“What a succulent soul,” the entity possessing Helen rasped suddenly. “I can barely restrain myself from devouring it now and seizing your body.”
“You’re not Helen!”
Scheffiel gritted her teeth, enduring the sharp agony in her abdomen, and unleashed the full extent of her magical power in a potent burst.
“Oh my, how truly savage you are, human.”
The entity, still wearing Helen’s form, had sensed Scheffiel’s surge of magic and swiftly darted out of range. It moved with an unnatural fluidity, contorting in ways no human body should, a sight that was utterly unbearable.
“You will not desecrate the body of the dead!”
Scheffiel’s fury erupted, a genuine, burning rage. Throughout the night, her knights had fallen one after another, their lives extinguished on this very ground, leaving her heart already heavy with sorrow. Now, an unknown demon had possessed Helen’s body, brazenly toying with her corpse.
“Oops! Looks like I accidentally broke another toy. But it’s fine, there are plenty more toys here.”
The entity, still speaking through Helen’s form, seemed to forget for a moment that it was merely possessing a human corpse and not its original body. With a careless motion, it completely ruined Helen’s form.
“Get away from me!”
With a powerful swing of her sword, Scheffiel forced the attacking Hukelent back, then charged directly towards the entity in Helen’s body.
“Humans are truly not cute at all~”
The entity in Helen’s form showed no intention of evading. Instead, it met Scheffiel head-on. However, just as they were about to collide, it abandoned its control over Helen’s corpse, vanishing without a trace.
Scheffiel rushed forward, catching Helen’s falling body. In doing so, she inadvertently exposed her back to the enemy, directly in front of Hukelent.
*Thwack!*
Hukelent’s long spear had been aimed squarely at Scheffiel’s heart. Yet, she managed to twist away from the fatal blow, and the spear instead plunged deep into her shoulder.
“Ngh!”
Biting her lip, Scheffiel fought against the searing pain. With the rapid loss of blood, her vision began to blur, her senses fading.
“Princess Scheffiel!!!”
The remaining knights, one after another, charged recklessly towards Scheffiel. However, skeletal hands erupted from the ground, seizing them before they could reach her.
“What a perfect opportunity!”
The demon that had possessed Helen, seeing Scheffiel’s consciousness wane, darted forward excitedly. It yearned to quickly claim Scheffiel’s body, believing it would be the most ideal vessel—provided, of course, it didn’t accidentally break this one too.
“Hey, I say.”
Just then, a hand appeared out of nowhere, grasping the invisible entity. It had been merely a fist’s length away from Scheffiel.
“It’s one thing to disturb my sleep, but to bully such a cute girl?”
“This is beyond intolerable! Even an uncle might bear it, but an aunt certainly wouldn’t!”
Yue Wu, treating the transparent demon in his hand like a baseball, hurled it away with immense force, sending Hukelent flying. Though his expression remained hidden beneath his hat, the surge of magic emanating from him clearly indicated his displeasure.
“Save… save my knights.”
Suddenly, Scheffiel instinctively reached out, her hand weakly grasping the person beside her.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine once you wake up.”
Yue Wu turned, knelt, and placed a hand on Scheffiel’s head. Immediately, she drifted into a deep slumber.
“Alright, let’s settle the score.”
After gently settling Scheffiel, a magic staff materialized in Yue Wu’s hand. His gaze sharpened, falling upon Hukelent and the peculiar demon only he could perceive. It resembled a snake, yet possessed centipede legs, ram horns, bat wings, and a weasel’s head.
“Hukelent, this isn’t good!”
“Silence, Sakus!”
Hukelent clearly disliked his current ally. He shoved the demon aside, then reverted to his original, formidable size.
“A mere weak human is nothing before us demons!”
Hukelent furiously gathered and absorbed magical energy, preparing to unleash his ultimate attack. However, before he could complete his preparations, Yue Wu suddenly appeared directly in front of him.
“Holy Sword Art: Calibur!”
At such close range, the Holy Sword Art unleashed its full devastating power upon Hukelent. It was an instant, overwhelming strike, utterly annihilating him.
Where the Holy Sword Art had passed, a forty-meter-deep trench now scarred the earth. The only remaining evidence of Hukelent’s existence was the demon core of the Devouring Demon, left behind in the chasm. The other high-level demon, however, was nowhere to be found. It had likely sensed the shift in circumstances, abandoned Hukelent, and fled. Hukelent, in turn, had met an unceremonious end, dispatched without even exchanging a single blow.
The surviving knights were utterly dumbfounded. They recognized the white-robed figure before them and knew him to be a capable adventurer. Yet, they had never imagined that the Devouring Demon, which even Scheffiel couldn’t swiftly defeat, would be instantly annihilated by him. The sheer power of that last strike had been absolutely staggering.
“You, gather all the fallen in one place. The injured are your responsibility. I can revive the deceased, but only if it’s within fifteen minutes of their death.”
As the saying goes, if you’re going to do a good deed, do it thoroughly. In a priest’s skill set, there are typically two types of resurrection magic: one applied preemptively, which automatically revives a person upon death, and another used after death. However, since his transmigration, the system’s skill description now specified a fifteen-minute time limit, unlike the game’s previous lack of restrictions.
Upon hearing that their fallen comrades could be revived, the surviving knights eagerly sprang into action. They diligently carried the bodies of their deceased companions, placing them carefully in a designated area.
There was one crucial detail everyone seemed to forget, and Yue Wu, being unaware of the full situation, naturally didn’t know either. Several stray Devouring Demons had already infiltrated the crypt, and the high-level demon was still at large. The crypt’s seal was weakening rapidly, threatening to transform it into a true demon’s den.
****
Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, dawn broke on the second day. Scheffiel awoke in her tent, finding herself lying on a simple military cot. Her mind, however, quickly snapped back to reality.
“How am I here? Oh no! The Devouring Demons! The crypt!”
Recalling the battle against the Devouring Demons from the previous night, she disregarded all decorum. Seizing her single-handed sword, she hastily rushed out of the tent.
“What is going on?”
Yet, the moment Scheffiel burst from her tent, the scene before her left her utterly stunned.
She distinctly remembered the devastating casualties suffered by her Silver Lion Knights during the battle against the Devouring Demons last night; their numbers had been tragically depleted. However, the sight before her now seemed to suggest that the entire harrowing ordeal had merely been a dream.
“Princess Scheffiel, you’re finally awake!”
Helen, who served as Scheffiel’s personal guard, beamed with delight upon seeing her princess awaken.
“Helen? But… weren’t you dead?”
Scheffiel raised a trembling hand, wanting to touch Helen, yet fearing that everything before her would dissipate like a fleeting dream. Still, she reached out, her fingers brushing Helen’s warm, undeniably real face. Overcome with emotion, she finally pulled Helen into a tight embrace.
“Princess Scheffiel, I’m just as puzzled. I clearly died, yet here I am, alive again. It truly feels like a dream.”
Helen recounted her miraculous experience, admitting that even she found it hard to believe, despite the undeniable reality before them.
“This… what in the world is happening?!”
Scheffiel struggled to comprehend the current situation.
“This is all thanks to Lord Merlin.”
Seeing Scheffiel’s distress, Helen offered a reassuring smile.
“Lord Merlin?”
Scheffiel froze, bewildered. Who was Merlin? The name held no familiarity within her memories.
“Yes, Lord Merlin specifically asked me to wait for your awakening, Princess. He’s currently resting in the tent next to yours.”
Helen nodded. Although she hadn’t witnessed his power firsthand, she had heard tales of his incredible strength from others. She knew he had defeated an S-rank Devouring Demon with a single strike last night, and furthermore, he was the one who had brought her back to life.
“I understand. I’ll go see him now.”
Only then did Scheffiel relax. She was eager to meet this “Lord Merlin” Helen spoke of, especially since he possessed the power to resurrect the dead. She felt compelled to seek him out, hoping to forge an alliance if possible.
“Yes, I’ll go prepare immediately.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
Scheffiel and Helen returned to the tent, where Helen helped Scheffiel tidy herself up.
“A Devouring Demon’s core. A low-grade gem, essentially useless.”
Inside the tent prepared for the knights, Yue Wu sat on the ground, holding the demon core he had retrieved from Hukelent last night. After a system appraisal, Yue Wu sighed, a clear note of disappointment in his demeanor.
“Might as well feed it to the Fulcrum.”
Yue Wu produced his magic staff and brought the demon core close to its embedded gem. The core was instantly absorbed by the staff’s gem, and a number, “plus ten thousand,” floated up from the World’s Fulcrum.
World’s Heart (Experience: 8,000,010,000/10,000,000,000)
Level: World-Class
Rank: Level 99
Type: Gem
However, the very moment Yue Wu fed the demon core to the World’s Heart, Scheffiel and Helen entered the tent.
“Thank you immensely for your assistance, Sir, for bringing my knights back to life.”
Upon entering the tent, Scheffiel realized that their benefactor was the mysterious young man they had encountered on the road yesterday. Fully aware of the gravity of the situation, her first action was to express her profound gratitude.
“Girl, you’re finally awake.”
Putting away his magic staff, Yue Wu rose from the ground, brushed off his robes, and then approached Scheffiel.
“Girl? My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Scheffiel, Scheffiel Mycenae, and I am the captain of the Silver Lion Knights.”
Scheffiel was slightly taken aback by Yue Wu’s casual address, but she proceeded to formally introduce herself.
“This is my attendant, Helen Keston, also a member of the Silver Lion Knights.”
“Thank you so much for saving Helen. We are truly grateful.”
Scheffiel and Helen bowed simultaneously to Yue Wu, offering their heartfelt thanks.