"Lord Petrov!"
"That's... the Lord Spirit Guardian!"
"We're saved! We're saved! Lord Petrov will definitely be able to defeat this witch." The people who had been set down on flat ground by the giant vines began to rejoice at the arrival of the Spirit Guardian, their faces of grief and indignation instantly turning into excited smiles.
In their understanding, the Spirit Guardians and Her Majesty the Queen were the strongest Mages.
Just as everyone placed their hopes for victory on Petrov, his own expression was exceptionally serious, even a bit ugly.
Because... he could clearly feel that person's mana.
It was stronger than his own.
But if he utilized his advantage in techniques, it might not be an impossible fight; he had to protect the citizens of the Heart Kingdom.
"Hurry to the town!" Petrov used vines growing from the ground to launch an attack at the woman standing atop the trees, covering the civilians while simultaneously testing the intruder's strength.
White hair swirled, and the snake heads formed at the tips bit down hard on the entangling vines.
Halbet easily blocked Petrov's attack. She looked down at the Spirit Guardian on the ground wearing a circular hood and teased with a smile, "Did you get here so quickly?"
"As expected of an Spirit Guardian of the Heart Kingdom."
Amidst her teasing, she pressed her hand downward. Her scallion-white small hand guided the hair that was as restless as wind-blown catkins in the air. The snake heads at the ends of her hair suddenly bit through the vines and lunged toward Petrov, numbering in the dozens.
Petrov moved swiftly, the pages of his floating grimoire flipping rapidly.
"Natural Magic: Forest's Aegis."
Green mana transformed into a stand of umbrella-shaped trees. Mana Method, like blending scripts, filled the trees, and the lush leaves blocked out the hair strands that had formed into snake heads.
"Natural Magic?" Halbet's narrow eyes squinted slightly. "Interesting."
"But... what a pity. Through Demon Power, my beautiful hair has not only attained absolute beauty, but also absolute strength!" The aura about her body changed completely, her mana rising to an exaggerated degree.
Petrov, a Mage close to nature, instantly felt an infinite malice.
That cold greed unique to demons was as soul-stirring as a drawn bow.
Mana surged on her long white hair. The snake-headed hair strands that were separated by the trees and leaves dispersed, and the thread-like hair easily bypassed Petrov's defense, condensing into several sword-cones that smashed down.
Petrov wanted to dodge, but the speed at which the hair extended was so fast that he simply didn't have time to take any action.
He could only watch as the sword-cones formed from hair strands slammed down violently.
The hair strands, filled with mana, were exceptionally hard. As they hit the ground, they kicked up a large amount of dust and sand. A look of victorious joy appeared on Halbet's face.
————
Just as the Dark Disciples, exemplified by Halbet, were causing disasters throughout the Heart Kingdom...
Inside the Kingdom.
Lolopechka, the Queen of the Heart Kingdom, who was conversing with Noelle and the others, also sensed the abnormal mana. With a call for "Undine," water mana transformed into a screen in the sky, revealing the scenery of the entire Heart Kingdom, including the places under attack.
Noelle saw the panicked Lolopechka and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, Lolopechka?!"
"It's an enemy attack!"
"There are six in total, and they've already infiltrated various parts of the Kingdom. They actually crossed the barrier of the Mana Zone so easily, and... I didn't even sense them at first. These... are all Stage Zeroes who possess Demon Power!"
Lolopechka's pupils suddenly constricted. "Among them is someone particularly powerful. That mana is... the devil-possessed host of Megicula... of the Dark Triad, Vanica!"
"Megi...?!"
"Vanica?!"
Hearing these two names, Noelle's expression changed. She recalled that after the events in the Shadow Kingdom, following her brother's instructions, she had asked the Captain of the Coral Peacocks, Dorothy Unsworth, about the true culprit behind her mother's murder.
The name she received was indeed the demon, Megicula.
She couldn't help but clench her fists. She must... she must make the murderer of her mother perish here.
"The Spirit Guardians are currently fighting those who possess Demon Power, but it seems the situation is not optimistic. We..." Lolopechka's gaze wandered over the people around her; the young Queen still lacked decisiveness and calmness in the face of danger.
"Luck and Leopold have each gone to assist at two locations. As for the other two, Charmy, Mr. Gacha, I'll leave them to you!" Nozel observed the screen floating in the air and finished Lolopechka's sentence.
Charmy, who had grown a bit rounder from eating in the Heart Kingdom, nodded. Lying on her floating cotton, she clenched her fist. "I will absolutely not forgive those guys who are trying to destroy the food of the Heart Kingdom!"
After saying that, the cotton cloud grew a bit larger under the glow of her grimoire and flew out carrying Charmy.
As for Gacha, he didn't move immediately.
Instead, he looked at the flustered and helpless Lolopechka for a while, his mouth opening slightly: "Your Highness... I..."
Noelle saw through his concern. "Mr. Gacha, rest assured. Leave this place to us. We will definitely do our best to protect Lolopechka."
"Phew..." The words he was about to say turned into a deep breath.
He bent down and gave a deep bow toward the remaining Nozel and Mimosa. "Then I'll leave it to you. Once I've resolved the trouble outside, I'll return immediately."
"Please!"
Having said that, Gacha turned and quickly headed outside the Kingdom. Under the blue sky and white clouds, he recalled accidentally overhearing the Queen's tearful complaint that night.
"I feel like if I say something like this, I'm not fit to be a Queen... but I'm really afraid of death! I don't want to die... even though as a Queen, I must think about the affairs of the Kingdom..."
I definitely... definitely won't let anything happen to you, Princess Lolopechka.
A trace of sternness appeared on Gacha's face, and his flying speed increased further.
————
Nyuco.
The smoke and dust dissipated.
A few faint coughs broke the silent atmosphere, and the smile on Halbet's face came to an abrupt halt at that moment.
She gritted her silver teeth and spoke coldly to the Masked Man below, who was holding a grilled fish in one hand and waving away the smoke with the other: "Who are you?"
"Cough, cough... The dust is really thick. It almost ruined the fish I just grilled. Luckily, luckily..."
After muttering to himself for a while, Bai En finally answered Halbet's question. "Just consider me an Spirit Guardian as well. After all, according to our agreement, I am indeed part of the Heart Kingdom's combat force right now."
Having said that, Bai En turned his head to look at Petrov beside him. "Mr. Petrov, are you alright?"
"Ah... I'm fine..." Petrov looked at the guy who had saved him, recovering from his earlier panic. He hurriedly stood up and looked at Halbet above, who possessed Demon Power, and said, "This person has the power of a demon and is quite formidable. Let's deal with her together."
...
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