...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
On a street leading to the temple, the Ash Hands executives moved across rooftops at full speed.
The High Inquisitor and Dark Priest were at the front, leading the group.
Looking ahead, the Dark Priest frowned slightly, his gaze focused on a tall building just outside the temple.
"What is it?" The High Inquisitor asked beside him.
"High Priestess Selia..." he replied.
As soon as he uttered these words, everyone's gaze shifted to a figure who stood at the top of a building as they were closing in on the temple.
Her arms were wide open, hands spread out as countless tiny threads of divine magic spilled out into the sky in all directions.
Within the red sky cast by their own barrier, the tiny threads of magic glowed bright. Like tiny rays of hope withing the chaos.
Like a spider's web spun by the moon.
It was beautiful, and the Ash Hands executives found it mesmerizing.
"Moonweave..." the High Inquisitor muttered to himself.
On top of the building, Selia continued using her unique ability a while longer despite the approaching enemies.
During this time, she had already picked up on where Nolan was heading through the information she received.
'Hmm... with Nolan heading for the city centre. The source of all this chaos should be dealt with soon.'
Naturally Selia had already found the source of all this chaos.
But with the monsters raining down all over the city, the top priority was to protect the civilians.
Some holy knights and royal guards had seen what was going on in the city centre, but she warned them to stay away since they didn't have enough manpower to face the Ash Hands executives stationed there.
As the executives approached, she sent one final message to a holy knight near the city centre before disabling her 'Moonweave.'
"Keep an eye on the city centre, there's someone heading there to take care of the situation. Tell that child to head for the temple soon after."
In a dark alley not far from the city centre.
Ellie, a young blue-haired novice holy knight received the message.
She had been keeping an eye on the city centre and reported any changes she noticed.
Selia had instructed her to stay hidden, so she dared not come out.
"Y-Yes! High Priestess!" she replied.
After disabling the 'Moonweave,' Selia looked at the approaching enemies who were already close.
"Heh. Time for some fun," she muttered to herself as she took a step forward and descended from the top of the building.
Levitating down with a calm and elegant grace while divine magic wrapped around her body.
The executives stopped in front of her, the High Inquisitor looking at her graceful figure as he felt a bit nostalgic.
Selia glanced at him after landing, a smile appearing on her face.
"Chris... how have you been?"
Seeing her smiling face, the High Inquisitor, also known as "Chris ", hesitated before speaking.
"Heh. No one has called me by that name in a long time," he replied with a solemn smile.
Every executive except the Dark Priest were shocked.
'''The High Priestess and the High Inquisitor know each other?!''' they thought.
Meanwhile, the High Inquisitor felt a pang of pain in his chest looking at Selia.
He and Selia actually had somewhat of a history together.
They were once childhood friends, and Selia later became his first and only love.
Back then, although he knew Selia also had feelings for him, but he didn't feel worthy of her love.
After all, she was a talent within the temple, far stronger and more valued than he was.
On the other hand, he didn't have much talent for divine magic and had long decided to leave the temple when the time came.
Given Selia's personality, he knew that she would not hesitate to leave the temple with him if he asked.
But he didn't want that. He knew that the temple would never let one of their talents suffer, so leaving her there was the best choice he could make for her future.
After leaving the temple, he was contacted by the Dark Priest and recruited into the Ash Hands because of his talent in dark magic.
Now, many years had already passed and yet here they were.
Not meeting as old friends, but as enemies. One fighting for the church, the other fighting against the church.
"Would you be willing to stop this madness and turn yourself in. For old time's sake?" Selia asked with a smile.
"Hahaha. You know I can't do that. You and I are no longer on the same side."
"Hmm... that is true. Then you leave me no choice, there's no need to say more." Selia spoke as her smile faded, and her face became cold and expressionless.
Looking at Selia's approaching figure, the High Inquisitor smiled and spoke one last time.
"Unfortunately, I have somewhere else to be, so I don't have time to play with you."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Five powerful executives jumped in front. One of them was Ilyra's twin brother, the burly, red-eyed man.
"Kill her," the High Inquisitor said in a cold and firm voice before he and the others moved forward, passing by Selia as she focused on the remaining five executives in front of her.
'Haa... so you've made up your mind huh?' Selia thought to herself.
There was no need to dwell on the past. Both Selia and Chris were no longer the childhood sweethearts they used to be.
They were now irreconcilable enemies.
...
Meanwhile, back in the city centre.
Twelve of the Ash Hands executives stood guard around the "core," surrounded by 40 third and fourth circle mages watching the perimeter.
Not far away.
In another dark alley just outside the perimeter.
A small figure stepped out, walking towards the city centre.
She wore a wolf mask and had blonde hair tied up into a ponytail.
She was slow and calm, but her dark coat fluttered about while a dark bladed short sword gleamed in her left hand.
Seeing her tiny figure approaching, the 40 magicians guarding the perimeter laughed.
"Hahaha! Just a kid trying to play hero," one sneered.
"Pfft! This kid must be tired of living!" another mocked.
All of them thought she was easy prey, just a kid who wanted to play hero.
THEY WERE WRONG.
Nolan's eyes glowed coldly through the mask. In the city centre near the "core," a short stubby man frowned slightly.
He was one of the twelve executives stationed here to guard the 'core', a tall and burly woman beside him also looked at Nolan, feeling something was off about her.
Meanwhile, Nolan continued forward.
As she got closer, she raised her sword.
Aura formed around the sword and it was slowly wrapped in flames and lightning.
Swoosh...
The air changed as her aura flared, not like a normal Elemental swordsmaster, but something deeper, heavier. It pressed down like a mountain.
She whispered as she took another step, "You all die here."
Her voice was calm, cold, and firm. But behind it was Nolan's wrath.
On her way here, she had seen many of the city's civilians killed and eaten by the monsters. Children sobbed at the sight of their mothers' dismembered bodies while mothers clung to what remained of their children and husbands.
At this moment, her anger and rage could not be put into words.
The person standing in front of them was no longer Nolan, it was "The Executioner," here to deliver judgment.
Swoosh... BOOM!!!
Pure killing intent mixed with her aura shot out in waves, shocking everyone.
A third-circle mage tried to strike first. He shot a burning spear of fire at her chest.
Whoosh... Nolan moved.
In a flash, she vanished and reappeared behind him.
SHING!
One clean slash... then THUD!
The man didn’t even scream. His body dropped in two pieces, cut in half right down the middle.
""Th-This?!""
""W-What?!!""
Everyone was shocked, but Nolan didn't give them time to process what had just happened. She turned her gaze to another mage.
"D-Don't let her get close!" a fourth-circle mage shouted not far away.
Then, they began attacking.
Spells flew—ice spikes, firestorms, shadow chains, and wind blades.
The air shook from magic. But Nolan dashed through it all, cutting through spells with her sword, her feet dancing across the marble stone floor like she was weightless.
Elemental swordsmanship burned from her blade—fire wrapped around her slashes, lightning crackled with every thrust, and ice followed her footsteps, freezing the ground.
She slashed through five more magicians, her sword humming with a sharp, deadly tune.
One was struck in his ribcage, her blade twisting and brutally cutting him in half.
Another tried to block her strike with his staff, but Nolan's sword cut cleanly through it, severing both his arms in the process.
She plunged her blade into his chest and elemental fire surged through the blade into the man's body. Burning him from the inside out.
Blood sprayed.
Screams echoed.
But she didn’t stop.
She moved through them and brutally cut them down, she didn't kill all of them instantly.
She purposely left a few half-alive but beyond saving, their bodies twitched on the floor. Feeling unimaginable pain, some gurgled while others silently begged to be finished off.
This is what Nolan wanted; she wanted them to feel the same pain as the civilians who were killed and eaten by the monsters unleashed within the city.
Her sword aura spread out—a glowing red field that sliced anything it touched. Walls cracked. Stone pillars fell.
Two more fourth-circle mages were sliced into pieces before they even cast a spell.
In just ten minutes, over fifteen mages were already dead.
This wasn't a fight, it was a one-sided brutal slaughter.
But just then—the atmosphere grew colder.
Then twelve figures watching not far away suddenly stepped forward.
Their cloaks were blacker than night, their auras heavier and crueller.
These were the executives. Strong magicians of the pinnacle fifth and sixth circle.
One of them, a tall man with silver eyes, growled, "Enough games."
The young green-haired executive also spoke, "Damn... I see why the High Inquisitor ordered us to kill her on sight," he remarked.
Although she wore a mask and had different clothes and hair color, her fighting style was extremely similar to what Ilyra had described back when Nolan slaughtered the 20 Ash Hands members.
So naturally all of them had already confirmed she was the same girl from back then, even though they didn't have much information on her.
They had been watching from the sidelines all this time. While they were shocked by her power, they didn't think of her as a big threat.
However, watching their men fall helplessly to her attacks was not an option, they had to intervene.
"Kill her if we can't capture her," the short stubby man ordered as they all stepped forward.
They moved fast.
One raised the earth to trap Nolan. Another summoned black fire. A third hurled a storm of needles made from blood.
Nolan spun, slashing the earth apart. But a blast of wind slammed her into the wall.
BANG!!
She coughed blood. Her shoulder was bleeding, her ribs cracked.
Still, she stood up.
"I'm close, just a little more," she murmured to herself.
The weaker mages tried to finish her, but she growled and roared. Her Sword Aura burst again, wider and deadlier.
She stopped dodging and started charging, unleashing her full might. Holding back was no longer a choice.
Before coming here, she had changed attires. The outfit imbued with defensive magic she usually wore was given to Seyra.
Since she was impersonating her while she was away from the village. It was much safer to give it to her since it had 6th circle defensive magic.
Her current outfit was a spare, similar to the original one but with no defensive magic, only laced with armor she had bought in Lunareth shortly after arriving.
The fight continued.
She tanked spells to the chest, her clothes burning, skin cut, but she slaughtered every magician that got close.
A fourth-circle fire mage screamed as Nolan’s sword cut through his spell and into his skull.
She spun and kicked another to the floor, then stabbed him through the heart.
The executives hurled spells—huge, powerful magic—but Nolan weaved between them, letting some hit her armor, cutting through others. A shadow whip hit her back and tore her flesh, but she didn’t fall.
She was covered in blood now—her own and theirs.
"Not yet," she murmured to herself yet again.
She could feel it; her swordsmanship was evolving through this fight.
One mage tried to sneak up on her from behind.
Nolan didn’t even look. Her sword flew backward like a hook, cutting the man in half with a slice of elemental wind.
Only twenty mages were left.
Then ten.
Then five.
And then—none.
During the entire fight, she had been focusing solely on wiping out the 40 mages first.
And she had done just that, even with the twelve executives intervening, it was useless.
She danced, tanked, parried, and even blocked some of their attacks. But she received a lot of heavy injuries during this process.
Now, she dropped to one knee, panting hard, skin burned, bleeding from deep cuts. Her wolf mask was cracked but not broken.
Her body was in shambles, but still she smiled, "Finally."
She looked up at the twelve executives, still standing. Their faces were twisted in horror.
They had thought they could help kill Nolan and prevent losing their men.
But now it was just them.
And her.
Forty Ash Hands third and fourth circle mages dead, just like that in front of their eyes.
And the person who killed them? A child, barely eleven years old.
Nolan smiled coldly and spoke as she tilted her head.
"Round two?" she said in a playful manner.