The two hunters, Madel and Penny, were childhood sweethearts. They flirted the entire way, which put Mio in a foul mood. If they’d been her own soldiers, she figured she’d have kicked them out of the supersonic transport a long time ago.

Fortunately, the two hunters quickly found a suspicious game trail. Mio checked the tracks on the ground. A lot of people had used this little path. From the broken branches and shrubs by the roadside, quite a few of them had been carrying weapons.

“Judging from the signs, this should be it.” Mio hid the prepared directional mines in the bushes. The childhood sweethearts watched in surprise as she finished her prep work.

“Lady Mio,” Penny asked, “what are you doing?”

“Setting directional mines,” Mio said. “I want to thin out the bandits as much as I can before they reach the village. If they hit a couple mines and decide to give up, even better.”

“I don’t really get it…” Penny gave a strained smile.

Just then, Madel, who was on lookout, signaled. Mio instantly opened her tactical interface and ordered the drone to fly toward the alerted direction. The infrared sensors cut through the leaves, and the image fed straight into her field of view. Twenty‑seven armed men were moving along the game trail toward the village.

“The bandits are here,” Mio said. “That was fast.”

“What do we do?” Penny’s face was full of panic.

“Calm down. They haven’t found us yet,” Mio said. “Madel, fall back. Carefully. The main bandit force is a hundred and fifty meters from us, but their scouts will pass your position soon.”

The young hunter, face pale, quickly retreated.

“Penny,” Mio ordered, “you and Madel go back to the village. Tell Aimee the bandits are here.”

“Lady Mio,” Madel asked, “what about you?”

“If we all run, they’ll definitely catch us. I’ll buy you some time,” Mio said. “Don’t worry. I’m a jungle warfare specialist, a trained soldier. Those amateur bandits are no match for me.”

Before she finished speaking, an arrow thudded into the tree trunk beside them. A sharp whistle echoed through the forest.

“We’ve been spotted. Their scout’s good,” Mio drew Punisher. “Run. Now.”

She squeezed the trigger. Two bullets tore through the thick brush and hit the hidden archer in the thicket. The drone watched from above. To the infrared sensors, the dense branches offered almost no cover. One bandit after another was tagged. With the data from the drone, Mio aimed precisely at targets completely invisible to the naked eye.

The two young hunters took off, sprinting through the forest toward the village. Mio opened the tactical link, took direct control of the directional mines, armed them, then withdrew at speed.

About fifty meters later, a deafening blast roared behind her. The drone confirmed the mines’ results: three bandits turned into beehives by steel balls and pre‑shaped fragments.

Mio ran while focusing her mind, carefully reaching toward the darkness deep in her soul. Black sludge flowed from her hands and condensed into a light machine gun with a drum magazine. It fired 7.62mm rounds. At ten kilos, it was ridiculous weight for a fifteen‑year‑old girl—but Mio hefted it with ease and swept fire at the enemies chasing from behind.

The bandits spread into a combat formation, splitting into three elements to flank her. But their tactical shifts couldn’t escape the drone’s surveillance. As long as it circled above the forest, Mio saw everything.

The only problem was, their combat ability was a bit too good. If they were just a rabble, they should’ve been tumbling over each other to run after stepping on mines. She ordered the drone to lower altitude and study them closely, and saw that although their armor was ragged, their weapons were excellent.

Mio was sure now: these so‑called bandits weren’t bandits at all. They were a unit of well‑trained soldiers, disguised as bandits for some purpose.

Things were getting interesting.

Mio picked up speed and moved to the right of their advance route. The “bandits” quickly reacted. One squad turned toward her and spread out, trying to cut her off. That annoyed her. It looked like they were using some method to track her movements.

If both sides knew where the other was, there was no point in hiding.

Mio switched visual modes. Several glowing human outlines appeared in her view. Infrared sight was really handy in a forest. She raised the LMG, aimed at the enemies twenty meters away, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Rat‑tat‑tat. The gun spat a half‑meter tongue of flame. The 7.62 rounds shredded the fresh green shrubs, and the bandits hiding behind bushes and trunks were hammered by sudden fire. Two who reacted too slowly took hits to the head and abdomen. The rest instantly dropped low, scrambling for cover.

Mio was now certain this fake bandit unit wasn’t just well‑trained—they were elite among elites. Their calm and correct response to an unknown weapon said everything about how used to battle they were.

Mio fired as she fell back. To avoid the incoming bullets, the bandits’ movements grew slower. Drone intel showed Madel and Penny had already reached the edge of the forest, the two of them running hand‑in‑hand like the poster children for public displays of affection.

Mio had no time to care. She shaped a grenade out of the black sludge and tossed it at the bandits hiding behind a moss‑covered boulder. A thunderous bang, and some unlucky guy’s upper body went flying.

She dropped the empty LMG and once again risked touching the darkness in her soul, forming a “Short Sword” submachine gun. It fired 9mm rounds with a 35‑round magazine—shorter, lighter, more suited to jungle fighting.

Her plan had been to suppress the bandits with the machine gun. That clearly wasn’t working, so she decisively abandoned firepower and switched to maneuver, dancing around them.

A bandit in tattered leather armor jumped out of the grass. This was the first time Mio came face‑to‑face with one of them. She emptied a burst of 9mm straight into his face without a second thought. Then she kicked the corpse aside, spun, and gunned down another bandit trying to ambush her from behind.

Honestly, fighting humans was way easier than fighting gods and their apostles. Humans were fragile. They died easily. Some weak‑willed ones even became followers of the gods, so wiping them out was necessary.

Every bio‑warrior of the Night Watch was a specialist in anti‑personnel combat.

Mio ran through the forest with the SMG in her arms. She vaulted over moss‑covered roots with agile steps, then used tree trunks as cover to fire back at the enemies behind her. An arrow stabbed into her neck; she yanked it out without hesitation. She had to admit, the archer’s aim was impressive—shame that it couldn’t kill her.

But the more she drew on the black sludge, the stronger the anxiety in her chest and the gnawing hunger in her belly grew. The craving to devour flesh and blood was eating away at her will.

After emptying her last magazine, Mio tossed the SMG away. Time to retreat.

The drone confirmed enemy positions. Ten bandits remained. Mio was very satisfied with her results.

She sprinted toward the village—only to have a deep‑blue‑skinned man suddenly step into her path. He was slender, with bare arms that didn’t show much muscle. The drone had never detected him.

“Finally caught you,” the man thrust a dagger at her.

There was a sharp hum. The Force Field Sword sliced the dagger clean in two. Shock filled the blue‑skinned man’s face. Mio seized the opening, drove her blade through his chest, then flicked it upward and tore half his body apart.

“Tinas!” A second man rushed out with a shout. His skin was the same color, his face covered with black cloth, only a pair of silver eyes showing.

Mio drew Punisher and took aim. One shot, and his head vanished.

She let out a breath, reloaded while keeping watch on her surroundings. There were many things in this world she didn’t understand, and an enemy who could stay completely invisible to the drone’s electronic recon system was something she hadn’t expected at all.

Drone intel showed that after the two blue‑skinned men died, the remaining bandits’ movements noticeably slowed. Seizing the chance, Mio bolted out of the forest in one go. She sprinted toward the village at full hundred‑meter‑dash speed, only to see Aimee standing imposingly at the village gate.

“They’ve still got ten left,” Mio said. “I didn’t manage to wipe them all out.”

“Just ten?” Aimee smiled with confidence. “Mio, leave them to me. Once you see a bit of my full strength, you’ll definitely want Lord Balder as your main god.”

“They’re all yours, then.”

Mio jumped, landing lightly on top of the wooden palisade and dropping down beside Penny. Madel was so startled he almost fell off the wall. Mio spun and grabbed him by the arm.

“You just jumped up here?” Penny asked. “Lady Mio, are you a follower of the Goddess of Hunting?”

“Something like that,” Mio replied perfunctorily.

Just then, the ten remaining bandits, looking a little worn out, appeared on the road. Mio had bought about half an hour and worn them down. But these survivors were no pushovers. They adjusted their breathing, raised their weapons, and advanced in perfect order.

“In the name of War God Balder!” Aimee drew her longsword. “I’ll offer your heads to your rightful throne!”

Silver‑white Holy Light wrapped around her body and formed a suit of silver armor. It was her Divine Art regalia, White Silver Saint Kai. The armor was weightless on her; instead, it boosted her strength and speed.

At the sight of that armor, the bandits wavered. Their firm steps turned hesitant.

“A… Chosen One…”

“The Sword Saint of Hamodia… why is she here?”

Facing their uneasy whispers, Aimee raised an eyebrow. “Heh. Looks like I’m pretty famous if even you lot recognize me. You’re not ordinary bandits, then.”

The bandits’ faces twisted. They raised their weapons and charged.

Sword light flashed. The lead bandit’s upper body went spinning into the air. His lower half kept its sprint for a few more meters before collapsing, blood and entrails splattering across the ground.

Aimee didn’t pause after the first kill. She slipped through their ranks with blinding speed and cut down the bandit with the crossbow in the back line. The bowstring snapped; his neck sprayed blood. Before a single drop could touch her, Aimee hopped back five steps, then spun and cleaved down a burly bandit wielding a massive battle‑axe.

So fast. Mio’s enhanced dynamic vision barely kept up. Everyone else couldn’t see a thing; they only saw three bandits explode into blood on the spot. Behind the wooden wall, the villagers cheered.

This was a one‑woman army. Mio swallowed. For the first time, she truly grasped how weak she was.

“What’s wrong?” Aimee flicked the blood from her blade. “Where’d that swagger go? Come on, attack! War God Balder is watching. Don’t you dare hold back.”

That fired the bandits up. Almost all of them were followers of Balder.

“That’s more like it.” Aimee’s smile turned dazzling. “Fight, fight, fight! And then die.”

Blood sprayed. One bandit’s guts spilled across the ground.

Aimee danced through the flying gore with a gorgeous sword dance, cutting down one bandit after another. She harvested their lives without hesitation, completely immersed in the joy of battle.

Mio watched every second of it. This beautiful big sister was, at her core, an absolute battle maniac. Appearances really were deceiving. Once they reached Seralni, Mio decided she should split from her as soon as possible.

The setting sun slanted low. Aimee shook the blood from her sword and slid the gleaming weapon back into its plain scabbard. Around her, ten bandits had become miserable corpses on the ground. The earth was soaked red.

“A real Sword Saint…” the village chief muttered. “That shouldn’t be possible…”

Mio turned to him. She hadn’t missed a single word.

Aimee turned toward the wooden wall and waved with energy. Standing amid a heap of mangled corpses, she looked, somehow, incredibly beautiful. Maybe that was exactly why she’d been favored by War God Balder. The number of people who could become Chosen Ones was tiny, and the title of Sword Saint belonged to only one person in the entire world.

And now that Sword Saint stood right in front of her.

Mio stared at Aimee’s back. A faint trace of envy flickered in her red eyes.