Free Web Novel“Who is she?”
At the very first glance at the black-skirted girl, this question surfaced in Vieya’s heart.
The goblin horde that had assaulted the city had only just been subdued, the undercurrents deep in the world had only just begun to stir, and yet here came someone in flamboyant clothing, drifting onto the battlefield like a little ghost, deliberately attracting attention.
Would someone without strength dare to do that?
Of course not.
The other side must have backing! Best to be cautious.
Having reached that conclusion, vigilance rose at once. Vieya began to sift through the memories of her past, searching for information on the strong ones she had known.
But after searching for some time,
Vieya still had no recollection at all.
“Yeye-sis, did you forget?”
Seeing Vieya frown at the black-skirted girl, deep in troubled thought, Xiao Lü finally spoke to remind her:
“She is that so-called Art Hero, who always ranked second. Long, long ago she even came to spar with you, but you ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) ignored her and skipped the meeting. Ever since then, this Art Hero has been obsessed with surpassing you, with beating you down.”
As she spoke, Xiao Lü suddenly seemed to remember something, gave a soft cry, slapped her forehead, and said in vexation:
“Almost forgot, Yeye-sis, you aren’t very familiar with the changes among humans these past years. This Hero defected from the Royal Capital two and a half years ago, vanished without a trace. I don’t know why she suddenly showed up here, but if she tracked you down, she surely harbors ill intent!”
“No memory at all.”
Truth be told, she had not the slightest impression of this so-called second Hero.
Back then she had only heard someone was idle enough to want to spar with her. But Vieya, whose goal was always crystal clear, why should she waste her leveling time doing some thankless sparring?
That gave me no experience.
Spar with me? Who?
Block, block...
Vieya irritably twisted a strand of her hair, then suddenly changed the subject: “She suddenly appeared? You couldn’t see her at all?”
“No helping it. After all, I, Xiao Lü, am nowhere near as strong as Sister Red.” Xiao Lü spread her little hands. “There are blind spots in the monitoring, and besides, I’m in charge of the Tribunal’s interior. Whoever else wants to watch outside, let them.”
No one wanted to be a beast of burden, and Xiao Lü, bound as a spirit to work without pay year after year, least of all.
If not for the old contract with humans, Xiao Lü would long ago have gone on strike and waited for the next re-merging cycle.
Vieya often felt that Xiao Lü was hinting at how, back when she was Hero, she stuck her hand into everything. But was that the same?
Back when she was Hero, as long as she pushed the main quests she could level up quickly, without running into the “heart barrier” bottleneck that blocked the other Heroes.
Grinding the main quests like crazy to level up, while also raking in reputation points in the human cities—how was that not fun?
But still.
A defected Named Hero... Vieya had never heard of such a thing, nor seen one.
From gaining the qualification of candidate Hero, to receiving the God’s Mark and becoming a formal Hero, to each further advancement, the trials were not few.
Each successful advancement meant the Hero’s understanding of their path grew clearer, their conviction grew stronger.
Even though Vieya herself had never experienced those trials when she advanced.
But a Hero defecting? What kind of hellish joke was that?
Forget it.
No point thinking too much.
Vieya was just about to order the kneeling night watchmen to get lost when she saw that smiling black-skirted girl take the staff she had been sitting on as if it were a broomstick, raise it, and aim in Vieya’s direction.
A blazing red glow flared at the staff’s tip, and the temperature in the alley shot up at once.
Vieya instantly altered the pull of gravity—on one hand flinging the night watchmen lying on the ground out of the way, on the other pressing down on that floating eternal number-two.
Bang!
The black-skirted girl, thrown off balance, crashed to the ground. At the same time, the blazing cannon of flame she had been charging veered aside and blasted into the red-brick house behind Vieya.
Rumble!!
The house, untouched during the goblin horde’s assault, now collapsed into a heap of rubble.
The black-skirted girl climbed back to her feet, narrowed her eyes, and locked her gaze on Vieya in the distance.
“The Hero of the past, reduced to this pitiful state.” freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Vieya stared back at the girl in black, her tender mouth spitting out words as hard as iron:
“Abandoned by your own conviction, and now nothing more than a stray cur on the run?”
“Mm...?”
A flicker of surprise crossed the black-skirted girl’s eyes. “So you do know me? Then I can save myself the trouble of introducing myself.”
Don’t know you. Introduction? Not interested.
Cautious as always, Vieya did not speak, nor did she make a reckless move.
With every extra second that passed, the magic in her body had more time to recover.
“Ah. Back then, with that max-level Hero body, my mana bar’s recovery speed was thousands of times faster than it is now. How far I’ve fallen...” Vieya sighed in her heart.
Seeing Vieya remain silent, the black-skirted girl patted the dust off herself and smiled.
“But I am very interested in you, this being who wields a power of authority... human? Or something else?” The girl in black tapped her lips and smiled sweetly at Vieya. “Would you trouble yourself to give me a little self-introduction?”
“First, I am human. Second, I have no interest in you.” Vieya’s face was expressionless. “Least of all am I interested in deserters from the battlefield.”
“My, how sorry. Once again I’ve failed to pique your interest.”
The black-skirted girl curved her lips in a mocking smile and dipped a slight curtsey, lifting her skirts.
As though awakened to the fact that being a defected Hero was neither glorious nor praiseworthy.
“Once, I too was a fool with a head full of justice.”
But then her tone turned heavy with sorrow, like thick fog that would not disperse:
“Yes... people are always struggling to learn, to disguise themselves, to evolve, striving to appear noble and elegant.
But at the same time they are competing, hurting one another.
We think ourselves different from the world of monsters—but in truth, how different are we from it?”
