Lita was completely oblivious to certain kinds of excessive contact. In truth, Cecilia was probably the same way. But what set Cecilia apart was her keen observational skills, which allowed her to find the right path forward based on Lita’s reactions. So in this unfamiliar battlefield, Lita had to admit that Cecilia was the superior one.
Lita scooted closer to Cecilia, leaving the damp and cold beneath her behind. Sleeping in an icefield cave had this one downside—whether it was melting snow or rock moisture, it easily soaked the bedding and disturbed her sleep.
Lita tried to pull her legs in. Her sore body made the movement a bit difficult, but not too hard. The rustling sounds didn’t wake the sleeping Cecilia beside her. Lita stretched out her arm, wrapped it around Cecilia’s smooth back, and pulled her closer, closing the distance between them. Cecilia’s soft chest pressed against Lita’s, and she could even hear Cecilia’s wildly pounding heart.
“See, hugging really does keep you warm.” Lita muttered, lowering her head to look at Cecilia’s sleeping profile. Though Cecilia’s heart was racing, her breathing was steady. A few strands of golden hair stuck to her cheek with sweat, making her face look a bit disheveled—but it couldn’t hide her delicate beauty.
Lita lowered her eyelashes and gently brushed her lips against Cecilia’s slightly parted ones. Even though she had kissed—or been kissed—countless times tonight, this was the gentlest kiss of all.
“Good night, Lady Cecilia.”
“Pfft.” Lita sputtered, flicked the short strand of hair into the campfire, then wrapped her arms around Cecilia and closed her eyes. By the dim firelight and her keen vision, Lita had clearly seen that strand of stiff, curly silver hair, about the length of her own finger, still clinging to the corner of Cecilia’s mouth. Lita muttered softly, then reached her arm out from under the covers to touch her own lips, plucking off the foreign strand.
In Lita’s arms, Cecilia’s heart pounded even faster. She pressed her lips tightly together, forcing herself to make no sound. Even so, Cecilia felt her face burning, as if it were blazing like the campfire beside her. Maybe it was because of that sudden light kiss, or maybe because of the foreign object stuck to her lips. Listening to Lita’s increasingly steady breathing, Cecilia found herself unable to fall asleep.
There was no sunlight inside the cave, but by body sense alone, she could roughly tell the time. Lita groggily crawled out of the covers, and a wave of chill immediately swept over her, making her sneeze. Under the covers, Cecilia had curled up like a ball, glaring hatefully at Lita.
Getting dressed was more troublesome than expected. Fortunately, the clothes they’d taken off the night before were all piled behind Lita and at her feet, kept warm by body heat and not too cold. But before getting out of the covers, she had to separate all the tangled clothes that had been pulled off together, then put them on one by one, all while staying warm—that wasn’t easy. The only good thing was that Dream Demons seemed to have decent cold resistance. Otherwise, flying around all day in such revealing clothes would really freeze a person to death!
After changing, Lita searched the cave again. Although the Baba Bon Tribe had met with misfortune, the attacking enemies hadn’t wreaked too much havoc, so there were still some useful supplies they could take. Once she’d gathered the supplies, Lita temporarily settled Cecilia in the cave and left to see if she could find any lone animals on the icefield.
Although it was a bit of a routine, if little Pearl the pony’s departure could earn them a reliable Snow Leopard friend who could carry them both back to the Northern Great Wall, that wouldn’t be bad either. She would always remember this… the ninth generation? Anyway, she would remember that little Pearl lay buried here.
But reality was harsh, as cold as the snow of the Everfrost Wasteland, chilling Lita’s heart. She flew a wide sweep using her aerial view, just like when they’d come, and found no animals at all. She estimated she’d been gone about two hours. If she didn’t go back now, they’d have to spend another night in the Baba Bon cave.
Lita hurried back to the cave, shouldered the luggage and supplies that should have been on little Pearl, and used some discarded cloth, leather, and the saddle to make a simple harness that could secure Cecilia in front of her. Then she officially set off.
Why not carry her on her back? Lita would have liked to, but her little wings stuck out from behind. Carrying Cecilia on her back would only prevent her from flying and would likely bruise Cecilia’s face from her wings flapping. Though it was tiring, holding Cecilia in one arm, supplies in another, and a weapon in the remaining hand turned out to be quite fast. Of course, that was also because Lita flew quickly enough.
There was another reason: the days Lita spent as Erteer’s errand girl had given her a huge boost. Not in physical strength, but in managing stamina consumption. It had taken the three of them three or four days to penetrate deep into the Everfrost Wasteland. At Lita’s speed, she could reach the Northern Great Wall in at most three days. That included the time spent walking near the Wall to avoid suspicion.
The first day passed without incident. They found a relatively suitable windbreak spot before dark and set up camp. Sleeping until noon the next day, Lita recovered most of her strength and set out again. Unfortunately, it started snowing that day, so they had to rest temporarily.
On the third day, Lita could faintly see the silhouette of the Northern Great Wall. From here, it would take some time to reach it. Splitting the journey into two days was the best option.
And so the crisis came that night. After dark, Lita was busy adding wood to the fire when she sensed someone had triggered the trap she’d set. It couldn’t really be called a trap; the setup was more like the ropes and bells villagers used to hang in the mountains to ward off bears, alerting people to danger.
Anyway, it was something similar, only made of Charm Aura. Its purpose wasn’t to ward off bears, but to prevent any approaching creature from getting too close. Especially Alien Ghosts. Though it was only for a fleeting moment, Lita felt someone pass by.
Yes, a person—at least a humanoid creature. But its speed was unnaturally fast, like little Pearl at full gallop during the Wild Hunt chase, or like Erteer when she’d worked on a mission with Lita before.
Lita gripped her sword and looked around. But everything around was pitch black. In the darkness, a shadow flashed rapidly across Lita’s field of vision. Since she’d already caught sight of it, Lita wasn’t about to let this enemy escape. Besides, an enemy of this level probably wouldn’t come in great numbers—maybe just one.
Lita braced one hand on the ground and met the shadow head-on. At the same time, the shadow pulled a pitch-black great sword from its back and swung it at Lita.
The metallic resonance echoed far across the silent snowy night. The sound blast from their swords clashing instantly blasted the snow beneath their feet into a spreading crater. Good thing she’d reacted quickly, detecting the enemy and engaging before the attack landed. That forced the opponent’s carefully prepared finishing blow to be used prematurely.
“This is the third time.” The black hair blown back by the wind pressure slowly settled, but the deep blue eyes looking at Lita didn’t hold the disappointment she’d expected.
Ke Xia Er. It was actually her?
“It’s strange. You shouldn’t have spotted me.” Ke Xia Er swept her great sword, temporarily forcing Lita back, then embedded the blade deep into the ice face. “It seems escaping the Wild Hunt wasn’t a coincidence.”
“Yeah, I really shouldn’t have spotted her.” Lita thought to herself. Both the detection trap and Darkvision were indispensable. Anyone else would have fallen for it.
And the opponent seemed to have revealed some information too. The tragedy of the Baba Bon tribe, the Wild Hunt’s pursuit—it wasn’t a coincidence. “What about the others? Are they okay?” Lita held her sword ready.
“I have no reason to tell you.” Ke Xia Er raised her head, azure flames burning in her pupils. “Alive or dead? So they’re still alive.” Lita rolled her shoulder. “But you’re probably going to die here.”
“You’re welcome to try.” Ke Xia Er pulled the great sword from the ice with one hand, gripping it tightly.
Both figures shot forward at the same time, meeting at the center of the ice. As they exchanged blows, Lita realized this Death Knight wasn’t as strong as she’d imagined. Her attacks were fast, just like that Holy Knight she’d sparred with in the Twilight Courtyard when she swung a great sword, but Lita could parry them. Although the opponent certainly wasn’t going all out.
But Lita didn’t plan to give her the chance to go all out either. She didn’t have any chivalric code. As long as she won, the process didn’t matter at all. However, this time Lita had completely miscalculated.