Among all the legacies Allen wielded, the one he had mastered most thoroughly was this one. Although the ultimate inherited from the Harbinger of Doom had not appeared for a long time, that did not mean its power had diminished in the slightest. On the contrary, as Allen himself grew stronger and his understanding of magic deepened, this skill only became more and more terrifying.
Of course, the greatest credit still had to go to Xiao Ju.
This summoned giant—its body formed from stone, vines, and branches—consumed an enormous amount of Allen's magic. But its sheer size and frightening magical fluctuations made it the perfect cover. While the enemy focused most of her attention on Xiao Ju, Allen dove down from the air together with Hiyori.
Thousands upon thousands of raven feathers rained down like hailstones, smashing toward the woman on the ground. Every time a phantom feather touched the earth, a pale-purple crow exploded into existence, dealing damage while simultaneously inflicting fear upon the target.
Amid this relentless barrage, the preparations Allen had made earlier finally revealed their fangs. Five sneaky little saplings—obviously not something hastily created—popped their heads out of the ground. They comically pulled free their "legs," and the moment they emerged, the grass where they had been hiding instantly withered and lost all vitality.
Then, at an absurdly slow pace, these little fellows hopped toward the woman trapped in fear, laughing cheerfully all the while. The moment their laughter ended, a series of BANG! BANG! BANG! sounds rang out, every last explosion landing squarely on the target without the slightest waste.
After the explosions ended, Xiao Ju—slow to move due to Allen's imperfect grasp of the legacy—finally lumbered onto the battlefield. But its actions were anything but polite. A massive palm slammed downward, a blow that would have been absolutely fatal if it had landed.
Yet just before the palm struck, the bead in the woman's hand flared with white light, snapping her out of control. At the critical moment, she dodged the deadly strike.
With a flick of her tails, her figure vanished and reappeared elsewhere, fully guarded once more.
Allen couldn't help but sigh. If it had landed that hit…
Even if it meant draining most of his magic to follow up with another full combo, he could have taken down this fox-system witch. But now that she had escaped control, killing her would be far from easy.
Since a swift victory was no longer possible, there was nothing to do but grind it out slowly. Allen sighed again and raised his wand.
However, the woman shot him a venomous glare—then turned and fled outright. And it wasn't an ordinary retreat. Several streaks of blue light flared from her tails, and before Allen could even see her route clearly, she had completely vanished.
What the hell?
She'd looked like she wanted to murder his entire family just moments ago, and now she was running? And running that fast?
Allen knew exactly how much damage his combo had dealt. It looked brutal, sure, but it wasn't bone-breaking for someone like her. With that level of hatred at the start, how could she possibly retreat without a fight to the bitter end?
Allen felt utterly helpless. He had already used Swift to set up his traps—what was he supposed to chase her with now?
Fuming, he punched the tree beside him, then irritably pulled out a Chocolate Frog and stuffed it into his mouth in a few bites.
Hiyori clearly sensed Allen's mood and obediently perched on his shoulder, perfectly still.
A few minutes later, Hiyori suddenly sent him a mental message: Follow me.
Because Allen hadn't shut down their mental link during the fight, the signal came through immediately.
Why does he usually turn it off? Because Hiyori would endlessly chatter about whether owl feed tasted better than crow feed, which owl he'd bullied today, and other utterly useless information…
But that was beside the point. After such a fight, only to have the enemy escape, Allen was thoroughly frustrated and had nothing better to do.
So he decided to follow Hiyori. If this guy dares explain which crow girl is cuter, Allen thought, I won't mind beating him up.
Since the battlefield wasn't far from where Hiyori usually played, it only took a few steps to reach their destination.
After signaling Allen to stop, Hiyori flew up into a tall tree. To Allen's curiosity, he pulled out a bag of something in his beak.
At that instant, Allen was already thinking about recipes for a chicken dish.
Yes—he recognized it immediately. It was the dog food he'd bought for Hiyori earlier. He even had a full bag of it in his pocket right now as rations.
Have I really fallen so far that my own pet has to hand out dog food to me now?
Ahem… I wonder if stewed crow with mushrooms tastes good.
But Hiyori clearly had no intention of feeding Allen. Instead, he grabbed the dog food bag with a claw and let out a series of caw caw calls.
Just as Allen was puzzled, a faint sound—eerily similar to a puppy's whine—came from the bushes. Then, a small, snow-white, fluffy head poked out.
After a brief exchange of caw caw and wa wa, the creature revealed its full body.
It was an incredibly adorable little white fox.
Honestly, if this thing were turned into a life-sized plush toy, it would sell for an absurdly high price.
To Allen's surprise, Hiyori plucked a biscuit from the dog food bag, tilted his head, and dropped it. The little fox leapt up, caught it with its front paws, and quickly devoured it.
After repeating this process more than a dozen times, the fox made another sound—probably meaning I'm full. Hiyori immediately stopped, flew down, and stood beside the fox, gently grooming its fur with his beak.
It looked exactly like Allen petting a cat after feeding it pudding.
At this point, Allen was completely dumbfounded.
My pet… has a pet now?
And with such good taste, too? A rare white fox, just picked up like that? Were wizard pet abandonment rates in Japan really this bad?
As for feeding a fox dog food—Allen had already given up complaining about that. What was the point? His crow ate owl feed anyway!
Because the little fox was criminally adorable, Allen's mood lifted noticeably. He picked it up with both hands, ready to indulge in some fox-petting aftereffects of cat-petting syndrome.
Crouching down, Allen weighed the fox out of habit and clicked his tongue.
"So heavy for such a small thing. And it's a female too—greedy little glutton! Ah—!"
Pain shot through his hand as the fox bit him. Not very hard—probably just uncomfortable.
"Alright, alright, I'm putting you down," Allen said as he lowered the little creature. "Stingy thing."
At the same time, he pulled out a box of higher-grade dog food the shopkeeper had thrown in for free after his bulk purchase earlier. Since this fox's whole vibe was already off, dog food would probably calm it down.
Wait—
A fox?
Allen looked at Hiyori, a few white hairs still clinging to her beak. Then he looked at the white fox on the ground. Then he recalled the inexplicable battle from earlier that day.
Suddenly, he had the distinct feeling that Hiyori had just screwed him over—hard.
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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