32. What Else Could It Be If Not a Mage?

The man scrambled to his feet, his movements initially stiff and mechanical, but soon becoming agile and natural.

The villagers around gradually regained consciousness. They mechanically got up from the ground. Whether they were old people, children, women, teenagers or adult men, they all stood silently in place.

Satou Yunona's poison was neutralized by the intense fog released by the Living Doll, which awakened all the villagers who should have been relegated to the background, restoring their mobility.

No. Fog itself does not have the ability to neutralize toxins.

It simply makes them less human than before, thus naturally neutralizing the toxins formulated for humans.

Su Qing'an's discovery of the anomaly that day was correct. Living in such an environment with strange Honkai Energy for a long time, the villagers had already shown subtle signs of becoming Zombie, and they had become puppets in the hands of Living Doll.

The more time and effort this subtle influence accumulates, the harder it becomes to break free.

The current situation should be incomprehensible to normal people, but everyone remained eerily silent, breathing in blackish-red mist, their eyes shimmering with a pale purple hue.

"The gods have been blasphemed, by those two despicable outsiders." Daigo straightened his priest's robes, brushing off the dust and dirt, and said slowly and deliberately:

"They will face the wrath of the gods, and to appease their wrath, we must offer a true sacrifice, Kambara Yuu."

Daigo paused here, his numb expression suddenly transforming into a powerfully fervent fervor. He glanced around at the crowd, raised his hands, and shouted:

"I present this to the gods, begging for forgiveness!"

The man's actions were like those of a saint leading lost sheep, his faith devout and filled with compassion. His words were so sincere and persuasive that they easily ignited the passion in the villagers who had been watching with blank expressions.

"Present this to the gods, begging for forgiveness!" they cried out, raising their hands as if grasping at something unshakeable.

"Presented before the gods, begging for forgiveness!" It was a mechanical, irrational, judgmentless cry filled with intense emotion.

The billowing fog obscured all sound and sight.

The villagers waved their pale arms as they walked toward the Kambara Ancestral Home.

Kambara Ancestral Home.

Kitahara Shin and the others stood at the gate, fully equipped, each holding a fully automatic rifle.

The house was surrounded by a two-meter-high barbed wire fence, with a high-voltage electric grid of over 10,000 volts installed on it without controlling the current output—a weapon powerful enough to easily kill.

This was only the first line of defense; the next few steps of the barbed wire were landmines buried in the soil.

The American BLU-43B Dragon Tooth is a cruel and insidious non-lethal landmine that requires only 5 kilograms of pressure to detonate. It is specifically designed to injure the feet of those struck by the mine, rendering them unable to move.

While it's described as an injury from an explosion, in reality, stepping on this landmine would at least result in lifelong disability.

Clearly, Kambara Shuichi was mentally prepared to kill and was prepared to bear the consequences of his actions in order to protect his daughter.

The third line of defense consisted of Kambara Shuichi's dozens of well-trained subordinates armed with modern weapons.

Each of them was a qualified soldier trained by the best mercenary companies, and some of them were veterans who had served on the battlefield and then retired.

Even Kitahara Shin Kambara Shuichi, never chose to stay comfortably by Kambara Shuichi's side because of this relationship. During these ten years, he had a long period of time away from the Kambara Ancestral Home.

During this period, he managed to climb from a level where he couldn't even beat a few thugs to the normal level of these soldiers.

Before seeing him off that day, Kambara Shuichi tapped him on the head, just like when they first met, and called him an idiot. He said, "Are you out of your mind? You might not come back. I'll have to take care of your parents. If you die, I'll just loosen the soil at your grave occasionally."

Kitahara Shin simply smiled and said, "Kamihara-sama, it's been a long time since you've scolded me like that. I feel a little nostalgic."

Just like an idiot.

He returned alive, and today, Kitahara Shin stands solemnly on this defensive line, staring intently ahead as if to prove that all his efforts were not in vain.

Dusk has arrived, and the sun will soon set completely. If those two fail, they will be the first to face the Living Doll.

Previously, a huge light and a booming sound shone from the direction of the shrine, and the sound lingered for a long time.

Kitahara Shin secretly admired the other party's professionalism; how could they have caused such a commotion in such a short time? That girl named Satou Yunona was probably some kind of magician from the other world, and the kind who was particularly good at manipulating plants.

When Kitahara Shin saw Satou Yunona conjure up glowing starlight from thin air to amuse Kambara Yuu that day, he had a suspicion. Combined with the previous dramatic changes in the forest and the ever-changing ancient trees around the shrine, what else could it be but a magician?

Perhaps she even has the blood of Witch of the Forest flowing through her veins, making her naturally suited to manipulating plants, while that poker-faced guy is definitely a magician.

Although he spends all his free time polishing his sword, the idea that mages can fight in melee combat is so common in light novels these days that it's hardly surprising anymore. Maybe he was the one who caused that huge explosion earlier.

As expected, such monsters cannot be dealt with by normal people; magicians are the experts in dealing with them.

Kitahara Shin had watched a lot of anime and light novels before, so it's normal for him to see the two as magicians given his limited understanding of Honkai. Schicksal is probably an ancient and mysterious magical organization in his eyes, and if he knew about the St. Freya Academy, he would naturally regard it as a magic academy as well.

Even though the two were almost completely on different wavelengths, in a sense, some of his guesses were surprisingly accurate.

The afterglow of the setting sun illuminated the earth.

Amidst the fluttering cherry blossoms, an eerie mist, carrying malevolent power, surged and engulfed the Kambara Ancestral Home at an alarming speed.

The three lines of defense did not hinder the fog's intrusion in any way, which is natural; it would be difficult to consider preventing this situation using normal thinking.

Kambara Shuichi's defenses were designed for tangible things, but if the intruder was fog, all defenses would crumble on their own.

Their brains trembled. Even veterans who had endured incredible hardships on the battlefield could not control their emotions. Unparalleled fear overwhelmed everything. They collapsed to the ground, howling in agony, their will destroyed by the infinitely magnified fear.

A certain power mingled in the mist was exactly the same as the way the Living Doll looked at Kitahara Shin ten years ago.

Equally irresistible, equally arrogant, equally domineering.

It's the same; it's humiliating.