This chapter is sponsored by The Bitch in the Fantasy World Patrons:
• [Crusader] The orc warrior 261
• [Mercenary] Tafadzwa Kungwengwe
• [Crusader] uxel
I would also like to thank the donators for December 2025 (Ko-Fi account is unavailable at the moment due to technical reasons):
• [Crusader] uxel - $5
This chapter 1/3 for the 4th week of January 2026.
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8:54 p.m.
Vivian stepped out of the bathroom-toilet with freshly blown-dried hair and a bathrobe.
I'm fucking hungry…
I've burned so much energy in the past few hours from moving that I'm practically starving at this point…
She recalled the times when she was in her demon form and "training".
At least in those times, I would be eating prey every now and then while killing everything that dared to approach me…
She swept her gaze around the area and saw her Inquisitor Half-Mask on top of the desk. She then went over to pick it up.
It's still clean…
And there are no cracks…
She swept her gaze around her surroundings once more.
"Where are my clothes?"
Ka-cha!
She put on the mask and then opened the door.
Standing outside her room was Caleb, and in the corner was a cart that had the fresh clothes and the Mana Potions she ordered.
Caleb was still wearing his full Crusader Armor set; his cape torn and there were still a few smudges of the black, sticky and itchy ink on his armor.
He saluted.
"Sister Inquisitor," he said and then gestured at the items on the cart. "These are the items you ordered."
"Push the cart inside the room and then close the door," she said as she turned around and went back to her room.
Vivian stood in the middle of her room and watched Caleb push the cart inside. He didn't know exactly where to stop, so he decided to stop right between the door and desk.
When he turned away and headed for the door, Vivian spoke.
"Where are you going?"
He stopped and turned to her.
"I'm going to guard outside."
"Just close the door and sit down at the corner or wherever."
Ku-chud.
He closed the door and stood near a window.
"You've been a good bo-- guy. As a prize, I'll let you watch me change," she said as she headed over to the cart. "But don't get cocky, I will kill you if I have to. And remove your helmet."
Caleb removed his helmet, revealing his white hair.
As Vivian untied her bathrobe, exposing her naked body, and then tossed it at her bed, he immediately lowered his gaze.
She grabbed a High Mana Potion from the cart, which recovers 75% of the drinker's mana, and then drank it in one go.
"And I that ugly?"
"I was raised to follow proper etiquette, Sister Inquisitor," he replied without looking at her.
"Are you gay?"
"No."
"A virgin?"
"No. And Sister, I have a fiancée. Please respect my engagement with Sister Ava."
Since Caleb was a man with 4 Magic Art Affinities and a member of one of the Golden Families, he was used to encountering people befriending him solely because of those things.
In the beginning, he had a hard time distinguishing the ones who were genuine and those who weren't, because they were quite creative -- some used friendship, while others made elaborate setups, both direct and indirect approaches. But as he got older, he eventually learned to distinguish them, at least for the most part, because some would play the long game that it would literally be impossible for him to spot it immediately.
As for the few genuine people he was able to develop a genuine friendship or bond with, one of them was his fiancée, Ava.
Vivian let out a small chuckle.
"Where are the corpses of the High Sister Gerda and the rest?" she asked as she began putting on an underwear and then a bra.
"I asked Sister Tea and Brother Hanno to help me keep their bodies in the underground chambers."
"Are you sure they're still there?"
Caleb nodded.
"I had a talk with both of them, and I swear to the God of Light that they wouldn't dare to go against the Holy Crusade."
"What about the corpses of the Baron and the rest?" Vivian said as she began wearing a pair of black pants and a brown belt.
"Your Fire Golem is still guarding the area outside in front of the public building where the body of the Baron and his companions are, and no one dares to approach."
"I see," she said and then wore a black sweater. "What about the Lore Items?"
"I don't know how many Lore Items are there, but I believe they're all still there."
After wearing a pair of black socks and brown boots, she went over to the desk while carrying a pair of brown gloves, placed the gloves on top of the desk, sat down, and then began combing her hair in front of the mirror.
"Have Sister Tea and Brother Hanno bring over the corpses and the Lore Items of the Baron and the rest in the underground chambers, and guard them."
Caleb nodded.
"Yes, Sister Inquisitor."
"Also, I want you to give them a secret message. Tell them that Sister Inquisitor Monad doesn't care about the Lore Items, all she cares about are the corpses, so you have to make sure no one resurrects them, takes them, or does anything with them until she says so. And if something does happen to the corpses without her permission, it's possible that not only will they be the ones having to answer, but also their loved ones.
"However, they must never know it's from me, make them believe it's from you, a concerned Brother who is simply giving his personal opinion.
"I want to see how 'loyal' our Brothers and Sisters here are."
"Yes, Sister Inquisitor," Caleb said.
Vivian put on the brown gloves.
"You may leave now.
"And once you're done, return here, we have another place to destroy -- the castle or main manor of the Baron and his family, so make sure to bring over a map of the Iron Kingdom."
Vivian had a map, but she left hers inside her room at the Branch Chapter Temple in Gru'n Town.
"Yes, Sister Inquisitor."
***
9:46 p.m.
A female Inquisitor and a male Crusader stepped outside of the East Gate of Blauer'nebel Town.
Vivian stared at the thick fog in front of her.
At least I know that Ne'bel Castle is no more than 20 miles east from Blauer'nebel Town…
Before coming here, she asked for 2 Magic Items that had the Vision Magic Effect. One was an earring that had a Passive effect and the other was a necklace that had an Active effect.
At the moment, she was wearing both. And since the earring was a Passive one, she was currently seeing the world in black and white, or similar to infrared.
However, it wasn't like her demon eyes where the living beings appear in red-colored nervous systems if they didn't have any Magic Art Affinity and blue-colored nervous systems if they had a Magic Art Affinity.
So when she looks at Caleb, he was no different from the white and black things. He would have to move, or she would at least need to be aware of his presence to identify that he was a living being.
But I wonder…
What if I also transform one of my eyes into my demon eyes…?
She glanced at Caleb.
Since he also has Vision activated right now, he must also not be able to identify colors…
She shook her head mentally.
I've already caused too much destruction…
And I've also taken and endured enough hits…
If my intention was to win as cleanly and quickly as possible, I would've used my demon powers right from the start…
I mean, what would even be the point of everything I've done…?
"Sister," Caleb called.
Vivian turned to him.
"What?"
"We're heading over to Ne'bel Castle on foot, right?"
"Yes."
"Since our main objective is to prevent the opposition from preparing more for our retaliation, I suggest that we use the Hopping Maneuver."
Vivian raised an eyebrow.
"The 'Hopping Maneuver'?"
As a veteran of the Infantry Division, and also a "powerful" fighter in his own right, Caleb naturally picked up a couple of tricks here and there when it came to battle tactics.
"The Hopping Maneuver allows a powerful person to travel quickly without destroying their footwear. However, it would require the constant consumption of mana."
Vivian didn't say anything and waited for him to explain.
"You will first have to activate [Mana Leg] on one of your feet.
"Next, you run fast, at least not to the point where your footwear gets destroyed.
"And then once you build up enough momentum from running, that's when you will use [Power Leg] or [Explosive Leg] on your [Mana Leg] to jump forward like a big leap.
"And once you land on the ground, you will again use [Power Leg] or [Explosive Leg] with your [Mana Leg] to make another big leap.
"You just have to keep on repeating the same action until you reach your destination or until you run out of mana.
"Of course, since you and I have different Physical Force, yours higher than mine, the distance of your leap will be longer and you will arrive there faster.
"But our goal right now is to prevent the enemy from making any more preparations for our retaliation. On top of that, you alone will be enough in handling all of them, so it's not like we both need to be there together when launching an attack. That is unless they have another strange or tricky Lore Magic and Lore Item to use against you.
"Just don't forget to bring one or two Mana Potions with you."
In Caleb's head, since Vivian has already caused all of this death and destruction, and he has made no moves to stop her, he might as well just contribute as much as he could in making sure that they would succeed.
Either way, he was already going to face punishment once this was over if Vivian failed or didn't honor her promise in protecting him.
Furthermore, even if he decides to stop Vivian, he couldn't. After she kills him, she would then simply go on to do whatever she plans to do. At least in this case, he could whisper in her ear to minimize the death and destruction.
Vivian placed her hand inside one of the pockets of her pants.
"I have one Mana Potion. You?"
"I have 3 High Mana Potions and 1 Full Rejuvenation Potion. I can give you one if you want."
"No need. This High Mana Potion is enough."
[Mana Leg].
A boot made out of blue mana appeared on her right foot.
"Let's do the Hopping Maneuver. But I want to test it out first, get a feel for it. Is there any difference between using [Power Leg] and [Explosive Leg]? In fact, now that I think about it, for powerful people like us, do we even need to use a Physical Art?"
Caleb nodded.
"Yes, you can do the Hopping Maneuver without using a Physical Art. But there are times when the terrain is uneven, making it impossible to land properly. That's when you need to [Power Leg] if the terrain is uneven, or [Explosive Leg] if the terrain is very uneven.
"Another reason or benefit why someone would use [Explosive Leg], if the person's Physical Force is too high for their footwear, it doesn't matter how careful they are, the impact from each landing will slowly damage the other footwear not protected by the [Mana Leg]. But if you use [Explosive Leg], all of the impact from the landing will be absorbed by the [Mana Leg]. However, the downside of that is that you will not only be using more mana, but also making a lot of noise."
Vivian's jaw dropped.
What the hell…?
I never knew this…!
I don't even remember hearing or reading about this back in Basic Training and the Training Course…!
I sure as hell also never had anyone tell me this back in Luxen City when I was visiting those shops…!
Vooom!
Pat, pat, pat…!
She appeared in front of Caleb and patted his left shoulder while letting out a hearty laugh.
"Very good, very good! You're a good and smart guy, brother! I like you! The Infantry Division has my respect because of you!"
***
9:52 p.m.
[Explosive Leg].
Boo-wooom!
Vivian was up in the air leaping forward over the trees.
Since her stats was:
• STR - 11 (+680)
• VIT - 9 (+654)
• AGI - 12 (+660)
• INT - 8 (+680)
She had a vertical jump that could allow her to jump to the 5th floor of a building, assuming each floor has a height of 10ft. Or if she uses [Power Leg] or [Explosive Leg], it would be the 6th floor.
And since she was jumping forward with [Explosive Leg], the height of her jump was only about 30ft or around 3 floors. However, the width was around 120ft or 12 floors, because she was no longer fighting against gravity.
Vivian turned to look behind her.
There's one thing I forgot to consider…
The effect of my [Nemesis of Beasts]…
Although the monsters can't match my speed, the noise from animals running in panic and the monsters howling for a fight is too noisy…
And that's on top of the 'booom' sounds that my [Explosive Leg] is making…
She returned her attention forward and then focused on the area she was about to land.
Well…
At least I no longer have to worry about losing my footwear when in human form…
In human form fighting for justice…
[Explosive Leg].
Booom!
When she landed, instead of leaning forward to make another forward leap, she leaned backwards, causing her to bounce nearly 60ft in the air.
She stared down to see if the terrain she was about to land on was even. If not, she had to do another [Explosive Leg].
Looks even…
And no branches to tear my clothes…
Now I just have to land properly…
Caleb also said that the higher the heels of your shoes, the harder it is to land properly, which will destroy the heels and sprain your ankle if not done correctly…
Vivian's boots had 2-inch heels.
Thud!
When she successfully landed on a bed of grass with trees nearby, she let out a sigh of relief.
Beak, beak, beak...!
Crooow…!
Rawr…!
A group of monsters nearby were rushing towards her.
Annoying…!
[Greater Origin Transformation].
Blaaak!
Her eyes transformed into demon form, which overwhelmed the Passive Vision Magic Effect of her earring.
[Mana Dual Claws].
She also deactivated her [Mana Leg] and replaced it with another skill.
Whooosh!
Whooosh!
Chaaak!
All of the monsters were sliced and stabbed by her claws.
I had no choice but to use my demon powers…
She turned in the direction of where Ne'bel Castle was.
The Baron's castle is less than 5 miles from here…
Vooom!
***
Vivian stopped at the edge of a forest and saw a fortress about 2 miles away.
The fortress was half-carved into the side of a mountain. It had several towers, both on the mountain and on land, that could be seen over the three-story wall protecting it. For the wall itself, there was a marsh surrounding it on the outer layer that a distance of 10 meters between the fortress and dry land, and there was a single large gate with a long bridge, which was currently raised.
I can see a few blueies on top of the walls…
She turned to her left or to the north.
If I'm correct, the north leads to the Lake of Errine'rung…
And then returned her gaze to the fortress.
This has got to be Ne'bel Castle…
And if it isn't, so what…?
An image of the time she got caught with the black, sticky and itchy ink flashed inside her head.
Yeah…
Don't want to face another similar annoying situation…
She focused on the blue-colored nervous systems on top of the walls.
There's too few of them…
Do they not have enough men…?
Or are they just confident…?
She looked around her surroundings to see if Caleb had finally arrived.
No sign of him…
She returned her gaze to the fortress once again.
I really don't want to be in another annoying situation…
[Greater Origin Enchant].
Dark red lightning appeared on her right fist.
[Fire Golem].
As the lightning disappeared from her hand, a 12-meter-tall Golem made out of fire began to manifest beside her.
Even if someone sees the height of my Fire Golem and accuses me of being a heretic…
I can just say it was a Lore Item…
It will be my word versus theirs…
And no one can overpower me…
VOOO-CRAAAG-PSSST…!
The Fire Golem finally fully manifested and then immediately rushed over to the fortress, causing the ground to shake, a loud rumble to echo in the air, and leaving a track of fiery and melted line.
Vivian raised an eyebrow.
Oh…?
So even the summon range increased…?
The normal or default maximum range between the caster and the Golem was 50 meters. Once the Golem steps beyond 50 meters away from the caster, it will immediately vanish. But since Vivian used [Greater Origin Enchant], it became 200 meters. However, when it came to the stats, it was still based on her total amount of INT, which was 8 (+680).
And speaking of its stats, since the Golem's height was 12 meters, its movement speed was reduced by 12%, making its final stats:
• STR - 688
• VIT - 688
• AGI - 605.35
• INT - 688
VOOO-CRAAG-PSSST…!
BA-PSSST, BA-PSSST…!
VOOO-CRAAG-BA-SPLAAAT…!
Vivian's jaw dropped when she saw it pass through the three-story wall like it was a burning knife passing through a block of butter, and then began destroying everything on its path.
Huh…?
How does that work…?
I mean, if it could pass through a stone wall like that, wouldn't it also melt the ground on its feet and then drown…?
Just considering the weight alone, that should definitely happen…
She shook her head.
This world doesn't make any sense…
Well…
Now that I think about it…
Even the people in this world don't make any sense…
Subsidiary Kingdom slaves having the audacity to not only refuse, but also blackmail, assault and attempt to arrest their masters…
Like why…?!
How…?!
She raised her head and looked at the night sky with a sad expression, and then let out a tired and helpless sigh.
"I'm surrounded by stupid and arrogant people…"
Vooom!
"Sister Inquisitor," Caleb said as he finally arrived.
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
By the way, I've posted this chapter at WebNovel, Royal Road and Patreon. However, the main is P-a-t-r-e-o-n (Immortal_Shades) because I want to post pictures and videos there without any restrictions.
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