CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 55: THE MAIDEN OF AZURE

Li Ang turned his head, his breath momentarily frozen.

Soon, he discovered that this pause was not due to his emotions or body, but rather the entire world had fallen into a kind of silence.

The walking passersby, the birds flying over the eaves, the sewage splashed on the street, the flying airship over the city...all their movements had slowed down dozens of times. If he hadn’t just seen the water splash slowly exploding upon hitting the ground, Li Ang might have thought time had completely stopped.

In this nearly halted world, in an imperceptibly brief instant, a girl descended from the sky.

She had sky-blue long hair reaching her calves, eyes, eyebrows, and eyelashes of the same color, wearing a thin pale blue dress, barefoot, with no adornments on her body.

She seemed to have gracefully descended from a distant sky, with a deep blue backdrop behind her, almost blending into it.

Li Ang felt that instead of saying she was a part of the sky, she was more like the embodiment of the entire sky.

Her appearance was blurred and indistinct, yet it strangely felt somewhat familiar.

The Maiden of Azure reached her hand out to Li Ang.

"Be careful..."

Her ethereal voice seemed to come from another world.

"Be careful of what?" Li Ang asked.

"Keep a low profile..."

The girl seemed to be conveying a warning.

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

"Who are they?"

The girl floated towards Li Ang, lightly hooking a finger, and a golden light floated out from inside his cloak, transforming into an Earth Serpent on the ground nearby.

The Holy Snake’s massive head slowly approached the girl; she gently caressed its chin and softly said, "Hello, I’d like to borrow a gemstone."

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

The Maiden of Azure held the diamond with both hands, and in her palm, azure light gushed forth, transforming and shaping the diamond into a pure blue gemstone, as if directly taken from a piece of the sky.

She handed the gemstone to Li Ang.

During the process, the gemstone continued to reshape, extending into a smooth azure ring, transforming into a ring, which the girl placed on the index finger of Li Ang’s right hand.

"Keep it safely, watch for any anomalies..."

In the girl’s azure eyes, it seemed to reflect Li Ang’s figure, and then her voice faded into countless echoes and vanished.

The stagnation of the world ended, the noisy voices of the street returned to his ears, air filled his lungs, and the Earth Serpent was again hidden in his cloak, as if it had never appeared.

Li Ang blinked, there was no one before him, the Maiden of Azure seemed to have existed only for a fleeting moment in his vision.

He touched his index finger, the pale blue ring was still there.

[Celestial Blue Ring]

[A gemstone ring whose color could almost merge with the sky, bestowed by the Maiden of Azure, entwined with ancient fate, foreshadowing worldly calamity]

[Tier: ?]

[Category: Ring]

Who is she? What is this power?

Li Ang was bewildered.

Time stopping, appearing and disappearing like a phantom; such a thing was unheard of.

Can she also converse with Star Souls? Is it related to the main storyline of "Nebis Fantasy"? Why did she come to me? Because I took Zoe away?

These days, the issue of Light Star Soul was already enough to update Li Ang’s understanding, and involving time...

He even hoped it was all a dream, but the ring was indeed real.

He took a few steps when frantic shouts interrupted his thoughts.

"Fire! Count Feinat’s Mansion is on fire!"

"What happened?"

"I don’t know, I heard an explosion!"

The Count’s Mansion?

Li Ang gave up on entering a hidden place, moving closer under the wind’s propulsion.

He didn’t believe it was an accident.

How could Count Feinat dare to act directly, or is he playing some secret trick?

As a veteran of the Order Flame Corps, with Lanslow’s experience and strength, the Count shouldn’t have the power and means to secretly harm him.

Both of them thought so, and there was no previous concern about the Empire. If the Empire were truly powerful, blocking the route would require Wendes to return from the Celestial Group to help?

However, the mysterious arrival of the Maiden of Azure seemed to resonate with this unfolding incident.

Star Soul, ancient affairs, the Maiden of Azure... in just a few days, the surprises Li Ang experienced might surpass those during the Celestial Group’s conquest of the desert; the Mansion’s unexpected event might introduce unknown situations again.

As the Count’s Mansion’s estate gradually came into view, Li Ang also noted that not every location was aflame; the main affected area was the small courtyard holding Wendes.

There were some people running to extinguish the fire, and Li Ang paused at a distance.

The newly acquired ring was growing hot.

The Celestial Blue Ring seemed to be breathing, the surface’s luminous blue pulsing with intensity, delivering stronger heat until it felt almost like a cutting blade.

Li Ang wanted to remove it, but at that moment, a tall silhouette blocked his way.

The appearance of this person shocked both onlookers and firefighters.

He stood at least two meters forty-five, entirely shrouded in black armor adorned with blades and spikes. Even with the firelight behind him, the armor’s surface didn’t reflect a glimmer, swallowing all light entirely.

In his hand was a giant sword, almost matching his towering height. Held with one hand, the sword’s tip dug into the ground, with the handle attached to a large hand guard, wrapped in pulsating purple substance that breathed rhythmically.

Though these features were peculiar, the most oppressive aspect was his helmet, which, rather than having eye slots for observation, was a solid piece of black metal. An enormous eye etched in dark gold filled the flat face of the entire helmet.

Spikes, breathing space, a single eye – these bizarre elements combined, making the black clad warrior before him resemble a punisher from hell.

Upon seeing Li Ang, the black warrior shattered the stone slab beneath his feet, transforming into a black lightning bolt that charged directly at him.

The Wind Chaser’s Holy Bell dangled at his waist; in an instant, Li Ang drew on vast magic power to construct a 7-tier Wind Element Shield, with magic wind rotating to form multiple air shields sparking with lightning, immediately colliding with the rapid sword slashing beyond the range of dynamic vision.

The attack came with unparalleled speed. If not for the warning from the Celestial Blue Ring, Li Ang would not have reacted in time.

The pitch-black sword erupted with countless black lightning bolts, crackling and intertwining with the thunderous roar of the Magic Wind Shield as supreme realm materials and energies collided and dispersed beyond the limit, a sudden thunderclap ripping through the air, tearing the stone pavement around into a burst of pulverized rings.

Pedestrians fled in panic, while some affected by the shockwave struggled to stand, forced to roll away from the center of the conflict.

With a single strike, it shattered a 7-tier Elemental Shield?

Using a high-tier energy source, Li Ang immediately reinforced the Elemental Shield and initiated Elemental Summoning.

A 7-tier Wind Elemental Creation arose, carrying thunderous roars, swiftly colliding with the Black Armored Warrior. Violent whirlwinds circled the armor, trying to find cracks to attack the interior.

The Black Warrior stomped on the ground, black lightning exploded in every direction, scattering the Wind Elemental Creation away for the moment.

Only then did Li Ang read the warrior’s information completely.

[Annihilation Knight]

[The Holy Speriel Empire’s forbidden power creating the Empire’s blade, specifically executing those who pose a threat to the Empire]

[Race: Horned Race]

[Profession: Berserker, Tier 6 (+1) [Forced Frenzy]]

[Summoning: Destruction Thunder Blade, Tier 6 (+2) [Magic Transfer]]

[Energy Source: Annihilator Flesh, Tier 7]

[Equipment: Annihilation Heavy Sword, Tier 6. Hell Blade Armor, Tier 6. Divine Eye Helmet, Tier 7.]

[Secret Technique: Comprehensive Secret Technique—Destruction Roar]

[Skills: Power of the Annihilator, Berserker [Strong Physique, Weapon Mastery, Abandon Defense and Attack Strongly, Frenzy, Slaughter Technique], Weapon [Thunder of Annihilation], Helmet [Sight Beyond Sight]]

[Combat Power Amplification: 45%]

This thing is insanely strong!

Li Ang summoned a gale, first to create distance.