Meanwhile, Adela had already locked onto Su Wan as her prey.
Her tactic was simple and brutal: leverage the extreme speed of her "War Fox" armor to brute-force kill this seemingly most fragile Mage.
The thrusters on her back continuously spewed scorching gas, transforming her into a silver blur. She charged in a straight line, her killing intent palpable.
But Su Wan's response was entirely outside Adela's expectations.
An Ice Wall erupted from the ground, forcefully blocking Adela's charge.
A Frost Ring suddenly expanded, disrupting her maneuvering rhythm.
One after another, Frost Traps silently bloomed along her inevitable path, shimmering with deadly cold light.
In Su Wan's ice-blue eyes, there was not a hint of the panic a Mage should feel when facing a high-speed assault.
Only pure, icy calm.
She was recording.
Recording every minute tilt of the armor's turns, every burst pattern of its dashes, every attack radius of its claw swipes.
She was analyzing, calculating, waiting.
Waiting for a single flaw—one that would be enough to decide the battle in a single strike.
"Got you, you bitch!"
Adela seized a minuscule gap in Su Wan's spellcasting sequence, her lips curling into a bloodthirsty grin.
The thrusters on her back instantly roared to full power, unleashing a deafening boom!
The distance between them vanished in an instant!
Five sharp alloy claws slashed through the air, leaving chilling silver streaks as they aimed straight for Su Wan's slender throat!
However, facing this fatal blow, Su Wan didn't retreat. Instead, she advanced.
The longing in Lin Xiyue's eyes as she stared at that large tail flashed vividly in Su Wan's mind.
Why... should Xiyue's gaze linger on another woman for even a second?
Since Xiyue likes it so much...
Then I'll take it myself and give it to her!
At that moment, all the flames suppressed by her family's upbringing and elegant demeanor erupted, shattering their restraints!
A cold, supremely triumphant smile curved Su Wan's lips.
It was the resolve of someone breaking free from all shackles, unleashing her true self for the one she loved.
Adela watched in astonishment as Su Wan actually put away her staff!
She spread her fingers, palm facing forward.
Immense ice elemental energy collapsed inward with insane force, violently compressed and reshaped!
A massive Ice Crystal Greatsword, shimmering with a deadly chill, was forcibly "drawn" inch by inch from the void!
The blade was broad and radiated an oppressive cold. Intricate, ornate ice crystal patterns spread wildly across its surface
[Karula's Greatsword]!
A mage... with a greatsword?
What kind of heresy is this?!
Adela's mind went blank, stunned by the logic-defying scene. But years of combat instinct forced her to suppress her shock, and the murderous glint in her eyes only intensified.
A mage in close combat? This woman is insane!
She admitted the sword's chilling aura made her heart pound, but she had far more faith in her armor's defense and the War Fox's speed!
Trading blows?
I've already won!
A cloth-robed mage's fragile body would be instantly killed by a mere graze from her claws!
Meanwhile, the worst she'd suffer was damaged armor!
This was the perfect opportunity to eliminate the enemy's core at minimal cost!
The thought had barely crossed her mind when Su Wan vanished from her spot!
It wasn't a mage's Blink.
It was pure, explosive speed generated by reinforcing her body with magic power!
In a stance that utterly defied the elegant conventions of a mage, Su Wan gripped the greatsword with both hands and unleashed a wide, ferocious horizontal slash. The attack stirred a gale as it crashed down on the War Fox armor!
"Naive!" Adela roared.
Her alloy claws didn't dodge or retreat. Instead, she crossed them to meet the attack head-on, intending to shatter the ice crystal weapon with superior force and hardness.
However, just as the claws were about to collide with the greatsword—
Su Wan's wrist dipped.
The ferocious horizontal slash's trajectory abruptly changed. It scraped past the edge of Adela's claws and crashed heavily onto her chest, left exposed by her attempted block!
KRANG—PFFT—SZZZZLE!!!
The deafening shriek of tearing metal mixed with the muffled explosion of ruptured high-pressure lines, making eardrums ache!
Sparks flew!
Adela's crossed arms were violently forced apart. The War Fox armor's thick, streamlined chest plate was brutally split open, leaving a massive, jagged gash!
The inner soft armor was ripped apart, and a deep, bone-visible wound was carved across her chest and abdomen!
Before the blood could even flow, it was instantly frozen solid by the extreme cold!
The agonizing pain and terrifying impact made her vision go black as she was sent flying uncontrollably backward.
But the nightmare had only just begun!
While she was still airborne, struggling to regain her balance, Su Wan's figure appeared like a shadow, sticking to her every move!
With a flick of her wrist, the Ice Crystal Greatsword swung down from above, tracing a cold, desperate arc straight for Adela's head!
The speed of this strike was absolute!
"No—!"
Adela shrieked in terror, her survival instinct overriding everything else.
In mid-air, she forcefully activated her lateral emergency thrusters, desperately rolling sideways with all her might.
But this clumsy tumble perfectly exposed the part of her she was most proud of, leaving it completely defenseless in Su Wan's attack path.
Now!
Su Wan's ice-blue eyes held no surprise, only the absolute coldness of a hunter whose calculated plan had succeeded.
That ferocious slash, which had seemed aimed for a fatal blow to the head, had been a feint from the very beginning—a move designed to force Adela into an extreme dodge!
Her true target had never been Adela's life.
It was the fluffy, large tail that had tried to lure away her little Knight, the one that would be exposed during emergency maneuvers!
With a downward flick of her wrist, the Ice Crystal Greatsword's trajectory shifted with uncanny precision, arcing mercilessly toward the base of the fox tail, now completely exposed by Adela's clumsy roll!
Adela had narrowly avoided a headshot, only to feel a sudden lightness behind her.
A searing pain of being torn apart, followed by a chilling emptiness, shot from her tailbone straight to the crown of her head!
KRAK—SZZZZLE—!
It was a terrifying symphony of bone snapping, flesh tearing, and then being instantly sealed by frost!
Adela's magnificent, fluffy fox tail—her pride and joy—was cleanly severed at the root by Su Wan's single strike!
The massive, severed tail traced a tragically comical parabola through the air, a section of its armor connector still attached.
Not a single drop of blood escaped the wound, only a smooth, mirror-like layer of ice sealing it shut.
Thud.
Finally, it landed heavily on the cold stone pavement, the armor connector bouncing away.
Time seemed to stand still.
Adela landed stiffly, a hollow, bone-deep chill radiating from her tailbone.
She instinctively tried to flick her tail for balance, but her nerves returned only a void. The intense phantom limb sensation threw her mind into chaos, nearly causing her to faint on the spot.
With disbelieving stiffness, she turned her head.
Behind her, there was nothing.
Only the jagged remnants of severed armor and the flesh-and-blood stump, sealed shut by frost, no longer bleeding.
Then, she saw it. Not far away, the tail she had cherished more than her own life.
It lay silently on the ground like a discarded luxury item.
At the severed end, her own blood had crystallized into ice.
"AHHH—!! NO—!!"
A scream more piercing than any before tore through the skies of Blackrock Stronghold.
It was a sound filled with unspeakable agony, humiliation, and utter collapse.
"My tail... My tail!!! MINE!!!!!"
Adela's eyes instantly turned blood-red, her sanity shattering completely.
Like a gambler who had lost everything, she scrambled on all fours, desperate to crawl over and retrieve her severed limb.
But when she saw Su Wan raise the Ice Crystal Greatsword again, all her madness was instantly doused by icy water, replaced by the most primal fear.
Escape!
I must escape!
Losing my tail is just losing my pride! But losing my life... that's losing everything!
Adela spun around and fled recklessly, but with the sudden loss of that massive counterweight, her entire center of gravity had shifted.
She took a single step and stumbled like a drunkard who'd downed a gallon of cheap liquor, nearly face-planting on the ground.
In a panic, she activated her thrusters.
But her fox tail wasn't just her pride; it was the stabilizing rudder for her "War Fox" armor's high-speed maneuvers!
BOOM—!
The thrusters blasted out scorching steam, and Adela shot forward like an out-of-control silver cannonball, careening uncontrollably sideways!
CRASH!
Before everyone's eyes, she slammed headfirst into a nearby wall, blasting a human-shaped crater into the stone as debris flew everywhere.
Her shattered armor billowed black smoke as she slid down the wall like a pile of sludge that had lost all hope.
"Cover me! Cover me now!"
Adela was so terrified she couldn't even stand. Under the cover of her remaining guards, she scrambled on all fours, her body contorted as she clawed desperately at the ground, tumbling and crawling toward Marcus on the Clock Tower.
Su Wan snorted coldly, her chest rising and falling slightly. Maintaining the Ice Crystal Greatsword had taken a heavy toll on her as well.
She glanced at the pathetic, silver-armored figure fleeing with its now-bare rear, then at the human-shaped crater in the wall...
Suddenly, she felt that this humiliation was far more satisfying than simply killing the fox spirit with a single strike.
The killing intent in her eyes slowly faded. She dispelled the Ice Crystal Greatsword and walked with elegant steps toward the severed tail.
She bent down and picked it up.
First, she used a minor Ice Element spell to reinforce the severed end, sealing it perfectly with a layer of flawless ice crystal. It was like a declaration of ownership, perfectly preserving this gift meant only for Lin Xiyue.
Then, she held it aloft as if carrying a top-tier custom piece fresh from a luxury boutique.
Su Wan turned and walked to Lin Xiyue.
The icy curve of her lips melted into a doting smile warm enough to thaw glaciers.
"Xiyue," she said, her voice laced with a barely perceptible hint of anticipation, like someone presenting a precious treasure. She held out the beautifully cleaned fox tail, the frost in her eyes transforming into a tenderness and passion reserved for Lin Xiyue alone.
"I told you I'd take it for you myself."
She paused, her fingertips gently stroking the smooth fur as if showcasing a perfect work of art.
"She used the tail she was so proud of to provoke you."
"Now, that pride—along with the tail itself—is yours."