This isnât just because the sense of oppression the other side brought is too strong, but also because the eyes theyâre looking at us with are exceedingly cold and heartless.
Itâs not like theyâre looking at a group of fellow human beings, more like theyâre looking at a group of ants, a bunch of clowns, a pile of food, a group of... prey!
Though his character is poor, as a seasoned swordsman, Diles realized.
This is an existence he absolutely cannot defeat.
This is an executioner against whom even begging for mercy is useless.
If he cried, howled, screamed, or cursed in anger, the other side might even feel pleasured.
Even without seeing the horns hidden by the Illusion Technique, or the pitch-black whites around the golden eyes, Diles knew, this excessively beautiful woman in front of him... is a demon!
And indeed, it was so.
"Splurt!"
Beside Diles, a ripping sound like tearing cloth echoed.
It was caused by the sudden cold claw light that sliced a soldier beside Diles in half.
With the appearance of the cold claw light, the enchanting woman seemed to teleport among them, a light flick of her hand and countless claw lights burst forth.
"Splurt!""Splurt!""Splurt!""Splurt!""Splurt!"...
As the claw lights danced everywhere, soldiers were effortlessly torn to pieces without even being able to react.
Diles only felt a sword-storm arise around him, blowing so fiercely his skin stung, and when he finally reacted, everyone around him was already lying in pools of blood, with no oneâs body intact, all torn to pieces in the most brutal ways, dead beyond dead.
And on the arm of the enchanting woman waving lightly, who knows when, there was actually a bloody, steaming heart held in her palm.
"What a fragile heart, seems like theyâre all inferior goods."
The woman discarded the heart in her hand with some disdain, even though she was standing next to Diles, her eyes had no regard for Diles at all, instead, she was talking to herself.
"I thought at least thereâd be a heart worth eating, but... should I really have not expected much from people coming from a nation of bandits?"
Hearing the womanâs words, a wave of anger rose in Dilesâ heart.
"Iâm talking to you!"
Driven by anger, Diles finally managed to speak normally.
"Answer my question! Who are you...?!"
Diles shouted at the woman.
But the womanâs response surprised Diles.
"Oh?" She turned her head, looking at Diles, as if surprised, and somewhat amused, she said: "So you can still talk? Seems my technique wasnât bad, for you to not have reacted until now."
What does this mean?
Diles was dumbfounded for a moment.
Seeing this, the womanâs interest seemed to be stirred, looking at him with a teasing gaze.
Just now, Diles had looked at Shuâen with such eyes.
Now, the tables have turned, itâs his turn to be stared at with such eyes.
Then...
"Seeing as how slow you are, Iâll give this back to you."
The woman, looking kindly, kicked the thing she had just discarded to Dilesâ feet.
Yes, it was that heart just moments ago.
"Whatâs wrong? Pick it up!" the woman said with a light smile: "Itâs still warm, put it back in your chest cavity, it might still be of use?"
Upon hearing this, Diles finally reacted.
Looking at the heart that rolled to his feet, he suddenly felt a burning pain from his chest.
The burning pain gradually turned into intense pain, making him dumbly lower his head to look at his chest.
There, sometime, a bloody hole had appeared.
And the organ that was supposed to be thereâthe heart, naturally, had long since vanished.
Thus, Diles understood, unfortunately, he understood.
The heart on the ground was his own.
His heart had long been extracted by this demon-like woman in front of him.
"You... you..."
Dilesâ eyes widened, quivering lips, wanting to say something, but no words came out.
Not long after, feeling his body growing colder and colder, Diles finally slowly crumpled to the ground.
Blood spread from beneath him, staining the snow red.
"...!"
Seeing this scene, Shuâen on the opposite side of Diles unconsciously took a step back.
His face was ashen, cold sweat covered his forehead, looking at Lilith as if seeing a ruthless beast, for the first time, fright appeared on his face.
Around him, the soldiers who originally surrounded him were all dead, the soldiers attacking the city behind him were also dead, even the magicians in the back had somehow died, torn to shreds by that demon-like woman with her impenetrable claw light, brutally murdered.
On the entire battlefield, apart from the muted groans of pain from the armored guards of Mite City, who were dressed differently from the Luke Kingdomâs army, everyone else was thoroughly, utterly dead.
And everything had been caused by the demon-like woman in front of him.
A single woman, just by herself, had slaughtered an entire army!
Sword Saint!
The other side was a Sword Saint!
And not a Sword Saint belonging to Tistis Kingdom!
Because Tistis Kingdom only had one female Sword Saint, Shuâen easily recognized that she was definitely not from Tistis Kingdom.
Who is she?
This question alone filled Shuâenâs mind.
Just as he felt both intrigued and terrified by this, the demon-like female Sword Saint suddenly turned her head to look at him.
"Hey, human over there."
With the same initial aloof attitude, she spoke to Shuâen, dropping the teasing demeanor she had with Diles.
"Let me ask you something, youâre from that city, right?"
Lilith pointed at Mite, which had been breached not long ago, and asked.
"I, I am..."
Shuâen involuntarily swallowed a mouthful, suppressing the urge to turn and run, he replied in fright.
The seasoned swordsmanâs instincts told Shuâen that if he answered no, Dilesâ fate might become his.
"Thatâs good." Lilithâs demeanor unchanged, yet she withdrew the omnipresent pressure, saying coldly to Shuâen: "My master wants to see you, come with me."
Upon hearing this, Shuâen was shocked.
Master?
This female Sword Saint has a master?
Is she someoneâs attendant?
How could that be?
Unfortunately, Lilith paid little heed to the storm of emotions Shuâen felt after hearing her words, leaving the statement behind, she turned on her heel and walked in a direction.
Seeing this, Shuâenâs expression became indecisive, but he eventually chose to follow her.
He had no choice, this female Sword Saint in front of him was clearly no easy character, and if he didnât listen to her, there was no guarantee she wouldnât suddenly kill him, turning him into another pile of flesh on the ground.
So, despite the shock, despite the awe, Shuâen kept bravely following behind Lilith, heading to the other side of the battlefield.
Fortunately, by this time the wind and snow had stopped, the visibility improved quite a bit, allowing Shuâen to quickly see the group of people.
They were a group dressed in clothing that was obviously different from Tistis Kingdomâs attire, clearly not locals, yet somehow, every single one was excessively young.
Especially the women among them, there were girls who looked only fifteen or sixteen, and there were maidens over twenty, but without exception, they were extremely beautiful and exquisite, forming a stunning view.
Seeing this group, Shuâen could no longer hide his surprise.
"You, who are you...?"
Shuâen instinctively asked aloud.
Immediately, the leading young man spoke.
"Donât worry, weâre not your enemy."
At least, not for now.