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Nicole’s attitude said everything, even if she abhorred it, it was her duty to protect the villagers of Lyon.

Man… I never knew Nicole had such a willful side to her as well…

With Neneth in tow, Nicole slowly approached the Vampire, Umbra, who had been watching us from a short distance away. Contrary to my expectations, he wasn’t sneering at us anymore. In fact, his expression looked a little strained, as if the situation was spiralling out of his control.

“Master… we should…” Zurnalin was about to suggest something but she paused mid-sentence. In all likelihood, she wanted me to leave this area at once but stopped herself midway because she knew I would never abandon Nicole.

“All these Undead have over us is their numbers. Our side has the better soldiers. As long as we decide on escaping, there’s no way they can stop us.”

“Master wishes to save them then?” Said Zurnalin with a look of disgust on her face. To which I shook my head.

“No. We just need to protect Nicole.”

“But her goal seems to be to protect these wretched beings…”

I coldly shook my head once more. “I want her safety guaranteed. As for the others… they can die, for all I care.”

“Will she mind if we do that?”

“Well, that Vampire did give his word that he will let the villagers go as long as we leave. Even though I do not think his words can be trusted, it is a fact that fresh food is always better than stale.”

“Indeed.”

While Zurnalin was clearly jealous of the place Nicole held in my heart, that did not stop her from placing my safety as her number one priority. Petty enmities weren’t enough to cloud her judgement yet.

“Let’s go. We need to keep up with them. As for Ann…” I turned around and waved at Ann. “Do you want to follow us or stay in the village?”

Ann’s father was most likely one of the bandits I killed, a weight which I had to now bear. Even though I had done so to prevent any harm from befalling their future victims, it was also a fact that the bandits only decided to become bandits due to that Vampire. There was no absolute right or wrong to be had in such a lawless world. Killing the bad guys meant that no one else would have to suffer for their misdeeds, but at the same time, sometimes those same bad guys had their own circumstances and loved ones who cared about them.

Ann uneasily clenched down on her little white hands. Her teeth grinded against each other as her petite body shook. Finally, after much effort, she came to a decision. “Ann… Ann wishes to follow Sister Mo Na…”

“Follow us, huh…”

While Ann might have been young, she was self-aware enough to understand who it was that killed her father. Did she choose to follow us simply because no one in the village would look after her? Perhaps. Either way, I couldn’t let a young girl like her face the world alone… if that’s what she wants, so be it.

“Sister Mo Na… Ann wants to be with you all…” Seeing that I hadn’t given any explicit approval yet, she anxiously reiterated herself before giving me a pitiable look, like a kitten that had just been abandoned. “Ann does not want to stay in this village… please do not leave Ann behind… Ann does not want to be alone…”

“All right, let’s go together then.” I gently patted her on her hands then lifted Jezsere up onto Mo Ning’s back. “Jez, look after Ann for me.”

“No problem. Jezsere will be sure to look after Ann. Don’t worry, Master.” Jezsere reached from behind to hug the little girl.

I’ll be happy if you can look after yourself… maybe I’ve just given her an impossible mission?

I turned towards Jill, who was looking quite bored at the moment. “Jill, when the battle begins, I do not need you to join the fight. Just stay with Mo Ning.”

Hearing that, she couldn’t help but facepalm. “My employer this time…”

“Do you regret it?” Strictly speaking, my relationship with her wasn’t deep. Getting her into such a mess was inappropriate on my part, so I wouldn’t blame her if she was dissatisfied.

“Regret? No!” She turned behind to face Regine. “I’ve got to meet my senior, Regine, again, and even met such an interesting employer like yourself. I dare say this mission has been exciting for me as well!”

I couldn’t help but smile at her response. “As long as you’re happy then.”

Exciting, huh… you haven’t seen the half of it yet.

“Listen up, everyone. We will move to leave this village right away. Once the battle starts, I want everyone to be careful of their safety.” I turned to look at Reyage. “You do not need to fight as well. Just look after Jezsere.”

“Got it.” Reyage nodded.

“In that case… let’s move.” I led the charge with the rest of the Assassins. Because the Devils I summoned weren’t many and were weak to begin with, I left them at the rear to guard the outskirts of the village. Naturally, that wasn’t meant to scare those foolish villagers, not at all!

Now that we were leaving as they had wanted, the villagers all heaved a sigh of relief, though some of them had on a conflicted look. Lest one forgot, had we left just but a day earlier, we would have been sent off with bouquets of flowers instead of insults. Yet to the villagers now, they would much rather believe the Vampire who harmed them than the Occultist who saved them… how ironic…

Also, if we were to attack that Vampire now, what would happen to the village? Would Umbra go back on his words and attack them? Perhaps.

As I arrived close behind Nicole and Neneth, the former did not react much to my presence. In contrast, Neneth was practically beside herself with joy.

“Hahaha… I just knew Sister Mo Na would come!”

“Didn’t that Vampire say that he would leave the villager alone as long as we leave? Well then, let’s see how true those words ring now.” I gently rubbed Neneth’s head for a second, then in the most solemn voice I could muster, said, “I’ll do my best to protect you and Neneth. As for the rest… they’re on their own.”

Nicole nodded at me. “Just make sure Neneth is safe.”

From that point on, we didn’t speak at all till we were less than fifty meters from Umbra.

“Why?” Umbra was the first to speak up. Furthermore, his question was a rather strange one. “Don’t you feel indignant at all, being chased away by a bunch of cattle?”

“I do.” Nicole curtly answered before launching herself at the Vampire, sword drawn. Her Epic weapon lit up in flames that somehow radiated a bone-chilling cold at the same time as it swung towards Umbra.

“Blast… if that’s the case, why must you rush to your death so?” Umbra deftly dodged backwards to avoid her quickdraw. A pair of transformed Lycans rushed to flank her but she had no problem fending them off at the same time.

“You are clearly a cut above these lowly peasants, why must you go so far for their sake? If you do not like how they are treating you, just unleash your anger!”

Hm? Was his aim to try and get Nicole to kill those villagers? Speaking of which, those villagers really are a disagreeable lot. Or maybe that’s just how Humans are, negative emotions amplified to its extremes.

Yet in the face of Umbra’s provocations, Nicole did not waver in the least. She evaded a leap from one of the Lycans and coolly counterattacked with a slash to its left leg. Unable to maintain its balance, it started to fall forwards but not before Nicole sent another slash to its head. The first of the Lycans was down. Nicole pointed at the other and declared proudly, “Demon Hunter Tenet One: never bow to evil.”

Upon hearing her response, Umbra almost tore out his hair on the spot. “Blast… why are all the Demon Hunters worth poaching like this…”

All the Demon Hunters worth poaching? What is that supposed to mean? Does he have some other motive for being here?

“Demon Hunter Tenet Two: never swing your sword at those who need protection.”

Nicole sent a flying slash of fiery sword energy at the other Lycan. It quickly ducked down to avoid, then launched itself at Nicole like a flying arrow. Nicole swiftly drew her sword back and pointed it towards the Lycan, however that Lycan was merely feinting. It was waiting for the brief moment of cooldown between her attacks to launch its own…

Yet just when it thought it had succeeded, Nicole’s sword suddenly grew a few inches, icy blade stabbing right through the Lycan’s abdomen. Because of the speed at which the Lycan was already turning about, the sword easily split open its abdomen, spilling its guts onto the floor before it itself had crumpled to the ground.

“Demon Hunter Tenet Three: steel your faith.

Nicole spun her body about and gave the finishing slash to the Lycan’s neck!

At the same time that the second Lycan died, a black wispy mass swooped in on her back, its razor sharp claws raised high in the sky…

Nicole could sense the impending danger behind her, but she had no way of reacting right now. Yet I wasn’t in the least bit worried at all. The moment that black mass launched its attack, Neneth made her move as well. She leapt into the air and brought her massive blade crashing down onto the third Lycan!

Boom…

That foolish Lycan was smashed into the ground. At the same time that her feet touched down, the Lycan’s head finally gave way to the unstoppable force of her blade. She pumped her dainty fist into the air. “Demon Hunter Tenet Four: believe in your comrades!”

Neneth bumped her giant blade lightly against Nicole’s ice and fire sword. The two exchanged a glance with each other, then charged towards Umbra, yelling in unison, “Demon Hunter Tenet Five: never break faith!”