After the last Dawn Saintess, Sophia Facilis, died in battle, the Radiant-Cross Holy Shield slept for nearly a hundred years.

In the chaos, she drifted through an endless stretch of time—often muddled, half-conscious—yet she could still feel it: the way she kept sinking into sleep again and again as she recovered energy from catastrophic battle damage.

She didn’t know what the outside world had become.

She didn’t know what the House of Facilis looked like now.

She didn’t know the state of the Church of the Dawn, or whether humanity had already lost to the demon race.

Every second was agony and loneliness—yet she never abandoned her faith, never fell.

When she finally awakened, the world’s order had changed beyond recognition. She had never endured such a long vacancy before, and it left her at a loss—especially after learning the Facilis bloodline had withered away.

She couldn’t accept that there were no more Saintesses, no more Facilis.

And she had no idea what she was supposed to do next.

All this time, she had been Facilis’s strongest shield.

What to do—Saintesses would tell her.

Where to go—Saintesses would guide everyone.

All she needed to do was protect the Saintesses’ safety.

That was all.

But with no Saintess left in the world, she lost the one she was meant to protect and safeguard—and she truly didn’t know what to do anymore.

Fortunately, the Goddess still remembered her. She wasn’t left in silence for long before she welcomed a new generation’s Dawn Saintess.

Though there had been a few unexpected little mishaps beforehand—so much so that she hadn’t recognized the new Saintess’s disguise at all, which led her into a misunderstanding—at least the ending was good.

At last, she was placed into the new Saintess’s hands, and could continue to fulfill her purpose.

‘This damn shield... still as hard to deal with as ever.’

Seeing that no matter how he hacked and cleaved he couldn’t pierce that Dawn barrier like golden gauze, Blood-Debt’s voice lost some of its composure.

‘Young Master Caron, your realm is simply too low. That weakens what I can do.’

“At a time like this, you’re blaming me instead??”

Hearing the obvious accusation in Blood-Debt’s tone, Caron’s expression turned sour.

‘I’m only stating the facts. Among the hosts I’ve parasitized, you fall into the weaker category. If I weren’t looking at your talent being fairly decent, with your temperament, I wouldn’t have chosen you at all. Honestly, in your entire life, you’d never have had the chance to grip a [Divine Armament].’

“Don’t take the advantage and still act smug.” Caron said coldly.

‘Fine. Enough of that. Even so, she still can’t win.’

‘Stop trying to attack from a single face. The Radiant-Cross Holy Shield’s barrier is a light-element magic barrier—it can block all attacks, including both magic and physical.’

‘Use your imagination. Try spreading my power around her in a full three hundred sixty degrees—attack her with no blind spots.’

Hearing that, Caron drove Blood-Debt into the ground.

In an instant, it was as if the world cracked open.

Black as ink, dark-element power surged out of the split earth like a roaring tsunami. It built a curtain in midair and covered Vanessa.

[Thousand-Dark Burial]

“Lord Vinny! Quick—project my power in a dispersed way onto all your sides, cover yourself!”

The Radiant-Cross Holy Shield blurted in a rush. “Lord Vinny, you try, you should be able to—”

But before the Radiant-Cross Holy Shield could finish its “how-to,” Vanessa acted first.

She gripped the shield handle and, using her own mana, spread the Radiant-Cross Holy Shield’s power outward in a half-dome. A barrier formed—stopping every splash of that “ink” that sprayed toward her.

“Eh—ehh?!”

The little angel hadn’t expected Vanessa’s talent to be this terrifying. She didn’t even need to be taught—she understood on her own, and the moment she took hold of her, she could infer the rest and gradually grasp how to use the Radiant-Cross Holy Shield.

“Lord Vinny is amazing! As expected ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) of Lord Vinny!”

“Miss Shield, you can call me Vanessa,” Vanessa said.

“Oh, oh! So that’s it—this is Saintess’s real name?!”

The little angel immediately went into an excited frenzy. “Just like I thought, Vinny was only a false name, right? Vanessa—what a beautiful name, so sacred! As expected of Saintess!”

And then came another barrage of praise. At this moment, in her eyes, Vanessa looked like she had an idol filter on—like anything Vanessa did was worthy of admiration.

Vanessa couldn’t be bothered to explain anymore. This wasn’t the time.

“Vanessa—please don’t let Blood-Debt’s dark-element magic hit you! Its dark-element magic is really sinister,” the little angel warned as she talked with Vanessa.

“I know. The trait of dark-element magic is that the more dangerous the state, the more its power multiplies after you’re hit. And with prolonged contact, your mind can easily be swallowed. Right?”

Vanessa recited the textbook knowledge about dark-element magic.

“Yes, yes! That’s right—exactly like that!”

The little angel fawned. “Ah, of course you don’t need me to remind you about something like this, Vanessa. That was me being nosy!”

“I—Radiant-Cross Holy Shield—as a high-grade [Divine Armament], still have many functions waiting for you to discover!”

“Miss Shield,” Vanessa asked, “can you counterattack?”

“Of course! But counterattacking requires meeting certain conditions!”

‘She looks like she’s only been in contact with this weapon for a short time... so how can she already pull off full-coverage defense??’

On the other side, after seeing Vanessa’s response and measures, Blood-Debt was stunned.

‘Full-coverage defense consumes enormous mana. Shouldn’t she already have no mana left??’

“How would I know?!” Caron clenched his fist.

‘Then concentrate on a single point. If she tries to account for every point, she can’t truly account for any point. Her whole body is a weak spot.’

Blood-Debt kept feeding Caron tactics from the side.

“You think I can’t figure that out?” Caron snapped. “Enough. Stop talking. Shut up!”

As he spoke, he swung the crimson demon sword at Vanessa.

The blade carried not only dark element—but also violently blazing fire element.

[Explosive-Flame Hurricane Slash]

Fire and darkness intertwined, fused into darkflame, and the destructive power multiplied.

When the crimson demon sword came down, it was as if the colors around them were sucked away—everything dimmed.

Vanessa raised the shield.

The crimson demon sword slammed into the holy shield, and several surging currents of magic collided—detonating into an explosion in an instant.

“Saintess!”

Amisha hurriedly checked how much mana she’d recovered—whether she could support Vanessa. Even if her healing was like a firefly next to the moon compared to Vanessa’s, if Vanessa couldn’t spare the hand to save others, then Amisha would offer whatever tiny help she could.

What left her helpless was that her mana still hadn’t recovered much. She was only a high-tier Sorcerer-class. Her recovery speed was limited. She couldn’t cast any magic at all anymore.

When the smoke from the explosion finally dispersed, and Fennia and Amisha saw Vanessa still standing in the crater at the center—shield in hand—they both let out a breath.

“Vinny... you really hid deep.”

Even after the magic on sword and shield had faded, Caron still clung to Vanessa without letting go. He poured all his unwillingness and rage into the fight, and Blood-Debt ground against the Radiant-Cross Holy Shield, throwing off layers of sparks.

He stared at the stranger’s face—at that breathtaking pink-haired girl—yet in her eyes he found a faint trace of something familiar.

Even though he’d never seen a girl with such peerless beauty before, he could still recognize a shadow of familiarity in those rippling eyes.

It was obvious.

This was Vinny.

There was no way he was wrong.

“Looks like I’ve been underestimating you this whole time. Your scheming is deep—so deep you can’t trust anyone around you!”

“I bet even Princess Mirexia was kept in the dark by you, wasn’t she?”

“Back then, you’d shout on the streets all day about being the Goddess’s descendant. I thought it was just a clown making noise for attention, trying to get special treatment.”

“But who would’ve thought—you really are the Goddess’s descendant.”

“Is that so?”

Vanessa’s voice was light, flat. “Then I... overestimated you, Caron.”

“I used to think you were just an immature knight. I didn’t expect that you wouldn’t even honestly acknowledge your identity as a human being.”

“Caron—speaking purely from my own subjective standpoint, I don’t like you. But I never thought we’d end up here.”

“Shouldn’t you think about it?” Vanessa’s voice was like a holy sound coaxing a lost soul back to the path—gentle instruction threaded with a sigh. “When, exactly, did you lose your direction... and forget your original intent?”

“You—shut up!”

For some reason, at her words, Caron’s face bulged with veins in fury, twisted like a demon mask.

His emotions suddenly surged. “What do you know?! If—if you weren’t here, everything would be fine! Everyone would be fine!”

“And— and if you’d made this secret public earlier, I wouldn’t have gone to extremes!”

“I see.”

Vanessa looked at him calmly. “In your world, it seems there are no living people—only cold labels.”

“What... are you saying??”

“You treat everyone equally—by dividing them into ranks and stamping a label over each head.”

“Most people are the kind you think you can provoke.”

“A small portion are the kind you’d never dare provoke in your entire life.”

“And an extremely small portion are, in your eyes, only fit to perish with dust forever.”

“The moment someone crosses the label you stamped on them—let alone surpasses you—you get furious, unwilling, jealous to the point of burning.”

“If the Facilis blood in me were dead, you wouldn’t allow my status to rise above yours.”

“But if the Facilis blood in me were alive, you’d treat me with respect, and you wouldn’t dare do anything excessive.”

“That’s the kind of person you are.”

“!!!”

Caron was choked by the words—silent.

“So.” Vanessa’s gaze didn’t waver. “Do you regret it now?”

“!!!”

Another direct hit.

Vanessa didn’t use a single vulgar word. Every line was elegant—proper to the bone, refined and unhurried—yet each sentence landed with precision, shattering Caron’s defenses.

This time, Vanessa’s mental attack was far more brutal than Vinny’s.

Yes.

Caron regretted it.

In truth, the moment he learned the Facilis blood in Vinny was real—he regretted it.

But regret was useless now.

He had no way back.

He could only choose one road—and walk it into the dark.

“Stop—saying it!” Caron roared.

With that roar, countless blood vessels crawled up from Blood-Debt, wrapping Vanessa’s legs like tentacles, binding her ankles, then tying down her wrists.

“What’s wrong with what I’m doing?!”

“Whether what you’re doing is right or wrong—I won’t judge that,” Vanessa said, each word deliberate. “But the moment you went to extremes, the moment you were willing to kill your own kind for it—your guilt became something tangible enough to be judged.”

Beside them, Fennia and Amisha watched in silence—like spectators as the Saintess opened court to judge a sinner.

“Judge me?” Caron laughed. “You don’t seriously think you’re a Saintess, do you?? With what are you judging me?? You can’t even get the Church to acknowledge you!”

“Do I need to remind you how awkward your position is right now? Even if you really are the Goddess’s descendant—so what?? The entire Church of the Dawn—no one will listen to you!”

“So why not surrender to me right now? Obey me. Maybe I’ll even take you with me for revenge—slaughter those hypocrites in the Church!”

Caron laughed again.

“You can’t move, can you? Looks like your [Divine Armament] isn’t as good as mine.”

He stared at the pink-haired girl bound tight by rope-like living blood vessels, unable to budge—and the laughter in his throat grew thicker.

“Caron.”

Vanessa reached up and pinched the living blood vessel wrapped around her wrist instead.

“This will be your last mistake.”

“When your opponent is full of openings, you should consider something even more—”

“Whether the opponent did it on purpose.”

“Whether it’s a trap.”

With that, Vanessa closed her eyes.

And in the next moment, the space around them began to warp under a strange, unnatural temperature.

She had let Caron bind her on purpose.

Because at her current level, the distance to release [Saint’s Favor] was too short. And it would run out after a few burns—she couldn’t reach Caron at all.

Even if she could reach him, Blood-Debt was sly—there was no guarantee it wouldn’t escape.

What she wanted was a double kill.

Yes.

The move she was about to release was naturally the strongest killing strike of the Facilis bloodline.

God-Falling Fire—[All-Gods Consecration Flame].

‘No—! Don’t tell me she’s—?!’

‘You idiot! Let go of her, now!!’

Blood-Debt reacted—too late. Caron was the one controlling the bindings, and it only held half the control. It couldn’t retract its tentacles in time.

“BOOM—!”

Glassy flames shimmering with seven colors burst into bloom.

They raced along the blood vessels like a fuse—igniting in a blink, spreading up the line and reaching Caron’s body.

“Wh—what...?”

Staring at the dazzling, multicolored fire, Caron’s eyes went wide.

He remembered his childhood.

The stories his father read him—stories of the Saintess slaying demons.

In those tales, the holy fire the Saintess used...

Was this exact color.