Deterrence (Continued)

He was about to speak and hurl insults when the sharp edge of the cane was shoved directly into his mouth.

"I understand that when people are angry, they tend to use vulgar language to vent their emotions... I can understand that."

Maria spoke softly, her elegant posture as she looked down at the man, her cold gray eyes devoid of any smile.

"I don't know what happened between you... but in my memory, since you were given the name of warriors, your mission was to draw your swords against the braver, shed blood against the wicked, and use your own bodies as shields to protect those you should protect."

"But all I see now is a pathetic coward who bullies a girl, attacks his own countrymen, and doesn't even have a few scars on his body..."

As Maria spoke, she gave the other Sarkaz soldiers present a scrutinizing look.

She wasn't joking or accusing... In fact, Maria wasn't there to berate these people with a bunch of high-sounding words and then kick them out.

Without hesitation, Maria exerted force with her arm, instantly slashing the Blades out from the side of the man's mouth!

The sharp blade of the cane sliced half of the man's face, causing him to scream in agony.

The surrounding soldiers wanted to help, but Maria simply pierced the man's calf with her cane, pinning him to the ground!

The brutal movements were fluid and aesthetically pleasing.

"Pathetic thing..."

Maria looked down at everyone present as if they were some kind of harmful substance.

Her voice was so calm, and her movements so efficient... without the slightest pause or hesitation.

The murderous aura emanating from her made everyone realize that this woman was different...

She wasn't some vicious villain with a fierce tongue; she was a genuine, simple killer.

Her contempt for life seemed to be something etched into her muscles; every move she made revealed the purest form of violence.

A feeling of suffocation gradually washed over me.

"..."

After glancing around again and seeing that everyone had calmed down, Maria silently drew her Blades.

"Pfft--"

She watched the man, who had stumbled to his feet, run towards his companions. She showed no intention of continuing the attack, but simply turned her head, looked at the man surrounded by his companions, and silently reached out her hand...

"... Thanks."

The man lowered his head, his eyes filled with extreme desolation.

He took a deep breath, stood in front of Maria, slowly bent down to her, and covered his chest.

"Thank you, madam... You helped us in this time of crisis, and we will never forget your vital assistance..."

As the man spoke, the Swarm of people around them bowed deeply to Maria to express their gratitude.

They knew that if Maria hadn't intervened, their situation would have been dire.

Although the situation hasn't changed much, at least they're no longer being humiliated and forced to announce their disbandment...

After a brief thank you, the man, under the pretext of repaying the debt, arranged for Maria and Warfarin to stay in the tent they had set up earlier, while he himself, along with a few trusted confidants, went to the side to discuss their next move.

Maria glanced at it a few times before looking away.

Aren't you going to do anything about it?

Inside the tent, Warfarin, who had benefited from Maria's light, was quite curious.

Maria's act of chivalry was really cool... but it would have been better if she hadn't thrown her own Blood Vial.

She wasn't too concerned about the blood in the Blood Vial, since it was something she could find easily; the key issue was that clean, sealable containers were quite rare.

She didn't have much herself...

"Tube?"

"This matter won't just end like this."

Warfarin shook her head, advising Maria in a tone of someone who had been through it all.

"Those soldiers here are clearly not regular Royal Court troops; they're probably drawn from some mercenary group... They don't understand responsibility; they only care about their own safety... They say they're taking people to a designated location, but they don't care about much else."

"You scared them this time, but it won't be long before they come back... You can scare a few, but you definitely can't fight dozens!"

"... Why can't we beat them?" Maria looked at Warfarin, who was so confident, and spoke calmly and composedly.

These words, however, amused Warfarin.

"Haha? Why can't you beat them? Because you can't beat them, that's why you can't beat them~"

However, she only joked for a short while before stopping.

Clearly, she took Maria's words as a joke and didn't take them to heart at all.

"But thanks to you, I don't have to sleep in the wild tonight."

"You should go to bed early too, you can just leave first thing tomorrow morning..."

"Those people were probably mentally prepared... You can't really escort them all by yourself. It's almost a week's journey from here to the designated location. If they want to get there, they'll definitely have to travel with the group. You gave them a little dignity today; at least they weren't forced to disband."

"For them, this is already a good result."

After saying that, Warfarin didn't give Maria a chance to ask any questions and turned to start snoring.

She wasn't faking it; she was genuinely exhausted.

After all, for a long time before, she had been protecting the clan alone, occasionally running out to find herbs for the sick, and when necessary, she had to fight against the Allied Forces... Most importantly, such actions did not receive much positive feedback.

She knew this was related to her own behavior and the lack of explanation, but she was too lazy to waste words explaining further.

Maria, looking at Warfarin was fast asleep, frowned and sat down to think.

After spending the whole day, Maria roughly figured out that the group she encountered were Sarkaz being hunted down. As for their pursuers... Maria's understanding of this world was still too limited, and she didn't yet know which faction they belonged to.

But Maria wasn't quite sure when exactly this happened.

According to the books she read, the Sarkaz had been in exile amidst war for six thousand years since the disappearance of the demon king named Quron. Maria only occasionally gleaned fragments from some of the books from which they had referred to themselves as Teekaz.

Over such a long period, they encountered no shortage of turmoil, so much so that Maria could not discern what era this place was based on the location and circumstances.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Maria chose to continue her journey in order to find information about the colossal, sky-like Great Beast... The era doesn't matter.

The important thing is that she needs to find someone in this era who can help her.

Maria could still sense something unusual in the sky... but clearly, the other party hadn't noticed her yet.

The advantage of maintaining her human form also became apparent at this point; as long as she didn't use her abilities, the Great Ones would have a hard time even discovering that a bomb capable of threatening them was hidden here...

As long as she doesn't use her abilities...

As Maria pondered this, she suddenly heard a faint sob beside her ear.

Although this place is filled with decay and sobbing,... this time the sobbing is a little different.

It's very close... and the sound is very familiar...

Blinking, Maria slowly got up.

He glanced at the Blood Demon, who was already fast asleep, shook his head helplessly, and turned to walk out of the tent.

It was already late at night.

The surrounding crowd gradually quieted down.

Those who had set up their tents went inside to rest, while those without tents simply huddled together, wrapped in their clothes, and went to sleep.

Only a few Night Watcher remained in the distance, carrying torches and patrolling vigilantly.

Following the faint sound of weeping, Maria also found her target.

It was the same Audena she had met during the day.

The little girl was sobbing softly as she painfully tended to the scrapes on her body.

Maria stood behind her and watched quietly for a while.

A moment later, as if her heart had softened, she slowly walked over.

"Ah..."

Maria didn't try to hide herself, so the girl quickly noticed the figure in their direction.

She quickly wiped away her tears, stood up, and bowed respectfully to Maria.

"Aren't you asleep yet?"

"Um."

Maria sat quietly beside the girl, silently watching her.

Having already witnessed Maria's prowess, the girl dared not be negligent and stood hesitantly in place, looking at the woman.

"Are you... hungry? I have some more here..."

"I don't need food, girl."

Maria didn't want to put pressure on the girl.

She simply reached out and gently comforted the other person.

I hear you crying...

"... Yes, am I being too noisy?"

No, girl.

Maria shook her head, looked at the reserved and conflicted girl, and pulled her to sit down next to her.

Why are you crying?

"..." The girl was silent for a moment, but after a while, she lowered her head and said, "I miss my mom and dad."

"They're dead?" Maria blurted out, completely oblivious to the danger.

The girl was stunned by Maria's words, and after a moment, her eyes filled with tears.

Head bowed.

"Yes."

"Murdered?"

"Yes."

Do you want revenge?

Maria's words were very direct.

She didn't waste time trying to appease him with long, meaningless words... Maria herself knew that she had never been able to forgive, and the Siracusa incident was the best proof of that.

So, regarding the girl's crying at this moment, she actually only has one problem.

Should we seek revenge?

The girl didn't even have time to be sad because of Maria's decisive words.

She stared blankly at the elegant woman beside her, unable to comprehend how the woman, with such an ascetic face, could utter such bloody words.

But after hesitating for a moment, she nodded decisively.

"I want revenge!"

"But..."

The girl lowered her head again, saying, "I don't know what to do."

What can she do? What can she possibly accomplish?

Her parents died on the battlefield, and she didn't even know who killed them... She only knew that the perpetrators were from the Allied Forces, and knew nothing else about them.

Where is the murderer? Is the murderer still alive? Does the murderer know that he took someone else's parents?

One problem after another piled up on her, making it hard for her to breathe.

But it was at this moment that Maria intervened.

She reached out and gently stroked the girl's back, easing her labored breathing.

His calm gaze revealed not the slightest ripple of emotion.