Volume 6, Chapter 38 – Tianyin’s Resolve

On the wide open plain, an army of countless troops and horses surged in.

High in the sky, Tianyin watched the enemy chasing the “routed troops” with an utterly calm gaze. The army Seles had dragged up from the underworld numbered as many as a million, and in Tianyin’s sight, in just an instant they almost covered every inch of the plain.

Heads crowded together, their numbers looked like a sea of sand.

『Phew… There are so many of them… Samael, how long do you think I’d need to deal with all these people?』

The utterly unsuspecting army had already stepped into the encirclement Tianyin had laid down, and as she watched the enemy swarm onto the plain, Tianyin narrowed her eyes slightly, then started talking to Samael in her mind.

「As Throne-tier beings like us, dealing with that army below whose leaders only reach Epic rank is practically a piece of cake. But if we’re talking about how long it’d take to completely wipe out this army… I think it’d still take about half a day?」

How overwhelming the power of a Throne-tier was.

But even for a Throne-tier, although killing those soldiers was like slicing melons and chopping vegetables, even if they lined up and let Tianyin kill them one by one, she couldn’t send the entire army below to their deaths all at once.

After all… that was an army of a million.

『So that’s why, Samael, you’re still way too cautious. No matter how many enemies there are, they’re not our match… Although using ordinary methods to deal with this army of a million is a bit troublesome, if we switch to another method it might actually work.』

Tianyin did in fact have a certain idea in mind on how to wipe out the army of a million below as fast as possible.

And in Tianyin’s own eyes, this idea was extremely cruel. However, after she’d made up her mind to shoulder all of Dawn, to become a qualified leader of Dawn, to truly lead all of Dawn…

Tianyin’s state of mind had already undergone a change.

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A so-called leader needed to bear the consequences of everything. Whether it ended in failure or success, all the causes and effects born from it were for her, the leader, to shoulder.

『Hey… Samael, how many people have already lost their lives at my hands, and how many have lost the meaning of their own existence?』

Now that things had come to this, Tianyin no longer ran from that question she’d subconsciously been ignoring.

All this time, all the beings she’d killed in this world… Tianyin had only ever viewed them from the standpoint of a “player”.

Because of that so-called “player” perspective, Tianyin had been able to kill NPCs with their own independent personalities without any burden, able to swing the sword in her hand without any pressure, without the slightest hesitation.

But… were those NPCs really just NPCs?

In truth, Tianyin had long since had an answer to that question in her heart. Yet all along, she had only subconsciously run away from it, subconsciously glossed over it.

However, endlessly running away from change was nothing but the behavior of the weak. If she wanted to become truly strong, if she wanted to become the leader of Dawn who stood above others, Tianyin had to face these problems head-on.

Those who kill will themselves be killed.

Back in the real world, this was the most basic truth Tianyin had accepted.

But after coming to this “game world”, Tianyin had killed those NPCs referred to as “data” without any pressure, with no burden in her heart.

However… the day was bound to come when she’d realize that the real game world wasn’t a game world at all, and that real NPCs weren’t a bundle of data in the slightest.

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Tianyin now had to look all of this straight in the face. She also knew very clearly that her own hands were already stained with the blood of the dead.

「Xiaoyin…」

Clearly sensing the change in Tianyin’s heart, Samael couldn’t help starting to worry about her.

When it came to what Tianyin was like, Samael could be said to know better than anyone.

Fragile, sensitive.

In Samael’s eyes, although Tianyin now had grown tougher, the real Tianyin was still just a little girl who didn’t understand anything and still held on to her original curiosity about everything.

And now that such a little girl was beginning to realize that there were already far, far too many lives on her hands… Samael couldn’t help but feel worried in her heart.

『It’s fine, Samael… I’m just sighing a little, that’s all.』

She shook her head, cast away the stray thoughts in her heart, and once more cast her gaze toward the enormous army below that had almost entirely entered the plain.

『Samael, you don’t need to worry about me too much anymore. As a leader, as Dawn’s only Throne-tier, the blood on my hands is only there for Dawn, only there for the sake of protecting everyone.』

『Before this, I never realized this at all. I kept thinking about relying on everyone, relying on Sister Xiaomu, relying on Fisiel, relying on you, Samael.』

『But… if all I ever do is choose to rely on others, then someone like me isn’t a qualified leader at all.』

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It was like she was speaking to Samael, yet at the same time, like she was speaking to herself.

High up in the sky, Tianyin’s petite figure was like that of a tiny ant, almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

Her long silver hair fluttered lightly.

Soft strands brushed past her ears, and the violet in those eyes of hers grew even more dazzling.

『Samael, I think I finally understand what I’m fighting for now.』

『For Dawn, so those important people won’t die anymore.』

『You could also say it’s for Sister Xiaomu, and for myself as well.』

She slowly raised the hand gripping her longsword, then lifted that knight’s sword named “Victory Golden Sword” high over her head.

Invisible currents of air began to swirl around Tianyin’s body.

Her soft silver hair drifted gently in the wind.

By now, the massive army of a million on the plain had fully stepped onto the field. Yet among that vast army, not a single person noticed anything strange in the sky above.

Not even Bagh, the demon who’d been the first to see through the ambush, realized that right above his head, a petite and adorable little girl had raised a weapon toward them.

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『Phew, Samael… starting from this one strike, this army of a million is all going to die at my hands.』

She spoke to Samael in a tone like she was joking, yet outwardly, Tianyin’s expression was nothing but serious.

A streak of blood-red began to appear on the tip of the sword, and in the next instant that blood-red spread across the entire sky.

The abnormality in the sky naturally drew the attention of anyone paying the slightest bit of mind. To be precise, as long as a person wasn’t blind, if the sky suddenly turned blood-red, anyone who lifted their head would notice.

And clearly, the army of a million below also naturally noticed the firmament that had already been dyed blood-red.

Above that blood-red sky, the clouds stained blood-red began to slowly swirl with Tianyin at their center.

“What… is that?”

Looking at this dreamlike scene, every soldier present couldn’t help letting out such an exclamation.

Translator Note

Oh my godd our loli Tianyin’s personality has finally become fully matureee!! TvT