Tristan saw the intense and fierce glow of Lieyan’s cw approaching; the light was so strong it impaired his vision. He leaped backward to dodge, and even mustering all his strength, he barely managed. The bck strands of hair on his forehead were cut and floated in the air.

  Lieyan spun his entire body and kicked Tristan's abdomen with his left leg, sending his small body flying and crashing to the ground, rolling.

  [Storm Rush]

  He didn’t have a second to breathe or recover from the damage. In an instant, Lieyan closed the distance between them.

  ‘Damn, even though he’s limping, the difference between us is still too big.’

  [Electric Cw]

  Once again, he saw Lieyan’s cws heading toward him, ready to tear his body apart while he y on the ground. Tristan rolled to the side, and Lieyan’s cw struck the ground, creating a small crater and sending stones flying.

  Gripping his sword tightly, Tristan attempted to ssh Lieyan’s neck with a vertical strike. But his opponent reacted too quickly, and his bde cut nothing but air.

  “Do you think you’ll live after killing my brother?” His words carried a mix of sorrow and hatred.

  “I swear I’ll make you regret ever being born!” With tears in his eyes, Lieyan gathered all the essence he could muster in his body and charged at Tristan to eliminate this nuisance from existence once and for all.

  [Storm Rush]

  Everywhere he passed, the ground was torn apart.

  Seeing that Lieyan had put everything into this attack, Tristan decided it was the perfect moment to reveal his true cards. After observing his opponent use this technique twice, he learned how quickly Lieyan could react while maintaining such high speed.

  He waited until Lieyan was close enough that retreat would be impossible. Tristan thrust his right leg forward, pnting it exactly where Lieyan would step. As his foot nded, a white light emanated from Tristan’s body, spreading over a small area around his foot like a thin sheet of fabric covering the ground.

  As soon as Lieyan stepped onto the Light yer, his foot slipped slightly due to the ck of traction.

  Tristan dropped his sword and lunged forward with his right hand, aiming for Lieyan’s gauntlet.

  [Dark Bde]

  When the bck bde and the spark-enveloped cw collided, part of Lieyan’s essence pierced through the Darkness, cutting into Tristan’s hand. However, Tristan fared far better—his Dark energy sshed through the metal cws, severing Lieyan’s fingers.

  Lieyan tried to retreat, but it was too te.Tristan grabbed the leather shirt Lieyan wore and pulled himself forward, driving his bde into Lieyan’s stomach. Tristan’s entire forearm pierced through his enemy’s body.

  Lieyan looked at the scene in disbelief. The pain was so intense that his brain couldn’t fully process it.

  When Tristan pulled back, a gaping hole was left in Lieyan’s stomach. He staggered backward a few steps before vomiting blood.

  “This can’t be,” he muttered in shock.

  Lieyan fell to his knees, clutching his remaining hand over the useless hole in his abdomen.

  “You little monster… do you think you’ll escape? Our parents… they’ll find you… no matter… where… you hide… my brother… and I… will…”

  Lieyan couldn’t finish his sentence. His words stopped as Tristan drove his bck bde into his left eye, piercing his brain.

  “Tsk, what a bothersome guy. Just die already.”

  After taking the life of the st Feng brother, Tristan ran to Zahira to check on her. He opened her eyes and noticed they were static and vacant, but her heart was still beating, albeit faintly.

  [Tyrannical Eye]

  Using his diagnostic ability, he saw she had damage to her stomach and brain. He sighed in frustration at his ck of healing abilities. There wasn’t much he could do. Tristan infused her with a small amount of Light essence, hoping it would have some effect.

  ‘I’ll have to wait for her to wake up. I hope Dryad blood is as potent as they say.’

  Buk, the small mascot, approached, patting Zahira’s cheek in concern.

  Tristan gnced at the small creature with a mix of distrust and surprise.

  He suspected that the bunny-samander could withstand at least one of the Feng brothers’ attacks. While he had never seen the creature use magic, he was nearly certain Buk had an affinity for Light. After all, aside from sheer luck, it was the only expnation for how Buk managed to track him to his secret camp despite his concealment skills. However, the mascot’s performance exceeded his expectations.

  He wondered if Buk had a developed core or if there was something special about its lineage.After ensuring Zahira was alive, Tristan went to collect the cores from the brothers. Opening their chests, he wasn’t surprised to find two Mid Orange cores.

  As he held the cores, Buk turned toward him, narrowing its eyes.

  “What?”

  The mascot looked at the cores in his hand.Tristan clicked his tongue.

  “Fine.”

  He tossed one of the cores to Buk, who caught it mid-air with its forked tongue.

  It seemed fair enough to him. Thanks to the little beast, he had managed to take out the more dangerous brother first. Clutching the sphere tightly in his hand, he savored the sound of his wealth increasing.

  [You have acquired 2 Orange Fragments]

  ‘I’d better find another pce to rest while I wait for her to wake up.’ Tristan approached Zahira, grabbed her, and began dragging her body away.

  As he dragged her, he felt something strange—a kind of chill in his stomach.

  He stopped moving and looked around, expecting something to happen, but time passed, and nothing did.

  Tristan gnced at Buk and asked, “Did you feel that too?”

  The beast tilted its head, looking at him in confusion.

  It took several hours, but Zahira finally woke up. Needless to say, she was completely furious when she saw her mascot’s body covered in wounds.

  Tristan expined what had happened.

  Naturally, he told her a version that wouldn’t make it seem like he had used her and her mascot as bait to kill the brothers.

  “Why did they do this?” she asked, more confused than sad.