两男一女的双龙挺进

Wendy had expected the girl to unsheathe the sword now on her back as the cloak had fallen off her, but the red-skinned girl simply stepped aside. The blade flashed past her face, causing a breeze that swept up the girl\'s hair.

Before Wendy could swing her sword again, her opponent landed a kick on her ribs, and a loud crack, suggesting a broken bone, reverberated.

[-10HP]

Wendy winced in pain. "I knew the people from that place were strong, but I didn\'t think they were *this* strong."

Wendy didn\'t find the girl\'s appearance strange; after all, there were tribes of people who looked like this in the Far West... and they were known to possess strong bodies. Their non-Awakened could easily split a palm tree apart with a punch; they were that strong.

"I won\'t make the same mistake I did with that scarred boy," the red-skinned girl stated and charged forward. Wendy was confused about what she was saying, but she also charged in.

**BANG! BANG!**

The two girls traded blows with each other. While one used the sword, the other used bare fists, expertly weaving between the hungry blade. She counterattacked with powerful punches and kicks; Wendy managed to parry some. However, even with her sword, she was actually being forced back.

A blinding pain shot through her body as the red-skinned girl only targeted her vitals, and she didn\'t even use her sword.

Frustrated, Wendy didn\'t even know when she shouted, "Why don\'t you use your sword? Is it just for show or what?!"

Perhaps if she used the sword, the fight would be more favorable? Wendy didn\'t know, but all she knew was that she was losing miserably.

"You\'re not worthy," the girl sneered.

"Inferno Strike!" she shouted, activating one of her warrior class skills. The ground beneath her fist broke apart, flying all around as her blade flashed towards the girl with a blazing trail.

By now, the citizens had rushed out of the vicinity. Downtown was usually crowded, but this fight had forced everyone to distance themselves.

Watching the blazing trail, the red-skinned girl charged forward; she passed through the fierce trail and burst out unarmed.

"Unbelievable!" Wendy exclaimed in shock.

"Warrior\'s Focus!" she shouted, activating another of her skills again, her eyes glowing with a blue light. It was a skill that allowed her to see things in slow motion, but even though the red-skinned girl was slow, all her attacks still made an impact.

She was unpredictable!

It reminded her so much of the fight with Nox in the mock tournament.

[-4HP]

[-7HP]

[-9HP]

[-10 HP]

Dammit, seeing the rapidly blinking system notifications, the warrior took to her heels and started running.

\'I can\'t beat her; not a single one of my attacks touched her. I need to escape!\' She had only felt helpless a few times like this, one of them being the fight against Nox in the tournament.

But Nox was an Awakened, so it was understandable.

\'But... but this girl, is she even an Awakened?\' Wendy strongly doubted.

Usually, even when Awakened were hiding their information, you could still feel a slight bit of aura from them, which was not the case with this red-skinned girl.

"Huff, huff!" Wendy gasped for air as she continued to run.

[Stamina: 40/100%]

\'Dammit, how is she so fast! At this pace, I don\'t think I can keep up any longer,\' the white-haired girl cursed as she took a peek behind, and indeed, the red-skinned girl was hot on her heels. She was running at an incredible pace, easily maneuvering past everyone on the streets.

There was a confident grin on her face that gave Wendy shudders down her spine. That grin felt... felt like a promise of death... it was as if she was saying, *No matter how long you run, you will not escape from me!*

Wendy reached for the communication crystal; from the few exchanges, she knew she could not defeat this person, so she had to call for backup... she had to call her squad.

The communication line buzzed for some seconds, yet no one answered.

"Dammit, did this bastard set me up?" Wendy\'s expression darkened, the hate she felt for Ren increasing with each passing second.

She tried several more times, but there was still no answer from the other side. She looked back; the red-skinned girl was inching closer and closer, that confident grin still on her face. She shook her head as if telling Wendy that she was prolonging the inevitable.

\'I so want to prove her wrong!\' Wendy cursed in her mind. She had used her most powerful cards in this fight, depleting her mana points considerably, yet it had not even injured the girl one bit.

\'She\'s not an Awakened; she\'s something more... something much more powerful!\'

But what?

Wendy had no idea!

All she knew was that she had to escape from the girl that was within her age group.

\'The only people that could fare against her are students from the Special Class... Beta students like me stand no chance.\'

At that moment, the communication line eventually connected.

Sighing in relief, she shouted, "Leader, it was a trap! I need backup! The one after me is very powerful."

"What level of strength do you think she\'s at?" Ren\'s voice sounded hoarse as if he was out of breath, which he was, but Wendy ignored it and quickly gave an answer.

"She\'s as strong as the Special Class students!"

Silence.

No voice came from the other side. Wendy thought the line was disrupted after calling out to Ren a couple of times. She became more and more anxious... she had initially thought all she would have to do was stall for a bit for the backup to arrive, but... but...

Just then, Ren\'s voice came from the other side.

"You\'re on your own... Besides, the academy won\'t care about the death of one commoner."

The line hung up.

\'H--he abandoned me... That bastard, if I survive this, I\'ll kill him!\'

Though Awakened had very short lifespans because of the constant fighting with beasts and other Awakened, Wendy didn\'t want to die just yet; she didn\'t want to leave her mother alone in this world.

Wendy was all she had.

Celine had long cut off any relationship with her husband, Chai. Even when the latter had married another woman from a noble family, leaving the mother and daughter duo to fend for themselves.

\'I can\'t die, at least not without punching that bastard in the face.\' Intense emotions welled up within her. But she knew her thoughts were very unlikely.

The current situation was looking too bleak. Why? Because up ahead, there was a cliff.

Unfortunately for her, the red-skinned girl suddenly kicked the ground and exploded forward with a loud bang. Wendy tried to parry the unexpected attack; however, the girl\'s fist slammed into her chest with devastating force, blood spurting out from her mouth. Intense pain surged up within her; it felt as if her internal organs were on fire.

[-24 HP]

[Critical Hit!]

Wendy felt disoriented; her HP was blinking red. She looked behind at the girl who was approaching her with measured steps and at the imposing cliff.

"What faction do you belong to?" she asked, inching closer to the cliff.

"Why? Are you planning to hunt me from the afterlife?" the girl smiled.

"You might never know."

"Well, it shouldn\'t be a problem; after all, this is your end," the girl stated. "We\'re the Order of the Flaming Rose, the Forsaken. We don\'t care about this Elemental Beast you\'re after... our goal is something much grander."

"Now that you know all this, it\'s only natural you die," the girl stated and lunged forward, her fist shooting forward, bursting out of Wendy\'s stomach.

The white-haired girl stared in disbelief as she fell from the cliff.

At the same time, the red-skinned girl turned around, finding several more girls behind her.

"We must hasten the mission," she stated. "We must massacre all of them before the Elemental Beast makes its appearance... I can sense it\'s close."