Chapter 72: Agnes and Violet, The Corrupted Conspiracy

"Such a weird way of talking. Sounds kinda dumb."

Rosalia covered her mouth and chuckled. With a flick of her right hand, the chain snapped taut, and the Greatsword of Gluttony seemed to come alive—deathly cold light seeping from it, as if the Reaper itself had descended.

"Killing you will be fun."

Violet licked the corner of her lips, a perverse smile spreading across her face. Without the slightest fear or hesitation, she darted forward. A massive scythe materialized in her hands, its razor edge gleaming with violet light, humming as it carried strange, blood-soaked power. The scythe slammed head-on into the greatsword.

Yet in the very next instant, Rosalia overwhelmed Violet with sheer, terrifying strength.

"Daring to clash head-on with me—how cute. You really should be eaten by me."

Rosalia lifted her chin gracefully. Then the greatsword, bearing immense force, came crashing down.

The expected impact never came.

No resistance. No clean sensation of flesh being split.

The blade flashed downward and sank straight into the soil.

"Huh?"

Having struck nothing, Rosalia raised her head in confusion—only to see Violet’s body ripple like liquid. After a shimmer of light and shadow, she reformed completely unharmed.

Before Rosalia could react, the scythe in Violet’s hands transformed into twin blades that stabbed viciously into Rosalia’s back. The blades then dissolved into a pool of blood, surging directly into Rosalia’s body.

"Divine skill—Bloodburst!"

"Huh?!"

Rosalia’s pupils shrank as she felt violent blood energy rampage through her body. Threads of blood condensed by divine power detonated in an instant, explosions erupting one after another with dull, heavy booms as her meridians were blown apart.

Countless streams of purplish-red light burst from Rosalia’s body, only to be drawn back into Violet’s grasp.

"Is her divine artifact... a pool of purplish-red blood?" Ashina sucked in a sharp breath and patted her chest. "Good thing I didn’t rush in blindly. Rosalia, learned your lesson? Don’t always act like a reckless brute."

"It hurts! Hey! How can you say something so cold like that?"

Rosalia propped herself up on her greatsword and forced her riddled body upright. "She actually put on a circus act for me. Luckily, I’ve been dead for ten years—I really don’t care about injuries like this."

The life force stored within the Greatsword of Gluttony rapidly transformed into crimson threads, mending its master’s wounds.

"If you’d used that on a normal Divine Chosen, you might’ve succeeded. But I don’t care."

In just a few seconds, Rosalia looked as though she had never been injured at all. She lunged forward, her form surging ahead. The Greatsword of Gluttony became almost a black streak skimming the ground, icy killing light flashing as it smashed toward Violet’s neck. The violent boom of compressed air made it clear—Rosalia was holding nothing back.

"Useless. Same as before."

Violet remained indifferent. The mass of violet blood slipped back into her body, her form rippling once more as the greatsword passed straight through her without leaving a scratch.

"Damn it! That trick again!"

Rosalia’s blade cut empty air, nearly tripping herself as Violet moved to strike again.

"Don’t even think about it."

At the critical moment, Ashina commanded the giant wolf to breathe fire, forcing Violet back. "Leave the rest to me. You two can’t kill each other."

"I will not retreat. Demi-humans... must also be killed."

Though she had sensed the threat in the dragonflame, Violet’s dull, emotionless eyes still turned toward Ashina.

A fetid wind swept past. Brown hair brushed lightly against the vampire’s pointed ears, making her earrings sway.

"She feels so vacant—completely different from Rosalia."

Looking into Violet’s purplish-red eyes, Ashina saw despair and sorrow. "For some reason, I feel like... before her corruption, she must have smiled a lot."

"Pfft, Ashina, stop psychoanalyzing a vampire whose brain’s broken. Our job is to eliminate corrupted creatures—or knock her out, bring her back to Phield, and then get her pregnant."

As Rosalia spoke, her words once again went completely off the rails.

Ashina’s mouth twitched. Corrupted creatures really didn’t seem very smart.

Yet Ashina had already forgotten that the outrageous idea of "bringing her back to get pregnant" had originally come from her.

"Fine. We’ll bring her back. My lord will be pleased."

Ashina steeled herself. Her spear thrust out in an instant, blossoming into seventeen beautiful spear flowers as the drakewolf spewed dragonfire.

Just as they were about to move, the ground trembled violently. A gigantic corrupted worm burst from the earth, instantly kicking up a raging sandstorm. Ashina dodged instinctively, watching in shock as the worm swallowed Violet in a single bite and burrowed back into the ground, vanishing.

"What?! She got eaten?! What does she taste like? I wanna try too."

Rosalia stared in disbelief.

Sniffing the lingering scent in the air, Ashina shook her head. "She’s not dead. She’s just left the Nightfall Domain. Let’s keep holding back the other corrupted corpses and draw them away."

The two split up, heading in different directions.

The Viscountcy of Griffin was a truly legendary place. In fact, a viscountcy itself was an odd existence. The title did not come from a count’s enfeoffment—though a viscount ranked below a count, there was no hierarchical relationship between them.

Of course, that no longer mattered. Everyone in the viscountcy was dead.

On a mountain peak overlooking the Nightfall Domain, countless corrupted creatures gathered. Thick bloodstink and black-gray corruption filled the air. Amid them all, there was a single patch of white, surrounded by corpses.

"Tch."

The corrupted worm poked its head out, twitched twice, and spat someone onto the ground.

"Violet isn’t a well-behaved child, you know. You’re not allowed to leave the viscountcy’s boundaries. The plan was to let the Investigation Corps escape."

"Disgusting! Worm! Agnes! You should die!"

Violet looked up at the girl before her. The girl’s body was immaculate, wrapped in white bandages, nothing like a corpse. Her pure white hair flowed like snow, pristine and holy. Her eyes were a clear azure blue, shimmering with a pitiful softness. Divine power formed a light, elegant adornment on her delicate face.

"Don’t scold me like that, Violet. We’re companions."

The corrupted girl called Agnes smiled gently. "Companions. You smell so good. Perhaps... we could become one."

As her words fell, the delicate music box in Agnes’s hand opened. A massive writhing, indescribable mass poured out, countless tentacles restraining Violet.

"Splurt—"

Violet’s arms were torn off, blood spraying everywhere.

"Mm—"

Violet let out a pained groan, only to realize her divine power was tightly suppressed. She couldn’t resist at all.

"Crunch, crunch—"

The indescribable monster devoured her arms in just a few bites, still craving more.

"That’s enough, that’s enough. Be a good girl, Violet. I won’t really kill you."

Agnes closed the music box and smiled innocently. "It’s just punishment for a naughty child. You’re a lovely vampire—your arms will grow back soon. Don’t cry, don’t cry."