Vol 3. Chapter 119: Frustration

“Follow that child. If you run into anyone troublesome, notify me.”

After Miss Yumo issued her instructions, the three adorable Seventh-Tier Abyss Demons swallowed three or four pieces of fresh steak into their bellies, then excitedly raised their heads and let out a long howl toward the sky.

“Hiss, hiss!” (Got it, Boss!)

Then, accompanied by waves of deep-brown Shadow of Silence Power, the three enormous Abyss Demons dug through the ruins, instantly burrowed underground, and followed in the direction Mengxi had left.

Watching the direction in which the three little cuties and Mengxi had disappeared, Yumo finally felt a little more at ease.

‘Seriously, if you weren't the Child of Destiny, I wouldn't even bother worrying about you right now...’

Yumo folded her arms across her chest, puffed out her cheeks, and complained sulkily.

Although she was quite frustrated,

Yumo still couldn't bring herself to ignore Mengxi's affairs.

Seriously.

‘When am I ever going to fix this habit of worrying about everyone...’

Miss Yumo couldn't help letting out another long sigh. Rather helplessly, she walked barefoot across the ruins.

At the moment, Miss Yumo had no intention of following Mengxi to find out what was going on. Although she really was curious about why that girl had suddenly shown such an expression, the still ‘sulking’ Miss Yumo was too embarrassed to go after her.

With three Seventh-Tier Abyss Demons and the power she had left inside Mengxi protecting her, that was enough.

And so, Miss Yumo stepped over the shattered bricks and broken rubble one step at a time. Even the blood-red butterflies that constantly fluttered around Yumo seemed to have lost their vitality because of their master's gloomy mood. Conflicted emotions surrounded Miss Yumo, while Mengxi's past behavior replayed over and over in Yumo's mind like a slideshow, causing the black-haired girl to occasionally glance thoughtfully in the direction Mengxi had left.

As time passed and she gradually calmed down, the emotions within Yumo's scarlet eyes grew increasingly complicated.

Hmm,

but,

thinking about it carefully, she really didn't seem to have any reason to be this frustrated. Strictly speaking, she had been the one who tried to fool Mengxi first. She had also been the one who initially disguised herself as a slave girl and approached her...

So endlessly complaining about that child

didn't seem quite right either...

At that thought, Miss Yumo even felt a little guilty.

And when she made this gesture, it meant that Miss Yumo was feeling puzzled.

‘That being said, I really never expected...’

That girl Mengxi had actually fooled me for so long? She obviously looks so pure and innocent when she smiles, and her sincere smile is as breathtakingly beautiful as a saintess's.

A child like that actually fooled me...

You really can't judge a person by appearances.

......

But after thinking about it from another angle, Yumo frowned again. She even quietly sat down on a broken roof beam and began twirling a lock of her beautiful hair around her slender, scallion-like finger. This was a subconscious habit Miss Yumo had developed after obtaining a female body.

Whenever she made this gesture, it meant Yumo was feeling somewhat puzzled.

‘This really is strange......’

Her acting skills were clearly excellent. She had even received professional training from Saiboke-Baniya. So how had that girl Mengxi seen through her?

Moreover,

if Mengxi had already known her identity before this, then the way she behaved while spending every day by her side must have been an act, right? If it had obviously been an act, why hadn't Yumo been able to tell? All those techniques Saiboke-Baniya had taught her for identifying deception seemed to have been completely useless?

Strange.

Was Mengxi simply too good at acting? Was she even better than Saiboke-Baniya?

Or,

had that guy Saiboke-Baniya not taught me properly?

Or could it be......

For a moment, a strange thought inexplicably surfaced in Yumo's mind, causing the girl to knit her brows tightly.

‘Forget it. Don't think too much about it. How could that possibly be true......’

After pondering for a moment, the girl shook her head, rejecting that ‘unrealistic’ strange thought in her heart.

‘I should go see Little Na instead.’

Yumo made her decision internally and slowly rose from the ruins.

The fact that she had accidentally killed Xue Tianao earlier had indeed left Miss Yumo rather regretful, but at the same time, she had realized something else extremely important. The ‘time bomb’ inside Karina had already been defused. After all, once Xue Tianao died, the divine power within his divine sword would naturally dissipate, and Karina's connection with Yumo had not been severed either. Therefore, her daughter was definitely fine.

Accidentally killing the Child of Destiny,

combined with Mengxi's sudden confession, had left Yumo feeling mentally exhausted today.

She wanted to go hug her own precious little darling.

Remembering Karina's sincere and adorable smile, a rare gentle smile finally appeared on Miss Yumo's gloomy face.

The schemes outside the Great Winter Forest were far too deep.

She'd better go find her daughter~, and while she was at it, she also needed to formally introduce Yuan'er to her older brothers and sisters~

However,

just as Yumo was thinking this, she seemed to sense something, and a trace of astonishment immediately appeared in the black-haired girl's jewel-like eyes.

‘Hm? What's that girl Little Na planning to do?’

--

Meanwhile,

in the southern part of Skyvault,

a group of priests and paladins dressed in white robes were fleeing miserably through the smoke-filled city, constantly using buildings as cover to evade and fend off the pursuing Abyss Demon horde. These people were naturally the Asumos Church's delegation,

in other words, the Church members led by Archbishop Nick.

Now that the Spatial Magic Stone had inexplicably stopped working,

after enduring countless hardships and even exhausting the vast majority of their life-saving trump cards, the members of the Asumos Church had only barely managed to ‘break through’ and carve their way out of that terrifying tide of Abyss Demons. However, the Abyss Demons naturally had no intention of letting enemies possessing Holy Aura escape, so they roared and pursued them relentlessly.

Archbishop Nick of the Asumos Church, who had once been so imposing and dignified, along with his direct subordinates, had been beaten into a miserable retreat by the Abyss Demon horde today. Abandoning all dignity, they fled in panic for their lives until they reached this district. Fortunately, the entire city had already fallen into chaos. Most people were too busy fleeing for their own lives to pay any attention to the image of the Asumos Church.

‘Damn it, damn it! Where the hell is that brat Bai Xiaozou?! And why has Mengxi disappeared too?!’

After narrowly dodging a terrifying Nihility Cannon blast, Archbishop Nick roared inwardly in a mixture of fear and fury.

As an archbishop of Asumos, when had Nick ever been reduced to such a miserable state, scurrying around like a rat crossing the street?

‘Naturally,’

Nick redirected all the pent-up rage in his heart toward the two missing girls.

‘Damn it, where the hell did those two girls run off to?!’

At the same time as his anger,

when he looked at the Abyss Demon horde relentlessly pursuing them from behind, the archbishop's heart was filled with bewilderment.

For hundreds of years, the Abyss Demons had never launched an attack on such a massive scale. So why today? Had they come for the Child of Destiny?

Or was there some other reason?

...

!?!

Hm? What's happening?

However, just as Nick was fleeing in disarray, the earth suddenly began trembling violently, instantly causing the expressions of everyone from the Asumos Church to change drastically.

Before Nick and the others could even figure out what was happening, a pillar of fire suddenly erupted into the sky from the residential district ahead. Brilliant flames resembling the karmic fires of hell spread madly in an instant! An overwhelming aura of Shadow of Silence Power fused with a scorching storm and suddenly came roaring toward Nick and the others like a surging tidal wave.

The terrifying blast of air made it impossible for anyone to remain standing.

Only after urgently mobilizing all the Holy Aura within their bodies, reinforced by defensive magic, did the members of the Asumos Church barely manage to stabilize themselves.

‘Th-That's?! Demon King-class?’

The next moment,

under the dumbfounded gazes of Nick and the others, the pillar of flame gradually condensed as the vast Shadow of Silence Power began spiraling toward a central point...

A flame demon with two pairs of wings, imposing giant horns, savage claws, and a body completely engulfed in raging flames suddenly appeared before them and raised its head, unleashing a terrifying roar that shook heaven and earth...

Upon seeing this flame demon, Nick immediately felt as though his heart had turned to ashes.

His aged face instantly became deathly pale.

‘Fl-Flame Prison...?!’

That monster? Wasn't she severely wounded and driven back by Xue Tianao? Why was she here?!

Countless questions, accompanied by boundless panic, surged madly through Nick's mind.

The Asumos Church had undoubtedly spread plenty of false propaganda over the years, such as claiming that three Earth Braves could contend against a single Demon King-class entity...

But as an archbishop, Nick naturally knew the truth perfectly well.

Demon King-class Abyss Demons simply weren't existences that ordinary human powerhouses could contend against. Forget fighting a Demon King-class entity—three ordinary Earth Braves weren't even qualified to fill the gaps between its teeth...

A Heavenly Apostle might be able to contend with a Demon King-class entity, but even then, they could only barely fight against a young Demon King-class existence...

As for Demon King-class monsters like Flame Prison and Sword Demon, whose terrifying reputations had already spread far and wide hundreds of years ago, even a Heavenly Apostle would probably find them extremely difficult to oppose...

And now, Bai Xiaozou was nowhere to be found.

With the combat strength of their current group, facing a Demon King-class entity would probably end with them being crushed to death like ants...

Looking at the Flame Demon King who had unexpectedly appeared ahead of them, then at the Abyss Demon horde continuously surrounding them from behind,

Nick's heart nearly stopped. Beside him, everyone from the Asumos Church, including his son Felik, likewise wore deathly expressions, seemingly having already accepted the inevitable death awaiting them.

Faced with the overwhelming pressure closing in on them from both front and rear, Nick subconsciously tightened his grip around the amethyst-colored gemstone ring on his right thumb...

‘Should... should I ask His Holiness the Pope for help...’