“Isabella.”
Lin Yue slowly raised his head, only to find that the one who had tied him in place was none other than Isabella, who hadn’t spoken to him in a long time.
How could she still move so freely under the red light?
Before Lin Yue could figure it out, Isabella leaned in closer, her eyes calm, as if this was the tranquility before a storm.
“Good afternoon, Lin Yue Hawk.”
She acted as if she really didn’t know Lin Yue, greeting him with an extremely cold attitude.
“I’m not good at all.”
What now, should I use spatial magic…
“Seeing me makes you feel bad?”
Hearing him complain, Isabella’s brow furrowed slightly, and her feigned indifference immediately crumbled.
“I mean… look around you, do you really not think we should take care of the important matters first…”
“…”
“No.”
Isabella replied firmly and decisively.
Though she said that, she actually had no idea what to ask Lin Yue.
She’d never thrown a tantrum for no reason, nor did she have any experience pestering someone.
Even if she wanted to scold him, she didn’t have a proper reason.
A moment of silence passed.
One of them was tied up, the other standing, yet nothing more was said between them.
“So, uh… if you don’t have anything to say, could you let me go first? I really am pretty busy…”
Seeing Lin Yue’s intention to run, Isabella—her reason clouded by desire—thought he simply didn’t want to talk to her at all, and felt increasingly dissatisfied.
“Did you forget I’m a believer too? I don’t know why the Church is doing this, but I have every reason to stop you.”
She said this petulantly, as if trying to justify her childish behavior.
That’s right, she was sulking—so what?
It was this guy who went too far with his words!
In the first act, Isabella only appeared in the text; it wasn’t until after the third act’s Snow Mountain scenario, when Lin Yue Hawk was completely crippled, that Isabella joined Avelina.
Her appearance here was unexpected, and unlike other NPCs, she could act independently.
Had the Church done something to her?
Still, this girl really couldn’t keep secrets; she gave away information without a second thought.
As Lin Yue was thinking of how to get away, Isabella before him lowered her head so her expression couldn’t be seen, and spoke slowly: “Liar…”
“Liar?”
Isabella suddenly looked up at Lin Yue, confusion and struggle welling in her eyes.
“Do you hate me that much? After all this time… you won’t even say a word to me!”
Isabella bit her red lip lightly, seemingly unconcerned about the surrounding dangers.
“When did I ever say I hated you? What’s gotten into you?”
He seriously wondered if this woman had gotten hit in the head by Lady Luck or something.
Why did she keep coming after him like a madwoman?
And wasn’t it you who said you didn’t want to see me again?
You offend her and she comes after you; advise her not to drop out, she comes after you; ignore her, she comes after you.
Just because he was a little gentle during the duel with Yuan, now she was this hard to please?
Maybe he shouldn’t have gone for that crazy play in the beginning—then things wouldn’t be so troublesome.
The Isabella in the original was so aloof, so proud, but as soon as he entered this world, she became like a resentful wife, as if he owed her millions.
All he did was tease her a little—so petty…
Hearing Lin Yue’s tone of rejection, Isabella’s expression became increasingly downcast.
“Is marrying me really that unsettling for you?”
“Huh?”
Lin Yue hadn’t expected Isabella to bring up this ancient topic again, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
Didn’t Isabella tell her about this?
Isabella seemed to be repeating lines from her dreams as she thought of them, which gave Lin Yue a headache.
Clearly she was being mentally affected again—she was starting to talk nonsense, just like during the last exam.
“Can I not answer…”
The moment he said this, the vines around his body suddenly tightened.
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk.”
Helpless, he could only repeat what he’d told Isabella before.
“I don’t want to tie anyone to my side. Everyone should walk their own path.”
“I’d rather see you chasing strength and becoming powerful, than being a caged canary in some noble family, trapped and unhappy… Are you satisfied with that answer?”
Isabella’s face darkened; it was impossible to tell if she understood or just got angrier.
“Can you let me go now? I still have important things to do… you’d better come along too…”
“Back then, when we got engaged, you said so many humiliating things to me, and now you say it’s all for my own good?”
Isabella cut him off, her mood growing more agitated.
She wasn’t the least bit satisfied with that answer!
“Uh?”
Just as the two were at a stalemate, a violent tremor rumbled from deep underground, causing Isabella, who was maintaining her magic, to lose her balance and fall to the ground.
Roar!
A tremendous beast’s roar came from beneath Avelina—it was precisely the Forbidden Beast that Lin Yue had always kept in mind.
“What the hell?”
Damn, this earthquake and roar, it’s exactly like the one from the CG!
Did Airella make her move too?
A bunch of questions flashed through Lin Yue’s mind.
He hadn’t expected her to pick the most troublesome method to get in.
Then again, that did let her avoid the red light and all outside interference.
No matter what, the first thing was to shake off Isabella.
Lin Yue seized the chance and slipped away.
“Ah… stop right there!”
Seeing Lin Yue slip away like a mudfish, and anxious to get an answer, Isabella quickly regained her balance and fired a fireball in Lin Yue’s direction.
Lin Yue dodged the incoming fireballs frantically and hid behind a collapsed stone pillar.
He couldn’t use spatial magic to deal with her now; if he ran out of mana before facing the real enemy, he’d have to rely on Allen.
But Allen’s combat power now was nowhere near what it was when he controlled him.
He felt really insecure about it—if Allen couldn’t hold the front lines, they’d be doomed.
He couldn’t waste any more time on this unexpected character.
With that thought, he leapt onto the rooftop of Avelina and started fleeing.
“Hahaha, genius? Valianna? In my eyes, you’re just a petty sneak-attacker!”
Isabella blocked the sharp blade with an ice shield, her heels scraping long marks into the ground from the impact.
The force was too much—she could barely hold on.
After all, she was fighting above her level, and with a debuff on top of that, it was just too hard to gain the upper hand.
Mages were meant for the backline, similar to ADCs.
Make them fight warriors up close, and if they last more than five minutes without being cut to shreds, it’s only because you brought plenty of defensive items!
Isabella was already impressive—managing to fight to a draw, only being pressed back a little, was no small feat.
“What are you looking at!”
Clang!
A longsword slammed against the energy shield generated by the auto-defense stone, saving Isabella from a nasty wound.
But things weren’t looking good—she’d been stalled for too long already.
If she couldn’t break free soon, there’d be no time left.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the ground shook violently.
The knight’s Holy Art, already half-channeled, was interrupted, but he quickly steadied himself, staring in disbelief at the cracked earth beneath his feet.
Roar!
It was the roar of a beast—and definitely not an ordinary one.
As Isabella stood frozen in shock, two familiar figures suddenly appeared atop the surrounding buildings.
It was Lin Yue being chased by fire, and Isabella, who wouldn’t give up.
“Lin Yue? Sister?”
For the first time, Isabella’s usually expressionless face showed “disbelief” and “utter confusion at the current situation.”
She watched as Isabella, having predicted Lin Yue’s movement pattern, blasted him with a fireball right into a conference room of the council hall, then rushed in after him herself.
At a time like this, they’re still playing cat and mouse…
Isabella patted her forehead.
The good news was that her sister and Lin Yue were safe; the bad news was, the two of them were fighting.
But things were dire on her end—she could only hope they settled their personal grudge soon and came to help her.