In the pitch-black void of the rift, a shadow seemed to stand there, watching them.
Xia Li suddenly felt a chill crawl up her spine and immediately retreated behind Veronika.
But when she looked back into the rift again, there was only darkness, as if the previous scene had been an illusion.
How could that be possible!
Xia Li wasn’t foolish enough to seek death like that.
The best thing to do in a situation like this was to leave immediately!
She absorbed the corpse of the giant basilisk drake into her ring and asked Veronika, “You and Furs take your time closing the rift. I won’t accompany you… Uh, what are you doing?”
Veronika was manipulating her mana to gather the black sludge on the ground, storing it into a dimensional space for magical storage.
“Collecting it to deliver to the Holy City, for research into the composition of this substance… It’s the first time we’ve managed to gather so many samples,” Veronika replied.
“Oh, if that’s all, I’ll be going then…” Xia Li turned to leave, but both her voice and movements suddenly froze.
Her instincts blared an alarm in her mind.
Something was approaching!
Something very dangerous!
Not even the giant basilisk drake had made her feel like this!
Xia Li immediately looked back toward the rift in the sky. Countless dark hands stretched out from within, like vengeful wraiths trying to drag her into the pitch-black void.
What the hell is that thing?!
Swish!
She drew her magic sword, slicing through all the hands reaching for her, then shouted back at Veronika, “Something’s wrong. There’s some filthy thing in the rift…”
“Hahaha! Xia Li Li, scared you… cough!” Furs laughed heartily after using the high-tier spell Shadow Bind, though she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“…” Xia Li was speechless.
Was this the time for jokes!
She finally understood what it meant to be pushed beyond endurance.
Enough already!
Xia Li grabbed Furs by the ear and raised her hand, slapping her on the butt.
Clap clap clap!
The sharp sound echoed through the forest.
Did it sound nice?
If it did, it was a nice butt.
“Ugh! Xia… Xia Li Li? Wait… ah! It hurts… ah ah ah~ No, I’ll die!” Furs flailed helplessly in the air with both hands.
Xia Li gave her a dozen slaps in quick succession, her hand growing sore from the motion. She was sure that even the most unruly child would be taught to behave after this.
But… what was that dangerous thing just now?
“Sisilia…”
A faint voice, as delicate as it might be scattered by the wind, echoed.
Xia Li’s pupils constricted, and her heart tightened sharply.
That was her name from when she was a Demon Lord!
“Sounds like something… huh, I’m hearing things from Xia Li Li’s beating,” Furs groaned, clutching her butt in pain.
“It’s not a hallucination.” Veronika’s expression darkened. Even when facing the rift and the giant basilisk drake, she had never shown such a look.
Sisilia — a name written in history books.
For the ten Saints of the Englia Empire, it was a name especially worth remembering.
Before this world’s current age, the name had already echoed throughout the realm.
Its bearer had once led the demon clan to crush the empire’s eastern expedition, throwing the empire into panic. When the city’s infants would not stop crying, simply saying “Sisilia has come” was enough to silence them.
The Demon Lord, Sisilia.
Now, the enemy the Englia Empire most feared to see!
Three hundred years ago, if not for the hero who appeared out of nowhere, sacrificing his life’s flame to severely wound Sisilia and send the Demon Lord into slumber, the world might already have fallen under the terrifying rule of the demon clan.
But why hear the Demon Lord’s name here?
“Sisilia…”
The faint voice sounded again.
Veronika raised her head, looking toward the rift in the sky.
Inside the supposedly empty rift stood a ghostly pale, barely visible figure. The moment Veronika saw it, the silhouette vanished as if it had never existed.
Xia Li also caught only a fleeting glimpse.
But she was certain of what she saw.
Someone was inside the rift!
And that person could see through her current body, recognizing her identity as the Demon Lord!
Tsk… this person must not be allowed to remain.
“Sisilia? Hmm… isn’t that the legendary Demon Lord’s name!” Furs turned her head, looking around, “The Demon Lord is in this place? Impossible!”
“Theoretically impossible, but…” Veronika’s gaze swept over Xia Li and Furs.
In past crises dealing with pollution alongside the Saints, nothing like this had ever happened.
The only difference now was the presence of Xia Li and Furs.
“Looks like the situation is quite clear.”
Xia Li took a deep breath and said seriously to Veronika, “The pollution appearing in the Englia Empire over the past few years must be the work of demons!”
Sorry, the other self far away in the demon clan.
To rid herself of suspicion, she had no choice but to say this.
It was all because of that guy in the rift, speaking at such a time and with such clear implication!
Any reasonable person would suspect her!
“…What you say makes sense.” Veronika glanced at the black sludge. “This substance, similar to what’s produced through dark magic alchemy, does seem to be demon work.”
But the entire region around Steinburg was protected by the Night Goddess’s barrier. How could demons have infiltrated Aiden Forest and created such a large-scale rift?
This wasn’t something ordinary magic could accomplish.
Even a Saint like her couldn’t handle the rift and needed to rely on prayers to the Night Goddess…
The source of the rift’s creation was at least a forbidden spell-level magic!
If demons were using forbidden spells within the Englia Empire’s borders, how could the Saints remain oblivious!
Unless the Demon Lord had already awakened.
With the power of the legendary Demon Lord, it was not impossible to pierce the Night Goddess’s protective barrier, releasing forbidden spells without leaving a trace or raising alarm.
But this did not explain the three rifts that appeared one after another in the empire over the past five years.
Veronika considered another possibility.
Demons had been focused on magical research for years; perhaps they had made new breakthroughs that allowed them to create things incomprehensible to humans.
And then, with demon spies planted within the empire, they set up these rifts.
The first three were small-scale trials. This time, the pollution showed its full deterrent force—even lord-class giant basilisk drakes were controlled.
Whichever possibility was true, it was terrible news for the Englia Empire.
Of course, nothing could be concluded yet.
There were still two suspicious individuals present.
Veronika shifted her mana, forming golden chains that bound the hands of Xia Li and Furs.
“Come with me to the Night Sanctuary. I need you to undergo interrogation under the watchful gaze of the Night Goddess.”