After walking so distance through the forest, Vieya suddenly turned around. Tiya, who had been following behind, was surprisingly sharp—at the very instant the sli looked back, she imdiately ducked behind a tree.
Vieya froze for a mont. She honestly had no idea what her forr teammate was trying to pull.
Maybe she should just grab her directly and lay everything out on the table. At this point, she was already numb to it all. Being recognized by soone from the past didn’t really matter anymore—no sha, no embarrassnt.
Yeah, yeah, I turned into a sli loli. If you want to laugh, hurry up and laugh. After you’re done, rember to co collect your reward like a good girl...
She understood that urge to mock. Sotis, even Vieya herself wanted to laugh.
With that thought, she turned back toward a particularly thick tree trunk behind them and said outright, “Tiya, co out. I’m also quite interested in the astrology you studied. Co out and let’s talk?”
Aislin glanced at Vieya beside her, a little curious, but said nothing.
The next second, a rustling sound ca from the woods.
The hooded girl first peeked out from behind the tree, sneaking a look at Vieya. After confirming that her expression was calm, she finally stepped out at an unhurried pace.
Standing in the middle of the path, facing the sharp gazes of the two, Tiya showed a hint of nervousness—rare for her. She cleared her throat and hurriedly said, “What I said earlier may have been offensive, but this is my first ti in the Elven Forest, and I truly don’t know the way. I could only follow behind the two of you to seek a slim [N O V E L I G H T] chance of survival.”
An astrologer who doesn’t know the way?
Vieya found the excuse painfully flimsy. She simply raised a hand and curled her fingers at Tiya. “Co here.”
“...I’m coming, then?”
Tiya swallowed, but this ti she was mainly watching Aislin’s expression.
Aislin was staring straight at her, as if the mont she made any inappropriate move, she would draw her sword and unleash a full starburst, erasing her—this unknown threat—on the spot.
What a fiercely loyal guard. Who knew where the old captain had conned her from...
“You know each other?” Aislin asked, her eyes bright.
“Ahem, of course we do,” Tiya rushed to answer first. “After all, she’s the Holy Sword’s wielder. Anyone with a decent intelligence network can find information on her. Very famous...”
“And you still said all that, knowing she’s the Holy Sword’s wielder?” Aislin raised a brow, keenly sensing that sothing was off about this hooded girl.
“A Holy Sword that belongs to the human race, now taken by a monster girl—it’s neither proper nor legitimate,” Tiya argued thodically. “...To those of us who value inheritance and tradition, wouldn’t that naturally make her an evil sli?”
“......”
It sounded so reasonable that Aislin was montarily at a loss for words. After a brief silence, she turned her gaze to the sli, deciding to act based on her best friend’s attitude.
If her friend didn’t object, she wouldn’t object. If her friend objected, she would object.
“You were chased into the Elven Forest, weren’t you?” Vieya looked at Tiya, paused, then added, “I heard everything you said to that young man just now. After you leave here, are you planning to go seek refuge with Aurora and her sister?”
“Well... I haven’t really thought that far yet,” Tiya said with a troubled look, her mood sinking. “After all, between those two sisters, I don’t get along very well with the younger one. And the matter my teacher entrusted to before he died—I still have no leads at all. He told to seek out the Light Hawk who can bring hope to the chaotic world... Do you know where the Light Hawk is?”
“Light my ass!” Vieya ground her teeth. If Aislin weren’t here, she’d already be greeting Tiya’s backside with her shoe.
As a transmigrator who had co to this world, after forming her own squad, Vieya often camped out in the wilderness while grinding monsters with her team. On those countless nights with no entertainnt, they passed the ti by chatting around the campfire.
Once tomorrow’s battle plans were set and the night watch assigned, the rest of the ti was idle conversation. Occasionally, Vieya would talk about herself, sharing stories from her mories.
Stories—everyone in the team listened happily. Laugh and be done with it. But Tiya was different. She liked pulling out a notebook to record Vieya’s stories, and would even co chat with her about them later... and then start shouting the nas of skills from those stories during actual combat.
For example: Spiral Flash Super Wheel Dance Roar Third Form, Flowing Blade Like Fire, Invincible Bind...
At first, when Tiya shouted those things, only the other teammates gave her strange looks. Vieya didn’t care. But one day, when those phrases beca sothing Tiya constantly muttered—and she could shout them out in front of others without changing expression—sothing terrifying happened.
Everyone’s odd gazes first landed on Tiya... and then shifted to Vieya.
“Wow, Hero big brother. These are the troops you trained? So cool~”
No, not . Don’t learn from her!
“This is weird, Captain... why do I feel like Tiya’s gone crazy?”
Aurora, rember this. If you can understand chuunibyou, then you can understand Tiya.
“How did she beco like this? Shouting and jumping in front of tens of thousands of people in the arena—doesn’t she feel ashad?!”
Not , not my fault, don’t look at !
The shadows of the past surged back. The heat of that day, the laughter ringing in her ears, sweat on her face, her limbs turning icy cold—all of it ca vividly alive in her mory.
Vieya’s face darkened instantly. For so reason, Tiya beside her suddenly shuddered, instinctively stepping two paces away from the sli girl.
“Forget it.” Vieya sighed softly. “Tell what’s been happening on the grasslands since the Great Khan’s death. And while you’re at it, explain why you were being chased and why you ran here.”
Tiya nodded seriously and, without hesitation, recounted everything that had happened on the grasslands over the past few days—clear, well-structured, detailed where needed, concise where not. Even soone completely ignorant could untangle the situation after listening once.
Vieya, however, frowned as she listened, then asked, “How are Aurora and her sister doing?”
“They have very little presence,” Tiya replied. “Among the candidates most likely to beco the next Great Khan, they don’t even make the top ten. They were only recently brought back, after all—no foundation, slim hope... But Ophina’s destiny star is still very bright. Nothing will happen to her for the ti being. Unless so supre powerhouse capable of obscuring and interfering with fate steps in.”
After hearing this, Aislin also sighed with emotion. “Human competition is really fierce. Hundreds of people fighting over one throne... and they’re all from the sa family, blood-related siblings. Among us elves, while there is competition between siblings for the throne, it’s much rarer. Elves have a hard ti producing the next generation...”
“Aislin, do you have any biological brothers or sisters?” Vieya suddenly asked.
Aislin shook her head. “No. Only soone like Elliti, who shares blood but not the sa father and mother.”
After chatting a bit more, the three gradually grew familiar with one another. Tiya decided to temporarily follow behind Vieya and act together, repeatedly promising she would absolutely not cause trouble—and could even help them locate their mission target.
Vieya didn’t object. Aislin said nothing either.
Soon, guided by astrology, they followed Tiya to the vicinity of a massive arched hill. Nearly a hundred ters tall, the hill was a single solid mass of rock—but a cave had been hollowed out at its base, plunging into bottomless darkness.
“Oh dear...”
Tiya let out a surprised cry. Holding her astrological water mirror, she blinked and explained, “The monster from the elf sister’s mission—the one attacking passersby—has already been killed by soone else ahead of ti. Looks like all that rit is going to slip through our fingers.”
“Killed ahead of ti?” Vieya frowned. “Then why did you bring us to this cave?”
“Oh, co on. That monster’s fate line suddenly beca very thin this morning—but it didn’t break. It wasn’t until we arrived at its cave that the fragile fate line suddenly snapped, snap!”
Tiya made an exaggerated gesture and continued, “Which ans it was seriously wounded this morning but didn’t die imdiately. It only finally breathed its last inside this cave just now.”
Vieya thought for a mont, then asked Aislin, “Aside from you, did any other elves accept this commission?”
“No,” Aislin shook her head. “Our task orders only have one copy. Once it’s taken, no other elf can take it—unless the mission is confird as failed, or the elf who accepted it voluntarily abandons it. Only then can soone else receive it.”
“And if the target dies by accident like this, can we still exchange it for rit?” Vieya asked.
“That depends on how intact the corpse is,” Aislin said gloomily. “If it’s badly damaged and we can’t find the real killer, we’ll probably only get a small amount of reward rit.”
“Looks like we still have to go in,” Vieya said, gazing at the cave.
......
anwhile, at the outer periter of the Elven Forest, a large force of grassland Direwolf Cavalry had already gathered—the most elite unit on the plains.
At the front stood a middle-aged man clad in golden soft armor, riding a direwolf over two ters tall. He surveyed the area with commanding presence, as if waiting for sothing—or calculating sothing.
Suddenly!
A blood-soaked figure burst out of the Elven Forest, tumbling and scrambling toward the patrolling cavalry.
“—Report! The Third Prince has returned!”
In an instant, the entire cavalry formation stirred. The middle-aged man in golden armor imdiately waved his hand and led a group forward.
As he drew close, his expression changed abruptly.
“Third Brother, how did you end up like this?”
“Don’t even ask, Big Brother. That Holy Sword wielder from the southern border showed up inside for no reason—cough cough—I almost didn’t make it back!” The blood-covered Third Prince burst into tears. “Big Brother, you have to stand up for ! This is our grassland—how can we let outsiders co in and make trouble?!”
“......”
The middle-aged man fell silent for a mont, then said evenly, “So what you’re saying is... your mission failed?”
“Yes.” The Third Prince suddenly felt his hair stand on end, as if he had beco a corpse eyed by vultures. He gritted his teeth. “I did my best!”
The air grew cold.
The middle-aged man waved his hand. “n, escort my Third Brother back to the tent to rest. And find so good physicians to treat him.”
The next second, the Third Prince was hauled away by several soldiers.
“Heh heh. The Holy Sword wielder?” The middle-aged man sneered softly. “The forr Great Khan didn’t dare touch you—but that doesn’t an I won’t. Soone, send word to Lord Xubing.”
He glanced at the cavalry beside him and added calmly, “Tell them that the Holy Sword’s wielder they’re interested in has been surrounded by us inside the Elven Forest. But our strength is insufficient to capture her—we need their power.”
“Understood!” the ssenger cavalryman clasped his fist. Then suddenly his entire body went cold, as if crushed between thousands of tons of ice. Trembling with fear, he hurriedly corrected himself:
“Understood, Great Khan!”
User Comments
0 comments from readers