Free Web NovelAs soon as Aislin’s voice fell, the slime girl beside her broke into a grin.
Dozing off and an elf comes over to hand you a pillow; thirsty and an elf comes over to bring you water.
With someone as loyal as Aislin under her command, what was there to worry about? Vieya immediately agreed to Lano’s plan.
With Aislin accompanying her, if anything really went wrong, the Elf Queen would panic too and would do everything possible to pull them back.
Vieya very quickly sorted out the elven interpersonal web in her head. As long as she held onto Aislin, it was equivalent to holding onto more than half of the elven race.
Heh.
This was what you called holding the princess hostage to command the queen.
A mere Demon King mindset—nothing worth mentioning. Who knew, she might even take this chance to glimpse the scene of Isabel’s past persecution, and conveniently resolve all related matters in one go.
And as for the experience and techniques of “adopting” the other two Demon Kings—Vieya planned to refine them using Isabel as a test case.
If the two Demon Kings at home were cases of subduing the body while letting the mind roam free, then with Isabel she planned to conquer both body and heart completely.
As the saying goes, three strikes is the limit. The same applied to rebellious troublemakers kept around—no more than three.
With that thought, Vieya and Aislin went together to the bedside and accepted Lano’s spellcasting and guiding.
Off to the side.
Phoenix let out a huge sigh of relief and shot a smug glance at the Elf Queen. See? Isn’t this better now?
The Elf Queen didn’t spare her a single extra look. She stood up, sat down on an empty chair, and fixed her gaze intently on Vieya’s direction.
Judging by her posture, it seemed she planned to keep watch in this infirmary until the matter was resolved.
“Remember, this is the guiding art of our ‘Flower’ clan. The World Tree governs the reincarnation and death of every soul on the Western Continent, while our ‘Flower’ clan is responsible for guiding those souls that cannot reincarnate into the World Tree to enter the cycle, thereby reducing resentful spirits and despair across this land.”
Lano spoke softly. In her crimson eyes, it was as if a red flower were slowly blooming.
“Flowers bloom, flowers fall, each in its own season...”
The voice by her ear gradually faded. Suddenly, Vieya seemed to understand why there were so few monsters on the Western Continent.
Just as those old scholars from the Tower of Erudition had published in their papers—
The seven emotions and eight sufferings of humanity were excellent soil for the breeding and growth of monsters.
But here in the West, elves regularly cleansed resentful spirits. The density of human emotions wasn’t enough; monsters naturally struggled to be born, and their numbers naturally dwindled...
As she pondered, darkness surged in from all directions.
Vieya chose to close her eyes and embrace the boundless darkness.
In the black sea of consciousness, she suddenly felt as though someone had grabbed her hand.
Who was it?
Aislin?
Holding that curiosity, she didn’t know how much time passed.
When she opened her eyes again, Vieya was sitting before a beach. Beneath her was soft sand; at her feet, icy seawater. In the distance stretched an endless dark-blue ocean, mirrored by the blue sky and blazing sun.
So this was Isabel’s memory—a Demon King’s memory?
Vieya pushed herself up from the sand, only then realizing she was wearing nothing but a thin white shirt. On her feet, there were no shoes at all—just her small bare feet exposed.
“Alright, this time it’s the Slime’s Castaway Chronicle. Let’s hope I can rescue my own Friday.”
But... where was Aislin? Didn’t she come in with me? Or did the teleportation lose her?
She searched around the beach for a while, but there was still no sign of her. Aside from Vieya, there wasn’t a second person in sight.
The elf girl didn’t fall into the sea, did she?
Vieya grew a little worried, but her concern was quickly scattered by a burst of noisy sounds.
At the same time, Lano’s voice sounded by her ear.
“Miss Vieya, you’ve now successfully reached the deepest layer of the Demon King’s consciousness. So next, as long as you find the Demon King and awaken her, our task will be perfectly completed.”
“...That much I can guess. Don’t worry. But where did Aislin go?”
Vieya stopped and asked in confusion, “Didn’t she come in with me? Why isn’t she here now?”
“This is normal. You’ve arrived at the Demon King’s deep consciousness, while Aislin, as insurance, is staying in the shallow consciousness. That way, if anything happens, I can pull both of you out immediately.”
“Alright, I won’t distract myself chatting with Miss Vieya any further. Of course, if you encounter any unexpected situation, you can call my name in your heart.”
Deep consciousness and shallow consciousness...
Why does this feel like I’m playing Inception? Or maybe The Matrix.
Since things had come to this, she might as well find Isabel first.
The sun on the beach was unusually scorching. Even though this was just a false consciousness space, it still roasted the slime unbearably.
Wiping the sweat from her face, Vieya continued toward the source of the noise.
Before long, a small fishing village appeared ahead, and the clamorous sounds were coming from within.
“This scene seems... kind of familiar.”
Vieya thought for a moment. Instead of rushing out immediately, she began testing whether her authority could be used in this consciousness space.
“Sixth: Divine Concealment.” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
With a whoosh, the white-haired loli vanished. Even the footprints she’d left on the sand disappeared automatically.
“Works. Keep it up.”
Most crucially, using authority here produced no sensation of magic consumption at all.
Then doesn’t that make me invincible?
Vieya was very satisfied. Her beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons.
Since authority could be used, things would be simple from here on.
Maintaining invisibility, she brushed back the moon-white hair by her ear and swaggered toward the source of the noise.
In short—quick battle, quick resolution.
When she reached the edge of the fishing village, she saw a group of children surrounding another child, punching and kicking her.
“Oh? Childhood bullying? I love beating kids the most.”
Vieya subconsciously assumed the one being beaten was Isabel. With a wave of her small hand, a powerful pressure field descended from the sky.
“Tenth: Gravity.”
“Horizontal.”
Bang bang bang!
A string of explosive sounds rang out. The children were blasted several meters into the air, then slammed down hard. Dust flew everywhere!
“Waaah! It’s haunted!”
“Quick, quick, go find Mom!”
“Waaah, I’m going home to tell on you!”
In a rush, the children who’d been gleefully beating someone just moments ago scattered like startled birds, crying as they ran.
Only then did Vieya see the true appearance of the child who’d been beaten. She was covered in grime, with flaxen long hair in a tangled mess. A little girl—malnourished, thin and scrawny.
The girl slowly crawled up from the ground and sat there blankly. She pressed a hand to the wound on her leg that was bleeding nonstop, as if her mind hadn’t yet processed what had just happened.
“Not Isabel...”
After using Appraisal and confirming she was just an ordinary little girl from a fishing village, Vieya immediately lost interest and prepared to leave to continue searching for Isabel.
After all, this was merely a world manifested from the Demon King’s consciousness. Aside from Isabel’s lost consciousness, everything else was just illusions of the past.
Helping an illusion that would naturally dissipate once the task ended was meaningless.
But just as she turned around, Vieya hesitated again. With a sigh, she returned to the girl’s side and dispelled her invisibility.
The girl’s eyes went wide. She failed to catch her breath several times in a row, nearly passing out from fright at the white-haired loli who suddenly appeared before her.
“......”
Vieya didn’t feel like talking. She reached out and pressed her hand to the girl’s thigh, which was bleeding profusely.
“Heal.”
A flash of green light.
The next second, the girl stood there in a daze, staring in disbelief at the beautiful, clean white-haired loli before her. She felt all the pain from her injuries vanish— even old wounds no longer hurt.
Was it an illusion?
But the ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ other’s hand was so warm.
Could it be...
That there really were gods in this world who could hear my prayers?
