Water Mage in the Flame Realm

In the ward, the summer afternoon's heat and languid feeling had completely vanished.

In its place was a coarse, heavy, and burning atmosphere of killing intent.

"Calm down, everyone calm down!" Captain Linda shouted.

You could see that the medical staff in the ward were instinctively panicked.

In contrast, the wounded who had just withdrawn from the battlefield were almost all calm. Being regularly cared for, they reacted swiftly, jumped out of bed, and shielded the medical staff.

Orleans also stood in front of Captain Linda.

His eyes were constantly on Andrew.

Honestly, Orleans wasn't particularly worried about Andrew.

After all, it was just a force. Even if left by the Saintess Capella, it was ultimately just a force.

"This Andrew, after all, is Tier Four. Even though his combat power isn't exceptional, facing a force of the same tier shouldn't be much of a problem. As long as he follows my instructions!"

Orleans thought to himself, "Don't retreat, don't evade, stand firm, and output steadily, he should be fine!"

Indeed, Andrew neither retreated nor dodged.

But he didn't obediently stand firm and output either.

Instead, he was initially stunned by the sudden attack, then regained his senses and... took a step forward.

This step looked safe and inconspicuous.

Anyway, in the eyes of the medical staff in the ward, it was just a trivial detail.

But in the eyes of all the wounded present who had been on the battlefield, this step was the complete opposite of inconspicuous!

Let's put it this way, in this Flame Realm, Andrew's step was akin to in the world before the crossing in a game, an ADC facing an enemy assassin's surprise attack, not retreating or dodging, not even attacking, but directly walking towards the assassin's face—that's the feeling!

In the game, such an ADC is likely someone whose kiting isn't good, wants to target but misses and hits the ground instead, inadvertently walking into the assassin's face. That can be explained!

In this Flame Realm, such behavior, to others, had absolutely no explicable reason and was completely an "utter human confusion act."

"What kind of battle readiness is this?"

The wounded were all stunned, taken aback.

Orleans, who had just loudly reminded Andrew, was even more at a loss, "???"

He thought, I told you not to retreat or evade, but I didn't mean for you to charge forward against the enemy!

For a moment, Orleans even had an illusion: could it be that Andrew, like himself, was also a Crimson Knight and not a Mage?

Because as a Crimson Knight, initiating force often needs an "acceleration start." Previously at the frontline facing Capella, when locked by the opponent, Orleans also adopted an acceleration and counterattack method to forcibly seize a chance of survival.

But you're a Mage! Aren't you... you're a Mage, right? Orleans really felt he couldn't understand it: as a Mage, standing firm and outputting is more efficient than a Crimson Knight. Defending this strike in the most normal way should suffice, right?

Why on earth did you take that step forward?!

Initially, after experiencing Andrew's treatment, Orleans didn't look down on Andrew as much as he did initially.

It was precisely because of this that he reminded Andrew and shared information about Capella.

Now, seeing Andrew taking that step forward shocked Orleans, but it also determined his decision: he must go to the Royal Court! Such healing talents like Andrew should stay in the rear at the Warm Fire Temple, just like Captain Linda.

When Andrew took the initiative to take a step forward, it seemed he didn't plan to defend at all.

He directly raised his hand and used his bare fingers to point at the tip of the charging axe spear.

Seeing this, Orleans: "..."

It wasn't that he was speechless about why a Mage would face a Warrior's weapon barehanded.

Orleans didn't have the luxury to criticize now.

His expression turned rather grim, thinking that a normal response indeed would've had no issue.

But if it's this reckless approach—

Suddenly, what had happened during his confrontation with Capella at the frontline resurfaced in his mind.

If he remembered correctly, when Capella locked onto him, Orleans felt an unprecedented terror: as if he might not die if he handled it poorly but instead would face a fate worse than death.

At the depths of that "lock" from the opponent, Orleans faintly sensed a nerve-wracking "marking" force.

Orleans wasn't sure if his feeling was correct, or even whether it was really Capella's force.

Back then, he merely had a strong sense: under no circumstances could he be "marked"! Otherwise, the consequences were unimaginable!

"Back then, I desperately broke through that 'lock,' avoiding any possibility of being 'marked.'"

Orleans thought to himself, "Now, with Andrew responding so recklessly, if he's 'marked'..."

Thinking this, Orleans moved his lips, wanting to speak again but suddenly turned pale, letting out a muffled groan, and slowly sat down on the ground.

His wound, at this moment, no longer had any of Capella's force remaining, but just now he had used force to intercept Capella's force, then jumped out of bed to remind Andrew not to retreat or evade, while standing in front of Linda, this sequence of actions caused his wound to tear again.

Amidst the urgency, Orleans, whose wound split open again, didn't know that Andrew actually hadn't heard his earlier reminder at all.

At this moment, Andrew had only the charging axe spear in his eyes, and no other people or things existed.

Everything around him briefly faded away.

The incident unfolded suddenly, and it was certainly shocking.

But after the initial shock, Andrew quickly calmed down with the help of the "Water Spirit Technique."

He then felt: it seemed... unavoidable?

Yes, even without Orleans' reminder, Andrew sensed: that terrifying feeling of being "locked" and possibly "marked" by some strange force.

He thought to himself, he originally came to the Warm Fire Temple intending to slowly inquire about Capella's intelligence after healing Orleans.

Who would have thought that Capella's force would turn to seek him out instead?

"But this..."

Andrew stared at the axe spear, his expression heavy yet with a hint of excitement in his eyes, "... this is precisely, the best intelligence!"

Thinking this, Andrew took a deep breath, then slightly lowered his center of gravity, taking a step forward.

To others, this step seemed utterly absurd.

But to Andrew himself, it was nothing short of normal.

Standing firm and outputting wasn't his habit, and passive defense wasn't his style.

Back when he first arrived at Warm Fire City and fought Sabye, Andrew had tentatively confirmed his "counterattack style" combat strategy: if the enemy doesn't move, neither will he. If the enemy dares to move, he will immediately advance, counterattacking and swiftly attacking!

Though after that battle, he didn't have much chance to hone his combat skills, focusing more on business cooperations.

But the realization from that battle had settled and remained until now!

—This was why, in others' eyes, there was a completely unreasonable advancing counterattack.

This wasn't the human confusing behavior others, like Orleans, perceived, nor was it like an ADC mistakenly stepping into the enemy's face due to target misplacement.

Instead, Andrew was seriously confronting Capella's force!

As for pointing barehanded at the axe spear's tip... it wasn't really "barehanded."

Under the "Invisible Enchantment," others couldn't see what magic Andrew was using.

The left fingertip accurately pointed at the tip of the axe spear, point-to-point.

Meanwhile, the right thumb struck horizontally from the outside on the blade of the axe spear.

The long unused "Zero-Distance Water Cannon" fearlessly unleashed.

And it was both hands together, firing a double boom!

From start to finish, the word "defense" never surfaced in Andrew's mind, he was solely thinking of counterattacking, shattering head-on the axe spear formed by Capella's force while: "Feeling precisely what kind of opponent the Saintess Capella truly is behind this force!"