“So many little stars… how pretty…” Cecilia Ross murmured, slowly waking up in Selim Nutrisk’s embrace, her eyes hazy.
“Eh? Sister Selim, why are we here?”
Finally awakened from her negative state, Cecilia was momentarily confused as she lay in Selim’s arms.
“Something went wrong. We lost this battle,” Selim lowered her head and replied, “We lost, and the Town… I’m afraid we can’t save it anymore.”
Hearing this, Cecilia’s eyes widened, signaling Selim to let her down.
Considering that they had already expended quite a bit of strength, Selim hesitated for a moment, then decided it was a safe place and agreed to the request.
The two stood beside a large tree.
“Let’s put the gate-clearing quest aside for now.” Cecilia grabbed Selim’s hand and said, “Then let’s hurry to the Town and warn everyone to escape, alright?”
Pulling Cecilia close, Selim spoke in a gentle, coaxing tone, “Little Cecilia, I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to your request.”
“Our Moon Phase-level powerhouses are missing, and that Moon Phase-level monster… there’s no way the two of us at Firefly rank can defeat it.”
“There’s nothing we can do.”
Selim patted Cecilia’s head, pulled her into a hug, and continued to comfort her, “Don’t worry, I promise I’ll help you win.”
“As long as we cooperate and take out the other competitors, we can still advance in the end.”
“Besides, this is just a world inside the gate, it’s not real—no one will truly get hurt.”
“Listen to me, alright?”
Under the state of the Soul Contract, the two could feel each other’s emotions.
Selim tried to win Cecilia over with sincere feelings.
Cecilia stayed silent, saying nothing for a while, but the fluctuations from the Soul Contract told Selim her heart was not calm.
Moments later, Cecilia gently pushed Selim away, slipping from her embrace, and bowed deeply to her.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know you mean well, Sister Selim, but…”
Drawing her Metal Magic Staff, Cecilia began walking toward the Town.
“A hero can’t flee in the face of battle.”
An even more powerful aura surged from her body.
Selim instinctively cast an Appraisal on her.
『Name: Cecilia Ross』
『Class: Skyfire Witch』
『Rank: Liu Light』
『……』
On Cecilia’s status panel, her rank had changed from Firefly to Liu Light.
“Wait, Cecilia, you’re a Liu Light-ranked extraordinary?”
“Of course. Isn’t this the Ascension Ritual for Liu Light?” Cecilia looked back, eyeing Selim strangely.
“You didn’t know, Sister Selim?”
“Oh, I remember now, my father taught me how to suppress my aura, so I’ve always kept it near Firefly. I didn’t think even you would be fooled, Sister Selim.”
Hearing this, Selim’s face visibly darkened.
She never expected that her first Ascension Ritual would end in an accident.
She, still at Firefly rank, had somehow stumbled into a Liu Light-level Trial.
It was as if this world simply refused to let her become stronger, full of malice toward her.
No wonder there was a Moon Phase-level monster in what she thought was just a Firefly-level trial—she’d assumed it was because she’d intervened to save Cecilia and inadvertently increased the difficulty.
Selim was certain that even if all five gate challengers worked together, they couldn’t clear this task.
With things having gone so wrong, she couldn’t just let Cecilia be eliminated for nothing.
The best plan she could think of was to abandon the Town, team up with Cecilia, hunt down the other competitors, and secure advancement.
To accomplish this, she needed to convince her.
“Cecilia, listen to me…”
“Watch out, Sister Selim.” Before she could finish, Cecilia suddenly conjured a fireball and flung it, then dove quickly toward Selim.
Boom! The fireball exploded in a cloud of smoke.
With the blast as cover, a huge tongue whipped past Selim, narrowly missing her.
“Ptooey, ptooey, that hurts.”
Cecilia, dragging Selim upright, spat out sand that had gotten in her mouth.
As the smoke cleared, the tongue retreated back to its owner’s mouth.
A single eye swept from left to right, first settling on Cecilia, hesitating, and then finally locking onto Selim.
“Damn!” Feeling the monster’s gaze fixed on her, Selim was having a hard time accepting the situation. “Why does this BOSS have such a long aggro range?”
A Firefly and a Liu Light, facing a severely wounded Moon Phase-level boss.
Still almost no chance of victory.
Even though their talents were top-tier, without having grown stronger, their true power couldn’t be revealed.
Rationally speaking, the best course was for one to hold the rear while the other escaped—there might be a slim chance for survival.
“If I let Cecilia stay, I’ll survive.”
“This is just a Trial—if she fails, she won’t die, but if I fail, it’s real trouble.”
“I’ll apologize to her afterward, she’ll forgive me.”
“But…”
Countless thoughts churned in Selim’s heart.
She looked at Cecilia, standing in front of her, shoulder scorched black from the fireball’s aftershock when she pushed Selim away.
She couldn’t make a decision.
As if sensing something, Cecilia raised her staff, facing the monster, her voice carefree.
“Sister Selim, we can’t win, can we?”
“Run. I’ll buy you time.”
“You’ve never abandoned me, Sister Selim—how could I abandon you? It’s my turn to repay you.”
Selim didn’t answer directly. Instead, she said something seemingly out of place.
“Fate truly is cruel to the both of us.”
She said no more, turned, and ran with all her might.
“What utter foolishness…”
Watching Selim’s departing back, even though Cecilia had prepared herself, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment.
But ever the optimist, she quickly pulled herself together.
“Ugly thing, over here!”
“Take my Sunfire!”
Boom——!
With the Path of Heroes’ modifier, Cecilia’s attack dealt 300% extra damage.
What should have been a simple chunk of molten rock—Sunfire—now shone like a falling sun.
The blinding radiance forced even the Moon Phase-level One-eyed Frog Monster to ignore Selim and focus entirely on Cecilia.
“Ribbit~”
It spat out a much smaller green energy ball, colliding with Cecilia’s Sunfire.
The Sunfire broke into smaller meteorites, striking the frog monster. It took significant damage, but was still far from defeated.
Seeing that Cecilia could do this much at Liu Light rank, the monster’s lone eye briefly flashed with a human-like wariness, then filled with killing intent.
As for that mid-ranked noble in its own class, it was confident it could defeat him a hundred times over.
But these two girls were different. If they were its peers, death would await it.
Especially the one who ran—its instincts screamed she was the nemesis of its entire race.
For its kind, and for the Supreme Lord it served, it would kill these two gifted girls even if it cost its life.
With that, the One-eyed Frog Monster lashed out its tongue once again, aiming to swallow the spell-exhausted Cecilia.
But something was even faster.
It was as if something invisible pulled Cecilia aside—she dodged the tongue in an instant.
Selim’s eyes glowed a bloody crimson, her body shrouded in a terrifying, lingering aura of resentment. One hand clutching her head, the other manipulating a Soul Tentacle to yank Cecilia away.
Like a child receiving a longed-for birthday gift, Cecilia’s cheeks flushed as if immensely satisfied.
Hovering in the air, she looked Selim’s way, her voice choked with tears, “Sister Selim, you came back?”
Selim hadn’t run, but instead raced back to the battlefield at top speed.
On a blood-soaked battlefield, she used Soul Devour to absorb the souls of all the dead creatures entwined together.
Even her soul power bar, once blue, now bore a tinge of crimson, starting to erode her reason and vision.
This was the only way she could think of to gain strength, even temporarily.
“Cecilia, you…” Enduring the splitting headache, Selim continued.
“What utter foolishness!”
Perhaps she was saying it for Cecilia, perhaps for herself.
If it came to it, she’d die alongside little Cecilia.