Chapter 264: The Girl Who Crashed In

A reply came through the earpiece amidst a crackling static: "Received."

"Reinforcements have already departed and are expected to arrive in seven minutes."

"Seven minutes..."

—Seven minutes of holding out against a demon equivalent to a first-grade sorcerer?

And also minimizing civilian casualties and property damage as much as possible.

"I wonder if the section chief can approve a bit more overtime pay..."

The blue-haired sorcerer couldn't help but let out a sigh.

—Hopefully it doesn't end up becoming survivor's benefits instead.

Yet his movements showed not a single hint of hesitation. His legs bent slightly as he assumed a defensive stance.

His left index and middle fingers pressed together, touching the character "Lake" carved on the wooden sword's blade, then slowly slid downward along the direction of the blade.

As his fingers traced down, blood seeped from his fingertips, and a strange, biting cold gleam spread across the originally dull, thick wooden edge, as if it had been truly sharpened at this very moment.

Yan Jing stared at the blazing humanoid figure radiating intense heat ahead of him, his voice ice-cold: "Explosive Combustion Demon, I didn't expect you to still have this much residual power..."

"It seems that when we captured your main body back then, we didn't finish the job completely, leaving several of your contracts out in the world."

Hearing Yan Jing's words, the Arsonist—or rather, the Explosive Combustion Demon that currently occupied this body—seemed to regain a sliver of rationality and the desire to converse.

It lowered its head, gazing at the flowing azure curse power surging along Yan Jing's blade, and a face made entirely of flames twisted into a half-smiling, half-sneering grimace.

"Heh... main body?"

It opened its mouth as if about to say something more: "You really think..."

But in the very next instant, a scorching crimson curse power radiance had already ignited within that massive maw.

—The so-called explosive combustion was an eruption far more violent and exaggerated than ordinary flames, burning in a manner akin to an explosion.

Which also meant its temperament was utterly unpredictable!

The next moment.

BOOM!!!

The devastating explosive combustion erupted outward in the form of blood-colored blazing flames. The dazzling burning light seemed intent on shredding one's retinas, the rampaging firelight tore through the air, and a colossal fireball surged skyward in the middle of this bustling commercial street.

But at that exact same moment.

A blue blade light flashed, as if surging rivers were pouring down from the void itself. The azure currents transformed into a barrier, directly intercepting that ferocious explosion and diverting its power into the sky.

Yet even so, the immense force and deafening roar still shattered the glass of surrounding buildings and sent many civilians flying through the air.

Only at this moment did the people nearby finally realize this was no movie special effect, but a real disaster.

"AHHHHH!!"

"Monster!!"

Screams and wailing instantly tore through the commercial street's tranquility. The crowd scattered like an ant nest that had been ruptured, fleeing frantically in every direction without a care for where they were going.

The epicenter of the explosion.

The two sides remained locked in confrontation.

"..."

The blue-haired sorcerer was not in good condition.

Yan Jing, who had taken the attack head-on to protect the civilians, now had his clothes torn to shreds, and a scorched, burnt odor emanated from his skin and flesh.

But as an eerie light flashed across the lenses of his round-frame glasses, the charred black skin visibly began to regenerate, quickly restoring itself to its original state.

"Oh?"

The Explosive Combustion Demon seemed to sense something, then, as if it had discovered something amusing, clicked its tongue in wonder:

"So it's the power of that trash, the Glasses Demon..."

"After all this fuss, you're actually a demon-person contracted with a demon too."

Yan Jing remained silent. Both hands gripped the wooden sword tightly as the lenses of his round-frame glasses suddenly emitted a fierce reflection of light.

"Already prepared to sacrifice your eyesight to it?"

The Explosive Combustion Demon mocked.

The man lowered his head slightly, the reflecting lenses concealing his gaze, while the blade light on his wooden sword grew ever more intensely blue.

"Heh, how hypocritical. Suppressing us on one hand, coveting our power on the other..."

The Explosive Combustion Demon curled its flame-formed mouth into a viciously wicked grin: "You sanctimonious bastard, let's play a little game of choice."

Then, it raised its right hand.

Curse power began to gather without any attempt at concealment. A massive fireball radiating blinding light rapidly condensed and swelled above its palm.

The Explosive Combustion Demon held aloft that miniature sun that seemed ready to burst at any moment, turned its gaze toward the crowd that hadn't yet fully dispersed due to the congestion, and laughed uproariously with absolute malice:

"This attack I'll put my full strength into, but it'll be very slow."

"Of course, you can dodge it... but then, those insignificant ants will suffer catastrophic casualties."

"So, will you take it head-on, or dodge?"

No words came in response.

Yan Jing once again assumed his stance.

And the Explosive Combustion Demon, seemingly intrigued, raised its hand, ready to clash with him head-on.

But at that very instant.

"HAHAHAHAHA, I changed my mind!!"

In Yan Jing's vision, its left hand suddenly shot up, aimed at the panicked crowd not far away, blazing with a crimson radiance.

In that split second, several fireballs had already been launched.

"...!!"

The blue-haired sorcerer unavoidably diverted his attention for a fraction of a moment, his gaze locking onto the streaking fireballs.

The power wasn't strong, roughly equivalent to an ordinary grenade.

But if they exploded in the middle of a crowd!!

And the Explosive Combustion Demon's face wore a smug grin, its hand holding the sun already quietly aimed at Yan Jing.

—A demon's nature is chaotic, but that doesn't mean all demons are idiots.

It had no intention of just watching its opponent sacrifice himself to grow stronger.

Not being shackled by moral blackmail didn't mean the other party didn't care about ordinary people being attacked.

Why wouldn't it do something that could distract its opponent?

But just as its next wave of attacks was about to erupt.

It wasn't only Yan Jing.

The Explosive Combustion Demon also suddenly turned its head, staring at that same spot.

"?!"

The fireballs that had been launched suddenly melted away and vanished for no apparent reason, as if they had never existed in the first place.

Their gazes simultaneously locked onto a single figure within the crowd.

There was a figure so out of place, so incongruous, as if she were the very center of the world.

It was a girl.

Soft sakura-red long hair drifted behind her, and she wore a blue-and-white high-waisted pleated skirt, looking as exquisitely beautiful as a doll.

She stepped forward in cream-white leather shoes, her legs wrapped in long white stockings, walking slowly against the tide of the fleeing crowd.

The girl's sweet, delicate face was utterly expressionless. She merely fixed her sakura-red eyes on them, calm and unwavering.

Yan Jing's eyes widened, his heart suddenly leaping.

—Is this girl a sorcerer?

Was she the one who protected the civilians?

The surging curse power fluctuations spreading out in front of him snapped Yan Jing back to reality.

He saw that the Explosive Combustion Demon, for some reason as if triggered by a stimulus, had already aimed the massive fireball in its right hand at that figure.

"WHO ARE YOU!!"

The Explosive Combustion Demon, as if sensing something, its twisted face contorted with unease and fury, howled as it fired the attack it had been brewing.

Yan Jing instinctively shouted at the girl: "Watch out!"

At the same time, he could no longer care about the residual shockwaves. The curse power condensed in his blade surged forth, desperately trying to neutralize as much of that force as possible.

BOOM!!

The impact of firelight and water light collided, exploding and expanding like a miniature sun.

The explosive combustion reaction clashed with the wooden sword, sending curse power shockwaves racing outward, affecting the ground beneath their feet, reducing everything in their path—every flow of people, every obstacle—to fine dust...

Or so it seemed.

The next moment.

Not only was Yan Jing, who had been bracing himself to endure the shredding aftermath, stunned speechless, but even the flames within the Explosive Combustion Demon's eye sockets violently flickered, as if witnessing something utterly incomprehensible.

The two intertwined shockwaves suddenly subsided silently.

The civilians were still retreating in that dense, panicked manner, yet no one was injured. The buildings and roads remained completely intact, not a single paving stone showing a trace of scorching. The aftermath of their clash dissipated like a dreamy illusion.

Only that sakura-haired girl continued walking unhurriedly against the flow of the crowd, her movements elegant, the blue-and-white pleated skirt swaying gently with the motion of her slender legs.