The afterglow of the setting sun, thick as blood, smeared itself across the shattered ruins of Windmill Village.
The air was heavy with dust, the stench of blood, and a faint, burning trace of holy power.
At the center of the rubble, Helga knelt on one knee, gasping for breath.
Her pale purple hair was soaked with sweat, a few messy strands clinging pitifully to her dust- and blood-stained cheeks.
Her deep purple mage robe was torn in many places, and the gaping wound on her left shoulder was especially jarring, with dark red blood slowly seeping out, soaking the fabric.
“Despicable… far too despicable!” Helga’s voice trembled with suppressed fury and a hint of barely perceptible weakness, her pale violet eyes locked on the figure ahead—the so-called ‘Hero’—Wandra Hart. “Using innocent children—do you still deserve to be called a ‘Hero’?! Is this the honor bestowed upon you by the Church, so you can commit such beastly acts?!”
Just moments ago, in order to protect the last few elderly and frail villagers who hadn’t managed to escape, Helga had been forced to split her focus, fending off several insidious divine spells cast by the red-haired priestess, Elise.
Meanwhile, Wandra, the man who bore the Church’s title of “Hero,” not only showed not a trace of chivalry, but seized the chance to ambush her. That cunning, swift golden sword light had not only torn open her shoulder but shaken her insides as well.
If she hadn’t managed to apply the spatial magic she’d recently studied at the last second, constructing multiple layers of twisted force fields to blunt most of the impact, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Now, the new magical circuits in her body ran at full speed through the pain, and under this pressure, she felt herself on the verge of breaking through her limits. She could feel her control over mana and her affinity for the elements soaring. In pure strength, she already surpassed the two before her, even if they joined forces!
Yet, the greatest shackle was not strength, but the heart.
“Giggle, giggle…” A shrill, grating laugh rang out.
Elise, the scantily clad, voluptuous red-haired priestess, was gripping the throat of a boy around seven or eight with crimson-lacquered fingers.
The boy’s face was turning purple, his wide, terrified eyes brimming with tears. His small body trembled in Elise’s grasp like a chick caught by a hawk.
“Dear mage, that’s not quite right.” Elise licked her red lips, her sweet voice laced with venom. “To deal with a dangerous ‘witch’ like you, and those fallen rabble who shelter you, using a few unorthodox means—how is that despicable? This is for purging evil, for upholding the glory of the gods~”
As she spoke, the tip of her sharp dagger pressed gently against the boy’s fragile neck, and a thin line of blood instantly welled up. The boy was so frightened he couldn’t even cry, only gasping weakly for air.
“Stop!” Helga’s heart clenched tight. She struggled to stand, but the pain in her gut made her freeze.
“Tsk tsk, afraid now? How foolish, to hesitate for the sake of bystanders!” Wandra flicked his dark purple hair, a cruel, cat-and-mouse smile on his handsome face.
With a casual wave, several razor-sharp wind blades materialized out of thin air, whistling harshly—not striking Helga directly, but precisely slicing into the broken walls and ground around her!
“Boom! Boom!”
Shards of stone flew, dust billowed.
The massive shockwave and flying debris slammed into Helga’s weakened body. She grunted, sent flying again by the force, slamming hard into a half-collapsed earthen wall and vomiting blood.
Dust covered her tattered robe and pale cheeks.
“Do you see now? Only results matter.” Wandra strolled forward, looking down at the struggling Helga with a tone of cold certainty. “Was the process just? Were the methods righteous? None of that matters. What matters is I achieved my aim—wounded you, found your weakness. Didn’t I let those villagers go, just as you ‘hoped’? How merciful! So now, what reason do you have left to refuse?”
His eyes gleamed with a sick possessiveness and fanaticism. “Give up your pointless resistance, Helga. Your beauty, your strength—they fascinate me. You are my greatest prize, worthy of being my most dazzling treasure! Submit to me, sign the contract, become my possession. I will grant you supreme glory, let you bloom beneath my radiance!”
His words grew more feverish, as if he could already see the proud, aloof, violet-haired mage utterly conquered and added to his harem. That twisted excitement made his handsome face almost grotesque.
“Cough… cough…”
Helga wiped the blood from her lips with the back of her hand, her lungs burning.
She looked up, pale violet eyes peering through her disheveled hair at Wandra. Gone was mere anger; what remained was a bone-chilling resolve.
Her gaze swept over the child in Elise’s grip, eyes rolled back from suffocation and terror, then back to Wandra’s smug, triumphant face.
She understood now.
Icy clarity swept through her with a shudder.
Even if she laid down her staff, surrendered, and signed that humiliating contract, these two would never spare that child!
Wandra’s “mercy” existed only as long as it served his purpose. Once that was achieved, any “burden” who might hinder him or expose his vile acts would be ruthlessly eliminated.
The pure malice in Elise’s eyes, the kind that took pleasure in tormenting the weak, was utterly unmasked.
What right did such people have to be named heroes by the Church? What right did that woman have to compete with Roswitha for the Saintess’ position?!
I’m sorry… Helga silently apologized to the dying child, guilt and pain nearly overwhelming her. ‘I failed to protect you…’
But what followed was a heavier sense of duty—and a cold, killing intent.
‘But if people like this, dressed in the finery of “heroes,” continue to roam the world, committing evil in the name of the gods… that would be a disaster for all humanity! He’s a hundred times more dangerous than any monster!’
‘I have a duty… I must end him here!’
That thought, sharp as a quenched blade, instantly severed all hesitation and weakness.
A wild, pure energy surged and gathered within her, fiercer than ever before!
It wasn’t mere mana—it was her insight into the stars, her grasp of space, and her resolve for destruction, all fused together! The space around her twisted violently, the light itself dimming, as if even the sunset was swallowed by her power.
“Wha… what?!”
Wandra’s smug expression froze, replaced by utter terror.
He felt a soul-chilling pressure forming, so powerful it made him tremble! That strength far surpassed what he’d estimated of Helga before!
Elise’s face changed too, her grip on the boy tightening as she shrieked, “What are you doing?! Don’t you care about this child’s life?!”
Helga paid her no mind.
Her eyes held only her target, cold as ice. With great effort, she brought her hands together before her chest, a supremely complex magical sigil flickering in her palms, drawing in the raging energy around her.
“In the name of the stars…” Her voice was hoarse and low, yet carried an earth-shaking majesty.
Mana surged outward. Wandra and Elise watched in horror as, with Helga’s words, the ruined village vanished before their eyes, replaced by an endless starry sky.
Countless star rivers flowed, countless stars flickered and faded.
The magic locked onto them layer by layer. Even Elise could sense that no divine protection would help her now!
“Comet—Azler!”
With a scream that consumed all her strength and mana, a beam of light, beyond words for its brilliance and destruction, erupted from Helga’s hands!
It wasn’t a mere light beam, but more like a miniature comet, forcibly summoned from the distant stars!
Trailing a long, blazing-blue tail of pure energy, carrying power to shatter stars and pierce dimensions, it tore through the air with a deafening shriek—straight for Wandra and Elise at a speed beyond thought!
“No—!!!”
Wandra’s pupils shrank to pinpricks as death’s shadow swallowed him whole.
All his arrogance, scheming, and greed seemed pitiful and fragile before this world-ending force! The instinct to survive overwhelmed everything!
He made a move that made Helga’s eyes nearly burst and even took Elise by surprise—he didn’t resist or dodge, but spun around, grabbed the boy from Elise’s hands, and with all his might, hurled the helpless child straight at the oncoming comet beam!
“Use him as a shield!!!” Wandra’s howl was pure terror and depravity.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely in that instant.
The child, flung out as a living shield, still wore a mask of terror and confusion. His tiny body was as insignificant as dust before the overwhelming torrent of energy.
In his oxygen-starved eyes was reflected the ever-nearing, all-consuming white glare—the pain, the rage, and… in the end, a trace of unwillingness in Helga’s pale violet gaze.
‘Sorry, but… this is all I can do… Eileen, what would you do?’
A name, a face, flashed through Helga’s mind as her magic and consciousness faded into darkness.
Just as Comet Azler was about to engulf that tiny form, and with it, Wandra and Elise behind him.
The “Hero” spat, tossed the child aside, and yanked off the magic amulet hanging from his neck.