Amidst the silence, a wisp of ghostly blue fox fire, tinged with a trace of scarlet, quietly ignited from No-Tail.
At the interface between the blade and the scabbard, the ghostly blue Ice Flame was initially as thin as a hair, but subsequently, in just a few short seconds, it expanded rapidly.
Within those few seconds, the Ice Flame had already encircled the sides of the two people.
However, no matter how it circled, the Ice Flame never once touched Andrew from beginning to end.
Subsequently, that trace of scarlet within the Ice Flame expanded rapidly. With a speed difficult for ordinary people to react to, it once again completely transformed the extreme ghostly blue into a bewitching scarlet.
Although the target, from beginning to end, was Andrew.
However, this time, the fox fire acting as the Ice Flame seemed to have smartened up. It didn't rush up impatiently to try and invade Andrew's body directly like last time; instead, it hovered constantly by his side.
Then, a stream of unknown whispers began to gradually echo in their ears.
A maddening will began to envelope the two of them, and countless unknown voices and ravings began to ring incessantly in their ears.
Men, women, perhaps young, perhaps old, perhaps gentle, or perhaps heroic.
Countless voices melded together with the roars, and thousands of words ultimately converged into roars of indistinguishable gender.
"Cut!!"
"Cut it down!!"
"Cut it down!!!!"
"As long as you cut it down, you can break free from all suffering!!"
Accompanied by the never-ending ravings and roars, a tyrannical emotion began to churn and surge up constantly from the bottom of Andrew's heart.
Negative emotions were constantly being seduced out, and a stream of foul air subsequently clogged Andrew's chest.
As the foul air in his chest continued to pile up, an impulse wanting to hack out with the long knife in his hand began to emerge constantly.
Regardless of the target, without any purpose.
It was as if a dried-up body were longing for sweet dew; only by hacking down with the knife in hand and severing everything in front of him would he feel comfortable again.
Undoubtedly, this was inevitably the condition that would appear only after No-Tail went berserk.
The fact that it was almost ignoring the seal on the scabbard undoubtedly verified Hoshimi Miyabi's previous statement: the effect of the labyrinth seal, having been breached, was inevitably greatly discounted.
The fox fire broke through the seal belonging to the scabbard without even stirring up much of a ripple.
However, this time, the fox fire no longer possessed the madness of pouring out everything immediately upon discovering Andrew's existence like before.
Instead, it switched to another method, attempting to affect his sanity without directly touching Andrew, thereby using this to bypass Icebrink's food-guarding state to steal a chicken—to pull a fast one.
And in fact, it could be said to have succeeded halfway.
It indeed successfully bypassed Icebrink's food-guarding state, allowing No-Tail to use the Ice Flame to start constantly whispering to Andrew.
It was just a pity that what it didn't expect was...
To Andrew, who had already experienced the Frenzy Virus, ravings of this degree couldn't truly affect him at all.
Rather, it would be better to say that precisely because it was fundamentally impossible to affect Andrew, Icebrink, standing on his back, couldn't be bothered to care.
But although Andrew was fine, Hoshimi Miyabi in front of him had already entered a state of difficult resistance.
"So noisy!"
The palm holding Andrew's hand began to tremble slightly, and her free hand had already unconsciously rested lightly on No-Tail's hilt, struggling to resist the madness belonging to the Demon Blade.
"These strange whispers... I also heard them when the blade lost control before..."
Before her eyes, Andrew's figure had already begun to become blurred and unclear, and even the scenery began to fade gradually.
What followed, appearing in her eyes and swallowing up all the surrounding scenery, was a boundless, void space.
As well as in the void, starlight-like remnants of broken swords and blades scattered everywhere.
And as her vision gradually blurred, those countless noisy tones coming from No-Tail began to get louder and louder in her ears.
Also with the passage of time, they gradually became deafening.
Countless voices eroded Hoshimi Miyabi's sanity; it seemed that as long as she cut down without thinking, she could be liberated from suffering.
But she couldn't.
Andrew, standing in front of her right now, was an innocent person who had kindly helped her test the cause of the Demon Blade's rampage and conducted the experiment.
And she had long since made up her mind.
No matter what, her blade could only be used to punish evil and eliminate vice; it must absolutely never hurt any close person or innocent person.
However, the determination in her heart could not change the current situation.
She had already exhausted all her strength suppressing the No-Tail in her hand. Even if she wanted to open her mouth to remind Andrew to stay away or use Icebrink, she was already too distracted and powerless.
And seeing Hoshimi Miyabi's state, Andrew, who had felt nothing all along, immediately realized that the current situation had become very wrong.
This was already fundamentally not the other party controlling it according to her own consciousness.
Because from beginning to end, the hand with which Hoshimi Miyabi held the hilt never moved her fingers even a fraction closer to the fingerprint lock on the scabbard.
And after the scarlet Ice Flame discovered that Icebrink on Andrew's back remained motionless, No-Tail's actions, as if having mastered the walkthrough strategy, immediately became bold.
Although it was currently impossible to directly invade Andrew's consciousness and erode his sanity.
But next was the effort of water grinding a stone.
As long as there was enough time, even the hardest bone could be gnawed down by it!
Plus, this new little girl from the Hoshimi family would soon fall completely into the illusion. At that time, after she attacked desperately to weaken the opponent's state...
Perhaps it could be even faster.
There was already nothing that could stop it!
Just as the fox fire became increasingly surging and rampant.
Looking at Hoshimi Miyabi's situation in front of him, Andrew couldn't help but frown.
Things having reached this point, it was no longer a situation where he could continue to let matters develop naturally.
And Hoshimi Miyabi's current state had already begun to show obvious abnormalities.
In her originally normal red pupils, the centers of Hoshimi Miyabi's pupils had, at some unknown time, unconsciously contracted into vertical slits like a beast.
The scarlet Ice Flame had already climbed all over her body. The moment her originally normal eyes contracted into beast pupils, they likewise emitted intense fox fire.
A tyrannical emotion, wanting to attack everything, began to gradually swallow all other emotions in Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes.
It also swallowed up the worry when she looked at Andrew.
Knowing that if just a little more time passed, she would probably really be forced into a berserk state, Hoshimi Miyabi immediately began attempting to break free from their clasped hands.
But it was already too late.
After uttering a phrase 'Run quickly', Hoshimi Miyabi fell completely into the illusion.
And regarding all of this, Andrew had absolutely no intention of rapidly moving away from this place.
After all, not only could he be said to be the cause of this Demon Blade No-Tail going berserk, but he was also the one who proposed that the two attempt this again.
Moreover, even if they were in a small alley, the surroundings were still the downtown area no matter what.
If Hoshimi Miyabi really went berserk, the only one estimated to be able to restrict her before any personnel casualties occurred was himself.
Both emotionally and rationally, it was impossible for Andrew to sit by and ignore this situation.
And at this moment, the world in Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes was completely submerged by the endless void, leaving only that single ice-blue dividing line at the end of her vision, dividing the sky and the earth.
Schwing!
Clearly without fingerprint unlocking, the No-Tail at her waist had already been drawn by Hoshimi Miyabi.
Only hollowness and a madness belonging to a beast remained in her red pupils. The sharp blade cut through the air, leaving behind an incomparably sharp whistle as it swung straight toward Andrew's chest.
Holding hands, the distance between the two was no more than an arm's length.
In such a narrow space, Hoshimi Miyabi's blade had almost no wind-up, yet it was simultaneously fast, precise, and incomparably fierce.
And facing this blade now.
If it were changed to the Andrew who hadn't been forced to tangle with her for a long time due to that surprise attack by Hoshimi Miyabi, it would have been impossible to dodge.
But to the Andrew who had already become incomparably familiar with all her moves under the polishing of the 'Gold Medal Sparring Partner' Hoshimi Miyabi from that time...
The moment before the blade waved, Andrew already knew the trajectory of her weapon's swing.
Right foot retreating a small step rapidly, with merely a sideways turn of his body, Andrew dodged Hoshimi Miyabi's incomparably fierce strike by a hair's breadth.
He didn't attempt to catch the blade empty-handed.
Although Andrew couldn't hard tank Hoshimi Miyabi's sword swing to forcibly take it away, there was another benefit.
That was a dodging ability improved by several tiers.
And Hoshimi Miyabi's subsequent few cuts were all completely dodged under the left and right maneuvering of Andrew, who was incomparably familiar with her moves.
Even the hand tightly holding hers chose not to let go.
Seeing that Hoshimi Miyabi had truly entered a berserk state, Andrew showed not the slightest panic.
If the two were separated by a distance, Andrew really wouldn't have any good method against her. After all, Hoshimi Miyabi's speed was indeed unparalleled; it was very hard for Andrew to chase her down directly.
But now it was different.
One had to know, Andrew had never once let go of Hoshimi Miyabi's hand that he held previously from beginning to end.
When facing Hoshimi Miyabi who possessed super high agility, it was one thing when not grabbing the opponent, but it was another matter entirely after grabbing the opponent.
In terms of strength, Andrew was completely crushing compared to Hoshimi Miyabi.
Seeing that the held right hand couldn't break free, Hoshimi Miyabi, trapped in the illusion, directly swung her sword to chop at Andrew's wrist, but her sword-wielding left hand was grabbed directly by Andrew's other hand with sharp eyes and agile hands.
No matter how hard Hoshimi Miyabi, trapped in the illusion, tried to press down her arm, she couldn't swing the sword down even a fraction no matter how much force she used.
The strength gap between the two was simply too huge.
Seeing that both hands were directly subdued by Andrew.
Hoshimi Miyabi, having entered the illusion, relied on instinct to choose to smash her only unrestricted head ruthlessly towards Andrew.
Without the slightest intention of holding back, or caring whether she would be injured.
Andrew, however, was long prepared for Hoshimi Miyabi's counterattack.
Facing the head Hoshimi Miyabi smashed over, Andrew directly pulled the held right hand behind him, and his left hand pushed in the same direction.
The two actions combined directly made her forward-charging motion lose its center of gravity, and she was forced to fall toward Andrew's side.
Subsequently.
Andrew spotted the opportunity and very decisively hooked his right arm in a reverse grip, clamping Hoshimi Miyabi's free arm and head together within the crook of his arm.
Two brief movements forced Hoshimi Miyabi to stand rooted to the spot, forced to bend her waist and arch her back, unable to move. He successfully restricted all of Hoshimi Miyabi's upper body movements firmly, leaving only her feet able to continue moving.
It was like turning her into a waist drum placed at his waist.
To be honest, this pose of Hoshimi Miyabi after being subdued really gave one the desire to treat her as a waist drum and slap it down for real.
However, Andrew quickly put a stop to this inappropriate thought of his.
The reason Andrew could accomplish all this so easily, aside from the dedicated sparring that day leading to being very familiar with her moves, had another main reason.
That was that Hoshimi Miyabi now only had her instinctual combat consciousness left.
Although this state was extremely powerful when crushing weaklings, it was a complete side effect when facing an opponent of the same level, or an even stronger one.
With such multiple factors superimposed, Andrew could subdue her as easily as he did now; otherwise, no matter what, it would have taken some effort.
At least the buildings on both sides of this alley would definitely be gone.
And relying on Andrew's strength, Hoshimi Miyabi, locked in the crook of his arm, had fundamentally no possibility of breaking free from the restraints. That unparalleled speed also had absolutely no space to be displayed.
The left hand holding the sword was grabbed even more firmly by the hand Andrew used to lock Hoshimi Miyabi; no matter how it turned, it couldn't hurt Andrew in the slightest.
Looking at Hoshimi Miyabi's still completely witless eyes, Andrew decisively and proactively reached out to hold the hilt of Icebrink.
The broad and thick hilt entered his hand, and a trace of icy coolness passed from the hilt into Andrew's palm.
The next moment.
As if feeling Andrew's thoughts.
As Andrew slowly drew the Icebrink on his back, it did not contract all the white shells on the scabbard to form the long blade of the sword body as usual when being taken down.
Instead, it took action proactively once again.
Swish! Swish swish!!
Countless strips of white shell turned into tiny sharp blades, slashing ruthlessly at all the Ice Flames encircling their bodies.
As Andrew slowly injected the Dragon Attribute energy within his body into Icebrink, the blue light on the hilt also became stronger and stronger.
Until it reached a certain degree, Andrew released it completely.
Under Andrew's active release.
An invisible shockwave, accompanied by the majesty unique to the Incandescent Dragon, instantly blasted all the Ice Flames released by No-Tail into dissipation.
As the terrifying majesty struck, No-Tail once again experienced what was called a thorough and complete crushing.
Furthermore, this pressure was retracted and released freely under Andrew's control, not even affecting the residents in the buildings on both sides of the alley.
At the same time.
Upon realizing that Andrew was actually Icebrink's true master, and not just a holder like itself...
The consciousness hidden within No-Tail hesitated not at all and... chickened out.
It even actively returned to the scabbard, which it had already broken out of twice, the moment Andrew sheathed it.
As if wanting to pretend that everything just now hadn't happened.
Although the maze in the scabbard was a bit precarious, it could still barely fulfill the function of sealing.
It was just that exactly how reliable it was, a question mark had to be placed there.
With No-Tail being sealed once again, just a few seconds later, the Ice Flame in Hoshimi Miyabi's eyes had already disappeared.
Upon waking up, she discovered with incomparable surprise...
She had been subdued by someone.
Moreover, the person subduing her was someone she had never thought of before—Andrew.
____
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