Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Mira immediately went on high alert. Not only had she failed to sense this woman until now, but the faint power that she did perceive reminded her of Aelina. 'Tch. These damn fogeys are so troublesome to deal with.'

Although she raised her guard to the maximum, she made no sudden movements and remained calm.

Yanira raised an eyebrow at this and smiled. "Oh? Your self-control is quite good."

Mira shrugged. "...I'm used to stalkers."

"..."

Yanira's eyes twitched as her lips curled before she burst out laughing. "Pfft-Hahahaha! Out of everything you could've said, you chose that?! Hahaha! You're crazy!" She abruptly paused and closed in on Mira, having to tilt her head up to stare her in the eye. "...But, I like that."

"However-"

BOOOOM!

Mira felt a sharp pain in her stomach before she was sent flying. In the split second before she crashed into the wall, she wrapped her tails around Hana and used her [Glacial Mirage Steps] to dampen the impact as much as possible.

"You should know your place." Yanira finished saying.

Suddenly, Mira felt danger. As she slammed into the ice wall, she jumped to the side, watching as a fist went by.

Fueled by anger, she counterattacked, jabbing the Sect Master in the chin. Yanira paused, surprised that some little fox had the audacity to punch her in the face. Only to dodge an elbow to the temple.

A sinister smile crept up on her face as she chuckled. "You… You're the first person in a hundred years to ever land a hit on me." Yanira jumped backward, dodging a sweeping leg kick.

She threw her fist back, ready to attack, but-

Mira's shin smashed into Yanira's temple, staggering her for a moment, but that was all Mira needed. She closed in and delivered an uppercut to the chin, followed by a knee to the groin.

Yanira's smile faded. She retreated a few dozen feet, only to find herself backed up against a wall.

BOOM!

Mira's [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] exploded right next to her face, causing the woman's eyes to narrow.

In an act to regain control of the fight, she subtly bobbed to the right and kicked Mira's hip, which she tanked. However, when she tried to retrieve her foot-

'What the hell?!'

-she couldn't. Mira's tail had wrapped around her ankle.

The next thing she knew, she was up in the air, crashing into the ice below.

"Who needs to know their place now?" Mira jumped onto the woman, pinning her down and raining punch after punch to her face, neck, shoulders, chest… whatever she could hit.

Yanira raised her arms to defend herself, but Mira's attacks only became stronger, with each fist charged with her [Explosive Ice Gauntlet] and destruction Qi. It wasn't long before she added her Martial Manifestation into the mix, increasing the lethality.

'Fucking hell! Why is this girl so good at hand-to-hand combat? I thought she used a scythe!' She roared inwardly, too humiliated to say anything. She wasn't proficient in hand-to-hand combat, but as someone who's lived for so long, combined with her strength, how could someone in the Soul Transformation Realm even think about laying a finger on her?

However, against Mira, it was like the girl could read her moves before they happened.

'Tch. This damn suppression! If it weren't for that, I would've burned this girl to a crisp.' She complained, wanting nothing more than to blow this mountain to smithereens despite knowing it was impossible. Her flames hardly had any effect this deep into the caverns.

Meanwhile, Mira continued to wail away at her opponent, but a frown slowly formed, which only deepened as the seconds passed by. 'I'm not getting anywhere.' She realized.

Although, physically, Yanira wasn't too far ahead of her, there was a faint Qi barrier constantly circulating around the inner part of her skin, preventing any injuries.

Even with her Destruction Qi, she wasn't making much progress.

'So, this is someone in the Divine Sea Realm, huh? About as annoying as I thought they'd be.'

"ENOUGH!" A burst of fiery Qi erupted from Yanira as Mira received a kick to the gut, pushing her off. By the time she touched the ground, Yanira was already on her feet, staring at her coldly.

Fire crackled along her hands, ready to explode, but the heat from it died almost instantly as the frozen temperatures consumed it. Yanira grew more frustrated. 'Dammit!' She internally raged, locking eyes with Mira.

Those eyes… those blood-red eyes stared down at her with a cold indifference that nearly set her rage ablaze. At first, she was merely interested in the girl, wondering how she snuck in here and how she was looting the place so quickly. Now, she wanted nothing more than to rip her apart.

But more than anything, she was shocked. 'How is she still standing? No, more importantly, how isn't she dead?'

Although she only landed a few attacks, those were more than enough to destroy Mortal Shedding Realm Elders, much less a Soul Transformation Realm newbie.

She should be on her knees, spitting blood with most of her bones and internal organs broken! But the fox woman was standing there like nothing happened.

'Is she hiding her true strength?' She couldn't help but wonder.

Unknowingly, her first conjecture was correct.

Yanira's attacks had indeed broken bones and ruptured a few internal organs, especially that last kick. It's just her healing factor, and pain tolerance were too insane that such a thing couldn't make her flinch, much less fall to her knees.

"You know…" Mira started, "It's not really polite to attack someone you just met."

Yanira snorted. "Hmph! And it's not 'polite' to steal what isn't yours."

"Steal?" Mira scoffed at the thought, shaking her head. "Such ignorance… I was merely giving these plants a better home."

"..." A vein throbbed in Yanira's forehead. "Bitc-Ahem… Little fox-"

"Mira. My name's Mira." Mira interrupted, crossing her arms. "Call me little fox again, and I'll bash your head into the floor again."

Yanira gritted her teeth, feeling more and more humiliated, but what could they do? Qi was basically useless in this place, and Mira's close-combat skills were on another level compared to hers. She might really find herself back on the floor again if they fought!

She cleared her throat, trying to calm her nerves. "Ahem. Mira… Mind telling me what you're doing here and how you snuck past us?" She asked with a twitchy smile.

However, Mira ignored the question and nodded. "Now, you're talking like a civilized person." She looked down at Yanira like how a Master might train their dog.

"..."

"As for your question, I just walked by. You guys are just too stupid to notice me."

"..." The sound of teeth crunching echoed in the cave. "...If we're stupid, what're you? Didn't you fail to sense me even though I was right behind you?"

Mira shrugged indifferently. "It's normal for a young person like myself not to be able to sense someone so old."

"Dammit! Who're you calling old?! You're old! You're whole family's old!" Yanira stormed over to Mira, ready to throw hands. "I'll have you know, I haven't even reached 1000 years yet! Do you know how rare that is?!

Huh?!"

"Hmm~" Mira nodded thoughtfully. "...No wonder you're so weak."

"ARGH!" Yanira threw a punch, but Mira's head had already moved out of the way. Simultaneously, she felt her legs fall out from under her. With superhuman speed, she caught herself, but a front kick hit her chest, sending her stumbling several meters back.

"Tsk. Tsk. For someone so old to not be able to touch a junior a fraction of your age…"

"Dammit! I'll kill you!"

Yanira charged back in, blinded by rage. Thus, she missed the subtle smirk that appeared on Mira's lips.

'Why are you taunting her, Mira?!' Hana screamed, feeling incredibly dizzy. 'We need to get as far away from this psycho as soon as possible!'

'Shush, child. Just let me have this.' Mira chided, dodging attacks left and right.

'It's not every day I have someone this energetic to play with.' All she saw before her was a giant, burning punching bag that wouldn't die no matter how many hits she took.

When else would she have this opportunity again to hone her CQC skills?

***

So, the two fought relentlessly. The minutes ticked on by as Yanira took hit after hit, with each one making her feel more humiliated than the last. Although she did manage to land a few herself, whatever good feelings she gained were immediately ruined by Mira's words.

"Oh? That punch was quite strong, Little Torchy."

"Mmhm! You really have great potential! To be my punching bag, that is!"

"You hit like a granny. Wait! You are one! Hahaha!"

Tears threatened to fall out of Yanira's eyes, with each word hitting harder than any of Mira's punches. But what could she do?

She refused to give up! Not when her dignity, honor, and youth were on the line!

However, the fact that Mira seemed to grow during their battle to the death(spar) troubled her to no end.

'AHHHH! Just make it stop!' She inwardly screamed, throwing a flurry of punches, only for Mira to dodge them all.

Then, as if the Heavens answered her call, the earth rumbled, and the floor cracked slightly.