The Desperate Enemy

Servia always listened to Xu Xi.

So,

when Xu Xi asked Servia to calm the people, she went without hesitation.

Yet, as she ran, the Hero couldn't shake a nagging question—why had she instinctively refused Xu Xi's Tower Spirit authority?

Why…

was that…?

"Lord Wizard, I don’t understand," she murmured, her silver-clad skeletal fingers tightening into a fist.

The answer seemed clear,

yet deliberately obscured.

Unable to make sense of it, Servia could only follow Xu Xi’s orders, rushing through the tower to reassure the panicked crowds.

"Thank you, Miss Servia."

"We’re so grateful…"

The earlier tremors had thrown the Wizard Tower into chaos, leaving many injured.

Servia used her magic to heal them as best she could.

Then,

without pausing to acknowledge their thanks, she raced back to the tower’s peak, driven by an inexplicable urgency.

As if Xu Xi were in danger.

But that couldn’t be.

Xu Xi was strong.

He was the person Servia trusted most.

From the day they met, he had performed miracles, and now, he was leading them all out of the Wizard World.

The Hero truly believed that such an omnipotent wizard could never be in peril.

So, faster.

She had to go faster.

"Lord Wizard… are you hiding something from me?" Servia pushed her speed to the limit, flying toward the tower’s summit.

She needed to see with her own eyes that he was safe.

But suddenly,

an indescribable, primordial force erupted above the Tower of Salvation—crimson flames, ashen death, a terrifying hellscape threatening to consume the tower.

Power beyond Servia’s comprehension.

Twisting reality.

Shattering order.

In the span of a breath, multiple floating platforms crumbled into the abyss.

At the critical moment, a radiant pillar of soul light burst from the tower’s peak—Xu Xi’s location—forcing back the devastation.

"Lord Wizard…?"

Space fractured like glass.

Servia froze, stunned.

Then, she surged forward even faster.

But the moment she drew near, an overwhelming force hurled her back, cracking her light armor.

It hurt.

It burned.

The energy ravaging the tower’s peak was tearing at her very soul.

Crushing, breaking, rending.

Yet, worse than the pain was the dread of an unthinkable future.

Staggering to her feet,

she pressed on toward the one she couldn’t bear to lose.

He’ll be fine. The wizard will be fine.

Her battered heart clung to the lie.

"Lord Wizard is strong. He’ll be alright," she whispered, urging herself forward.

But the closer she got, the more distorted the power became.

The order of life and death inverted.

The living turned to corpses.

The dead returned to life.

The ruined space at the tower’s peak seemed to writhe under a god’s cruel whims, warping the laws of existence.

Servia’s skeletal body regrew flesh—

only for it to rot away moments later.

Life and death, an endless cycle.

"I can’t see…" Blinded by searing hellfire, her newly formed eyes charred black, Servia groped forward.

She summoned a Wizard’s Eye,

using magic to replace her vision.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

Xu Xi’s battle with this unknown foe had surpassed Servia’s limits—her bones groaned, her soul-fire flickered.

She couldn’t advance.

"It hurts… so much…"

The Hero, who should have felt no pain, now endured agony as her body tore itself apart.

Blood streaked her face,

staining emerald irises crimson.

Her hair dripped red, leaving a trail behind her.

Kneeling, gasping, she choked out ragged, wordless sounds.

"Lord Wizard… needs me…"

"I have to… get there…"

Her frail body trembled violently.

Hellfire wreathed her, trapping her between life and death.

Blind.

Battered.

Yet she refused to stop.

She was a fraud, a coward, a worthless imitation despised by the world.

But someone had believed in her.

Had asked for her.

Had needed her.

Had said his research would falter without her.

So, she would answer that trust—offer her meager strength.

And maybe, just maybe, roast a few charred, bitter fruits for the wizard who always bore the weight alone.

"Servia, will you leave with me?"

"I need you, Servia."

"My research needs you. Without you, I’d be lost."

How cruel.

After saying such things, how dare he face this impossible battle alone?

This wizard was the worst!

"Bzzzt—"

Her vision blurred further, but she sensed the battle above growing fiercer.

The enemy had unleashed another attack.

Even time itself twisted.

She wanted—

needed—to help.

But she was powerless.

"Even… even if it’s just me…" With trembling hands, Servia gripped her knight’s sword, raising it toward the unfathomable force above.

Blood dripped from her arms, marking her resolve.

This was all she could do—all she must do. She would protect Xu Xi, even if only a little.

But someone stopped her.

"Servia, leave this to me, alright?"

A familiar figure appeared before her, shielding both her and the tower’s people from the cataclysmic power.

And in that moment, Servia finally saw him—

his life force unraveling.

His hair whitened.

Wrinkles spread.

Youth withered away in seconds.

"Sorry, Servia. I didn’t want you to see me like this," Xu Xi said, forcing a smile as his soul-barrier flickered.

The seventh-circle Immortal’s strength had surpassed his expectations.

Reality bent to its will.

Even with countless soul-fires, Xu Xi couldn’t overcome the gap in power.