At this moment, Zhu Qiu, who had been staring intently at Dinksway, shifted her gaze, turned her head, and instantly locked onto the fleeing figure.
“You want to run too?”
Zhu Qiu pulled the Demon Sword from the ground, used Flash Step to appear before Sote, and pressed the blade against his neck.
“Going against your own brother with outsiders, do you think that’s something to be proud of?”
Sote was so terrified by the dragon’s actions that he collapsed to the ground. He tried to stand multiple times, but his legs were too weak to support him.
“Sote, you truly disappoint me. You disappoint your father.”
As she spoke, Zhu Qiu raised the Demon Sword again.
“Demon Sword Slash!”
“No!”
Just as the Demon Sword was about to strike Sote, Zhu Qiu’s pupils suddenly returned to normal.
The one who had been perfectly fine just moments ago suddenly closed her eyes and fell straight backward, the Demon Sword dropping from her hand.
Sote, who had just survived a life-or-death ordeal, still hadn’t regained his senses and remained in extreme panic.
Yiluo Enya, who had been knocked unconscious by the shockwave earlier, was only now waking up. She couldn’t figure out what was going on, but she seemed to no longer be in the cage.
‘Well, whatever the situation, the important thing is to get out of here fast.’
“All Things Have Spirit: Flight!”
Yiluo Enya quickly chanted the magic, and in less than three seconds, a giant dragonfly appeared in the sky and landed steadily on the ground.
She didn’t dare waste a single second. She quickly used the Vine Binding Spell to tie Zhu Qiu onto the dragonfly, then took off flying it herself.
Because Yiluo Enya wasn’t very proficient in the “All Things Have Spirits” type of magic, and had only thought to summon a mount in her desperation, the dragonfly’s flight was unstable.
She had to flee the Human City quickly. She had just teleported there and already encountered this kind of trouble. Who knows what other terrible things might happen if she lingered?
Yiluo Enya flew the dragonfly, swaying unsteadily. The entire journey was not only slow but also wobbly. She had to hold on tight to the dragonfly at all times, or she could be thrown off at any moment.
Because she was unskilled with the magic, she had to expend more Magic Power to control it. In the end, it took a full hour to leave the Human City and reach the suburbs to its north.
By the time she reached the suburbs, most of her Magic Power was already depleted.
Yiluo Enya looked back. There was no one behind her—no one had followed.
‘Let’s stop and rest for a bit. First, let’s see what’s wrong with Zhu Qiu. At this rate, there’s no way I can get very far on my own strength.’
She guided the dragonfly to slowly descend beside a large flat rock. She untied the bound Zhu Qiu and laid her on it, then lay down beside her, also exhausted from Magic Power depletion.
After resting for a while, Yiluo Enya got up to check on Zhu Qiu’s condition.
“Zhu Qiu, how are you doing?”
She first tried to wake Zhu Qiu up, but there was no response. Then she used her fingers to force open Zhu Qiu’s eyelids—still no reaction.
“Zhu Qiu, oh Zhu Qiu, please wake up soon.”
Yiluo Enya prayed anxiously. If Zhu Qiu didn’t wake up soon, both of them would be done for.
As she moved, Yiluo Enya’s hand brushed against Zhu Qiu’s forehead.
The scalding temperature forced her to immediately pull her hand back.
‘What was that just now… A fever?’
Yiluo Enya looked confused.
Ever since Zhu Qiu fainted, her consciousness had come to another place.
This was the large open grounds outside the Dragon Race Imperial Palace. It looked like daytime, but only in appearance.
In the sky there was only a sun, with no white clouds and no blue sky. That’s right—there was no sky at all.
Looking up from the ground, overhead was nothing but darkness, with a golden sun dotting that darkness.
‘Where is this now? Could Yiluo Enya also know fixed-point teleportation magic?’
Zhu Qiu scratched her head. Just as she was puzzled, a sword suddenly flew toward her from the darkness. It grazed past her cheek and landed on the ground.
Before she could react, a young dragon flew over from the same direction.
This time, Zhu Qiu wasn’t so lucky. She was knocked to the ground by the flying young dragon, whose tail naturally fell across her face, almost crushing her and making it hard to breathe.
“Hey! Who are you?! Get off me!”
She pushed with both hands and barely managed to shove the young dragon off her body.
The fallen young dragon let out a mournful cry.
“Wuwu~ >_< ~ I can’t win…”
“What do you mean you can’t win? Hey, what’s going on with you?”
Curious, Zhu Qiu helped the young dragon back up.
The moment she got a clear look at her, Zhu Qiu froze.
“You’re… the Sword Spirit?”
It seemed she suddenly thought of something. She quickly picked up the sword that had flown over and nearly hit her earlier.
“This is the Holy Sword?!”
Frightened and anxious, Zhu Qiu shook the lifeless Sword Spirit.
“Sword Spirit, quickly tell me what happened!”
Just then, a powerful aura from within the darkness gradually pressed down upon Zhu Qiu.
She instinctively turned to look. There in the darkness appeared a pair of deep purple eyes faintly burning with flames, utterly out of place in the dark surroundings.
Sensing the danger approaching, Zhu Qiu quickly grabbed the Holy Sword from the ground and raised it in a defensive stance.
“Who are you?! You’re not allowed to bully my Sword Spirit!”
She remained on high alert.
Until the figure in the darkness truly appeared.
The appearance of that figure made Zhu Qiu freeze once again.
‘Why does this person look exactly like me? And she’s covered in purple from head to toe.’
“Do you want to fight? I’m happy to oblige!”
“You… who are you? Why…”
“You… are the Sword Demon?”
In those few seconds, Zhu Qiu quickly flipped through her memories and finally discovered that this being had appeared once in one of her dreams.
Back then, she had claimed to be the Sword Demon of the Demon Sword, and that Zhu Qiu was her master. But in the end, Zhu Qiu had ruthlessly driven her away.
‘Master? Right, if she was driven away, why would she come back looking for me?’
“Yes, I am the Sword Demon.”
The Sword Demon stated bluntly.
“Where is this place?”
Zhu Qiu continued to ask.
“This is your inner world. Everything that exists here belongs to you. Including me—I belong to you too.”
“You also belong to me? That doesn’t seem right.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Didn’t I tell you to leave me last time? Why are you back?”
“Leaving last time was just talk. Once the binding was truly complete, it wasn’t that easy to break.”
“So you never actually left, but were hiding all along without revealing yourself?”
“Right.”
“Why did you do this? Did you get my permission?!”
Zhu Qiu demanded angrily, her cheeks puffed with indignation.
“I…”
The Sword Demon lowered her head.
“I just wanted a good master—someone who would truly treat her well.”