Returning from the Far Shore: Man Pillars and the Witch (I)

--emission!

-- at that moment,

A small, pink hand suddenly blocked her way.

"No! You can't disturb Mom!"

It blocked the arrow's trajectory.

What's going on!?

The Divine Spellcaster was completely unaware of anyone approaching and was startled by the sudden situation, causing the arrow in her hand to fly out of control!

"Wow! That was close!"

However, the arrow had only flown a few centimeters when it was stopped by several glowing butterflies—or rather, butterfly-shaped lights—and slowly dissipated in mid-air. The owner of the hand—a girl with long, pink-gradient hair—puffed out her cute little cheeks and glared at her angrily.

"Don't let Mom's seemingly carefree attitude fool you, she's actually very hardworking! And Mom always says that you can only ambush others, not let others ambush you—"

"Who goes there!"

The paladin beside him roared, and his gleaming silver Greatsword plunged towards the girl's chest.

--Then it was abruptly stopped.

"Uh... eh?"

His arms, hands, fingers, and even his entire body were subjected to tremendous resistance, making it impossible for him to move an inch! He wasn't the only one; several others were in the same situation, some even having their bodies twisted into strange positions!

"What is it?"

"It's... it's a line!?"

What subdued them were countless thin threads that shimmered with a faint silver light and were almost invisible unless you looked closely! Each thread was wrapped around the most critical joints of the human body, perfectly sealing off everyone's movements!

The silver thread vibrated gently, and a tiny sound traveled to their ears along with the vibration.

"Die, you ants!"

Clang!!!

With a flash of silver light, the fine silver threads transformed into the sharpest cutting blades, rendering robes and armor useless. Nearly ten people were dismembered in the blink of an eye! Scattered chunks of flesh and bones fell to the ground, and blood splattered everywhere. The perpetrator of this tragedy—a little girl not even ten years old—was looking at the pile of mangled flesh with the eyes of someone looking at trash.

--And Little Butterfly, the "older sister" whose face turned pale as she looked at the pile of minced meat on the ground.

(What the hell... As the daughter of that bastard pink-haired guy, you're actually afraid of being dismembered?)

The Sick Spider frowned, but quickly returned to its acting mode, the coldness in its eyes disappearing, replaced by a slightly weak and innocent look.

"Hey, Sister Little Butterfly, what's wrong?"

"Eek... It's nothing, it's nothing. It's not that I find dismemberment disgusting... Ugh!"

"..."

The Sick Spider subtly curled its lip, its impatience reaching its peak.

When will this damn mother-daughter/sister game ever end?!

"These two girls are really having a blast."

"Hehe, that's what you say, but actually, my Husband wants to see forbidden Yuri with lolis and young girls, doesn't he~"

"Unfortunately, I'm not interested in women under 15, not even Yuri."

"What a boring Husband! Are you really that uninterested in lolis? What about someone like me with a small body and huge... big breasts?"

"Anyway, you're not as big as me, and your touch isn't as good as mine."

"Tch, my elasticity far surpasses yours~"

"Flexibility is just one indicator, you idiot... Hmm? There's a school of fish over there, probably a few hundred."

"Oh ho? Go, my Husband! Use the power of my Rakshasa True Word to kill them--"

"My darlings, dinner's ready! It's over there~"

"Roar!" Several Blood Beast nearby immediately roared and charged over; they were such cute and greedy little creatures.

A few seconds later, there were sounds of panic, followed by sounds of fighting, roars, howls, the cracking of things being crushed, and the gurgling of swallowing. A short while later, they returned, licking their paws.

"... Sometimes I feel that my Husband's aesthetic sense is really bizarre, and I also feel that I am becoming less and less useful."

"After all, I've passed the stage where I have to rely on you in crucial moments, and... it's better to leave the upcoming battles entirely to me."

"Tsk tsk, so you've already shown your disdain for me."

"How could I complain? Ten moons combined can't compare to your oral skills."

"Hmph, let's just take this as a compliment from my Husband."

I turned my head and looked at her.

She still had that same bright red long hair, a petite yet luxurious body, and dreamlike enormous breasts that contrasted sharply with her small frame.

But I can sense something is off.

"... Luo-chan?"

"What's wrong, Husband?"

"You... seem a little listless."

"Of course! I feel like my Husband is becoming more and more distant from me! I don't really like idle play, you know!"

"I'm serious."

"..."

Luo-chan's carefree smile froze slightly, her bright red eyes dimmed a little, and her shoulders slumped.

"See, you've got something on your mind."

"It's nothing serious... Hey, my Husband."

"Explain?"

Of all the people around you, I must be the one who has been with you the longest.

"Is there even a question? After all, this whole thing started because of you and Blood Fiend."

"You guys on Earth have that too, right? The saying 'love grows over time'."

How should I understand this 'sun'?

"Pfft! Don't try to tease me with dirty jokes at a time like this!"

"Sorry, sorry, please continue."

"So..."

She slowly landed on my shoulder, her soft and hot body pressed against my back.

"Do you... like me?"

"Like."

I answered without hesitation.

But she saw right through me.

"How cunning you are, my Husband! You know perfectly well that this isn't a choice between 'like' and 'dislike.' I want to hear your true feelings."

"Aren't you the same? You know I hate pointless questions and answers."

"It's meaningless... is it? No, although it's heartless, it truly is meaningless to my Husband. After all, my troubles are my own."

She smiled softly, a smile unlike her usual alluring and seductive demeanor; it was pure, with a hint of barely perceptible melancholy.

"I love my Husband."

"... Yes, I know."

"No, my Husband, you don't know, you can fool others but not me, and you don't really care whether I like you or not."

"What you're saying puts me in a difficult position..."

"Scumbag!"

"Then why did you say you liked me?"

"Tch~ Husband, you're at it again. You know perfectly well that whether you like someone or not has no necessary connection to that person's character. Like Husband, even though you're a heartless and unfaithful woman, I still like you! I'm happy to see you grow up, I'm worried when you're in danger, and I'm excited when you win. When I realize it—yes, this must be my love for you!"

"Oh..."

This was so sudden.

Besides, this is the eve of fighting the boss, not the time to confess your feelings.

"Why did you choose this time to say it?"

"Hmm... there's really no reason why. Never mind, let's not talk about it! Husband, Husband, can you smell a very... disgusting, very... foul, very... nauseating odor?"

You mean my blood?

"No, no, no! How could my Husband's blood be so delicious and repulsive? I'm referring to that incredibly disgusting scent that makes you feel nauseous from head to toe! In other words—the scent of that white bitch!"

"White bitch"? What an offensive term.

Etc.

"You... you mean the Truth Incantation?"

"Besides that scheming, green tea bitch, fake saint, white lotus, who else could it be but a filthy, rotten sow with a face full of [beep--] and dripping [beep--] filth! Just feeling her presence makes me want to vomit!"

"You're the only one who has no right to curse at others like that. At least have some decency in your speech."

"Tch! Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm actually very virtuous! Unlike that guy, always putting on a fake show of concern for you! He's rotten to the core!"

Stop talking, I'm starting to side with the person I've never met, Prayer-chan. She sounds like such a good kid, it's so pitiful that you're scolding her like this.

"If I were to tell you how much of a bitch that girl is, I could go on for three days and three nights! Let me tell you, one time she—um!?"

Luo-chan suddenly paused, her expression one of astonishment. Her once solid image of her body blurred, like an old television with a jammed signal.

"Luo-chan!? What's wrong?"

"Strange...? That little bitch... is really acting strange!"

The instant her words fell—

Boom!!!!!!

In the distance, at the center of the Cathedral of the True God, a white pillar of light shot into the sky, piercing straight into the heavens! Upon closer inspection, the pillar of light seemed to be covered with fine, pure white runes! Following the appearance of this pillar of light, two other pillars of light appeared in other locations, but they were much smaller than the first one!

After the three pillars of light took shape, the entire sky was dyed a holy, pure white, the smoke and fire were all dispersed, and an incomparably powerful holy pressure descended from the sky! Everyone—the Papal Army, the Revolutionary Army, civilians, and even the Blood Beast —at this moment looked up at the sky, and were completely exposed by this holy light!

"What's going on?!"

"Impossible... That little bitch's power should be the most stable... Why would it suddenly be like this!?"

A few minutes ago--

With a loud bang, the assimilated railing collided with Tianlu's divine fist, exploding into a cloud of black fragments! The momentum of the heavy fist, which had shattered the weapon, did not diminish at all, and it slammed directly into Yu Jie's abdomen! But this time, Yu Jie did not even dodge, letting the fist pierce through his abdomen! His internal organs and blood gushed out, but in the next instant, they were forcibly pulled back by the barbed wire extending from the broken end. The skin of his abdomen was stitched up by the barbed wire, and the hideous patterns of the barbed wire could even be seen through the skin!

"What the hell is going on?!"

"You're asking me? I'm curious too!"

Yu Jie performed a backflip to create distance. The excruciating pain seared his nerves like blazing flames, but it was all suppressed by his terrifyingly strong willpower! Tian Lu roared, holy flames erupting from her body, transforming into scorching sniper cannons that pierced the air, melting the upper half of the distant clock tower. Yet Yu Jie remained—undead! Ashes coalesced into chunks of flesh, which were then sewn together with barbed wire. No matter how he was killed, destroyed, or mutilated—cut, beaten, pierced, burned, or struck by lightning—he simply couldn't die, couldn't die, couldn't die!!!

"But you, Tianlu! Your movements have become sluggish. What's wrong? Are you finally tired?"

"Stop talking nonsense!!!"

While continuing her relentless offensive, Tianlu tried her best to regulate her increasingly erratic breathing! The eighth Super Divine Spell she had just used had consumed too much energy, not to mention that she had forcibly activated it using the refined Holy Power that she had stored within her body for a long time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I mentioned in the group chat before that I'd add an extra chapter if I got the Lion in today's Kantai Collection raid, and I got it in just four tries! So there will be another chapter today.

But the dumplings just won't come out! They're all 125s and 115s! I'm making a wish that I'll get some dumplings soon!

And guess what? We've got a new rear-projection TV! I'm sure you've all noticed. Thanks to the artist and editor!