The offensive from the abyss monsters was even more ferocious than anticipated. The knights prepared at the city gates knew this battle would be incredibly tragic. They might die here, but behind them was Anvil City—the place where their families and friends lived, and their own home.
So today, even if it meant death, they had to hold Anvil City.
Almost every knight standing there was filled with a resolve to die, swinging their weapons at the abyss monsters charging into the city, desperately killing every creature they could see.
As the knights and monsters clashed in a bloody struggle, one figure looked completely out of place.
She didn’t wear the same armor as the knights. Instead, a pitch-black cloak wrapped around her body, though the faint blue hem of a skirt was occasionally visible beneath it.
The girl also wore a mask, as if she were afraid of having her identity discovered at this moment.
Despite her strange attire, the girl’s movements were not inferior to those of the knights; in fact, her efficiency in slaying abyss monsters was far higher.
Wherever that burning longsword passed, the monsters dissolved as quickly as snow meeting a raging fire.
The knights who noticed this were somewhat astonished. Every monster killed by the girl vanished into ash, giving them no chance to escape back to their nest.
In their eyes, the girl’s movements had zero wasted motion. Every swing of her sword turned a monster into dispersing ash, leaving no possibility of resurrection.
And she didn’t even need to coordinate with others or guard her back like the knights did. It was as if she had eyes in the back of her head; even when a monster launched an attack from a blind spot, she would accurately and swiftly defend and kill it.
The girl didn’t choose to stay fixed in one spot to clear monsters. Instead, she constantly weaved through the battlefield, several times narrowly saving knights who were about to be ambushed.
Though she was only one person, her constant movement across the battlefield relieved a significant amount of pressure for the knights.
“Who is she?”
“Someone helping. Maybe an adventurer. Besides, why do you care so much? Just keep killing monsters.”
A young knight was about to ask more when he was interrupted by an older knight.
“Is now the time to think about that? If someone’s helping, just be grateful.”
The young knight remained silent and continued his struggle against the monsters.
Before the girl’s flaming sword, those abyss monsters were as fragile as paper, dying with a single strike.
The knights were amazed by her skill and couldn’t recall when such a being had appeared in Anvil City.
Occasionally, when the girl swung her sword and couldn’t pull back in time to defend, a grappling hook would shoot out from her left arm. It would interrupt the monster’s attack while dragging it toward her, where a single sword strike would incinerate it into ash.
Seeing that launched grappling hook, several knights suddenly made a discovery.
“Don’t you think that thing looks familiar?”
“Familiar?”
“Yeah. The person we were chasing today seemed to use that same special equipment to quickly pull away from us.”
When reminded of this, the knights immediately remembered the girl’s identity. She seemed to be an accomplice of the Holy Fire Sect member they were pursuing earlier today.
the knights’ movements faltered. Capturing members of the Holy Fire Sect was a top priority order.
At that moment, the nearby knight captain immediately barked out an insult.
“What are you all getting distracted for? Can’t you distinguish what’s most important right now?
I don’t care what her identity is. Even if she really is the target we’re supposed to catch, she’s standing on the same front line as us right now. Can’t you tell which is more urgent?”
Rebuked like this, the knights threw themselves back into the slaughter.
The knights reacted in various ways to the girl’s performance, but as for the girl herself, it was a different story entirely.
“Xili, you’re so weak.”
The white-haired, red-eyed little evil god offered a merciless critique. Xili’s hand shook, nearly causing her to miss a thrust.
This girl had been chattering incessantly since they started. Although she provided real-time directions for the monster ambushes, allowing Xili to block many attacks, Iris also issued ruthless evaluations based on her performance during the fight.
“Hey, hey, Xili. I’ll overlook the fact that you have no magical talent, but how can your swordsmanship be this weak?”
Ignore her. Just pretend I can’t hear her.
“Over there, over there! Defend! You’re so slow. Wow, Xili, are you an idiot? How can you swing a sword from that angle?”
Well… though I really want to say, “if you’re so good, you do it.”
But if she actually did it, she probably really would be “so good.”
Forget these invading abyss monsters; if I really lent her my body, the little evil god might turn all of Anvil City upside down.
“By the way, Xili, why don’t you lend me your body? How about I give you a demonstration?”
“Don’t even think about it.”
“Eh, stingy.”
The little evil god puffed out her cheeks and turned her face away, but when a monster tried to sneak up on Xili, she still shouted out a warning.
In this manner, an unknown amount of time passed. Xili’s physical strength was gradually depleting, and the knights had suffered significant casualties, yet the offensive of the abyss monsters showed no signs of weakening.
And that dark cloud still hung over Anvil City.
If this continued, it would be endless. Everyone here would eventually be worn down to death.
However, no nest-like structure had been discovered outside the city. Otherwise, destroying the nest would likely stop the abyss monsters’ attack.
For now, they could only hold their ground until every single monster was killed.
No matter what, the Abyss couldn’t defy natural laws and appear indefinitely. If it could, it would have swallowed the entire world long ago.
Just then, an excited voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
“It’s Lord Pegum! Lord Pegum has arrived with reinforcements!”
Reinforcements? And… Xili heard a familiar name.
Pegum.
The mastermind Broll mentioned back then seemed to be Pegum. Moreover, because of the leak, Broll was remotely executed by him.
After his death, Xili had sensed a trace of the Abyss.
Unless her senses were wrong, it meant Pegum was inextricably linked to the Abyss.
Since reinforcements had appeared, Xili quickly withdrew from the battlefield and slipped into the shadows. Next, she would see for herself exactly who this Pegum was.
A squad of elite knights belonging to the City Lord’s mansion appeared in her vision. Compared to the knights guarding the gate, their equipment looked much more sophisticated, with the emblem of the Anvil City Lord’s mansion engraved on their breastplates.
Leading them was a tall, thin man wearing deep purple mage robes with silver trim. His expression was serious and cold, and his skin was very pale, looking as though he were suffering from some major illness.
He didn’t hold a sword in his hand, only a seemingly plain black wooden staff.
Is that Pegum?
However, the tall, thin man did not look toward the battlefield ahead. Instead, he stared directly at the spot where Xili was hiding.
Hmm?