Adele, until the very end, respected the little hamster girl’s decision. After hearing Adele’s words, the little one’s cries gradually subsided. Her tears slowed, then stopped, and her expression shifted from confusion and suspicion to determination. This world can’t get any worse. I’m destined to fail to meet that woman’s demands for books. This means my mother won’t be saved. So...I might as well gamble on this big sister who, at first glance, gave me the same feeling as that monstrous blue-haired woman! That is...Adele!

So she sniffed, knelt on the ground, and crawled towards Adele, clutching the girl’s clothes tightly, grasping at this potential “lifeline,” as Adele said.

“I’ll tell you everything...!”

“Please, please...save my mother!” Just hearing the girl’s vulnerable cries softened Adele’s heart. But this was a taboo for an Enforcement agent. It was best not to show mercy when encountering foreign races, in case they posed a threat to human society. So you couldn’t trust their tears, but should always think rationally. After all, most honest foreign races were already living ordinary lives in the foreign race self-governance zones. Those who remained outside, if not all, then most, definitely had ulterior motives or harbored some kind of hatred towards humans.

But Adele was a rookie. Expecting her to be cold and ruthless from the start was unrealistic. So she reached out gently, stroking the little hamster girl’s trembling, fluffy ears—one could suspect she just wanted to pet a beast-eared girl—and said softly, “Tell me everything you know.”

“And your name.”

“I can’t guarantee that I can save your mother, but I’ll do my best.”

“My name...is Xiaosu.” Su? Shu? Adele wasn’t sure which character it was. Seeing this, Xiaosu sniffed and added, “Su, like the rustling of leaves.”

“Oh, I understand. Xiaosu, please continue.”

The little hamster girl nodded obediently. “I live in the huge sewage pipes beneath the human city. My mother is the queen of the Ratmen.”

“But she’s not my real mother. I’m an adopted child...”

“She’s very kind and gentle. Knowing that Ratmen are unwelcome among both humans and other foreign races, she gathered us, the homeless Ratmen who are hunted and shunned by everyone, and built a small but warm home.”

“Because we never do anything bad, just scavenging human garbage...we’ve never been discovered by humans.”

“But a few days ago, a blue-haired woman suddenly broke into our home.”

“She can release tentacles from her shadow!”

“We couldn’t escape her grasp. In the end, she used our mother to threaten us, forcing us to collect books for her, any kind of books...”

“We could only obey, but the number of books in the garbage dump is limited. We’ve already taken everything, but it’s still not enough to satisfy her demands.”

“So she ordered us to steal, from anywhere, as long as it’s not...from libraries.” Xiaosu’s voice lowered, and her eyes instantly reddened. Clearly, it was because she had violated the blue-haired woman’s order. She was afraid, but she just thought that there were many books in the library, and if she was careful...no one would notice! She just wanted to save her mother from that demon’s hands as soon as possible.

But for Adele, she was glad that Xiaosu violated the evil god’s order. Otherwise, if time continued to pass, the evil god might actually recover her original power using this “hiding in plain sight” method. By then, ordinary high-level agents might not be able to do anything to her alone. The entire search operation would become even more complicated.

“It’s not your fault, Xiaosu, trust me.”

“Now...take me to her. I’ll do everything I can to save your mother from her!”

Xiaosu looked up, staring at the beautiful big sister before her. Although she was still hesitant, the powerful aura she sensed from Adele earlier flashed through her mind. Perhaps...perhaps! Perhaps she really can save me! Anyway, the situation can’t get any worse. It’s worth a try.

So the little hamster girl gritted her teeth, and her fluffy ears perked up from their previously drooped state.

“I-I’ll take you to that bad woman!”

“Good, let’s go find that...bad woman who stole things!”

“...” Xiaosu’s ears drooped again, like a cat’s airplane ears.

Adele realized her mistake and quickly said, “Ah, I wasn’t talking about you, Xiaosu. You’re not a bad child, you were just threatened by a bad person.”

“That blue-haired woman, she stole something very important to me.”

“She’s the thief!”

“...Is that so?”

“Of course! There’s no time to waste, let’s go now!” Adele said, receiving Xiaosu’s confirmation.

Since she had obtained definite information about the evil god from Xiaosu, Adele no longer needed to continue patrolling the entire East Continent Library. But thinking about having to go into the possibly smelly sewers, Adele felt a bit uneasy. But this was a necessary hardship to save Teacher Victoria. It would be okay! Or rather, the sewers, in a sense, were Adele’s home turf. The elements inside...were abundant, practically covering the entire periodic table.

But so far, both elemental vampires and elemental mages could only manipulate the basic natural elements: earth, fire, water, wind, etc. Although some had tried to manipulate other elements on the periodic table, they all failed. It was fortunate that they failed. Otherwise, if someone controlled radioactive elements, wouldn’t they become a walking disaster?

Led by Xiaosu, Adele left the East Continent Library and quickly arrived at a manhole cover in a secluded corner of the square. Xiaosu skillfully opened the manhole cover and went down. Adele gulped and followed, then used magic to put the manhole cover back in place.

The situation inside the sewer...let’s not describe it, otherwise it would make most people lose their appetite. But as an important part of a megacity’s drainage system, it could undoubtedly accommodate multiple people.

Adele began to believe that there was a “Ratmen” home inside. They went out at night and returned before dawn, isolated from the world, fearing both humans and other foreign races, living lonely lives, drinking groundwater when thirsty, and scavenging garbage when hungry. They didn’t want to integrate into this society, whether human or foreign race, nor did they want to destroy it. So Adele felt more sympathy and respect for these Ratmen. After she rescued Xiaosu’s mother, the Rat Mama who raised so many Ratmen, Adele would discuss with the Enforcement Bureau and respect their wishes. Those willing to go to the foreign race self-governance zone would receive social security, and those who wanted to stay, Adele hoped the Enforcement Bureau wouldn’t make things difficult for them.

Just like that, Adele followed Xiaosu’s short, fluffy hamster tail, trekking through the sewers. It was worth mentioning that she used the concealment magic she learned from Elf True Ancestor Lislotte to completely hide her and Xiaosu’s auras, also preventing sewage, mud, and smelly garbage from getting close. They would be blocked by an invisible barrier. This was also to avoid being detected by the evil god who could release shadow tentacles.

Also, Adele wasn’t foolish enough to go alone...no, wait, she did come alone, if Xiaosu wasn’t counted as combat power. But she had already reported the situation to the Enforcement Bureau through the program back in the library. Director Yashi, after learning about the situation, would naturally inform the other senior agents and quickly formulate a plan to prevent the evil god from escaping. They would set up a dragnet outside, and Adele would take the initiative to confront the powerful evil god and stall her. She didn’t need to defeat the evil god, just stall her for a while, and soon, other senior agents would arrive and work together to contain her. Then they could figure out how to separate the evil god from Teacher Victoria’s body.

Adele couldn’t think that far ahead now. She focused, ready to face the evil god’s attack. They were only a short distance away from Xiaosu’s underground nest. But even though Adele was extremely cautious and fully prepared, she still encountered an unexpected situation in the evil god’s current territory.

The moment she took a step forward, it was like triggering a barrier. Black shadows rapidly spread outwards from her toes, as if trying to swallow everything, extending endlessly. At that instant, Adele pushed Xiaosu away. A gentle breeze would ensure her safe landing. But Adele herself seemed to have become the only lamb in this endless swamp of darkness.

But the current girl...was no longer a lamb! Countless tentacles extended from the dark swamp at an incredible speed, leaving only afterimages. But what greeted them were raging flames, freezing frost, and swirling wind blades... The endless transformations of the elements were displayed. In the dark domain, light erupted from Adele as the center, like a small sun emitting endless brilliance, eventually rivaling the domain’s master, the evil god Iä!. And it was thanks to the light element controlled by Adele that Victoria, trapped in a black coffin like a sacrifice, could be seen in the depths of the darkness, or rather, Teacher Victoria’s body, occupied by the evil god Iä!.

It was a bizarre scene. She was trapped in a twisting, surging swamp of darkness, only her pale and beautiful face, neck, part of her upper body, her round shoulders, elbows, and knees exposed, the rest of her seemingly embedded in the darkness. She had her eyes closed, as if sleeping peacefully.

Seeing this, Adele’s eyes reddened, and the veins on her forehead throbbed. The girl swore that no matter what, she would save Teacher Victoria from this damned evil god! Countless elemental magic spells bombarded the darkness, forcefully shattering it before Adele. And the girl continued forward, step by step. Perhaps twenty meters? Ten meters? Adele felt that her efforts were paying off, her attacks injuring and weakening the evil god. And she was getting closer and closer to Teacher Victoria. Perhaps soon, she would reach the black coffin made of darkness and shadows. Perhaps soon, she could free Teacher Victoria from the shadow tentacles.

Five meters...Teacher Victoria’s face was right before her. Adele didn’t hold back, unleashing the full results of her special training. And this was within the evil god’s domain, where Adele couldn’t borrow the existing elements. It was equivalent to her using all the magic power in her circuits to fight against the otherworldly evil god Iä!.

Although another layer of darkness was torn apart, the tentacles sizzled in the flames like dying insects, Adele’s magic power was almost depleted, only enough for one final, decisive blow.

And it was at this moment, only a step away from touching Victoria’s body, surrounded by swirling elemental currents, resisting the countless twisting tentacles trying to stop her, that Adele took her final step, each movement feeling like a thousand pounds of weight pressing down on her. Vaguely, it felt like someone was encouraging her from behind, looking at her with determined eyes. —”Adele, use Flame Fist on her!”

That’s right, the ultimate fist technique Adele developed during her special training, concentrating all elements into a single point. It was based on the “Kitty Paw Strike,” but evolved and improved. Even Elf True Ancestor Lislotte praised its power. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

So...Iä!, could you withstand this punch!? The moment Adele clenched her fist, winds gathered from all directions. And the moment she struck, it was like a bullet leaving the chamber, elemental waves rippling outwards.

“Boom!” The entire coffin made of solidified darkness was pierced and burned to ashes by Adele’s Flame Fist. Iä!’s painful, shrill scream, like ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) a banshee’s, echoed in Adele’s ears. The surrounding darkness began to dissipate, the endless tentacles retracting. Perhaps this entire domain was her body, and the black coffin was the “brain center” where she controlled everything, where she kept Victoria. Now, the center had been destroyed by Adele. Did this mean...Teacher Victoria had been rescued!?

Undeniably, Adele was ecstatic at that moment, especially since the feeling of Victoria in her arms was so real, only a bit cold, like someone who had been soaked in cold water for too long. The girl tried to warm Victoria’s body with her own body heat. This seemed to work. Victoria’s fingers twitched slightly under Adele’s gaze. Overjoyed, Adele looked up at Victoria’s face, which was no longer as pale and was starting to regain its color, at her trembling eyelashes.

And just as everything seemed to be returning to normal, something Adele could never have imagined happened. Victoria opened her eyes, but what emerged from them...was endless, new darkness! Through their intertwined gazes, it gradually encroached upon Adele’s eyes, seeping into the depths of her soul...