While Beta and the Soldier Captain were entangled in a fight, the trafficker stealthily circled behind Xi Nuo.
He silently swung his sword, aiming for Xi Nuo.
Just as he was about to strike Xi Nuo, the trafficker felt his entire body freeze.
An immense power restrained his whole being.
The Soldier Captain, clashing with Beta, increasingly found her difficult to handle; Beta's combat skills were strong, and her magic control was formidable, though her combat experience was slightly unseasoned.
To outsiders, the two seemed evenly matched, but in reality, he was merely Beta's whetstone.
Beta was slowly but surely gaining combat experience.
"You bastards, stop watching and go catch that little boy!" the Soldier Captain shouted.
The soldiers, who had been observing the fight, heard their captain's cry and all rushed towards Xi Nuo.
"Let me guess, he must be a noble, and you are his bodyguard!" the Soldier Captain tried to provoke Beta with words, hoping she would become anxious and expose a weakness.
However, Beta showed no reaction to his words.
Instead, she fought with even greater ferocity, and the Soldier Captain felt immense pressure.
He was about to collapse.
He was no ordinary Soldier Captain, but a confidant of the Viscount, specifically tasked with managing human trafficking—a practice forbidden by the state, conducted entirely in secret.
Human trafficking brought in vast sums of money, and as the strongest Magic Swordsman under the Viscount, he was responsible for handling difficult situations.
He never expected to be defeated by a young girl.
The Soldier Captain made a mistake, revealing an opening, and his arm was directly severed by Beta.
The Soldier Captain slumped to the ground.
He looked at Beta in despair.
His gaze inadvertently fell upon Xi Nuo's side.
His soldiers and the trafficker were all standing motionless around Xi Nuo, appearing unusually strange.
Upon seeing that the Soldier Captain had lost, the villagers began to flee.
They had no desire to perish here.
"I didn't say you could leave!"
As Xi Nuo's words fell, a purple light illuminated the area.
Xi Nuo, dressed in a black military uniform and cloak, with the cloak fluttering in the wind, was enveloped in a gigantic magical barrier that covered the entire village.
Purple magic enveloped the entire village.
"Have you ever experienced a nuclear explosion?"
"What is this? Such immense magic! Who exactly are you?!" The Soldier Captain exclaimed with an incredulous expression.
"Please, spare us!" Some quick-witted villagers immediately knelt and begged for mercy.
"Beta, you should leave here first to avoid being affected!"
"Lord Phantom, should we take that girl out?" Beta pointed at Cabus Nalin'er.
"No need. She just threatened to have the soldiers kill us. If we keep her, she won't be grateful; she'll only seek revenge!"
"Yes!" Beta said before leaving.
The others tried to escape the magical range, but they were all blocked by the barrier.
It was only then that Nalin'er realized what was about to happen.
"I am Cabus Nalin'er, the daughter of Viscount Cabus of the Slunob territory! You cannot kill me! I am the Viscount's daughter!"
"I command you to stop!" Nalin'er, seeing that Xi Nuo remained silent, reached out to grab his clothes.
But she couldn't touch Xi Nuo at all, completely blocked by the magic.
The soldiers and the Soldier Captain all looked utterly desperate.
They didn't know what would happen, but they knew they probably wouldn't survive.
With magic covering the entire village, Xi Nuo discovered that every house had a basement, and each basement showed signs of having held people captive.
It was clear that everyone in this entire village was part of the human trafficking syndicate.
Xi Nuo raised his Magic Sword high.
"Listen to your death knell!"
"I am Atomic~"
As Xi Nuo's words concluded, everyone's vision turned white.
Everyone in the village began to decompose and dematerialize, ultimately turning into nothingness.
A flash of light passed, and the entire village was razed to the ground.
"Is this Lord Phantom's magic? It's incredible!" Beta gazed at the light before her with admiration.
"We should go!" Xi Nuo wasn't particularly interested in punishing evil and promoting good, but since the other party had provoked him, he would not show mercy.
At this moment, the sun was about to set.
Xi Nuo led Beta to the highest point in town, and the two admired the sunset... They quietly enjoyed the sunset, not speaking another word until the sun had completely set.
Xi Nuo then stood up.
"If you're going to do a good deed, see it through to the end!"
"Let's help those three children get home! All three of them are lost and haven't found their way back!"
"Lord Phantom, how do you know?"
"I marked them all. It's already dark, and they're still running around, so it's clear they haven't found their way home!"
Xi Nuo and Beta found the three children one by one, asked them where their homes were, and escorted them back individually.
The three children all asked Xi Nuo and Beta for their names, wanting to express their gratitude, but received no answer. Their parents never saw the benefactors who saved their children... When Beta and Xi Nuo returned to the villa, Alpha was also there.
She had also brought back a blue-haired girl, who also suffered from Demon Possession.
Her condition was more severe than Beta's; a large part of her body had already turned into rotting flesh.
Xi Nuo spent the entire night successfully rescuing the girl.
Xi Nuo saw the mole at the corner of her mouth and recognized her as Gamma.
Then came the familiar formula, the familiar explanation.
He informed Gamma of everything.
After learning everything, Gamma also chose to join the Shadow Garden.
Alpha disappeared again.
Leaving Beta, Gamma, and Xi Nuo alone in the villa.
Gamma's condition was much better than Beta's; she slept soundly by herself.
Beta, however, still needed Xi Nuo to tell her stories to fall asleep.
Today was Beta's first time killing, and every time she closed her eyes, her mind was filled with the people she had killed.
But as Xi Nuo told her stories, she unknowingly fell asleep.
In her dream, Beta dreamt of the people she had killed, and they all asked her why she had killed them.
But then she felt a pair of hands tightly gripping hers.
Xi Nuo suddenly appeared in her dream, scattering the vengeful spirits of these people.
"I will always be by Beta's side, protecting her!" Xi Nuo in Beta's dream said.