Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 283: Fighting Against Dark Lizards

After more than two weeks of familiarity and exploration, Lyra had almost completely mastered this Sword of Light.

If she wanted, she could even intuitively feel the sensation of the blade cutting through skin and the warm, sticky blood spraying onto the sword through the mental energy attached to it.

At this moment, Lyra could feel that the sword was being influenced by something, with continuous mental triggers causing it to resonate.

Her fingers tightened around the hilt, the sharp tip of the sword pressing into the ground, slightly sinking into the soil.

Lyra gazed at the reflection of the dawn light on the holy sword, her clear blue eyes mirroring the scattered brightness.

After half a minute, the Sword of Light’s anomaly disappeared, and everything returned to calm, though Lyra’s heart still lingered with that strange and peculiar feeling.

The sensations the sword conveyed to her included a series of negative emotions like aversion and rejection, as well as a unique charm that Lyra couldn’t quite put into words.

It feels like a closeness from the same source, yet also carries a sense of something long-lost...

Nostalgia?

Lyra searched her mind for the right adjective, but in the end, she could only come up with this one result.

Aversion mixed with closeness, rejection tinged with nostalgia, these conflicting emotions were hidden within this knight’s sword, which stood about half a person’s height, leaving Lyra even more confused.

After an unknown amount of time, the tree shadows exposed to the sunlight quietly shifted their positions.

Using the longsword standing in front of her, Lyra judged that it was now past two in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day.

Under the influence of the sweltering heat, magical beasts often became unwilling to move, preferring to rest in some cool place, while their alertness would also drop significantly.

This was the best time for them to hunt magical beasts.

Hearing the soft sound of the sword’s tip being pulled from the ground, Astrid slowly opened her eyes. Her crimson eyes, having been closed for too long, shimmered faintly with moisture as they shifted.

"Astrid, how’s your rest?" Lyra asked her.

She wanted to sleep a bit longer, but it was too hot, and her whole body felt uncomfortable.

Astrid ran this thought through her mind and softly replied, "I’m fine now."

At least her legs weren’t weak anymore, and her mental energy had been replenished.

Lyra nodded upon hearing this and extended her hand to Astrid.

"Then let’s continue."

Taking Lyra’s smooth, delicate hand that hung in the air, Astrid stood up with effort.

"Mm."

According to their plan, they will next enter the gathering area of the Dark Lizards.

These dark-attributed magical beasts would have their strength significantly weakened when light elements were abundant, making them perfect for hunting at this time.

A cluster of silver-white hair came into view, and a cool, faint fragrance instantly entered her nostrils.

Lyra felt the touch on her palm, and even though there were two layers of gloves between them, she could still feel Astrid’s unique body temperature.

"What’s wrong?"

Seeing Lyra staring at her exposed wrist, Astrid softly spoke up.

After a moment of hesitation, Lyra shared everything she had just felt with Astrid. Upon hearing this, Astrid’s brows furrowed slightly, and she fell silent for a while.

Rejection, aversion, closeness...

What could cause such complex fluctuations in the Sword of Light?

Judging by normal human logic, what light would most likely ignore would be its opposite, one of the two advanced elements, the dark element.

This could also be effectively supported by basic elemental theory. In mysticism, light and dark are defined as mutually repelling and coexisting.

This perfectly aligned with her speculation... but where did the nostalgia come from...

Faintly, Astrid felt that the truth might not be as simple as she thought, but trying to find another possibility, she lacked more information to support it.

In the original novel, at this point in time, Lyra was still only a middle apprentice.

Since she hadn’t obtained the Sword of Light, she had never felt this mental resonance from the Monster Mountains.

"Lyra..." Astrid rubbed the deep blue brooch on her shirt, her tone calm.

"Can you determine the direction this feeling is coming from?"

The practical exam of the Elizabeth Academy of Magic hadn’t encountered any major incidents in the original plot, meaning that what Lyra was sensing now wouldn’t affect the students’ normal hunting.

The west.

After saying this, Lyra raised her hand and pointed to a forest path they hadn’t taken before.

That was the central area of the Monster Mountains, a dangerous place where high-level magical beasts frequently appear.

Astrid fell silent again upon this and replied in a low voice hearing after half a minute.

"I see."

Then she continued according to their original plan, heading toward the habitat of the Dark Lizards.

"Let’s not think about that for now. We’ll stick to the plan."

Since it didn’t seem to affect their hunting, Astrid, adhering to her cautious approach, felt there was no need to open Pandora’s box prematurely.

Any unexpected changes could seriously impact the development of the subsequent plot.

However, the professor had mentioned... the farthest hunting range for the students was that protruding rock formation. Going there to take a look shouldn’t cause any problems...

Astrid silently pondered the considerations in her heart, her boot tip kicking a stone, producing a crisp "click" sound.

As the destined weapon of the heroine, the Sword of Light was not only incredibly powerful but also undoubtedly of the highest caliber.

A fragment of light extracted from the blazing sun became this holy sword that guided all the light in the world.

Ordinary darkness and filth should have been swept away by its radiance long ago, so how could it easily provoke its resonance?

Could it be that the other party’s caliber was on par with it?

The more she thought about it, the more chaotic her thoughts became, unable to find a clear entry point. Astrid reached up and brushed aside the shiny silver hair that fell over her chest, her long, slender legs covered in transparent stockings swaying with each step.

The magical beast mountain range located at the empire’s border still had many areas untouched by humans.

It was said that there were even twelfth-level magical beasts capable of rivaling Arcanist mages. Venturing recklessly was too risky.

First, they will complete the exam. If possible, on their way back, they could investigate the edges of the core area.

They might find something.

........

Twenty minutes later, in the habitat of the Dark Lizards, two uninvited guests lowered their breathing, minimizing their presence as much as possible.

Lyra held her sword, her figure concealed among the trees and flowers, while Astrid gripped a seemingly ordinary staff, the dark blue gem at its tip reflected scattered light.

Dark Lizards were fourth-level dark-attribute magical beasts, equivalent to novice spellcasters in terms of level.

However, due to the presence of a magical energy core within their bodies, this unique physiological structure allows them to only cast dark-attribute spells, making their flexibility in spell choices far inferior to ordinary spellcasters.

But this didn’t mean that Dark Lizards were necessarily at a disadvantage in battles of the same level.

The physical attributes of magical beasts were generally stronger than humans, so merely judging the scale of elemental particles they could manipulate wasn’t an effective measure of their combat strength.

Before the actual fight, it was still unknown who would be the hunter and who would be the prey.

Noticing a Dark Lizard covered in black scales crouching alone in the shadows not far away, Lyra tightened her grip on the hilt, her mental energy quietly flowing.

After a brief reconnaissance, confirming that there were no more lizards nearby, Lyra gave Astrid a look, and the latter slightly nodded, indicating that her inspection results matched Lyra’s.

They could proceed.

First, carefully retreating to a slightly farther spot, Lyra cast Lightness, Agility, and Strength Burst on herself, ensuring that the activation of these arcane factors didn’t alert the prey. The girl then approached the lizard with light steps.

One very convenient aspect of the Sword of Light was that Lyra didn’t need to chant light-attribute enchantment spells.

She only needed to infuse her mental energy into the sword, and with a clear intention to enchant, the sword will automatically draw in the surrounding light elemental particles to achieve the enchantment effect.

This not only allows for surprises but also greatly increases the speed of enchantment.

Perhaps this sword was always meant to shine brightly.

The distance gradually closed, leaving less than ten meters between Lyra and the Dark Lizard. Lyra raised her sword and slashed towards the prey with lightning speed.

The wind in the air was pushed back by the momentum of the blade’s swing, and a strong aura of death instantly enveloped the lizard.

Having lived in the Monster Mountains for years, fighting for territory and food with various magical beasts daily, the Dark Lizard’s sense of danger was extremely sharp.

The moment Lyra swung her sword, it opened its eyes wide, trying to dodge the downward slash.

But in the next second, a crisp shattering sound echoed in the air.

The lizard’s claws were covered in a thin layer of ice, including its elbow joints and exposed scales, all tainted by ice elemental particles.

In the blink of an eye, the lizard’s movements slowed significantly. The action that could have barely dodged the attack was now hindered by the frozen joints, forcing it to try and take the hit sideways.

The blade struck the lizard’s neck scales, sinking in about half a finger’s depth. Blood sprayed out, and light and dark elements rapidly clashed within the narrow wound.

"Hiss..."

Feeling the threat of death, the lizard, which was over half a meter tall even when crouched, roared in anger and swung its strong tail, lashing toward Lyra on its back.

Before the tail could reach, a strong gust of wind blew through her hair. Lyra quickly used light elements to evaporate the flesh that had trapped the holy sword.

Gripping the sword, her body fluttered like a butterfly, dodging the sweeping attack.

Seeing the Dark Lizard focusing all its efforts on Lyra, Astrid, as the long-range support mage, chanted another spell.

Hard ice spikes aimed at the lizard’s open mouth as it roared, shooting out.

Just as the ice spikes were about to hit, a thick darkness appeared in front of the lizard.

The spikes enter it twisted rapidly under some force, shooting toward the ground at a strange angle.

The sun hung high in the sky, and under its scorching light, the darkness disappeared in an instant, leaving only a small portion of the ice spikes piercing the lizard’s mouth, splattering blood.

Taking advantage of the lizard’s pain, Lyra swung her sword again.

The translucent blade, infused with the wielder’s mental energy, instantly became dazzling, like a sudden burst of heavenly light.

The lizard’s tail once again tried to obstruct, but Lyra didn’t dodge this time.

The blade descended from above, the scorching light elements burning the flesh beneath the scales, cutting the tail in two like a knife through tofu.

The sword tip pressed against the lizard’s skull, breaking through the tough armor.

However, having used some of its momentum to sever the tail, this strike didn’t pierce the skull, only exposing the bone underneath.

Having never suffered such severe injuries before, the enraged lizard suddenly exerted force with its limbs, ignoring the fire barrier Astrid had created near its claws.

Its body wrapped in flames, it raised its claws to attack Lyra.

The girl instinctively wanted to dodge, but this attack came with such ferocity that the lizard’s speed rivaled that of a bullet.

Just as she raised the sword to block her chest, a sturdy ice shield appeared in the air.

The claws swept past, the sharp tips scattering ice shards.

Lyra took the opportunity to shift her legs slightly, stepping on the lizard’s exposed side.

Before she could steady herself, the lizard rolled its body again, its other claw swiftly attacked.

With the first strike’s momentum gone, the second strike was slightly slower. Lyra pressed the blade against the claw’s gap, avoiding a direct clash with the hard inner bone, instead using the edge to slice through the flesh.

Blood splattered, the foul liquid kept away by the wind around the girl, not a single drop landed on her dress.

Her heel pressed against the scales, Lyra thrust the sword into the exposed skull wound from earlier.

However, the expected gush of blood didn’t appear. The lizard’s skull, enhanced by dark elements, shows hardness surpassing its scales.

But unfortunately, it was facing the determined weapon of the heroine. The infused light elements quickly dispelled the thick darkness, and the indestructible sword tip penetrated the lizard’s brain, destroying its most vital organ.

The lizard stiff its limbs one last time, its black vertical pupils still retaining the ferocity from its life.

To be safe, Lyra used the scorching light elements to destroy its spine, then climbed off the Dark Lizard, her breathing slightly uneven.

This hunt was much more troublesome than hunting the Flame-Tail Fox... and that was with the advantage of a successful ambush...

Seeing the lizard’s bloodied mouth and the ice spike-pierced hind leg, Lyra let out a soft sigh of relief.

Princess Astrid’s ice magic was indeed powerful. She hadn’t even noticed these wounds.

"Hurry and collect the magical energy core. I’ll keep watch. The commotion from the fight was a bit loud and might attract other Dark Lizards."

Hearing Astrid’s words, Lyra crouched down and used the Sword of Light to pry open the Dark Lizard’s skull.

After searching for a while and finding nothing, she shifted her focus to the heart area, where she found the magical energy core.

Compared to lower-level magical beasts, the Dark Lizard’s core, though still unable to store elemental particles, had the initial form of a crystal stone.

Just as she stored the core, Astrid suddenly grabbed Lyra’s hand. The woman’s hair band fluttered slightly, guiding the wind elements in the air to carry them up onto a giant tree nearby.

Two stronger Dark Lizards appear beneath the tree, sniffing the scent of blood in the air.

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