The wind in the north was always laden with a chill.
The Northern Capital was very prosperous; after all, it was a territory directly under the Grand Duke's command. Although it could not compare to the urban clusters of the Eastern Domain, the fact that it stood grandly in such an environment was magical in itself. As it turned out, even in a place with a harsh living environment, people had built such a beautiful and livable place.
Roland leaned against the window, quietly overlooking the myriad lights of the city.
Night always breeds a certain measure of evil.
Snowflakes drifted down from the sky. Light and shadows flashed from time to time, accompanied by the clashing of iron weapons. Roland watched with keen interest as a bruised and battered young girl was driven to the end of a dark alley. Opposite her, the leading black-robed figure was chanting softly, looking as though he were praying.
"You scumbags!"
Unwillingness showed in the girl's eyes as she spoke stubborn words.
Eleanor had thought these guys would give up the chase once she escaped to Lucifiel, but these lunatics clearly had no intention of letting her go. Still... if she could save those children, her death would be worthwhile... As the pitch-black sacrificial magic circle lit up beneath her feet, she closed her eyes in despair.
"May the Fallen Mother Goddess purify your soul."
Evil whispers echoed in her ears.
Imbued within them was pure, unadulterated malice.
"..."
Ten seconds passed, and she felt no discomfort whatsoever.
"Am I... already dead?"
She slowly opened her eyes, only to see a completely different sight. In the sky, countless chains shot out from golden spatial ripples, piercing straight through the evil cultists before they could even utter a scream. The pitch-black chains gleamed with golden light, divine and powerful.
The sacrificial ritual beneath her feet had vanished with their deaths.
The cultists of the Fallen Mother Goddess were wiped out in an instant.
Even their bodies turned to ash, leaving behind not a single trace of their existence.
It all happened suddenly and just as silently.
The grand scene did not even disturb the surrounding civilians. They would never know that beneath this silent night, a slaughter had played out, lives perishing like weeds.
Having witnessed it all, Eleanor stared blankly at the chains retracting into the golden spatial ripples. The world was silent, as if to the owner of the chains, this was merely a trivial matter. She gathered her last trace of mana into her eyes, wanting to see through the true nature of the chains.
【Illusion-Breaking Eye】
She traced back along the spatial ripples that released the chains.
Eleanor's soul perspective instantly plunged into total darkness.
She could see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing, as though all five senses were completely sealed, entering a realm of nothingness. In an instant, the girl's soul was pulled out. In that final flash, she seemed to see the domain of a so-called "god," a realm of boundless terror hidden within an infinitely massive cage. Tracing back to the true source of that power, she saw a young man looking right back at her.
Noble and arrogant golden eyes expanded infinitely in the girl's vision.
"Hmm?"
Roland looked toward the girl who had originally not drawn his attention.
The two were several kilometers apart, yet in a way, their gazes met. A glimmer of brightness flashed in Roland's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled slightly upward as he spoke slowly to the girl peering at him, "Curiosity killed the cat, but... this time, I shall pardon your rude peering."
The next moment, a sharp pain shot through her eyes, and the world plunged into darkness once again.
After she passed out, a group of black-robed figures carried the girl away.
The world returned to complete silence, and this minor farce finally came to an end.
This time, Roland did not stop them, nor did he wish to get involved. The reason he had slain the cultists of the Fallen Mother Goddess was that he had personally warned them never to set foot in Lucifiel. Now, they not only dared to kill people under his very nose, but even brazenly conducted a sacrificial ritual inside the city.
Was that not blatantly ignoring the words of him, their financial backer and investor?
Besides, even Roland himself would not conduct forbidden rituals inside the city.
Instead, he chose to go to the sparsely populated Verus Mountains.
Putting the matter of the Church of the Fallen Mother Goddess behind him, there would be plenty of time to deal with those guys in the future, and it would not be too late to hold them accountable then. Forget mere cultists; even if their cult leader came, they would not dare set foot in Lucifiel without Roland's permission. At this moment, however, he had already thought of a hundred ways to punish them.
"To actually see me through 【Wedge · Chains of Heaven】, could it be 【Illusion-Breaking Eye】, or..." Several figures flashed through Roland's mind. "Someone with this kind of ability... the royal family? No, they wouldn't appear here. If it's 【Illusion-Breaking Eye】, then it should be Eleanor, right?"
"I didn't expect to run into her ahead of time here. Interesting..."
...
On the other side, the unconscious girl had no idea that all her secrets had already been thoroughly exposed.
The next morning.
The girl woke up from the bed, feeling returning to her body. The next moment, a sharp pain throbbed in her brain, and her eyes felt sore and dry. Only after a while did she fully regain her senses. The wounds on her body had been treated and completely healed, and beside her stood several figures.
"Captain..."
Eleanor called out with a guilty conscience.
"Talk, Eleanor." The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes, a trace of anger lingering on his stern face. "What on earth did you go off to do? What happened to the wounds on your body? And... why were you passed out in Lucifiel?"
The barrage of questions made the girl even more sheepish.
Seeing her stammering, Rhys Marshall sighed, his expression softening slightly. "Next time, you must follow orders during an operation. I know those bastards are bound to commit atrocious deeds, but that's not how you play the hero. Tell me the details—what exactly happened? Why did you pass out... and what on earth happened to those scum from the Fallen Mother Goddess?"
Eleanor fell into recollection.
"Yesterday afternoon, I successfully infiltrated a stronghold of the Fallen Mother Goddess cult. Then, while they weren't looking, I freed the kidnapped children. But... they killed a child right on the spot and carved a sacrificial ritual with the child's blood. I really couldn't hold back, so I... I... made a move."
Even now, recalling that bloody scene and the heart-wrenching cries of those children made Eleanor shudder. This was her first time undertaking a task assigned by the organization; before this, she had never seen this dark side of the world, and it was truly a heavy blow to her young mind.
It had even altered her view of the world to a degree.
"Later, I fled to Lucifiel City. I thought those guys wouldn't chase me here, but unexpectedly, they pursued me relentlessly even inside the city. Injured as I was, I was driven into a corner."
Speaking up to this point, Eleanor paused, seemingly gathering her thoughts.
"And then?" Rhys Marshall asked with a frown.
"And then... I was saved. Countless golden spatial ripples appeared in the sky, and innumerable chains shot out from them. I was a bit scared at the time, so I closed my eyes. When I opened them, the cultists were all dead... Um, in just an instant, leaving behind not a single trace."
"Did an expert in the city step in?"
Someone at the side asked.
Rate on N.U.
