The Villain Suffers Her First Setback.
(Ester's POV)
Oh, crap. What do I do now? This is just perfect — of all times for Mr. Super-Villain to show up, it had to be now. I can't believe this. I need to think fast, or else I'm as good as dead.
Ryujin is too far away, busy with Amanda, and out of reach. As for Amelia? She couldn't care less about my existence. And Alexia — no way. I can't call her. If she finds out about the sword, I'll be in even hotter water than I'm already in.
Even if she comes here, she'll only kill Pedro and come back.
She isn't the hero type.
Damn…
I don't want to lose my plaything.
It'll be so funny to torture Pedro.
Damn!
Great, I'm backed into a corner with no way out, all because I wanted to have a little fun. The universe must be having a great laugh at my expense right now. This is an absolute disaster.
Pedro lifted the sham of a sword high, taking a courageous stance against General Famine.
"General of Famine, today I'll prove to everyone that Pedro is much stronger than Ryujin Wan!"
Oh, for heaven's sake. Pedro's got this twisted inferiority complex that's going to be the end of me. If he swings that fake sword, it'll shatter into pieces. And if that happens, I'm as good as dead.
Okay, Ester, think. You've still got options... Running away sounds pretty good right about now.
Seizing the moment, I channeled my mana into my palms, forming ice beneath my feet. With a subtle thrust of my arms, the ice sled rapidly accelerated, gliding me away from this nightmare. Just when I thought I was about to make my grand escape —
"Where do you think you're going?"
General Famine slammed his fist into the ground. Columns of earth erupted from the soil, intertwining and twisting until they formed a rock-solid barrier in my path. My ice sled crashed into it, and I stumbled back, my hopes of escape shattered.
Great. Just great.
What do I do now? I can't escape and I can't stay here and die.
"Here I go!"
My heart pounded as Pedro, brandishing the phony blade, stepped toward the hulking General Famine.
Pedro lunged, his sword aimed straight at the general's chest. He swung the blade with the conviction of someone who believed they were wielding a powerful artifact. Of course, if it were the real Yukikaze, Pedro would be amplified with bone-crushing strength and increased vitality. But alas, all he had was a prop.
General Famine parried the attack effortlessly with a massive, earthen gauntlet he conjured from the ground.
"Is that all you've got?"
His eyes narrowed, amused.
Undeterred — or perhaps just blissfully ignorant — Pedro pivoted, attempting a vertical slash aimed at the general's head. General Famine dodged, stepping aside as if amused by a child's play-fighting.
Pedro was panting now, and under any other circumstance, the real Yukikaze would be healing his minor cuts and relieving his fatigue. But the blade was a sham, and Pedro's energy waned with every futile strike.
Still fueled by his delusion of grandeur, Pedro took a few steps back as if preparing for a final, devastating attack.
"This is the end for you, General of Famine!"
He gathered what little strength he had left and lunged forward at breakneck speed, his sword raised high for a finishing strike. If it had been the real Yukikaze, this attack could have been awe-inspiring — a burst of icy power channeling through enhanced muscles for an earth-shattering blow.
General Famine smirked, seemingly unimpressed. With a swift flick of his wrist, a pillar of earth erupted from the ground, stopping Pedro's sword in mid-air. The so-called "mighty weapon" couldn't handle the force against the elemental world. The blade proceeded to shatter into pieces, scattering metal shards across the ground.
And just like that, Pedro's face turned as white as a sheet as if finally realizing the severity of his mistake. My heart sank in my chest. It was as if I could see the dominoes falling.
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.
I couldn't just stand here and let him kill me. I needed to act, but what could I do?
A light bulb went off in my head. Amelia, with her borderline unhealthy obsession with her brother Ryujin, would be my ticket out of this mess. It was a desperate move, but you pull out all the stops when your life's on the line.
With a twirl of my fingers and a subtle chant, I expended all my remaining mana. A monumental ice statue of Ryujin emerged, so glorious it could've been mistaken for a religious idol.
Amelia needs to see her "Nii-ni" statue. Blue Lotus is far from here, so I made that statue gigantic.
When she sees it, she'll come here for sure.
She is a typical brocon.
Fufufu.
If only the statue itself doesn't work to lure her here, I have another thing in mind…
"What the — what's this?" Both General Famine and Pedro said in disbelieving unison.
"Consider it my encore, go ahead, smash it. See what happens."
"You think an ice statue's gonna stop me?"
"There's only one way to find out."
I silently prayed to all deities of mischief that Amelia would see the statue.
I hadn't initially planned to bring Amelia into this. Her arrival would surely mean Pedro's untimely death.
I wanted to torture him more, see him suffer. I did.
But that doesn't matter anymore. I must make sacrifices if I want to live.
"As you wish."
The Famine snarled, swinging his weapon down on the frozen effigy.
The statue exploded into a shower of sparkling ice shards, each piece twinkling like a star before its demise on the ground. My heart pounded — had I gambled right?
Right on cue, the air turned into a frigid abyss. My lungs would have solidified if it weren't for Ryujin's hellish training.
And then, it happened.
The atmosphere frosted over, a wintry mist sweeping across the land like a ghostly procession. From within this frozen tableau came a figure, gliding more than walking, each step creating a petrifying ripple of ice flowers in her wake.
Amelia emerged as grand and imposing as an ice queen in a fairy tale. Her eyes, a piercing azure, were colder than the Arctic but burned with a fire that could incinerate souls.
"It seems like your time just ran out."