Chapter 17

The young man lifted his head upon hearing the sound, his ears filled with the deafening clash of swords. He instinctively covered his ears but didn't close his eyes.

In those pale green pupils, reflections of shimmering water danced.

Yingjian almost rushed to the young man's side at the fastest speed. It seemed that the swordsmanship's eyes turned towards Yingjian, and the motion of bringing down the raised katana paused for an instant, giving Yingjian enough time to intercept the attack.

"It hurts."

Yingjian felt a slight pain in her wrist, which was already injured from her previous spar with Yoyogushi Michiyoshi. It became even heavier at this moment.

The strength of the ronin was almost completely unlike that of a human. Seeing his hands tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, the ground beneath his feet cracked under the force.

Yingjian had excellent hearing, so besides the jarring sound of blades clashing, she also heard the sound of the ronin's wrist bones shattering inch by inch.

"...What?"

"Why are you just standing there? Hurry up and go!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Yingjian saw that the blond-haired youth still hadn't moved, so she thought he was paralyzed with fear. But after she shouted, he calmly stood up, even taking the time to dust himself off. However, as soon as he made that movement, he was immediately dragged away by lightning.

Yingjian didn't have time to think about anything else and immediately disarmed the ronin by flipping her wrist, causing his sword to fall to the ground. As she expected, the excessive force caused the sword to create deep grooves in the ground. Yingjian distanced herself, her pupils trembling.

"Hey...are you serious?" Yingjian looked at the ronin in disbelief. "If that's the case, your wrist will be ruined..."

Her voice abruptly stopped.

Under the ronin's hat, Yingjian saw his eyes completely devoid of any life. Only when he raised his sword again did she see a glimmer of determination.

"Hydro Travel: Tritoma!" (Translator's Note: The official English translation of this ability is not available at the time of translation)

As the water gleamed, Yingjian evaded all of the warrior's fast and heavy strikes. She controlled her movements to dodge and finally had the opportunity to observe the ronin's situation.

As a swordsman, there were too many flaws from any angle. These flaws were not due to swordsmanship or agility, but rather the lack of strength required for his swordsmanship — just like when he swung his sword earlier, if Yingjian hadn't reduced the force in time, both of his hands could have been ruined.

Of course, if he hadn't used that move in the first place, no one would have forced him to use such excessive strength.

"Hey, can you hear me?!" Yingjian dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding the ronin's horizontal strike. She used this opportunity to retreat and create distance.

The man didn't respond.

"How can this be..."

"It's because of that sword."

Hearing the unfamiliar voice coming from not far away, Yingjian divided her attention, with most of it dedicated to dodging.

"As long as we can take away that sword, he won't be a threat. Otherwise..." the alchemist said, "he'll probably only stop when his life force runs out."

Seemingly in response to the boy's words, the ronin charged once again towards Yingjian. Seeing the ronin approaching with a murderous intent, a glimmer of determination flashed in Yingjian's eyes, and her grip on the sword hilt tightened.

"I understand."

As soon as the sword energy arrived, Yingjian used the force of the collision to rise up, causing the ronin to stumble slightly. Seeing this opportunity, Yingjian's feet touched the tree trunk, and her wrist once again gathered strength.

"Hydro Travel: Octa! (Translator's Note: The official English translation of this ability is not available at the time of translation)

The water flowed on the blade once again, but unlike before, this time the water was not gentle. It became like a waterfall, carrying a surging wave, until its master swung it down, concentrating the force into a single point. The gentle water immediately transformed into a sharp blade, unleashing a power ten times or even a hundred times greater than before.

The ronin seemed to sense something and tried to raise his hand to defend. Yet, even as the sound of the blade shattering rang out, his hand remained suspended in mid-air. After about a moment, his lifeless eyes closed, and his entire body fell down. But before he hit the ground, Yingjian caught him and leaned him against the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Yingjian!"

Just as Yingjian supported the ronin, she heard the urgent voice of Leidian San rushing over, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine. He wasn't very strong. If I didn't have to worry about hurting him, I would have dealt with him quickly," Leidian San reached out his hand, and as Yingjian grabbed it to stand up, she heard a slow applause from behind.

"Not bad at all. I've had quite a hard time avoiding him these past few days."

Yingjian followed the sound and saw the exotic person she had recently seen in the Survey Corps.

"If I'm not mistaken, you don't possess the 'Vision,' do you?"

"Huh?" Yingjian was momentarily stunned, then nodded, "Is there a problem?"

"According to the rules, it should be me who is surprised to see someone without a Vision freely using elemental powers," the alchemist said, "Why do you seem more confused than I am? Could it be..."

The alchemist approached Yingjian, causing her to subconsciously take a half-step back.

"Could it be that you don't know... that 'humans' must rely on 'Visions' to use elemental powers?"

"Oh." Yingjian blinked. "But I'm not human."

...

The alchemist choked.

"I didn't even realize that I'm not human. You seem unreliable," Yingjian patted the dust off his clothes and looked at the alchemist with doubt. "You're the adventurer who got trapped here for days after the underground commission, right? I thought you were impressive..."

Before the alchemist could retort, he felt the increasingly intense gaze from the side and finally couldn't stand it anymore, turning to look at Raikou Sakan.

"Why have you been staring at me?"

"Huh? Me?" Raikou Sakan was suddenly called out and noticed that the other person was still looking at him, wanting an answer. Raikou Sakan raised his hand and pointed his fingertip at the alchemist's neck. "I remember you used to have a mark here, so I was wondering... if you're the person we met before."

But before he could finish the second half of his sentence, the alchemist interrupted.

"You must be mistaken, right?" The alchemist's pale green eyes showed some confusion. "I noticed you all too. The first time we met was at the Bureau of Civil Affairs—how about that?"

Raikou Sakan: "Uh, yes."

"You're right. I am a alchemist from Khaenri'ah." After accurately stating the information, Yingjian reached out his hand. "I've heard... heard people mention you. They speak highly of you. Well... we're both here to investigate this matter. Are you willing to cooperate with me and share some clues?"

"Of course."

"That's great." Yingjian smiled. "You can call me Yingjian, and he's Asan. And you?"

"You want to know my name?" The alchemist hesitated for a moment, then shook Yingjian's hand and smiled. "Just call me Albedo."

"You said earlier that the reason the wanderer lost their sanity was because of this sword... Did you discover something?"

"Before we discuss that... can you please take a look at this for me?"

The alchemist handed over a small scroll. The scroll seemed to be made of a special material and emitted an unusually warm energy. Unfolding the scroll, there were incomprehensible drawings of what seemed to be humanoid figures, giving it a feeling of hieroglyphics.

Yingjian raised his hand to take a closer look at the scroll, but as soon as his fingertip touched it, the warm power he had felt earlier turned into a chilling cold that pierced his fingertips. Yingjian quickly pulled his hand back, but at the same moment, a frost flower bloomed in his palm.

The frost flower disappeared in an instant. While Yingjian was still in a daze, he heard the alchemist's soft laughter.

"You really are an 'outsider'."

"Huh?" Yingjian was confused. He didn't even know what an "outsider" was, but the words slipped out. "Why?"

"You can so calmly wield the power from 'outside the world' and not let a single trace of contamination leak out." The alchemist shrugged. "Fortunately, it seems like my research this time might have a chance."

Just as Yingjian was about to ask something, the young man beside him spoke up.

"Your research probably has nothing to do with us, right?" Raikou Sakan said, "I... I don't know what you're trying to do, but if it has nothing to do with this matter, please wait until later to talk about it, okay?"

For some reason, Raikou Sakan felt that the scroll was strange, including the person in front of him... he didn't quite like them either. Raikou Sakan lowered his gaze.

But since Yingjian said he could be of help, he didn't say anything.

If he had to explain it, it would be that he sensed a familiar aura from this person. And that kind of aura was similar to when Yingjian was corrupted at first.

But that aura was weak and almost impossible to discern. And the reason he sensed it...

Raikou Sakan tightened the hand holding the golden feathers hanging from his chest.

Yingjian looked puzzled. "Asan?"

"What does my conversation with Miss Yingjian have to do with you, a lifeless puppet?" The alchemist smiled. "You can't really be of any help. A puppet that only runs on power is no match for a human. Just like puppetry... no matter how glamorous it may be in front of people, it's nothing compared to true creation..."

"That's enough."

The alchemist's words were interrupted. He didn't say anything, but turned his head to look at Yingjian, who had spoken.

"If you continue speaking like this, I feel that we may no longer need to cooperate." Yae Miko nodded slightly and said, "Out of responsibility, I will ensure your safe departure, Mr. Albedo."