A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

Page 90

It was during the attack that the broken ice fragments, which were accidentally frozen, fell to the ground and accumulated, thus accomplishing the task of stopping Lyrella in her tracks.

"I'm not just randomly scattering ice cubes!"

"Oh dear... I fell for your trick?"

"That's the difference in experience, but I still have to commend you, madam."

Philomena, embracing her feminine advantages, swayed slightly with her alluring and curvaceous body.

It was almost like the posture of unleashing a finishing move: arms outstretched, then the highest level of magic power, never before used, was concentrated. The magic was no longer in the form of ice, but was launched as pure destructive energy.

The blue-white light froze the cuts in the path, and the breath turned everything visible in the Black Forest white.

After the aurora passes, tree trunks and the soil on the ground are all frozen into the permafrost. Of course, if you were directly hit by the aurora, you would inevitably be turned into an ice sculpture as well.

but--

"is that a lie……"

"It's not a lie. Ah, that's great, I thought I was going to die."

"Will die"—that refers to a direct hit.

"...I cannot admire the act of finding pleasure in pain."

Her special move was dodged, but Philomena's anger wasn't due to the sunfish; she was purely dissatisfied with Lyrella's actions.

"Drip, drip, drip..." Blood dripped onto the frozen floor, emitting a faint steam.

The source of the blood was Lyrella's right foot. Slightly off the path of the ice magic, she was standing barefoot, and her right foot was losing a lot of blood.

This is understandable, given that the entire sole of her right foot was cut off.

"I made a mistake in my haste and accidentally cut it off, but that was really dangerous."

Even so, it must hurt a lot.

"Yeah, it hurts. But it's amazing, this is what it feels like to be alive, and..."

With a sickly expression on her face and her eyes glazed over as she nodded, Leirila pressed her bleeding foot hard against the ice block beside her without hesitation.

The cracking sound of the air caused a beautiful timbre to resonate in Leirira's throat.

"Hmm..." This is not some strange or abnormal sound, but a sound in the completely normal sense.

Then, she brandished the knife and slashed at the surface of the ice. She used the ice to block the soles of her feet, completing a brutal method of stopping the bleeding.

"It's a little awkward to move around in, but it's enough."

With each hard footstep, Leirira, now wearing ice boots, smiled even more joyfully.

His unabashed self-harm and combat addiction left everyone present speechless with shock.

"Ah, pain, it's been so long."

With a soft, coquettish voice and slightly parted lips, it was none other than Lairella, who had just fought to the death.

Raising her scimitar once more, Lyrella strode toward Philomena with a high-pitched gait.

Ice pillars began to appear around Philomena, who was her enemy, but their number was much less than before her ultimate ability was used.

This gave Leirira an opportunity.

"Don't even think about things going your way!"

Saint Karina's holy sword was finally drawn, slicing Lyrella's scimitar in two and sending her flying.

"Bad boy."

"--ah."

After landing lightly, Leirira turned and looked at Santa Karina.

"I really didn't expect that Your Excellency, the Holy Maiden, would also get involved. Aren't you afraid of being ridiculed for having two members of the Divine Cult fighting each other?"

"Sorry, but there's no such moral code when it comes to enemies. Besides, I have no intention of indulging your perverse tastes."

Saint Karina refused without hesitation.

“However, Philomena, you step back. I can handle things here. You go and protect Her Highness the Princess. I can manage on my own from now on. After watching for so long, I think I understand a bit. She is no match for me.”

Having observed Leirira's extraordinary movements from the sidelines, she finally felt relieved. Leirira was indeed very strong, but still much weaker than her.

Just like now, the Holy Sword directly cut Lyrella's weapon in two. In terms of weapon performance alone, Lyrella is no match.

"I don't really like fighting with crazy women like you. Because of some other crazy woman, it reminds me of that guy. So, even though I know this won't do any good, I still advise you to just surrender."

After Saint Karina dismissed Philomena from the battle, she pointed the Holy Sword at Lyrella and said...

However, it was clear that others would not appreciate her good intentions.

"A blood-soaked, high-quality prey is right before them, yet the hungry carnivore endures it?"

Lyrella licked her thin lips seductively with her red tongue, staring at Saint Karina with a dazed look. Saint Karina endured her gaze, scratching her face in frustration.

"I see. Perhaps I should thank my former profession. Unfortunately, hunting monsters was my specialty!"

Combat talent is something one is born with, and improving one's physical abilities is like adding wings to a tiger.

169. What the enemy desires

"Hehehe, really? I'm really looking forward to it..."

With a sharp breath, Lyrella aimed her scimitar at Saint Karina's neck.

The silver Mercedes showed no mercy to Philomena, launching a fierce attack on Saint Karina's slender neck.

But... things rarely go so smoothly.

With her strength restored and her combat experience increased, Saint Karina, as the Holy Maiden of the Kingdom, is no weaker than before.

"—Excuse me."

Actually, although we don't know Lyrilla's rank, it doesn't matter.

First of all, this world can't be like a game where characters' names, levels, or even attributes and races appear above their heads. But if you want to, Saint Karina, who received the blessing of the evil god, is far superior to that.

She merely stomped on the ground, and it was like an area-of-effect skill; the earth seemed to be impacted, and a surging airflow directly swept up Lyrella.

The seemingly ordinary front kick generated a powerful gust of wind that shook the heavens and the earth.

Lyrella, who took the direct impact, flew away like a light leaf, breaking several tree stumps before finally stopping by using the broken tree trunks as footholds.

"Bam—"

At the same time, the aftershocks of the blast also hit everyone.

The shockwave spread in all directions. The casual strike was as effortless as a yawn, yet it was no less powerful than Philomena's ultimate attack.

"Now, can I say that I've met your expectations, madam?"

"Ah, this is wonderful, so amazing! Let me enjoy it to the fullest!"

Facing the attack from Saint Karina, Leirella acted as if nothing had happened, letting out a lewd laugh.

She was clearly hit hard, but she didn't look like anything was wrong; she seemed completely unaffected.

She was like a combination of the 19th and 13th letters of the Latin alphabet, and something just didn't feel right with her.

"Come on, let's fight, let's battle, let's dance!"

Her smile became increasingly manic, and her tone was unusually agitated and abnormal.

However, Leirila herself seemed completely unconcerned.

"Su——"

Her body blurred into a streak of light, and Lyrella vanished from her spot. As if she had used Flash, her slash combined with her leaping speed forced Saint Karina, who hadn't moved, to parry with her holy sword.

Although it was a clash between steel, the extraordinary cutting force snatched the weapon from Lyrella's hand as if licking the blade.

The end of her weapon left Lyrella speechless; only the hilt of the scimitar remained, its blade severed.

"The weapon has been broken twice. Would that stop you, madam?"

“I have more than two fangs… If I’m still alive, why not continue? It’s so much fun… And I’m never afraid of dying.”

Drawing a third knife from her waist, Lyrella leaped again, now holding two knives at her sides. She was like a spider, relentlessly pursuing her prey until her threads completely bound them.

The scimitar and the holy sword clashed once more, the intense clash of steel sending sparks flying.

The back-and-forth of offense and defense unfolded before their eyes. The fierce clash between the two Supermen was undeniable; Lyra's abilities had surpassed human capabilities, making even tracking her with the naked eye difficult. However, her opponent, Saint Karina, possessed power that utterly overwhelmed Superman.

"What, aren't you going to use your ultimate move?"

Seeing Saint Karina's unhurried demeanor, as if she were strolling leisurely in her backyard, Leiriella pressed for an answer.

"That won't be necessary, because you'll probably die after using it, and I'm not interested in killing you for the time being."

"Phew—you think you can show mercy to your enemies? Aren't you being a little too confident?"

Lariella exhaled, her expression flickering as she spoke.

She had encountered such kind-hearted people before, but once she accepted a commission, she had to do it no matter what. The reason she didn't torture Curtis was because the client required her to ensure that Curtis was alive, didn't have a mental breakdown, and still had her limbs, but that was all.

In reality, she spared Curtis because the previous scene had drawn most of her attention to the two men, successfully filling the satisfaction that she needed to kill to achieve.

Somehow, as the blades gradually broke during the fight, like a long-awaited worthy opponent, or perhaps out of interest in Saint Karina, Lyrella slowly began to tell her story:

“Have you heard of the Dark Land? It’s a very, very cold place, a place with no light and no future. I’m an outcast, sometimes I steal, sometimes I hurt people, I do this kind of thing every day.”

"I didn't have time to think about why I lived or what happiness was. One snowy day, I was caught stealing by the shopkeeper. Because I was a woman, he took all my clothes. Just then, I happened to find a shard of porcelain."

"I didn't do it intentionally; it was just an instinctive act of slicing the other person's throat with the shard. At that moment, in the freezing wind, a thought came to me: blood and death are so beautiful and so warm. If there is any happiness in the world, it is the warmth that can make people forget the cold."

"That was the first time I experienced happiness. You probably can't understand that, can you?"

A fire burned in Leiriella's eyes, a look that yearned for understanding.

Although I really wanted to tell her to blush like a teapot, St. Karina knew how she felt.

“I have no interest in killing. After all, my previous job required me to kill people because my employers and organizations forced me to do so.”

The employer was referring to the high-ranking members of the cult and Ernest VII; the former were persuaded with reason, the latter with emotion. In hindsight, it was all a calculated tactic.

Saint Karina said this.

"That's true. I was just deluding myself by trying to gain other people's understanding."

Upon hearing Saint Karina's denial, the flame in Leiriella's eyes gradually dimmed, showing signs of almost going out.

"However, I know that there aren't many good guys in the Dark Lands, especially the shopkeeper who captured you. I think you did the right thing. I even think killing him like that was too easy for him!"

That's right. Even if the shop manager is a woman, catching a girl who steals and stripping her naked in the freezing cold, there's probably nothing else she'd do but do something so despicable.

And she probably understood that Lerella was having some mental health issues.

If you go along with what she says, you can actually get a lot of useful information out of her. In other cases, the woman's situation will only get worse, and she won't be able to communicate.

“I don’t think I need to continue fighting. We’ve been fighting for so long, you should understand that you’re no match for me. Besides, regarding the fact that you are my enemy, I’m confident that even if I let you go this time, I can still subdue you next time.”

Saint Karina grabbed the "weapon fragment" that Lyrella pulled out with one hand.

After twisting her wrist, Santa Karina threw the shards, which pierced the wall with a sharp "whoosh."

170. Ernest VII in his office

And in the end, Saint Karina was unexpectedly found herself in a bathtub with the enemy she had just fought.

"Why don't you leave?"

Although she was a pervert, she was still very puzzled that her enemy, whom she had just fought to the death with, even though the other party had a good figure and strong female advantages, had made Saint Karina's mouth dry from looking at car headlights in the bathtub.

It wasn't that she was afraid Laireila would seduce her if she couldn't win a fight, or poison her if she couldn't sleep with her, or even cut her kidneys in the middle of the night. It was just that she still didn't understand the way Laireila was clinging to her side.

“If we go back now, the mission will fail, and I won’t be able to bring back the princess. My fate won’t be any better.”

She might be sentenced to death, or face a fate worse than death—neither option would be good for Lairella.

In fact, what is called a bathtub is actually a deep pit dug in the soil on the ground using magic, the soil around the pit is reinforced, then pure water made by water magic is poured in, and then the water is heated with fire magic, turning the cold water into hot water suitable for bathing.

Although rather simple, it couldn't compare to the palace. In those places, magnificent crystal chandeliers were usually used as decoration, and the baths were spacious, with mirrors and washing facilities near the door, but the room was filled with mist, making it impossible to see the entire facility clearly.

She thought of Ernest VII back then, when she was still very young and would always righteously refuse when women invited her to bathe. Just as she deduced that she was probably the only one left who would bathe at this time, she heard the sound of running water as she walked to the tub.