**Chapter 724: The Jealous Miss Shimizu is Quite Adorable**
Just as the fire snake was about to make contact with Kazumi’s back, time seemed to stretch. The hood of Kazumi’s cloak moved on its own, as a streak of grayish white shot out like lightning — not a human arm, but a long, slender appendage with an unnatural distortion at its joints. It reached back at a completely impossible angle, fingers splayed, unflinching, as it went straight for the roaring crimson flame python!
“Chh—”
There was no violent explosion as anticipated, nor the burning smell of scorched flesh.
The grayish-white hand seemed to possess a trait of annihilation energy. Upon touching the fire snake, it emitted a slight sound, akin to crushing a hard gray board.
Ferocious flames were directly crushed by that single grab, breaking into countless fragments of fire that flickered unwillingly a few times before completely dissipating into the air, leaving only a wave of scorching hot air spreading outward.
Sensing the malevolent intent and the fleeting high temperature behind her, Kazumi slightly tilted her head. Under the hood, her brows furrowed, and a clear, visible anger cracked like a frozen surface.
Wind swiftly swirled around. Anyone would feel a bad mood if disturbed while focused on their work. Yet this anger came quickly and left even faster; almost as soon as the flames dissipated, it was wholly suppressed by the deep coldness and rationality in the girl’s eyes.
“Trouble,” she whispered in her heart. The dim green energy of the [Kimokado] fluctuated violently again, preparing to solidify and teleport her away from the current hunting target, a jumble of troublesome heroes entangled together, wasting time and energy.
The more exposed she was, the less favorable it was for her subsequent plans.
However, just as the [Kimokado] was on the verge of fully opening, her cold gaze fell upon the figure coming at her from the opposite direction.
This was the moment that solidified her already fading figure, for she realized the [Kimokado] had already reached halfway in its operation!
Although the dim green light came to a halt, it slowly dissipated in reluctance. Kazumi halted her steps towards the teleportation and a smirk, controlled yet delightfully playful, crept onto the corner of her mouth.
A figure stood poised and ready — a middle-aged man, with hair resembling flames. His side profile was flushed and rugged, his eyes sharp. A scorching aura wrapped around him, with crimson flames swirling like living beings between his fingers, clearly gearing up for a more violent attack.
He stared intently in Kazumi’s direction, his face filled with vigilance and solemnity.
Kazumi didn’t feel too concerned about the hero’s attack itself.
Pure flame power was undoubtedly destructive, but times had changed. After absorbing and merging with the precious [Seed of Fire], her blood had undergone a qualitative leap in its resistance to flames.
That casual grab that crushed the fire moments ago was a direct manifestation of this resistance.
Unless the opponent had some special ability for binding, imprisonment, or mental attacks, relying solely on direct elemental attacks, they wouldn’t be able to stop her.
What truly made Kazumi halt her steps and even actively relinquish her chance to escape was not the strength of the attack, but the identity of the attacker.
“Hishiyama… Fuen…”
The hero name “Crimson Flame” belonged to a combat hero skilled in flames and martial arts, with a ranking roughly between the three and four hundred. Kazumi vaguely remembered it.
Yet, if described differently, her memory was exceedingly clear…
This Hishiyama Fuen had another identity — he was Hishiyama Minako’s father!
For a daring girl, even if much time had passed, she still recalled the challenge that the hero student Hishiyama Minako posed to her back in the academy.
Those words, along with the condescending gaze from back then, were still vividly engraved in her mind.
Although later, Satō Shin’ichi’s friend, who treated her decently, had taken revenge with thunderous methods, not only giving Hishiyama Minako a severe lesson but also forcefully bringing her to their classroom to apologize in front of many students, bowing his head.
For an ordinary student, such public humiliation might be enough to settle things and ease their discontent.
But Kazumi…
She was no ordinary student. She was a reaper of souls, maneuvering along the edges of life and death.
Apology? Repentance? How could such lighthearted things erase the offense she felt at that time?
Deep down, what she truly wished to see was the genuine heart-wrenching pain that manifested when the other party lost something important.
That was the interest she acknowledged.
Now, it seemed an opportunity had presented itself. A debt owed by a father, or perhaps… a daughter’s debt repaid by the father, seemed no different to her.
At the time, Kazumi couldn’t do anything to Hishiyama Minako within the academy. Now, letting this doting father pay a price here seemed like a fine choice.
Not only would it soothe her minor displeasure from being disturbed, but it would also allow her to collect some delightful interest in advance.
“What a lovely opportunity,” Kazumi murmured coldly to herself, the hint of a chilling smile gracing her lips. Spending a little less time on gathering corpses to “play” with this old duke’s father appeared to be quite a profitable transaction.
She ceased her attempts to flee and slowly turned around, facing the prepared Hishiyama Fuen.
With the hood pulled low, no one could see her expression. Nonetheless, the aura that originally reigned in the deathly and dim energy began to gradually permeate the air, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding heated battlefield ambiance.
Hishiyama Fuen clearly sensed the change in her temperament, transitioning from an attempt to escape to now… locking on?
Alarm bells rang in his mind. Though he didn’t understand why, the sudden surge of malicious intent from the other party was anything but an illusion.
He dared not be slack. With a sudden thrust of his palms forward:
An even thicker, more solid stream of flames roared forth like a river of molten lava, surging toward Kazumi.
The air distorted from the heat as it passed.
Faced with this overwhelming strike, Kazumi appeared remarkably calm.
She didn’t even make any significant evasive movements. Instead, the long, grayish-white arm of the undead shot out like lightning again, fingers clawing towards the oncoming torrent of flames with a swift slash!
“—Chh—”
An invisible wave of death energy erupted from the tips of her fingers, tearing the stream of flames asunder!
The split flames brushed by Kazumi’s body, scorching the remains of the walls behind her black, yet failing to injure her in the slightest.
At the moment the flames were torn apart, Kazumi elegantly raised her right hand, which had been hanging by her side, the tips releasing a dim green energy that coiled like a poisonous snake. Her gaze fixed on the soft earth beneath Hishiyama Fuen’s feet, weakened by multiple energy impacts.
In the next instant, the dim green light from her fingertips shone brightly, like a stone thrown into the water’s surface, stirring the death energy buried beneath the ground.
“[Bone Prison Technique, activate!]”
