The Hero Who Became a Monster Girl Will Never Fall to Evil

“Not dead...?”

Holding the sword, Vieya hovered in the air, looking at Youze, who had already flashed several hundred meters away, and couldn’t help feeling doubtful in her heart.

That strike just now—even someone like Elizabeth, that blood-tank, if hit by it would immediately lose all combat capability.

Yet this thing in front of her acted as if it had only been scratched by a little knife; the wound was instantly filled back in.

Even if the opponent weren’t a monster, she shouldn’t be able to recover this fast.

“You almost scared me for a moment, hehe—turns out it was just scraping dead skin.”

Youze said this, raising the dragon-horn blade to point toward Jasmine’s distant position, and at the same time countless dense black spheres surfaced in midair. She said with contempt:

“If this is the extent of your attacks, then let me see—

how long you can keep protecting your daughter!”

As soon as her voice fell, several black mana spheres fell toward Jasmine’s location like a heavenly-punishment missile swarm.

Jasmine’s group had still been simultaneously fighting monsters and retreating toward safety; seeing the attack dropping from the sky, they immediately changed direction to dodge.

But the black mana spheres acted as if they had a will of their own—whenever Jasmine and the others shifted, the impact points shifted with them. Seeing no way to avoid them, they could only brace themselves to take the hit.

Vieya looked toward her daughter, raised her hand, and sent out a sword-qi slash that destroyed most of the black spheres, but a few remained and were still falling toward the ground. She no longer hesitated—she instantly dove downward, intercepting the remaining black orbs before they could reach the group.

It was as if even the intangible breeze of heaven and earth froze at this moment.

Long-haired Youze, holding the dragon horn, blocked in front of Vieya, tanking countless sword-qi strikes head-on. The black mist covering her weakened slightly!

But Vieya didn’t continue entangling with her. She immediately turned, her figure becoming a pale-blue meteor, chasing after the short-haired Youze at full speed.

The long-haired Youze curled the corners of her lips in a triumphant conspirator’s smile. She knew this slime could never truly ignore her daughter’s life.

That was why she intentionally held back, even though she clearly could have killed Jasmine at any moment.

This was fishing.

Youze seized the opportunity—vanished in an instant—and appeared behind Vieya, raising the dragon horn to launch a surprise attack!

“Haha! Your sword really is good only for offense, not for protecting!”

Youze shouted, drunk on the joy of her scheme succeeding.

Pff.

Yet—

The previous second, Vieya looked like she would cry if even a strand of her daughter’s hair was burnt.

The next second—she spun decisively, abandoned rescuing her daughter, and stabbed backward with one sword strike!

At the same time, she allowed the scattered mana spheres to explode around Jasmine!

BOOOOOOM!!

CRACK—

Amid the blast’s smoke, Jasmine’s group was blown away miserably, their magic shields shattered to pieces.

But the caught-off-guard Youze was also pierced in the shoulder by Vieya’s suddenly reversed Holy Sword. She immediately lifted the dragon horn to block—

“Die! Scum!”

Vieya twisted her wrist, the blade digging into Youze’s shoulder, seeming intent on spiraling off her entire right arm—along with the dragon horn!

“—AH!”

Youze roared in fury. Then her body split in two again—a long-haired form and a short-haired form—both tearing free from Vieya’s sword. They snarled:

“Damn little cutie, how dare you injure me!”

Their voices were harsh: “Since that’s the case, prepare to become slaves along with your daughter! I’ll torment the two of you to death!”

Vieya said nothing—she only swung her sword.

Even though her chest felt like her heart was being roasted alive with rage, her face remained calm.

Right now, she no longer had the high resistance of her Hero days that could ignore dark magic and negative states. She could only stay calm—calm enough to find the enemy’s weaknesses—and swing her sword!

One sword wasn’t enough—then ten, a hundred, a thousand!

Infinite platinum sword-qi rained from the sky like divine judgment!

Heaven and earth fell into dead silence, filled only with dazzling sword-light.

The next moment, the sword-qi fell.

It was as if even the intangible breeze of heaven and earth froze at this moment.

Long-haired Youze stood in front of Vieya, holding the dragon horn, tanking the blow head-on—her black mist weakened slightly!

But Vieya didn’t continue fighting her. She immediately turned, her figure—

once again becoming a pale-blue meteor—rushing toward the short-haired Youze.

The long-haired Youze revealed the exact same triumphant smile. She knew this slime mother could never ignore her daughter.

That was why she had kept a fallback even though she could kill Jasmine effortlessly. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Only by doing this could she endlessly use the daughter’s life as leverage, pulling and controlling this slime.

In this city, the citizens endlessly supplied Youze with energy and life force. Her power would never run dry. She could not die from injury. As long as she stalled until Vieya exhausted her strength—that would be her moment of victory.

Then, stepping on Vieya like a stepping stone to ascension, she would benevolently spare the slime mother and daughter.

After all, enjoying others’ suffering was her favorite pastime.

“Hehe, look at this mother desperately saving her daughter. Just like my own sister... But the weak must pay the price of the weak.”

Jasmine’s group had barely recovered from the explosion when lethal killing intent once again descended upon them!

High in the sky, a streak of pitch-black light plummeted downward, with a pale-blue streak chasing right behind it. When the pale-blue streak grew faster and was about to catch up, intending to intercept—

Jasmine realized the pale-blue streak was Mom. She didn’t even have time to feel happy before terror flooded her eyes.

“Mom—behind you!”

Seeing the danger, everyone below unleashed their strongest spells. Yuelong stepped on the mana-steps provided by her teammates and charged upward with fearless resolve!

BOOM!

Yuelong swung a powerful enchanted slash upward, intercepting the short-haired Youze’s dive.

Right behind her, Vieya—burning with rage—drove her sword into the short-haired Youze’s back, then immediately activated the Holy Sword’s purification.

Short-haired Youze’s body was engulfed in platinum flames, erupting violently!

But at the same time, the long-haired Youze appeared behind the slime-girl and thrust forward!

“Mom!”

In Jasmine’s cry, the slime-girl’s abdomen was pierced through by the golden dragon-horn blade in long-haired Youze’s hand!

Vieya’s body froze. She could feel the foreign object penetrating her stomach, twisting inside her.

And someone leaned on her shoulder, whispering:

“You broke my sister’s body, so now... I can only break yours. Don’t worry, I already considered that you might have slime traits, so...”

But—

Long-haired Youze’s words halted abruptly.

Her right hand was suddenly severed at the root.

Then came the sight of a [N O V E L I G H T] crimson sword-light—followed by the scorching burn of a wound spreading from her shoulder.

Only now did Youze realize what had happened.

The moment she stabbed toward Vieya, Yuelong had used Moon Step to flash in front of her and strike.

Moon Step—footwork that allows one to step on air.

This strike was too fast. If Vieya’s earlier slashes were sword-lights that could chase time—this sword had already surpassed time itself.

In an instant—time fell silent.

“Mom!”

“Captain Yuelong!”

Youze slowly lowered her head—only to see the red-haired girl biting down on the sword sheath, staring at her with ice-cold eyes.

Yuelong held the slime-girl with one arm, the blood-red sword in her other hand. Her gaze was sharp. Her long red hair danced in the wind—then...

...in the howling winds, they plummeted straight toward the ground.

Allison saw this and immediately raised her staff, releasing wind-buffer magic to slow the fall of Captain and Vieya.

THUD.

Yuelong crashed into the ruined ground, still holding Vieya. Even with the cushioning airflow, the crash kicked up clouds of dust.

“Mom! Yuelong-sis!!”

Jasmine, panicked, reached toward Vieya’s nose to check her breath. Seeing her mother ragged, her belly still impaled by a blade, she became completely flustered.

“Are you okay, Mom?!”

Vieya’s tightly shut eyes slowly opened under Jasmine’s call. She rose, grasping Jasmine’s hand.

“I’m fine...”

She took two shallow breaths, then looked at Yuelong—who had served as cushioning beneath her—and apologized awkwardly: “Sorry...”

Yuelong turned her head, spat out the sword sheath from her mouth, and in a calm tone quietly asked, “Focus on your own injury first. Does it... really not hurt to have something stuck in you like that?”

“It’s fine... not that painful...”

Gritting her teeth, Vieya yanked out the golden dragon horn from her stomach. She tore off the attached severed arm, tossed it aside, then held the golden dragon horn in both hands and let out a long breath. Seeing the others gather around her, she smiled with relief:

“I’m okay.”

“Mom! But your stomach still has a hole! You’re injured so badly and you’re still smiling!” Jasmine’s voice trembled with tears. “You didn’t even need to protect me—if she wanted to kill me she could have! As long as Mom can avenge me, it’s fine...”

Vieya said nothing more. She lifted her gaze from the dragon horn.

She stroked Jasmine’s hair, signaling her to stop talking. Then she struggled to stand, pulled up her junior sister, who had served as her cushion, and looked toward Youze in the sky.

“Hehe... since you can still stand, then let’s continue.” Even missing one arm, Youze’s voice was still arrogant. “Let me see how long you can keep forcing yourself.”

“You think getting the Holy Sword’s recognition makes you able to save the world like the previous Swordmasters? Don’t make me laugh. You’re the weakest Swordmaster I’ve ever seen. You can’t even protect a single person, yet you dream of destroying me?”

She sneered:

“A waste who can’t even use a Domain—even if you hold the Holy Sword, so what?”

“As my nourishment, you’re barely qualified. Don’t worry—I’ll make you into my shadow... You destroyed my sister’s body, so you will pay in her place!”

Youze raised her left hand toward the sky and said softly, “Domain—fully expand.”

The moment her voice fell, the human faces in the clouds grew denser. At the same time, a world-shaking roar erupted from Yun Pool at the center of Talin!

“IGNORANT JUNIOR! FAITHLESS TRAITOR—YOU DARE STAB ME IN THE BACK?!”

Just an evil spirit that’s been dead for who knows how many tens of thousands of years! And it dares bark? Youze sneered in her heart, intensifying the Life-Devouring Mark she’d placed in advance on Tartaros’s corrupted body.

Meanwhile, a hundred li away—

The half-revived life aura of Tartaros erupted like madness, pouring out endlessly in Elizabeth and the others’ sight.

“Our master’s entrusted task is complete, meow?” The cat-girl sounded incredulous, then worried. “What in the world is happening on Master’s side, meow?”

From a hundred li away, it was as if Youze reached out with an invisible giant hand, grabbed Tartaros, and refined him instantly!

The next second, pure life energy was fed back into her.

With Tartaros’s revival plan collapsing halfway, Youze’s aura rose to yet another level!

“Hmph!”

Youze snorted coldly, ignoring the curse Tartaros spat before dissipating—she didn’t care.

After she absorbed enough life force, all of Talin City was swallowed by human-face black clouds, the sky completely gone.

At the same time, huge swaths of monsters inside the city lost their life force, and humans infected by the fly-plague died as well. Their souls slowly rose, floating upward, and were swallowed by the open mouths of the human-face clouds.

On the ground, Yuelong had stood back up.

Hehe, as expected of that person’s student—your sword is fast. Too bad your level and damage are far too low.

Youze smiled calmly. Her lost right arm grew back again.

“...So it really is this.”

Vieya looked at the sky dyed deep black, her gem-like eyes reflecting the figure beneath the light: “Your target from the very beginning—was me.”

“I told you already, but you only believe it now.”

Youze laughed wantonly. “Cities, humans, ancient Demon Kings, arbiters—none of that ever mattered to my plan. The only thing I needed was you.”

“Three years ago, I discovered the energy in your body far surpassed those trash Heroes. Just one of you was worth more than a whole pile of them!”

“For this day—do you know how long I’ve planned? Hehe, though I did underestimate your strength a bit, it’s just as I predicted. In the end, you’re still just a little cutie dragging around baggage. Your daughter is probably the meaning of your life, isn’t she?”

Intelligence flashed in Youze’s eyes:

“And what makes a better prey than a slime-girl with a weakness, who has hidden away for years, ignorant of the outside world?”

“As long as I devour you—

the source of your magic, the Authority-imprint carved into your body—once I inherit it, I can break free from the shackles of this mortal world and become a god among humans!”

“The Magic Academy built a branch in that little turtle-shell town where you hid yourself, and you didn’t notice anything—you even happily sent your daughter there while you stayed home sleeping; I had them hold the trial in Talin City so they could drag your daughter over, and you stupidly followed along like you were on vacation; I had Aurora self-detonate at the Arbitration Bureau, luring the greatest variable in the city—you—over there. Even though Miss Aurora didn’t follow the plan at all and went berserk like a blind bat, she still managed to stall you long enough.”

“I prepared so many baited hooks to reel you in, so many smoke bombs to confuse you, and you really did swallow every bait, stepping into every single guiding step I laid out... In terms of intelligence, you’re unbelievably stupid even for a monster girl! So ignorant it actually makes me pity you!”

“You’re like one of those seashells living on the Gallerson Islands—spending your whole life indulging in your own little world, imagining the world is as simple as you believe it to be, creating fog to confuse yourself, trapping yourself in the warm puddle outside your door, completely unaware of how many crises outside are closing in on you. Pitiful, laughable, pathetic!”

“Put away that useless stubbornness. Kneel before me at the end and submit. As long as every life in this city hasn’t died, it’s impossible for me to die.”

Youze’s voice turned cold. “And you! That wound pierced by the custom dragon-horn blade will never heal. You are completely unable to protect those little girls now. Kneel, beg for my mercy, and I might spare their lives—let them become my new little test subjects.”

“Of course... I don’t mind eating a few more fruits while I eat my cake.”

She gazed down at Vieya from above, waiting for her response.

A long silence. The air was so quiet that even the distant screams from the city grew sharp and clear.

Her moon-white long hair was covered in dust, her abdomen had a horrifying wound that refused to heal. Clearly, she was in a disadvantageous state—yet her expression still didn’t change.

“If your life support comes from everyone in this city—then I’ll simply try taking their lives too.”

“Hm? What nonsense are you talking about? Don’t tell me you want to kill those innocent people?”

“Without their life force supporting you, you aren’t my opponent. So that means I can kill you—correct?”

“And what then? Are you planning to kill everyone in the city right in front of your daughter?”

“Nothing special.” Vieya said calmly. “When a stranger-BOSS’s mechanics are fully understood, it generally means that BOSS’s death date isn’t far away. If you can link your life to ordinary people, then I can sever that link.”

The words were like removing the firewood beneath a boiling pot—instantly calming the air, making the previously arrogant Youze gradually quiet.

“...Oh?”

Only after a moment did she speak again, sounding amused: “That really is... unexpected.”

“Unexpected what? Unexpected that I’m not the complete idiot you imagined?”

After speaking, Vieya lightly gasped for breath, waited a moment, then continued, “You said all that because you want your ability to take deeper, stronger root inside the bodies of the city’s ordinary people, didn’t you?”

“Heh, let’s pretend that’s what you think.” Youze replied, then casually shifted her tone with disdain, “But even if you know that—what can you do?”

“You know...” Vieya’s voice suddenly softened. She looked one last time at Jasmine and the others behind her, then lifted her head to stare at Youze in the sky. “I can use a Domain too.”

“Bluffing!”

Youze scoffed. “You’re no longer a Hero, and your magic tier has never reached Ninth Rank. You think just because you used the Holy Sword’s power to hack apart a few Demon Kings, that makes you invincible? Only those who reach Ninth Rank and interpret their Authority have the chance to comprehend a Domain. Are you claiming you mastered a Domain, then somehow fell back down to low rank like some absurd anomaly? That kind of lie is meaningless to me.”

“You’ll know whether it’s a lie soon enough.”

Vieya didn’t continue speaking. She used tentacles to plug the wound in her abdomen, then silently looked toward her right hand, which held the Holy Sword planted into the ground to support her body. A faint holy radiance flowed along the sword, almost identical to how it was back then.

Back when she was still a Hero, she used two-sword style—one was the Holy Sword, the other was her personal Hero companion-blade.

Now, the Holy Sword remained perfect and unchanged, but the companion-blade of those years had long shattered, leaving not even a single shard behind.

A Domain is the prerequisite for the perfect manifestation of one’s Authority.

Vieya stared at the dragon horn in her other hand, as if reminiscing about something... or gradually letting something go.

After a long time, she finally spoke:

“...Sorry. There were so many things I never dared to tell you. I even deliberately avoided anything related to the past...”

She reached out and gently stroked the dragon horn flowing with golden radiance. Her voice was soft. “But...”

She picked up the dragon-horn blade. The flowing golden glow spread from it, weaving around her left arm like gentle threads.

Then she suddenly raised the blade and plunged it into the ground before her.

“...Please, become my strength once more! Domain—activate—”

Her voice commanded; her will grew firmer. Pale-blue magic erupted like a high-voltage surge, and the instant it flowed into the blade and sword, it transformed into brilliant platinum light.

Terrifying platinum energy spread outward from her as the center, rapidly covering the entire capital!

Then, for the first time, Vieya raised her voice and declared the name of her Domain:

—“Sever Demons, Purge Evil.”

Crack.

A faint sound echoed simultaneously in the minds of the tens of thousands of humans, monsters, and animals across Talin City—like a chain being lightly lifted inside their brains.

If a Hero’s Authority is the crystallization of their personality, soul, and past—then a Domain is the perfect manifestation of that Authority.

Vieya’s Domain was simple. It had no real offensive power. But once activated, it could override any enemy Domain.

Put simply—within the range of her Domain...

Extraordinary power was forbidden.