Chapter 68: Thrilling Offensive and Defense Battle! She Knows Me Too Well!
“Don’t rush off, little canary~” Ifrora’s voice dripped with honey, her drawn-out tone laced with a hook. Aphrosia had heard this from childhood—every time Ifrora used it, Flo ended up outwitted and humiliated.
“The more you hide, the more I… can’t resist digging~” Ifrora tilted her head, her gaze like a precise probe, tracing Aphrosia’s stiff shoulders—a telltale Flo tic when nervous—before settling on her forcibly calm blue eyes. “Especially that look when you mentioned ‘business’… so much like a certain maniac who half-destroyed a church cathedral, then claimed it was ‘controlled energy release.’ That reckless, do-or-die determination—oh, it’s such a nostalgic, familiar scent.” She deliberately brought up the incident, a mark of the Astreya family’s wrath and Flo’s most infamous feat.
Aphrosia’s heart clenched, then released, blood rushing to her ears. She forced it down with sheer will, mimicking Flo’s impatient, slightly tsundere tone with a cold laugh. “Ifrora, your imagination’s as overactive as ever. Flo is Flo, I’m me. Blowing up a church? Hmph, that’s his ‘family tradition.’ What’s it got to do with me? As for the look…”
Her blue eyes met Ifrora’s with the icy sharpness of an Astreya heir.
“Don’t all Astreyas have that look when they’re set on something? What’s so special?”
She deftly used her fallen saintess family as a shield.
“Oh? Really?” Ifrora’s smile bloomed like a thorny rose. “Then explain this.”
Her slender fingers flicked, flames coalescing into a vivid fire phoenix. Unlike before, it didn’t flutter—it shot like an arrow, a cherry-pink streak aiming for—
Aphrosia’s neck! The angle, speed, and wing arc perfectly mimicked Ifrora’s old prank of startling a dozing Flo in the ruined temple garden.
Aphrosia’s pupils shrank, her body reacting faster than thought. Instincts carved into her bones kicked in. She sidestepped, raising a hand, conjuring a thin, near-transparent barrier right in the phoenix’s path. The move was fluid, instinctive—the Astreya family’s secret Starveil Guard, a no-magic instant defense Flo had used countless times to block Ifrora’s “prank fireballs.”
Poof!
The phoenix hit the golden barrier, dissolving into sparks with a faint wisp of heat. The barrier vanished instantly, as if it never existed.
The air froze.
Aphrosia halted, alarm bells blaring. Damn it! That was pure Flo reflex! In front of Ifrora, any habitual move was a fatal flaw!
Ifrora’s smile exploded like summer fireworks, her crimson eyes gleaming with “gotcha” triumph. She slowly withdrew her hand, twirling a strand of cherry-pink hair.
“My, my~ What a spectacular reaction, Miss Aphrosia.” She dragged out her words, each one a hammer on Aphrosia’s heart. “That… how should I say? Flawless, bone-deep Starveil Guard, with that unique, Mr. Pointy-Ears impatient vibe… It really reminds me of a certain maniac who wrecked temples and blew up his own house. Isn’t that… a fated ‘coincidence’?”
She emphasized “fated,” her gaze piercing.
“I’ve never heard of any Astreya survivors besides Sophia, the saintess candidate, and Mr. Flo~ Miss Aphrosia, self-proclaimed disciple of the Star Witch? What’s your surname, then?”
Aphrosia’s fingers went cold, her blue eyes roiling with panic.
Her voice was icy. “So everyone who uses Starveil Guard is tied to Flo? Your logic’s messier than a lava slime’s brain!”
She doubled down on deflection, wielding sharp sarcasm.
“Oh?” Ifrora laughed as if hearing something hilarious, shoulders shaking, a gesture that flashed Aphrosia back to childhood when she’d jump in frustration. “Little Shia…” She switched to a nickname reserved for her closest, her voice softening, stepping closer, the rose-cedar scent enveloping Aphrosia. “Dodging topics and playing dumb? Just like him when I caught his pranks.”
Her gaze swept to Mistfeather, dozing lazily behind Aphrosia. Sensing the tension and Ifrora’s intense, familiar stare, the little loli stirred, letting out a low, wary, confused purr.
“This little one…”
“Flo’s buddy, awfully close to you. And in human form, so reliant…” Her eyes shifted to Blazewing, the red-haired loli tilting her head, curiously eyeing Ifrora’s lingering sparks, not hostile but eager to play.
No way, she’s the bad lady! Don’t fall for her charm! I’m with Aphrosia! Unless… gold coins?
“Isn’t it normal for my dear’s pets to be close to their mistress?”
“Oh my~ Still not giving up, Miss Aphrosia?”
No kidding—though Ifrora was nearly certain of her identity, Aphrosia refused to admit it. A man turning into a girl? Even in a magic-filled world, that was too wild…
It couldn’t be helped—Ifrora knew her too well!
Seeing her stubbornness, the cherry-haired girl’s lips curved, pulling out something that made Aphrosia freeze…