‘Hmm… what is that?’
At that moment, Elia noticed that every time Lillian was injured, a faint dark red light would seep through her clothes over her chest.
‘Could it be the Ancient Core? Then if… if we destroy the Ancient Core, would it be possible to nullify her power? But how do I destroy it? The Ancient Core is inside her, so I have to hit it directly, and it has to be when she’s at her most vulnerable.’
Elia gritted her teeth.
‘Alright, I have no choice but to take a risk now…’
She lowered her voice and said to the two beside her, “Kiz, Lisa, cover me.”
“Huh? What do you plan to do?” Kiz asked.
“Get close to her and destroy the Ancient Core inside her.”
Though the Ancient Core was considered a sacred relic of the Blood Clan, if they didn’t do this now, all three of them would die here.
Hearing this, Kiz’s expression changed. “That’s too dangerous! If she hits you at close range…”
If Lillian’s magic actually struck her at that distance, even if she didn’t die, she’d be crippled on the spot and lose any ability to resist. Moreover, Kiz believed that Lillian now would definitely not fight Elia in close combat like before, completely refraining from using magic.
“It’s fine, just trust me! This is the only way to win!”
Kiz looked at her determined eyes, frowned, then pursed her lips, but in the end she nodded in agreement.
Then the three charged forward again.
This time, Kiz and Lisa went all out, unleashing various control spells, tightly binding Lillian to make it difficult for her to bother Elia. Meanwhile, Elia took the opportunity to rush straight toward her.
Lillian saw her charging toward her, a hint of confusion flashing in her golden eyes. She asked, “What are you trying to do? Want to trade blows again?”
Elia did not answer. She directly pressed her palm against Lillian’s chest, then unleashed her Holy Light at full force, channeling it into Lillian’s body.
This made Lillian’s body jolt, and at that moment she felt the power Elia released impacting the Ancient Core within her.
At the same time, Kiz waved her hand, releasing a blood mist that enveloped Lillian’s body, and then shouted, “11th Step: Demon Seal!”
Lillian suddenly found that she couldn’t use any magic at all… but that was only temporary, as her Magic Power was rapidly recovering. But that brief seal of her magic was enough.
Now Lillian could only raise her hand to try punching Elia in front of her, but Kiz and Lisa simultaneously pounced and held her arms tightly.
“Let go!” Lillian yelled, then struggled violently, sending both Kiz and Lisa flying a mile away.
But just at that moment, the Holy Light in Elia’s palm touched the Ancient Core… and then a violent explosion erupted from within Lillian. Dark red light and golden light intertwined and swept across the entire battlefield, sending everyone present flying.
Lying on the ground, Elia coughed up large mouthfuls of blood, but she was smiling. She had succeeded; she had hit the Ancient Core. Though she wasn’t sure if she had destroyed it, she had definitely dealt it a significant impact.
As the smoke and dust from the explosion cleared, Lillian was still standing with her head lowered, her body trembling constantly. At the same time, her clothes had torn open in a large hole over her chest, revealing a large patch of fair skin… and the dark red mark on it was slowly dissipating.
“Lillian…” Elia struggled to her feet.
Lillian raised her head to look at her. There was still no emotion in those eyes, but a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth… meaning she was injured now.
“You, are strong, so, next time, fight me again… Now, I’m going to find other fun things… See you.”
After saying that, Lillian directly transformed into a mist of intertwined gold and red.
Elia quickly threw out a few spells, but they all missed… because Lillian had disappeared with the mist.
“Damn it!” Elia could only punch the ground hard in frustration.
All three of them were injured from the explosion of the Ancient Core, so they could only watch helplessly as Lillian left.
At this point, the Forbidden Land was a complete mess. The hall had completely collapsed, the ground was covered with countless bottomless cracks, and the air was filled with dust and residual Magic Power. Even the things protecting the Forbidden Land couldn’t withstand such an explosion.
As for Elia, she simply lay down on the ground, gasping for air. Anyway, the enemy had left, and she couldn’t do much about it… right?
Now her clothes were tattered, her body covered in wounds, and the most serious were her internal injuries. Forcing the Holy Light to impact the Ancient Core earlier had nearly severed her meridians, and her Magic Power was basically depleted. But she, Kiz, and Lisa were still alive. That was enough.
Not far away, Kiz had already gotten up. She stumbled over to her and knelt down, then gently reached out to stroke her face.
“Elia… a-are you okay?”
It was obvious to anyone that Elia was the most injured. Kiz and Lisa were both Blood Clan, with healing abilities dozens or even hundreds of times stronger than humans, and without Holy Light burning them, they recovered very quickly. But Elia was human, and now she couldn’t even use magic. She couldn’t heal herself with restoration magic, so she could only endure the pain and channel the little Holy Light she had left to staunch the bleeding from her wounds.
Still, Elia gave Kiz her most familiar smile and said softly, “It’s fine, as long as I don’t die.”
Kiz’s eyes immediately reddened. “You really scared me…”
“I told you I’m fine. What about you? Are you badly hurt?” Elia asked.
Kiz shook her head. “We Blood Clan have strong recovery abilities. I’ll be fine in a little while.” Then she helped Elia sit up.
In the distance, Lisa also slowly stood up. She gritted her teeth at Lillian’s departure and said in a low voice, “That brat… when she gets back, I’m definitely going to spank her hard and then stuff her with a bunch of cream cakes.”
‘Cream cakes? Is that really the Vampire Princess’s Artifact? Maybe next time Kiz bullies me, I’ll just feed her some of that? But the problem is where would I find it? The Human Empire? But even if I somehow managed to stuff cream into the Little Princess’s mouth, what would I do afterwards? She’d definitely bite me to the moon—spiritually speaking. Sigh, I still miss the timid little rabbit Kiz from the beginning.’
“But Lillian just said ‘next time,’ which means she’ll definitely come looking for me in the near future,” Elia said, patting Lisa on the shoulder. “Besides, I injured her then—or rather, damaged the Ancient Core. It shows that this so-called sacred relic isn’t invincible. If we can find a way to completely destroy it, we might be able to awaken her.”
Kiz looked around and said, “Let’s leave first and talk later.”
Then the three of them, supporting each other, slowly walked out of the Forbidden Land.