“Why? Alaric, Duer, and Liliana?”
The girl dressed in a pure white dress stood before the Black Dragon whose wing membranes had been pierced.
Her right hand, clad in a fingerless leather glove, rested on the Golden Chest hilt at her waist, trembling imperceptibly.
She questioned the two men and one woman leading the Army standing a short distance in front of her with a tone of unbelievable sadness.
“Teacher Alice, please step aside from the front of this Black Dragon. Do not obstruct us.”
The golden-haired woman holding a Magic Staff replied in a similarly sad tone, the difference being a hint of helplessness and madness mixed within.
“Impossible. Do you all intend to provoke War again?”
The girl called ‘Alice’ asked righteously, though the answer to this question was already obvious.
“Sorry, Alice. We can no longer stop. You can go back, but we cannot let the ‘Black Dragon’ go.”
The gray-haired man drew the sword at his waist. The pitch-black spine of the blade was filled with inscriptions so red they were nearly black, and the mirror-polished edge reflected his majestic but unkempt face.
In his vacant, hollow eyes, only the madness of a vow to burn everything down remained.
“What kind of joke is this? ‘Fafnir’ has never killed a Human! What is the difference between what you are doing now and those ‘Demonic Beast’ that killed innocents during the ‘Monster Tide’?”
The girl’s words caused a slight stir among the Soldier behind the man; the crowd became noisy.
“Silence! Think of the loved ones you lost, think of the lovers you lost. Are we not standing here precisely for them?”
The man incited the hatred of the Soldier, and the wavering faded considerably.
However, in Alice’s view, this was obvious twisted logic. As for why…
“Hatred is the same for both sides. The cause of the disaster’s outbreak… Alaric, you know it well in your heart. Your ‘arrogance’ and ‘greed’ caused all of this. What reason do you have not to accept the peace we have now?”
The Soldier, having learned the secret, grew restless again, but the man’s roar interrupted them once more.
“Shut up! They are just a group of ‘Demon Race.’ We Human are the race chosen by the ‘Goddess’ to lead this world!”
Hearing these words, the girl seemed to think of something. Her face darkened as she spoke a sentence calmly.
“I truly feel sorrow for Serena and Alpha.”
“Silence! I announce the stripping of Alice’s title as ‘Hero.’ Like that ‘Demonic Dragon’ behind her, she is a heretic we should eliminate, and an enemy we need to take revenge upon!”
This guy had gone completely mad. The girl named Alice turned her gaze to the golden-haired woman beside him and the young Mage behind the woman.
“Liliana, Duer, do you also think this way?”
“Sorry, Teacher Alice. I miss Il.”
“I see.”
Having made her decision, the girl drew the sword at her waist. The pure white spine was carved with silver inscriptions, and the trembling had stopped without her noticing.
Her golden hair danced in the wind. Having shed her confusion, she looked exactly like a second Dragon on this battlefield.
She pointed the tip of her sword toward the Army ahead.
“What is lost cannot be recovered. Revenge and the like are just excuses. Your true faces are nothing but a group of cowards who refuse to face the future!”
“The Dragon behind me is my friend. Unlike you group of cowards, we have already promised to carry the ‘past’ together to forge a future. This is the meaning of the word ‘courage’!”
***
Again this strange… Memory, Su Yao, opening her eyes from the darkness, let out a soft moan. Coming to her senses, she actually found a hot, wet sensation on her face.
Was she… crying?
She wanted to lift her hand to wipe the dampness from her face, but she found her arms were firmly restricted at her sides.
Looking around, she found she was still in a Forest. The difference was that her body seemed to be trapped inside a tree.
Not only that, her sharp senses allowed her to discover the sensation of being wrapped by some soft, cold “rope.”
Her two arms were tied firmly together, and even her fingers were considerately taken care of…
This feeling… some kind of Vines?
How did this happen?
She clearly remembered driving away that Fairy, and when she rushed back to the Inn, an angry Chlorel had given her another harsh ‘education.’
But how to explain this situation now?
“You’re awake? I advise you to stay here quietly.”
The white-haired ‘Barbie doll’ flapped her butterfly wings, hovering next to her head. All the clues pointed to one thing—she had been captured.
But how did this ‘Fairy’ do it?
Clearly, she was no match for her Fire Magic, and those Treant couldn’t even get close to her, but now…
Never mind, escape first!
After analyzing the current situation, Su Yao gathered Magic at her fingertips.
A small cluster of flame appeared; she intended to use fire to burn through these thin Vines on her body.
However…
“Ugh”
While the Vines tightened, they also became much thicker.
Not only that, the surface of the Vines, which originally felt somewhat soft, suddenly became exceptionally rough, and many barbs grew on them.
Having her sensitive areas suddenly stimulated, she subconsciously opened her mouth, but something even more uncomfortable happened.
The dead tree wrapping her body suddenly thrust a branch into her mouth.
While pressing down on her tongue, a thick Vine tightened around her neck with immense force.
“Eh? As expected of a masochist loli. I clearly advised you to stay quiet. Do you want to become like the version in your Memory that much?”
What… what was she saying! Like the version in her Memory? This lewd Fairy clearly just wanted to toy with her! This hateful fellow!
“Ghu-wu-ah-oh!”
Enduring the pressure of the Vines and the tree branch, she struggled to make a sound, but what she got in return was the hateful Fairy’s mockery.
“What is this masochist flat-chested loli saying? I can’t understand at all. Oh right, as long as you don’t use Magic, it won’t be like this.”
‘Flat-chested’? This girl really held a grudge…
But telling her to stop her Magic? How could that be possible? No matter how thick the Vines were, they were still Vines.
She just needed to endure this bit of pain. Once she broke them, she would definitely ‘clean up’ this Fairy.
“If you don’t want to be toyed with by thick Vines with thorns, then stay quiet for me.”
Sorry, she was wrong. This Fairy still had such a terrifying hidden move. She couldn’t afford to provoke her…
After she stopped casting Magic, all the Vines on her body returned to their original state, and the branch pressing her tongue also disappeared.
It had to be said that this girl’s ability was much more convenient than Chlor’s ways of playing.
No, now was not the time for this!
“You bastard, what exactly do you want to do?”
“Nothing. I’m waiting for ‘The Great Person’s’ Decree. If you were willing to cooperate and ‘get lost’ in the Forest, it wouldn’t have been so troublesome. You just had to ask for Trouble… I see, this should be considered a reward for you, right?”
How could this kind of thing be a reward! And what exactly was going on with this girl’s ability?
“Wait here peacefully. The Great Person didn’t tell us to hurt you. These Vines can absorb Magic. The more Magic you use, the ‘more functions they will have.’ Of course, it’s a different story if you can’t bear the loneliness yourself.”
“Oh, right. As a reminder, the Fourth-tier Magic in your Memory cannot harm these Vines. As for higher-tier Magic, it seems you can’t chant those anyway. Goodnight, see you tomorrow~”
“What? Wait a minute! What do you want? Let’s negotiate!”
The silver-haired Fairy left two sentences and flew toward the depths of the Forest. Now Su Yao was certain; she really had been ‘kidnapped’…