Free Web Novel“......”
Vieya couldn’t shake the impression that the black-skirted girl across from her had that peculiar charm unique to middle-school brats—the kind that screamed, I have awakened to darkness now.
Wait a second.
Was I like this back at her age?
...No memory. Which means no, I wasn’t.
But the defection of the once second-ranked Hero couldn’t be explained away with some chuunibyou “fallen into darkness” excuse.
Sigh.
Vieya suddenly realized that once again this world had become unfamiliar to her. From her first days here, when she’d played it like a game and rushed the main quest, to falling into that messy relationship with the Demon King, to gradually getting to know the land in depth, and now to this—
Barely three years had passed, yet everything felt like the seas and fields had swapped places, like people and things had all turned into strangers.
Not only time. Hearts, reality—everything had changed.
Vieya shook her head inwardly and asked softly, “Xiao Lü, how old is she? Any records in the info stream?”
“Who?” freewebnøvel.com
Xiao Lü, who had been absent-mindedly thinking about tomorrow’s plans, froze for a moment. Then she quickly realized who “she” meant, raised her head, looked straight at the black-skirted girl opposite, and pronounced like a professional box-opener:
“Anna Elvis. Born in Tanzhoubai, praised as ‘beneath the king’s feet.’ In the Elvis family registry, there were four Heroes in their history; Anna was the fifth. Haa... humans are really short-lived. Even if they become such powerful Heroes, they still cannot escape merciless time.”
Xiao Lü sighed in what sounded like regret, exhaling little green rings, and went on:
“Anna Elvis had already gained candidate Hero qualification at birth—the God’s Seal showed itself early. For a family that had not produced a Hero in centuries, whose prestige was steadily declining, that was like a miracle drug. They poured the entire clan’s resources into her... basically like the one and only hope of a village.”
“Well, until the day Anna Elvis defected, the family had already cultivated her with all they had for sixteen years...”
At this point Xiao Lü frowned. “But that defection happened inside the Royal Capital, and I don’t have clearance to see the details. All I know is that on that day, Anna cried like her lunchbox had been stolen, walking in the rain and sobbing. She looked so miserable.
Sigh, Sister Red basically never talks to me about this sort of stuff, and my focus is always elsewhere... sorry.”
“It’s fine. I already know enough.” Vieya couldn’t help but chuckle.
Suddenly!
Boom!!
A blazing red beam streaked past Vieya and detonated in the street behind her.
The ground shuddered violently.
At the same time came Anna Elvis’s voice, filled with sharp displeasure:
“I said, didn’t your parents teach you that when someone’s talking, you should listen instead of spacing out?! And... who exactly were you talking to just now?”
“The spirit of the All-Seeing Eye?”
As she spoke, a trace of nostalgia flickered in Anna’s blue eyes. She absentmindedly brushed aside a golden strand of hair clinging to her cheek with her pinky finger, and her black dress restored itself to spotless neatness.
“I heard long ago that the All-Seeing Eye had a spirit, but in all this time I’ve never seen it myself...”
Anna fixed her gaze on Vieya, her tone playful and confident. “Child, that trick you used earlier—shoving those trash aside and making me lose balance—that must be your authority power, right?
The incident at the Tribunal earlier was ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ indeed your handiwork, wasn’t it? Hehehe... to dare sneak into that place and steal things—this little wild Hero is becoming more and more interesting to me.”
“So it’s true? Your target really is me.”
Vieya exhaled slowly, her green eyes calmly watching the other girl.
“Do you know? If I capture you and hand you over to the Tribunal, not only would all the warrants against me be erased, I’d also be credited as the great savior who stopped the revival of the evil god in Deerhorn City.”
“Oh? It seems you’ve badly misunderstood me.” Anna smiled sweetly. “That so-called line between good and evil humans talk about—it’s only ever decided after weighing pros and cons.”
“And right now I’m far freer than any Hero! No one can bind me, nothing can change my convictions. Every single day, I’m happier than before!”
“Child, come join me in believing in Him.”
Anna clasped her hands piously, her smile radiant as she spoke to Vieya: “All that is past shall burn into ash, all that is new shall shape the future...”
“Which evil god’s prayer is that?” Vieya suddenly asked.
Xiao Lü shook her head. “No idea. How would I see anything of evil gods while stuck in the mortal world?” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
“Which one?” Anna stopped praying, raised her staff again, and declared with confidence: “Join us, and I’ll tell you.”
“Join you? And what do I get out of it?” Vieya asked thoughtfully.
Xiao Lü’s eyes widened; she stammered anxiously: “Yeye-sis, who knows if they weren’t tricked outside by some rare gifted monster, mistaking it for a god? You mustn’t take it seriously!”
Vieya waved her hand to silence her.
“Benefits? You want benefits before agreeing to anything?” Anna gave a half-laugh of disbelief.
Did she look like someone that easy to negotiate with?
And now even a brat who looked about ten dared try to play the old ‘empty-handed wolf’ trick on her.
Fine. Enough tempting. Just beat her until she couldn’t move, then drag her back to the altar.
The number of human Heroes was limited. Controlling one meant humanity would forever lose one of its ultimate weapons.
Familiar crimson light ignited again. Anna gripped her staff with one hand and pressed her black soft hat down with the other.
Flame Cannon! x3
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Three consecutive blasts—all blocked.
“You talk too much.” Vieya suddenly smiled, lifted her hand at Anna, and mocked, “I’m waiting on cooldown... what are you waiting on? Death?”
Her words erased the smile from Anna’s face. Her brows knit ever so slightly, irritation flashing—yet in a heartbeat she smoothed it away and once again wore that flawless, impenetrable smile.
“Death? I’d never waste myself like that.”
“Since you know I was once the Art Hero, I won’t hold back anymore. Child, you have talent. Given time, you could easily climb into the top ten seats of the Heroes. But right now, I’ll defeat you with the fastest spellcraft. Don’t worry—I won’t kill you. You’re still useful.”
Anna laughed, raising her staff high. Shimmering threads of magic wove together into a sky-filling brilliance.
“Hehehahaha! This absolute compressed fireball spell... I can easily fire four hundred fifty thousand of them in a single minute!”
The pinnacle of spellcraft, displayed through her in its purest form.
No sooner had her words fallen than blazing red beams multiplied, amplified countless times, and fell like torrential rain, hammering into the shield before Vieya.
The giant shield of compressed iron and stone held by gravity suffered tens of thousands of impacts in the blink of an eye!
It all happened too quickly. The escalation from 3 to 30,000 was too fast. Before Vieya could draw in more rubble from the ruins to reinforce the shield, the entire slab exploded with a roar!
With nothing left to block them, the rain of ultra-compressed fireballs poured straight toward where Vieya stood, burying her small figure completely!
