Chapter 686: Chapter 687: Wendy Was Still Alive It was quite a spectacle for anyone who happened to be watching the proceedings. All of it began with that damned tent. Luna watched with a somewhat surprised expression, her eyes glancing toward Iris, who was also looking at her. "Erm... you don’t think..." She asked, her tone hinting at something toward the pink-haired girl. Iris shook her head dismissively. "No, no way... he probably stole it..." Luna nodded, accepting the girl’s words. It was more likely her brother did steal the tent... Time passed, and what came next was the arrival of a strange woman who appeared out of nowhere. When Damon started talking and mentioned three children, Luna felt her heart leap to her throat. For a moment, she thought no, feared her brother had done something reckless again. But it turned out to be a misunderstanding. Her brother didn’t have any children. Though, the woman he called Wendy clearly wanted him dead. Not long after, Luna’s face turned red as Prince Waton began giving a visceral lecture on reproduction, where babies came from, no less. It was so bad that everyone turned toward the Emperor, who coughed awkwardly, waving his hand to mute their portion of the broadcast. Luna had seen a lot and heard too much, but one thing struck her harder than anything else her brother never shared his burdens with her. He never did. In truth, he always kept everything locked deep inside. She clenched her teeth. It was because she was weak... sickly... always relying on him for everything. "I... I hate this." Damon, meanwhile, hadn’t been in the best shape at least, not until he took that potion. After that, everything changed. His body surged with overwhelming mana, his power radiating dominance. Watching him fight made Iris’s eyes sparkle. This was Damon’s true strength. Seeing him in battle again was an eye-opener, a far cry from their sparring sessions. The intensity now was on a whole other level. While the two girls focused on those small details, the truly powerful figures watching from afar were more interested in the implications behind everything unfolding before them. "A monster that became a person... is this the will of the goddess, or an omen of things to come?" Aurelius Venn muttered quietly to Father Dantalion beside him. "Regardless of what it is, we have to bring her back to the Holy City. This is clearly the will of the goddess," Father Dantalion replied, his mind already spinning with schemes. Aurelius narrowed his eyes. "What if—" "Don’t say it. That would be blasphemy. The only god with any power is the goddess," Father Dantalion cut him off sharply, his expression darkening at the thought of the unknown god. Aurelius sighed, closing his eyes with a resigned expression. "Will she come willingly? That’s the problem. We could try taking her by force, though... that wouldn’t sit well with certain entities here." He reached for a glass and drank from it slowly. "They’re getting bolder recently, and we’re losing their trust. I fear we may end up fighting amongst ourselves if we don’t start another demon war soon." Father Dantalion smiled faintly. "No matter. We only need wait... the era is truly coming to an end. It will favor us. When he awakens completely, we will be ready to destroy all our enemies." They weren’t the only ones having such a conversation. Everyone watching had taken some interest in Wendy. The researchers from the Magic Continent wanted to bring her back as a specimen to study her, to unlock the secrets of her transformation. Some purists and racial supremacists wanted to eliminate her altogether. However, the overall sentiment toward her was mild. No one truly saw her as a monster anymore. If anything, the beastkin didn’t mind her presence. Killing her openly on the grounds that she was no longer a monstrous beast would certainly cause friction with them. But this had little to do with Damon, who was still inside the arena. He couldn’t hear what was happening outside and even if he could, he wouldn’t have cared. The Wendigo lunged forward, its claws slicing through the air. Damon raised his sword, bringing it down with a dark, crescent slash of energy. [Dark Blade] The Wendigo’s massive body tanked the blow, barely flinching as the slash exploded across its chest. With a thunderous boom, dust and wind rippled through the ruins as Damon blocked her follow-up strike. His boots skidded across the cracked ground, carving deep marks as he steadied himself. "Hmmm... you’re stronger than before. Is it because you’re more familiar with this monstrous form?" "Argggghhhh!" She roared, claws tearing through the air. Damon leapt over her swipe and landed atop her antlers, balancing perfectly. "Burn." He unleashed Ashborn across her large frame, black flames crawling like serpents of death. But Wendy rolled violently, slamming him off with her antlers. Damon hit the ground hard, sliding back while stabbing his sword into the earth to halt his momentum. In one breath, he vanished, teleporting to her side. His sword swung, biting deep into her neck before he ripped it free and stabbed into the gap between her front legs. The blade sank in deep. He left it there, stepping back with a small grin on his face. "Wait for it... wait for it..." Wendy charged at him, her claws raised. But before she could strike, her growl faltered, turning into a guttural, pained sound. "Painful, isn’t it? That’s a sword called Broken Bonds. It can disintegrate the soul of its target." His third-class skill, Dethrone, had been active the entire time. "What you’re feeling now... is your soul breaking apart, slowly disintegrating. Horrible experience, I know." He reached into his shadow storage and pulled out a staff, turning toward Waton, who was hiding among the ruined buildings. The squirrel, Scar, was crouched beside him, trembling. "You two might wanna hide a little farther away..." Damon raised the staff high. [Staff of Carnage] He was planning to blow whatever was left of the Wendigo straight to hell. Wendy felt her body weaken as she desperately pulled the sword from her chest. When she looked up, she saw a writhing black mass condensing in the sky above her an orb of destruction, swirling with the burning heat of Ashborn flames and the chilling cold that froze the soul. Then, the world was consumed by a heaven-shaking explosion. A storm of annihilation erupted, ripping through the air and swallowing everything in its wake. When the dust finally settled, Damon stood at the edge of a vast crater, his hair fluttering in the wind. "Ahhh, come on... you’ve got to be kidding me." Small pieces of flesh were wriggling on the ground slowly crawling toward each other, knitting themselves back together. Wendy... was still alive.