Volume 2, Chapter 74 – Big Sister~

“Xia?! Xia’er?!”

Is she… is she okay?!

The moment those words were heard, not only was Xingya stunned, but even the Divine Punishment Holy Church executioner, who had intended to take her head, froze in place. A moment later, he turned his head in utter bewilderment to look beside him.

There, a cute pink-haired little girl dressed in an exquisite princess dress had appeared next to him at some unknown point. How could the man in black robes not recognize her? This was the young lady of the Duke Family, one of the targets they were ordered to eliminate in this mission!

While he was preparing to deal with Xingya, his three companions were supposed to be watching that brat!

Why was she not only alive, but appearing beside him so inexplicably?!

For a moment, intense confusion flooded the man’s heart, and an ominous premonition suddenly clouded his slightly reddened eyes.

“You… how could you?! Weren’t you captured by… huh??”

In the next moment, the man’s words stopped abruptly.

As he was questioning her, his peripheral vision caught sight of the area behind the pink-haired girl, the place where his companions had been just moments ago. However, those comrades who had been full of life seconds ago were now lying on the ground in bizarre postures, their backsides facing the sky for some reason.

They were twitching all over, foaming at the mouth, and had passed out.

‘What… what is going on?!’

Though he found it utterly incomprehensible, the man’s gaze toward the pink-haired girl suddenly became incredibly sharp. After all, his intuition told him that his companions’ collapse was absolutely related to this harmless-looking little girl in front of him.

Was it a protective magic? Or did she use some kind of potion?!

Thinking of this, the man released Xingya and stood up, pointing his blade directly at the pink-haired girl as he barked a question.

“You-what did you do?! Why did they all faint?!”

“…”

Faced with the man’s interrogation, the pink-haired little girl merely gave a faint smile and tilted her head in a chillingly eerie manner.

She clearly had no intention of answering him.

Seeing this, a cold killing intent suddenly erupted in the man’s eyes.

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Acting decisively, he swung his blade toward the girl’s neck without hesitation.

However, just as the edge was about to touch her skin, the pink-haired girl slowly raised her hand…

?!!

How-how could this be?!

Under the man’s incredulous gaze, the pink-haired girl reached out and pinched his blade between her thumb and forefinger. Those seemingly tiny and weak fingers erupted with unexpected power. A terrifying, unbelievable strength clamped down on his blade like a steel vice, preventing the edge from moving forward even a fraction of a millimeter.

Even as he channeled his entire body’s battle aura and struggled to break free, it was to no avail.

“This?! How is this possible! Who are you?!”

A drop of cold sweat broke out on the man’s forehead.

A fear of the unknown began to spread through his heart like a virus.

At that moment, the pink-haired girl’s soft, airy voice slowly drifted into his ears.

“Don’t you want to know why your companions fainted? Well, I’ll tell you now, but you should grit your teeth a bit~”

“Huh?! What?!”

The girl’s words sent a shiver down his spine, but before he could grasp the chilling meaning behind them, she vanished from his field of vision.

Then, the sound of eggs shattering rang out.

An unprecedented wave of agony surged from his crotch. It was like a bolt of lightning delivering a hysterical bombardment to his brain. The unbearable pain caused the man’s face to contort completely, becoming increasingly ridiculous.

Stimulated by this intense pain, the man’s consciousness finally sank into endless darkness. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

His body twitched instinctively.

He looked exactly like his companions.

Evidently, a certain part of these Divine Punishment Holy Church members’ anatomy had received a very “warm and friendly” greeting from the pink-haired girl.

Once the man had completely collapsed, the pink-haired girl standing behind him slowly retracted her foot and looked at the four unconscious men in black robes with disdain.

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On the other side, Xingya, who had been coughing incessantly, finally managed to crawl up from the ground after the man’s suppression vanished. She sat weakly on the grass, staring dumbfoundedly at the now-defunct members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church.

That terrifying man had been holding a knife to her throat just a moment ago.

Yet, in the next second, he was lying on the ground in such a pathetic state?

‘I… I’m not dreaming, am I?’

A strong sense of unreality surfaced in Xingya’s heart.

To verify if she was dreaming, the little girl steeled herself and used her thumb and forefinger to give her fair thigh a sharp pinch. The sudden, intense pain caused her face to twitch slightly.

However, the pain confirmed that she was not dreaming.

She-she had survived? She wasn’t dead!!

The intense joy of escaping death suddenly rushed to Xingya’s head, making her incredibly excited, even moved to tears. At the same time, she couldn’t help but look at the expressionless pink-haired girl with a gaze full of shock and worship.

After seeing the pink-haired girl easily defeat the experts of the Divine Punishment Holy Church with a single kick, the disdain that had sprouted in Xingya’s heart due to her ‘slave’ status completely vanished, replaced instead by unparalleled gratitude and admiration.

The pink-haired girl’s image had even become towering in her mind.

As for why a girl “similar” in age to herself could so nonchalantly take down several powerful members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church, Xingya had no mental energy left to ponder it.

In the next moment, Xingya’s eyes lit up as she scrambled up from the ground.

She lunged toward the pink-haired girl with great excitement.

Under the pink-haired girl’s somewhat startled gaze, Xingya grabbed her arm.

“Xia’er! Xia’er! You’re so amazing!! You actually defeated those men in black!! How did you… huh??”

Before she could finish, the pink-haired girl, who was actually Miss Yumo, sighed helplessly and placed an index finger against the little girl’s lips.

“Please, be quiet. If you’re too loud, you’ll attract others.”

“Oh, oh, I understand!!”

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Xingya nodded obediently and clung even tighter to Yumo’s arm.

She looked behind her with a hint of unease.

After a moment’s hesitation, Xingya spoke softly.

“Um, Xia’er, can I call you ‘Big Sister’?” ¹ 姐姐大人 (jiě jiě dà rén), Honored/Lady Big Sister. Just a more respectful version of “Big Sister”

Huh?

‘What kind of title is that?’

Hearing this, Yumo’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Uh, this…”

However, seeing Xingya’s pleading eyes and remembering the image of this girl dragging her along earlier, Yumo nodded helplessly.

“Fine, whatever you want.”

“Really?! That’s great, Big Sister!”

Seeing that Yumo had agreed to her request, Xingya was overjoyed.

“Then, Big Sister, what should we do now?!”

Looking at the girl whose attitude toward her was now the complete opposite of before, Yumo felt a bit complicated and let out a troubled sigh.

“You should sleep for a bit. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Huh? Sleep?”

Xingya wore a confused expression.

But in the next moment, before the little girl could figure out what was happening, a Blood Butterfly fluttered into her line of sight. Some fine golden powder drifted down from the butterfly’s wings. As the golden powder fell, an irresistible wave of drowsiness surged into Xingya’s heart.

“Bi… Big Sister? … I… why am I…”

The intense sleepiness quickly overwhelmed Xingya’s will. The little girl closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

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Miss Yumo gently supported the sleeping child.

Ripples of Shadow Essence then emanated from Yumo’s fingertips.

Surrounded by a crimson light, Xingya’s body slowly floated into the air.

With a wave of her hand, Yumo sent her back to that so-called ‘secret base’ and placed a protective barrier around it.

‘Just sleep peacefully for a while.’

Yumo spoke softly in her mind.

At the same time, Yumo couldn’t help but give a self-mocking smile.

She had felt almost nothing while watching those guards and knights get killed. But when she saw these people about to attack a child, she couldn’t hold back after all.

“Sigh…”

But, the Divine Punishment Holy Church?

Those guys who spend all day engaged in internal strife—it’s about time they were dealt with.

Although ending the internal strife and uniting the continent’s forces against the Abyssal Demons was the Trial Mission for the Main Character Group, it shouldn’t be much of a problem if she intervened a little…

Hundreds of Blood Butterflies appeared out of nowhere, fluttering around Miss Yumo. Her gaze then shifted to the fallen members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church.

The people of the continent knew that the Divine Punishment Holy Church had some connection with the Abyssal Demons and would take medicine to temporarily gain their power.

In that case, it would seem quite normal if they accidentally lost control and completely transformed into Abyssal Demons, right?

‘Heehee~’

Thinking of this, Miss Yumo revealed a slightly creepy smile. Her azure eyes narrowed slightly as a crimson light emerged from around her, slowly drifting toward the unconscious men in black.

‘First, I’ll deal with those guys who are hunting down children…’

As Yumo’s internal command was issued, the men in black on the ground suddenly began to twitch. Infected by the Shadow Essence, their bodies began to mutate. Eerie, bloodthirsty growls slowly emanated from their throats, sounding like ravenous beasts.