The battle began!

The woman attacked like a raging she-beast, her onslaught like a storm.

Andrew used the "Water Soul Constitution"'s athletic ability, the "Gateway of Enlightenment"'s "Multiplicative Magic Power", and combined many of his already unlocked Tier One and Tier Two magic with the "Fingertip Series" as the leader, to fully engage with the opponent!

"In terms of absolute strength, I'm still quite a bit weaker than this woman."

Andrew quickly made a judgment, "She is Tier Four, fighting me who is Tier Two, and it's even her home ground, I won't gain any advantage!"

If the opponent were Tier Three, Andrew was confident he could at least draw, maybe even win.

But she is Tier Four and was once a top expert, her combat skills unparalleled, making it a difficult fight.

Soon, blood began to splatter between the two combatants.

This time it wasn't the water from the "Water Puppet Avatar," but Andrew's blood.

By now, Andrew understood that one-on-one, he couldn't defeat her.

He managed to hold on until now largely because she was injured!

The one who injured her was Ivan.

Andrew realized that before he arrived in this space-time, Ivan, although defeated, made her pay a significant price.

Boom!

After another collision, the woman stood still, while Andrew flew backward more than thirty meters, landing on a "Water Net" that cushioned the impact, stumbling slightly before regaining balance.

"Oh oh oh oh oh!!"

The woman seemed to be enjoying the fight, letting out a wild roar.

Her face had almost no scales, maintaining an absolutely beautiful appearance. Her body and limbs part-human, part-beast, her roaring stance, portrayed a complete madwoman devoid of sanity.

It was hard to say she was still alive.

"Just a walking corpse…"

Andrew muttered, looking at the excited woman in front of him, just watching her.

He had been scratched and beaten in many places by her.

Her power subtly interfered with his "Water Soul Constitution" paired with "Deep Blue Starlight"'s regenerative ability, slowing down the healing, with some wounds still bleeding, dripping down.

But Andrew paid no mind to these.

Just watching her.

No pain from the wounds in his eyes, only a faint sense of empathetic sadness.

Combat was a form of contact, providing opportunities for perception. A hidden advantage of Water Magic is the ability to feel and explore things unseen by the naked eye, water spirit sensing, or the water demon vertical pupil, through battle.

Andrew deliberately engaged in the previous confrontation with her using a "Close Combat Mage" style.

Even though he paid a considerable price in injuries, he indeed gathered more information about her through such an exchange.

"Now I can finally confirm my earlier suspicion…"

Andrew said softly, looking at the woman still roaring aimlessly, "You and I, in a sense, are 'of the same kind.'"

As a Magic Lord, Andrew had the entire Wildfire Territory as his backing. Including the Wildfire Town on the surface, and the Lake of the Ocean in the underground space.

Invisible threads extended from the Wildfire Territory outside this space-time, linking into Andrew's "Gateway of Enlightenment." Presently, Andrew appeared to stand alone, yet backed by a territory of supporters.

The opponent's body also had invisible connections.

One end linked to her body.

The other penetrated deep into the crimson space-time.

What lay deep in space-time? Andrew couldn't see, and even with "Water Spirit Sensing," he couldn't probe.

He felt through their confrontation—

The deep crimson space-time, every terminal of the connections was a node.

Viewed as a whole, all nodes formed the frame of a Desolate Beast.

Behind him stood the Wildfire Territory.

What backed her was the corpse of a Desolate Beast!

The Wildfire Territory and he were one. He was part of the Wildfire Territory.

The woman and the beast's corpse were also one.

She... was the Desolate Beast killed by Ivan!

Andrew glanced again at the scales on her body, identical to Desolate Beast scales.

The fleeting suspicion from seeing these scales, one that left Andrew in disbelief, and unwilling to accept, resurfaced again—

Desolate Beasts were once Flame Warriors who became uncontrollable through Dragon Transformation.

Desolate Beasts were not beasts, but people.

How could this woman hope to escape such shackles? Andrew gritted his teeth.

Her bondage was fundamentally her own doing!

"Though not yet a hundred percent confirmed, it should... generally be so." Andrew did not know how to react, his mind filled with one thought, "How could this be? Why did such a thing happen?"

If his speculation was correct, and Desolate Beasts were indeed transformed by uncontrollable Flame Warriors.

Then who caused all of this?

Did the Magic Guild know about it?

If they knew, what role did they play?

Rationally, it's clear: Flame Warriors are enemies, and so are Desolate Beasts.

But in that moment, Andrew couldn't help but feel anger!

"This woman, on the surface, fought me, but her moves... had elements targeting Earth Fire Mages!"

Andrew recalled their exchange, "As a Flame Warrior, she and Earth Fire Mages were clearly partners. Yet her instinctual imagined enemy in her moves wasn't me, but Earth Fire Mages!"

So perhaps it was the Magic Guild's Earth Fire Mages who exploited the Flame Warriors, and after using them, abandoned the uncontrollable transformed Flame Warriors in the Inner Sea Desert to continue serving some purpose?

If it were true, Andrew couldn't accept it, he absolutely couldn't!

After giving Barbara the coordinates for Desert Speaker Rose, Andrew went to the laboratory's underground warehouse.

He was originally going to research the secrets of Desolate Beasts.

Yet deep in his heart, in a small corner, a thought emerged, quietly hoping he wouldn't uncover the truth.

For the truth might be too cruel.

"Among the three major problems of the Inner Sea Desert, I can already solve two of them—water supply issues, and lung burns. The Desolate Beast problem is the third."

Andrew thought, "Even without the threat of Desert Speaker Rose's invasion, I would research Desolate Beasts. Because the three major problems of the Inner Sea Desert, fundamentally, are all 'evil fire' problems. Extinguishing them is my duty, one I cannot shirk. Moreover, they all align with the Fire Extinguishing Upgrade Method!"

However, he did not anticipate such a discovery from his research.

At that moment, the woman seemed to have roared enough.

Suddenly she quieted down.

Her gaze cast over, her eyes briefly regaining clarity, she said, "You… water… element…"

She recognized Andrew's elemental attribute.

She recognized it the first time she was hit by "Zero-Distance Water Cannon".

She was once a truly top-notch expert, one even better than Humboldt.

So much so, that even "Invisible Enchantment" couldn't fool her!

This made it even harder for Andrew to accept: a person like her, even as an enemy, shouldn't end up like this. She could be killed, but what was this current situation?!

"Yes, I am… of the Water Element."

Andrew took a deep breath, looking at her, he did not deny it, and answered frankly.

Watching her, Andrew slowly asked, "I am Andrew Xifa Lin, a Tier Two Water Magic Lord. What about you? What is your name?"

She did not answer.

Instead, she began to howl aimlessly again.

Andrew watched silently for a moment, then the sympathy, sadness, anger, disbelief, and incredulity in his eyes... all disappeared.

The wounds on his body stopped bleeding.

Andrew looked at the woman, thinking to himself, "Let me... help release you."

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