The one who delivered this fatal blow was naturally one of the three giants of the Church of Evernight, the Red Gloves. The Sword of the Goddess, Crestet Cesimir.
He had already been nearby when Kuhn was preparing for the "Timed Disaster". Although Cullen had discovered him, he did not point it out. That was why he had used the "sacred relic" to stab the Demoness's "vital point" when she was caught off guard.
As the white bone sword stabbed into the tattoo on Ray's back, a large amount of blood gushed out from the flower-like patterns, far exceeding the standard of a normal person.
When Cesimir saw this scene, his expression suddenly changed. He did not even have the time to pull out his bone sword before he flew backward. As he retreated, he tapped his teeth and released the wraith sealed within.
On the other side, Captain Arsenov, who had transformed into a Silver Knight, arrived in front of Cullen, Judy, and Kuhn in a few steps. At the same time, he knelt on one knee with his back facing the demoness. The Sword of Dawn was inserted into the ground, protecting the three people under his body.
Just as he completed this action, the tide-like dark power flowing out from the white bone sword fiercely collided with the blood-colored power in the patterns. The violent shockwaves swept in all directions from the Demoness' back.
This shockwave was not as shocking as the "punctual calamity" from before, but its level was rather high.
Even after retreating for a distance, a distorted, broken, semi-transparent face appeared on every tooth. Crestet Cesimir was still shaken by the aftershock and fell to one knee with a grunt. Blood and tears flowed down his facial features.
Cullen and company weren't any better off. Although the physical impact was blocked by the silver-armored giant, the impact from the high-level status wasn't something a Guardian could withstand!
There was no need to mention it. His brain, which was already severely injured, felt as if it was hit by a huge hammer. He only felt a hum and fainted.
Cullen's body instantly turned illusory, turning into a hazy moonlight. However, after the moonlight shattered, it did not reassemble as quickly as before. Instead, it struggled to piece back Cullen's image bit by bit.
Judy's long brown hair suddenly grew to three meters long. The strands of hair wriggled on their own as if they were alive. After a long while, she regained control of her ability. Her hair that had suddenly grown longer also turned yellow and fell freely.
"That was horrible. I almost lost control," Judy said to Callum, her face pale.
Cullen first checked Kuhn's condition and found that after Judy's previous treatment, he wouldn't die for the time being. Only then did he turn back and say, "Only by destroying a trace of the Primordial Moon's godhood can there be such an impact. You should be glad."
With that said, he stopped talking and seized the opportunity to recover his spirituality. In order to deal with the impact, his Moonlight Transformation had nearly collapsed. Even though he had barely recombined it, he still suffered quite a bit of backlash.
At this moment, Captain Arsenov also took off his "holy relic"—the huge silver armor—and his body shrank to two meters. He immediately sat on the ground, panting heavily, and sweat covered his face. Clearly, the holy relic of the Silver Knight ability was still a heavy burden to him.
For a moment, the noisy thunder and explosions were gone, and the blood-colored moon returned to normal. Only silence and darkness remained in the destroyed vineyard.
A minute later, Cesimir struggled to his feet with his left palm supporting the ground. He decided to confirm the outcome again, although he didn't think the Demoness would survive such a collision.
Meanwhile, Cullen opened his eyes and "Blink" appeared beside Cesimir.
However, just as they neared the spot where Ray had been standing, Cullen was the first to notice that something was wrong.
"The Demoness isn't dead… She escaped right under our noses!" he said with certainty.
"What?" Cesimir was taken aback. Previously, he hadn't seen the Demoness' remains, and he had thought that there was nothing left of her. However, after a careful inspection, he nodded and said, "There's no Beyonder characteristic…"
"And I previously saw her snatch a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact from Kuhn. There's nothing here either," Cullen added.
Cesimir picked up his bone sword and put it back into the suitcase. He then asked in puzzlement, "That Demoness is very strange. She had the upper hand previously and clearly had many opportunities to leave calmly. There was no need for her to clash head-on with the three Holy Artifacts, but she was like a boor who flaunted her strength, giving us ample time to prepare… And now, she's leaving without any hesitation… She's like two different people."
"I'm guessing that the Demoness's plan has two goals. First, it's the Sealed Artifact of the Church of Storms…" As Cullen spoke, he squatted down and flipped open the rubble on the ground with his gloves as though he was searching for something.
"And the second goal should be to use our hands to escape the flower on her back and escape the control of the Primordial Moon.
"From her previous performance in the battle, it's not difficult to tell that another will had awakened in her body—perhaps that flower. In short, that will seemed to be subtly fusing with her… but the Demoness noticed something.
"Therefore, she deliberately created a character that was arrogant in battle and liked to toy with her opponents. In fact, she was deceiving that will, or rather, deceiving herself.
"She played this game while creating opportunities for us to attack her.
"I guess if she had done it herself, Captain Kuhn might not have been able to wait for our rescue… She wants us all to gather and help her destroy that flower!
"And during this process, Demoness cannot reveal that intention, nor can she show it too obviously. Otherwise, she won't be able to 'deceive' herself! And I didn't let Judy say it previously because I was afraid that she would find it difficult to deceive herself after hearing the 'truth'."
At this point, Cullen suddenly paused, because he had found some bloodstains on a stone. This wasn't the blood that the flower had spat out. Those things had already been completely destroyed by the white bone sword. Instead, it was the Demoness' blood that had flowed out when she was struck by lightning… her own blood.
"So that's how it is… In that case, after she was attacked by the lightning, her intentions were actually detected by that will. Otherwise, her face wouldn't have revealed two completely different expressions at the same time!" Cesimir nodded in realization. When he stabbed the bone sword into the Demoness' back, he had caught a glimpse of the expression on her face. At that time, it had been a little strange, but now he completely understood.
"However, even if she had a backup plan, she definitely wouldn't be able to withstand the impact of the godhood. She must have suffered severe injuries." Cullen dipped his finger into the blood before placing it into his mouth to suck on it. Soon, he looked towards the south and continued, "We've found her traces."
He stood up and said to Judy, who was standing nearby, "It's not safe here. Take Captain and Kuhn to the nearby manor for help as soon as possible."
With that, Cullen looked at Cesimir and asked, "Your Excellency Cesimir, can you still move?"
Cesimir smiled bitterly. "I can only barely protect myself."
"Then why don't you help me look after Judy and the rest… I'll go after that Demoness," Cullen said with a smile.
Cesimir knew that she was giving him an out, so he nodded in agreement.
On the other side, Judy had already picked up the "punctual Cosmic Disaster" and the gold-framed mirror used by Robert from the ground beside her. Then, she summoned the earth golem to carry Kuhn, and together with Captain Arsenov, who had barely recovered some strength, they slowly walked towards the viscount's villa in her memory.
…
After everyone left for a while, a petite figure appeared in the vineyard. She also came to the pile of rubble and dug out a stone with blood on it. Soon after, black flames rose and covered the blood on the stone.
…
Demoness Ray, who was running rapidly in the dark, suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.
She struggled to her feet, muttering to herself. "Blood curse… Lena?"
With that said, she realized that she no longer had the energy to continue running. She needed the "pain" to replenish her energy…
She looked around.
Soon, she saw a manor that was holding a banquet.