“Amazing… This is the true way of swordsmanship…”

 

As she landed back on the ground, “Menna,” who had initially been terrified by the sudden eruption of countless black-and-white masks and had been trembling within the barrier, seemed to have shaken off her fear. For some reason, she even appeared unusually excited.

 

The little girl tilted her head, her curious and longing eyes fixated on the golden rain of swords dancing above the sword grave, as if she had glimpsed some incredible, supreme truth. Her eyes nearly sparkled, though it was unclear what she was thinking.

 

However, Violet paid no attention to this. After confirming their safety, she retracted the barrier of the 【Light Protection】 and slowly advanced again.

 

On the surface of the grey sword, the countless eerie black-and-white masks had been completely annihilated by the golden rain of swords, except for one, which the priestess had deliberately pinned to the sword, leaving it partially intact.

 

“Damn… Damn you! Damn the light! The master will punish you, the master will avenge us!”

 

The mask, filled with an expression of anger, cursed and shouted furiously, yet it was pinned down and immobilized by the golden swords of light.

 

The young girl ignored these empty threats.

 

Since this creature seemed to possess a relatively independent will, with the right approach, it might be possible to extract some valuable information from it.

 

At the very least, Violet wanted to know who this “master” they kept mentioning actually was.

 

But just as she was about to step forward and interrogate the mask, which was slowly shifting its expression from “anger” to “fear” as the black-haired girl approached, her real body, still outside, suddenly transmitted a message, causing the priestess to furrow her brow slightly in her mental world.

 

She paused her steps for the moment.

 

Redirecting her attention back to the real world, Violet opened her eyes and turned her head towards the door, which was suddenly being knocked on urgently from the outside with a “tock-tock-tock” sound.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

Outside the room, there were two members of the 【Reaper’s Scythe】 adventure team, 【Dark Spirit】 and 【Dark Lotus】, guarding it. They should have known that the situation inside couldn’t be disturbed. For ordinary matters, it wouldn’t have been possible for them to make such a noise.

 

Violet reacted quickly, the moment the knocking started, she immediately regained her awareness. The Diviner didn’t ask about the progress of the healing or go to open the door.

 

Instead, after frowning slightly, he rhythmically flicked the beads of his abacus a few times. The beads jumped up and down and eventually stopped in a particular pattern.

 

Then, a blood-red glimmer flashed across the abacus, causing the Diviner’s expression to change slightly.

 

“An ominous sign… a disaster of bloodshed? The divination has changed… Miss Dawn, did you do something extraordinary just now?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Miss White Fox was slightly taken aback.

 

“I just… casually cleared away some dirt and grime, that’s all. Did that somehow provoke fate?”

 

However, before the Diviner could respond, the person outside, apparently growing anxious due to the lack of response from within the room, began shouting loudly, heedless of the breach in etiquette.

 

“Master! Master, something terrible has happened! Outside, outside, countless strange creatures wearing masks suddenly appeared out of nowhere! They’re frantically attacking the entrance to the Merchant Guild, and more and more of them keep showing up! Please, you have to do something!”

 

Miss 【Dark Spirit】’s angry low scolding also sounded one after another.

 

“Keep quiet! I already told you, Master is dealing with something important right now. This is a critical moment! If you keep this up, don’t blame us for being rude!”

 

Oh?

 

Listening to the shouting, which was clearly from the guard named Gao Daqiang, Violet started to understand the situation.

 

Even though they were blown apart in the spiritual world, they still didn’t run away but came straight here instead? Their courage and efficiency are quite commendable…

 

But… what exactly do those masks mean by the “light” they mentioned?

 

“What do you think?”

 

Miss White Fox briefly described encountering those masks in the spiritual world and cleaning them out completely. Then, she cast an inquisitive glance at Yuna.

 

The Diviner’s delay in opening the door was undoubtedly because of this Saintess.

 

Since Yuna deliberately avoided the guards’ notice when she came over, it indicated that she didn’t intend to appear too close to the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild publicly.

 

The previous auction being held at the Summerfield family’s ancient castle could still be explained as the divine family overseeing the demon artifact, the 【Bewitching Orb】. However, if the Bright Light Saintess herself appeared alone inside the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild…

 

Everyone present was smart enough to understand without needing everything spelled out. The Saintess and the Diviner quickly exchanged a glance, and with a mutual nod, the latter turned to Miss White Fox.

 

“Miss Dawn, may I ask how much more time you need on your end?”

 

The Diviner didn’t bother asking a foolish question like “Can it be healed?” After all, during the time Violet had been focusing with her eyes closed, the tattoo-like wound on the Mr. Dead Soul’s arm had visibly shrunk by more than half, and the sinister aura had greatly diminished. Coupled with what Miss White Fox mentioned about those masks in the spiritual world, the situation was clear.

 

“It should be done soon, so what’s your plan now?”

 

The Diviner shook his head helplessly.

 

“What else can we do? Since the divination has already shown this outcome, even if it predicts bloodshed and disaster, we can only respond as needed… Your Highness Yuna, we’re counting on you.”

 

The Saintess nodded slightly, her expression unusually serious.

 

“The 【Faceless One】 are not to be underestimated. Although it’s still unclear why these creatures have appeared in the Western Capital or what their purpose is, the fact that they’re attacking the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild on such a large scale means that there must be something here they desire… I’ll return to the Bright Light Temple immediately and summon the Holy Knights to exterminate the evil forces. Until the main forces arrive, you must hold the line.”

 

“We will do our best.”

 

The Bright Light Saintess was a decisive person. After speaking, she nodded once more to the group, then quickly turned and exited through a hidden passage in the room.

 

If Violet guessed correctly, the chamber below likely contained a teleportation array or even an invisible space portal for quick travel. Yuna’s familiarity with it indicated that this wasn’t her first time using such a method to travel between the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild and the temple.

 

Closing her eyes again, Violet focused part of her consciousness back into the Mr. Dead Soul’s spiritual world. The situation was urgent, and there wasn’t time to slowly interrogate the mysterious mask.

 

She could only cut it down with a single strike, and under “Menna’s” idolizing gaze, she withdrew her soul from the sword grave, which was now free of any sinister presence, and reconnected with her physical body through the link to the demonic treasure.

 

As expected, when the girl returned to reality and opened her eyes, the strange wound on the grey-clad swordsman’s arm had completely disappeared, returning to healthy skin. Although his overall aura was still very weak due to resisting the corruption, it was now just a matter of time for him to recover.

 

In the meantime, Mr. Diviner and Mr. Ferryman had already gone outside to exchange information with Gao Daqiang, who had come to report. Only Mr. Diviner returned and made eye contact with Miss White Fox, who remained in the room.

 

“Judging by your expression, things outside aren’t looking too good?”

 

Mr. Diviner stroked his beard thoughtfully.

 

“Indeed… The number of 【Faceless One】 appearing is far greater than we anticipated, already exceeding the total number of people who have gone missing over the past two days, as reported by Her Highness Yuna. Disasters are coming one after another… The chaotic times foretold by the divination are manifesting much sooner than expected…”

 

Unlike Mr. Diviner’s tense demeanor, Miss White Fox simply tilted her head curiously.

 

“Chaotic times…? What chaotic times?”

 

“Ahem, it’s nothing. I must head out to face the enemy immediately. Miss Dawn, what do you plan to do next? While, from a personal standpoint… this is a battle between the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild and the Bright Light City, so you don’t really need to risk yourself. Perhaps you should—”

 

Before Mr. Diviner could finish his rambling, Miss White Fox impatiently interrupted him.

 

“How could I run away at a time like this? Who do you think I am? Anyway, let’s go outside and see what’s going on.”

 

Seeing Mr. Diviner’s grave expression, the girl couldn’t resist standing on tiptoe to pat his shoulder.

 

“Hehe, don’t worry, don’t worry! I still haven’t claimed the 【Ten Thousand Mile River and Mountain Painting】 from you yet. With me here, I won’t let the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild get destroyed so easily~”