Chapter 99: The Faceless One Uprising

“Wow, wow, how impressive! This is… the true path of sword wielding…”

As I fell back to the ground, it seemed like the countless black and white masks, which had suddenly erupted into chaos, were so terrified they didn’t know what to do. The trembling “Mona” in the barrier had seemingly shaken off her panic and, for some reason, appeared unusually excited.

The little loli tilted her head back, her curious and dreamy eyes fixated on the golden rain of swords soaring above the sword mound, as if she had witnessed some incredible supreme truth, almost sparkling with light, completely lost in her thoughts.

But Vilyric paid no mind to this. After confirming safety, she retracted the Radiant Protection barrier and stepped forward once more.

The gray sword body had annihilated countless strange black and white masks in the golden sword rain, but one mask was deliberately nailed to the surface by the Priestess, left intact.

“Damn it… Damn it! Damn light! The Master will punish you, the Master will avenge us!”

The mask filled with rage screamed wildly yet was pinned down, unable to move by the golden sword.

The girl ignored these insignificant threats.

Since this creature appeared to have a relatively independent notion, surely there was a method to extract some valuable information from it.

At the very least, Vilyric wanted to know who that “Master” they were incessantly shouting about was.

But just as she planned to approach for a thorough interrogation, the mask began to transition from “anger” to “fear” as the black-haired girl drew near.

Meanwhile, an unexpected thought surged from the remaining body outside, causing the Priestess to furrow her brow slightly.

She paused her steps.

Refocusing on the real world, Vilyric opened her eyes and turned back to the suddenly urgent knocking on the door from outside.

“What’s going on?”

Outside the room were Shady Spirit and Dark Lotus, both strong legendary adventurers guarding the door. They should know better than to interrupt while their master was dealing with important matters, so an ordinary situation shouldn’t cause such noise.

Vilyric quickly reacted, almost instantly returning her consciousness as the Oracle didn’t inquire about the healing situation nor moved to open the door. Instead, she frowned slightly and started rhythmically clicking the abacus in her hands. The beads jumped up and down and finally settled into a specific pattern.

Then, a faint crimson light, like blood, crossed the abacus, causing the Oracle’s expression to change slightly.

“An ominous hex, blood disaster? The divination has changed… Miss Xī, did you just perform some astounding act?”

“Ah?”

Miss White Fox was slightly taken aback.

“Just… simply cleaned off some filthy evil stuff, did this disturb the heavens or something?”

But before the Oracle could respond further, it appeared that the person outside had grown anxious due to the prolonged silence within. They started shouting loudly without caring if they were being rude!

“President! President! It’s bad! Outside, out of nowhere, many masked monsters have suddenly appeared! They are crazily pounding on the Merchant Association’s door, and more of them keep coming! You need to think of something fast!”

A low but furious reprimand from Shady Spirit quickly followed.

“Be quiet! I’ve already said the Master is dealing with something important; this is a critical moment! Keep this up, and don’t blame us for being impolite!”

Oh?

Listening to the shouts of the guard named Gao Da Qiang, Vilyric gradually began to understand.

Clearly, they had been defeated in the spirit world, yet instead of fleeing, they had come knocking on the door? Talk about bravery and efficiency…

But… what exactly was this “light” that the masks were referring to?

“What do you mean?”

Miss White Fox briefly explained the encounter with those masks in the spirit world and how she had cleaned them out, then turned her questioning gaze directly toward Yuna.

The Oracle’s delay in opening the door was undoubtedly due to the presence of the Saintess.

Since Yuna had purposefully avoided the guard’s gaze when she arrived, it signified that she did not intend to appear too close to the Lingyin Merchant Association.

Their previous sale held at the Summerfield Family’s castle could be explained as inviting a divine family to supervise that malicious Pearl of Enchantment, but if the Saintess herself was to appear alone within the merchant association…

Everyone present was intelligent; many things needn’t be articulated. The Saintess quickly exchanged a “glance” with the Oracle, nodding in tacit agreement. The Oracle then turned directly toward Miss White Fox.

“Miss Xī, may I ask how much longer you will need?”

The Oracle didn’t ask if healing was possible—such a foolish question. After all, during the time Vilyric closed her eyes and focused, the scar on the undead’s arm had visibly shrunk by more than half, and the sinister aura had substantially diminished. Combined with what Miss White Fox had mentioned about those masks in the spirit world, it was clear enough.

“It should be soon, so what are you planning to do?”

The Oracle shook her head helplessly.

“Well, what else can we do? Since the divination has shown this, even if it’s a blood disaster, we can only meet force with force… Princess Yuna, I leave everything to you.”

The Saintess slightly nodded, her expression turning serious.

“The Faceless Ones can’t be underestimated. Although we still don’t fully understand why these creatures have appeared in the West City or their intentions, such a large-scale attack on the Lingyin Merchant Association means there must be something they desire here… I will return to the Temple of Bright Light immediately to gather the Holy Knights to exterminate the evil spirits. We must hold out until the main forces arrive.”

“We will do our best…”

The Saintess was decisive. After exchanging a few nods with them, she quickly turned around and hurried down the hidden corridor of the room.

If Vilyric guessed correctly, there should be a teleportation array hidden in the basement, or perhaps some sort of invisible space portal for quick passage. The way Yuna navigated meant this wasn’t her first time going to and from the Lingyin Merchant Association and the temple this way.

Closing her eyes again, a part of Vilyric’s consciousness delved back into the undead’s spiritual realm. The situation was urgent—she certainly didn’t have time to slowly interrogate the peculiar mask anymore. With a single swing of her sword, she obliterated it, withdrawing her soul energy from the sword mound, now free of evil spirit aura, and returned to her physical body via the connection with the Demon God Pearl.

Indeed, as the girl returned to reality and opened her eyes, the strange scar on the gray-clothed swordsman’s arm had completely vanished, reverting to healthy skin color. Though the overall aura seemed weakened from battling the corruption, that was just a matter of recovery time.

During this period, the Oracle and the Ferryman had already gone outside to exchange information with the alert Gao Da Qiang. Only the former returned, locking eyes with the remaining Miss White Fox.

“By your expression, could it be the situation outside is not great?”

The elder stroked his beard pensively.

“Yes… The number of Faceless Ones appearing exceeds our expectations and has already far surpassed the total of missing persons Yuna provided for the past two days. A calamity has struck upon us… Could the chaotic times from the divination be about to be realized so soon?”

Strangely, unlike the Oracle, Miss White Fox merely tilted her head curiously.

“Chaotic times…? What kind of chaotic times?”

“Ahem, it’s nothing. I must head out to confront the enemy. Miss Xī, what do you plan to do next? Although from a personal standpoint… this battle belongs to the Lingyin Merchant Association and Mingguang City; you actually don’t need to put yourself at risk. Maybe you should…”

Before the elder could finish his long-winded speech, Miss White Fox interrupted him with evident impatience.

“How could I run away at a time like this? Do you think I am someone like that? Anyway, let’s head out and see the situation first.”

Seeing the Oracle’s serious face, the girl couldn’t help but stand on her toes and pat his shoulder.

“Hehe, don’t worry! I still need to collect the “Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains” from you. With me here, I won’t let the Lingyin Merchant Association be dismantled easily~”

   

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