Gardenia's Heart

Chapter 23: Ambush

Even with the sudden shift in circumstances, the girl sprang out of the water, alert. Her clothes draped over her body once more as she scanned her surroundings. In each hand, she held one of her blades, radiating a violet aura.

"So you failed despite being so confident, Mary." The voice that emerged seemed exasperated.

"Please forgive me, Master Agni," a second voice reached Lily's ears as she

Mary shot towards Lily but was met by a barrage of ice stakes. The impact of the ice with her daggers was worsening the condition of her recently broken wrists. Mary was convinced that Lily would stop attacking when her mana ran out, but no matter how many spells she destroyed, the attacks didn't stop.

She couldn't make any headway, but the distance between them was shrinking. Lily walked nonchalantly towards her.

Her fatigue began to accumulate, the endless attacks were making her body slowly collapse. Even trying to retreat was impossible, if she dared to move her legs, Mary was sure she would lose her stance and be killed by the ice thorns.

“H-H-How!?” With her body shaking from the cold and fear, she could only stare at her opponent a few steps away, staring at her coldly.

“We're both getting help from a companion, the difference is that my bond is far superior to yours.” The purple blade slid horizontally like a flash, separating the demi-human's head from the rest of her body.

As Mary's limp body collapsed to the ground, Lily turned to face her last two opponents.

Agni looked on with disdain, his two arms crossed as he watched the show.

On the other hand, the pink-haired girl had her legs shaking from what she saw, hiding behind Agni's back.

“How does that mist sow manage to create multiple spells?! How much mana does she have?! That's something only a two-star mage can do!”

Her words were nothing more than words. Facts that she had cataloged in her mind and that she put out in a state of panic. However, it sounded different to the man she desperately clung to.

“Did you just say she's better than me?”

Before the girl could even retract her mistake, a black stick spun in the air and a beam of white light hit her head.

Not a drop of blood oozed from the charred wound on what had once been her neck.

“I hate it when I have to do it myself because I end up getting dirty, but sometimes you can't count on the help of incompetents, can you?”

It was disgusting.

Lily's mind could only think of one thing.

This man was completely repulsive.

The silver-haired girl knew what it felt like to have your life considered just entertainment for someone.

“I knew you were garbage, but didn't you even care that they were dead because of you?”

“I have many others who are interested in becoming mine in the mage tower, losing two or three isn't a problem. Now you, on the other hand, are quite a find.”

Agni swung his staff from one hand to the other as he approached.

“Are you human?”