Chapter 45: “Holy Spirit”

“Okay.”

Though a bit confused, once Renée got serious, she didn’t waste any words. She immediately raised her staff, closed her eyes, and the pleasant chant of the girl resonated through the forest like a song.

“O spirit of the sky, I pray in the name of white feathers, let the wild winds howl and the torrents surge…”

“Swish, swish, swish!”

It seemed that something mysterious hidden within the tranquil forest, possibly observing everyone through some unknown means, couldn’t hold back any longer. The familiar stinging sensation on the skin and the sound of piercing air surged again, this time aiming straight for Renée, who was chanting the spell!

“I’ve been waiting a long time!”

“Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft…”

Sharp blades sliced through the air like dragon shadows. With the previous experience in mind, Leila, who was on guard with her spear, instantly caught the trajectory of the attack. With her exceptional strength, she easily severed the many threads—made of an unknown material—before they could even approach the relatively vulnerable Mage Girl in the midst of her chant.

Trusting her sister completely, Renée remained unfazed by the wind sounds, keeping her eyes shut as she continued her originally swift but composed chanting rhythm.

“Transform into the wild winds and surging waves, surge forth, roar, call out into the infinitely vast sky…”

“Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!!!!”

This time, the attackers didn’t retreat after a single strike. Instead, it was as if they gathered all their might, unleashing hundreds or even thousands of ferocious threads, forming a dense rain that charged towards the two white-feathered girls standing together!

“Sky Spear Technique · 74th Style, White Feather in the Sky!”

Long, pure white wings naturally extended from Leila, her form transforming into a white shadow. Wielding her weapon, she unleashed a relentless barrage of spear strikes, creating a curtain of white feathers swirling around the other girl, accompanied by the fierce sounds of countless threads being freshly cut. Under their feet, a large amount of nearly translucent fluff began to pile up, almost visible to the naked eye.

But no matter how swift and frequent the approaching threads were, Leila single-handedly blocked them all within a mere two to three-meter radius, ensuring that not a single one interrupted her sister’s magical chant. Eventually, realizing that her target was hard to observe, she even closed her eyes, choosing to sense and judge the position of the threads using only her hearing.

Not far away, Tilysha, who had retreated to a distance, was left dumbfounded.

“So, so Leila is this strong?! My gosh, I can’t even see these things clearly, yet she cuts them all down without missing a beat? And this chant Renée is singing, I’ve seen it in a book. It should be a high-level combined spell, right? But she’s doing it all by herself…”

Vilyric, also watching from the sidelines, nodded slightly.

“Honestly, I’ve always felt a bit like those two sisters were being underappreciated following me. With their talent and comprehension, if they had chosen to stay in the Kingdom of Azure, they would surely become the next Wing Emperor and High Priest without a doubt.”

“If they could break through the limits and reach above Pseudo-God, they could even leave behind legendary tales sung by future generations… Sigh, now they’re just following me around like little helpers, with no chance to showcase their abilities. What a waste.”

Silently observing the distant battle, Xiao Guang offered a different perspective.

“I don’t think it’s a waste at all. Serving by a master’s side is a great honor that countless strong warriors long for and cannot obtain. Moreover, their talents and lives are gifts you bestowed upon them, and they should rightfully be used for you. The title of Wing Emperor and High Priest is nothing but a joke compared to true power.”

“~”

Although Vilyric didn’t fully agree with the Little Dragon Daughter’s sharp remarks, she had no intention of arguing back. She simply smiled wryly, shaking her head, and shifted her attention back to the battlefield.

Arguing with the Giant Dragon doesn’t normally make sense; she was, in a sense, more stubborn than anyone else.

For instance, when she transformed using the Mask of the God Fox into Xī, Vilyric had stressed more than once to not call her master outside, yet Xiao Guang, who usually obeyed her every command, flatly refused to comply on this matter.

After several disputes, Vilyric, who usually doted on this child, could only reluctantly consent. Fortunately, the Little Dragon Daughter seldom spoke, falling into the category of “if she can just do it, she won’t chatter,” so as long as she paid attention usually, it should be fine.

Meanwhile, under Leila’s full protection, Renée’s magic had reached its conclusion.

“…Soar into the clouds! Become the dancing storm, summon the stars of the sky! Combined Magic · Rhapsody of Gale and Meteor!!!”

A storm erupted from the ground.

From where Renée stood, a rampaging vortex surged upward, uprooting countless trees in the forest, toppling them, rampaging, and within moments transforming the land into a chaotic expanse. Those transparent threads that had come from who knows where twisted and vanished under this overwhelming force, no longer posing a threat.

“Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!!”

The massive waves of force, laden with dust, prompted Tilysha to instinctively gasp in shock, yet an unusual invisible barrier seemed to have anticipated this, rising to block all the fierce winds.

Then, right above the enormous vortex rushing skyward, a terrifying meteor, over a hundred meters in diameter, crashed down from the heavens, smashing into the ground and sending dust and tremors flying!

“Bang！！！！！！”

“Ugh… that’s about the power of a nearly 6th-level magic… Looks like this girl is very close to that realm.”

The sharp meteor shattered the earth, ripping it apart like a hard nail embedded in a wooden board, creating countless cracks in the ground that cracked open with popping sounds. Such an immense destructive power, without witnessing it firsthand, was hard to imagine was brought forth by a seemingly lazy young girl who appeared harmless.

But this was indeed the power that high-ranking Sky Mages truly possessed, and not to mention, Renée’s talent was among the very best.

As the dust gradually cleared, the scene near the impact area reappeared before everyone’s eyes.

What they saw was… strange entities continuously emerging from the cracks in the earth.

“Whoa…”

With a flick of her hand, the white fox girl removed the dust that had been blocking the view, her silver-blue eyes beneath the mask stared intently at the floating, ascending glowing objects, her lips curling into an intrigued smile.

“Eh? What in the world are those?! Could those be the so-called Holy Spirits?”

Hiding behind the magical barrier protecting her and her sister, Renée tilted her head in confusion, while Leila silently stared at the seemingly endless glowing spheres that kept emerging, slowly tightening her grip on her spear.

Those were… spheres floating in the air.

Averaging about thirty centimeters in diameter, they had wings, but not the typical flesh or feather-like wings; instead, they had small, metallic winglets vibrating like steel to maintain their levitation.

In front of the spherical objects was an eye, and their semi-transparent shells faintly revealed a series of flickering, colorful lights inside. From a distance, they did resemble the mythical forms of Holy Spirits.

However, Holy Spirits, as one of the divine beings associated with the Light Goddess, should undoubtedly be living creatures, but these glowing spheres…

Vilyric could instantly recognize that these were mechanical constructs made using some complex craftsmanship. It was still unclear whether they operated via AI or were controlled externally, but she had seen too many similar things in the hands of a Puppeteer Clan girl named Iriush, and she even had some in her backpack now.

But this was the Holy Empire, thousands of miles away from the Puppeteer Clan’s territory. Unless they were somehow connected to them…

“Renée, full defense!”

Suddenly, Leila shouted, her four wings stretching as she slashed her spear through the air, the sharp brilliance showing off her might, and she immediately soared up. Yet, half of those glowing mechanical spheres emerging from the ground chased after her, while the other half directly lunged toward the white-feathered girl still on the ground, sending forth a massive wave of searing heat and booming sounds!

They… were actually self-destructing!

   

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