Cecia collapsed to her knees with a thud.
Her pale knees and hands were smeared with coastal mud. Driven by the call of the Starfolk, the Abyss Erosion across her entire body surged, raising dark blue veins across the surface of her skin.
Almost instinctively, Cecia enveloped her entire body in Aegis of Light.
The intense purifying effect temporarily banished the influence of the singing.
The melody—which had originally sounded almost pleasant—instantly turned hideous the moment Aegis of Light covered her.
The sound resembled the sharp, grating screech of fish scales scraping across wooden boards, mixed with the squelching noise of a toad's long tongue licking an eyeball.
Cecia’s head felt as if it were about to explode. Her heart pounded violently, with light and heat threatening to burst from within.
She heard voices calling out a name—ethereal and distant.
“■■■, ■■■, we pray that you grant us wisdom, join our collective will, and bring light and heat to these ignorant fools.”
Cecia desperately wanted to answer them, to promise them light and heat, for she could hear their agonizing wails and sorrowful weeping.
She couldn't bear to see them suffer. Unfortunately, they were calling out the wrong true name.
Cecia’s true name did not belong here.
That place was impossibly far away from her. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't find the boundary of reality.
Suddenly, Cecia felt Potato's hand rest on her shoulder, as if comforting her.
Fair, soft little hands wrapped around Cecia’s neck, and a face leaned intimately against her shoulder.
Potato hugged Cecia from behind.
This gave Cecia a familiar feeling—just like when Potato couldn't stand the church bells and had collapsed into Cecia’s arms.
Miss Potato had shown no reaction from start to finish, her pitch-black shadows continuously intercepting the enemy.
Her face remained entirely expressionless, as if she were merely listening to a boring lullaby.
Potato’s fingers carried the mild coolness of the rainy night, yet miraculously soothed the agitation within Cecia.
It was as effortless as a monarch commanding a subject.
Cecia cast a surprised glance toward Potato’s eyes, but they were hidden behind the white cloth.
Where on earth did this girl come from?
Why wasn't she affected by the Starfolk's song?
Was there really such a figure along the coast in the year 655 of the Old Calendar?
While Cecia was still pondering, Potato certainly wasn't going to stand around foolishly.
The shadows beneath her feet acted like a living marsh, completely immobilizing the dense swarm of monsters around them.
Potato’s defensive capabilities were formidable, but she didn't initiate any attacks.
Several shadows morphed into long tentacles, dragging the immobilized Lan and Mia behind her.
Having regained her senses, Cecia lay sprawled on the muddy beach, gasping heavily as drool spilled uncontrollably from her mouth.
Expelling the salty, damp air from her lungs, the explosive mana of the Blazing Sun burned fiercely within her chest.
The irritating singing still lingered in Cecia’s ears.
Now free from the song's interference after pulling away from Potato, an inexplicable rage ignited in Cecia’s heart.
“Fuck, what kind of scum are you supposed to be?!”
Cecia struggled to push her body back up.
Besides closing the distance between Cecia and Dawn and Dusk, the Spirit Realm was also stirring the spiritual energy of the sun within her.
Since Potato had locked the enemy down tight, Cecia could tear through this disgusting tide without holding back.
Cecia’s figure gradually faded into the rain and night—not just cognitively, but physically, as her speed blurred her into a streak of afterimages. Pushing the effect of 【Shadow Moon】 to its absolute limit, her body dissolved into the cracks between light and darkness.
She charged across the muddy beach toward the densest cluster of Starfolk. The mouthparts still undergoing frenzied evolution, the long tentacles, the concentrated acid spitting from their gullets, and the Starfolk trying to manipulate minds with their song—
None of them realized Cecia was closing in.
The silver knife, Starhunter, carved a striking arc of silver through the veil of rain.
The girl’s movements were far from practiced.
What appeared to be elegant, effortless swings were actually completely devoid of technique. She was never adept at killing, lacking refined skills and relying solely on raw stats.
Yet Cecia was filled with wild fever, desperately yearning to annihilate everything before her.
The sharp edge of Starhunter flashed with a striking silver light against the night sky.
Splat.
It drove with pinpoint precision straight into a gap in the Starfolk's carapace.
The 【Aegis of Light】—originally meant for protection and healing—was channeled directly onto Starhunter by Cecia. Its light grew as thick as liquid gold, mutating under the command of her high-pressure mana into a brutal, tempestuous blade.
The radiant light flooded down the wound into the Starfolk’s body.
This mutated, frenzied version of Aegis of Light acted as the most deadly poison to creatures like the Starfolk, tainted as they were by the power of the Abyss.
Boom—
A Starfolk displaying anemone-like features exploded before it could even struggle, its inner fluids mingling with the rain.
The nameless rage burning inside Cecia hadn't faded; instead, the slaughter only fueled its fury.
To tell the truth, as an upstanding citizen of the 21st century, Cecia had no love for killing.
Whether it was those two Night Wolves or the monsters she hunted just to test her skills.
But right now, hearing that infuriating song and looking at those nauseating abominations, she felt a profound, visceral revulsion.
Like a mysophobe unable to tolerate a single stain on their body, she felt these things had to be thoroughly cleansed and wiped out.
Starfolk were strange creatures; they never panicked over the sacrifice of their kin, nor did they recoil or cry out in pain under Cecia’s fierce assault.
Only by burning every last one of them to ash would true salvation be granted to their kind.
The gray in Cecia’s eyes was swallowed entirely by gold, like an eternally burning fire.
Every swing of Starhunter struck right into a weak gap in a Starfolk's carapace. Immediately after, the Rapid Casting magic circuits within Flintfire surged to life. Thick, liquid light morphed into golden blades, and explosive fire mana burned wild through the rainy night.
Faced with Cecia’s sudden outburst of rage, Potato merely assisted in quiet synchronization, as if using the slaughter to comfort her friend.
She simply used her shadow claws to aid Cecia time after time.
The viscous shadows spread recklessly across the sand, black spears erupting from underground to impale the shadows of the Starfolk.
Golden flashes erupted across the beach one after another, as deafening explosions and pitch-black shadows echoed in harmony.
As more and more Starfolk perished, their singing waned. Then, another massive burst of light flared.
Lan, who had been dragged to the rear by Potato’s shadows, finally broke free from the song's spell and regained consciousness.
As a swordsman with exceptional muscle memory, Lan immediately bit her tongue, bringing herself back to sharp focus. Realizing she was actually being covered by two Rank Zero weaklings, a surge of unwillingness drove her back to her feet.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, she shook the unconscious Mia beside her until she awoke.
“Cough... Fuck.”
“Mia, wake up! Don't listen to that fucking dead-person music!”
Mia offered a groggy response as her senses returned. Only then did Lan reenter the battlefield.
With a fierce roar, Lan grabbed her long sword and kicked up sand, charging forward like an enraged wild boar. With her joining the fray, Potato and Cecia no longer had to bear such immense pressure.
The Rank One martial artist once again showcased invincible, unstoppable combat prowess.
Mia's hands trembled as she picked up her staff again. That bizarre, mind-befuddling song seemed to echo inside her head, leaving her nerves shaken and unable to concentrate.
Taking a deep breath, Mia cast her healing water magic, which drew even greater power from the pouring rain.
Rate on N.U.
