Volume Four: Withering in the Human World - Chapter 351: Givinia

For the first time, Loxue had such a strong feeling of impending doom.

"Xiao!!! Close the door right now!!!!"

"--Eh!? But, the person isn't here yet--"

"Hurry!!!!!! Hurry up, ahh..."

Loxue screamed frantically as she rushed towards Xiao, trying to pull her away from the door. She didn't care if she had to force her, even if there were other people inside who hadn't been teleported over yet! She had to close the door!

Sa--

For a moment, even the air seemed to freeze.

The door, emitting a golden-gray glow, suddenly trembled, and then...

Countless pieces of flesh and bones spewed out from inside.

At the same time, a woman's hand appeared, radiating a pure, holy light.

"Xiao!!!!!!!!"

"Waaaaah!"

Too fast!

It was too sudden.

There wasn't even time to react.

His throat was tightly gripped.

With her trachea blocked and her arteries compressed, Xiao could only let out muffled, painful groans.

At that moment, several chains woven from holy light extended out, bound her, and pulled half of her body into the doorway! Only her head, which was being strangled, remained on this side!

But the other person stopped moving and didn't pull Xiao any further.

The area below the chest is inside the door, and the area above is on this side; it's fixed in this position.

The other party's goal was clearly not to kill her—at least not immediately.

If Xiao dies, the door to the book will immediately close.

Without a doubt, the other side wanted to come over and launch a counterattack against Torres, which had become the Revolutionary Army's new headquarters, through the Gate of Books!

Loxue was the first to understand the situation; her sharp mind immediately led her to make the right decision, and her lips moved to speak—

"Xiao!!! Hurry--"

Hurry up—what are you doing?

The obvious answer is to "close the door quickly." Otherwise, the Vatican's strongest forces will directly attack the main base.

But now, half of Xiao's body was pulled inside the door—no, most of her body was inside now, her face, which was exposed, looked incredibly distressed, clearly struggling in pain! If the door were closed now, although it would stop Tianlu from coming over, Xiao would also be locked on the other side with Tianlu! That would be tantamount to killing her!

At this moment, a leg stepped out from the door of the book, tentatively touched the ground, and then landed.

Such a sight alone is enough to send chills down one's spine; it is the very footsteps of death.

"Tsk..."

So, what about using force?

Let the equally bewildered soldiers attack the part of Tianlu that she's extending—impossible! How could ordinary attacks possibly harm her!

Then—we'll take the worst-case scenario and kill Xiao?

As long as Xiao still has the will to live, she will never close the door—closing the door means completely exposing herself to the laws of nature, which is tantamount to suicide.

Tianlu clearly took this method intentionally. The door is not for "unauthorized" people to use, and Tianlu was obviously using his own strength to try to force his way through, which created a flaw—he could not immediately get his body completely through the door in a short time. If he only got halfway through and the other party closed the door, all his efforts would be in vain.

That's why she used "hostages," specifically Xiao, to maintain the existence of the Book Gate.

This predicament created Xiao's survival instincts, causing her to leave the door closed and buy herself enough time to completely transfer the situation.

However, this plan still has a drawback.

What if the Revolutionary Army had killed Shino, who was maintaining the Gate's existence, before she even arrived?

By sacrificing one person to forcibly close the door, they can completely keep Tianlu out of the base camp.

The price was the death of a young girl.

What needs to be done is immediately clear.

As the chief of staff, Loxue had made countless cruel decisions for the sake of victory, whether it was abandoning troops that could not return or using the families of enemy generals as hostages to seek victory. These were all cruelties that a commander of war must possess.

But this time—she hesitated.

If there is anyone here who is absolutely innocent, it is Xiao.

What drove her actions was her love; what she ultimately hoped for was nothing more than the approval of the person she liked.

Should I really use the nice-sounding principle of "for the greater good" to take her life?

At that moment, Tianlu extended her other hand out, and she should be able to cross completely in a few more seconds.

"Damn it!!!"

The soldiers, who had just escaped their ordeal, were once again gripped by fear. They looked at Loxue like vulnerable children seeking their mother's protection, at their highest-ranking officer, yearning for the next instructions. Loxue, however, was already filled with rage, her clenched fists digging her nails into her flesh, and crimson blood slowly dripped down.

--No, we can't delay any longer!

Now, a decision must be made!!!

Just then--

The enormous gate of light, composed of tens of thousands of books, suddenly began to shrink.

The books floating in the air lost their light and fell to the ground. The fewer books that made up the door, the smaller the door became. In the blink of an eye, it shrank to less than half its original size!

However, Xiao did not die, and Loxue did not order her to be killed.

Xiao is closing the door with her own will.

Because her neck was being choked and her body was being bound, her expression of pain changed, and her eyes were no longer rolling upwards.

Despite her fear, she still looked towards the door, towards the Grim Reaper that only she could see.

Then--

As a signal, the light from all the remaining books vanished rapidly, and tens of thousands of books fell back to the ground like an avalanche. In the blink of an eye, the door shrank to the size of a single person! Tianlu's outstretched arms and one leg waved restlessly, trying to widen the door, but this door was not a large teleportation array; its control was in Xiao's hands! Finally, Tianlu's hands and feet retracted into the door like water flowing through a drain, and Xiao was about to be completely submerged as well!

"Xiao!!!!"

Loxue shouted and charged forward, and the soldiers, sensing her will, swarmed after her.

However, the hand that reached out desperately managed to grab a strand of Xiao's hair.

The door closed into a small point of light and finally disappeared into the air.

Little Ying, who was running alongside the army, suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Miss Si Nan? Please don't stop now!"

However, Little Ying didn't reply; she just stared blankly at her chest.

The sudden feeling of palpitation took her by surprise.

"... elder sister?"

The Sadington Warehouse District had been turned into a sea of the Blood Sea and a mountain of corpses due to the previous massacre by the Heavenly Law, and the survivors had long since left this place of trouble.

In the deepest part-

Boom!!!

Tens of thousands of books scattered on the ground suddenly burst into a burst of golden-gray light, shooting hundreds of meters into the sky, like a geyser!

Along with the light, two figures were ejected from the book, their ejection stopping only when they were a hundred meters in the air.

"Ugh... tsk!"

Tian Lu shook his slightly dizzy head and looked around. What came into view was not the blurry golden-gray light in the book passage, but the night that had fallen without him noticing, with the smoke of war rising from the city below.

Undoubtedly, she was just one step away from entering the Rebel Army stronghold, but failed at the last moment because the door was forcibly pulled back as it closed.

And the culprit—

That's the purple-haired girl she grabbed.

Even though the girl's eyes were filled with fear, and even though her limbs twitched with fear, she still stared at herself. Not a fearful upward gaze, but a forced yet determined stare.

"Gulp... you... let go..."

Was it because her hand had unconsciously loosened? The girl, who could only utter hoarse groans before, was now weaving meaningful words.

The culprit who helped the Rebel Army easily storm Sadington, a filthy Blasphemers, demands that she let go.

That alone was enough to completely ignite her anger.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!!!!!

The Holy Light Lock had been binding her body moved, piercing through Xiao's limbs one by one, and her expression was immediately contorted with pain! Just as she was about to scream, Tianlu suddenly tightened his grip on her neck, forcibly choking her scream in her throat!

"Because of you! It's all because of you! You damned, wicked, filthy Blasphemers!!!!!!"

The rage of the Sword of God shook the world; the atmosphere howled, the earth trembled, the clouds shattered, and even space itself seemed to crack like glass! The Second Goddess Heavenly Law, the Sword of God, the strongest force of the Holy See, had suffered a major setback because of a mere Rebel Army. Such humiliation was almost unprecedented in the Holy See's thousand-year history!

Sa--!!!

At that moment, the thick book that Xiao had been carrying in her arms flew out and floated in the air, its pages rustling open, and the sounds of battle could be faintly heard coming from within! In the next instant, majestic knights, hideous orcs, elves wielding bows and arrows, and ferocious hungry ghosts—countless characters appeared simultaneously from the book, rushing straight at Tianlu—

"--presumptuous!!!!!!!!"

With a burst of holy light, all the characters were instantly shattered, and the book crumbled into countless scattered pages, scattering like snowflakes across the earth.

But because of this brief moment, Tianlu's grip loosened, giving Xiao a chance to catch her breath.

Is it like the eye of a typhoon? Although the world around her was in mourning, Xiao, who was in the very center of the vortex, was relatively unharmed.

Of course, this "intact" is only relative.

Xiao knew very well that she wasn't a powerful warrior like Ye, Haoyue, or Xiao Wu. The chains piercing her limbs were enough to make her almost lose consciousness from the pain—and mentally, the near-death experience had filled her with terror. She lacked combat experience, even her only weapon—the book—was falling apart, and she was facing a terrifying opponent many times stronger than Black Crystal. She had no chance of winning whatsoever.

But she was still forcing herself to look Tianlu in the eye.

No matter how desperate the situation, Ye will never give up.

Therefore, I must not back down.

Not wanting to cause trouble for Loxue, he closed the door.

Not wanting to cause trouble for Ye, I won't back down.

Not wanting to be outshone by the bright moon, I will not give up.

Not wanting to make Xiao Wu sad, she faced it despite her immense fear.

"Ye..."

Just thinking of her fills me with strength.

Please...

As long as she approves of me, I can do anything.

"Give me strength...!"

The falling pages suddenly stopped in mid-air, emitting a dazzling rainbow of light!

"... Eternal Kingdom, Maiden's Saint Domain!!!"

A surge of iridescent light filled the sky, its vibrant colors, like the dreams of young girls, clashing starkly with the battlefield. Glass walls, flowerbeds, tea tables, and countless female dolls wielding melee weapons—the protagonists of the Holy Land—emerged from the realm of fantasy into reality, charging towards the Heavenly Laws!

"How dare they use such trivial skills to claim the name of the Holy Land! This is an insult to the Holy See!!!"

Tianlu didn't even glance at the puppet soldiers, tightening his grip on their fingers! Since they were the creations of this blasphemous sinner, killing them would solve everything—

At this moment, Tianlu suddenly stopped moving.

Excessive anger caused her to lower her defenses—not her physical defenses, but her mental ones.

In that brief moment, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her mind, as if someone were digging their hand into her skull and stirring it! Deep within her consciousness, a faint, indistinct figure of a young girl appeared. The girl had beautiful, long, light brown hair and seemed to be wearing a dress and capri pants.

A sudden, sharp pain caused her to completely loosen her grip, and Xiao fell! Through the whistling wind, a girl's voice reached Xiao's ears—

"Miss Xiao! Can you hear me?"

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My Divine Teammate, Givinia! A lifesaver for thirty years! Givinia, kiss me, I believe in you!!! Marry me!!!!!!