Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

Without anymore wasting time, round two began with Linley and Bebe showing renewed vigour and confidence. Unfortunately, even with the assistance of his familiar, Linley still found himself firmly on the back foot with the odds seemingly stacked impossibly against them.

Despite their best efforts, Linley, battered and bruised, continued to bear the brunt of Felicia's relentless assault. His azure dragon scales cracked and fractured from the sheer force of her light elemental magic. He fought valiantly, but every move was an agonising struggle.

As for Bebe, try as he might, he remained unable to even near Felicia as she whizzed around the battlefield like a flash of light, only diverting part of her attention to deal with the nuisance that was Bebe – still that small part of her attention appeared to be enough.

Bebe scurried through the air with a defiant roar that sounded more like the cries of a proud lion than a little rat. His fur, once glossy and sleek, was now matted with dirt and blood, but his determination remained unwavering. The Godeater Rat, an Apex Divine Beast at the peak of the ninth rank, leapt into the fray, razor-sharp claws and teeth bared.

Still, Felicia remained unyielding. Her golden blonde hair gleamed like a halo as she moved with unparalleled grace, weaving through the jungle terrain. Her white robe billowed behind her, a stark contrast to the carnage unfolding around her.

With a flick of her wrist, Felicia unleashed a barrage of light-based spells, each more devastating than the last. Her attacks sliced through the air with incredible speed and precision, homing in on her targets. Bebe, with his incredible speed and reflexes, managed to evade some of the strikes, but Linley, due to his ever-worsening injuries, wasn't as fortunate.

Felicia's magic left a trail of destruction in its wake, causing the jungle foliage to burst into flames and the earth to tremble. Linley and Bebe fought valiantly, their synergy as a warrior-mage and beast partner evident in their coordinated strikes and defence, but they were still at the mercy of Felicia's overwhelming power.

Linley's azure dragon scales, already weakened, continued to crumble under the relentless assault. Blood seeped from numerous wounds, and his movements grew sluggish. Bebe's fur, too, bore the scars of battle, and he let out an anguished cry as he attempted to shield his wounded partner.

Felicia, undeterred, summoned the full force of her mage-force. A blinding sphere of pure light enveloped her, illuminating the jungle with an intensity that rivalled the sun itself. With a graceful motion, she directed the sphere toward the bloodied Dragonblood Warrior, the light threatening to consume him whole.

"BOOSSSSSS!!" Bebe roared as he turned, making a beeline straight for Linley, hoping to help defend against the earth-shattering might of the forbidden spell [World Purifying Light]!

Linley heard the worried and pain-filled cries of his beast partner; unfortunately, in his battered state, Linley could do little to defend against such an onslaught, let alone pacify Bebe's worries. The light engulfed him, searing pain tearing through their bodies as they were overwhelmed by Felicia's overwhelming magic.

'Is this it?' Linley thought to himself as his vision blurred, and his consciousness began to slip away as he fought against the relentless tide of light that seemed to assault both his body and mind. 'Is this really how it ends?'

As unwilling as he was, Linley understood there was nothing he could do to escape this time – he had literally nothing left to give. He had gone above and beyond in this fight, but Felicia was simply too powerful.

But, just when it appeared all hope was lost, a shadow moved through the skies, entering the range of the spell, appearing just in front of Linley's barely conscious body.

Linley had long since reached the end of his rope; he barely managed to catch sight of the slender but surprisingly powerful back of the newcomer before he finally lost consciousness. As such, he didn't get to witness the overwhelming might of the blackish-blue energy that casually dispersed Felicia's spell.

Upon breaking through to become a prime saint, Felicia's power saw a drastic improvement, but her soul didn't, and because her line of sight was disturbed by the blinding light of her own spell, she didn't notice the appearance of the newcomer until after her spell was easily dealt with.

"You…" Felicia frowned subtly, ignoring the frantic, bloodied Godeater Rat hurrying to Linley's side as she focused on the indifferent face of the enchanting warrior casually staring at her. "Why are you…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Felicia's eyes constricted into pinholes as her body flickered, appearing over 100 meters away, only barely managing to evade the blackish-blue sword light that seemed to embody the elements of water and darkness, threatening to cleave her in two.

"Yunaia, was it?" Felicia said gently, clearly hesitant about making an enemy of this frightening young woman. "There is no enmity between you and I – must you interfere in the private business of my Yulan Empire?"

Yunaia's gaze was indifferent as always; she merely stared at the captivating figure of Felicia.

"If you agree to leave now, I promise that my Master – the High Priest of the Yulan Empire – will be most grateful," Felicia added when she noticed that Yunaia appeared to have no intention of responding.

Yunaia glanced back lightly at Linley, who was lying unconscious on the ground behind her, before calmly returning her focus to the woman before her. "You can't touch him."

Yunaia's words caused a frown to appear on Felicia's face. She didn't know much about this mysterious Qingya descendant, but from what she did know, Yunaia didn't seem to know Arianna personally. As such, she should have nothing to do with Linley and his group, so her wanting to protect Linley now made little sense to her.

But what she did know was that despite still only being a mortal, this mysterious young woman wasn't one to be underestimated. Her mysterious ability to somehow fuse two separate laws gave her incredible power. The might of the sword slash she used previously, despite only being what appeared to be a casual attack, was infinitely close to the power of a prime saint.

Still, as impressive as that was, Felicia was confident in her ability to suppress her. No, what really made her cautious was the giant crow beneath her feet.

Oscar was only at the early stages of the saint realm, but it was clear from its aura that it too was a Divine Beast no inferior to the likes of Bebe.

Seeing as Bebe, relying on nothing but its innate gifts, was able to suppress most peak saints, in Felicia's mind, it only stood to reason that Oscar could do the same to peak saints.

Felicia knew that, after starting to fuse two different mysteries, she was stronger than prime saints on the level of Fain and Desri, but she didn't have the confidence to defeat a beast like Oscar, especially when it had the support of both Yunaia and Bebe.

But at the same time, Felicia was unwilling to leave without first killing Linley. The threat he posed to her Empire was too big.

Even though he was much weaker than her now, she hadn't become deluded by her recent breakthroughs.

Linley, despite only being a fraction of her age, had strength that was rapidly approaching hers. As an enemy, his talent was simply terrifying.

Felicia's hands tightened around her staff as she continued to weigh her options.

Still, Yunaia simply waited patiently, seemingly not bothered by whatever decision Felicia would choose to make. In fact, instead of keeping her eyes on her could-be opponent like one would expect, she turned her attention back towards Bebe, who was distraught by Linley's body.

"Can you save my boss?" Bebe asked frantically, sensing her look over. "Please! I'll do anything! Just please save him!"

"Don't worry," Felicia replied slowly as she glanced over Linley's now near-naked body. "He looks a lot worse than he is. He may be human, but he seems to have the vitality of a…"

Before Felicia could finish her sentence, a devastating golden beam of light tore through the air, piercing the centre of her head.

Bebe's eyes constricted in fright, fearing that his and Linley's ticket to freedom had just been killed, but before he could even begin to rearrange his thoughts, he watched as the bodies of Yunaia and her familiar flickered out of existence.

It wasn't just Bebe who was caught off guard by the sudden development; even Felicia's eyes widened as her head spun over her shoulder.

"Oscar," Yunaia uttered lightly as she casually hopped off the back of her crow. "Kill her."

"I thought you'd never ask," Oscar grinned excitedly as his body shot forward at a speed that even Felicia struggled to follow.

Without a moment's hesitation, Felicia hurriedly flew off, realising she had still underestimated the threat this Divine Beast posed.

Virtually all Divine Beasts are gifted with incredible bodies, but Apex Divine Beasts take it one step further in that, although they are physically superior to other beasts at the same level, they all tend to have an attribute where they truly excel. For Bebe, it's his seemingly impenetrable defence; for Leona, it's her raw power, but for Oscar, it's his speed!

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