(MC POV)

The old lady waved her hand in an arc rather dramatically, the lasers winking out of existence without a sound.

My disciples continued to shield me with their bodies, eyeing the old lady with caution.

"I mean no harm, young ones. I am merely here to repay a debt," The old lady smiled at us, not even showing any concern to the giant tentacle monster in front of her.

The wrinkles around her face made it seem like her eyes were perpetually closed, so we couldn't see her eyes.

"Who are you?" Lian Li asked, lightning dancing through her fingers.

"Just a passing lady, no need to mind me, dear," The old lady's smile widened, revealing two rows of perfectly white and even teeth.

She raised her hand just in time to stop a barrage of dark lightning aimed at her, a barrier forming instantly in front of her that even covered us who were behind her.

"How rude," She tutted, turning her head slowly back to the front. "It seems like you didn't learn a thing."

The tentacled monster sneered at her, "!dlof derdnuh a niap eht nruter lliw I !enod ev'uoy tahw nettogrof evah I kniht ton oD"

She sighed, "That is the point is it not?"

The old lady raised her hand to point at the monster before shifting to the side, causing a mass of energy to explode on the side of the monster's body.

Oh, that's where the body of the second prince was… She just destroyed it just like that…

The monster let out a wail of pain, its tentacles curling up to clutch at its wound.

"To allow yourself to bond with such a frail being… You must be pretty desperate," the old lady sighed.

"!?WOH"

She shifted her hand to point at the monster again, "Oya? Did you think I was not here completely? Ofufufu~ I am one hundred percent here you know?"

Those words seemed to shock the monster, "?ytud ruoy nodnaba dluow uoY"

"Ofufufu~ This IS my duty, you pathetic, insufferable little reject of existence."

Oh wow, this old lady does have an attitude.

The tentacled thing roared and started to gather its dark Quarks to form a giant sphere of darkness above its head.

In response, the old lady created her own sphere above her head, except hers was multi-coloured and formed instantly.

She threw the sphere even before the thing was ready with its dark sphere, her multi-coloured orb instantly erasing the dark orb when it came into contact with it.

No, not erase, the dark orb was absorbed into her own sphere, further increasing the size of it.

The ball came into contact with one of its tentacles and it immediately started absorbing the limb into it as well.

If the scream it gave when it was blasted was ear-piercing, the one it gave while its limb was disintegrating was earth shattering.

"!NIAGA EM EGAC TON LLIW UOY !UOY FO HTOB EHT ROF NRUTER LLIW EW !SDROW YM KRAM !!HHHGRRRA"

The old lady smiled at its threat, "What made you think you were simply going to get banished this time?"

As soon as those words left her lips, her multi-coloured orb turned into an ominous purple.

The thing began to panic, trying to get as far away as possible from the orb but the barrier I had made was still in place.

"!enO taerG a m'I !siht od t'nac uoY !oN"

"You mistake me for someone who cares."

The orb floated closer and a few of its tentacles were sucked towards it, this time disintegrating into nothingness.

This time, I was prepared for its scream, erecting a barrier around my disciples and I before the sound could reach us.

Despite the absence of sound, the buildings collapsing around us was enough to clue us in on how loud that tentacled thing was screaming.

It seems like this old lady is quite the sadistic one too since the orb was moving excruciatingly slowly towards the monster, letting the torment drag on for as long as possible.

"Who is she?" Kiyomi asked, watching the monster get disintegrated with fascination in her eyes.

"Well… She needed some help finding lodgings back during the Princess's Coming of Age celebration. I thought she had been a normal old lady back then but it seems I was mistaken, though she did give me a rainbow coloured flower for my help..."

Diao Chan gasped, "Ah! I remember now! I met her too! She gave Cai Hong a rainbow coloured flower as well!"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Really? That's an uncanny coincidence…"

Yeah… It's almost like she was stalking us? And seeing what she can do, she's on par or even stronger than this giant, black, oozing, slimy, multi-legged, hundred-eyed tentacle monster.

Now I'm more concerned about her than the monster itself…

Just as I was considering whether we should leave before the old lady decides to turn her sights on us, the monster was completely eaten up by her purple sphere, leaving no trace of it behind.

As though it wasn't enough, the sphere dropped down onto the earth without warning, exploding outwards in a flash of purplish light.

Fearing the worst, I strengthened my barrier around us, using the last bit of my strength to step in front of them with my arms stretched out to my sides.

My vision went white for a few seconds before it returned, my sense of balance returning to find myself collapsed on the ground with my disciples piled up on top of my back.

Ah… It seems like each of them had chosen to leap at me and push me down to shield me with their bodies instead… 

"Ofufufu~ I did tell you all I had no intention to harm any of you right?" The old lady laughed, stepping aside to reveal the entire city restored to its former glory.

The only place that still had some form of damage was the ground directly beneath us, it seems like my shield had prevented the restoration effects from passing through.

My disciples untangled themselves from atop me sheepishly, letting me stand back up on my feet.

"Who are you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

Her face softened considerably, "No need to be so wary, dearie. I am just an old lady that likes to meddle a little bit here and there. Nothing else to it."

Still not fully trusting her, I placed myself in front of my disciples, "Considering how you just basically killed that thing effortlessly, I doubt you are that simple. How did you get past my barrier around the city?"

"Ofufufu~ I never left the city. When you set up that little barrier, which I might add was really well done for your mortal limitations, I was already inside of it."

"And you picked the time when we were about to get annihilated to jump in because?"

"You seemed to have the situation handled and I don't think you would want any interference before that, did you? Only after it locked you away from your Origin was there any need for me to step in."

I rubbed my neck, "Right… How did it do that anyway?"

"Mmm… These things feast on Origin and since you aren't attuned to it perfectly, it was able to eat the connection you have to temporarily sever your link to it. That also granted it a temporary power up since it consumed the Origin you were channeling."

"Well damn, I don't even know what this Origin is in the first place, all I know is that I seem to be drawing power from the stars."

She smiled at me, "It is much more than that, I assure you."

"So what is it? You seem to know a lot more about it."

"Ofufufu~ It is not my place to tell you, dear."

"What are you then? You are clearly not human."

She smiled and her eyes opened slightly, revealing her irises to be iridescent in colour.

Chuckling at our shocked faces, she waved her hand in front of her and the second prince suddenly plopped into existence on the ground.

I thought she had summoned his corpse but the steady rise and fall of his chest told me otherwise.

She tilted her head at us, "It seems like you've been through quite a lot, do take a while to relax, won't you?"

She raised her hand and shot a white spark into the sky, letting it explode into multiple coloured fireworks.

We had been distracted by the sudden display that when we looked back down, she was already gone.

Yeah… I really need that vacation right now…

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