Not long after, the Elite Kingdom Knight Order withdrew from the small hill.
Everyone instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
“That was incredible, Ten-Step Hall!”
“How did you know just saying that would make them back off?”
The Golden Fang Beast Sisters immediately surrounded Ten-Step Hall, lavishing her with praise.
Ten-Step Hall beamed brightly, but in truth, she was a little dazed herself. She had just blurted something out on a whim, never expecting it to work so well.
But Qingshamu’s expression was anything but pleasant. She hadn’t expected Simon to have such a silver tongue. Where on earth had she learned to talk like that?
If this girl was allowed to keep growing, she would surely become a great enemy of mankind.
Now she understood why Simon needed a mask. Besides looking cool, it was also perfect for hiding her expression—otherwise, she’d be exposed in a second.
“……”
Meanwhile, Feini was still savoring her recently awakened Transmigrator Skill. Upon closer thought, it looked quite impressive, but actually… it was indeed sharp.
Her starting skill was just like playing a text-based adventure game—at crucial moments in the story, she could choose which route to take.
And Ten-Step Hall had no idea that the words she had just spoken were actually Feini’s choice for her.
No one else in the world noticed anything odd about that slightly abrupt line either. No sense of discord at all.
Even those Kingdom Knights believed Ten-Step Hall’s nonsense without a second thought—it was as if everyone had been brainwashed by Feini, all willingly playing along in her little game.
Perhaps that was the true terror of her hidden skill: the mysterious power to alter the world’s course.
This was authentic, unrefined text adventure “galgame” style—filled with rough edges and a lack of logic at every turn.
Every character acted like a fool—even the protagonist was a little pigheaded. Yet, that only made the world feel more real.
After all, real life is full of fools. A world of only geniuses would be the truly unrealistic one.
In this group, the sharpest mind was Feini. Her thoughts were the clearest.
She had noticed, with a keen eye, that it was the Vice Captain who, after seeing White Feather Dove, whispered a few words to the Knight Commander.
Then, the Elite Kingdom Knight Order chose to retreat and trusted them without hesitation.
So maybe the commander didn’t actually believe Ten-Step Hall’s ridiculous tale—he retreated because of White Feather Dove.
But why would the Kingdom Army withdraw at the sight of a daughter born just a few months ago in the Divine Demon Academy?
The reason wasn’t hard to guess. If it wasn’t because of her Mother, then it must be related to her Father.
White Feather Dove bore an eighty-percent resemblance to the Hero of the Countryside. They must have mistaken her for the Sword of the Bright Moon.
Although the real hero, Qingshamu, was right there beside them, she not only disguised herself but also wore a mask—who could recognize her?
But her daughter was different; an old acquaintance really could make a mistake.
Yet, when the Sword of the Bright Moon appeared, she always wore a fully enclosed Helmet—just like how the Northern Demon King always appeared as the Giant Spiked Knight—both were deceptive disguises.
So, perhaps few truly knew her real appearance.
In short, it was all terribly convoluted, one detail linked to another, all full of intricacies.
“Feini, are you alright?” Ten-Step Hall came over to Feini with great concern, her tone full of worry.
Qingshamu’s wife-protection radar instantly blared to life, but lately, she’d been restrained by righteousness and conscience, so her reaction was a tad slow.
Because she was a moment too late, all she could do was watch helplessly as Ten-Step Hall sat down beside Feini.
The seat that belonged to her was instantly taken away.
The Hero of the Countryside felt as though she was bound by countless invisible chains—even her heart was shackled, making it hard to breathe.
“I’m fine. It was all thanks to you just now. Amazing.” Feini replied perfunctorily, offering a formulaic compliment.
“All thanks to your support.” Ten-Step Hall failed to notice Feini’s perfunctory tone.
“……” Qingshamu, standing nearby and eavesdropping, also didn’t pick up on Feini’s lack of sincerity, and really thought Feini was complimenting Ten-Step Hall, which made her feel even worse.
She had never heard such words from Feini, who was always so indifferent toward her.
She felt she shouldn’t be standing there at all—she ought to just crawl into the tent and sleep, being a useless husband.
“Simon, how do you know about the human race’s secret squads?” Xueyuedai suddenly butted in, breaking up Ten-Step Hall and Feini’s alone time.
“It was something an elder told me before,” Ten-Step Hall lied without batting an eye, her words smooth as ever.
She didn’t realize why she’d say that, not knowing she was actually being manipulated by someone else to speak that line.
“Your cooking is amazing—better than a top-class restaurant.” Ten-Step Hall turned to Feini, throwing out some awkwardly sweet words.
She must have thought she was suave and charming, confident that no one could resist her charm.
“Eh, really?” Unfortunately, Feini was immune to all that, responding with the same perfunctory tone.
“I think it’s pretty ordinary. Besides stew, can you cook anything else?” Xueyuedai was there to rain on the parade, harshly criticizing her, finally regaining a bit of her old foxy attitude.
“……” As for Qingshamu, she simply sat coolly on a log at the back, pretending to be aloof and distant, but in reality, she was just wallowing in self-pity.
They were like four wriggling maggots—what were they squirming about all day? They didn’t do anything useful or train, just chattered endlessly.
Lianjian sensed the mood was off and didn’t want to get involved in their twisted little universe, so she went off with her sister and the transfer student for a sparring match.
The Lost Beast Squad thus split into two distinct scenes.
On one side, four girls sat around the campfire bragging.
On the other, three were sparring and leaping about on the open ground, making a wild mess.
—————
And so, they lazed about for several days…
Out on the Plain, the Kingdom Knight Army had replenished its numbers to several thousand strong.
They had hauled in a host of massive Ballista Carts and countless Horse Refusers, arrayed out front to serve as obstacles.
The Elite Kingdom Knight Order’s commander also knew that a special Adventurer Squad was stationed atop the hill.
Since last time, no one had disturbed them, tacitly accepting their presence.
“Rumble, rumble! Rumble, rumble! Rumble, rumble!”
Today, the Behemoth finally arrived at the interception site.
Just as Feini had guessed, it was a massive, turtle-like Demonic Beast, carrying a rocky mountain on its back as it slowly crawled along.
It looked rather unimpressive.
However, this time, Feini had miscalculated.
From the high ground, the party’s group of powerful Demonic Beast girls gazed down at it, each one’s face filled with dread and sweat pouring down.
Even the Northern Demon King, Scarlet Dragon Ten-Step Hall, wore a dark expression, a cold bead of sweat trickling down her brow.
In contrast, Feini and White Feather Dove didn’t react at all—neither of them were pure-blood Demonic Beasts and couldn’t sense the rank and pressure felt by the others.
For even Ten-Step Hall and Xueyuedai to be frozen in shock, it meant this colossal creature’s Demonic Beast bloodline was at least equal to the Scarlet Dragon and Nine-Tailed Fox.