Antanaxisi

It has to be said that the girl's actions exceeded everyone's expectations. And Li Lin actually opened his hand, and then the girl happily squinted her eyes, ran towards Li Lin, and then threw herself into his arms.

"Father... hello..."

"Long time no see, Anna."

Gently stroking the girl's hair, Li Lin looked at the blood-stained clothes she was wearing with a nostalgic gaze.

"You're still wearing that outfit... Why don't you change?"

"Because... it's Father's..."

The girl nuzzled against Li Lin's chest, answering happily. This annoyed Angela, who was standing nearby. She deliberately coughed loudly, then narrowed her bright red eyes and stared at the girl in front of her.

"Master, do you know her?"

They've arrived, just as expected.

Li Lin sighed inwardly. Nia and Suoxiate had dumped this mess on him precisely to avoid getting involved in such a dispute, but it turned out to be a problem he had to solve. With that thought, Li Lin patted the girl's shoulder, then turned her around, making her face Angela.

"Angela, let me introduce you. This is 'Gloomy Curse' Antanaxisi, one of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys. You can just call her Anna... Anna, this is my familiar, Angela. You two must get along well and not cause any trouble, okay?"

"..."

As Li Lin spoke, Anna raised her head, her dark eyes expressionless, gazing at Angela with an all-consuming, profound darkness. Angela, in response to Anna's emotionless gaze, sneered, Angela crimson eyes growing even brighter, revealing naked anger and resentment. The similar yet diametrically opposed killing intent between the two clashed once more in the air, causing even Catherine and Xiali standing nearby to tremble, their faces pale as they struggled against the almost suffocating pressure.

"By the way, Anna, how did you get to the Prime Material Plane?"

Seeing that the two little ones had indeed started to fight as he had expected, Li Lin quickly changed the subject.

"I remember, I must have sent you to the ninth level of Hell back then, that's not a place you can easily come back from."

Upon hearing Li Lin's question, Anna withdrew her murderous intent and turned back to look at Li Lin. Angela also timely withdrew her resistance, avoiding a tragic accident.

Anna... walked to the first floor... someone... was there to see her off...

"Did someone bring you back?"

Without much thought, Li Lin quickly identified his target. After all, there were very few beings in the multiverse who could freely traverse the Prime Material Plane in Hell. And among them, the only one who knew Anna's identity and could send her back was... that one person.

"This is... he... given to Father..."

Anna spoke, reaching into her robes and pulling out a small pouch. Li Lin curiously took the pouch and peered inside. Besides some exquisite gemstones, he saw a necklace and a jet-black ring. Li Lin took out the ring, sensing the circulating Hell power within. He frowned slightly; with his abilities, he naturally guessed its purpose the moment he saw it. It was a divine artifact—but of little use to Li Lin. Its functions were all available in the Eternal Library, some even more powerful than this ring's.

However, the artifact of time that the King of the Nine Levels of Hell gave him was not meant for him to "use". Li Lin could clearly detect that the pure energy center contained in the ring was created based on the projection of Hell.

It seems this guy is clearly not content to be left out.

"Alright."

Bringing himself back to reality, Li Lin patted Anna's head, then looked at Catherine and Xiali.

"Although there was a slight problem along the way, Catherine, I think you know what to do."

"Of course, Your Excellency. I'll go prepare right away."

Catherine lowered her head and bowed deeply to Li Lin. Then, she and Xialingli turned and left the hall.

After the "outsider" left, Angela's dissatisfaction finally erupted completely.

"Is this brat also Seven Ring Spirit Envoys?"

She circled around Anna a few times, seemingly unintentionally, her disdain evident in her eyes.

"She's just a frail little girl. How could she possibly protect you, Master?"

"You... are the... brat..."

Clearly, Anna wasn't buying Angela's act. She continued to look back at Angela indifferently, responding with her usual weak and incoherent words.

Anna... is... better than you...

"Want to have a competition, little sister?"

Angela a step back, simultaneously snapping open her fan with a "snap," and stared at Anna with a provocative expression.

As it turned out, things still turned out this way.

Li Lin helplessly raised his hand, backed away, and sat back down in his chair. They were bound to fight sooner or later anyway, so he figured it was safer for him to just sit there. As for stopping them, Li Lin hadn't even considered it. Angela would absolutely not obey his orders on this matter, and while Anna usually obeyed him, she wouldn't waver on such matters of principle.

We had no choice but to leave it to fate.

After Li Lin left, Anna clearly didn't refuse Angela's challenge. She coughed softly, her petite and frail body trembling, and her wide robe swayed slightly with Anna movements. At this moment, Anna resembled a little girl suffering from a serious illness, completely unable to withstand any harm. Even Angela, who had just fought with her, was somewhat puzzled, because no matter what she did, she couldn't sense the aura she had anticipated from Anna.

Although the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys are not human, their attributes dictate that they each possess distinct auras. However, Anna before them, while radiating a remarkably strong killing intent and fighting spirit, possessed an unusually ethereal aura, as if she did not exist in this world at all.

"Hmph, just a little trick."

Angela snorted coldly, then disappeared.

At the same time as Angela took action, Anna also began hers. As if the two were connected by a thread, the moment Angela disappeared, Anna's figure was also swallowed up by the dark shadows.

The entire hall was empty; apart from Li Lin, there wasn't a single other person in sight.

"Bite!!!"

Accompanied by the crisp clash of weapons, a blue spark appeared out of thin air in the hall. Then, the spark, like a living serpent, flashed continuously around the hall. Clearly, the two women's speed had far exceeded the limits of the naked eye. If they were ordinary humans, simply maintaining this speed would likely lead to a mental breakdown. However, the two women were not human, and precisely because of this, they could do things that others could never do.

In this magically illuminated hall, even Li Lin couldn't keep track of their movements, only able to determine their approximate location by the direction of the flashes of sparks. The only remaining traces were the red trails left by Angela's crimson eyes as they streaked through the air, and the afterimage of Anna's jet-black robe. The battle between red and black unfolded in the empty hall, various cracks appearing on the walls and floors as they fought. This dilapidated castle, unable to withstand the clash of two immense forces, was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

"Damn it!!"

Having dodged Anna's attack once more, Angela's body lurched, coming to a sudden stop on the ground. The folding fan in her hand flickered with a ghostly light, clearly indicating that she had exerted all her strength. Originally Angela planned to rely on speed to defeat Anna. However, in their previous encounters, she realized that this strategy was obviously wrong. If facing a human, Angela could absolutely rely on her speed to win. But now, against Anna, who was also non-human, she seemed somewhat powerless. It was clear that whatever Anna's true form was, she was definitely not the type to fight head-on. Obviously, her specialty should be sneak attacks and assassinations.

Upon realizing this, Angela immediately changed her strategy. After all, while the little one enjoyed ambushes and assassinations, it didn't mean that was all she was capable of.

"Dark elves, cruel undead, immortal necromancers! Heed my command!"

The folding fan was waved open.

Countless transparent spirits emerged from it, accompanied by screams and cries, rushing in all directions in despair and madness.

Clearly, Anna hadn't anticipated that Angela possessed such talents beyond combat. Furthermore, the dark magic the little girl used was something Anna had never seen before. Therefore, facing the overwhelming tide of the undead, Anna immediately changed direction, dodging the attack. Then, she landed on the ground, her toes lightly touching the earth, and once again transformed into a blur as she charged towards Angela.

"Did these two have some kind of grudge in their past lives?"

Watching the "intense" battle between Angela and Anna with a helpless gaze, Li Lin let out a long sigh. No matter what, things had escalated to this point—it was all a bit too much.

Surrounded by the undead Angela was clearly not as easy to deal with as before. As Vampire Species, Angela was not only an assassin, but also a warrior and a mage. Unlike Anna, who was only good at sneak attacks and speed combat, Angela was not afraid of fighting enemies head-on. In fact, according to the little one's personality, her favorite thing was to completely defeat the opponent from the front and then stand on the corpse and laugh loudly.

"So you really came?! You brat!"

Although Anna was fast, the undead still affected her somewhat. Soon, Angela sensed the direction from which the attack was coming. Quickly, another spark appeared, Angela once again blocked Anna's unexpected attack.

If this continues, things could get very bad for Anna.

At this moment, Li Lin had made up his mind.

The Seven Ring Spirit Envoys are not useless. Li Lin created them so that each would have their own specialty. Anna, one of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, excels in assassination and sneak attacks. However, she is not good at direct combat. This is primarily due to her "attributes." Each weapon has its own attributes, so only by acting in accordance with one's own "attributes" can its power be maximized.

Judging from Angela's actions just now, she had clearly discovered Anna's "weakness," and therefore, Angela adopted a conservative offensive. If it were a human, adopting a conservative offensive under such a surprise attack from Anna would be tantamount to suicide. This is because Anna always prefers a single, decisive strike; if she misses, she immediately retreats, never engaging in prolonged combat. But this tactic is completely useless against Angela. Since she can keep up with Anna's speed under the same conditions, she naturally won't feel any pressure from changing her stance at this moment. On the contrary, Angela is even currently wearing down her opponent's strength.

However, both sides in the battle are non-human beings, so waiting for them to run out of power would probably take until nightfall.

Both sides are currently waiting for a chance to deliver a decisive blow.

The air grew heavy, and immense pressure filled the air. It seemed that Angela and Anna also lacked the patience to wait until the other's strength was completely exhausted—they had probably already realized that the other was not so easily worn down.

At that moment, Li Lin sat up, warily watching Angela's surroundings. A powerful defensive spell was already taking shape in his hand, ready to be unleashed.

It's just for fun; if it actually results in someone dying, then it'll be a real problem.

At that moment, the darkness before Angela suddenly expanded and contracted, and then Anna's figure reappeared. Unlike before, Anna now held two enormous daggers, roughly the size of butcher knives. These bizarre weapons were entirely black, reflecting not a single ray of light. The darkness on them even seemed so dense that it almost materialized and dripped onto the ground. Her dark eyes remained expressionless as she stared at Angela, and sensing her gaze, the red light in Angela's eyes grew even brighter.

"Die!!!"

Anna's figure suddenly split into nine, attacking Angela, who was protected by the undead, from different directions at the same rapid speed. Their intense killing intent and immense power caused the undead tide that was originally protecting the surroundings to involuntarily shrink back, trying to return to Angela's fan and the picture book to avoid the terrifying killing aura.

Angela, contrary to her usual demeanor, stared intently at Anna as she rushed towards her. Then, she took a deep breath and waved her folding fan.

"Boom!!!"

With this loud bang, the entire castle began to shake violently. The hard ground was covered with broken marks, dust and rubble flew everywhere, and even the walls showed huge cracks that were visible to the naked eye.

As the smoke gradually dissipated, Angela and Anna were still in their final poses. Anna's two enormous daggers were aimed at Angela's eyes and heart, while Angela unfolded her velvet folding fan, barely managing to deflect Anna's attacks.

Let's stop here.

Li Lin breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and said. The two little ones exchanged a glance, then put away their weapons and stood aside.

"It seems you already know each other to some extent."

Li Lin shrugged, a slight smile on his face, and then sighed, looking at the hall that was almost a dilapidated building.

"Well then, I think we should leave this awful place and go home..."

"It is indeed a fine weapon, Master."

Angela glanced at Anna and said in a tone that was hard to tell whether it was dissatisfaction or agreement.

"Having such a weapon by my side isn't too bad. As long as she doesn't try to steal my bed, I don't mind."

Anna... wants to... sleep... with... Father...

"... Do you want to die that bad, kid?"

Some class contradictions are indeed irreconcilable.

Now that the farce is over, it's time to get down to business.

"This portal can take you to the capital of Dideyasi."

Li Lin gazed at Catherine and Xiali, who had changed back into their saintly attire. Although Catherine, under Li Lin's orders, had reverted to her initial holy and cold expression, her eyes now revealed a passion and longing never before seen—a look of utter submission and subservience.

"You know what to do next, right?"

"Yes... Great Mage."

Catherine nodded slightly and replied with an excited expression.

"Using the pretext of being insulted by a paladin to sow discord between Dideyasi and the Temple, and to completely pit them against each other..."

"If necessary, you should know which weapons are more effective."

As he spoke, Li Lin gazed at Catherine's body before him, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"Of course, Master, I'll do anything that pleases you... however..."

At this point, Catherine's face suddenly turned red. She lowered her head and spoke timidly.

"But... Master... could you give me a little encouragement before you leave?"

"Not enough?"

Upon hearing Catherine's request, Li Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Just now..."

"That guy isn't even a man! My lord mage, how could such a disgusting thing possibly, possibly satisfy me..."

"Very good."

Hearing Catherine's answer, Li Lin nodded in satisfaction.

"You should know what to do."

"Ah..."

Hearing Li Lin's response, Catherine laughed happily. She reached out and untied her robe, revealing her snow-white body. Then, Catherine turned around and knelt on the ground, raising her buttocks high. She turned back and gazed at the man who had conquered her with expectant and longing eyes.

When she felt the hot object enter her body, Catherine let out a satisfied moan.

When Nia saw the figure emerge from the teleportation array, Nia breathed a long sigh of relief and smiled gently.

"Welcome home, Li Lin, Miss Angela, and Anna... It's been a long time."

"Sister Nia..."

Looking at Nia before her, Anna also smiled joyfully and stretched out her hands again.

"Hug..."

"How's the situation?"

Back in Ringwraith City, Li Lin looked around and casually asked, "Ringwraith City seems to be slowly becoming more lively." Although they were currently in the very center of the inner city, they could still see quite a few people.

"Good news has come from Yi Aier: the most troublesome problem with the missiles has been solved, and trial production and testing are currently underway. The 'Virgin Goddess's Jewelry' system has been debugged, but as per your orders, I haven't started testing it immediately."

Nia gave Anna a tight hug while answering Li Lin's questions.

"What about the sisters?"

As Li Lin spoke, he couldn't help but glance at Angela.

"As you said in your letter, they have already been sent... Perhaps, that is indeed the job that suits them best."

"In these extraordinary times, I don't want any unexpected events to occur. Those sisters are really not suited for war. If they can find something they're comfortable with, it will be beneficial to our plans."

"And there's something else I need to report to you... I think you'll be very happy, Li Lin."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Hearing Nia say this, Li Lin looked at her with some curiosity. In Li Lin's memory, it was quite rare for Nia to speak like this. Since she said she would be very happy, did that mean she was very confident about this information? However, now was obviously not a good time to talk. Moreover, after seeing off Her Highness the Saintess, Li Lin's plan had reached its most crucial part, and he also had things to discuss with Nia and Angela.

"Then let's talk in the study."

Entering the long-unused study and sitting down, drinking the milk tea served by Suoxiate, everyone felt much more comfortable. After all, it was already late autumn, and being warmer was quite pleasant.

"So, Nia, do you have any good news to tell me?"

"Li Lin, you go first. Good news is always saved for last."

Nia's smile was radiant, which deepened Li Lin's suspicions and heightened his anticipation. After all, Nia, like Li Lin, was not one to easily express intense emotions. While Nia's current emotional outburst wasn't particularly intense, it was still quite unusual compared to her usual demeanor. However, he shrugged and then shifted his gaze to Angela.

"Angela, thank you for your hard work on this mission. It's truly beyond my expectations that you've managed to train that saintess so well."

"Hoo hoo hoo... Humans of this caliber are nothing more than an amusing game to me."

In response to Li Lin's praise, Angela puffed out her chest proudly and answered him with smugness.

"Furthermore, whatever your command is, I will do my utmost to fulfill it."

"So, this is your next task..."

As Li Lin spoke, he tapped the table a few times.

"I require you to organize an army of Ghoul within half a month, with a total number of no less than 30,000. Can you do it?"

"Half a month?"

Upon hearing this, Angela immediately showed an excited expression.

"Master, could it be...?"

"That's right, our target has been identified. As long as that saintess can complete my mission... we will begin the first wave of attack in half a month. Therefore, I need soldiers. Angela, it's time for you to make your move. Any questions?"

"What are the specific goals?"

"Casablanca City, a free trade city belonging to the Xialuo Kingdom, has a population of approximately 100,000, while the surrounding villages and towns have about 30,000 people... This is our target. Once you turn these people into Ghoul, we can begin our attack."

"Please rest assured, Master."

Upon hearing this, Angela could no longer contain her excitement.

"I promise, they will all become my most loyal servants... and pawns."

"Very good."

Li Lin slammed his fist on the table, revealing a hint of fanaticism.

"This is the smoke of war, the beginning of the destruction of the Five-Nation Alliance! We will use the destruction of this city to set the stage for the entire war."

At this point, he looked at Nia curiously, waiting for her to speak.

"Well then, Nia, I've finished speaking... Of course, I still have some tasks for you to complete in this regard. Now, it's your turn to tell me what kind of surprise awaits me?"

You'll be very happy to hear that.

Nia gave a gentle smile, then she opened the documents in front of her and said softly.

"Of the 9,500 students sent by the City of a Thousand Towers so far, we have discovered one who possesses the aptitude of Arcane Mage."