Chapter 12: The Name of the Calamity Star

“With my blood as the guide, I bind you in a prison of thorns!”

「Holy Blood Contract · Thorn Bind」

Lilith’s clear, cold, and rapid chant rang out with a strange rhythm.
Her raised right hand suddenly clenched into a fist.

“Buzz—”

A thick, bloody smell suddenly filled the air!
Countless dark-red thorn phantoms instantly shot out from the ground beneath Lilith’s feet and the space around her!

With sharp, whistling sounds, like living vipers, they precisely and swiftly entangled the two gray-robed men!

The two gray-robed men were fast, but the blood-red thorns were faster!

One of them only had time to hold his dagger horizontally in front of his chest to block.
The dagger was tightly entangled by the thorns, and other thorns were about to wrap around his body.

The other gray-robed man reacted slightly faster, twisting his body to avoid the thorns in front of him.
With a flash of cold light, he cut off a few approaching thorns.

But he dodged the first wave, only to be unable to escape the encirclement from all directions.

More thorns swarmed in from all sides, like a constantly shrinking dark-red cage, completely sealing off his escape space!

“Ugh!”
He was tightly bound by several thorns.
His dagger flew out of his hand, and he was dragged by a huge force and slammed hard onto the ground.

The entire battle lasted only a few breaths.
The two assailants were instantly subdued by Lilith’s nonchalant move.

The front yard of the orphanage was deathly silent, with only the sound of the thorns tightening and the suppressed groans of pain from the two gray-robed men.

The cries of the children were blocked behind the door.
The adults hid behind the windows, watching in horror at what was happening at the entrance.

Just when everyone thought Lilith had finished and their minds relaxed.

“Pfft—”

A thick black mist emanated from the two gray-robed men, spreading outwards.
The thorns that came into contact with the black mist slowly dissipated, like snow melting under the sun.

Bai Jin noticed that the power of this black mist felt somewhat familiar, like her own death energy.

But it lacked the gentleness of death energy, and was instead purely cold and destructive.

“The rats of the God-Burying Society… heh, they’re really not getting any better.”
Lilith whispered contemptuously.

Her gaze seemed to be able to penetrate the obscuring black mist and land on the two figures fleeing in disarray.

Just as Lilith was about to chase after and catch those two petty thieves, a few children near the edge of the recent battle area, who were slightly closer to the dissipating black mist, let out painful cries.

Their bodies went limp as if their bones had been removed, and they collapsed softly to the ground.
Their faces quickly turned ashen, and their lips turned purple.

“My children! Oh heavens!”
Director Emma rushed towards the fallen children, shaking their gradually cooling and stiffening bodies.

Lilith withdrew her gaze from the fleeing enemies and anxiously ran to the side of the fallen children to check on their condition.

A red light flickered in Lilith’s hand, and she infused a stream of life force into one of the children’s bodies.

Bai Jin also rushed to Lilith’s side.
Too much had happened just now, and Bai Jin had many questions, but for now, she could only wait for Lilith to explain the situation.

“Tsk, trouble.”
Lilith finally spoke.
She said to Director Emma, “First, move the children to their beds, then sprinkle holy water to disperse this residual death energy.”

Everyone began to bustle about, following Lilith’s instructions.
Bai Jin looked at Lilith’s furrowed brows and finally couldn’t help but ask.

“Lilith, what on earth happened? And what is the God-Burying Society?”

Lilith glanced at Bai Jin, the complex expression in her eyes making Bai Jin feel inexplicably puzzled.
She finally sighed.

“Sigh, the God-Burying Society can’t be explained in just a few words. Just think of it as heretics in the eyes of the Holy Blood Royal Court.”

“The important thing now is the lives of these children. They’ve been eroded by death energy and don’t have the protection of the Holy Blood’s power.”

“If we just inject life force, their bodies will collapse in the battle between the two powers.”

Bai Jin wanted to ask more, but seeing that Lilith was consuming her own life force to forcibly maintain the fragile lives of those few children, she knew the situation was far more serious than she had thought.

“What can I do?”
Bai Jin felt that this death energy should be somewhat related to her own death energy, and her constitution should be able to help in some way.

“Go help Director Emma and the others. Get more blankets to keep the children’s body temperature up.”
Lilith seemed to be at her wit’s end, even resorting to physical methods of keeping them warm.

She was extremely conflicted internally.
These children did not have the blessing of the Holy Blood.
Their so-called faith was just lip service; they hadn’t truly signed a contract with the Holy Blood to become believers.

If they were normal Holy Blood believers, dealing with this death energy would be very simple.
The endless stream of life force would wear down the death energy.

But the trouble was that these children were not believers of the Holy Blood.
If she had them sign the contract tonight and become believers of the Holy Blood, then what would her years of persistence count for?

Lilith shook her head.
She could only slowly inject life force to repair the areas damaged by the death energy, hoping for a turnaround.

Bai Jin busied herself with Director Emma and the others, basin after basin of hot water being brought in and out.

Vera’s small body was curled up into a ball, her head buried low, hiding in a corner.

The terrifying black mist from just now, the children’s miserable cries, and the gazes that now and then swept over her, were like countless needles pricking her.

Bai Jin took a deep breath and quickly walked over to Vera.
“Vera, don’t be afraid. Let’s go take care of the other children together, okay?”

She thought Vera had been frightened by the sudden event and wanted to give her something to do to distract her.

Vera’s body trembled violently, but she didn’t look up, just burying her face deeper, as if she wanted to bury herself in a crack in the floor.

Bai Jin sighed inwardly and reached out to gently help Vera up.
Just then, a few older children who had been hiding further away earlier, became somewhat agitated after the initial shock.

Looking at their unconscious playmates, then at Vera in the corner, their fear and anger found an outlet.

“It must have been her who brought them here!”
A boy pointed at Vera.
“Nothing good ever happens when she’s around!”

“She’s the one who brought the bad guys! It’s her fault they’re like this! Get out! You jinx!”
More children were stirred up, their childish voices speaking incredibly hurtful words.

Vera’s body began to tremble violently.
She didn’t argue, just bit her lower lip hard, tears streaming down her face.

Bai Jin seemed to have guessed something.
She had also experienced school bullying in her past life.
This scene of being collectively blamed sent a wave of anger straight to her head.

She stood up abruptly, blocking Vera, and glared at the few agitated children.

“Don’t talk nonsense! We don’t even know what happened yet. How can you just blame someone like that!”
Her voice became even hoarser from agitation.

The children were startled by her sudden outburst of anger.
The accusations weakened, but the exclusion and fear in their eyes did not disappear.

“Enough!”

Lilith’s cold voice rang out, instantly overpowering all the noise.
She was still treating them, but the majesty of the Saintess, carrying an absolutely oppressive aura, enveloped the entire room.

Her cold gaze swept over the boy who had led the accusations, making him feel as if he had been plunged into an ice cave.

“If you dare to make any more noise and disrupt the treatment, get out of this orphanage immediately! The land of Holy Grace will not tolerate foul language and kicking someone when they’re down!”