: Maria Claire

At the moment this blade struck.

Suddenly, a piece of information appeared in Qiao Ye's mind.

[Name: Maria Claire]

【生卒：1812年3月14日- 1856年9月22日】

Nationality: French

[Occupation: Nun, founder of the Order of the Mercy of the Child]

This is?

Does the female model have any information about her before she became famous?

How do I know this?

He shook his head, banishing the distracting thoughts from his mind.

What does it matter if you were a human being in life?

Once someone becomes a demon, there is no reason for sympathy.

Moreover, she wasn't a good person in life—

Suddenly, more information flooded into my mind.

The images flashed by rapidly, as if someone were forcing a movie into his brain—

Maria was born in Lyon.

At sixteen, she had her first child, which died two months later from scarlet fever.

At eighteen, having lost all hope in life, she entered a convent and became a nun.

In 1837, she was transferred to the Sacred Heart Asylum in the suburbs of Paris.

This place houses hundreds of orphans; children die every day.

In the winter of 1840, scarlet fever swept through the workhouse.

Maria tried everything she knew: bloodletting, inducing vomiting, herbs—but nothing worked.

She watched her children die one by one, the youngest being four years old, who, before dying, kept clutching her hand and calling her "Grandma."

Maria stood beside the child's body all night.

As dawn broke, she made a decision: she would find a way, any way possible.

From 1840 to 1848, she began to systematically record and compare.

She observed the course of each child's illness, performed autopsies after each child died, removed diseased organs, soaked them in alcohol, and labeled them.

This was her only research method.

Those organs preserved in jars constitute her database.

In 1848, the new director found her eccentric and dismissed her.

Maria established the "Pietà Order" in an abandoned church outside Paris, taking in abandoned and seriously ill children.

She bought medicine from the black market, brewed it herself, mixed the ingredients herself, gave it to the children, and recorded the effects.

[Okay, I'll remember that for next time.]

[Make a note of the bad points so you don't have to use them next time.]

[She performed an autopsy after the child died, preserving the organs in jars for comparison with previous specimens.]

[From 1848 to 1855, a period of seven years, she adopted a total of ninety-one seriously ill orphans.]

Eighteen survived.

Seventy-three have died.

She remembers the face of every child.

She named them, told them stories, and wiped away their tears. They were all her children.

But she did learn something from their deaths. Those organs preserved in jars were what she learned.

In the autumn of 1855, a handyman denounced her. The police found her jars and records.

News of the incident spread throughout Paris, and journalists wrote that she believed in an evil god and had tortured and murdered children as part of a ritual.

She was considered a witch and sentenced to be burned at the stake.

[September 22, 1856, Place de la Ciutat in Lyon.]

[A stake at the stake, a pile of firewood, a crowd.]

Maria closed her eyes as the fire was lit.

Then she saw the children—seventy-three of them—emerging from the fire, surrounding her, looking at her, and saying nothing.

She wanted to call them by their names.

She remembers them all.

But the fire was too hot.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Then the children crawled into her body.

Seventy-three voices rang in her mind simultaneously, one after another:

"Granny."

"Granny."

"Granny."

She never managed to get them out.

Qiao Ye suddenly raised his head and looked around.

Countless scarlet skulls surrounded him, yet they made no attacking motions.

On the contrary, some skulls were even wrapped around the blades of their own swords.

It was as if urging Qiao Ye to hurry up and make a move.

The faceless nun was on the verge of collapse and could no longer support the demon's full form.

but--

With spiritual blessing, Qiao Ye could sense it.

The power emanating from the faceless nun remains bound to this world in an ineffable way.

Sooner or later, these forces will reunite and allow the demons to return.

The faceless nun's featureless face was quietly watching Qiao Ye.

It seems to be waiting.

The scarlet spirit hovered near Qiao Ye's ear, as if telling him something.

Qiao Ye suddenly understood—

"Ordinary slashes have no effect, right?"

It requires power capable of completely annihilating demons.

He suddenly gripped the knife hilt tightly.

A vast power spread from the arm to the blade, even blasting away the nearby scarlet skull.

[Skill: Demon-Hunting Slash!]

[Rank: C-level skill]

[Description: An absolute combat technique mastered by generations of demon hunters with unwavering dedication. While not dealing high damage, it possesses unparalleled effectiveness against demons. Demons annihilated by this technique will never return in their demonic form.]

[Note: The exclamation mark is also part of the skill name.]

Qiao Ye showed no mercy and swung his sword down.

The faceless nun did not dodge, but waited for the attack to come.

In a daze, the faceless nun regained her senses and transformed back into Maria Claire.

She saw the floating skeletal spirits all around her, drawing closer to her.

In this process, the crimson color of the soul fades, transforming into one clear soul after another.

"Granny!"

"Granny!"

"Granny!"

They are her children.

Whether on the stake or after being turned into a demon.

They were always with her.

"Granny, let's go!"

"……good."

Demons are a source of suffering for humans.

And what about those who were turned into demons?

Maria Claire looked up.

【Demon-Hunting Slash!】 After the slash, the faceless nun's figure turned into wisps of black smoke, drifting away in the wind.

Until it is completely resolved.

She no longer exists in this world that does not belong to her.

You have slain the demon: the Faceless Nun.

[Demon Rank: D (Rank Dropped)]

[Serpent School Swordsmanship Level Up: LV1→LV2 (0/1000)]

[Demon Hunter Knowledge Level Upgrade: LV1→LV2 (0/1000)]

[“Great Seal of the Prison” Level Up: LV1→LV2 (0/1000)]

【"Demon Slayer!" Level Up: LV1→LV2 (0/1000)】

[You have obtained: 1 D-rank Demon Soul, the Faceless Nun's Veil, a Fragment of the Crimson Cross, and the Blessing of Seventy-Three Children.]

[Once you enter the Dream Treasury, you can view these items.]

"call--"

Qiao Ye let out a long breath.

it's over--

and many more!

It's not over yet!

Qiao Ye suddenly turned his head, and Sienna was still lying there.

"Miss Valentine!"

Qiao Ye rushed over to check on the other person's condition.

Sienna had been holding on by her last breath, just to see the final result.

The result is now clear: Qiao Ye survived.

Then she naturally had no reason to continue.

But Qiao Ye didn't think so.

"Miss Valentine, hold on a little longer, don't rush to die!"

Sienna was indeed on the verge of death, and ordinary methods could not save her.

But he still wanted to give it a try.

After all, there is still a glimmer of hope.