Water Mage in the Flame Realm-Chapter 332 - 320: The Truth (Part 2)

"You wicked woman, you... you killed our king!"

An elderly Frost Guard glared at Catherine, rasping in his voice.

This old man was unremarkable before, but when he spoke, it carried an extraordinary aura and authority.

He was the former Warrior Chief of the Royal Court, the predecessor of the Warrior Chief killed by Andrew in the Ice Prison.

Though his strength had waned with age, as he stepped forward towards Catherine on the throne, nearly all of the other Frost Guards present followed suit, advancing a step in her direction!

Whoosh—

Dense cold air rose up.

If the encirclement formed by the Commerce Association led by Chairman Beiru was akin to a temporarily dormant Fire Element, then the encirclement formed by the Royal Court’s Frost Guards was an enraged Ice Element.

And surrounded by the dual-layered circle of ice and fire, Catherine, for a moment, seemed like a lone island in an endless sea! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"With this setup, even Catherine at near-War God level, let alone an Earth Fire Scholar above War God, would find it extremely difficult to break through!" Andrew thought with growing alarm, having to pull the pale-faced Barbara back a bit to avoid collateral damage.

"Oh my, turning hostile so quickly? Not even a hint of past ties? How heartbreakingly ruthless." Catherine chuckled.

She sat calmly on the throne, showing no sign of action, yet all the cold air rushing towards her retreated in alarm upon nearing ten meters of her presence.

"You wench!" the elderly Frost Guard roared, "Who has any ties with you—"

Before he could finish, Andrew noticed Catherine seemed to move her strangely fiery, half-transparent Flame Battle Spear slightly in hand.

Whish!

An exceedingly swift and sharp aura appeared instantly before the elderly Frost Guard’s eyes.

Too fast!

The strike was incredibly fast!

The elderly Frost Guard’s strength was not what it used to be, but his eyes still worked; he just couldn’t see how this strike reached him.

As he was about to be killed by this formless spear blade——

Chairman Beiru raised a hand, not as fast as Catherine in action, but miraculously reaching first and blocking the lethal strike for the old man at the critical moment.

"Ha, I really can’t kill anyone in front of you, Father." Catherine smiled, not at all discouraged.

For the first time, a hint of gravitas appeared in Chairman Beiru’s eyes.

The Crimson Knight, paired with Formless Blade Fire, has such an incomprehensible speed.

More importantly——

"This... this isn’t near-War God level power at all." Andrew stared at Catherine, stunned again.

It was clearly evident when Catherine revealed the Formless Blade Fire plundered from the Commerce Association’s Miss, her aura quietly shifted.

It quickly surpassed the level of near-War God, fully advancing to War God level.

The strike she just delivered across the air was the best proof of it.

"Well, this actually isn’t really a surprise."

Andrew thought, "Considering how many outrageous lies Catherine has spouted, it’s normal that she’d hide part of her true strength. If she really had near-War God strength as she said before, I’d be more surprised."

The problem is...

As her aura and power continued to rise, the aura and scent Catherine emitted changed!

Earlier, Catherine always gave Andrew an instinctive feeling of closeness.

Even knowing she was actually the killer of the Commerce Association’s Miss, an enemy, Andrew still couldn’t control his body’s every cell, even his soul’s deepest part, feeling close to Catherine.

Because it wasn’t about Catherine, but rather as a Water Magic Lord, a natural affinity for the Formless Blade Fire.

Just like Andrew’s inherent closeness to Barbara with her Orange Flame Warm Fire, or to An Ya and Alpha Grandpa with their Pure White Flame.

And now, while this sense of closeness remained, simultaneously, an oddly familiar strong sense of aversion quietly emerged from Andrew’s heart.

"This... this is—?!"

Andrew’s eyes widened.

Because this growing aversion wasn’t anything else, but precisely the natural intense aversion a Water Magic Lord would have toward Fire of Extinguishing, Molten Rock Fire, Shadow Erosion Fire, and Necromancy Purple Fire.

More accurately, this specific aversion, different from what the three major Earth Fire Scholars gave Andrew, he had felt before.

Twice, in fact.

Once during his first trip to the Shield of Flowing Fire.

And the other was just last night!

This feeling of aversion was precisely what he experienced when facing the Female Assassin!

"So... does this mean—"

Andrew was somewhat stunned.

He then heard Catherine, smiling, speak again, "Aunt Susan, you’re awake?"

Susan, nearly killed in an attack last night, had somehow arrived on the scene, exuding undeniable weakness, unable to steady her large body as she glared steadily at Catherine’s smiling face, saying, "Second Miss, you... you are good!"

Last night, Susan was ambushed and severely injured in the northern snow mountains of the Royal Court.

She must have been lured into the mountains; otherwise, she wouldn’t have left the Royal Court alone.

Now, it was easy for Andrew to guess that it must have been Catherine who lured Susan into the snow mountains. Only Catherine could make Susan let her guard lower completely and follow her into the mountains.

The problem was, Andrew always believed before that: it was Catherine who invited Susan to the mountains, but the one who ambushed Susan should still be that Female Assassin.

However, right now, with Susan weakly arriving at the scene after waking up, who else in her eyes could be that Female Assassin?

She only stared at Catherine.

Fixated stares!

Andrew suddenly trembled all over again.

Then he saw blood-streaked tears streaming down Susan’s eyes.

Exactly like when she returned to the Royal Court last night and warned Andrew, tears of blood flowed from her eyes!

"So, the one who tricked Aunt Susan into the mountains was Catherine, and the one who injured her, was also Catherine? Not some Female Assassin?" Andrew murmured in slight daze, "Or—there were never two different people named Catherine and the Female Assassin at all? Catherine... is... that Female Assassin?"

Beside him, Barbara overheard Andrew’s murmuring, and was also shocked: "What? What are you saying, Andrew? Second Sister... Catherine, she is the Female Assassin? The one who attempted to assassinate you at the Shield of Flowing Fire?!"

Before Chairman Beiru and others arrived, neither Andrew nor Barbara had any reason to connect Catherine to "killing the king" and "killing the Commerce Association’s Miss".

Now finally uncovering two of Catherine’s major secrets, but is there actually a third one?

Not only did Catherine kill the king, not only did she kill the Commerce Association’s Miss, seizing the Formless Blade Fire.

But she is also the same person as that Female Assassin?

"No... this can’t be! This absolutely can’t be true!" Barbara exclaimed, "That Female Assassin’s combat style is similar to Capella’s, likely someone who trained in the new version of Dragon Transformation Combat Techniques, becoming a Flame Warrior with the Fire of Extinguishing!"

Possessing a type of Strange Fire that only a Mage can claim is already near miraculous for a Warrior.

It’s impossible for someone to maintain the identity of the Crimson Knight and already have plundered Formless Blade Fire, while also holding the Magic Guild’s Fire of Extinguishing, right?!

Barbara thought so, and Andrew concurred.

Yet soon after, they saw: Slowly growing from the side of the semi-transparent Formless Blade Fire constructed war spear in Catherine’s hand, was a black axe blade formed by the Fire of Extinguishing.

Formless Blade Fire constructed war spear.

Fire of Extinguishing constructed axe blade.

The two merged together, incongruous, yet undeniably real.

This was precisely... the axe spear configuration of the weapon used by the Female Assassin at the Shield of Flowing Fire.