Lux clenched the two thin exit permits; their weight, though slight, felt as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from her heart, her steps even becoming a bit lighter.

After leaving Boss Pony's territory, she went to a general store at the street corner and bought a half-used handcart.

Although she and her sister didn't have many belongings, considering the journey to the farm later and the household items they might need to add, having a cart would be more convenient.

Lux pushed the creaking handcart, slowly walking towards home.

She looked at the pitted, muddy street beneath her feet, at the pickpockets lurking in the shadows like geckos, waiting for an opportunity, at the bustling crowd on the street rushing about for their livelihood—the hoarse cries of vendors, the haggling voices of customers, the distant sounds of hammering from workshops.

These ordinary people struggling at the bottom formed the truest and cruelest underlying color of this city.

As for those wealthy people and nobles living in the inner city, said to be magnificent and opulent, Lux had almost never seen them; they seemed to live in another world, separated from this filth, as if they had never existed.

Suddenly, a rich milky aroma mixed with a slightly sweet baking scent wafted into her nostrils.

Lux looked up and found that she had unknowingly walked to the entrance of "Milan Cake Shop."

This was a cake shop founded by an old couple, now passed down to their daughter and son-in-law.

Besides selling some traditional local cakes and pastries, they also kept up with trends, introducing many popular cake types from outside the city, and even often creating some novel flavored cakes and desserts, which were very popular with the nearby residents.

Mitty was a loyal patron of this shop.

Whenever it was Mitty's birthday or some other festival worth celebrating, Lux would always bring her here to let her choose her favorite cake.

As for Lux's own birthday… she had little interest in sweets, so that day was usually when Mitty showcased her skills, attempting to cook new dishes—of course, judging by the results, the probability of success and failure was basically fifty-fifty.

"Welcome!" The wind chime at the entrance let out a crisp tinkle, and a young woman with a noticeably pregnant belly looked up and greeted with a smile. "It's Sam, isn't Mitty with you today?"

"She's at home, I came to buy her some cake," Lux replied, her gaze falling on the woman's protruding abdomen. "Madam Lisa, where is your husband?"

"Jamie, oh, he's busy in the kitchen. Ever since I got pregnant with this little one, he won't let me do any work," Lisa said, seemingly complaining, but her tone was filled with unconcealable sweetness and pride.

"Jamie is truly a considerate and good husband. Then… I'll take this apple cream cake, I can pack it myself." Lux pointed to a very tempting-looking cake in the counter.

"You're a good brother too," Lisa said with a smile, handing Lux a clean cloth bag.

Lux carefully packed the cake, paid, and then bid Lisa farewell and left.

After leaving the cake shop, Lux subconsciously turned back to look at this cozy little shop one more time.

She remembered every time she brought Mitty here, when they left, her sister would always look back reluctantly at the busy scene in the shop, her eyes, besides the love for delicious cakes, also secretly hiding a trace of indescribable envy—that was probably a longing for this ordinary, stable, and within-reach happy life.

But, soon. Lux said to herself in her heart.

Soon, they too would have that ordinary, small, yet warm and happy life.

Even if it might be a bit monotonous and boring, Lux believed that by then, Mitty's eyes would no longer show that faint look of sadness—that look… that always made Lux feel a dull ache in her chest.

[The cake can be kept a little longer, we can eat it when we get to the farm… No, Mitty, that little glutton, probably won't be able to resist eating it on the way.] Lux thought idly as she pushed the cart, soon arriving at the entrance of their own bakery.

She put down the handcart, carried the cake, and walked towards the door. "Mitty! Are you done packing?" she called out as she reached out to push open the familiar wooden door.

[Something's wrong!] The instant the door was pushed open, a strong, pungent smell of blood mixed with a completely unfamiliar, unsettling aura, like an invisible venomous snake, violently shot into Lux's nostrils.

An icy chill instantly crawled all over Lux's body, as if freezing her very blood.

But years of struggling on the streets allowed her to quickly stabilize herself amidst the extreme horror.

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and pushed the door open.

"Mitty, look what I brought you? Your favorite apple cake!" Lux said, feigning a relaxed tone, while before entering, she surreptitiously put on the magic necklace she had just confiscated from the thug leader, and at the same time, her right hand tightly gripped the small knife hidden in her sleeve.

However, when she saw the scene inside the room clearly, that feigned calmness was instantly shattered by the cruel reality.

The entire front hall of the bakery was in a mess, tables and chairs overturned, freshly baked bread scattered on the floor, trampled beyond recognition.

Grandma Mabel was back, but at this moment, she was lying on the cold floor, a bowl-sized, still gushing bloody hole in her chest.

Her wrinkled hands tightly gripped a broken broom handle, her eyes wide open, already lifeless, like the discarded bread on the floor, quietly awaiting the arrival of decay.

And Mitty… Mitty was leaning against the corner of the wall, a hideous wound torn at the junction of her neck and shoulder, blood dripping, staining the front of her dress red.

But she was still alive.

She saw Lux, coughed violently, struggled to extend her hand, and with her last ounce of strength, called out intermittently, "Bro… ther… cough cough… Quick… run…"

With a "thud," the carefully packaged cake in her hand slipped and fell to the ground, smashing into a sweet, sticky mess.

"Mitty!!" Lux's eyes were wide with fury, screaming her sister's name heartbrokenly, and she rushed towards Mitty regardless of anything.

However, just as Lux was about to reach Mitty's side, about to grasp her limply hanging hand, an extreme sense of danger, like an ice pick, pierced her spinal cord.

Lux abruptly spun around, her wrist flipping, and the small knife she had been gripping tightly, like a thrown javelin, transformed into a streak of iron-gray lightning, viciously shooting towards her back.

The small knife accurately grazed a blurry black shadow, but only a crisp "ding" was heard, as if it had struck hard metal, and then it was deflected, falling to the ground.

"Yadada, what a sharp little thing. How did you find me?" a voice tinged with mocking laughter sounded.

The originally blurry black shadow writhed like a living creature, then abruptly split open, as if an invisible black giant mouth opened, spitting out its "tongue"—a bizarre human figure.

This was a man with a terrifying appearance.

His face was covered with twisted wrinkles and ugly scars left by burns, but he seemed completely unconcerned, not even bothering to conceal them in the slightest.

He wore a crooked brown beret on his head and a loose black long robe.

The darkness around him seemed to be a part of his body, like folded bat wings, quietly gathering and lurking after he appeared.

Lux didn't answer, her crimson eyes fixed deadly on the opponent, and with a push of her feet, she charged towards the black-robed man again.

A cruel smile curved the corner of the black-robed man's mouth, and a pitch-black ring suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

In an instant, dozens of sharp black thorns shot out from the ring, like spears poised to strike, hurtling towards Lux.

Facing this sudden attack, Lux's body displayed an incredible flexibility, the tips of her hair turning a vivid red, like a blood-red haze. While running at high speed, her body twisted and dodged as if boneless, narrowly avoiding most of the black thorns, with only her shoulder and thigh grazed by a few, leaving several shallow bloody marks.

Just as she was about to make contact with the black-robed man, a furry, heavy glove, like a bear's paw, suddenly appeared out of thin air on Lux's right hand.

She roared, gathering all her strength, and slammed it viciously towards the black-robed man.

"Bang!" An earth-shattering loud noise.

Lux's powerful palm strike was firmly blocked by a shield made of pure darkness that suddenly appeared in front of the black-robed man.

The huge impact spread outwards, causing the already rickety wooden furniture around them to buzz, as if it would fall apart at any moment.

"Oh? Is this your ability? Creating magic items out of thin air?" The black-robed man looked at Lux with interest, and at the strange bear-paw glove on her hand. "But… these items, only you yourself can use them, right? And moreover…"

Before the black-robed man could finish his sentence, the black robe behind him suddenly swelled and instantly unfurled a pair of huge black wings, like those of a bat.

The black wings flapped, stirring up a gust of cold wind, then, like an opening giant mouth, lunged towards Lux, seemingly intending to swallow her whole.

The bear-paw glove on Lux's hand instantly vanished, replaced by a silver ring inlaid with a small cat's head.

Her body immediately became as light and agile as a cat, and with an incredibly swift roll, she narrowly avoided the pounce of the black wings.

"...And, using multiple ones at the same time will cause your magical power to deplete rapidly, right." The black-robed man seemed pleased with himself for accurately seeing through Lux's trick, letting out a low chuckle. "Pardon my rudeness, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Rio Blackwood, you can also call me by my title—'Shadowmancer'. I am a Demon Hunter from this Purple City's Demon Hunting Bureau." The black-robed man, or rather, Rio the Shadowmancer, introduced himself unhurriedly, as if enjoying the process, while observing Lux's expression with great interest.

However, Lux only panted heavily twice before once again assuming a ready-to-attack stance, the hatred in her eyes almost materializing.

[Wildcat Ring: Silver band ring, inlaid with a miniature cat head decoration. Effect: When worn, the body will gain extreme flexibility and agility.]

"What I want to tell you is… I've been truly, very lucky today," Rio the Shadowmancer said slowly, and with a casual wave of his hand, several jet-black whips, like venomous snakes, shot out from his sleeves, lashing towards Lux with sharp whistles.

Lux tried her best to dodge, the red of her pupils emitting a fluorescent glow, but the speed of these black whips was simply too fast, their trajectories extremely cunning.

Merely being grazed by the tip of a whip immediately tore away a bloody patch of flesh.

And the black whips that struck the nearby wooden cabinet directly split it in two.

"Today… I've been super, super, super lucky!" Rio the Shadowmancer began to grind his teeth excitedly, a horrifying "creak-creak" sound emanating from his mouth.

"To think I'd actually… encounter such a delectable 'boy' like you, hee hee hee…" Saliva even began to uncontrollably drip from the corners of the Shadowmancer's mouth. "Did you know? All the clergy in the city today have gone to attend that boring festival. Right now, they should be enjoying fine wine and delicacies, lost in drunken revelry."

"So… we have—a very—long—time, to… 'play' together properly, oh." The Shadowmancer's already hideous face, under the contortion of his smile, became as nauseating as a writhing mass of flesh. "And, you know… what my favorite thing to eat is?"

Lux ignored his insane ramblings; she held her breath, attempting to flank him from the side, switching back to the [Black Bear Paw Glove] to attack.

[Black Bear Paw Glove: A thick, furry glove resembling a bear's paw. Effect: When worn, can unleash powerful palm strikes, enough to shatter boulders.]

However, her intention was seen through again.

Just as she was about to get close, the floor beneath her feet suddenly bulged upwards without any warning, and a thick black earth-spear violently thrust out.

Alarm bells screamed in Lux's mind; she immediately switched back to the [Wildcat Ring], her body performing an incredible backflip in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow, with only a few strands of hair cut off by the spear tip, grazing her scalp.

"My favorite thing to eat… is a boy's testicles!" Finally, Rio the Shadowmancer could no longer suppress his perverted desires, roaring out these words. "Especially… after tying you little ones up, while they're still warm… directly gnawing off those two hot, trembling balls from your bodies…"

Before his words had faded, a large mass of black shadow erupted from beneath his feet.

The black shadow, like a black tidal wave at high tide, surged towards Lux.

Wherever it passed, the wooden floorboards shattered inch by inch, and furniture was easily torn into a sky full of flying wood chips.

"This, this is truly my own… exclusive feast!" He laughed maniacally, spreading his arms wide, as if lost in a frenzied illusion, reveling to his heart's content.