A blinding golden light shot straight at the black monster, but just as it was about to pierce its body, a hole suddenly collapsed open in its abdomen. The arrow passed through the pitch-black void and struck the wall behind.
“Oh~ Looks like you know that green-haired girl, huh?”
The man’s grating, nauseating voice rang out again. Noticing Aurora’s fury, he deliberately tried to provoke her already strained nerves.
“She was just a teenager… Why would you hurt her like this?!”
A golden bell manifested in her right hand. Another arrow appeared between her fingers. She nocked it and aimed at the monster once more.
“Why, you ask? Hahahaha!”
“Because my pet was hungry, of course! And when it’s hungry, it needs to eat. It just so happened this runaway little girl crossed my path—perfect bait.”
“Runaway? You mean… she wasn’t the one you caught just now?”
“Just now? No, no, no. I caught her months ago. Look, her leg’s already halfway digested.”
As he spoke, the black-robed man pulled out a severed leg from the monster’s slimy body. The skin was badly corroded, exposing pale bone protruding from the stump. Thick, black fluid dripped from it.
“It took quite some effort to catch that girl. I wanted to feed her to it alive, but she was so noisy. I had to slit her throat before shoving her in.”
With that, he tossed the leg back into the creature’s belly.
“Months ago… Impossible! I just saw her! There’s no way it’s been months!”
“Hahaha! Maybe you saw her vengeful spirit?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. That girl kept screaming ‘Mommy, mommy!’ before she died. Gave me such a headache.”
“Spirit… No. You’re lying! You’re lying!”
Her grip on the longbow tightened. Aurora’s mind screamed denial again and again. She had just seen the girl, just held her—how could she be dead in the blink of an eye?! No, he had to be lying!
But those mud-stained green strands of hair, and the once-vibrant green eyes now dulled with death—each glimpse dragged her thoughts back to that energetic, perhaps overly eager green-haired girl.
“Evildoers… must be punished! You murdered an innocent girl. Death is the only atonement you deserve!”
Aurora had no more words for him. Before her rationality was completely drowned in rage, she had to end this.
A golden arrow began to charge once more. Its radiant glow stirred the silent night, but this time the monster didn’t give her time.
With a roar, black mist exploded from beneath its feet, surging toward Aurora.
*****
“Damn it!”
Aurora canceled her nearly charged arrow and retreated, putting distance between herself and the incoming black mist.
She hadn’t even steadied her stance when the moonlight above her was abruptly blocked. Looking up, she saw the black monster—it had leapt into the air under cover of the mist, and now brought a massive fist crashing down toward her.
Aurora raised an arrow and flung it at the airborne creature. Just as it was about to hit, the arrow suddenly split into an hour hand and a minute hand, forming a golden clock in midair.
“Reverse!”
A half-finished incantation caused the golden clock to emit a faint glow. The monster’s falling form suddenly froze, then rewound along its trajectory, returning to where it had been a second before.
The clock reflected in Aurora’s eyes ticked backward, halting at the first division. She foresaw where the monster would land 1.5 seconds later.
She attempted to dodge to the side, but her body wasn’t built for agility. She moved too slowly and was struck by the debris scattered by the monster’s impact.
“Young lady, don’t tell me the only real magic you know is your innate one? Hahaha!”
“How laughably overconfident!”
The man swung his dagger. The monster seemed to receive a command, pulling its massive fist from the ground. It turned and hurled dozens of slime-coated rocks at Aurora.
Unable to dodge in time, her clothes were slashed open in several places. Scarlet blood slowly seeped from the wounds, soaking into her vibrant dress.
Aurora had noticed the man’s earlier movement—this monster was being controlled by that dagger in his hand. If she could just restrain him, the creature would lose control.
But it took nearly ten seconds to fully charge her bow, during which she would be almost immobile and completely exposed to attacks. She needed to figure out a way to stall the monster for at least ten seconds.
As she considered her options, a searing pain suddenly radiated from her wounds.
“Hhss!”
She peeled back her torn sleeve and saw a black, viscous substance seeping into her skin. It was corroding her flesh rapidly—almost down to the bone.
The damage to her arm muscles made it harder and more painful to grip the bow each time she tried to draw it—worse, the black fluid would spread deeper with every strain.
If she dragged this out any longer, her muscles would completely necrotize. Then she’d lose the ability to fight altogether.
If it were Beatrice… she’d probably use purification magic to draw this slime out. Damn it—I should’ve listened to her and studied more magic…
“Well now, what’s wrong, little girl? That gunk didn’t corrode your bones yet, did it? My pet loves bones the most.”
“Mind your own damn business!”
There was no time left to think. All she could do now was go all in.
She gripped her bow tightly once more, mustering the last of her strength to aim at the man.
Golden light shimmered at the arrow’s tip. It coiled and twisted like flowing serpents, drawing in magical particles from the air and channeling them toward Aurora.
“You’re aiming at me now? How naïve!”
The man slashed his dagger again. The monster’s body convulsed, and then it spewed a towering wave of black sludge straight toward Aurora.
But she didn’t move.
This was her final chance. She could feel her limbs tearing under the strain, the black sludge nearly ripping them apart. If she dodged now, she’d lose the opportunity to strike him.
No matter what, she had to fire this arrow.
Even if it meant taking the full brunt of the monster’s attack.
“Hellfire Curse!”
BOOM!
A thunderous roar rang out from the sky. A tornado of blazing flames erupted, engulfing everything in the vicinity—the monster, the black sludge, all of it swept away.
Aurora looked up.
Framed by the full moon, perched on her broomstick, was the figure of a witch.
“Beatrice!”