Vol 3. Chapter 97: Shuoyue Is Pissed Off
Ever since the barrier shattered and the Abyss Demon horde began its all-out assault, Miss Mengxi had sensed that something wasn't quite right.
Namely,
these Abyss Demons seemed to possess reason...
Hmmmm,
not that they were actually intelligent, but rather, their behavior looked rational, as though someone were treating them like marionettes and controlling them remotely.
The Abyss Demon horde, which should have attacked every living creature regardless of age or gender, only targeted the imperial army, the delegations of the various major factions, and certain powerful adventurers within the city after entering it.
As for the ordinary people fleeing for their lives through the streets, the Abyss Demons barely paid them any attention...
And it didn't seem to be simply because these civilians possessed little magical power or battle aura.
Rather, the Abyss Demons seemed to be deliberately avoiding them...
Aside from a few individuals who attacked the Abyss Demons first out of fear and were subsequently counterattacked,
the other fleeing civilians were almost completely unaffected by the Abyss Demons' attacks. They were merely scared half to death by the hordes flying overhead. At most, some died when buildings collapsed or during stampedes...
The delegations of the various factions, including Archbishop Nick and the others, were indeed surrounded by Abyss Demons, but those Abyss Demons somehow gave off the impression that they were merely putting on a show.
Hundreds of Abyss Demons had clearly surrounded those delegations, yet only a dozen or so actually charged forward to fight. The rest simply stayed where they were and watched the show?
Compared to killing these emissaries, the Abyss Demons seemed more interested in frightening them?
...
...
Besides that, the Abyss Demons had displayed all sorts of other bizarre behavior. If one calmed down and carefully observed them, honestly, it wasn't difficult to notice...
In short,
aside from their ferocious attacks against Skyvault's military forces, those Abyss Demons weren't actually fighting seriously anywhere else.
It was completely inconsistent with the habits of Abyss Demons...
For example, the ones behind her?
As she thought,
Mengxi suddenly leaped diagonally forward.
"BOOM!!"
Accompanied by a deafening explosion, a deep-blue Nihility Cannon suddenly came hurtling from behind Mengxi, directly blasting the building she had just been running across into countless fragments.
After dodging the attack, Miss Mengxi thoughtfully glanced over her shoulder.
At that moment,
a full eight Abyss Demons were 'relentlessly pursuing' her, occasionally firing a Nihility Cannon at her just to remind her of their existence.
Among those eight Abyss Demons were even three terrifying beings at Peak Sixth-Tier.
Without using a miracle, Mengxi, who was currently only at Mid Sixth-Tier, couldn't possibly defeat these monsters.
However,
despite being pursued by such a group of monsters, Miss Mengxi remained completely calm and unruffled.
Because
Mengxi knew perfectly well that these Abyss Demons weren't seriously trying to hurt her.
Their attacks were nothing more than empty intimidation.
They could clearly unleash a concentrated bombardment, yet they stubbornly fired their Nihility Cannons one shot at a time.
And their firing speed wasn't merely slow...
It was ridiculously slow.
She could dodge them effortlessly.
Moreover,
even if she were hit,
the power behind those attacks...
probably wouldn't cause her any real harm.
'How strange...'
Miss Mengxi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
As the Child of Destiny, she naturally attracted an enormous amount of hatred from Abyss Demons, yet these monsters were merely chasing after her without launching any truly threatening attacks.
Moreover, judging from the looks in their eyes, Mengxi could clearly tell that these monsters genuinely harbored murderous intent toward her.
Then why weren't they seriously attacking her?
Sure enough,
these Abyss Demons were probably being controlled by someone, preventing them from acting according to their instincts.
And the only beings capable of controlling Abyss Demons were superior Demon King-class existences.
'Could Sister Yumo be controlling these Abyss Demons?'
Mengxi couldn't help but wonder.
A Demon King-class existence capable of commanding an Abyss Demon horde while simultaneously preventing them from attacking her...
The only person Mengxi could think of was that gentle black-haired girl.
'In other words... was Sister Yumo responsible for this attack?'
However, after carefully observing the movements of the Abyss Demons behind her, Mengxi rejected her own theory.
'No. It isn't Sister Yumo...'
If she sensed carefully, it was obvious that the Abyss Demons behind her genuinely wanted to attack her.
Several times, they had already charged much more powerful Nihility Cannons in their mouths, clearly intending to kill her.
But...
for some unknown reason, every single time they finished charging, the Abyss Demons would disperse the accumulated energy again.
Then charge it again.
Then disperse it again...
Over and over.
Clearly, these Abyss Demons—or rather, whoever was controlling them—were currently trapped in an intense internal struggle over whether or not they should actually attack her...
Although the other party concealed it quite well, Mengxi still saw through their state of mind thanks to her sharp senses and extensive experience.
Sister Yumo would never attack her.
Therefore,
the one controlling them obviously wasn't her Sister Yumo.
The one who had launched this massive offensive and was controlling these Abyss Demons must be some other Demon King-class existence.
But wouldn't other Demon King-class beings hate me?
There shouldn't be any reason for them to hold back against me.
Could it be a Demon King-class existence that Sister Yumo knows? Someone who came to help Sister Yumo?
But...
Didn't Sister betray the Demon God?
Under circumstances like that, how could Sister possibly still have a good relationship with other Demon King-class beings?
Strange...
The more Mengxi thought about it, the more confused she became.
The silver-haired girl's beautiful pale-purple eyes narrowed slightly.
'I always get the feeling that Sister Yumo... isn't just an ordinary Demon King-class existence...'
But regardless, while the monsters behind her still had no intention of fighting seriously, she needed to find Sister White as quickly as possible...
If
her guess was correct,
Yuan'er's appearance would very likely attract Sister Yumo here, just like what had happened in Wind Facing City.
She had to hurry.
She needed to prevent Sister White and Sister Yumo from coming into contact with each other...
At that thought, the Holy Aura within Mengxi erupted even more violently, transforming the girl into a silver-white meteor as she rapidly rushed toward the capital prison in the southern district of the city.
Meanwhile, the nine Abyss Demons behind Mengxi relentlessly continued their pursuit, stubbornly launching 'attacks' against Miss Mengxi using 'Nihility Cannons,' various claw strikes, and bites.
Their 'never-give-up' spirit was truly touching.
Unfortunately,
Mengxi was entirely focused on accelerating and no longer had the attention to spare for the Abyss Demons behind her...
--
Meanwhile,
tens of thousands of miles away, in the Great Lake Region at the center of the Great Winter Forest,
"That woman?! She actually... actually ignored me like that! You bastard!!"
Sitting cross-legged atop an enormous boulder while remotely controlling the Abyss Demon horde, little Shuoyue puffed out her cheeks in anger after seeing Mengxi pay so little attention to her attacks and eventually ignore her altogether.
Fuming, she clenched her tiny fists and repeatedly punched the enormous boulder beneath her.
The Seventh-Tier turtle-shaped magical beast that had been disguising itself as that very boulder was immediately beaten dizzy before losing consciousness altogether...
The surrounding water-attributed magical beasts were also terrified stiff by the tiny amount of power leaking from Shuoyue. They trembled uncontrollably, terrified that they might accidentally upset this Demon King-class little ancestor and get exterminated on the spot, just like the neighboring Shuiluo Fish Clan...
Originally,
little Shuoyue, who had remained behind in the Great Winter Forest, was simultaneously guarding their home and controlling the Abyss Demon horde according to Xiao's instructions, launching a targeted assault against Skyvault.
As far as Shuoyue was concerned, she would've loved nothing more than to slaughter every stupid human in Skyvault who had helped the Child of Destiny, along with all the emissaries from the various ** factions, directly turning Skyvault into a dead city!
However, considering that Mommy didn't like this sort of indiscriminate slaughter...
and after Xiao persuaded her,
Shuoyue finally abandoned her original plan to indiscriminately massacre the entire city.
(Of course, when all was said and done, she was still mainly afraid of the feather duster...)
And so,
under Shuoyue's control, the Abyss Demon horde concentrated most of its firepower against the Skyvault defenders Xue Tianao was so proud of.
As for the civilians and emissaries of the other factions, it was enough to awaken the fear of Abyss Demons buried deep within their hearts.
At most, they could kill a few stubborn idiots when necessary...
While Shuoyue was methodically carrying out the plan, she discovered the silver-haired girl running through the city.
The Child of Destiny herself.
Shuoyue absolutely despised this woman.
She was clearly Mommy's enemy, yet recently she'd been clinging to Mommy every single day!
It was also because of her that Mommy had left the forest!
She was the reason Shuoyue couldn't cuddle with Mommy more!
'I hate her! I hate her! I hate her so much!'
Although she couldn't kill that woman while Mother was in Skyvault, surely she could at least scare her a little?
Wasn't she supposed to be so amazing?
Then Shuoyue would knock her down a peg or two~
Better yet, she could make her thoroughly embarrass herself in front of everyone~
Hehehe~
With that thought in mind, Shuoyue happily sent a squad of elite Abyss Demons over to play with Mengxi~
However,
after all of Shuoyue's hard work, the frightened expression she had expected to see on the Child of Destiny's face never appeared.
Even when faced with attacks from several Sixth-Tier Abyss Demons, the silver-haired girl's expression barely changed.
She wasn't afraid at all?!
Recalling everything that had just happened, Shuoyue couldn't help but roar in displeasure.
"Why isn't that woman scared at all?!"
Could it be?
Had she seen through the fact that Shuoyue was only pretending to attack?!
N-No way, right?
She had clearly acted so convincingly!
How did she figure it out?
...
Wuuuuuu...
I hate her so much!
Unable to see the Child of Destiny suffer, Shuoyue once again waved her little hands around unhappily.
Terrifying waves of Power of Shadow of Silence continuously spread outward with every swing of those tiny hands, causing even the sky above Ice Soul Lake to suddenly crack apart.
As for the turtle-shaped magical beast that had barely managed to regain consciousness, it was once again subjected to the shockwaves of Shuoyue's power and was fortunate enough to be knocked unconscious for a second time...
Fortunately,
after venting for a while, little Shuoyue gradually calmed down.
Otherwise, the races living around Ice Soul Lake would've probably suffered a complete mental breakdown.
However, the main reason Shuoyue managed to calm herself was because the other Abyss Demons inside Skyvault had transmitted some more important information back to her.
Compared to frightening the Child of Destiny, what was happening elsewhere in Skyvault was currently much more worthy of Shuoyue's attention.
Thinking this, Shuoyue sighed helplessly
and recalled the Abyss Demons pursuing Mengxi.
"Forget it. I'll teach you a lesson another time."
For now...
Slowly closing her blue-gold eyes, Shuoyue shifted her primary consciousness back to the battlefield in Skyvault.
Through the vision of two Seventh-Tier Abyss Demons, Shuoyue immediately discovered a unit numbering several hundred people gathering outside the imperial palace.
This was?
'Are they trying to reinforce Xue Tianao?'
Hehe.
Not a chance...
Meanwhile,
outside the Skyvault Imperial Palace,
gazing in the direction of the 'Divine Armament Hall' and watching the golden energy and black light continuously erupting from within, the Vice-Captain of the Royal Knights, Kaxiuluo, drew the sword at his waist.
He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and looked toward the several hundred knights gathered behind him.
"Move out."
Upon receiving the Vice-Captain's command, the hastily assembled unit surged toward Xue Tianao's location in a mighty formation, preparing to assist His Majesty against the unidentified 'assassin.'
However, the instant they received their orders and took their very first step,
torrential Power of Shadow of Silence suddenly erupted.
Tens of thousands of purple Nihility Cannons filled with destructive power abruptly tore through the air and came hurtling toward the unit from every direction...
?!!
Huh?
"BOOM!!!"
In an instant,
purple light erupted violently as flames soared into the sky.
Before the Royal Knights, including Vice-Captain Kaxiuluo, could even understand what had happened, they were caught completely off guard and swallowed by the raging inferno...