Flames invaded this once prosperous small village. Screams broke the silence of the night as the black-robed Witch Cultists slaughtered the Oni of the village with near-overwhelming force.
Rem hid under the bed in her room, her arms wrapped tightly around her body, trembling slightly.
Beside her, Ram held her sister in her arms, comforting her with a gentle tone: "Rem, we'll be fine. Big sister will protect you."
"Big sister..."
Rem looked into Ram's eyes, and her trembling body calmed down slightly.
Crack!
A pale, weak-looking hand pierced through the wooden boards of the bed, followed by the sickly voices of those Witch Cultists.
"Found you~"
The tone was like a cat playing with a mouse. Rem's face instantly turned pale, and Ram's expression didn't look much better, turning dark. They had been hidden here by their parents, who had gone to block these Witch Cultists. However, the fact that the cultists, who should have been blocked by their parents, appeared before them meant that their parents had already been killed by these cultists.
"Die!"
Ram shouted as green wind surged from her body, directly shredding the pale arm. It hung down limply, yet despite such an injury, the cultist's face, filled with madness, showed no sign of pain, as if the hand didn't belong to them at all.
"Kill! Kill!"
The Witch Cultist's head twisted frantically. The combination of their crazed tone and expression caused even Ram to feel fear. After all, the current Ram was just a young girl.
"Rem, run!"
As the elder sister, Ram grabbed Rem's hand and threw her outside with all her might. No matter what, she had to make sure her sister survived!
"Big sister!"
In mid-air, Rem's eyes filled with tears. She reached out, trying to grab her sister, but she could only watch as the distance between them grew further and further.
"Now, please die!"
A violent aura erupted from Ram's petite body as a single horn emerged from the center of her forehead. The surrounding wind materialized, howling. In the blink of an eye, the nearby trees and the ground were covered in gashes from the wind. Not just the ground and trees, but the Witch Cultist in front of Ram was also sliced into pieces by the sharp wind.
"Huff... huff..."
Ram crouched, gasping for air. Drawing such a powerful force all at once was a significant burden for her current self.
"A horned Oni Clan member~ My brain is trembling!"
A crazed voice spoke as a man with a hideous face stepped out from the dark corner. He had short green hair and a sickly gaze. He was one of the Sin Archbishops of the Witch Cult, the Sin Archbishop representing Sloth. Formerly the teacher of the twin-tailed spirit Beatrice and one of the earliest Sin Archbishops, his current name was Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti—a cult name taken after joining the Witch Cult. His original name as a spirit was Geuse. He was a truly mad existence.
"Die!"
Invisible, intangible hands extended from behind Romanée-Conti toward Ram.
Although Ram could not see the Unseen Hands, in her Oni God state, she could still sense the incoming danger. The green wind around her grew restless once more. Ram was clever; knowing the attack was invisible, she simply used area-of-effect magic to defend herself.
"Hahahaha! How slothful!"
Several more Unseen Hands emerged from behind Romanée-Conti, all lunging toward Ram together.
Ram's expression grew heavy. Her magic was on the verge of failing. The Mana consumption for such large-scale magic was staggering. Now with more Unseen Hands, she would have to increase her Mana output to defend, and her Mana was already starting to run dry. Ultimately, it was a matter of time and age; the current Ram simply couldn't exert her full power, though she was doing remarkably well for her age.
Finally, the Mana within Ram was completely exhausted. The horn on her forehead grew dim, a sign of excessive Mana depletion.
Bang!
With her Mana spent, Ram lost all power to resist the Unseen Hands. She was struck hard by one and sent flying into a tree. A large amount of blood sprayed from her mouth, and her aura instantly became withered and weak. Her eyelids grew heavy, as if they might close at any moment.
"Big sister!"
Hearing Rem's voice, Ram's eyes, which were about to close, snapped open again. *Rem, why did you come back!*
Ram would rather die herself than have her sister die. She struggled to look toward the direction of Rem's voice. Her sister was running toward her. Ram wanted to shout and tell Rem to leave her alone, but in her heavily injured state, she didn't even have the strength to speak.
"Is there another Oni? Then die together!"
Romanée-Conti wore a crazed smile as the Unseen Hands moved again, flying toward Rem as she ran toward Ram.
"No!"
A sudden surge of strength erupted within Ram, and she lunged toward Rem. At that moment, the Unseen Hands arrived, and one of them happened to strike Ram's dimmed horn.
Crack!
Accompanied by a crisp sound, Rem, who had been tackled to the ground by Ram, widened her eyes. Her blue eyes trembled.
"Big sister..."
But no one answered Rem. Her Mana was overdrawn and her horn was destroyed. As a part of her body, the breaking of the horn caused immense damage to Ram. At this moment, Ram's eyes were closed, her face was pale, and her breathing was faint, like a flickering candle in the wind that could go out at any time.
"Not dead yet?"
Romanée-Conti looked at Rem and Ram with a hint of surprise in his eyes, gnawing on his fingers.
"How slothful!"
The Unseen Hands moved once more, fiercely lunging toward Rem and Ram. Rem was unresponsive, staring blankly at Ram's pale face as the danger approached.
"Hundred Flashes!"
Countless white lights flashed, and the Unseen Hands were reduced to countless fragments by these lights before dissipating.
Romanée-Conti seemed to have a pause button pressed on him. Countless bloodstains surfaced on his body, which then turned into chunks of various sizes and collapsed to the ground.
Rem regained a bit of her spirit, though her blue eyes were still filled with the colors of despair.
Fujino looked at Rem, her eyes flickering for a moment. She then sheathed her eerie sword, turned back, and said coldly: "If you want to save your sister, bring her horn and follow me!"
Fujino's words were like a brilliant light suddenly appearing through dark clouds. The despair in Rem's eyes gradually faded. She picked up her sister and the broken horn from the ground, then hurriedly followed Fujino.
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