Chapter 94: Justice from Above!

When Ponia prepared to neutralize Wang Yu’s assault and tear him to shreds with her sorcery, she was already a heartbeat too slow.

Borrowing the power of the Lady of Night to shroud the entire floor in absolute darkness—this was not merely an optical absence of light, but a conceptual one. Any act of "observation" was rendered void; even a blind man would lose his way in such a void.

Ponia, caught unprepared, could not remain immune to Wang Yu’s divine arts. Shrouded by this perception-blocking miracle, she instinctively assumed Wang Yu was seizing the moment to strike, but in reality, he had already hauled the badly wounded Edward up and fled.

With Edward slung over his back, Wang Yu charged straight through a window, which had already been blasted wide enough for two to pass during his standoff with Ponia.

The three-story drop might have caused injury, but Wang Yu had released a barrier mid-air, utilizing the aerial resistance to shed the brunt of the impact.

Landing, he continued his frantic sprint. Wang Yu had no intention of pausing; burdened by Edward, he could not vault over walls or rooftops, so he tore through the narrow alleys, his rapid footfalls kicking up a thick veil of dust.

"We’re just running away like this?!" Edward asked, stunned. Wang Yu’s escape was so decisive and swift that he hadn't even processed it.

"We can't win. There’s no point in wearing ourselves out against her; we’d both be drained to death in the end." Wang Yu’s tone was grim as he explained while sprinting.

"Her sorcery is formidable. I don’t know why her void energy reserves seem limited or why her casting feels so sluggish, but that level of control... it’s the first time I’ve truly felt what it’s like to face a sorcerer. Reality-warping... no wonder sorcerers are rarer than mages or knights."

In his grave words, Wang Yu revealed a deep sense of trepidation. Facing Ponia was no longer a matter of mere desperation; during their standoff, he had felt as if the entire world were conspiring against him.

Though it was an illusion, it showcased the terrifying nature of a sorcerer. When Wang Yu tried to close the distance, the space between them would warp and stretch.

When he attempted to dodge, unseen forces would pull him directly into the path of her attacks.

When he waited for an opening, a collapse from nowhere would crash down upon his head.

Controlled in every aspect, suppressed from every angle—Wang Yu felt like a trapped man sinking into a mire, possessing strength yet only sinking deeper into Ponia’s grasp until his power was spent.

How could he fight? He couldn't. Their minute-long standoff had been nothing but a desperate struggle; he would have been crushed soon enough. Running was the best and only choice.

"This is what a true sorcerer is. The little bit of sorcerous power I’ve mastered is a joke compared to hers." Wang Yu glanced at his palm.

His own skills seemed laughable in comparison. He was merely applying mechanics, while Ponia’s mastery—the effortless warping, the fluid control—was the true manifestation of a sorcerer.

"We can't run! She has signed a contract with a demon. If we give her the chance, the demon will descend!" Edward’s voice was urgent, and he struggled as if to stop him.

"So you’d rather die than run?" Wang Yu’s tone was indifferent. Such pure, suicidal behavior was meaningless to him; given the chasm in their combat capabilities, throwing his life away would be a worthless sacrifice.

"But this is our duty! If the demon descends, the destruction will be unimaginable." Edward was anxious.

"Sorry, I’m not like you. I’m just a worker, and you’re my friend. To me, your safety is far more important than any mission." Wang Yu didn't slow down, speaking with calm detachment.

"But..." Edward wanted to argue, but seeing that Wang Yu valued his life above duty, he found no words to refute him.

"But leaving her unchecked will have dire consequences. I saw the Hellfire in her hands; that only comes from a contract with a demon of the abyss."

"I don't intend to leave her unchecked, but right now, we must run. Haven't you thought about calling for reinforcements?" Wang Yu mused.

"No, she is a Fate-Seer. Everything that happened today was foreseen by her. I am the only one who will encounter her; we won't find any reinforcements." Edward’s tone was heavy.

"Wake up, am I not a person?" Wang Yu felt bewildered. He realized Edward had become obsessed, acting dazed since a moment ago.

With a ripple of void energy, Wang Yu conjured some water and splashed it on Edward’s face to snap him out of it.

Stung by the cold water and stirred by Wang Yu’s words, Edward finally steadied himself. During the fight, the constant premonitions and suppression had clouded his mind, causing him to subconsciously accept Ponia’s prophecies as absolute reality.

But her prophecies were inherently flawed; Wang Yu’s arrival was the start of that error. Yet, because Wang Yu’s arrival hadn't brought an immediate victory, Edward’s irrational faith in Ponia had only deepened.

Now, pointed out by Wang Yu and cooled by the drop in adrenaline, he realized that a change had occurred—a massive one. He had escaped, rather than being trapped to death by Ponia in that building.

The change had manifested, and everything would now veer away from the path Ponia had foreseen.

"Sorry, I lost my head." Edward admitted his mistake.

"Tell me what you encountered, all this talk about prophecies—I still don't understand."

Wang Yu was still largely in the dark. He had come to rendezvous with Edward only to find him half-dead, clashed with Ponia, realized he was outmatched, and fled.

While running, he heard Edward muttering about fate and prophecy. Though Wang Yu understood the concept of a "Fate-Seer," he didn't know why Edward was so convinced of the accuracy of Ponia’s predictions.

Edward quickly realized the information gap and gave a concise, rapid account of his ordeal.

"That kind of ability... no wonder I didn't face any resistance when I entered. Ripples are the perfect counter to her secret arts." Wang Yu understood why Edward had been so battered. Ponia’s arts were terrifying against anyone who couldn't completely overwhelm her with raw power.

The disasters occurring in his blind spots would slowly grind a person down. But Wang Yu was a hard counter; the Inner Eye of the Ripple provided a 360-degree field of vision, rendering her arts useless against him.

As for Ponia’s prophetic ability, Wang Yu was shocked. If not for him, Edward would indeed have come alone and been trapped to death. This ability to peer into fate was far beyond the level of a common fortune-teller.

Yet, why had he broken Ponia’s prophecy? Wang Yu had his suspicions, but that was unimportant now. Having gained more information about Ponia, he already had a bold, outrageous, and potentially effective plan.

Time—that was what they lacked most. Almost all reinforcements from the Night’s Edge were too far away. The city guards were weak, but they could serve as a distraction; however, their arrival time was uncertain. If they were late, the demon’s summoning might be complete, rendering everything moot.

"Edward, notify the city guards. Tell them to prepare for the possibility of a demon’s descent and assemble the city’s forces. I’m going to try something."

After putting some distance between them, Wang Yu stopped and set Edward down, looking back at the still-burning building where Ponia remained.

"Alright, what are you planning?"

"Find seven or eight alchemical workshops, take all their alchemical bombs, pile them around the building, and blow the people and the structure to the sky."

"!"

"Just kidding. We need her alive; dead men don't reveal where the summoning circle is."

Wang Yu flashed a smile, easing Edward’s tension. While a simple, glorious explosion was very much his style, they needed a living Ponia to reveal the location of the ritual. Killing her would be problematic.

So, Wang Yu had to suppress the urge to blast the damn lunatic sorceress into dust and opt for a slightly more "gentle" plan.

"Since it’s hard to gather manpower quickly, let’s call for some timely assistance specifically designed to deal with sorcerers." Wang Yu narrowed his eyes.

In his mental space, Wang Yu contacted the Lady of Night. "Please, I’m sorry to trouble you again."

"It is of no consequence."

The exchange finished; the plan began.

...

Inside the building, Ponia, who had waited in vain for Wang Yu’s attack, found only the dissipation of the ancient darkness. After regaining her sight and scouting, she found the building empty.

"Escaped? How could the guidance of fate fail on that man? Impossible. I must step back onto the path of destiny." Ponia muttered to herself. In truth, her shock at her prophecy being broken was far greater than she let on.

Confusion, rage, and disbelief echoed in her heart. As a Fate-Seer who followed the threads of destiny, she believed in fate more than anyone, and the shattering of a future she had observed filled her with dread.

Even as powerful as she was—though much of that power stemmed from her knowledge and control of the future—her status as a Grand Sorceress was no lie.

"Hmm?" Ponia suddenly looked up, puzzled. She felt a surge of void energy gathering above.

"No directionality, not aimed at me... just a pure accumulation of void energy, rising constantly. A naturally occurring void rift?"

The high-concentration void energy appearing there seemed unrelated to her, merely a coincidence. She couldn't worry about that now; what mattered was regaining sight of the threads of fate.

Closing her eyes, she invoked her power as a Fate-Seer, beginning to peer into destiny...

A moment later, Ponia’s eyes snapped open. She frantically mobilized her void energy—Spatial Shift! Spatial Shift!

However, it failed. The surrounding void had gone silent. A field covered the entire building, and the void here had fallen into a deathly stillness.

The architect of this silence arrived the next moment. "BOOM!" A massive explosion erupted from the roof. A giant metal pillar inscribed with runes descended from the heavens—a Reality Anchor!

This massive metal object, falling from the sky, tore through everything in its path with unstoppable force, instantly piercing the building where Ponia stood. Amidst the thunderous collapse, half of the structure crumbled under the sheer impact.

Justice from above!