Vol 4. Chapter 1: The Situation After the Battle

In Molokezeer City, an inconspicuous little city in the central region of the Snow Night Empire, south of Skyvault, the population had now directly tripled.

The main reason was the ‘refugees’ coming from the northern regions of the empire.

Ever since yesterday,

when the Abyss Demon horde launched a massive assault on Skyvault and brought it down,

the intense confidence and sense of security that the people of the Snow Night Empire had developed because of Xue Tianao and his weapons had fallen into an irredeemable abyss along with the fall of the Imperial Capital, vanishing without a trace. In their place came incomparable fear and unease.

After destroying more than half of Skyvault, the Abyss Demons had completely withdrawn from the city due to the appearance of Flame Prison, retreating toward their main stronghold in the Great Winter Forest.

Several hours later, not a single Abyss Demon remained anywhere around Skyvault.

Although no one could quite understand why the Abyss Demon horde, creatures possessing an endless desire to slaughter, had chosen to retreat, or why Flame Prison had not simply burned the entire city to the ground, no matter how one looked at it, the greatest crisis in the history of the Snow Night Empire could be considered over.

However,

although the crisis was over, the panic in the hearts of the people only continued to intensify. Whether they were residents of Skyvault itself or people living in other regions north of Skyvault, everyone began scrambling to evacuate southward. After all, in their eyes, with the northern city walls already shattered, the Abyss Demon horde could return at any moment.

In order to preserve their lives,

some residents of the northern territories chose to head for Wind Facing City. After all, there were rumors that Lei Jie, Wind Facing City's Guardian Beast, had frightened off hundreds of thousands of Abyss Demons with a single roar, making the city seem rather dependable.

Of course, the vast majority still chose to evacuate south.

Even if they could not reach another country, they at least wanted to travel farther south, away from the Great Winter Forest. That way, even if the Abyss Demons attacked again, they would have enough time to react and flee in advance.

Driven by this mentality,

millions of civilians fled southward from the north in a vast procession, bringing their entire families with them. After just a single day, Molokezeer City's population had tripled, making the formerly insignificant city resemble a major metropolis.

At the same time,

Molokezeer City had also fallen into an unprecedented state of frantic activity.

Most of Xue Tianao's government officials and numerous high-ranking nobles who had previously evacuated from Skyvault had arrived in this city under the protection of the remnants of the First Army. Skyvault had been destroyed, but the empire could not simply be left without a heart. Thus, Molokezeer City became the empire's new center.

Consolidating supplies,

registering and resettling disaster victims,

assessing the extent of the damage,

rebuilding defensive lines,

consolidating military forces,

......

and searching for the missing His Majesty Xue Tianao......

There were simply too many matters for this new heart of the empire to handle. However, after the Battle of Skyvault, more than half of the officials had either died in the Abyss Demon assault or perished amid various forms of chaos. Coupled with the disappearance of Xue Tianao, the empire's central pillar, the efficiency of the imperial government plummeted.

Work piled up like mountains, while the people complained bitterly.

Despite the freezing winter, the government had still failed to arrange shelter and food for the refugees. Many civilians had already reached the limits of their patience and taken to the streets......

Countless ‘beautiful sights’ soon appeared throughout Molokezeer City.

As a result, the city was filled with constant commotion.

And,

in stark contrast to the scenes within the city was the Black Rose Family's camp outside its walls.

Unlike the nearby camps, which were filled with unease and terror, the atmosphere within the Black Rose Family's camp was harmonious and incomparably peaceful. There was not the slightest sense that these people had just endured an Abyss Demon invasion.

In fact, upon closer observation, one would be astonished to discover that

almost everyone from the Black Rose Family wore an inexplicable smile on their face?

This inevitably left the nearby forces from the Crimson Leaf Empire, the Saint Lomari Empire, and various other factions utterly baffled.

‘Didn't we all get beaten into a miserable retreat by the Abyss Demons and flee here?’

Why?

Why is the atmosphere in your camp so relaxed and cheerful?! Are you kidding me?!

Did the Abyss Demon horde blast all of your brains apart or something?

......

As for all the discussion coming from the other factions,

the members of the Black Rose Family collectively chose to ignore it.

Normally,

if another faction dared to look at them as though they were ‘idiots,’ they wouldn't mind having an enthusiastic, friendly, and in-depth exchange with those people.

But today, with their mission accomplished, they were in an exceptionally good mood and couldn't be bothered to quibble with the people nearby.

Faced with all those strange looks,

Qiu Mingtong simply rolled her eyes.

‘Boring~’

Then the pink-haired loli carrying a giant hammer hoisted up an enormous bucket of hot water and headed toward the center of the Black Rose Family's camp.

Actually,

as one of the Black Rose Family's highest-ranking administrators, Qiu Mingtong knew perfectly well that Xue Tianao had not completely died after Lady Yumo blasted him apart with a single strike.

Just like the previous few times, after Xue Tianao died, his soul had apparently begun reconstructing itself under the guidance of the world's will.

However, after their previous two experiences, Lord Xiao had already gone to ‘seek advice’ from the Elves and arranged a soul-isolating barrier around Skyvault in preparation for capturing Xue Tianao's soul.

Afterward, things had indeed gone exactly as they predicted. The eastern barrier detected the aura of Xue Tianao's soul.

Although they did not know why Xue Tianao's soul subsequently disappeared without a trace, the complete shattering of Xue Tianao's Soul Pearl beneath the Imperial Palace had already confirmed his death.

The Duke had gone back to investigate the barrier again because events had developed beyond expectations.

But,

Qiu Mingtong didn't particularly care about any of that.

As long as the Child of Destiny had completely disappeared, that was enough. As for who had killed him, or exactly how he had vanished? The girl didn't care.

All she knew was that

one fewer existence capable of threatening Lady Yumo remained in this world. Moreover, as far as Lady Yumo was concerned, she had personally eliminated this final Child of Destiny.

That meant Lady Yumo wouldn't keep worrying about the Child of Destiny anymore~

They had already accomplished half of their objective!

‘Hehe~’

The thought alone made Qiu Mingtong unable to resist humming a cheerful little tune.

Still in such high spirits, she practically skipped her way to a rather imposing-looking tent in the middle of the camp.

Upon arriving, Qiu Mingtong immediately wiped the delight from her face and put on a solemn expression. In a somewhat dejected and guilty tone, she softly called out:

“Um, Lady Yumo, I brought the hot water... May I... come in?”

A moment later,

an incomparably gentle voice, as melodious and pleasant as the song of an oriole, slowly drifted into Qiu Mingtong's ears.

“Hmm? Little Tong? Come in...”

“Yes, Lady Yumo.”

After receiving Yumo's permission, Qiu Mingtong set down the giant hammer in her hand, hoisted a bucket of hot water onto her shoulder, and slowly passed through the barrier outside the tent.

As Qiu Mingtong stepped inside, a wave of warm steam immediately washed over her.

A graceful black figure abruptly entered Qiu Mingtong's field of vision.

It was an extraordinarily beautiful black-haired girl.

By now, the girl had already removed the clothes that had been stained with blood.

Her dazzling body, breathtakingly beautiful, crystal-clear and delicate as though sculpted from ice and jade, with snow-white, smooth skin, stood completely bare in the makeshift bathroom that was this tent,

filling the entire interior with an unmistakably alluring atmosphere.

Steam filled the air and droplets of water splashed about. The girl's body was already thoroughly wet, and her soaked black-to-crimson gradient hair clung closely to her smooth, tender body. Combined with the hazy atmosphere created by the mist, the scene looked almost like a painting of an immortal.

Even Qiu Mingtong, despite being a girl herself, momentarily froze in place at the sight.

However,

fortunately, she had mentally prepared herself beforehand, so Qiu Mingtong quickly recovered from her astonishment and respectfully said:

“Lady Yumo, I'll leave the hot water here. And this is the brush you asked for.”

As she spoke,

Qiu Mingtong pulled the brush from her waist and handed it to Yumo.

“Mm, thank you, Little Tong.”

Yumo gave her a faint smile as she accepted it.

Her smile was beautiful and elegant, immediately filling Qiu Mingtong with a soothing sense of contentment. Unfortunately, before she could enjoy that feeling for long, her good mood was ruined by a certain 'little thing' that suddenly appeared.

Accompanied by an adorable 'Mewooo~' cry, a small white wolf, completely soaked and covered in copious amounts of soap bubbles, suddenly leaped up and clung directly to Yumo's thigh. The little white wolf then wagged her tail, stuck out her tongue, and gave Qiu Mingtong a smug little look.

The sight immediately made the pink-haired loli reveal a slightly jealous expression.

She couldn't help complaining enviously in her heart:

'Seriously, Lady Limo! How old are you already?! You're not a little kid anymore, yet you still need Lady Yumo to bathe you! Aren't you embarrassed?!'

Enmm,

It's not like I don't want Lady Yumo to hold me in her arms too...