If Only Sword Princess Were Here

"Yaxiu, Yaxiu, are you alright?" "I'm fine..." In the black sea, Feili was using her pitch-black wings as oars, on the verge of tears from anxiety. But she didn't know how to do anything; she was even clumsy and awkward just holding Yaxiu. Suppressing a nauseating dizziness, Yaxiu struck himself with a "Joy Sword," and his body and thoughts gradually steadied. "Where is everyone else?" The little lamb's answer was just as he had expected: "They're all gone." Just moments ago, the four legendary sorcerers had suffered an earth-shattering ambush—from the depths of the ocean, an enormous nine-headed slash fish dragon had leapt out! Yes, a nine-headed slash fish dragon, a brand-new species never seen before. Yet all of them were battle-hardened sorcerers, reacting instantly the moment the ambush struck: Yaxiu brought Feili into Observer Mode, while the other three unfolded their Sanctuaries and fought back. Even a nine-headed slash fish dragon, at most, would be something legendary sorcerers couldn't kill; it couldn't possibly wipe out a Legend in one hit. However, the situation took a sudden turn for the worse. Yaxiu dived into the sea aiming to pierce and burst the nine-headed slash fish dragon's heart, only to discover it possessed over a dozen hearts. The moment he blew apart two, it began regenerating at breakneck speed, forcing Yaxiu to slip back into Observer Mode. The others fared no better. Aside from Vichy, who managed to fly free from the encirclement of its nine blade tails, both Igola and Harvey were trapped by the slashing tails, struggling to hold on solely through their Sanctuaries. Yaxiu charged in, dropping his concealment to sever one of the blade tails, but in the next second, another blade tail came whipping toward him. Yaxiu didn't think much of it, directly bracing his Sanctuary to block it. When the blade tail made contact with the Sanctuary, the ripples of acoustic waves it splashed up seemed to blur the entire world. *Smack!* He only had time to cover Feili's ears before both of them, along with his Sanctuary, were swatted flying! It was a howling storm! The strikes unleashed by this nine-headed slash fish dragon could actually whip up a howling storm! Sound, light, and air were notoriously the three hardest forms of attack for a Sanctuary to defend against. Sorcerers had to lower their screening against sound, light, and air in order to perceive outside information, so the vast majority of Sanctuary sorcerers left that filtering turned off by default. Yaxiu never expected a slash fish dragon could launch sonic attacks. He didn't even have time to raise his shielding before the blast of sound slammed full into his face, nearly scrambling his brains. Yet he hadn't been knocked senseless. Pulling up sharply in flight, he shouted, "Go up!" They were legendary sorcerers capable of flight; there was no need to stay in the water and brawl with Void Realm creatures! The only reason they had been skimming close to the water was that the fog offered no navigational cues, leaving them no choice but to trace against the ocean current toward the core. The black sea flowed outward from the center, so traveling upstream against the current was the only way to reach it. Yaxiu didn't slip into Observer Mode either, afraid the others wouldn't be able to see or hear him. Yet the moment Yaxiu soared above the white fog, what met him was another blade tail of the nine-headed slash fish dragon! Just before the sonic blast could shock him unconscious, he activated Observer Mode in the nick of time. As a result, he and Feili were merely swatted hundreds of meters away, evading the creature's follow-up onslaught. Coming to his senses under the healing effects of "Joy Sword," Yaxiu didn't rush to search for the others. He lay in Feili's embrace, pondering for a moment, and his expression suddenly turned grim. "These Void Realm creatures are evolving!" At first, he thought the howling storm had been caused by the impact between the blade tail and his Sanctuary. But looking back carefully now, Yaxiu vaguely recalled seeing dense clusters of mouthparts along the blade tails; the shrieks had clearly erupted from those mouths. Yet not just slash fish dragons—there wasn't a single dragon species in the entire Knowledge Sea skilled in sonic attacks. Factoring in the appearance of a slash fish dragon with nine heads and nine tails, Yaxiu could reach only one conclusion: the closer they got to the core, the more wildly evolved creatures would emerge. Still, how had a sonic attack evolved in the first place? There was no precedent or material for that across the entire Knowledge Sea. Whether it was Yaxiu's imagination or not, the nine-headed slash fish dragon's sonic attack felt strikingly similar to Igola's Mind Shriek. After pondering a while longer, Yaxiu took a deep breath, helped Feili up, and said, "Thank you. Sorry to trouble you just now." "Don't thank me," the blond girl replied. "Aren't we companions? If we're saying thanks, I'd have to thank you a hundred times over." She paused. "Besides, would you say thank you to Sword Princess? Would you feel like you were troubling her?" Yaxiu blinked, convinced, and nodded. Taking Feili onto his back, he drew a deep breath and flew upward. Before he had flown ten meters into the thick fog, Yaxiu felt gravity flip upside down, and the black sea appeared above his head—he was flying inverted. "Huh? Weren't we flying up? Why are we upside down?" Feili not only wrapped her arms around him, but also locked her legs tightly around his waist; otherwise, she would have plummeted. "A spatial miracle? A mental miracle?" Looking at the white fog, Yaxiu muttered, "Now this is trouble." They had always assumed they possessed an invincible retreat route: flying high above the white fog, where none of the ichthyosaur species could possibly reach them. Never had they expected an inversion miracle lurking within the white fog, flipping a sorcerer's sense of up and down the moment they ascended past a certain altitude. There was a strict ceiling to their height; they were forced to skim close to the sea at all times! With their retreat cut off and the enemies growing increasingly formidable, Yaxiu and the others ought to have retreated. After all, now that even a nine-headed slash fish dragon had shown up, he wouldn't be surprised if a Lalafell mountain-of-flesh demon king appeared next. However, having been separated from Igola and the others, Yaxiu didn't know whether they had escaped the nine-headed slash fish dragon's pursuit. If they hadn't, they could only hold on by the skin of their teeth within their Sanctuaries, waiting for a rescue that would never come. Yet searching for them was impossible. The white fog dampened light and sound alike; Yaxiu's shouts wouldn't carry beyond ten meters. Therefore... "Feili, we have to keep going forward." Yaxiu said calmly, "If we just leave, and Igola and the others didn't escape the monster's pursuit, they won't be able to hold out forever. They'll end up as mangled remains in the beast's belly... the very sight I didn't let you look at before." "Actually, I saw it," Feili whispered. "If we can end this white fog ritual early, they will naturally be out of danger," Yaxiu said. "But the road ahead will be perilous. Even with Observer Mode, we aren't completely safe... Are you willing?" "Huh? What?" "Are you willing to take this risk with me?" Yaxiu asked earnestly. "With no one else to protect us, and only unknown dangers waiting for the two of us... are you willing?" Feili opened her mouth, but promptly closed it again, remaining silent. Yaxiu nodded with understanding. "I get it. I shouldn't have made such an unreasonable demand of you. I'll take you outside first—" "Yaxiu, I am your demon," Feili murmured softly. "I thought that meant there was a contract between us, or rather... a bond." "Of course, between us, it's already—" "Yaxiu, over these past few days, my life has been more wonderful and exciting than the entire nineteen years that came before. The first time I almost died, the first time I went on stage to receive an award, my first date, the first time I liked someone... I got to step into the mysterious and magnificent world of sorcerers, join you in this earth-shaking adventure, and even do my part to put an early end to this disaster..." she said softly. "I have no regrets, even if I die. "Fly on. There might still be survivors in Canaan City. If we can end this catastrophe early, we might be able to save other people's lives." Yaxiu stared blankly for a moment. "Thank... Alright." "I'm sorry. I don't know how to fly, and I don't know how to fight. I'm just a burden you have to carry on your back," Feili said in a low voice. "If only it weren't me... If only Sword Princess were here instead..." "Didn't you just say not to mention thanks and trouble? I didn't say thanks, so you're not allowed to call yourself trouble either," Yaxiu said. "Besides, having you by my side makes me really happy." "Really?" "Really. I'm someone who dreads loneliness. If I were left alone in the Knowledge Sea, I'd definitely trigger claustrophobia and thalassophobia." He smiled. "When I opened my eyes just now and saw you, I felt choosing to carry you on my back was the best decision I ever made." Feili buried her face in his back, her eyes curving in delight and the corners of her lips turning up into a gentle smile. "As long as I can be of help." "In that case... full speed ahead!" Yaxiu spread his virtual wings and shot through the white fog at high speed. The instant a dark silhouette loomed ahead, he slipped directly into Observer Mode! The reason he hadn't stayed in Observer Mode the entire time was twofold: first, the sorcery mana consumption was enormous, and second, he had to look out for Igola and the others—while he could pass right through in Observer Mode, Igola and the others couldn't skip combat turns! Now that he had been separated from the Deceiver and the rest, Yaxiu had effectively shed a burden, free to unleash his full might as a demon's servant without restraint! Under Observer Mode, the entire world seemed to reduce to black-and-white lines, leaving only Yaxiu and Feili intact. It was as though they were walking inside a comic draft, where everything around them was merely a two-dimensional sketch incapable of harming them— *Roar!* Suddenly, a cluster of lines ahead materialized into solid form, lunging at Yaxiu like a deep-blue mudfish dragon leaping straight out of a manuscript draft!