Chapter 230: A Cold Revenge

Evangeline's words seemed to provoke the Abyss DemiGod, which wasted no time replying and attacked her directly.

She wasn't concerned. Instead, she released her domain outright, dragging herself and the creature into a separate dimension she conjured in that very instant.

She had sensed the presence of numerous humans in the city, as well as many more scattered through the surrounding forest and fields.

She knew that if the battle started directly here, there was no chance they would survive. In fact, it was almost certain that the entire area would be razed to the ground from a battle of this scale alone.

Normally, she didn't care much about the damage she caused, but this time she decided to avoid tearing the entire region apart. She therefore released her Domain and brought herself and the being into a separate dimension connected to the surrounding area, where they could fight without affecting the outside world.

As she did, the crushing, suffocating pressure that had gripped every living thing in the area for so long finally seemed to fade. But the damage it had already caused was done.

The beast tide that had formed continued its advance toward the city. Weaker than before, perhaps, but still strong enough to put the entire settlement to a brutal test.

Meanwhile, Selena, who had found herself in such a difficult situation, finally got her chance to escape.

The fact that she hadn't been able to eliminate those two made her somewhat unhappy.

She didn't know exactly who had sent them, but it was obvious that someone was targeting her. And if they had already done it once, they would definitely do it again.

Still, for now, she was simply glad to have made it out alive. The sudden appearance of that being and the subsequent arrival of the beast tide had put all three of them in danger, and the two attackers hadn't had the chance to pursue her while she escaped.

She could hear roars and howls coming from behind her and from the surrounding areas, a clear sign that the beasts had launched their attack on the city.

She had come here to help protect it, but at this point, that was the least of her concerns.

She wove between trees, dodging every beast in her path, weak or strong, she had no intention of wasting time fighting, no interest in risking encirclement. She kept moving, and after several minutes she was finally clear of the city.

She expected to run into soldiers fighting, perhaps even losing, against the beast army, and in part, that was exactly what she found. But what she hadn't expected was something else entirely.

Victor, her instructor, was lying in a crater several meters deep near the outskirts of the city. He was injured and barely managing to remain standing by leaning against his sword, which was embedded in the chest of a monster.

Selena hadn't seen the creature he'd fought, but she could tell from his condition alone that it had been powerful, powerful enough to leave him at death's door, visibly struggling even to stay on his feet.

The sight of her instructor in that state stirred no sadness in her, no concern. Quite the opposite, something colder, something far more dangerous, began to take shape inside her as she took a step toward the crater.

Victor, after the beasts seemed to grow stronger following that creature's arrival, had found himself in a fight for survival.

Not to win, to survive.

The creature had become so much stronger that he could no longer injure it. All he could do was protect himself and avoid suffering a fatal blow.

This continued for several seconds, until he eventually felt his end approaching.

He tried to escape, but the beast gave him no chance.

He tried other methods, but nothing worked.

In the end, he seemed to accept his fate. Even if he managed to kill the beast, he knew that the being that had appeared afterward would never let him leave alive.

His fate was already sealed.

The realization made him incredibly angry, but he also understood that his anger was meaningless.

It was in that exact moment that the creature's pressure suddenly vanished, out of nowhere, along with the beast's own strength.

He didn't know why, but he didn't waste the opportunity. He seized the chance to strike back, to kill the beast once and for all, and he succeeded, at the cost of every last drop of mana he had, and heavy damage across his entire body.

But the beast was dead, and he was safe. At last.

Now he could allow himself a moment to rest, to begin recovering from his wounds.

That was what he was thinking as he struggled to get back on his feet when he sensed someone approaching.

Footsteps soon sounded nearby.

Victor raised his head, trembling slightly from exhaustion. His vision was somewhat blurred as he looked at the figure standing before him.

It was Selena.

Seeing her there, somewhat battered but still relatively unharmed, seemed to bring him a sense of joy.

After all, now he had someone who could take him away from here and bring him somewhere safe.

He was safe...

"Selena, I'm glad to see you're all ri—" he began, but his words were cut short. In the next instant a sharp pain tore through his chest, and a mouthful of blood spilled from his lips.

'What…'

His mind seemed to shudder from the pain, his vision blurring further as his gaze dropped to his chest.

And there it was. A blade.

The blade of a sword was embedded in his chest.

With great effort he lifted his eyes and followed the length of the blade, and there she was. Selena, closer now than before.

Her expression was completely neutral, her cold eyes staring directly at him, one hand firmly gripping the hilt of the sword that had pierced through his chest.

"Why?" he managed to say, the word forcing its way out with what little strength remained.

His body was already at its limit. There wasn't even a trace of mana left that could save him.

All he could do was remain there, staring in horror at the girl he had brought to the Academy and personally trained all this time, now driving a sword through his heart while looking at him with those cold eyes.

"Why? For what you did to my family, this is a light punishment," she said, without bothering to add anything more.

There was nothing left to say, in the end. Over the past months, once she'd recovered from the shock of discovering her brother might have been there with them, and that he too might no longer be alive, Selena had funneled her rage into the one thing now within her reach, her revenge against the Langthons, and against Victor.

She had dug into the past, and though nothing concrete had surfaced, she'd gained a clearer picture during a recent training session, when she asked him exactly how the incident had unfolded , and why he'd been so certain her mother and little brother were dead.

He had told her that they had found their corpses, badly mutilated and in horrible condition, which had confirmed their deaths. That was why he hadn't let her see them in such a state.

She knew it was a lie. And for her, that was enough to condemn him. Now, with the blade buried in his chest, she had finally struck one more name off her list of enemies.

Victor trembled at her words, tried to speak, perhaps to ask how she knew, perhaps to fumble for some excuse. It didn't matter. She no longer cared to give him any more of her attention. She simply pulled the sword free and walked away.

It wasn't long before the beasts reached the area.

The moment they saw prey lying on the ground, they all rushed toward him, while the others continued advancing toward the outskirts of the city.