*Whoosh—!*
The thought hadn't even fully formed in Cipher's mind before a frigid black sword tip abruptly and without warning materialized right before her widened pupils, as if bypassing the limits of space!
Deadly crisis froze the blood in her veins! Purely by instinctual intuition for danger and reflexes beyond the norm, she jerked her head violently to the side!
*Sshhrrk—!*
A few strands of gray hair severed by the sword's edge, along with the rear half of her hood, drifted silently to the ground.
Accompanying them were a few splattering drops of golden blood that resembled molten gold—the blood of a Demigod.
Cipher's figure instantly reappeared over a dozen meters away. She raised a hand to lightly touch the burning wound on her cheek, her fingertips stained with golden blood. Her mind was now a churning sea of gravity.
She was one hundred percent certain that in past encounters between Okhema, the other Demigod, and this so-called "Flame Reaver," the other party had absolutely, without a doubt, been holding back and severely pulling their punches!
Otherwise, with the strength and speed he was displaying now, they could never have so easily "repelled" him before!
Right at that moment.
"Hand over the Coreflames," Khaslana's icy voice sounded, ghost-like, right behind her back. "I will not say it again."
'When?!' Alarm bells in Cipher's mind skyrocketed to their limit, and immense terror seized her! Without a second thought, she channeled the full power of her 'Trickery' authority within her, about to activate her divine speed once more to flee the spot!
Yet, she was still a fraction too slow!
Just as her figure began to blur, on the verge of completely dissipating, Khaslana's hand—as if predicting her move—brushed past a specific spot on her lower back with an inconceivable speed, before she could fully escape.
Cipher, in the midst of a full-powered dash, only felt something slam hard into her waist. Her gathered divine power stuttered instantly, and her balance was lost!
"Ugh—!"
She let out a short cry of surprise, tumbling awkwardly before crashing heavily onto the cold, dusty ground, sending up a cloud of debris.
"Hngh—" Cipher grunted. As if by fate, the spot where she fell happened to be right before a door leading to who-knows-where.
Khaslana stood still, pinching between his fingers the small, wallet-like ornament he had taken from Cipher's waist. Without even glancing at the fallen Demigod, he simply applied a bit of force with one hand.
*Pfft…*
A soft sound, like a bubble bursting. The 'Trickery' authority's disguise was forcibly stripped away. The small ornament flashed in his hand, rapidly morphing, expanding, and finally reverting to the nine Titan Coreflames radiating their respective glorious lights!
In the end, the Coreflames had still fallen into his hands.
And… from his brazen breach of Okhema's defenses to this moment with all coreflames secured, the entire process had taken less than a minute. The efficiency was despairingly high.
Khaslana's icy gaze shifted slightly towards another direction of the holy city—the location of the 'Time' Coreflame. Time seemed sufficient for one last "harvest."
"Cough, cough…" On the other side, Cipher propped herself up with a slightly trembling arm, struggling to stand from the ground once more.
The earlier clumsy fall had covered her clothes in dust, adding numerous scrapes to her arms, knees, and elsewhere, with threads of golden blood seeping from the wounds.
But now, her eyes were sharper, more resolute than ever before.
"You…" she gritted her teeth, her voice hoarse with pain and anger. "Don't think you can leave this easily with the Coreflames!"
"...Demigod, the gap between us is this clear. Why not choose to flee?" Khaslana tightened his grip on the Coreflames and the shattered sword.
Cipher took a deep breath, assuming an extremely standard sprinting stance.
Golden sparks of electricity began crackling around her, converging into an increasingly dazzling halo.
"Because!" she enunciated each word, her tone iron-clad, carrying a do-or-die determination. "I, Cipher, have never run in my life to flee!"
Before the words fully faded, she had already transformed into a golden lightning bolt tearing through the sky—no longer running away, no longer decepting, but charging directly in the most straightforward manner towards Khaslana, who stood still!
…
Because Cipher entangled him with a near-suicidal, tenacious desperation, Khaslana ultimately failed to find the opportunity to seize that last 'Time' Coreflame safeguarded by Mem.
Just as he clashed once more with the golden lightning that was Cipher, forcing her back until she slumped exhausted against a ruined wall, gasping for breath…
He keenly sensed the sudden appearance of several powerful and familiar auras within Okhema's core region—the Demigods, hastily returned from the Vortex of Genesis.
'Time to leave.' He immediately judged. His gaze swept over the 'Trickery' Demigod not far away—Cipher, pale from exhaustion but still stubbornly glaring at him.
The shattered sword in his hand twitched slightly, then ultimately fell still. Taking her life now would be effortless, but… unnecessary. He ultimately did not deliver the final blow.
"Cipher!"
The first to arrive at the ruins of the Worldbearing Altar was Aglaea. She immediately spotted Cipher leaning against the wall, her aura feeble, body stained with golden blood. Shock and rage instantly overwhelmed her usual gentleness.
Those eyes, always brimming with poetry and softness, now burned with icy fury.
*Hum—!*
No words were needed. Hundreds of sharp, glimmering golden threads materialized in the air, like living vipers, instantly weaving a net of death around Khaslana!
Immediately after, "Garmentmakers" wielding needle-swords, following the threads' paths and bearing the ultimate fury of desecrated 'Romance,' launched their fierce assault from all directions like a storm of rain upon the black-robed figure!
"You damned executioner!" Aglaea's voice carried a rending pain. Her rage could only be vented through needle and blade!
Almost simultaneously, Hysilens's figure manifested not far away. Her face was like still water. The space above the altar was violently breached as if it were the surface of a sea, and a leviathan whale vast enough to blot out the sky emerged, issuing a soul-shaking, drawn-out song. It descended upon Khaslana with the momentum to crush everything!
Cerydra did not immediately strike, but her icy eyes locked onto Khaslana. Then, the ground beneath his feet silently erupted with pale blue, frigid flames—the adjudicating fire of 'Law,' quietly sealing off all his avenues of retreat on the ground.