The breathtaking silver-haired girl quickly walked over and gently cradled the fallen blonde girl in her arms. She pressed her fingers against the girl's soft neck, and in an instant, the blood smeared her fingers red. The silver-haired girl's delicate brows furrowed slightly.
A deep gash had been cut across the blonde girl's neck, severing the main artery, which was gushing blood. The silver-haired girl's fingers emitted a faint white light as she gently touched the wound, causing the blood to stop flowing instantly. The gruesome wound healed rapidly before their eyes, and within moments, it had completely disappeared. Only the crimson stains remained, still a stark reminder of what had just happened.
Kaguya let out a small sigh of relief, thankful she had arrived in time. Had she been any later, the arterial bleeding would have been fatal within minutes, and she wouldn't have been able to save Fal.
"So, it's you." Holding Fal in her arms, Kaguya turned her gaze to the intruder, her eyes filled with a chilling coldness. She was beginning to get angry.
"It—it wasn't me!" Mine, just coming to her senses, was startled and immediately waved her hands, stammering as she tried to explain.
"I can't believe you would harm such a young girl," Kaguya said, her brows knitting in displeasure, her tone clearly displeased.
"No," Mine hastily tried to defend herself, "I didn't mean to kill her. She bumped into me!"
"You're saying she just ran into your knife?" Kaguya raised an eyebrow, her voice tinged with sarcasm. "Do you really think I'd believe that?"
"It's the truth!" Mine backed away a few steps, her face pale. "I really didn't mean to kill her."
Kaguya gently laid Fal on the grass and stood up, slowly walking toward Mine.
"I thought I was being merciful by sparing Night Raid, choosing not to wipe you all out," Kaguya said in a somber tone, "It seems my mercy has been repaid with this. Today, I've learned well that being merciful and indecisive comes with its consequences.."
"It's not what you think," Mine shouted desperately, her voice trembling.
"Even now, you're still trying to make excuses?" Kaguya's expression was icy, her resolve unshaken.
"I'm not making excuses! Things really aren't how you think they are!" Mine babbled in panic.
"You couldn't even spare a little girl," Kaguya's eyes flashed with a cold light. "It seems you need to be taught a lesson."
"D-don't come any closer!" In her panic, Mine picked up the sniper rifle on the ground and pointed it at Kaguya, who continued to approach. "If you come any closer, I'll shoot!"
"With just that?"
As Kaguya advanced, her serene eyes emitted a strange glow. With each step she took, her aura grew stronger. By the time she was standing right in front of Mine, her presence felt overwhelming, like a tidal wave crashing down, sending chills through the air as if the atmosphere itself was freezing.
Faced with this immense pressure, Mine's hands and feet turned icy cold, and a wave of fear welled up from the depths of her heart, causing her heartbeat to skip.
Finally, unable to bear the suffocating terror any longer, Mine let out a scream and squeezed the trigger. A blindingly bright beam of energy shot out from the barrel of the gun, streaking across the night sky like a comet, speeding toward Kaguya.
Mine's Imperial Arm, Roman Artillery: Pumpkin, was a gun-type weapon that converted spiritual energy into a powerful shockwave. The greater the perceived threat, the more powerful the weapon's blast. Due to her intense fear, its power was amplified several times over.
A deafening explosion shattered the silence of the night, and a dazzling flash of light streaked through the dark sky. The shockwave from the explosion, mixed with a blast of air, swept outward, sending dust and debris flying.
"Is... is it over?" Mine gripped her sniper rifle tightly, her eyes locked on the spot where Kaguya had stood, her voice uncertain.
That shot was the most powerful attack she had ever unleashed, its force not much weaker than her ultimate move. Few could survive an attack of that magnitude.
But just as Mine was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a figure emerged from the cloud of smoke and dust, causing her pupils to contract in shock.
It was Kaguya, unharmed. What shocked Mine even more was that Kaguya wasn't just uninjured—her clothes weren't even ruffled, and there wasn't a speck of dust on her.
"How... how is that possible?" Mine muttered in disbelief, her grip loosening on the sniper rifle, which nearly fell from her hands.
While Mine wasn't much in close combat, she had tremendous confidence in her ranged attacks. Her strikes were devastatingly powerful and had exceptional penetration, rarely failing to take down her target in one shot. In the original story, she had even killed the Empire's other general, Budo, in a direct confrontation, demonstrating the strength of her attacks.
But now, Kaguya had emerged unscathed from her most powerful attack. It felt like a cold bucket of water had been poured over Mine's head.
Is this girl a monster?
As the silver-haired girl slowly approached her, step by step, Mine gritted her teeth and once again raised her sniper rifle. Taking a deep breath, she aimed and fired.
Another beam of light shot out, streaking toward Kaguya's chest.
But Kaguya's face remained calm, showing no sign of panic. She extended her ivory-white arm and, in Mine's astonished gaze, casually swatted the beam aside with her hand.
How is that possible?
How could someone deflect her attack with just a hand?
Mine questioned whether she had seen it correctly. She gritted her teeth, raised her sniper rifle, and pulled the trigger repeatedly. Countless beams of light shot out like a torrential downpour, all aimed at Kaguya.
However, the gap in their strength was not something that could be bridged by individual effort or desperation.
As the beams reached Kaguya, they seemed to hit an invisible barrier, dissipating into showers of light before vanishing into thin air.
Kaguya, unharmed, finally reached Mine. In her terrified gaze, Kaguya stretched out her snowy arm, grabbing Mine by the neck and lifting her off the ground like a kitten. Leaning in close to Mine's ear, she whispered, "When you make a mistake, you must be punished. And now, it's time for your punishment."
As soon as she finished speaking, the world spun around for Mine, and to her shock, she found herself sprawled across a pair of soft, springy thighs. Just as she was wondering what was happening, a sharp smack echoed in her ears, accompanied by a fiery pain on her rear.