Chapter 101: People Inside and Outside the Storm

"Xiaoyuan, you must be alright, surely waiting somewhere to mock me when I return, Xiaoyuan." Completely disregarding her divine power consumption, Wen Hui, aided by the gentle wind, rapidly approached Maple City. As she neared the city, Wen Hui clearly saw the endless horde of fiends beneath her.

Of course, as Wen Hui spotted the fiends, they too noticed the human flying overhead. Beams of green light shot up from their ranks, aiming straight at Wen Hui in the sky.

Facing the barrage from turret-class fiends, Wen Hui was forced to slow down, dodging the incoming attacks. She could withstand a few blasts with her divine power, but the drain was too severe; Wen Hui simply didn't have enough strength to block so many. With dozens of beams coming her way, she could only barely evade most, using the wind to form shields against those she couldn't avoid.

"Wen Hui, follow me." As Wen Hui slowed to fend off the turret-class fiends' assault, Man Yu Tong accelerated and drew near, grabbing Wen Hui's left hand and pulling her toward Maple City.

"Yu Tong, senior..." Wen Hui was surprised to be seized by Man Yu Tong, thinking she would take her back to Hua Jing's side, never expecting to be rushed toward Maple City instead.

"Stick close. I can see their attack trajectories." Pulling Wen Hui, Man Yu Tong's speed slowed slightly, her brows knitting as she dodged incoming attacks, speaking to Wen Hui without turning her head. With Wen Hui's wind manipulation, their speed wouldn't just remain steady—it would increase.

"Understood." Easily dodging the turret-class fiends with Man Yu Tong, Wen Hui began to channel the surrounding wind, propelling both herself and Man Yu Tong forward. With Man Yu Tong's vision and Wen Hui's wind working in tandem, they slipped past the fiends' assaults and entered the city.

"Where's Xiaoyuan?" No sooner had they crossed the city wall than Wen Hui began searching for Zhuang Xiaoyuan. Since she was fighting a burrower-class fiend, her presence should be conspicuous, instantly visible. Yet, aside from a strange storm in Maple City, there was no sign of the burrower-class fiend.

"Over there." Man Yu Tong pointed to the intense, uncanny storm, addressing Wen Hui. Her eyes perceived two auras drifting within the storm, one belonging to Zhuang Xiaoyuan—though slightly altered, it was unmistakably close. She recalled hearing that Zhuang Xiaoyuan's guardian ability allowed her to transform into various personas. Besides, nowhere else did Xiaoyuan's aura appear.

"This storm is so peculiar." Hearing Man Yu Tong say Xiaoyuan was inside, Wen Hui rushed toward it. Her guardian deity was the Wind God; in theory, no wind could harm her. Yet, as she neared the storm, Wen Hui felt a stinging sensation on her skin—the winds surrounding the storm were attacking her?

"No, it's not the wind that's attacking me. It's this chilling cold." Sensing the affinity of the winds swirling around the storm, Wen Hui dismissed the idea of wind as the culprit. Feeling their touch and the biting cold, she saw that the storm's surroundings were coated in what seemed like deep winter's snow.

Gritting her teeth, Wen Hui pressed closer to the storm. She hadn't even reached its outermost edge when she found herself completely unable to advance further. The wind barred her approach, and any closer would mean injury. With her current state, she simply couldn't break through the barrier of this icy storm. What should she do? Frustrated, Wen Hui retreated to the periphery; in the brief seconds she'd spent near the storm, pale frost had already formed in her transformed, emerald-green hair—a testament to just how low the temperature was.

"How is it?" Noticing Wen Hui retreating from the storm's edge and seeing the frost on her, Man Yu Tong finished questioning the warriors monitoring the storm and flew over.

"There's no way to get close; it's too cold over there. I'm afraid this is Xiaoyuan's own barrier. She used it to temporarily trap the burrower-class fiend, but I don't know what's happening inside." Anxious, Wen Hui stared at the distant storm, at a loss.

"Calm down. I just asked—the storm's been here for several hours already. Xiaoyuan's aura is still inside, which means she's alright. Since we can't enter right now, all we can do is wait for Xiaoyuan's divine power to deplete and the storm to dissipate naturally." Normally reserved and quiet, Man Yu Tong uncharacteristically delivered a lengthy explanation. Wen Hui, who would typically be amazed, was far too worried about Zhuang Xiaoyuan to pay attention to anything else.

"Xiaoyuan, please, be safe." Gazing anxiously at the icy tempest, Wen Hui could only pray silently.

"Hah~" Exhaling a cloud of white breath, Zhuang Xiaoyuan, transformed into the form of Shion, began to feel the cold—not because Shion's power was fading, but because her own divine energy was nearly exhausted. If she couldn’t think of another solution, the moment her power ran out would be the instant the burrower-class fiend broke free.

"It’s been so long—how long, exactly? Minutes, hours, or days? Surely not days… I wonder if Wen Hui and the others are back yet. If they don’t return soon, this will be trouble." Looking up at the fiend, its blood-red eyes still glaring at her, Zhuang Xiaoyuan felt a pang of worry. If she let it loose and the guardians hadn't returned, all their efforts would be wasted. Worse yet, more people might die from the fiend's resurgence.

"In the end, leaving everything up to fate was never my line. I’ve never truly believed in destiny. Everything must be fought for—that’s my creed. No matter whether Wen Hui and the others return, I must prepare for every contingency. If they don’t come back, I need a solution." Muttering to herself, Zhuang Xiaoyuan moved her right hand from her chest, revealing a black, blank card in her palm.

This was probably her only chance. Of the three cards she could use in battle, two were now unusable. If she cancelled her Shion transformation, she’d face six hours without any transformation—her own abilities were only at the prayer level, utterly incapable of fighting the fiend. So her sole hope rested on this blank card—if she could generate one that would continue to prolong the delay...

Holding the blank card in her right hand, Zhuang Xiaoyuan began to activate her character generation power: "Character connection, generate... intermediary role..."