Chapter 3 – Bloodthirst
Tillysha’s emerald eyes blazed with a brilliant glow, while the butterfly clip beside her ear emitted a streak of deep blue light.
The longbow in her hand had been utterly destroyed, her realm shattered, and her clothes now bore the marks of battle. At the same moment, her third divine authority, the Realm of the Collective Forest Authority, was activated.
Time seemed to freeze, and a verdant inkiness flooded her vision. Everything slowed down like a sluggish snail.
From the three scrolls that appeared before her eyes, Tillysha selected one.
“Mother Goddess Soothing”
The shattered wooden pieces transformed into pure wooden elements, quickly converging in Tillysha’s hands. A lush green sphere formed and was shattered instantly, releasing streaks of emerald light that radiated outward in a circular motion.
The ground touched by the green light seemed to awaken under the tender caress of Mother Forest, sprouting vegetation and grass.
As the emerald waves passed over Princess Filisia’s body, plants grew and entangled her, covering her in a kaleidoscope of colors while simultaneously calming the turmoil within her heart.
The training field was submerged beneath a sea of flowers, forcibly soothing Princess Filisia.
“Huff… huff…” Seeing Tillysha successfully stopping Princess Filisia, a male deity and an unspecified gender deity let out a sigh of relief, their legs trembling with fear.
The internal class battle had ended. Normally, the Brilliant Sun and Moon team would have won, but given Princess Filisia’s nearly catastrophic loss of control post-battle, as punishment, there was no winner this time around, and no points were awarded.
Class competitions for the day were over, and the lessons were dismissed early. On the way back, Princess Filisia, having regained her composure, walked silently at the very end of the team. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding her teammates.
“Princess Filisia…” Wenfu looked worriedly at Filisia, who trailed far behind, and every time she wanted to offer comfort, she was stopped by Tillysha.
“Perhaps comforting isn’t what Miss Filisia needs right now,” said Tillysha.
A person as tenacious and prideful as Filisia would not want anyone’s comfort at a moment like this. Right now, she was filled with guilt, feeling that she had dragged her teammates down and was too stubborn to apologize. As a result, she avoided eye contact with her teammates and walked silently at the end of the group.
Of course, no one blamed her. The points from the class battle were insignificant to Brilliant Sun and Moon. They could always aim for better results next time. But here she was, deliberately making herself miserable.
Princess Filisia, the proud and confident White Glass Knight, had her own quirks.
And that’s normal. Everyone has flaws and imperfections. Absolute perfection goes against human nature.
Tillysha was almost certain something was wrong with Filisia. But if Princess Filisia didn’t say anything…
As dinner time approached, Filisia descended the stairs. Unlike usual, she didn’t greet anyone, sitting down at her spot with a distant look, sipping on her pea and beef soup quietly.
Aistride sensed the strange atmosphere and asked if Filisia wasn’t feeling well. Filisia just shook her head, smiled, and said she was fine before burying her head to continue drinking her soup.
Wenfu wanted to say something but worried about her inability to comfort properly. She remained silent throughout the meal.
After dinner ended, since the next day was a weekend, no one needed to tutor Wenfu.
Saying a simple “Excuse me,” Filisia returned to the third floor, locking herself in her room.
Perhaps due to Filisia’s unusual behavior, the atmosphere in Brilliant Sun and Moon gradually became awkward.
As night fell, the darkness swallowed Coleman Academy, and the Crown Manor disappeared from view.
On the third floor, in Filisia’s room, the amber-haired girl abruptly opened her dazzling golden eyes. Rising, with the flow of divine power, the elegant knight armor clad her body seamlessly.
She glanced at her massive sword leaning against the window.
Quietly exiting the room, she tiptoed down the corridor, which was pitch black, as all others had clearly fallen asleep.
Filisia, gripping her large sword, descended the stairs slowly. When she pushed open the manor’s gate, she glanced back at the courtyard and took a deep breath.
Her silhouette vanished into the night.
Leaping over the school walls, leaving Coleman City behind, she moved toward Coleman Forest.
Walking deeper and deeper through the woods, the amber-tressed knight showed no intention of stopping. She advanced towards the depths of Coleman Forest—Ruglien.
Caleburn and Ruglien were the homelands of the Light Race and the Demon Race, respectively.
A thousand years ago, Caleburn referred to the entire continent, where the Demon Race didn’t exist.
Until one day, they suddenly rose from the other side of the horizon, swiftly defeating the Empire and the forces of the Light Race. They drove the Light Race to the other end of the continent, settling on the ruined foundation of the Light Race’s civilization.
The Demon Race wasn’t a singular race but a collective name given by the Light Race to these ugly and powerful monsters out of hatred. In fact, the Demon Race consisted of several completely different races.
Common examples included Orcs, Cyclops, Werewolves, and more. These races can be further subdivided. For instance, within the Orcs, there were Red Orcs, Blue Orcs, and Evil Orcs.
The emergence of the Demon Race was not clearly recorded in the historical books of various races. What was definite was that this race didn’t originally exist on the Caleburn continent, and the reason for their existence remains unknown to this day.
Even the oldest history books were vague about the emergence of the Demon Race. It seemed they had just appeared out of nowhere.
Since the end of the Demon Race War four hundred years ago, the continent had been divided into two: Caleburn, the abode of the Light Race, and Ruglien, the residence of the Demon Race. Coleman Forest served as the boundary, seemingly reaching an eerie balance.
For hundreds of years, the Light Race never let down their guard against the Demon Race, dispatching numerous troops to guard Coleman Forest. Apart from some infiltrations by the Demon Race, there was peace, as if they were satisfied with their territory and lost interest in the other half of the continent.
But how could a greed-driven Demon Race lose interest in conquest and invasion?
Coleman Forest was the gateway between the Light Race and the Demon Race. The Empire, kingdoms, and elves stationed numerous forces around Coleman Forest, building watchtowers and fortresses to guard against the Demon Race’s potential invasion.
Coleman City was originally a neutral place but could always be a target of Demon Race attacks. The city lord helplessly agreed for various forces to station troops outside the city, though the elves acted first.
For the Light Race, Ruglien was an absolute forbidden zone, and the Coleman Academy strictly prohibited students from venturing there alone.
Venturing into an area with no Light Race and only Demon Race was extremely risky, almost certain d*ath.
After Coleman Forest lay a desolate land, so dark that not even moonlight reached it. On the grayish grassland, numerous shiny little eyes suddenly lit up.
It seemed that these creatures had been expecting the knight’s arrival and had prepared accordingly.
Even before she left the forest, Filisia could sense their presence. Dragging her large sword, creating a shallow mark on the ground, she lifted eyes that glimmered with a mixture of ferocity and malice. Raising her crown-heavy sword, she swung it, unleashing fierce gusts of wind.
“Waaah!” The shadows in the dark let out strange cries, showing excitement upon seeing the arrival of the amber-tressed girl, banging on their weapons, seemingly taunting her.
At the moment their eyes met, the girl stamped her foot heavily, causing the grass to sink. She fell deeply into a trap.
“Wakaka!” The shadows gathered at the edge of the pit and danced gleefully, celebrating their victory.
They drew their bows, mounted arrows dipped in poison, and fired them at the girl. They intentionally aimed for her hands and feet, not vital organs, as if they intended to capture her alive.
“Clang, Clang!” The arrows were deflected cleanly by the knight’s impervious armor, and she remained standing in the pit motionless.
“Waa?!” The small creatures looked puzzled for a moment, then began to yell angrily.
The knight’s eyes turned a fierce, bloodthirsty red. Her sword pierced the pit wall, and her heels dug into the edge as she climbed towards the top, a difficult task due to her cumbersome movements.
Seeing the knight emerging, on the shouts of the dwarves, a cart loaded with a massive rock was pushed to the edge of the pit.
“Hikaka!” The dwarves laughed cunningly.
Though Filisia’s defensive field could negate physical damage, it couldn’t deflect the force of the physical impact that could force it to shift.
Of course, these small creatures were probably not thinking so deeply. They just figured that since the arrows were ineffective, they would bring out the bigger weaponry.
The dwarves, laughing malevolently, pushed the giant rock into the pit and cheered excitedly.
Standing still against the wall, Filisia looked up at the massive shadow blocking out the sky. Her eyes, flashing with crimson light, lifted as her lips curled up into a cruel smile.
“BOOM!” Filisia shattered the rock with a punch and charged out of the pit in one breath, wildly swinging and hacking at the confused dwarves with her massive sword, treating it not as a blade but a flail to maul them.
These small pests were good at quick tricks and scheming, but they were clearly no match for Filisia when it came to face-to-face combat.
Five dwarves were lifted into the air by Filisia’s powerful strike, bl**d and flesh flying everywhere.
“Waaah!” The dwarves scattered and retreated without much of a fight.
Filisia had no intention of letting them escape. She chased after the dwarves, wildly swinging her sword, the force of its slashes alone being enough to tear the fragile bodies of the dwarves apart.
Looking at the sea of black bl**d and body parts covering the ground, Filisia trembled in excitement, still unsatisfied as she wildly swung her massive sword, until the entire grassland was drenched in corrosive black bl**d.
Only one last dwarf remained. This dwarf was particularly sneaky, throwing his comrades in front of him for cover whenever he was about to be struck by Filisia. Just as he was about to escape, he tripped over a small stone. When he tried to get up and run, he realized he had no allies left to sell out. The fierce and merciless girl had already stepped in with her heels digging into his chest.
Realizing his impending doom, the dwarf pleaded for mercy in a pouting manner.
Humans, elves, breeding machines… These beings of mercy would always show sympathy if you surrender and appear pitiful. This rule-abiding female knight would absolutely not harm him, and when he lets down his guard, he could ambush her…
Before he could finish his daydreaming, he felt himself flying.
No, it wasn’t him flying. It was his head being severed from his body, flying away…
The knight girl didn’t even glance at him. She simply licked her lips and chopped off his head.
bl**d was splattered all over Filisia’s body as she leaned heavily on her massive sword, trembling, whether from madness or excitement.
However, this was Ruglien, not Caleburn. The scent of fresh bl**d quickly attracted another group of beings living nearby…
Massive figures loomed over the horizon, flattening the grass. On the other side of the forest, a group of towering beings appeared, leather-clad and bearing torches that illuminated their green skin, their muscles bulging with power. Their empty yellow eyes narrowed on the human woman who dared to make a ruckus in their territory.
After the previous battle, Filisia had consumed much of her stamina but didn’t appear to be satisfied.
Her gaze turned to the group of sturdy orcs. Her disheveled hair clung to her face as her grip tightened on her sword with a sadistic glint in her eyes.
Evidently, there was no way she was going to stop now.
As strong as Filisia might have been, she was facing an entire tribe of orcs. These weren’t ordinary orcs either; they were equipped with leather armor, skilled in crafting equipment, and had extensive experience in combat from frequent skirmishes over territory with other orc tribes.
Swinging her massive sword and rushing into the ranks of the orcs, Filisia felt as though she had entered a sea of springs and cotton, unable to unleash her full strength.
Every slash and every blow from her sword was easily evaded by these towering orcs.
Such a flawed and predictable style of attack might work against goblins, but against disciplined orc troops, it was utterly futile.
Noticing Filisia’s aggressive nature, the orcs weren’t in a hurry to face her. Instead, they kept dodging and coordinating in formations to wear down Filisia’s stamina.
Soon, despite her efforts, Filisia was exhausted. Her massive sword plunged into the ground, and she was left panting heavily.
Seeing the prey was out of energy, the orcs grinned nastily and approached Filisia step by step.
Filisia stood up, leaning on her sword, and mustered her last bit of strength to swing her sword towards the nearest orc. The orc, confident in its combat prowess, deflected the sword with ease.
Drained of energy, Filisia couldn’t maintain her balance and tumbled down along with her sword.
And there, Filisia lay, defeated but with an unquenched thirst for more…
