Their flight continued.
During this time, Elia finally overcame her fear of killing.
Frost danced across the battlefield, tearing through the bodies of one assassin after another.
Icicles shot toward the sky, directly impaling the bodies of those whose defenses were weak.
She had grown significantly.
The Frostspeak Bloodline within her showed signs of further awakening.
Sometimes, after a battle ended, Lu Mo would look back at Elia and see that the girl’s face had lost some of its youthful exuberance and gained a touch of coldness.
Lu Mo didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing.
She wondered if constant flight and slaughter were too cruel for a girl who should still be in the prime of her youth.
Over more than one month, they experienced battles of all sizes.
The life potions in their spatial rings were gradually running low.
To further reduce consumption, Lu Mo decided not to use the life potions unless her injuries reached a critical point.
Many scars had appeared on her body.
Often, before the wounds from the previous battle could fade, a new fight would begin.
Her arms were no longer smooth and delicate, now covered in a series of cut marks.
Bandages were wrapped around her waist and shoulders, with blood seeping through.
By the firelight, she stripped off her clothes to change her bandages.
Watching the scars on her body, Elia felt another wave of heartache.
In every single battle, Lu Mo was always the one standing at the very front.
And several times, to protect her, Lu Mo had stepped back in front of her and used her own body to block the enemy’s combat techniques.
“Sister Lu Mo…” Elia spoke with guilt.
To this, Lu Mo only laughed it off. “It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
She told Elia that the wounds on her hands were just decorative carvings.
She told Elia that the wounds on her face and body were nothing as long as they didn’t affect her fighting.
“Will they leave scars? That’s not important. I don’t plan on getting married anyway,” Lu Mo joked.
But the more she acted like this, the more Elia clutched her own chest.
‘Sister Lu Mo, I like you.’
‘The kind of like where I want to marry you.’
‘No matter what you eventually become.’
She desperately wanted to say this to Lu Mo.
But in their current situation, a confession was inappropriate.
She didn’t speak.
Instead, she silently moved closer to Lu Mo, opened her clothes, and pressed herself against Lu Mo’s back.
Warmth and softness covered the girl’s thin, cold back.
“Sister Lu Mo…”
She whispered into the girl’s ear, “We have to survive together.”
She could feel Lu Mo’s frame tremble visibly.
After a long time, the girl turned her head and responded with a smile. “…Yes, let’s survive.”
They were like two birds separated from the flock, flying through the dim, starlit night.
Flying over forests, mountains, and oceans.
But eventually… there would come a day when they could no longer fly high.
***
Lu Mo encountered the most difficult battle she had faced so far.
This time, a figure at the level of a Branch Hall Master, accompanied by two deacons and countless assassins, surrounded them.
“Xue Yue, why don’t you look at yourself now?”
The middle-aged woman standing at the highest point looked down at them, speaking coldly. “Filthy, lowly… you look nothing like the Sequence of back then… How are you any different from a rat struggling on the verge of death in a trash heap?”
Lu Mo didn’t answer her, only tightening her grip on her sword.
Continuous fighting had caused the blade to grow dull and covered in scratches.
Light and darkness surrounded her silently, while she also kept the girl behind her under tight protection.
As the figures of the assassins approached, Lu Mo finally swung her sword.
Light and darkness flickered in an intersection, bringing with them a spray of flesh and screams.
Scattered frost filled the air, and the killing intent made many assassins feel a chill in their hearts.
The Frostspeak Bloodline worked in tandem with light and shadow. Soon, more than half of the assassins were wiped out.
With Elia’s cooperation, the two of them even managed to trap one of the deacons.
“What—”
Ice ridges suddenly erupted from the ground, piercing the deacon’s legs and forming a cage that briefly trapped him.
The deacon’s eyes widened in disbelief.
At that moment, Lu Mo closed in on him.
Reflected in his pupils, Lu Mo raised her pitch-black sword, trailing a sword light several meters long!
Against the backdrop of the darkness, the girl at this moment seemed to have transformed into a monarch of the dark!
With her combat technique fully condensed, Lu Mo swung her sword violently.
In an instant, a head flew into the air.
Blood erupted like a fountain.
Lu Mo had actually slain a deacon right then and there!
This scene equally shocked the other deacon and the woman who was the Branch Hall Master.
“Old Qiao!” the deacon shouted his companion’s name in grief.
The Branch Hall Master’s expression turned cold.
No one… had ever dared to be so arrogant in front of her.
“You really don’t know what’s good for you—” she said sharply. “If it weren’t for the Shadow Moon Hall’s orders to capture you alive… you would have died before me 100 times over!”
Dark patterns surfaced in the woman’s eyes, and in an instant, the space around her distorted.
Black threads began to spread out, centered on her.
The dark energy along the path was entirely governed by those black threads.
Whether it was Elia’s frost power or Lu Mo’s light and dark power, both were torn apart by those threads.
It was as if their rank was far above the power of the two girls.
“Law Veins…” Lu Mo murmured as she watched the black threads the woman displayed.
To comprehend elemental laws and condense the veins of heaven and earth—this was an ability that one only possessed after stepping into the Earth Vein Realm.
The power of the Earth Vein Realm was a world apart from the power of the Transcendental rank.
Once the Law Veins appeared, ordinary elemental powers were suppressed.
The dark threads loomed over Lu Mo and Elia.
It was as if the darkness was swallowing everything.
Elia resisted with all her might, her emotions incredibly intense.
At that moment, a faint blue glow once again flowed across her body.
“Huh?”
For some reason, the woman had an illusion that her own Law power had slowed down slightly upon coming into contact with Elia’s Frostspeak power.
But even so, the outcome of the two being captured would not change.
Was it over?
Perhaps… not.
“There’s still a chance,” Lu Mo said.
In that instant, the dark energy around her went wild.
Darkness flowed over her skin and pierced into her body, as if it were beginning to drain her blood.
Soon, a touch of blood-red appeared within the darkness surrounding her.
*Buzz—*
Following that, both the darkness and the blood began to boil around her.
An extremely crazed and sharp aura erupted from her.
Lu Mo moved.
At that moment, that sharp aura actually forced back the black threads, making them tremble!
Feeling the threads being disturbed, the woman’s brow furrowed.
“What happened—”
But before she could even react, the curtain of darkness in front of her was torn apart by a blood-black figure that looked like a flickering flame!
She saw Lu Mo coming toward her with her sword.
Interwoven patterns of darkness and blood spread across the girl’s entire body. The killing intent in her eyes made even the Branch Hall Master feel a sense of chill and fear!
“Blood Moon!”
The woman spoke in terror, “No… impossible… Why could you comprehend the Blood Moon? How are you able to use the Blood Moon Technique!!!”
The Blood Moon was within the scope of forbidden techniques.
The Blood Moon could greatly increase a person’s strength in a short period, but the price was damage to their talent, realm, and lifespan.
This was equivalent to burning one’s life in exchange for a single chance to attack.
Lu Mo’s realm had long since reached the Transcendental rank. Over the past few years, she had also been studying the condensation of Law Veins, forming several pseudo-veins.
The grade of her pseudo Law Veins was not low.
Now, through the Blood Moon Technique and a full-scale eruption, she was actually not inferior to the woman’s Law Veins!
In truth, the woman’s terror was more about Lu Mo’s comprehension.
In the history of the Shadow Moon Hall, the number of people who could comprehend the Blood Moon Technique at such a young age could be counted on two hands.
Today, Lu Mo’s name had to be added to the list of those peerless geniuses.
The eruption of the Blood Moon and Lu Mo’s sword strike were both too fast.
So fast that the woman didn’t have time to defend and could only take the strike head-on.
Although this strike wouldn’t kill her, it would heavily wound her, causing her to lose her fighting capacity temporarily.
“Why?” the woman asked, her voice filled with confusion, resentment, and intense jealousy.
At this very moment, Lu Mo appeared before her.
Drenched in blood, her long hair flying, she looked like… a slaughtering demon in the dark!
She moved forward.
Her sword thrust down—
*Squelch—*
“Damn it… this power…”
The sound of tearing flesh rang out.
The woman’s eyes widened, her whole body trembling, yet she was completely unharmed.
Black chains fell from the sky, piercing through Lu Mo’s chest and sending the girl flying back.
*Boom—*
Lu Mo crashed into the ground, pinned firmly to the earth.
The Blood Moon Technique was forced to an end, and she coughed up blood.
“Dammit…” She endured the pain and looked up at the sky.
She saw a middle-aged man in black robes and the emblem on his robes that represented his status.
An Elder.
“Xue Yue, do you know your crime?” he spoke, and in an instant, an endless pressure loomed over her.
That pressure made Lu Mo cough up blood again, and her head throbbed with pain.
‘Dammit!’
‘Why is an Elder here too!’
If only she had been a bit faster with her sword, she could have won.
She could have taken Elia and escaped!
If only she had been given a little more time, the mission could have been completed!
“Elia…”
Against the pressure, Lu Mo used her last bit of strength to look up at Elia, who was standing not far away. “Quick… run…”
With every word she spoke, the pressure on her increased.
Her bones began to crack.
The chains vibrated, and her chest caved in further as blood surged out.
Her life force was rapidly waning.
This scene seemed to be staged deliberately for Elia to see.
The more she wanted to struggle, the more she wanted to escape, the more miserable Lu Mo’s fate would be.
“Run!”
“Run!”
Lu Mo shouted, “Go… don’t… look back!!!”
‘Don’t give up on even the slightest hope of escape!’
‘Keep going!’
‘If only Elia were just an NPC, how good would that be?’
In a game, she would follow a pre-set program and obey orders unconditionally.
The mission was to let her live past the age of 18.
She would prioritize her own safety and stay far away during battles.
And if she were ordered to retreat, Elia would ignore everything in front of her and leave quickly.
Regardless of how serious her own injuries were.
Regardless of… whether she would die afterward.
That way, there would be a much higher probability of completing the mission.
But indeed, if that were the case, she would still feel quite lonely, wouldn’t she?
Imagining Elia leaving and herself facing the members of the Shadow Moon Hall alone, Lu Mo somehow felt a strong sense of loneliness.
She gave a miserable smile in her heart.
“…”
Elia understood Lu Mo’s meaning.
Lu Mo could no longer leave, but she still had a chance.
As long as she could escape the pursuit of the Shadow Moon Hall Elder.
Should she leave?
She had always listened to Lu Mo’s words.
But today, her legs were exceptionally heavy.
Looking at Lu Mo lying on the ground, covered in blood, she thought of her sister, the scenes from those five years, and…
That confession that could no longer be delivered.
The probability of escaping the pursuit of an Elder and deacons alone was minuscule, wasn’t it?
In that case, it was better to do something she wouldn’t regret.
She suddenly became rebellious.
Instead of turning to leave, she walked toward Lu Mo and toward that chain, step by step.
Ignoring the heat and erosion of the chain, she gripped it with both hands, trying to pull it out of Lu Mo.
“Let go of Sister Lu Mo.”
She looked up, staring directly at the Elder in the sky, her gaze firm. “I’ll go with you.”
The Elder’s pressure was powerful, and his gaze seemed capable of piercing through a mortal’s body.
But Elia just stood there in front of Lu Mo, looking up and meeting his gaze.
For a long, long time.
*Whoosh—*
At a certain point, the chains were suddenly retracted, and the pressure filling the sky abruptly dissipated.
“As you wish.” The Elder gave Elia a cold look and turned to leave.
Soon, the deacons and other elite assassins approached to take the two of them away.
Someone tried to lift Lu Mo, but he immediately felt a wave of killing intent.
He saw Elia glaring at him, angry and cold, though tears seemed to be shimmering in her eyes.
“Don’t touch her. We’ll walk on our own.”
The assassin sensibly withdrew.
Finally, Elia bent down and carefully lifted Lu Mo with her burned and eroded hands.
It was a princess carry.
Just like in her dreams, she was holding Lu Mo, who was wearing a pure white wedding dress.
In reality, however, Lu Mo was covered in blood, her face was wounded, and her hair was a mess.
Lu Mo’s body was cold, yet she could feel Elia’s warmth.
‘You should have run,’ she wanted to say to Elia.
But soon, she felt something dripping onto her cheek.
One drop, two drops, many drops.
Those were Elia’s tears.
Elia looked at her as if she were looking at some rare treasure that must never be left behind or abandoned.
It was as if…
Elia was never an illusion or an NPC.
She was clearly a real human being.
A girl who would shed tears for her, who was willing to wander with her, and who was willing to live and die with her.