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Author: The Sole Survivor	Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch	English Source: Re:Library

Having an opponent suddenly activate her Territory like that caught Aques Lumen completely off guard. In the first place, his Territory was unique in that it required certain conditions before it could be deployed. Besides, Ferti’nier’s Territory was several times larger than his own, so even if he did manage to deploy his own Territory, it would most likely only last a few seconds before being completely dominated. Aques Lumen had lost before the battle had even been decided.

All he could do now was try and preserve his life, in hopes that his opponent wasn’t out to get his blood. Yet what happened next came as a complete surprise to him. Not only did she not attack him, she instead launched an attack towards another target.

With a casual wave of her hand, Ferti’nier fired off a black sphere of lightning towards a tree, merely twenty meters behind Aques Lumen. As its mighty trunk came tumbling down with an ear-splitting creak, a silhouette took the opportunity to zip behind Aques Lumen, claws ferociously tearing into the Demon Hunter’s back.

Aques Lumen had already noticed that something was going on behind him. Now that his opponent had clearly shown his hostility, he spun around and stabbed at his foe rather than defend. A hit! An unexpected outcome to the Demon Hunter, but it had merely pierced the left hand of the new opponent. More importantly, that opponent seemed to have no intention of letting that sword slip from his grasp…

His foe was a whirlwind of blows. Upon sealing off Aques Lumen’s weapon, he never stopped attacking for even a second. Finally, his razor sharp claws managed to find an opening and tore at Aques Lumen’s heart. This time, it seemed like it could really deal a decisive blow… even with Aques Lumen’s abilities, his body was still that of a normal Human’s. Should his heart get pierced, he was done for.

The situation was looking dire for him. Aques Lumen did not have much choice but to dodge backwards, hopefully outranging his opponent’s reach. Slim as that possibility might be, all he could do now was leave his fate up to the heavens…

Yet just when he thought he was done for, a black shadow suddenly erupted from the ground and deflected that attack!

The claw tore right through the shadowy figure, but it did not even react in the slightest. After all, shadows could not speak.

While shadows ordinarily weren’t physical objects, this shadow summoned by Ferti’nier Territory was unique. It had the properties of a physical object, and slowed the claw attack down by a second as it passed through. With this tiny sliver of opportunity, Aques Lumen immediately channelled all his Fighter’s Aura into his sword, blasting a bloody hole into his opponent’s other claw. His sword was now free to act once more.

This sudden development had caught the figure by surprise. His ambush not only ended up failing, the shadow which he had pierced was now coiling his way up his shoulder, and soon his entire body was bound up!

“A Werewolf?!” Pulling himself away from his opponent, Aques Lumen managed to grab a proper look at his opponent for the first time. It was a nearly four meter tall, grey-furred Werewolf. An unexpected opponent to meet here, but his confusion merely lasted a second before he came to a rough conclusion. “I see even the fearless Werewolves have now fallen so low as to work with their hated enemies, the Vampires.”

“ROARRRR!!” The grey-furred Werewolf howled at Aques Lumen as it struggled to break free from the serpentine binding put on him. Unfortunately, his efforts bore no fruit in the end. With no choice left, assuming he wanted to get out any time soon, he could only pull out what looked to be his ultimate move. His body began to emit an eerie white light that quickly engulfed a fifteen meter radius. Three hulking white spirit wolves appeared out of thin air and rushed at the serpentine binding, clawing and biting furiously.

Territory: Nether Wolves!

Now that he was free from the pesky shadow, he wasted no time at all in leaping at Aques Lumen, fangs glistening in the light!

Naturally, Aques Lumen wasn’t one to underestimate his opponent. The fact that he had deployed a Territory meant that he was dealing with an Overlord Werewolf. The Werewolves were one of the well-known combat races amongst the denizens of darkness. Their race was blessed with an impressive regenerative ability; as long as the damage wasn’t fatal, they could slowly heal back up. That was why Werewolves often attacked with no regard for their lives. As long as their wounds were able to trade for another, it was their firm belief that their regenerative abilities would take care of the rest.

And there was no better proof of this than the fact that the gaping hole in that Werewolf’s hand was already starting to close up, even as he was furiously swinging at Aques Lumen.

Unlike his opponent, Aques Lumen couldn’t risk getting hit at all, even with the power of a Devil flowing within him. After all, he was just a normal Human with no superhuman regeneration to save him.

In the meantime, Ferti’nier continued floating in the air, arms folded and every bit a passive spectator.

Aques Lumen knew he had to deploy his Territory quickly. However, his Territory had the unique weakness of requiring a whole second of activation. Yet with the Werewolf’s ferocious clawing, there was no way he would ever find a second of free time to focus. Especially not when his movement suddenly felt sluggish -most likely an effect of being in the Werewolf’s Territory. Then there was the issue of that Devil still watching from the sidelines. He wasn’t in danger for the time being, but it was only a matter of time before he was dealt a lethal blow.

The Werewolf continued hammering the Demon Hunter, forcing him to be fully occupied with defending, until, finally, he managed to force the man against a three meter tall boulder. The moment Aques Lumen unwittingly came close to that boulder, a swarm of red bats, numbering at least in the thousands, flew straight at him. Now, with a bunch of Spirit Wolves and a Werewolf attacking him from the front, and a horde of bats from the back, he had nowhere to escape to…

Yet just when it looked like he was about to meet his maker, a bunch of shadowy silhouettes rose from the ground and began rending the red bats asunder, turning all the red bats into a pile of red liquid in an instant. Ferti’nier had acted to save him once more! For reasons known only to her, she summoned forth those seven shadows with a curl of her finger and sent them to block the attack.

As more and more red liquid fell on the floor, they began to coalesce towards a spot until a figure started to rise from the gruesome-looking pool of red. Finally, in its place stood a handsome man, dressed in a typical noble’s garb, that was dyed red on the inside and black on the outside…

With Ferti’nier helping to block off the red bats, Aques Lumen was able to precisely time his dodge at the last second. The three Spirit Wolves were unable to react before colliding head-first into the shadowy figures summoned by Ferti’nier, entangling themselves into one giant mess.

“A Vampire Overlord…” The identity of those bats couldn’t be any clearer to Aques Lumen now. His eyes narrowed as subconsciously gripped down on his sword.

“You’ve really teamed up…” He spat out angrily. “Let me guess… those Undead Nicole told me about… that means there should be an Undead Overlord somewhere as well.”

“Haha, you can guess all you want.” The Vampire Overlord licked his lips as he sneered. “Ahh… I can’t wait to taste the blood of an Overlord. It must be sweeter than a virgin’s…”

“…” Aques Lumen was never one for wasting words with his opponents. If there was something he desperately wanted to figure out now, it would be the stance of that Devil floating about. She did not seem to be on his side. But if she was an enemy, she had already saved him twice. Truly, a head-scratcher.

However, thinking too deeply into this matter was pointless now. He had to face these two newcomers with all his might. As for the Devil floating above, at the very least, she wasn’t out to kill him, or he would be dead many times over by now.

Having come to that decision, he decided to try and deploy his Territory once more. Yet just as he was about to do so, his instincts immediately screamed of danger to him. A veteran of countless battles, he knew to trust his instincts at such crucial times. He swiftly launched himself out of the way with a quick kick off, tumbling roughly ten meters to the side.

Barely a second later, the area where he last stood was overwhelmed by dozens of bone hands. Because he had managed to dodge their grasps, they merely dissipated into the air after failing.

“The Branch Leader of Azure’s Demon Hunters’ Guild, Aques Lumen. Publicly, his strength is only announced as Eight-star, but he is actually at the level of an Overlord. His Territory is special, having some connection to Devils. In all likelihood, only the top brass of the Demon Hunters’ Guild know about this. Am I right so far, Mr. Branch Leader?” A skeletal Mage, dressed in black robes and wielding a skeletal staff, walked out from the shadows of a tree nearly two hundred meters away.

“Did you really think we went through all this trouble just to capture your student?” As the black-robed skeleton spoke, his jaws clacked together to produce an almost mechanical voice.

“An Overlord Lich…” Even though the skeletal Mage hadn’t deployed his Territory yet, Aques Lumen could already tell from his oppressive aura that he was dealing with an Overlord. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he would be facing off against three Overlords in this backwater village. Furthermore, the way they acted suggested that they were laying in wait here just to ambush someone like him!

Overlord-tier experts were never easy to kill. Without an absolute advantage in strength, one could only rely on overwhelming numbers to kill off an Overlord. If an Overlord was dead set on escaping, you would need at least two other Overlords to have a chance at killing him.

Clearly, this whole setup was created to ensnare a Human Overlord.

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Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

　

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Author: The Sole Survivor	Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch	English Source: Re:Library

“Now, be good, and off with you.” Ferti’nier leaned in and pinched Zurnalin on her cheeks. “Heheh, so nice and soft…” She said with a lascivious smile.

“…Your Holiness… what are you…” Zurnalin instantly turned red.

In the past, it was her that was always badgering Mo Ke to have a kid with her. This time, it was Mo Ke, piloted by Ferti’nier, who was on the offensive. How the tables have turned…

“They are here…” Ferti’nier suddenly announced. She had planned to… introduce herself to Jezsere next, but time wasn’t on her side this time. With a spread of her wings, she took the air and yelled, “you guys leave first! I’ll hold them back!”

Having said that, she flew off without waiting for a reply.

“Your Holiness…” Zurnalin watched the figure of Ferti’nier disappear into the distance, helpless to stop her from leaving. It was then that she finally realised how strange this whole situation was. Half muttering to herself in confusion, “why does Her Holiness seem like such a different person after a short stroll?”

“That’s Mistress Ferti’nier.” Regine, who had previously been silent, suddenly interjected herself into the conversation.

“Mistress Ferti’nier?”

Clearly, no one here knew about this new mistress.

However, Regine wasn’t fazed at all as she coolly explained, “Master’s circumstances are unique. His body holds two souls within it. Ferti’nier is Master’s big sister, the other soul living in Master’s body.”

“So this Mistress Ferti’nier shares control of Master’s body as well?” Jezsere asked out of curiosity.

Regine shook her head. “I’m not sure… But Mistress Ferti’nier is a very powerful figure, her judgement shouldn’t be wrong.”

“Then we will retreat for now.” Even though she wasn’t willing to admit it, Zurnalin knew what was the right move to take now. If Ferti’nier was as powerful as Regine claimed, she must have had her reasons for telling them to retreat.

Jezsere climbed onto Mo Ning once more with the aid of Jill, arms still hugging Ann who was still in a shell-shocked state. She could still feel the little girl shivering in her arms, and she wanted to lean in and comfort her. However, the ground suddenly quaked and a shockwave blasted towards them, shaking the surrounding foliage in the process…

“They’ve seemed to have started fighting… Such a strong attack… Her Holiness actually hid such a strong power within herself?” That shockwave might have only lasted a split second, but Zurnalin knew better than anyone else that she couldn’t produce such force. How strong was that opponent facing off against Ferti’nier? Perhaps now wasn’t the time to be asking such questions. Retreating took priority.

Zurnalin shook her head before firmly declaring, “let’s go!”

“Sister Mo Ning, let’s go as well. I’m sure Master will return soon.” Said Jezsere, as she continued comforting the girl in her arms. “Don’t be afraid, Ann, we’ll get you to safety right away.”

“Mhm…” Ann did her best to stifle her tears before nodding. She instinctively leaned in closer to Jezsere and started snuggling against her chest. Every bit like an abandoned kitten, Jezsere couldn’t help but want to hug her even tighter at that point.

However, outside of Ann, there was no present who knew why Ann was so scared; just before leaving, Ferti’nier looked at her directly one last time, flashing her a knowing smile…

Back where Ferti’nier was…

A Swordsman, roughly thirty years of age and dressed in blue and white, stood upright on the ground, eyes glued to Ferti’nier. His black hair was braided neatly into a single ponytail and his aura made it clear that he wasn’t just any old fighter. His face lacked any expression on the surface, but if one were to look closely, a smile could be spotted hiding underneath that cool demeanor. A rather approachable-looking fellow. This was Nicole’s teacher, the branch leader of Azure’s Demon Hunters’ Guild, Aques Lumen.

“Nicole’s sword…” He placed his hand on his sheath immediately, eyes sharp as a hawk, as if he was secretly honing his sword energy. “Where’s my student?”

“Oh, don’t worry. She’s fine.” Ferti’nier looked down upon the man from her lofty heights, lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Rather, let’s talk about you. You seem to be her teacher, that something something branch leader. What a joke. A Demon Hunter using the power of a Devil…”

“…” Aques Lumen’s eyes went wide. Clearly, he hadn’t expected his little secret to be revealed right away. However, just because he lost some face, he wasn’t about to panic either. In the first place, he wasn’t such a fastidious person. “There’s no such thing as good or evil when it comes to power. The person is the one who is evil, not the power.”

“Hah. That’s an interesting answer. I’m sure my little brother would agree with that.” Ferti’nier cracked her neck a little, her eyes sparkling as if she was raring to go. “How about we have some fun together? It has been a while since I had some fresh air, after all.”

“I had the same idea myself!”

The fact that Ferti’nier had Nicole’s sword with her was deeply unsettling. There wasn’t much to say at this point, he merely drew his sword and sent a wave of sword energy slicing towards Ferti’nier.

Unfazed, she swung her fire and ice sword, sending a wave of sword energy crashing into the oncoming attack. Both waves were of equal power and ended up cancelling each other. No one got the better of the other, but it was clear Ferti’nier was the stronger one. After all, her sword wave was sent out later than his. Not only that, she had to calculate the attack’s trajectory and rough strength in order to achieve such a perfect cancellation. While it might have sounded simple, it was anything but in reality. In fact, it was nearly impossible, like a bullet colliding into another bullet that was fired earlier.

Having blocked that attack, Ferti’nier immediately swung the fire and ice sword once more. Under her precise control, she fired a massive ball of flames that promptly exploded into a shower of fire that covered a vast, hundred meter radius!

Mirror Waters Sword Arts: Sword Draw!

Aques Lumen entered a typical sword drawing stance for a second before unsheathing his sword at lightspeed, firing off a gigantic wave of sword energy right at the center point of that fiery rain. In that one move, he not only cleared the sky, he even forced Ferti’nier to dodge out of the way.

Yet while he might have successfully defended himself, the resulting sparks still landed on the foliage around him. It wasn’t long before his surroundings were engulfed in flames that voraciously spread to surrounding areas as well.

Right this very instant, Aques Lumen found himself in a sea of fire before he could even react!

Even with Mo Ke’s lacking Star-tier, Ferti’nier was still a Devil King. Against an Aques Lumen that wasn’t even being serious, crossing a couple of blows wasn’t a problem at all.

A wave of her left hand later, the surrounding flames miraculously started flying towards Ferti’nier. They began coalescing into a humanoid form, creating a Peak Seven-star Fire Elemental in no time at all!

Naturally, Ferti’nier could have skipped all that hassle and just summoned a Fire Elemental using her mana, but she was still hampered by Mo Ke’s strength. Trying to summon a Seven-star with his body would expend a significant portion of his mana. Therefore she chose to use his mana conservatively, seeing as she still hadn’t had enough fun yet. By firing off a fire attack, she knew that her opponent would inadvertently help her spread it when he tried to defend himself. And with so many plants around him, the spread would be rapid.

With so much natural fire energy to use, she merely required a core for the fire to coalesce around.

“Go.” She commanded curtly. Being linked to her will, the Fire Elemental could instinctively understand her will. It descended from the skies like a blazing sun, opening up first with a powerful punch to Aques Lumen!

Mirror Waters Sword Arts: Ice Lotus!

Aques Lumen stowed his sword quickly, then drew it an instant later towards the Fire Elemental. As his sword flashed upwards, a crystalline lotus bloomed outwards, covering the sky in an instant!

The moment the icy lotus touched the Fire Elemental, its limbs began to seize up. The flames around it immediately froze into a block of ice, without ever giving off any steam. The Fire Elemental had now turned into an ice sculpture!

At the same time as he fired off that ability, he leapt backwards, avoiding that ice sculpture as it came crashing into the ground with a deafening explosion. So strong was the shockwave that even Zurnalin heard the impact from where she was…

“Interesting. Seems like I have to get a little serious myself.” Seeing her Fire Elemental defeated so easily, Ferti’nier wasn’t affected in the least bit. On the contrary, she still smiled in that same teasing manner. “Come then, let’s see what else you have hiding!”

Having said that, she started flapping her wings. A shadow burst forth from its feathery ends, blanketing the skies and the earth at the same time. In just the blink of an eye, a hundred meter radius around Ferti’nier had undergone a drastic change. Yet this change wasn’t something that affected the physical surroundings directly. Instead, it was the laws of the world that seemed to change within this region.

As long as it was within this hundred meter area, Ferti’nier could now affect the laws of the world itself! This was what was known as an Overlord’s Territory.

“A Territory?!” Aques Lumen already knew that his opponent wasn’t an easy one. Yet he would have never expected her to be able to extend such a large Territory. Normal Overlords had a Territory of around twenty meters. Stronger ones had fifty. Aques Lumen himself was a new Overlord, having just entered this tier due to some special circumstances. At this point, the gap in their strengths was so wide, there wasn’t even a point in fighting any longer. Ferti’nier could just stomp all over him with her Territory!

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Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

　

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Author: The Sole Survivor	Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch	English Source: Re:Library

With Nicole out of the way thanks to her mana explosion, Ferti’nier reached for the burning yet icy cold sword in Mo Ke’s chest. Being an Epic-grade weapon, this sword had a consciousness of its own. The moment it sensed that Ferti’nier wasn’t its owner, a burst of fire and ice surged forth to repel her hand. Unfortunately for it, Ferti’nier used to be an all-powerful Devil King. Even constrained within a pathetic Five-star body like Mo Ke’s, she wasn’t going to be harmed by a mere weapon.

“You wish to oppose me too? Hmph.” Ferti’nier gripped down hard on the sword, then pulled it out anyway. She gave the sword a couple of casual yet dazzling flourishes before finally turning to face Nicole. Her lips curled into an evil grin as she eyed the haggard and emotionally unstable Demon Hunter.

“Girl, you’ve really blundered this time. That person just now was really your younger brother. Not that it matters now, since you stabbed him into hiding. At least your sister over here got to take control of his body thanks to that… I guess I should be thanking you even.”

Nicole’s eyes went wide upon hearing that. Faced with a Devil that seemed starkly different than before, having gone from writhing in pain to devastatingly bewitching, a myriad of explanations suddenly occurred to her, all bolstered by those taunting words Ferti’nier said to her. For example… what if she did in fact stab her own brother. He had, for some reason or another, turned into a Devil that also sealed another Devil’s soul within it…

“Devil!”

Her eyes went red at the thought that she really could have done that awful deed. Anger immediately overwhelmed her rationality. She did not even care that the Devil standing before her now was impossibly more powerful than her. She only had one thing in her mind, and she planned on enacting it. Reaching for her waist, she swiftly pulled out a pair of daggers and tossed them at Ferti’nier before they had even left their sheaths for a second.

However, those were easily parried by Ferti’nier who still wielded that fire and ice sword. Nicole promptly reached for a third dagger, in hopes of catching Ferti’nier off guard while she recovered from that move. Yet before she even got the chance, a hand grabbed onto her wrist and twisted it violently. In immense pain, she reflexively released the dagger, but she still had the presence of mind to strike behind her with her remaining hand. Unfortunately, that was quickly subdued as well.

She did her best to turn around to see her attacker, only to find a strange black shadow standing before her. It was the Shadow Guardian, which had been deployed stealthily at the start by Ferti’nier. Even though it wasn’t a very strong summon, it was enough to temporarily restrain Nicole.

Her situation could only be described as dire right now. However, she had no intention of quietly awaiting her death either. She did her best to struggle free from the shadowy construct. But she failed. Even after violently activating her Fighter’s Aura in a counterattack, she couldn’t get the shadow to release her. And that was because this was no longer Mo Ke in control of the spell. It was Ferti’nier, the Devil King!

The same ability in the hands of someone else often produced vastly different results. Mo Ke was a newborn Devil. While he might have possessed limitless potential, he was still too young in terms of his current reincarnation. He might have been able to beat anyone at his level thanks to his Epic-grade weapon and wide repertoire of spells, but he still lacked the experience of a longer-lived Devil. His life still had a long way to go.

The same couldn’t be said for Ferti’nier at all. She had lived immensely longer and had a wealth of experience. Even stuck in a Five-star body, she still possessed power far above her host body. After all, what was being used now was her very own, Demigod-tier abilities!

“How about you have a taste of being stabbed in the chest as well?”

Ferti’nier’s lips curled into a smile. She raised the fire and ice sword high then stabbed it downwards without any hesitation. However, with barely an inch from her target’s chest, she found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stab Nicole. Mo Ke’s body was resisting her. Even after being mortally wounded into a comatose state, he still wouldn’t allow Nicole to come to any harm at all…

“Sigh… If you’re going to go into hiding, then don’t be such a busybody… such a stubborn and troublesome little brother…” While she might have said that, Ferti’nier couldn’t help but smile warmly. “Forget it. If you’re going to be so insistent…”

Whoosh!

Still in control of Mo Ke’s body, she willed his Fallen Angel wings to appear from his back. With a flap of those wings, she took to the air, but still hovered above Nicole to stare at her dishevelled form.

“By all accounts, I should be showing my gratitude to you right now for allowing me to take control of this body. But I’m afraid I don’t have any more time to waste on you. Things have gotten a little messy, so I need to hurry as well. I’ll just take this sword of yours as a parting gift for my little brother…”

“Oh right. I should tell you that Mo Na isn’t some made up name either. That’s the name of this body’s daughter. And here’s something from that little brother of mine. He even gave up sleeping to finish it in time.”

With that, Ferti’nier flew off. At the same time, the Shadow Guardian holding Nicole down disappeared. No longer bound, she slumped lifelessly to ground, eyes locked to skies, and brain a complete void. Even now, she couldn’t come to a decision as to who it was she really stabbed. Her brain desperately screamed for her to not trust that Devil, and that all Devils were liars. However, it was also a fact that the Devil’s personality did a complete 180 after that. Was that really her little Ke?

Nicole dared not contemplate that possibility any further. She merely stared blankly at Ferti’nier’s disappearing silhouette, in hopes of somehow willing her to come back. Yet at the same time, she was afraid of what would happen then. Her eyes began to glaze over as the last of her energy finally left her.

Suddenly, a red crystal the size of an apple slowly dropped from the skies. She instinctively reached out with both hands to catch it. She woodenly looked down to see what it was she caught… A red crystal? No. That’s a voice-recording crystal. Teacher Mille Nix(Thousand Snow Crystal) used to have one as well.

(TL: going to use Mille Nix from now on, instead of Thousand Snow Crystal. Sounds cooler.)

For no reason in particular, she decided to activate the crystal, causing it to tremble slightly before a beautiful song started playing…

If you are the fireworks above the ocean
I am the bubbles on the waves
At some point in time, your light shines on me

If you are a distant galaxy
So dazzling that you make people want to cry
I am the pair of eyes chasing you
Whenever I am lonely, I search the skies

I can follow behind you
Like a shadow chasing light, sleepwalking
I can wait at this crossing
Doesn’t matter if you pass by or not

Whenever I lift my head because of you
Even tears feel like free (freedom)
Some types of love fall like sunlight
On the one hand, you possess it, on the other hand, you lose it

(TL: song lyrics taken from 追光者 by 岑宁儿. Translation taken from singchinesesongsinenglish(dot)com. I don’t want the link to react weirdly when I transfer the text to the website…)

“Ke…”

Zurnalin was the strongest Eight-star Magister present, she could sniff out a battle a mile away; her reputation as the beautiful leader of the Blood Drake Riders wasn’t for naught, after all. She sensed that fight between Ferti’nier and Nicole the moment it started. After all, Mo Ke had only brought Nicole away for a stroll, so they weren’t too far from her current location. As she looked in the direction that Mo Ke left in, she so happened to see Mo Ke, now Ferti’nier, flying in the sky.

“Your Holiness?!”

Her cry startled those around her, then a violent gust of wind blew through the clearing, after which a slender figure descended.

“I want everyone here to evacuate right this instant. Inform those watching the Undead as well to retreat.” Ferti’nier commanded Zurnalin and the others as naturally as Mo Ke would have. At the end of the day, she was the one who was closest to Mo Ke, and had spent the most time with him.

“Under–stood.” Zurnalin answered uncertainly. She could tell that this holy daughter of theirs had undergone some change, but she couldn’t put a finger as to where. Even so, she must have had her own reasons, so Zurnalin dared not tarry a second longer, rushing off to fulfill that command loyally.

“We are just going to leave those Undead there?” Asked Neneth, munching on a slice of bread as always. Still in the dark about what had happened in the forest, she asked in her usual adorable tone, “Sister Mo Na, why isn’t Sister Nicole with you? Also, why do you have a pair of purple wings growing out of your back? They are really pretty… can Neneth get a pair too?”

Ferti’nier’s impression of the little girl had always been good. She smiled sweetly at her as a sudden urge to tease her emerged. “That’s where you are wrong, Neneth. It’s not ‘we’, it’s everyone, excluding you, is going to leave those Undead there.”

“Ehhh? Why is that, Sister Mo Na?”

“That’s because your reinforcements from the Demon Hunters’ Guild are about to arrive.” Ferti’nier patted the girl on her head. “That Sister Nicole of yours was throwing a little tantrum in the forest just now, you should go check up on her.”

“Oh?” Neneth was a little puzzled that Nicole would do that, but it had never crossed her mind to doubt Ferti’nier’s words. She absentmindedly walked towards the direction Ferti’nier pointed at.

“Ah… so gullible.” Ferti’nier sighed while watching that familiar giant sword-bearing silhouette disappear into the forest. Yet after a quick smile to herself, she turned her attention back to the situation once more. “There’s no time to waste, have those scattered about leave first. The rest of you here, form up and evacuate south.”

By now, Zurnalin had returned from dispatching the signal of retreat. She looked at Ferti’nier with confused eyes and asked, “Your Holiness, you are not coming with us?”

“An Overlord from the Humans has arrived. I need to stall him while you all make your escape.” Having said that, she curled her lips in annoyance.

“What a bother. Must be that teacher that girl was talking about… I think our little brother would hate me for life if I were to kill someone like that. Bah… I’ll just take it as payment for letting me stay in his body…” She muttered to herself.

“Your Holiness, why is the Human Overlord out to get us? Furthermore, it’s not appropriate for Your Holiness to be the one staying behind. If someone has to stall for time, it should be me!” Zurnalin was even more confused, now that she had heard Ferti’nier’s explanation. Weren’t the Humans their allies? Temporarily, maybe, but still allies. And even if that wasn’t true, their roles seemed to have been reversed.

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Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE