Since a large number of soldiers were stationed within Garos Fortress year-round, many of them had brought their families to live there as well.

Over time, the rear section of the fortress gradually developed into a small residential district resembling a town.

Recently, due to the strange changes occurring within the Great Winter Forest, many soldiers had grown concerned about an Abyss Demon invasion and had begun evacuating their families toward the rear.

However, the evacuation was still incomplete.

A portion of ordinary civilians with little combat ability remained inside the fortress.

When news arrived that the front section of the fortress had come under attack by Abyss Demons, these civilians immediately began packing their belongings in preparation for evacuation.

Others, whose temperament was considerably fiercer, instead armed themselves to the teeth and prepared to fight alongside their soldier relatives.

Abyss Demons?

To hell with that!

Let's kill the bastards!

While the entire fortress descended into organized chaos—

Mengxi and the Asumos Church knights, including Garona, slowly entered the residential district.

The sight of these knights clad in silver armor and white cloaks immediately attracted countless gazes.

After all, the Snow Night Empire did not worship the Goddess.

For most of the fortress residents, this was their first time seeing knights of the Asumos Church.

Naturally, curiosity filled their hearts.

As they observed the knights, the majority of their attention gradually settled upon the silver-haired girl leading the group.

Although her face remained hidden behind a mask, her slender and graceful figure was more than enough to satisfy many people's eyes.

The white mask also added an air of mystery.

At the same time, the ragged pink-haired girl resting in her arms drew plenty of attention as well.

The moment people noticed the numerical tattoo around the girl's ankle, her identity as a slave became obvious.

A noble Asumos Church knight carrying a lowly slave girl—

It was certainly a sight that attracted attention.

Feeling the countless eyes fixed upon her, Mengxi remained completely indifferent.

She even displayed a hint of disdain.

To her, such attention had long since become a normal part of life.

Besides, she was currently wearing a mask.

Without it, those gazes would undoubtedly become far more intense and uncomfortable.

However—

Just because Mengxi did not care did not mean Yumo, currently disguised as a pink-haired little girl, felt the same way.

‘Seriously! What are you all staring at?! What's there to look at?!’

For a shut-in who had spent over five hundred years hiding within the Great Winter Forest, suddenly becoming the center of attention for so many people was unbearably uncomfortable.

And that wasn't even the worst part.

She was being carried.

In front of all these people.

A grown man—

Well, a former grown man—

Being carried around in a princess carry by a young girl?!

What kind of embarrassing play was this?!

This was way too humiliating!

Yumo screamed inwardly.

Her dirt-stained little face unconsciously revealed a miserable expression born of embarrassment.

No!

This couldn't continue!

She absolutely couldn't keep being carried like this!

With that thought, Yumo timidly raised her head and spoke to the silver-haired girl in a pleading voice.

“U-Um... c-could you put me down? I-I can walk by myself...”

We're already inside the fortress.

It's safe for now.

You can let me down, right?

That was what Yumo thought.

Unfortunately—

After hearing her request, Mengxi unexpectedly shook her head.

“Huh?”

Yumo was instantly dumbfounded.

“W-Why?”

“Because the ground is covered in snow. Don't forget that you lost your shoes in the explosion earlier. If I put you down now, your frostbite will only get worse.”

“Ah...”

Only after hearing that did Yumo glance toward her own legs.

Uh...

Her worn little cloth shoes were indeed gone.

Without the strips of white cloth Mengxi had carefully wrapped around her feet, her bare skin would have been directly exposed to the freezing wind.

Of course, under normal circumstances, Yumo spent most of her time walking barefoot through the Great Winter Forest.

That temperature could never hurt her anyway.

But now her identity was that of a frail slave girl.

Walking barefoot through snow...

Did seem a little inappropriate.

Still—

She really didn't want to continue being carried by the heroine!

“I-I'll be fine. I-I can walk...”

Unfortunately, Mengxi simply interpreted those words as stubborn bravado.

As expected, she shook her head firmly.

“No, little sister. Don't force yourself.”

“B-But...”

“No means no.”

“Uuu...”

“Sigh. If you really want to walk, then after your frostbite is treated and you get a proper pair of shoes, I'll let you walk, okay?” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Mengxi's tone had become that of someone soothing a child.

Yumo was speechless.

Still, after seeing the determination in Mengxi's eyes, she understood.

Getting this woman to put her down right now was basically impossible.

And she couldn't exactly resist.

After all, her current character setting was that of a weak little girl.

Sigh...

I should've chosen a different identity...

Pouting unhappily, Yumo reluctantly nodded.

Seeing that, Mengxi smiled softly.

‘This girl is actually pretty cute...’

Once the pink-haired girl stopped insisting on walking, Mengxi shifted her gaze forward and began searching for the clinic according to the directions given by the female adjutant.

However—

Just as Mengxi started looking for the medical facility—

A man hidden among the crowd silently observed the silver-haired girl.

After watching her for several moments, a chilling killing intent suddenly surfaced within his dark-green eyes.

A sinister smile appeared on his face.

‘A masked silver-haired woman...’

She's that so-called Child of Destiny the Asumos Church recently sent to the Northern Territory, isn't she?

Heh...

—

Meanwhile—

On a hillside outside the eastern region of the Great Winter Forest—

A white-haired beast-eared girl wearing an elegant blue-and-white dress stood anxiously atop the slope.

It was none other than Limo.

With an extremely grave expression, she stared toward Garos Fortress in the distance, which was currently under siege by countless Abyss Demons.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! What the hell am I supposed to do now?!”

The wolf girl let out nearly hysterical roars.

Both hands clutched her head tightly.

Her teeth ground together repeatedly, producing sharp hissing sounds.

Clearly—

Limo was trapped in a state of extreme frustration and conflict.

The reason was simple.

Some time ago, when Saiboke-Baniya had arrived at the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, he had brought detailed intelligence regarding the Child of Destiny and the male protagonist.

After watching those Asumos Church knights flee for quite a while, Limo had suddenly realized something.

Silver-white holy aura.

A masked silver-haired woman.

And that disgustingly irritating presence.

Wasn't that exactly the same as the Child of Destiny described by Saiboke-Baniya?!

Although her realization had come embarrassingly late—

She had finally identified Mengxi.

And because of that—

Her anxiety had only grown stronger.

‘Mother is actually together with the heroine?! N-No... no... no!!’

The heroine could hurt Mother.

Mother couldn't stay with her.

Mother would be in danger.

And—

Wasn't she trying to take Mother away?

Take her away?

Absolutely not!!

She had to stop it.

She couldn't let Mother go to the Church!

But—

Mother forbade her from interfering.

If she acted on her own, Mother would definitely be angry.

What should she do?

What should she do?!

WHAT SHOULD SHE DO?!!!

...

...

No!

So what if Mother gets angry?!

If she can eliminate the Child of Destiny, then even getting beaten by Mother afterward would be worth it!

The Child of Destiny.

The heroine.

She must die.

She must die.

She must die!

Anything that might hurt Mother—

Must be destroyed!!!!

At that moment, Limo made her decision.

As the wolf girl solidified her resolve, crimson light filled with overwhelming killing intent and bloodthirst erupted from her eyes.

Boundless crimson Shadow of Silence Power exploded from her body like an unleashed beast.

The earth began trembling.

The temperature of the atmosphere plummeted.

The rapidly expanding Shadow of Silence Power instantly caused nearby ordinary Abyss Demons to collapse to the ground and tremble instinctively.

Violent snowstorms spread outward from the girl as their center.

And within the heart of that blizzard—

Bathed in crimson radiance—

The wolf girl gradually transformed into a gigantic snow-white wolf...