A cold wind passed over Liri's heart.

A storm of bullets manifested almost the instant after Liri had seen them. Screaming elves fled from the fences, running into the prison building. Many of them didn't even make it halfway there.

The ven stood there for longer than she should have, but she couldn't help it. Suddenly, she was back at Elmira, watching her village fall around her.

A voice in her thoughts reminded her of something, though.

She wasn't the same person as back then.

She was powerful now. She could do something about this.

And so, as the settlement's residents ran away behind her, Liri yelled out:

"Juvin melnir, na coran!"

A suit of wooden armor sprouted from her core and spread throughout her body, covering her from her head to her toes.

The ven ran straight at the nearest human guard and punched him in the head. The top of the man's body was blown away.

Soul Rating Gained: 25

Soul Rating: 4275

Instantly, most of the guards turned their attention to her.

Bullets began to pour down on her but none of them managed to pierce the armor covering her body. None of them managed to stop her before she would arrive in front of them and destroy them.

Soul Rating Gained: 25

Soul Rating: 4300

Soul Rating Gained: 25

Soul Rating: 4325

Soul Rating Gained: 25

Soul Rating: 4350

Soul Rating Gained: 25

Soul Rating: 4375

Some of the elvish guards, holding guns of their own, joined in and returned fire on the aggressors.

Looking at the expressions of the humans up ahead, it was easy to tell how they felt. None of them were expecting an actual fight.

[Well, it's too late to regret anything now!]

Rage compelled Liri's movements to quicken, her punches to hit harder, and her eyes to seek out more targets before even the ones she was striking down now had even died.

Her Soul Rating climbed to 4450 in seconds, and as more soldiers showed up, running in from the trees, it seemed like it was destined to go up even higher.

Among them, however, were some individuals that did make Liri pause for a moment.

Inquisitors. None were as close to being as strong as she was, with most of their Soul Ratings coming in at around 3200, but there were five of them. If they all attacked her simultaneously, Liri felt like they could make things difficult.

The one Liri had spoken to wasn't among them.

[Even if she's not here, she probably told them about me. They should know how strong I am, even if they can't see my Soul Rating. They're not going to underestimate me this time.]

That information, however, only made Liri grit her teeth.

[That's fine. You're welcome to try your hand at this. I will not allow this place to suffer the same fate as Elmira!]

Thankfully, there were elves nearby who shared that resolve.

Both parties traded gunfire, with Liri in the middle of the action, tearing apart soldiers with her fists.

She saw an elf who'd taken a shot to the leg, trying to drag himself over to the prison building.

"Hold on, I've got you." Liri ran over to him and used her healing Mantra. "Liz ner marin. There you go. Go back inside, you've done enough."

Running from one place to another, Liri avoided the tanks and the Inquisitors for as long as she could, focusing mostly on trimming down the number of regular grunts.

However, it looked like the Inquisitors were having none of that. No, if anything, it seemed like they'd come here specifically to fight her, as they ignored all of the elves and ran straight to her position.

[Okay... Let's do this, then. I cannot find those who were involved in my home's destruction specifically, so you will have to be punished in their place!]

Five Inquisitors, all of them carrying silver-colored swords and wearing black, metallic armor. Liri took stock of that and met one of them head-on.

He raised his blade up high and swung it down at her. The difference in physical speed and power that this enemy offered in comparison to the regular human soldiers did catch Liri off-guard for just a moment but she quickly adjusted.

Leaning away from his sword, she closed the distance and punched straight through his body.

Soul Rating Gained: 200

Soul Rating: 4650

None of the other Inquisitors looked to try to stop her. Instead, as she removed her hand from his body, took his sword, and pushed him off her arm, they surrounded her.

[I guess he must have just been the eager one out of the bunch. Oh well,] she thought as she took up a fighting stance with the sword she'd so graciously been gifted.

Turning from one side to another, keeping her eyes on each opponent, she waited.

Their attack began with one of them raising up a hand and pouring out flames from his palm. As Liri moved to dodge the magical ability, the others closed in with their blades.

One tried to swing her sword at Liri, only to find Liri's blade in her throat before she'd even moved. The second went for Liri's back. His sword reached Liri but failed to pierce her armor. Before he could even process what had happened, Liri decapitated him with a spinning slash. The third Inquisitor chose the same ranged approach as the first Inquisitor, but Liri saw him, aimed the tip of her sword at his neck, and threw it like a spear.

It slid straight through his throat and its tip hit the ground before his body did, keeping his body propped up for a while until it slid along the edge to the ground.

Finally, the last Inquisitor, with the highest Soul Rating out of all of them, 3800, moved in and tried to kill Liri while she did not have a weapon.

To his credit, the way he swung his blade was smooth and practiced. If Liri had fought this guy back at Diosia, she wasn't sure she could have won. Hell, if she hadn't gotten the Soul Rating she'd gotten in this battle, before this exact moment, this fight may have been the most competitive she'd had in her life.

However, Liri had just killed four Inquisitors. Her Soul Rating was sitting at 5050. Skilled as the man was, the gap in physical power was just too much.

Liri grabbed his blade during one of his swings, pulled him close, and dealt him an uppercut that sent his head flying up into the air.

Soul Rating Gained: 150

Soul Rating: 5200

[What? Only 150? Shouldn't I have gotten a little more?] Liri had to set that question aside though, as she was in the middle of a battle. 

With these opponents dead, Liri turned to look for more enemies.

As she did, she found someone standing there, applauding her.

A tall man in a suit of silver armor, with glowing red eyes just barely visible behind the slit of his helm, carrying two white swords at his waist.

A quick look at the man's Soul Rating revealed that this was no Inquisitor.

This was something else entirely.

Soul Rating: 10500

Liri felt chills go down her spine.

The man walked forward, over the bodies, blood, and limbs that had decorated the floor as a result of Liri's onslaught. He did not seem impressed.

"So... This is her answer?" He asked. His voice didn't sound like it was coming from a human, but more like an android had just spoken.

Liri took a step back.

This man had two times her Soul Rating. This was not someone she could beat.

With that kind of power, it instantly became clear who he was.

[... This is him. The God-King.]

Liri couldn't move anymore. 

Her heart, beating rapidly in her ears, was all she could hear. This guy was just too strong. 

She considered what she could do. If, maybe, a sneak attack would be enough to at least push the man back long enough for her to run away.

Her mind went silent, however, when he said:

"That degenerate goddess couldn't handle seeing the world improve and change for the better, so instead of adapting, she sent you?" He asked with disgust. "What a sick joke."