God’s Blade

“In yesterday’s class, we talked about the ancient era. In order to adapt to environmental changes and combat the Abyssal Nightmares, humans gradually evolved various beast-like traits during their development, resulting in a great leap in combat power.”

The history teacher stood on the podium, holding a book while lecturing.

Afternoon classes always felt sluggish.

Many students in the class already wore the buff of drowsiness.

It was the first week after military training, a time when holiday withdrawal hit the hardest.

Wang Ning forced her eyelids to stay open, feeling her willpower being shredded apart, struggling to resist the contagious sleepiness of her deskmate.

No matter the world, history class was always lethally boring.

She dazedly watched the teacher’s mouth open and close, her consciousness on the verge of collapse.

Just a little nap… just a quick one…

“At that time, the tide of magic was at its peak. A group of individuals known as magicians emerged among humanity. Thanks to magic and beastification, humans survived one apocalyptic disaster after another. But by the Middle Ages, mana gradually faded, and the last known magician died 500 years ago—signaling the end of the magician’s rule.”

“But the decline of magic didn’t mean people could no longer use mana. Some gifted individuals pioneered the system of magitek using mediums, which guided human civilization into a new era…”

“Student Wang Ning, would you kindly answer this question for us?” the teacher asked with a pleasant smile, calling out a name.

Wang Ning jolted up instantly, standing in panic.

What? What question?

She’d just nodded off and hadn’t heard a thing!

Seeing the teacher’s encouraging smile, sweat beaded down her back.

She looked at the question written on the blackboard and decided to leave her fate to chance—making up an answer on the spot.

“The founder of magitek was a priestess named Fysiat. After her, um… magitek continued to develop. Although it was considered heretical at the time, she went on to establish a new organization to protect those who pursued truth and magic.”

“That organization became what we now know as the largest church—Blade of God.”

The history teacher looked at her with admiration and nodded approvingly. “Excellent answer, Wang Ning. You may sit down.”

Wang Ning let out a sigh of relief.

When she sat down, she noticed the body slumped toward her side.

She glanced at Glasseanne, who had nearly taken over her desk, and couldn’t help but grumble, “Why do you always end up sleeping on my desk lately?”

The head of blue hair stirred slightly and muttered a muffled “Mm.”

“Your desk’s comfier to sleep on…”

They were both wooden desks! Where was the difference?!

And Glasseanne even had a cushion on hers!

That had to be more comfortable than her plain hard wood.

As her desk space shrank further, Wang Ning retaliated by tossing half her book on Glasseanne’s head like a human bookrest.

There was no reaction.

Her deskmate didn’t even flinch, still sleeping soundly.

How annoying.

Resigned, Wang Ning picked up her pen and began taking notes.

Just the thought of the upcoming monthly quiz made her despair.

She looked enviously at Glasseanne’s peacefully sleeping head, hesitated for a moment, and then mischievously plucked a small lock of her light blue hair.

“Let me absorb some of your IQ… Study goddess power +1, +1, +1…”

She barely made it through to the end of class.

Wang Ning rushed to the restroom to splash water on her face.

When she returned to the classroom, it was eerily quiet.

Almost everyone was still collapsed over their desks napping.

Back at her seat, Wang Ning pulled out her otherworldly version of a smartphone.

Although school rules prohibited phones in class, as long as you weren’t blatantly using it in front of a teacher, most staff turned a blind eye.

The apps on this phone bore uncanny similarities to the ones from her previous life.

For instance, “Feige” was basically this world’s version of WeChat.

She looked through her contact list.

Pinned at the top was her little sister.

Below that were Siali, Gallaire, Karin, Glasseanne, Student A, Student B… the gaming club, class group chat, and so on.

She hadn’t noticed it last time, but the list was surprisingly long.

Wang Ning propped up her chin, scrolling through the screen.

There was no contact listed for her parents.

In the game, she had never fully understood Wang Yi’s family background.

The developers had seemingly left that vague.

Still, it was clear Wang Yi—and thus Wang Ning—did have family, but they had been long absent.

Reality, however, was very different.

In her past life, her parents died in an accident when Wang Yi was just over ten.

At that time, Wang Ning herself was only twelve.

Thanks to insurance payouts and government protection for minors, the two sisters were able to live on and grow up together.

Suddenly, a message notification popped up.

Wang Ning’s eyes landed on the new message.

[“Xiao” has requested to add you as a friend.]

Huh?

Wang Ning tapped “accept” and saw Xiao immediately send a message.

[Xiao: .]

Wang Ning looked at the solitary period and couldn’t help but laugh, then replied.

[WNN: Good afternoon! Xiao, what are you doing?]

She watched the “User is typing…” indicator flicker on and off several times.

After about two minutes, Xiao finally sent a reply.

[Xiao: Working.]

[WNN: What kind of work? Is it hard? (cat peeking emoji)]

Xiao held a gun in one hand, slowly typing with the other.

[Xiao: Can’t say right now. It’s not hard.]

There was a commotion beside her.

Her gaze lifted from the screen to the man strapped to a chair in front of her.

The interrogation target had been tied up tightly.

Bandages wrapped haphazardly around his tangled hair.

Jagged, beastlike teeth protruded from his mouth.

His expression was borderline deranged.

After intense questioning, his mental state had clearly deteriorated.

“You f*cking bastards! Let me go! Let me go! I’ll kill you all! I’ll kill you all! Aaaaaagh!”

Freshly awoken from unconsciousness, the man thrashed violently, roaring like a wild animal.

[WNN: I’m at school. World history is so hard lately (ToT). You must’ve been a good student too, right, Xiao?]

The officer beside her spoke gravely, “Colonel, we’ve confirmed the identity. This man has long been involved in the smuggling and distribution of ‘banned drugs.’ He’s also used them repeatedly. His body has begun to mutate into a Nightmare. Under imperial law, that’s grounds for immediate execution.”

“Did he name anyone behind him?”

“…No,” the officer lowered his voice. “After the incident, he murdered his wife and daughter. The people behind him quickly discarded him.”

Xiao’s pupils burned a deep, blood-red hue.

Like a quiet flame.

But devoid of any warmth.

Calmly, she raised her hand, gun pointed directly at the man’s forehead.

“I’ll ask one last time. Who supplied you with the ‘banned drugs’?”

The man suddenly hung his head.

He murmured, “Aisha… Roy… Aisha…”

Those were his wife and daughter’s names.

He kept muttering them over and over.

Time passed.

So long that Xiao’s patience was at its limit.

She pulled the trigger halfway—

“I… Where am I?”

Suddenly, the man looked up in terror.

He seemed lucid again.

“You—why are you pointing a gun at me?! Help! Help—!”

In the next moment, the gun was pressed harder against his skull.

A voice colder than ice pierced the air.

“Awake now? Good. Then answer the question.”

What question?

His broken mind clawed at the memory.

A hand offering pills.

White tablets.

Money.

Deals.

Organs.

Debt.

And finally—the screams of his wife, the cries of his daughter.

His once-happy home turned into hell.

His pupils shrank to pinpoints.

His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Tears soaked into his collar without him even realizing it.

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know I DON’T KNOW AAAAAAAAH—!!”

He completely broke down.

Snapping his chains with monstrous limbs, he charged at Xiao with a savage howl.

His eyes rolled back white, devoid of reason.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed.

Blood splattered across Xiao’s face.

She wiped it off casually with a hand.

A crimson streak painted across the corner of her eye like an eerie scarlet flourish.

She looked down at her comms device.

Deleted her original reply.

And retyped.

[Xiao: If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me.]