Water Mage in the Flame Realm-Chapter 317 - 305: The Respect You Wanted
Andrew soothed Barbara while actually having been injured himself, and the injury was not light.
This was because, just now, when Yorkshire attacked Barbara and trapped her, he actually attacked Andrew as well.
A ruthless strike.
Confronted with the force unleashed by Yorkshire burning his life, Barbara couldn’t withstand it and was temporarily trapped, and Andrew couldn’t withstand it either.
The moment he was injured, Andrew confirmed two things—
First, Yorkshire was definitely not an empty-headed, talkative Saint Son, nor did he rely solely on the mad act of burning magic power and life to erupt with such formidable force in a short time.
Yorkshire... was a true genius!
The evidence was: Yorkshire’s "Burning Land" unexpectedly gave Andrew the sensation of facing "Molten Rock Fire"!
It’s known that "Molten Rock Fire" as one of the Eight Strange Fires, is exclusive to Earth Fire Scholars.
Only those who have cultivated to the Realm of Magic Guide and received "recognition" can possess it.
Breaking through to the Realm of Magic Guide without receiving "recognition" will end up like Humboldt, failing to break through and completely losing his level.
Yorkshire, as a Tier Four prodigy, is clearly far from the Tier Nine Realm of Magic Guide.
Yet, the "Burning Land" he unleashed by burning himself, truly has the flavor of Molten Rock Fire.
"The last time I saw Molten Rock Fire was when I explored the Lake of the Ocean beneath the Wildfire Territory with Ivan. That time Ivan triggered the ’Earth Fire Curse’ all Desert Hunters possess, and after the curse was triggered, what descended on Ivan was the Molten Rock Fire."
Andrew thought to himself, "The magic flames Yorkshire just attacked me with not only had an aura similar to Molten Rock Fire, but also initially possessed the cursed aura unique to Molten Rock Fire."
To independently concoct magic flames similar to Molten Rock Fire with Tier Four power, if this isn’t genius, what is?
And the other thing Andrew confirmed was—
He finally understood how much Yorkshire hated him.
Yorkshire’s power, after his death, only lingered on the spot without dispersing, but his hatred after death became stronger and more intense!
The hatred further strengthened the curse power similar to Molten Rock Fire contained within the "Burning Land," continuously tearing at the wound on Andrew’s arm.
After being wounded, Andrew naturally used the "Water Priestess Series" at the first moment to heal himself.
But the result was that, for the first time ever, Andrew’s healing speed couldn’t keep up with the growth speed of the curse hatred power in the wound. The more Andrew healed, the more the wound was internally destroyed, becoming increasingly torn!
Andrew grimaced in pain to the point where tears were about to come out!
His gaze, however, held a complex and indescribable emotion: "Saying that he wanted to turn the two-on-two into a one-on-one, to have Capella duel me. But actually, before dying, using all his last strength to lay the most venomous curse on me..."
Andrew of course knew why Yorkshire hated him.
Of course, it wasn’t because of their first meeting and confrontation in the Royal Court. Although Yorkshire lost that time, that’s not the reason for his hatred.
There’s only one real reason, which is what Andrew later used "Water Prison Training" for, to plot against Yorkshire. That is the true reason.
"The problem is, even if repeated a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, I would still do the same thing—use ’Water Prison Training’ to plot against you! And if I knew in advance you were such a ruthless person, I might not only plot against you but do even worse things to you."
Andrew murmured, "So I don’t regret treating you that way!
Just that..."
Andrew raised his eyes, looking at the spot where Yorkshire’s body disappeared, thinking, "...just that I really should apologize to you! For you, I didn’t give enough respect. You don’t hate me because you lost to me, but because I didn’t respect you, right?"
Aside from Barbara, everyone present witnessed the moment Yorkshire stood firm and self-immolated to death. Seeing that scene, from the War God-level Female Assassin to the most common Frost Guard present, everyone’s inner heart was, more or less, impacted.
Andrew was no exception.
Upon hearing Yorkshire say "we can’t win," Andrew thought the opponent was out of his mind.
When the opponent crushed the Ancient God and severed his connection with Barbara, Andrew couldn’t help but feel astonished.
Witnessing up close the opponent self-immolate and die, Andrew’s inner heart surged with an indescribable emotion—
On one side, he finally sincerely gave birth to a sense of admiration for this Third Saint Son. He recognized the opponent as a true genius.
However, on the other side, this admiration could never be conveyed to Yorkshire anymore.
"...I’m sorry, this respect I should have given earlier, I’m late." Andrew said softly, then he took a deep breath and thought, "Now, the only thing I can give you is this belated admiration. Please accept it."
"Hmm?"
The faces of the people on site, after witnessing Yorkshire self-immolate, Barbara trapped, and Andrew injured, had already drastically changed.
At this moment, however, they seemed to have seen something strange again, their faces further altering.
They saw Andrew standing still after being injured, lowering his head to look at the injury on his arm, seemingly lost in thought for a while.
Then Andrew raised his head and took a step.
What puzzled everyone present was that Andrew’s gaze was not on Capella, but on the spot where Yorkshire had burned to ashes. His footsteps also headed directly toward the place where Yorkshire disappeared.
At this moment, more than one person at the scene thought: "What’s going through this guy’s mind? Can’t he see how dire and disadvantageous the situation is for him and Barbara?"
It’s important to know that Yorkshire not only trapped Barbara and injured Andrew, but he also affected Capella—
After Yorkshire burned out, Capella appeared silent, said nothing, only stared dazedly at where Yorkshire had vanished. Yet everyone could sense that the aura around Capella was becoming increasingly unstable and volatile!
In this situation, shouldn’t the focus be on Capella?
Shouldn’t action be taken before Capella’s aura reaches its peak?!
In the eyes of the onlookers, if Andrew faced Capella in an uninjured state, then based on Andrew’s performance since arriving at the Royal Court, people felt he might actually be able to go toe-to-toe with Capella. However, with Andrew’s arm injured and up against a seemingly berserk Capella, the outlook was visibly grim!
Andrew’s voice sounded slowly in the arena: "The respect you wanted, I now give you. And to express respect, I will give my all to win this confrontation. Then if you know from the afterlife, you’ll understand: you can’t beat us, whether it’s two versus two or one-on-one."
Outside the field, Principal Charlie was stunned for a moment before realizing these words were directed at the deceased Yorkshire.
The issue is, with a formidable enemy at hand, in a life-and-death duel no less, he’s actually discussing respect with a fallen opponent at this juncture?
It’s the first time in his life Principal Charlie felt the urge to pull his hair out!
Beside him, Havier couldn’t help but shout: "Respect, my foot! Andrew, is your focus a bit skewed? Look at the other side! Look at Capella on the opponent’s side!!" Catherine, however, remained silent, her eyes peculiarly fixed on Andrew. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Andrew continued walking as he spoke, reaching the spot where Yorkshire had just stood, and then squatted down.
In life, Yorkshire was only Tier Four, yet with the "Burning Land," he managed to "conjure" a magic flame closely resembling Molten Rock Fire.
While alive, Yorkshire was not a Flame Warrior but an Earth Fire Mage, and therefore couldn’t have practiced the outdated Dragon Transformation Combat Technique that caused Flame Warriors to lose control and turn into Desolate Beasts. Yet the indelible power left behind on the scene after his death showed signs of devolving into chaos, mirroring Desolate Beast Transformation!
Andrew observed this change, momentarily ignoring the reasons and principles behind it.
He simply raised his hand and, with utmost seriousness, sprinkled a vast amount of invisible Water Magic on the spot where Yorkshire had just stood, using the "Enchanting Finger" technique he hadn’t employed since coming to the Royal Court.
Andrew’s expression was serious and solemn.
His technique was incredibly skilled.
Because what he was doing now, he had done countless times before—precisely the method he used in the Inland Sea Desert, employing Water Magic to "exorcise" the Desolate Beasts, reverting them back to their Flame Warrior forms.
The technique was exactly the same as before.
Yet the finesse was far superior to the past.
The crowd couldn’t see Andrew’s magical prowess, but they could sense that the hatred, fury, and near-chaos in the residual power left by Yorkshire swiftly stabilized after Andrew took action.
Exorcism couldn’t erase the powerful forces left by Yorkshire after his death.
But it did remove the chaotic and uncontrolled aura within those forces.
"This is..."
Havier ceased his shouting. For a time, an unusually eerie silence enveloped the scene.
If Yorkshire’s self-incineration earlier shook the battlefield and deeply impacted everyone’s heart, Andrew’s act of calming the violent aura left from Yorkshire seemed almost magically capable of soothing the turbulent emotions of everyone present.
As for Andrew himself—
The potent force left by Yorkshire within his arm wound remained, yet the dense grudge embedded within, along with the curse derived from it, silently receded without a trace.
Andrew therefore performed the "Water Priestess Series" once more, leveraging the excellent recovery power and self-healing ability of the "Water Soul Constitution."
This time, the previously unhealed wound on his arm quickly ceased bleeding and began repairing at a visibly rapid pace.
"Phew..." Andrew exhaled a breath.
Only then did he stand up again, turning his gaze toward Capella on the opposite side.
He saw that the dragon shadow appeared once more behind Capella. But this time, unlike before, without the permafrost overlaid by Yorkshire, it was still clearly visible to everyone present, including Andrew!
Even more detailed than when Capella and Yorkshire had jointly conjured the dragon form previously!
"So this really is a dragon... unique to this Flame Realm’s Dragon Race."
Andrew stared at the increasingly distinct dragon shadow, his expression becoming solemn.
Not long ago, Andrew had just seen a terrifying claw mark resembling one left by an ancient Dragon Race on the chest of a woman lying in an ice coffin deep beneath the snowy mountains.
That claw mark had two fingers, one long and one short, with the shorter one not yet completely shed. In this Flame Realm’s Dragon Race, the fewer the fingers, the stronger the power.
Before him.
Behind Capella, on the claw of the dragon shadow that became clearer and more volatile with Capella’s aura, only one... single finger remained.
