“The comrades who have sacrificed themselves, their heroic souls will ascend to heaven to enjoy eternal peace and happiness…”
That was a compulsory course for all members joining the Demon Hunting Squad. An Angel instructor lectured from the podium.
Below the stage, Hati whispered, “Heaven? That sounds like such an illusory place… That’s not how we said it back in my hometown.”
“Shh!”
The companion beside her quickly gave her head a sharp rap. “What are you saying? You’re with the Sacred Race now. Put away that talk from your side of the world.”
“Oh, I get it.” Hati scratched her head and curled her lip. “In short, you offer your life for the kingdom of the Sacred Race and the people you protect.”
“And then they go to another world to eat, drink, and have fun, enjoying their reward, right?”
In subsequent actual combat, Hati had seen many teammates fall with her own eyes.
Sacrifice was not uncommon in the Demon Hunting Squad.
Hati asked herself if she was sad.
Of course she would be sad, but she was always able to adjust her state quickly and face it with an optimistic attitude.
She would also carefully bring the belongings of her companions back to their hometowns, which served as a way to settle the matter in her heart.
In her understanding, the companions who sacrificed themselves had simply left this world and gone to a place that was temporarily invisible to start another life.
It should have been like that.
She had always thought so, and she had always acted accordingly.
Until now, as she watched the Lin Shu in her arms close her eyes, she felt an unprecedented terror.
It was not like the farewells of the past. It felt as if a part of her life was being forcibly ripped away.
Loss—so losing someone was this terrifying.
She did not want to lose Lin Shu.
Hati could still feel Lin Shu’s breath, but it was exceptionally weak.
She tremblingly touched the back of Lin Shu’s head, and her palm met a warm sensation.
Blood. It was blood.
She felt the world spinning around her.
Humans were fragile. After a heavy blow to the back of the head, even if they survived, the probability of waking up might be very small.
“Kill them… kill them all,” Hati ordered coldly, holding Lin Shu tightly.
The Angel Sisters were stunned.
The Hati before them was so foreign.
Usually, she was all smiles and even a bit childish, but now she was like a completely enraged beast.
“Understood.”
The Sisters raised their guns, and the dense sound of gunfire rang out again.
The other ordinary monsters were quickly eliminated, leaving only the massive monster leader.
Although it was blinded in one eye, it was exceptionally agile. It scurried around the rock walls, and the bullets chased its shadow, unable to hit it.
Hati turned and handed the unconscious Lin Shu to the nearest Sister. “Please, take care of her.”
Hati turned around, pulled up her battle flag, and charged at the monster leader.
As the monster’s bloody maw opened wide, Hati flipped into the air and landed on its back.
At the same time, she extended her wolf claws, thrusting them fiercely into its body the moment she landed, and slid rapidly down the monster’s slanted spine.
Her claws plowed a deep wound into the monster leader, and its flesh split open instantly.
The monster leader twisted its body frantically, trying to throw her off.
Hati leaped up again, holding the flagpole high. She gathered all her strength and slammed it down near the eye that Lin Shu had blinded.
*Thud!!*
The flagpole pierced through its head, pinning its skull firmly to the ground.
The monster leader’s limbs flailed, its tail lashed wildly, and it crashed frantically against the cave walls.
Simultaneously, its belly throbbed repeatedly.
Through the skin of its stomach, a gradually expanding ball of light was vaguely visible.
A Sister’s pupils shrank. “Captain Hati, it—something in its stomach looks like it’s going to explode!!”
“Get out of the mine immediately!”
Hati didn’t look back. “You guys go first. I’ll keep it under control.”
She pinned the monster leader to the ground with all her might, letting it struggle in place.
“Captain Hati!” The Sisters were extremely anxious.
Everyone could see that Hati was filled with hatred for this monster leader and was determined to see it dead.
As everyone was at their wits’ end, the monster leader’s stomach swelled even more.
Danger was imminent.
The Sister holding Lin Shu grit her teeth and immediately turned around, shielding Lin Shu’s head as it rested on her shoulder.
Protecting the Key Holder was also a top-priority mission.
Just as she took a few steps, a faint murmur sounded in her ear.
“Eh?!”
The Sister stopped abruptly and turned her head to see Lin Shu’s eyes slightly open.
“…Don’t go… help her…”
Lin Shu’s unfocused eyes gradually sharpened, seeing Hati and the monster leader in the center of the cave.
She took a great deal of effort to raise her arm, pointing it forward as she recited a string of unfamiliar incantations.
“Miss Lin Shu, you—”
The Sister didn’t have time to finish her sentence before Lin Shu’s magic took effect.
The temperature inside the mine plummeted.
*Crackle…*
Just like when she performed high-level spells at the beginning, white frost grew from the ground and spread rapidly throughout the entire cave.
As for the monster leader being suppressed on the ground, the white frost also quickly climbed up its body.
Its struggling movements suddenly became slow, and it was frozen into a thick mass of ice.
Within just a few seconds, the entire underground cave became an ice cavern.
Everyone watched in disbelief as the entire cave was covered in frost. They shivered, and even the air they exhaled instantly turned into white mist.
Hati was stunned.
She snapped back to her senses and jerked her head around.
To her relief, she saw Lin Shu’s eyes open on the Sister’s shoulder.
Hope ignited in the depths of Hati’s heart, dispelling the original gloom.
Lin Shu was awake!
The heavy stone pressing on her heart finally fell.
Immediately after, Hati turned back, clenched her fist, and smashed it hard against the monster’s head.
*Crash!* The frozen head was shattered.
Its massive body also instantly splintered into pieces, crumbling into chunks of ice.
Deathly silence returned to the ice cavern.
—
After confirming that no monsters remained alive in the entire mine, the Sisters began the cleanup work.
They found a fragment of the monster leader’s broken tail as proof of the mission’s completion.
In a corner at the bottom of the cave, they also discovered an unhatched, frozen egg.
After some discussion, they decided to take it away and hand it over to Angela for disposal.
With the battle over, Hati stuck to Lin Shu’s side, refusing to leave for even a step.
She didn’t excitedly hug her, nor did she wag her tail.
“…” Lin Shu didn’t have the strength to talk and simply let her stay by her side.
On the way back, Lin Shu was placed on the cart used for transporting supplies.
Because of the injury to the back of her head, her head was wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages.
With even a slight movement of her head, Lin Shu felt a wave of dizziness.
It seemed the injury was not light, and she would have to rest for a while.
She gently turned her head to the side, silently looking at Hati, who was also sitting nearby.
Hati didn’t say a word. Those ears that were usually pricked up were now drooping, and she seemed to be in very low spirits.
“Hati?”
“Mhm…” Hati responded unclearly but didn’t look at her.
What was wrong?
“The mission was completed successfully, you know? That big fellow was taken care of.” Lin Shu tried to bring up something happy.
Hati’s ears still didn’t stand up.
She slowly leaned against Lin Shu’s shoulder, silently turning her head to bury it in the crook of Lin Shu’s neck.