Chapter 173 : Battle Against the Night group (3)

Chapter 173 : Battle Against the Night group (3)

"Hahaha, it's hilarious. Did you really think you could defeat me? Hahaha..." Niya laughed madly while staring at a panting Lilia.

Lilia glared at Niya, but she couldn't deny the truth in her words. She was struggling to keep up with her opponent. Her breath was ragged, and her clothes were torn in places, revealing her smooth white skin.

Objectively speaking, she wasn't in terrible condition, but her state was far from optimal.

One could argue that Alex had miscalculated when he chose to let Lilia face Niya alone; after all, the latter was at level 5, while Lilia didn't even possess a level.

He had clearly overestimated the capabilities of his dear wife, though, one can hardly blame him for doing so.

Alex had many reasons to have a blind trust in Lilia when it came to fights and among those reasons, two prime over the others.

The first one was the fact that just a few hours prior now, he had witnessed her slaughtering level 4 monsters like they were mere lambs and a few weeks ago he had also seen her battling all the level 4 of the branch in a one-on-one fight.

What he had forgotten to take into account was that during those fights, Lilia's opponents had to restrain themselves to just fighting hand to hand; they didn't use their abilities. Meanwhile, there was no way Niya wouldn't do so.

The second reason Alex didn't doubt Lilia's battle power, however, was because of a certain memory—the memory of their first meeting.

Back then, Lilia still had some of her powers, and the overwhelming presence she had at that time had etched itself in his mind. That's why, despite the fact that she doesn't hold as much power as back then, Alex still has a very high opinion of Lilia regarding her strength. There was also the fact that he had been thoroughly beaten by her, weeks ago.

However, as mentioned earlier, he had overestimated her strength, and she was currently paying the price for it. Yet, Lilia wasn't blaming him; she also believed that she could take on Niya, but it seemed she had bitten off more than she could chew.

'More than I can chew, huh? I must have really fallen low if I consider someone like that as more than I can chew,' Lilia chuckled in a self-deprecating manner.

'Still, I can't disappoint my husband, now can I?' Lilia thought as she firmly gripped her sword.

Lilia took a deep breath and lunged at Niya, moving much faster than a normal person.

However, Niya easily noticed her swift movements.

Pointing a finger at Lilia, Niya shot a wind arrow at her.

A split second later, the arrow reached Lilia, but she skillfully dodged it and kept running toward Niya.

"Haha, let's see how many you can dodge before one hits you," Niya laughed maniacally as she shot arrow after arrow at Lilia.

However, none of the arrows hit Lilia. Her evasive maneuvers resembled a dance, a graceful display as she slipped away from each arrow.

Barely a second later after the rain of arrow started, Lilia stood in front of Niya, swinging her light sword.

However, Lilia was too slow compared to Niya.

She easily dodged the sword and delivered a quick kick to Lilia's stomach.

Sidestepping, Lilia skillfully evaded the attack, then swung her sword again at Niya's neck.

However, Lilia's sword found only empty air as Niya swiftly crouched to dodge it.

Sensing an incoming attack, Lilia swiftly retreated, and in the blink of an eye, a wind arrow shot towards the spot she had just vacated.

Crack

Niya's body forcefully collided with the ground, creating countless cracks.

Instead of taking advantage of the situation, Lilia swiftly retreated.

The moment she created enough distance from Niya, Lilia suddenly staggered backwards, her vision becoming blurry.

'Poison?' Lilia glanced down and noticed a purple liquid oozing from a slight wound on her upper chest.

'I must have been touched during the last attack,' she concluded.

Without hesitation, she retrieved a bottle emitting green smoke.

The green smoke held a potent antidote, enhanced by Alex's transformation, now in an even more effective form as vapor.

Lilia swiftly inhaled the smoke from the bottle, anticipating the magic of the antidote. However, even after several seconds, nothing changed. Her vision remained blurry, and she could feel her strength rapidly draining from her body.

A sudden and violent headache gripped Lilia, an intense pain that felt like her head was being crushed. Blood began oozing out of her nose and ears, her knees buckled, and soon, she fell on all fours, gasping for breath with each heavy pant.

Amidst the agony, Lilia heard a laughter resembling a serpent's hiss, "It seems that my poison is finally acting, kekeke."

If Lilia could see her opponent right now, she would witness that only the upper part of Niya's body was human, the lower part being a long serpentine tail.

"I don't know what that thing you inhaled was, but it certainly won't counter my poison, that I can assure you," Niya said, the words escaping her slithering tongue in a subtle, serpentine melody.

Niya turned around, gliding on her serpentine tail as she distanced herself from Lilia's kneeling figure. She eventually stopped and settled on the ground.

"I'm going to stay here as a spectator. Don't mind my presence; you can die peacefully. Well, I doubt it will be peaceful, but let's not get carried away with mere details," Niya hissed with a wicked smile on her face.

She rarely assumed that form because she despised her appearance. In the rare instances when she did however, she refrained from an immediate kill. Instead, she preferred to poison her opponent, watching them writhe on the ground before succumbing to death. All the while, she observed the scene, deriving sadistic pleasure from it.

Cough cough cough

As Niya observed with a sadistic smile plastered on her face, Lilia began coughing up blood. Simultaneously, her eyelids swelled, and black discolorations appeared under her eyes.

Lilia's mind was in turmoil, yet it wasn't because of the poison or even her impending death, but because of the reappearance of a certain hateful voice she would rather never hear from again.

"What a disgrace, the proud and mighty queen of battlefields, harbinger of death, Liliana Bloodheart, succumbing to mere poisoning."

****

Here's the discord link for those that have questions or suggestions about the novel:

/invite/nWJTyACfyQ

Also, I would be grateful if you could leave a review of the novel—mentioning what you like and don't like (try not to butcher the story though; nah, I'm kidding, just be honest!). Don't forget to rate the novel as well, preferably 5 stars, but then again, just be honest and give it the rating you think it merits.

That's all from me.Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com