“Of course I'm taking her back to the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons~”

Possessed by her inner actress, Yumo flashed an evil smile and slowly sat down beside Mengxi, gently stroking the silver-haired girl's flawless, delicate face.

“You don't seriously expect me to bring an enemy Saintess home and worship her, do you?”

Her words were full of provocation.

Her crimson eyes mockingly stared at White Yama.

“Such a beautiful girl, and the legendary Child of Destiny on top of that. Of course I have to bring her back and properly train and play with her. What do you think, little Heavenly Apostle lady from the Asumos Church?”

As her words fell,

the Abyss Demons around Yumo cooperated perfectly, releasing roars that sounded like crazed laughter while throwing mocking gazes toward White Yama.

“You!!”

White Yama had already been seething with anger.

And now, seeing Yumo treating the Saintess she revered so disrespectfully, the volcano inside her completely erupted. Having confirmed that the other side truly was an Abyss Demon and not a human, White Yama no longer held back.

Her aura skyrocketed.

The surrounding air became incomparably frigid as she completely unleashed her power, and even space itself began to distort.

Terrifying killing intent swept through all of Garos Fortress.

“You dare?!!!”

White Yama fixed her gaze on the black-haired girl's bizarre eyes.

The icy killing intent transformed into countless invisible blades that stabbed toward the black-haired girl from every direction.

However,

White Yama's threat was obviously meaningless to the black-haired girl.

With a casual wave of her hand, scarlet Shadow of Silence Power exploded outward from her body. It instantly shattered White Yama's killing intent and the dense Holy Aura she had constructed, crushing them with overwhelming force and even forcing White Yama herself to retreat several meters. Shock appeared in the latter's eyes.

In response,

the black-haired girl merely smiled indifferently and crooked her finger provocatively as countless blood butterflies surrounded White Yama.

“If I dare? What exactly can you do with that little strength? Can you stop me, little lady~?”

Hearing that,

White Yama took a deep breath and suppressed the agitation in her eyes. Tightening her grip around her black sword, she slowly assumed an offensive stance, the murderous tip pointing directly at the black-haired girl's chest.

“Whether I can stop you or not...”

“We'll find out by trying.”

Her voice was firm.

From the energy fluctuations generated by that casual wave just now,

there was no doubt.

The black-haired girl before her was not only an unheard-of humanoid Abyss Demon, but her strength was immeasurably deep.

She absolutely surpassed Snow Devourer, whom White Yama had fought previously.

Even compared to the Pope himself, she was probably stronger.

Facing such an enemy,

she could not afford to hold back.

Otherwise, not only would she fail to save Mengxi, she herself would likely perish.

Besides—

‘How dare she treat the Saintess with such disrespect?! She must pay the price!’

Though White Yama usually behaved far too freely, she was ultimately a devout believer of the Asumos Church.

She could never tolerate enemies who sought to lay hands on the Saintess.

With that thought,

the temperature of White Yama's body began to rise rapidly.

Her exquisite black-and-gold armor and specially-made combat clothes began showing signs of melting. The Holy Aura of light within her body, together with that terrifying heat, surged endlessly into the black sword under the guidance of her consciousness.

Some people,

when consumed by extreme rage,

become increasingly calm.

And as she watched this scene,

feeling the violent Holy Aura erupting around White Yama,

the black-haired girl maintained her expression of disdain on the surface—

but the corners of her lips quietly curled upward.

‘Yes, that's it~’

The next moment,

just as Yumo had expected,

driven by anger and hatred, White Yama's aura reached its peak.

Several high-level enhancement scrolls, reserved as trump cards, were activated simultaneously. Terrifying energy enveloped the Heavenly Apostle's entire body.

Merely standing there in an attack stance generated earth-shaking fluctuations.

The Abyss Demons charging from all directions, hoping to launch sneak attacks, were instantly crushed into fragments by the invisible pressure the moment they approached White Yama.

Countless invisible swords seemed to surround her.

No.

To be precise, White Yama herself, after releasing every ounce of power without reservation, had become a sword.

A sword capable of tearing apart stars and oceans.

Fixing her eyes on the black-haired girl's face, White Yama spoke coldly:

“Though I don't understand why a humanoid Demon King-class exists, no matter who you are, if you dare touch the Saintess, then death is your only destination.”

The moment she finished speaking,

a dazzling flash erupted.

White Yama's figure vanished.

The swarm of blood butterflies surrounding her was engulfed by an invisible wave of heat and burned to ashes at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Oh?”

Seeing her blood butterflies so easily destroyed, a trace of surprise appeared on the black-haired girl's breathtaking face. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

In the next instant,

White Yama appeared directly before Yumo and thrust her black sword toward the girl's chest with all her might.

“Divine Will—Extinction!!”

White Yama roared her ultimate technique.

With all her Holy Aura poured into it and part of her soul sacrificed, the power of this move was unimaginable.

Overwhelming sword intent surged forth.

Terrifying heat distorted the surrounding space.

Wrapped in white radiance, the black sword descended like divine judgment itself, carrying enough power to annihilate all things as it pierced toward Yumo's chest.

The nearby Abyss Demons, instinctively rushing to protect Yumo, were crushed to the ground by White Yama's aura and couldn't move at all.

They could only let out miserable cries.

Faced with such a fearsome attack,

most people in the world would probably have been frightened out of their minds.

However—

the black-haired girl—

our Miss Yumo—

revealed a bizarre, intoxicated smile.

She even dispersed the Shadow of Silence Power she had been using for defense and opened her arms wide to directly welcome White Yama's attack.

Yes.

Yes, that's it~

Come!

Hit harder~

‘Let me see just how much damage you can do~’

That's right.

From the beginning,

Yumo had intentionally provoked White Yama to force out her strongest attack.

Then she could personally experience the power of the Heavenly Apostle's strongest strike and see exactly how much damage one of the continent's supreme Holy Aura users could inflict.

Or rather—

could she even break Yumo's defense?

Thinking back to the miserable fact that four hundred years ago, three Saint-ranked Heroes had worked for seven days and seven nights and still hadn't managed to chip even a single brick off her body—

Yumo felt it was necessary to determine exactly how much damage a Heavenly Apostle could deal.

She had considered letting her children attack her before.

But those little ones had unanimously refused.

No matter what she said, none of them were willing to attack her.

They had even gone on hunger strikes because of it, leaving Yumo utterly depressed...

Which forced her to use White Yama for experimentation.

If eighth-tier existences could injure her,

then later she could properly execute Plan A—

train the entire protagonist group to the eighth tier!

That way, during the final boss battle, as long as she held back, they'd eventually be able to grind her down to death with enough scratching damage.

And then,

the trial would finally end.

After that,

she could return to her original world~

And if possible,

perhaps she could even bring her children with her.

Hehe~

Thinking of that, Yumo revealed a look of anticipation.

She even looked at White Yama with encouraging eyes, completely baffling the Heavenly Apostle.

Though she couldn't understand what the black-haired girl was thinking, White Yama cast aside her doubts and resolutely unleashed Extinction upon the humanoid Demon King-class existence.

After all,

she had no other choice.

However,

as the saying goes, unexpected disasters always strike.

Just as the black sword was about to pierce Yumo's chest—

an emerald flash descended from the heavens at an inconceivable speed and burst directly into the battlefield between the two.

As the emerald Shadow of Silence Power dissipated,

under Yumo's stunned gaze,

a jade-like gray-haired little girl suddenly appeared above White Yama.

“DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!”

White Yama: ?!

Yumo: Huh?! Li-Liyu?!!