It was at the very moment the gray-robed man turned around that a pale white wooden spear pierced through his skull, nailing him to the ground.
Ethereal white flames scorched his soul, making him let out a wretched, piercing scream.
The rest of the group scattered like startled birds, trying to flee in panic — but each of them was taken down, one by one.
A clay jar shattered on the ground, and the thick blood-like liquid inside slowly spread out.
Only after dealing with all of them did Enya finally appear in the plaza.
As the gray-robed men were burned to nothing, their weapons were devoured by a diamond-shaped black void — Enya’s method of retrieving them.
She glanced at the beaded bracelet on the ground, strung with entirely red seeds, and looked a bit surprised.
“That was the leader? Looked like a total grunt to me.”
She had expected something powerful hiding below.
Who would’ve thought it was just more trash?
Trash.
Trash!
Well, whether they were trash or not didn’t matter now — what was certain was they were unlucky.
Redpine City wasn’t even notable among the northern nations, yet somehow these guys had the misfortune of crossing paths with Enya in this remote backwater.
Though Enya, after getting bang-bang punched, was no longer a Sword Saint and her strength had waned significantly, she still wasn’t someone average people could mess with.
Enya squatted down and picked up the bracelet — it might come in handy later.
But the moment she did, a wave of darkness surged in like a tidal flood.
In the blink of an eye, it devoured all sources of light, plunging the entire space into pitch-black.
She slowly stood up, a smirk forming on her lips.
The hand gripping her sword tightened.
Her golden-red slit pupils gazed toward a massive stone door that was now half-open, shrouded in darkness.
Finally, something a bit more solid to hit.
Casually, as if on instinct, she swung her sword to the right — and it just so happened to clash violently with an attack from a hidden creature in the shadows.
Sparks flew, briefly lighting up a bladed tail.
It struck and retreated instantly, vanishing back into the darkness — but Enya’s sword had already shattered into fragments.
She sighed and tossed the hilt aside.
Ordinary steel swords couldn’t handle her magic.
A little pressure and they’d break into pieces.
A black hilt floated before her chest — she reached out and slowly drew it.
A silver-gray blade emerged, trailing white radiance.
Enya paused for a moment, then turned her head slightly to look at her tail.
It had already been a year since she’d become like this.
She was used to her body now.
Thinking that, she tried using her tail to grasp the sword’s hilt.
She shifted her stance, preparing.
Sword extended.
Spin.
Tail sweep.
It was almost like an elegant dance.
Then — a thunderous boom echoed from afar.
The unnatural darkness rapidly receded, revealing a humanoid black monster standing just two or three meters in front of her.
It was frozen mid-attack, as if locked in place.
Everything above its heart had vanished, neatly sliced away by a razor-sharp blade.
Within that clean wound, a purple-black heart the size of a human head still beat rhythmically.
The cut seemed to want to regenerate, but something was suppressing it.
And behind it — the once-massive stone door and connected wall had been replaced by a horizontal fissure, five or six meters wide and over a hundred meters long.
The silver-gray longsword coiled in Enya’s tail continued to radiate terrifying magical energy, gleaming with unmatched sharpness.
The monster’s massive body collapsed with a thud, releasing not blood but a swirling black mist.
Enya flicked her dragon tail and couldn’t help but curve her lips into a pleased smile.
Where was Egg Baby?
What was Egg Baby doing?
Egg Baby was cheering!
Feeling the excitement from the egg made Enya freeze slightly.
Because of their bloodline resonance, she and the egg could share emotions — letting them communicate without words.
Her earlier display, which seemed like mere playful movements, was actually her way of releasing the frustration she had built up after a year of hiding in the mountains.
Naturally, that release came with some joy and exhilaration — emotions that were passed on to the egg baby.
And now, the egg baby was excited too.
Enya squinted slightly, wondering to herself, Am I being a bad influence on the kid?
But they haven’t even been born yet, so maybe not…
“Well, whatever. Not gonna worry about it.”
She didn’t dwell on the thought.
Instead, she shifted her gaze to the corpse of the demon.
Using magic, Enya extracted the demon’s heart and placed it into her secret storage space.
Without its heart, the demon’s body quickly turned to ash and scattered.
Seeing this, Enya couldn’t help but make a jab:
“So this was their big move against Vivienne? Seriously?”
The demon hadn’t been weak — it could instantly drag someone into an alternate space.
If Enya hadn’t been immune to soul-based attacks, things might’ve gone very differently.
After erasing all traces of her magic, Enya left the place.
The primary goal of this trip had been the map, and now that it was in her hands, there was no reason to linger.
Before leaving, Enya had cut down a few more cultists — though she left some of the utterly terrified stragglers behind.
Cleanup wasn’t her job.
Enya emerged from a stove hearth, inevitably covered in ash and looking a bit disheveled.
As she patted the dust off her clothes, she looked around.
This was an old mud-brick house in the slums, seemingly abandoned for a long time.
She pushed open the door and confidently stepped outside.
When she reached the narrow alleyway, she immediately spotted a ragged girl leaning against the wall.
The girl lay there as if she were already dead.
She was still breathing — barely.
Enya originally intended to ignore her, but the girl looked up, and their eyes met.
Enya sighed softly and pulled out a bottle of clear potion.
She uncorked it and let a drop of her own blood fall inside.
As her blood activated the potion’s magic, the pale red liquid began to emit a soft, alluring glow.
She walked to the girl and tilted the bottle to her lips.
The girl’s cloudy eyes showed no fear of strangers — only indifference and numbness.
Once the potion was fed, Enya turned and left.
The first time Enya met Vivienne was on the third day after she ran away at age thirteen.
At that time, she was in an awful state, fleeing pursuers, wandering the forests in panic.
After several days of hunger and cold, she had neither strength nor will left and finally collapsed by the roadside, ready to be dragged back.
She regretted escaping from that warm, comfortable castle — the gilded cage where food and safety were guaranteed.
And yet, deep in her heart, Enya still longed for someone to pull her out of that mire.
Just when she was about to give up, a beautiful pink-haired girl appeared in her field of vision.
She fed Enya a healing potion and hid her inside a carriage.
With that girl’s help, Enya evaded her captors.
Like something out of a fairy tale, she escaped the fate of a caged canary — and was even carried in a princess hug…
That was how she and Vivienne first met.
Under Vivienne’s guidance, Enya learned how to cultivate magic, and with the help of an absurdly strong maid, she trained in swordsmanship.
You could say that everything Enya became later… was because of Vivienne.
To repay the favor of being saved — and for the sake of training and study — Enya served as Vivienne’s maid for a year.
If not for the lingering hatred toward the duke who imprisoned her for thirteen years, maybe… Enya would have stayed by Vivienne’s side forever?
Would she have remained a maid in that alternate timeline?
But fate… who can ever say?
Enya touched the dragon egg beneath her clothes and let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
“I promised I’d stay by her side and protect her… and then I just ran away.”
But like this, in her current state… how could she possibly face Vivienne?
Enya let out a defeated sigh and muttered to herself:
“Enya, you really need to figure out what you’re going to do next.”
She had an egg to hatch.
Right now, she needed to find the Lord of Redpine City — the noble of House Asardes — and use that map, which bore the Asardes family crest yet ended up in the hands of cultists, to trade for something she wanted.
She passed through the alleyways and emerged onto the main street, trying her best to stay low-profile and inconspicuous.
As she walked, Enya suddenly froze.
A carriage — not overly luxurious, but clearly of noble make — was approaching from the main road, heading directly toward her.
From inside it, she sensed a familiar presence.
For a moment, Enya panicked.“It’s her…”
Tftc!
Is that Vivienne?