The Exiled Lord: My Maid is a Battle Goddess-Chapter 54: The second contracted Divine Chosen(1)

The Corrupted Dragon that Rosalia transformed into could not fly. The dragon wings growing from its waist swept outward, smashing the wooden fortifications of the first defensive line and flinging the surrounding corpses away as if they were toys. Countless pieces of debris scattered in all directions.

A sandstorm rose instantly, chaos erupting everywhere. Some soldiers broke and fled, while others fought corrupted corpses amid the turmoil. Human screams and the sounds of falling objects filled the air.

What had been a clear and controllable situation was instantly stirred into muddy chaos.

Those enormous pupils, radiating a cold aura of death, stared lifelessly at everything on the ground. Then the dragon’s massive body began to move, like an ancient machine clogged with cobwebs—each step shaking loose huge chunks of rotten flesh and strands of blood.

Just as Ashina had said, Rosalia was making a desperate last stand. Judging by her condition, she looked ready to collapse into a pile of mangled flesh at any moment.

"Roar!"

The dragon’s grotesque maw split open along with its cheeks, spraying out countless white orbs of light. Each carried a heart-chilling force of corruption, raining down like a meteor shower. It was indiscriminate slaughter.

Despite Drakewolf being covered in wounds, it continued to spew fireballs or hurl itself forward to intercept the light orbs. Even so, it could only block part of the barrage. From time to time, someone was struck directly and annihilated without leaving a corpse.

Worse still, more corrupted corpses were gathering nearby. The earlier commotion had been far too great, drawing wandering corrupted corpses from the surrounding area. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Damn it, we can’t let her keep killing people," Ashina growled through clenched teeth. "And the Corrupted Dragon is heading straight for the grand manor. If she reaches it, the lord’s territory will be destroyed."

Fuck it! Might as well die together with her!

"Don’t do anything stupid!"

Phield was stunned. He dodged a flying wooden crate and thrust his sword straight into the head of a corrupted corpse.

"My lord, hide first. I can deal with that idiot woman soon," Ashina said urgently as she pulled Phield to a safer spot. "Drakewolf, come here. Prepare to charge!"

Seeing Ashina call for Drakewolf, Phield’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He hurriedly grabbed her arm. "There’s no need to die with her! She’s about to collapse anyway. Just wait for her to fall apart. As long as you’re alive, we can rebuild ten thousand territories!"

"I know," Ashina replied, her voice firm. "But I promised you that I would protect Nightfall Domain and its people. Please believe me. I told you—I am your sword!"

With that, she turned away and charged toward the Corrupted Dragon together with the blood-soaked Drakewolf.

"Charge!"

Drakewolf lowered its body, its entire form smeared with filth and blood. Vast amounts of ghostly blue flame scorched its flesh, evaporating the blood that flowed out. Combined with its twisted, ferocious visage, it looked like a beast straight out of hell.

"Boom!"

Like a living cannonball, Drakewolf launched itself into the air, streaking forward as a blue comet trailing ghostly flames, slamming straight into the Corrupted Dragon. Already collapsing and unstable, the Corrupted Dragon had no defense at all—Drakewolf smashed straight into its abdomen.

"Drakewolf—Disintegrate!"

A dull, heavy sound rang out. In the next instant, countless black scales shot outward from within the Corrupted Dragon’s body, slicing through space. Rings of near-solid blue fire waves erupted from the dragon’s belly, expanding outward in all directions.

Even though the Corrupted Dragon was already effectively dead, it let out a shrill scream. The explosion of a divine artifact was a force that burned the soul itself. Even from this distance, Phield could see the agony written all over her.

"Boom!"

The Corrupted Dragon’s pupils contracted violently, followed by a massive explosion.

Chunks of flesh and strands of blood rained down, pattering across the ground, while the enormous skeleton disintegrated directly into dust.

Phield raised the shield he carried overhead, feeling debris hammer against it, his thoughts entirely focused on Ashina’s condition.

"Ugh—"

More corrupted corpses began to gather again.

"Fuck! Why do these monsters never stop coming?"

Phield drew his sword and cut one down. Before he could strike another, the corrupted corpse in front of him was smashed apart by a charging warhorse.

It was a cavalry unit—eight riders in total.

"My lord, we’re late," Kai said bluntly, as battered as the rest. All of them were slaves by origin and didn’t bother with formalities.

"You’re not late." Phield noticed two streaks of light crash into the main building. He immediately mounted a horse. "Follow me to the main building."

"Leave it to us," Kai said worriedly. "Be careful."

"Move." Phield didn’t say anything else and spurred his horse forward.

"Protect the lord!" The cavalry followed at once.

Elsewhere.

"It hurts so much..." Rosalia was in free fall through the air, barely able to open her eyes. When she forced them open to a narrow slit, she saw a pair of crimson eyes filled with icy intent.

Behind Ashina loomed the phantom of a wolf’s soul. Her face was pale with exhaustion, but the fury in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Good day, noble lady," Ashina said. This was her first time using self-destruction. Even though it was Drakewolf that had detonated, she herself had suffered severe backlash. "So? How does it feel to have a divine artifact explode inside your stomach? Did it fill you up?"

As she spoke, Ashina threw a punch just before hitting the ground, smashing Rosalia straight into a building.

Rosalia crashed through a wall, tumbled across the floor, and slammed into another wall before finally stopping. Her once-smooth legs were now filthy, and her beautiful black dress was torn and ruined.

"Damn Demei-humans! Don’t think you can make a human noble submit!" Rosalia gritted her teeth and tried to stand.

In the blink of an eye, Ashina was already in front of her. Her crimson eyes gleamed like gemstones in the darkness. She gripped her cavalry saber, the long blade scraping against the ground and throwing off sparks.

To anyone who didn’t know the context, it would look like a deranged butcher hunting down a pitiful little girl—an otherworldly version of a serial killer.

Thud.

Ashina drove the blade straight through Rosalia, pinning her to the wall.

Her beastlike gaze swept over Rosalia’s body as she licked her long, sharp nails with amusement. "I’m really curious—do you have an infant form?"

Because of Drakewolf’s disintegration, Ashina herself was now in a berserk state.

"You can’t kill me. Corruption will eventually cover the entire world, and I will be reborn in the mist of death."

Ashina gave her a cold glance and waved dismissively. "Whatever."

"Why did I lose?" Rosalia, reduced to a loli form and mentally unstable, burst into tears, coughing up blood as she cried. Both of them had divine skills. Both had disintegrated their divine artifacts. Yet she was the one utterly defeated.

"Because in a battle between Divine Chosen, every bit of power matters," Ashina replied calmly. "From the moment my lord realized you were hiding among the corpse horde, your chances of victory were zero."

"And another thing—you can’t control corrupted corpses, can you?" Ashina interrogated her. "But I have help. Like this."

As she finished speaking, hurried footsteps echoed nearby.