“You’re so weak.” A sacred light suddenly emanated from Erinna’s body. “「Sacred Magic, Holy Light Blessing」”

Ang didn’t even touch her. Amidst a scream, he melted into a puddle of water and completely disappeared from this world. The originally gray and dreary world was now once again colored.

Erinna, holding the intact magic core in her hand, came before Liana. “Sister Liana.”

“What are you doing!” Liana shouted. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?! Why would you touch the magic core with your hand? Didn’t you see the miserable state Ang was in just now?”

The second Erinna grabbed the magic core, Liana felt her own heart skip a beat. This was an extremely dangerous thing to do.

“Is Sister Liana worried about me?” Erinna asked.

“Isn’t that obvious!”

“Don’t worry, Sister Liana. I wouldn’t do something so risky. I still have to win you back, after all,” Erinna said with a laugh.

“Stop grinning!” Liana was very angry now, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at Erinna, nagging incessantly.

Erinna also knew that her actions had indeed made her sister very worried, so for now, she would just lower her head and take the scolding.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous the demon race is? I know you’re very strong, and your mana is also very powerful, and the demon had also just appeared and was very weak. But that’s no reason for you to touch the magic core. The magic core is the heart of a demon. As long as it hasn’t been destroyed, then the demon has the possibility of reviving. It relies on the core to successfully occupy someone else’s body.

“Even with sacred magic, it’s still very dangerous. Not to mention, there’s no use in keeping something like a magic core. It should be destroyed directly,” Liana said very seriously.

Seeing her sister’s serious and worried expression, Erinna’s heart bloomed with joy. Sister Liana is really very worried about me.

I’m so happy.

Of course, Erinna herself knew very well that this matter was very dangerous. She hadn’t done it just to see her sister worry, or to make her care.

And... Sister Liana could really talk. Erinna just stood there with her head lowered, being scolded, for a full ten minutes.

Liana seemed a little tired of talking. “Don’t do such a dangerous thing again, okay?”

“Mm, I know,” Erinna nodded.

She opened her hand, revealing the magic core. “I was just thinking, if I could get the complete core and preserve it, could we study it? Could we find a better way to deal with the demon race?”

Liana was stunned at first, then continued her lecture. “That’s still not okay. Even so, you can’t do something so risky.”

“I won’t do it again, Sister Liana. Please don’t be angry, okay?” Erinna said, acting spoiled.

“...” Liana was also at a loss with Erinna. Besides, Erinna rarely acted spoiled with her.

“If there really is a next time, I’ll ignore you. I’ll go back to how I was before,” Liana threatened.

The effect of this threat was quite obvious. Erinna did not want their relationship to become like that. Although she knew her sister was just saying it out of anger, it was still better not to take the initiative to do these things.

“The mission is already complete. Why hasn’t the illusion disappeared yet?” Erinna looked around. It didn’t seem to be disappearing.

Liana also sensed that something was wrong. Hasn’t it been a bit too long?

Thump! Liana’s heart suddenly beat violently.

“Sister Liana! Be careful!” Erinna reached out her hand and blocked a dark arrow.

The arrow embedded itself in her palm. A dark, festering aura continuously emanated from it, and her palm began to rot at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“「Enchant, Sacred Purification」!” She quickly shot Erinna with the blessing, quickly mitigating the corruptive energy. It had happened so suddenly. Every extra word spoken was a waste of precious rescue time.

“「Dispel Magic」” Erinna also used magic at the same time to eliminate the demonic energy in her palm.

They looked around, not noticing anything amiss, but kept vigilant as they dealt with the wound.

The dark aura slowly disappeared, turning into a wisp of residual smoke and vanishing into the air.

Erinna’s palm also regained its color, but there was still a hole in it. This kind of injury was not considered serious in this world. It could be easily healed with some healing magic without leaving a scar.

“Erinna!”

“I’m fine, Sister Liana.” Erinna didn’t feel anything abnormal.

“You came into contact with the demon’s blood. It’s impossible for you to be fine.” Liana’s face was pale, partly from excessive mana consumption, and partly from worry for Erinna.

The hand Liana used to grab Erinna’s was trembling. She called out her name with a trembling voice. “Erinna... I’m sorry.”

Erinna had done this to protect her.

“There’s no need to blame yourself, Sister Liana. This is all my fault. I was the one who didn’t listen to you and insisted on keeping the magic core. If I had destroyed it at the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened,” Erinna said with a helpless smile.

Fortunately, Sister Liana is alright. She wasn’t hurt. That’s enough.

“This has nothing to do with the magic core. Even now, the trial is already over, which proves that the demon has been eliminated, even if the core is still intact. Even if we had destroyed it back then, it would still have been like this.” Liana’s tears couldn’t help but fall, dripping onto Erinna’s hand.

“It’s all my fault. The first time I encountered the demon vanguard, I ran into a similar situation, but I let my guard down. I’m the one who harmed you.”

In the forest of Gran Town, Liana had encountered a similar situation with the vanguard. She had originally thought she had killed the demon, but the other party was able to attack with just a wisp of blood remaining.

She was so scared. So scared that Erinna would leave her. So scared that she had caused someone else’s death because of her own actions.

It was all her fault. Because she had been dealing with the demonkind too smoothly recently, she hadn’t realized this.

“I’m really fine. I don’t feel any discomfort at all. If you’re really worried, Sister Liana, I’ll go with you for a check-up later, okay? We can go anywhere, as long as it puts your mind at ease.” Erinna wasn’t lying. She didn’t feel any discomfort in her body, and her consciousness was very clear.

The moment she was hit, the sacred magic had purified it.

“I’m sorry...” Liana hugged Erinna, her body shaking.

“Liana?”

“Your Highness Liana?”

After the illusion ended, Liana and Erinna reappeared in reality.

Because there had been a problem with the illusion, many people had come here. Apart from Liana and Erinna, no one else was conscious. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

And it was clear that several people had already lost their signs of life.

“What happened just now?” A teacher from the Ibett Magic Academy came over and asked.

Liana had no time or mood to talk to them right now. Her eyes were a little red, and there were still fresh tears on her face.

“Mephilia, I need the best priestess in the Lisat Kingdom. Right now. Immediately.”

Liana had never used such a forceful, commanding tone with Mephilia before.

“Minoga.” Mephilia had almost never seen Liana in such a panicked state.

Minoga did not respond, but Mephilia knew that she had already gone.

“Your Highness Liana, please tell us what on earth happened in the illusion,” the elderly teacher raised her voice a little.

“What happened? Don’t you know? There was a problem with the demon simulation. No, that’s not right. It should be said that it reverted to its original state. What {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} we faced was not a virtual demon in the illusion, but the real demon. A demon that could truly kill people inside the illusion,” Liana said coldly.

Liana wasn’t angry. No, she was very angry, but only with herself.

She had not detected a problem with the simulation. Even now that Erinna was injured, Liana still hadn’t.

A bloody lesson is the easiest for people to learn from. Besides, if this were to really happen, the opponent would only be stronger and more dangerous than in the illusion.

Liana didn’t ask why no one had come to help after so long. Trials were cruel, when facing the demons, don’t expect anyone to come and help you.

“Apart from Erinna and I, I’m afraid few people were able to survive. Among them, Ang is as dead as can be. His body was possessed by a demon. I’m afraid you’ll have to find his pieces and put them back together now,” Liana said.

“...” Liana’s words sent a chill through the hearts of the people around.

Didn’t they say you couldn’t die in the illusion? Why did he die? And in such a gruesome way.

The people from the Darriss Territory voiced their questions and dissatisfaction. “We don’t know what happened in the illusion. We can only learn some news of unknown authenticity from your mouth. And you have no small conflict with our Darriss Territory. Who knows if you took this opportunity...”

Swoosh! A throwing knife shot right through the other party’s arm.

“Argh!”

Loraviel had several more daggers in her hand, her face extremely grim.

Her Highness Liana was already so sad, and someone was still saying such things. This was something Loraviel could not tolerate. “If you make any other move, the next target will be your heart.”

Mephilia had originally wanted to deal with this guy too, but seeing that Loraviel had already made a move, she didn’t have time to waste on him.

She came before Liana and asked her what had happened.