The girl had a petite figure, with a flat chest, and her tea-colored long hair cascaded down. Her gaze held three parts daze and seven parts seriousness, while a metal ring emitting a faint glow encircled her jade-like neck. Key parts of her body were shielded by pieces of metal, and a translucent mesh shield extended from a metal disc at her waist, protecting her fair thighs and slender waist without an ounce of excess fat. Her long, jade-like legs were wrapped in cyan boots and breathable white silk stockings, paired with a pair of transparent wings that looked like they belonged in a role-playing costume, giving her an ethereal lightness.
Belis frowned.
She realized that this girl named White Blade possessed magical power at the B+ level, meaning she was on par with a Silver-rank Medal Knight.
Yet her strength seemed impossible to measure solely by magical power.
Everything she had seen so far—the flying ships, matchlock guns, girls in strange gear, and the arrogant Pomistan people—was unheard-of technology.
This seemed to signify something, filling her with an ominous premonition.
But for the sake of the Blood Clan’s dignity, Belis suppressed her inner doubts and unease, asking,
“Miss White Blade, what brings you here?”
The girl who called herself White Blade tilted her head slightly:
“You’re Belis?”
“Yes.”
“Hm. Then kneel first. My father said that if you don’t kneel, he’ll kill one of the Blood Clan members by your side at random.”
An icy chill emanated from White Blade’s childish voice.
Belis nearly laughed.
Kneel? When had the Blood Clan ever bowed their heads?
The Blood Clan of today was no longer what it once was. The fact that they were even talking now was only thanks to the Holy Church’s influence on Pomistan.
Before Belis could speak, the two garrulous Blood Armor Knights had already let out mocking voices:
“To dare make our queen kneel, you…”
“Ah~ idiots.”
White Blade didn’t even wait for them to finish. She merely waved her hand slightly, and suddenly several guards standing around, holding flintlock muskets, aimed at the two loquacious Blood Clansmen.
Belis reacted instantly. She raised her hand, condensing crimson magical power that transformed into blood tentacles, severing the “matchlock guns” from three of the gunmen’s hands in a flash.
Bang bang—!
The firing speed was much faster than she had imagined. Two fists couldn’t beat four hands.
With her extreme reaction speed and visual acuity, Belis clearly saw the “bullets” from the matchlock guns.
—They were crimson crystals.
The Blood Armor Knights only reacted now. The one Belis had saved staggered backward, but unexpectedly, a crystal bullet still struck his right arm.
The crystal bullet’s speed was eight times that of any matchlock gun Belis had seen.
Splurt—!
Centered on the impact point, the crystal burst through flesh and blood, blooming into a brilliant, colorful flower.
He lost an arm.
“Urgh!”
The other Blood Armor Knight was hit in the chest armor, the bullet piercing through to stab into his heart.
Pfft—
His upper body was replaced by a cluster of crystals. Even in death, he was shocked by what this special bullet was.
Everything happened too quickly; the remaining Blood Armor Knights didn’t even understand what had occurred.
—What was that weapon? Why could a firearm so easily kill two of the Blood Clan’s strongest? Was Pomistan still the weak nation they had imagined?
But halting all thought was White Blade’s cold voice:
“Kneel, Belis.”
“…”
Belis lowered her head.
She had pondered everything the Blood Armor Knights had, but reached no conclusions.
She opened her mouth, her voice hoarse:
“Who exactly are you people?”
“Pomistan, hehe. It’s completely different ever since we obtained [God’s Favor]~”
“My daughter, say no more.”
An elderly man wearing a monocle and a tailcoat approached from behind. Wrinkles creased his face as he forced a loving smile:
“No need to explain anything to livestock. Our future enemies are the entire world.”
“Yes, the entire world, Father.” White Blade dropped to one knee, replying sincerely.
Belis turned her head, sizing up the old man before her.
He was Savassen?!
Savassen had a sturdy build, his tailcoat slightly strained. His aged, raspy, magnetic voice made him seem like an old gentleman. Yet Belis could sense no life force from him at all.
Was he not alive? Or had he shielded her perception…
The man called Savassen stepped around the corpses of the dead Blood Clansmen and approached Belis, while White Blade dutifully prepared a chair for him, allowing him to cross his legs leisurely as he sat before her.
This man’s appearance silenced even the wailing injured Blood Clansman, as if the man before them held the right to take his life at any moment.
“Miss Belis Sophia, good afternoon.”
“As you can see, Pomistan is no longer a weak race.”
“Our bullets absorb Blood Clan magic power, and once they absorb too much, they explode.”
“Just like your dead companions.”
“Our power rivals the world; what you’ve seen is merely the tip of the iceberg.”
Belis trembled as she said:
“What is your goal?”
“Forgive me, but I won’t explain human affairs to livestock. Nor will the dogs of the gods.”
“Are they the so-called elite guards?” one of the Blood Armor Knights asked. She wanted to know who these well-trained wielders of magical firearms were that had crushed her comrades.
White Blade, perched on the chair arm, answered:
“These are just our most ordinary soldiers.”
“What…?”
“Heh, do you think we need real blades to crush livestock?”
Savassen’s voice was calm, but Belis could feel the arrogance that overlooked the world.
She lowered her head, forced to admit that these weapons were beyond their current ability to counter. If the gunship’s cannons could fire similar bullets… she couldn’t imagine how the Blood Clan would fall.
Once, she too had dreamed of such overwhelming arrogance.
She had fantasized about becoming the true Blood Clan king and Demon King, but she had failed.
“Don’t you Demons have this principle? The weak submit to the strong. Kneel, Belis.”
Belis had wanted to ask more, but all her doubts became laughable parlor tricks before absolute power, like insects gazing at the sky.
With a thud, she knelt on the ground. The Blood Armor Knights behind her had no choice but to follow, bathed in humiliation.
“Bow your head.”
“…” Belis glared with wide eyes but didn’t dare look at Savassen’s face.
“I told you to bow your head, Belis.”
Belis complied.
