Chapter 56

55. The Azure Maiden

Leon turned his head, his breathing momentarily stalling.

Soon, he realized this stagnation was not caused by his own emotions or body, but by the entire world falling into a profound silence.

The walking pedestrians, the birds flying over the eaves, the dirty water splashed by someone on the street, the airships soaring across the city... their speed of movement had all slowed down dozens of times; if not for the fact that he happened to see the water droplets from a splash slowly bursting upon landing, Leon would have even thought that time had stopped completely.

In this world that had almost ceased to function, in an incredibly short instant that could not be specifically measured, a girl descended from the sky.

She had sky-blue hair reaching her calves, with eyes, eyebrows, and eyelashes of the same color, wearing a thin, pale blue dress, barefoot, and without any ornaments on her body.

She seemed to be drifting down from a higher, more distant sky, with the azure firmament behind her, and she was almost integrated into it.

Leon felt that rather than saying she was part of the sky, it was more like she was the embodiment of the entire sky.

Her features were blurred, making it impossible to see her face clearly, yet she felt inexplicably familiar.

The Azure Maiden reached out her hand toward Leon.

"Be careful..."

Her ethereal voice sounded as if it came from another world.

"Careful of what?" Leon asked.

"Keep a low profile..."

The girl seemed to be conveying some kind of warning.

"Don't let them find you... don't get noticed..."

"Who are they?"

The girl drifted from mid-air toward Leon; she flicked her fingers gently, and a golden light emerged from his cloak, transforming into the Earth Serpent on the ground beside him.

The massive head of the Holy Serpent slowly leaned toward the girl, and she gently stroked its jaw, whispering, "Hello, I'd like to borrow a gemstone from you."

The Earth Serpent opened its mouth, and a transparent diamond rolled into the girl's palm.

The Azure Maiden held the diamond with both hands; in her palm, a deep blue radiance gushed out, transforming and shaping the diamond into a clear blue gem, as if she had plucked a corner of the sky itself.

She handed the gem to Leon.

During this process, the gem continued to deform, extending into a smooth, azure ring, finally being placed by the girl onto the index finger of Leon's right hand.

"Keep it safe, and watch out for anomalies..."

Leon's figure seemed to be reflected in the girl's azure eyes, and then her voice dissipated into countless echoes.

The world's stagnation ended, the noisy sounds of the street returned to his ears, air was drawn into his nostrils, and the Earth Serpent remained hidden inside his cloak, as if it had never appeared at all.

Leon blinked; there was no one in front of him, and the Azure Maiden from just a moment ago seemed to have existed in his eyes for only an instant.

He touched his index finger, and that pale blue ring was indeed worn there.

[Azure Ring]

[A gemstone ring whose color can almost blend into the sky; gifted by the Azure Maiden, entwined with ancient fate, foretelling a worldly catastrophe.]

[Rank: ?]

[Category: Ring]

Who is she? And what kind of power is this?

Leon was astonished.

Time stopping, appearing and disappearing like a phantom—such things were unheard of.

Can she also talk to Star Souls? Is this related to the main plot of "Newbis Fantasy"? Why did she seek me out? Because I took Zoe away?

In these past few days, the matter of the Star Souls alone was enough to update Leon's understanding, but involving time...

He even wished this were just a dream, but that ring existed tangibly at this very moment.

He walked a few steps, and some panicked shouts interrupted his thoughts on the matter.

"Fire! The Count Finat estate is on fire!"

"What happened?"

"I don't know, I heard an explosion!"

The Count's estate?

Leon abandoned his plan to enter the hidden location and ran toward the scene with all his might.

He didn't think this was an accident.

Count Finat had been trying to persuade Lancelot to release his son, Winders.

As a veteran of the Order of Flames, Lancelot shouldn't fall for any underhanded tricks; given his experience and strength, there shouldn't be any power or means for the Count to harm him.

Is this some foolish move, or rather—

Star Souls, the Empire, the Azure Maiden...

In just a few days, the surprise Leon felt was perhaps more than what he experienced when the top team conquered the Jedi zone; perhaps the situation at the Count's estate was something completely unknown.

As he gradually came into view of the Count's estate, Leon noticed that not every part was on fire; the damage was mainly concentrated in the small courtyard where Winders was being held.

Some people were running around trying to put out the fire, and Leon stopped in the distance.

The ring he had just obtained was burning hot.

The Azure Ring was like it was breathing, its lustrous blue surface expanding and contracting, gradually transmitting a stronger heat, until it was finally so intense it felt like a knife cutting into him.

Leon wanted to take it off, but at that moment, a tall figure blocked his path.

The appearance of this person startled both the onlookers and the firefighters.

He was at least 2.45 meters tall, covered in black armor from head to toe; the armor was full of blades and spikes, and despite the fire behind him, the surface of the armor reflected no light at all, as if all the light hitting it was swallowed up.

He held a greatsword almost as long as his own hulking height. Because he held it with one hand, the tip of the sword was currently cutting into the stone floor, and the hilt was connected to a large guard, which was wrapped in a purple substance that pulsed like a heartbeat.

If these were just peculiar, the most oppressive thing was that his helmet had no observation slits and was made entirely of a single piece of black metal. A dark golden substance was branded with a giant eye that occupied the entire flat surface of the helmet's face.

With the spikes, the pulsing, and the single eye, these bizarre elements combined to make the black warrior before him look like an executioner from hell.

The moment he saw Leon, the black warrior crushed the stone floor beneath his feet and charged toward him like a bolt of black lightning.

The Wind-Chaser Holy Bell rattled at his waist, and Leon instantly drew a massive amount of magic power to construct a 7th-tier Wind Elemental Shield; the wind of magic swirled to form a multi-layered air shield with faint thunder, immediately colliding with the greatsword that struck with a speed exceeding dynamic vision.

The attack came with extreme speed; if not for the warning from the Azure Ring, Leon would not have had time to react.

The pitch-black blade erupted with countless black lightning bolts, the crackling sounds interweaving with the thunder from the magic wind shield; the high-level matter and energy collided, and after reaching their limit, they burst apart together, a thunderclap exploding in the flat ground, the expanding shockwave shattering the surrounding stone floor and creating a ring of debris.

Pedestrians fled in panic; some were caught by the shockwave and couldn't stand up, only able to roll away from the center of the conflict.

A single strike shattered a 7th-tier elemental shield?

Holding a high-level energy source, Leon immediately stacked elemental shields again and performed an elemental summon.

A 7th-tier wind elemental creature was generated on the spot; it roared with thunder, moved at high speed, and immediately collided with the black-armored warrior, with wild whirlwinds circling the surface of the armor, trying to find gaps to attack the inside.

The black warrior stomped on the ground, black lightning scattered and exploded, and the wind elemental creature was shaken away, temporarily leaving his side.

Only then did Leon finish reading the warrior's information.

[Imperial Knights · Annihilation Knight]

[Race: Ox-Horn Tribe]

[Class: Berserker, Rank 8]

[Summoned Object: Annihilation Thunder Blade, Rank 8]

[Energy Source: Annihilator Flesh, Rank 8]

[Equipment: Annihilation Greatsword, Rank 7. Hell Blade Armor, Rank 6. God-Eye Helmet, Rank 7.]

[Ultimate: Comprehensive Ultimate — Destruction Roar]

[Skills: Annihilator Strength, Berserker (Strong Physique, Weapon Mastery, Abandon Defense for Attack, Berserk, Slaughter Technique), Weapon (Annihilation Thunder), Helmet (Hyper-Sense Vision)]

[Combat Power Boost: 45%]

This thing is way too fierce!

Leon summoned a gust of wind and ran with the wind.