As winter approached, cold winds blew as a caravan moved steadily along the road.
Sophia leaned against a tall tree, holding a Map in her hand, repeatedly comparing it to the flag flying over the caravan.
After a while, she confirmed that this was the very caravan Selim had emphasized, the one with the maple leaf flag.
As a relatively prosperous territory, the Rhine Territory frequently saw caravans coming and going.
But aside from the ordinary people huddling against the cold, this caravan had dozens of guards who clearly weren’t to be trifled with, all warily seated around a massive, covered chest.
If Sophia’s senses weren’t mistaken, there were actually two Moonlight Level Transcendents in this caravan. Besides a single Firefly Level Transcendent thrown in as a novice, all the rest were Luminous Level Transcendents.
In this world, Transcendents might not be extremely rare, but that didn’t mean such a high density of them was normal outside of wartime.
Firefly Level Transcendents could be ignored, but Luminous Level Transcendents were already the backbone of any force. Moonlight Level Transcendents were even more valuable—honored guests to any major faction.
Luckily, there weren’t any Solar Blaze Level Transcendents in this caravan. Otherwise, Sophia would have turned around and left without hesitation; even ten of her couldn’t match an opponent at that level.
As for higher Saint-rank or Godlight Level Transcendents, there were none such in the Rhine Territory.
Godlight?
Perhaps such great power existed only in the Blood Lion Empire, there were none in the Lupine Heart Kingdom.
The two Saint-rank powerhouses she remembered best were: one, Sophia’s master—the Chief of Demon Hunter Hall—an old, seasoned Saint-rank powerhouse who was now stationed with the border army.
The other, the closest Saint-rank Transcendent to the Rhine Territory, was Selim Nutrisk’s biological father—York Nutrisk.
Thinking of Selim Nutrisk brought back scenes from the study, and the memory of her face made Sophia’s cheeks flush.
Shaking her head, Sophia forced the entwined images from her mind and fixed her gaze once more on the distant caravan.
For protection against common bandits, this caravan’s defenses were far too excessive, which was already suspicious enough.
But Sophia wasn’t here today to fulfill her Demon Hunter duties and investigate threats from foreign abominations. Today, she was here for what she did best—wielding the butcher’s blade.
She didn’t like slaughtering innocents, but right now she could only trust what Selim said—that everyone in this caravan was a villain.
Her gaze fell on the only two Moonlight Level Transcendents in the caravan.
One versus two, Sophia was confident she could kill them before she fell, and slaughter the remaining Transcendents as well. This was the confidence of the Chief Disciple of the Demon Hall.
But she couldn’t guarantee she’d emerge unscathed.
If she were badly injured, she’d have a hard time explaining it.
A caravan armed to the teeth disappeared, and she had no evidence of fighting any formidable foreign enemies.
Then the Heretic Tribunal of the Demon Hunter organization would come to investigate—and she’d be as good as dead.
Fulfilling Selim’s request was only success; protecting herself in the process was true victory.
Sophia considered whether to approach the unfamiliar caravan as a Demon Hunter and look for an opportunity to ambush.
But if she revealed her identity as a Demon Hunter, would she risk alerting the enemy and making her task harder?
“So, should I see what’s inside that Charm Bag?”
Murmuring to herself, Sophia hesitated. Ever since Selim threatened her, she’d resisted everything that came from her.
She had a vague premonition that if she kept following Selim’s instructions, she’d eventually fall into an inescapable abyss.
After much hesitation, Sophia finally pulled out the red Charm Bag.
There were no secret weapons inside—just a slip of paper, written beforehand.
Opening the note from the Charm Bag, Sophia’s eyes widened at the contents.
Once again, they took her completely by surprise.
[Male, Shadow Blade Warrior, four arms wielding two blades; one is false, good at slashing but poor at chopping. The slash is real, the chop is fake. Block slashes, ignore overhead chops, then seize the chance to strike.]
[Female, Star Mage, blocks her own vision with sand; has no spells to fight back. Attack when she’s blinded.]
She never expected the Charm Bag to contain the weaknesses of her enemies.
Every Transcendent possessed different talents, shaping their unique combat styles and systems.
Even the most foolish Transcendent would never share their deepest secrets in battle, not even with a lover or family.
It was this sensation of having her enemies laid bare to her that filled Sophia with a deep and chilling fear.
It was like a firefly blundering into a spider’s web, forced to watch as the spider crept closer, only to be devoured alive.
Yet, this fear also made Sophia hope that Selim was just bluffing and didn’t truly know her enemies’ weaknesses.
If so, the coming battle might wound her—but that would dispel much of her fear.
Hand on her sword hilt, Sophia walked out of the woods, gradually drawing closer to the caravan.
In the Rhine Territory, Sophia was too well-known. Clad in Demon Hunter’s standard leather armor and with her signature beautiful blue hair, she was quickly recognized by someone in the caravan.
A tall man, carrying a long blade on his back, frowned, exchanged a glance with the woman beside him to signal her to take cover by the chest, then waved for the caravan to halt.
Picking up a Communication Certificate issued by the kingdom, the man jumped down from the carriage, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He wore a flattering smile as he walked toward Sophia.
“Lady Sophia, this is our caravan’s Pass Permit. Please take a look.”
Sophia accepted the Pass Permit, made of parchment, and examined it—it was indeed an authentic, kingdom-issued permit.
Judging by this alone, they were a legitimate caravan. Normally, she might be suspicious, but wouldn’t invite trouble for herself.
But today was different—she was here to make trouble, and wanted to see if Selim really had planned everything out.
“You’re not a local caravan from Rhine. How do you know who I am?”
Pointing at the place of origin on the permit, Sophia voiced her suspicion.
“This is just how our caravan does business. Besides, cooperating with Demon Hunters is a rule the Blood Lion Empire set for all human kingdoms.”
As he finished speaking, the tall man drew near, quietly handing her a Coin Purse that jingled with metal coins.
“So we’ve long been prepared to cooperate with the esteemed lords of Rhine.”
Sophia opened the Coin Purse. Inside, a full bag of shimmering silver coins—her suspicion peaked.
That bag of silver coins alone was worth half a year’s salary.
She was greedy, but not stupid. With this much money, she was certain the caravan was up to something.
Even from a Demon Hunter’s sense of duty, she couldn’t let this go unchecked.
Returning the Pass Permit, Sophia pretended to accept the bribe and pocketed the silver coins.
Seeing her take the money and return the permit, the man let out a sigh of relief, preparing to signal the caravan onward.
From afar, seeing the exchange finished, the woman hiding behind the chest withdrew her gathered Magic Power and leaned back against the carriage.
Once Sophia was certain of her two main enemies’ locations, her eyes sharpened. Just as the man was about to pass her, she struck.
Blue flames wrapped around a white longsword as she swung it at the man.
The sudden attack caught him off guard, but years of battle instinct made him draw his blade in a reflexive block.
“You…”
Bloodshot eyes wide, he managed to deflect most of the blow, but the eerie blue flames clung to his arm like maggots on bone.
A chill seeped into him, disrupting the flow of his Transcendent power.
Omnifusion Cinder (gold): Able to release familiar Magic Power as “flames,” inflicting a negative status. For every additional element of Magic Power added, it deals 33% extra damage.
This was Sophia’s innate talent—Omnifusion Cinder—the foundation of her legend as a recruitable character.
Even weakened by Omnifusion Cinder, the man, as a seasoned Moonlight Level Transcendent, still managed to use his special ability.
A second pair of arms, holding another blade, materialized behind him.
He slashed first, but Sophia blocked it.
The new arms swung another blade down at her.
The man was confident in his trick; many Transcendents facing him exposed their weakness trying to dodge the fake blade, only to be cut down.
He believed that if he could delay for just a few more breaths, he could join forces with his teammate to kill Sophia.
But Sophia didn’t do as he hoped. Instead of dodging, she struck straight into the chopping blade.
The man collapsed in a pool of blood, silent.
The woman leaning on the carriage watched her teammate die in an instant. In panic, she tried to cast a spell.
Sophia raised her hand, blue flames condensing the water vapor in the air into icy mist, obscuring herself from view.
Blinded and unable to cast spells, the woman could only watch as Sophia rushed out of the mist.
With a single stroke, her head flew high into the air. For the first time, as death approached, she saw her own body from above before losing consciousness.
In just a few breaths, Sophia had slain both Moonlight Level Transcendents, leaving the rest of the caravan stunned and unable to react.
As a Moonlight Level Transcendent herself, it was her first time finding enemies of her own rank so fragile.
Within her, a sense of awe—rooted in fear—toward Selim quietly arose.
Amid the terrified gazes of the survivors, Sophia spoke: “They say, there’s no need for survivors.”
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