In my opinion, accepting one’s fate is the most shameful thing

On the road, Ilya lowered her gaze slightly.

“Are you interested in learning magic?”

“Magic?”

“Yes, my sword actually needs regular mana replenishment. If you can do that, it means you definitely have a vast amount of magic power within you, and you can surely cast magic.”

“Hiss…”

Hearing Ilya’s words, Livia couldn’t help but get excited.

Magic.

If she could truly learn and master it.

It would be much more powerful than holding a spear!

Even with a spear, there were limits to its reach, at most two to three meters.

But magic!

She could take the head of a monster from eight hundred miles away!

“Please, little maid, teach me quickly!”

—Snap.

“Wuwu, Teacher Ilya?”

“Later, let Flora teach you. She’s better at it.”

After speaking, Ilya took a deep breath, her silver eyes looking at Livia with increased complexity.

Her thin lips parted slightly, and she spoke with a hint of hesitation.

“Have we… met somewhere before…?”

The air hung still for a second.

Then, Livia suddenly hugged Ilya’s thigh and burst into laughter.

“Pfffffhaaa~ Is this some new way of hitting on me? You should be asking more coldly, shouldn’t you?”

“You understand me.”

“Understand? Not really, just a little. I only know your swordsmanship is quite good, and you can use some magic.”

“How do you know I use magic?”

Ilya frowned again.

She was indeed a magic swordswoman, but she hadn’t used magic in front of this white-haired loli. How did this white ball know?

Including this matter, and all these events…

Just as Ilya was trying to calmly think, Livia suddenly seemed to remember something and immediately spoke, “Since that sword can absorb mana, it definitely means you can use magic. It scared me to death. The first time I saw you, I just touched it, and the sword started sucking mana like crazy…”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

Ilya curved her lips slightly, dispelling her doubts, then gently placed Livia on the ground, gripping her silver-frost-like longsword.

They had already arrived outside the town.

“Where is the Shaman?”

“This… it should be mixed in with the goblin horde…”

Livia stood on the small slope, her fists slowly clenching. Her pure white hair was stirred by the night wind, and moonlight reflected a cold glint in her eyes.

She silently gazed at the chaotic battlefield outside the west gate. The howling of goblins mixed with human roars, and the air was filled with the smell of blood and burning.

Outside the west gate, the ground had cracked open into a huge fissure, revealing a bottomless black hole.

At the edge of the cave entrance, more than ten goblin corpses lay scattered haphazardly. Apparently, they had triggered the black powder during the attack, and there were even more corpses in the pit.

On the other side, Livia’s narrowed eyes had already spotted the glimmering gold—Alice and Flora had taken their positions.

“Ilya, now!”

“…”

Ilya didn’t hesitate. Her body moved like lightning, instantly bursting out from the bushes and charging into the goblin horde.

Her sword light shone like the silver moon. With every swing, blood splattered. Goblin limbs and debris flew through the air, and screams echoed incessantly.

The goblin formation was completely disrupted. In their panic, they even began trampling each other.

Seeing this, the militia at the west gate were greatly inspired. At the same time, Alice and Flora had already stormed into the town.

Alice raised her rapier high, her golden hair shining brightly in the firelight, “Townsfolk! Pick up your weapons! We are not lambs waiting to be slaughtered!”

Her voice was clear and powerful, full of chuunibyou flair. Then, she pinched the copper whistle at her chest and blew it forcefully. The ‘toot toot toot’ marching sound instantly ignited the people’s fighting spirit.

Flora, on the other hand, stood behind her with a smile, humming a tune. Her staff swept through the air, releasing an invisible barrier that blocked all incoming arrows.

The town’s militia, awakened by Alice and Flora’s calls, picked up their weapons and shifted from a defensive stance to an offensive one.

They charged out from within the town, forming a perfect pincer movement with Ilya. The goblins, caught between two fronts, instantly collapsed.

Livia’s short boots crushed tiles. Her spear drew a black arc in the night sky. Ilya transformed into a silver meteor, plunging into the enemy ranks. Wherever her sword light passed, green-skinned limbs rolled like waves of wheat.

Flora’s skirt brushed past the city gate. The moonlight refracted by her crystal hairpin shone brighter than torches. The sleeping militia, led by Alice, held their weapons with steady hands.

“Gagagagaga!”

The goblin horde, after a brief rout, forcibly regrouped as if being pulled by invisible strings in the sky.

Livia blinked, noticing the hunched figure of the Goblin Shaman faintly visible in the rising smoke outside the west gate.

Its bone staff, inlaid with human skulls, drew scarlet totems on the ground. With every stroke, the ground trembled.

“It’s a blood ritual!”

Livia suddenly turned around, her pure white hair blown back by the heatwave.

Although she hadn’t seen this scenario in this other world, in some movies, such a scene undoubtedly represented a forbidden ritual like sacrifice.

As her voice spoke, a muffled thunderous vibration came from underground.

The Shaman plunged its bone staff into the center of the blood ritual, and dozens of goblin corpses began to twitch and stand up.

Ilya changed the angle of her sword, slashing at these puppets, while the Shaman smiled sinisterly, clutching its bone staff tightly, desperately aiming towards—

“Northwest!”

Flora’s voice suddenly echoed in everyone’s minds. She took to the air, and points of light gradually gathered at the tip of her staff, then shot out, destroying the ongoing secret ritual.

Ilya intended to pursue the Shaman leading the goblin horde alone, but Livia grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t go. Someone will do it for you.”

“What? If we don’t hurry, they’ll escape!”

“They won’t.”

Livia stood calmly in place. The evening breeze stirred her blood-stained hair and tattered clothes, “Listen, what sounds do you hear.”

“Goblin screams.”

Ilya frowned. “And their footsteps.”

“Listen again.”

‘Tap, tap, tap.’

Ilya tilted her head slightly. What reached her ears was indeed the sound of synchronized footsteps. That’s right.

Wait…

Synchronized?!

Her dark silver eyes widened abruptly.

Before the first rays of dawn could pierce the clouds, the silver armor of the Royal Guards reflected dark silver light, appearing at the end of the dirt road.

“Fire arrows, fire arrows!”

The person at the forefront drew his longsword and commanded, “Leave no one alive!”

Amidst the whirring sound of fully drawn crossbows, the Shaman’s head, along with its bone staff, was pinned to the stone wall. Filthy blood trickled down the rock face.

Livia collapsed in the smoking ruins, watching the arriving guards. A look of successful joy finally appeared on her face.

Success.

This time, she had truly succeeded…

Beside her, Ilya knelt silently, holding her sword. “Even looking back now, the risk of going up the mountain was too great, and letting these residents guard the gate alone. Aren’t you afraid the defenses will be breached, afraid we’ll lose?”

“Losing isn’t shameful. Not daring to try is shameful.”

Livia curled the corners of her lips, gazing at a sliver of fish-belly white in the distant sky.

“In my eyes, accepting fate is the most shameful thing.”