On the wintry morning, though the sunshine was bright, the biting cold wind relentlessly drove away the warmth of the sun.

The grass and trees in the wilderness trembled, letting out mournful whimpers as if slaves begging for mercy before death.

Shabulai saw the true face of his opponent and disbelief shone in his eyes.

"Veronica, how can it be you? Why are you dressed like this?!"

The woman in black was Veronica. The corners of her mouth curled up as if smiling, but her eyes were like frozen Stygian ice from millennia past.

"What, you didn't know? Oh, I see, you're just a muddled fool being used as a human shield," she said.

She turned her head sharply to look at Lawson, her scarlet eyes shooting out two piercing beams of light.

"Boy! Your persistence in exonerating your mentor is truly touching. Now, you've succeeded, aren't you feeling very smug right now? Hmm!"

Lawson focused intently on the opponent's every move while slowly stepping back.

"Ms Veronica, clinging to evil beliefs is not worth sacrificing your life for. Please turn back," he said.

The other party was a mid-level wizard. Her insignia indicated her spellcasting ability had reached at least 8 stars, while Lawson was only at 4 stars. She was like two people fighting one, with much greater magical power.

If it came to direct confrontation, she could take him out in less than a round!

"Turn back?!" Veronica laughed loudly.

"My master has bestowed upon me unbelievable great power, granting me an eternal youthful body. I can now look down upon those talented magic geniuses whom I once envied and was jealous of but could never surpass."

"Why would I turn back?! To become a captive under you hypocrites?"

Seeing the crazed female wizard, Shabulai finally understood completely.

"So you were the real culprit! Slandering Serendis and Oleck!" he said.

"Hahahaha~~ Shabulai, you dumb elephant relying on your trunk to think! If not for this annoying brat beside you, I could have easily played you like a fiddle."

"Did you think I harbored affection for you? Did you fantasize about getting into my bed?"

These words poked at Shabulai's raw nerve.

His round face flushed blood red, the dark complexion barely concealing it.

"Don't fart! I swore long ago to never sleep with a female wizard again!"

"You think a woman in her 30s has enough charm to make me break my oath?"

Not feeling it was enough, he added another sentence.

"Unless you had half of Serendis' beauty, then I'd consider it."

"Don't mention that whore Serendis!"

Veronica was enraged, her rather delicate features horribly contorted from the towering anger. The crimson glow in her eyes condensed, like a fathomless blood abyss.

"Why? Why did she have to come to Silvermoon Fortress!"

"Before she arrived, I was the focus of everyone's eyes. No matter what I did, people paid attention to me. I was always a topic in men's conversations."

"After she came, she only needed to stand there and do nothing, say nothing, and she easily stole all the attention that belonged to me!"

"In looks, figure, spellcasting skills, magical attainment, I couldn't compare to her no matter what. No matter how hard I tried, it was useless!"

"I tried every means but couldn't surpass her. I prayed to the Golden God but he only responded with silence."

"If the Golden God treats me so unfairly, why should I still believe in him?!"

"At my most desperate time, only my master responded to me. My generous, benevolent and magnanimous master, he's the only god worthy of my lifelong devotion!"

In the wilderness, the woman's hysterical shouts vented the frustrations in her heart, while also unintentionally revealing part of the truth behind her scheme to frame Serendis.

Shabulai sighed softly. "Jealousy drives people mad. But is there really fairness in this world?"

Lawson remained silent. He had already retreated 50 meters away, while reminding:

"Old pal, watch out for sudden giant vines bursting from the ground, blood-colored energy dots, and mightily powerful vine whips."

Shabulai's expression was solemn, his demon-slaying blade held in front of him. "Lawson, how did you know?" he asked.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"She sent subordinates to assassinate me before when investigating the case. Thankfully I defeated them."

"To think such things happened. You should have told me earlier so we could investigate together."

"I looked for you but you weren't there, and time was tight... Anyway, now's not the time for this. This woman's power is frightening. Even if we join forces, we may not be her match."

Shabulai did not dare be careless either.

He was a high-level warrior, but the opponent was a wizard with unpredictable means, and a specially trained battle wizard at that, with strange dark power within her body.

If it really came to blows, he had no confidence at all.

"If we can't beat her, you run first! I'll stall her!" he said.

Veronica gave a fierce, crazy laugh.

"Hahaha~ Want to run? You think too highly of yourselves. I'm an emissary of the Winter King. The power I wield goes far beyond your imaginations."

"Not just the two of you, even adding Serendis, I can still turn you into foul blood and gore!"

Before she finished speaking, a walnut-sized yellow light bullet shot towards her from afar.

It was Lawson's extraordinary Bulletstorm skill.

The color of this bullet was a little different, golden yellow, like a miniature sun.

The moment he successfully unleashed the bullet, information flowed through Lawson's mind.

'Successfully recorded partial information on the heterogenous power.'

Lawson was startled inwardly. 'Yes, there's a chance!'

The thought flashed by in an instant as he refocused on the battle.

The bullet was already flying extremely fast, but Veronica's reaction was even faster.

When the bullet reached halfway, the ground suddenly exploded. A blackish-red vine, like a phantom, burst out precisely and abruptly to intercept the bullet.

'Boom!'

The bullet exploded violently in midair, blasting into a fireball almost 1 meter in diameter. It easily blew the intercepting vine into two sections, but was unable to harm Veronica who was dozens of meters away.

Lawson was secretly shocked. 'As expected of a formal battle wizard graduating from a proper academy, her spellcasting technique is truly formidable!'

'Ha~'

Seeing the surprise on Lawson's face, Veronica let out a disdainful nasal sound.

"Young apprentice, you are indeed a rare genius, but you started too late, missing out on the precious childhood period. Such flaws can never be made up for in your lifetime!"

Lawson was slightly jolted inwardly. 'No way. They also emphasize childhood training for spellcasting techniques?'

The childhood training mentioned here wasn't some fantastical term, but referred to the golden period for training.

A child's body and mind are not yet fully developed, with extremely high plasticity. Taking this opportunity to put them through specialized training can maximize the unlocking of human potential.

If you miss this timing, and only start practicing after the body and mind have stabilized, wanting to reach the same level is practically impossible.

"Ha! The mad ramblings of a fallen mid-level wizard!"

The one speaking was Shabulai.

His blade shone with condensed silver radiance. With a twitch of his toes, his figure flickered out like a phantom.

The deep blue blade, carrying the silver glow, tore through the air with an awe-inspiring shriek, slicing towards Veronica's neck like lightning.

On the other side, seeing that Shabulai had already charged in, Lawson did not use large bullets to avoid friendly fire. He only kept harassing Veronica with small bullets.

With part of her attention still on Lawson, seeing the bullets fly over, Veronica used the same technique, intercepting with vines.

At the same time, her right hand grasped at the empty air, conjuring a thick, blood-wrapped black vine.

With a flick, the vine darted towards Shabulai like a snake's tongue.

Shabulai was prepared. His footing shifted as silver radiance flashed over his body, narrowly evading the vine whip. As for the splattering blood droplets, he simply ignored them.

His blade unchanged, still slicing towards the opponent's neck.

But in the instant he changed his motion, the ground where he was about to land bulged abruptly, as if something massive was about to burst out from below.

Sensing the change beneath his feet before he could step firmly, Shabulai was shocked inwardly. Decisively giving up on Veronica, he channeled all his power into his right leg and stomped down forcefully!

Silver Moon Technique: Moonlight Deluge!

With Shabulai's right foot at the center, thick and bright silver light gushed out like a tangible substance, pouring fiercely into the ground below.

In a flash, the silver moonlight collided with the underground being.

'Boom!'

Under the clash of two tremendous forces, the hard soil within a 5 meter radius around Shabulai was pulverized into the finest powder.

Amidst the swirling dust, a vine as thick as a grown man's waist thrashed about wildly, gleaming with black metallic luster like a giant python.

'Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!'

Almost instantly, not only did the python vine forcefully knock Shabulai's body upwards, it kept smashing against him, producing crisp shattering sounds reminiscent of broken glass.

The tremendous impact was successfully blocked by his Moonlight Barrier technique, keeping Shabulai unharmed. But the massive force blasted his body into the air.

With no leverage midair, Shabulai was shocked inwardly, not daring to be careless.

He kicked at the python vine, forcing it back momentarily while using the recoil to propel himself higher.

At the same time, his demon-slaying blade spun as he slashed down towards Veronica's neck once more.

Shabulai's explosive combat power at full strength as a high-level warrior was indeed formidable.

As an emissary of the Winter King, Veronica did not dare underestimate him either, but she did not feel much pressure.

Seeing Shabulai approach to within 5 meters, she gently raised her right hand. "Vine Net!"

'Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!'

The ground ejected numerous vines as thick as a grown man's arm, instantly weaving into a vine net 10 meters wide and 10 meters tall, blocking Shabulai's path like a wall.

"Break!"

Suspended in midair, Shabulai yelled loudly. Brandishing his demon-slaying blade overhead, he slashed down, unleashing a swathe of silvery blade radiance.

'Pop! Clank!'

The blade radiance cut into the vines, severing several in one blow. But more vines burst out from the ground, instantly mending the small gap.

"Ah! So sturdy?!"

In Shabulai's imagination, his blade radiance should have cleaved the vines in two. But the actual damage was less than half of what he expected.

With the net unbroken, his momentum stalled. The python vine behind along with the blood whip in Veronica's hand immediately moved to surround and intercept Shabulai.

Failing to penetrate the opponent's defense with one blow, Shabulai's morale dampened.

His feet shuddered as he tried to slip out through a narrow gap on the right side to escape the vine encirclement.

"Lawson, this witch's evil power is more bizarre than a whore's life story. We're no match for her, let's retreat first!"

Lawson also felt Veronica was truly powerful.

Because while she had Shabulai contained, his bullets had not stopped, yet not a single one penetrated the interception.

Sometimes he deliberately changed the flight path, successfully dodging the first, even the second vine. But the third would inevitably block it.

It gave the helpless sensation of an amateur facing a professional.

"Her spellcasting level is at least 10 stars, and every thread of her control far surpasses mine. Thankfully Serendis is still backing us up."

Otherwise they really couldn't win.