“ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!!!”

The six-meter-tall Abyss Demon with massive horns atop its head, standing upright on two legs while burning with hellfire, unleashed a hostile roar toward the Asumos Church knights.

The earth-shaking howl nearly shattered their souls.

Under Garona’s orders, the six-member knight squad hurriedly retreated!

With only a handful of people, there was no possible way they could fight against five mid-stage fifth-tier Abyss Demons. Retreat was their only option.

However,

These bloodthirsty Abyss Demons overflowing with battle intent had no intention whatsoever of letting their prey escape.

Roaring furiously, they charged directly toward the group!

Although the Asumos Church knights who had come to rescue the pink-haired girl were also around fifth-tier in strength, the physical abilities of Abyss Demons vastly surpassed humans of the same level.

Not to mention that after fighting the mercenary group, Garona and the others had already exhausted a tremendous amount of stamina.

In this state, how could they possibly outrun Abyss Demons?!

In the blink of an eye,

The Abyss Demons were already roaring right in front of them.

Faced with those hideous fangs and claws, as well as the blood-red eyes that sent chills deep into the soul, the fear within everyone’s hearts was completely unleashed.

Even the hands gripping their weapons began trembling uncontrollably as cold sweat poured down their faces.

These knights had previously participated in Abyss Demon extermination campaigns in the rear regions.

But the monsters they faced then had all been isolated individuals.

This was their first time ever being surrounded by multiple Abyss Demons at once.

As warriors who had only recently arrived in the Northern Border for training, they had absolutely no experience dealing with this.

Moreover,

The Abyss Demons of the north were far stronger than the monsters they had previously hunted because of their proximity to the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

The overwhelming pressure crashed down on them from every direction, suffocating the Asumos Church knights with indescribable terror.

Stimulated by fear, Kakaro let out a hysterical roar.

“You damned Abyss Demons!! Don’t come any closer!!!”

Along with his furious shout,

Blue holy mana suddenly erupted completely from Kakaro’s body and gathered upon his twin axes!

All enhancement spells activating physical abilities exploded into effect at once!

The burly warrior’s entire body was instantly engulfed in magical light.

His aura began rising steadily.

The fear in the big man’s eyes also seemed gradually suppressed by the increase in his power.

“Combat Art — Decapitation Slash!”

Madly roaring the name of his technique, Kakaro leapt into the air and swung his axe at the Abyss Demon’s head under the hopeful gazes of the other knights.

However,

Reality was cruel as always.

No matter how imposing one’s momentum became, it could not bridge the overwhelming gap in strength...

The next instant,

Under the stunned gazes of everyone present,

The Abyss Demon suddenly raised its arm and effortlessly shattered Kakaro’s defensive magic with a single slap before smashing him to the ground.

Before Kakaro could even unwillingly stand back up—

The Abyss Demon stomped down.

In an instant,

Blood and flesh exploded everywhere. Organs splattered across the battlefield.

That sturdy knight was crushed into a pile of meat without even understanding how he died...

“KAKARO!!!”

Garona let out a grief-stricken scream.

The fear in her eyes magnified rapidly, and the other Asumos Church knights nearby were no different.

If even Kakaro ended up like that...

What kind of fate awaited them, whose strength was inferior to his?

Their bodies trembled so violently that they could barely hold their weapons.

And against Abyss Demons, that was unquestionably fatal.

The next moment, under the horrified gazes of the knights, the Abyss Demons’ savage attacks descended once again.

For a time,

An atmosphere of despair completely engulfed the knight squad.

However,

There was one exception.

That was the pink-haired girl whom Garona had rescued and protected behind her.

There was not the slightest trace of fear in the girl’s eyes.

What filled them instead...

Was intense disappointment.

“This? Seriously? This level??”

Without question, the girl was deeply dissatisfied with the performance of these Asumos Church knights.

Extremely dissatisfied.

—

Several minutes earlier,

Deep inside the Great Winter Forest,

After learning through the vision shared by her Abyss Demons that two groups were fighting near the outer perimeter of the forest, Yumo could not help revealing an intrigued expression.

A strong sense of curiosity surfaced in the girl’s heart.

Because,

To her surprise, one of the two battling factions consisted of knights from the Asumos Church.

After all,

According to the script,

The Asumos Church was one of the strongest forces opposing the Abyss Demons!

And after the heroine joined the Church, it would eventually become one of the forces assisting her in destroying Yumo.

Because of this, Yumo had always wanted to properly understand the current strength of the Asumos Church.

From the lower ranks all the way to the upper echelon.

Previously, Limo and Liyu had directly wiped out the Hero squad, leaving her with no opportunity to test them.

Honestly, that had been rather disappointing~

Now that another opportunity had practically delivered itself to her doorstep, how could Yumo possibly let it go?

A slightly eerie smile gradually appeared on Yumo’s face.

She wanted to carefully observe them.

Personally observe the knights’ combat up close.

And if possible, she also wanted to sneak into a nearby city and look around. After all, during the five hundred years she had spent on the Anqieka Continent, Yumo had always been curious about how ordinary people currently lived inside the cities.

Unfortunately, because she had been unable to move before, she could only remain trapped inside the Great Winter Forest.

Now that she had finally obtained a body, she might as well take this opportunity to visit human civilization.

According to Saiboke-Baniya, entering the cities near the northern frontier required proper identification papers. Otherwise, one would face strict inspection from the guards.

However,

When it came to slaves and similar people, the inspections were far less strict...

“Hehe.”

Thinking of that,

Yumo let out a cold laugh and thoughtfully looked toward the direction where the pink-haired girl had previously disappeared.

“I’ll borrow your appearance for a bit.”

The next moment,

Crimson Shadow of Silence Power slowly rippled around Yumo’s body.

Red light enveloped the girl completely.

And when the crimson glow faded,

Yumo’s appearance had undergone a complete transformation.

Her black hair with crimson-gradient tips became soft pink.

Her scarlet eyes shifted into sapphire blue.

Even her height shrank slightly...

Her entire body transformed into the appearance of a cute young girl nearly identical to the previous pink-haired girl.

Of course, there were still numerous subtle differences.

But if her goal was simply to fool people, it would not be a problem~

After examining her current appearance through the reflection in an Abyss Demon’s eyes,

Yumo nodded with satisfaction.

“This should make fooling them ridiculously easy~”

At that point, she could openly blend into the slave group and then naturally be escorted into the city by those knights!

The plan was simply perfect.

Hehe~

Miss Yumo proudly placed her hands on her hips and laughed smugly.

And while the girl was laughing, several Abyss Demons responsible for acting in the performance poked their heads out from the forest.

After all, Yumo also needed to properly explain why the mercenaries pursuing her had all mysteriously died.

And inside the Great Winter Forest, being killed by Abyss Demons was probably the most suitable explanation possible.

......

—

Back to the present,

Watching the knights around her get slaughtered one after another, Miss Yumo—currently disguised as the pink-haired girl—could not help puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. Even the corners of her eyes began twitching uncontrollably.

“Ah, what the hell...”

How...

How...

How are they THIS weak??! This is unbelievably pathetic!!

Miss Yumo suddenly felt like crying.

She had already taken into consideration that these Asumos Church knights might have exhausted a large amount of stamina beforehand!

That was why the monsters she sent out were the weakest and most reckless among the fifth-tier Abyss Demons—the Minotaurs!

And she had only sent out five of them!

“Why... why... WHY can’t you even beat THIS?! Are you kidding me?!”

Originally, she had only wanted the Minotaurs to act as training dummies so she could observe what kind of skills the Asumos Church knights used!

So how did this suddenly turn into...

The knights nearly getting wiped out?!

Do you people seriously have to be this weak?!

Watching the female knight standing protectively before her, who was about to be smashed to death by an Abyss Demon’s heavy punch, Yumo felt deeply disappointed.

She even had the urge to cry.

At this moment, she was filled with regret.

She suddenly realized—

She had greatly overestimated these people. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Originally, she had expected these knights to kill the four Abyss Demons, “rescue” her, and then bring her to the nearest city.

But now, forget bringing her away—

Whether they could even survive at all was already questionable??

“Should I make the Abyss Demons hold back a little...?”

Yumo could not help exchanging subtle eye signals with the nearest Minotaur.

“You!! Use less strength, got it?!”

However,

The very next instant, Yumo’s little movements abruptly froze.

An inexplicably familiar aura suddenly entered her perception range.

?!!

Huh?!

Th-this aura?!

Just as Yumo was about to order her Abyss Demons to ease up—

A dazzling silver figure suddenly charged into Yumo’s field of vision like a bolt of lightning, instantly interrupting her thoughts.

And at that moment,

The Lord of the Abyss Demons herself experienced complete pupil-quake.

Her cherry lips parted slightly as she revealed an expression of utter disbelief.

“Th-this girl?!!”