Defying the Fate of Beheading

"I've seen Hell."

Lumi struggled to lift her head.

What appeared before her was Priest Jean, who had been cleaved in half.

The priest who always liked to tell those headache-inducing jokes was now lying in the cold rain.

Until he bled out completely, he was still casting protective and healing divine arts for them.

"I've seen Hell."

She turned her head again.

On the nearby cliff, the Holy Knight Aine, as large as a small mountain, was embedded into the cliffside.

Protruding rocks pierced his cracked armor, melding his flesh with the cliff's stones, and the flowing blood stained the walls red.

To prevent the Demon King's great sword from harming those in the rear, he forcefully withstood several legendary attacks.

The armor he carefully maintained shattered as he intercepted a tide-like attack, ultimately dying of exhaustion, directly embedded by the Demon King into the wall.

"I've seen Hell."

She looked toward the battlefield at the forefront where the earth shook.

Usually boasting his unparalleled martial skills, Martial Monk Grave delivered a radiant punch at the cost of his life, finally shredding the enemy's armor.

Creating this gap, he was instantly torn apart by a storm of blades, his upper body evaporating into a blood mist.

"I, have seen Hell!"

She painfully looked at the blood spreading in the shadows.

"Heisen..."

In the shadows, the Wanderer had only the breath of a candle flame left.

"Diana..."

Beside her, Diana's attire had been dyed crimson with blood.

Finally, she looked down at herself.

A finely adorned spear had impaled her, pinning her to the ground.

She tasted rust spreading in her mouth.

Observing the spear crafted by master artisans, she vomited a mouthful of blood.

This weapon shouldn't exist in the Underground City.

Even given another hundred years, such a weapon couldn't appear in the Underground City.

But realizing this came too late.

Now, she was in Hell.

"Diana, take Lumi and Heisen Bansha away."

In the rushing hot wind, she saw each sword swung by Hero Max eradicate any obstacle before him.

But the menacing shadow behind him didn't care, leaving her suffocating with every filthy gleam.

With a rumble.

On the sacred marks left by Martial Monk Grave, a resolute sword pierced through Demon King Helmer.

What kind of anomaly was this!

He was enveloped in a filth-ridden blessing that shouldn't exist.

The powers of the Four Gods combined within him, turning into unmatched strength.

Even the proud Max could only barely contend with him.

And... the sunset was visibly drawing near.

With a retching sound.

She heard a bout of blood-spitting beside her.

Diana's eyes were unfocused as she gripped the magic staff anew.

"Stars~ of the astral world, please~ respond to the ancient contract and open~ the gate to the other side!"

As the contract's radiance gleamed, the gate home opened.

She endured the pain and pulled out the spear impaling her abdomen, dragging the unconscious Heisen Bansha to the immobile Diana's side.

She raised her head and shouted with all her might:

"Max!"

She wanted to call Max to leave together.

But he didn't respond.

Only the sword in his hand tore through the storm once again as he battled Demon King Helmer like a beast.

"It's time to say goodbye, Lumi."

She only had time to hear this sentence before the teleportation contract sent them back to the Star Continent.

At this moment.

The world was a prison.

...

"Lady Lumi~"

She was still lost in memories.

"Lady Lumi, Lady Lumi, I can sense His Highness Louis's location."

Lumi suddenly came to her senses.

She looked somewhat bewildered at William beside her, and after a moment, slowly said:

"In which direction?"

William pointed distantly to a corner of the sky and said:

"I can sense His Highness Louis's [Immunity to All Harm] single-use protection is about to activate; I need to go ahead first."

Lumi nodded and said:

"Alright, you go first, I'll catch up quickly."

William jumped off his horse, tossed the horse token back to Lumi, activated the [Iron Guard Here] skill, and started teleporting to Louis's side.

Lumi also retracted her horse into the token and started the high-speed flight mode.

"Strange, when did I become so sentimental?"

"It's rumored that the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm's curse can lead one into internal darkness, but even at my level, its influence is still significant."

Just as Lumi raised her head to look at William, a hint of doubt crossed her face.

So strange.

Really strange.

Logically, William should be more affected than her.

If she wasn't worried about this kid's endurance, she could have first figured out how to kill the attacker, and then planned to open the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm's gate.

She remembered that, in the early years, Her Highness Beatrice also visited the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm.

She seemed to have mastered a method of freely entering and exiting the Fallen Shadow Nether Realm.

But now, she could only hastily run in to save this guy.

But who could have imagined that this guy seemed less affected than her?

As her thoughts settled, William's figure already vanished from this place.

She stopped thinking further and accelerated toward the direction William indicated.