I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

She gripped the wind-shaped sword in her left hand. The dark figure in front of her seemed to recover from the surprise of the ineffective attack and changed tactics, thrusting the drill-shaped sword straight at her dragon-shaped helmet.

Guinevere neither dodged nor evaded, but crossed her twin swords to block the strange blade while shouting, "Wind Dance—"

The branch on his left hand exploded with a bang, the air suddenly contracted, and the huge impact hit the figure almost at point-blank range, but only made him lean back with his sword, still standing firmly in place.

But just as he leaned back, a dark golden light flashed in Guinevere's eyes, unleashing her dragon's might, causing the figure to freeze in mid-air. She thrust her sword of light into the ground, stepped forward, grabbed his body, spun around, and with a full-force over-the-shoulder throw, slammed him heavily across the woods!

Boom! Boom! Boom! The burly figure flew out like a boulder, smashing several large trees along the way. Dust billowed up, obscuring the view. Guinevere did not continue the pursuit. She drew her sword of light and rushed towards Uru.

The distance of more than ten meters was covered in an instant. The other party didn't even seem to have reacted yet, still facing the big tree that emitted a blue light, muttering something to himself. The girl's eyes showed a struggle for a moment, but she immediately made up her mind, raised her right arm, and slashed out with her sword!

The whole village has been ravaged by disaster, so it's impossible that only Uru is unharmed. Moreover, judging from the current situation, he, or rather the baby in his arms, is the culprit behind everything. No matter what Niman's conspiracy is, I must kill him and the baby here to prevent an even greater calamity from happening.

Even if it means personally killing a good person I know...

Having made her decision, Guinevere no longer held back in this attack. With all her might, she slashed at Uru. The latter did not move, and it was unclear whether he had given up struggling. He simply let the gleaming blade sweep across his neck, blood gushing out like a fountain, and his head flew into the air!

"Ugh……"

At the same time, a faint sigh rang in the girl's ears. It was none other than Uru's voice. She opened her eyes wide in surprise and saw the middle-aged man's blood-stained head spin several times in the air before falling back down, landing steadily on her neck, but completely upside down.

Two bloodshot eyes, devoid of white, met the girl's astonished gaze.

"Even Clausolas is ineffective..."

Guinevere was not surprised that she could not kill her opponent with a single sword strike. Since the enemy was a goddess, and Uru was suspected of becoming her puppet, it was hard to say whether he was alive or dead. It would not be surprising if he showed many strange things.

What surprised her was that her sword of light, which originated from the Age of Gods and, though incomplete, should have been on par with Niman's current level of mystery, was unable to defeat a certain spell cast by the other party.

Uru sighed again.

"Not long ago, you were a weakling who even Terena struggled against. How did you become so strong in such a short time...? Even Fergus couldn't stop you? Honestly, that's why I hate humans... They all have no sense of propriety..."

It was still a middle-aged man's voice, but the atmosphere it carried was completely different. Guinevere knew that the one speaking now was the real goddess Niman, but knowing that time was of the essence, she had no intention of wasting words with him, nor did she intend to try to extract information through conversation—their life experiences were worlds apart, and she was self-aware enough not to think of scheming against him in this regard—she raised her hand, and the sword flashed, stabbing towards "Uru"!

"Ah, okay, I was actually planning to chat with you, but since that's the case..."

Amidst sighs, "Uru" cradled the baby, his body contorting into bizarre postures that defied human anatomy, narrowly escaping the girl's attacks each time. After several exchanges of offense and defense, the heavy footsteps could be heard behind him once more.

Guinevere sheathed her longsword, dodged to the side to avoid the drill-shaped sword, and looked at the burly figure that had arrived again with a serious expression.

Trouble...

She couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

But the figure didn't attack. Instead, it stood there like a puppet, motionless. "Uru" sighed again: "Let's make a deal. You probably came here to save those villagers, but unfortunately, I killed most of them... Luckily, there was one guy whose physical strength was barely acceptable, and on a whim, I let him live. But his life was also in my hands... I won't kill him, and you shouldn't interfere with me, how about it?"

Guinevere stared at him warily, offering no response. But mindful of the strange swordsman beside her, she dared not make a move, and the stalemate returned, just like before.

"Don't you want to talk?"

"Uru" shrugged: "Okay, I know I don't have much credibility in your eyes. Well then, let me prove that I'm not lying."

As soon as she finished speaking, the figure holding the drill-shaped sword suddenly swayed, and the black covering her entire body turned into wisps of smoke, which dissipated in the blink of an eye, revealing a boy in tattered clothes standing there.

He stood there dumbfounded, seemingly not yet realizing what had happened, his eyes darting around. "Uru" looked at the boy with a smile, then at Guinevere: "You should still remember him, the village chief's son, named Doug."

"It's the swordsman from that day—" The boy seemed to finally come to his senses. Upon seeing Guinevere, his eyes lit up, and he shouted without thinking, "Save us! Something's happened to the village! I..."

As he spoke, he took a step forward. Guinevere watched him closely, wary of any possible sneak attack, but everything seemed perfectly normal, and she didn't sense any magical fluctuations from the boy.

She had some doubts in her heart, wondering if Niman was really planning to make a deal, but more likely it was just to buy time... What exactly was the purpose of that rune? She had the Dragon Armor protecting her, which could protect her even if something unexpected happened... The boy was most likely not normal, but what if, just in case, he was really alright? She couldn't just watch him die. She had to save him, but how...?

Her thoughts raced, but in the blink of an eye, she suddenly saw "Uru's" smile behind the boy, and a bad premonition rose in her heart, making her shudder!

"Something's happened to the village, save us... Ah—" Before he could finish speaking, Doug suddenly let out a scream. Guinevere watched as his body swelled up like a balloon, his face contorted in agony. After a moment of struggle, his body exploded from the inside out with a soft bang, shattering into a shower of blood and flesh, a bloody mess!

"you!"

Even though she had never let her guard down, she had never seen or even imagined witnessing such a bloody scene before, neither in her past life nor in this one. Her heart was shaken, and anger, shock, fear, and all sorts of emotions surged up. The pungent smell of blood made her hand holding the sword tremble.

However, out of her sight, as Doug exploded and died, the baby in "Uru's" arms grinned, and its chubby little hands suddenly clenched!

A sudden rush of light went through the girl's mind, amplifying all her emotions to their peak. As a strange light flashed in the baby's eyes, the pain and despair of being burned alive in her past life swept over her, uncontrollably occupying all her thoughts: "Ugh—"

A deliberately suppressed groan escaped her throat as Guinevere clutched her head and collapsed to the ground. Blood seeped from under her helmet, gushing from her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

With a clang, the sword of light fell beside her.

……

"He's not dead...?"

Looking at the girl curled up on the ground, making incoherent sobs, "Uru" muttered something that seemed rather uninteresting.

"Although I am far from what I used to be, my outburst after being emotionally charged to the extreme should not be limited to this level... It seems to be thanks to this armor. It seems unlikely that I can destroy it in a short time... Hmph, whatever, even if he doesn't die, this guy should have become a mindless cripple by now... It's okay to leave him alone."

"Perfect timing, time's up. Hehe... Next up is the real game I've been waiting for... Don't disappoint me."

A burst of azure light suddenly erupted, and an illusory door replaced the original trees, appearing before "Uru" and slowly opening.

"Uru" glanced one last time at the motionless girl on the ground, who seemed to have fainted, gave a cold laugh, stepped inside, and disappeared on the other side of the door...

P.S.: I was having a blast writing this chapter, and before I knew it, it was already 4,600 words... I thought I'd better not split it into two chapters, so it'll be easier for everyone to read. Remember to vote!

Chapter 176 The Other Side of the Door

As if in a dream, the burning pain and despair that spread to every corner of her body and filled her soul felt like an illusion, yet so real—just as she had experienced it herself.

It was as if opening her eyes would reveal a raging inferno filling her entire field of vision, a building ablaze—a nightmare she had thought she had forgotten, yet which she had repeatedly recalled. When Terenas was teaching her the basics of magic, she had mentioned that psychological trauma, a fear of something or some kind of existence, could become a fatal weakness.

There are many magicians in the world who know how to control their own and others' souls. In their eyes, the souls of ordinary people are just blank sheets of paper, which they can manipulate at will. Even the most invincible warriors are often no stronger than a weak child when faced with a mental shock.

Since learning that Neman was a god symbolizing "terror" and "malice", Guinevere understood that this goddess was different from "Goddess of War" Morrigan and "God of Magic" Macha. She should be more adept at mental attacks. However, the "gift" left by Fafnir was not only reflected in reality, but her soul was also protected by the Dragon Armor.

That's why she dared to split up with Merlin and Nemü, thinking that with her "divine gear," even if she really faced the mastermind behind it all, who hadn't fully recovered, what was there to fear...

The figure clad in black armor fell to the ground, stirred, and let out a broken, incoherent whimper. It was unclear how much time had passed before the girl gradually regained consciousness. She laboriously rolled over twice, her back slamming against the trunk of a tree, and fell backward. Lying on her back, her vision, limited by her helmet, revealed a sky even narrower than usual.

"Uh...wuwu..."

She wasn't even sure if she was crying or just groaning unconsciously from distress. She tried moving her fingers, one by one, closing them and then opening them again, then her forearms, calves, and ankles, but she didn't feel anything unusual or missing... The girl took a deep breath and exhaled. The sweet, metallic smell of rust lingered in her mouth and nose. She took a few more deep breaths, and her head felt like it had been hit by a large iron hammer, buzzing and blank, her thoughts struggling to process.

Still alive... As this thought arose, the sea of ​​fire, as if branded deep within the cornea, finally slowly disappeared.

Consciousness struggled to rise from the chaos. She recalled the last few words she vaguely heard "Uru" say before leaving. She hadn't died because the other party had suddenly taken pity on her, but because the Dragon Armor was still there... But the girl thought that if it were her, even if it took some effort, she would take advantage of the opportunity when her opponent was now unable to resist and eliminate him completely.

Although it is unknown how Neman managed to bypass Nemü and transfer into another infant's body, it is obvious that she has not recovered much strength. Otherwise, she would not have gone to such lengths to kill Doug in a cruel way to provoke herself before detonating the explosion. The fact that she used such a roundabout method may mean that Neman currently has no other way to seriously injure her.

This is just a guess, but Guinevere puts herself in his shoes and feels that given Neman's ruthless behavior so far, he would never let go of such a good opportunity to completely eliminate a troublemaker.

Unless, Niemann cannot afford the cost.

Destroying the Dragon Armor would take a considerable amount of time, and before leaving, "Uru" seemed to have said something like, "Time's up," indicating she had other important matters to attend to and couldn't waste any more time here...

With these thoughts in mind, she staggered to her feet, leaned against a nearby tree trunk, and rested for a while before picking up her sword. Almost simultaneously, she heard the voice of the Sword of Light: "My lord, are you alright?"

Although her tone remained calm, the noticeably faster pace of her speech warmed Guinevere's heart: "I'm fine. That goddess seems to think I'll become a cripple... I don't know if she underestimated me or overestimated herself."

"Perhaps both."

"Haha..." she chuckled softly, "The armor hasn't disappeared yet, which means it hasn't even been an hour since I arrived... Very good. I remember the rune should be here?"

The clearing had long since returned to calm, and the runes on the tree and the hazy blue light had vanished without a trace. The girl recalled what had happened, circled around a few times, and stopped in front of a tree, asking herself in her heart.

The Sword of Light gave a positive answer, but after tapping the tree trunk and circling it, she couldn't find any useful clues and frowned slightly: "This is bad. I don't know where Nieman went, I can only go back and inform Merlin about this..."

"Should I chase after them?"

Unexpectedly, the Sword of Light suddenly interrupted, causing Guinevere to pause in surprise: "Chase after them? What do you mean?" Then, realizing what was happening, her eyes lit up: "You have a plan?"

“I remember it. This spell was created by Macha and can teleport people and objects to a designated place. In the past, the Danu tribe often used it for transportation.”

The Sword of Light replied, "Although the spell has ended, there is still residual magic here. I can try to reopen the passage."

"That's great. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No need. My lord can use this time to contact that magician and report the situation."

"it is good."

Following the instructions of the Sword of Light, Guinevere planted it in the center of the tree trunk. She stood watching for a while, then turned and went into the woods, finding a relatively flat tree stump to sit on. After two fierce battles, with flashing swords and broken trees, such tree stumps weren't hard to find. Before the three parted ways, Merlin taught her a magic spell that could transmit messages over a certain distance. Although it could only transmit in one direction, it consumed very little magic power, generally enough for most purposes.

With careful word choice, the girl described the strange occurrences in the village, "Uru" and the infant who seemed to be Niman's new vessel, Doug's death, and the final attack she had suffered as concisely as possible. With a flick of her finger, she watched a bird woven from gray lines take flight and disappear into the azure sky in an instant.

This little bird is a messenger created by magic; it has no inherent consciousness, and its color changes depending on the nature of the spell caster's magic. When Merlin casts the spell, it's a colorful, peacock-like bird, but when it's her turn, it's inexplicably a dull gray, completely unremarkable. It would be nice if it were snow-white or black...

Feeling somewhat helpless, she sat on the tree stump and banged her head repeatedly. Feeling sticky and uncomfortable on her face, she took off her helmet and removed her gauntlets. She vigorously rubbed her face with the back of her hand, but the blood had already dried, so rubbing it back and forth was pointless.

He shook his head finally and put the helmet back on his lap. He didn't have a mirror, but he could roughly imagine what he would look like—probably a deranged serial killer… He'd better keep the helmet on.

The aftershocks of the mental shock had not yet dissipated; he was still in a daze, sat blankly for a while, and then got up and walked towards the open space.

After a while, the girl suppressed her nausea and collected the remaining body parts that were still recognizable—because the gruesome way the body had died made this very difficult—then went to the woods opposite and tried her best to gather up some scattered dog bones. She silently dug two pits, one large and one small, with her bare hands, put the remains in them, filled them with soil, and used a knife to cut tree branches to make two simple crosses, which she then stuck into the two mounds of earth.

She took two steps back, gazing at the two newly formed mounds of earth. She clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and remained silent for a while, lost in thought. Then, a pale blue light reappeared beside her, and the Sword of Light reminded her, "My lord, the door has opened. Hurry—"

"it is good."

She then opened her eyes, no longer looking at the two simple graves. She gave a brief reply, turned around and went to the tree. The sword of light stuck in the tree trembled violently, drew its blade out on its own, and returned to the hilt of the sword at the girl's waist with a clang.

Guinevere stared at the incredible blue door before her: "Can we just go in?"

"Yes. But I forcibly restarted the door, and the location I moved to may differ from the original setting. The situation is unclear, so please be careful."

“I understand. I know it’s too reckless for someone like me to barge in like this, but... only by stopping Nieman as soon as possible can we prevent more tragedies from happening, and it’s worth the risk.”

She tilted her head, then suddenly smiled: "If all goes well, I might even make it to Al's coronation ceremony. I've been looking forward to this for so long, I'd cry if I missed it..."

"We'll catch up."

"Haha, thank you for your kind words." The girl smiled, took a step forward, and her figure disappeared through the misty doorway.

A moment later, the blue light disappeared, and everything returned to normal, leaving only two mounds of earth. A few leaves swayed and fell down in the cold wind.

……

In various works featuring magic, teleportation is an indispensable and convenient means of travel, but experiencing the effects of this spell in reality is a first for me.

Now, Guinevere can take responsibility and say with a thud that this feeling was absolutely terrible.

Whether it was because the spell was designed to be so "anti-human" or because the Sword of Light was forcibly activated, although it seemed like only a short moment had passed from entering the door to exiting, she felt dizzy and a long-lost feeling of motion sickness surged back.

Without checking her surroundings, the girl staggered a few steps, hurriedly took off her helmet, and turned around to gag.

Fortunately, she had been busy traveling these past two days and hadn't eaten much along the way. So, after vomiting repeatedly, she only managed to vomit a few mouthfuls of sour water mixed with a few mouthfuls of bloody saliva. She spat and spat for a long time before finally recovering.

"I thought I was going to die... Ugh, ugh, my mouth feels like it's full of blood. So where am I... still in the forest?" Looking around, all I could see was lush greenery, and at first glance, it seemed no different from where I had been before.

But the mountains and forests are all pretty much the same. Guinevere placed one hand on her sword, keeping an eye on the rustling of the wind and grass around her, while activating the Wind Seal and releasing her consciousness to investigate the surrounding movements.

"We can't find Uru and Niman. It seems the teleportation location is indeed incorrect. Wait, what's that...?"

At one moment, she suddenly turned her head and looked in a certain direction. The wind blowing from that direction seemed particularly fierce, and faintly, there was a strange howling sound and the smell of blood rushing towards her...

……

Inside the woods, in the bright daylight, a burning torch was held high in the dazzling sunlight.

"—"

The figure holding the torch suddenly let out a roar like a wild beast. To ordinary people, this person's attire was extremely bizarre—he wore only a strangely textured garment that clung tightly to his skin, mainly blue with light yellow lines in several places, clearly revealing his chest and abdominal muscles.

Its head was completely covered by a strange mask, which looked like a solid iron ball with six small holes drilled in the front, from which a faint bluish light shimmered.

In his other hand, he gripped a sharp axe tightly. As he retreated, he roared repeatedly. He was wounded in several places and half of his body was covered in blood. Elsewhere in the woods, several other figures, also wielding axes and holding torches, suddenly flashed past.

"—"

The man kept shouting, as if he were directing the actions of others; his figure flickered and gradually shrank.

Where the flames shone, the shadows receded, leaving behind a bright expanse. But where the shadows had once stood, a withered arm suddenly emerged—this arm had four joints, twisted and grotesque. As soon as it was extended, it lashed out at the wounded man like a whip. A violent whooshing sound arose. The man seemed to have been prepared. With a swing of his axe, blood splattered, and he cleaved the arm in two!

"—"

With his hands raised high and a long roar to the sky, as if showing off his bravery, he did not flinch at the blood that was splashing on him. The blood that was enough to corrode a large hole in the ground and trees was treated like ordinary liquid when it landed on the strangely shaped bodysuit of the man, without causing any change.

But in the next instant, the severed arm, along with the hand, suddenly and strangely turned in mid-air, grabbing the injured man's neck before he could react.

It's unclear where the immense force came from, but the half-hand lifted him up, crashing into several trees with a loud thud. The severed hand released its grip, and the figure collapsed limply to the ground, his limbs twisted, his spine seemingly broken, yet he continued to struggle.

The torch fell to the ground, rolled once, and went out. The trees in this area were old and lush, with only a few fragmented rays of sunlight able to penetrate overhead. As soon as the flame went out, shadows surged in from all directions. Several people nearby rushed towards them, but could only watch helplessly as their companion collapsed in the darkness, writhing helplessly.

"—"

In the darkness, more withered, long hands reached out—one, two, four, eight, ten, a hundred—dancing and twisting, dragging the dying man backward, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.