“Roar!”
A deafening roar erupted from the Dark Hollow Tree Demon.
It had thought it had caught two prey, one of which seemed to possess powerful magic.
If it could digest and absorb her, it would evolve into a higher-tier monster.
But in the end, it didn’t get a single bite of meat—instead, it was heavily blasted by magic.
Xia Li heard the Dark Hollow Tree Demon’s roar and turned around.
The creature no longer disguised itself as a tree and revealed its true form.
On a stump smeared with blood and bits of flesh grew a terrifying head, countless vines like nutrient tubes connected its head to the hollow in the tree.
Anis’s blurred vision caught only a glimpse before her stomach churned violently.
So they had been inside this disgusting monster’s body just now?
“Roar!”
The Dark Hollow Tree Demon moved toward them, countless vines whipping through the air, wildly lashing and smashing the surrounding bushes, snapping branches and scattering leaves.
Hmph, futile rage.
Xia Li gave it a contemptuous gesture universally understood across worlds.
“Whoosh!”
A spear of light descended from the sky, pinning the demon’s vines into the ground.
Xia Li’s expression stiffened.
Another expert?!
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”
A rain of spears of light poured down like arrows, pinning all the vines and stabbing into the Dark Hollow Tree Demon’s body, turning it into a porcupine of spikes amid its anguished cries.
The demon that was roaring a moment ago suddenly fell silent.
“Step…”
From the nearby bushes, a girl clad in a priest’s robe emerged, her hood shadowing her face.
She held a spellbook in her hands, a waning moon necklace hanging over her chest.
Xia Li stared at her, stunned.
This person seemed vaguely familiar…
Where had she seen her before?
As Xia Li was lost in thought, the girl walked toward the Dark Hollow Tree Demon.
Snapping back to reality, Xia Li instinctively shouted, “Step back! That thing doesn’t die so easily!”
The girl paused and took a step back.
The vines drooping to the ground suddenly whipped up, swinging past where the girl had just stood.
Thorny spikes scraped across her cheek, leaving a streak of blood.
But that was all.
Xia Li had already moved behind the demon.
She pulled out a light spear pinned in the vines and stepped on the vines to reach the demon’s grotesque head, thrusting the spear into its forehead.
The spear slid all the way through, piercing its brain.
“Gaa—!”
The Dark Hollow Tree Demon’s body withered and shriveled visibly, losing all vitality along with the vines, curling up into charred fragments.
In an instant, only a dead tree stump remained.
“All done~”
Xia Li jumped down from the stump, secretly slipping the extracted crystal core into her palm.
A mid-tier monster’s crystal core—definitely worth a good price!
She looked toward the girl who had summoned the spears, thinking of an excuse to keep the core for herself, and waved, “Hey, are you an adventurer too?”
The girl ignored Xia Li completely.
She passed by the demon’s corpse without so much as a glance.
Not even bothering to wipe the blood off her face—she went straight toward Anis!
What was she here for? Xia Li barely had time to ponder before she dashed ahead to stand between the girl and Anis.
Meeting the girl’s cold gaze, a strange chill rose in Xia Li’s heart.
“The crystal core is yours. Step aside.” The girl’s voice was sharp.
“What do you want to do to Anis?” Xia Li stood her ground.
“Tsk, who do you think you are to her?”
“And you? What are you to her?”
The two stood at an impasse.
Xia Li would never let this strange, dangerous-looking person near Anis.
After all, she and Anis were teammates, friends, and had even done a mana restoration together… Well, to put it exaggeratedly, that was almost a sort of one-time ‘intimate’ relationship.
Anis, hearing their argument, opened her eyes weakly and whispered, “Sister…”
“You’re awake?” They both looked at Anis.
Hearing this, they simultaneously glanced at each other.
There was a subtle change in both their expressions.
Xia Li reassessed the priest’s robe on the girl and realized it was the same style as Anis’s.
So that’s it…
Clearing her throat, Xia Li said, “Ahem… you’re Anis’s sister, right?”
“Since you know that, step aside.” The girl stepped past Xia Li and glared at Anis’s priest’s robe, full of tears and stains, the buttons on the chest hanging loose.
She turned back to glare at Xia Li, “Did you do this?!”
“Speak with evidence.” Xia Li spread her hands, silently thinking the sisters’ personalities were wildly different.
“If it wasn’t you, do you think a monster undid the buttons?!” The hatred in the girl’s eyes was as if she wanted to skin alive the scum who had dirtied her sister.
“Sis… Sister, stop it…” Anis grabbed her arm, “I misunderstood… I accidentally unbuttoned it myself. This has nothing to do with Sister Xia Li.”
“All this has happened and you’re still defending her!”
“No… it really isn’t what you think… I swear!”
Anis was so anxious she almost cried.
She couldn’t exactly say that she had deliberately taken off her clothes to restore mana with Sister Xia Li.
“Really?”
“Really! We accidentally fell into the Dark Hollow Tree Demon’s trap, and it was thanks to Sister Xia Li that we escaped!” Anis rattled off the story as fast as she could.
Of course, she left out the mana restoration part.
“…Was I mistaken?” The girl turned to Xia Li, pulling down her hood to reveal short, chestnut-gold hair and pointed ears.
Xia Li froze upon seeing her face.
“Apologies for the misunderstanding. I am Philia Cuffs. I offer you my deepest apologies.”
Philia placed her right hand over her chest and bowed deeply.
The hostility on her face faded, but her voice remained cold, “Thank you for protecting my sister. She caused you a lot of trouble.”
“Um… it’s okay…” Xia Li answered casually.
Her gaze remained dazed, fixed on Philia’s face, not quite back to reality.
Philia Cuffs—priest’s robe, the pointed ears that marked her as an elf, and a face Xia Li had seen countless times.
So many familiar traits…
She definitely wasn’t mistaken.
Philia was an important member of the protagonist’s party in the game, the female lead’s partner and lover, the engine for party wipes, the elven saint—Philia!
Anis’s sister was actually the Saint…
No wonder they looked so much alike.
But something was off.
The Saint in the game was goofy and cheerful; how could she show such a cold attitude?
Her character was completely shattered!
Plus, the Saint in the game had no sister.
Xia Li didn’t expect events to follow the game’s story exactly.
Under the butterfly effect, every action she took changed the course of the plot.
But no matter how she influenced the story, Philia wouldn’t suddenly have such a personality shift upon first appearance, nor would she spontaneously have a sister!
Could it be that I’m playing some pirated version of the game… Xia Li thought bitterly.
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