Chapter 123: P.L

"Is. That. All?"

Seeing the arrogant look on the Matriarch's face as she destroyed her Earth Magic, Princess Sofia could not help but scoff.

"No".

And as if the time has stopped, the debris from the ground that were flying out everywhere froze. They then slowly transformed into tiny spears, all of which were directed to the Matriarch.

"Hmph", the Matriarch quickly summoned a Golden Longsword as she deflected all the incoming shrapnel that was threatening to turn her body into a pin cushion. And as soon as the last rock was deflected, the golden longsword on the Matriarch's hand suddenly molded and turned into a spear.

She then threw this spear, causing the dust to flyaway to the side from the howling of the wind.

Princess Sofia quickly summoned 5 layers of barrier in front of her, but to her surprise, the Matriarch was suddenly behind her.

"!!!", A loud explosion echoed through the whole village as Princess Sofia flew a few meters away from her position before landing softly… and the same thing happened to the Matriarch as well.

"Really interesting", the Matriarch could not help but exclaim as she landed on the ground, "To think that you would damage yourself to avoid my attack… admirable"

Sofia's right arm was currently mangled. Before the Matriarch could strike her from behind earlier, she casted a ball of compressed wind in between them which exploded. This caused the both of them to forcefully fly and separate to opposite directions.

Princess Sofia chuckled, "I am used to the pain", she said as she started to heal her hand.

"Can I ask you a question?", Sofia asked casually.

"Enough buying time, child", the Matriarch sighed as she once again summoned her spear. She rushed towards Princess Sofia, but stopped as soon as she heard her question.

"Is it true your sect was destroyed before coming here?"

And for the first time, the arrogance that was ever present in the Matriarch's face disappeared.

"How... did you know that?"

The Matriarch abruptly stopped just a few feet away from striking Princess Sofia, causing the wind to softly lash out and scatter dust everywhere. Princess Sofia's face was calm as she continued to heal her wounds while slowly backing away.

"Answer mine and I will answer yours", Princess Sofia said softly.

"...", the Matriarch's weapon disappeared as she stood casually, "It is. We were caught unguarded by the sudden appearance of a… portal. Faced with an invisible enemy that turned my people into... mindless puppets", the Matriarch's face was dejected, "It is your turn to answer my question. How did you know about that?"

"My fiancée. He is from your world"

"What!?", the Matriarch's eyes widened before her eyebrows furrowed, "That is the first time I am hearing this… Which of my Elders is engaged to you?"

Princess Sofia laughed as she heard this, "No. None of those tacky people", Sofia shook her head, "My fiancée is a brother of one of your Elders"

"Brother…?", the Matriarch's face slowly started to show confusion as her eyebrows furrowed even further.

...Xing Cai, was it?"

"!!!", as soon as the Matriarch heard Xing Cai's name, any intent to fight completely disappeared from her as a stuttered sigh came from her mouth.

Seeing the Matriarch's dazed state, Princess Sofia let out a wide smile. She then stretched out her arms, with her right hand completely healed up.

Hundreds of ominous floating black ice crystalized behind her almost instantly. And, with a loud clap, the spears of death all flew towards the completely unguarded Matriarch.

The torrents of sharpened hail flew almost endlessly towards the Matriarch, each exploding as they reached their target. This caused a cloud of dust to form again in their area.

Princess Sofia's breath was heavy as she released the colossal amount of mana that she charged from her body. In truth, she was buying time. But not to heal her arm, but to gather enough mana to release the powerful projectiles that she sent towards the Matriarch.

But when the dust cleared, Princess Sofia could not help but click her tongue.

Yes, there was blood coming from the Matriarch's face. But the blood only looked worse than it is because of the water that was dripping from her hair, caused by the icicles that melted from her strike. The wound on her face was superficial enough that it already healed even before the dust cleared out

A pulsating whistling sound was also echoing through the air. This was caused by the 9 golden swords that were flying in circles around the Matriarch at blinding speed. This was perhaps what fanned the dust away, clearing it faster than expected.

A serious expression crept up on Sofia's face as she once again gathered her mana, "Are people from your world always this monstrous?", she could not help but ask as she fixed her spectacles.

Viel, and now this woman in front of her. She wondered what the secret was behind their strength. The Matriarch also mentioned something about attaining her kind of strength will take centuries in their world, could it be the people from Viel's world could live for hundreds of years? If so, how?

The excitement of a new world slowly crept inside Princess Sofia's heart. Was it possible… for her to go to Viel's world? The treants were able to somehow go to their world, then does that mean that she can too?

But she shook her head, this was not the time to think about that.

The two then stared at each other, ready to once again resume their battle. But before either of them could do their move, a laughter from afar that was loud enough for them to hear whispered through their ears.

Princess Sofia's eyebrows quickly furrowed as she looked above, towards the top of the tower.

"Viel…"

"That's… isn't that the name of Xing Cai's sworn brother…", the Matriarch whispered in her breath. She remembered that when Xing Cai came to her, she mentioned a peculiar child named... Viel, "He's here!?"

"Is he really here!? How!?", the swords that were surrounding the Matriarch disappeared as she flew towards the top of the tower.

"...", Princess Sofia's eyes could not help but twitch as she was abruptly left alone on the ground, "That's it?"

Their battle might have seemed long, but it was only for a few minutes, including the talking. Sofia sighed as she could only slowly repress the mana that she has already gathered, her breathing rhythmic.

"That was anticlimactic", she said. But in truth, she was also excited. That was probably the first time in her life that she was able to properly fight someone without wanting to hold back. If it continued, she wondered how much she could push herself. Would she have finally reached the extent of her power?

But alas, maybe next time.

"I suppose I will just check on Emi's group", she sighed, "6th floor, was it?"

Sofia then casually entered the tower once again, this time no one stopping her.

***

"This is…"

The Matriarch could not believe her eyes. A golden-haired boy was currently on top of one of her disciples, clobbering a golden shield that was in between them.

"This is fun!", the golden-haired boy exclaimed as he hammered the shield that was summoned by the Elder. With each of the boy's swings, a shield shatters, causing the Elder to summon one again.

"How many shields do you have?", the boy said as he laughed. He then forcefully grabbed the shield from the Elder's hand. He was about to slam the shield he stole towards the Elder, but it disappeared.

The Elder smiled as he saw the boy swinging only his hand, but it quickly disappeared when the boy continued his swing even with the shield disappearing from his hand.

"Gah!", the elder shouted as he felt the bones on his shoulder being planted on the ground. The other Elders were about to come to his rescue, but they stopped as soon as they heard the Matriarch's shouts.

"This is enough!", the Matriarch's shout reverberated throughout the room.

"M-matriarch!"

"Please! Save us from this beast!"

The disciples shouted as they begged for their Matriarch to rescue them from this sudden juggernaut that appeared before them.

"...Matriarch?", hearing them call for their Matriarch, Viel could not help but smile. He remembered Xing Cai telling her stories about the Golden Pavilion's Matriarch.

She told him how strong the Matriarch was, a lot stronger than her and General Diao.

She told him how a single swing from the Matriarch's sword can split mountains. How her opponents kneeled to her with only a single breath.

Viel's excitement caused his hair to stand up on ends. To once again face an opponent that will not break with a single flick of his finger, this was something he longed for.

He remembered his fight with the Earth Goddess Mirella, it was the first time in his life that he felt himself struggle, even just for a little bit.

And the irony is, in a way, it was also the first time he felt somewhat… human again.

And to feel like that again, even just for a little bit was something that his whole existence was trying to find.

He took a deep breath, his smile ever wide as he turned around to look at the Matriarch.

And fate… like always, was playful.

As soon as Viel saw the Matriarch floating in the air, the smile on his face slowly faded.

The moon's glow split behind the Matriarch, causing the wet golden robes that were wrapped on her skin to glow. Her long black hair was also dripping with water, causing it to stick on her cheeks, aligning on her skin and further emphasizing the beautiful curves of her face.

Her almond shaped eyes that were fierce like that of a phoenix and the long eyelashes that tried to hide them away.

Her opulent legs that were shying away, being fanned by the robes that gently slapped her skin. Her slender fingers that strongly pointed towards the Elders.

Her confident stature, the streaks of her eyebrows as they furrowed, The gentle movement that her pink lips made when she shouted at the Elders.

The scenery in front of him made Viel not avert his eyes, not even by a second. The smile on his face now completely faded, replaced by a slightly opened mouth.

And for the first time in his life, he felt something. It was not excitement, nor struggle.

He felt a warm feeling inside of him, something that he never felt before.

A feeling that made him forget all the excitement, the struggle, or even the search for humanity that he all so greatly craved. He even forgot about the Elder that he was currently stepping on.

For the first time in his life, with only a breath from the Matriarch…

...his heart skipped a beat.

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