Chapter 30: Chapter 30
Deep within the Great Winter Forest, an astonishing scene is quietly unfolding, one that would baffle countless observers.
At this moment, a barefoot, minimally clothed, black-haired girl is strolling leisurely through the snow, seemingly unfazed by the icy ground beneath her.
She is holding the hand of a very frail-looking little girl, and behind them is a pitiful white wolf.
Surrounding them are dozens of huge, fierce-looking black Demons.
However, these bloodthirsty Abyssal Demons, who normally love killing, are now showing no sign of violence.
They were silently guarding the two girls and driving away any foolish monsters who come close.
If someone were to witness these bloody Abyssal Demons protecting humans, it would surely cause a huge uproar in the contain.
However, these girls are not humans; in a sense, they are demons wearing human skin.
Under the protection of several Abyssal Demons, Yumo is holding the hand of Liyu, slowly walking on the snowy terrain.
Meanwhile, Limo is walking behind them like an abandoned, homeless puppy, sulking and constantly complaining.
"Mother is unfair, Liyu is a bad liar..." she grumbles non-stop.
Although Liyu 's airhead sister hasn't directly spoken about her complaints, Liyu, who has spent many years with her, can easily read her thoughts and understand what she was saying. However, she has no intention of helping her plead with her mother.
Her silly sister needs to learn to be smart and clever on her own.
Moreover, for them, who are at the level of Demon King, not eating for a year is no big deal, let alone just a short week.
It's also important to control her sister's gluttonous habits.
Therefore, Liyu chooses to ignore her sister's resentful little eyes and looks at her mother again.
At this moment, while Yumo is silently walking deeper into the forest, she was also thoughtfully examining the delicate silver sword in her hand.
This sword is the weapon used by the previous Apostle, Pix
After cleaning up the scene, Yumo took all the usable weapons and space rings of the hero's Team.
Since they had already attacked her family, she might as well make the most of their spoils.
She was also curious about the quality of the Hero Team's equipment and whether there had been any advancements over the past few centuries.
As Yumo continued to examine the weapons without speaking to her, Liyu pouted and shook her Mother's hand like a spoiled child.
But compared to Limo, who constantly revealed her true nature, Liyu was better at hiding her emotions and soon completely concealed her displeasure, still looking like a well-behaved little girl.
Then, the small, gray-haired girl pointed to the symbol on the sword hilt, asking with the curiosity of a child,
"Mommy, what does the golden symbol on the sword hilt mean?"
"Hmm? This? It's the number '8' in an ancient language."
"'8'? Why put '8' on the sword?"
In response to the little girl's question, Yumo smiled and explained,
"It denotes the ranking of the Apostles in the church."
"Ranking? What does that mean?"
"Well, it's like a level of strength. The so-called ten 'apostles of the earth' taught by Asumos are the Hero we often talk about. They are ranked from 1 to 10 according to their strength. The smaller the number, the stronger they are."
"Oh, I see. The Apostle we defeated this time ranked eighth, so it's not that strong."
Liyu responded in low voice,
"Correct, eighth. So, relatively far down."
Although there was a hint of disappointment in her emerald eyes, Yumo mused aloud,
"Well, strength-wise, I'm still curious about something, Liyu."
"What is it, Mom?"
"How did you feel about the opponent's strength when you fought against them? Were they stronger or weaker than the Apostles who came to our doorstep before?"
"Well, about that..." Liyu 's face was slightly twisted with an expression of confusion.
"I'm sorry Mom, that guy died too quickly. Sister killed him in one move, so I didn't really see him fight and couldn't tell."
"Ah, he died too fast... That's okay then."
Yumo shook her head slightly with disappointment.
"What's wrong, Mom?"
"It's nothing. I just wanted to know the overall strength of the Hero's team now."
Slightly squinting her crimson eyes, Yumo had already predicted that one of the 'protagonists' would become the Saintess of Asumos Church and that the so-called ten apostles of the earth, three great apostles of heavens, and the holy knight order would all become the protagonist's power against the abyssal demons.
To ensure that the trial went smoothly, the abyssal demons she sent out at the beginning had to be something they could deal with.
Otherwise, if several Demon Kings directly confronted the church, they would be wiped out.
'Sending an overly powerful Abyssal Demon could result in annihilating the enemy, while dispatching one too weak may inflate the enemy's confidence. It's quite a tricky balancing act,' she thought.
Yumo thought to herself.
She believed it was necessary to understand the current combat capabilities of the Church across the continent in order to send suitable challenge demons.
Moreover, Yumo herself was curious about the Church's strength.
Whether or not she could be easily defeated was an important factor.
Beyond the Church, Yumo also needed to understand the combat abilities of the entire regular army across Ancita continent.
As the saying goes, "Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles."
Recently, she obtained a humanoid body and could go and check it out herself.
As for where to go, Yumo thought to herself,
'Hmm, isn't the Wind City of Snow Night Empire the closest place to the Forest? I heard that there are many fortresses on the outskirts, and elite troops are stationed there. Elite troops? It seems like something to look forward to.'
While muttering to herself, Yumo looked toward the southeast, hoping that at least over there, she wouldn't be disappointed like she was with this broken sword in her hand.
Thinking of the sword, Yumo glanced at it with slight displeasure and let out a disdainful cold snort from her mouth.
"A weapon made of source steel? Tsk, the forging technology of weapons also needs to be improved."
The next moment, the delicate and smooth fingers of the black-haired girl exerted a bit of pressure on the sword's blade. With a crisp sound, the silver sword, supposedly capable of slaying an Abyssal Demon of Demon King level, shattered into countless silver fragments, scattering across the snow.
The sword couldn't even cut her hair.
Meanwhile, at the Asumos Church headquarters in Red Leaf Empire, inside the main hall of the Divine Capital, a discussion about the new Demon King in the east of the Winter Forest was in full swing beneath the statue of the goddess in the center of the hall.
At that moment, Archbishop Nick, who was giving a passionate speech to rally the masses, suddenly felt a special soul signal rushing into his mind.
Then, a look of shock and disbelief appeared on his old face.
The next moment, Nick abruptly stopped his speech, and without looking back, he rushed out of the hall, leaving behind a group of bewildered congregants standing there at a loss.
As Nick left the hall, he headed straight toward the direction of the "Hall of Heroes", clenching his fists tightly.
"Pix? How did his soul signal suddenly disappear? Could it be that he's dead?!"
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