376 Lyod and Paula: Husband vs Wife 2

The northwestern forest was a place where even the most esteemed cultivators could face danger to their life. Leaving behind a bunch of women with no cultivation to speak of was in itself like a death sentence. Yet, this is the only option that offered these unfortunate souls a chance to survive. Being together with him was actually the worse outcome. 

"Please think about it again Ryu.. why don't you hide along with us as well. We have covered so much distance... I am sure that person will not be able to find us." Itzel's suggestion was said out of the goodness of her heart, but as a cultivator how can Ryu not know the distance they had covered was so measly that it didn't even need to be mentioned by the standards of expert mana cultivators? 

Ryu had naturally ignored Itzel's cries, instead focusing on something else entirely. His brows knitted together as if he was facing extreme difficulty in something. "Huuu.." His sharp breath was followed by a thud. 

Itzel was shocked to find a large casket emerge totally out of thin air and fall in front of her. The next moment, Ryu got down and touched the wooden chest. "I am sorry to disturb you, but I know you are alive in there. Please help me protect them if you are listening." 

If Master Lyod could not hold off the person, there was a decent likelihood of Ryu being captured today. As such, maybe Ms. Angel who had been hiding in his spatial stone might not be very keen to accompany him. With such a thought he might as well leave her here, maybe she could have a change of heart and decide to intervene if the person in black tried to harm Itzel and others. 

His guardian dragon had counted the angel as a friend, so she mustn't be a bad individual per se. Considering he was the one with a target painted on his back, he might have needed this angel more than Itzel's group. But even in such dire situations, Ryu had a sense of responsibility towards the girls. 

"Ryu.. please listen to me.." Having been mercilessly ignored since the start, Itzel wanted to hold the boy, but he caught her hands midway and pecked her lips. "Do as I told, love. I promise I will get back to fetch all of you." 

With those last words, Ryu pushed the woman down to the ground while the roots of the tree above them rapidly closed the gaps, sealing them in a wooden cave. "Mother.." Jenny and Courtney both had huddled up to Itzel, only for the lady priestess to wrap her arms around the duo. 

Tears spilled out of Itzel's eyes when she turned back to observe the wonderful person-sized casket adorned with all kinds of gemstones. Was there someone residing in this chest? And even if there was, why did Ryu leave it for them? Obviously, he must need this more than themselves. 

The more she thought about how the boy actually abandoned his protection charm for a bunch of nobodies, the more Itzel sobbed. At this point, she can only pray for Ryu's safety. 

What hurt her more was how wrong she had been in identifying the boy. Yes, Ryu was their benefactor who had single-handedly uplifted their lives. Even so, Itzel had never been able to understand the depth of his care towards them. 

Who was Ryu? He was a person with had a good life, who just happen to come across a group of impoverished humans and decided to give them a helping hand since it would have cost him nothing. Yet, helping people was one thing, and abandoning something that can save your life for others... there was no comparison between how she had viewed Ryu and what the boy turned out to be. 

***

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* Heavy blows were exchanged between Paula and Lyod, marring the terrain and overturning the landscape. Neither party was willing to lose even an iota of ground, no matter how harshly they were pushed back. 

The everlasting attacks of Paula's sand pillars have only grown in ferocity, forcing Lyod to expend more and more energy in countering them. However, this didn't mean he had entirely been pushed to a passive position. Every so often, Lyod is able to rip apart the same castle his opponent had constructed and take the battle to her before eventually he is inevitably pushed back. 

"I can see your attacks are losing intensity." Paula had successfully thwarted the vicious punches from her opponent, quickly repairing the damage done to the magic spell that had rendered a massive castle around herself.

Lyod on the other hand wasn't even out of breath yet. It seemed like the man can continue this brawl for eternity. "So be it.." In the end, Lyod had no reason to push for a victory. His primary objective was to allow Ryu sufficient time to escape into the void of the northwestern woodlands. If he could manage to put enough distance, even a being as strong as this woman would have a hard to locate him. And that was the worst-case scenario where Lyod has been defeated. 

"You think I don't understand you are trying to buy time for your runt?" Paula mumbled casually, still her voice being carried over her mana boomed across the battlefield in malevolence. "You really think a boy hid age can hide from my senses? Ha ha ha.. absurd..!!"

There was a sudden spike in her mana combustion as registered by Lyod. It's obvious something big was coming. "You know, the best thing about controlling sand is its dual nature. Sand manipulation is extremely capable of defense, however in capable hands it could be equally destructive offensively." 

Lyod narrowed his eyes as the large sand structure was being undone by the woman. "Though I am sure you must be very familiar with this." He heard her say. There was no doubt this woman was trying to insinuate him by constantly bringing his dead wife into the picture. 

Then again, Lyod was an old workhorse. He can see right through her efforts to mentally disturb him all the while she prepared her next attack. Despite the searing anger, he closed his eyes and gathered his own mana to counter whatever was coming. And for some reason, he had a prevision of what was coming next. 

The castle almost diluted completely. The lady in black was certainly abandoning her defenses. Was she losing her patience? Or was she worried Ryu will be able to run out of her sensory range and disappear in the vast wilderness? It can be both. 

The undone sand had quickly flowed towards Lyod like a vast river. The next minute, the enormous amount of sand funneled right off the forest floor had begun menacingly dancing around him. "Void Vortex!!" 

There was a visible change in Lyod's expressions. This woman didn't just have the same ability as his wife, rather she was even able to use the same magic spell. This can very well a once in a blue moon coincidence, but Lyod was no fool. This lady was definitely connected to his lost wife in some way. 

Knowing fully well she wasn't going to talk, Lyod didn't even bother asking. "You might know her spells.. but don't you think I must be knowing her even more closely? If you really want to keep playing this game... I shall keep you company." 

Paula hadn't taken his words seriously, continuing with her attack. However, the very next moment she had a bad premonition. Why wasn't the old guy trying to run away? Her Void Vortex was a tremendously powerful spell, but it wasn't instant. There was a big drawback to it, and that was the time it took for its formation. 

Though she had remedies to counter Lyod's movement as well, but it surprised her that the old man didn't even bother to make an escape, rather allowing himself to be completely engulfed in the rising sandstorm. Very soon, there was no sign of Lyod, the lone mam had been swallowed by the sea of sand. 

As far as Paula was concerned, Lyod was done for. He can never hope to break out of this vortex, gradually she can just snuff out the air within her construct and the fight will be over. "Has the man gone senile?" Though she mocked him, the truth was that Paula was at utmost vigilance. 

Standing opposite a sand storm that touched the very skies, Paula slowly began collapsing the majestic structure, intending to crush the man contained inside to death and suffocation. "It was nice knowing you. I won't say I was satisfied.. but it was fun however long it lasted." 

"Hmph.. that's exactly what my wife used to say.. that promiscuous woman.. huh.." A pretentiously grievanced voice finally escaped the swirling vortex. Paula was taken by surprise. Just when she had started to believe the old man had turned suicidal, she had a rude awakening. 

"Haha.. promiscuous? Doesn't that tell more about you than her? Maybe you could not keep her satisfied and she had to look elsewhere?" Even though she was responding to the old man's banter, in truth Paula had heightened her vigil while simultaneously increasing the rotation of her vortex quickly funneling out the air. 

"It was never about satisfaction.. that slut had begun lusting after our student. Can you believe it?" It was Paula's turn to lose her mental peace. Has the old guy realized who she was behind the veil? That should be near impossible, considering she was using and altered voice and her face was still perfectly masked. 

"Then you must hate her for choosing her own pupil over her husband?" Paula countered while the speed of the vortex had grown to such an extent that it was disturbing light and reality itself. This was the limit of her performance and yet, the man under her influence seemed to be chatting with her out of boredom. 

"Why would I? She never told me she didn't love me anymore? It's just that instead of me alone, now there were two persons occupying a place in her heart." *ShrrrrrrRRRRRR* Paula's skin crawled at the buzzing sound and before she could react, something cut across the sky at such a pace that it sliced apart the firmament itself. 

Paula could not react to such velocity, it was impossible. All she could manage was to slightly shift her abdomen to avoid being cut in half. In only a part of a millisecond, the glowing oversized dagger had ruptured the side of her belly. 

"Impossible... How can he move so fast..." Lyod was obviously weaker than Paula. Being weaker in cultivation meant he should not be able to achieve such speeds that rendered her reactions useless. Yet, she was, having taken damage despite being at the peak of her performance. 

Turning around, she found a man standing on a large mana dagger staring at her with part amazement and part suspicion. Only then Paula realized, it by the time she was focused on defending herself, the person had ripped apart her face veil leaving her profile exposed. 

Lyod on the other hand felt like his heart would stop. He can't believe what his eyes were projecting into his brain. Was this Paula? There was no doubt about it. This was a face he had spent decades with. Lyod was the last person to mistake her identity. 

For the next minute, both of them can only stare at each other lacking any words. "I will ask you again.. who are you?" Lyod's lips quivered when he asked that. No matter how much his emotions riled up and his heart churned to call out to Paula, rationality was still paramount as the duo was involved in a life-and-death match. 

For a few seconds, even Paula was taken aback by the unforeseen development. However, her hesitance lasted even shorter than Lyod himself. "Hn... What do you think? I have a hunch that we might actually be related." She mocked in a condescending tone. 

<<Further chapters are available on my patréon. If you like the work I produce, subscribe at https: www.pat*reon.com slayer104 (remove '*')>>