Cough, cough...

Was it because she had lost too much blood?

Although Mengxi could barely feel pain anymore—

The severe wound on her chest and the blood continuously pouring out of her body caused her to grow weaker and weaker.

Her vision gradually became blurry.

'As expected... was I pushing myself too hard?'

Lying amidst the ruins, the girl unwillingly clenched her fists and slowly raised her head, looking at the black-robed man rapidly approaching her with murderous intent.

What a...

Misjudgment.

At this moment, Mengxi no longer had the strength to continue fighting.

Having exhausted her power, she lay on the ground, almost unable to move.

However, in the face of the Reaper's scythe that was about to sever her slender neck, there wasn't the slightest fear in her heart.

What filled her—

Was only worry.

She wondered whether Boluoge and the child had escaped.

Had they managed to get far enough?

If they hadn't...

Then afterward...

Recalling the pure gaze the pink-haired girl had directed at her before they parted, Mengxi unconsciously bit through her lip.

Complicated emotions flooded the girl's heart.

Unfortunately—

She could do nothing now.

She could only watch silently as Elbino's attack drew ever closer.

And as the cold killing intent approached, and Mengxi's consciousness gradually blurred—

An unknown purple-black energy slowly began to ripple deep within the girl's Origin Core...

However—

Just as Mengxi was about to fall completely into another extreme state—

One blood butterfly after another, glowing with crimson light, quietly flew in from every direction without warning.

And along with the appearance of the blood butterflies—

A black figure suddenly appeared in Mengxi's field of vision.

She simply stood in front of Elbino.

Immediately, the latter's movements froze.

?!!

Hm?

W-Who...?

Seeing the unknown girl's beautiful black hair with crimson-red gradient ends and her graceful back, an overwhelming sense of confusion surged into Mengxi's heart.

'W-Who is she?'

'Is she... helping me?'

Unfortunately, Mengxi no longer had the strength to think about that question.

The blood butterflies scattered strange golden powder around her.

The instant she touched the powder, her consciousness uncontrollably sank into darkness.

Her light-purple eyes slowly closed.

'What... exactly...'

The unwilling girl fell asleep.

And the moment Mengxi lost consciousness—

White Yama, who was fighting the snow-white giant wolf, suddenly frowned.

It was as though she had received some special signal.

Panic instantly appeared in her blue eyes, and she turned in astonishment toward Garos Fortress.

'Mengxi?!'

And in the instant she was distracted—

A furious roar exploded beside her ears.

The giant snow wolf's claws, wrapped in crimson Shadow of Silence Power, struck violently!

"BOOM!!!"

Accompanied by a heaven-shaking explosion, the claws mercilessly tore apart White Yama's protective magic barrier and slammed heavily into her back.

Blood immediately sprayed from White Yama's mouth.

Pain and bitterness instantly appeared on her beautiful face.

'You damned mutt!'

—

Meanwhile—

Elbino, who had been charging forward, suddenly trembled all over.

He stared in disbelief at the black-haired woman who had abruptly appeared before him.

For a moment, Elbino unconsciously held his breath and fixed his eyes upon her face.

The girl before him was so beautiful that it was terrifying.

Her silky black hair flowed down like a waterfall, its ends crimson-red like fresh blood.

Her delicate brows curved elegantly.

Her scarlet eyes seemed capable of stealing one's soul.

Her nose was exquisite.

Her lips were like cherry blossoms dripping with dew.

Her jade-like oval face was flawless.

Her skin, white as snow and smooth as jade, was cold and crystalline.

Her figure was graceful and slender.

Aside from the slight disappointment that her chest wasn't particularly impressive—

The girl who had suddenly appeared before him was virtually perfect.

Compared with her, the women within the Heavenly Punishment Holy Church could practically be described as withered flowers and ruined willows...

'S-So beautiful...'

Elbino couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

However—

After that fleeting admiration, he violently shook his head and threw those absurd thoughts out of his mind.

The battle wasn't over!

This wasn't the time to think about such things!

More importantly—

Who exactly was this girl?!

How had she suddenly appeared in front of him?!

Staring at the incomparably beautiful black-haired girl, countless doubts spread through Elbino's heart like a virus.

Clearly, there wasn't the slightest energy fluctuation around her body.

Yet she gave him an invisible pressure.

And after meeting those scarlet eyes—

Even his soul began trembling.

Under normal circumstances—

Facing such a bizarre existence, stopping to observe would have been the wisest course of action.

But now—

As the effects of the Blood Soul Pill rapidly weakened, Elbino's life force was draining at terrifying speed.

His soul itself was already on the verge of collapse.

He had no time to investigate.

He had to kill the Child of Destiny while his body could still move.

Thinking of that—

Elbino gritted his teeth and let out a hysterical roar toward the black-haired girl.

"I don't care who you are! Get out of my way!"

As he shouted—

He poured all the remaining battle aura in his body into his scythe and rushed past the black-haired girl toward Mengxi behind her.

However—

The moment Elbino took a step—

The black-haired girl raised her eyebrows slightly in displeasure.

She had no intention of speaking.

Under Elbino's astonished gaze, she simply raised her hand.

A crimson glow slowly rippled from her fingertips.

?!!

W-What was she doing?!

The next instant—

Before Elbino could understand what was happening—

A scarlet light rapidly enlarged in his eyes!

Though his eyes saw it, the speed of the crimson light far exceeded his imagination.

His body couldn't react at all.

'Eh?!'

He didn't even have time to scream.

His upper body was directly swallowed by the scarlet light.

Unprecedented pain, overwhelming despair, and boundless fear assaulted his mind.

He struggled desperately.

But it was useless.

Under the corrosion of the red light—

His body began melting...

And when the crimson glow faded—

Elbino's upper body, along with the short scythes tightly held in his hands, had disappeared into nothingness.

Only his lower body remained.

After swaying weakly for a few moments—

It collapsed onto the ground.

Then—

Countless blood butterflies swarmed over.

In an instant, even the remaining lower half of his body was completely annihilated within the eerie crimson glow.

—

Looking at the already obliterated Elbino, Miss Yumo gently shook her head.

"Sigh, stepping stones should have the awareness of stepping stones. Stop dreaming about defeating my heroine every day~"

Her goal from the beginning had merely been to observe the heroine's strength.

In Yumo's opinion, for a protagonist to grow, suffering setbacks, getting beaten up, or even sustaining severe injuries were all indispensable.

After all, only by enduring hardships could one become stronger.

Thus, while Elbino continuously wounded Mengxi, Yumo had never intervened.

But—

Injuries were injuries.

Death was unacceptable~

'It wasn't easy for me to find this heroine. How could I just let her die like this?'

She still had to raise her properly!

If Mengxi died—

Who was going to kill her in the future?!

Thinking of that—

When Yumo saw Elbino trying to kill Mengxi, she couldn't help puffing up her cheeks and revealing an unhappy expression.

Then—

She simply sent that disposable tool back to the recycling bin.

However—

"Speaking of which..."

Recalling what had just happened, Yumo couldn't help muttering to herself.

At that moment, a blood butterfly slowly flew over and placed a red pill into Yumo's palm.

It was none other than the Blood Soul Pill that had been on Zack's body.

Staring at the tiny object in her hand, Yumo's scarlet eyes narrowed slightly.

Inside this pill...

Was that—

The Shadow of Silence Power?

And it had been sealed inside by someone?