CHAPTER 400: THE GUARDIAN OF LIGHT

"Ah?" — It was only now that Esma realized that everyone around her was paying attention to her and looking at her strangely. Even Erza and the new blonde woman were staring at her.

"Hehe, — Esma laughed sheepishly. "Did I say that out loud?"

Esme didn’t need anyone to answer that question, she already knew she’d screwed up.

Slowly retreating, she quickly moved back and hid behind Irene.

Yulaya and Irene looked at Esma with some disapproval. The situation was already serious, and then she said something she shouldn’t have said. Of the three girls, only Hazel did not condemn her, but, on the contrary, admired Esma’s courage.

"Girl, do you want your sharp tongue to be cut off?" asked Erza, and Esma covered her mouth and shook her head.

The blonde woman squinted at Esma intently, as if trying to find something that caught her attention. However, no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t find anything unusual, and it was starting to worry her.

"What is one of the Guardians of the Light doing here?" Erza asked the blonde woman directly.

"What are you doing here, leader of the Twilight Faction?" the blonde—haired woman asked instead.

"This is a personal matter," Erza said with confidence.

The Guardian of Light looked intently at Erza, as if trying to find a hidden meaning in her words, looked away and turned her gaze to the main mansion of the Stone family, located in the distance.

A creature of her level easily discovered the portal and a multitude of dark creatures that seemed to be plotting something at its exit.

"You know, no one likes it when someone pokes their nose where she shouldn’t," with these words, Erza unleashed all her power, which engulfed everyone around her. Even the Awakened Ones, who were under the protection of the Guardian of Light, could hardly resist this powerful pressure.

"Stop," said the Guardian. "You are aware of the consequences that will arise if we engage in a fight."

Hearing the Guardian’s words, Erza did not completely suppress her power, but inside she felt satisfied, as she had achieved exactly what she desired.

Erza wasn’t in the mood to waste her energy on a confrontation with the Guardian of Light.

Even in their home world, their strengths were roughly equal, and they couldn’t quickly determine who would be the winner. If they fight, everything around them will be destroyed.

"Take your charges and leave," Erza ordered.

The Guardian shook her head.

"No, that won’t do. I’ll take everyone my charges have brought," she replied, releasing her powers of Light that illuminated everything around her.

"Heh, — Erza chuckled, realizing the Guardian of Light’s intentions. "Are you trying to appear noble to the locals in order to gain their trust and favor?"

"What if that’s the case?" The Guardian replied calmly, not succumbing to Erza’s provocation.

All the awakened ones listened attentively to their conversation and realized the complexity of the situation. They looked at the two representatives of the Associations with a complicated expression.

"Who would have thought that these two are outsiders?" Someone from the crowd muttered, and everyone turned their gazes to Aleister and Arianna.

The tension was growing. The realization that outsiders had already infiltrated one of humanity’s key forces was disturbing news.

"Okay," Erza finally couldn’t stand it. She had already spent enough time on this conversation and did not want to prolong this farce any longer. She needed to prepare for a more important and personal event.

"You can take everyone except her," Erza said, pointing at Irene.

The Guardian of Light followed her gesture, glanced at Irene, and said without hesitation, "Okay."

Irene, who was closely following the conversation between the two creatures, instead of falling into despair, studied them intently. When she heard the Guardian of Light’s reply, she immediately realized that these two creatures were her enemies, just like those two from the Awakened Association.

The Awakened ones who followed Aleister and Arianna felt elated after hearing how the two beings’ negotiations ended. They were no longer bothered by the fact that the Guardian of Light, like the woman in black, was an outsider.

They were glad to be able to leave this place alive and looked at the Guardian of Light with gratitude. At that moment, a mysterious glow enveloped them.

Alistair and Arianna’s eyes shone at the sight of this scene, and they looked at the Guardian of Light with even more admiration. The one who was floating in the air had the corners of her lips turned up in pleasure. However, her face soon clouded over when she noticed that the group standing behind didn’t have any glow visible.

Alistair and Arianna also noticed this, and their faces turned gloomy.

At the same time, a mocking smile appeared on Erza’s face.

"It seems that not everyone here is so naive and not everyone has fallen for your cheap trick."

"Are you sure about this?" the Guardian asked. "I can help you get out of here alive. You can’t even imagine what creatures like her, creatures of Darkness, can do to you. Believe me, as soon as you are in their power, death will seem to you the best way out."

"All you need to do is trust me, and I will help you. I will bring you back to your families and loved ones." With these words, the Guardian of Light shone, illuminating everything with her light.

Following that, several awakened ones emerged from the crowd, shrouded in a mysterious glow.

"Hey, Killan, what’s wrong with you?" someone called from the crowd, but the one who was called didn’t even turn around. Some started calling out to their friends, but they didn’t respond, just stepped forward and joined Alistair and Arianna’s group.

Irene, Yulaya, Hazel, and the others watched the scene with frowning faces.

When she saw that no one else was coming out of the crowd, the Guardian of Light turned to Erza and said:

"The rest are yours."

Then, enveloping everyone who was touched by the glow, along with Aleister and Arianna, with her power, the Guardian soared into the sky, dragging them away from this place.

"Hehe hehe," — Erza laughed, looking at the remaining awakened ones. There were many strong ones among them, especially the leaders of the four guilds.

Erza understood that since they didn’t follow the Guardian of Light, she had no reason to save them. On the contrary, if she had saved them, it would have created problems for the Guardian herself. That was why she gave them to Erza without hesitation.

Although Erza could have let some of them go to cause trouble for the beings of Light, she was also aware that they could create problems for them, the beings of Darkness.

The best solution would be for her to simply capture them and transfer them to her world without leaving a single witness.

However, the most important thing for Erza right now was to capture Irene.

With the departure of the Guardian of Light, no one bothered her anymore.

Erza unleashed her power, intending to pull Irene towards her and then suppress all the remaining awakened ones. But just as her power was about to reach Irene, she encountered an unknown force and was dispersed.

For the first time, surprise appeared on Erza’s face.

"Khem, Khem," came a cough that caught her attention.

The girl who had previously called her a Dark Witch came out from behind Irene.

"Before you reached out your paws, you should have gotten my permission first, Witch," Esma said, drawing everyone’s attention to herself.

Everyone presents, including Erza, noticed the sudden changes happening around Esma.

Irene, Yulaya, and Hazel, who knew Esma’s true nature, began to observe her with some excitement.

"Who are you?" asked Erza, realizing that an unusual girl was standing in front of her, since she was able to stop and disperse her power.

And at the moment when Esma, proudly raising her head, was about to reveal her identity, the earth suddenly shook, causing everyone to shudder in surprise.

Then there was an explosion, and far away from them, the huge mansion of the Stone family was blown apart. Two bright figures, one red and the other white, rushed out of the cloud of explosion into the sky at incredible speed.

Boom!

There was another explosion, and a huge black wave of energy burst out from the spot where the Stone family mansion had recently stood. She began to devour everything in her path, within a radius of a hundred meters.

Erza’s face showed fury. She took a quick glance at Irene, then, noticing a strange girl next to her and realizing that she would not be able to reach her, disappeared, heading towards two bright figures in the sky.

All the awakened ones were shocked by this sudden turn of events. Their gazes were fixed up at the two figures in the sky.

While everyone was looking up, Esma, caught off guard by this incident and the sudden reconnection with Arabel, unexpectedly received a message from her.

"Hey, Esma, what the hell are you doing here?"

A/N: Hello! It’s been half a year since I started writing this novel, and it’s now reached Chapter 400. Currently, the second volume is nearing completion.

I would like to thank everyone who continues to read the novel, vote for it with power stones, golden tickets, and unlock privileged Chapters. I especially want to express my gratitude to those few who gave me gifts.