Flames, charred wood, and shattered walls.
The imagined sounds of laughter and joy had long since vanished.
The village was filled only with roaring fires and the continuous crashing of collapsing houses.
Broken, mutilated bodies lay scattered on the ground, blood staining the earth bright red.
Even the sky was shrouded by thick, black smoke—Kakege Village had become nothing but ruins.
Mo Zhi just sat slumped on the ground, dazed, staring blankly at the destruction.
Her back faced Yulisi, hiding her expression from view, but faintly visible were tears continuously streaming down her cheeks.
She might have wanted to say something, but her voice was already drowned out by immense sorrow.
“Mo Zhi…”
Yulisi came to her side, wanting to offer some comfort, but the scene before them left her at a loss for words.
“This… isn’t my home… this isn’t my home, right?”
Mo Zhi slowly turned her head, her eyes soaked in despair as they met Yulisi’s.
Tears still uncontrollably fell, her gaze pleading.
Even if it was just to lie to herself, she hoped Yulisi would tell her this was not her hometown, so that her chaotic mind might find some small measure of relief.
But Yulisi did not answer her question.
Instead, she knelt down and gently embraced Mo Zhi, whispering, “For now, let’s see if there’s anyone still alive, okay?”
They had no idea what had happened here, but the neat cuts on the corpses and the heavy armored footprints in the dirt made it clear—this was no simple bandit raid.
Only a group of well-trained and well-equipped Heavy Armored Soldiers could leave such traces.
“…Orphanage… Mama!”
Suddenly, Mo Zhi seemed to remember something and then, like a madwoman, ran toward the far side of the village.
“Mo Zhi!”
Yulisi hurried after her.
For safety, she had already gathered Magic Power into her palms, ready to unleash powerful magic if anything went wrong.
The scenes along the way were harrowing.
The deeper they went, the more bodies they saw, and the acrid smoke hanging in the air grew thicker.
“Monsters…”
Yulisi muttered a curse under her breath, just as Mo Zhi stopped ahead.
In front of her was a house long since collapsed, the fire there even fiercer than elsewhere, as if set deliberately.
“My mother… my sister… No!!”
Mo Zhi’s spirit completely shattered.
Ignoring Yulisi’s gaze, she transformed into her cat-demon form and dashed straight into the raging fire.
“That’s too dangerous! Come back!”
Yulisi reached out to grab her, but Mo Zhi was too fast in her cat-demon form, disappearing into the inferno in the blink of an eye.
“Damn!”
In this critical moment, Yulisi quickly chanted and summoned a massive water-based Magical Formation above the ruins.
Crystal-clear torrents of water instantly poured down onto the flames, which quickly transformed into a choking cloud of smoke.
She covered her mouth and nose and plunged into the smoke to search for Mo Zhi.
Through the haze, she glimpsed a shadow dressed in black.
“Cough, cough… Mo Zhi! Come to me quickly!”
“Mo Zhi?”
Mo Zhi was kneeling on the ruins, and in front of her were many neatly arranged objects…
Passing through the smoke, Yulisi’s pupils suddenly constricted in horror.
Those were the severed heads of children, deliberately cut and lined up.
At the center was the face of a middle-aged woman—that must be the mother Mo Zhi had spoken of…
“They were only children… This is… too cruel.”
Yulisi knelt down, clasping her hands together and silently praying for their souls.
“May your spirits return to the Goddess’s embrace…”
Suddenly, Mo Zhi stood up, fists clenched tightly, her eyes filled with suppressed fury.
This was the first time Yulisi had seen Mo Zhi so angry; the emerald green in her eyes had grown much darker.
“Those bastards… they will pay.”
“Mo Zhi will kill them… Mo Zhi will avenge her family!!”
Mo Zhi’s emotions grew more intense.
Blood dripped from her tightly clenched hands, and red veins spread across her eyes.
“Mo Zhi…”
Yulisi tried to calm her down, but Mo Zhi’s mind was already consumed by rage, and she no longer heard anything.
She looked at the scattered footprints on the ground; her keen nose detected that those people hadn’t gone far.
Her manicured nails silently grew sharp claws, and her teeth became razor-sharp.
“Let’s report this to the nearby town’s guards first, then—”
“Wait, Mo Zhi!”
Mo Zhi ignored Yulisi’s words.
With a light leap, she climbed onto a scorched black rooftop and headed in the direction of the footprints.
Yulisi hurriedly stood up and chased after her, but even her eyes couldn’t keep up with Mo Zhi’s speed.
Before long, Mo Zhi disappeared into the forest.
“Damn it.”
***
Deep in the forest.
A group of people clad in Black Armored stood beneath the trees.
At a glance, each of them had a long black horn on their forehead—the mark of the Demon Race.
But upon closer inspection, their black horns were different from the typical Demon Race’s.
Demon horns were smoother and glossier, while theirs resembled the horns of a bull.
The leader, dressed in more ornate black armor, wore a helmet covering his face.
His longsword was embedded with a shining gem.
He was clearly the Captain of the squad.
“Captain, I still don’t understand why we have to do this…” a young demon soldier suddenly spoke up.
“The High Priest has his reasons. Your duty is to obey orders and follow commands.”
“The Goddess will never forgive us…”
The Captain suddenly stood, approaching the young soldier.
A murderous aura radiated from him, and his black armor imposed a suffocating pressure.
“The Goddess will protect us. Everything we do is for the Kingdom. Do you understand?”
“Yes… Captain.”
The soldier bowed his head, no longer daring to meet the dark eyes beneath the helmet.
“Fools…”
The Captain muttered before striking his sword sheath hard against the ground.
Immediately, the others stood at attention.
“Prepare yourselves. I heard she’s coming.”
He pointed his longsword at them.
“You, all of you, stop Her Highness the Princess. Leave that cat-demon to me. And under no circumstances are you to harm the Princess!”
“Yes!”
They answered in unison, then mounted their horses and charged deeper into the forest.
Suddenly, rustling sounds came from the trees.
The man raised his sword, eyes fixed on the treetops.
“Ha!!”
White streaks of light flashed as a black figure dropped from above, charging at him.
The solid black armor instantly bore several scratches.
He leapt backward to create distance, but before his feet even touched the ground, the black figure was already in front of him.
This time, her attack targeted not the thick armor but the narrow slit of his helmet.
“Ugh! Damn it!!”
A sharp pain shot through his eyes.
He tried to open them, but his right eye saw nothing.
In front of him stood Mo Zhi, now fully transformed into her cat-demon form.
Embedded in her claws was his severed eyeball.
“Bastard!”
A ferocious snarl escaped from beneath his helmet.
“Damn cat-demon. I should have killed you long ago!”
He plunged his longsword into the ground. In the next moment, a black Magical Formation began to rise beneath his feet.
“Prepare to die, you beast!”
“Ha!!!”