Chapter 493: Sapphire found something irritating.

Sapphire walked along the narrow forest path with heavy steps, her fists clenched, her face furrowed with irritation. The trees stretched around her like endless green walls, suffocating her with their presence. There was no clearing, no sign of an end. Only this natural, endless maze that made her feel trapped.

She took a deep breath, but each time she breathed in, it was filled with the damp scent of wood, resin, and leaves. It was as if the forest were mocking her, as if it had decided to envelop her and never let her out.

“Damn it…” she murmured, her voice low and harsh.

Nervousness throbbed in her chest, beating along with impatience. Sapphire was never meant for patience. Never meant to endure the discomfort of not having control over her path. And now, every minute she spent inside only irritated her more.

The first animal that crossed her path—a deer watching her curiously from the bushes—didn’t have time to react. An intense flame escaped her hands like a reflex. The fire engulfed the poor animal, which let out a desperate screech before crumbling to ash.

She didn’t stop to think. She didn’t even look back. She just kept walking.

Every leaf that moved, every shadow that seemed to approach, every trunk that blocked part of her vision… everything was incinerated.

The fire was no longer a weapon, it was an automatic reaction. Her rage translated into flames, burning everything around her, as if it could make space for herself, as if it could destroy that suffocating feeling of being lost.

The air grew heavier, permeated with the smell of burning wood. The trail behind her was gone—only a black trail, marked by ash and smoke.

She walked like a living storm, until something different appeared.

On a tree branch ahead, a small, red-feathered bird sat perched, watching her. Its eyes glowed like two embers, curious, almost childlike.

Sapphire stopped, her eyebrows arching.

“What do you want?” she said dismissively.

The bird didn’t move. It merely tilted its head to the side, as if trying to comprehend what it saw.

That angered her even more.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” she growled, raising her hand. “Then burn it with the rest!”

A sphere of fire formed in her palm and flew toward the creature. The flames exploded against it, covering it completely.

Sapphire smirked, ready to move on.

But then… something strange happened.

The fire didn’t consume it.

It didn’t turn it to ash.

Instead, the bird seemed to absorb every spark, every flare, as if the fire were nothing more than nourishment.

Its feathers glowed brighter, pulsing in vivid hues of red and gold.

And, in a surprising gesture, the animal flapped its wings slowly, spreading them as if in a bow. Then, it lifted one wing and waved it strangely—mockingly.

Yes, mocking her.

Sapphire’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What…?”

The bird flapped its wings again, tilted its head, and gave a short chirp that sounded more like a laugh.

Sapphire’s anger flared.

“Are you making fun of me?”

She raised both hands and unleashed a much stronger jet of flame, a continuous beam that ignited everything around it. The heat was so intense that the air trembled, distorted.

But once again, the bird didn’t flee. It didn’t scream.

It simply opened its beak and swallowed the flames, as if they were made for it.

Sapphire took a step back in surprise.

And then, it leaped from the branch.

As it soared into the air, something changed. The bird’s body began to glow brightly, each feather catching fire, until they became living flames. Its size grew in the blink of an eye, from the size of an ordinary bird to something much larger, majestic, with flaming wings that stretched wide into the forest sky.

The heat emanating from it changed the entire environment. The damp chill of the forest was replaced by a hot, burning wave that dried the ground, scorched the leaves around it.

Sapphire, for the first time, didn’t know whether to smile or recoil. Her eyes were wide, reflecting the creature before her.

“This…” she murmured, almost voiceless. “This is no ordinary bird…”

The golden flame surrounding the creature flickered in magnificent patterns. The bird opened its beak and let out a long, powerful call that echoed like an ancient melody, a sound that seemed to pierce Sapphire’s soul and vibrate in her bones.

And then, she understood.

Before her eyes, in the middle of the forest, a phoenix rose.

The mythical being that until then had been only legend, just words in ancient books. A living entity of fire, that could not be destroyed, only reborn from its own ashes.

Sapphire’s heart beat faster.

Part of her was overcome with fascination.

Another part, still burning with pride and anger, wanted to prove that she could destroy it.

“A phoenix…” she repeated, smirking. “Do you really think you can laugh at me?”

The creature let out another call, its fiery wings beating and sending sparks flying that ignited the air around it. The heat was unbearable, even for someone accustomed to fire.

But Sapphire didn’t back down.

Sapphire gritted her teeth, her breathing heavy, her heart pounding as if it wanted to explode. The phoenix’s song pierced her internally like a mockery, a provocation. Every spark that fell from the creature’s wings seemed to mock her powerlessness.

“You think you’ll humiliate me?” she shouted, the sound of her own voice mixing with the crackling of the flames that rose in her hands. “I’ll show you what true power is!”

Fire enveloped her arms completely, thick, vibrant flames that writhed like hungry serpents. With a roar of fury, she unleashed a colossal blast, far greater than the previous ones, a tidal wave of flames that swept through the forest toward the creature.

The heat of the explosion shook the ground, entire trees buckling under the pressure before crumbling into charcoal. The sky above darkened as smoke spiraled upward.

But the phoenix did not retreat.

She lifted her wings calmly, as if the attack were nothing more than a warm breeze. The flames Sapphire had released were absorbed again, but this time the phoenix’s body glowed even brighter. It was as if each attack only strengthened her, as if Sapphire were unwittingly feeding her enemy.

“Damn you…” Sapphire spat, narrowing her eyes. “You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?”

With a swift leap, she soared through the air, wreathed in flames, like a human meteor. The impact of her body against the space where the phoenix had stood created a fiery crater, consuming the ground. The sound of the explosion echoed like thunder, sending waves of heat throughout the forest.

But when the dust and fire dissipated, the creature was unharmed.

It had simply risen higher, gliding gracefully, watching her from the sky. His eyes shone like tiny suns, charged with something Sapphire couldn’t explain—wisdom, superiority, or simply indifference.

Sapphire’s blood boiled.

“Get down from here!” she roared, channeling all her power into a single blow.