To reach such a level?
Looking at the magic circle still glowing in the center of the battlefield, Yuri had never seen magic of this magnitude before.
It was indeed impressive. If she could reach that level, perhaps she could have dealt with the gargoyle she encountered that day without needing to draw upon Iris’s power.
Speaking of the gargoyle, Yuri frowned slightly.
Something felt off. A massive number of monsters had attacked Anvil City today, like a black tide. Yet despite their numbers, she hadn’t seen a single mid-tier monster among them.
For a siege of this scale, it was impossible for there to only be low-tier monsters. If a few mid-tier monsters had appeared during the battle just now, the situation on the field might have been reversed.
Could it be that those were just the vanguard? Just a scouting party sent to gather information?
And the real total assault would come in three days?
If that was the case, things were looking bad.
It was no use overthinking things on her own. It would be better to leave this place now and find Clayton to get a better understanding of the situation. With Pegum over there, she didn’t have to worry about the position falling. If she stayed here any longer, the knights might come running over to conduct a major investigation on her.
She had to leave quickly.
“Leaving already? Yuri, why not say hello before you go?”
The Little Evil God floated in front of her, her tone full of playfulness.
Yuri couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her. It wasn’t as if this girl didn’t know what had happened today.
“If I don’t leave, should I stay there and wait for them to catch me?”
“You knew that, Yuri, and yet you still chose to step up and help.”
“I didn’t want to help those knights, it’s just…”
She looked back one last time toward the city gate. “It’s just that if Anvil City were truly breached, everything in the city would be swallowed by the Abyss.”
“And what does that have to do with you, Yuri?” The Little Evil God still wore a playful smile. “Besides, weren’t you thinking about leaving as soon as possible before? Why are you suddenly willing to protect this crummy little city?”
Previously, she really hadn’t wanted to get involved in trouble and only wanted to leave early. She never imagined that one day she would proactively stand up to save something.
She wasn’t some noble person, nor was she an idealist who would willingly give everything to save something.
She just wanted to live.
It was that simple.
The old her would never have made the choice she just did. She wouldn’t have put herself in danger; she would have proactively avoided it. But… she had made that decision anyway.
Had she changed?
Or was it just that she didn’t want to see a massacre happen right before her eyes?
“Maybe I have changed a little.”
“You certainly have. You’re such a sweet and soft girl now, Yuri.”
“Who was talking about that?”
This girl… Yuri couldn’t help but glare at Iris. Who was talking about that kind of change? She was talking about her state of mind, okay?
Just as she was about to have a proper argument with Iris, Yuri suddenly stopped in her tracks.
With Iris interrupting like that, she suddenly remembered a very important matter.
“Yuri?”
Seeing her stop, a trace of confusion flashed in Iris’s eyes. “What? Don’t tell me you want to argue that you’re not a girl now, or that you aren’t sweet and soft?”
“That’s not it. Something is very strange.”
She had noticed earlier that there was a problem with Anvil City’s barrier, but she hadn’t expected the issue to be so severe that it could no longer stop a large-scale invasion from the Abyss.
Why had the barrier not been repaired all this time?
Recalling everything that happened today, the City Lord, Bartor, seemed to have made some preparations to resist the Abyss, yet the most important barrier had remained unrepaired.
Furthermore, looking at it from another perspective—setting the barrier aside—the city’s defenses were also very strange.
She had felt a sense of incongruity before, and now that Yuri finally had time to think, a new question appeared in her mind.
Judging by the city’s actions today and Clayton’s words, Bartor must have anticipated that the Abyss would attack the city, and he likely knew it would happen today.
In that case, had he made any defensive preparations before today?
No. Not a single preparation.
There had been no movement at all until today, the day of the invasion, when they chose to close the city gates this morning.
At that time, the knights weren’t stationed on the walls, staying alert for an attack from the Abyss.
What were the knights doing back then?
They were patrolling. They were hunting people down.
At noon today, Yuri was still being pursued by knights inside the city.
There were so many of them. After other knights patrolling the city learned of the situation, they had also joined the pursuit to capture her.
Was this really the behavior one would expect during a defensive phase?
If the Abyss hadn’t attacked today, one would have thought they specifically locked the gates to prevent anyone from escaping while they conducted a massive manhunt within the city.
Even those knights standing in formation before the gates were only moved there just before the Abyss began its attack. Furthermore, they weren’t even the elite knights from the City Lord’s manor. If Yuri hadn’t seen wrong, there were several familiar faces among the knights fighting the Abyss—the very same ones who had chased her through the streets today.
The units defending the city were merely temporary groups pulled from the street patrol squads. Despite knowing a large-scale invasion was coming, not only did they fail to prepare in advance, but these defenses were organized on the fly.
Compared to guarding against an invasion from the Abyss, capturing members of the Holy Fire Sect seemed much more important to that City Lord.
“Iris, I want to know what the goal of the Holy Fire Sect actually is. Why are they despised by the world?”
Even with an invasion from the Abyss imminent, they still split their forces to conduct a massive search to capture members of the Holy Fire Sect. It was impossible that they were simply collaborators of the Abyss, causing the city to prioritize their capture even at the cost of its own defense.
“Didn’t you ask that before?”
Iris blinked in confusion. It was one thing for Yuri to suddenly stop walking, but now she was suddenly throwing out this question.
“Before, I asked about the history of the Holy Fire Sect and your relationship with them. Now, I want to know what their purpose actually is and why they are spat upon by everyone.”
“That, huh…” Iris rested her chin on her hand and thought for a long while.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell you. But, don’t get scared.”
Unless they were truly a cult that worshipped the Abyss, she probably wouldn’t be scared.
“Their goal has only ever been one thing,” a trace of solemnity flashed across Iris’s face. “Salvation. To save this world that is being gradually devoured by the Abyss.”
Eh?
“See what I said? You’re scared, aren’t you?”
Wait… she had to make sure she hadn’t heard that wrong. Was the goal of that organization to save the world being consumed by the Abyss?
“Save it with what?”
If there truly were a way to fight the Abyss, people wouldn’t be so terrified at the mere mention of it. The humans currently alive were just struggling to survive; eventually, the Abyss would completely swallow the entire world.
Furthermore, what was even stranger was that if they were operating under the banner of salvation, shouldn’t they be the hope of many? Why would an organization dedicated to saving the world become a notorious, reviled existence that everyone considered an evil cult?
“If they truly exist for the sake of salvation, why did they end up with the reputation of an evil cult?”
A complex look flashed in Iris’s eyes. “This question is very complicated to explain, and it’s not something the current Yuri can handle. I can only say it was because of self-interest, because of fear, because of shortsightedness… and most importantly, because they touched the foundation. You aren’t so dull that you can’t understand this, right, Yuri? Once you damage the interests of the majority, no matter what you do, someone will naturally come along to throw mud at you and brand you as a wicked heretic.”
Faced with Iris’s explanation, Yuri fell silent.
“Of course, there is also the matter of the path they originally chose. For the world, it was far too dangerous. If they were to fail, there would never be another chance to turn things around.”
“Then what exactly are they using to save this world?”
Iris reached out and placed a finger against Yuri’s lips. “Alright, Yuri, that’s enough. The rest isn’t something you should know yet.”
Tsk… It was like this every time.
Just when she thought she was about to touch a piece of the truth, she was told that it wasn’t something she could handle.
Was she really that unqualified right now?
“I’m doing this to protect you, Yuri. Knowing too much…” she pointed at her own head, “Do you want your head to feel like it’s going to explode again, just like last time?”
It wasn’t nearly as serious as she made it out to be.
Fine… Since Iris didn’t intend to speak, she could only go find Clayton first to get information about Anvil City.
Hopefully, he would have some important information.