A Fair Ambush

Although Su Ran’s impression of the Church wasn’t very good, at the very least, back in Laita City, this Holy Maiden had been able to lead the charge and stand on the city walls to resist the beast tide.

In this regard, Su Ran’s impression of the Holy Maiden was still quite favorable.

Of course, a good impression was a good impression.

It would be even better if this Holy Maiden didn’t appear here.

‘Honestly, does their Church have no one else? Why do they keep sending the Holy Maiden out all the time?’

In a small town, still some distance from Tukulu, a legion of knights in gleaming armor and high spirits was passing through.

“Alright, this is the last town on the road to Tukulu. Let’s rest here for a bit, recover our strength, and then finish the rest of the journey in one go.”

Yuffie, sitting in her carriage, gave her orders to the knights outside and then suddenly sneezed.

“Is Your Highness alright?”

A female voice came from outside the carriage; it was Yuffie’s personal guard.

Having learned her lesson from Laita City, Yuffie had even brought her personal guards along for this expedition to Tukulu.

“I’m fine. I probably just caught a bit of a chill from rushing the journey.”

Yuffie shook her head, reassuring the guard outside.

“Please take care of your health, Your Highness.”

After speaking, the guard went to contact the legion’s knight-captain, asking him to arrange for the soldiers to rest in an orderly fashion.

Although Yuffie was nominally the supreme commander of this expedition, the actual fighting and logistics still needed to be handled by the knight-captain, who was familiar with the legion’s affairs.

Originally, Yuffie had little interest in this trip to Tukulu.

She had heard that this mission was originally intended for Finnesa.

But after he returned from Laita City, he was unwilling to set foot outside the Holy City for any reason.

Left with no choice, the Pontiff could only assign the mission to Yuffie, who had only rested for a few days.

‘I heard the strongest witch based in Tukulu is only a Sequence Five.’

‘And I’ve brought so many people with me. This mission should be over quickly.’

Having sat in the carriage for a whole day, Yuffie stretched lazily inside, her exaggerated curves jiggling with the movement, as if they were made of jelly.

‘Speaking of which, after returning to the Holy City, the escort squad that failed their mission was surprisingly allowed to remain. That was beyond my expectations.’

‘I wonder if Kold has made any progress with the investigation he was supposed to conduct in the Holy City.’

Yuffie planned to take a good long rest after completing this mission and also listen to Kold’s investigation results.

Su Ran’s swaying shadow stretched long under the moonlight, her calves, clad in black stockings, flickered in and out of sight.

She made no effort to hide her figure, suddenly seating herself on a branch that Philly had prepared for her.

Watching the mercenary group slowly make their way over from the distance, Su Ran had already sensed through the map that there wasn’t a single person over Sequence Five among them.

This made it understandable why Philly and the others dared to lay an ambush.

Perhaps the small number of people Philly had brought wouldn’t be enough to inflict heavy casualties on the mercenary group.

But if their goal was simply to delay their advance, Philly and the others could easily achieve it.

For example, on the small path right in front of Su Ran, Philly had already laid a complex network of tree roots underground, just waiting for the mercenaries to arrive before making them erupt in an instant.

To achieve the best effect, Philly had also specifically asked Isa to concoct a few bottles of paralysis potion, enough to render the passing mercenaries combat-ineffective for a period of time.

Faced with the two major mercenary groups that controlled Tukulu, Philly didn’t dare to strike too ruthlessly at once.

If too many lives were lost, the other party would seize the opportunity to unite with other mercenaries who were on the fence.

“Stop!”

Nuo’ao had wanted to continue his conversation with the leader of the White Stone Mercenary Group, but when he saw someone sitting on a branch, his cautious nature made him immediately order both advancing parties to a halt.

“Who’s there?!”

With the branches obstructing his view, it was somewhat difficult for Nuo’ao to see the person clearly, so he called out.

“Hehe~”

Su Ran’s low chuckle reached the ears of every mercenary present, making them instinctively tighten their grip on their weapons.

Along with Su Ran’s laughter, a bone-chilling coldness appeared, and the surrounding temperature plummeted.

Frost even began to form on the branches near Su Ran.

Noticing the abnormal change in temperature, Nuo’ao was startled.

He looked at the figure on the branch, and his expression changed dramatically.

‘This person comes with ill intent. They’re clearly here for us.’

Su Ran, at this moment, couldn’t be bothered with their thoughts.

After dealing with the trouble here, she still had to lead a group of people into the city.

Naturally, the faster this was resolved, the better.

Her fair little hand reached forward in a grasping motion.

The surrounding cold air surged, flooding the area around the mercenary group.

Nuo’ao felt as if his very blood vessels were about to freeze solid.

His hand holding his weapon remained still.

Nuo’ao had a premonition that if he forced a move, it would absolutely not end well.

The opponent was already assailing him with an irresistible chill.

If they got serious, it wouldn’t be impossible to turn him into an ice sculpture in an instant.

But clearly, Nuo’ao had no intention of just sitting and waiting for death.

With a thought, he tried to control the magic essence circulating in his circuit.

But soon, his eyes widened in terror as he discovered something even more horrifying.

The magic essence in his circuit wouldn’t budge.

No matter how he tried to mobilize it with his spiritual power, the magic essence seemed to have been frozen solid.

‘This chill can not only freeze blood, but it can also affect my magic essence!’

Su Ran sat on the branch with an air of casualness.

Using her witch talent was the most cost-effective and labor-saving method.

Especially since she didn’t even need to expend magic essence to create ice crystals; she just needed to release a chill into the surroundings.

Once the temperature dropped to a certain point, the frost would creep onto their bodies on its own.

Su Ran controlled it very well.

By merely using the chill of the ice crystals, she would at most freeze them for one night.

When the sun rose the next morning, the frost would naturally melt, releasing them from their restraints.

It could both stop their advance and prevent any loss of life—killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Just as Nuo’ao was sinking into deep despair, watching the frost creep up his body…

An explosion sounded from within Tukulu, reigniting his hope.

That was his father, launching the attack on the Witch’s Society at the scheduled time.

According to the plan, as long as he brought the White Stone mercenaries over, they could trap all the witches who tried to escape.

‘When my father realizes I haven’t arrived, he will definitely know something has gone wrong on my end.’

“They’ve made their move? Then I need to speed things up!”

Seeing that an explosion had already occurred in the city, Su Ran held back no longer.

She unleashed her full power, and the frost creeping up Nuo’ao’s body accelerated, quickly freezing their bodies from the neck down.

“I’m not some kind of demon. You can all just stay here. When the sun comes out tomorrow, the frost will melt on its own. But if you don’t listen and try to break the ice, don’t blame me if you lose an arm or a leg.”

Nuo’ao finally saw the true appearance of the person sitting in the tree.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her an angel.

But the words coming from her mouth didn’t sound like something an angel would say; they sounded more like a demon’s.