In mid-air, Sophie was in a brief state of weightlessness at the peak of her ascent. Her sharp red eyes scanned Silvervein City and the surrounding wilderness below.
Soon, she caught sight of a translucent figure sprinting at full speed along the edge of a rock pile.
He was running quite fast.
But running on legs could never beat flying with your head.
Sophie adjusted her posture in the air and pulled a coffin from her system inventory again.
This time, she pulled out a small sleeping coffin, roughly the size of her own head.
She held the small coffin in both hands, and then...
Crack.
Sophie’s neck dissolved into blood mist, and her head, losing its support, rolled off cleanly.
It landed perfectly inside the small wooden coffin she was holding.
“Express delivery for the brain!”
Sophie’s head let out a muffled shout from inside the coffin.
【Log: Passive skill [Trapped in Grave Soil (Reversed)] is in effect! The system has detected your head is attempting to sleep in a coffin; the Forced Escape law has been activated!】
【Log: You have achieved the achievement [Leading the Charge] and gained 2 Free Attribute Points.】
Boom!
Along with her intense will, Sophie’s head shot out from mid-air at a speed far exceeding her body, closing in on the mage fleeing across the wilderness.
Meanwhile, her headless body dispersed into a cloud of blood mist.
Having become a Count, Sophie had completely transcended the limits of humanity.
Down in the wilderness.
The mage panted heavily, feeling the golden light on his body rapidly dimming.
The duration of Etherification was ending.
His feet touched the actual withered grass, and his shoulders felt the resistance of brushing against bushes.
He didn't dare stop. If he could just run past that earthen slope ahead...
As long as he reached that place.
Whoosh—
A sharp sound of wind cutting through the air suddenly came from above.
The mage instinctively looked up.
A thick cloud of blood mist gathered abruptly about a dozen meters directly above him.
Sophie’s figure reconsolidated within the blood mist, her head sitting perfectly on her neck. Her silver hair flowed like a waterfall, and her deep blue skirt fluttered in the wind.
The mage’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.
How did this monster appear out of thin air above him?
Sophie didn't waste any words. An ordinary oil-paper umbrella appeared in her hand.
Grasping the handle and utilizing the gravitational potential energy of her fall, she turned herself upside down. With the tip of the umbrella pointing down, she elegantly and precisely lunged toward the top of the mage's head.
There was no escape.
The mage was terrified and tried to mobilize his mana to prop up a shield.
Clang!
The tip of the umbrella slammed into the weak mana shield the mage had hastily conjured.
【Log: Skill [Seeking Defeat (Reversed) Lv.MAX] has been triggered!】
Sophie didn't even feel any resistance from the impact.
But even so, it was still a narrow defeat.
Sophie, along with her umbrella, soared back into the air as if she had poked a highly elastic trampoline.
Below, the mage only felt a strange force pressing down on his head. The shield didn't break, but the pressure remained.
“I’m not done yet.”
Sophie performed a graceful flip in the air, once again diving head-first. The oil-paper umbrella continued to thrust downward like a poisonous dragon drill.
Crack.
The shield let out an overwhelmed sound of shattering.
The mage broke down.
He began to frantically mobilize the mana in his body, wanting to cast a Pyroblast to blow apart this crazy woman who was essentially using his head as a dance floor.
But the moment he raised his right hand to form a spellcasting gesture...
He found that his wrist could no longer move.
Several threads of mana, so fine they were almost invisible to the naked eye, had at some point tightly coiled around his wrists and fingers, even severing his mana-guiding circuits.
【Log: You have used [Puppetry Lv.MAX] and successfully controlled the target's spellcasting limbs.】
During those continuous vertical strikes, Sophie had already set up her strings.
A mage who lost his ability to cast spells was just a commoner with slightly better physical stamina.
“Thump.”
Mid-air, Sophie turned her body slightly and delivered a kick.
It landed squarely on the mage’s back.
The massive gravitational potential energy, combined with her own body weight, slammed the mage directly into the dirt of the wilderness.
【Log: You used [Unarmed Attack], dealing -15 physical damage to the target.】
【Log: Through practical combat testing, you have comprehended a new skill [Unarmed Combat]. Spend 1 attribute point to learn?】
Sophie: “...”
She had forgotten about that; kicks counted as unarmed attacks too.
“Cough... ah...”
The mage spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with dirt, but strangely, his physical condition felt a bit better after being kicked.
However, he couldn't stand up.
Sophie was already standing on his back, using the oil-paper umbrella in her hand to poke the back of the mage's head repeatedly.
“Sigh, my damage is still a bit low.”
“Without a spearhead, I can only poke him like this.”
The sharp pain in his back and the fear of being strangled by the strings nearly drove the mage insane.
He didn't want to die. He knew his family's trump cards; as long as he lived, as long as he could get the message out...
In his desperate struggle, his gaze swept past the grass and saw a signpost in the distance.
In that direction resided the Hero, who was rumored to hate evil with a passion!
Some said that as long as you called for help loudly, no matter the situation, the Hero would descend!
His throat, which had been unable to make a sound, had recovered slightly thanks to that kick.
“Hero, save me—!”
The mage strained his throat and let out a shrill howl with all the strength he could muster.
The sound echoed far across the open wilderness.
Sophie stopped poking with her oil-paper umbrella.
“?”
She tilted her head, looking at the guy she was stepping on.
What are you shouting for?
In the split second of Sophie’s confusion...
Hum.
A beam of pure white holy light tore through the air without warning, several meters in front of the mage.
Clad in voluminous nun’s robes and holding a pure white light sword in one hand, Kaila actually appeared before them.
Her long golden hair fluttered slightly, and the sun pendant on her chest radiated an awe-inspiring majesty.
She had come.
She had heard the cry for help and came.
Rate on N.U.
