Serena instinctively whispered the name under her breath: “Eileen…?”
That name dropped like a stone into the lake of her heart, stirring up ripples.
Had they just mentioned ‘Eileen’? No way. Could she have misheard?
Though they were strangers, Serena couldn’t shake the strange feeling of familiarity about that captain.
It was as if they had known each other for years, which might explain why she’d inexplicably poured out her heart to her.
No, now was not the time to think about this!!!
Serena forcibly dispelled the torrent of thoughts flooding her mind and focused on the present.
Led by Aya, the four moved like shadows, ghosts merging with darkness, swiftly traversing the labyrinthine underground tomb teeming with demon patrols.
Lillisa closed her eyes tightly, straining to sense the faint magical connection to Eileen, her finger constantly pointing toward forks in the dark paths.
Helga and Rita followed closely behind, their expressions grave.
“We originally planned just to scout the terrain and then return for reinforcements…” Rita said quietly, eyes alert as she scanned their surroundings, her voice heavy with worry, “But now the captain’s been taken… going deeper into the demon lair—whether we’ll make it out alive is anyone’s guess…”
Serena’s confusion deepened at those words, unable to hold back her question: “Is that captain really worth you risking so much? Even your lives?”
“Of course she is!” Lillisa replied without hesitation, her heterochromatic eyes flashing with unwavering conviction in the darkness.
Helga shot Serena a cold glare, her suppressed anger barely contained. “Serena, how can you be so heartless? Don’t you realize—the captain is Eileen?”
With that, Helga removed her mask, revealing pale purple eyes that stared intently at Serena.
As the mask fell away, the magical spell blocking recognition dissolved simultaneously. Serena felt the mage’s figure before her warp and twist. When her vision cleared, she was stunned to see the mage was her comrade—the teammate with whom she had shared life-and-death battles, who had ascended to the peak of S-rank adventurers alongside her!
“Helga?!” Serena exclaimed, her eyes widening as a memory suddenly clicked.
“Eileen…? You mean your captain is really Eileen?!”
Struck like lightning, Serena froze in place. Her mind went blank, as if all sounds and lights had vanished, leaving only that name echoing wildly.
The captain who wore a mask, with silver hair and golden eyes, who carried herself with mystery and strength, commanding with calm certainty and quietly listened to her confessions by the campfire…
Was that really Eileen?!
The one she had searched for so desperately, burdened with guilt, wanting to apologize face-to-face?!
The dear friend she thought she’d lost forever, only able to chase in memories?!
The shock crushed Serena’s heart as if gripped by an invisible hand, leaving her gasping for breath.
Then, a fierce and unprecedented determination ignited in her chest like a volcanic eruption! She would find her! Rescue her! Even if it cost her life! This time, she would never lose her again!
Helga looked at Serena’s stunned, almost statue-like expression and frowned. “You… you didn’t actually recognize her, did you?”
Serena shook her head in confusion, but her gaze grew resolute. “No, but now we have to save her. Eileen can’t even defeat goblins alone; no matter how lucky she is, she won’t survive against so many demons…”
With that, she left a bewildered Helga behind and quickened her pace.
Helga couldn’t help but wonder: could she really not recognize her just because of a little mask? Was that reasonable?
“Hey, Serena, do you know Eileen?” Rita tilted her head to ask.
She had clearly seen Serena’s expression—like the sky itself was collapsing!
Helga explained as they walked: “…Of course we know her. Helga, Serena, and Eileen were all teammates in the original S-rank party Rainbow Bonds.”
Rita was shocked, her gaze complicated as she watched Serena’s back. Could the woman who slandered and smeared Sister Eileen really be her?!
“Come on, let’s hurry and save the captain. Stop overthinking,” Lillisa’s voice rang out ahead of Rita, snapping the girl back to reality. She nodded seriously and ran to catch up.
Now wasn’t the time to think too much; saving Sister Eileen was the top priority!
Though scared, Rita believed that with Sister Eileen and everyone else here, nothing could go wrong. This life was given by Sister Eileen, and even if it were taken away, so what?
Eileen was now Rita’s sole reason to live.
Guided by Lillisa’s precise sensing and Aya’s familiarity with the terrain, they skillfully avoided several dense patrols and finally crept to the edge of the central altar area!
Passing through the last stone archway, the space suddenly opened wide.
The altar plaza shone with golden light!
Eileen stood holding the holy sword Barumk, bathed in divine radiance, like a goddess descended into the mortal realm!
She faced off coldly against the massive demon wolf Shadowfang, surrounded by dense demons and heretics who dared not approach.
Eileen’s gaze immediately caught sight of the intruding companions—and… Serena, whose face was written with shock, worry, and resolute determination!
At the moment she saw Serena, the corner of Eileen’s mouth beneath her mask twitched slightly, a warmth too deep for words flowing through her heart.
Their eyes met.
Serena’s emotions surged, a bittersweet mix. She never expected to see Eileen again under such circumstances.
She exhaled in relief, but her expression grew solemn again.
Beside her, the gravekeeper assassin Aya’s voice whispered: “…Adventurers, this is as far as I can go. Do you see that black wolf? That’s Shadowfang, one of the Demon Four Heavenly Kings. His strength is unfathomable…”
As she spoke, the holy sword’s light illuminated her face, brown eyes brimming with tears, “But with the holy sword’s light, it might just be a fight worth having!”
Yes, Aya saw it—the sword their tribe had guarded for generations, Barumk, now gripped in the hands of that adventurer captain!
The holy sword was said to be a legendary weapon against demons, capable of crushing evil with overwhelming power, purifying all darkness!
Aya now firmly believed that the adventurers’ arrival and their intrusion into the central altar were all guided by the goddess herself! Their gravekeeper mission, passed down for centuries, was to end today.
Rita and Helga were even more shocked: the holy sword was actually in Eileen’s hands!
Could it be—both exchanged a glance, sharing the same thought.
Shadowfang roared and turned to face the arriving adventurers, finally fixing his gaze on Aya, the gravekeeper assassin.
“Gravekeeper, are you betraying us? Ignoring your clan chief’s fate?!” Shadowfang snarled.
With that, several werewolves grabbed their wolfbone clubs, leering cruelly as they thrust the weapons before the captive gravekeeper chief, the threat unmistakable.
Everyone present, including Aya, tensed.
But then—
The old man coughed twice.
“Aya?! You all?!” The gravekeeper chief weakly lifted his head, stunned to see Aya and strangers entering. When his murky eyes caught the holy sword’s glow, they filled with obsession and madness. “The holy sword, the holy sword’s light… our mission is finally complete, Aya! Don’t worry about my fate! The demons… cough cough…”
“Chief Grandpa!” Aya cried out.
“Don’t mind me! An old man’s fate means little! Children! Take up your weapons! Drive out these defilers of the sacred grounds!”
The holy sword’s radiance seemed to grant him his last courage and hope. He gazed tearfully at the increasingly majestic figure of Eileen bathed in the sacred light.
At last in his lifetime, he had seen the one who drew the holy sword!
“Old geezer, shut up!” Shadowfang roared in fury, but just as he prepared to threaten again, an unexpected change occurred!
Those heretics in black robes scattered around the altar suddenly retreated like a tide, disappearing swiftly into passages leading different ways, moving with synchronized precision as if following a unified command!
In an instant, only Shadowfang, his direct demon warriors, the hanging gravekeeper chief, and Eileen’s team along with the gravekeepers remained in the altar plaza!
“Bastards! You traitorous blasphemers! Humans can never be trusted!!” Shadowfang immediately understood the betrayal, his fur bristling with rage. He slammed his giant wolf claws onto the ground, sending stones flying! He had been sold out by those cunning human heretics!
With the holy sword in enemy hands and gravekeepers rebelling, the heretics had fled at once!
This sudden upheaval instantly gave hope to the previously desperate gravekeepers and Eileen’s party!
Why had the enemy suddenly turned on each other?
What an opportunity!
The gravekeepers exchanged glances and rose up as one. Several demons caught off guard were instantly skewered by spear-wielding soldiers!
“Rescue the chief! Kill the demons! Protect the brave lady!”
Aya’s figure moved like a phantom, suddenly appearing behind a werewolf and slitting its throat before it could react.
Serena’s eyes flashed fiercely. Without hesitation, she transformed into a streak of crimson light, her longsword bursting with unprecedented sharpness, plunging straight into Shadowfang’s massive head!
In such a confined underground space, recklessly using large-scale magic could easily cause collapse, so compared to Helga, Serena was better suited to fight the wolf!
No words were needed; their years of tacit understanding allowed Helga to respond perfectly. The wolf was Serena’s responsibility; the rest would handle the demons’ snarls!
Amid Rita’s prayers, a golden armor of holy light adorned the group.
“Seeking death!” Shadowfang snarled, facing Serena’s charge without dodging, his massive claw slashing down with earth-shattering force! Confident he could crush the reckless human swordswoman with ease!
Clang—!!!
The deafening clash of metal and bone echoed across the altar! Serena’s longsword met the armored claw with fierce impact!
A shockwave rolled outward, sending Serena flying back, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes held no fear! A deep sword scar also appeared on Shadowfang’s claw!
“What?!” Shadowfang stared in shock at the wound on his claw. This human woman’s strength… was beyond imagination!
To hold his own against a Four Heavenly King-class demon?!
Serena spat out blood and, with fiery red eyes, beckoned him tauntingly, “Four Heavenly King, huh? This level? It’s nowhere near the pressure I felt from the Shadow King!”
Her words were both truth and exaggeration. After coming to terms with some things and the recent battle with the Shadow King, she had indeed leveled up. Her experience had made her stronger.
Shadowfang howled furiously, leaping backward with his huge frame. His blood-red eyes fixated cruelly on the hanging gravekeeper chief at the altar’s edge, a merciless gleam shining in them.
“You think this is over? Foolish! Let me show you the terrifying innate talents of the demons!”
Shadowfang opened his blood-red maw, unleashing a powerful suction!
Amid the gravekeeper chief’s despairing wails and Aya’s heartbreaking cries, the chief’s body was forcibly torn from the chains, transforming into a streak of light, swallowed whole by Shadowfang!
His form immediately radiated a spiraling, twisted fusion glow.
“Chief Grandpa—!!!” Aya screamed, eyes filled with rage.
Shadowfang’s body erupted with thick black-purple magic light, seeming to swell larger still. The golden patterns on him emitted an ominous glow.
His bone armor grew more grotesque and dense, spreading an eerie pressure mixed with the gravekeeper chief’s aura!
“Ha ha ha ha!” Shadowfang laughed a twisted, triumphant laugh, pounding his armored chest with giant claws, producing a dull boom. “Not bad, old man. Though you’re just a candle flickering in the wind, as fusion material you’re decent! Power, ahhh, power surges from within!”
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