At that very instant, an ice shard shot through the air, hurtling directly toward the woman.
Swoosh—
The speed was incredible.
But just as the ice shard was about to strike the woman, a warrior in golden armor shouted and rushed to her side, raising his shield.
Boom—
The great shield instantly emitted waves of golden light, swallowing the ice shard whole.
"You despicable creatures!"
Nanako charged forward angrily, waving her small hand, sending a freezing storm sweeping toward them.
"Get out of Nanako's way!"
"Raise shields!" the warrior shouted.
In an instant, shield after shield connected to form a wall.
Boom—
The fierce wind swept through.
But the terrifying gale only made them step back slightly before being consumed by the golden light emanating from the great shields.
"Lady Nanako?!"
The young mage girl's eyes lit up as she looked at the twin-tailed loli who was filled with rage, as if seeing hope itself.
Nanako rushed over quickly, pulling the mage behind her, gritting her teeth as she confronted the woman.
"Lady Nanako, please be careful!"
The young mage girl glared hatefully at the warriors, saying: "They're the Order Church's elite Anti-Magic Guard. Our magic barely affects them."
[Well, well, what a coincidence, I never expected to run into these divine lapdogs here.]
[Anti-Magic Guard? Interesting. Just because they have some high-level exorcism runes inscribed on their equipment, they dare call themselves Anti-Magic?]
Lynn smiled slightly, tossing some pistachios into his mouth and sauntering over with his backpack.
The blonde woman coldly looked down at Nanako's group who had suddenly appeared, saying:
"A high-level mage from Winter Spring Valley?"
Nanako spat angrily: "Nanako, Seventh Steward of Winter Spring Valley. Who are you? How dare you touch my people!"
The blonde woman said coolly: "Saint Anna, High Archbishop of the Order Church. I'm here under the Church's orders to investigate. I apologize, but this small town will be under my complete control."
"Since you're a steward of Winter Spring Valley, take your people and leave now. Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless in enforcing the law."
[Damn, what an arrogant tone, impressive, impressive!]
[With my old personality, I would've either killed you or stripped you naked and dunked you in a pig cage. You really think too highly of yourself!]
Lynn chewed with a smile, looking at the woman with interest.
Nanako stared at her angrily, slamming her staff on the ground and pointing at her:
"Oh really? Such big talk!"
"In all of Nanako's life, she hates people like you the most. Today Nanako is standing right here, let's see what you can do about it!"
Saint Anna looked down at her coldly, slowly tightening her grip on her staff.
The surroundings instantly fell into silence.
Subtly, an atmosphere of tension spread through the air.
After a long while.
A golden-armored warrior beside Saint Anna glanced at Nanako and said quietly: "Your Grace, we should avoid conflict with them for now. Let's complete the Church's mission first..."
Saint Anna stared coldly at Nanako.
After a long while, she suddenly turned around and said coolly: "Let's go."
With that, the golden-armored warriors held their shields, cautiously retreating.
Seeing this.
The young mage girl immediately rushed forward anxiously, quickly untying the ropes on several pigs and checking their injuries.
Seeing the bloody gashes where flesh had been torn open, the young mage girl's eyes instantly reddened.
They weren't pigs!
They were all living, breathing humans!
Nanako rushed over quickly, asking worriedly: "How are they?"
The girl let a tear fall, biting her lip and saying: "It's alright, just flesh wounds. Compared to the others they've rounded up, we got off easy..."
At these words, Nanako was shocked: "What did you say?"
The girl bit her lip, suppressing her emotions as she explained: "You don't know, but ever since the anomaly appeared a few days ago, the curse has spread throughout this small town. Many of the townspeople have been affected by the curse..."
"And after this woman arrived, in just two days, she's imprisoned all the cursed people in town... and those residents who resisted..."
But before she could finish speaking.
In the direction where Saint Anna's group had left.
Squelch—
Accompanied by a piercing scream.
On the street, an Anti-Magic warrior's sword had instantly pierced the neck of a white pig that had run out from a nearby farmhouse.
"Stupid commoner!" The warrior pulled out his blade and spat in disgust:
"You deserve to become pigs! Disgusting!"
He wiped the blood from his blade with revulsion, then followed after his group as if nothing had happened.
Slowly.
The dead pig's body began to emit a faint light, finally transforming into the corpse of an emaciated old man.
Seeing this.
In an instant, Nanako's face was covered with rage.
She trembled with anger.
In Winter Spring Valley, she had never encountered anything that made her this angry before.
They were human!
Even if they had turned into pigs, they were still human!
How dare they... how dare they...
In an instant, Nanako let out a cry.
She couldn't hold back anymore.
Her staff suddenly burst with bone-chilling blue light, and fierce snow and wind began swirling around her.
"Ice spirits that exist everywhere!"
"I command you in the name of the Frost Sovereign!"
Nanako angrily chanted the spell words one by one.
"I command you to become ice storms and spears! I command you to become sharp blades and fierce winds!"
"I command you to tear apart all obstacles before me!"
In an instant, she raised her magic staff in anger, and all the snow and wind in the sky was mobilized.
In that moment, fierce winds swept forth.
The group of Anti-Magic warriors at the end of the street suddenly changed expression and whirled around.
"Not good!" they shouted.
For a spell that required even a city-breaking level mage like Nanako to chant spell words, one could imagine its power.
And this showed just how truly enraged Nanako had become.
Having grown up in Winter Spring Valley, Nanako had rarely had the chance to experience the outside world.
Even when she did go out, it was to civilized metropolises like Moonlily City.
When had she ever witnessed such casual disregard for human life!
"Raise shields!" the Anti-Magic warrior shouted.
They instantly gathered together, suddenly raising their shields to form a wall, blazing with dazzling golden light. The golden runes inscribed on them could be faintly seen lighting up.
And in the next moment.
The winds and clouds in the sky gathered into a massive vortex.
Whoosh—
In an instant, endless frost transformed into countless ice swords and spears, descending from the sky like a grand funeral procession, crashing down toward the ground.