Chapter 265: You're Holding Your Head Too High

What did she just do?

Yan Jing found it incomprehensible.

That clash just now was enough to rival a full-power strike from a skilled second Energy Level mid-phase combatant.

Even a normal first-grade sorcerer would need to be extremely careful to block it.

But she looked... as if she had done absolutely nothing.

"Impossible... who are you? Who are you?!"

At this moment, the Explosive Combustion Demon had completely lost its composure.

It hissed, its voice chaotic like someone who had just witnessed something that absolutely should not exist.

Yan Jing was equally dumbfounded, staring at that figure that seemed to emit no curse power fluctuation whatsoever, and realized something even more inconceivable.

...The Explosive Combustion Demon... was afraid?

Demons could feel dislike and disgust, but they rarely feared anything, because they were born from humanity's fears of certain things.

For something born of human fear to be feared by a demon, what exactly was it sensing?

Who in the world was this girl?

"..."

The Cherry-Haired Girl showed no intention of answering, simply continuing forward.

Under normal circumstances, everyone might have merely marveled at her elfin temperament and appearance.

But right now, her bearing looked to Yan Jing like that of an arrogant queen, unhurriedly surveying her own territory... aside from being a bit flat-chested.

"Stay back! Stay back!!"

The Explosive Combustion Demon occupying the middle-aged man's body actually began to tremble. It frantically raised its hand, and over a dozen basketball-sized fireballs flew out, the vast majority hurtling toward the unarmed girl while the rest flew toward the crowd in the opposite direction.

At the same time, flames ignited beneath its feet, seemingly preparing to shoot into the sky.

Yan Jing's expression shifted slightly.

It was trying to run?!

But faster than the blue-haired sorcerer's long blade was a sweet yet indifferent voice.

"Don't move."

Yan Jing still detected no wave of curse power being invoked.

Yet the Explosive Combustion Demon, as if hearing an unrefusable command, abruptly froze mid-motion, and the flames around it began to dim at terrifying speed.

It stood rooted to the spot, trembling in fear.

The fireballs flying toward the crowd suddenly veered off course and joined the others in flying toward the girl.

The moment they were about to touch the space around her, they docilely transformed into quiet spirit outfit ribbons, swirling around the Cherry-Haired Girl and illuminating her breathtakingly stunning face.

She simply raised a hand, gently flexing her fingers, watching the ribbons drift through the gaps between them.

The scene reflected in Yan Jing's glasses as a thought suddenly rose in his mind.

Before her, the Explosive Combustion Demon was nothing but a crude imitator.

This girl was the true King of Flame.

The Explosive Combustion Demon stood frozen, its eyes filled with absolute terror, yet unable to utter a single word. It could only tremble slightly as it watched the girl approach step by step.

Finally, the Cherry-Haired Girl stood before it, tilting her head up slightly to look at the being roughly twenty centimeters taller than her.

Yan Jing opened his mouth, looking at the girl as if about to say something, then closed it again.

Because as she gazed at this demon, and at the streets whose peaceful daily life it had shattered, at the panicked crowd, obvious displeasure and disgust surfaced in the girl's cherry-red eyes.

She said softly, "You're holding your head too high."

The next instant.

The quiet spirit outfit ribbons abruptly transformed into raging flames.

The queen stood on her tiptoes, extending a slender, delicate hand to press down on the demon's head.

Pop—

With a soft sound, the head was plucked off.

Demons normally wouldn't die from such injuries. Yan Jing had seen many scenes of demon-people's heads and bodies being separated while they still kept shouting.

But now, the flames in its eyes had been completely extinguished, leaving only that utterly terrified expression frozen on its hideous face.

The headless body swayed for a moment, then collapsed heavily onto the cold blue stone slabs, letting out a dull thud.

"..."

The blue-haired sorcerer's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open without him realizing it, and he remained speechless for a long time.

A demon with strength comparable to a first-grade sorcerer.

Dispatched so easily, its head plucked off like picking a flower.

By a girl who looked like she was at most a high schooler?

Even though a sorcerer's appearance had nothing to do with their age... this contrast nearly made him dizzy.

Who exactly was she?

The Cherry-Haired Girl slowly turned her head, those sakura-colored eyes calmly settling on Yan Jing not far away.

Standing less than five meters from her, Yan Jing's heart abruptly tightened.

"…!!"

His hand gripping the wooden sword unconsciously clenched, a thin layer of cold sweat forming on his palm.

The thought that had flickered through his mind a moment ago surged up again.

...Was this girl even human?

Fear came from the unknown.

Yan Jing had been a sorcerer for over a decade. After joining the Sixth Division, he'd dealt with all kinds of sorcerers, demons, and demon-people.

Though he was only a second-grade sorcerer, his experience was definitely not lacking. He could usually tell what type of spell he was looking at with a single glance.

But now, he still couldn't understand what had just happened.

Flame manipulation?

Space ability?

Or perhaps a word sorcerer who could interfere with others' actions through speech?

But... there was no curse power invocation at all. At least Yan Jing couldn't sense any, and he couldn't comprehend what kind of spell this was.

This level of strangeness almost rivaled the times he had solo-hunted demons with extremely bizarre abilities—though those demons usually had fragile bodies or vessels, mostly just putting on supernatural airs.

It wasn't until the girl reached out and plucked off the demon's head that a glimpse of that violent, vast, scorching curse power flashed through Yan Jing's perception.

Judging from the pressure of that curse power and her bizarre spell, the girl was strong. Extremely strong. Strong beyond imagination.

She was absolutely one who stood at the very peak of this mysterious, suppressed era, able to overlook everything!

In the Wind Capital Sixth Division's intelligence network, she had never appeared before. But this time, she had suddenly appeared, without any concealment whatsoever.

And now, this mysterious girl who might stand at the same height as that "modern-day Strongest" was holding a demon's head in her hand, yet had her gaze locked onto him.

Plucking off his head would be no harder than plucking off the Explosive Combustion Demon's.

"........."

This pressure and terror were simply unimaginable.

Every muscle in Yan Jing's body and all his curse power instinctively tensed to the limit, his breath held.

But the next moment.

He heard that sweet, calm voice again, tinged with a hint of disdain.

"Is this useful?"

The blue-haired sorcerer blankly paused for two seconds before realizing what the girl meant.

She was referring to the demon's skull in her hand.

He had only casually shifted a bit of attention toward it, and she had already noticed?

"..."

And in that instant, Yan Jing let out a long breath.

She could be communicated with.

So, he slightly lowered his head and said respectfully:

"Yes, although this wanted criminal has been manifested by the Explosive Combustion Demon, if the head is preserved well enough, we can attempt to read the contents of its brain. There might be extremely critical intelligence."

—He really didn't dare hold his head too high anymore.