Even in the deepest night, there is hope.
Xue La Linde witnessed it all.
The orcs had already stepped onto the frozen river—they either wore boots or tied boards to their feet, moving slowly but not slipping.
And they carried shields, enough to block the defenders’ sling shots.
Soon, a tide of orcs would invade the interior of Maisolonge Monastery.
But where was hope?
Under the wings of Mother Katherine.
Those wings radiated a holy light, far surpassing the torches the orcs carried as they groped their way through the darkness.
The torchlight was the light of destruction.
But Mother Katherine’s was not.
This elderly exorcist nun descended from the sky, and when her wings spread, the night brightened like day.
Xue La didn’t know much about Mother Katherine’s past, but since Maisolonge Monastery was a very important location in the game’s setting, the one in charge here couldn’t be mediocre.
Katherine raised her ruler—which, under the power of Holy Light, transformed into a sword.
With a single light sweep through the air, a fierce sword energy slash swept across the frozen river like a flood, knocking down the orc charge group that braved the stone rain!
So cool, she was speechless.
The golden wings landed again, but Katherine’s eyes did not relax.
Among the countless fallen orcs, one stood firm.
In the darkness, Xue La couldn’t see clearly.
She only heard Katherine’s cold snort.
“Crow Speaker, still alive?”
At the end of her sight, that small dot grew larger, and then Xue La finally saw its true form.
It was a strange orc of small stature, wrapped in odd cloth—Xue La quickly matched it with her memory: it was an Orc Shaman.
Such enemies often possessed the strange ability to communicate with Klabane Crow monsters, so being called a Crow Speaker was natural.
“You are destined to fail, old woman.”
The other party let out a rough grunt.
“I am Lord Azog’s top subordinate, leading tens of thousands of orc warriors to exterminate you—”
Xue La pouted—this guy talks really strangely.
“In short, this siege battle consists of ten thousand roaring orc warriors…”
The shaman took off his hood, revealing a bald head.
“Against a defense made up of a few old women and a little girl, the advantage is mine!”
If not for the distance being too far, Xue La would have wanted to throw a stone to knock out his front teeth.
But this distance was not far for the enemy—
A crow that had been sitting on the shaman’s shoulder suddenly screeched and flew away.
Because some strange fluctuation had appeared around the shaman’s body.
“Xue La, take the people of Privet Town and retreat quickly!”
Katherine’s face was serious.
An evil power was gathering in the shaman’s hand.
Just the overflowing power caused a faint distortion in the space and light around him.
In the words of an expert, it was an “Ether Fluctuation,” a common magical phenomenon.
Xue La pursed her lips and did as told.
Just as she stuffed the last person inside the monastery and heavily locked the door, she turned around.
And saw what the shaman had summoned.
A jet-black wave of light burst forth, like an arrow released from a bow.
“Dark Wave!”
The shaman gasped, blood at the corner of his mouth.
“Like my move? I’m a top student who studied abroad in the Demon Realm!”
He was indeed a skilled spellcaster.
But Katherine was no slouch—the old nun raised her hand, palm aimed at the raging black wave.
“Light Shield, activate.”
Katherine was expressionless.
And a huge golden semicircular shield, following the call of her palm, protected the entire monastery within.
This was a clash of shield and spear.
When the two collided, even the surrounding ground and trees trembled!
And Xue La watched in awe.
[Light Shield]—this skill she had seen before; it was a skill that only high-level holy users could master—not that low-level ones couldn’t learn it, but the size and shape of the shield were affected by the caster’s own level and stats.
And Katherine clearly belonged to the latter.
The nun who didn’t show off much normally turned out to be this amazing at a critical moment?
That’s right, Maisolonge’s daily operations needed a worldly nun named Mo En to manage money, but in spirit and physically, they also needed a strong figure who could fight and carry things.
‘How had she not thought of latching onto a strong backer!’
Xue La regretted it—but it wasn’t too late.
Katherine was looking at the enemy, but soon felt a hand on her back.
She turned to look.
It was Xue La again.
“You didn’t go inside?”
“I… I wanted to help.”
Xue La made an excuse.
‘She couldn’t say that she wanted to make progress too much, could she?’
‘As long as she clung to Mother Katherine’s coattails and became a holy user or exorcist nun or something, she could escape her mother’s control and not be a maid, then openly and gloriously live a leisurely restaurant management life in another world—how great!’
So, she better stand by Katherine’s side.
Not knowing whether the old nun noticed—Abbess Katherine just sighed.
“You can’t help much, child.”
She looked back at the enemy.
Blood flowed down the shaman’s chin.
“You shouldn’t use such wild, evil magic power,” Katherine said.
“This power will destroy you before it destroys Maisolonge.”
“It’s worth it,” he said, pulling a bottle of potion from some unknown corner and pouring it down his throat…
Xue La didn’t forget to take a look.
[Self-Made Healing Potion: An orc folk remedy, temporarily restores HP +1.5% for a short duration.]
Obviously, he was willing to spend time and blood to tough it out.
“You want to destroy Maisolonge, and you’re impatient for success.”
“Why should a sheep care about the way a lion eats it?”
“Because you’re too miserable, you’ll choke to death,” Katherine said.
“Your orc army looks formidable, but they’ve been held off by us temporarily armed townsfolk for nearly half a month. Soon, adventurers and the regular army of Norsenia will arrive here.”
The old woman hit the nail on the head:
“By then, you will truly fail, and your superior, that orc warlord called Azog, will kill you.”
“Shut up!”
The shaman flew into a rage, then choked on his breath and coughed up blood.
Katherine was indifferent:
“A spell that powerful was already beyond your limit, so why do it?”
“But it’s worth it!”
The shaman lifted his head, a fierce gleam in his eyes—he summoned that power again.
“Madman!”
Katherine growled.
“After all these years, the Demon Race’s forces are still this rampant?”
A second jet-black wave of light came, but its target was no longer Katherine—it was Xue La beside her.
“Child, watch out!”
The old nun tried to summon the shield again.
Bang!
Xue La only felt her ears ringing.
The second wave’s power was far inferior to the first, but enough to kill an innocent girl.
And Katherine was injured protecting her.
This time, the Light Shield was summoned too late!
What Xue La saw was the elderly Mother Katherine in pain, clutching her arm—from it, blood gushed profusely, a wound the size of a bowl.
Even the golden wings on her back dimmed considerably.
Xue La stepped forward, her fingers trembling, trying to bandage the old nun…
This was one of the few things she could do.
On the opposite bank, the shaman finally coughed up a stream of blood, flying three feet away.
Klabane Crows flew in the sky.
“All troops, advance!”
The shaman struggled to stand, his nails covered in blood and mud.
“Tear this place down for me!”
Even from far away, Xue La could sense the chill in his voice.
The other world wasn’t so comfortable, especially in a chaotic era where the Demon King had not yet been defeated.
The second wave of orcs would come soon.
Xue La took a deep breath, ready to accept that reality—she still had some stones in her pocket, could she hold out for five minutes?
But the expected invaders did not come; the frozen river remained empty.
Instead, a loud horn blast sounded—
The limit of light is called hope.
Norsenia’s reinforcements arrived on a winter dawn.
Bows and sabers thundered, ending the invaders’ ambition.
And familiar things gradually filled Xue La’s eyes.
The first banner was House Linde’s green-backed sheep flag.
The second was the Lyoncourt family’s red-backed lion flag.
But most importantly, there was a boy running wildly in that army.
Red hair, gray eyes, dragging a heavy sword.
“Xue La, I’ve come to save you!”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.