Vol 3. Chapter 116: Karina’s Worries
Seriously?
He's charging at me?
Faced with the ice-blue light surging toward her with overwhelming momentum, sweeping up endless frigid air in its wake, Karina revealed a faintly astonished expression.
Actually,
Karina had heard quite a lot of information about Luokefei.
Some of it had come from the Black Rose Family, while most of it had come from her elder brother Piere.
Thirty years ago,
when they learned that the Child of Destiny had been born in the region where the western part of the Snow Night Empire bordered Golden City, the Black Rose Family began taking action.
Because relations between the Sadik Empire and the Snow Night Empire had been extremely tense at the time, coupled with the fact that the Nightingale Organization had yet to fully mature, it was not easy for members of the Black Rose Family to infiltrate the Snow Night Empire and search for the Child of Destiny.
Thus, they had Piere appear in the Northern Border and draw the attention of the various factions, allowing Xiao to operate in secret.
However,
even though it was clearly only supposed to be a diversion, her second brother had somehow accidentally turned it into an annihilation mission...
Without another word, he beat the Snow Night Empire's allied forces so badly that heaven and earth seemed to turn upside down.
And during that process, her second brother encountered this man named Luokefei.
According to her second brother, however, this guy was nothing more than a coward who had fled in the face of battle and wasn't worth fearing. Even his supposed title of Grand General Protecting the Nation was completely undeserved.
Therefore,
Karina had initially felt considerable contempt for Luokefei as well. After all, she also despised cowardly and timid people.
She had thought that someone so cowardly would choose to flee after discovering the spatial rift leading out of "Scorching Hell"...
She hadn't expected him to actually turn around and continue attacking her.
And those eyes... They're pretty resolute. He clearly knows he's not strong enough, yet there's not the slightest trace of fear...
'Looks like he's a little different from what Second Brother said...'
Grand General Protecting the Nation,
perhaps the title wasn't entirely undeserved after all.
At that thought, the disdain and contempt in Karina's orange-red eyes gradually faded, replaced by a trace of respect.
Although her childhood obsession with chivalry had largely been an attempt to fool her mother, Karina's personality and way of doing things had still been influenced, more or less, by those knightly principles. At the very least, Karina greatly admired those who were courageous and unafraid of death.
'He's got some backbone, at least.'
In that case,
as a reward, I suppose I'll go all out too...
The instant she made that decision, Karina narrowed her eyes slightly.
A mass of crimson flames suddenly blazed to life from her chest, and in the blink of an eye, engulfed her entire body...
Several minutes later, inside the Imperial Prison,
Saiboke, who had been sitting silently on the steps drinking tea for quite some time, suddenly raised an eyebrow and looked meaningfully toward the blazing crimson fireball ahead.
"Hm? Looks like it's over..."
Hearing this, the members of the Black Rose Family who had been waiting nearby for quite some time very consciously dropped to one knee and respectfully performed a welcoming salute toward the crimson fireball.
The next moment,
under the respectful gazes of Saiboke and the others, the crimson fireball gradually contracted, eventually turning into specks of scarlet light that dissipated inside the Imperial Prison. As the flames containing Shadow of Silence Power dispersed, a sexy and alluring figure appeared before Saiboke and the others.
It was none other than Karina, clad in her blazing flame battle dress.
And at this moment, Karina was holding a charred corpse in her right hand...
Karina's flames contained a terrifying temperature capable of reducing even profound iron to nothingness. Anyone whose corpse could remain intact under such extreme heat must have possessed extraordinary strength while alive. With that, the identity of this unrecognizably charred corpse was practically obvious.
'Luokefei, huh...'
Saiboke chuckled inwardly.
The old butler wasn't surprised by this result in the slightest.
Compared with the Luokefei who had fought Lord Piere back then, the current Grand General Protecting the Nation truly lived up to his title and possessed tremendous strength by human standards. However, no matter how powerful he was, he was ultimately still human.
Even though both of them were at the Peak Eighth Tier, his physical capabilities still couldn't compare with those of the Demon King-class Lady Karina.
Moreover, unlike Lady Limo and the others, Lady Karina, just like Lord Piere, was capable of completely controlling her Released State. After all, although Lady Limo's strength increased tremendously after entering her Released State, her actions became driven entirely by instinct, and her power was unleashed indiscriminately.
But Lady Karina was different. Releasing her power did not cause her to lose her rationality. While maintaining her reason, Lady Karina could use a greater variety of skills and tactics. At the same time, after compressing all that terrifying flame-based Shadow of Silence Power into her humanoid body, Lady Karina's physical capabilities, including her attack power, defense, speed, and more, were further enhanced.
Combined with the existence of her Domain, 'Scorching Hell,'
Luokefei's chances of victory had been infinitesimal.
Now,
his death in battle could be considered entirely within expectations.
However,
Lady Karina actually brought his corpse out with her? Shouldn't she have reduced him to ashes?
Thinking this, Saiboke couldn't help revealing a puzzled expression before curiously asking,
"Lady Karina, this is...?"
"Hm?"
Noticing Saiboke's gaze, Karina glanced at the charred corpse in her hand with a somewhat complicated expression. After a moment of silence, Karina seemingly had no intention of explaining herself. Instead, she casually tossed the corpse to one of the Black Rose Family knights and softly instructed,
"Don't worry about it. Find somewhere to bury him."
"Hm?"
Hearing this, the knight also revealed an astonished expression, but quickly regained his composure and respectfully lowered his head.
"Understood, Lady Karina."
Although he had his doubts, since these were Lady Karina's instructions, all he needed to do was obey.
After handing over the corpse, Karina turned toward the old butler beside her.
"You look awfully relaxed. Did Xiao succeed?"
Hearing this, Saiboke smiled and nodded.
"Yes. The Child of Destiny no longer exists. Lady Yumo was the one who dealt with him."
"Hm? Plan E? Ennngh... That's fine too."
Upon hearing the result, Karina showed a rare smile of relief. For the sake of this operation, she had pushed aside an important mission from her team and had even gone so far as to put on an act and let herself get stabbed. Although she wouldn't actually die from it, having her Origin Core pierced by Xue Tianao's sword had still been quite painful.
Fortunately, after paying such a high price, there had been a reward.
That maggot of destiny who threatened Mother and even wanted to possess Mother was finally dead.
Now, only the Daughter of Destiny remained...
However,
since their objective had already been achieved, there was no need to keep making a commotion...
Thinking this, Karina glanced sideways at the loathsome monster lying not far behind Saiboke and the others. It had three tails and clung to the wall like a gecko.
"Little Shuoyue, follow the original plan. Put on a little show, then have the Abyss Demon horde retreat."
As her words fell, the Abyss Demon that had been quietly clinging to the wall for a long time slowly raised its enormous head, revealing a pair of crimson vertical pupils glowing with blue-gold light. Then, the colossal creature obediently gave a slight nod.
-'Understood, Sister Karina.'-
A melodious female voice, flowing like a gentle stream, transmitted into Karina's ears.
The voice naturally belonged to Shuoyue. With her formidable psychic abilities, although Shuoyue herself was currently in the central region of the Great Winter Forest, her consciousness had never left the front lines. She constantly controlled every move made by the Abyss Demon horde, not only directing them to strike at important enemies, but also continuously suppressing the Abyss Demons' murderous instincts to prevent them from doing anything that would displease Mother.
Besides,
speaking of that, a certain black-haired figure suddenly appeared in Karina's mind.
'Come to think of it, Mother? Where is she now?'
Mother had accidentally gotten rid of the Child of Destiny. She must be feeling pretty depressed right now, right?
As her thoughtful little daughter, shouldn't I go comfort Mother?
Besides, she had to get there before those two brats Limo and Liyu!
At that thought, Karina hurriedly looked toward Saiboke beside her.
"Saiboke, where is Mother right now?"
"You mean Lady Yumo?"
Hearing this, Saiboke seemed to reveal a somewhat troubled expression.
"Well..."
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"As for Lady Yumo... it seems she's still staying by Mengxi's side..."
"What? She's with the Daughter of Destiny?"
Karina frowned at this answer, her orange-red eyes filled with solemnity...
Although Mengxi's strength and status were far inferior to Xue Tianao's,
the instant that name was mentioned, an inexplicable sense of foreboding arose in Karina's heart...
For some reason,
she felt like this Daughter of Destiny might be just a teeny tiny bit more dangerous...