Chapter 21: Fight and Flight

‘Swish…’

A figure, accompanied by the sound of breaking air, shuttled through the forest.

From time to time, birds were startled by the figure running past and flew into the sky…

“Sister… sister’s praise… sister will praise Vivian… kill Yuren Xing and Liya… then sister will praise Vivian…”

Vivian muttered to herself as she moved at high speed. The surrounding scenery was rapidly receding due to her fast movement, but Vivian paid no attention to any of it. Her eyes were fixed on the two figures that appeared not far ahead.

“Closer… closer…” An excited look appeared in Vivian’s eyes. Then, with a push of her foot, she flew towards the two figures, shouting non-stop,

“Kill… kill… Yuren Xing…”

“Hey… can you stop for a moment, Liya?” I complained, walking behind Liya, having trouble keeping up.

Damn it, her legs are shorter than mine, yet she walks faster than me. What’s up with that?

“Isn’t it just because I saw you drooling? I sometimes drool when I sleep too. What’s there to be shy about?”

“Shut up! I… I didn’t drool… it’s all your illusion.” Liya retorted, but she didn’t stop, instead, she quickened her pace…

“Yes, yes, yes… it’s all my illusion. How could our Miss Liya possibly drool in her sleep? It’s even more impossible for her to make ‘whoosh~ whoosh~’ sounds in her sleep, and it’s absolutely impossible for her to wet someone else’s clothes with her drool. Mmm, it’s all my illusion.”

“You…” Her face flushed red, Liya’s body trembled slightly…

Sigh, looking at Liya like this, the mischievous spirit deep in my heart was somewhat satisfied. As for the ‘whoosh~ whoosh~’ sounds and the drool… it all started last night…

Last night, after accidentally falling asleep while leaning against Liya, I woke up several times, mainly because the sleeping position was uncomfortable. Liya was leaning on my shoulder, and I was leaning on Liya’s head. This position only looks enviable. In fact, it’s quite uncomfortable, especially for a long time. It caused my shoulder to be a little sore when I woke up today.

And the secondary reason was the ‘noise’ made by Liya. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really noise, it was just that Liya would make ‘whoosh~ whoosh~’ inhaling sounds when she slept. Although this could be considered a plus for her cuteness, because she was leaning on my shoulder, Liya’s inhaling sounds were right next to my ear… so I didn’t sleep well that night.

And then, when I woke up this morning… because Liya drooled in her sleep, a large patch of my clothes on the shoulder was wet.

After I told Liya about her sleeping habits, of course, she didn’t believe me. But, under my ironclad evidence, no matter how eloquent you are, you can’t change the truth.

Hahaha, as a future handle to ‘threaten’ Liya, despite her strong resistance, I still kept the clothes stained with her drool. Although she didn’t give me a good look for it. Mmm, you could say that I’m in a great mood right now.

“Well, don’t be so angry, Liya. Girls get wrinkles if they get angry.” I said, casually making up a reason to persuade her as we walked.

“No way! I… I’m not angry. Why should I be angry at a pervert like you?” Liya stopped, touched her face, and then retorted.

“Oh my, oh my, you say that, but in your heart…” Before I could finish, the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up, and a sense of crisis rushed to my brain.

“Get down!” My body moved instinctively, lunging at Liya. The moment I pulled her down, I clearly felt something graze past my back…

“Ah… what are you doing, pervert?” It seems she hit her nose, and Liya’s tone had a hint of a sob. Liya propped herself up and saw the small girl who had appeared in front of them.

“Oh? You dodged. Really… couldn’t you just stand still and let Vivian finish you off? That way, Vivian could get sister’s praise sooner… sister… hehehe, sister…”

While the girl was talking to herself, I stood up. Looking at the girl before me, my brain went into rapid thinking.

‘Who is she? I’ve never seen her before. Is she one of the people hunting Liya? No, that’s not right. Although Liya was also within the range of the attack just now, it’s obvious that the other party’s main target is me… judging by her attire, she’s a maid. Is she disguised? Or… although I’ve heard of killer maids who serve nobles, I haven’t offended any nobles…’

For a moment, my mind was in a state of confusion. Liya also stood up and came to my side.

“Hey, pervert, what do we do now? I’m not confident I can beat her. In fact, I don’t have a chance at all.” She whispered beside me, and I could feel the tremor in her voice.

In fact, I was the same. I could clearly feel the fear in my heart from the seemingly small figure before me…

For so long, the only times I had felt such clear fear were the first time I encountered robbers and the last time Aisilis went berserk.

The girl before us, even standing there motionless, exuded a mountain-like pressure on us. I knew that if she moved, we would be finished. We have to act before she does. But the current situation is very unfavorable for us. Liya, as a mage, is obviously no match for the opponent, and I’m just a weakling.

“We can only run…” I whispered this to Liya.

“Eh, you want to run? No way! Vivian has to finish you off quickly and then go back to get sister’s praise…” The girl named Vivian snapped out of her monologue.

“I won’t let you escape.” With that, Vivian licked her lips, a dangerous glint in her eyes…

“Tsk, she heard us. Liya, listen up. When I give the signal, we run in separate directions. If I’m not mistaken, her main target is me… with any luck, maybe one of us can survive… if you survive, please apologize to Aisilis for me.”

“No.”

“Hey, young lady, now is not the time to throw a tantrum.” I was a little angry and growled at Liya.

“I won’t apologize for others. Do it yourself, you pervert. And… even if I survive, I… have nowhere to go…” Liya’s voice choked, but her eyes were still stubbornly looking at me.

Ah… trouble…

This is my mood right now. To be honest, I don’t want to die. No one wants to die. And for someone like me who has already died once, my desire to live is stronger than that of ordinary people. But in this situation, it’s almost impossible to survive… but… there is a way. If I can make good use of Liya’s power, we might be able to escape. Victory… sometimes doesn’t require defeating the opponent…

“Liya, since you’re so insistent, I’ve just thought of a good idea. Although it was a flash of inspiration.”

I whispered my plan in Liya’s ear… although I can’t guarantee 100% success, it’s a way for both of us to survive…

“Control, huh… I understand. But I need time.” Liya nodded with a grave expression…

“Don’t worry… I’ll buy enough time… but if I fail, Liya, you should still run on your own…”

“I won’t run… idiot.” Liya whispered something, but I didn’t hear it…

“Vivian is going to finish you off now. Don’t worry, Vivian won’t let you suffer for too long… just digging out your hearts is enough…” The girl who had been motionless seemed a little impatient…

“Hey hey hey… digging out our hearts will kill us directly. But I don’t want to report to the underworld just yet… Run!” I suddenly shouted, and Liya and I ran in opposite directions.

“Eh… what should I do? Who should I kill first?” Vivian bit her finger, looking at the people in two directions, looking very confused. But soon, Vivian made a decision and chased after Yuren Xing…

“Hah~ hah~ why am I always being chased by others?” I complained to myself as I ran quickly.

“Very good, in the forest, the opponent shouldn’t be able to display particularly good mobility. As long as I buy time for Liya…” With that, I glanced back.

“Holy crap, is that even human?”

Vivian, behind me, was like a human tank, directly crushing all the obstacles in front of her, quickly closing the distance between us. I gritted my teeth, suddenly changed direction, and continued to run…

After they split up, Liya didn’t run far before she stopped. According to Yuren Xing’s plan, that person should go after him, so she would have time to gather magic power to use a large-scale spell…

Mages store magic power in their bodies. The higher the rank of the mage, the more magic power they can store in their body… When they need to cast a spell, if the mage’s stored magic power is enough for the spell’s consumption, then they can cast it directly without chanting a spell.

However, this method has a certain risk. If the mage uses a large amount of their own magic power and fails to defeat the enemy, then a mage without magic power is even weaker than a strong ordinary person. After all, a mage’s body is very weak while recovering their own magic power.

So, mages, except in emergencies, will not use their own magic power, but choose to chant spells and use the magic power that is dense in the space.

Similarly, when a mage uses magic, they also have to bear the burden of the same amount of magic power. If they forcibly use a spell that consumes more magic power than the maximum they can store, then the mage is in danger of self-detonating… just like a bottle that can only hold 100 milliliters of water, if you forcibly pour 200 milliliters into it, there is only one result… the bottle shatters…

But for Liya, there were no more worries now. If she failed, then neither of them would survive…

How strong is Vivian? She didn’t know, but the pressure Vivian gave her, she had only felt from Aisilis…

“My magic power is not enough to use this spell… but… if it’s just a little over, it’s okay…”

She spread her hands and held them in front of her chest, chanting a complicated spell. Then, a light emanated from her hands, and after the light, a magic circle appeared… the magic circle slowly rotated between her hands… at the same time, a cold sweat appeared on her body, her body trembled slightly, and her expression seemed very painful…

“Hoo hoo hoo… so tired… I don’t want to run anymore…”

I panted heavily as I ran… this feeling of physical and mental exhaustion… it’s so familiar…

My brain was a little deprived of oxygen, and my consciousness began to blur. Heaven knows how long I ran… but I didn’t dare to stop. I knew that if I stopped for even a second, even one step, I would be dead…

I began to slowly move closer to Liya… now I can only hope that she can complete the spell. I ran with all my might… overexertion caused my body to be a little out of control… I think my face must be very pale now, the kind of pale without a trace of blood…

‘I… I see it…’

After changing direction several times, I saw Liya. There was a magic circle between her hands, and it seemed to not be completed yet.

Finally… my hands and feet stopped obeying me… and I fell.

“Eh? You’re not running anymore? Vivian was having a lot of fun. Hurry up and get up and run again, Vivian hasn’t had enough fun yet.” The girl who appeared behind me seemed to be laughing happily.

‘Fun? This is a matter of life and death for us, yet she’s been playing the whole time? She’s not human at all.’

“Since you can’t play with Vivian anymore, then please go die. What a pity…” The girl said, and slowly walked towards me… like the god of death, about to end my life, but I could only lie on the ground and watch…

‘Actually, it’s not bad… to die like this. But my life… it’s really… tragic!’ I closed my eyes, already prepared to accept everything…

“Earth Barrier…” After I closed my eyes, Liya’s voice came from behind me. I swear, I have never heard a voice as pleasant as this one in my entire life. A wall of rock rose from the ground, blocking my way.

Vivian suddenly accelerated and punched the rock.

“Eh?” Vivian seemed a little surprised that she couldn’t break the rock.

Then, one after another, rock walls appeared around Vivian. The rock walls slowly closed, forming a huge hemispherical sphere, trapping Vivian inside…

“Phew…” Seeing this scene, I finally breathed a sigh of relief… and lay weakly on the ground… I didn’t move at all now… even if a meteor fell from the sky and hit me, it wouldn’t matter anymore…

“Let me lie here for the rest of my life.”

“…Success.” Looking at the hemispherical rock wall before her with exhaustion, Liya passed out.

“Hey, Liya… are you kidding me? You fainted after one skill? I haven’t even fainted yet.”

Seeing Liya fall to the ground, I managed to prop myself up and staggered towards her…

Lying next to her… I closed my eyes… ah, let me sleep for a while.

“Bang!!!”

A loud bang came from inside the rock wall. I even felt the ground shake. I sat up abruptly, looking at the rock wall in horror…

“Bang!!!”

Another loud bang… a crack had appeared on the outside of the rock wall.

“Hey hey hey… let me rest for a while, you b*stard…”

I picked up Liya and started running towards the Erisburg city gate… this place is not very far from the city gate… if we can reach the city gate, we might be saved…

One after another, loud bangs came from behind… the rock wall seemed to be about to collapse in the next second…

Because I was carrying Liya and my body was exhausted, I couldn’t run fast. I could only hope that the rock wall could hold on a little longer…

The sounds behind me became more and more frequent… but I was also getting closer and closer to the city gate… a light appeared in front… the exit of the forest. As long as we get out of the forest, we’ll be at the city gate. We will be saved.

‘Closer… closer… hold on, Yuren Xing…’

Just as I was about to reach the exit, a person slowly walked out from beside the forest exit, forcing me to stop.

“Oh my, oh my, what good luck… look who I’ve found.”

A handsome blonde man appeared before me… his smile was very charming, so charming that it made me want to punch him in the face… I’ve seen him once… at the Swordsman Grand Ceremony…

“Bailey…”