Chapter 51: The Inferno of the Cross-Guard Sword

“Thank you for your kindness, little fool, but it’s not needed.”

The reason was easy to grasp, just as Little Eagle stated:

“I haven’t taken a single scratch so far. Your healing is simply unnecessary.”

“Oh, I see…”

Cai felt both joy and a touch of disappointment. The former emotion stemmed from Big Sister remaining unharmed, while the latter arose from her feeling utterly useless.

Observing her crestfallen expression, Little Eagle offered no direct comfort. Instead, they deftly shifted the subject.

“It’s just as I predicted, isn’t it? You truly did come back to our side!”

As the words left their lips, soft feathers enveloped Cai’s head, beginning a gentle caress.

Wang, standing nearby, didn’t miss the scene, a mischievous chuckle escaping her lips.

“So, your feelings for each other have grown this strong without my knowledge?”

The lighthearted jest ended there.

****

The knights, observing from the sky, were now poised for a charge, ready to unleash their attack within moments.

Wang decided it was time to adopt a more serious demeanor.

The purpose of this battle was not merely to ensure the sanctuary’s peace, nor solely to avenge Little Eagle. There was one other crucial task to accomplish.

“Foolish woman, pay close attention to my next moves. You must learn to fight from me, and especially how to wield this sword!”

*Swoosh!*

Wang moved with sudden swiftness after speaking. As her cross-guard sword slashed outwards, a fierce gust of wind erupted across the nearby ground.

Carried by this sudden gale, a vast quantity of fire elements began to coalesce. Once the wind vortex dissipated, they converged entirely, clinging to the blade of the cross-guard sword.

To the knights observing from the sky, this sight appeared utterly unremarkable.

They simply regarded the figure on the ground as a fool!

This fool couldn’t fly, wasn’t attempting to flee even with disaster looming, and was instead, in a display of what seemed like madness, performing a sword dance.

Laughter rippled through the ranks of the knights. They scoffed, ‘What good is a sword dance against an aerial legion?’

Could the sword extend for dozens of meters?

Or perhaps, by merely raising the hilt, a ‘light cannon’ would fire from the blade’s tip, utterly obliterating them with a resounding ‘boom’?

If none of that were possible, then the knights, amidst their derisive jeers, formed the largest formation seen since the battle began. They plummeted downwards, intending to impale their target cleanly through the chest.

The leader of the Pegasus Knights believed that among the four targets on the ground, only Little Eagle possessed any real strength; the other three were entirely insignificant.

Neither he nor his subordinates had any inkling that, in reality, a BOSS-level opponent stood beneath them.

Wang completed her preparations for that single, decisive move.

Simultaneously, the numerous knights above her spurred their pegasi, descending in a crushing torrent from the heights, resembling dozens of white shooting stars.

Beyond Wang’s physical form, the ripples of Sacred Power pulsed ceaselessly.

Under the deliberate guidance of this immense force, all the fire elements within the space converged, swirling precisely three inches before the sword’s tip, radiating a brilliant crimson glow.

As the knights from above drew nearer, the light threatened to coalesce into a formidable beam, the fire elements themselves solidifying.

Then, in an instant, the fate of the battle would be decided.

Wang spun the cross-guard sword in her hand, then raised a single arm high, bringing the weapon down in an upward reverse slash towards the sky above her head!

Though it was a sword blade that descended, it was no mere physical weapon tasked with annihilating her foes.

What Wang truly unleashed in that preceding moment was a cascading, multi-layered torrent of crimson flames!

The fire elements coalesced into a swirling inferno, which, using the sword’s swing as its catalyst and guided by deliberate power, rocketed skyward like fireworks launched from the ground.

A single spark could extend, and for a myriad of sparks to spread into a raging conflagration, nothing was impossible.

The moment the diving knights realized the ferocious blaze, capable of engulfing half the sky, had become utterly inescapable, was the very instant their fate was sealed.

The upward-surging flames formed a magnificent arc. Accompanied by the searing roar of an incinerating vortex, they ferociously devoured the nearly hundred-strong knight brigade.

The rows of lances held aloft by the knights were instantly melted by the surging inferno.

Tearing through that fragile defense, the flames immediately slammed into the knights’ armor, engulfing each person in a raging conflagration.

The fan-shaped inferno abruptly ‘curled’ in mid-air, consuming all enemies without a single blind spot.

The section of space that endured the most intense scorching immediately cracked down the middle, forming a visible fissure.

From this fissure, countless fractured lines spread outwards in all directions, leaving portions of the sky charred black as if scorched by a devastating fire.

Once the flames had completed their most savage rampage, their outward intensity gradually subsided.

Especially as the surrounding winds swept through, the temperature at the heart of the inferno steadily decreased with the passage of time, until it finally extinguished completely.

The merciless flames had consumed everything; nothing had managed to escape their wrath.

Cai witnessed a scene of brutality she had never imagined, yet she harbored no ill will towards Wang.

Even she understood that if those knights weren’t eliminated, her own life would be forfeit.

Though Cai didn’t voice it, she was profoundly grateful for Wang’s intervention.

As if to shift her mood, she moved her focus away from life and death, turning her attention instead to the recent battle.

“You can use magic, then?”

Cai directed this question at Wang, but it was not Wang who answered.

“Woof! That’s not magic!”

From the bark at the beginning of the sentence, it was clear that the large, seemingly benevolent dog was the one providing Cai with an explanation.

“Big Sis, you don’t know, but Boss, while having mastered a lot of knowledge from books, has never actually learned magic.”

“Then how do you explain the flames just now?”

“Woof! While Boss can’t use magic, she can use her sword as a conduit, allowing her to release elements when she swings it.”

Cai, being an intelligent girl, immediately translated the large dog’s complex explanation into a more easily understandable concept in her mind.

For Wang, the sword was akin to a mage’s staff.

As long as she wielded her sword, she could command all attribute-related elements, just like a true Grand Mage.

In other words:

Even without knowing magic, Wang could, through this unique method, imbue the elements swirling around her sword with power no less potent than grand magic itself!

As for the signal to release these elements, it was simply the unmistakable motion of her sword swing.

Upon realizing this, Cai secretly admired Wang’s strength, wondering if she, too, could someday possess such terrifying power.

Of course, Cai merely entertained the thought.

Deep down, Cai still disliked combat.

Alas, sometimes, many things were beyond her preferences.

Wang intended to give away a gift that had been given to her.

The recipient, naturally, was Cai, who Wang had just instructed to closely observe the battle.

At that moment, Wang shrunk the sword back to its original length, then forcibly tucked the restored iris pendant into Cai’s inner pocket.