“Everyone, fall back!” Her voice was hoarse, barely sounding like herself. “This isn’t a battle you can interfere in! Go support elsewhere, or rescue the civilians of the Holy Capital!”
“That’s right, our ‘love and unity’ scene here doesn’t need any interruptions from outsiders!”
Yanas suddenly laughed, her nails scraping against the sword’s blade with a grating, teeth-clenching sound.
As she rose from the throne, her eyes were filled with a maddened battle fervor.
“Come on, Serena—” She spread her arms wide, the flames shining through the stained glass behind her stretching her shadow into a twisted demon’s silhouette. “Let’s continue the duel we never finished. Pierce my heart with your sword! Let’s truly enjoy this slaughter until death do us part!!!”
Serena spat quietly, muttering “perverted woman,” but before the words even left her lips, Yanas’s lingering figure on her retina suddenly evaporated.
She widened her eyes, an involuntary chill crawling down her spine. She could feel it—the icy killing intent coming from behind!
“Hey.” That slightly yandere, insane voice flooded into her ears. “Focus. If you can’t keep up with my speed, it’ll get boring, you know?”
The holy light from the sacred sword barely grazed the suddenly appearing pale hair.
Serena staggered backward, cold sweat soaking her inner lining.
At last, she saw the monster floating in midair: pale hair moving like a living creature, heterochromatic eyes flickering through the dust, and those jet-black wings shedding ephemeral black feathers with every beat.
“Th-This is?”
“Oh, is this the first time you’re seeing it? This is what I look like after transforming, the power my sister gave me—far beyond the fragile human race!”
Yanas flicked up a severed arm on the ground with the tip of her sword, shaking it like a child playing with a toy. “At this state, I can’t even fully control my power myself, so don’t you dare die too easily.”
The space seemed to twist.
Serena watched as Yanas slowly raised her sword, movements as slow and fluid as an underwater dancer.
But the moment the blade came down, the entire Papal Hall was suddenly filled with crisscrossing black slashes, like a dense spiderweb!
The load-bearing stone pillars collapsed simultaneously, and a soldier who hadn’t retreated in time was shredded into neat chunks with a scream.
Serena’s vision tinted blood-red.
She kept blocking the sword strikes emerging from the void, blood dripping from her cracked tiger mouth sliding slimily on the sword’s hilt, making it impossible to grip.
Warm liquid trickled into her eyes from her temple; she couldn’t tell if it was sweat or blood.
Such a fast sword! It moved so quickly that all she could see was a streak of light weaving endlessly into an inescapable sword aura!
Yanas’s laughter surged from all directions, like thousands of ants crawling inside her skull.
“The so-called true hero? If that’s all you’ve got, it’s terribly disappointing!”
Serena could no longer keep up with Yanas’s speed; the sword aura left countless wounds on her body.
Blood floated in the flames, evaporating in an instant.
So strong!
Yes, Serena had never imagined that Yanas’s full power could reach this level!
This was long beyond what a mortal should possess—the pressure was absolutely no less than when she fought the Shadow King in Endymion City!
If her teammates were here, maybe she could fight on equal footing.
She knew that the reason she was still alive wasn’t because Yanas was holding back, but thanks to the fortunate blessing Eileen had given her, dodging every fatal blow!
But if this continued, the constant blood loss would kill her anyway!
‘I’m going to lose, the gap in strength is too big. I can’t win.’
‘Sorry, Eileen, I…’
Her consciousness started to blur, as if the burning throne, the crazed laughter of Yanas, and the sacred sword in her hand had all drifted away—
She recalled the oath they made under the starry sky, and Eileen’s face flashed through her mind;
She saw the dusk when Eileen left the team, the heavy rain pouring down, and herself standing at the guild’s entrance, watching Eileen’s silhouette disappear further and further into the rain.
Why? Why did you leave me? Were we really nothing to you?
That sadness and anger back then made her make a wrong move, a retaliation exploited by those with ulterior motives, widening the distance between her and Eileen—
Eileen would never know, right? The pain she felt when Eileen abandoned them in Endymion and entered the tower with that demon tribe!
When you fought alongside me, it felt like I was redeemed.
But in the end, all my apologies couldn’t bring you back—only then did I realize how deeply I had hurt you.
You said, ‘Do it, no need for words. I am your sword.’
That was the vow of atonement she had made herself, but what did it mean now?
If she couldn’t defeat this dangerous foe here and now—
Images of Eileen, Roswitha, everyone else, and the tragic scenes in the border villages flashed before her eyes—the wrongly slain victims of the church, the charred crosses like towering, solemn tombstones.
The church had already rotted away.
That’s what she thought back then. If the Holy Capital couldn’t be destroyed, how many more would die?
She couldn’t lose. She had promised Eileen before coming here that she would walk alongside her on the imperial path from now on—always, always with her…
‘We promised to come back alive and meet again!’
‘Whether it’s for Eileen or those wrongly killed, I have no reason to lose!’
But her body could no longer move… the wounds kept piling up, and her strength was almost gone…
Even Eileen’s miracle was gradually losing its effect.
Yanas held her sword in one hand, poised for a thrust, frowning as if deeply disappointed in Serena’s performance: “… I’m already bored. You’re too weak, completely meaningless.”
The sword’s light cut through Serena’s body, pinning her to the wall.
Yanas yawned in boredom and lowered her eyelids, about to withdraw her sword, but found the blade unmoving.
Startled, she looked over and saw Serena, covered in blood, flashing a triumphant smile at her.
“This time, I finally caught you!”
She grabbed the sword’s blade, her crimson eyes flickering like flames.
“You…”
Unable to handle this speed, you deliberately let me stab you and used your body to lock me in?
In a daze, Serena’s right hand gripped the sacred sword; its light surged violently as she shouted, pouring all her remaining strength into one final attack!
The holy radiance shone into Yanas’s eyes.
With a scream, one of her wings behind her snapped instantly.
The aftershock of the sword’s light sent it flying, slamming hard into a broken pillar.
Serena dropped to one knee, planting her sword into the ground, breathing heavily.
She had avoided a fatal strike, but her injuries were still severe.
Worse, that sword thrust hadn’t finished off her opponent!
“Ahahaha…”
As if confirming Serena’s uneasy premonition, Yanas laughed madly, rising from the rubble.
Blood continuously seeped from the broken wing root behind her.
That last sword strike had indeed inflicted significant damage, but it still wasn’t enough to kill her!
This is truly the end!
There’s not an ounce of strength left.
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