This,

What kind of joke was this?

Bernard shook his head in disbelief.

When he raised his head toward the sky, the bright sunlight that had originally shone over the Nivelle Mountains had completely vanished. At some point, a crimson cloud had appeared overhead, blocking out the sun and bathing the entire mountain range in an eerie scarlet glow.

And,

Upon closer inspection,

One would realize that it wasn't a cloud at all.

It was an endless sea of Blood Butterflies!

The sky above the Nivelle Mountains had been completely swallowed by them.

Butterflies,

Were originally beautiful creatures.

However,

The butterflies in the sky gave Bernard an indescribable feeling of unease.

Sinister.

Oppressive.

Terrifying...

And with such overwhelming numbers,

They made one's scalp go numb.

The moment he looked up, Bernard involuntarily staggered backward. An unprecedented sense of dread surged into his heart.

In truth, it wasn't just Bernard.

The surrounding mages and Royal Guards were the same, all staring at the sky with horror written across their faces.

"What... what exactly is going on?"

Almost everyone was asking themselves that same question.

However,

It seemed they would never receive an answer.

Or rather,

They no longer had the luxury to think about it.

The next instant,

Under the dumbfounded gaze of Bernard and the others, countless crimson rays suddenly converged within the center of the blood-red "cloud"!

An overwhelming pressure descended from above.

A pressure that came directly from the soul.

It crashed down upon everyone!

In an instant,

The previously dignified Third Prince Bernard spat out a mouthful of blood and dropped to his knees in agony!

Those with insufficient strength fared no better.

"T-this... Grand Mage! W-what is happening?!"

The sudden abnormality snapped Bernard out of his daze.

Terrified out of his wits, the Third Prince immediately shouted at Zeke.

Unfortunately,

Zeke no longer had the time to concern himself with the prince's safety.

Because,

At the moment Bernard collapsed,

Terrifying crimson lightning began to churn within the blood-red "cloud" like an overturning ocean.

Boundless power gathered inside, continuously compressing and condensing.

Merely feeling the aftermath of the scarlet lightning was enough to fill Zeke with horror.

The Grand Mage quickly realized,

That once the lightning descended,

Every single one of them would die.

There were only two choices.

Use every acceleration spell available and flee alone.

Or strike first and interrupt the gathering power.

And clearly,

As the Royal Grand Mage,

Zeke chose to fulfill his duty.

He would protect the royal family!

The next moment,

Wrapped in brown magical power, Zeke swung his staff and charged resolutely into the heavens!

Unfortunately,

Compared to the speed at which the crimson lightning gathered,

His charge was utterly insignificant.

"BOOM!!!"

Accompanied by thunder and lightning,

And the explosive eruption of crimson brilliance,

Dozens of scarlet lightning bolts descended from the heavens!

Under the terrified and despairing eyes of Bernard and the others,

They struck Zeke head-on.

Instantly, the white magical barrier surrounding him shattered completely.

And amid unbearable agony,

The Grand Mage was consumed by the crimson lightning and reduced to ashes on the spot, scattering with the wind...

Without even having the chance to utter a scream.

"H-how... how could this happen?!"

Seeing this, Bernard was utterly terrified.

He knelt motionless upon the ground, his expression twisted into something both grotesque and absurd from extreme fear.

The guards around him who still retained some ability to move desperately rushed to the prince's side, trying to drag the stunned royal away.

However,

The crimson lightning gave them no opportunity to flee.

Suddenly,

Amid desperate screams,

Dozens of lightning bolts gathered together once more and transformed into a gigantic crimson energy sword!

Surrounded by countless Blood Butterflies,

It descended with a thunderous crash.

The next moment—

"BOOOOM!!!!"

With an earth-shaking explosion,

Crimson lightning burst outward,

And horrifying Shadow of Silence Power spread in every direction.

Scarlet light shot straight into the heavens.

At that instant,

The entire Nivelle Mountains ceased to exist and became history...

—

As the crimson light pierced the sky,

Inside Garos Fortress,

Miss Yumo casually shook her hand.

The anger and killing intent within her ruby eyes gradually faded alongside the retreating crimson radiance surrounding her.

That should do.

'A small lesson is enough...'

Sigh...

Yumo couldn't help but let out an inward sigh.

Her emotions were somewhat complicated.

No matter how one looked at it,

Those people she had reduced to nothingness seemed to be elite troops of the Snow Night Empire.

And there had also been some kind of seventh-tier Saint Mage...

Under normal circumstances, for the great cause of one day counterattacking the Abyss Demons, people capable of fighting against them should have been preserved and cultivated.

But just now,

Overwhelmed by anger and murderous intent,

She had failed to restrain herself.

For the sake of avenging her daughter, she had attacked immediately...

At the very least,

She should have let that seventh-tier one escape.

Sigh.

Forget it.

What's done is done.

Thinking any further was pointless.

Yumo could only shake her head helplessly.

However,

At the same time,

The black-haired girl thoughtfully looked toward the unconscious Mengxi and the White Yama whose face was buried in the ground.

Without question,

These two were extremely important figures within the Asumos Church.

They were also key forces in the future war against the Abyss Demons.

And yet,

The Snow Night Empire had thrown such a weapon at them?

Did they not know they were inside Garos Fortress?

Or...

Did they know,

And choose to attack anyway?

Yumo's ruby eyes narrowed slightly.

Recalling Xiao's earlier words, she remembered that as the threat of the Abyss Demons had declined over the last few centuries, humanity had gradually lost its sense of external crisis. The various empires and factions had begun turning on one another to varying degrees.

Now it seemed,

The severity of this internal conflict was even worse than she had imagined.

"No, this won't do."

To put it nicely,

Humanity's forces were already fragile enough.

If they still refused to unite and cooperate, there would be no way they could deal with her Abyss Demons.

Perhaps,

While helping the "protagonist group" grow stronger,

She also needed to find a way to unify the powers of Anqieka Continent.

Whoever dared to stir up trouble—

She'd throw them to the Abyss Demons as food.

Those mages earlier?

Maybe they had been troublemakers.

Good riddance.

"That's right! Exactly!"

After thinking that through,

Yumo suddenly felt much better.

Then,

The black-haired girl turned somewhat worriedly toward the direction where the other Mana Fission Bomb had exploded.

At this moment, the crimson inferno that had engulfed the plains and vast stretches of forest had already been dispersed by a fierce wind.

The next instant,

Accompanied by flashes of emerald light,

A gray-haired little girl slowly descended from the sky while flapping the wings behind her.

She arrived before Yumo.

Naturally,

The little girl was Liyu.

And in her arms was a fluffy little white wolf (dog??), namely the shrunken Limo.

The little white wolf, which had been shamelessly taking advantage of her older sister's embrace, suddenly raised its tiny head after sensing Yumo's presence.

Sticking out its tongue, it looked at Yumo in an adorably coquettish manner.

Immediately, the latter relaxed.

"It seems nothing happened?"

Smiling, Yumo reached out and rubbed the little white wolf's head.

Meanwhile, Liyu, who was holding her older sister, smiled faintly as well. Her smile was filled with relief.

"Yes, Mother. Nothing serious. She was caught off guard and got hit directly by the explosion. The burns were a bit severe, and she consumed a lot of power. As for the burns, I've already healed them using 'Tears of Nature.' As for the power consumption, she'll recover slowly."

"Mhm."

Hearing Liyu's explanation, Yumo nodded in satisfaction.

As for the little white wolf?

Being petted by Yumo seemed to make her feel even more comfortable.

She had already started wagging her tail.

Seeing this, Yumo's eyebrows twitched, and a suspicious look appeared in her ruby eyes.

"By the way... this child—your sister... did she become stupid again?"

"Ah, this..."

Looking down at the little white wolf in her arms, Liyu sighed helplessly.

"It seems her head took a direct hit from the explosion just now, so she suffered a concussion. Just like back then, she's temporarily entered 'stupid dog mode' again..."

Yumo: ...