Free Web NovelVieya stretched out her hand to support the unconscious Rania. She did not glance at the circle of trembling Arbitration Knights around her, nor /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ at the direction where Hua Shiyu and the others stood.
The trace Zilan had carved into the night sky was gone—replaced by a golden beam rising from the center of the city, from the direction of Deerhorn City’s tallest mountain.
At first, the pitch-black sky was only pricked with a single round golden spot. But that spot spread quickly, like golden ink poured into the canvas of night, devouring the darkness and threatening to replace the sun itself as the light of heaven.
At the same time, Vieya felt the dormant magic essence in her body begin to boil, straining as if to burst free and scatter into the air.
But the instant it touched the Hero’s Seal on her chest, it was forcibly suppressed.
Holy-element attacks restrained monsters.
If not for the Hero’s Seal still suppressing, she did not dare imagine how badly this body of hers would have suffered.
She might even have lost to her own student. freēwēbnovel.com
If she were defeated here, she truly would not be able to laugh anymore.
Fortunately, the unconscious Rania could not move, and weighed little. Vieya, ever cautious, could carry her up with one hand like a sack of grain.
“Hey, you—the short one over there. Come.” Vieya called rudely toward the Arbitration Knights, tossing aside the knight’s sword that had already reached its lifespan’s end.
“M-me?” The pink-haired short girl looked around in panic, her pointing finger trembling as it pressed against her own cheek.
Uuuh... what do I do?
This villain just beat the Hero to the ground—surely she means to take her back to be her plaything, her slave!
Hua Shiyu’s heart twisted with despair, anger, and a bitter thread of relief.
At least she had not chosen to resist earlier. Otherwise she might already have been turned into a preserved specimen of a pretty girl.
“Stop looking around—it’s you!”
Vieya stood with one hand on her hip and the other holding Rania aloft like a trophy, looking every bit the war-god who had returned from the hunt victorious.
“You’re the shortest one here. Don’t you realize it yourself?”
“...”
Does my shortness cost your family rice?
Stung, Hua Shiyu pouted inside, but did not dare provoke her. Under the worried gaze of the judge, she drooped her head and shuffled forward like a condemned criminal walking to the gallows.
She had stumbled into a nightmare: an evil great slime, ghostly, monstrously strong—an opponent impossible to defeat.
All she could do was pray that when she and the poor Hero girl were dragged back to the monster’s lair, they would be treated gently, not too roughly.
And of course, she must plead for mercy—
“Uuu, we were wrong, Big Sister~”
The moment she stood before Vieya, Hua Shiyu’s tears poured without shame, falling like pearls.
Combined with her soft features and gentle pink hair, she looked exactly like a fragile little white flower.
“When Hero girl wakes, I will surely persuade her, encourage her to cooperate and not resist...”
“Hmph. Good.”
Vieya was satisfied with that answer. No wonder this one could be a Minister of Weapons for the Human Alliance. In Rania’s current state, she would not wake for a while.
And Vieya could not bring her along. The best course was to return the defeated Hero to a relatively reliable human.
The minister might be short and undernourished, but her brain worked. That was useful.
Besides, Rania was stubborn. Someone flexible would help her step out of the shadow faster.
Above the Ninth Stage was the realm of gods among men.
If Rania could recover from this shadow, she would surely rise higher—break through the Eighth Stage, glimpse the stairway of ascension.
“Then I’ll leave her to you.” Vieya’s tone softened, without her noticing.
Hua Shiyu nodded again and again. “I promise, I won’t let Hero girl shut herself off from shame!”
With me sharing the burden, the Hero’s humiliation in this monster’s den will surely be less, the pink-haired short girl thought kindly.
“...”
Her sincerity made Vieya feel faintly guilty. She should have struck lighter. After all, she was only an ordinary clever girl.
As an adult, she should not take it to heart.
“Sorry, then.”
Vieya found an intact stone tile, laid Rania down upon it, gave them one last look, and turned away.
Eh?
?
Hua Shiyu was baffled.
Sister, what are you doing?
Should you not take your prize away, instead of leaving empty-handed?
“Eh—ah! Wait!” You forgot your trophy!
Hua Shiyu blurted out, eyes squeezed shut.
“Mm!”
Vieya paused, as if she remembered something. She turned back, understanding the hidden meaning behind the cry—You may leave, but could you return what you took from us?
The All-Seeing Eye, was it?
Sorry. I still need it.
Vieya sighed. “Do not worry. I will borrow the All-Seeing Eye for now, and return it after some time.”
“Eh?” That was not what I meant...
Hua Shiyu looked at Vieya’s retreating back, then at the slumbering Rania, then at her own pale hand.
Had she... misunderstood?
...
The high-level holy magic formations of Deerhorn City had all activated. The entire sky above glowed gold, lighting the gray-black clouds like a storm breaking after rain.
Billions of drops of golden rain fell, striking every inch of earth below.
Goblins howled, dissolving into bone in the golden rain, then dispersing into smoke.
The whole city was being purified.
Vieya walked beneath a black umbrella. The golden rain could not harm her, but in her heart she wanted no part of touching it.
