Chapter 654: Violet Mist Ice

Third Person’s POV

Its voice carried a peculiar rasping quality that made their skin crawl, and when it finished speaking, it suddenly threw its head back and began laughing.

"Heh... hehehehe..."

Thick strands of saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth as its sinister laughter echoed through the deserted city.

Yet this time, Eleanor and Aurelia noticed something different in its eyes.

The rabbits behind them possessed a bloodthirsty and devouring glint, as if they wanted nothing more than to tear the flesh from their prey and swallow them alive.

This creature’s gaze was different.

It was different from their greed.

It was not the ordinary greed one might see in the eyes of someone desiring wealth or treasures.

It was a naked, disgusting lust directed toward the two women standing before it.

As women, their instincts were naturally sharp enough to recognize such a gaze, and both immediately felt disgusted.

Aurelia’s beautiful face became cold, while Eleanor’s expression turned even more unpleasant.

The demonic creature’s laughter gradually faded when it noticed their reactions.

Its yellow eyes narrowed.

The greedy and sinister smile disappeared from its face and was replaced by a grim expression that made its already grotesque features look even more unpleasant.

It muttered something else in its strange language before slowly reaching toward the twin bone blades hanging from its waist.

Shing!

The two grayish-white blades were unsheathed simultaneously.

They were about four metres in length each and were quite thick, though their edge was not compromised in its sharpness.

A strange, dark aura immediately gathered around their edges, and seeing this, Eleanor’s expression became solemn.

Judging from the aura radiating from this creature alone, it was at least a Rank Four being.

The difference between Rank Three and Rank Four was enormous, and forget about defeating it; at this moment, even escaping alive seemed like an extremely difficult task.

And the situation became even worse when the rabbits surrounding them began baring their serrated teeth again.

The fear they had previously displayed toward their leader had vanished and was replaced by their original bloodthirsty expressions.

Eleanor’s heart sank.

Aurelia’s face also became pale.

Neither woman wanted to think about what would happen if they were captured alive by this disgusting creature.

Even imagining such a possibility made Aurelia’s fingers tremble slightly.

But before fear could completely overwhelm her, Eleanor suddenly reached out and patted her head with the shaft of her spear.

"Don’t fret over this situation, Aurelia."

Her voice remained surprisingly calm.

"Your aunt is still here, alive and well."

Eleanor’s expression softened for a brief moment as she looked at the girl beside her.

"Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to either of us."

She then tightened her grip around her spear.

"After all, my son is already waiting for us."

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"And after so much time, now that he has finally returned, we can’t allow ourselves to fall in this wretched and deserted realm before we fulfill our earnest wish."

Those words seemed to be meant for herself as much as they were for Aurelia.

The faint exhaustion that had appeared on Eleanor’s face disappeared, and her eyes once again burned with determination.

She raised her spear and stared directly at the enormous demon.

She had endured eight years.

She had waited eight years to see her son again, and she absolutely refused to die now, not after having the fruit of her hopes in front of her.

The purple spear in her hands suddenly began to glow.

Unlike the clear white or faint bluish mana normally produced by ice-element mages, the light surrounding Eleanor was a deep and mysterious violet.

It was a rare bloodline variant possessed by the Mistborn Family, named Violet Mist Ice.

Even within the Mistborn Family, very few people had managed to awaken this unusual ice attribute.

Its greatest characteristic wasn’t simply its increased freezing power.

It possessed an additional property of concealment.

The mana produced by Violet Mist Ice could naturally conceal itself from soul senses, making it extremely difficult for opponents to detect the true strength of its user and the spells constituted from violet mist ice mana.

A skilled practitioner could even make their presence appear considerably weaker than it actually was.

For that reason, those possessing Violet Mist Ice were exceptionally suited to assassination and surprise attacks.

The sheep demon clearly sensed that Eleanor’s aura was unusual, but it didn’t underestimate her.

Its enormous legs suddenly bent.

The next instant, its massive body shot into the air.

One of its bone blades was raised high above its head, and a strange gray aura wrapped around the weapon.

Eleanor’s pupils contracted.

The pressure descending from above made the frozen ground beneath her feet crack.

She immediately pushed Aurelia aside.

"Move!"

At the same moment, Eleanor thrust her spear forward.

A thin violet beam that was several times thicker than its previous instances shot from its tip.

It was so thin that it almost looked insignificant compared to the gigantic body descending toward them.

The sheep demon swung its other bone blade toward it.

Clang!

The thin violet ray struck the lower portion of the gray-corroded blade.

For a brief moment, the demon’s eyes flashed with contempt, but then its expression abruptly changed.

The violet ray pierced straight through the gray aura surrounding its weapon.

Pssh!

It continued forward and struck its arm.

A layer of violet frost instantly spread across its flesh, and the demon’s eyes widened.

A terrifying cold invaded its muscles and nerves, freezing half of its arm almost instantly.

Its downward strike faltered, and that brief interruption was enough.

Eleanor twisted her body and narrowly avoided the descending bone blade.

BOOM!

The weapon crashed into the ground where she had stood moments ago.

The gray aura covering the bone blade spread outward, and the frozen earth beneath it immediately melted.

It didn’t merely melt the hard accumulated frost, but even caused the rocky earth beneath the ice to corrode and dissolve, causing a chi..chi...sound to rise in the air, along with corrosive smoke.