Chapter 21: The Spear of Piercing Death

Cornflower’s strike, imbued with her complete insight and magic, did not unleash an earth-shattering roar.

Instead, there was only an extremely faint ‘hiss,’ like a water bladder being pierced.

The massive body of the evil spirit instantly froze. All its movements ceased, and the crimson glow in its eyes rapidly dimmed.

It opened its mouth, yet no sound escaped. The black mist forming its physique began to disintegrate from within, scattering into wisps.

It collapsed, stripped of all ability to resist. However, it did not immediately dissipate entirely; its remaining form twitched faintly on the ground, emitting chaotic, death-throes fluctuations.

“It no longer has the strength to fight,” Cornflower stated, sheathing her sword. She looked towards Gentian, her tone calm. “Following procedure, we can attempt purification to eliminate the remnants.”

“Purification?” Gentian scoffed, dragging her injured body closer. Her eyes were filled with disdain. “For a foe worthy of such ‘respect,’ it deserves a dignified end! Why use the compassionate methods of the Purification Faction? I, Gentian, do not believe in that.”

“You…”

“Annihilating this evil spirit is my responsibility,” Gentian interrupted, her voice laced with undeniable resolve and a hint of irritation born from pain. “I have the right to decide how to deal with it. Besides…” She glanced at her blood-stained waist, then cracked a smile. “This fellow hit me quite hard; it hurts like hell.”

She took a few steps back, creating a small distance, and drew a deep breath. This action tugged at her wound, causing her brows to furrow sharply.

The winding, deep purple energy whip in her hand began to contract, twist, and deform. Even more violent magic surged from her, pouring into it frantically, condensing and shaping…

Finally, a brilliant, deep blue energy knight’s spear, its shaft subtly adorned with the elegant silhouette of a gentian flower, materialized abruptly in her grasp.

[Hey, in your current state, can you really bear the burden of that move?] Gentian’s spiritual familiar, Xiao You, finally appeared. Its voice echoed in Gentian’s mind, devoid of its usual languor, replaced by a subtle tension.

‘Shut up. Just watch,’ Gentian took another deep breath, her eyes blazing with a nearly frantic light.

Holding the spear in one hand, she placed the other over her chest, then bowed deeply and solemnly towards the dissipating darkness on the ground.

“Herein, I offer the gift of conclusion—” she murmured, then lifted her head, a flash of almost fanatical sharpness in her eyes. Her voice suddenly rose, carrying the weight of a desperate proclamation: “Accept your death! This… is the Spear of Piercing Death!”

A flamboyant curve played on her lips.

“Remember—you are already dead before the spear touches you!”

Solitary Valor’s Pierce: Annihilation!

She spun, twisting her waist, pouring all her remaining strength and boiling, unyielding battle intent into this spear of ultimate demise, named the “Proof of Solitary Valor”!

The spear’s brilliance intensified, and a destructive aura swept forth like a storm, making her deep purple hair dance wildly around her forehead.

“Behold! This is—”

She raised her arm, leaned back, and hurled this concentrated strike, with all her might, towards the evil spirit’s remnants!

“—the Lofty Gentian!!!”

Whoosh—!!!

The moment the spear left her hand, it transformed into a deep purple lightning bolt tearing through the air, instantly piercing the evil spirit’s final form.

Again, there was no anticipated explosion or roar.

Under the extremely concentrated penetrating power, the evil spirit’s final form vanished completely and silently, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser. Starting from the point of impact, it annihilated into the finest light dust, scattering in the wind.

Only a deep hole remained on the ground, along with the gradually subsiding magical aftermath in the air.

Gentian gasped, the energy spear in her hand slowly dissipating.

Her body swayed, the deep purple battle aura around her completely fading. The fierce, almost manic expression on her face receded like a tide, leaving only the pallor of blood loss and obvious weakness.

Yet, she stubbornly kept her back straight, her gaze fixed on the empty space where the evil spirit had vanished. Her eyes held a complex look—a void after victory, a weariness from expended power, and perhaps, a solitary melancholy belonging to a warrior, understood by no one else.

****

On the outskirts of the battlefield, evacuation efforts were nearing completion.

Jasmine and Su Xinxin were working together, helping the last few frightened or slightly scratched citizens to the temporarily designated safe zone.

One guided, the other comforted; their cooperation proved surprisingly seamless.

On the street, the low-level ‘Corruptions’ — specks of dust and wandering souls — that had spawned from the panic were mostly cleared by Jasmine’s continuously expanded purification barrier. The few remaining wisps of grey mist rapidly evaporated into nothingness under the sunlight.

The crisis, it seemed, was resolved.

In the distance, the faint wail of police sirens and the steady hum of heavy vehicle engines could be heard approaching. This was the ‘Gardener’ department’s cleanup team; cognitive interference and rapid restoration were about to begin.

“The battle… is over?”

Jasmine, who had been bending over to check an elder’s ankle, suddenly looked up, keenly sensing the unique aura of a high-grade R-rank evil spirit’s complete annihilation drifting from the center of the battlefield.

Almost simultaneously, Su Xinxin, who had just exhausted her last trace of magic to conjure a small jasmin flower of light for the frightened child in her arms, swayed slightly.

The focus in her eyes began to scatter, and darkness crept in at the edges of her vision. In the final instant before her consciousness plunged into chaos, she looked at the child’s finally tear-free face, and her ancient soul, through the girl’s lips, outlined an extremely faint, yet incredibly gentle and relieved smile.

Then, she softly collapsed forward.

“Jasmin? Jasmin!” Jasmine cried out in alarm, quickly catching her. It was then that she suddenly realized, “Oh dear! How foolish of me! I forgot you’re the apprentice; your magic reserves and control are still unfamiliar. Today’s high-intensity guidance and purification consumed too much…”

She said more, but Su Xinxin could no longer hear. Jasmine’s anxious voice, the approaching engine sounds in the distance, even the wind, rapidly blurred and receded, sinking into a serene darkness.

When consciousness returned, the first sensation was a familiar scent of disinfectant, mixed with a clear, calming botanical fragrance.

Su Xinxin’s eyelashes fluttered a few times before she slowly opened her eyes.

What met her gaze was a pristine white ceiling and soft lighting. For a moment, a sense of déjà vu overlapped with her memories—she thought she had returned to that terminal hospital ward, filled with the incessant beeping of medical instruments, back to that decrepit, dying body.

But then, the feedback from her body was clear and unmistakable: light, though sore from exhaustion, yet brimming with youthful vitality.

This was not a regular hospital room. She was lying in a private room at “Apricot Grove,” the medical rehabilitation department under the Wisteria Division.

She instinctively turned her head, looking towards the bedside.

Seated there was not any of the three daughters who had instantly flashed in her mind, but a young magical girl with long silver-white hair, dozing with one hand propped on her chin.

It was Jasmine.

As if sensing movement, Jasmine jolted awake, blinking her still hazy eyes. Seeing Su Xinxin awake, a bright, relieved smile immediately bloomed on her face.

She leaned closer, her tone light.

“Oh! You’re awake!”

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