While Violet returned to the delegation convoy, on the other side, just as Theresa was gradually regaining her composure, preparing to inform others in the field, a group of humanoid beings with white wings suddenly descended from the sky.
“Miss Violet? Wait, it seems not...”
Theresa initially thought it was the noble girl returning for some unknown reason, but she quickly noticed that this group was significantly larger than Miss Violet’s party that had departed not long ago.
There were about a dozen young women, all armed and equipped with a pair of white wings on their backs. They appeared serious and ready for battle at any moment.
Unlike the two formidable girls accompanying Miss Violet, who felt subtly different to Theresa but couldn’t pinpoint why, these white-winged beings, although equally rare, seemed normal. Their presence brought a sense of calmness to the village girl who had experienced too much in a single day.
Situated in the southern border of the Nobos Iron-blood Empire, very close to the territory of the Azure Sky Kingdom, this area saw more winged beings coming and going than even pure-blooded humans.
Generally speaking, winged beings were friendly and lacked racial discrimination. If someone encountered difficulties, most of them would proactively offer assistance, reflecting their simple and peace-loving nature.
In contrast, the violent and combative Beastmen, with a deep-seated inclination toward war, represented the opposite extreme.
After landing not far from Theresa, the female winged beings looked around in confusion.
“The compass points to this location for sure... Where did it go?”
“Be cautious. There are clear signs of a recent battle. The Abyss Beast definitely passed through here, probably nearby. Everyone, be prepared for combat.”
“Look, there’s a person over there. Didn’t the Abyss Beast eat her?”
After some noisy debates, these winged beings seemed unable to reach a specific conclusion.
Finally, the group approached Theresa, who had been quietly observing them, led by what seemed to be their leader – a girl with a pure white short ponytail, wielding a sharp spear, who greeted her.
“Hello, we are members of the 【Wings of Freedom】, affiliated with the Azure Sky Kingdom, currently on a special mission in your country. May I inquire about the situation here? Have you seen a magical beast resembling this?”
To convey friendliness, she deliberately retracted the long spear and pulled out what seemed to be a hand-drawn sketch from her pocket, showing it to Theresa.
Drawn on it was precisely the humanoid creature that the village girl had encountered earlier. However, what surprised her was the title mentioned by the ponytailed girl before.
“Hey! 【Wings of Freedom】?! Is it that 【Wings of Freedom】? Yes, yes... actually, it just happened a moment ago...”
The name 【Wings of Freedom】 was likely unheard of in the entire Far South Forbidden Zone. This was an esteemed national organization directly under the current Feather Emperor, formed entirely by powerful and noble white-winged individuals. They were renowned for defending the Feather Emperor and handling significant issues that ordinary winged beings found challenging.
Considering the strength of the Azure Sky Kingdom and the Wings of Freedom itself, even the kings of these small countries in the Forbidden Zone had to give them some face. This was even more so for someone like Theresa, an ordinary village girl.
Given the Wings of Freedom’s reputation for punishing evil and aiding the weak, coupled with the fact that Miss Violet didn’t seem to instruct her to conceal the matter, the sincere Theresa recounted the events that had occurred earlier.
The winged beings exchanged glances.
“A noble black-haired human woman with two powerful white-winged beings defeated and eliminated that strange creature? Are you sure only the three of them took action?”
“Uh... precisely speaking, it should be two people, right? The black-haired girl also brought along a handsome blonde girl, but the ones who actually fought were indeed the two white-winged ladies. Are they your companions?”
Theresa smiled candidly.
However, the leading white-winged girl couldn’t find it in herself to smile.
It was precisely because she had pursued the Abyss Beast all the way from the homeland of the Azure Sky Kingdom, engaging in battles with similar entities multiple times, that she understood how cunning and troublesome these creatures could be. Especially now, having devoured numerous lives for various reasons, even as one of the top four in strength within the entire Wings of Freedom, it took her quite a while to catch up in this area when personally taking on the pursuit mission.
How could it be effortlessly resolved?
Could it be two legendary beings?
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Wait a moment, the girl just mentioned two white wings, but in their clan’s legends, she was well aware that it was impossible for two legendary beings to appear in this place. Who could it be then?
Could the other party be lying? But for what purpose?
Observing the seemingly naive village girl for a few seconds, the leader girl didn’t reveal her suspicion but instead tried asking another question.
“What about the corpse of the Abyss Beast after its death?”
Theresa pointed to the almost completely burned ashes nearby.
“Miss Violet mentioned that this thing is peculiar, leaving it unattended might pose a risk, so it was burned.”
The leader girl signaled her teammates with a glance, hinting for them to keep a close eye on the village girl who might not be telling the truth. Then, she walked to the remnants, using the tip of her spear to poke around.
Burned thoroughly, nothing was discernible anymore. Having faced these creatures in battle, even after death, the ordinary flames couldn’t reach this level of destruction.
Strange...
How did the other party know that the Abyss Beast would pass through here, and precisely during the brief gap when their group was about to catch up, acted with lightning-fast speed to kill and destroy the body?
Was it a pure coincidence?
And what about those two white-winged individuals supposedly reaching legendary status...
It was precisely because the village girl provided such detailed and specific descriptions that the leader girl couldn’t help but doubt the authenticity of her words. Among the white-winged people, the population was scarce, and legends even rarer, with no existence matching the descriptions of individuals using a long spear and a staff.
Considering that there were quite a few members of their clan who traveled abroad, perhaps there were some who had just reached legendary status during this process and hadn’t returned to their homeland yet...
But no matter how one thought about it, things seemed very suspicious, didn’t they? This self-proclaimed Theresa, exuded an odd scent at every turn. The most obvious point was that despite the Abyss Beast being dead, the sacred compass detecting Abyssal fluctuations continued to react.
There was something nearby.
Should they capture her and bring her back for investigation?
However, this was within the territory of the Nobos Iron-Blood Empire, and she was a citizen of another country. Moreover, within the Wings of Freedom, there were explicit regulations against abusing power recklessly, especially prohibiting subjective judgment without sufficient evidence.
What to do...
“Um, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave? I need to inform everyone in the field about what happened here.”
Seeing that the winged beings showed no intention of continuing the conversation, the unguarded Theresa turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Her mind was now occupied with thoughts of how to gently inform the villagers who had lost their loved ones about the tragedy.
Because of this, as Theresa walked, she openly took out the bag of gold coins that Violet had given her earlier and placed the emerald-green seed, which she had been holding in her palm since then, into her pocket without any attempt at concealment.
The leader girl, observing her with sharp and scrutinizing eyes throughout, used her legendary dynamic vision to see everything clearly.
“Wait a moment, is that!?”
The white-winged girl’s expression changed abruptly. Ignoring the puzzled looks from her teammates, she took a few swift steps and reached Theresa, grabbing her hand.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“Sorry! Just bear with it!”
Contrary to her previous gentle demeanor, the leader forcefully reached into Theresa’s pocket without hesitation, retrieving the emerald-green seed placed next to the bag of coins.
She didn’t pay any attention to the money but handled the seed cautiously. After observing it for a moment, she took out a palm-sized pure white compass from her own pocket. The pointer on the compass was firmly directed towards the seed.
The seriousness on the white-winged girl’s face gradually turned into intense hostility.
“This is... a seed from the Abyss mentioned in the prophecy, bringing calamity! You’re indeed suspicious! Capture this person!”
“Huh? What?!!!”