I Was The Hero, But I Woke Up as a Phoenix Princess! – Chapter 38

Chapter 31 Victory and Promise
Above the end, brilliant light overflowed, and the dazzling brilliance pierced the oppressive wind and thunder.
“This guy…”
The brilliant gold light touched Verafia’s pure white jade cheeks, causing the girl to whisper. She slightly tilted her pupils and saw the condensed expression on the Paladin Ronald beside her, and the corners of her youthful lips curved slightly upwards.
With a swing of the sword.
The magnificent sword light clashed with the breaking sword qi amidst the wind and thunder. The dazzling golden light tore through the roaring lightning. In just a moment, the previously arrogant lightning sword qi had already disintegrated!
“How is this possible!”
The entire hall was in an uproar, and Reske, who was directly facing such a sharp light, showed an expression of shock. His body instinctively released Dou Qi again and drew his sword to slash!
The brilliant sword, imbued with silvery-white Dou Qi, effortlessly shattered Ig’s desperate sword technique. The power accumulated within it was vastly superior to Reske’s previous slash.
— If he had taken this blow, Ig’s body, even if he didn’t die, would have been severely injured!
The airborne sword qi arrived almost instantly. Ig, who had almost exhausted all his Dou Qi with that single sword, was unable to defend himself again. However, as he watched the light, heavy as a scythe of death, under the silver rank Dou Qi, a relieved smile appeared.
“It’s finally over.”
A familiar and pleasant girl’s voice sounded in his ears, which were now only filled with the sound of whistling sword qi.
“Flame Barrier!”
In an instant, the scattered elemental particles instantly solidified into substance, burning like a blazing flame, emitting powerful heat and heat, raising a wall of flame in front of the young man.
The sword qi, empowered by the silver rank Dou Qi, struck the flame wall but did not even cause a ripple before being burned to ashes.
“Young Lady.”
Ig turned his head to look at the girl who cast this spell. Verafia rushed to his side, her cute face showing a very angry expression. She pointed her slender, jade-like fingers at Reske opposite them and said angrily.
“Reske, we agreed that you could only use bronze rank Dou Qi! If you’re unhappy with my attendant, then direct it all at me!”
Ig, with one hand on his throbbing right wrist, heard the girl’s crisp and pleasant, yet indignant voice, and his face immediately showed a moved expression.
However, Ig couldn’t help but complain in his heart: Young Lady, this was your own doing. If you weren’t a beautiful, golden rank genius mage, and I was merely a bronze, of course, they would all be directed at you!
But seeing the girl so angry, Ig couldn’t help but feel a warmth in his heart. He lowered his head and looked at his still trembling arm, using this opportunity to hide a hint of unusual emotion in his eyes.
“Such protection, from childhood to adulthood, only Shiel has ever given me. Just the little phoenix…”
Ig closed his eyes once, revealing a smile. He tried to stop his still trembling arm and firmly gripped the hilt of his long sword.
After the brilliance on the end faded, the slightly dusty sword blade that was re-exposed faintly reflected Ig’s still aching expression, while Rex’s face in the distance was filled with panic.
“A silver rank swordsman, and even one who only uses bronze rank Dou Qi, has surpassed me so much. If it weren’t for Father’s sword technique, and what that little phoenix taught me yesterday, I wouldn’t even be able to reach this point.”
Before the battle, Ig was very clear about his only trivial advantage over Reske:
Besides the sword techniques cultivated since childhood and the “Eye of Insight,” the most important were the sword qi taught by the young girl, and the sword technique learned from his father as the eldest son of Marquis Mays.
— As a sword skill of a Saint Rank powerhouse, even the simplest technique is far beyond ordinary battle skills in terms of exquisiteness and power.
However, Ig never believed that with these two, he could defeat a silver rank expert, even if the opponent had always suppressed his Dou Qi to the bronze stage.
Even with his desperate sword strike just now, Ig was confident that Rex could have easily blocked it even without using silver rank Dou Qi, at most suffering minor injuries.
And by then, with his Dou Qi depleted and his stamina almost gone, he would have no chance of winning.
So from the very beginning, Ig had designed it this way, using sword techniques to wear down the opponent’s patience and lure him into pushing his power to the limit’s edge.
If Reske, in his panic, instinctively used a power even stronger than his already extreme Dou Qi, reaching the silver level, that would be Ig’s only chance of victory.
“But, even so, this cannot be considered my victory. Lord Lothel, she was right, I am indeed not worthy of inheriting your legacy and using your sword. But, don’t worry…”
Ig thought silently, then raised his head and smiled.
“This guy, he thinks quite a lot.”
Verafia, with her slightly tilted gaze, saw the young man’s relaxed expression and guessed most of what Ig was thinking.
A small smile appeared on the girl’s lips.
However, Verafia still pretended to be angry, pointing at Reske and yelling indignantly that she wanted justice for her attendant.
Hel and Ronald kindly persuaded her for a long time before the girl grudgingly grumbled a few times and reluctantly put away the spell she had already formed in her small hand.
“Since Hel said so… then okay, not next time…”
A super fierce expression suddenly appeared on Verafia’s delicate and pure snowy face. The girl waved her palm, circulating powerful magic, and tilted her small face upwards, emphasizing loudly:
“However, only I can bully my attendant! If you want to make a move on him, you have to get past me first!”
Ig was amused by his young lady’s words, but he still played along with the girl’s wishes, showing a “grateful” expression.
“Brother Ig.”
Ig turned his head and saw the Paladin Ronald walking towards him with a smile.
The Paladin saw the black-haired young man in front of him, with a kind smile in his azure eyes, and extended his right hand.
“It is my honor to witness such exquisite swordsmanship. I am Ronald, and I hold the rank of Holy Light Knight. It is a pleasure to be your companion in the Setting Sun Forest.”
“Does this mean I’m officially allowed to tag along as a burden?”
Ig thought this in his heart, but he still replied very humbly, lowering his head:
“Lord Ronald, I dare not accept such praise. This is all due to Miss Verafia’s excellent guidance.”
Ig extended his hand to touch the other person. The Paladin smiled warmly and encouraged him a few times.
After Ronald turned and left, Ig’s brow furrowed unconsciously.
Beneath Ronald’s gentle smile, Ig inexplicably felt a smile that wasn’t quite a smile… was it an illusion?
Ig looked at the back of the other person, shook his head, and cast aside this groundless feeling.