ALL NOVEL Chapter 55
Chapter 54: The Vanishing 【Death】
Moving swiftly through the blazing stronghold, I dispatched a few clueless undead to their rightful places, and before long, Fiery Blossom found her sought-after target.
A fox-human girl with a large, pinkish-white tail was locked in a fierce battle with Princess Liliya, who was drenched in blood.
Or rather, it was more fitting to say that the princess was being unilaterally beaten up, right?
No matter the attack—whether it was wind blades, slashes from her long sword, or strikes from the strange shadow behind her—Liliya’s efforts were effortlessly blocked by the fox girl with her tiny claws and fluffy tail.
In fact, I witnessed Liliya, despite having positioned her sword against the fox claws’ path, suddenly gaze up at the fox girl and make eye contact, her expression turning bewildered, and then she was readily slashed, leaving behind a trail of blood.
In the brief moment it took for me to rush towards Liliya, this battered princess had acquired yet another wound, her complexion growing even paler.
“Liliya!!”
Without hesitation, I immediately strung my bow from a distance and shot an arrow at Mavis’ forehead.
Although it wasn’t the Red Lotus Six Styles, each arrow shot by a legendary archer is not so easy to block.
The little fox instantly reacted, abandoning her follow-up attacks on Liliya and sweeping her claws through the air.
“Fox Spirit Secret Art: See Through!”
Zing!
The tough metal arrow I shot was cleanly cut in half by Mavis’ swipe, producing a sharp screech before thudding to the ground, losing all power.
However, the fox girl also felt the impact, as the force from the arrow forced her to stumble back several steps. Liliya seized the opportunity to withdraw and regroup with me.
“Liliya, are you okay!?”
“I’m fine, I won’t die yet. Hua, be careful of her charm; it’s unavoidable!”
“Oh, is that so… I understand.”
After a brief exchange, the two of us suppressed the emotions rising within us, knowing that whatever happened needed to wait until after we dealt with the enemy.
The red-haired ranger nocked another arrow and aimed toward the pinkish-white fox girl.
With the reminder from Liliya, I quickly grasped the meaning behind “unavoidable.”
I had long heard tales of the fox tribe from the Beast Kingdom in the west; they possessed many inexplicable secret arts that regular people could scarcely understand. It seemed that was one of them.
During the enemy’s attack, Liliya’s unnatural behavior of eagerly locking eyes with her indicated she was under the influence of something.
A rule.
The true rules belong to the domain of gods, far beyond the reach of mortals. However, mimicked or pseudo-rules can still be invoked through specific means.
To put it simply, the effect of these rules allowed the result of “eye contact” to be determined before it even occurred. Thus, no matter how one tries to evade it, the person interfered with would inevitably perform that action.
Just like someone who can’t fly—once they leave the ground, they will undoubtedly fall.
The difference between pseudo-rules and true rules is that the former can be avoided with certain methods, like in the earlier case, where creatures in the sky could rely on wings, magic, or special items to stay afloat.
The latter, however—regardless of what you did—under the rules, you would inevitably fall.
That’s fine; if it’s unavoidable, then don’t give the enemy a chance for close-quarters attacks.
“Liliya, you go ahead; I’ll handle her.”
“We should stick together. This fox is also legendary and way too tricky; you might not win, Hua. I need to stay to help you.”
“You…”
My anger flared slightly. I wanted to scold Liliya for staying behind and just complicating things.
But seeing the bloodied yet determined blue-haired girl, I recalled how Liliya had been holding her own against this legendary fox for so long. Hesitating for a moment, I changed my approach.
“…Alright, we’ll go together, but you must prioritize your own safety, understand?”
“Mm! Hua, let’s fight side by side!”
Although her complexion looked a bit frail, the princess still eagerly nodded.
Fighting side by side; it was a phrase she had longed for, and today, it was finally coming true.
As the princess and I swiftly concluded our battle strategy, Mavis, of course, was not slacking off; she was observing.
Observing this suddenly appeared red-haired woman.
Very dangerous; she was likely an existence above legendary. With this woman around, the chances of killing the target were further diminished.
Don’t let the fox girl’s endless beating of Liliya fool you; she too had her dilemmas.
Mavis wanted to dispose of the target quickly to prevent any variables from cropping up; she just never found the chance.
As the strongest among the young generation of the fox tribe and a candidate for chieftain, the fox priestess Mavis had already mastered three secret arts by her young age: besides the “Charm Soul Slash” and “See Through,” the last one was called “Death Omen Insight.”
This was one of the highest secret arts among the fox tribe’s legends. Apart from Mavis, the current sole user, even the High Priest Chaharit did not possess it.
Moreover, this was an innate talent bestowed upon the little fox by the special “Spirit.”
Mavis could see “Death”; she could clearly discern whether she could kill any living creature and where to strike for a fatal hit.
In her eyes, the enemy would have their most lethal weakness marked automatically.
“Death Omen Perception” was a powerful talent akin to predicting the future, connected to “Fate.” As long as death was marked, if she attacked there, the target would surely die without exception.
Including the Beast Emperor and the fox tribe’s high priest Chaharit, the sole difference was the difficulty of hitting their weak points.
However, this human princess named Liliya Meikailande was the first person Mavis could see nothing from.
It was very strange—truly strange. This girl, although somewhat capable, fell far short of legendary standards and possessed no special abilities.
Why? Why did the talent tell her that it was impossible to kill the opponent?
“Death Omen Perception” is absolute; if death can’t be seen, then killing is impossible. Even if one were to forcefully attack seemingly weak points like the heart or brain, it would be meaningless.
The priestess had proven this countless times through bloodied lessons, and there would be no doubts about it.
Mavis was perplexed, which led her to rely on a strategy of weakening Liliya, trying to avoid direct attacks to indirectly kill her through blood loss and exhaustion.
But… this human was too peculiar; her physical abilities were absurdly strong. The endurance surpassed that of ordinary legendary experts. Even after blood loss, she was still lively—how on earth did she train like this?
To be honest, at this point, Mavis was also considering retreating. Just as the high priest commanded, this was an internal conflict among humans; she didn’t need to risk her life for it.
But that second red-haired woman who appeared was strong and dangerous, yet she too bore the mark of “Death.”
This meant that only the human princess named Liliya was the anomaly.
Mavis had never encountered such a unique existence that completely evaded “Death,” igniting a competitive spirit within her that shouldn’t exist.
She wanted to verify why Liliya could ignore “Death,” and she wasn’t willing to just fail and return with her tail tucked between her legs.
What would happen if an attack deemed “certain death” struck a being that was “undead”?
With that thought in mind, the fox girl, who had tempered her heart to remain calm, suddenly surged with intense excitement and curiosity, along with impulsiveness.
Pfftt.
Raising her hand, she pierced her claws into her chest under the shocked gaze of the princess and her guard, plunging through herself.
“Fox Spirit… cough cough… Secret Art… Death Star, descend!”