Chapter 20.4 - A Mountain Between
The destructive winds surging around Persephone and Madeline were actually far more deadly than the flying shrapnel and crushed stones.
The two turned around to look at Su, but their hands didn’t stop moving for even half a second. With their eyesight, they could naturally see that Su was rushing towards them with inconceivable speed. Meanwhile, the injuries of their bodies were worsening at a similarly fast speed. Many of their internal organs were already starting to show slight signs of collapse.
Madeline continued to fight in a rough and desperate manner. Persephone swiftly moved about like a spirit, but when she raised her spear and struck out, there was still a powerful and direct force behind it that had no signs of declining.
People that could reach this level of power at their age were all ridiculously self-confident and had unwavering wills. In addition, those with exceptional talent and intellect almost never wavered due to changes in their surroundings, let alone this type of battle where the one to pull back first might immediately suffer severe injuries and suffer defeat.
Unknown whether it was due to his injuries affecting his perception abilities or due to some other reason, Su failed to sense the streams of energy flying about on the battlefield and directly charged between Persephone and Madeline!
Even though the tornado had already stopped, the surroundings of the two young and beautiful death goddesses only became more dangerous. Apart from the shrapnel that originated from Death Prison, no other rubble or any other matter could be seen around them. As soon as the crushed rocks reached within ten meters of them, they would silently disintegrate into nothingness.
It was impossible for Su to not sense the turbulence of energy around him, and there was even less of a chance of him being confident enough in himself to survive unscathed after passing through this turbulence. However, he still continued to recklessly rush through these chaotic winds.
The fatal stream of energy immediately scattered, and a safe passage miraculously opened up before Su. When the passage vanished, the swirling turbulence’s balance was destroyed, and it suddenly erupted. Explosions sounded continuously, but the destructive power of the explosions and the pure turbulence of energy could not even be compared as similar things.
Madeline and Persephone suddenly separated! Madeline floated in the distance. She didn’t take a step backwards. The enormous Death Prison pointed towards the ground, and her expressionless mask continued to stare towards Persephone without giving Su even a glance. Persephone, however, staggered backwards and fell onto the ground. Her bright red lips were moist, and blood now truly did seep out from them. Her body was riddled with scars, and her hands were even more so a bloody mess. It was quite a horrible sight. The invisible dragon lance had long scattered due to the explosion of energy.
After experiencing tonight’s battle, Su’s combat suit had long become ruined as well. His body was riddled with scars, most of them from the explosion of energy, but they weren’t severe. Of course, this was only when they were compared to his internal injuries.
The armor on Madeline’s body suddenly released keng qiang sounds before slowly landing on the ground. She paused for a moment, and then she walked towards Persephone while dragging Death Prison with her.
Su ran out with large strides and stopped in front of Persephone. While carrying unsuppressable anger, he asked, “Why?”
Madeline’s movements seemed to have become rigid, but soon after, they returned to normal. She remained silent for a moment, and then she raised Death Prison slowly towards Su’s chest. However, the end of her killing intent passed over Su and targeted Persephone.
“Why are you doing this?!” Su’s handsome eyebrows seemed to have become extremely sharp. His green eye clearly carried anger.
Death Prison emitted an almost undetectable buzz. The face on her mask would eternally carry the same expression. Her gray hair no longer flew about and scattered down her shoulders like water, forming a stark contrast with her sinister armor.
A hot yet moist feeling was transmitted from his arm. When he moved his head, he saw that Persephone had grabbed his upper arm. Her hand continued to flow with blood, and the blood had already covered her delicate hands and continued to flow down Su’s arm. From their skin to skin contact, Su could clearly sense the uneven surface of her palm that was completely different from the normally soft and gentle hand. Su knew that this meant that her palm was already badly mangled, but he didn’t use transparent surveillance, nor did he even use long-range sensation, all because he couldn’t bear to see the state of Persephone’s injuries.
Persephone pulled gently, but the powerful force already made Su’s body slightly leave the ground and moved him behind her. This was a rare instance where she didn’t hide her strength in front of Su, as well as the first time she didn’t give Su the pride of being a man in front of someone else. However, in front of Madeline’s Death Prison, any reservation of strength was stupidity beyond redemption.
“Your hand…” Su noticed that Persephone’s hands continued to drip with blood. Forget about the injuries, even if Persephone’s entire arm broke, Persephone could use her abilities to immediately close her blood vessels and stop the bleeding without the assistance of any medications or supplies. Why did blood continuously flow from her hands?
“Wounds inflicted by Death Prison will not close on their own.” Instead of Persephone, it was Madeline that answered his confusion. What kind of crazy power was it that even a dragonrider general couldn’t close her own injuries?
Su still couldn’t understand Death Prison’s power, nor did he understand why Madeline would fight Persephone to the point of life and death. Su knew that Persephone and Madeline’s relationship was supposed to be quite intimate, so why did it end up like this?
Could it be that she was the one that set up the attack, the true enemy going after Persephone?
This thought suddenly emerged in Su’s mind. He immediately tried to suppress this thought, not willing to place this malicious prediction on Madeline. He didn’t have any proof to verify this thought, and the only thing backing it was a weak intuition. However, no matter how he tried, he still couldn’t completely suppress this thought.
Su immediately shivered from the bottom of his heart. It was as if a formless gaze immediately penetrated his body and heard his innermost thoughts. Su immediately raised his head to search for where that gaze originated from, but apart from the scattered radiation clouds above, there was no one else.
“Madeline, are you here to capture me?” Persephone stared at the cold mask and softly asked. Her hands that were clenched were trembling. Droplets of blood splattered onto the ground.
A wave of anger immediately erupted from within Su’s heart, an anger that was almost impossible to suppress. There was no need to think too much about Persephone’s end after she was captured. Many people wanted to capture her, but these thoughts all remained in their fantasies. However, why was the one that carried out this operation Madeline?”
Why were the two people who occupied special places in his heart fighting here?
Su walked towards Madeline, but he was stopped by Persephone’s arm. That slender arm that carried astonishing power left behind a bloody imprint on his chest.
Hiss...
A white ball of air suddenly seeped out from the cracks of Madeline’s armor. She seemed to have woken up from a great slumber and began to somewhat stiffly stretch out her body. The demonic eyes on Death Prison began to shine with bloody light again. She turned her head slightly and aimed the vacant eyes at Su before saying, “It is me who wants to capture her. What will you do about it?”
Were these the first words exchanged between them after seven years? Why did they have to be like this?
Su carefully yet firmly lowered Persephone’s hand. He looked at Madeline, and slowly, one word after another, he said, “If you have to capture her, then I will fight to the end!”
“Then so be it.” Madeline calmly said. Before her voice ended, Death Prison hacked through the air!
Persephone’s hands immediately formed a dragon lance to suppress the tip of Death Prison. However, Death Prison released a whistling sound and violently trembled. Shockwaves extended in all directions and already sent Persephone backwards several dozen meters! On the ground where Persephone was originally standing, a several meter long gash had already been carved out!
Persephone’s face was deathly pale. The originally invisible dragon lance slid along her hands, revealing a shocking dark red body.
After Madeline’s sword blasted back Persephone, Death Prison turned around and hacked straight towards Su.
Death Prison became completely silent, and the edge of the blade seemed to become a shadow, no longer even giving off a real feeling. This sword was heavy and fast, directly exceeding the limit of what Su could perceive. Su only had enough time to think one thing, and that was that no matter how he defended himself, he would still be hacked into two, let alone the fact that he couldn’t defend at all.
Faced against this sword, even his body’s instinctive will to survive gave up all hope. However, his powerful battlefield awareness still made his body produce corresponding reactions, sending the military knife in his hands towards Death Prison’s edge. There was no need to talk about whether or not it could stop Death Prison, because as soon as Su’s hand was about to move, Death Prison’s edge that was full of nicks had already reached his body!
Just as Su waited for Death Prison to easily slice through his body and end his life, it suddenly stopped just as abruptly as it came. A chilling wave of power entered Su’s body, immediately freezing all of his body’s movements.
Madeline gave the military knife Su held tightly a look, and then she suddenly put away Death Prison. She lightly said ‘letting you guys go’ before turning around and leaving. With just a few steps, she was already several mountain peaks away.
A white wave of radiance surged from the east horizon again. Under the illumination of the morning light, Madeline’s silhouette seemed especially bleak, tall, arrogant, and sharp. The stark contrast between black and white left others with an unforgettable memory.
The morning light immediately sprinkled over the mountains. Madeline, however, already disappeared into the distant mist.