Volume 7, Chapter 55 – Laxy’s Discovery

Just as her wings were about to skim the surface of the water, Laxy sheathed her rapier in the sash at her waist. This was not a good choice; the rapier Yisi had given her was double-edged. If she didn’t control the angle properly, it would cut through the sash and fall into the lake. But even Laxy couldn’t use storage magic while in flight. Unlike Yisi’s personal inventory, storage magic, when used, would only appear in a fixed location and would not move with the user.

Seizing the moment she flew over Yisi, Laxy reached her hand into the water. The surface that came into contact with the [Sacred Fire] immediately erupted with a sizzling sound, like a red-hot iron rod being plunged into water. The sacred fire purified everything it touched, including the translucent green slimes that had been treating Yisi as food.

She felt the touch of something hard in her hand. But it seemed she had not been timely enough. Yisi neither resisted nor struggled.

Humans cannot breathe after being submerged in water. I hope I’m not too late.

Her heart sinking, Laxy grabbed what “Should have been Yisi” and beat her wings, intending to pull herself up. But the light green slimes did not give her that chance. They had been waiting for her. Threads formed from the slime wrapped around her from behind, as if to cocoon her and drag her into the water, and then tightened their encirclement.

“Hmph.”

Laxy let out a cold snort at the slimes’ actions. The [Sacred Fire] ensured that nothing that dared to harm her could get close. Their actions were futile. And indeed, just as Laxy had predicted, all the slimes that approached her, no matter what state they were in, were evaporated one by one by the sacred fire. But even so, the slimes swarmed her, one group after another, with a death-defying momentum. If one were to look down at the lake from above, they would see that it was as if it were boiling, the things in the water writhing madly towards Laxy. Because there were too many of them, the evaporation speed of the sacred fire gradually fell behind the rate at which they were being replenished.

To an outsider, it would surely seem like a desperate situation. But for Laxy, it was the best opportunity to eliminate the slimes in large numbers.

I’ll just maintain this posture of pulling Yisi out, and then use a wide-area spell to teach them a lesson.

In terms of magical power, a Third-Rank Guidance Angel could in no way compare to a Fourth-Rank Battle Angel who specialized in combat. But in terms of the number of spells known, ten battle angels combined could not match a guidance angel.

When the slimes had accumulated to the point where they began to push back against the [Sacred Fire], Laxy finished her silent chant.

“[Light Descends].”

As her voice fell, a dazzling white light appeared directly above her, as if sunlight had pierced through dark clouds. At first, it was a single ray, then it split into ten. In less than a breath, the light, like an unfolding parasol, enveloped Laxy and the surrounding waters.

Gurgle, gurgle.

If the lake before was only “as if boiling”, then now it was truly boiling. The reason was not that the white light from the sky had boiled the lake, but that the light green slimes within it had been ignited by the holy light. They turned into flammable substances that could burn underwater. As if triggering a chain reaction, the fire spread rapidly across the lake’s surface like a wildfire. All the slimes that touched this dark green flame were, without exception, assimilated into fuel in a matter of seconds. The scorching temperature instantly turned the lake’s surface into a sea of fire.

As for the slimes that had tried to drag Laxy to the bottom of the lake, they became the first victims of [Light Descends].

At least two thousand slimes have been annihilated, and the number is still rising.

Laxy, dragging Yisi, was finally able to ascend to a high altitude. She first glanced at the rapidly spreading flames, satisfied with her results, and then looked at the “Yisi” in her hand.

Then she frowned.

In her hand was not Yisi, but a dark, pulsating black sphere. The moment she saw it, a sense of foreboding washed over her. Laxy was certain that even if Yisi had become an undead, she would not emit such a disgusting smell. This feeling was like seeing an insect crawl onto one’s skin and instinctively crushing it or flicking it away. Both physiologically and psychologically, Laxy had only the thought of piercing it with her rapier.

“This feeling… a high-ranking demon?”

As the words “high-ranking demon” left her mouth, the pulsation of the black sphere suddenly contracted. The feeling, like touching a living heart, made Laxy subconsciously throw it away.

Then, without hesitation, Laxy used [Cross Slash] to tear the black sphere to pieces.

Splat.

A dark green blood, almost black, splattered in the air. Under the illumination of [Light Descends], before it could even fall into the lake below, the blood was ignited by the holy light and turned to dust.

“…An ominous feeling. What on earth was that thing? A high-ranking demon can’t be dealt with so easily. No, the most important thing now is to find my lord. Where did she go…”

Her intuition told Laxy that Yisi was not dead. Trusting one’s intuition might be considered a foolish choice, but all angels were blessed by the Gospel at birth, so an angel’s intuition could be trusted most of the time.

If a battle angel were standing here, she would surely believe that Yisi was still alive, then leave and wait for her to return on her own. But she was different from the simple-minded battle angels. A guidance angel required logic and reason. Although a God-Forged Angel’s intuition was very accurate, if there was a mistake, she could not bear the consequence of losing her master, of losing the savior.

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Glancing at her remaining magic power, Laxy pressed her lips together tightly.

“There’s not much magic power left…”

[Light Descends] had consumed nearly forty percent of her magic power. She had less than twenty percent remaining. To search for Yisi in her current state would be to dance on the edge of a knife.

“There is no other choice.”

If the one who bore the fate of saving the world were to die here, then Laxyphinia would be the sinner of the entire world. Even dying ten thousand times would not be enough to atone for her sin. Not to mention, even if Yisi was not the fated one, there was no concept in an angel’s dictionary of abandoning one’s master to save oneself. An angel was not only the master’s spear and aide, but also the unyielding shield that could not retreat.

Laxy once again surveyed the entire lake. In the time that had passed, the dark green flames had already purified over five thousand green slimes. And the slimes had also discovered the secret of [Light Descends]—as long as they came into contact with an ignited comrade, the fire would spread like a plague. Therefore, as long as they stayed as far away from the fire as possible, it would be extinguished due to lack of fuel. From Laxy’s perspective, the green slimes and the flames in the lake had formed a quarantine zone with no living creatures. The fire was confined within the circle of [Light Descends].

This couldn’t be worse.

What method could she use to find Yisi in such a large area?

If my detection ability wasn’t malfunctioning, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. Thinking of this, Laxy cursed in a low voice.

“Damn it.”

Then she flapped her wings, evading a strike from behind.

It was the slimes that had formed the giants earlier.

In just a few minutes, there were already more than twenty such giants, and the number was still increasing. Among them, there were even some extremely large individuals over thirty meters tall. Just by looking, Laxy could deduce that these individuals were above level 40.

Are they merging? Or did they exist from the beginning and just didn’t come out?

Unable to judge.

Her remaining magic power did not allow for reckless spending. She had to find Yisi in the shortest possible time while minimizing her magic consumption.

Laxy subconsciously looked at the crown of the Water Tree, where the green light was shining. It was the most peculiar place in the entire forest, and also the only place on the tree that was not covered by the slimes.

Wait.

Let’s make an assumption. If I were Yisi, and I had enough strength to eliminate the slimes, what would I do?

There was only one answer.

First, find a high vantage point from which the entire lake surrounding the Water Tree could be seen. After getting a general idea of the situation, then make a move against the slimes.

“And I heard a woman’s voice earlier… There’s likely a dryad living in the Water Tree. If that’s the case, it would explain why the tree is restricting these evil creatures. A dryad, one of the people of the gods, would not allow a disaster to spread. If I find the dryad, I can learn everything about this forest.”

The anxiety on her face was gradually replaced by clarity. Laxy beat her wings hard, preparing to fly straight towards the green point of light.

—And was then surrounded by a total of nearly ten slime giants.

“Tsk.”

Did I choose the right path?

They are trying to stop me from getting close. And the more the enemy is afraid of something, the more I must bring it out. But to Laxy’s surprise, these later-appearing slime giants seemed to be in low spirits, as if they had just been attacked by mental magic, or had been run over by something extremely violent and then revived.

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Laxy shook her head.

“No, it’s also possible that this is just how they are. If I ascend now, I’ll be shot down. I have to speed up and charge through.”

Frantically squeezing the power core within her body, Laxy raised the [Sacred Fire] on her body to its peak. To accumulate power, she slowly beat her wings, searching for the best route to charge into the crown of the Water Tree.

The sound of air moving came from her left.

Laxy retreated on reflex.

A fist the size of a house scraped past her, dangerously close to her skirt.

If that had hit, the bones of my entire upper body would have been shattered.

But this was the moment she had been waiting for. Even among all the guidance angels, her perception was among the top.

“Now!”

Shouting to gather her momentum, Laxy took a deep breath and mustered her strength. Seizing the moment when the opponent’s old force was spent and new force had not yet been generated, she beat her wings with a force that seemed to tear through the air. Like a hunting falcon, she circled around the slime giant’s arm from above and headed straight for the crown.

But the route Laxy had chosen was not without obstacles. Before she could ascend to a sufficient height, there were still two slime giants blocking her way. The first one let out a shriek as it swung its arm at her.

“Aaaaaah…”

“Get out of my way!”

The sword-light, wreathed in [Sacred Fire], severed the slime giant’s arm. Laxy did not change her course and charged straight into its chest without hesitation.

Plop.

It was the sound of a giant rock being thrown into a deep pool.

This was also part of Laxy’s plan. Protected by the [Sacred Fire], she would not be threatened by the strong acid produced by the slime. As long as her momentum was sufficient, she could pass straight through the giant’s body.

This was undoubtedly unexpected for the slime giant.

In less than three seconds, Laxy emerged from the giant’s back, a brilliant white trail of fire streaking through the air.

“Only ten percent of my magic power left. It’s enough.”

The slime giants were completely different from the ordinary ones. An ordinary slime would be vaporized by just a slight touch of the [Sacred Fire]. But when Laxy was passing through the giant’s body, it was as difficult as driving a nail into oak. If she hadn’t used a sword technique to pierce through it in time, she would have wasted several times more time than she just did.

Having learned from the first one’s encounter, the second slime giant quickly brought its hands in front of it, attempting to block her. But just as Laxy was about to make contact with its hands, she suddenly changed direction, avoided them, and continued to push through the weaker part of its body.

With the sizzling sound of the slime being roasted, the [Sacred Fire] on Laxy’s body gradually shrank.

This was a sign of insufficient magic power.

[Sacred Fire] was a spell that burned both magic power and life force. For a human, using it for a minute was already the limit. Even a God-Forged Angel could not sustain it for too long. If there were other guidance angels here, they would surely be amazed at how long Laxy could use it.

I have to charge out in one go.

Laxy raised her flaming rapier in front of her.

[Spiral Flash]

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A fierce wind, wrapping around the sword, scraped at it. The blocking slime was ground into powder by the raging wind, and Laxy’s forward speed increased another notch. [Spiral Flash] focused on piercing damage, and it was perfect for use here.

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter.

The rapier soon broke through the slime giant’s back. In less than a second, Laxy would be able to break out of the encirclement and breathe the outside air.

However, while Laxy was breaking through, the other slime giants were not standing idly by. The one closest to the second giant had already moved to the position where she would emerge, blocking her with its own body.

It had been waiting for her for a long time.

With no way to retreat, Laxy plunged into the body of the third slime giant.

But at this moment, her magic power was already running on empty. The [Sacred Fire], which had previously extended a foot from her body, was now only clinging to the surface of her skin, flickering as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

This is bad.

Like missing a step at the edge of a cliff, Laxy’s heart sank to the bottom.

Without magic power, not even the strongest battle angel could handle the current situation. Although she still had plenty of stamina, and a God-Forged Angel’s various resistances were excellent, these alone were not enough to escape the slime’s restraint. At most, they could only prolong her death. When the [Sacred Fire] burned out, what awaited her would be a long period of time even more unbearable than the ice coffin seal, because once a God-Forged Angel’s skin was corroded by strong acid, death awaited. Even if a God-Forged Angel did not truly die, the process of slowly waiting for death was enough to drive one mad.

What to do, what to do, what to do.

Having not experienced such an unfavorable battle for a long time, Laxy’s heart began to panic. Her forward speed was rapidly decreasing. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before she came to a complete stop.

Use a trump card? If she had one, she would have already used it. And without magic power now, she couldn’t use it even if she had one. Anxiety was now the strongest emotion in her heart.

Like a person trapped in a swamp, no matter how much she struggled, she would eventually be submerged.

The light of the [Sacred Fire] grew dimmer.

Finally, after less than a minute, the [Sacred Fire] disappeared from her body. The power core declared itself depleted. And without the sacred fire to fight against the slime pressing in from all directions, the slime immediately collapsed into the cavity she had created.

It’s over.

Even she had no way to turn this around.

—That is, if there were no surprises.

Just as Laxy closed her eyes at the depletion of her magic power, a warm current flowed from her chest. The extinguished [Sacred Fire] appeared again. Although it was weak, it became the force that turned the tide. Laxy could even feel her depleted power core being nourished by this sudden force and slowly recovering.

What happened?

No, now is not the time to find the reason. Who knows when the [Sacred Fire] will disappear again. If I don’t seize the time to break out, this reversal will just be a final struggle before death.

Without using close-combat magic, but simply using her strength and technique, aided by the [Sacred Fire], Laxy beat her wings, bringing her rapier with her, and began to spin wildly within the slime giant’s body.

“Hraaaaaaah!!!”

A gradually accelerating, unstoppable speed.

Plop.

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Less than a minute, but it felt like an immeasurable amount of time had passed. Laxy broke through the encirclement of the slime giants and gained the space to ascend.

Without further hesitation, Laxy charged into the sky, leaving the slime giants behind, and finally landed on a branch of the Water Tree.

Until this moment, the sacred fire on her body showed no signs of disappearing. The warm current in her chest still flowed throughout her body, and her magic power was also recovering bit by bit.

“This is…”

Subconsciously, Laxy began to search for the thing that had saved her at the critical moment. She pulled open the collar of her maid’s dress and looked at her chest.

In the very center of her chest, a diamond-shaped crystal the size of a thumb was emitting a faint blue light. As far as Laxy knew, she shouldn’t have such a thing on her body. When she had changed clothes this morning, she hadn’t seen this crystal. Or rather, no angel should have such an item on their body. This was an object that should not exist.

“What on earth is it…”

Laxy couldn’t help but reach out and touch the crystal that had suddenly appeared. The moment she made contact, as if a hard object had touched the most fragile part of her inner ear while cleaning it, a fierce electric current suddenly shot through her entire body. A momentary feeling of weakness almost made her fall from the branch, to the point that she didn’t dare to touch it again.

Only when touching a power core would a God-Forged Angel have such a violent reaction. But she could feel that her power core was in a deeper position within her body, not this thumb-sized, diamond-shaped crystal that had appeared on the surface.

Unless this diamond-shaped crystal had parasitized, or fused with, the power core. The essence of a power core was a magic crystal, and as long as the conditions were right, there was a possibility of fusion between magic crystals. Although most of the time fusion meant destruction, there were also successful examples.

This was not the most critical issue. The most critical issue was that if the two crystals had fused together, it would mean that there was no longer a possibility of removing the power core from her body.

The fusion of magic crystals did not necessarily require the two to be in physical contact. As long as their elements were in resonance, two magic crystals that were not close together could also be considered fused into one. When one magic crystal lost its magic power, the other, with which it was in elemental resonance, would replenish it. Such a fusion was also inseparable. If the distance between the two were to change, the elemental resonance would be broken, just like directly shattering a magic crystal, which would cause the internal magic power to leak out and trigger an explosion.

In other words, if she were to remove the power core from her body, it would change the synchronization of the two magic crystals, which would then trigger a magic power rampage. Similarly, removing this diamond-shaped crystal from the surface of her body would also lead to the same result.

Of course, unlike having a terminal illness, for a God-Forged Angel, this at most meant starting over with a new body. What Laxy was concerned about was something else.

Who on earth had put this crystal on her? And what on earth was this crystal?

The conditions for elemental resonance were extremely harsh. In the known examples, crystals that had undergone elemental resonance under natural conditions were often similar in size and had the same amount of magic power. But this diamond-shaped crystal and the power core were not only different in size, but their magic power content was also completely different. Laxy could feel that the power of this diamond-shaped crystal was very weak. Compared to the power core, which was full of magic, it was like comparing a firefly to the bright moon. If she had to point out its characteristic, it was that it had been continuously supplying magic power to her entire body since a while ago, maintaining the [Sacred Fire] on her.

Wait.

Continuously?

Guessing the true identity of the diamond-shaped crystal, Laxy suddenly felt her heart tighten.

The weak magic power within the diamond-shaped crystal should have been depleted long ago. But now it was still replenishing the power core, which had recovered somewhat. The amount of magic power it had already outputted far exceeded its own maximum capacity.

Laxy subconsciously clenched her hands.

If it were in the past, Laxy would have considered herself lucky. One power core was enough for an angel to use for hundreds of years. With two magic crystals in elemental resonance, it would mean that she would not encounter a situation of magic power depletion for hundreds of years. This diamond-shaped crystal guaranteed her minimum magic power supply. But only now, Laxy did not want to have this crystal.

It would force her to face a difficult problem.

“…A curse.”

Even though she already had the answer in her heart, Laxy was unwilling, or rather, did not want to admit, the true identity of this crystal.

“No, the most important thing now is to find my lord.”

To suppress her chaotic thoughts, she took a deep breath and, with steps heavier than ever before, walked step by step towards the place where the green light was shining on the crown of the tree.