Chapter 24: The Dawn Witch, shall we?

“Cough, cough… Why did you save me?”

The man, charred black all over, leaned against a tree stump and looked at the woman before him, who was also dressed as an assassin.

“I just didn’t want a girl to lose her father.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Marissa’s situation has nothing to do with those people. You should know that better than anyone.”

The woman removed her mask, her eyes seemingly hiding stories from long ago.

“You!”

Seeing the woman’s face, the man was visibly shocked.

But a moment later, he smiled in relief, and his voice softened.

“…So you’re still alive too… No wonder you felt so familiar.”

“Gelt, I need an explanation. You are clearly alive.”

“Heh, heh, heh…”

The man chuckled softly and tore off his charred mask.

“I can’t go back… Lucia, I could never go back. But I won’t let Ino fall into their hands!”

Beneath the mask was a skeleton devoid of flesh.

A faint soul-fire flickered violently within, speaking of the man’s unstable emotions that could spiral out of control at any moment.

“Gelt, you…”

Lucia gasped.

Gelt gave a self-deprecating laugh and said loudly, “Like you said, I just didn’t want a girl to lose her father.”

Lucia looked at him with a complex gaze.

After a long while, she spoke in a low voice.

“I see… It’s good that you’re alive.”

“Sorry for causing you trouble.”

“It’s fine.”

“Is she doing well?”

The soul-fire in Gelt’s eye sockets softened, his voice filled with tender concern.

Lucia untied a rope holding several potions from her waist and threw it onto the ground.

“Can’t you sense her? Why even ask?”

“Heh… I just feel that hearing it from your mouth is more reassuring.”

Gelt picked up the potions and threw the one containing holy power into the dense forest.

“She’ll have an extra younger sister soon. She’s very cute,” Lucia said with a hint of pride when she mentioned the word “cute.”

“Thank you.”

Pouring a dark purple potion over his head, Gelt slowly stood up and tilted his head teasingly.

“Which bastard got so lucky?”

Lucia shot him a glance before looking toward the Crossroads Market.

“I’m leaving. I can’t keep Coco waiting.”

Gelt looked toward the distant morning light.

“Coco? That’s a cute name. What about her last name?”

“The same as mine—”

Lucia gave a brilliant smile, her figure gradually fading into the morning mist until she disappeared.

“I’ll remember that.”

Gelt slowly turned around.

His withered figure stumbled slightly as he walked toward the rising sun, slowly heading down a path covered in wild chrysanthemums.

***

[Crossroads Market]

The battle had finally ended.

Without the high-level assassins to hold him back, the low-health bishop went on a rampage.

In just a few minutes, he had rooted out and killed every assassin remaining in the town.

There were some surprises, however.

On the riverbank outside the town, the “Giant Backside” was gone.

Only a single blood-stained icicle remained, standing proud and lonely like a god of war, glistening in the morning light.

The Horned Demon had taken advantage of the bishop’s frenzy to slip away, and no one knew where it went.

But a certain Demon King, who had been observing the “Backside” and the “Demon Pill,” found it hard to say.

It wasn’t some strange fetish; he simply found it shocking!

If the “Demon Energy Cannon” hadn’t been pixelated, the recorded footage would have definitely sold for a better price.

Those players obsessed with researching monsters would have treated it as a treasure.

*Hum—*

A ripple of teleportation spread through the air.

A second later, Lucia, dressed in a tight black robe, appeared in the room.

“Ha! Is it the Saintess? I am an assassin under the Demon King! Today, I shall show you my strength!”

As soon as Lucia landed, she struck a “golden rooster stands on one leg” combat pose and shouted at the startled Coco.

Coco was indeed startled as she stood in front of the sleeping Ino.

If Lucia hadn’t been maskless, Coco might have actually fired the two shots of **[Laser]** in her hands.

It was unknown where Lucia had gotten that outfit.

“Phew—”

Coco let out a long sigh of relief, retracted her magic, and patted her small chest.

“Hah!”

Lucia didn’t stop.

She lunged forward in one swift stride.

“Mwah! Hahaha! A little rice cake like you is meant to be eaten by Mama! Yahahaha!”

She pulled Coco into her arms, kissing and squeezing her.

“Sigh…”

Coco didn’t know what kind of craze her mother was going through, but she knew that not resisting was the right choice.

If she resisted, the kissing would only get more intense.

Weren’t those cat-cuddling videos on the internet just like this?

*Zzz… Zzz…*

Ino remained fast asleep on the floor, showing no signs of waking up.

However, her fur was becoming shorter, and her physique was slowly shifting toward a human form.

After “huffing” her daughter for a long while, Lucia finally stopped.

With a wave of her hand, she used Levitation to gently move Ino from the floor to the soft bed.

*Rustle, rustle.*

Lucia took her original clothes out of a nearby cabinet and began to change.

“Mama needs to go out. Does Coco want to come along? Or will you stay here?”

Seeing Lucia about to change, Coco immediately turned around.

“Ino… wakes up… what then?”

“Young Moon Wolves sleep for a long time every time they transform. I don’t think she’ll wake up for at least two days.”

“Mmm…”

Coco pondered as she looked at the sleeping Ino, still a bit uneasy.

Seeing Coco’s pensive back, Lucia smiled.

“There’s a barrier here. No one else can get in. It’s fine.”

Hearing this, Coco finally relaxed and nodded.

“Then I want… to the Adventurers… go look. Maybe… someone… waiting.”

Was it possible to have deep feelings after knowing someone for such a short time?

Of course not. It was likely just the mindset of being afraid her “dog” would be stolen.

“Alright, Mama will go with you.”

Lucia quickly finished changing and reached out to smooth Coco’s hair, saying nothing more.

As they walked down the streets, looking at the people crying or calling out names in front of collapsed houses, on street corners, and in alleys, Coco gradually became silent.

Everywhere, pharmacists, healers, church monks, and adventurers were busy running about to treat the wounded.

“I beg you, Lord Priest! Save her! Save my child!”

“…I’m sorry, Madam. I can’t save her. Her injuries are too severe…”

The young girl held in the woman’s arms had clothes soaked through with blood.

Her hazy eyes had almost lost focus, yet she still stubbornly tried to raise her hand, seemingly wanting to gently brush her mother’s cheek to comfort her.

Scenes like this were happening everywhere.

The priest stood up shakily.

Even after overdrawing his mana, he had been unable to stop the girl’s life from slipping away.

Filled with self-reproach, he didn’t dare look back as he stumbled away, sitting under a tree by the roadside to weep.

In the adventurers’ bags, the precious potions they usually treasured and couldn’t bear to use were now just empty bottles.

Yet they continued to dig through the ruins, searching for survivors or bodies.

The shelves in the pharmacists’ shops were already empty.

Before their alchemy cauldrons, they sweated profusely as they brewed new medicine, anxious yet forced to be meticulous.

The healers were just ordinary people.

Without special abilities, they could only give the wounded the simplest treatment.

In their medicine boxes, only fresh water mixed with strong liquor and haphazardly cut strips of cloth remained.

“Mama…”

Coco stopped her footsteps, her grip on Lucia’s hand tightening as she spoke in a low voice.

“Go on. Go if you want to.”

Lucia looked at her tenderly and gently patted her cheek.

“Mn!”

Coco ran off, heading straight for the blood-soaked girl first.

Lucia watched the small figure quietly.

For a moment, she seemed to see someone else’s shadow.

With a sudden smile, she turned toward the cathedral where people were constantly coming and going.

As for the outside… she believed Coco had the ability to handle it.

“I’ll… save her!”

Coco crouched beside the girl and reached out her small hand.

The woman was overjoyed for a moment, but when she saw it was just a small girl, the hope in her eyes died down again.

She looked at the little girl tenderly.

“Good child, big sister just wants to sleep. It’s okay. Go find your parents quickly, don’t let them—”

A soft, dazzling Holy Light suddenly bloomed from that tiny palm.

A warmth that seemed capable of calling back souls from hell instantly enveloped them.

The girl, who had been stubbornly keeping her eyes open as if trying to remember her mother’s final image, slowly regained the light in her eyes.

The woman’s mouth fell open as she stared blankly at the little girl.

“Mama…”

With a raspy, quiet call, that cold palm finally touched the mother’s face.

“Saria!”

The woman lowered her head sharply, meeting the girl’s eyes, which were bright once again.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for saving Saria!”

Holding the girl, the woman wept with joy and repeatedly thanked the little girl before her.

Coco was genuinely afraid she would put the girl down and start kowtowing right then and there.

A few minutes later, the severely injured girl had miraculously recovered.

Although she was still incredibly weak, she was no longer in danger.

The woman continued to offer her thanks.

Coco wiped the sweat from her forehead and stood up to head elsewhere.

“What is… your name?” a raspy voice asked.

It was the girl’s question.

Coco paused, looked toward the rising warm sun, and gave the girl a brilliant smile.

“Just call me… the Witch of Dawn.”

With those words, she didn’t linger and ran toward other seriously injured people.

‘As long as they have a single breath left, I can definitely heal them back!’

The priest, who had been mourning under the tree, watched blankly as that small figure stayed busy.

Why?

Why were those small arms so “powerful”?

He had clearly awakened the S-rank **[Divine Grace]** mark that countless clergy envied.

Why could he only watch as life faded away, unable to bring it back?

Was his faith not pious enough?

Or was his heart not firm enough?

With a self-deprecating laugh, the priest forced his body up, having recovered a bit of mana, and stumbled toward the wounded.