Chapter 29
Qifeng is so useful at critical moments! Her magic, “Chains of Bondage,” creates a chain that connects two points she has touched.
The chain she just materialized, connecting the wall she’d touched to her wrist, perfectly blocked the assassin’s sword from hitting Liluo. That was a close call.
The black-haired boy, having failed his strike, looked annoyed. “What a hindrance!”
He thrust viciously at Liluo again. Lian Qi flashed to his side and stomped her foot down on his hand. With that stomp, the air cracked like a mirror. An explosion immediately followed. In the flash of light, the black-haired boy’s sword was knocked from his grip.
Lian Qi is so fast. She was just at my side a second ago.
The black-haired boy let out a hysterical roar. A fist covered in black armor broke through the rolling smoke and punched at Lian Qi’s face. Lian Qi instinctively crossed her arms to defend, but was slammed into the floor by the punch!
The floor was shattered by the impact, cracks spreading all the way to Liluo’s feet. She just stood there, at a loss. One Liluo, one Lian Qi… they’re really making me worry!
“Qifeng! Get Liluo to a safe place!” — Lian Qi and I shouted in unison.
“R-Right!”
Qifeng activated her magic. A golden chain appeared between her wrist and Liluo. With a hard tug, she reeled Liluo to her side like a kite.
Wow, when did Qifeng manage to touch Liluo? That was some seriously skilled maneuvering.
Seeing Lian Qi pinned to the ground and in a bad spot, I summoned the Holy Light hammer, deciding to help. But…
I had just taken half a step when… eh?
Even though I’m not used to walking in high heels, it shouldn’t be this impossible to move, right?
No, this feeling… it’s like I’m being pulled by an invisible force. I looked back and saw the pink-haired girl… standing on my shadow.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she smiled at me.
“Uwaah, your magic is so unique,” I said with a weak laugh.
“It’s just my Inherent Magic, ‘Shadow Stepping.’ I am ‘Shadow-Parasite Line,’ LaGeLeisi.”
I see. So she’s a mage with the ability to control shadows. She’s the one who used her shadow to swap my position just now.
Getting my shadow stepped on and being unable to move at a critical moment is really a pain. I looked over at Lian Qi worriedly—
I saw the black-haired boy’s arm was covered in black armor.
“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re a woman! Justice—”
That punch had truly pinned Lian Qi to the ground.
“Hmph. I never expected you to go easy on me in the first place,” Lian Qi said coldly. Her hands grabbed onto the armor on his arm, and at the same time, the high-energy reaction of explosion magic began to build.
“Useless! My armor can easily defend against an explosion of this level!” the black-haired boy laughed contemptuously.
“Oh? Is that so?”
Lian Qi’s lips curled, not showing any weakness.
The black-haired man stared at the fine cracks appearing on his armor and sensed something was wrong. Unfortunately, it was too late. BOOM—! His arm exploded! His entire body was sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground.
“Impossible! How could your explosion have that much power?”
He propped himself up, staring at Lian Qi in astonishment. Lian Qi walked out of the fire and smoke, her entire body wreathed in blue magic.
The black-haired man couldn’t believe his eyes. “At that close range, you should have been hit by the explosion too! Why are you completely unharmed?”
“Hmph. To appreciate the artistic effect of explosion magic up close, I naturally had to concentrate most of my magic on defense. Otherwise, wouldn’t I look too pathetic?”
“Magic concentrated on defense? Then how did you allocate the magic for the explosion? Dammit, are you really just a fourth-tier mage???”
The black-haired man sprang to his feet. Magic power spread over his entire body like fire. Where the flames passed, black armor materialized, inch by inch.
“Oh? Not just the arm this time, but a full-body transformation?”
Lian Qi had barely finished speaking when the opponent’s charging figure was reflected in her eyes. After transforming, his speed… was so fast!
Lian Qi subconsciously crossed her arms to defend… only for the opponent to trip and fall flat on his face halfway there.
Lian Qi stared, stunned. What happened?
“Dammit! Who put this chain here!?”
Oh… so he was tripped by a chain Qifeng had secretly materialized. When a battle gets this heated, it’s easy to not pay attention to your feet…
“I’m going to tear you apart today!”
He climbed up from the ground, his helmeted head glancing at Qifeng, who was standing with Liluo in the distance. He then roared at the pink-haired female: “Quick, swap my shadow with that vampire’s! I’m going to make that golden-haired woman pay the price!”
“I can’t—! That vampire has no shadow!”
The black-haired man paused.
“Then swap her with this black-haired woman!”
The moment he said it, Lian Qi kicked him in the back, stomping him back to the ground.
“I’m your opponent, you know.”
It seems Lian Qi had changed into a pair of thick-soled, round-toed leather shoes to go with her dress, which is why she’s been so fond of “stomping” in tonight’s battle.
At the same time, the pink-haired girl activated her magic, “Shadow Swap.” I wanted to stop her but found… my hammer couldn’t reach her.
In the blink of an eye, Lian Qi was standing next to Liluo, looking bewildered.
“Eh? Eh? Eh? How did this happen??” Qifeng, realizing she was now standing on the back of the armored black-haired man, instantly panicked.
“Feels good to stomp, doesn’t it? Get the hell off me!”
The black-haired man was furious! He erupted with his fourth-tier magic power, easily blasting the third-tier Qifeng off him. He got up and lunged at Qifeng with bared claws. Qifeng, sitting on the ground, scooted back in fear, shut her eyes, and activated her magic—
Countless golden chains burst from the black-haired man’s back—where Qifeng had stepped—and connected to all the walls in the banquet hall that Qifeng had touched!
“Dammit! More chains!”
He struggled, desperately trying to lunge at Qifeng. If he could just get a little closer, he could tear her to shreds! Unfortunately, he was tethered by a room full of chains and couldn’t move an inch.
“Ahhhh!!!”
“Die!!!”
His aura was terrifying.
Unfortunately, his fingers, clawing at the air, just couldn’t touch Qifeng.
“I have to ask, what are you doing? Getting played by a third-tier mage?” the pink-haired girl, “Shadow-Parasite Line” LaGeLeisi, said with a grimace.
“You have no idea how disgusting her magic is!” the black-haired man said viciously.
Qifeng, meanwhile, just sat on the floor, looking at him innocently.
“Enough nonsense! I’m trapped! Hurry up and use ‘Shadow Transfer’ on me!”
“You owe me one for this.”
The pink-haired girl once again activated her magic, “Shadow Transfer”!
“I won’t let you!”
I had a flash of inspiration. I raised the Holy Light hammer high and made it shine. Holy light instantly banished all shadows.