Chapter 365: New Plans [1]

Published Mar 30, 2026, 07:46 AM

Chapter 365: New Plans [1] For the next six hours, Lola and the ethereal cat remained locked in constant battle with their opposing forces. The prolonged conflict had transformed the clearing around the World Tree into a devastated wasteland of scorched earth, shattered crystals, and craters where devastating techniques had collided. The more time passed, the more Lola’s worry about Noah intensified. He remained unconscious in her arms, his body still processing whatever transformation the teardrop fruit was creating. She had no way of knowing if the process was progressing normally or if something had gone catastrophically wrong. Worse still, she was starting to run dangerously low on enhancement items. She had used most of her remaining stock just to stay alive and maintain combat effectiveness against three coordinated grandmasters. The ethereal cat also required regular feeding of consumables to maintain her enhanced state, burning through her inventory at unsustainable rates. Lola had given the cat multiple protein bars, beef jerky when the first enhancement had expired. She herself had consumed additional instant coffees, herbal teas, and every other boost item available just to maintain the power levels necessary to hold off Seraphina and her reinforcements. It was by no means a renewable strategy. Even though the queen and the light elf grandmasters weren’t in good condition either—all showing signs of exhaustion, injuries, and depleted mana reserves—Lola remained deeply afraid of more backup arriving. The light elves had an entire kingdom to draw upon. If Seraphina called for additional reinforcements, even a single fresh grandmaster could tip the precarious balance and result in their complete defeat. Lola’s resources were finite and nearly exhausted, while the enemy potentially had access to dozens more practitioners. Her fire wings flickered occasionally now, showing signs of strain from hours of sustained manifestation. The awakened skill consumed mana constantly, and even her peak grandmaster reserves had limits when pushed to extremes for such extended periods. The ethereal cat was showing similar signs of exhaustion despite the enhancement items. Her movements had lost some of their earlier explosive speed, and her ethereal flames burned with slightly less intensity than before. The two light elf commanders she faced were in worse condition, barely standing and relying purely on survival instincts, but they stubbornly refused to fall. Lola’s mind worked desperately through their options, searching for any solution that didn’t end in disaster. They couldn’t win decisively without more resources and they couldn’t maintain this stalemate indefinitely. Time was their enemy as much as the light elves were. Lola’s exhausted mind finally went around the only viable solution currently available to them. They couldn’t win this battle of attrition, but they didn’t need to. They just needed to create an opening for escape. She locked eyes with the ethereal cat across the chaotic battlefield, and a hidden message passed between them through their demonic contract bond. The cat’s pupils dilated slightly in understanding, recognising the desperate gambit her master was proposing. Lola gave the subtle signal, and both she and the cat began channelling their most powerful remaining techniques. The buildup was obvious and dramatic—Lola’s fire wings blazing with concentrated energy while the cat’s ethereal flames coalesced into devastating potential. The two light elf commanders fighting the cat had prepared to defend against her attack like they had countless times over the past six hours, their defensive stances and barrier preparations aimed at intercepting whatever she launched at them. But at the critical moment, both Lola and the cat redirected their fully charged attacks away from their immediate opponents. Instead, both devastating techniques converged on a single target. Queen Seraphina herself. The sudden change of direction took everyone completely off guard. The two commanders’ eyes went wide with shock and horror as they realised their queen was about to face the combined assault of two charged attacks without proper defensive preparation. "NO!" the male commander shouted, attempting to redirect his wind current toward Seraphina’s position. "Your Majesty!" the female screamed, trying desperately to create earth barriers that could deflect the incoming attacks. The wind and earth specialist grandmasters who had been fighting Lola also rushed immediately to Seraphina’s side, abandoning their offensive positions to help protect their queen against the combined assault. The wind specialist generated massive air currents to try to disperse Lola’s flames while the earth specialist raised emergency barriers. Seraphina herself summoned every ounce of her remaining strength, her light magic blazing with desperate intensity as she created layered defensive shields. The combined attack from Lola’s compressed fire sphere and the cat’s ethereal flame strike represented enough destructive force to potentially kill her outright if they penetrated her defences. She cursed inwardly as she poured everything into survival. This demon planned this from the beginning. The entire prolonged battle was just preparation for this exact moment. The convergence of attacks and defences created a blinding explosion that consumed the entire area in overwhelming light and flame. The shockwave flattened what remained of the surrounding vegetation and sent debris flying in all directions. Using the chaos and visual obstruction created by the massive explosion, Lola and the cat immediately executed their escape plan. Lola shifted Noah from her protective embrace into a secure princess carry, cradling his unconscious form against her chest while her fire wings prepared for maximum speed flight. "Now!" she commanded through their bond, and both she and the cat bolted from the battlefield in the same direction. Lola’s fire wings propelled her forward with a velocity that exceeded anything she had displayed during the actual combat, reserves of speed she had deliberately held back for exactly this escape attempt. The ethereal cat matched her pace, the luxury smoothie’s enhancement still providing enough boost to keep up with Lola’s desperate flight. They covered ground with breathtaking speed, putting hundreds of meters between themselves and the explosion site within seconds. Lola navigated through the crystal formations and trees with grace despite carrying Noah, her enhanced perception allowing her to plot optimal escape routes even at these extreme velocities. Lola’s objective was obvious and singular—the shop.

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