Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 382 - 378 days, changed.

Chapter 382: 378 days, changed.

"Success...success!"

On the ceiling, Ilyss, who had successfully snatched the Book of Plotting from Danass’s hands, revealed a look of joy.

No one knew that Ilyss had actually not entered the Temple. Instead, after arriving here, she had chosen to climb the roof of the Temple and stealthily make her way to this spot, observing the situation inside through the skylight all along.

There was no choice; evil creatures had been constantly roaring and running out of the Temple. Even though Ilyss could spy on their movements through prayer, she didn’t dare boldly enter the Temple from the front door.

Shane and the others had thought that Ilyss had already entered the Temple, but they had forgotten that this Holy Daughter was actually timid to the extreme. How could she possibly know that there were so many evil creatures inside and still enter the Temple so openly?

That would be like delivering herself on a silver platter.

Impossible.

Hence, the timid Holy Daughter had a stroke of genius and climbed onto the roof of the Temple, biding her time and waiting for the moment to act.

And it must be said, the timing chosen by Ilyss was indeed perfect.

Thanks to this, the Book of Plotting from Danass fell into Ilyss’s hands, causing the dark glow upon the magic book to immediately dim and lose its effect.

Seeing this scene, inside the Temple, a sharp light flashed in Danass’s eyes. He reached out and placed his hand on the shoulder of a little mage beside him.

A faint magic power fluctuation emanated from the little mage, causing several dark shadows to suddenly dart down from the sky above the Temple.

"Be careful!"

"Holy Maiden Ilyss!"

Oz and Mafi, who had originally shown faces of surprise and joy, now had their expressions change to horror and anger.

"Ah!"

Ilyss let out a scream.

The dark shadows plunging down from the sky were actually several flying demons.

With their violent and sharp cries, they all pounced towards Ilyss at once.

In a panic, Ilyss tried to use magic on them.

Unfortunately, Ilyss’s own level was not high, only forty, and was no match for the demons whose levels ranged from fifty to sixty.

"Bang!"

Not long after, a collision sound ensued, and Ilyss was knocked down from the ceiling by a demon, falling into the Temple.

"Holy Maiden Ilyss!"

"Get out of the way!"

Mafi and Oz, with eyes about to burst from their sockets, shouted as they fought their way through the encircling evil creatures, trying to rush towards Ilyss.

"Gaa-ah!"

"Wuaa-ah!"

However, the evil creatures surrounding the two were as if they had received an order; they became increasingly numerous and ferocious, using their bodies to block the two Beastman Priests’ path, making their expressions of horror and anger even more intense.

Ilyss just fell into the Temple like this, crashing onto the floor, covered in dust and grime.

Pain surged through Ilyss’s entire body.

"It hurts..."

Ilyss sobbed with tears welling up, but she still clutched the magic book tightly in her arms.

And then...

"I never thought we would meet in such a way, Saintess Ilyss."

A figure appeared before Ilyss, looking down at her from on high, making her body stiffen.

"Sorry, could you bother to return what’s mine to me?"

Danass spoke indifferently, looking as gentle and literate as ever, yet causing Ilyss to feel a chill. She did not comply but instead held the magic book in her arms even tighter.

Seeing this, Danass’s gaze turned cold, raising a hand toward the little mage next to him, and one by one, the growling evil creatures slowly surrounded Ilyss.

"Don’t...don’t come any closer!"

Ilyss finally couldn’t contain her fear, crying out while holding onto the magic book.

"Stop!"

"Bastard!"

Mafi and Oz desperately tried to break through, but time and again they were blocked by the evil creatures, showing faces filled with urgency.

"Attack!"

Danass ordered without a hint of emotion, prompting the evil creatures to howl and pounce towards Ilyss.

Just like that, Ilyss was overwhelmed by countless evil creatures.

"Holy Maiden Ilyss!"

"Aaahhh!"

Mafi and Oz’s eyes turned red, their faces tinged with a shade of madness, as they screamed hysterically.

Under the tremendous shock, evil energy once again invaded their souls, driving them towards madness.

Danass just watched all of it emotionlessly, waiting for the evil creatures to tear apart the Beastman race’s Holy Daughter, and then to take the Book of Plotting from her body.

This Danass did not notice that, in the second before the army of evil creatures overwhelmed Ilyss, a flash of light darted swiftly and arrived at Ilyss’s location first, embracing her into its arms.

"Boom!"

Astonishing magic power erupted like a volcano, bursting forth abruptly from the midst of the evil creatures’ massive army.

The magic power, akin to a storm, swept away countless evil creatures and also blew off the Temple’s ceiling, shooting up into the sky like a column of qi.

"Ohhh...!"

Danass had no time to react and was blown away by the magic storm, rolling on the ground like trash, in a completely disheveled state.

The evil creatures too were scattered like pieces of garbage, either slamming into the walls of the Temple or being blown out of it.

As a result, even Oz and Mafi weren’t spared, being knocked to the ground by the magic storm in an instant.

However, instead of feeling shock and anger, their expressions lit up, overjoyed.

At the center of the magic storm, that figure appeared, holding the Beastman Race’s Saintess in his arms.

Ilyss had already turned pale and closed her eyes at the moment the evil creatures lunged at her, but when she came back to her senses, she found that she hadn’t been torn to pieces; instead, she had fallen into somewhat familiar, somewhat warm embrace.

"You..."

Ilyss slowly opened her eyes, and the next moment, the face she had secretly resented countless times yet also feared appeared before her.

"I say, Holy Maiden, you really didn’t have to go to all the trouble of stealing that book. Instead of using a rare opportunity to snatch it, you’d be better off just using one spell to take out that disgusting Old Demon Clan member once and for all," Shane said, with one hand holding the gleaming Holy Sword and the other arm around Ilyss, casting a glance at the Foxman Saintess in his embrace and suddenly smiling.

"Well, I also have to thank you for helping to deal with those tough Magic Life forms. So, let me say thank you, for now."

Hearing Shane’s words, Oz and Mafi, who had been flipped over onto the ground, subconsciously scanned the entire Temple, then finally spotted four Demon Warriors, brimming with wounds and barely alive, lying on the ground in a corner of the Temple.

Having lost the amplification of the "Book of Plotting," the four Demon Warriors, now drastically reduced in power, were overcome by Shane’s magic in a single strike.

"When we get back, let Lasha make you something delicious to eat, as a treat for your hard work."

Shane smiled at Ilyss, who stared blankly at his face, and after a long moment, her pretty face actually began to blush.

Shane did not witness this scene.

He had already looked away, focusing his gaze on Danass, who was shakily standing up and was only with the Little Mage.

"My Demon Warriors...!"

Danass noticed the four Demon Warriors barely hanging on to life on the ground and his complexion dramatically changed.

But right then, he was suddenly pushed to the ground by the Little Mage beside him, toppling back down.

"Choke!"

Before Danass could react, a slash of sword light swept past where he stood just a second before, accompanied by a clear chanting sound.

Only then did Danass realize what had happened, his whole body breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Thud!"

The next second, a foot kicked heavily onto Danass lying on the ground, sending him flying.

"Gaah...!"

Danass crashed hard into the wall, expelling all the air from his lungs along with a mouthful of fresh blood before sliding down.

The Little Mage tried to rush to Danass’s side but was grabbed by a hand and thrown toward where Oz and Mafi were.

Oz and Mafi, who had just stood up, hurriedly caught the Little Mage and subdued her despite her struggling.

Only then did Shane set down Ilyss, who was flushed red, and turned his attention back to Danass.

"You’re tough to kill, aren’t you? No wonder you became the leader of one of the Old Demon Clan Faction’s forces," Shane commented mockingly as he approached Danass, "Just not sure if the great lord of the Old Demon Clan has any other tricks left, hm?"

Shane held the Holy Sword up to Danass’s face, pointing the tip towards his head.

Danass lay on the ground, motionless, until after a while he started to laugh eerily, a cold laugh that made one’s skin crawl, unlike his previous smug chuckles.

And then...

"I actually do have one."

Danass continued to laugh, allowing such a voice to resonate.

"I didn’t really want to use this method; after all, the Mirage isn’t like the Slaughterer Faction of old, with many members, but now, it’s time for them to sacrifice themselves for the greater good."

Danass’s words made Shane’s eyes narrow, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

"Sacrifice!"

But by then, Danass had already raised his head abruptly and roared towards the direction of the Sealing crystal.

There, the group of Old Demon Clan who had been surrounding a crystal and continuously Chanting arcane and difficult Spells, ignored by everyone, suddenly did something different.

They all pulled out small knives inscribed with Magical Text from within their robes and stabbed themselves in the heart without any hesitation.

"Pshh!"

In synchronized piercing sounds, the knives entered the chests of the Old Demon Clan members.

These Old Demon Clan members didn’t even make a sound as they slowly fell to the ground, causing the chanting to abruptly stop.

However, the knives on their chests suddenly burst forth with blinding light, turning the blood flowing from their chests into streams of a blacker Qi than before, which rushed towards the Sealing crystal at an alarming speed.

"Crack... Crack, crack, crack!"

The crystal cracked in response, allowing countless fractures to appear amid everyone’s panicked faces.

"Boom!"

A terrifying power once again surged out from within the crystal.

On this day, the sky of Cosmos changed.