It had to be said that Hell’s flat but piercing question was like a precisely dropped moral shackle, striking the most untouchable code in Luna’s heart.
Her building will to attack instantly wavered and withered away.
Beside her, the two Floating Turrets she had just manifested, their muzzles flickering with dangerous blue light, wobbled as their master’s emotions fluctuated.
The light blinked unsteadily. Ultimately, those energy beams capable of tearing through steel did not fire from the muzzles.
Luna seemed to lose all her strength at once; her tense shoulders slumped, and her straight back hunched slightly. She looked like a deflated ball, showing a powerless lethargy.
The Mana she had forced together for a desperate gamble lost its support as her will crumbled.
It slowly dissipated into the air like an ebbing tide, and the two Floating Turrets faded like illusions, vanishing without a trace.
The girl looked up, gazing again at the back of the man who remained turned away from her, focused on the meat skewers in his hand. Her pale gold eyes were now filled with complex emotions.
There was the shame of being seen through, the helplessness of being bound by moral codes, and more than anything, a deep sense of indignation.
She was unwilling to be controlled like this, and she was unwilling for even her counterattack to seem “unjustified.”
But… this guy was right.
She was the “Goddess Angel,” bathed in Goddess Grace and entrusted with a sacred mission, chosen from countless candidates to protect the world and expel the darkness.
The selection criteria of the Goddess were extremely strict; only those with absolutely pure hearts, who upheld justice and possessed noble character, were qualified for this power and responsibility. The name Luna Florea did not just represent herself; it carried the glory and principles of the identity of the Goddess Angel.
Whether as an individual or a guardian of order, her philosophy and inner identity made it impossible for her to act in bad faith or commit an act of betrayal.
Moreover — looking at it another way — regardless of the other party’s motives, it was the appearance and intervention of this V that prevented her from falling into the clutches of that lecher T and suffering the most unbearable humiliation.
From the results alone, he had indeed “saved” her life. If she took the opportunity to attack now, wouldn’t she… become an ungrateful person who repaid kindness with enmity?
This realization was like a tangled mess, tightly winding around Luna’s heart. She clearly knew the other party was an executive of an evil organization, an enemy that had to be eradicated. Her reason and duty were screaming for her to seize the opportunity — even if it was a dishonorable one — to eliminate the threat… But that deep-seated sense of justice and morality acted like a sturdy dam, firmly blocking her impulse to attack.
The girl fell into an unprecedented state of conflict. Her delicate brows furrowed tightly, and her teeth unconsciously bit her lower lip.
Even with the enemy before her and a clear opportunity, she felt as if her hands weighed a thousand pounds, unable to lift them or make the decision to launch that “unjust” attack.
A stifling silence fell over the warehouse, broken only by the crackle of the campfire and the faint sound of Hell occasionally turning the skewers.
The air seemed to solidify, making it difficult for Luna to breathe.
“What… exactly do you want to do to me?”
Luna finally spoke again after a long time, her voice dry and filled with thick confusion. She did not try to attack again; instead, she asked the question that had been swirling in her mind for a long time.
The girl looked at Hell’s back, her gaze complex and hard to read. She found herself unable to see through this guy.
First, he had turned on T, a fellow Adjudicator, without warning and wiped them out with bizarre methods. Then he kidnapped her to this abandoned warehouse, but breaking all precedents, he had not inflicted any harm or humiliation. He had even… proactively undone the ropes binding her, granting her freedom.
This contradictory behavior completely defied her understanding of an Adjudicator from Eternal Night Gospel, making it impossible to guess his true intentions.
In truth, deep down, Luna felt a strong urge to turn around and flee this strange warehouse immediately.
She wanted to get away from this unpredictable V and stay as far away from this dangerous villain as possible.
Her physical instinct told her that the unknown was dangerous, and sharing a room with such an enemy was by no means wise.
However… her sense of responsibility and mission as the Goddess Angel acted as another invisible shackle, anchoring her feet.
She could not just walk away.
If she left a powerful and mysterious Adjudicator like him unchecked, what if he had a larger conspiracy? What if he caused even more serious destruction or harmed more innocent people later? She had a responsibility to figure out his intentions, even if she had to put herself at risk.
Therefore, she had to ask. She had to understand exactly what this man in the V-shaped Mask was trying to achieve by going to such lengths.
Hell used his peripheral vision to quietly observe Luna behind him, who had fallen silent and eventually chose to question rather than attack. Behind the mask, no one could see his expression, but beneath that cold white surface, he felt a slight sigh of relief.
Just now, his nerves had also been taut. If this “Annihilation Angel,” famous for her overwhelming firepower, had truly ignored everything to launch a sneak attack, he was confident he could handle it — even subdue her — but the process would not have been easy.
In the narrow warehouse environment, facing those rapid energy blasts, he might have been forced to reveal more of his trump cards. He would have ended up looking disheveled, and the scene would have become quite pathetic, which was not the outcome he wanted.
Fortunately… this Goddess Angel was exactly as described in her “setting.” She adhered to that almost rigid concept of “absolute justice,” with an impassable moral wall in her heart.
She could not do anything that violated her own creed and promises, even if the person was a recognized enemy.
This “noble” constraint had become the most effective sedative he could utilize at this moment.
‘As expected, to deal with the Goddess Angel, one must use moral kidnapping.’
At the same time, after his relief, Hell felt a trace of instinctive disdain.
The righteous are always the righteous, easily bound by so-called “morality,” “faith,” and “principles.” They hesitate at critical moments, miss opportunities, and even put themselves in danger.
This “weakness” is often fatal when facing cruel reality and enemies who use any means necessary. However, for him at this moment, this “weakness” saved a lot of trouble.
So, Hell did not directly answer Luna’s question filled with confusion and vigilance.
He acted as if he had not heard her or simply did not care about the question.
He slowly raised his right hand and lightly waved the skewer, which had been roasted to perfection, in front of the glow of the campfire.
The crispy skin of the meat skewer glistened with an inviting oily sheen under the firelight. The rich aroma of meat mixed with the scent of spices diffused even more noticeably with his movements.
Hell spoke slowly, his voice coming through the mask with a sense of flat indifference.
“How about you eat something first?”
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