Chapter 724: Miss Shimizu, Who Is Petty, Is Also Cute
The instant the flame serpent was about to touch Kazumi’s back, time seemed to stretch. Kazumi’s cloak billowed without wind, and a residual image shot out from below like lightning—an arm, not of flesh and blood, but pale gray and slender, its joints contorted in a way that seemed unnatural. It extended backward at an angle that defied human anatomy, its fingers spread wide, neither dodging nor evading, clawing directly at the roaring crimson flame serpent!
“Sizzle—”
There was no violent explosion as expected, nor the smell of burning flesh and skin. The pale gray hand seemed to possess a trait of annihilation energy. The moment it touched the fire serpent, it emitted only a faint popping sound, like crushing a gray cardboard. The ferocious flame serpent was crushed by this single grab, transforming into countless tiny sparks. After flickering unwillingly a few times, it completely dissipated into the air, leaving only a wave of scorching heat to spread outwards.
Sensing the malice attacking her back and the fleeting intense heat, Kazumi tilted her head slightly. Her eyebrows, hidden beneath her hood, lifted, a clearly visible trace of anger like a crack spreading across ice. The wind began to swirl. Anyone who was disturbed while concentrating would not be in a good mood. However, this anger was as quick to dissipate as it was to arise. Almost as soon as the flames vanished, it was completely suppressed by the girl’s deep coldness and reason visible in her eyes.
“Trouble,” she murmured. The幽 green [Ghost Gate] energy before her fluctuated violently again, preparing to fully solidify and teleport her away from the current situation. Her target was the gathered corpses, and getting entangled with these troublesome heroes who were congregating to grow stronger would only waste time and energy. The more she exposed herself, the more detrimental it would be to her future plans.
However, at the very instant the [Ghost Gate] was about to fully open, her gaze swept over the figure who was about to attack from the opposite direction, with a cold scrutiny. It was at this moment, which made her ready to disappear solidify, that she discovered the [Ghost Gate] was already halfway through its operation! The 幽 green light paused, then slowly and unwillingly dissipated. Kazumi completely stopped her transfer, and the corner of her mouth, hidden by her hood, curved into an uncontrollable smirk, even carrying a hint of cruel delight.
A figure stood ready, a middle-aged man with flame-like hair, his profile also red, his face stern, his eyes sharp, and a scorching aura surrounding him. His hands were held loosely, and crimson flames danced and swirled between his fingers like living creatures, clearly brewing for the next, more furious attack. He stared intently in Kazumi’s direction, his face etched with vigilance and solemnity.
Kazumi wasn’t too concerned about this hero’s attack itself. Pure flame power, while destructive, was no longer the same as before. After absorbing and merging with the precious [Seed of Fire], her blood’s resistance to flames had improved by leaps and bounds. The casual grab that crushed the flames moments ago was a direct manifestation of this resistance. If the opponent lacked special abilities for restraint, imprisonment, or mental attacks, she believed she could easily escape any direct elemental attack.
What truly made Kazumi stop, and even abandon the chance to retreat, was not the intensity of the attack, but the identity of the attacker.
“Hishiyama… Fuen…”
His Hero Name was [Crimson Flame], a professional hero specializing in flames and close combat. His Hero Rank was somewhere around four hundred or three hundred something. Kazumi couldn’t quite recall. But if expressed in another way, Kazumi’s memory was remarkably clear… This Hishiyama Fuen had another identity—Hishiyama Minako’s father!
For someone bold and daring, even though a long time had passed, she still remembered the challenge from Hishiyama Minako of the Hero Department back at the academy. Those words, and the condescending look in her eyes at the time, were still clearly imprinted in her memory even after so long. Afterward, Satō Shin’ichi’s friend, a friend who had treated her quite well, had avenged her with lightning speed. Not only did he severely punish Hishiyama Minako, but he also forcibly escorted her to their classroom and made her apologize in front of many students. For ordinary students, such public humiliation might have been considered closure, enough to soothe their displeasure.
But Kazumi… She was never an ordinary student. She was a reaper of undead souls, a reaper who walked the edge of life and death. Apologies? Repentance? How could such flimsy things offset the offense she felt at the time? Compared to their condescending apologies, she preferred to see the genuine, heart-wrenching pain on their faces as they lost something important. That was what she considered interest. And now, the opportunity seemed to have presented itself. A debt paid by a child to a parent, or a parent to a child, made no difference to her.
Kazumi couldn’t do anything to Hishiyama Minako at the academy back then, so making this father, who doted on his daughter, pay a price here seemed like a good choice. This would not only quell her slight displeasure at being disturbed but also allow her to collect some pleasing interest in advance.
“Truly… there’s a lot of it,” Kazumi muttered, her voice laced with a cold smile. Giving up some time collecting corpses to play with this old fellow, this father, seemed like a very worthwhile transaction.
She no longer attempted to leave, but slowly turned around, facing Hishiyama Fuen, who stood ready. Her hood was pulled low, hiding her expression, but the previously restrained aura of death and darkness began to permeate outwards, starkly out of place in the scorching battlefield atmosphere. Hishiyama Fuen clearly sensed the change in her demeanor, from trying to escape to now… locking onto him? An alarm blared in his mind. Although he didn’t know why, the sudden surge of malicious energy emanating from her was no illusion. He dared not be negligent, and pushed his palms forward sharply: a thicker, more solidified torrent of flames, like a breaching river of lava, roared towards Kazumi. The air warped from the intense heat wherever it passed.
Facing this grand attack, Kazumi appeared extraordinarily calm. She didn’t even make significant evasive movements. The slender, pale gray undead arm once again shot out like lightning, its fingers forming a claw, and slashed through the swirling torrent of flames in mid-air!
“—Chiii—” A formless death energy erupted from the tip of the arm, tearing the torrent of flames straight down the middle! The split flames grazed Kazumi’s sides, scorching the ruined walls behind her black once more, but failed to harm her in the slightest.
The instant the flames were torn apart, Kazumi’s right hand, which had been hanging by her side, elegantly rose. A 幽 green energy coiled and converged around her fingertips like a poisonous snake. Her gaze locked onto the ground beneath Hishiyama Fuen’s feet, which had become slightly soft from repeated energy impacts.
In the next moment, the 幽 green light on Kazumi’s fingertips suddenly brightened, like a stone tossed into water, stirring the death power buried beneath the earth.
“[Bone Prison Spell, Activate!]”
