As Luo Ning wailed in pain, her guard naturally dropped and her reflexes, as well as reaction speed, suffered a tremendous decrease.
At a distance of no more than about five meters, a single second was all that a soul evolver needed to claim the life of another or at the very least inflict serious injuries on the opponent. In this type of battle where the movement and attack speed had reached a certain level, distances could be closed in the blink of an eye therefore precisely a momentary blink of an eye could cost the life of anyone.
The First Order soul evolver arrived before Luo Ning, and taking advantage of the fact that his spear was about two meters long, he leaned forward slightly and stabbed towards the latter's chest with vigor.
"Die!"
The man was clearly frustrated as in the midst of his roar he let out his anger in its entirety.
Luo Ning, frightened, activated Lightning Movement and taking advantage of the movement speed boost after increasing her Agility by +70 points she managed to take several steps backwards while slashing with her sword diagonally.
Clang!
The edge of the Crocodile Tooth Sword met the tip of the green spear of the First Order soul evolver causing a metallic clang that shook the eardrums of those closest to them.
The shockwave caused the ground to sink slightly and the nearest houses were involved as chunks of wall began to collapse, frightening the residents inside.
The First Order soul evolver was about to move forward to continue his attack but suddenly his expression changed and he stabbed his spear towards the ground while activating Air Bullet again.
Bang!
A fist-sized air bullet shot out from the tip of the spear just in time as a yellow magic circle glowed on the ground followed by a long, thick earth spike emerging from it.
Boom!
The earth spike and the air bullet met as one ascended and the other descended, causing a loud explosion that ended with the destruction of both attacks.
Fragments of magic-hardened earth flew everywhere, shattering several crystals in the process. Meanwhile, small-sized air blades spread out and caused two soul evolvers to receive minor cuts to their limbs.
"Sorry!" The First Order soul evolver apologized loudly before looking at Luo Ning with red eyes as he cursed, "This brat has several treasures on her, be careful!"
Luo Ning had a pained expression on her face and as she pointed with her right hand towards the ground, the Earth Bracelet on her wrist lit up for a moment before losing all of its luster. She could no longer rely on the skill attached to the treasure to force the enemy to retreat.
She secretly wondered why the two elder sisters hadn't appeared to help her yet but Luo Ning didn't have much time to analyze things since the enemy soul evolvers weren't kind enough to wait for her to recover.
Most of the soul evolvers Luo Ning faced possessed active skills that boosted one of their stats for a short period of time and those with special attack skills were rare. Therefore, the vast majority could only charge forward and slash with their weapons using their physical abilities to the fullest to defeat the enemy in the shortest amount of time possible.
Luo Ning knew that she could not take on so many enemies on her own, much less considering that there was a First Order existence among the enemies that could defeat her. Therefore, she seized the opportunity and jumped onto one of her three shadow cats, and with the boost of Agility, she began to jump between the nearby buildings as she fought against the enemies.
Whenever the enemies tried to surround her, the girl used the feline's agile movements to jump to the roof of another building, and when the opportunity to unleash an attack appeared, she would immediately command the creature to leap forward to allow her to swing her sword.
The battle went on for about ten minutes.
During this period of time, the sound of metal clashing against metal echoed relentlessly through the surroundings. The shockwaves caused by the fighting had alerted and frightened the survivors who despite their fear did not dare to leave the illusory safety their homes afforded them.
Although Luo Ning managed to resist the chain attack of 15 soul evolvers who were clearly trying to kill her, her current situation was not good at all.
Her chest was rising and falling continuously, sweat was running like a waterfall down her little face, her hair was disheveled with several strands sticking to her face, and her right hand with which she held her Crocodile Tooth Sword occasionally trembled as if it was difficult for the current her to keep her grip firmly.
'Why…'
Such a thought appeared in the girl's mind as her frightened eyes flashed with pain.
But the enemy was cruel. The adults had learned that they could no longer trust anyone but themselves, so, regardless of whoever it was that dared to block their ways to survival, they would have to pay the consequences.
'Why…'
Luo Ning raised her sword to block the enemy attack and quickly counterattacked.
Just as her sword was about to slash the enemy's neck, Luo Ning's hand trembled and the course of the slash abruptly changed.
Slash!
"Argh!!!"
A level 19 soul evolver cried out in pain as his left arm was sliced clean off by the girl's sword.
However, while one was writhing in pain, the others seemed to have turned into mindless zombies as the only thing that could be seen in their eyes was murderous intent as Luo Ning's image was reflected in their pupils.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
The First Order soul evolver was beyond furious. He unleashed all his attacks in an instant, exhausting almost all his Mana not long after.
The air bullets hit several roofs, walls, the ground, etc. Many houses collapsed, burying the survivors inside; their fates unknown.
Two soul evolvers who focused more on the path of magic threw earth spikes or ice picks whenever the opportunity appeared, which also made it difficult for Luo Ning to move freely.
Finally, after another 120 seconds, Luo Ning's Stamina stat reached a critical point.
Fighting against 15 enemies at the same time, enemies whose levels were similar to hers and among whom there were some who even surpassed her; was a feat truly worth mentioning. If Lilith were present, she definitely could have praised the girl for being able to endure well for so long.
In the panorama of a universal whole, there were few existences that could do what Luo Ning had managed to do despite being only nine years old and despite the fact that it had only been about sixty days since the world changed.
Unfortunately, there was no use in achieving great things if at the end of the day one could not defeat the enemy they faced. As Bai Zemin said on more than one occasion: "The winner is the king and the loser is the thief". It was no use if you ended up dying in the end.
With her Stamina depleted, Luo Ning's vision blurred and her movements faltered. If not for the shadow cat she was riding and if not for the creature being sustained by Mana instead of Stamina, Luo Ning would have collapsed long ago.
However, luck would not always be on her side.
After dodging several air bullets as best as it could, the shadow cat finally failed to dodge two of them and was hit hard. Luo Ning flew out of the shadow cat's back, falling heavily to the ground and while grunting softly tried to get back on her feet.
The girl's little legs were shaking gently, and it was only by using her sword as a cane that she finally managed to get back on her feet. However, when she raised her head, the spear of the First Order soul evolver was there, right before her eyes.
The protective barrier of the Broken Bronze Bell was no longer available at this point as the energy inside the treasure had been completely drained a few moments earlier while protecting the girl inside a cracked magical barrier that after receiving dozens of magical impacts finally collapsed.
The skill Lightning Movement could give Luo Ning the boost she needed, but not only was she out of Mana to activate the skill for the third time but her currently depleted Stamina did not allow her to make any sudden movements.
As for the Summon Shadow Cat skill, Luo Ning's mind was slightly blank. Between fear, physical and mental exhaustion, they filled the girl's mind with confusion, and thus, her commands would not be very correct when it came to controlling three creatures.
Luo Ning only had these two skills active at the moment. Although she could have more if she wanted to, she was also being careful with her choice of skills after listening to the advice of Bai Zemin and other soul evolvers.
Therefore, she really had nothing left to rely on to save her life.
Tears appeared over the tired and sorrowful eyes of the little nine-year-old girl. She did not want to die here, she still wanted to see her big brother, big brother Bai, big sister Bing Xue, big sister Yijun, and all the other big brothers, big sisters, and all the uncles and aunts in the army.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze containing a slight cold air blew at Luo Ning's side and before she could even comprehend what was happening her eyes saw a thin and small but at the same time incredibly big back protecting her behind.
'Ah… That's right.' Luo Ning thought exhaustedly.
She had forgotten… She had forgotten that she wasn't alone. She had forgotten that the person who had activated that ice barrier at the beginning of it all wasn't her, it had been someone else. A person Luo Ning admired greatly and hoped to one day become as beautiful and powerful as her.
'Luckily…'
When such a thought appeared in her heart, Luo Ning's exhausted eyes finally began to close as the nerves and muscles in her tense body completely relaxed. She knew that now, everything would be all right.
As the exhausted body of an unconscious Luo Ning fell, Shen Mei appeared like a ghost behind the little girl and gently caught her, letting the Crocodile Tooth Sword break the terrifying silence that for an instant reigned over the battlefield.
The eyes of the First Order soul evolver contracted to the size of a needle at the sight of the person in front of him. No, rather, the shock in his heart at that instant came from the fact of what this person was doing!
The tip of the green spear, which was actually a Rare-grade treasure, was being stopped by a small and beautiful pale white hand. Surrounding the hand was a thin layer of ice that completely blocked the cutting edge of the spear and no matter how hard the man tried he was unable to advance any further.
"A- Air Bullet!" The First Order soul evolver screamed in a panic attack and the respective rune in his soul lit up.
Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes were cold and indifferent like those of death itself. She activated her skill silently and calmly, sending a blast of cold energy into her palm and soon turning it into ice.
Crack… Crack… Crack….
The ice spread over the surface of the spear of the First Order soul evolver and under the man's terrified eyes, the air bullet that was forming was frozen to the point where a small empty sphere inside it fell softly to the ground without making a sound.
Swoosh!
The First Order soul evolver felt a breeze pass past his body and an instant later he felt a stinging sensation on his forehead. Then, a thick liquid began to run from his upper body and just as he wondered what it was he saw his eyes being covered by a viscous dark red liquid.
'Blood?' Such a thought popped into the man's heart.
However, before he could think more or comprehend what had happened, a red line appeared right down the center of his body; from the top to the bottom. Then, under the terrified and disbelieving eyes of the other 14 soul evolvers, the First Order soul evolver's body was cut perfectly in two.
Blood splattered everywhere uncontrollably and organs were scattered all over the ground. The characteristic metallic smell of blood filled the air immediately and those who were watching could not help but writhe in fear in their places while the more timid ones directly fainted on the spot at the bloody scene.
All of them had killed in the past. But the way the woman before them had just killed their teammate and team leader was bloodthirsty and cruel enough to make anyone's blood run cold!
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