Sure enough, FFF fell into deep thought. Erika immediately pressed her advantage. “You probably wouldn’t have even had the chance to meet me originally. Now, I grant you the right to look upon Lady Erika and challenge her, you uncivilized barbarian!”
“A barbarian? Heh…”
The giant’s body trembled slightly, though it seemed less like anger and more like the shivering of excitement.
“Fine. I was going to go easy on you, but if you really are Erika, then the Queen will surely show up later, won’t she? I’d like to see that… Also, you’re going to pay for your stubbornness, little fairy.”
*Crack, crack, crack.* FFF clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles. “So, what do you want to challenge me to? Do you really think there’s anything you can beat me at? Don’t waste my time, speak!”
The choice had indeed been tossed back to her. Erika breathed a sigh of relief and said with feigned confidence, “How about a word chain game?”
At that moment, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button on their surroundings.
Everyone held their breath and looked at each other blankly, until finally, the man’s laughter broke the silence.
“Pfft… Hahaha! Word chain? Such a childish game? Besides, it seems you didn’t know that I got a Grade A in my cultural studies classes last year.”
‘Wow, he’s actually a liberal arts student.’
After laughing for a while, FFF bared his fangs. “Fine, I’ll play with you. But does the little sister have any other requirements? Otherwise, it’ll be too boring.”
“Of course. A geographical word chain. Do you dare?”
As a Humanoid Noelle GPT, Erika actually knew every place name on the continent by heart. However, she didn’t show it, simply standing there quietly waiting for an answer.
“Fine! You there!”
Hearing FFF’s call, the girl who had been sobbing on the ground after having her elective courses taken away looked up. She said resentfully, “What!”
“Oh, look at you. Do you want to lose even more classes? Hurry up and pick a random place name to start.”
“Ugh… Then… Arandor.”
“Good. Then you go first, Erika Angelina.”
Seeing the man grinning smugly, Erika narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you have any requirements?”
“You’ll find out in a bit, but don’t test my patience right now.”
“Rivenfell.”
‘Easy enough!’
The giant thought for a moment, his expression relaxed. “Lunemire!”
“Echoing Caverns.”
The moment the words left FFF’s mouth, Erika blurted out her response without hesitation. It was as if she already knew how he would answer and had prepared her response in advance.
FFF narrowed his eyes. After thinking for a few seconds, he shouted, “Silverfog Keep!”
“Pale Harbor.”
*Whoosh!*
The triumphant Erika’s expression suddenly changed. Just as she easily provided another answer, the giant, who was less than 2 meters away, suddenly lunged forward.
Like a bull seeing a red cape, he aggressively reached for the girl’s collar.
“Whoa! *Thud!*”
Erika hurriedly retreated and fell onto her butt, luckily dodging the punch. However, the heavy impact made her backside throb with pain, and she likely scraped her hands.
Even though she had dodged the direct hit, a drop of blood trickled down her cheek as if she had been sliced by a blade — likely caused by his fingernail.
Witnessing this, the surrounding men and women were filled with indignation.
“Hey! It’s just a word chain game, why are you getting physical?”
“You despicable guy! Get away from my wife!”
“Yeah, get away from my ex-wife!”
“?”
Boos, scoldings, and thumbs-down gestures came from all directions, but FFF remained calm.
“Don’t say I haven’t added the requirements yet. Not cheating is a basic rule, isn’t it?”
Suddenly, the air went quiet again.
“Cheating? How can you cheat at a word chain game?”
“Yeah, can’t you afford to lose?”
FFF waved his large hand as if delivering a sentence rather than making an observation. “Erika Angelina is a Demoness with the power of foresight. She must have known what I was going to say long ago and prepared the answers in advance. How is that different from bringing a cheat sheet to an exam?”
‘Is this bastard for real?’
‘How old is that setting anyway!’
The surrounding crowd seemed to recall certain rumors, and their confidence suddenly wavered. Ultimately, the game turned into a match of tag disguised as a word chain game. The Half-Elf girl was no match for this barbarian and could only flee in a panic.
Erika naturally chose to run, but the massive figure behind her was in hot pursuit, roughly pushing through the crowd. “Move! You Brass-rank idiots!”
*Thud — Eek!*
Soon, a rough, large hand grabbed Erika’s back collar and hoisted her into the air. The girl felt a sudden lack of oxygen to her brain.
“Caught you, Demoness! What do you have to say for yourself now that you’ve been caught cheating red-handed?”
Immediately afterward, he leaned in close to the flushed Erika’s ear and whispered, “Did you think I was really stupid enough to play a little game of house like word chain with you? A mere trophy like you wants to climb the social ladder?”
“Let her go! Picking on the weak isn’t a skill!”
“Aren’t you ashamed of treating a girl like this!”
Erika’s ears were filled with the shouts of the people around her and their accusations against FFF.
Clearly, seeing a delicate girl treated this way triggered people’s resentment and pity.
‘Am I on the side being defended this time?’
Having always been the one pointed at and blamed, seeing people stand on her side caused a surge of complex emotions in her heart.
“Fine, then let’s keep playing. Rustwatch. If you can still answer… Oh, my requirement is: for every time you fail to answer, you take off one piece of clothing. Hahaha.”
‘Ha… breathing… is so hard…’
‘Rustwatch… ah… is there anything starting with H? I have to say it…’
“H…”
Just as Erika tried to force a sound from her throat, FFF’s fierce hand gave a violent tug. Her collar tightened around her neck once more, cutting off the rest of her words.
“Well? No answer?”
“Mgh… mm…” Erika struggled violently, and her jacket slipped to the ground, leaving her in only a summer dress that offered no warmth. This barbarian wasn’t about to kindly pick it up for her.
“Heh.”
“Can’t answer? I’ll give you 10 more seconds. If you still can’t answer… then you lose by default. Heh.”
Everything before her eyes turned red. Her already crimson eyes were now bloodshot, her brain was severely deprived of oxygen, and her thoughts began to slow down.
Her feet dangled uselessly above the floor, and breathing became increasingly difficult.
The image of the execution scaffold immediately surfaced in her mind. ‘Was I really going to reach my end in such a ridiculous way?’
‘Ha… damn it, what kind of sick joke from Hell is this?’
Resisting the urge to shut down, her brain began to rapidly flash through scenes, like a revolving lantern.
The first time she kissed the back of Evelyn’s neck, the first time she coaxed Evelyn to sleep, the first time she kissed Emil — ‘Why are they all these villainesses? Don’t I have any beautiful memories of my own?’
But it was too early to die like this.
‘I… I have to say it.’