Observing in the Shadows

“You want to fight me?”

“You have never been my match.”

“Heh, that might not be the case today, my foolish sister!”

Serea, wielding a dagger, had now activated Blood Frenzy; her level was 30, with all attributes at grade A. She had no reason to fear her opponent.

Noticing the strange power emanating from Serea, lilith became alert.

“Haah!”

Lilith dashed forward, Serea raised her blade to parry. The angle of Lilith’s attack was elusive, but Serea’s defense was impeccable too. The two clashed, locked in a stalemate.

“Protect Lady Lilith!”

Several Holy Knights tried to rush over, but seeing this, Serea tossed her mask away. The mask transformed mid-flight into a slime.

Splat!

The slime landed on the ground, but the Holy Knights ignored its existence and continued to charge toward Lilith. Suddenly, a massive skeletal claw swept toward them.

“Ugh!!!”

Looking to the side, the Holy Knights raised their shields to block, but their defense was inadequate and they were sent flying.

“Please, don’t ignore me.”

Following the voice, they saw a girl dressed just like Serea appear. No, it wasn’t just the clothing—even her appearance and voice were exactly the same.

“Another Lady Lilith!”

Seeing another ‘Lilith’ appear, everyone was dumbfounded. However, Pelam paid them no mind; having transformed into Serea, she could mimic ninety-five percent of Serea’s abilities. Except for the inability to create ‘materials crystals,’ she possessed all of Serea’s powers.

At this moment, Serea had already given her the materials crystals in advance, allowing Pelam to erupt with power equal to Serea’s. Of course, the consumption would be the same…

Death Decay!

Pelam’s hair turned gray, her pupils shifting to demonic red. Bones piled up around her as she scattered a handful of Death Crystals.

“Gate of the Underworld, open!”

She cast a summoning skill that created a black quagmire, temporarily blocking the charge of the Holy Knights. Then, under everyone’s gaze, six giant beasts composed of bones slowly emerged.

Curious, Serea looked over and received information on those monsters.

Bone Yans, average level 24, silver elite, six in total!

“Roaaar!”

The six Bone Yans appeared; as high-level evolutions of Carrion Beasts, they possessed several times the strength and speed of Carrion Beasts. Among them, three had already grown bone wings—a sign of their evolution toward flying units.

The six Bone Yans immediately charged forward, moving as swiftly as howling hurricanes. Their bladed tails, sharp claws, fangs, and unpredictable elemental magic were all lethal weapons on the battlefield.

“Form up and defend!”

The Holy Knights, seeing the Bone Yans appear, were frightened. They were well-acquainted with such creatures; after all, even adult griffins dreaded fully-grown Bone Yans as powerful monsters. Although these Bone Yans were not fully matured, three of them had already gained flight. Caution was necessary.

“As expected, even though it’s the same Gate of the Underworld, when someone else uses it and when I use it, it’s practically two different skills…”

Watching Pelam mimic her and summon six Bone Yans, Serea’s mouth twitched. Was she really destined to be unlucky her whole life…

And as Serea grew distracted, lilith’s light sword burst forth with holy radiance. The holy light pushed Serea back; seizing the opportunity, lilith attacked again.

Blood Manipulation!

Squelch, squelch, squelch!

A Blood Spring appeared beneath Lilith’s feet, and several blood-red tentacles surged up, entangling her ankles, with even more blood-red tentacles surging her way.

Radiant Burst!

Light erupted from Lilith’s body, burning the blood-red tentacles into a puddle of Blood Spring on the ground, and Lilith pressed forward again.

Clang, clang, clang!

Serea, at ease, parried smoothly while Lilith kept up her relentless assaults.

“It’s the power of death and blood. Why do you possess such evil power!”

“Well, they say that fortune favors those who survive great calamity.”

Clang!

The two parried each other’s attacks.

“Come back with me now, I can help you purify this evil power and restore you to your previous peaceful life.”

“And then? Have me stay in that palace for the rest of my life?”

“Father won’t hold you accountable, and I’ll keep your secret. Everything will be as it was before.”

“Sister, you’re still too naive.”

The two shoved each other away, and with the Bone Yans joining the battle, the situation became evenly matched.

The fight on both sides was fierce, but no one noticed a group of ill-intentioned figures lurking at the battlefield’s edge—mysterious people in black robes and hoods.

Gazing at those fighting, the leading black-robed man spoke.

“This is the place, no mistake. Have you found the target?”

He addressed another black-robed man next to him, who was controlling a raven to overlook the battlefield. Seeing those present, he unfurled a scroll.

On the scroll was an unmistakable portrait of Lilith—their target was Lilith, the candidate Saintess of the Church!

After comparing the portrait, he replied.

“She’s been found, but…”

“But what?”

“But did the Church send three Saintesses…?”

“Three Saintesses?”

The lead black-robed man was baffled. Three Saintesses—what the hell? Not understanding, he took over control of the raven and looked toward the battlefield, first noticing Lilith.

“There’s only one, isn’t th—”

Before he could finish, lilith dashed out and engaged Serea.

“???”

Two identical Liliths appeared. The black-robed man froze, blinking, completely dumbfounded.

Looking again, he also saw Pelam transformed as Serea and was thrown into further confusion.

“Whoa, there really are three Saintesses!”

“I told you, bishop. How could I lie to you?”

As he spoke, a ‘cross coffin’ pattern could be seen on the back of his hand, revealing their identity—all fifteen black-robed men were undead mages of the Church of Death.

The man addressed as ‘Bishop’ was indeed one of the bishops of the Church of Death.

“Bishop, what should we do now? Our mission is to capture the Saintess and use her to threaten the Church, but given the situation…”

“Hmm…”

The bishop of the Church of Death thought for a moment, then replied.

“Capture them all, then interrogate them. This time, except for the Saintess, no one else needs to be left alive.”

“Yes.” x14

“Get ready to move.”

As he finished, everyone pulled out a chunk of blackish-purple crystal—Nether Crystal.

Silently, they dispersed around the battlefield’s perimeter. Meanwhile, Astor also noticed the observing raven. Smiling to himself at the sight, he silently began chanting a spell.

(To be continued…)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep