I Was The Hero, But I Woke Up as a Phoenix Princess! – Chapter 696

Chapter 154: Staff and Heart (Part 2)
The laws of frost calamity rapidly activated, solidifying into sheets of hard ice in the gaps of space.
Suddenly, brilliant firelight erupted behind him. Trist snorted, but had no intention of stopping or delaying. His body surged with demonic power and fragments of frost, condensing into hardened ice armor on his skin.
Even though Verafia’s magic contained a law of flame that he could not comprehend, Trist was confident that he could withstand her full-power attack, albeit with injuries at most.
However, no matter how severe the injury, it was insignificant before everything he could gain!
The usually indifferent and rigid iron-grey eyes now held an unprecedented madness and greed.
The booming, resonant light of flame struck Trist’s back, which was covered by only a layer of frost armor. Destructive power splattered his flesh and blood, but Trist’s figure did not falter in the slightest. His large outstretched hand reached out to seize Kaino’s shattered remains!
But, like silk slipping, a dazzling golden flame appeared, blocking the way. Covered by the nun’s robe, stirred by the wind, was the delicate and slender body of a young girl.
Trist froze for a moment, then burst into maniacal laughter, “Miss Verafia, you want to stop me? But—you are seeking death!”
Before the thunderous, fierce voice even fell, the halberd in his hand, wrapped in the demonic power of stars and the laws of frost calamity, pierced down towards the girl’s delicate body with terrifying might, as if to topple the stars.
Even though the girl before him was extraordinary, he had witnessed everything that transpired during his battle with Kaino.
With Trist’s eyesight, he could naturally tell that the astonishingly powerful magic in Verafia’s hands actually originated from another red-haired girl. Her body contained no flowing demonic power, making her even more fragile than an ordinary mage. How could she possibly withstand his enraged attack!
Verafia slightly raised her brilliant golden eyes. Her gorgeous golden hair flowed like silk and satin, her porcelain-jade face caressed by the wind, as if illuminated by sunlight. She gently raised her staff and softly called out:
“Niya, are you alright?”
“Mhm, Sister Veer, I know!”
The little loli quickly raised her tender little face, her bright big eyes like ignited flame gems. Her smooth, silken fiery red hair, cascading onto her small shoulders, was also rendered in crimson flame light.
This was a sign of her channeling her demonic power at full capacity, not only from Verafia’s blessing, but also containing her own origin as a fire spirit.
The fire light rendered was magnificent and brilliant. Verafia pulled her slender staff, and at the tip of the staff, intensely hot and concentrated demonic power continuously gathered, as if forged by sunlight, condensing into a slender and magnificent blade of demonic power.
Trist’s pupils contracted heavily. The girl’s staff held not magic, but a sword technique that was stunningly exceptional, even to the point of making him tremble!
As the girl gently swung her staff, it was as if she was cutting through a thin sheet of paper. The Moment of End, lightly brushed across, suddenly erupted with a blindingly intense light far brighter than the sun.
—Boom, boom, boom!
Blazing, brilliant golden flames ignited within the stunning sword light, suddenly submerging the frost and the star knight’s figures. Even Irene, who had desperately broken through the barrier to rush over, had a look of shock in her silver eyes.
In the brief moment the sword and halberd clashed, the demonic power, like a raging tide, was like immense waves in an angry sea, followed by thunderous roars. Suddenly, a sharp, cold glint cut through the light and flame.
“Miss Verafia!”
Shiel cried out urgently, enduring the impact of the tidal wave of demonic power. Fragments of firelight ignited around them as she caught the girl’s delicate body, blown over by the gale.
The girl’s delicate, tender body’s pure white nun’s robe was blown into disarray, revealing hints of fair, smooth skin. However, there were not many damages.
But as Shiel embraced her slender waist, she still asked with some concern, “Miss Verafia, did… did you get injured just now?”
“Cough… I’m fine.”
Verafia’s face was slightly pale, but she shook her head and stood up with Shiel’s support. Only after realizing that Niya, who had also been blown away by the demonic power, was not seriously harmed did she breathe a sigh of relief.
The young girl returned the staff she had borrowed to Shiel.
In her other hand, she lightly clutched the Mistetinn’s Staff, which she had snatched in the moment of clashing with Trist.
At this time, the slender scepter, faintly outlining graceful lines, was still frozen by ice. Even as it gradually melted, Verafia felt a piercing coldness in her delicate palm.
However, she had no intention of letting go.
Not only Irene, Ain, the two elves, and Tais, who were all thrown flying by Trist’s heavy blow, but Ig, embedded in the wall, endured the pain of his bones breaking and struggled to crawl out. He rushed over with Ophi, and only after confirming that Verafia was unharmed did they relax.
The sword light of the Moment of End and the laws of flame annihilated each other with the frost and stars. The dense tide of demonic power was almost unbearable to look at, and it gradually dissipated after several breaths.
The entire hall of the Inquisition was destroyed and devastated. High walls collapsed, and the faint light of the frost moon sprinkled down from the sky onto the chaotic ruins.
Trist Horn was far from his former unwavering image.
He lowered his head heavily, kneeling on one knee. His right hand was nowhere to be seen. The steel halberd fell to the ground, his chest ignited by a blazing sword mark, and his internal organs were churned into burning wreckage.
“Miss Verafia… actually, defeated Trist?”
Shiel held the young girl with her jade hand, her slightly trembling voice filled with astonishment.
She was the lord of Vinash City and should have known how powerful Trist Horn, this Knight Commander of the Inquisition, was. In fact, on the entire Aer Continent, apart from fewer than ten Saint Ranks, he was among the top powerhouses.
But such a powerful Star, in a head-on confrontation with the young girl, was so tragically destroyed by that stunning sword… Such injuries would be almost a certain death for even a Saint.
“No, it’s not like that.”
However, Verafia gently shook her head.
Before, when she borrowed Niya’s demonic power to forcibly wield the staff to unleash the Moment of End against Trist, the outcome was by no means as clear-cut as it appeared now.
In fact, by borrowing Niya’s demonic power, she should have been at a disadvantage against Trist’s enraged attack.
The young girl’s golden eyes flowed with a delicate luster.
She had seen Trist’s attack. Among them, there was not only the demonic power of stars and the laws of frost… but also, like a pitch-black sword, the power of Star God fragments.
Trist had a greater chance of seizing the Mistetinn’s Staff and thrusting his halberd into her chest.
Even with Verafia’s divine body, it would not kill her, but it would not be so easy either.
However, the attack he unleashed was diverted to the other side. He even chose to bear the pouring sword light with his physical body.
Trist had also obtained what he wanted.
Verafia’s smooth fingers caressed the Mistetinn’s Staff, a subtle luster gradually melting from the icy surface. Her eyelashes lightly clipped her golden eyes.
In her sight, the Knight Commander knelt on one knee, his life flickering like a candle in the wind. However, his remaining left hand tightly clutched Kaino’s severed, frost-covered heart, which was still beating within the broken body!
—
All done… (So long…)