Volume 1, Chapter 23

The female lead,

Or rather, the Chosen Maiden, is the prophesied Savior Saintess of the Ashurmos Church.

The Chosen Maiden possesses unparalleled affinity for holy magic and the great talent to invoke Divine Miracles. Together with the Chosen Son and others blessed with Heavenly Dao Fortune, she will save the entire world from crisis,

leading the beings of the Ancheka Continent to resist the invasion of the Abyssal Demons, ultimately destroying them and razing the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

However,

At this moment,

The mood of this Chosen Maiden seemed far from good.

Staring at the corpse of the Abyssal Demon before her and recalling the earlier performance of the eight-man knight squad, the silver-haired girl’s expression grew increasingly grim.

Eight people armed with high-level magical weapons, dealing with a single Abyssal Demon of the same rank, and they were beaten so badly?!

If she hadn’t intervened in time, these useless fools might have been wiped out entirely?! Is this the new generation of knights the Church has produced?

They’re not just mediocre; they’re practically useless.

Even if Abyssal Demons are individually powerful, eight of you working together couldn’t handle one?! That’s just downright shameful, isn’t it?!

If knights from other regions are at this level too?

Leading them to victory against the Abyssal Demons? That’s nothing but a pipe dream! I could probably teach a dog to tango more easily than this!

“A bunch of useless fools.”

At this thought, the girl felt utterly disappointed with the combat prowess of the Church’s new generation. Though she maintained a symbolic smile, an icy, bone-chilling coldness unconsciously flickered in her purple eyes, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet rapidly.

However,

Just as this cold aura threatened to surge uncontrollably toward the Ashurmos Church knights, an adorable creature resembling a cross between a kitten and QB ¹ Kyubey from Puella Madoka Magica suddenly leaped onto the silver-haired girl’s shoulder. A cute yet urgent voice, carried by fluctuations of holy magic, entered the girl’s mind,

“Miss Mengxi! Please rein it in a bit!”

“Hmm?!”

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Prompted by this voice, the silver-haired girl named Mengxi snapped back to her senses. The chilling aura around her dissipated abruptly, replaced by a warm, comfortable holy presence. Glancing at the little cutie on her shoulder,

Mengxi offered an apologetic smile,

“Sorry, Sister Xiao Ying, I lost my composure a bit.”

Indeed, she couldn’t show her disdain for the Church openly yet, or they’d impose even more restrictions on her…

“Sigh,”

The unknown white cat-like creature sighed helplessly, then fixed its dark green eyes on the dead Abyssal Demon lying before the silver-haired girl.

“Miss Mengxi, what’s your assessment?”

Hearing this, the silver-haired girl couldn’t help but show disappointment,

“The power within it is indeed Shadow Essence. But the quantity is too small; absorbing it wouldn’t be of much use.”

“Not even enough from a peak fifth tier one?”

“Not enough.”

Mengxi answered decisively.

Relying on these incompetent teammates to defeat Abyssal Demons and invade Deepwinter Forest felt rather unrealistic at this stage. Instead of pinning hopes on others, it was better to enhance her own strength as quickly as possible. Peacefully cultivating holy magic was too inefficient. For that, she needed to absorb more power from Abyssal Demons.

Not everyone could assimilate the power of Abyssal Demons, but due to her special constitution, she could. However, low-level ones like today’s were absolutely insufficient.

They weren’t even enough to fill the gaps between her teeth.

She needed to find seventh tier, or even higher, demon king tier ones…

Undoubtedly, given Mengxi’s current strength, seeking out such high-rank Abyssal Demons carried immense risk. But Mengxi seemed to have no choice but to take that risk, unless she could find another being with a high concentration of Shadow Essence within, one she could freely absorb from, who was also obedient and docile?

But that was clearly unlikely…

At this thought, a trace of conflict appeared in Mengxi’s purple eyes.

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And at that very moment, an unfamiliar presence intruded into the girl’s sensory field.

??!

Hmm?

Amidst a cloud of dust, a red-armored knight on a warhorse suddenly charged into Mengxi’s view, appearing from behind a distant hill. Soon, the knight arrived before Mengxi and respectfully bowed to the girl:

“Miss Mengxi, Archbishop Nick requests your immediate return to the base in Meize City.”

“Hmm?”

Mengxi wiped all displeasure from her face, assuming her usual saintly, gentle expression reserved for the Saintess, and looked curiously at the red-armored knight before her,

“What’s the matter? Why the sudden urgency?”

Gazing at the girl’s breathtakingly beautiful face, the knight’s heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

After vigorously shaking his head to dispel distracting thoughts, he spoke gravely:

“A new demon king tier Abyssal Demon seems to have appeared in the eastern part of Deepwinter Forest. Archbishop Nick wants you to prepare quickly. We depart for the Northern Frontier tomorrow. If we truly encounter an insurmountable crisis, we will need your ‘Divine Miracle’.”

Before Mengxi could reply,

Upon hearing the knight’s words, Cassius and the others jolted up from the ground as if struck by lightning, staring at the red-armored knight in horror.

The joy of surviving their earlier ordeal vanished instantly, replaced by indescribable anxiety and unease.

“A n-new demon king tier in the Northern Frontier?! Is that true?!” Cassius couldn’t help but stand up and ask.

“Yes, according to the message from Windward City, it is indeed true.”

“Th-then… do we… do we have to go too?”

“Yes.”

“Is… is it for investigation?”

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To this question,

The red-armored knight slowly nodded, offering another affirmative reply.

“Yes.”

?!?

“We’re… we’re done for,”

Hearing this, Cassius and the other eight knights slumped back to the ground, their eyes filled with unease. Throughout history, those who entered Deepwinter Forest faced almost certain death, and for newly minted official knights like them, entering Deepwinter Forest was practically a death sentence.

Instantly, an atmosphere of extreme gloom enveloped the eight-man squad…

However,

In contrast to the despair on Cassius and the others’ faces, Miss Mengxi, upon hearing this news, slightly raised an eyebrow and murmured thoughtfully:

“You say, a new demon king tier, huh…”

A bold idea began to take shape in Mengxi’s mind at that moment.

Meanwhile,

Within Windward City, near the eastern part of Deepwinter Forest, a squad from the Ashurmos Church Sunlight faction had finally arrived at this frontline stronghold.

Standing atop the city wall, the Hero Pix gazed solemnly into the distance at the vast, deathly silent forest. After some deep contemplation, Pix turned and looked earnestly at his four teammates behind him.

“We begin the exploration mission now.”

“Wait?! Captain! Are you serious?!”

The muscular Beckham immediately stood up and voiced his objection: “You know as well as I do, a new demon king tier seems to have been born deep in the east recently! We’re heading in there?! That’s practically suicide, isn’t it?!”

“No, it’s not suicide,”

Pix slowly shook his head, dismissing his companion’s concern.

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“According to estimates, the location of that demon king tier Abyssal Demon deviates somewhat from our planned exploration route. We might not encounter it. Moreover, after a demon king tier is born, it attracts a large number of Abyssal Demons. Most of the Abyssal Demons near the eastern area should currently be gathered around the new Demon King. Exploring now, the probability of us avoiding Abyssal Demons will increase significantly.”

“But, what if we do encounter that demon king tier? Can we escape?”

“Escape? Not necessarily.”

“Huh? Captain, have you lost your mind? If we don’t escape, are we supposed to fight a demon king tier?!” one team member asked incredulously.

Faced with this question,

under the puzzled gazes of his teammates, Pix gave a slight nod.

“Yes, we fight.”

“This… how could we possibly win?!”

“There is hope.”

Pix looked earnestly at his teammates.

“Do you know why every newly born demon king tier Abyssal Demon quickly launches attacks on nearby human settlements?”

“N-no, we don’t.”

They looked at each other, utterly confused.

To this, Pix smiled slightly: “According to Church records, a demon king tier Abyssal Demon is at its weakest right after its birth! They attack human settlements or other magical beast groups to devour their flesh, blood, and souls to replenish their own energy! Facing such a newly born demon king tier, if we can utilize the ‘Five Elements Array’ effectively, we have a very good chance of defeating it!”

Pix’s voice brimmed with confidence, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

Completing the new route exploration, finding traces of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, or defeating a newly born demon king tier.

Achieving any one of these three goals would be enough to make him famous. He would gain more resources within the Church. Perhaps then, he would have the capability to attempt a breakthrough to the sword god tier. No longer just an ‘Earth Apostle’, but becoming the Ashurmos Church’s fourth ‘Heavenly Apostle’!

That way, he wouldn’t have to put up with that woman Bai Yanluo’s attitude anymore.

The risks were enormous, but so were the rewards!