Chapter 726

Editor : Amethyst00

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Chen Xia tried to move her arms.

Her frozen body wouldn't budge.

Crunch—crunch—

She heard the sound of ice breaking as someone approached.

A brief look of confusion crossed Chen Xia's face, who had been glaring coldly at Lysinas.

She didn't know who had taken over Chloe's body.

But when that entity had looked at her earlier, it hadn't been with emotionless eyes.

There was a strange sadness in those eyes, as if filled with regret.

Chen Xia had seen that kind of gaze before.

'Who was it?'

While she was feeling puzzled, Lysinas, who had come right up to her, spoke.

"Are you going to give up?"

"No."

Chen Xia answered firmly.

Lysinas looked slightly surprised at her response.

To Chen Xia, this should be a hopeless situation.

But there wasn't even a hint of fear in her eyes.

'Looks like she was deeply influenced by Kyle. Impressive.'

But mindset alone wouldn't get her out of this.

Right now, Chen Xia was completely subdued.

"So? What exactly can you do?"

"More than you'd think."

Crack—

There was the sound of something freezing.

"For 5,000 years, our family has eliminated traitors from the shadows."

'As expected.'

Lysinas's pupils flickered briefly.

"The legacy passed down from our ancestors continues to this day. But the founder was said to be special."

Crack-crack!

"I can't control every attribute of aura like our founder, but I figured I should at least be able to use the attribute closest to water."

Lysinas's eyes widened.

What's the most lethal attribute to water?

Fire, which evaporates it?

Earth, which can cover it?

Neither.

The most dangerous thing to water is cold—freezing it and stopping its flow.

Chen Xia had long worked to overcome that weakness.

Her body began freezing rapidly.

But it wasn't due to Lysinas's magic.

'This girl…'

The source of the cold was none other than Chen Xia herself.

"Hah."

White breath escaped from Chen Xia's mouth as she exhaled.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!

The ice that had been restraining her turned into spikes aimed at Lysinas.

Control over the ice had shifted to Chen Xia.

Lysinas hurriedly stepped back to avoid the attack and looked at her.

Water and ice are fundamentally the same but entirely different forces.

Without the aptitude for ice, someone who controls water cannot wield freezing powers.

'A fusion of aura and spirit magic.'

As the strongest summoner, Lysinas quickly identified the source of the freezing power.

Some water elementals can use ice abilities.

But still…

'This chill can't be explained.'

Even at a glance, the cold emanating from Chen Xia rivaled Chloe's.

With a troubled expression, Lysinas noticed a certain emotion in Chen Xia's eyes.

'Anger.'

Normally, anger is like a volcano—hot and overwhelming.

But anger takes many forms.

Chen Xia's anger wasn't burning—it was honed through years of solitude, watching the light from the shadows.

Anger born from yearning for something she could never be.

She had always directed that anger at "enemies."

From a young age, she had been executing traitors.

She had done countless things no hero could stomach—with cold, ruthless efficiency.

That anger had frozen her heart.

An endlessly cold and chilling anger.

And under its influence, her heart had turned to ice.

'She's changed her attribute through emotion.'

Lysinas bit her lip.

'Dangerous.'

From her perspective, this was too unstable.

Anger that could affect one's source of power would surely cloud judgment.

Emotions do that—cause one to lose themselves in an instant.

And Chen Xia originally wielded water.

Unlike Chloe, who had a natural resistance to cold, Chen Xia had to endure the chill physically.

The cold she exuded dealt constant damage to her own body—a double-edged sword.

Black mana flared from Lysinas's body.

Swish—!

A sharp icicle-shaped aura flew toward Lysinas's forehead.

Thud—!

Her shadow blocked the attack just in time.

Chen Xia's eyes widened in surprise.

Particles of light began forming around Lysinas.

They soon turned into flashes of light that rained down toward Chen Xia.

An attack meant to subdue her completely.

But there was no killing intent.

Just before the light struck her—

Chen Xia suddenly remembered who had looked at her with such sad eyes.

'Young Master Leo… and… Lady Bihar.'

Young Master Leo had looked at her with pity, as if understanding the burden of her shadow-bound fate.

Because he had once passed on that fate to a disciple in his lifetime.

Bihar was the same.

Through generations and generations—

Even after 5,000 years, she must've looked upon Chen Xia, her successor, with sorrow.

Chen Xia had received it from her ancestors.

They from Bihar.

Bihar from Leo.

The destiny of the shadow passed down through generations.

Leo, too, must've received it from someone.

And Chen Xia knew—

Who that fate originally belonged to.

Who could look at her with the same eyes as Leo and Bihar.

'Lysinas.'

BOOM—!

The flash exploded.

Though she blocked and dodged, the impact wasn't completely avoided.

Just brushing against it left her clothes in tatters.

Not just her clothes—her body took a significant hit as well.

Her mind swam, but she held onto her focus.

Because if her assumption was correct—

There was something she had to say to the one in front of her.

Lysinas, who had been about to land the final blow, froze when she saw her standing still.

'Did she give up?'

No.

She was not the type to give up so easily.

'Then why?'

"This anger was my foolish, true self."

Chen Xia spoke, and Lysinas hesitated.

"I resented them. The founder who passed this down to us. The ancestors who continued this terrible fate. So I think I was always angry. Because since I was young, I wanted to be a brightly shining hero."

"……"

Lysinas bit her lip hard.

"That's why I came to this school. But my classmates… they seemed fundamentally different from me."

Candidates who shone just by being looked at.

Unlike them, her own heart was dark.

"So I got angrier."

Always angry—but she suppressed it.

Emotional turmoil is fatal in the shadows.

One must always remain calm.

So her anger slowly turned cold.

Silent, ruthless.

When that frozen rage reached its peak—

"Young Master Leo reached out to me. He said I could become a hero. That I was already worthy just as I was."

Words without a single lie—pure sincerity.

"That one sentence saved me."

Chen Xia smiled gently at Lysinas.

"After that, I met Lady Bihar too. I resented her, but I also respected her, so I was happy."

That was when it began.

When she gained full control over her frozen anger.

When she took a step closer to an unreachable new realm.

"So you don't need to worry about me."

"……"

"I greet the Wise Queen. I am Chen Xia, descendant of Bihar."

She tapped her chest three times and bowed respectfully.

To show she had complete control over her anger—

Chen Xia had returned to her original form.

"Oh my. Kids these days are all so clever. You figured out who I was from so little."

"The other Great Heroes have already descended. I thought I might meet you someday."

"Still impressive."

Lysinas chuckled as she approached her.

"So Bihar had descendants too, huh?"

She reached out to touch her, then hesitated.

Chen Xia took her hand and placed it on her cheek, smiling.

"There are many of us now. I'm even a princess of the Empire."

"Impressive."

"She didn't resent anything. She wasn't unhappy. She said she was happy. I'm sure Lady Bihar wouldn't want you to feel guilty."

As she relayed Bihar's words—spoken when they met as spirits—Chen Xia comforted Lysinas.

"…I see…"

Lysinas smiled bitterly as she gently caressed her cheek.

"Anyway, your clothes are a mess."

"It's fine. I have a spare uniform."

Unbothered, Chen Xia opened a subspace with her artifact and took out a uniform.

"Is there somewhere you can change…?"

As Lysinas looked around, Chen Xia took off her uniform top.

Startled, Lysinas quickly covered her with the clothes.

"What are you doing!"

"Huh?"

"You can't just undress like that! What if someone sees!"

"…? But it's just you and me here?"

"Still not okay!"

Lysinas buttoned her shirt while lecturing.

"You must always carry yourself properly. People need dignity. If you act carelessly, you'll end up like Luna. Like Luna!"

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"You've seen Luna, haven't you?"

"…Yes."

"Do you think that's good?"

"Hmm… she proudly declared her love for the Hero of Beginnings in front of everyone and changed history. I thought it was cool…"

"That's not cool! Ugh! That girl—then and now—knows no shame! Luna is the only one who's made me raise both hands in defeat!"

"…"

As she endured Lysinas's endless nagging, Chen Xia's face drooped.

'What was Lysinas like?'

'So picky. Always nags about posture. Says to maintain hero dignity, not to slouch. Ugh. Her etiquette lessons are unbearable.'

'Ahh. So that's why Young Master Leo, despite his wild ways, always looked so refined!'

She remembered being pinched so hard her cheek went numb when she teased him.

Lysinas finished tidying Chen Xia up and nodded with a smile.

"Yes, pretty."

"This ribbon is a bit much…"

"Why? It's cute."

Chen Xia looked troubled at the large ribbon Lysinas tied to her head.

Her already youthful appearance now looked even younger.

She fiddled with her hair and asked, "By the way, how did you end up in Chloe's body? And why didn't you tell Young Master Leo?"

"So you know Kyle's true identity, huh."

As she suspected, Lysinas nodded and crossed her arms.

"Well, I just ended up borrowing this girl's body. And the reason I didn't tell Kyle anything…"

She twisted her lips.

"Just wanted to mess with that brat a bit."

"That sounds fun. But with all this ruckus, no way Young Master Leo hasn't heard about it yet."

She might even show up before this class ended.

Even before Chen Xia finished speaking, they sensed someone approaching from afar.

Sensing it too, Lysinas smiled slyly.

"Hey, Xia."

"Yes?"

"Want to mess with Kyle together?"

That evening.

Leo approached Carl, who was eating.

"How was the mock battle?"

"Oh! It was intense! All the kids are recovering in the infirmary."

"Must've been tough."

"Everyone was evenly matched—so much fainting and exhaustion… it was chaos."

Leo nodded, then glanced to the side.

"For that, those two look perfectly fine."

"Chen Xia did guerrilla tactics, and Chloe was protected—so they took less damage. Those two were the MVPs."

"Yeah?"

As Leo nodded, his eyes met Chloe's.

She smiled and waved at him.

Leo tilted his head and said,

"Carl."

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't Chloe seem… kind of off today?"

"In what way?"

"Like… older?"

"She looks the same to me?"

As Carl tilted his head, Leo furrowed his brows and rubbed his chin.

"She looks kinda aged."

The two returned to their meal with idle chatter.

Meanwhile—

Hearing their conversation with heightened senses, Lysinas's hand trembled.

'That punk—!'

She barely held back the urge to run over and dropkick Leo in the face.