Rosie's Games
Chapter 557 557: Confrontation 2

Upon Rosalind's arrival at the barrier, she found herself in a desolate place. It resembled a vast, empty expanse, like an endless, colorless void. The barrier itself was a shimmering, translucent wall, appearing almost like a massive, luminescent sheet of glass.

It stretched as far as the eye could see, separating the known world from the unseen dangers beyond. Its faint, pulsating glow held an eerie beauty, yet an unmistakable sense of foreboding lingered in the air.

This barrier, seemingly fragile yet impenetrable, was humanity's last defense against the lurking demons.

Rosalind had seen this in the vision but seeing it up close was simply too different.

However, she was not here to appreciate this space. She was here to check if her instinct was right.

She looked around only to see the peaceful atmosphere around her. Still, Rosalind could not seem to stop herself from feeling that someone was staring at her, observing her from afar.

"Reveal yourself..." Rosalind said.

"It seems that I was right..." a deep voice echoed. "The power that you had earlier was temporary."

Rosalind swiftly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding a sizable black orb hurtling from behind her.

She promptly pivoted and found herself facing a man with long, black hair, and...

"Grandfather?" she gasped. She could see snippets of what happened when she was gone, but she could not remember the whole thing just yet. Still, she immediately recognized her grandfather - at least the younger version of that man.

Federico Lux!

This man was the younger version of Federico Lux!

"Oh?" the demon who possessed Federico stared at her as if he was trying to dissect every fabric of her being. "Another soul... Eh?"

Rosalind pursed her lips. The man before her was dangerous, just staring at him made her skin crawl.

Something about his pale appearance rang all the bells inside her head.

This was a frightening opponent!

"You are not welcome here..." Rosalind said. Unlike the goddess, she could not freely use all of the abilities inside her body.

"Oh my... I was not aware of that!" the demon's eyes widened before he gave her a sinister grin. Then he sent bolts of lightning her way.

Fortunately, Rosalind promptly activated her light blessing, steering clear of the bolt and redirecting it to a different target.

"Oh?" the demon uttered. "The power of light..."

However, the demon did not stop. The demon's relentless assault continued, unyielding, fierce, and intimidating. Bolts of lightning crackled through the air, and elemental barrages rained down upon Rosalind.

Her heart raced. With a shield of darkness, she protected herself from the storm of attacks, using her light blessing to deflect each strike back at the demon.

However, it did not take too long before the demon gained the upper hand. Rosalind's energy waned, but she refused to surrender. She summoned every ounce of strength and knowledge that she learned from the visions that she saw from the goddess herself.

Rosalind drew from the visions of the goddess, but she quickly realized that experience was a different beast altogether, especially in combat. Her initial strikes with the cursed dagger were met with swift evasion from the demon. It was as if he effortlessly moved Federico's body as an extension of himself.

Then she watched as Federico's nails grew longer and darker until they became black claws that looked as sharp as Lucas's sword. To her surprise, the demon used this against her cursed dagger, but it was not strong enough to damage the dagger!

Undeterred, Rosalind pressed on, trading blows with the demon. They engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand battle, their movements fluid and precise.

Each strike and block held an intensity born from desperation. Rosalind's lack of experience in physical combat became evident when she received a scratch on her left arm.

The wound stung, and Rosalind couldn't help but withdraw, hissing in pain. Her once spotless arm was now marred by the sinister mark.

She glanced at the wound, noticing something unusual. Dark, thick pus oozed from the scratch, its inky blackness contrasting starkly against her pale skin.

Ignoring the excruciating pain and the unsettling sight of the black pus, Rosalind knew she couldn't falter.

"You are not the woman that I fought earlier..." the demon grinned. "The same face yet different soul. This made me wonder... since you were able to remove her influence in your body, you should be stronger than her, no?" he stared at her, his eyes filled with disgust.

"Not only are you weak, it seems that you do not know how to use your abilities. Ah... was it because the people in this continent were uncivilized and uneducated?" the demon mumbled.

Rosalind glared at the man. The only reason why she was able to fight against him this long was because of the boosts that her light blessing provided. Without it, she would have been useless.

She knew that while she had trained for a few days, she was not an expert at fighting!

So, she focused on her wound and used her light and dark blessings to heal it. To her surprise, her light blessing worked but the wound... was fighting back! It seems that the black pus had a mind of its own!

She grimaced in pain.

"This fight is not entertaining. You are wasting my time..." the demon rolled his eyes before he vanished from where he was. He then appeared behind Rosalind, intending to use his claws to cut her head.

However, Rosalind was prepared this time; she used the dark blessing and pushed the demon away.

"We are not done here!" Rosalind said. She gritted her teeth and thought about her connection to the barrier.

She could feel it surrounding her like a thick blanket. However, it was not the comfortable blanket that one would have during winter but a suffocating one that could easily intimidate anyone.

Earlier, she could only feel peace from the barrier. Now, however... it felt like the barrier was resonating with her emotions! It was as if the barrier itself was crying for her name!

She took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. If she was right... then she could use the remnants of the goddess's power inside the barrier too, even if the goddess was already gone!

However, why would the demon wait for her to perform a spell to defeat him? Seeing Rosalind stood there, the demon sneered. Then once again he vanished and appeared behind her.

This time, the demon did not hesitate. He used his claws and plunged them into Rosalind's chest.