"...Good job, Maria," Mira muttered as her body fell limp. She wanted to give the blonde a few pats on the back, but she was too injured and exhausted to do so.
'...It's been a long time since someone has pushed me to this point.' Mira thought, ignoring the fact that she was slowly dying.
Whatever Maria did to prevent her from healing was still in effect, and her last attack had actually knicked her 'heart', or rather, her Absolute Essence Core.
She was continuously losing blood, and the aftereffects of [Blood Burst] certainly didn't help. Her Qi had pretty much run dry, and her mind was starting to become fuzzy.
There were probably only a handful of times in all her lives when she was in such a pitiful state.
'It's not bad.' She chuckled to herself. 'If it were anyone else who did this, I'd probably be raging, unwilling to accept my defeat, but… I probably deserve this.'
It was a hard-fought battle, one where she truly put her all into it.
'No, that's not right.' She inwardly shook her head. 'I did try to win, but I wasn't trying to kill her. I didn't want to.'
If she had used her Scythe manifestation and truly pushed her creation abilities to the limit, she may have been able to kill her. However, if she did that, nobody would win. She didn't want Maria to die, after all.
But all of this was mere semantics, perhaps a way to cope with everything. In the end, she didn't use them and lost. Maria had planned properly and used everything at her disposal, pushing what was possible to the limits.
She didn't even know the light element could be used so creatively. It was much more dangerous than she had initially given it credit for.
'Or maybe I just ignored it because I thought it could only be used to heal, which was something I almost never needed.'
After some introspection, she realized that maybe.. she should put more effort into other elements besides ice. Not in the way that she'd suddenly become an Earth-element user or something, but she could try and find a way to synergize all her elements together properly.
Similar to how she created her Explosive Ice Gauntlet, but slightly different.
'Haaa… So much to do.'
Forging, cultivation, killing, training, Dao enlightenment, treasure-hunting, and training her daughter/disciple… She had too much on her plate with not a lot of time.
Fortunately, she was as talented as she was, or else she might end up spending centuries without much progress in anything.
'Should I just spend the next decade or so forging and creating my own techniques?' That fleeting thought actually sounded quite enticing, but she knew she'd have to wait until she could sit down and dedicate that much time to that.
She coughed a few times, with blood trickling down her lips, and gave a bitter smile. 'That is, if I can survive.'
Suddenly, Rhydian swooped down alongside Vulcan and Hana. Shimmying her wing under their bodies, she lifted them onto her back, where Vulcan and Hana were able to take care of them and took flight.
"Are… Are you alright, Mira?" Hana hesitantly asked, despite knowing the answer. No matter how she looked at it, Mira was in an awful state; her breath was weak, her face pale, and the oppressive aura she usually emanated was no longer there.
Mira slowly nodded, but that was the extent of what she could do.
"...Is there something I can do?" Hana asked back, but Mira just bitterly smiled.
She could take out herbs from her Infinite Garden or some questionable pills from her Storage Space, but neither would be of much use.
She wasn't dying right now because she lacked the vitality to heal; it was because that part of her was sealed. She couldn't heal right now, even if she wanted to, not without dissipating Maria's Qi, which wasn't easy in her current state.
Vulcan gently pushed Maria off of Mira, giving the latter space to breathe. However, he left the sword in her chest, knowing that removing it would do more harm than good.
Then, he walked over to one of Maria's hands and pressed his nose against her Spatial Ring. A moment later, two pills popped out and onto Rhydian's back. He picked up one of them with his teeth and nudged the other toward Hana.
"D-Do you want me to give this to Mira?" Hana asked, a bit confused. Who even was this fox? Vulcan let out a resigned sigh and nodded. As much as he disliked Mira, he didn't want to see her die.
Hana's hands trembled slightly as she picked up the pill Vulcan nudged toward her. "This will help her, right?" she asked, her voice laced with worry as she looked at Vulcan.
Vulcan nodded, then hopped on Maria's chest.
With a deep breath, Hana approached Mira, her hand extending the pill toward her. "Mira, you need to take this," she urged, her voice gentle but insistent.
With her consciousness flickering like a candle in the wind, Mira barely managed to nod. With Herculean effort, she opened her mouth, allowing Hana to place the pill on her tongue. The effect was almost immediate; a faint glow emanated from her body as the 'seal' that held her vitality back burst open like a dam, allowing her to finally heal.
Sensing that things would now be alright, she passed out and allowed her body and the pill to work its magic.
Vulcan, meanwhile, turned his attention to Maria, who was still unconscious but stable. He knew her recovery was crucial, not just for her own sake, but for Mira's as well.
He dropped the pill in her mouth, then shoved it down her throat with his paw. Although Maria heaved and coughed, trying to puke it back up, Vulcan didn't allow her to.
As soon as the pill hit her stomach, it dissolved and covered her entire body in a light film as all her injuries began to heal.
Although these were just preventative measures, they would at least keep them alive until they could truly deal with their injuries. Vulcan sighed and laid down on Rhydian's back.
Now that he had effectively extended their lives, all he could do was wait for them to wake up.
The journey continued in silence, the only sound being the rush of wind and the steady beat of Rhydian's wings.
***
"Yes! Hahaha! I told you! I knew the blonde would win!" Kaius pumped his fist in the air and shouted. Nobody knew, but he had secretly protected those two from any outside interference from the Divine Sea Realm 'kids'.
Celaine rolled her eyes, but the slight smile on her face betrayed her thoughts. "...I'm just glad it's over."
"Yeah, yeah. I know you enjoyed watching them, too. No need to lie."
"..."
"Anyways, you have some impressive friends, girly." He turned to her with a smile. "It'll be pretty difficult to keep up with them."
"...I know." Celaine's expression returned to neutral.
"But don't worry! I'll make you strong enough to shove both of them in the dirt!"
"..."
"...Maybe."
Celaine's eyebrow twitched. She suddenly regretted her decision to accept this fool's teaching.
"Hey! Don't give me that look! Those two are insane! Especially that fox! I know she technically lost, but she hardly used any techniques and basically fought at a severe disadvantage the entire time. Yet, she still pushed that blonde to the brink of collapse with pure, unrefined power.
Give her a few years, and she might truly become unparalleled in this world!"
Celaine sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I know. She's a monster, through and through. Maria is talented as well, but this was probably the only chance she'll ever get to beat Mira. I doubt Mira will ever allow herself to suffer such a loss again."
"Damn! I guess we got our work cut out for us, huh?" Kaius clicked his tongue. To be honest, he'd never seen someone as talented as Mira.
Based on pure physical strength and Qi reserves, nobody could match her at the same level. Even he, back when he was in the Soul Transformation Realm, wouldn't be able to contend with her.
She put all these so-called geniuses to shame. And that was without creating or following a set fighting style. To him, it just looked as if she was throwing Qi around without reserve, as she simply had too much.
Why the need for control when her every move could destroy whatever she wanted?
However, what if that changed? What if she perfected her control, followed a set fighting style, created her own Battle Art, and truly mastered herself?
'...I can't even begin to imagine how strong she'd be.' And that thought brought a smile to his face.
The world has been so boring for so long! Now, finally, something interesting was happening!
"Hahaha! Alright! Now, I'm motivated!" He suddenly burst out laughing before grabbing Celaine's shoulders. "For our first goal, let's make you as strong as those two!"
"...What?"
"And for that, we're going to need to catch a few bugs." Glancing at the ceiling, he smiled sinisterly as he watched the so-called Masters try to break into his castle.
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