Meanwhile, Lina ascended the battlements, standing atop the high wall’s crenellations, her blood-red spear resting casually against her shoulder, a posture both languid and perilous.
Her scarlet pupils watched as elemental magic surged from all directions—the formidable power of ten elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, ice, light, and darkness—yet she did not even blink.
Waves of fire, scorching hot, rushed towards her; water and wind coalesced into a colossal waterspout; earthen spikes erupted, metallic projectiles tore through the air, lightning arcs crackled, ice shards glinted, and even waves of light and dark vortexes manifested…
With a decisive movement, Lina thrust her blood-red spear into the ground, and crimson ripples immediately spread outwards—
In an instant, a torrent of blood energy surged forth, causing the elemental magic to disintegrate inch by inch, shattering the countless magical assaults aimed at her.
The intermediate magic girls cried out in alarm, but the booming reverberations swallowed their staggered screams.
Still clutching their wands in their casting stances, they were flung to the ground by an invisible wave of force.
****
Subsequently, Lina suddenly appeared amidst the crowd, and before several magic girls could react, the tip of her blood-red spear precisely grazed their carotid arteries, though she refrained from delivering a fatal blow.
The mere brush of the blood-red spear made the magic girls feel as if their blood was freezing within their veins… A chilling numbness spread through them.
Their eyes rolled back, consciousness fled, and they collapsed to the ground, devoid of even the strength to struggle.
As for Lina, she extended her tongue to lick the blood from the spear’s tip, her scarlet pupils constricting slightly with pleasure:
“Hehe~ The first taste of blood is always the sweetest…”
Her laughter echoed, mingling with the swirling wind and snow.
Lina had no intention of taking lives; she certainly wouldn’t act on behalf of that woman, Ling Qinghe.
Her presence here… was merely to sample the diverse flavors of blood from all beings, as a side pursuit. Oh, and she would also receive substantial ‘rewards’.
And so it was.
As the blood-red spear danced, afterimages intertwined with wails of agony…
Lina, alone with her blood-red spear, overwhelmed a multitude of magic girls, treating them as mere ‘fodder’ for a casual slaughter.
However, soon after, a host of advanced magic girls, possessing significantly greater magical power, soared out from within the border city and directly descended upon Lina…
Upon seeing this,
Lina’s smile grew even more audacious, as her blood-red spear traced numerous afterimages, engaging the oncoming magic girls in a fierce melee.
Each time the spear’s tip pierced skin, tiny droplets of blood would spray forth… These wounds weren’t fatal, but they delivered a powerful ‘crowd control’ effect; a single strike was enough to induce unconsciousness.
No one would awaken for several hours.
The blood droplets, suspended in the air, were swiftly absorbed by the blood aura surrounding Lina, transforming into nourishment that bolstered her blood energy.
****
Suddenly,
the spire atop the Mò Nán Fortress suddenly erupted with a blinding white light—
the defense system had initiated its preliminary activation.
The light was more brilliant than the rising sun, more scorching than the midday blaze!
For a moment, Lina instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes, mistaking it for dawn—indeed, it was as exaggerated as the breaking of a new day… bright as high noon.
Where the light touched her, her body was marked with an ‘anomalous’ bluish-purple hue, effectively exposing her position at all times.
In contrast, the magic girls, who carried their identification tags, exhibited no such anomaly.
On the contrary, they could, through some unseen connection, pinpoint Lina’s location…
Wait, there was someone else?
High in the sky, several Special-grade magic girls immediately turned their gaze in one direction—
In the distance, the young magic girl Aisi Aimu was flying low to the ground, with countless magic girls in hot pursuit.
The young magic girl’s body was also stained with an ‘anomalous’ bluish-green.
She wielded her magic whip, deflecting dozens of elemental projectiles, only to see a dense formation of magic girls below, gathering their magic for a potent spell…
If she continued to fly, she would become a sitting duck.
There was no escape.
Her only option was to grit her teeth and face them…
She had nowhere to hide, and how could a mere young magic girl possibly contend with so many magic girls?
“Xia Naxin… please don’t mess this up!”
Ling Cheyin murmured softly, her toes touching the void, as she was forced to descend onto the snowy plains.
Her only hope now rested with Xia Naxin…
****
Above the high wall.
A blinding bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, Lina swiftly dodged to the side, yet a streak of blood still appeared on her shoulder.
However, her blood aura intensified, and the wound visibly healed at an astonishing rate.
The newcomer, a Special-grade individual suspended in the air, commanding heavenly lightning, had actually managed to injure her…
Lina’s eyes narrowed, and a twisted, cold smile curved her lips.
Her blood-red spear spun in her grasp, her previously playful combat stance vanishing instantly, replaced by a chilling, murderous blood aura that sent shivers down the spine.
She was ready to unleash her true, deadly intent.
Lina charged once more into the sea of people—her blood-red spear slicing through the air, leaving a long, crimson afterimage in its wake.
This time, she showed no mercy; the spear’s tip plunged into a magic girl’s heart.
Immediately, she violently withdrew the long spear, and with the momentum, swept it horizontally, simultaneously bisecting three magic girls who had attempted to encircle her.
Organs and blood sprayed into the air.
The healing-type magic girls shrieked in terror, desperate to intervene, but Lina’s figure flickered, appearing directly before them.
Her blood-red spear effortlessly severed their throats.
Warm blood splattered across Lina’s face, and she greedily licked it with her tongue, emitting a satisfied purr:
“What battle is there that doesn’t claim lives?~ It seems I’ve been too kind…”
Immediately after.
As elemental magic threatened to engulf Lina, she neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the attacks to strike her.
Each wound gushed blood, yet she only grew more frenzied.
She threw her head back, laughing wildly in exhilaration, as the blood aura around her transformed into a crimson vortex, sweeping the surrounding magic girls into its depths—
Amidst their screams, the girls touched by the blood aura saw their skin rapidly shrivel, their blood forcibly drained, and converted into Lina’s ‘nourishment’.
No sooner had she decimated one group than fresh reinforcements of border magic girls ascended the battlements.
The Mò Nán Fortress felt like a boundless barracks.
To Lina, it seemed that no matter how many she fought, how many she killed, there would never be a shortage of people…
Yet she was a Bloodkin, her combat strategy being ‘to fight and grow stronger through battle.’ As long as she had blood to replenish her, she would only grow fiercer, tirelessly fighting on…
A war of attrition was a battle she could afford.
However, moving forward, facing two Special-grades simultaneously, she began to feel the strain.
The elemental torrent descending from the sky made Lina feel a long-forgotten sense of immense pressure, and threads of pain began to ripple across her body.