As glimpses flashed by, familiar shadows emerged—black hair and black eyes that felt both safe and reassuring, as if consumed by blue yet encroaching. Sometimes, the flames blazed fiercely, projecting a dim light outside the house.
The shadow moved steadily and unhurriedly. The ice toad centipede’s icy magic was completely suppressed within the flames. The same blue glow intertwined, while another force visibly retreated step by step.
Flames licked the air, sweeping through everything like a whirlwind. The crumbling house trembled, appearing on the verge of collapse, with intense blue light seeping through even the tiniest wall cracks.
The air was eerily quiet, and the crackling sounds of burning could be distinctly heard, along with a faint hissing akin to flesh being pierced.
The ice toad centipede’s agonizing howl echoed in everyone’s ears, and a gray-blue light enveloped the gaps of the roof, burning relentlessly.
What was already on the verge of collapse seemed to have reached its limit, finally dropping a thick wooden beam that crashed heavily in front of Abber and the others.
The wooden stick was reduced to half, with ethereal blue flames refusing to flicker out, shooting up and down, eager to escape.
They had just witnessed the impressive power of the flames and dared not advance, carefully retreating a few steps back.
Not only that single fallen support, but other fragmented wooden planks tumbled down, clearly unable to hold for much longer.
After a violent tremor, a loud crash resounded as countless wooden boards fell, leading to the total collapse of the house, kicking up a cloud of dust that nearly obscured their vision.
As the dust settled, Abber struggled to open his eyes, and a shadowstood vaguely before him.
The demon with black hair and eyes cradled a blonde girl in his arms, her fair cheeks still streaked with tears. Behind him was the wreckage of the house, now a sea of ethereal blue flames.
The little girl widened her clear eyes, having forgotten her previous terror, and smiled joyfully.
Lusinian turned to face the fallen house, a stream of water pouring from his left hand, extinguishing the once raging flames with ease, leaving only a layer of charred black ash.
He then approached Abber, handing over the girl in his arms.
“It’s alright now.”
At that moment, realization dawned on everyone, and the once silent air was shattered by celebratory cheers.
“Oh my God, did that monster really die? Did we… win?”
“Quick, go out and notify everyone! We can go home!”
“The demon lord is terrifying. Does his strength have limits? He killed that ice toad centipede in no time.”
“That blue flame is truly magical. I held my breath the whole time, not wanting to miss a second.”
What does it mean to survive a catastrophe? This was it.
In Caldra, horror gripped their hearts—so many lives lost, teetering on the brink of hell, yet saved by a demon. It was undeniably dramatic.
The deity they idolized was a man-eating monster, while the evil demon turned out to be their protector.
Abber tightened his embrace around the little girl, softly asking where her parents were.
Some members of the hunting team cleared the fallen boards, discovering the ice toad centipede, now nearly unrecognizable. Most of its antennae had been severed, and its foul blood stained the ground.
They carried the monster’s corpse away, deciding to leave it for the king’s disposal.
After resolving this battle, Lusinian didn’t linger. He politely declined Abber’s invitation to celebrate, determining to head back to the shop instead.
The shop had earned little gold in the past two days, and Lusinian felt a bit down; the sooner he opened the shop, the sooner he could earn gold. He couldn’t stay outside too long.
As the protective shield dissipated, the devastated Uya district reappeared before them. Warriors who had not managed to enter stayed close by, ready to draw their swords at the slightest sign of disturbance in the shield.
Fortunately, the first to come out was not the ice toad centipede but instead their familiar comrades.
A vague sense of anticipation caused their eyes to widen in delight. Before they could even ask, the warriors, knowing exactly what concerned them, burst into hearty laughter, patting their shoulders and saying, “Yes, we won! It was all thanks to the demon lord. Witnessing this battle will be a story I can tell for a lifetime!”
In a moment, the crowd erupted with excitement, and while they were overjoyed, Lusinian was already back at the shop with Abber.
During this return journey, the atmosphere starkly contrasted the desolation he had felt coming in.
In just fifteen minutes, news of the ice toad centipede’s death spread throughout Caldra. People who had hidden in their homes finally dared to open their doors and step onto the streets.
The area was beginning to fill with life again, no longer suffocatingly quiet. Occasionally, one could spot two or three figures, hinting at a swift return to the bustling state of the main city.
Soon he arrived at the Zodiac district, where Lusinian got out and entered the shop. As Abber left, an awkward tension began to rise.
The day had been so hectic that Lusinian hadn’t spoken much to Rongqing. Now, alone together, they both felt slightly out of place.
Rongqing had always communicated with Lusinian through his consciousness, and before, it hadn’t seemed significant, but now, with a living person suddenly in the shop, Lusinian felt he couldn’t ignore him.
The first issue was room allocation. The second floor had only one bedroom with one bed; he couldn’t let Rongqing sleep anywhere randomly, but sharing a bed felt overly intimate.
As Lusinian wrestled with his thoughts, Rongqing, seemingly unfazed, walked into the shop and began organizing the shelves.
After a moment of hesitation, Lusinian called out to Rongqing, “About what happened last night, I’m sorry I didn’t consult you first.”