Heaven, Earth, Me

Once Angel returned to our girls’ side, she noticed the strange gazes she was receiving. Tilting her head, she asked. “Um. What’s wrong?”

Evelyn sighed and patted her head. “You… How did you deceive them? Your acting was about to make my eyes fall out of my eye sockets.”

Angel pouted and complained, slapping her hand away. “It wasn’t that bad!” 

Evelyn chuckled. “Are you really sure you want to die on that hill?”

Seeing their unconvinced faces, Angel pouted even more, showing an “I am very upset” expression. Still, she muttered in a low voice and confessed. “I used [Truth Intent] to twist their perception and doubt nothing of what I was doing…” She then added with a stutter. “B-But! Even if I didn’t do that, I would have easily convinced them!”

When they heard her explanation, a flash of realization crossed their eyes. ‘No wonder! And here I was speculating that they just were stupid and inexperienced.’

No matter how arrogant a person was, the level of incompetence he showed was too much. Knowing that, accepting what happened was due to Angel’s [Truth Intent] was easy. 

Seeing Angel pouting and crossing her arms, clearly upset about their lack of confidence in her supreme acting skills, the girls chuckled and substituted Yasenia in pampering her for a little while to cheer her up.

In the meantime, Evelyn jumped into the arena. Her speed was like a bolt of lightning, leaving a blue electric path behind her. Right after she arrived, she measured the person in front of her. It was a relatively tall man with a body that had clearly gone through intense training. His face was that of an average middle-aged man, sporting a relatively thick brown beard.  

The man looked at Evelyn and spoke with a deep voice, fitting his build and overall appearance. “Have you all consoled that little girl? I could see that she was quite upset. She might’ve lost, but she can be proud since she managed to last that long against Lord Remir. Of course, wanting to win is just impossible. That girl is just too young.”

‘Ignorance is terrifying.’ Evelyn smiled faintly. “Forget about that. How is your understanding of Intents?”

Her objectives in this battle were two. The first one was to lose again, giving two points to the enemy. This will make them look much more frail, revealing their true intentions. The second objective was to learn if they had Intents. 

Her question was quickly answered since the man’s pupils visibly constricted the second Evelyn spoke about it. That reaction was easily captured by Evelyn. 

A solemn expression appeared on the middle-aged man’s face. “First, you showed that you are aware of Alchemy. Now, you speak about Intents. Your group is truly exceptional. However, you look young. Have you even managed to understand the first level of an Intent?”

Evelyn laughed. “So you do know about them! Remir and Hala didn’t use them, so I was curious about it.”

The man shook his head. “There is no need to use such measures with weaklings.” Then, he asked. “Girl, why did you ask such a question?”

Evelyn smirked. “Old man, it was to give you a heads-up. I have understood an Intent, so you better use yours if you don’t want to get instantly killed. If you don’t have any…” Evelyn shook her head. “You are welcome to step down from the arena.”

The middle-aged man shook his head and sighed. “Youngsters these days are truly too arrogant! Since you are so eager to lose right away, behold! [Scorching Mind Intent Level 3]!”

An illusory aura of fire spread around him, and when it reached Evelyn, she felt the Intent trying to burn her soul. Evelyn reacted right away and showed a faint frown as if she was in pain. Then, gritting her teeth, she shouted. “Don’t think that something like this is enough! [Storm Intent Level 2]!”

Rumble!

Electric currents exploded outward, clashing against the Scorching Mind Intent and neutralizing it.

The face of the middle-aged man became solemn. ‘Her intent is one level lower than mine, and yet, we are evenly matched? This talent is rare even among the Lord’s descendants. Moreover, she doesn’t seem to be that old, and yet her Intent is at Level 2!’

He couldn’t help but ask aloud. “How old are you, girl? Are you an old monster appearing like a little girl? You should be around 400 or 500 years of age, right?”

Evelyn almost choked. “Rude old man! I have yet to reach 90 years old! How can you make such a wild estimation!? Apologize to this young and peachy lady!”

Angel jabbed from a distance. “What peaches? The only thing I see are flatboards.”

Evelyn’s face turned black with anger, and she glared back. “Miss watermelon should be silent, or else, your tits might explode!”

“Ha!?” Angel widened her eyes and blurted. “What in Heaven’s name has talking got to do with tits exploding!?”

Evelyn snorted. “If you don’t know, that’s because your Dao is lacking! Go relearn it from the beginning!”

Andrea burst into laughter and patted the baffled girl’s head. “Little Angel, better not mock her, or she will lace your entire existence upside down with creative mockery.” 

Angel rolled her eyes. “Let’s see if she dares! I’ll snitch to Yasenia!”

Evelyn was about to face the middle-aged man when she heard Angel’s last sentence, making her choke. “S-Shameless!”

Angel smiled smugly. “What can you do about it? Bite me if you don’t like it!”

Evelyn gave a broad and toothy grin. “Oh, don’t worry, I will! I’ll bite until milk splurts out!”

Angel’s face exploded with red. “Shameless! Pervert!”

Speaking of ages, when the girls arrived at Distancia, they were around 30 years old. Yasenia was the youngest one, and Andrea was around twelve years older and the oldest. They then spent around 30 years in Distancia, reaching their mid-fifties and sixties. 

After spending around 20 years traveling through space, their ages were already approaching their eighties, Andrea being over eighty. Meanwhile, Yasenia, having spent an additional 23 years during the war trial, was already approaching 100 years old soul-age-wise.

The man heard the conversation and couldn’t help but feel a sense of weight in his heart. He noticed that these girls were all of a similar age, around eighty to ninety years old. Hala was from the youngest generation, and her age was already approaching 200 years old. Yet, she was barely starting the Fifth Soul Realm. Her intent was also on the verge of achieving the first level, but she wasn’t there yet.

‘A less than one hundred year old girl with a Level 2 Intent? What kind of monstrous talent does she have?’ His face gained a solemn expression. ‘This can’t do. She is too talented.’

Evelyn suddenly saw a hint of killing intent flash in the man’s eyes and was surprised. “What’s the meaning of that gaze, old man? Wanting to kill me already?” Evelyn pondered, touching her chin. “Did I mess around too much and make you feel lonely?” She flashed a smile and giggled. “Don’t worry, old man. When we are fighting, I’ll only have eyes for you and no one else~. Don’t be jealous.”

The middle-aged man didn’t heed her provocations and instead rushed forward. “Someone as talented as you is too dangerous to be left alive. I am sorry, but for the Lord’s family's future, you must die. [Mind Burning Palm].”

Evelyn raised her eyebrow. “Too talented? Me?” Evelyn burst into laughter as she easily dodged the man’s palm strike. “You really are a frog in a well, unable to look at how vast the sky truly is.” 

The middle-aged man didn’t speak further and continued releasing powerful palm strikes. Evelyn dodged all the strikes with ease. “Hey, did the dragon eat your tongue? If so, I would be jealous! I know how good that feels, after all~.” 

The middle-aged man continued attacking with consecutives palm strikes, but he couldn’t even graze the corner of Evelny’s robes. Her face was constantly showing a provocative smirk. “Slow! You are too slow! Do you want to win with this meager strength? Even having a Level 3 intent can’t help you win against my Level 2 intent. Aren’t you a failure? If I were you, I would find a piece of tofu to smash my head against until I die!”

Remir, looking from a distance, spoke aloud. “Don’t let her get in your head! She is getting tired!”

The middle-aged man snorted. “I know.”

Evelyn’s face turned serious for a second before returning to the mocking smile. “Heh. Tired? Who is tired? Come, come! I’ll dance with you for a while. However, if I get upset or in a bad mood, I’ll counterattack~. Be careful.”

The middle-aged man spoke after a while. “Just a child. If you think these provocations can influence me, you are far too delusional. Take this. [Soul Land Scorching]!”

Evelyn put on a serious expression as the surroundings ignited and exploded. 

BOOM!

Once the fire was blown away, Evelyn was standing far away, her back straight and her lips arched in the same grin. However, the middle-aged man shook his head. “You can try to put on a front. However, I can sense that your soul is unstable and your body is injured. You are not my match!”

Evelyn humphed. “That’s not for you to decide! Unless I, Evelyn, say it's over, then it won’t end! Stop moving your mouthflaps and come at me, old man!”

The girls choked. ‘M-Mouthflaps!?’

Still, Andrea couldn’t help but praise Evelyn. “She is really good at this.”

Kali chuckled. “Indeed. She is trying to show weakness through strength. In truth, the opposition has yet to land a single strike. However, she appears as if she is the person that’s about to lose. Her acting skills and considerations are truly profound.”

Angel snorted. “Hmph.” Then, she muttered softly. “I need to ask Evelyn for acting classes…”

Selena hugged Angel from behind, giggling. “You are so cute, Little Angel.”

Angel felt the weight of the Lamia’s large personality on her shoulders and looked up with a giggle. “Thank you~. Selena is also really pretty!”

Meanwhile, Evelyn was showing an increasingly tired expression. While the battle looked even, Evelyn’s loss felt imminent. The middle-aged man sighed. “Little girl, you better surrender. You’ve yet to make a single attack! My strength is far above yours, suppressing your level too much.”

Evelyn was perspiring, her face paler compared to before. She chuckled, her eyes seemingly full of vitality even when the rest of her body was not keeping up. “My legs are moving fine. If you dare slip, you are dead meat!”

The middle-aged man steeled his heart. “Your legs will be unable to move soon enough. [Scorching Mind Intent Level 4], [Mind Burning Palm]!”

Evelyn’s eyes widened. “You were saving up strength!”

The man rushed forward and reached Evelyn’s side in the blink of an eye. “Sorry, little girl.”

Evelyn’s face changed, showing panic, and her energy burst outward. “NOT YET!” Her body flashed with electric currents, and she quickly dodged to the side. Once she dodged, she muttered with an unresigned face. “I-I surrender!”

Evelyn then turned around and returned to the side of the girls, showing her back to the people from the [Nascent Spring World]. Angel was clapping and smiling. “That was so good! I almost believed it!”

Evelyn was naturally not sulking, her face grinning. “Hehe. Did you like it? If you call me master, I might bother teaching you~.”

Angel snorted. “Hmph! Fat chance!”