Saintess Tower.
Su Nian’s bare feet pressed against the cold obsidian floor, but it couldn’t extinguish the heat rising deep within her body.
‘As expected, I can’t do without my Horned Demon Master, can I?’
The heavy door was pushed open.
Amy and Lise rushed in, their faces filled with uncontrollable rage and anxiety.
Amy’s voice trembled violently with emotion: “Nian Nian! Don’t listen to those bastards outside! They’ve all gone mad!”
She ran to Su Nian, gripping her shoulders tightly she said,”Those nobles… those people we once risked our lives to save, they’re actually meeting to discuss handing you over… to that vicious Demon King!”
Lise clenched her fists, knuckles white from the strain.
Her beautiful face twisted in fury, no trace of her usual charm and composure, “The Academy’s mentors and students are fighting for you! There are still many who remember your kindness, who haven’t forgotten! We’ve contacted everyone we can! We won’t let you face this alone! Never!”
Seeing the sincere and worried expressions of her two companions, Su Nian’s heart calmed considerably.
Although… she didn’t seem to mind being offered to the Horned Demon Lord, being morally blackmailed by a crowd into accepting this fate still felt infuriating.
And yet, she was scheming on how to “naturally” fall into that man’s arms.
At the same time, she felt a trace of guilt… many people were speaking out for her, not everyone was like that.
Su Nian suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, stepped forward slowly, and spread her arms to gently hug them.
Both girls’ bodies trembled.
Her voice was soft, carrying just the right amount of weariness and sorrow, her breath brushing past their ears.
“Thank you, Amy, Lise.”
“But don’t fight for me anymore.”
Amy and Lise stiffened simultaneously.
They could feel that Su Nian in their arms was terrifyingly calm.
“Nian Nian, what… what do you mean by that?” Amy released her hands in disbelief, stepped back, and stared at her intently.
Su Nian didn’t answer.
She let go of them, turned around, and walked step by step toward the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside the window was a dense crowd, countless faces pleading, numb, or taking things for granted.
Their voices converged into a filthy torrent, battering against this holy tower.
She looked at them.
Those sky-blue eyes held no anger, no sorrow—only a bottomless calm.
The next moment.
Su Nian used her actions to make everything clear.
Her voice, amplified by Divine Power, transformed from a gentle whisper into an announcement carrying divine authority, spreading clearly across the entire square, instantly suppressing all the noise and clamor.
“If my sacrifice can buy the human race three hundred years of peace…”
In the square, everyone raised their heads sharply, holding their breath, staring in shock at the holy figure bathed in radiance at the top of the tower.
Amy and Lise’s faces turned deathly pale in an instant.
Su Nian didn’t look back.
She spoke in a tone almost like a chant, filled with endless compassion and sanctity, pronouncing her verdict, and her own sentence.
“If my humiliation can let you live without the fear of war…”
“I agree to sign a peace treaty with the Demon Race.”
Su Nian’s voice pierced through the divine radiance, like feathers falling from the heavens, soft yet carrying an unshakable weight, drifting precisely into the ears of everyone in the square below.
First, there was a deathly silence lasting several seconds.
Time and space—everything halted.
The wind stopped, the noise stopped, even breathing stopped.
Then—
-Boom!
Like a volcano that had accumulated for a hundred years, it found an outlet in an instant.
A wave of ecstatic sound exploded from the center of the square, turning into visible sound waves that violently battered the cold stone walls of the Saintess Tower, shaking the foundations of this holy spire.
The entire world erupted at that moment.
“Long live the Holy Lady!”
Countless people kowtowed wildly toward the figure at the top of the tower.
Their foreheads split open, blood mixing with tears, yet manic smiles hung on their faces.
A mother holding her child buried her face deep into her child’s neck, letting out suppressed sobs that quickly turned into joyful laughter.
A man threw away the sign in his hand, knelt on both knees, and shouted toward the tower: “I knew it! The Holy Lady is merciful! She won’t abandon us!”
They laughed, they cried, celebrating the hard-won peace bought by someone else’s sacrifice.
Inside the Saintess Tower.
Amy and Lise trembled at the roaring cheers.
Their bodies went limp, collapsing onto the cold floor, the last trace of color drained from their faces.
They couldn’t understand, couldn’t accept.
That Su Nian who was omnipotent and resolute in their hearts, who would rather die than yield, had actually made such a choice.
Su Nian turned around.
The compassion and sanctity on her face faded perfectly in that instant, replaced by a heartbreaking, determined smile.
“This is my mission, Amy.”
This perfect acting, this precise emotional control—even she was startled.
She walked up to them, slowly crouched down, brushed her fingertips across their cold cheeks, and gently wiped away their hot tears.
The tenderness made even her feel a chill.
Her voice was soft, yet carried an unyielding resolve.
“Magic Feather Fantasy is yours from now on.”
“Ding! Detected that the host has actively accepted a humiliating fate in the guise of a sacrificial victim. Humiliation Value +10,000,000!”
“Ding! Affection +3. Current Affection: 98.”
The cold system notification echoed in her mind.
What followed was only natural.
Those nobles and city leaders who moments ago had hidden in dark corners, scheming with the most malicious intentions on how to trade her away, now surged forward.
They put on their most solemn attire, wore the most sorrowful expressions, and used the most flowery language to extol Su Nian’s “great sacrifice.”
They expressed their “profound respect” with the most devout postures, as if she were a hero about to embark on a glorious journey of martyrdom.
The King of Red Maple even came personally.
He carried a velvet-lined tray upon which lay a medal forged from pure gold and fragments of starlight.
“Saintess Su Nian,” the king’s voice was heavy with grief, yet his eyes sparkled with barely suppressed excitement.
“To honor your supreme contribution to the human race, I, in the name of the kingdom, hereby award you the highest medal, ‘Guardian of the Human Race.'”
Looking at that face full of hypocritical smiles, Su Nian’s heart remained utterly calm.
She calmly extended her hand, allowing the heavy, cold medal to be pinned to her chest.
Under the gaze of the entire world, a grand and solemn “farewell” ceremony began.
The road to the border of human territory was paved with flowers.
Countless roses and lilies were tossed from the balconies along the streets, creating a brilliant rain of petals.
On both sides of the road stood the people who had come to “send her off.”
Many of their faces wore a complex expression of guilt and gratitude, their eyes darting away, unable to meet the gaze of the ornate carriage slowly approaching.
But some still shouted the name “Holy Lady,” fiercely tossing flowers toward her carriage, as if doing so could ease some of the guilt in their hearts.
Su Nian sat alone in the extremely luxurious carriage.
The interior was carpeted with thick white plush, and the air carried the subtle fragrance of calming incense.
She didn’t feel anger or resentment at being “abandoned” right now.
Instead, she felt… the excitement of soon seeing her master.
She couldn’t wait to see that man.
She wanted to be held in his arms, accuse him of daring to bully her, and then be severely “punished” by her master, with her unable to resist and only crying out as she silently endured.
‘Mmm… I can’t wait.’
The convoy traveled for over half a day.
When the last rays of dusk were about to melt below the horizon, the vibrations of the wheels rolling over the ground finally stopped.
They had reached the border.
Ahead was the Demon Race’s fortress city, “Iron Fortress,” and the pitch-black Demon Army stretching to the edge of sight.
The aura formed by a mix of steel, sulfur, and killing intent congealed into a solid wall, separating this place from the bustling lights of the human kingdom behind it into two completely different worlds.
Before the million-strong demon army stood a single figure.
Towering demonic energy churned around him, distorting light, swallowing color, forming an absolute domain of darkness.
It was him.
That bastard Horned Demon who had once made her hate him so much, yet whom she had desperately missed in countless midnight dreams.
He was… her master.
The carriage stopped.
Su Nian took a deep breath.
Under the trembling, almost unbearable gaze of the attendant, she pushed open the door and stepped down.
A holy white dress, the hem brushing the dust.
Golden hair wildly danced in the dim evening wind, every strand stained with the desolate beauty of twilight.
That exquisite face, carved by the gods themselves, was breathtakingly beautiful under the gloomy sky, beautiful beyond the realm of mortal things.
The entire world held its breath at that moment.
Every Magic Crystal scattered across the continent was broadcasting this scene live.
Su Nian took a step.
She walked alone, toward the million-strong demon army representing destruction and fear, toward the Demon King standing in the endless darkness, step by step.
Her steps were steady.
Her feet, in holy, noble silver high heels, stepped on the hard, cold ground without making a sound.
Su Nian’s expression was calm.
So calm that there wasn’t a single ripple, like a holy statue about to ascend to the altar.
Yet beneath that calm surface, her heart was pounding with a frequency never felt before.
Blood surged through her veins, washing through her limbs, bringing a strange tingling sensation.
A scorching heat rose from her spine, climbed to her neck, burning her ears red.
Humiliation.
Excitement.
Two completely opposite emotions intertwined wildly inside her.
She could feel it.
Countless gazes were fixed on her—from the kingdom behind her, from the Magic Crystals in the sky, from the steel forest of the demon army ahead.
Scrutiny, pity, envy, greed, and pure, unadulterated desire.
Finally, she stopped in front of her master.
Ten steps apart, she halted.