"Falsus, do you remember me?" The Nature Fairy smiled as she joyously asked him. However, her voice was wicked and sharp as a knife, cutting onto his mind like a dagger threatening to end his life.

As her voice echoed in his ears, the half-crimson flowers on his eye sockets shook as they madly disrupted the circulation of sorcery energy within Forus, causing some internal damage to his organs and blood veins.

Without any intention to speak, Forus lifted his head upwards to see any reactions from both Mountain Union and Flying Green Garden. To his expectation, none was willing to step in to help him or Florie.

"With your power, fight me and help me prove myself. The teacher had already promised that, as long as we fought, we won't be going after anyone related to you. So, show me how I am compared to you now." Florie did not speak nonsense and directly skip to the relevant detail. As she promised the safety of everyone else, she would get Forus to fight her for real.

As long as she believed that she could overcome him, the looming shadow in her soul would dissipate away and help to progress her sorcery mastery. For this result, she would need Forus to be sincere and fight to the death with her.

Forus frowned when he heard her statement but did not say anything. Around him, although he could not detect anything, his strange soul was vibrating in a rapid rhythm indicating a hidden danger.

He could feel the determination in Florie's voice, indicating that she did not know that he was getting suppressed by the flowers in his eyes. Coupled with the hidden presence around him, Forus knew that the female sorcerer was watching over him.

His sorcery mastery, which touched the boundary of middle-staged of the first-ranked, had fallen towards the bottom of first-ranked, making his overall power slightly weaker than Florie. Nonetheless, if he used his Death Aura to fight, then he would be able to defeat her single-handedly.

However, Forus decided to play along with the script. After hearing the explanation from Lord Phasma, he became aware of some secrets forbidden to mention. As his Death Aura had a connection with the Taboo Existences, he knew that things would get even more complicated if someone recognized it.

"If I win, could you help me with a request?" Thinking about something, Forus spoke for the first time. Although he did not display any emotions on his face, his hands were trembling while he spoke.

"As long as you defeat me, then I'll listen to it." Seeing that her opponent finally decided to talk to her, Florie quickly agreed to his deal and retreated a little, preparing herself to start the duel.

With a wave of her hand, a vine-covered staff manifested in her hand. Without any hesitation, she stuck it onto the ground, creating a small rift on it. The greenish shade of the wand tainted the crack, causing grasses and weeds to grow out from it.

Her robe extended outwards and grew into arrays of vines and leaves, turning from ordinary clothes into a long-tailed dress. As if she had become one with nature, Forus could feel her presence spreading and merging with the surrounding wildness.

Compared to Abicel, Florie, who had a mentor to guide in the way of Fairy, was a lot more familiar to the abilities and power of Nature Fairy than her. Although her constitution was worse than Abicel's pure bloodline, she had both time and guidance that let her power develop.

A floating leaf slid past Forus' body, grazing his left arm lightly. Even though it was just an ordinary leaf, when infused with the power of Nature Fairy, the blade of leaves would be able to cut open a small wound on his body.

Sensing the whirlpool of leaves and petals surrounding him, Forus wondered about how powerful Abicel would become when she fully developed her bloodline. In his mind, having a strong ally to help Ocelia was a good thing.

Knowing that it was his time to act, Forus stepped forwards, causing the temperature to drop. As cold air began to rush outwards from him, the flow of the leaves vortex also started to slow down. With the freezing forcefield, all movement would get suppressed.

Weak leaves would freeze and disintegrate into dust before getting close enough to him, making the area around him the forbidden land for the leaves vortex. Although some would occasionally get through and wound him, his vitality would heal his wounds in a matter of seconds.

With a tap of his finger, Forus condensed the cold wind into a ball of bluish snow. He flicked his hand and sent it forwards, floating ever so slowly closer towards Florie.

When Florie tried to retaliate by sending in groups of grass blades, most of them only turned into icy sculptures and fused with the ball, becoming a part of the all-devouring sphere.

Although his power was weaker than Florie, his experience and comprehension over sorcery were superior. The Nature Fairy that ascended with the help of her mentor in a peaceful environment would never be able to clash with Forus, whose journey had skirted around with death more than any others.

Just as Forus was about to hit Florie with it, the flowers in his eye sockets swayed lightly, sending thunder-like sound echoing within his bloodstream, causing his veins to rip open and burst into various rifts. The sudden outburst clouded his perception with a tremble, making his control over the sphere lessened and allowed Florie to fight back.

Using the pause Forus gave her, Florie knocked her wooden staff onto the ground, causing the pellets felling from the sky to converse into flowery arrows that shot towards Forus. They pierced through his magical icy sphere and went straight towards his chest.

The devouring sphere clashed with the arrows. Although it could not withstand the impact, it still exploded in front of Florie and brought forth the rain of icy spikes onto her.

When they clashed with floating leaves, small combustion would occur and die down, condensing into peddles of water that soaked the ground. While some managed to land some hits on the Nature Fairy, her wounds quickly became covered by the various vines and flowers on her body, healing it back up in minutes.

Forus focused his sorcery and manipulated the Ice Element onto his hand. As he gestured his hand and made a drawing action, the frosty handle of the blade swiftly formed under his hand, revealing its chilly appearance.

With one stroke of the blade, Forus parried the fancy arrows away from himself. However, just as they landed onto it, they dispersed into the mist of light fragrance that engulfed his body, seeping into his pores.

Although Forus immediately tried to retreat, the mist managed to touch his skin and caused a part of it to mutate into the greenish coat. In a blink of an eye, moss and mushrooms began to sprout on his body, draining his energy and hindered his movement.

In his act of retreating, Forus swung his blade upwards, causing a part of it to break away from the main body and headed towards Florie. Although they were small and low in numbers, they were fast and unexpected, allowing them to catch her off-guarded and stabbed onto her flesh.

Gritting her teeth, Florie disregarded the pain and rushed towards the falling Forus. Even though the sudden sneak attack had interrupted her manipulation over the arrows, she was able to fire some more towards him, creating pressure to distract him while she rushed in.

In the battle between two low-ranked sorcerers, the outcome usually came from their battle experience and tactics while their sorcery mastery being the supporting factors. As long as one controlled the pace of the fight, they would outperform their opponent and win.

While he continued to retreat away from the arrow bombardment, Forus was keeping track of Florie all the time. From the previous battle against Lord Phasma and his bloody formation, he became much more vigilant with the position of his enemies.

After the fifth swing, a loud noise resounded as Forus' icy blade shattered into shards of ice. The force of its self-destruction propelled Forus away from the mist, giving him a moment to catch his breath and reorganize his thought.

Seeing the situation, Florie slightly frowned and decided to send forth the leaves revolving around her to pressure him. With only a handful of petals covering her body, she threw her staff up and clapped her hand, creating a ripple of sorcery energy.

When the ripple hit the staff, it shook gently before dissolving into an ocean of pinkish pollens. After a moment, the only part of it left was its jewel, which transformed into a nice little crystal dagger.

Forus naturally felt the sudden change, but he did not display any emotions and continued to roam around the arrows and the petals. However, as the pollens covered the battlefield, Forus finally frowned as he sensed that Florie's presence had disappeared into thin air.

Soft giggles resounded around Forus, preventing him from picking up on any additional noises from the surrounding. Not only that but the pollens also obstructed his sorcery perception, reducing his area of awareness to only a small radius around himself.

As Forus dodged and parried the oncoming leaves and petals, he gradually accumulated shallow wounds all over his body. Although his constitution was exceptional and could heal them in only a short while, they would slowly exhaust his sorcery energy and clouded his mind with pain and tiredness.

Although Florie seemingly disappeared and never intended to show herself again, Forus' expression only worsened as the stressful atmosphere intensified by the passing second. Her disappearance transformed into a looming shadow of a scythe that could sever his head at any moment.

Occasionally, the flowers in his eye sockets would spin and induce dizziness and pain onto his body. With everything stacking on top of his mental fortitude, the toll on his physical body soon followed suit.

However, it was not only him that suffered in this situation. Although powerful, the spell also drained more sorcery energy than any other she had. Florie did not dare to rest in fear of letting a chance pass by. She knew that her body could not support the prolong usage of the spell.

Time passed in silence, and Forus showed no sight of despair or frustration. He continued to endure and wait for the storm to subside, knowing that Florie would not be able to maintain it forever. If he could pass this moment, he was sure that the fight would soon end.

As if Florie could not bear to wait anymore, the pollens suddenly stopped in place before resuming their movement with even more intensity. The petals moved across the air, creating sounds due to friction and air resistance.

The mushrooms and mosses on Forus trembled as they exploded into a colourful stream, injecting more pollens into the air as well as cutting open more wounds on his body. The flowers in his eyes also withered, turning pitch-black as they rot inside his body, creating a foul smell that blackened a part of his face.

Forus immediately forced the black substance out from his body while channelling his sorcery energy, using the Ice Element to freeze the parasites on his body. Although the frozen flesh would wither under the extreme cold, it was better than becoming the breeding nest of moss and mushrooms.

However, as Forus was focusing on his body condition, a black figure manifested within the current of the pollens and approached him without his knowledge. In a mere moment, the crystal dagger flashed in crimson light as it closed in near his body.

The surrounding pollens, as if excited by the dagger, rushed towards Forus in all direction. The petals and leaves around him also merged into a group of edges, hiding within the sea of pinkish particles.

Knowing that the deciding moment was nigh, Forus extended his hand forwards and grabbed the crystal dagger with his bare skin. Although blood began to drip out from the cut, Forus did not let out any scream of pain and held onto it with all his might.

With his suicidal move, he managed to catch the hiding Florie out in the open.