The sun shone through the dense branches and leaves of the trees, illuminating a castle that shouldn’t have been there.

Although it was called a castle, it was only because of its appearance, its size was similar to that of a common house, but its interior was completely different.

“Are there still no traces of that woman?”

Shirley drummed her fingers on the table impatiently.

Several days had passed since they returned to the human world, and despite the searches conducted, they had found nothing, not even a trace of that woman.

“Sorry, Princess Shirley, the five guardians are searching everywhere and will report immediately if they find any clues.”

Yuri gave a slight bow.

In reality, they weren’t only searching for that woman but also for Luna’s body.

However, Luna’s body was also missing.

For this, they had captured some humans who were near the incident site to try to obtain information about what had happened.

But they also yielded no results...

“Forget it, I’ll go out and have a look by myself.”

Shirley waved her hand, and her body turned into a cloud of black smoke that dissipated on the spot.

“Princess Shirley...”

Yuri hesitated for a moment, thought a bit, and eventually decided not to follow her.

Leaving Shirley alone for a while shouldn’t be a problem, right? After all, with the five guardians present, even if Shirley took some impulsive actions, they could ensure that no major disaster would occur.

But at that moment, a strong aura of light emanated from outside, instantly illuminating the dark forest.

“It’s not possible...”

Yuri’s eyes narrowed, and she ran outside the castle.

There, from a distance, a semicircular light barrier surrounded an area, and the intense brightness prevented her from seeing what was inside.

“Damn it!”

Yuri stomped hard, breaking the ground, and her body glided through the air in a stream of light toward the barrier.

Upon quickly reaching the front of the barrier, Yuri took out her whip and struck it forcefully against the surface of the barrier.

When the whip collided with the barrier filled with intense light, a corrosive “crunch-crunch” sound emerged from the whip.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

The light barrier suddenly appeared and was corroding her weapon.

Although the weapon was not a magical artifact, it was still easily corroding a weapon of this level...

It must be the enemy they hadn’t encountered yet.

She was hiding nearby, waiting for the opportunity for Shirley to act alone.

After several attacks, Yuri concluded that even if she used a magical artifact here, she would not be able to destroy this solid barrier.

She would have to wait for the guardians to return to have any hope.

With the light aura so dense here, they should have reacted and would return soon...

With Princess Shirley’s strength, she should be able to hold on for a while.

Besides... Princess Shirley cannot lose!

In recent days, Shirley had discussed blood control techniques extensively with Audrey and gained many insights.

The only concern was that, as the fusion with the Primordial Blood was still recent, the time Shirley could sustain the fight might not be very long.

...

Meanwhile, with the five guardians.

Lamina—Azarada also made some discoveries.

“Ah? So many people here? I had cleared this out two days ago... Surely these guys must have relaxed while working...”

She muttered this, shaking her head.

“Then let the grand Lady Lamina deal with these worms! Hahaha!”

Lamina laughed loudly and stood up from the branch where she had been hiding, preparing for a dramatic entrance.

Unfortunately, the fragile branch could barely support her small body, and under her weight, the branch broke in two.

“Ah——”

Lamina barely had time to let out a scream of despair before falling to the ground.

Not far away, Martins furrowed his brow in confusion and asked the knight beside him.

“Did you hear any strange sounds?”

“It sounded like... laughter?”

The knight was also unsure.

“Stop! Don’t move!”

At that moment, a childlike voice, full of presence but also very immature, came forward.

Looking ahead, they saw a little girl with extremely pale skin, covered in stitching scars.

At that moment, her disheveled hair was full of leaves, and she looked quite unkempt.

However, Martins was on alert.

A little girl with this appearance looked somewhat frightening, especially with her red eyes and sharp teeth, not to mention the recent news of people disappearing around here...

Putting all this information together, the answer seemed obvious.

“Everyone, be on alert!”

Martins drew his long golden sword and prepared to face the enemy.

Although facing a strange little girl, he was not nervous.

His sword was a magical artifact personally enchanted by the Pope, causing great damage to evil beings.

Surrounding him were the elite of the Church of Light, with impeccable individual combat skills and cooperation.

In the carriage behind him were four priests capable of casting powerful light miracles, which could heal the group, provide buffs, and also attack enemies.

Additionally, there was also the Church of Light’s “ultimate weapon.”

This setup was enough to handle various crises.

But...

Would reality really match their expectations?

Lamina bit her own finger and watched the humans in front of her with a doubtful expression.

Why did these individuals dare to resist?

That was a question she needed to consider.

Because even the weakest beings, in the face of a powerful creature, usually retreat instinctively.

Was some kind of belief among humans at play?

Although she didn’t understand this very well, she preferred to enjoy the current playtime.

If these individuals had beliefs, then tear them all apart!

“What’s going on?”

Anna peeked out of the carriage and asked Martins.

“Hmm... Just a strange little girl, we should be able to handle it...”

But before he could finish, Martins felt his vision spinning, and the world seemed to spin endlessly.

What’s happening!?

He still didn’t understand the situation; why did the figure he saw look so much like himself?

He thought about it.

And this would be the last question he would ask in his life.

“What a lovely little girl, I can’t wait to crush her, but... before that, let’s finish off these worms!”

Lamina made a cheerful sound, and her figure disappeared...