"Thud, thud, thud—!"
A sudden, frantic burst of footsteps exploded from deep within the not-yet-dissipated fog. The rhythm was chaotic, like the desperate pounding of a dying heart. A vague, shadowy figure stumbled into view, charging straight toward Voss!
The grin on Voss's face widened instantly. So, she finally lost her nerve and came out to die!
Still clutching the lifeless Elena by the throat, he had already gathered violent black spiritual energy into his other hand. Locking onto the incoming figure, he swung his blade down with full force—howling through the air, intending to cleave both the fog and the figure within it in one strike!
But the moment before the blade struck, the triumphant smile on his face froze.
Something was wrong. That aura… that outline…
The blade sliced cleanly into flesh, but the sensation was unmistakably familiar—the texture of a Bitter Sea Sect enforcement uniform… and the cold, lifeless body of one of his own subordinates.
It was the corpse Anna had slain earlier!
Voss's heart sank. He realized the trap—but it was too late. That strike had carried all his strength; the old force was spent, the new not yet formed. He couldn't change his move in time!
And just behind the corpse being used as a shield—
"Let go of her, you filthy hand!!!"
With a hysterical scream filled with rage and resolve, Anna's figure burst out from behind the body like a wraith!
Her scythe flashed—a strike not aimed at Voss's vital points, but at his wrist, the very arm gripping Elena!
Slash!
The blade bit deep, nearly reaching bone. The sudden agony forced Voss's fingers to loosen instinctively.
That instant was all she needed.
Anna's other hand shot forward, grabbing Elena's limp body. Her footwork twisted unnaturally as she vanished back into the thinning fog, using its last cover to disappear from Voss's delayed reaction.
"Bastard!!!"
Voss roared, clutching his bleeding wrist, his fury shaking the entire courtyard.
—
In a corner of the fog, Anna gently laid Elena down. In a panic, she rummaged through the Black Baron's storage pouch, grabbing the best healing pills she could find and shoving them into Elena's mouth, using spiritual energy to help them dissolve.
The medicine worked quickly. A faint trace of color returned to Elena's pale face. She coughed, eyes fluttering open, regaining just enough strength to stand.
"Go! Now!" Anna whispered harshly, her voice more urgent than ever as she pushed her.
"Senior… I… I can still help…" Elena rasped, trying to rise, her fingers instinctively twitching as if to form seals.
"Help my ass!!!"
Anna grabbed her by the collar, eyes bloodshot, voice twisted with rage—and something deeper.
"Do you even know your limits?! Your core is destroyed! What can you do except drag me down?! Get out! GO!!!"
Elena froze, staring at her.
Then tears welled up.
She lowered her head, broke free of Anna's grip with the last of her strength, and staggered away—one step at a time—toward the shadows leading out of the compound.
Only when that fragile, trembling figure vanished into the darkness did Anna finally release her clenched fists.
Something inside her… felt hollow.
She shook her head violently, crushing that feeling.
Her gaze returned to the courtyard—where killing intent thickened the air.
"Alright…" she muttered, forcing out a smile uglier than a cry. "The snow lotus is gone."
She tightened her grip on the blood-soaked scythe.
"Now… only a worm remains."
Her eyes lifted toward the faint silhouette in the fog.
"Then let this worm see… whether a mayfly… can shake a tree."
She narrowed her eyes, gauging the fog. One more ambush—maybe.
"Thud, thud, thud—!"
Footsteps rang out again, rushing toward Voss without hesitation.
This time, Voss didn't rush.
His gaze was cold as a viper's. He gripped his blade, spiritual energy surging—but waited.
The figure broke through the thinning fog.
Same uniform. Face smeared with blood.
"Trying that trick again?" Voss sneered.
This time, he was ready. His blade arced sharply, bypassing the "corpse" and slashing toward where Anna should be hiding behind it.
He saw it—someone in outer disciple robes.
His lips curled. He had predicted correctly.
But then—
A faint click.
The "Anna" he thought he saw—its head suddenly dropped off its neck and rolled to the ground.
What—?!
Voss's pupils shrank.
The body behind was the corpse.
Then what was—
The "corpse" in front suddenly opened its eyes.
Cold. Burning like hellfire.
"You like crippling people's cores?"
Anna's voice rasped like sand scraping stone, every word soaked in hatred.
"I'LL FUCKING CRIPPLE YOU!!!"
Voss hastily gathered energy to guard his chest and throat.
But the "corpse's" limp arm snapped upward at an impossible angle—
A hidden scythe burst forth from beneath, like a venomous dragon long in hiding, slashing upward in a precise, chilling arc.
Target—
Between his legs.
Slash—!
A dull, wet sound of flesh being severed. A faint snap of something breaking.
The sneer on Voss's face froze.
Then vanished—replaced by pure, blank shock.
Then—
Agony.
He looked down.
Saw the blood.
Saw… what had fallen.
"AAAAAAARGH—!!!!!!"
A scream beyond human—raw pain, fury, humiliation—erupted from his throat, the force of it blasting apart the remaining fog.