The Saintess Unveiled: A Moment Frozen in Time

Xie Haizhu knew Rayne wouldn’t believe her words. He might even find them laughable.

But that was precisely her intention.

She aimed to feign weakness, to appear foolish to her enemy.

Her goal was for him to perceive her as an overconfident yet fiercely loyal puppet master.

****

Rayne silently adopted a stance for drawing his sword.

‘[It seems this person dislikes idle talk and acts with extreme seriousness.]’

Xie Haizhu ceased her pretense, instantly dedicating her full energy to the battle.

Something was amiss.

“Thunderbolt Sword Art: Lightning and Thunder!”

With a single draw of his sword, Rayne summoned countless bolts of heavenly lightning to strike down.

Yet, the blue figure, just as in many previous encounters, was scrambling frantically, dodging and evading.

Ultimately unable to escape, they were forced into an all-out defense, barely managing to block the attack.

After more than twenty minutes of this, Rayne was forced to concede one thing.

“It seems I have underestimated you.”

Seeing Rayne pause and speak with such gravity, Xie Haizhu understood he was about to get serious.

“After all, I am Saintess Haizhu.”

“This time, I will use a sword art specialized for single targets. Its power is immense, so please do not take it lightly.”

“Thank you for the warning.”

Xie Haizhu immediately unleashed a fire dragon, hoping to strike first, but Rayne evaded it by elementalizing his form.

Having exchanged blows for so long, Xie Haizhu had discerned Rayne’s combat pattern.

“The three-second interval of sheathing and drawing his sword is an unavoidable action. This is the prime opportunity to attack him.”

Yet, to avoid alerting him, she had suppressed this impulse throughout their entire skirmish.

Only now, in a sudden, underhanded move, did she strike, yet he still managed to evade her.

Clearly, Rayne was well aware of his own weaknesses and had diligently worked to compensate for them.

‘Good heavens, he’s already so formidable, yet he still strives so hard… How can anyone hope to defeat him?’

Xie Haizhu could only offer a bitter smile in her heart.

Nevertheless, her hands never ceased their movements.

In an instant, she conjured hundreds of shield fragments, combining and layering them until they coalesced into a colossal shield.

Limited to low-tier magic, she could only pursue a quantitative approach.

Through this method, she continuously arranged and recombined, exploring the optimal fusion techniques for minor spells.

This formidable barrier was the culmination of her recent efforts, her final answer after learning magic from scratch.

“Thunderbolt Sword Art…, Flash of Lightning!”

*Crack!*

The iron-clad shield, layered a hundred times over, shattered in an instant.

It couldn’t even withstand the blow for a single second.

This was hardly surprising.

Rayne had undoubtedly dedicated countless years to perfecting his technique, transforming his weakest three seconds into an unassailable moment.

Since becoming the Saintess… no, she had only truly begun to strive after returning from Qilin City.

How could a mere two or three days of effort possibly compare to someone else’s years of dedication?

*Boom!*

Left with no other choice, Xie Haizhu channeled all her magic to resist.

Though she blocked the attack, the sheer force of the rebound sent her crashing to the ground.

Yet, she remained unharmed.

After all, once the hour hand reached the fourth mark, her magical power had grown significantly stronger.

However—

“You… you’re actually the Saintess?” Rayne stared at her, dumbfounded.

Magic power and magic itself shared a multiplicative relationship.

Exceptional magical technique allowed one’s magic power to achieve twice the results with half the effort.

Xie Haizhu’s magical proficiency was so abysmal that she had to expend colossal amounts of magic power to achieve comparable effects.

Thus, while she had indeed blocked the attack, her true identity was simultaneously revealed.

“No, I’m just an impostor.”

Alas, even this ‘truth’ failed to convince Rayne.

“The rumors were true after all. You’re injured, and your strength is far from what it once was…”

“Lady Haizhu, although this is somewhat taking advantage of your predicament, I must ask you to come with me—”

“Never!”

A sudden burst of flame from Li Tianming forced Rayne to retreat.

“Lady Haizhu, please leave this place quickly! Don’t worry about us!”

He cried out, his face etched with desolate despair.

His despair stemmed not from fear of Rayne killing him.

Instead, it arose from the exposure of Xie Haizhu’s true condition.

He dared not imagine what fate awaited the kingdom once the Empire learned of this.

Nevertheless, he threw caution to the wind, dedicating all his strength to help Xie Haizhu escape.

For he still harbored hope.

He hoped Xie Haizhu would remember everything and, in turn, resolve everything.

Xie Haizhu also saw this, and couldn’t help but sigh softly in her heart.

‘Indeed, this feeling is still quite unpleasant.’

Xie Haizhu had always told herself that she had found what she wanted to do, and would no longer be lost.

Yet, when faced with such a critical moment where she was completely distrusted, an inevitable wave of frustration washed over her.

[What then, after the frustration?] A voice echoed in her mind.

‘It must be effort, of course. To stand still would achieve nothing.’

[But haven’t you always been striving?]

She wanted to retort, but upon careful reflection, realized she genuinely had always tried her best.

Even before meeting Reinhardt, she would only initially feel disheartened, then simply carry on as usual.

Therefore, the true situation was that her efforts never led to success.

Her struggles were meaningless.

[Is that truly the case?]

‘It must be, I’ve always failed… unless you count my other personality; she is indeed much more powerful than me.’

[Have you truly tried your best?]

‘That’s going too far. Are you trying to completely erase Reinhardt’s encouragement and affirmation of me?’

[Do you truly not know how to cast magic?]

The answer was no. It wasn’t a matter of never having eaten pork but at least having seen a pig run.

On the contrary, she had always researched magic, witnessed everything there was to see.

The spells she had seen, the magical theories she understood, surpassed those of most people.

‘But the truth is, I just can’t cast them, or I can’t cast them well.’

[Why do you confine yourself? Why do you set limits for yourself?]

She found herself speechless.

Until just now, she still believed herself incapable, inferior to the original Saintess and her other self.

[What were you thinking before you could become the Saintess?]

She had been thinking how wonderful it would be if she could be as great as the Saintess.

[And after that?]

At that time, she thought she was unworthy.

[Did you never think you could do it yourself?]

She wanted to deny it, but ultimately, a figure emerged in her mind.

Her other self.

But… was that truly another self?

Weren’t the things that self did precisely what she had always longed to do?

“Thunderbolt Sword Art: Myriad Thunders!”

Rayne drew his sword once more, unleashing magic.

This time, he had charged for five seconds.

Consequently, the magic grew more potent, and his control over it became absolute.

It should be enough to precisely knock out Li Tianming and pose a threat to Xie Haizhu, who was a Battle Lord.

Xie Haizhu understood the reason for this phenomenon.

It was a technique known as “Self-Limitation.”

Moreover, she was aware of no fewer than twenty other spells that could counter the current situation.

However, most of them were not fire-attribute magic.

Some weren’t even ice-attribute magic.

So, were all those spells with incorrect attributes unusable?

Furthermore, was the Saintess’s magical attribute truly just ordinary ice?

And, did her other self truly exist?

“Freeze.” Xie Haizhu said.

Then, the entire world fell silent.

This was no acceleration of thought on a mental plane.

It was a physical cessation.

Absolute zero.

All sounds vanished into profound stillness.

Even time itself was frozen.