Vivian leaned on her spare Knight’s Longsword, the tip of the blade biting into the rock.
The crack on her breastplate caused by the shockwave was clearly visible.
The blood-colored aura continued to swirl around her, evaporating the melted snow on the ground into white mist.
Alicia’s white Saintess robes were stained with dust, and the hem of her skirt bore scorch marks.
Although the Six-Winged Seraph Phantom behind her had dimmed significantly, its cold indifference remained undiminished.
Her gaze was fixed firmly on Ignis, who was currently draped across Lynn’s legs.
Lilith stood the furthest away, her head lowered, making it impossible to read her expression.
She had retrieved her poisoned dagger and was absentmindedly dragging it back and forth across her other palm, leaving behind a series of white marks.
Three gazes, three streams of killing intent, all bypassed Lynn to focus precisely on the little one at his side.
[Warning! Multiple high-threat targets locked on. Calculation of survival probability failed…]
[Suggestion: Immediately play dead.]
Lynn’s eye twitched.
‘Play dead? If I lie down now, I’ll be hacked into eight pieces in the next second and then packed up and carried away.’
He had to do something.
“Um…” Lynn cleared his throat, his voice dry.
“Everyone… you must be tired from fighting, right?”
No one answered.
The killing intent grew even heavier.
Lynn’s scalp felt numb, but he forced himself to continue.
“Look, the mountain has collapsed, and it’s almost dark. We’re all covered in dirt, tired and dirty. Why don’t we… find a place to rest and reorganize first?”
He was trying to change the subject, and he was also begging for mercy.
“Rest?” Vivian finally spoke.
Her voice was raspy, possessing the texture of metal grinding against metal.
“And then let you run away with that little lizard?”
“How could I run?” Lynn immediately raised both hands to show his innocence.
“Look, the contract is signed. I’m her ‘Master’ now, so she has to listen to me. If I say we’re not running, she won’t run.”
As he spoke, he patted Ignis on the head.
Ignis looked up, her molten gold eyes full of dependence.
She echoed in a tiny, childish voice, “I listen to Master.”
These words were like a ladle of cold water being poured into boiling oil.
No, it was more like a ladle of liquid nitrogen being poured into boiling oil.
It exploded.
The Blackening Value above Vivian’s head jumped from [91%] to [93%].
Alicia’s Blackening Value jumped from [92%] to [94%].
Lilith’s Blackening Value skyrocketed directly from [95%] to [97%]!
Lynn wanted to slap himself.
“What I mean is…” he hurried to compensate, “we can all go together! Yes, together! Let’s find a place, take a bath, change into clean clothes, eat something hot, and then… then we can discuss things further!”
Looking at the disheveled state of the three women, a flash of inspiration hit him.
“Alicia, you love cleanliness the most. Look at your robes. Can you even wear those anymore?”
Alicia glanced down at her white robes, and her brow furrowed even deeper.
The look in her eyes suggested that what was on her was not dust, but the most foul curse in the world.
“Vivian, your armor is cracked. If you don’t find a blacksmith to repair it, how will you fight next time?”
Vivian subconsciously touched the crack on her breastplate.
She didn’t speak, but her grip on the sword hilt loosened slightly.
“And Lilith…” Lynn looked at his adoptive sister.
“You… your face is all smeared from crying, like a little tabby cat. You need to wash up.”
Lilith suddenly looked up, her bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at him.
There was no grievance in that look, only a poisonous resentment of being betrayed.
“Brother… do you still care about me?” Her voice was eerie, sending a chill down his spine.
“I thought that now that you have a new pet, you wouldn’t want me as a sister anymore.”
“How could that be!” Lynn’s survival instinct went into overdrive.
“You will always be my dearest sister! No one can ever replace you!”
As soon as those words left his mouth, the atmospheric pressure from the other two directions dropped several degrees.
Lynn felt like an acrobat walking a tightrope over three crocodile pits.
He took a deep breath and threw out his final trump card.
“I know a place not far from here. It’s called ‘Mist-Hidden Village,’ a hot spring resort. The spring water there has the effect of restoring physical and mental strength. Most importantly, it’s clean, quiet, and absolutely neutral. Any form of combat is forbidden.”
This was something he had seen in the game’s setting materials.
Mist-Hidden Village was a bonus map used to restore health and mana to players during the early stages of the game.
Hot springs.
The word caused the three women to waver for a moment.
After a high-intensity battle, their mental and physical strength were heavily depleted.
Alicia had her obsession with cleanliness, Vivian needed to repair her equipment, and Lilith…
Lilith needed an environment where she could be alone with Lynn.
“I agree,” Alicia was the first to state her position.
She could no longer tolerate her current “filthy” state.
“Fine,” Vivian also nodded.
She needed time to analyze exactly what this dragon that had suddenly appeared was all about.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Lilith.
Lilith stared at Lynn for a long, long time.
Just as Lynn thought she was going to refuse, she suddenly gave a sweet smile.
“Okay. As long as I’m with Brother, I’ll go anywhere.”
Lynn breathed a sigh of relief, his back already soaked with cold sweat.
“Finally… things were stabilized for the time being.”
And so, a group with an incredibly bizarre atmosphere set out on the road to Mist-Hidden Village.
Lynn walked in the very center.
On his left was Vivian, who refused to let go of his arm.
She kept scanning Ignis, who was following behind Lynn, with a gaze like someone inspecting a piece of cargo.
On his right was Alicia, half a step away.
She walked with perfect posture, but Lynn could feel that most of her attention was also on Ignis.
Her Holy Light Power emanated faintly, appearing as if she were ready to “purify” something at any moment.
Behind them followed two little ones.
One was Ignis, who had just obtained a human form and was curious about everything in the outside world.
She followed Lynn step by step, occasionally reaching out a small hand to touch a wildflower by the road or to chase a fluttering butterfly.
The other was Lilith, who followed Ignis step by step.
She wore an innocent smile, looking like a kind older sister worried that her new little sister might get lost.
However, more than once, Lynn saw that when Ignis crouched down to study some ants, Lilith would quietly raise her poisoned dagger behind her back, measuring exactly where to strike.
This was hardly a trip to rest and reorganize.
This was clearly an escort for a death row prisoner, and he was that prisoner.
The atmosphere along the way was terrifyingly oppressive.
No one spoke.
The only sound was the occasional curious question from Ignis.
“Master, what is that round, glowing thing?” she asked, pointing at the sun in the sky.
“That’s the sun,” Lynn answered listlessly.
“Can I eat it?”