Even now... would there still be “coincidence”?

Vanessa, weak, thought that as she stared at the collapsing sky.

This place had been made by Foreno with his own hands. After Foreno died, the cube space naturally headed toward collapse.

Vanessa didn’t know how a mere Master-realm priest like Foreno had the ability to create such a complicated, intricate other-space in the first place. But when she thought about the person backing him—very possibly the Pope of the Church of the Dawn—it no longer felt strange. Back then, they had swept her entire family clean in one go. How could they possibly have failed to loot even a single good thing?

Even if they hadn’t gotten anything from her house, with the Church of the Dawn’s foundations, they definitely had countless treasures. Of course, the overwhelming majority were things left behind by Dawn Saintesses of past generations—or simply gifts bestowed by the goddess.

The heavens necrotized. The sky fell, like the end of the world.

It was as if the shell of this world had been torn open by something. Gravity went chaotic, ripping at people from several directions at once, as though it wanted to tear them into pieces.

What... should I do??

In pain, Vanessa looked at the three of them being dragged apart in every direction by invisible forces, and lightly bit her lip.

At the very least... I have to protect them.

Vanessa bit until blood came. Luna had bought quite a bit of time, and the poison’s effect had passed its peak—the exhaustion felt somewhat better than before, though she still hadn’t fully recovered. She forced herself through the aching weakness in her body and the pain of being torn, and spread her [Immaculate Holy Feathers].

Because the magic power was in total turmoil, forcibly mobilizing it made her suffer every second. It felt like countless little people inside her were slamming into her blood vessels and organs.

Blood spilled from the corner of Vanessa’s mouth. Under her unyielding will, the pair of angel wings kept extending, wrapping the three of them—who had lost the ground’s grip and were about to be scattered everywhere—inside them, shielding them within.

Luna, consciousness hazy, immediately felt her body—growing cold—get wrapped in a supreme softness and warmth.

That warmth was like the satin blanket back at home—dry, warm, soft, and unbelievably fine in texture.

She opened her eyes in a daze. A white feather drifted past the tip of her nose, and only then did she realize she was inside a pair of enormous angel wings. Those beautiful, holy wings protected all of them within, while they themselves lost feathers from the outside impacts—hit again and again by fragments of the sky.

Luna instinctively looked in one direction.

As expected, she saw that cherry-haired girl, spotless as ever.

Even though blood leaked from her lips, her hair was in disarray, and both her body and wings were covered in wounds—her pure white angel ceremonial dress wrecked beyond recognition—she looked more sacred than ever.

Luna couldn’t help thinking of the gallery collection painting kept in her family home: the Saintess with her hands clasped, praying devoutly, saving the suffering and relieving calamity—enduring destruction and punishment to share the pain of all living beings.

A sense of broken fragility and a beauty of holiness—two completely opposite styles pushed to their extremes on the same canvas—an absolute contrast, delivering an overwhelming visual impact.

That feeling was the kind you’d never forget once you’d seen it.

Luna’s platinum cross pupils widened slightly. Even though the situation was wrong for it, a flicker of obsession and fervor still flashed through her eyes.

A painting... could never compare to being here in person.

After briefly losing consciousness during the collapse, Fennia and Amisha both saw this scene too—each of their gazes filled with different kinds of shock and awe.

But Vanessa was already a patient to begin with. If she kept forcing herself like this, sooner or later she wouldn’t be able to hold on.

Vanessa didn’t know how long she could last. She panted, her shattered feathers constantly sweeping past her ears. Even with her state so ragged, those cherry-blossom peach-heart eyes were still brimming with toughness and resolve.

Before I run dry and fall...

I have to protect them.

That was the only thought Vanessa had now.

Willpower doesn’t fear blades, but the flesh does.

Vanessa felt the weakness in her whole body worsening, and everything in front of her gradually turning blurry.

She realized she could no longer feel changes in temperature. Not only that—every sense was degrading, weakening.

Her eyes could no longer catch any light.

She felt herself sink into a nether darkness, and keep falling through a black abyss.

A ringing filled Vanessa’s ears as her gaze slowly lost focus. Before she completely lost consciousness, she seemed to hear an echo of something tearing through space—like ripping a clear, discordant, hideous gash through a strip of white cloth.

Vanessa didn’t have time to think.

His consciousness sank completely, his eyes slowly closing as he toppled downward.

She should have fallen into that bottomless abyss—

But at that moment, a force caught her.

A roaring explosion woke the faintest thread of Vanessa’s awareness. When she opened her eyes a little, she found her body being held up by some invisible power.

“Mm... mm?” Vanessa felt uncomfortable and shifted herself slightly. The blurry world gradually came into focus. When she finally saw what was in front of her, her condition was so poor that she didn’t react at first—until her brain accepted the signals, and her eyes slowly widened.

She found herself in a land burning everywhere.

Below was a stretch of earth scorched black. The sky had been smoked out by billowing black fumes until it lost its original color.

And before her stood a gigantic being—about ten feet tall—its whole body crimson red.

It was humanoid. Vast, explosive muscle showed across its body. Its entire form was red, and a pair of enormous black horns grew from its head. A pair of pitch-black wings, like a curtain, spread wide enough to blot out the sky.

Those eyes—without pupils, as if filled with infernal fire—watched her calmly, as though appraising her.

This... is...?

Only after a moment did Vanessa react.

What stood before her clearly wasn’t human.

It was... demon race?

Vanessa remembered: the demon race’s traits were that the men were extremely ugly and the women extremely beautiful. This was clearly a male demon race.

How could a demon race appear here?!

Vanessa looked at everything around him. This place was like a hellish swamp—like if you sank into it, you would be tortured for all eternity.

It was like a domain that this demon race carried with him.

Vanessa discovered she couldn’t move at all. She didn’t know if it was because she was too badly injured, or because she had been controlled by this demon race’s power.

There didn’t seem to be anything worse than this.

And yet, Vanessa felt something was off.

This demon race... didn’t seem to have hostility toward her.

More importantly, there was no collapsing sky here.

This hell looked dangerous, but it was extremely stable.

Honestly, if this demon race had yanked her into this space... then it could even be said he had saved her life.

This demon race could kill her just by breathing.

That was what Vanessa’s instincts told her.

It was a kind of overwhelming strength that didn’t need any proof. She didn’t even need to stare at him. Even if she closed her eyes, she could still feel how strong he was—like a mayfly peeking at a great tree, unable to see the end of its might no matter how she looked.

“Dayfall is ended.”

A deep, powerful voice echoed through this hell.

Vanessa startled.

It clearly came from the demon race in front of her, yet she didn’t see his mouth move.

The towering demon race lifted his gaze. Those blazing eyes fixed on Vanessa... but it also seemed like he wasn’t looking at Vanessa, as though he was looking at something behind her.

Facing this strange scene, and the demon race’s strange reaction, Vanessa said nothing.

“After first light comes dayfall, and after dayfall comes first light.”

Vanessa couldn’t understand his words. It was a language she didn’t know. But for some reason, perhaps because his speech contained some kind of cognitive energy, even though she couldn’t understand the language, she could roughly grasp what he meant.

“This is the last time I help you.”

“Medilia... my lady.”

After speaking, the towering demon race raised his hand.

His body was like a mountain.

His eyes turned into twin moons, and those sky-covering black curtain wings folded down.

Vanessa still hadn’t understood what he meant when she was covered within them. Everything she saw was drowned—invaded—by blackness.

That was... what?

And then her consciousness sank into silence as well.

A boundless black sea.

Sinking into it, she felt herself float and drift in a deep-black ocean—carried by the waves, knocked around, rolled over and over. Her body was damp and icy.

It was like she had returned to that nightmare place.

So cold she trembled.

Other than deep despair, she couldn’t even feel that she was alive.

She didn’t know how long it lasted in that environment, until Vanessa felt herself touch a warm current. The suffocating heaviness in her chest, like it was clogged with seawater, gradually eased.

She slowly began to see color again.

To hear sound again.

This voice...

It felt familiar.

Her heavy eyelids twitched once, then slowly opened a narrow slit. The brightness and long-lost sunlight made her eyes unable to adapt—she shut them again immediately, reflexively wanting to lift a hand to block the sun on her face...

Only to find her hand was being clasped by something warm, unable to move.

What... is going on...?

Suspicion rose in Vanessa’s heart as she kept wiggling her fingers.

“Yah!”

At the same time, her hearing—mostly recovered—caught a sound like a cute, fluffy little animal being startled.

“Little Fennia, Lady Luna! Lady Saintess looks like she’s awake!”

Then Vanessa heard that shout, the voice brimming with surprise and joy.

This voice... that sounds like Amisha...?

Then Vanessa heard two sets of hurried footsteps.

“Lady Saintess is awake?! Let me see—Lady Saintess, Lady Saintess? How are you? Do you feel okay? Are you uncomfortable anywhere??”

“Fennia, don’t throw out that many questions all at once, okay? Lady Saintess still hasn’t recovered. And even if someone wants to answer you, they won’t know which one to answer.”

“Ah... sorry, sorry.” Fennia immediately shut up.

“It looks like the healing spell worked.”

Then came Luna’s voice—elegant as always, with that effortless composure.

“As expected of Lady Luna. Your understanding of healing spells is truly astounding.”

“But compared to me, Amisha, you’re the one with limitless potential. You’re a new generation who possesses [Immaculate Light] and [Immaculate Eyes]. In the future, your understanding of healing magic will definitely surpass mine.”

Luna chuckled lightly as she said it.

“Lady Saintess still seems a little uncomfortable.”

As she spoke, Amisha reached out and cast a healing spell on Vanessa.

“Mm... huh?”

After hearing so many familiar voices, Vanessa also felt a warm, gentle temperature brushing over her body, as if the damp darkness from before had only been an illusion.

She was like a drowning person...

pulled back onto shore.

Vanessa’s eyes gradually adapted to the sunlight. She slowly opened them, and the outlines of the three girls in front of her sharpened from blur into clarity.

She blinked those enchanting peach-heart eyes, her cherry-colored lashes—thin as cicada wings—fluttering up and down. Her gaze drifted between the three of them, as if she still hadn’t fully understood the situation.

“Lady Saintess, you’re finally awake! Do you feel okay? Are you uncomfortable anywhere??” Fennia hurriedly asked.

“Fennia? And Amisha... and Miss Luna? Where... are we?” Vanessa’s voice was still weak, but her mind had mostly recovered.

“Reporting to Lady Saintess—this is probably some jungle near the border between the northern tribes and the Tyrel Empire.”

Luna answered as she gently stroked Vanessa’s wrist, eyes closed, as if checking Vanessa’s condition. Only after confirming again and again that there was no major problem did Luna finally let out a breath and relax.

After finally welcoming the succeeding Saintess and a new hope...

No matter what, she would never let the tragedy repeat.

“Anywhere uncomfortable...? Mm, aside from still being a little tired, I don’t feel uncomfortable anywhere, Fennia.”

Vanessa replied. Even so weak, her voice still soothed Fennia’s agitated heart like a healing sound.

“Really? Is that true?!”

“Fennia, repeatedly asking the same question of a lady is very improper, you know?”

Vanessa teased her.

“That’s great... that’s really great! Lady Saintess, as long as you’re fine!”

Fennia wiped her tears and leaned close beside her.

“I’m sorry... Fennia will definitely work hard and become stronger. Next time—next time I’ll protect you!”

“Fennia, it doesn’t have to be like that. You’re crying this hard, and I can’t exactly pull a handkerchief out of my clothes to comfort you.”

Vanessa said softly, gentle and light.

Drip.

Before Vanessa even finished, she felt a warm wetness on her forehead.

“Lady Saintess is okay... that’s... really... great.”

Amisha was crying too—crying like a ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) little squirrel that hadn’t eaten enough, her tears even dripping onto Vanessa’s forehead.

“Oh dear... you two...”

Vanessa felt a bit helpless inside, like she was taking care of two little daughters.

“Miss Luna... you worked hard.”

Vanessa turned to Luna at her side. Even though the honey-haired girl’s clothes were ragged now and her hair was messy, the elegance and composure in her bones were still there, just as always.

When Vanessa had been unconscious and not waking up, Amisha and Fennia must have been terrified. Luna probably spent a long time soothing both of them.

Like a mature, steady adult taking care of two children.

But it also made Vanessa understand: Luna really was reliable.

Aside from a few nasty little personality quirks...

She was mature, steady, and someone you could depend on when it mattered.

“It’s nothing. More importantly—Lady Saintess being fine is what matters.”

Luna smiled.

“Are we... safe for now?” Vanessa asked.

“Mhm. For now, we’re safe.”