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The Beast-Devil manifested without warning in the heart of the district housing the war orphans. If the children hadn’t escaped in time—the mere thought sent a visceral chill down Ruzyeli’s spine. Before the official report could even reach her, the Holy Maiden was already soaring toward the residential sector.
A colossal shadow loomed over the square. The creature was a mountain of flesh, easily tall enough to peer into the upper floors of the surrounding buildings. It was classified as a mid-sized Beast-Devil, its entire form encased in a jagged, azure hide of scales. Panicked screams echoed through the streets as people fled in every direction. Ruzyeli accelerated, her eyes locked on the target.
But something was wrong. The beast was motionless. Its massive arms hung limp at its sides, and its head was bowed in an eerie silence. Seated nonchalantly upon its shoulder was a girl with hair as red as fresh blood—a fellow Holy Maiden.
“Zehain! What is the meaning of this?!” Ruzyeli’s voice tore through the air, sharp with fury.
“Heh. Trust you to be the first on the scene,” Zehain replied, her legs crossed as she looked down from her macabre throne. “And all by your lonesome, too?”
Even facing Ruzyeli’s burning rage, Zehain remained utterly relaxed, her posture oozing indifference. “It’s exactly what it looks like. I thought I’d let this beast run wild around here—oh!”
Before she could finish, Ruzyeli unleashed her Blitz—a massive greatsword-type weapon—straight at Zehain.
The heavy blade was intercepted mid-air, parried by a spear that manifested from the ether. “This district is home to children, Zehain. You know that!”
“Of course I do. Why else would I pick it? It’s the only way to see you actually get serious.” Zehain drifted into the air, hovering with predatory grace.
With a sharp snap of her fingers, the dormant Beast-Devil jolted awake. Its eyes bled into a brilliant, predatory crimson. “Try putting this one down first. Don’t worry,” Zehain declared, landing lightly on the roof of a nearby clock tower. “I won’t interfere. Yet.”
As if in response, the beast let out a deafening roar. Arks of electricity suddenly illuminated the square. The creature was a specialized breed—equipped with organic conductors on its back to discharge lightning, combined with an iron-hard hide and terrifying agility. Normally, it would take a squad of three Holy Maidens to suppress such a threat.
“Begone!” For the infuriated Ruzyeli, the crackling electricity was no obstacle.
She wove through the jagged bolts in mid-air, closing the distance instantly. As the beast lunged with razor-sharp claws, she met the attack with a devastating counter-stroke. Her dual greatswords danced in a blur of steel, severing several of the creature’s fingers in a spray of black ichor.
The beast howled, lashing out again, but it couldn’t so much as graze her. Every time her blades flashed, more of its dark lifeblood painted the stone floor.
“Hmph. Not bad at all,” Zehain mused from her perch on the roof.
Despite being consumed by rage, Ruzyeli’s Divine Pulse allowed her to read her enemy’s every twitch. She moved with a fluid, lethal grace, dodging by hair-thin margins while maintaining a relentless assault. Her speed was unparalleled—no other Holy Maiden could match her.
Fragments of memory flickered through Ruzyeli’s mind. The day she held a sobbing child who missed his mother. The day she realized the true weight of her Revelation. —Everything is for them. I will protect them.
With a guttural cry of conviction, Ruzyeli brought her blades down. The sheer force of the blow cleaved the Beast-Devil’s left arm clean from its shoulder.
“Now this… this might actually be a fight worth watching.” Zehain let out a satisfied laugh, her gaze drifting from Ruzyeli toward the distant horizon.
NEXT
