Gray-blue morning light fell through the canopy in strands, passing through the cold, damp fog and spilling onto the muddy forest path. Hooves crushed twigs, splashing fine droplets of water. The heavy, urgent sound of hooves and the scraping of horse armor echoed continuously among the trees.
Liuna lay on the horse’s back, her fingers gripping the reins tightly.
The wind swept past her ears, carrying the morning chill onto Liuna’s face. Her eyes were already severely swollen and red.
Her own father had left her side like this…
Not in a battle, not in the family hall, not in a grand funeral.
But collapsed on bloodstained stone bricks, blood and green liquid mixed together, yet in the end his eyes never closed.
“…Father…”
Liuna whispered softly.
She could no longer cry. Crying again and again had used up all her tears.
She was still alive, and Luo Sha was still by her side.
And the only thing she could do now was to leave this homeland that had turned into a sea of fire and head for Vylindross.
Her mother was there.
Her mother, who had been working abroad for years and was known as a Sage, had always been extraordinarily busy in Liuna’s memory.
She was either going out or writing books, rarely taking care of her. Liuna had mostly been raised by her wet nurse and father.
But now, she could only go to her mother because she had nowhere else to go.
Luo Sha rode another horse, maintaining a distance of half a horse’s length from her. Her armor was full of cracks. The battle last night had left many wounds, the blood had dried, and some had stuck to the armor. Even so, her back remained straight, and her eyes constantly swept over the tree shadows ahead and on both sides.
She did not comfort Liuna. Luo Sha could only guard her side.
However, just as the two horses passed through a particularly narrow section of the forest path, Liuna suddenly saw something.
Very thin.
Almost transparent.
It glinted once in the morning light.
“Luo Sha—!”
She didn’t have time to finish.
The next moment, the horse’s front hooves were fiercely tripped by something. The entire war horse let out a painful whinny and its body flipped forward. Liuna felt her vision spin sharply, and her whole body was thrown by inertia, her shoulder slamming heavily onto the cold, wet ground.
Mud and water splashed her face.
On the other side, Luo Sha reacted quickly. The moment the horse lost balance, she had already let go of the reins, leveraged herself to roll and land, and conveniently grabbed the small leather shield hanging from the horse’s side. Her longsword also came out of its sheath.
“Miss!”
“I’m fine…”
Liuna pushed herself up from the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain in her shoulder.
She turned back to look at what had tripped the horse and saw it was a tripwire made of reins. The wire was stretched very low, cleverly hidden among the grass and tree roots. If the morning light hadn’t happened to shine on it, it would have been nearly impossible to spot.
And Luo Sha realized this wasn’t a trap set by roadside bandits; it seemed more premeditated.
Her gaze sank as she slowly scanned the surroundings.
Then she saw the bodies.
Scattered among tree trunks, bushes, and muddy ground were many demihuman corpses. In the chest cavity of each corpse, a huge iron cross had been inserted. The crosses were entwined with pale golden flames that didn’t completely burn the bodies to ash but instead continuously cauterized the wounds like some kind of ritual, releasing a burnt odor from them.
Further away, several horses also lay in pools of blood.
All had been slaughtered.
Liuna’s stomach churned violently.
“This is…”
As Luo Sha was about to approach for a closer look, the tree shadows on one side suddenly moved.
And the next moment, something huge swept out from the shadows.
Luo Sha instinctively raised her shield to block.
Bang!
The thing smashed directly into the small leather shield. The shield dented and cracked in an instant. The immense impact force punched through the defense, blasting Luo Sha’s entire body backward. She crashed into a not-so-thick tree, breaking it, before falling heavily to the ground.
She spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Luo Sha!”
Liuna’s pupils contracted. She immediately drew her magic pistol.
From behind the tree stepped out a young girl.
She appeared to be about 1.7 meters tall, wearing a long coat, and a pair of thin-rimmed glasses on her nose. From just her silhouette, she could even be mistaken for a young cleric responsible for recording documents in some academy.
But the thing she carried on her shoulder made Liuna’s expression darken. It was a giant cross nearly one meter long.
The surface of the cross was engraved with golden light patterns. Each pattern seemed alive, slowly flickering in the morning mist. Behind the girl was also a large wooden box, long and narrow, heavy, resembling a portable coffin.
But the strangest thing was her eyes.
In those irises, there were no ordinary round pupils.
Instead, there were two clear crosses.
The girl slowly tilted her head, looked at Liuna, then at Luo Sha struggling to rise, and lightly sniffed.
“Mm… you smell of blood.”
Her tone was very gentle.
This voice made Liuna even more afraid.
Liuna raised her gun and aimed at her, her voice cold.
“Who are you… Why are you attacking us?”
The girl did not answer immediately but pushed up her glasses.
“Noble attire… red hair, green eyes… Are you a noble from the border town?”
Luo Sha stood up again. She quickly wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and raised her sword to stand in front of Liuna. There were cracks on her breastplate. If that previous blow hadn’t been absorbed by the armor, she would have died on the spot.
“Miss, please step back.”
Liuna did not retreat. Instead, she lowered the gun muzzle, her finger on the trigger.
“You could say that.”
“You could say that…”
The girl took out a white scroll from inside her coat. The material of the scroll was strange—not paper, yet its surface had fine holy light textures.
She unrolled the scroll, looked down at it for a while.
Then, she looked up and smiled.
“Liuna.”
Liuna was startled.
“How do you know my name?”
Her gaze fell on the scroll.
“Could it be… this thing?”
The girl did not explain. She simply put the scroll back into her coat pocket, her smile deepening.
“That’s good, then.”
She hoisted the cross and walked over slowly, then said:
“You are to be judged.”
Liuna’s expression darkened.
“What do you mean?”
“It means—if you’re sensible, put down your weapon.”
When she said this, her tone was still calm, but Liuna felt a chill down her spine.
“I refuse!”
The girl blinked lightly, then lowered her head and started muttering to herself.
“Mm… mm. Defying the Oracle.”
She took out the scroll again and traced a line on it with her fingertip.
The next second, the originally white Oracle scroll was dyed bright red as if soaked in blood. New text appeared on the scroll—
Defying the Oracle.
Attempting to resist the Inquisition’s baptism.
The girl flicked the scroll. Red light formed chains and shot toward Liuna.
Luo Sha immediately charged forward, trying to attack the girl’s body to interrupt the spell. But the red light was too fast. Almost the moment she moved, it had already struck Liuna’s chest.
Liuna felt something inside her body snap.
And she instinctively pulled the trigger.
No gunshot.
The magic circuit in the magic pistol was completely unresponsive, as if sealed. She tried to invoke Wind Magic, but there was no effect at her ankles. Even the light armor on her body suddenly became abnormally heavy, pressing down on her shoulders.
“What’s happening?!”
Her face turned pale.
“What did you do to me?!”
The girl tilted her head.
“I just made you quiet down a bit.”
Liuna quickly realized this was something her father had once mentioned—Mana Block.
This special magic was one of the Inquisition’s secret arts.
Ordinary people on the Karasel Continent live in mana from birth. Breathing, running, swinging a sword, casting spells, even subtle muscle enhancement, all depend more or less on the mana environment. For an Archmage, losing mana is like being shackled.
Liuna felt for the first time that the terror of the so-called Inquisition was not a rumor.
“Miss, find a way to escape.”
Luo Sha said in a low voice.
She charged.
Her longsword thrust straight at the girl’s abdomen. The girl did not dodge.
She even smiled.
The moment the sword tip pierced her abdomen, Luo Sha’s expression changed drastically. Her own abdomen also tore open at the same spot, blood seeping through the gaps in her armor.
She immediately retreated.
And the wound on the girl’s abdomen quickly healed under the coverage of golden light patterns.
“Damage Conversion…”
Luo Sha bent over, assuming a fighting stance.
The girl dragged the cross, moving forward slowly.
“The Angel has always blessed us.”
Liuna gritted her teeth and drew the short sword at her waist, only to find the hilt much heavier than usual. She took a deep breath to calm herself as much as possible.
She thought for a moment, maybe she could shake off the girl and fight a running battle. Then Liuna pointed to the side forest.
“Luo Sha, this way! See if we can lose her!”
Saying this, she immediately unfastened the chest buckle of her armor, shedding the heavy light armor. Without mana, the equipment that usually protected her had become a burden. The outer armor fell to the ground, leaving her only in a shirt and a convenient short skirt.
But the moment she pointed out the direction, the Inquisition girl had already charged over with the cross.
“Thanks for the hint.”
The huge cross swept over, accompanied by a whoosh of cutting air.
Luo Sha grabbed Liuna’s arm and pulled her aside, then raised her hand to release Light Magic.
Dazzling white light exploded in the forest.
Their figures abruptly shifted in the light, narrowly dodging to the other side. The cross didn’t hit them but struck a nearby three-meter-tall boulder.
Crack.
The boulder was split in half.
The sound of shattering came, and Liuna’s face quickly turned ugly.
The girl in front had terrifyingly immense strength; she seemed more like a physical mage.
The girl covered her eyes and quickly retreated a few steps to create distance.
Luo Sha instantly caught her opening.
“Can’t see… Good.”
Without hesitation, she threw her longsword.
The sword tip pierced the air, hitting the girl’s shoulder precisely.
But Luo Sha noticed she wasn’t injured.
‘It seems the counter damage is linked to her eyes. If she can’t see the attack, she can’t return it.’
Luo Sha rushed forward, drew her dagger, and slashed at the girl’s side. But the next moment, the blade met a harsh grinding sound—under her coat, the girl was actually wearing chainmail.
Then Luo Sha grabbed a handful of dust and threw it directly into the girl’s eyes.
The girl, who had just opened her eyes, was forced to close them again from the dust.
Seizing the opportunity, Luo Sha thrust her dagger through the girl’s right hand, piercing the hand that held the cross, making it difficult for her to grip her weapon. Then Liuna finally found an opening. Struggling to lift her short sword, she thrust forward using her body weight.
She had almost no intention of defending herself, exposing all her weaknesses.
Seeing this, Luo Sha used her dagger to pin down the cross, creating an opening for Liuna.
The sword tip pierced the girl’s body, pinning her to the ground.
Luo Sha then grabbed the fallen cross, raised it with both hands, and smashed it down toward the girl’s head.
Bang!
Mud and blood splattered simultaneously.
Liuna instinctively averted her gaze.
But the next second, the broken cross suddenly let out a clear cracking sound.
Luo Sha’s pupils contracted.
The girl slowly raised her head.
Blood was pouring from her forehead. Half of her glasses were broken, but there was still a smile on her face.
“Mm… Good, good.”
She was still alive.
“What…?!”
Liuna looked at her in disbelief as she slowly stood up.
Luo Sha gripped her dagger and attacked again, trying to finish the fight before she could get up.
But the girl quickly raised her hand. Golden patterns spread from the depths of her eyes, as if some seal had finally been released.
The next second, she punched Luo Sha in the chest.
Luo Sha was sent flying backward, crashing a full ten meters. In midair, she forcibly drew her backup straight sword, thrusting it into the ground to drag a long trench in the dirt, barely stopping herself.