At the same moment that Leon and his two companions were teleported into one of the rooms in the labyrinth dimension, their peerage members were also sent into various other rooms. Some found themselves alone, while others were in pairs or groups of three, having avoided being completely isolated.
It was unclear whether it was a coincidence or a mechanism of the forced magic circle jump itself, but the peerage members who remained together were generally of the same class—"Knights" were with "Knights," and "Rooks" were with "Rooks." The reason Leon and the other two were together was likewise because all three of them were "Kings."
Under these circumstances, Akeno Himejima and Tsubaki Shinra were teleported to the same room. Utaha Kasumigaoka, Koneko Toujou, and Tsubasa Yura were sent to another. Mahiru Shiina, Reiya Kusaka, and Momo Hanakai were grouped together. Only Asuna Yuuki, Yuuto Kiba, and Meguri Tomoe were exceptions; despite all being "Knights," they were separated from one another.
To be precise, Asuna Yuuki and Meguri Tomoe were together, while Yuuto Kiba was with the Sitri peerage "Pawn," Ruruko Nimura. This was likely due to the opposing Sacred Gear attributes of Asuna and Kiba causing a teleportation deviation; their magical powers repelled each other, resulting in the split. After all, the magic circle locked onto the group's collective mana, so a deviation caused by mutual interference between different magical energies was a perfectly normal occurrence.
The only outlier was Yukino Yukinoshita. As a "Bishop," she surprisingly hadn't been teleported with Mahiru Shiina, Reiya Kusaka, and Momo Hanakai, but had ended up entirely alone.
"—Where exactly is this?"
After the initial disorientation, Yukino Yukinoshita regained her composure. She hesitated for a moment and attempted to walk out of the room, but found no exit. She could only pace around the room repeatedly.
"A locked room?"
Yukino frowned. She tried to manifest a communication magic circle in her palm, only to find that the magic circle was being disrupted by the space itself. She was unable to successfully contact anyone else.
Boom!
Yukino had never been particularly patient. She quickly shifted to brute force to solve the problem, condensing a massive icicle and hurling it against the room's wall. However, she failed to damage the wall in the slightest; instead, the icicle itself shattered into fragments.
"It's useless."
At that moment, a vaguely familiar voice reached Yukino's ears, causing her to turn around abruptly. Then, she saw a figure that had left a deep impression on her.
"This labyrinth space is an isolated dimension outside the human world. Every room is a part of that space. Unless you have the ability to shatter space directly, you won't be able to damage a single brick or tile here."
A blonde girl wearing a nun's habit slowly emerged from the shadows. She walked up to Yukino Yukinoshita and tilted her head with a smile.
"Sharon Holygrail!"
Yukino's eyes instantly sharpened. The newcomer was indeed Sharon.
"Long time no see, Yukino Yukinoshita." Sharon wore her usual smile—one far too charming for a nun. "It's been several months, hasn't it?"
"...To be exact, it has been forty-three days. Just over a month," Yukino said coldly. "Is your memory really that poor?"
"It's your memory that is too good, little princess of the Yukinoshita family," Sharon said languidly. "I only remember that I wanted to see you all every waking moment. That feeling made every day feel like a year."
"So it has only been a little over a month?"
"That is unexpectedly short."
As she spoke, Sharon's gaze turned vacant for a moment before she snapped back to reality.
"I heard that after our last encounter, that man took on several more peerage members, and they all seem quite exceptional," Sharon said with a smile. "The number of Devils that must be eradicated has increased again. These Evil Pieces really do cause a lot of trouble."
Being able to say such bloodthirsty things with a smile was a defining trait of Sharon's character.
"So, you've targeted me again, have you?" Yukino's expression remained frostily indifferent. "Does this mean the Church is behind this incident as well?"
"That's where you are mistaken." Sharon shook her head. "The mastermind behind this operation isn't the Church, but your own kind."
"My own kind? Devils?" Yukino frowned, reflexively retorting, "Are you joking with me?"
"Compared to me, your naivety is the real joke, Miss Yukinoshita." Sharon stared at Yukino and sneered. "You surely don't think that the relationship between all Devils is harmonious, do you?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Even humans can't manage to live harmoniously within their own race, let alone Devils, who are far more insidious, cunning, and evil."
"Or did you forget how filthy this race is after you became one of them?"
Hearing this, Yukino's brow furrowed deeper, but she refused to back down and countered.
"I don't know how Devils relate to each other, but I at least know that a person like you would never collude with them."
Yukino's implication was clear: if this operation was organized by Devils, why was Sharon here? Given how much she had hated Devils before, for her to be acting alongside them now seemed more like a joke than anything else.
"So that's what you meant." This time, Sharon didn't mock Yukino; instead, she mocked herself. She said self-deprecatingly, "True. If I were to collude with Devils, I wouldn't be myself."
"But I am a person who uses any means necessary. To eradicate my current target, it doesn't necessarily mean I can't act alongside targets I haven't set my sights on yet."
"Though, I'm not exactly acting with them. I'm just hitching a ride."
Yukino couldn't understand Sharon's words at all.
"Hitching a ride? What on earth are you talking about?"
In the face of Yukino's questioning, Sharon offered only one sentence in reply.
"I'm saying that the enemy of my enemy might not be a friend, but they can be someone I use. Do you understand now?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Sharon suddenly whipped out an exorcism pistol and pulled the trigger repeatedly. Light bullets were fired one after another, silently streaking toward Yukino.
Yukino had remained on high alert throughout. She hadn't lowered her guard against this woman just because Sharon was talking to her. She reacted almost instantly, manifesting a super-low-temperature white mist around her body.
Crackle, crackle, crackle—
The silent light bullets plunged into the white mist and were immediately encased in frost. As if frozen solid, they turned into grains of ice and fell to the ground.
"—Your proficiency in using demonic power has improved, Miss Yukinoshita."
Sharon fell silent for a moment before speaking those words with an expressionless face.
"And you have become even more despicable. You don't look like a member of the clergy at all," Yukino taunted. "Then again, you were always a broken woman. How could a normal person continue to slave away for people who treated them as an experimental subject?"
"Instead of hating the culprits who turned you into this, you hate the source of the Devil factor instead?"
"Just like that man said, there's something seriously wrong with your head."
These words caused Sharon to slowly lower her head. Her bangs covered her eyes, casting her face into shadow and hiding her expression completely.
"You... don't know anything at all."
For the first time, the charming quality vanished from Sharon's voice, replaced by something exceptionally cold and somber. That voice sounded as if it were crawling out of hell, making one's skin crawl.
"You—"
Just as Yukino froze, wanting to say something, Sharon discarded the exorcism pistol and drew two swords instead. They were completely different from the light weapons Sharon had used in the past; they emitted a chilling demonic aura, and their forms were as grotesque as jagged claws.
"What are those?"
Yukino's expression shifted slightly. At first glance, the two swords looked like Demonic Swords, yet they were different from the ones Yuuto Kiba created. Rather than being filled with demonic nature, they seemed filled with pure malevolence.
"Since you know my origin, then you know that the Church has always been researching ways to deal with Devils, right?"
As Sharon lowered the twin swords in her hands, she began to walk, slowly approaching Yukino.
"To deal with Devils, some researched new weapons, and some researched new warriors. The latter gave birth to many research institutions, one of which was the facility that bred warriors inheriting the genetic factors of the dragon-slaying hero, Sigurd. The former also gave birth to many laboratories, where some people touched upon the forbidden."
Sharon raised the grotesque twin swords. Her beautiful face looked deathly cold under the illumination of the wicked aura emanating from them.
"This pair of weapons is a forbidden item born from that research. They were created by sealing within them the residual resentment, hostility, and hatred toward Devils found in the souls of the living who died because of them. They are anti-Devil exorcism swords, and their name is—Demon Slayer."
This was Sharon's title as an exorcist, but it was also the name of this weapon.
Upon hearing Sharon's explanation, Yukino was momentarily struck speechless.
"The Church actually touched the realm of the soul...?!"
If manipulating life was a taboo, then manipulating the soul was the ultimate taboo. And yet, the Church had dabbled in both.
"You people are the true devils, aren't you?" Yukino rebuked, her face pale.
"Everything is for the sake of eliminating Devils." Sharon spoke without emotion. "Any means taken toward that end is permissible."
With that, Sharon stomped on the ground and lunged toward Yukino.
"Ice Princess!"
Without hesitation, Yukino summoned her grotesque princess to meet Sharon's second assault.
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi