Watching the shadow slowly emerging in the black mist, Mu Xuan picked up the Holy Sword without the slightest hesitation and turned to leave.
She understood what Milly had said… The rules here were collapsing!
This meant that the rules that once bound the Specters were gradually failing, losing their power to restrain them.
Mu Xuan didn’t need to guess… It wasn’t just because she had taken the Holy Sword, but more so because the Holy Sword’s power had weakened to the point it could no longer suppress these abominations.
Her heart pounded relentlessly as she felt the cold wind on her face. For a moment, Mu Xuan’s mind went blank…
“What a wretched world this is…”
She kept mumbling to herself, her little head swaying as if trying to shake off everything that had just happened…
But… but…
“Mister, what do you think the Goddess really looks like?”
“Mister, my name is Milly. What’s yours?”
“You really are so gentle… And your name always reminds me of the flowers drifting among the clouds, those Mu Xuan flowers that symbolize pure white, hope, and the future…”
“Hehe, then can I call you Lady Mu Xuan~”
“Her Holiness Mu Xuan is really so cute~”
…
The more she tried to forget, the more Milly’s words echoed in her mind, taking root like seeds and spreading rampantly until they filled her thoughts.
Unknowingly… she started to feel the air grow heavy…
She reached up and wiped the corner of her eye, feeling the dampness that had welled up there.
Golden, cross-shaped pupils quivered endlessly in Mu Xuan’s eyes, shining with a faint light.
“So… they’re golden…”
She stopped beside a broken wall and looked at her hand, now stained with golden tears she’d wiped from her eyes. Mu Xuan couldn’t help but mutter.
“This miserable world… can it really be saved?”
Confusion… helplessness… flooded Mu Xuan’s mind.
When she first came to this world and learned it had been invaded by Specters, her only thought was to survive.
Nothing was more important than staying alive.
But now… she only wondered why she wasn’t one of those invincible protagonists from other worlds… If she were, she could resolve anything with a wave of her hand…
Sadly, when truly facing a slightly more terrifying existence, Mu Xuan could only feel suffocating frustration and helplessness…
There was nothing she could do…
…
Yes, this world was vast… and the number of Specters unimaginably terrifying…
Those unspeakable Specters might be hovering in the sky above the world shrouded in black mist, gazing down at the earth.
She was just an ordinary person with a little power…
Sometimes, even knowing how frightening her enemies were, she couldn’t help but indulge in those impossible fantasies.
That’s right, she was just an ordinary person… She could have resigned, stopped being the Pope, and avoided all this trouble…
Sometimes she really just wanted to end it all!
Damn this world!
The golden cross-shaped pupils shifted from dim to bright, and without even realizing it, a platinum aura radiated from around Mu Xuan.
Her silver hair floated gently, merging with the aura of the Holy Sword in her hand, appearing supremely sacred.
Even her obviously ill-fitting clothes fluttered now, not clinging to her body, yet perfectly covering her.
She wasn’t running anymore. So what if she died!
If It awakened, so what? Would It still bully her after she was dead?
[Laelacel]
The Holy Sword seemed to sense Mu Xuan’s resolve. Borrowing the faint aura, it transmitted its true name to Mu Xuan’s mind.
“Laelacel… So you’re ready to go all out too…”
Sensing the intent from within [Laelacel], Mu Xuan slowly turned her head and looked toward the massive form flickering in the black mist.
The platinum aura violently quivered under Mu Xuan’s gaze, forming a powerful vortex.
Feeling the prickling of silver hair whipping against her face, Mu Xuan showed not a trace of retreat.
“Koersar, you… monster that should have died long ago in the past!”
A clear, sweet voice burst from her throat as Mu Xuan faced the surging black mist, so thick it could hardly be parted, and stepped toward the shadow.
“يجب أن يموت”
Incomprehensible syllables drifted from the black mist, followed by endless whispers of madness.
The shape in the mist grew clearer. Mu Xuan’s golden, cross-shaped pupils were quickly tinged with black, her body flickering like a machine on the verge of malfunction.
Heh… Still can’t see this Specter’s true form…
Mu Xuan’s pupils were soon completely engulfed by darkness. That terrifying corruption instantly broke through her protective aura, crashing into her mind.
Her consciousness began to blur, her vision swimming…
She could guess… This Specter was definitely Koersar!
Even now, Mu Xuan still didn’t understand what role Koersar played in this story… Why had It destroyed the cathedral…
Before her mind was completely overtaken by those twisted, frenzied whispers, Mu Xuan drained every last bit of light within her and poured it all into [Laelacel].
This ceremonial sword, forged for rituals, now radiated a chilling might.
A holy, pure white aura condensed into a sharp blade, circling endlessly around the Holy Sword.
Unable to see, Mu Xuan couldn’t judge the Specter’s exact position. But the creature was so huge that, with her last breath, Mu Xuan hurled the Holy Sword in the general direction.
“Swish—”
The light blade shot out along the sword’s path, slicing through the black mist with a sharp, tearing shriek. As the Holy Sword flew, Mu Xuan’s body swayed and then collapsed weakly to the ground.
Her silver-white hair, bereft of the power of light, fell in disarray over her body.
“يجب أن يموت”
Once more, those incomprehensible syllables sounded. An unseen force neutralized several of the light blades, then crashed toward the Holy Sword. A massive hand reached out and slammed viciously at the sword.
The aura flickered slightly. The Holy Sword seemed to have a will of its own; the instant the giant hand struck, it vanished. The next moment, it pierced through the black mist, stabbing fiercely at the shadow’s head.
A light as bright as day flashed past, and the platinum light of the Holy Sword shot through the shadow’s head.
But the shadow only shuddered, then reached out a giant hand again and smashed the Holy Sword deep into the ground.
Through the gap in the mist where it was pierced, the shadow turned around.
Countless writhing tentacles twisted together to form its head… and on its belly grew a face, wearing a disturbingly eerie smile.
The black mist gathered, seemingly trying to conceal it once again.
But in the next instant, another streak of silver-white light flashed, slicing apart the mist that had just begun to reform.
“You’ve worked hard, our dear Saintess~”