Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

"We can't let these, these completely insane Srei people, get close to our city—"

The gale howled, whipping up dust that mingled with the acrid stench of blood on the battlefield, as surging waves of people collided and tore at each other, creating a crimson haze.

All the Srei had lost their minds, and the Kingdom of Goth had given up on trying to restore their sanity.

From the moment Bluebeard Giles died, all the Srei soldiers had lost their human souls.

Or rather, they had been transformed into hellish killing puppets.

And now, the last chain of humanity that bound them had been completely severed.

"Hold the line! These Srei are out of weapons, don't let them break through!"

"Kill them! These people have lost their minds!"

"Hold on!"

Whether they were Goths, former Weathers, or others fighting for their families and livelihoods, their eyes were bloodshot as they relentlessly swung their weapons.

Blood splattered from the ground and rained down from the sky.

In this moment, the world had become purgatory.

No one retreated or held back in the slightest, because everyone understood that in this battle, there was no room for retreat, and the enemy they faced had become mindless beasts.

High in the sky, the cannons of the Skyfaring Fleet unleashed a storm of flesh and bone upon the densest concentrations of soldiers.

Prince Charming raised his golden sword, having lost count of how many had died by his hand, his blue gem-like eyes now covered in blood.

"Poro, these Srei people, are they really… beyond saving?!"

Lake's Starstrike Sword traced a deadly path through the Srei ranks, her sword arm growing numb, the impure blood of humans dimming the starlight of the Starstrike Sword.

"I'm sorry, Lake, I… I see their souls have been completely shattered. Those devils planted bombs deep within their souls. They're already dead, with only their bestial instincts remaining.

All we can do now is—kill them."

Poro's shadow leaped through the army.

His gaze fell upon the mindless Srei, and he noticed a clear liquid flowing from the crucifixes containing "holy water" on their chests.

This liquid seeped into their bodies.

Mixed within it was not just life, but also the slaughter that symbolized death!

These Srei soldiers, their souls corrupted, had lost their wisdom and retained only their bestial instincts. They no longer used weapons, but instead fought like primitive monsters with their limbs and teeth—making them even more terrifying.

The Kingdom of Srei would never leave behind soldiers for others; what they left behind—

was only a group of shells that knew only how to kill.

A distant whistle came from the other side of the battlefield, signaling the arrival of reinforcements from the Kingdom of Shadi.

"The reinforcements from the Kingdom of Shadi have arrived."

The armies of the Kingdom of Srei, the Kingdom of Shadi, and the Kingdom of Goth were already intermingled in the chaos.

Formations had disappeared, and tactics and command had become irrelevant.

Only the most primal slaughter remained!

In the past, most wars between humans were won by defeating an army, but this time, facing tens of thousands of Srei troops, there was only one way to achieve victory—

total annihilation!

But—how was that even possible?!

The number of Srei soldiers sent to Goth was originally several times that of the defenders.

And now, every Goth, whether enhanced by Prince Charming or not, had to kill two or three monsters who feared no death and possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities—

which was nothing short of a pipe dream!

The original strategy of killing the Srei commanders and getting the Srei soldiers to surrender had completely failed!

"What should we do?! How can we stop these Srei monsters?"

Lake and Poro slaughtered wildly, but more Srei were still pressing through the ranks, surrounding and attacking the normal humans.

Even if this battle was won, whether for Goth, Shadi, or the other warriors,

the number of survivors would definitely be less than one in a hundred!

"Circular Regression, Spiral Beacon, Magic…"

Poro's mind raced, but among the powers he possessed, he couldn't think of any that could inflict large-scale damage.

Vines and curses efficiently slaughtered those around him.

More than a hundred people had already died by Poro's magic, but against hundreds of thousands, it was a drop in the bucket.

Finally, the overuse of magic caused Poro's vision to blur, and the magical light dissipated.

"Bestiality, the human reason of these Srei people has been completely torn apart by those devils. All that dominates their bodies is bestiality, along with implanted desires to slaughter humans…

But the 'holy water' only grants them special regenerative abilities."

Poro's mind spun rapidly, the use of magic having reached its limit.

Finally, what appeared in his mind was a special Circular Regression.

Most Circular Regressions did not have specific killing abilities, but among the indirect killing abilities, Poro finally thought of one, and its effect could be described as terrifying.

"But this Circular Regression…"

A look of hesitation appeared on Poro's face.

"Poro, are you saying you want to use that?"

Lake heard Poro's meaning through telepathic communication, her eyes widening, but then she raised her sword and once again cut several Srei in front of her in half.

Blood, blocked by the magic in her cloak, splattered on the ground:

"Can that really affect these people? But we can only… try it."

Poro thought for a moment, finally taking a deep breath. Through the shadow world, he quickly conveyed something to Princess Marlene of the Shadi Shadow Army.

Then, he raised his claws and grabbed at the air—

A golden page appeared in mid-air, with several words written on it:

[Circular Regression: Snow White · Unparalleled Beauty]

[The final act of the story: the queen who yearned for ultimate beauty died within a newly born body. Snow White, born with unparalleled beauty, chose to abandon her own body… What exactly is beauty? What does lust truly represent?]

[In this world, ultimate beauty may possess some extraordinary meaning]

[Fairy Tale Authority: Your appearance will forever reside at the pinnacle of beauty, unmatched and irreplaceable—except by death]

[Those who covet ultimate beauty may be beyond your imagination]

[Description: The more you understand, the more you see, the more you realize the vastness of the world, and the more you can feel—the weight of 'unparalleled'!]

[This is not just a blessing, but also—a curse!]

"Are you ready?"

Poro looked at Lake and handed her the page.

This was an experiment.

If this ability really worked, these Srei, who still had their sight, could be lured away, or even kill each other.

Without a doubt, this would save many people in the Kingdom of Goth.

And after using [Circular Regression: Unparalleled Beauty], absolute speed and agility would be needed to attract these Srei in the crowd—

Poro's magic was already difficult to sustain, so the only choice was Lake.

"If these Srei have only lost their minds and retained their bestial instincts, they will still pursue 'beauty'. Those devils added 'slaughter' to their mindless souls, so maybe we can add other things—"

Lake took the page, took a deep breath, and merged the page into her body.

In the next moment, the pupils of the Srei around her shrank.

On their faces, besides the madness of slaughter, another look appeared—

It was more like… a strange fascination.

"It seems to have worked—go, Lake!"

Poro and Lake keenly noticed the changes in these Srei. Lake leaped up, no longer activating her invisibility cloak. Her own speed and agility were enough to allow her to move freely through the army.

When using Circular Regression, Lake and Poro were already in the deepest part of the Srei army.

And now, when Lake jumped high, even those mindless Srei who had their backs to her, whose vision was obscured, uncontrollably turned their heads!

After that, their madness actually surpassed another boundary!

If before, their slaughter was aimed at normal humans, and they would not actively attack other Srei,

then now, in order to rush towards Lake, they no longer had the slightest restraint—

They began to squeeze, trample, and kill their companions.

"Go, Lake, pay attention to the direction I told you—there are no people on our side there!"

Poro turned into a shadow and drilled into the shadows beneath Lake.

With the help of Princess Marlene's temporary shadow realm, Poro was able to see the layout of the entire battlefield, and the indiscriminate effect of [Circular Regression: Snow White · Unparalleled Beauty] meant that he had to avoid harming friendly forces.

And the telepathic communication brought by [Circular Regression: Bear and Princess] allowed Lake to share the battlefield layout.

Further away, at the forefront of the army's slaughter.

The vision of the Goth soldiers and the Shadi soldiers who came to support was suddenly covered by a layer of shadow.

Under this shadow, their vision was limited to a range of ten steps ahead, which did not affect their battle, but it prevented them from capturing Lake's figure.

"Do not be afraid, warriors."

Prince Charming's voice rang out in the ranks, "This is a means of our allies. Do not stop the longswords in your hands. Now, do not think too much.

All you have to do is slaughter until your blood runs dry, or until—there are no more enemies before you!"

Lake's toes stepped on a Srei's helmet in mid-air, quickly passing over. Below her, in all directions, all the Srei who saw her red cloak changed the direction of their advance.

Their slaughter became even more frenzied.

All those who hindered their progress towards Lake's location were subjected to their mad destruction—

including their own kind.

"Poro, has my appearance become more beautiful now?"

Lake suddenly asked in her heart.

"No, this Circular Regression doesn't seem to change appearance."

Poro said to Lake while outlining the route ahead in his mind, "But I think you have always been the most beautiful."

"Ha, thank you."

Lake wanted to smile, but she couldn't. As the starlight flickered, another line of blood rose, "Why does beauty cause such disasters in this world?"

"Just like the magic mirror said, this Circular Regression may not be ordinary beauty."

Poro replied, "In every fairy tale, the princess or prince always has the most beautiful appearance. Although it has power, beauty…

shouldn't bring about such death."

Lake's speed was very fast. At a distance away from friendly forces, Lake had made as many Srei as possible see her appearance.

Under this influence, tens of thousands of Srei began to be manipulated by Lake and Poro to advance in a certain direction.

They no longer slaughtered towards the Kingdom of Goth and normal humans.

Instead, under Lake's inducement, they rushed with all their might, pulling into a sharp cone, chasing Lake and rushing into the unmanned wilderness.

Countless broken limbs, armor, and corpses were thrown behind them.

Internal friction became the sharp sword that destroyed these Srei.

The huge number made their self-destruction speed surprisingly fast. Fewer and fewer Srei were chasing behind Lake, but more and more bones were piled up on the land.

Blood gradually stained the ground red, converging into streams…

"We succeeded, Lake, we annihilated more than half of the Srei."

After an unknown amount of time, Lake gradually stopped. Behind her, there were not many Srei left who could still move.

The mutual slaughter of their own kind left the remaining Srei severely injured.

But even if they only had half a leg left, with their stomachs exposed, they still raised their five incomplete fingers, crawled twitching, and stretched towards Lake…

After losing their minds, their bodies had completely succumbed to their bestial instincts—

This made the impact they suffered even more profound.

"嚓——"

Lake swung her sword, killing the nearest few Srei.

The Circular Regression of [Circular Regression: Snow White · Unparalleled Beauty] disengaged from her hand.

Further away, the last few affected Srei were no longer lingering, but were freed from their heavy injuries and massive blood loss.

"The Goths, the Shadis, and those civilians will die much less because of us, right?"

"Yes, those who are truly fighting for tomorrow should not die on such meaningless battlefields."

Poro leaped out of the shadows beneath Lake and took the page.

The two looked at the bones that stretched to the end of their vision, their faces expressionless.

…

Prince Charming looked ahead, a soldier tremblingly drawing his spear.

The body of the last Srei fell into the dust, his mad expression gradually stiffening after death.

Victory.

But the price of this victory was extremely painful.

Around, every soldier's body and weapon were soaked in crimson blood. Among those who were still alive, everyone was injured.

After the shadows in front of everyone's eyes dissipated, more than half of the Srui people had already died in inexplicable hunts and infighting.

The remaining people looked at the strangely dead bodies, feeling a sense of escape from death.

But even the remaining Srui people caused more than half of the defenders to die.

"Warriors, we..."

The Happy Prince raised the long sword in his hand, he wanted to say... we have won, we have won this war--

But he inexplicably felt a tightness in his chest.

As far as the eye could see, everyone who was still standing was covered in blood - whether it was their own or that of the Srui people.

They wiped the blood from their eyes, and the eyes that reappeared became empty and blank.

Among those dead Srui people.

Many of them had snow-white beards, and some had youthful faces.

They should not have been on the battlefield.

They drew their swords not out of human reason, but out of instinct.

The Srui Kingdom has not perished because of this, but can the warriors he leads still support such a war?

The Happy Prince looked at the Srui people who had died from infighting. He could hardly imagine how many of the warriors defending their homeland would have been left this time without Reyk and Polo.

"Is this war really over? Have we... really won?"

...

The tired guardians have left the battlefield, and the real night begins to rule this wasteland.

The pale moonlight shines on the remains all over the ground.

And just then, next to the bones of the Srui people who died because of [Ring Regression: Peerless face], a woman with a dark red pointed round hat walked out slowly from the deep forest.

She was not affected by the soaring stench, but swept her gaze over the deaths of all the Srui people.

"Madness and domination for beauty, losing reason, infighting..."

She bent down and stared at a Srui corpse with wide eyes for a moment, as if she could see what the Srui people had seen before their death, "Ultimate beauty, I have been waiting for a long time, and now, it has finally appeared."

The woman looked up at the sky, and in the depths of her eyes, brown-red magic light glittered - like an ocean.

"My last puzzle piece, the supreme beauty, should not fall into the hands of others."

She said in a low voice, her figure reappearing in the shadows of the trees, "Hope should not only be placed on the tea party, and besides, those weak magical powers have dissipated a lot..."

" The Most Beautiful is the Only One, no matter who it is, I will find you."(End of this chapter)