The sky hung heavy and strange, dark clouds like fierce, hulking men pressing in on the tender, juicy moon maiden from both sides, drawing out her moaning cries of helpless pleasure.
A burst of flame lit up the gloomy night sky.
A giant mushroom cloud rose high into the air, lingering above the forest without fading.
As the torrential rain resumed its downpour, the place that had been struck by the sudden explosion came back into view.
There was nothing left of the original scene, not a trace remained— only the charred remnants of scorched pine branches offered any sense of familiarity.
A few seconds later, through the curtain of rain, three black-robed figures emerged, stepping onto the scorched earth left behind by the blast.
“Tch, that damn bitch got away again.”
“I told you not to use such a powerful divine miracle, but you wouldn’t listen. If you’d harmed our Lord’s body, you’d have to pay with your life.”
“If we hadn’t used the strongest miracle, we wouldn’t have even gotten close to that damned woman. I’m not about to end up like someone else who let her slip away right under their nose— again and again.”
“Like you didn’t let her escape too. You nearly got our Lord’s divine vessel hurt. Your crime is even worse.”
“Our Lord is no longer in her hands. I acted because I saw the opportunity. Unlike someone who charged in blindly without noticing anything.”
“If you ask me, before we welcome our Lord’s rebirth into this world, we should sacrifice someone to avoid delaying the process.”
“Try it, you bastard, and I’ll sacrifice you first!”
“Try me then! Who’s scared of who!”
The two had already rolled up their sleeves, ready to brawl.
“Enough! Both of you, shut it. If you’ve got time to argue, why not go catch that damned woman? Our Lord doesn’t have time to waste.”
The one in the middle barked sharply, and the other two immediately fell silent and lowered their heads.
The man who seemed to be the leader spoke in a cold, deep voice:
“Our Lord’s divine will has been delivered. It’s time for these ignorant fools to feel our Lord’s pain.”
“Feel the pain, honor the future!” ×3
As the words fell, the three figures vanished into the rain.
The heavy rain continued to pour down.
After a brief moment of silence, from within the mud formed by the storm, a small hand clutching the Starry Night Sword emerged from the shadows.
Once the surroundings were confirmed safe, Taliya crawled out from the darkness, holding onto Kane’s waist.
Every holy relic possessed its own unique power.
The holy relic— Starry Night Sword— had the power to control all darkness-related matter for a limited period.
Over the years, it was thanks to the Starry Night Sword’s powerful concealment abilities that Taliya had survived crisis after crisis.
Taliya looked at the roasted chicken she hadn’t managed to save, now blown to pieces, and stomped her little foot in fury.
“Damn it! I’m so pissed off! If I weren’t worried about Kun’er getting hurt, I would’ve chopped them all into ashes!”
After cursing them out thoroughly, she turned on a bright smile and looked with concern at the still-shaken Kane.
“Kun’er, are you alright? Can you stand up? Want me to lend a hand? Sliiide~”
Kane: ……
“Thanks, I’m fine.”
Kane stood up immediately.
His back didn’t ache, his legs didn’t hurt, and he felt full of energy— he could’ve taken the elevator to the fifth floor in one go without breaking a sweat.
He was perfectly fine.
“Oh.”
Taliya pouted in disappointment, but then remembered she’d finally managed to hold the other person close, arms wrapped tight around her— her little heart began to race with excitement.
Heehee, I’m never washing my right hand again~.
“Brrr~ Why does it suddenly feel so cold?”
Kane sucked in a sharp breath and rubbed his shoulders with a shiver.
How strange.
Was Enya getting needy again?
Kane shook it off and forced himself not to think about it.
He turned his gaze to Taliya, who was still staring at her right hand with a silly grin.
“Who were those people just now?”
Kane already had a hunch, but to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, he chose to confirm it with Taliya.
The moment Taliya remembered how that group had ruined her perfect moment, she bared her teeth in frustration and snorted.
“Who else? Of course it was those lunatics from the Tower of Truth. I’d just left the royal capital and they’ve been chasing me nonstop since. No matter how many I kill, more keep coming— it’s driving me crazy! If I weren’t afraid of scaring you, Kun’er, I could’ve taken care of that bunch of idiots with ten punches, easy. Wouldn’t even blink!”
As she spoke, Taliya swung two powerful punches into the air to prove her strength was no bluff.
Kane knew better than anyone just how strong Taliya was, but he chose not to comment. What troubled him more was the involvement of the Tower of Truth.
The appearance of the Tower of Truth marked a critical turning point in the story of the Plague Demon Village— Loralin. The greatest disaster was about to unfold.
In the original game, the rat infestation was just the beginning of the calamity. As more and more rats began to appear, becoming increasingly hard to eliminate, villagers started dying one after another from mysterious illnesses.
And the true mastermind behind all of this was none other than the Tower of Truth—a lunatic organization that claimed to restore the world to what it was “meant” to be, committing countless atrocities across the lands in the process.
While the conflicts between demons and humans stemmed mostly from racial differences, the Tower of Truth existed purely to commit evil for evil’s sake.
It could be said that the Tower of Truth was the common enemy of all races, and by far the most hated among the three major cults.
“I should’ve realized it earlier… When the Tear of the Angel appeared, I should’ve known…”
Kane bit his lip hard in frustration, clenching his fists tightly.
The Tear of the Angel was a key item in the Loralin Plague Village arc of the game. Its relic ability was amplification.
The Tower of Truth’s goal in seizing the Tear was to harness its amplification power to accelerate the spread of the plague, allowing it to engulf not only the entire Kingdom of Cyrissis, but eventually the whole world.
Though in the original game storyline, their plot was ultimately foiled thanks to the heroic efforts of the overpowered protagonist, Taliya…
The failure to contain the plague in its early stages still led to more than half of Loralin’s villagers dying in the disaster.
The rat outbreak became severe starting this morning, but the warning signs had been there even earlier… Damn it, why didn’t I notice them in time?
The more Kane thought about it, the more he blamed himself. He immediately turned and ran toward Loralin.
With the plague spreading, he couldn’t leave Enya there alone.
But after just a few steps into the rain, Kane came to a sudden stop. He turned to look at the clingy little shadow trailing behind him.
“Why are you following me?” Kane asked, puzzled as he looked at Taliya.
“Huh? Kun’er, aren’t you taking me home to meet your parents?!”
Taliya’s eyes widened in disbelief, like Qin Xianglian confronting the faithless Chen Shimei—heartbroken and stunned.
Under his mask, Kane’s brow twitched.
“When did I ever say I was taking you to meet my parents?”
“So… all of this was just a fling to you?” Taliya’s face instantly filled with sorrow. She plopped down and began drawing circles on the ground. “I really thought we were about to start something real… but I guess it was just one-sided. Boo hoo… go ahead, Kun’er, just leave me here. Walk away without looking back. I won’t be sad at all.”
“But please remember, you’ll always be the most elegant, one-of-a-kind Roast Chicken Princess in my heart.”
“…I meow~.”
Kane: ……