VIP Chapter 185: Brilliant Light, Silent Sound
Shuna crossed her arms. She didn’t stop Liya from doing anything, whether it was giving Will that staff or tidying herself up a bit.
Of course, one reason was that Liya was too close to Will now, making it impossible for her to get past her to save him—not to mention that even if she did, they wouldn’t be able to escape. It was better to watch her finish what she needed to do and then have a proper fight.
The other reason… Shuna wasn’t sure about the strength and abilities of the witch before her. If this were a typical dungeon BOSS, Shuna could estimate her strength based on the floor she was on and the dungeon’s overall difficulty. But she wasn’t, and she had just poured a bunch of messy catalysts onto herself, making her judgment even harder. With just one Explosive Flame, who knew if it was a charged ultimate or a basic attack? Observing her walking and acting style would help her fight with a better understanding of her. This was Shuna’s dungeon exploration style: rational and based on as much information as possible. It was quite similar to Will, who was sleeping in the chair. However, Shuna had a strange feeling. Since entering this place, judging by how things were unfolding, she should have done a lot. But Shuna distinctly remembered that only about an hour had passed since she separated from Will and arrived here. How had she accomplished so much in such a short time? Shuna’s gaze swept over the only table in the empty room. It was covered with items she didn’t understand, all printed with witch hats; one of them looked like an hourglass. Then, her attention was drawn away by Liya, who was walking towards her.
“How is it? Ready?” Shuna clapped her hands. But… the Liya before her seemed slightly different from the one she had just seen. Her hair was still the same golden color, but the ends were clearly turning a strange red.
“—Have you heard the pulse of life?”
“Huh?”
“—Have you heard the breath of the earth?”
“Oh? Starting the incantation already?”
“—Have you heard the burning flame from the sky?”
Shuna stopped speaking because, before her eyes, the seemingly fragile and cheap staff in Liya’s hand had gathered an extremely rich amount of energy and light.
“—Listen, listen, because this is—”
Then, the moment Liya swung her staff, some “Ancient Magic” would attack her. It was a wide-range flame spell with a very obvious wind-up.
“Brilliant Light, Silent Sound—”
Five seconds.
When Liya shouted this, all sounds by Shuna’s ears vanished in an instant. As someone who relied heavily on her senses during combat, Shuna focused intently on the battle, always paying attention to all surrounding sounds. Whether it was the clinking of items and test tubes here, the rustling of clothes as the witch raised her staff, or even Will’s panting as he sat injured in that strange chair. She noticed it all. But in this single instant, as if her hearing had been stripped away, her ears were filled with an endless silence.
Four seconds. Shuna guessed this was some kind of Ancient Magic that absorbed the energy of surrounding sounds before detonating them—only Ancient Magic often appeared in such bizarre ways. But… where would it detonate? The light in the witch’s hand disappeared as she completed the incantation… Three seconds. Shuna took a deep breath. She could already feel the surrounding heat rising in an instant. Two seconds. Brilliant light began to bloom before Shuna. One second. All the sounds that had just disappeared exploded in Shuna’s ears.
—
“Ha… As expected, I’m a bit tired.” Elsewhere, Liya, who had just finished the move, stood in place, still maintaining her casting posture and panting. The mass-produced Adventurer’s Shop staff in her hand turned to ash after she spoke. This was also within her expectations. Most Ancient Magic spells were very power-consuming. Although the witch’s Magic circuit could handle such consumption and release it efficiently, it meant there weren’t many weapons that could contain their magic. Even within the Witch Association, this issue was frequently discussed, but… most of the weapons provided were self-forged, with no universal solution. Even those forged by witches themselves had significant flaws, and very few could withstand a witch’s magic one hundred percent. Gazing at the dust… Liya clenched the ring on her finger tightly. She didn’t think she had won yet. Because Will had once seriously analyzed with her that her skills were the most likely to create a lot of smoke and obscure the battle. The more so, the more careful she needed to be. The enemy might be… not actually injured by her attack within the smoke—
*Swish—* Several ice bullets shot out from the smoke, heading directly for her face. And Liya, who was prepared, of course… destroyed them all with a streak of fire she drew in the air. She carefully maintained her distance from the smoke Shuna was in, her finger never leaving her ring. Although the ice bullets were small, they clearly carried significant force, aimed at the positions of her limbs—they didn’t intend to attack vital points from the start. —What, this bad woman is holding back even here?! —But if she didn’t… she wouldn’t be able to keep Will. —So… —She would definitely strike a killing blow. Instantaneous magic from the ring, guided by fireballs, soared out. She used a witch’s item slightly to give ordinary fireballs a homing function. At the same time… she fired another fireball in the direction of the other party. Although both the ice bullets and fireballs they used were the lowest-level magic, in a speed-based confrontation, they became the most efficient.
“!? ” Shuna saw a high-speed fireball flying towards her from within the smoke. This made her realize that the other party had not only blocked all her ice bullets but also had the energy to continue attacking her. “…Tsk.” The distance was close, and she had just used magic, so she hadn’t reacted yet. She dodged, and the fireball grazed her waist, leaving a slight burn mark on her exposed fair abdomen. Of course… this slight burn from the fireball was probably the lightest for Shuna now. Her jacket had been burned by the flame just now, and there were small patches of steam burns all over her exposed shoulders and arms. This mark was too familiar. The first time she helped Will with a problem, she saw similar burns. This proved that her newly generated ice armor underestimated the power when defending against Liya’s attack. When was the last time… she had sustained such a serious injury during a dungeon adventure? It had to be traced back to the Ice Abyss at the very least. Although her shoulders and arms still ached, the battlefield didn’t allow her to be distracted. More importantly, she didn’t have the spare capacity to allocate precious spirit and magic for treatment now. *Whoosh whoosh whoosh.* More fireballs attacked.
Author’s Note: I’ve read most of the comments these past few days, one by one. Actually, because the author has an outline, some things might seem ahead of their time, and I might overlook the current experience of people, for which I apologize. Because my update speed is really hard to increase, and if I don’t force myself to get full attendance, I might only write 40-50,000 words in two months. So I thought about it all day Saturday, and also slightly revised and carefully deliberated the outline… I’ve decided to add a 0.5 chapter with a lemon scene, slightly modifying the ending of the previous chapter and the subsequent descriptions. It should be updated around Monday (because the editor can only help me modify VIP on Monday). Furthermore, the parts involving Treya and Iaar that will come later will also have lemon scenes. The relevant foreshadowing, emotional transitions, scenes, and methods are all set, so don’t be too anxious. The plot is definitely a harem; if you don’t believe me, believe in Young Master Wei. No one will be left behind, no one will be left behind, no one will be left behind (three important things said thrice). I am not an author who ignores comments, nor am I an author who does not admit mistakes. Although I am still new, and although I might worry for a whole day after reading a long comment. But I am very happy writing this book, and I hope to make more people happy. Serialization, I think the best part is being able to see feedback in real-time and make changes. *Sob sob*… In short, Azai didn’t coordinate well this time, so here’s a new steamy scene as compensation. I’ll write well from now on.
