SAINTESS [Chapter 166: Do you still want to continue?] (Patreon)

The enormous information gap left Isatia completely unable to fathom what Shikondell intended to do, much less what this spell of hers meant. Could it be a death zone that absolutely must not be entered?

The moment she stepped inside, would she trigger a trap, be corroded by poison, or provoke countless man-eating flowers into attacking her?

Isatia couldn't see through it. There were simply too many unknowns and hidden mysteries, making her unwilling to set foot inside rashly.

Meanwhile, Shikondell, standing within the jungle and steadily recovering her mana, also found the strange situation.

She had thought Isatia would immediately pursue her, yet the other party remained motionless, displaying extreme caution.

Only Shikondell knew that there was truly nothing to fear. The sole purpose of the [Divine Blessing] was to create an ecological garden, and it had no other effects whatsoever.

Isatia controlled two golden spears and sent them ahead to scout, carving two straight lines across Shikondell's lawn.

To Isatia's surprise, the two golden spears encountered no resistance. No man-eating flowers emerged, nor was any poison gas released.

Instead, Shikondell took advantage of Isatia's hesitation to continue casting spells.

She scattered enchanted flower seeds across the lawn. In an instant, several clusters of man-eating flowers and enormous thorned vines sprang from the ground.

These plants formed a natural barricade that blocked Isatia's path and prevented her from harming Shikondell. Moreover, because they had grown within the ecological garden, both their size and destructive power had been enhanced, allowing them to continuously draw vitality from the garden.

Afterward, Shikondell knelt on one knee, pressed both hands flat against the lawn, and murmured softly.

It was obvious from her movements that she was preparing to cast a large-scale spell.

Isatia knew she could no longer afford to remain wary of the jungle. Once again, she transformed her fire spear into a fire dragon and her lightning spear into a whip of thunder, then struck the man-eating flowers and thorned vines blocking her path.

The fire dragon bit the head off a man-eating flower. Its stalk drooped to the ground and nearly burned to ash, but this time, the man-eating flower growing within the ecological garden began drawing nutrients from the garden to regenerate. Before long, its head grew back.

As for the lightning whip, when it lashed the pillar-thick thorny vines, it merely left behind a scorched patch and failed to shatter them.

There was even less need to mention the icicles fired by the sapphire golden spear. They were too weak to penetrate this natural barrier.

“So that's how it is. She's using the ecological garden to amplify her nature magic? Not a bad idea,” Winnie praised.

It seemed he really had underestimated Shikondell before. Once Shikondell brought out her full strength, she could actually trade blows with Isatia for a short while.

“But if this is all she has-”

“Hmph, just watch. Little Dell isn't as simple as you think. She won't lose,” Milian declared smugly. “You humans have no idea how powerful and artistic elven magic can be!”

Knowing Isatia's true strength, Winnie said nothing.

“Little Dell has completely seized the upper hand now. We elves only become stronger the more plant summons we have! Once the entire lawn is filled with summoned creatures, that black-haired poker face is guaranteed to lose!” Milian said triumphantly.

“But wood is still wood in the end,” Winnie said, turning his gaze toward Isatia.

He knew the calm and composed black-haired girl had already thought of a solution.

Isatia slid her hand along the edge of her rapier, unleashing a blazing slash that streaked through the air and burst against the dense vines.

The vines ignited in flames, but they swiftly cut off the burning portions and cast them aside. They then absorbed nutrients from the ecological garden to regenerate the damaged sections.

“See? The black-haired poker face is out of options. That little bit of fire is useless. She can't burn them at all,” Milian snorted.

At that moment, Shikondell completed her incantation. An enormous, dry-skinned claw tore through the earth, and a gigantic tree demon with roots for legs climbed out.

“Oh? [Tree Demon Summoning]? Little Dell even learned that spell?!” Milian exclaimed in astonishment.

“Well, it's settled now. We can declare the black-haired poker face's defeat. The tree demon is out, so she's guaranteed to lose.”

Winnie looked toward Isatia. After several probing attacks, she seemed to have thoroughly figured out how Shikondell's ecological garden and summoned plants worked. She withdrew, determined to give the tree demon a chance to attack, and brought her six golden spears together.

Had she realized she couldn't break through and decided to abandon her assault?

No. Of course not.

While everyone was still wondering what she intended to do, Winnie noticed the colors of Isatia's other five golden spears gradually changing.

Their multicolored gemstones all transformed into rubies.

“This is bad,” Winnie murmured.

Ever since seeing Isatia's many golden spears embedded with gemstones of different colors, Winnie had been considering this possibility. Just moments ago, while no one else was paying attention, he had seen her alter the attribute of one of her golden spears.

Isatia then thrust all six ruby golden spears into the ground around her.

Like six pillars of flame, the six spears erupted with fire that soared into the sky. All the flames converged upon the basket-hilted rapier in Isatia's hand.

[Calamity Flame Eruption]

Isatia knelt on one knee and drove her rapier, now blazing with heavenly fire, into the ground.

Towering pillars of flame erupted in rapid succession, tearing open a massive fissure in the ground as they advanced toward Shikondell's ecological garden.

Something had gone wrong after all.

Just as Winnie had predicted.

Shikondell's ecological garden was indeed heavily guarded, and ordinary fire magic couldn't penetrate its defenses.

But there was one crucial flaw: the ecological garden couldn't move!

The enormous pillars of fire were proof enough, ripping through the very earth as they surged forward.

Under normal circumstances, a spell that sacrificed everything for power yet moved so slowly that it could hardly hit anyone would be useless. The problem was that Shikondell couldn't move the little “base” she had created!

Either Shikondell fled on her own, or she was eliminated along with her ecological garden.

But even if she escaped, what good would that do? Her ecological garden and all the plant guardians she had created will be gone. The advantage she had worked so hard to build would disappear in an instant. How was she supposed to keep fighting after that? Her mentality will collapse.

Isatia's intention was obvious. She didn't care if this attack failed to hit Shikondell herself, but she was determined to wipe out the ecological garden and every summoned creature inside. Once that happened, Shikondell would be no different from defeated.

Judging by how absurdly powerful that earth guardian had been earlier, Winnie doubted Shikondell could use it twice in a single match.

The pillars of fire drew closer. Shikondell watched helplessly, knowing full well that her ecological garden could never withstand those earth-rending heavenly flames.

The scorching air made the man-eating flowers and thorny vines on the lawn instinctively recoil in fear.

Within Shikondell's pupils, nothing remained but those towering flames slowly closing in.

A devastating fire spell that would normally never strike its intended target had now become the very thing that sealed her fate.

She clenched her fists and remained silent, helplessness flashing through her eyes.

Ultimately, she made up her mind. With no other option left, she jumped down from the tree trunk and fled the ecological garden.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next moment, the ecological garden and all the plants within it explode into a burning jungle. Flowers, grass, trees, everything was ablaze.

Watching this scene, fear and despair surfaced in Shikondell's eyes.

This was bad.

Winnie frowned. He knew the sight had stirred Shikondell's traumatic memories. The burning jungle had reminded her of the fall of her homeland.

That was Shikondell's deepest inner demon.

Thud.

Shikondell's knees gave way, and she collapsed onto them in the arena, not daring to raise her head and look at the burning forest.

Her behavior surprised the audience, throwing the entire venue into an uproar.

Had she lost the will to fight?

Seeing this, Isatia stopped pursuing her as well. She knew her opponent had already lost her fighting spirit.

“Little Dell...” Milian watched the moon elf girl kneeling in the arena with worry.

Winnie remained silent as he stared at Shikondell, unconsciously clenching his fists.

Seeing Shikondell's expression, the referee also concluded that she had most likely lost the will to continue. He prepared to announce the result of the match.

Yet just as everyone believed the outcome had been decided, Shikondell, who had been crouched on the ground, suddenly raised her gaze. She brushed the dust from her clothes and stood.

Her earlier demotions seemed to fade away, and her expression settled into one of calm composure, with a subtle air of arrogant superiority in her eyes.

The referee, who had just raised an arm to announce the result, froze in confusion.

‘Wait, what was happening? What had just occurred?’

Why had the Moon Elf’s entire demeanor changed the instant he stood up? He seemed like a completely different person. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought someone had secretly replaced him.

Seeing this, Isatia recalled what had happened before and seemed to understand something. She drew her rapier once more.

“You made a grave mistake,” Shikondell suddenly declared.

Then she slammed one hand against the ground.

Behind Shikondell, an enormous flower several carriages in size burst through the earth. Its buds unfurled, revealing the pistil within.

Inside the ecological garden, the burning trees, flower beds, and piles of grass transformed into surging green light. They converged upon the pistil as a cannon formed from pure life energy took shape, radiating terrifying power.

The floral cannon fired like a whip capable of reaching the sky.

A deep ravine split open across the arena. A sea of leaves and flowers, brimming with boundless life energy, rampaged forward like a storm sweeping across the wilderness.

This was Shikondell's strongest spell at present, [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon].

That was right. Shikondell had been constantly casting plant-summoning magic, all for this very moment.

Now that Isatia had burned all those plants to ashes, the [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon] had absorbed more than enough nutrients, including the nutrients contained within the ecological garden itself.

This shot will be devastating.

It could be said that from the beginning of the battle until now, this was the attack Shikondell had truly relied upon, the one whose power she had been accumulating all along.

The more that vegetation was destroyed, the more terrifying the [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon] became.

And this blast could split the entire arena in two!

Isatia calmly watched it approach.

Everyone believed this attack would determine the victor. Isatia couldn't escape. Even if all six golden spears unleashed defensive magic at once, they could never withstand the bombardment of the [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon].

After all, she had burned far too much vegetation. The cannon's power had been stacked to a terrifying level.

Therefore, Shikondell had won.

At least, that was what everyone believed.

Only Winnie and Aesphyra knew that Shikondell had already lost.

Within the arena, Isatia closed her eyes.

Having exhausted all her mana, Shikondell was baffled by this. She couldn't understand why this woman was still putting on an act when she had already lost.

Isatia definitely couldn't withstand this blast. Even if she somehow did, Shikondell's tree demon was still alive.

The next moment, Isatia opened her eyes.

Shikondell hesitated at first, only to become utterly stunned. The instant Isatia's eyes opened, Shikondell met her gaze and felt herself sinking into those violet pupils.

Then, an incomprehensible force ripped her away from the continent of Terraria and pulled her into an unfamiliar, mysterious realm.

[Divine Blessing: Everlasting Imperial Crown]

The dizziness caused by spatial transference left her unable to distinguish one direction from another. When she finally recovered her senses, she was dumbfounded.

"Where is this?!"

Shikondell stared in astonishment at the utterly unfamiliar city. Black rain was falling from the sky, but what left the deepest impression on her was the tallest structure at the city's center,

A special yet magnificent clock tower.

Ancient scars covered its surface. Judging by the extent of the damage, it should have collapsed long ago, yet layers of strange barriers held it together.

And where exactly was this unfamiliar city?

Standing within it, Shikondell felt incomparably small.

Thud, Thud, Thud!

Before Shikondell could think any further, the sound of galloping hooves rang out.

Before she could even react, foreign human cavalry charged in from every direction and surrounded her, forming layer upon layer of an impenetrable encirclement.

The violet-eyed girl still stood across from her, completely unharmed.

How was that possible?

Leaving aside the question of where this place was, why hadn't the [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon] exploded?

After a moment of hesitation, Shikondell understood.

This wasn't the continent of Terraria.

At the instant the [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon] had been unleashed, Isatia had dragged her away from Terraria and brought her into this unfamiliar alternate dimension.

It wasn't that the [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon] hadn't exploded. It had detonated back on the continent of Terraria.

Her tree demon was also still on the continent of Terraria.

Neither of them was here.

Staring at the foreign cavalrymen before her, whose ghostly appearances made it difficult to tell whether they were human or specter, Shikondell fell silent.

She had already exhausted all her mana casting the [Withered Bloom Spirit Cannon].

Isatia, on the other hand, was on her own territory. Her soldiers had surrounded the place so tightly that not even water could seep through.

Amid the crowd, those violet eyes rested calmly upon Shikondell.

They seemed to be asking her:

“Do you still want to continue?”

If there are any mistakes I will check in morning