The voices that could be heard grew fewer, until, ultimately, there was only one voice left.
As a native of the Empire, she felt she should do something, but she vaguely sensed that voice. They would declare her a follower of the Evil God and, like the others, tie her to a pyre and burn her alive—before she left the capital, the Judicial Court and the church had done just that, and she had witnessed countless executions herself.
She seemed to understand the feelings of the Lindong Witch somewhat, and inevitably began to dislike the events unfolding in the capital at that moment.
But this feeling didn’t last long and was soon interrupted by a sharp and intense headache.
These thoughts were very dangerous.
An echo from the void warned her.
Before long, a squad of knights traveling through the forest came closer, and the airship Ave had hired at a high cost was already waiting at the designated spot. It was said to be operated by a transportation agency run by an anthropoid race, one of the few neutral organizations the Empire could contact. They usually conducted their business outside the Empire’s borders, and while they were originally reluctant, Ave offered them too much to refuse.
The red-scaled lizardman greeted the knights from afar, signaling them to board the airship. The beast’s instinct always made him feel that the mountain forest was steeped in gloom, and that something bad was bound to happen.
Everything proceeded as planned. Ethan’s subordinates hadn’t discovered that she had broken her vow in recent days, which made Ethan increasingly believe that the Divine Spirit was just an ascension rule summarized by predecessors. If the Knight Lord truly existed, even if he did not send Divine Punishment as a warning, he should at least inform everyone of the oath-breaking incident by the shores.
Under Ethan’s command, the knights gradually boarded the airship’s deck.
Immediately, a thundering sound came from deep within the forest. The experienced lizardman captain sensed something amiss and cursed promptly, ordering his crew to activate the kinetic crystal on the airship. He didn’t care what was coming out of the forest.
This should be Rowena.
According to the plan they had discussed, to avoid the airship being destroyed by Rowena’s slicing magic, she chose to stay behind alone to block the enemy. The knights’ last sight was of her triggering an old wound during battle, giving the opponent an opportunity to seize, and dying by Rowena’s hand, one move behind.
The news of the Knight Commander’s death would quickly spread in the Sanctuary and Empire. Amidst mourning her, the forces eager for movement should reveal their fangs.
"I hadn’t expected Rowena’s magic performance to be so strong."
Ethan marveled; even from this distance, he could feel the ground’s vibration, as if a thousand troops came to intercept the Knight Order.
Ethan leaped off the deck just before the airship left the ground, sending his subordinates a reassuring glance.
Under the moonlight, a figure riding a broom rushed from the forest.
She wore a smiling mask, and her long black hair danced wildly with the wind.
The airship was ascending further from the ground.
Ethan stood on the open ground, pulling out her gun and sword with imposing momentum, but quickly frowned—this Rowena, why wasn’t she following the scripted arrangement?
As an Evil God follower, shouldn’t she calmly stand under the moonlight and announce her presence with powerful slicing magic never seen before by the knights? Yet Rowena seemed fully immersed in her role, with a frantic expression that didn’t look staged.
The ground’s tremors grew stronger. Ethan could sense that behind Rowena, something else was getting closer to them.
"You bunch of damned traitors, you set me up!"
As she got closer, Rowena gasped, shouting, "Raise the price! You must raise the price! I helped lure them here, preventing them from wreaking havoc on the town!"
Rowena did not stop nor did she intend to fight Ethan; the broom skimmed past the ground, urging, "Stop fighting, hurry up and climb on!"
Thanks to Ethan’s agility, a collision was avoided.
Just as Rowena darted out of the forest, Ethan finally saw what was causing the vibrations—the entities were moving rapidly beneath the surface, their distorted faces bulging grotesquely and twisted, a single face as large as a whole apartment building.
This sight was even more terrifying from the knights’ vantage point above ground. They watched as faces rolled on the surface, and as they emerged, bodies as vast as mountains came into view. The ground split apart, and the dense forest was flipped aside like toys by the giants.
The Blood and Flesh Giant merely stood in place, enough to chill the bravest knight to the bone, as they struggled to envision how they should battle such frightful creations.
Could blades or swords harm it?
Or even magic scrolls?
Panic on the deck persisted, and the knights quickly realized that more than one blood and flesh creation was emerging from the ground cracks, until the whole mountain was stained crimson.
A knight, as if awakened from a dream, trembled as he asked, "The commander should have dodged them, right?"
Everyone’s expressions were grim, with no one answering his question.
They stared at the land overtaken by the Blood and Flesh Giants in an instant, unable to see any area they could call safe.
This was the last scene they saw, and the only thing they could do was let the airship take them away from this Nightmare as quickly as possible.
Feeling something was amiss was Ethan, too.
He initially thought Rowena was an excellent special effects master, but as he praised her, he realized the situation wasn’t as planned. Rowena never mentioned giants, and what’s worse, the Blood and Flesh Giants gave him a familiar feeling—their aura matched the twisted souls from the pollution zone in every way.
Only more bloodthirsty and more crazed, as if... originating from a depth deeper than the third tier.
The sudden change in his skill proficiency panel overturned Ethan’s "atheism" theory. Beneath three familiar skills, a line of notes seemed to be constructed from blood.
’Bazatous’ Glance: Your actions left a deep impression on Him, and He desires to meet you. If you do not seek Him, He will come to find you...in some unexpected ways.’
The Blood and Flesh Giants didn’t capture their targeted prey, and those colossal bodies once again plunged into the ground, the rolling twisted human faces surged directly towards the camp Ave had set up.
Rowena’s magic broom was faster than they were.
Sitting at the broom’s forefront, Rowena expressed her request in the most succinct way upon seeing him.