Elena moved at the speed of light.
It wasn't an exaggeration. She truly moved at the fastest speed her current comprehension of Light Laws could take her to, and with that speed, she endlessly circled Beast Emperor Star, helping any and everyone she could.
'This won't work.' She thought to herself.
The current plan, the one she'd suggested, used her as a central point. Everything relied on her ability to purify the common people, and more than that, it relied on the common people's understanding.
A warrior of white pushed through the air and landed heavily on the ground. He immediately reached out and grabbed onto the skull of the black-clothed man next to him.
"Let go of me…!" The man exclaimed in rage as he summoned his mana.
But without a single word, the warrior clenched his fist, bursting the man's skull and allowing his body to drop to the ground.
The warrior didn't stop for a moment, diving into the fray with his comrades and executing anyone sharing his clothing.
Eventually, a group of ten formed, moving through the chaotic streets of the city until they finally came upon the town square.
"Hahaha! For the clan!"
"Die, die, die!"
"Stop fooling around! We need to finish up and move on!"
A group of twenty men stood together in the square. Surrounding them were numerous corpses, mostly of beasts, but some human among them too.
The beasts were those common people who used the Beast Transformation Technique to attain their human forms, while the rest were evidently 4th class and above beasts.
The carcasses were all bloody and gnarled as if they'd been torn through by a horde of voracious wolves.
However, their killers were men in black.
Men who enjoyed torturing these innocent souls as they died slow and painful deaths.
The Lord…absolutely didn't tolerate these types of fiends!
The white warriors were in instantaneous understanding, their minds connecting as one.
Without any hesitation or care, they charged forward and assaulted the enemy group.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
Two white-clad warriors jumped onto the rooftops of nearby buildings and drew their bows, launching a volley of ballistic arrows that exploded violently on impact.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"What?!"
"Enemy attack!"
The enemy group panicked and grouped together, peering through the clouds of dust and smoke kicked up by the explosions.
However, the remaining 8 white warriors had already used the cover to assume their positions.
VOOM!
A glowing white formation circle appeared and enveloped the entire plaza, including the twenty men.
Eight swords struck the ground as one. They dug many inches deep into the earth, each further inch causing the formation to flow with even more fervor.
"Fuck! What're you doing?! Attack!" One of the black-clad men roared.
The others were immediately snapped out of their stupor.
The enemy was launching a massively destructive attack, but they were incapacitated in the process!
Immediately, twenty split into groups of two and swarmed the white warriors.
XIU! XIU! XIU!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
BOOOOOM!
Fists, swords, daggers, and even guns filled with eerie black mana bombarded the stationary soldiers.
Clouds of debris filled the air, the explosions only getting fiercer as the two archers fought back against their enemies.
"Hahaha, who are these idiots?! How dare they leave themselves exposed!" A man exclaimed as he shoved his sword into the neck gap of one white armored soldier.
"Just die now! Di—huh?"
He stumbled over his words at the sudden realization that…his sword struck nothing…?
Shakily, the man raised his gaze, only to be met with two blue wisps of flame, hovering within a void of nothingness.
"G-ghosts! They're ghosts!" The man yelled, hoping his comrades would hear and form appropriate countermeasures.
However, there was no response.
"Eh?"
The man let out a sound of confusion as he realized that he was no longer anywhere near his colleagues.
When did he get to this misty forest?
It was quite beautiful!
It was quite…?
'I could've sworn I was doing something impor—'
Shing!
A head flew through the air, the cut on its neck crisp and clean.
The scenery vanished. The emotionless footsteps of those white-clad warriors were the only remaining sound in the plaza.
Ding!
Seeing that all the enemies were eliminated, one of the warriors resonated his mana at a certain frequency.
Swoosh!
The response was instant.
Elena appeared in a flash and panned her gaze over the surrounding destruction.
"Any survivors?" She asked.
The Valhalla Souls nodded, using their motions in a bid to speak. However, there was no rhyme or reason to what they were doing at—
"Got it. If there are that many of them, relief should be done immediately. Take care of the bodies while I'm doing this," Elena commanded with ease, somehow perfectly understanding the strange communication attempts of her underlings.
'Goddess' Blessing.'
It was tiring to pray every time she activated the ability, but she really didn't have any other choice.
Elena put her hands together and let her mana cover the town.
According to the Valhalla Souls, there were still several survivors in this town, most of whom were part of the small non-beast population of the world.
While they weren't driven to madness by the rain, they were afflicted with deadly sickness and pain as their bodies were forcefully transformed into beasts.
Luckily, since the mutation was from the same source as the beast frenzy, Goddess' Blessing would still be able to revert the effects.
Elena sighed, seeing the corpses beneath her.
Unlike those who survived, they could be purified, but they couldn't be saved.
They were forced to die as monsters, not proud beasts.
'I need to move on.'
Elena's eyes were almost half-lidded with fatigue, but she couldn't stop.
If she stopped, the entire plan would fall apart.
And if she stopped, the weight of the situation would hit her like a tank round.
They couldn't continue like this.
But if they didn't, just what would they do?
Kiiiii~!
Elena's body shuddered.
'Another one.'
A blur of light was all that was left of her as she sped towards the signal she'd just received.
In her wake, the Valhalla Souls in the city gathered the corpses of the dead and laid them out in the town plaza, respectfully covering them with sheets and closing their eyes if need be.
Quietly, the surroundings were filled with people.
The city that was filled with dead bodies just moments ago was suddenly filled with life.
The atmosphere was mournful. Those who lived cried and wished they had been the ones to die instead, no, they wished such a tragedy never happened.
"If the Golden Dragon Clan protected us…" someone muttered inadvertently.
"Yeah, if they did their jobs, my wife would still be alive!"
"They swore to protect us! How could they abandon us when we need them most?!"
The sentiment grew with every passing moment.
The people needed someone to blame, and wasn't the closest target their own ruler?
Even though the ones who caused the tragedy were outsiders, they weren't tangible.
Anger and hatred clouded the air. The crowd who couldn't cope with their sadness turned to anger and fury to fill the void in their hearts.
However…did they forget that they weren't alone?
Bang!
A sword slashed into the ground.
A white-clad soldier stared into the forming mob, his eyes indifferent and hollow.
Those eyes…were terrifying.
The mob immediately backed away in shock and fear.
Pak!
A rock hit the soldier's armor. There was no force behind it at all, but it was a clear provocation.
"A-are you going to oppress us too?!" A boy shouted, grabbing another rock into his hands.
His knees shook, his eyes welled up with tears, but he stared into those hollow blue flames with determination.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The pieces of Valhalla Soul's armor clattered against each other as it slowly stepped towards the boy.
The crowd parted, not offering the child any help.
How could they? They were also mortals, after all.
The boy's head tilted further and further up as the Valhalla Soul got closer.
He tried his best to keep his eyes off the massive sword in the latter's hand, and he tried his hardest to keep his eyes open despite his fear.
Before he even knew what was happening, a hand flashed out.
He closed his eyes, accepting his last moments until…!
He felt a gentle touch land on the top of his head.
Those blue flames that flickered so indifferently in the face of calamity. That ghostly empty shell of armor that moved against the laws of nature…
Just why…?
Just why did the touch of this inanimate being feel so…warm?
