That meant someone had betrayed her, so she left a trace of her own magic on Mislen.
Afterward, Renith returned to the city gate. Although the guard at the gate was bundled up tightly, his voice and build seemed different.
Not the same person.
Once she finished these things, Renith followed her magic trace to find Mislen and Vimia, observing their movements from a distance.
Very natural, no signs of deception—it probably wasn’t them.
If it really was them, then Renith would accept defeat.
Because they hid it far too naturally—their words and behavior showed not the slightest abnormality.
After a simple sensing, she found no ambush near them, but behind Renith, a large group of people was hiding.
Those people lurked in the darkness, ready to launch an attack at any moment.
Originally, Renith had planned to rent a room at an inn within the city and slowly investigate the stone statue, the “Pain-Relieving Thorns,” the Goddess Cult, Hestis, and Barubalun.
But now it seemed there was no chance to take things slowly.
Since they dared to follow her, they had to be prepared to be counterattacked!
Renith quickly ran toward an alley on another street—it was a dead end.
She walked up to the wall at the end of the dead-end alley, and the surrounding magical energy surged violently, like crashing waves.
She spoke to the hidden figures lurking all around:
“Rats who hide their heads and show their tails.”
“Get out here!”
Her voice echoed through the alley like a thunderclap, shaking the walls until they trembled slightly.
The other side did not attack immediately just because they had been discovered.
After all, the woman before them—not particularly tall, her face hidden in the shadow of a hood—was a powerful mage known as the “God-Chosen Slayer.”
Rumors were flying everywhere out there. Some said the “God-Chosen Slayer” was a two-meter-tall brute who swung an axe with terrifying vigor, leaving blood and carnage wherever he went. Others said he was a monster with eyes all over his head, feeding on “God-Chosen” and unspeakably cruel. Still others said it was all just a play staged by the “God-Chosen” themselves to better rule the continent—that no such person existed at all.
In short, distorted stories about Renith were now circulating in every neighborhood and alley.
It was said that if children didn’t eat or sleep properly and kept crying all day, the “God-Chosen Slayer” would come for them. Just thinking of the terrible consequences was enough to scare those children into immediately stopping their crying, eating obediently, and going to sleep on time.
At this moment, Renith stood at the end of the alley, facing a dead end.
Renith briefly sensed the auras around her. She detected the presence of one count, two viscounts, four barons, and three transmigrators—one of whom had a build extremely similar to the earlier guard.
“Quite the grand welcome, just to catch me…”
Renith said softly, her voice echoing through the empty alley.
“You think these are all of us?”
The leading count sneered and pointed toward the vicinity of the Aztec Mountains.
“We knew long ago that you would come to Ongle City, and we prepared a grand gift for you. But as luck would have it, there was a beast disaster in the mining district—otherwise, how could it be just us? …You lucky bastard.”
“Then this little lady thanks you~ But I’m quite curious how you found me. I thought I hid myself well.”
The leading count gestured toward the transmigrator beside him, signaling him to step forward and explain. The transmigrator cleared his throat and said:
“My ability is ‘Scratch Mark.’ I can use my eyes to sense certain hidden… traces. I was standing at the city gate at the time and sensed an unusual power, so I went to the nearby garrison post to report it…”
This guy was the guard who had been standing at the city gate earlier.
Renith cursed inwardly. What a disgusting “God’s Gift.”
“Oh? Then how did you know I would come to Ongle City? If I hadn’t come, wouldn’t all your efforts have been in vain?”
Renith continued questioning.
“No comment.”
The leading count’s expression darkened, refusing to answer Renith’s question. His face clearly wore an expression of impatience.
“You should just surrender obediently, shouldn’t you? Even though you could kill Lord Kork, with all of us working together, you won’t be able to escape!”
With that, the count suddenly pulled the battle axe from his back.
The count’s aura burst out, spreading in all directions from him as the center.
Even the raging wind was dispersed by this aura, sending fallen leaves in the alley flying everywhere.
Behind him, the viscounts and barons also drew their blades one after another, releasing the “qi” within their bodies without reservation. For a moment, the alley glittered with light and brimmed with fierce momentum.
Besides the transmigrator with the “Scratch Mark” ability, the other two transmigrators also activated their own abilities.
One of them seemed to have a charming effect—his eyes flickered with an eerie light, dark whirlpools spinning quietly within. The other’s skin grew disgusting scales, and his body twisted and deformed, becoming neither human nor ghost, emitting wave after wave of horrifying hisses.
“Ah…”
Renith gently shook her head, easily breaking through that charming power, and let out a long sigh.
Aside from the count, the people before her were nothing but clowns.
With Renith’s current strength, she could defeat a count, but getting entangled with one would waste too much time. If they had reinforcements, her situation would become very bad.
Just as Renith sighed, the count attacked in an instant like lightning.
The axe in his hand carried a sharp whistling wind as it sliced straight down onto Renith.
With a “rip” sound, the clothes on Renith’s body were split in two, leaving a wound on her body so deep that bone was visible.
Without any resistance or struggle, Renith fell straight down, as if she had already lost the ability to fight back.
“Done for? Lord Count is truly mighty.”
A baron nearby came trotting over to flatter him, his face piled with fawning smiles. Little did he know, the count’s expression was far from good.
His earlier strike was only a test. This mage had even defeated Kork—how could she possibly fail to block that blow?
Then, the Renith in the alley emitted scattered specks of light from her body, scattering into the sky like brilliant stars, gradually dissipating into the air.
“An illusion! Then where is she?”
A viscount shouted in terror.
Just then, Renith was seen sitting elegantly on the rooftop, playing with her ink-black long hair.
Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, gently swaying in the breeze. Her amethyst-like eyes stared down at the three transmigrators below, a trace of coldness in her gaze.
Filofe emerged from the corner, signaling that the formation had been carved.
“So, still too young, and never experienced proper combat—just an empty shell with cultivation but no real skill. Kork was the same, but… his ‘God’s Gift’ could make up for all of that.”
Renith commented on the warriors below while manipulating the formation.
At that moment, the count on the ground spotted Renith sitting on the rooftop.
That posture, that smile, that tone—it was a provocation to his honor as a count!
The count was so furious that even his beard was blown upward, the muscles on his face twitching uncontrollably.
The battle axe in his hand swung out a blade of fierce wind, but Renith merely raised her hand lightly, and the wind was easily deflected, dissipating into the air.
“Earth, Water… Lost Trace.”
As Renith’s words fell, her palm clenched tightly.
In an instant, snowflakes and sand from above gathered toward the formation. In a brief moment, everyone’s vision inside the formation was obscured. Even the count could no longer tell east from west, north from south, as if he were stranded in the middle of a vast desert.
Immediately after, a scream came from beside the count.
The scream was like the cry of a night owl, chilling to the bone. But just as he reached out, a wave of “qi” surged nearby.
“What are you doing? Look clearly before you swing your blade!”
The count was furious, his voice echoing through the alley like a thunderclap.
The baron who had just swung his sword had only just sheathed his blade when a pair of claws emerged beside him. The claws gleamed with cold light, seeming capable of easily taking his life. Startled by the claws, he punched the owner of the claws.
The owner of the claws seemed unable to swallow that insult and grappled with the baron.
They rampaged through the formation, colliding with nearby allies in the process. The two groups of allies then began fighting each other. For a time, the alley was filled with flashing blades and shadowy figures, the air shaking with battle cries.
You slash once, I swipe a claw.
Blood splattered through the alley, dyeing the fallen leaves on the ground red. A thick, bloody smell filled the air, nauseating.
Above, Renith covered her mouth and laughed, lightly tapping the cover of her codex.
“Codex page 18, Fire Magic—Flame Arrow.”
In an instant, countless arrows burning with flames fell from the sky. The arrows carried scorching heat as they pierced through the hearts of the remaining two transmigrators.
“Codex page 14, Fire Magic—Cremating Flame.”
Immediately after, a massive flame rose from the ground, burning the transmigrators’ corpses to ashes.
As for the rest, they were merely following the orders of the “God-Chosen”—they were not Renith’s targets. Let them stay here for now.
In the distance, it seemed that because of the commotion here, quite a few guards were rushing over.
Renith stepped on wind magic and leaped to the rooftop of a Western-style house. She stood on the rooftop, overlooking everything below.
The formation on the ground, having lost the injection of Renith’s magic, had diminished greatly in power.
The count inside the formation seized the opportunity to swing his battle axe. The axe, wrapped in “qi,” smashed toward the ground. With a loud “boom,” he broke the formation open with a single strike.
The count looked toward the sky, about to mock them, but Renith was no longer on the rooftop, and the alley was empty.
The soldiers on the ground carefully examined the three corpses burned to charcoal and found they were the three transmigrators.
The count was furious. He vented his anger by swinging his axe toward the dead-end alley. Bricks and stones flew, dust filled the air. When the dust settled and he looked closely, he found the alley had been opened up.
“Damn it, go find her… We absolutely cannot let her escape! Otherwise…”
Before the count could finish, the anger in his heart instantly dissipated.
Behind him, a seed took root and sprouted, and thorny vines wrapped around his body.
The fear and rage within them vanished in an instant, and their hearts became endlessly calm. A mysterious power soothed his emotions, and all negative feelings disappeared without a trace.
“Never mind. Let’s go to the statue first and hand over the divine artifact before anything else.”
The count wore a satisfied expression, waved his hand grandly, and dismissed the team.
