The inquisitor slowly took out a pair of gauntlets from his inside pocket. They seemed very thin and made of black silk at first glance but Kaen Ame knew they were not so simple. Just like the sword in her hands, this was another grade 3 treasure that belonged to her Master.

Gloves of higher heat.

They had a very simple name that lacked any glamor but their might spoke for themselves. It granted an incredible boost to all fire-based techniques. It was a supporting type item.

A few years ago, her Master died, killed by Rihillon who claimed both the gloves and sword. He proceeded to change their names to suit the religion and erased all traces of her Master. Even her fellow disciples had been eliminated. She was the last one.

Finally, after training for so long, she managed to reach the 22th stage which Rihillon was supposed to be at. She believed that she would be stronger than him at the same stage. She went after him and, through a surprise attack, managed to take back the sword. Unfortunately, she was unable to get the gloves and end the man back then.

She decided to make use of this expedition to finish what she started. From the beginning, she knew that this was a trap set for her. There were no real demons in this world. The church labelled its opponents as demons but they were merely humans or sentients who did not believe in their doctrine. Or those who owned powerful items coveted by the church higher-ups. An inquisitor could easily order for a punitive expedition. And thanks to some information broker, she knew who the target of this expedition was.

A woman named Kaen Ame.

Herself.

But she was not where they were heading to.

She understood this was a trap. Rihillon wanted the sword back and her head and she wanted the gloves and his head. By creating all this, he was sending her a message. To settle things once and for all.

As he said, if she died, the sword and gloves would truly belong to the church.

So, in the end, be it the church priests or the wandering cultivators, they were only unlucky to have been dragged into their feud. She was no hero and had no reasons to help them though. She had her own goals.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Rihillon managed to reach the next stage... They had been of seemingly equal abilities back then but now? She would have to use the sword's hidden ability. However, how could she do so? Would he let her?

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

He was not yet aware of it which was her trump card. But right now, she was too far from the arrays to activate it. She needed to get closer but was there a way to ditch him?

He was faster now.

As she wondered, she saw in her peripheral vision an opportunity. There happened to be a wanderer who made it through. He was close to the fire pillars. She revolved her energy and launched herself towards Rihillon. He snickered as he moved as well. They collided and she reeled away from the powerful impact.

She magnified the impact so that she flew further away. Until she crashed close to the man she saw. She would use him as bait and distraction while she activated the sword.

He would probably die but so what? Whether he fought or not, he was a dead rat trapped in a cage. At the very least, she could use him to end her own feud.

However, as the smoke disappeared, she saw him jump within the flames without looking back.

"Is he suicidal?!"

She could not believe what she just saw. That guy was only at the 9th stage from what she sensed. He would be burnt to death if he jumped within those flames! But he still jumped?

She was brought back to reality by the laughter of Rihillon who flew down from where they had been with his arms behind his back. He was arrogant but his strength enabled him the right to be.

Rihillon looked towards the direction the man jumped and sighed: "A shame. He would rather kill himself than face battle. Too bad for you, Ame"

Kaen Ame glared at Rihillon.

It's true that her plan failed but this was only a small matter. It would have made it easier for her to win if the man helped as bait but she could still win without him. She had been injured in the previous bout but only moderately. She sacrificed a bit of health to get close to the arrays.

And that's all she needed.

She smiled as she stepped backwards, eyes fixed on Rihillon. She entered the flames. Rihillon snickered before he rushed after her.

Both of them were within the pillar of flames. And they remained unaffected due to their spiritual energy protections. Grade 1 arrays were not enough to damage them. They were both over the 20th stage after all.

Rihillon stated coldly: "You cannot escape your fate, Ame"

Ame smiled as she spoke: "Ember Sword, liberation"

The flames around the sword began to revolve as they slowly changed color. They became whiter and whiter. Rihillon cursed. He knew this technique. It was the reason why he renamed the sword yet he had never been able to activate it. The array within was too complex to crack within a few years. It turned out that her Master taught her the way. He would have to capture her and get the information.

With his new strength, it was possible.

That being said, he could not let her do as she pleased. The white flames were much stronger than the usual red ones. The flames surrounding his gloves began to rapidly revolve as he made his own move.

He rushed forward as she cursed. She still needed some time for the sword to wake up. She revolved every ounce of energy that she had left to protect herself. She would have to tank this hit in order to buy the required time for the weapon to wake up.