Whew, I must’ve broken this stupid thing over a thousand times, but it keeps fixing itself! The sky cracks apart occasionally like before, and there’s some screams, but it’s not as vivid as the first battlefield. I don’t think I’m weakening the sky-realm expert inside at all! I guess the only thing I can do is keep breaking it. Mm, if this necklace of intelligence was just a bit stronger, then I bet I’d instinctively know when to stop. Ah, I forgot to tell Ilya to make me more necklaces to become fourtimely smarter. Speaking of Ilya, aren’t those three done yet? It shouldn’t be that hard to make people swear oaths! You just have to grind their bones a few times and hit them to wake them up when they fall unconscious.

Oh? The statue’s eyes turned red. Is something happening? A circle appeared on the ground next to me, and a person appeared out of nowhere! They must’ve come from inside the formation. I’ll do a quick check with my tail, and … he’s about as strong as that running-fish rider. So, a sky-realm expert? I thought the crown prince said it’d be hard to obtain sky-realm experts’ heads. It turns out you can’t really trust anyone except for yourself! And Ilya.

“You’re still breaking the formation even after I show myself!?”

Ah. After breaking the statue over a thousand times, I hit it again out of habit when it repaired itself. “Oops. That was an accident.”

“Oops? Accident? You think you can get away with what you’ve done by saying oops!? Which country do you belong to? I’ll have them reimburse me for all my wasted medicinal pills. I suffered multiple internal injuries because of your actions! If you’re part of my Fang Country, I’ll have your whole sect exterminated!”

“Oh? You’re part of Fang Country? And you’re a sky-realm expert, right?”

“Are you afraid now? It’s too late!” The sky-realm expert stretched his hand towards me, but before I could grab him, a white light appeared in between us and another person appeared. She was a sky-realm expert too! The crown prince was right; these people travel in packs!

The woman that appeared glared at the man. “You went outside, but the formation was destroyed again! No wonder why your Fang Country is suffering from internal strife. Your sky-realm experts are completely incompetent!”

“Shut up! This foxkin ignored me and broke the statue under my watch.”

“And you didn’t stop her? Incompetent!”

…Maybe these two people are enemies? Mm. If Fang Country has a sky-realm expert, then our side needs to have one too! Even without the necklace of intelligence, I can do basic math. For the two sides to be equal in power, the number of sky-realm experts have to be the same. Therefore, this woman has to be on my side!

“And you, foxkin! Do you know how annoying it is to repair a formation repeatedly? I’ll skin you alive and turn you into a rug.”

Or not…? Mm. Alright. Clearly, there’s only one answer: Violence! “Breaking Madness Fist Strike!” Direct—! …Hit? I was aiming for the woman, but she suddenly switched places with the man! And now the man’s crumpled up on the ground with froth coming out of his mouth. Is he dead? Hmm, I think this is what people call on the verge of death. I can’t let him die because of my punch! “Claw! Come cut this sky-realm expert’s head off before he dies!”

“Yes, right away, Lady Fiery Rain!” Claw shouted. In an instant, he appeared next to me with his sword drawn.

And just like that, I obtained another sky-realm expert’s head! Just three more to go! If this woman’s head will count, then it’ll be two heads left! “Hey, old lady, are you part of Fang Country or Kang Country?”

“K-Kang Country.” The lady was holding onto her necklace. If she squeezed it a little more, it’d probably break. It must be a life-saving treasure of some sort, like an instant-teleportation button. It’s weird how the sky-realm experts that I’ve already beaten up haven’t had any of those. They just probably didn’t have the time to react to my quick thinking! That must be it. When I accomplish great things, it’s because I’m amazing. There’s no other explanations for the sky-realm experts’ failures.

“Mm. I guess there’s no point in killing you if your head can’t be traded in. How about you leave behind your interspacial ring and underwear and I’ll let you go?”

“You’re not going to take her clothes too?” Claw asked.

“Well, it’s just a white robe. Look at how plain it is. I bet I couldn’t sell it for more than a single spirit stone.” There’s not even a nametag. Why would I bother taking something so useless? Oh, I guess it’d plant a heart devil, but I already planted one in her when the man died to Claw just now.

“No, it’s a special robe made of volcanic chameleon skin that can change its appearance at will.” Claw shook his head. “It’s worth at least ten earth-realm-ranked swords.”

“Robes. Give. Now. Or death.” Ten earth-realm-ranked swords! That’s worth an uncountable number of used panties! Only an idiot would let a chance like this go! I have my Unrelenting Path of Slaughter ready to activate at any moment. I’ll drown her with my Tides of Blood if she refuses!

“T-that’s a lot of bloodlust you’re giving out,” the woman said. “H-here. Take it.” She stripped and handed me her robes and her ring. She didn’t give me any underwear…, but she was completely naked. A pervert?

“Underwear?”

The woman’s face flushed bright red. “I usually don’t wear any….”

Yup, she’s a pervert. I want nothing to do with her. “Okay. Get out of here.”

“Yes. Goodbye, Fiery Rain of the Flaming Sparrow Sect.” The woman rose into the air and flew away at a lightning fast speed. Ah! She was still wearing her life-saving treasure necklace thing! I was completely distracted by her lack of underwear that I forgot! But why did she call me Fiery Rain? Oh, I’m still wearing the nametag. I forgot to put that away too! Why am I forgetting so many things? Maybe the necklace of intelligence is wearing off. Mm. I’ll ask Ilya to recharge its effects.