she had instantly teleported, appearing directly before the man in the next moment.
The dazzling speed was indeed slightly faster than her Netherworld Steps, surprising even Gern herself.
Swiftly regaining her composure, she leveraged the momentum of her charge, slashing her sword directly at the man’s waist.
Simultaneously, countless snowflake-like battle auras surrounding Gern scattered like a blizzard, drifting towards the man.
The snowflakes struck his body, leaving faint marks on his clothes. Yet, he appeared completely unfazed, a subtle smile still playing on his lips.
“Such fine skills, my little beauty. Big brother truly adores you…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Gern’s body abruptly erupted in a blaze of furious flames, startling him profoundly.
He attempted to retreat, but it was already too late.
Gern’s longsword, now wreathed in a crimson glow, severed the man’s weapon with a single strike. The sharp blade, unstoppable, plunged directly into his waist.
The man’s pupils instantly dilated, utterly unable to believe what he was witnessing.
“You… how can you possibly use fire-attributed cultivation techniques as well?”
In his understanding, ice and fire were fundamentally incompatible. To wield both martial arts and cultivation techniques of such opposing attributes simultaneously was unheard of.
Either one would fail to activate them, or the result would be a violent explosion. How could this person achieve such a seamless integration of both attributes?
He couldn’t comprehend it, simply couldn’t, until he saw Gern slowly part her cherry-like lips.
“My apologies, but I possess affinity for all attributes.”
Only then did he truly grasp the monstrous prodigy he had been fighting.
Beyond the Dragon race, the number of individuals he knew with affinity for all attributes could be counted on one hand.
His defeat this time was entirely justified.
The Serpentman, clad in his academy uniform, crumpled onto the scorched earth like a falling snowflake.
Flames still ravenously consumed him, threatening to engulf his entire being, as he continued to writhe and howl in agony.
In Gern’s eyes, there was not a trace of pity in that moment, only a hint of almost morbid pleasure.
She found herself somewhat enjoying the sensation, relishing the torment of these defeated individuals.
Only when the man’s breath grew increasingly faint did Gern halt her torment, leaving him just enough life to cling on.
She intended to prolong his suffering, ensuring he endured excruciating pain without succumbing to death. Each time, she would leave him a breath, waiting for him to recover before resuming her torture.
While he was given a moment to ‘rest,’ Gern shifted her gaze towards the cowering, trembling Second-Tier Serpentman squad leader hidden nearby.
As if sensing Gern’s piercing stare, his body began to tremble even more violently.
Gern slowly advanced, delivering a kick to his back. With a sickening crunch, the Serpentman instantly slumped, his entire body going limp.
The Serpentman squad leader, too, erupted into a shrill, agonizing shriek.
“From now on, I’ll ask, and you’ll answer. Answer well, and you live; answer poorly…”
Gern left the threat unfinished, but the icy coldness in her eyes conveyed her unspoken words with chilling clarity.
The squad leader immediately choked back his cries, speaking in a trembling voice.
“My lady… oh no, Grand-aunt, Grand-aunt, please, ask whatever you wish.”
Gern’s brow furrowed. The man looked to be over thirty; did she really appear that old?
She was somewhat displeased with the ‘Grand-aunt’ address, but she said nothing, questioning him in a cold tone.
“Who sent you here?”
“It was… Young Master Quade Turner who brought us here.”
“Quade Turner?”
“Yes, yes, exactly. The man Grand-aunt just defeated.”
“Oh? What’s his background?”
“He’s the youngest son of the Turner family. He ordered us to do all of this; it has nothing to do with us!”
“Grand-aunt, you are so magnanimous, please, just let me go.”
The squad leader was practically crying from fright, his terror clearly reaching its absolute peak.
Gern rested her chin on one hand, her brows furrowed in thought. A bold idea began to form in her mind.
The man held a certain status within the Serpentman race, and the Witch Guild had previously supplied him with some disguise potions. Perhaps she could impersonate him to gather more intelligence.
Gern retrieved a transparent vial from her spatial ring and took a small sip of its contents.
These were the remaining hypnotic potions; she hadn’t brought many on this outing, so she needed to conserve them.
Once she sensed the potion taking effect, Gern leaned close to his ear and spoke softly.
“From now on, I am Quade Turner. Do you understand?”
The Serpentman squad leader nodded dully.
She then approached Quade’s side and asked in a low voice.
“Tell me everything about yourself.”
After assimilating all the general information about Quade Turner, Gern pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling a surge of helplessness and unsure what to say.
The Turner family was considered a major clan within the Serpentman race, with a remarkably vast internal network.
Their family upheld an ancient tradition: all offspring, save for the designated heir, were married into other prominent families.
These Serpentman scions, having married into other families, seemed to have undergone some form of brainwashing, or perhaps their lives after marriage weren’t particularly pleasant, for they all harbored a deep longing for the Turner family.
Over time, an increasing number of noble families rallied behind the Turner family, gradually transforming this once obscure clan into its current formidable size.
It could now be said that the Turner family’s influence permeated the entire noble class of the Serpentman Kingdom. They had even instigated the current war with the Fox race.
Their objective, of course, was to force the Fox race to surrender their magic crystal ore veins, or to establish a partnership or even a marriage alliance with them.
As fate would have it, this youngest son of the Turner family was precisely the individual arranged to marry the Fox Princess.
To avoid being wed to the Fox race, he had sought to join the army and engage in military affairs, hoping to escape the arranged marriage.
Upon learning all this information, Gern suddenly felt a pounding headache. Should she still go through with impersonating him?
What if, after impersonating him, she was forced into a marriage alliance with that Fox Princess?
Suddenly, Lilia’s image flashed through her mind. She stood in the distance, her eyes utterly devoid of light, a long leather whip clutched in her hand.
She smiled, yet her expression offered not a shred of warmth.
Gern’s entire body jolted. She quickly shook her head, casting out those chaotic thoughts.
‘Never mind, never mind,’ she thought. ‘I’ll deal with these extraneous thoughts later. For now, I need to handle this situation.’
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