I Understand.

"Cough cough cough..."

Tessi suddenly felt the force exerted on her weaken, and her body was finally freed. Her petite body fell, but it didn't feel like it hit solid ground. Instead, she was enveloped by a gentle force.

The release of her grip allowed her to breathe again, and her eyes, which had been closed in despair, finally opened once more.

She coughed and looked around blankly.

Then...

Then she saw a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life...

Under the moonlight, the aloof Banshees silently watched her. The bright white moon was positioned behind her, and her white hair shimmered in the bright light. Her gray eyes calmly gazed at her, seemingly saying a lot, yet also seemingly saying nothing at all.

The reason the girl didn't fall to the ground was because the other person reached out and hooked her arm around him.

Even so, the other person deliberately knelt down, lowering their tall figure, just to make him feel better.

Strands of hair fluttered in the wind, brushing against her face with a tingling sensation.

Mysterious, yet full of charm.

"Forehead..."

Just as the girl was immersed in this sudden beauty, a strange sound interrupted her thoughts. It was then that she noticed the Banshees's other hand was stretched out straight.

Blood gushed out rapidly along the blade she had drawn.

Surprisingly, the blood didn't spread much; instead, it disappeared at the hilt of the knife.

It was as if it had been swallowed up by something.

Tessi instinctively turned his head, trying to find the source of the blood.

Even faster, his cool fingers circled her forehead and gently pushed her into his arms.

"Don't look..."

A melodious female voice rang out, gentle like a mother's... yet possessing the resilience of a father.

She comforted the frightened girl, silently stroking her ear.

"Here..."

"I'll handle it."

As soon as the words were spoken, Tessi could only see the other person's arm twitch slightly.

The slender blade sliced through the air in a beautiful arc, returning to her side a few moments later.

The girl obediently listened to what the other person said, without raising her head, and waited quietly.

Soon, she heard a dull thud as something heavy fell to the ground.

At this moment, the strange Banshees slowly got up and lifted the girl up.

Without any unnecessary words, Maria took advantage of the fact that the other party still had some consciousness in their eyes and suddenly activated her ability.

Hunting Ground!

The soul of the stranger who had intruded was instantly seized by it, and its powerful force rapidly plundered the man's memories.

Maria had been observing the entire time the man made his move.

Judging from the other party's behavior, Maria could conclude that there must be something unknown behind them.

Only...

Just as Maria was searching through the other person's memories...

A strange light suddenly appeared before Maria's eyes.

Then...

The man's soul was set ablaze!

Someone is deliberately destroying his memory!

362

Chapter 362 I understand.

By the time Maria noticed this, the man's soul was already completely ignited.

Even if she activated her ability, she could only plunder a portion of it before her last bit of memory was burned away.

But this already made Maria frown.

Back to reality.

The timid girl Tessi remained beside Maria, looking around anxiously.

His ears instinctively pressed against Maria's chest, as if only in this way could he give her a little sense of security.

When Maria opened her eyes again, she looked at the other person hesitantly, her dazed gaze seeming to ask if this matter was over.

"That's enough."

Maria didn't hide anything from the girl; she nodded slightly and then stood up.

Not far away, the guards also gradually noticed the anomaly and were rapidly approaching...

The lights were blinding...

News of the guards' deaths soon broke, and Maria was temporarily placed under guard as well.

However, it only took a short while before everyone realized that Maria was not a bad person; on the contrary, she was the hero who saved the girl.

The crowd then released her and began to dispose of the bodies of their fellow countrymen.

"Really, thank you so much, ma'am."

The old man appeared before Maria once again, his eyes darting around, a hint of lingering fear in them.

And his hand was tightly holding Tessi's little hand.

The little girl seemed to have calmed down by now, while the old man was still immersed in the fear of almost losing her.

"Nothing."

Maria remained calm, turning her head to look down at the girl.

At this moment, Tessi was also looking up at Maria.

Her small eyes were filled with longing and anticipation, and her gaze held a hint of something indescribable.

Without a doubt, from this day forward, Maria's image will be a color she will never forget for the rest of her life...

Only after confirming that the girl had not suffered any lasting effects did Maria feel relieved and choose to leave.

The old man didn't say much, but simply nodded his thanks as he watched Maria's departing figure, with the girl in tow.

Maria soon returned to her and the Doctor's temporary residence.

"You're back?"

Seeing Maria return, the honest Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

After Maria left, she waited alone in the room, filled with fear.

Although nothing much happened throughout the night... perhaps because she lived alone, she seemed very uneasy.

She only felt somewhat relieved after Maria returned, and even had the mood to joke around.

"When I saw you surrounded by the villagers, I thought this was some kind of evil village, and I was even about to go and rescue you."

The Doctor smiled, his tone relaxed.

Maria simply blinked.

"If I'm surrounded, you don't need to come out."

"Um?"

"I can get out of a normal encirclement on my own, but if I can't get out, no one can save me."

Maria spoke calmly, her posture silent.

She is very strong, but this strength also means that she has no one to rely on.

She herself is the greatest fighting force in the face of all difficulties.

If something truly happens in this world that she can't handle, then the entire Terra is incapable of handling it.

"I see..."

The Doctor clearly hadn't expected Maria to answer so seriously, and his words became somewhat hesitant.

But soon she noticed that Maria's complexion wasn't very good... Although she always had a cold expression, the Doctor could still sense that Maria was somewhat dazed.

This struck the Doctor as odd.

Maria didn't hide anything from the Doctor... As one of the few people who knew about the existence of the Great Beast, Maria told the Doctor directly about what she had encountered.

"Just as I was trying to seize that guy's soul memories, his soul spontaneously combusted..."

"Huh?!"

"You also think there's a problem, right?"

Seeing the Doctor's shocked expression, Maria glanced at him and then continued.

"I've rarely seen such a burning soul... There's definitely something wrong here."

"No, no, I think... your point of doubt is different from mine."

The Doctor's expression was very subtle... truly very subtle.

She looked at Maria hesitantly, staring intently into those grey eyes for a long time before rubbing her temples.

"You mean... you can not only see souls, but you can even manipulate their souls to do certain things... like prying into their memories?"

"..."

Maria blinked, as if to ask, "Is that so strange?"

"That's certainly strange, isn't it?"

The Doctor's expression became complicated again.

Even a powerful Precursor Civilization like ours had virtually no knowledge of the soul... In other words, based on the technological understanding of the Precursor Civilization, the soul did not exist.

Or perhaps, the soul is the brain, and the brain's memories are the soul!

But Maria claims she can see souls?

Is it some kind of materialized mental entity created by the Originium Arts of this world?

The Doctor realized he had underestimated the changes in the world.

But she knew that this wasn't the point Maria was trying to make, and after taking a deep breath, she silently pursed her lips.

"So, what exactly is spontaneous combustion of the soul?"

"It didn't spontaneously combust; it was ignited."

Maria shook her head.

She could understand the Doctor's surprise, after all, the study of the soul was indeed a very subtle pseudo-proposition—before reaching a certain level, people couldn't even be sure whether the soul really existed.

However, this was no big deal for Maria.

Can...

Just because she can observe and manipulate souls doesn't mean others can.

In fact, most of the Great Beast do not understand what the soul is.

In this situation, as soon as Maria made contact with the other party, she discovered that the other party's soul was ignited... as if someone had known all along that Maria would come to collect her soul memories, so they had prepared the triggering device in advance.

And in this world, there is only one person who, even with the slightest possibility, knows that she possesses such an ability...

"... Gordan."

"Gordan?"