"Mr. Isley, I brought lunch!" Raki was running all over the place, looking like he was being super helpful.
"Thanks, Raki." Isley, as an Awakened Being, was hands-down the most gentlemanly and restrained of them all. The fact that he chose the desolate northern region proved he didn't want to cause fear among others. And since people had lived in the North until the recent war broke out, it showed the Northern Abyss wasn't brutally cold or deadly.
Before he met Priscilla, Isley of the Northern Abyss was absolutely the most well-behaved among the Awakened.
Now, traveling with the other two gave Isley a rare sense of normal life. "I think my injuries should be fine by tomorrow."
"Mr. Isley, you should rest a few more days," said Raki. He didn't realize Isley wanted to leave because Priscilla had started acting strange. Better to get out while they still could. But why wait until tomorrow? Because Isley was still seriously injured. By tomorrow, he would have recovered enough to fight if needed.
"No, we need to keep heading south. Priscilla must be eager to return home."
What a kind Awakened Being. Once again, Raki was convinced not all Awakened were monsters.
"Alright, I'll go buy the horses today," Raki said. He couldn't help in a fight, but he could run errands.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Priscilla standing tense, facing a specific direction. Raki just assumed she was really eager to go home.
But Priscilla had already sensed that dreadful scent—the one that made her blood boil. She wanted to rush out and kill that person right now. But she held back. The atmosphere in the Holy City wasn't quite right. Still, she wouldn't be able to hold it in much longer. That scent from Teresa—it made her whole body scream for blood.
As long as that scent existed in this world, Priscilla would never find peace. Between her and Teresa—or Teresa's successor—only one could survive. Either Clare or Priscilla.
"Boom!"
Clare and the other six were still wandering the streets, looking for a place to stay. Seven strange women like them weren't exactly welcome, so it wasn't easy to find lodging. Just as they were still searching, an explosion rang out from the edge of the city.
"Foolish creature," Priscilla muttered. She knew it was another Awakened Being who had been so terrified by her demonic energy that he lost control and revealed his true form right there in the Holy City.
"A yoma?! Why would a yoma appear in the Holy City?!" The Holy City had always been seen as a place of peace and order. What people didn't know was that the Church had secretly invited the Claymores in to eliminate an old yoma who had been hiding in the city for decades.
That old yoma hadn't changed hosts in a long time. Even after eating internal organs, it still looked dried up and shriveled. This battle marked Clare's first time partially awakening. It was Raki who helped her calm down again—his first step in winning her over.
"Yoma!" The nearby residents scattered in panic.
The city's guards quickly proved their worth, pushing through the fleeing crowd and charging straight toward the Awakened.
There were plenty of Awakened in and around the Holy City, but very few this cowardly. The city had a public stance of opposing the Organization, so Awakened could live here peacefully as long as they followed one rule—don't stir trouble in your own backyard.
Isley and Priscilla leapt onto a nearby rooftop, curious to see what would happen next.
The Awakened had appeared. Death soon followed. A huge werewolf-like creature—easily seven or eight meters tall—stood in the chaos. Judging by its power, it had probably been a low-ranked Claymore before awakening.
"No way it's this much of a coincidence, right?" Miria couldn't believe a fight was breaking out—right in the famous Holy City, no less.
But the holier the place, the deeper the shadows. There were definitely plenty of Awakened hiding in the Holy City, like shadows under the sunlight. "What do we do?"
"Humans can't beat an Awakened on their own. What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
The seven survivors had barely made it out of the war in the North, and now another battle was right in front of them. But hey, this was the demon-ridden Trial Continent. What did you expect?
"Go!" Phantom Miria shattered the dummy on the wooden cart—it had been hiding their Claymores the whole time.
Screams rang out.
The guards, armed with spears and suited up in armor, were brave, sure—but their actual combat ability was trash. With just a swing of its arm, the Awakened Being could slice straight through both soldier and armor alike. The guards' spears were useless. The most they could do was buy a little time for civilians to evacuate.
But even that didn't help much. The Awakened's legs tensed and in one leap, it soared over 100 meters away, continuing its rampage. It had totally lost it.
"Monster…" Seeing what it could do, the guards were overwhelmed.
Luckily, the Claymores arrived. The seven Claymores leapt to the rooftops and started surrounding the Awakened Being.
The residents of the Holy City were stunned to see them. After all, the city had publicly claimed it didn't welcome Claymores.
"Who are they?" Luciela asked her sister, clearly intrigued.
Rafaela recognized them and listed out their ranks and names.
"Heh, No. 47?" Luciela laughed openly when she heard Clare's ranking. "The Organization must be falling apart if they're sending bottom-rank warriors like her to fight Awakened Beings. They're basically sending them to die."
Rafaela said flatly, "They are sending them to die."
Luciela recalled how the Organization operated and laughed even harder. It wasn't clear whether she was mocking Clare, the Organization, or maybe herself.
Despite that, the seven Claymores were strong and worked well together. They quickly overpowered the Awakened.
Luciela was a bit surprised by Clare's performance. "Not bad for dead last."
"That's because she inherited Teresa's flesh and blood," Rafaela said, thinking back to that charming girl with the gentle smile. Back when Luciela had first Awakened and Rafaela was recovering outside the Organization, Teresa had shown up alone at her recovery spot. Rafaela had asked why she was there. Teresa said she was bored of training and had escaped.
Rafaela never forgot that girl—the fearless one who dared to run from the Organization. Later, Teresa became No. 1, and Rafaela had heard. But soon after, the agent told her Teresa had died. After that, Rafaela had returned to serve the Organization again.
Clare, who fused with Teresa's blood and flesh, hadn't let her down. Her yoma energy might be unstable, but her combat ability was solid.
"That right arm… it doesn't seem like it's hers," Luciela said.
Rafaela knew the truth but didn't explain.
In the end, it was Jean's Spiral Sword and Clare's Quick Sword that finished the Awakened.
Priscilla couldn't take it anymore. She stepped forward—and leapt out.
"Priscilla?!" Isley couldn't stop her. He just watched as Priscilla flew forward, releasing all her demonic energy.
The Holy City had just welcomed death—the death god with a single horn.
Priscilla's eyes were half-open, half-closed. That gaze looked almost like a Buddha, seeing through everything yet unwilling to look. Or like some god, looking down on the world with cold indifference. She took a deep breath. The scent of Teresa was unmistakable.
"So this is where you were."
"Priscilla?!" Clare's eyes lit up with pure rage, instantly losing all reason. It was her. It was her. She was the one who killed Teresa—her sister, her mother, her entire world.
"Priscilla!" Quick Sword.
She came. Priscilla slowly raised her hand, calm as still water.