“Damn it!”
Rotissa cursed inwardly, steadying herself on the ice after landing. Her dark red eyes stared intently at the direction where the Demons surged, veins bulging on the hand gripping her spear.
Having been flung out of the Demon encirclement by the Elf girl’s unexpected strength, she was not happy at all.
Logically, it should be her—the Brave—who stayed and fought the Demons.
“Hoo…” Rotissa let out a quiet breath to dispel her gloom, but what Aiselyn said was right.
If the next wave of enemies included Humans, as a non-Human Elf, she could not risk breaking the Alliance Treaty by interfering too rashly. At that time, only the Brave, who possessed the privilege of acting first and reporting later, would be able to fight.
Glancing once more at the Elf girl who was gradually transforming into a Silver Deer, Rotissa raised her spear and ran back the way she had come. She leapt easily over deep trenches several meters wide, as light as a bird in flight.
Rotissa did not worry about that missing Human child. She did not believe someone holding the post of Minister of Armaments in the Human Alliance would exaggerate such things.
Aiselyn gripped a long, Electriceel Monster in her hand. Just seconds ago, this slender aquatic Demon had been savagely biting her arm with teeth sharp enough to tear iron, thrashing wildly as it tried to rip off a chunk of flesh.
But, blessed by Divine Power and in her Complete Deification State, her body’s toughness had reached an extremely high level, on par with some Braves who wielded the Power of Defense Authority.
This eel-like Demon possessed no intelligence; its entire being existed solely for attacking and tearing apart. Even as Aiselyn pinched its head, it still viciously bit at her palm, trying to chew through and escape back into the water.
Aiselyn applied a bit of force, and with a crackling sound, all its bones shattered. She tossed it back into the water.
Beneath the black waters, faint specks of blue light twinkled—beautiful, yet deadly.
These were Demons that had lived in these waters for untold years. At this moment, they were drawn by the drops of Golden Blood seeping from Aiselyn’s wounds. This Golden Blood had an uncanny allure for Demons.
Aiselyn controlled her wounds so they would not heal too quickly. Surrounded by swarms of Demons, she strode unhurriedly across the shattered ice, heading deeper into the water.
Suddenly.
Halfway across, Aiselyn stopped. She was now in a form that was half Elf, half Silver Deer. Every line of her body radiated a divine silvery energy; her beautiful face betrayed no emotion.
She looked back in the direction where the Brave had departed. The sky was still pitch black. Shards of ice reflected flecks of silvery light, and beneath the ice, dark blue currents flowed. It was a scene as if heaven and earth had been flipped, breathtakingly beautiful.
“Cap, Captain! Something’s wrong! Something big!”
A sudden clamor of screams broke out on the Starlight Lily of the Valley, as if the crew had seen a ghost.
“What now! Is the Magic Secondary Cannon jammed? Have we run out of energy in the Magic Crystal Stones?”
In the control room, the Captain impatiently drummed on the desk, producing a loud thumping. “Or have those Gold-armored Knights ignored orders and run off into the Demon tide again?”
“It’s not that.” The skinny Vice Captain wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his face a mix of excitement and anxiety. His voice trembled as he spoke to the Captain, “It’s, it’s… all the Demons suddenly retreated!”
“Who, who retreated?” The Captain scratched his ear, a strange expression on his face. “Falsifying a military report is grounds for the gallows.”
“The Demons retreated! The Demons!”
The skinny Vice Captain leaned forward over the desk, both hands gripping it tightly, and growled, “Our sailors and knights were tangled up with those damned Demons, and we were nearly at our limit. But suddenly, the Demons just seemed to hear some call and—whoosh!—they retreated all at once, like the tide going out! Not a single one left!”
“All of them?” The Captain shot to his feet, incredulous.
The Vice Captain shouted, “All gone! The Demons are all gone! Not even a trace left behind!”
“Come on! Take me out to see for myself!”
The Captain, flushed with excitement, strode quickly toward the hatch. Opening the door, the cold air made him stamp his feet.
The entire deck was packed with people, all seemingly celebrating that in the end, it was the Humans who had won this battle.
The Captain took the telescope from the Vice Captain and looked out. Beyond the Ark, the ice was scarred with signs of battle, but indeed not a single Demon could be seen—not even the mist was as thick as before.
“Look, Captain!” The Vice Captain rubbed his hands together, face alight with the thrill of survival. “Should we wait for the Brave and her team to return?”
“Wait!”
The Captain stroked his chin, his tone resolute. “Of course we wait. Maybe this sudden retreat of the Demons means the Brave led her squad straight into the enemy’s core and struck a decisive blow! If we leave now, well, heh…”
He gave a cold laugh.
“Ah, you’re right! I was too hasty…” The Vice Captain bowed repeatedly, his humility pleasing the Captain.
“Go down and reassure everyone…”
The Captain gazed into the distance while instructing the Vice Captain to gather the crew, count the wounded, and tally supplies. But suddenly, his words died in his throat. His mouth hung open in shock, his eyes wide.
At the same time, a wave of cheers erupted from the crowd at the front of the deck.
“The Brave has returned!”
No one knew who shouted it, but instantly the phrase became a catalyst for the crowd’s emotions, which boiled over into wild excitement.
But the Captain’s previously excited expression twisted in an instant. The arm holding the telescope froze mid-air, like a broken puppet.
“It’s over… of the Brave and her team… only one has come back…”