Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 471: Show-off II

CH471 Show-off II

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[Shadow Dash]!

Udara rose from the first lizard’s shadow, blade-first.

Her dagger pierced cleanly through the vital point.

Before the body even collapsed, she sank back into the shadow and emerged from another.

This time, the shadow angled slightly behind her target—but it didn’t matter.

The lizard sensed her presence and instinctively twisted its head to look.

The instant it did, her blade punched through its neck.

Udara didn’t pause for even a breath.

As her dagger exited the second lizard, her toes kicked off the ground and she blurred toward the third. The blade struck again, skewering it through the same lethal point.

But the remaining lizards were quick to react.

They immediately formed a tight circle, placing the wounded third lizard at the centre, and unleashed their petrifying gazes.

[Shadow Dash]!

Udara vanished into the shadows.

The third lizard, left behind, received the full brunt of seven petrifying stares.

Stone crept across its body in an instant.

Though it was their signature ability, the one-eyed lizards were no more resistant to petrification than any other creature.

Udara rose again.

This time, she deliberately chose a shadow angled forward and slightly to the side—just enough to avoid the lizard’s gaze.

Her dagger flashed.

Another lizard dropped, struck perfectly at its vital point.

Pivoting on her toes, Udara spun mid-motion, her dagger whipping backward.

Pucchi!

Once again, the blade found its mark—clean, precise and fatal.

From afar, it looked as though Udara was performing a mystical dance.

She moved with unearthly grace, her figure blurring in and out of existence, while the one-eyed lizards collapsed around her—as if falling in admiration rather than death.

Within moments, all ten lizards lay dead at her feet.

Though one-eyed lizards were not particularly strong—reaching at most One-Star Gold rank—it was still an impressive feat to face all ten alone and kill them all, while striking only their vital points in order to preserve their alchemical value.

”Thank you so much.”

Eleanor rushed over and wrapped Udara in a tight hug.

She looked like a child who had just received a long-desired gift.

The Imperial Princess of the Virellian Empire then knelt beside the corpses, rolled up her sleeves, and began harvesting what she needed herself.

She couldn’t risk the Fury soldiers damaging her prizes after the effort her sister had gone through to secure them.

Eleanor worked swiftly and expertly, butchering and extracting materials from all ten one-eyed lizards in the time it would have taken the knights to process three.

Not only was she faster, but her work was far cleaner.

It was... surprising, to say the least, to see a lady of her calibre possess such hands-on skill.

Soon after, the group resumed their journey toward the core of the nest.

’We’re getting close,’ Alex thought.

As they advanced, the terrain began to change noticeably.

The ground loosened beneath their feet, shifting from firm earth to soft sand. Short rocky hills began to rise in the distance, breaking up the otherwise flat landscape.

Corpses—both beast and humanoid—also became far more common.

”Looks like the dominant species in this nest are Sand Ants and Dune Wolves,” Yerion said as he walked beside Alex.

”The nest ruler should be a Dune Wolf,” he added.

”How are you so sure?” Alex asked.

”Because Sand Ants rarely lead to nest formation,” Yerion replied. ”Dune Wolves, on the other hand, are among the most prolific nest-formers.”

”I see...” Alex muttered.

The team crested a short hill, and from its peak, they finally saw the battlefield below.

A large force of non-beasts—including Azgrug’s orc warriors—were locked in fierce combat against a sprawling horde of berserk beasts.

’The adventurer force numbers about three hundred at best,’ Alex mused. ’That’s less than half of the original group.’

His gaze darkened.

’Did the beasts wipe them out? Is the death rate of a dun—no, a nest—really that high?’

Rumble~!

The ground beneath their feet trembled violently.

Suddenly, a long, serpentine figure erupted from the earth, its massive maw swallowing several adventurers who had been fighting a group of seven Sand Ants.

Even the ants were not spared from the creature’s gluttonous bite.

Before anyone could react, the creature dove back underground, disappearing as if it had never been there.

”Death Worm!”

”Dragon Worm!”

Both the expedition party and the elven group shouted at the same time.

It was the same beast—only known by different names across the two planes.

”It’s my turn to make a move,” Zora said calmly as she stepped toward the edge of the hill. ”I’ll deal with the Death Worm. Head down and help the adventurers.”

”You sure?” Alex asked.

Zora turned back and walked up to him. Rising onto her toes, she rested her chin lightly on his shoulder and whispered in a voice only he could hear.

”Don’t forget,” she murmured, a teasing lilt in her tone, ”this Empress is stronger than you, my dear knight.”

Alex froze for a moment.

”Only for now,” he grumbled. ”Just you wait.”

Zora laughed softly, then turned and leapt from the hill.

[Dragon Kumite: Burst]!

A surge of mana exploded beneath her feet, forming an icy platform that carried her smoothly down toward the battlefield.

Zora’s mana was fundamentally different from that of most cultivators.

It was only after their... bedroom battle that Alex had fully understood why.

The energy within her body and Mana Heart was not mana alone.

It was infused with Primordial Yin.

Any mana that passed through her was immediately forced to align with it. And like Yin itself, anything touched by her mana was driven into a lower energy state.

Since moisture made up the majority of the atmosphere, the moment her mana was released into the air, frost and ice manifested almost instantly.

’Truly... my Ice Empress,’ Alex muttered with a smile.

Zora reached the spot where the Death Worm had attacked.

Mana flowed from her feet into the ground, instantly turning the earth beneath her into a field of frost.

Frost so cold that the Death Worm was forcibly expelled from the earth.

[Dragon Kumite: Burst]!

The Death Worm erupted from the ground in a frenzy, lunging to swallow the audacious intruder whole.

Zora merely raised her foot.

Ice surged beneath her, carrying her away effortlessly.

[Delayed Spell: Ice Ball]!

A sphere of condensed Ice-elemental mana formed above her palms. Then, using Dragon Kumite, she injected even more of her Yin-aligned mana into it.

When the Death Worm arced toward her, maw wide as it attempted to drag her underground, Zora hurled the surging spell straight into its mouth and drifted aside.

The Death Worm swallowed the spell without hesitation—utterly confident in its devouring and digestive abilities.

A fatal mistake.

Crack~!

The Ice Ball shattered inside the beast, releasing Zora’s mana directly into its body.

Wherever her mana flowed, everything froze—instantly and without resistance.

The Death Worm was frozen solid before its head could even retreat back into the earth.

The battlefield fell silent.

All eyes turned toward the corpse of the once-dreaded Death Worm, now a frozen arc of death that perfectly showcased the power of the veiled woman standing before it—

The Ice Empress, Zora Frost-Pendragon.

By the time Alex’s group was still figuring out the fastest way down the hill, Zora had already slain the Death Worm—a confirmed 3-Star Gold rank beast—with casual ease.

As if sensing his heated gaze, Zora turned toward Alex and flashed him a smug smile.

’Show off,’ Alex chuckled.

***