Chapter 6: I am a language master.

The sound of hooves trod across the cracked winter earth, shuttling through the woods and wilderness beneath the moonlight.

The luxurious carriage emitted a platinum glow, highlighting its extraordinary nature.

And it truly was extraordinary. This carriage didn’t even have a coachman. There were only four white horses with glowing eyes and a sufficiently spacious carriage body.

Inside the carriage, CocoLiss sat upright and still, feeling the completely bump-free ride.

Having magic really was quite convenient.

But if they could already use magic to create a carriage out of thin air, why not simply teleport straight into the royal capital?

Bishop Zain must have had her own deep reasons for doing things this way.

“Lady Zain, may I ask something? As the Saintess, how exactly am I supposed to fulfill my duties?”

Although she was an abyssal kin, she had already been saddled with the title of Saintess. In that case, she might as well perform the duties of the position.

“It’s fine, Saintess. We can take it slowly. There’s no need for you to rush into fulfilling your responsibilities as the Saintess. After all, you still have quite a long period of growth ahead. The current state of the empire does not require pulling in a novice Saintess to fill the ranks.”

The red-robed bishop pressed her palm downward, signaling CocoLiss to calm down and not be impatient.

It really was taking it slowly. Even after the golden-haired Hero had declared it extremely urgent and insisted on departing tonight, this great bishop had still made her wash up nicely and smell fragrant before setting off.

Then, as if explaining, she continued, “As long as abyssal kin are alive, even if they do nothing, they will erode the empire’s uninhabited lands. The empire’s people cannot survive on abyssal territory. Only the Saintess and the Hero can reclaim territory through their unique authorities, or even seize land in return.”

“Before the Saintess grows up, there is naturally no need to do such things. The empire’s strength is sufficient to ensure the Abyss will not expand much during this period. At most, it will only affect some insignificant, uninhabited zones that cause no real harm. There will also be no casualties resulting from the Saintess not performing her duties. Please rest assured.”

“Once the Saintess has grown and can skillfully use her authority, it may truly become possible to rid the entire land of the existence of abyssal kin, eliminating any further worry of erosion.”

It sounded very good. As an abyssal kin, CocoLiss knew her duty was to invade the Abyss.

The bishop was not anxious, but the Hero seemed to carry an inexplicable urgency.

Ever since boarding the carriage, his gaze had remained fixed on the rapidly passing woods and wilderness outside. His expression was grave, his sword-like brows and sharp eyes seemingly trying to pierce a hole through the darkness of the night.

“Lord Joshua?”
CocoLiss asked with some caution, “What exactly are you…”

The golden-haired Hero’s expression made CocoLiss unable to settle down.

It felt a bit like she had been kidnapped.

But why would a small abyssal kin who was merely a nominal nun warrant such a large formation?

“Lord Hero, this is not during training. You can relax a little.”
The red-robed bishop spoke up. “Don’t scare away our adorable Saintess.”

“But this is actual combat.”

Before CocoLiss could understand what Joshua meant, the golden-haired Hero spoke again, “They’re here.”

The moment his words fell, the light source at the top of the luxurious carriage instantly went out. The bumping that had been absent from the start now shook the three of them.

Not long after, no more breeze entered through the windows.

The carriage had stopped.

The four white horses that had been carrying specks of starlight ahead also vanished into the darkness. What remained was only the halo above CocoLiss’s head inside the carriage.

It shone like a light bulb on top of the girl’s head.

“Wh-what, what happened?”
CocoLiss used the light from her own halo to look at the two important figures beside her, whose expressions had barely changed. “Is it wild beasts?”

She felt her words sounded rather brainless. If wild beasts could make these two stop in their tracks, then these two wouldn’t count as important figures.

Mount Tai collapsing before them without changing expression—CocoLiss knew she couldn’t do that. She was the type who would repeatedly check if all the doors were locked before daring to sleep alone at night in the church.

“It’s the Abyss.”

Red-robed Bishop Zain left these words, then brought her hands together and released a golden, dazzling orb of light that transformed into a strange eyeball and flew into the air.

That eye carried compassion as it looked down upon this small patch of land.

It also illuminated the demons and monsters lurking in the darkness.

Beside the trees, in the grass, behind the rocks—black, twisted, indistinct figures were everywhere. Whether humanoid or beast-like, they densely surrounded the three of them.

CocoLiss had never seen such a scene before.

She immediately shrank into the corner of the carriage.

“Lady Zain, Lord Joshua…”
The little nun barely maintained her composure. “Are we going to die?”

The words that came out didn’t sound very composed.

“Saintess, rest assured. I will deal with them shortly.”
The red-robed bishop stood up and slowly walked out of the carriage.

She rose into the air and overlapped with the compassionate golden giant eye in the sky.

“What is she doing?”
CocoLiss looked as if she had been scared silly, even forgetting the polite language she usually kept on her lips.

“She is going to deal with those reckless abyssal kin.”
When the golden-haired Hero beside her turned his gaze over, the burning flames in his eyes had not completely subsided. It seemed he wished he could rush out and fight these dark, twisted creatures to the death.

It looked like the Hero’s earlier tragic story about everyone close to him dying at the hands of the Abyss was true.

“Do you know any magic?”
Joshua seemed to be considerate of CocoLiss, who was huddled in the corner, and did not charge out of the carriage directly.

“I know basic elemental magic.”
Between life and death, CocoLiss no longer cared about anything else. “I also know [Weakening], [Corruption], [Swamp], [Beastification], [Mental Erosion]…”

Before she could finish speaking, she faced the golden-haired Hero’s astonished gaze.

Fine. The magic she knew was probably not what a Saintess or a little nun should know.

But these were the only spells she could learn at once that didn’t sound particularly reputable. Perhaps it was her abyssal kin identity at work.

A loud boom interrupted their conversation. The abyssal kin that had been lying in wait now all launched a charge.

The golden giant eye in the sky also moved. Tears transformed into golden spears that pinned all the abyssal kin charging toward the carriage to the ground, leaving them unable to move.

It seemed the crisis would be resolved in due time.

But accidents always happened at moments like this.

CocoLiss had just started to relax and watch the battle when she personally witnessed something different.

Among the many dark and twisted abyssal kin, a figure suddenly appeared wearing a mask.

Behind that mask was fine, long hair and proper clothing.

It was completely out of place among the grotesque abyssal kin beside it.

She met eyes with the person behind the mask.

Then, the distance closed at extreme speed. Even the golden spears falling from the sky failed to hinder the other party’s steps.

Only when it reached right in front of her was it blocked by a golden longsword that stopped the pitch-black sharp claws stretching straight toward her.

The crisp sound of clashing metal made the stunned CocoLiss retreat two steps, bumping right into Joshua, who had blocked the attack for her.

But the golden-haired Hero showed no joy at having a beauty fall into his arms. He only furrowed his brows, seemingly not expecting the abyssal kin in front of him to be strong enough to contend with him.

The pitch-black pupils behind the mask continued to stare fixedly at CocoLiss.

[It’s you! You stole everything that should have belonged to me!]

A golden spear nailed itself in front of the two of them, and the masked abyssal kin retreated back into the woods and wilderness, disappearing without a trace.

“Was that mental erosion just now?”
The golden-haired Hero reached out and pressed down on CocoLiss’s shoulder. “Hey, are you alright?”

“I… I’m fine.”
The little nun stared in the direction where that figure had left.

That was not mental erosion.

It was simply a language that humans could not understand, but which she, as an abyssal kin, could naturally comprehend from birth.

Abyssal language.