The sky… looked as if it had been splashed with filthy blood.
Seraphina’s feet were nailed to the floor.
This scene had already surpassed anything she could comprehend.
The terror of the unknown made every emotion inside her vanish in an instant.
Even the feeling of “fear” itself did not surface right away!
She pressed herself against the wall and inched sideways toward the window, fingers clutching the frame.
What frightened her even more was the sight outside the manor: writhing, low-tier twisted and grotesque monsters—abominations slapped together from flesh as if by a careless creator—slammed madly against the seemingly fragile yet incredibly resilient barrier.
The barrier blocked their roars, but Seraphina felt as though she could still hear them.
“Ah—” A sound born from the trembling of her soul caught in her throat.
She clamped both hands over her mouth, terrified that even a single scream would fuel the monsters’ assault.
Tears flooded her eyes uncontrollably, blurring her vision.
The horrific scene only grew more nightmarish through the haze.
“Sister! Where are you?! Are those things outside… going to get in?”
Overwhelming panic gripped her like an icy hand around her throat, choking off her breath.
She ran wildly through the empty corridor, her voice cracking and sharpening into a shriek.
“Sister! Answer me! Where are you?! Please… answer me!”
Her cries echoed uselessly.
Outside the window came what sounded like even more violent crashes and roars.
Even though those sounds could never actually reach inside the manor… Seraphina still “heard” them.
She scrambled upstairs to the bedroom on the second floor as if it were the last bastion of safety.
In a frenzy she tore back the messy covers, even crawling under the bed.
—Empty. Everything was empty! There was no familiar figure anywhere.
“Waaah—!”
The last thread of her composure snapped. Seraphina collapsed to the floor and burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
She clawed her way onto the bed, curled into the darkest corner, and wrapped the blanket around herself as tightly as she could, as if that could make her disappear from the world entirely.
The cold fear made her teeth chatter and froze the blood in her veins along with every thought in her mind.
She tried with all her strength to shrink smaller, burying her face deep between her knees. Her sobs came in broken, intermittent gasps…
Just as her consciousness was on the verge of shattering, a pure, blazing light carrying a sacred aura suddenly tore through the darkness like a divine sword.
It blazed from the distant horizon!
Seraphina’s crying stopped abruptly. She jerked her head up.
The entire room lit up!
That sword of light piercing the darkness from the horizon shot straight into the clouds, carrying what seemed like the fury of the entire world and pointing directly at Movira!
Movira’s pupils contracted sharply. She knew that aura all too well!
It was Saint Eustacia!
She guessed the other woman had pinned the entire source of this disaster on her!
“Troublesome!” Movira cursed inwardly.
There was no time to explain.
She stopped in her tracks, raised the Black Longsword diagonally overhead, and met the world-destroying holy sword head-on!
In close combat, Movira had no fear of Saint Eustacia.
But in the current situation, the Saintess attacking from the distant horizon could actually hurt her!
Boom—!
The ground beneath Movira’s feet began to crack. Even though she had blocked the strike in haste, she still took damage.
On the horizon, Saint Eustacia stood suspended in mid-air.
Her platinum figure whipped about in the cold wind.
The staff in her hand gathered another surge of immense magic power.
Her eyes locked onto Movira with icy coldness, clearly preparing a second high-intensity attack!
She was convinced that Movira’s wicked ambitions had never died. Only she could have created a disaster on this scale!
Yet the instant she moved to strike, her actions froze.
She tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something. Shock finally appeared in her cold eyes.
It was Dekalorin!
Her teacher’s voice was extremely weak!
But it still conveyed an enormous amount of information!
In the end, the holy light quietly dissipated. Saint Eustacia gave a cold snort, turned into a streak of light, and shot straight toward Movira!
“Eliminate every last monster! Including… the ones near the manor.”
Along the way she scattered sacred radiance, wiping out every remaining monster in the town! In Movira’s eyes, the other woman looked like a meteor hurtling straight at her!
“Again?!” Her gaze sharpened. She raised her sword to meet the attack, but this time Dekalorin’s voice rang inside her mind. She lowered the blade.
Thud!
A heavy sound of bodies colliding rang out.
Even Movira could not react in time.
Caught completely off guard, she was slammed backward by Saint Eustacia and sent flying into the dense forest behind the manor.
It took a several-hundred-meter-long trench carved through the ground before they finally stopped.
The two of them looked like twin meteors. Snow and dust flew everywhere as Movira pushed aside the battered Saint Eustacia, who had smashed through countless trees.
As for the hand that had somehow ended up covering her mouth…
It infuriated her. With obvious disgust she pried the hand away, tilted her head to the side, spat, and snarled,
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Saint Eustacia stood up quickly. Without another word she simply glared at her, then rushed off toward the church.
Movira had no interest in arguing with her either. She had someone far more important to worry about!
Inside the bedroom, Seraphina remained curled in the corner. The blanket was wrapped so tightly around her that even her breathing had grown faint.
The brief flash of light earlier had already vanished…
At that moment, the bedroom door burst open with a loud bang!
Seraphina flinched violently. She peeked out through a tiny gap in the blanket.
A figure stood in the doorway—tall, familiar, warm.
It was Movira…
Seraphina’s eyes widened, but her pupils had lost their focus.
She simply stared blankly at the silhouette, as if she no longer recognized it, as if her brain had lost all ability to judge after the extreme terror.
Movira’s heart ached so sharply at the sight of Seraphina like this that she could barely breathe.
She softened her steps and walked slowly toward the bed. “Seraphina… it’s me. I’m back.”
The sound of her voice shattered the silence completely.
Seraphina’s empty gaze slowly regained focus. Bit by bit she took in every detail of Movira’s appearance, etching it deep into her soul.
Then, without warning, fat teardrops poured from her once-lifeless eyes like a dam had burst.
“Waaah—!”
All the fear, helplessness, and despair she had bottled up for so long finally found release and exploded outward.
She flung the blanket aside, scrambled off the bed barefoot, and staggered forward, throwing herself into Movira’s arms with all her strength.
Movira stepped forward just as quickly and opened her arms wide, pulling the cold, trembling little body tightly against her chest.
She hugged her so hard it was as if she wanted to melt the girl into her own bones and blood!
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Seraphina.”
Movira kept apologizing over and over, her voice hoarse and choked with emotion.
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