Chapter 31: The Ugliest Peacock and the Most Beautiful Peacock

My name is Finitia, an inconspicuous bone finch in the Underworld, working hard in the Underworld Realm just to become an official raven.

I’ve always known my luck wasn’t great—after all, I’ve been targeted in every possible way for so many years, so there’s really nothing to complain about.

But could my luck really be this awful?

I just flew up here, and I immediately ran into the exact thing I least wanted to encounter…

“Yo-ho-ho, look what we have here, a bone finch? This is the first time I’ve ever seen a bone finch dare to fly up to this place… How did you even manage to fly all the way up from the bottom of the valley?”

The giggling, mocking voice sounded like a casual loafer normally asking for an explanation… if only he hadn’t clamped his talons onto my body.

Her tiny body was pinned down by massive talons, leaving the little finch completely unable to move; the giant bird in front of her was one of the creatures she was least willing to cross paths with in her entire finch life.

The Blazing Peacock.

Although it carried the name of a finch just like the bone finch, it was the most noble and proudest bird in the Underworld—a difference as vast as heaven and earth compared to a bone finch.

They possessed an overbearing sense of pride, looking down on every single bird species other than themselves.

Setting bone finches aside, whether it was the Soul Ravens—the most spiritual and intelligent among the Underworld birds—or the powerful birds of prey like the Nether Falcons and Fallen Eagles, all of them were objects of their disdain.

The reason was simple: all birds in the Underworld were descendants of a certain ancient entity.

Contrary to the bone finches, who had the thinnest bloodline, the Blazing Peacocks claimed to have the most blood of that ancient entity flowing through their veins.

With gorgeous appearances and noble bloodlines, calling them the nobility among birds wasn’t enough to describe them.

As the most noble and proud birds in the Underworld, the Blazing Peacocks were also universally recognized as the most beautiful in terms of looks, ranking even above the Soul Ravens.

Precisely because they looked down on other birds, the habitats of the Blazing Peacocks were usually located far away from everyone else.

And directly above the Toxic Miasma Valley happened to be a domain belonging to the Blazing Peacocks.

“Actually, I was just passing through and was about to slip away immediately… I didn’t mean to linger around here. Could this Peacock Lady please let me off the hook?”

It could only be said that Finie truly didn’t want to deal with Blazing Peacocks; these creatures simply didn’t have normal logic in their brains.

I am noble, so I am right. What kind of trash are you to even think about challenging me?

Such abstract concepts were the standard mindset of the Blazing Peacock clan… which was why, in the Underworld, these creatures weren’t particularly liked by other beings either.

However, their situation was somewhat better than that of the bone finches—they had actual skill, and their outer appearance was ridiculously good-looking.

So even if they were excessively proud, as long as you didn’t provoke them, you could pretty much treat these abstract birds as static beauties.

“Yo-ho-ho, as expected of a bone finch, your brain and eyes seem to be just as wretched as your ugly appearance… Yours Truly happens to be a male peacock, you know? What you just called me was a massive offense, so how should I punish you?”

What a sin.

Underworld birds were already hard to tell apart by gender; almost everything had to be judged purely by body size… Aren’t you just deliberately looking for trouble?

The little finch grumbled in her heart, but realizing this was a Blazing Peacock, everything became reasonable again.

Sometimes, the pride and self-esteem of the Blazing Peacocks were actually quite admirable.

Having plenty of enemies, they would occasionally provoke top predators like the Nether Falcons and Fallen Eagles.

There was once a Blazing Peacock that, even with its life about to end under the talons of a Nether Falcon, still held its neck high, shouting insults and mocking its opponent, unwilling to lower its proud head by even half an inch.

Thinking of this, Finie couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

But to the Peacock Gentleman in front of her, that soft chuckle was pure, unadulterated provocation.

Naturally, the gaps between the little finch’s skeleton were directly pierced by the other party’s hard talons, and the entire bird was lifted right up.

“Hiss… Big bro, it hurts a bit. Could you go a little easier?”

Falling into the hands of a Blazing Peacock, Finie naturally knew she wouldn’t meet a good end… She wondered why, out of all the creatures living here, she just had to bump into the most troublesome one.

“Oho? A mere bone finch dares to negotiate terms with Yours Truly? It seems you don’t know my identity. Do you know? In our clan, even regular peacocks can’t hold a candle to me.”

“Haha, I wonder which bloodline’s descendant you are, Big Bro? Hahaha…”

The little finch didn’t take it to heart.

She knew every Blazing Peacock believed itself to be incomparably noble and would exaggerate and brag about its bloodline to some extent, but the identity the creature exposed next genuinely left her dazed for a brief moment.

“Presumptuous! I belong to a lineage of the Blazing Peacock Royal Family—the fourth son of the direct line, a pure Blazing Peacock Royal! The bloodline descendant alive today closest to that ancient entity!”

Holy crap, I just took a random stroll and ran into royalty. Talk about an eye-opener…

Seeing Finie frozen in silence, the young prince of the Blazing Peacocks thought she was scared stiff, immediately letting out a satisfied and smug hum.

“Do you get it now? What is my status, and what kind of thing are you? How dare you call me ‘Big Bro’? Regular Blazing Peacocks wouldn’t even dare to address Yours Truly like that!”

Ah, looks like it’s not fake. He really seems to be a foolish young master from the Peacock Royal Family…

Finie grumbled inwardly.

After all, if this were an ordinary Blazing Peacock, with their proud mindset, they would feel that the mere presence of a bone finch was dirtying their eyes.

Instead of disemboweling her on the spot, he had skewered her up and was examining her with interest, which proved this foolish prince was an outsider who really lived in the peacock royal court and hadn’t seen much of the world.

Seeing a bone finch for the first time, his curiosity was piqued by this ugly little thing to some degree, rather than having the immediate reaction of offense that other peacocks would have.

“Well then, Your Royal Highness Prince, could you please let me leave? Since you feel you possess a noble bloodline, it’s not appropriate to keep touching humble and ugly little me, right?”

“Ho-ho, you little thing are actually quite different from the bone finches Yours Truly has heard about. Your mind is pretty sharp, huh?”

Now, the young Blazing Peacock Prince was genuinely intrigued.

Although the tiny creature in front of him matched the ugly appearance of a bone finch visually…

Her reactions were completely different from the stupid image he had heard about.

That tiny head and little beak were so quick and clever—she even knew how to flatter him?

Hey, hey, hey, hold on, bro! Don’t do this… I really don’t want to encounter some overbearing boss taking a shine to me and dragging me back… Holy shit, you’re doing this for real?!

Seeing the young peacock prince actually picking her up with his beak and preparing to walk in a certain direction, Finie panicked—this guy isn’t planning on taking me back to the Peacock Royal Family, is he?

The prince with the most noble bloodline in his clan carrying an ugly bone finch in his beak?

The little finch could already picture how she would be torn to pieces by the crowd of furious Blazing Peacocks once she was brought back.

“No, bro, put me down quickly! Let’s talk this out, don’t take me to see your kind! Can we change the way I die, please?!”