Although from the distance within the ruins, the assassin Sheep Bone’s aura kept compressing, even to the extent that the air seemed to stagnate and space twisted slightly.
Everyone watching the battlefield was deeply shaken by this aura, but Enya remained calm and relaxed, even taking a moment to think about other things.
Dark Hall? Never heard of it.
Sheep Bone? Is that some kind of rank code?
Enya hadn’t really mingled much in the Northland States before, so she didn’t know such an organization existed here.
She was either somewhere north of the mountain ranges on the continent, or in the West Wind Empire, or crossing the Great Gobi to reach the southern hemisphere, exploring the buried Ancient Ruins on that fragmented continent.
Those Ancient Ruins had real power!
Suddenly, Enya felt a slight tremor within her body, or more precisely, something inside her was being drawn in like it was being attracted.
“Eh?”
Enya whispered with surprise.
Beneath her armor, her pair of golden-red dragon eyes blinked.
Her gaze pierced through a hundred meters, landing on the assassin.
She sensed within herself a will to gather—a desire to coalesce. It came from the Fragment she had absorbed not long ago, and this sudden change immediately piqued her interest.
The Dark Hall assassin Sheep Bone fused his two pitch-black short swords into one.
His entire body was enveloped in a shroud of Twilight, his long robes fluttering incessantly, whistling with the wind.
His shadow transformed into chains that clung to the ground, flying from all directions toward Enya’s shadow.
Alvin, clutching his severed arm to staunch the bleeding with magic, saw this and immediately shouted a warning.
“Watch the ground!”
But Alvin’s warning came too late; Enya’s shadow was already bound by those Shadow Chains.
Sheep Bone, seeing that his shadow lock had sealed his opponent’s movements, decided not to let this perfect opportunity slip by.
He had thought this would be a simple task, but hadn’t expected to be pushed to the point of using his Bloodline Ability!
“Hmph, I admit you’re strong, but if I use my Bloodline power to seal all your movements and then strike with a sure-hit blow, can you really defend against it?”
Those Shadow Chains were his Bloodline Ability.
Once hit, they could temporarily bind the opponent’s movements.
After constant refinement by Sheep Bone, the ability had reached the level to even restrain an enemy’s magic and thoughts!
Even someone half a rank above him would be stunned for a second by this move, and that one second was enough for an assassin known for speed and precision to do many things.
Sheep Bone gripped his black short sword and stabbed out at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
In his estimation, although Enya hid her magic power at only fourth rank, her true strength should be sixth rank. No one above sixth rank would linger in such a small place.
Sheep Bone sneered inwardly: “Heh, you have some strength, but you’re too complacent and careless. This strike is guaranteed!”
“After killing you, I’ll take care of that mother and daughter!”
A black line flashed through the air.
Rosily was held in Madam Phil’s arms, still clutching the silver-gray longsword named Cang.
From the sword came an excited female voice.
“Little mistress, watch carefully and remember!”
The young girl tried her best to widen her eyes and focus on the suddenly appearing armored figure, trying not to miss a single detail.
As long as she could see the magic ripple, she could deduce how the magic was being used, then learn the technique and eventually make it her own!
At first, she thought this way, until…
Enya casually flicked the blade, and immediately a thin string snapped taut with a sharp ringing sound.
Rosily was surprised to find that the magic in the surrounding space was all being manipulated.
It happened almost instantly!
“Huh?”
What just happened?!
In the blink of an eye, Sheep Bone had already been cut by eighty-eight sword strikes.
In front of Enya, within a fan-shaped area, nearly every object was sliced apart.
The ground was covered with terrifying cracks.
Apart from these, there was no sound or chaotic flow—this was the pinnacle of sword qi!
This strike scared off all the lurking watchers in the shadows, who hurriedly left the area, fearing that such a deadly star would find them.
A monster! A monster! Get out of the city immediately!
Alvin stared blankly at everything, swallowing hard. But it wasn’t fear—rather, an extreme excitement, almost fanatic.
A grandmaster? No, an absolute Sword Saint!
The Shadow Chains binding Enya’s shadow all shattered, and the steel longsword in her hand showed fine cracks from bearing too much strain.
Enya looked down at the sword in her hand and sighed softly, muttering to herself.
“Two fourth-rank magicians are only enough for this level of the Eighty-Eight Sword Slash Technique, huh.”
As she released the magic restricting the sword, the Fragment fell to the ground. Just as she was about to leave, Alvin, with his severed arm, called out to her.
“Sword Saintess, please wait!”
…Not like that, we have no grudge, why do you call me that?
Enya turned to look at him.
Alvin no longer had that casual and carefree air from before; instead, he looked utterly disheveled.
Though he used magic to temporarily stop the bleeding, his face was pale, his forehead sweating profusely, yet Alvin still gripped his sword.
His eyes showed absolute reverence.
As if the armored, winged, and tailed Enya in front of him was not a strange monster, but a pure saintess, a breathtaking beauty capable of cleansing hearts.
Underneath the helmet, Enya curled her lips.
She ignored Alvin, exchanged a glance with Phil, giving her a smile, then looked at her daughter Rosily.
Rosily was about to say something when the scene suddenly froze, then shattered like a Colored-winged Moth with its wings scattering in all directions.
Seeing several moths flying toward her, she chose to close her eyes. When she opened them again, it was still pitch black.
In her breathing, she could sense a faint fragrance, and when leaning on it, she felt it was soft yet elastic.
“Heh… this is mom’s scent?”
Rosily got up from the softness and found herself actually resting in her mother’s arms.
They were inside a luxurious carriage.
Phil saw her daughter awake and bent down to look at her, concern in her voice.
“Why did you wake up? Did mom move too much just now?”
“N-no…”
Rosily wanted to say something but couldn’t; her mind was suddenly blank. She frowned, struggling to recall.
After a long time, she only pulled up vague impressions—she still remembered the shadowy figure and the invisible Eighty-Eight Sword Slash.
As for everything else that had happened before and after…
She forgot it all!
“What’s wrong with little Rosily? If you feel unwell, tell mom, okay?”
Phil’s gaze was filled with worry.
Of course, she knew what had happened, but she couldn’t tell her daughter that it was Enya’s true body who had turned everything that just happened into a dream and then deleted it from this dream world, making it as if nothing had occurred.
Phil was still separated from the true body.
Phil gently stroked her daughter’s soft and delicate little face, full of doting affection.
“Maybe it’s just from sitting in the carriage too long. We should be arriving soon. If little Rosily doesn’t feel well, just lean on mom’s chest and sleep a while longer.”
“Mm, I’m not a kid anymore!”
Rosily blinked her beautiful orange-red eyes, a bit dissatisfied with her mother treating her like a baby.
She was already this big, able to take care of herself and even protect her delicate mother.
Phil laughed heartily and said several “good” words in a row, only making Rosily pout even more.
Inside the carriage, a Colored-winged Moth perched on the opposite seat.
Phil opened the window to let some fresh air in.
The moth flew onto her finger, then transformed into glowing particles and merged into her body.
Phil smirked coldly in her heart. “So you still know how to come back?”
She naturally knew this was Enya’s little revenge for the tail-pulling incident.
Outside the carriage, Alvin sighed and complained casually.
“Suddenly feeling so tired. Weird, why am I still the coachman?”
“Lord Alvin, please take your work seriously. Madam Phil and Miss Rosily’s safety is very important. The lord—”
The maid spoke with a stern face.
The co-driver seat was taken by the maid. The entire group had twelve people—neither one more nor less.
Hearing the maid’s nagging, Alvin grumbled.
“Alright, alright, I know. Didn’t you see we’ve already arrived? You women are so troublesome. A sword’s better—no talking.”
“A sword talk? When does it ever talk?”
The maid, Alvin, and the eight surrounding knight guards didn’t notice the Colored-winged Moth resting on their shoulders.
At some moment, as if receiving a command, all the moths flew into the carriage together, transforming once more into glowing particles that merged into Phil’s body.
Not long after, the mother and daughter settled into a room.
After coaxing her exhausted daughter to sleep, Phil went to the adjoining chamber.
Enya was already waiting there, ready to embrace and fuse with her.
But Phil dodged and even gave her a look.
Enya narrowed her eyes and scrutinized her own incarnation—Madam Phil Crochy—and smiled lightly.
“You have a second mind. I can tell.”
“So what if you know? Could you keep your voice down? The child is still sleeping.”
Phil showed no sign of weakness, openly admitting she had a second mind.
Enya said no more, but suddenly dashed forward and forcibly hugged Phil’s soft figure, making Phil tremble and call out.
“Ah! What are you doing?!”
Enya twitched her eyelids. For some reason, the two did not fuse together.
Phil pushed her, but Enya was a dragon princess while Phil was merely a human form.
The difference in their power was too great, and Phil couldn’t break free from Enya’s grasp.
Enya stared at the unruly Phil and thought,
“Could it be that the thing Antiros made is having issues again?”
She tried several different postures, hugging and embracing, but no matter what, they couldn’t merge into one. Sweat beaded on Enya’s forehead.
Phil, held like a princess, complained.
“Alright, alright, stop being so narcissistic.”
“I’m not a narcissist!”
Enya put her down, then turned away with a light snort. She did think she looked pretty, but never had any weird or unhealthy thoughts about herself!
Phil tidied her skirt and smiled.
“I know you’re not. And don’t bother asking Antiros. I roughly understand why.”
“Why?”
Enya looked at the incarnation that now had self-awareness.
Phil walked over, wrapped her arms around Enya’s neck, resting on her shoulder, and whispered.
“Last time, Antiros said she almost became a saint, right?
Actually, at that time, my lie created a connection with the Goddess.
A lie that when the Great Calamity comes, a merciful god descends to save the suffering?
That was a lie itself!
Lies and lies gradually get confused. I heard prayers meant for the Goddess, right here in Red Pine City.
Many, many prayers. Right now!
Enya, I’m bearing those maddening, noisy voices for you.
So you better solve this quickly.
You wouldn’t want your incarnation to be stolen away by someone else, would you?”
Enya trembled at these words, her mouth slightly open.
What? You can do that?
My incarnation could be poached by the Goddess?
No way!
Phil transformed into a Colored-winged Moth and merged into her body.
Enya didn’t even have time to look at her daughter before she rushed out of the city.
She headed straight for the Mist Lord Church Archbishop!