Chapter 232: A Violet Streak

The clash of eleven Domains unleashed in a single area sent shockwaves through the entire surrounding region, including Ashwick itself, which now found itself watching what looked like the end of the world.

Evangeline's Domain had pulled the battle into a separate dimension, but this time the sheer force involved was enough to crack reality itself, and the consequences of that could be seen on the city below, buildings were already collapsing as simple fractures in reality, appearing for mere milliseconds, devastated entire residential blocks.

Within seconds, the city, already struggling to hold against the beast tide, found itself turned upside down, screams and death everywhere, both beast and human alike.

The perimeter the soldiers had managed to form around the city had already collapsed, and by this point there was no formation left at all. Only a fight for survival remained.

Even the group of students, who had been holding their own while helping defend the city until not long ago, now found themselves on the verge of death several times over, all because of the sudden change in the situation.

In an alley some distance from the current chaos, a girl lay on the ground. She'd been unconscious for who knew how long, but the roar of battle and the tremors shaking the buildings around her finally seemed to wake her.

She was the girl who had separated from the group of students and headed with Selena toward their defensive line.

She felt disoriented, her head throbbing. She touched it, trying to remember what had happened, and that was when she noticed something wet on her hand. She lowered it and looked, and finally understood.

It was blood.

Her head was bleeding, and the wound was the source of the pain she felt.

Then, as her vision cleared, the memory of what had happened came back to her.

'Something hit me,' she thought, recalling how, while she'd been helping tend to the wounded, something struck her and she lost consciousness.

She wondered if it had been someone, but the reality of the situation didn't leave her time to dwell on it, because a shadow suddenly appeared at the end of the alley.

A wolf, wounded, bleeding, but with a hint of malice glinting in its eyes as it settled its gaze on her.

Seeing it, she shuddered and immediately started looking around.

"N-no, don't come closer," she said, her voice trembling as she struggled with everything she had to get to her feet and find a way out. But there wasn't one. It was a dead end alley, and the only exit was currently blocked by the beast itself.

The beast seemed to sense her fear, and the realization only seemed to excite it further. With a growl, it lunged toward her at high speed.

"No!"

The girl closed her eyes, preparing herself for the worst.

But suddenly, everything seemed to disappear.

The sound of the wolf's charge vanished, and she heard nothing except the sound of something striking the ground nearby.

THUD!

Hm?

Seconds passed. Nothing happened. Confused, the girl opened her eyes, only to see an unfamiliar back standing in front of her, and beyond it, the wolf's corpse sprawled on the ground nearby.

She froze for a moment, unsure of what she was even looking at. Just seconds ago she'd been on the verge of death, and now, out of nowhere, the beast lay dead, and its killer stood right in front of her.

She cautiously lifted her gaze and saw a girl, a bit older than her, with long black hair falling down her back, and a sword planted in the ground beside her, her right hand resting on its hilt.

The girl seemed to notice her staring and turned, meeting her eyes.

"Try not to get yourself killed so easily," she said, her voice calm.

The girl said nothing, a little intimidated by that calm gaze that somehow carried an invisible, crushing pressure. She had to admit, this girl was beautiful, far more beautiful than most she'd ever seen. But those dark violet eyes stirred a certain fear in her, one that kept her from doing anything more than opening her mouth to say thanks.

She tried, and with a bit of courage seemed about to say something, but in the end, she never got the chance. In the blink of an eye, the girl was gone. Just as suddenly as she'd arrived, she was no longer there.

That same scene seemed to repeat itself over and over throughout the city, a violet streak darting from one place to another, and in what looked like mere seconds, dozens upon dozens of beasts fell.

The people of the city stood confused at the sudden massacre of the beasts, but whoever was responsible for it didn't seem to care, reappearing now on the rooftop of a tall, undamaged building, gazing up at the sky.

It was Luna, who had arrived at Ashwick together with Evangeline and had immediately set to work eliminating the beasts while Evangeline dealt with the bigger problem.

Her gaze settled on the point in the sky where the Abyss Demi-Gods and Evangeline had been just moments ago, and although nothing remained there now, she didn't seem worried.

Her violet eyes glowed faintly as her reptilian irises seemed to see past mere appearances, able to make out exactly what was happening.

"Looks like she's taking her sweet time eliminating them," she muttered, shaking her head at that woman's antics.

She'd been with her for over a year now, and in that time she'd come to know her well. She knew that, however powerful she was, she was also a proud, vindictive, and spiteful woman. If she fixated on something, she'd see it through to the very end, and it seemed she'd decided these Abyss DemiGods didn't deserve a quick death.

Then her gaze shifted to another point high above, and there she saw another fracture tearing open in the sky, this one far stronger than the last.

Her calm expression grew more serious as she sensed the entity beginning to descend from it.

She couldn't tell what rank the being was, but she could tell it was stronger than a DemiGod, perhaps even stronger than Evangeline herself.

An unsettling thought crossed her mind.

'An Abyss God.'