?!!

Who?!

Feeling the horrifying killing intent surging from behind her, Mengxi's pale violet eyes suddenly contracted!

The next instant—

Just as [N O V E L I G H T] the black-robed figure's scythe was about to sever the girl's head, Mengxi abruptly lowered her body, narrowly avoiding the fatal strike at the very last moment! Without hesitation, she immediately spun around and unleashed a fierce roundhouse kick at the unexpected attacker behind her!

Accompanied by an eruption of silver-white light, the black-robed figure's abdomen took the full impact and was violently sent flying several meters away!

Meanwhile, Mengxi grabbed the pink-haired girl's small hand, pulled her back into her embrace, and leapt backward, widening the distance between them and the mysterious black-robed assailant.

At the same time—

As if sensing something, Mengxi hurriedly looked toward the stunned Garona and the others.

"Be careful on your left! Dodge!!"

? ?

"Th-The left?!"

Witnessing the scene before them and hearing Mengxi's sudden warning, the Asumos Church knights immediately realized that these black-robed figures had come with hostile intentions. They hurriedly drew their swords and looked nervously toward the direction Mengxi indicated.

In an instant, a chilling cold enveloped Garona and the three knights.

Under their horrified gazes, another black-robed figure wielding twin scythes leapt down from the rooftop!

?!!

'What?! There's another one?!'

The appearance of the second black-robed figure made Garona and the others suck in a sharp breath.

They rapidly mobilized the Holy Aura within their bodies and prepared to counterattack.

Unfortunately—

It was already too late.

Beneath the hood, the man slowly revealed a mocking smile.

The next moment—

In a flash of lightning-like speed, crimson battle aura exploded from within the black-robed man's body!

Like a rocket propulsion system, it caused his speed to skyrocket instantly!

Before Garona and the others could even react, he rushed in front of the three Asumos Church knights with unbelievable speed.

Under their terrified gazes, the gray twin scythes descended mercilessly!

"Pu!~~"

After a brief exchange of flashing blades—

Blood erupted everywhere!

The armor of the two male knights was instantly cleaved apart!

Amid agonized screams, the crimson battle aura blasted both men away, sending them flying before they crashed heavily near Mengxi.

Though they had suffered grievous injuries, they were far luckier than Garona.

Because at this moment, the female knight who had been the first to confront the black-robed assassin had already been split vertically into two halves by a single scythe strike.

There was no possibility of survival.

Blood gushed endlessly, instantly staining the ground crimson.

Scattered flesh and organs splattered across the black-robed man's coat.

Combined with the unsettling laughter continuously escaping his mouth, the man radiating murderous energy became even more sinister and monstrous.

The civilians, who had already been terrified by the Abyss Demon invasion, erupted into even more frantic screams upon witnessing this scene.

The advancing Abyss Demons and the gruesome slaughter before their eyes completely shattered the final remnants of order within the fortress.

Almost everyone began fleeing in panic.

However—

Mengxi had no energy to pay attention to the surrounding chaos.

At this moment, she tightly gripped her silver longsword and stared vigilantly at the two black-robed men in the distance.

At the same time, her gaze involuntarily drifted toward the remains lying at their feet.

'Garona...'

Although Mengxi had not developed particularly deep feelings toward these new companions, watching a comrade be murdered right before her eyes caused rage to spread uncontrollably through her heart.

"You bastards..."

As she glared at the two black-robed figures, killing intent erupted from her pale violet eyes.

The surrounding air temperature plummeted alongside the release of her murderous aura.

Even so—

Despite her fury, Mengxi took several deep breaths and forcibly calmed her agitated emotions before carefully examining the enemies who had suddenly appeared.

The Abyss Demon horde is right in front of us.

And yet they're attacking me at a time like this? 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Who exactly are these people...

Hm?

Th-That's...

Suddenly, Mengxi's eyes narrowed sharply.

A look of realization appeared on her face.

She had noticed the symbol hanging around the necks of the two black-robed men.

A goat-headed cross.

And Mengxi was extremely familiar with that symbol.

It represented an organization.

A massive cult that stood in opposition to the Asumos Church.

"You... are people from the Heavenly Punishment Holy Church?!"

Hearing Mengxi's question, the two black-robed men exchanged glances before letting out low, eerie laughter.

"Hehehehe... Since you already know who we are, how about surrendering obediently? We'll at least let you die a little more comfortably."

The black-robed men had no intention of concealing their identities.

Beneath the hood, black eyes stared fixedly at Mengxi.

One of them couldn't help rubbing his scythe.

"The Child of Destiny, hm? If we use you as a sacrifice, Lord Demon God will surely be pleased."

"Heh. A sacrifice? And you call that dying comfortably?"

"No, no, no. There are actually two kinds of sacrifices. One is simply cutting off your head and giving you a quick death. The other is slowly carving you into thousands of pieces, removing your organs one by one, and finally letting you bleed to death. Well? What do you think?"

"Heh..."

After hearing those words, Mengxi merely let out a cold laugh.

She did not answer immediately.

After all, this was also a good opportunity to stall for time.

The Heavenly Punishment Holy Church.

A religious faction founded by those who worshiped the Demon God.

They believed that the appearance of Abyss Demons was heaven's punishment upon the sinful world.

The Abyss Demons did not hate humanity.

What they despised were those burdened by sin.

Those who were devoured merely deserved it.

Because of this belief, the followers of Asumos Church—who wielded Holy Aura and were most hated by the Abyss Demons—had become the Heavenly Punishment Holy Church's greatest enemies.

Therefore—

The moment Mengxi saw their emblem, she understood why they had targeted her.

As the Child of Destiny, these fanatics had probably wanted to tear her apart for a very long time.

Come to think of it...

Garona had warned her before that members of the Heavenly Punishment Holy Church had been sighted near Wind Facing City.

It seemed that information had not been baseless after all.

More importantly—

'Two sixth-tier experts.'

Feeling the dense, murderous battle aura emanating from the two black-robed men, Mengxi narrowed her eyes slightly.

Her pale violet eyes were filled with gravity.

Two sixth-tier opponents.

While they only had three fifth-tier fighters.

And they also had to protect a group of completely defenseless children.

Under those circumstances, there was no way they could fight these enemies head-on.

Garos Fortress had already been breached by the Abyss Demon horde.

Expecting support from the fortress soldiers was obviously unrealistic.

Those people were already too busy saving themselves.

How could they possibly care about her situation?

Thinking this, Mengxi glanced thoughtfully toward the two heavily breathing Asumos Church knights nearby.

These two were not strong enough.

And they were already injured.

Keeping them here would only make them a burden.

"You two, protect this child and leave Garos Fortress as quickly as possible."

?!!

The two knights froze briefly after hearing her words.

Already demoralized by the Abyss Demon invasion and Garona's horrific death, they quickly nodded frantically.

They hurried over to Mengxi's side, preparing to take the pink-haired girl.

"D-Don't worry, Captain! We'll complete the mission!"

Fear saturated their voices.

Not once did they express any intention of staying behind to fight alongside Mengxi.

That realization sent a chill through Mengxi's heart.

Before coming to the Northern Border, hadn't they enthusiastically declared that they would protect me?

Heh.

And now...

Just like this?

Disappointment filled Mengxi's heart.

And just as despair began creeping in—

A clear voice, as melodious as a songbird's, unexpectedly entered her ears.

"S-Sister, I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you."

?!!

Hm?

Hearing the trembling yet adorable voice, Mengxi froze.

She looked in disbelief toward the pink-haired girl who was holding her hand.

When her eyes met the girl's azure eyes, which were overflowing with dependence and attachment, Mengxi bit her lip with complicated emotions.

"Y-You... why?"

You were so afraid of me before...

The pink-haired slave girl's hand was unquestionably cold.

Yet at this moment, it gave Mengxi a sense of warmth.

Yumo: Hehehe~ Hurry up and seize the chance to farm some affection points~