Chapter 62: You’re So Foolish, I’m Quite Worried

Edwina and Natalie formed a team to escape from prison. They worked quite hard, finally managing to bypass the patrols and hidden sentries, and found the storeroom Natalie had mentioned.

For some reason, Miss Holy Knight felt that the defenses here weren’t as tight as she had imagined. Occasionally, they would see one or two enemies hurrying past, which they easily avoided.

Though she couldn’t understand why, it was certainly a good thing.

The storeroom door was closed but not locked, likely because people often came in to take or put things back. After rummaging around the messy room for a while, they finally unearthed their belongings and gear.

Everything was mostly intact. Unlike others, Edwina had her Holy Emblem and Holy Seal preserved untouched, as they were bound to her and couldn’t be activated temporarily.

The six-winged Holy Emblem had storage capabilities, and Miss Holy Knight kept some particularly important items inside.

As for Natalie’s gear, it had clearly been sitting there for some time, weighed down by various objects, but was still usable.

Once suited up in her Holy Knight armor and armed, and with the sacred relic that only the goddess’s followers could wield, even though her physical condition wasn’t fully restored, the two struggling sisters had regained some of their combat capabilities.

“Miss Natalie, you know this place better than I do. What should we do next?”

The young Holy Knight princess, while moving her body and tentatively swinging her weapon, straightforwardly handed over the decision-making to her senior.

Looking impressive in her white armor, the Pure White Lion Miss contemplated as she glanced at the slightly ajar door, her expression thoughtful.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit strange? There shouldn’t be this few cultists around, and most of them seem to be in a hurry. Could something be happening outside?”

“Oh! Is it possible that Archbishop Vedia has come with reinforcements to rescue us?”

Edwina still seemed a bit skeptical that a devout and senior archbishop would collaborate with cultists, trying hard to view the situation from the most optimistic perspective.

Natalie didn’t immediately counter this naive thought. She shook her shoulders, her chest bouncing exaggeratedly, finally acclimating to the armor she hadn’t worn in a while.

“Maybe, but no matter what’s happening outside, this is a perfect opportunity. There are very few forces capable of directly attacking the Throne of Immortality within this royal city—either the temple or the official kingdom forces—both of which are allies. We could try to rush out and coordinate our efforts.”

“Even if that’s not the case, we could take advantage of both sides fighting and sneak away. What do you think?”

“Okay, we’ll do whatever Miss Natalie says!”

After reaching a consensus, the two quietly left the storeroom and began moving towards the front gate of the Iris Orphanage, following the path Natalie remembered.

The orphanage was divided into four sections: the front hall, the study area, the living quarters, and the rear hall, where the modified underground prison they were held in and the area for the Throne of Immortality’s experiments were located.

The living quarters were where those cultists primarily stayed, while the study area and front hall had kept as much of the orphanage’s original appearance as possible, alongside those coerced or controlled to act as camouflage, creating an illusion of normalcy.

In other words, once they left here, they would soon enter the most densely enemy-populated area. Even if the attackers drawing most of the enemy’s attention were present, they surely wouldn’t find it as easy as before.

This was proven not long after.

“!”

As Natalie cautiously moved forward, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, back to Edwina, extending her hand to signal a warning. The already on high alert Edwina immediately responded, slipping into the shadows of a wall column, casting a questioning glance at her companion.

Probably fearing to make noise and alert the enemy, the experienced adventurer didn’t speak but continuously pointed towards two external locations, then made a “2” gesture towards Edwina.

Following her lead, Edwina focused her hearing.

Indeed, there were faint breathing sounds and a slight putrid odor, but no heartbeat—that was a distinctive sign of those peculiar undead.

They were very close, about ten meters away, but amidst the distant sounds of chaos and explosions, it was hardly noticeable. Edwina hadn’t expected Natalie to catch on so quickly.

Truly, she was a seasoned adventurer, much more reliable than this newbie who had just ascended to the skies.

Thumbing up, Edwina exchanged glances with the other Holy Knight, and they both made their decision.

The environment was too dark; as Holy Knights, if they made a move, the radiant light would immediately expose their location.

These two sentries had a crossfire viewpoint, perfectly covering the mandatory path in the corridor, meaning the two couldn’t sneak around like they did earlier.

From the sounds of the skirmish, it seemed the attacking forces had breached the front hall and were advancing near the study area, not far from the two Holy Knights’ current location.

Since that was the case, why not just go for broke?

According to their previously discussed strategy for encounters, Natalie would stay back, while Edwina, under the cover of shadows, quietly moved into a blind spot closer to one of the sentries, channeling her holy power into her long sword.

“Four, three, two, one…”

Counting down under her breath, the young Holy Knight focused and unleashed her most familiar, unpretentious move.

And just as the countdown hit zero, the two Holy Knights sprang into action simultaneously!

“Holy Radiance Slash!”

“Holy Radiance Slash!”

Golden sword light flashed like a startled swan, illuminating the dark corridor and reflecting the astonishment on the faces of the two undead, finally sweeping across their necks.

Poof, poof.

The sounds of flesh being sliced echoed almost simultaneously, as the heads of the undead flew high, their foul black blood sizzling from the scorching holy light stuck to the sword blade.

Only after the two sentries fell to the ground from Edwina and Natalie’s combined attack did the black blood begin to trickle from the severed necks, spreading beneath the girls’ feet.

The young Holy Knight, slightly surprised, looked down at the distinctly non-human black blood; it was her first time personally slaying such a creature.

Though she had sensed the weirdness behind those cultists’ normal appearances when she first caught the whiff of decay, the sensation of bringing one down herself felt even more real.

When they retrieved their gear from the storeroom, Natalie had warned her that if a fight broke out, she had to aim for the enemy’s head, or those strange things wouldn’t be dispatched quickly.

This was a lesson she learned with a painful price during battle.

“Wow… what on earth are these? Even their blood is disgusting, and they don’t even feel like undead. Goddess above, where did they come from?”

Swiping the black blood off her sword, Miss Edwina moved a bit away in disgust.

Natalie made no effort to hide her disdain for these undead.

“These things have long lost any sense of normal biology. They feel more like corpses manipulated by some wicked force, more sacrilegious than typical undead, humph…”

“However, despite your somewhat quirky mind, your power is indeed considerable. Looks like teaming up with you was the right choice. Let’s go; it likely won’t be easy from here on.”

“Hehe… Miss Natalie is overpraising me. I’m actually pretty weak; I still have a long way to go.”

Edwina smiled bashfully, brushing her golden hair at her neck, seemingly completely oblivious to her teammate’s earlier compliment.

“…?”

Retracting her previous words.

How on earth did this airhead survive all the way from the holy city to the City of Courage?

It’s truly a miracle she didn’t get fooled along the way!

   

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