The Beginning of a Nightmare: Prelude

"The problem that Miss Angela has given me this time is really difficult to solve."

Floating in the sky, watching the repulsive monster slowly advance, Catherine gave a bitter smile and muttered to herself. Clearly, she had never seen this thing before, nor was it a species mentioned in any intelligence reports. How to deal with it would depend on her own wisdom. Frankly, facing such a thing, it was hard to muster any desire to attack it; its rotten appearance alone was enough to make most people turn and flee.

Unlike the other defensive lines, the final line of defense was, in fact, as one of the Five-Nation Alliance, Dideyasi naturally had reason to be proud. This line of defense itself was situated on a cliff face; the high and smooth cliffs formed a natural barrier, and any attack from below would have to cross this formidable obstacle. This was an impossible task for ordinary armies. Not to mention, it was also the only passage in and out of the Dideyasi capital. However, Catherine had already ordered the complete destruction of this passage and attempted to use this natural barrier to stop the enemy in front of her.

Although it seemed unlikely that this strange creature would do anything unusual, Catherine remained vigilant. Who knew if it might climb up? It was anyone's guess.

Behind Catherine stood countless warriors, knights, and clergy. Although they were ready, most remained inactive. Many had heard that their current fighting methods were useless against this terrifying and strange creature; rockets couldn't harm it, flying stones couldn't cause any damage, and even the holy pillars of light couldn't stop it. Therefore, they could only wait, hoping that this holy maiden would bring about a different effect.

Catherine was quite certain that if she couldn't come up with an effective way to stop or even eliminate the monster, the army behind her defenses might collapse immediately and scatter in all directions. Therefore, she had to let everyone see the dawn of victory and hold onto hope. Although Catherine would much rather they taste the poison of despair, given the current situation, it wasn't time for that yet.

The slow-moving, terrifying monster seemed to have sensed Catherine's presence. Its speed gradually decreased, and it writhed forward like waves. Just then, Catherine raised her hand.

As the holy light shone, the air temperature instantly plummeted to its lowest point. Despite the sweltering summer heat, everyone felt a chill akin to the depths of winter. Frost covered the smooth, flat surface of the cliff, obscuring its original color, which surprised and puzzled them. They exchanged bewildered glances, unsure of what was happening. The only thing they could sense was that Catherine's divine power was steadily increasing and spreading outwards.

"In the holy name! Evil monster, I will not allow you to take another step forward!"

With Catherine's angry shout, icy cold air suddenly condensed and then, guided by her, abruptly blew towards the gelatinous monster. This was all thanks to the Nalu; as the leader of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, she could use the power of many gods to attack. And now, under Catherine's control, the Nalu was avoiding everyone else's sight and unleashing the power that originally belonged to the Goddess of Winter.

As the goddess who controls winter, the power of the Winter Goddess is naturally not to be underestimated. Even the limited portion wielded by the Nalu was enough to change the very fabric of the world. The thick earth erupted with a muffled roar under the extreme cold, followed by the spread of thick, dark cracks. As the vanguard of this attack, the gelatinous monster was clearly suffering. It instinctively tried to pull itself up to block the attack, but this time, its method failed. Its once soft, liquid body encountered its enemy for the first time. It was enveloped by divine power and the power of ice, and then transformed into a tangible, hard entity.

Catherine didn't understand much about science, but she did know that water could melt ice. So, after consulting with Nalu, Catherine decided to use the power of the Ice Goddess to test whether she could immobilize the strange monster. However, she never expected that the effect would be so good.

As the biting wind assaulted them, everyone clearly saw the monster halt in its tracks. Its body had transformed into solid ice, like another impenetrable wall, blocking their path. Although the gelatinous monster was desperately shaking its body, trying to break free of its restraints, it seemed to be a futile effort.

However, Catherine did not stop there. She stretched out her hands again, and even more powerful holy light radiated from her body, almost enveloping Catherine in a circle. Of course, this was not because eliminating the monster at hand required such power; in fact, Catherine needed this layer of holy light to conceal what she was doing from anyone's notice—if the priests saw their saint chanting magic incantations and making spellcasting gestures, they would surely faint.

Catherine had never learned any formal spellcasting techniques, nor had Li Lin ever taught her. However, as an angel of the God of Magic, Catherine was inherently an abnormal being, and therefore, her way of casting spells naturally differed from other mages. When she prayed, the knowledge and gestures of magic would quickly appear in her mind and be cast using the power Catherine possessed. This wasn't difficult for Catherine; after all, as a saintess, she also made gestures and movements when casting divine spells. Therefore, with more practice, Catherine could quickly immerse herself in her role.

Even Li Lin couldn't explain where Catherine's power came from. Logically, since Catherine deeply "believed" in him, Li Lin should naturally be able to sense it. However, he was, after all, a mage, and even an Arcane Mage was not a god. Therefore, Li Lin himself couldn't sense the power's prayer and respond to it. However, that didn't mean magic wouldn't automatically react in the same way.

Soon, with Catherine's prayers, a powerful spell appeared in her mind. Catherine then whispered the incantation, feeling the power within her body instantly deplete, then condense at a point on her fingertip. Subsequently, when Catherine released the shackles of her mind and fully unleashed the spell, a powerful force poured out from her fingertip, roaring with a deafening sound as it rushed towards its target.

The gelatinous monster, now fixed in its form, could no longer use its soft body to counteract the force. Under the influence of the icy winds manipulated by the Nalu, it was forced to abandon its most effective tactic of "using softness to overcome hardness," and instead confront the attack head-on. In the past, it could have used its decaying, soft body to continuously replace its internal fluids to mitigate the impact, but the icy winds had completely solidified a part of its body, making it impossible to replace or resist. Thus, under Catherine's powerful magical bombardment, its barely holding on stiffened body suddenly exploded, turning into scattered fragments that flew in all directions. The force was so great that even the liquid body behind it was torn open with a rift the size of a book. This caused the gelatinous monster excruciating pain and madness. Unfortunately, it had no vocal organs to vent its anger. Along with the tearing of its surface, the all-pervasive icy winds followed, and soon, the liquid ocean began to solidify, shimmering with a crystal-clear light.

"Prepare to use the catapults!"

Catherine let out a long sigh of relief, then retreated back to the defensive line and quickly issued orders.

The entire defensive line was initially silent, then erupted in a frenzied shout. The soldiers assembled at top speed, prepared their weapons, and the catapults that had been ready beforehand were immediately activated, hurling boulders at the sound of horns and officers' commands, which whistled as they crashed down on the giant monster whose body had been immobilized.

Although those stones also appeared very hard and heavy, they were no match for Catherine's destructive power. While the boulders crashed heavily onto the frozen surfaces, they failed to inflict the decisive damage that Catherine's attacks had. However, with the frenzied attacks and the falling of one boulder after another, cracks began to appear on the liquid monster's surface. Some small, fragile parts completely detached and shattered. Meanwhile, Catherine manipulated the Nalu, blowing the icy winds of the Ice Goddess deep into the monster, firmly gripping it and blocking its escape route.

By this point, the gelatinous monster had no means of resistance left. Its liquid form had become its Achilles' heel, and Catherine seized upon this weakness, launching a corresponding attack. Eventually, its struggles gradually weakened, and it eventually turned into a cold sculpture. If things continued this way, it wouldn't be long before it was completely shattered into pieces by the torrential rain of boulders.

In the darkness at a distance, Angela squinted, watching this scene with a confident smile.

"I must admit, Catherine is quite shrewd."

"Is this really alright, Miss Angela?"

Suoxiate clearly had a different opinion on this.

"I think it's a real shame to abandon such a powerful item."

"I have something far more aesthetically pleasing for fighting. A piece of trash like you is only fit to contribute your remaining strength at a time like this."

As she spoke, Angela gently licked her lips.

"Next, according to Master's script, it's time for me to make my appearance... Hehehe, how exciting!"