Chapter 8: A Breath Away from Death

  "Come on, little girl. Stop struggling and surrender," the bandit leader sneered as he continued chanting his incantation, slowly closing in.

  The ground trembled violently. More earthen hands burst from the soil, monstrous and relentless, gripping Sanbao's limbs tightly. The cold, heavy weight of the mud against her skin left her barely able to move even her fingertips.

  "Young dy, don’t waste your strength," the bandit leader mocked with a smirk. "You’re just a first-stage Water-type Ability User. I'm a second-stage Earth-type Ability User, and I possess a Soil Spirit Orb that suppresses water powers. You stand no chance."

  Sanbao didn’t answer. She lifted her head, staring coldly at the scarred man, fury surging beneath her calm exterior. She hadn’t expected her first real venture into the outside world would nd her in such a desperate, unwinnable situation.

  As she racked her brain for an escape pn, the bandits began approaching without hesitation.

  The leader’s eyes roamed over Sanbao and Yuyu before lingering lustfully at the hem of Sanbao's skirt. A leering grin twisted his mouth.

  "This one’s mine," he said.

  He waved a hand casually toward the others. "As for the maid... brothers, she’s all yours."

  The bandits roared with excitement and immediately rushed toward Wu Yuyu.

  Yuyu's face turned deathly pale. She struggled frantically but was pinned firmly to the ground by the earthen hands. Tears welled up in her eyes, her lips trembling uncontrolbly with terror.

  As the bandits drew near and the soil loosened slightly around her, Yuyu suddenly lunged forward. She snatched the dagger from Sanbao’s waist and began chanting under her breath.

  The steel bde in her hand dissolved instantly, transforming into a stream of liquid silver that surged up her arm, encasing it.

  In the blink of an eye, her arm morphed into a gleaming, massive longsword!

  The sudden shift stunned the bandits. Even the scarred leader's pupils contracted in arm.

  "Another Ability User?!"

  He instinctively stepped back, warily eyeing the metallic arm.

  "A second-stage Metal-type Ability User?"

  For a moment, surprise flickered across his face. But then he sneered again and slowly pulled the Soil Spirit Orb back out of his robes.

  "Too bad," he said mockingly. "This Soil Spirit Orb doesn’t just suppress Water-types. It weakens all Ability Users below the third stage."

  As soon as he finished speaking, the ground roiled beneath Yuyu’s feet. Sharp earthen spikes erupted, aiming straight for her!

  Yuyu’s expression hardened. She swung her metallic arm in wide arcs.

  *Ssh!*

  Several spikes shattered instantly, spraying dirt everywhere. But there were too many. For every spike she cut down, new ones rose up again, relentless and endless.

  Still, she didn’t retreat.

  She knew all too well what would happen if she hesitated for even a second.

  Clenching her teeth, she continued sshing, each swing of her arm sending out sharp fshes of silver light.

  Finally, amid the swirling dust, she managed to slice through the muddy hand restraining Sanbao!

  The instant the soil released her, Sanbao rolled aside, gasping heavily for breath.

  But before she could fully catch it, she noticed Yuyu’s face suddenly twist in pain.

  The metallic sheen on Yuyu’s arm was thinning, the silver liquid beginning to peel away.

  *No...*

  Sanbao’s heart clenched. She realized that Yuyu’s "metal arm" came from the material of a simple dagger. The amount of metal it could supply was limited. After the intense battle, Yuyu had used up almost everything.

  Yuyu herself had sensed it too. She began chanting a reinforcement spell while swinging desperately, but the metallic yer peeled faster and faster, and her strikes grew weaker.

  The bandit leader saw this and ughed even louder.

  "Hahaha! Didn’t I say it? You’re not getting away!"

  He raised his hand again—and dozens more earthen spikes shot up, lunging straight at Yuyu’s chest!

  Yuyu could no longer hold out. The st of the silver armor fell away, revealing her slender, pale arm beneath.

  Her face turned ghostly white from exhaustion. Sweat streamed down her temples. And the sharpest spike was now less than an inch from piercing her heart.

  A breath away from death.

  Sanbao’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.

  Without thinking, she lunged forward, throwing herself in front of Yuyu— just as the spike stabbed through.

  Blood exploded outward.

  A hot gush of crimson flooded from Sanbao’s chest, staining her robes instantly.