Looking at this white ribbon, eager and itching to go.
There was no doubt that the movement just now—the one that fiercely whipped back the fire snake formed by the Ice-Flame Fox Fire—was its doing.
Fast, precise, ruthless.
Accompanied by a crisp slapping sound faintly echoing in the void, the Ice-Flame Fox Fire that was about to touch Andrew's arm was forced to take a turn in mid-air. Under the laws of mechanics, it was forced to turn back around and return to Hoshimi Miyabi's arm.
It was as if it had been slapped back by the ribbon in mid-air.
For a moment, the air seemed to freeze slightly.
But after a brief moment of dazed shock, the fire snake formed by the Ice-Flame Fox Fire began to act as if it had been provoked. Unwilling to admit defeat, it frantically tried to bypass or charge directly through the interception, constantly attempting to find a way to break through the blockade and erode Andrew's body.
With its constant, unremitting attempts, the Ice-Flame fire snake began to maneuver left and right at top speed, trying to coil around Andrew's body before the opponent could react.
But the result of its frantic attempts was already obvious.
"Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!"
Seeing that the other party actually dared to attempt an invasion again...
One time, two times, but not a third. Icebrink, who had originally been preparing to retract the thin strip, could no longer tolerate the opponent's repeated intrusions.
And this situation, where its own territory was being constantly probed by an unknown entity, instantly triggered the wild, solipsistic instinct belonging to a Dragon.
To guard its own territory.
Especially when its territory was being encroached upon by such a nondescript, unknown existence.
Looking at it this way, it was practically stepping on its face!
As if the instinct to protect its food was triggered instantly, Icebrink immediately began to defend its territory with incomparable fury.
"Roar!"
On Andrew's back, within the scabbard composed of countless spiraling strips of white shell formed by the unfolding of the pure white blade, the pitch-black main body of the Tachi, Icebrink, suddenly emitted a gloomy dark-blue light at this moment.
Energy diffused.
Invisibly, a terrifying pressure belonging to a Taboo-class monster spread out instantly.
Immediately realizing it couldn't win, the Ice-Flame Fox Fire hesitated not at all to find a different approach, attempting to erode the opponent using the ravings and madness accumulated from the sword's owners over hundreds of years of erosion.
However, it didn't expect this.
When facing the brutality and madness accumulated over the long years lived by the monster that existed above the Dragon Lanterns, the madness accumulated by past sword wielders over a mere few hundred years seemed like a drop in the ocean.
It wasn't until the Fox Fire initiated this collision on the mental plane that the infinite madness contained within Icebrink was revealed.
In just an instant, the fire snake formed by the Fox Fire was suppressed completely and instantly, without stirring up a single ripple or having any power to resist.
Subsequently, upon understanding what kind of terrifying existence the opponent was, the fire snake formed by the Fox Fire had no further intention of resisting. It immediately retracted directly with a speed even faster than when it came, like a beaten dog.
All its methods were countered in every aspect.
Anyone would have to evaluate this as 'not even a contest'.
Facing Icebrink, No-Tail was simply as powerless as a toddler stumbling along in front of a grown adult.
And by the time all this ended...
It seemed as if a long time had passed, but in reality, everything from start to finish concluded with incomparable speed.
From the Demon Blade's sudden rampage to the fire snake being suppressed by the invisible pressure, everything happened in merely the time it took to take a single breath.
This invisible confrontation was incomparably concealed and also extremely fast.
Before the ordinary people passing by in the surroundings of Lumina Square could notice, the dust had already settled.
In the line of sight of the passersby, they only felt that something in front of the HIA Club seemed to have suddenly flashed. After emitting a ray of blue light, it quickly turned red.
Subsequently, this ray of light vanished even more rapidly.
The speed was so fast that it even made them subconsciously start to think it was just a hallucination caused by being too tired from work, and they began calculating whether they should take a day off to get a physical examination.
As for that invisible dragon roar and pressure, it was only faintly perceived by the parties involved, Andrew and Hoshimi Miyabi.
As the hunter of its main body and its holder, Andrew felt only a spring breeze brushing his face when the pressure hit. Hoshimi Miyabi, on the other hand, under the specific avoidance of the pressure, only faintly felt a trace of the aftershock.
Thus, before Hoshimi Miyabi's voice had even fallen, the scarlet ice flames retracted with a speed even faster than their arrival.
The scarlet and dangerous Fox Fire instantly turned back into a controllable ice blue.
The ice flames that were originally spewing through the gap between the scabbard and the blade body also misfired with incomparable speed, turning back into a seemingly ordinary long sword once again.
Even the seal on the scabbard, which served as a maze and had been forcibly breached by the Demon Blade, was directly repaired.
It was as if it wanted to pretend that everything just now hadn't happened.
In a short second, everything happened too quickly.
To bystanders, this crisis of rampage simply ended completely after just a split second.
On the street, the passing people also didn't perceive the slightest danger at all.
Even Soldier 11, who was to the side, only felt her vision blur the moment the two shook hands. The next moment, after feeling a trace of biting glacial cold, everything returned to normal.
It made everything just now seem like an illusion shared by the two, as if nothing had happened.
But unfortunately, it would have been nice if this kind of thing could really be treated as if nothing had happened.
Although everything happened incomparably fast, the light produced by the ice flames attracted the attention of quite a few people nearby who were doing morning exercises or preparing to go to work.
This subconscious, casual glance wouldn't have mattered, but very quickly, several people discovered Hoshimi Miyabi standing in a daze at the entrance of the HIA Club.
As the youngest Void Hunter in New Eridu...
Hoshimi Miyabi, who naturally had many fans, was naturally also an idol to these passersby.
The next moment, an uncontrollable cry of surprise erupted.
"Mi... Miss Miyabi?! Why is Miss Miyabi here? Miss Miyabi, I'm your fan!!!"
As a result, things got even worse.
Accompanied by this cry of surprise, the crowd, many of whom hadn't noticed originally, immediately looked over here.
And as more and more people discovered her, the range of transmission began to spread rapidly with each cry of surprise.
Soon, the entire Lumina Square knew.
Subsequently, Andrew discovered that dozens of people were already uncontrollably trying to crowd over as onlookers, holding mobile phones in their hands wanting to take photos or directly filming videos...
If they got surrounded...
Forget about training; under the condition of being surrounded by fans, whether they could escape unharmed would probably become a problem.
And as the person appearing together with Hoshimi Miyabi, Andrew would probably also be dragged into the public eye.
Although Andrew had long thought about his identity being discovered and leading to exposure, he had never thought he would be exposed in this way.
Things having reached this point, he should run away immediately.
However, before preparing to run, Andrew couldn't help but look at Hoshimi Miyabi, who was still in a daze and hadn't reacted.
Should he leave her here...?
After all, the main target of those fans was her. Leaving her in place could be said to be the most convenient and rapid way for him to escape.
But...
Seeing the girl's somewhat soul-lost appearance, Andrew ultimately didn't do the thing of leaving her behind and running away by himself.
He turned his head and glanced at Meow-Da.
After the other party instantly understood the signal, the hand Andrew was originally shaking reversed its grip. Andrew directly grabbed Hoshimi Miyabi's wrist and immediately began to sprint with her towards a small alley not far away.
As for the other side.
The target of four people slipping away in one direction was simply too huge. Thus, Meow-Da tacitly changed direction, dragging Soldier 11 and slipping away in another direction.
Fortunately, even though Hoshimi Miyabi looked like she had lost her soul...
When being dragged along by Andrew to escape, her body could follow smoothly and with incomparable stability, relying solely on instinct.
Along the way, relying purely on instinct, she could dodge all obstacles underfoot with almost no change in her stride.
Although it felt a bit unscientific, this also let Andrew breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, this way, Andrew didn't have to carry her directly in order not to affect the speed of escaping and dodging.
Especially with a woman like Hoshimi Miyabi, whose strength was powerful and whose relationship with him could be said to be completely unfamiliar.
The act of carrying her directly was simply too intimate. Even if Andrew was thick-skinned and durable, he was also worried that he would be directly counterattacked by the other party's instinct.
No matter how thick-skinned he was, it was still just thick skin; who would be willing to get beaten up for no reason?
He wasn't some kind of 'M' (masochist).
Luckily, although Hoshimi Miyabi was out of it, her body was like it had cruise control turned on; her speed wasn't affected in the slightest.
She would even automatically adjust her pace according to Andrew's speed.
Relying on the powerful physical fitness of the two, Andrew soon took Hoshimi Miyabi shuttling through the small alleys of Lumina Square and shook off those fans completely.
It wasn't until the surroundings of the two completely quieted down that Andrew released Hoshimi Miyabi's wrist and stopped.
After heaving a sigh of relief, he looked at Hoshimi Miyabi, who seemed a little dazed, and asked with some hesitation:
"Um... are you okay? Is your condition alright?"
He asked several times in a row.
After Andrew waved his hand in front of Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes for a good while, she finally seemed to come back to her senses, returning to that seemingly very calm state from before.
Regarding Andrew, who had dragged her all the way here to hide, Hoshimi Miyabi answered calmly and methodically:
"Thank you, I am fine. My condition is very good, no need to worry."
Things having reached this point, because of the sudden situation just now, the training session previously agreed upon with Soldier 11 had now become inappropriate.
So, after expressing her thanks, Hoshimi Miyabi continued:
"Regarding what happened just now today, I am truly very sorry. I will specially visit to apologize later."
Saying this, Hoshimi Miyabi hesitated slightly before continuing:
"As for the previously agreed matter of guidance and training, please wait until the next time we meet to arrange it."
Without waiting for Andrew to reply, Hoshimi Miyabi stepped forward and walked towards the distance.
However, watching her figure walking without hesitation towards a direction that was obviously a dead end in the alley, the worry in his heart still made Andrew chase after her.
Arriving at Hoshimi Miyabi's side, facing the other party's somewhat puzzled gaze, he said:
"It's nothing. Anyway, we both have to get out of this alley to go back to our respective homes. Before getting out of this small alley, let's walk a segment of the road together."
And Hoshimi Miyabi naturally had no reason to refuse.
Walking slowly in this empty alley, after reminding the other party for the fourth time that she took the wrong direction at a fork, or that the road ahead was a dead end, Andrew couldn't help but ask:
"Uh... are you really okay?"
Regarding Andrew's question, Hoshimi Miyabi still maintained that calm appearance from the beginning and nodded.
She said seriously:
"You do not need to worry about my condition. I have experienced worse and more complex situations. An accident of that degree just now will not cause me to waver."
Regarding Hoshimi Miyabi's serious words, Andrew confirmed with some skepticism:
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Regarding Hoshimi Miyabi's incomparably affirmative reply, Andrew temporarily chose to believe it.
The result was that at the next intersection, Hoshimi Miyabi once again decisively turned in the wrong direction, walking towards a dead end.
Watching all this, Andrew gazed at the other party's stubborn denial. His eyes narrowed slightly, and then he confirmed once again:
"Really okay?"
"Really okay."
Only this time, facing Hoshimi Miyabi's face full of calm answers, Andrew pretended to be very surprised, as if he had just discovered something, and spoke decisively:
"But, Miss Miyabi, your sword is emitting fire again!"
"What?!"
Regarding Andrew's sudden reminder, a visible panic quickly appeared on Hoshimi Miyabi's face, which originally had no expression.
She hesitated not at all and immediately assumed a combat stance, waiting in full array.
Lowering her head, Hoshimi Miyabi saw only the scabbard in her hand, which had no movement whatsoever.
The No-Tail in her hand was currently lying peacefully in the scabbard in seclusion; where was there even half a shadow of it emitting fire?
Realizing she had been tricked, even a good-tempered person like Hoshimi Miyabi couldn't help but reveal a trace of anger in her eyes.
And watching Hoshimi Miyabi's reaction, Andrew decisively apologized:
"Sorry, I was just a little worried about you."
After the lightspeed apology, without waiting for Hoshimi Miyabi's quiet response, Andrew immediately turned the tables on her:
"Are you really okay? Looking at your reaction just now, you were clearly very shaken!"
"That wasn't funny at all—!"
Knowing that her instinctive reaction just now had directly exposed her true situation completely, Hoshimi Miyabi still immediately retorted stubbornly:
"Furthermore, I really am fine. My reaction just now was simply a very normal reaction!"
Although she was striving to maintain calm, the unconscious urgent tone at the end of the girl's words had long since thoroughly exposed her state of mind, which was already unstable.
Seeing that she was still being stubborn even to this degree, Andrew pretended to shrug somewhat helplessly and said:
"Alright, alright, I was just... Eh?! Miss Miyabi, that flame is rushing towards me again!"
"Where—?!"
Andrew's tone, which suddenly became urgent and even couldn't help but carry a trace of panic, made Hoshimi Miyabi instantly become anxious.
She immediately and incomparably seriously assumed a stance again rapidly. Hoshimi Miyabi turned her head, only to see Andrew standing in place safe and sound, without any situation of being attacked by Fox Fire at all.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and his face wore an expression that said, 'Just as I thought'.
____
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