“Only one left.”
She stared coldly at the final cultist standing before the magic circle, her eyes filled with scorn.
Aurora picked up the fallen dagger and flicked the blood from its blade.
The flash of cold steel briefly lit up her face—and in that instant, the cultist’s pupils shrank in shock.
“Little girl, I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
Aurora dismissed his words, thinking he was just trying to stall for time.
She advanced toward him, dagger in hand.
“I remember now. It was in a town in the Kingdom of Esmia, wasn’t it?”
Aurora’s steps came to a sudden halt.
Seeing this, the cultist became certain his guess was right.
“You were with a witch then, right? That black-haired one… I believe her name was Beatrice—”
Whoosh.
Before he could finish, a dagger flew straight for his forehead.
But instead of dodging, the cultist suddenly turned into a wisp of black mist, reappearing several meters behind Aurora.
“Ahahahaha!”
“Who would’ve thought I’d run into you here tonight. So, how’s that witch’s legs? Still working?”
“Oh, right. My bad. They must have already rotted off completely by now.”
“It’s all thanks to you, isn’t it, little parasite fairy?”
His voice was dripping with mockery.
He knew exactly how to dig at Aurora’s old wounds, how to make her lose control—how to make her angry.
“You… you actually survived?”
Aurora’s voice was trembling with rage.
This was something she had buried deep inside for a long time—an old scar that ached whenever it was touched.
She hated her own powerlessness back then. She hated her naive trust.
“That time, I almost died. That witch’s magic was no joke—if I hadn’t dispersed into mist fast enough, I wouldn’t even have ashes left.”
“Parasite fairy, our reunion must be fate. Why don’t you offer me your heart and let me complete the final step?”
“She couldn’t kill you back then… This time, I’ll avenge her with my own hands!”
With that, the two once again widened the distance between them.
Aurora and the robed cultist began chanting simultaneously—golden light began to radiate from beneath her feet, while thick black mist curled up beneath his.
From the mist, a claw reached out—viscous, tar-like—and dragged the bodies of the two fallen cultists into the darkness. Soon, a massive, rotting black figure began to emerge from the swirling shadow.
The monster thrashed violently, but its grotesque form remained fused to the mist, unable to break free.
It howled in fury, its shrieks wet and bubbling with decay, spreading dread through the alley.
As Aurora’s chanting continued, golden runes slowly unfurled beneath her feet, extending outward into the shape of a giant clock.
“Just like before—magic related to time. But even now, I’ve never seen this particular kind. Such dense magical power… If I use your heart as a catalyst, the Construct will become even more powerful!”
The cultist grinned wickedly, his yellowed teeth stained like they’d never once touched water.
“Disgusting…”
“This time, I will kill you.”
Suddenly, the golden runes lifted from the ground and began to rise, wrapping Aurora in the heart of a radiant, clock-shaped magic circle.
As the clock’s hour and minute hands overlapped at twelve, they fused into the shape of a gleaming arrow.
Aurora reached out and pulled the golden arrow free—at the same time, the magic circle behind her transformed into a radiant bow.
Boom!
“Roar!”
The black monster howled toward the sky before leaping high into the air.
From dozens of meters above, it launched spike-like globs of sticky black liquid at Aurora.
“Damn it!”
Though the sludge disintegrated into dust the moment it neared her, the barrage only grew fiercer.
Gradually, the monster’s attacks closed in—some of the sticky substance even splashed near Aurora’s feet.
Aurora was still hesitating—should she release the arrow? If she didn’t kill him now, this cultist would only bring harm to more innocent people.
But what about those victims still trapped inside the monster’s body?
In the end, Aurora lowered the arrow.
Instead of attacking the beast, she shifted her aim toward the cultist.
If she could knock him unconscious, perhaps the monster would lose control.
But the creature didn’t give her the chance. Its relentless assault continued.
Corrosive slime landed on Aurora’s clothes, eating away at the fabric and creeping up her body.
“You’re mine now, parasite fairy.”
Boom!
Just as the black ooze was about to engulf her completely, a colossal golden longsword fell from the sky, piercing straight through the monster’s torso.
“Rraaaagh!”
The corrupted beast plummeted to the ground with a pained roar.
The muffled screams from the humans inside it abruptly ceased the moment the sword pierced through.
“Damn it! Who’s there?!”
The cultist stumbled back a few steps, then looked up.
There, silhouetted in the moonlight, was a figure descending from the sky.
She had a pair of massive white wings spread wide behind her.
Dressed in white armor, with matching diamond-shaped earrings, her fiery red ponytail whipped in the wind.
Her sapphire eyes sparkled vividly in the moonlight.
She was a stunning woman clad in ornate holy armor.
A sheathed sword hung at her waist—the likely source of the golden blade from earlier.
“A… a holy knight?!”
The black-robed cultist appeared utterly terrified of the woman he called a Holy Knight.
As if all strength had suddenly drained from him, he collapsed to the ground. Then, in panic, he turned toward the black monster.
“Attack her! Hurry—attack that woman!!”
The monster, still impaled by the golden sword, continued to writhe.
It struggled to pull the blade from its body, but the moment its charred, sticky hands touched the hilt, the sword blazed even brighter with holy light.
“You damned cultists… how dare you cause trouble here.”
The woman’s voice was laced with righteous fury.
She raised her pale, frost-white hands.
A white magic circle emerged in front of her palms, glowing with divine brilliance.
The circle rapidly expanded, detaching from her hands and moving over the black monster like a judgment from the heavens.
Boom!
“You—you dare to kill those people trapped in the mist?! Aren’t you afraid your so-called god will punish you?!” the cultist screamed in desperation, trying to guilt her into hesitation.
“You think I can’t see it?” she replied coldly.
“The people in that black mist are already dead. What’s struggling is just the souls you’ve imprisoned. I’m liberating them.”
A holy light burst forth from the massive magic circle, engulfing the creature entirely.
Within the searing radiance, the black monster dissolved little by little, until it vanished completely.
“Not good… this is bad…”
In the blink of an eye, the cultist transformed into a wisp of black fog and shot into the air.
“Trying to run?”
With a sweep of her enormous wings, a flurry of white feathers encircled the black mist, locking it tightly.
The feathers condensed, forming a glowing glass orb, trapping the black fog within with no way to escape.
The woman stared at the orb for a few seconds, then turned her gaze to the ground—where Aurora had already reverted to her fairy-like form.
“Now then… it’s your turn.”
But from the very first moment Aurora had seen the woman’s face, she had already frozen in place.
“…Lola Bell.”
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