Volume 2, Chapter 76 – Desperate Struggle

“W-What did you say?!”

Hearing Romney’s words, Afnora froze on the spot for a moment, her violet eyes filled with absolute disbelief.

Soon, however, the Marchioness shook her head frantically, denying Romney’s claims.

“No, that’s impossible! Xia’er has already returned! Even the Guardian Beast acknowledged her! You must be talking nonsense!”

An enraged Afnora swung her sword abruptly.

A blast of sword energy infused with the power of lightning erupted, rushing toward Romney. Facing this powerful strike capable of splitting a sixth tier Abyssal Demon in two, Romney maintained a disdainful expression and casually flicked his blade, shattering Afnora’s energy into fragments.

“Heh, I’m only telling the truth, Madam.”

The smile on Romney’s face grew increasingly cruel.

Recalling an amusing memory, Romney even showed a look of twisted enjoyment.

“I still remember it clearly; when your granddaughter was first brought to me by Benjamin, she was still wearing a happy smile. But when she saw us standing behind him with bloodied blades in our hands, the sudden change in her expression was truly wonderful. Don’t you agree, Benjamin?”

Romney looked toward the nearby Benjamin for validation, who was being protected by members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church.

Facing Romney’s words, Benjamin gave a sinister nod and looked at Afnora with mocking eyes.

“Hahaha, yes! That silly brat actually asked me for help, hahahaha! She was truly a fool!”

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“You! It was you all along!”

Hearing Benjamin’s words, Afnora clenched her fists with all her might.

On the other side, Romney nodded frantically with great delight.

“Yes, yes! That girl was indeed stupid! After I cut off her limbs and gouged out her eyes, she was still crying and begging me to let her go. At the very end, even as I disemboweled her, she kept crying for her mother, even though I’d already told her that I had killed her mother long ago! What a total idiot!”

As he recalled those ‘beautiful’ moments, Romney’s laughter became increasingly arrogant, filled with a morbidly deranged quality. The sound of his laughter continuously stung Afnora’s heart and even made Benjamin shiver slightly.

Then, as if thinking of something else, Romney clapped his hands in excitement.

“Oh, right! Though that girl was stupid, her voice was quite good. I can still remember those screams vividly. Because of that, after I took her head, I didn’t leave her body in the wild. I fed her to my little dogs. Her skin and flesh were so tender; my dogs were so happy.”

Romney lowered his head and licked his parched lips as if savoring the memory, locking his gaze onto Afnora’s face.

“I must blame you a little, though. It’s your fault for raising your granddaughter to be so tender. After eating her, my dogs have become very picky eaters. They won’t eat anything now unless it’s a succulent child.”

Romney’s tone was full of mock ‘reproach’.

Hearing these words, Afnora fell into a dead silence.

‘Is what he’s saying true?’

Afnora couldn’t help but wonder if her granddaughter had really been tortured to death in such a helpless and miserable way. And if Xia’er was truly dead, then who was the person who had returned?

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‘Was it… some kind of monster that borrowed Xia’er’s appearance?’

After an internal struggle, Afnora finally shook her head frantically, casting aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind.

‘No, he’s lying to me! He must be lying to me to shake my resolve!’

Whether it was because she refused to accept such a reality or because she trusted the judgment of the Guardian Beast Lei Jie, Afnora refused to believe Romney’s words.

However, she knew very well that if she didn’t eliminate Romney here, the horrors the madman had just described would certainly happen to Xia’er. She could not let that happen.

‘I must… I must protect that child!’

Afnora solidified her resolve.

Supported by this conviction, the battered and blood-stained woman slowly rose from the ground, her violet eyes locking onto Romney.

“I won’t believe a word you say…”

Surrounded by flashes of purple lightning, Afnora raised her sword once more, the tip pointing directly between Romney’s brows.

“Heh…”

Seeing this, Romney let out a cold, disdainful laugh.

“I went through the trouble of kindly telling you the truth. Believe it or not. And you’re pointing a sword at me? You want to kill me? Do you even have the strength left for that?”

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As Romney spoke, his subordinates let out bursts of sneering laughter. After all, Afnora was currently being completely suppressed by Romney and was already heavily wounded. The knights and the Count’s guards had all fallen.

How could this woman possibly defeat their Archbishop?

Accompanied by eerie laughter, the cultists of the Divine Punishment Holy Church gradually surrounded Afnora.

Romney slowly raised his twin blades, his gaze turning cold and dark.

“Since you’re seeking death, I’ll fulfill your wish. I’m a truly good man, after all; since you love that fake ‘granddaughter’ so much, I’ll send her to accompany you later! Hahahaha!”

Afnora’s eyes suddenly became sharp and fierce.

“Don’t you dare touch my granddaughter, you beast!”

With an enraged roar, the Marchioness brandished her longsword and charged fearlessly at Romney. The meager amount of lightning battle aura remaining in her body began to gather continuously in her chest. Clearly, knowing she had no chance of defeating these people from the Divine Punishment Holy Church, Afnora chose to use self-destruction to take these beasts down with her.

However, some powerful enemies cannot be defeated by conviction alone.

Facing Afnora’s suicidal charge and sensing the energy gathering in her chest, the mockery on Romney’s face grew even thicker.

“Planning to self-destruct? You underestimate me. How could I ever let you succeed?”

Many of the people he had killed in the past had tried to take him with them through self-destruction. He was all too familiar with the expression Afnora wore at this moment.

Amidst the mocking laughter of the crowd, the blade in Romney’s hand was suddenly enveloped in white light, transforming into a spear of energy. With a flick of his wrist, the spear surged forward like a beast breaking its chains. Afnora, her strength nearly exhausted, was naturally unable to withstand such a powerful blow.

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The white battle aura exploded with a spray of fresh blood.

Afnora’s chest was instantly pierced by the spear, and she was sent flying backward, pinned firmly to a massive tree in the distance.

“Hahahaha! What a pathetic sight, Madam!”

Romney’s arrogant laughter echoed throughout the Earl’s estate.

Holding his blade, Romney walked slowly toward Afnora, planning to kill the graying woman as cruelly as he had killed her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

‘A family should be kept together, after all.’

Thinking of this, Romney slowly drew a long, sharp carving knife from his back. However, just as he was stepping forward with his blade ready, the Archbishop of the Divine Punishment Holy Church suddenly froze in place, his pupils shrinking as he stared ahead in disbelief.

Not only Romney, but the other members of the Divine Punishment Holy Church and Benjamin all wore the same shocked expressions.

A pink-haired little girl, familiar to everyone present, had appeared out of nowhere like a ghost. She was crouching before Afnora with her back to the crowd. At the same time, six or seven eerie, blood-colored butterflies floated quietly around her.

‘Is… is it her? That little girl pretending to be the Marquis’s daughter?! How did she appear here?!’

This question flashed through Romney’s mind, accompanied by an indescribable sense of foreboding.

The surrounding air seemed to grow increasingly cold and oppressive with the girl’s arrival.