Ailisi dragged Duente and ran out of the school.
Liweida chased after them all the way.
She never imagined Ailisi could run so fast!
And Senior wasn’t slowing down either.
“I have to get far away from Sky Dome Academy…” Ailisi ran faster.
Her Brave talent kicked in, making her speed increasingly absurd.
Duente was being dragged along!
Liweida refused to be outdone.
She used shadow acceleration to barely keep up with Ailisi.
Duente’s feet left the ground.
He was completely pulled along by Ailisi like a kite flying in the air.
The guards at the Sky Dome Academy gate only saw a red blur dragging something that looked like a student, with a black shadow chasing behind.
“What are those?” asked Guard One.
“Can’t tell. Maybe some teacher testing acceleration? No student can move that fast,” guessed Guard Two.
“I see. Then let’s not bother.”
Ailisi was charging toward the woods behind Hillside Town.
The straight-line distance from the academy gate to Hillside Town was three kilometers.
Ailisi covered that distance in under two minutes.
She dragged Duente, his feet long off the ground, his whole body flapping behind her like a wind-filled flag.
The wind funneled into his uniform collar.
He felt his clothes might rip off at any moment.
He wanted to speak, ask her to stop, but the moment he opened his mouth the wind shoved the words back down.
So he shut up.
Liweida chased close behind them.
Her shadow spread beneath her like a dark track.
Every step she took, shadows sprang from the ground to boost her acceleration.
She barely kept up.
Ailisi’s speed continued to climb.
The Brave talent, double-activated by fear and adrenaline, ran like a wild horse that had slipped its reins.
“Senior—” Liweida’s voice cut through from behind, “Can’t you make her stop for a second?”
Duente tilted his head to dodge a low-hanging branch, then finally found the right angle against the wind and squeezed out a few words: “You—think—I—can?”
Ailisi didn’t hear what they were saying.
She could only hear her own heartbeat.
One thought echoed in her mind again and again: ‘Run.’
‘Run far away. Run somewhere Mother can’t find me.’
Her hand gripped Duente’s wrist, clenching so tight she would never let go.
On the main street of Hillside Town, passersby only saw a red blur dragging something that looked human-shaped whisk by, followed by a black shadow.
Ailisi cut through the main street and turned onto a forest path.
On this path, she and Duente had walked many times in her past life—after training, they’d circle back to the academy here so no one would find them.
At the end of the path stood an abandoned hunter’s log cabin.
Moss covered the half-collapsed chimney.
The door hung crooked to one side.
The window was nothing but an empty frame.
Ailisi finally stopped.
She let go of Duente’s wrist, and her knees almost buckled.
She grabbed the doorframe and gasped for air.
Sweat dripped from her forehead down her cheek, falling onto her collar.
Duente, losing momentum, dropped straight down.
But he was agile.
He landed steadily, straightened his wind-mussed collar, rubbed the red mark Ailisi had left on his wrist, and showed no emotion.
Ten seconds later, a black shadow shot out from the woods and screeched to a halt in front of the cabin.
Liweida leaned over, hands on her knees, panting heavily.
Her hair was a mess, tangled with leaves, and she was covered in dust.
She plucked a leaf from her hair, stared at Ailisi, and her eyes were full of disbelief.
“You sure can run fast,” Liweida said between breaths.
“I’m sorry.” Ailisi straightened up, supporting herself on the doorframe.
Her voice was hoarse, “But if we hide here, Mother shouldn’t be able to find us for a while.”
“So you really just wanted to protect Senior that badly?” Liweida couldn’t believe the gap between how people could be so different.
Duente spoke coldly, expressionless, “You dragged us out into the middle of nowhere. Aren’t you afraid we’ll do something to you?”
Hearing that, Ailisi’s emotions surged.
She shot back immediately: “Duente? What are you talking about? I’m protecting you!”
Liweida saw Duente’s reaction and immediately understood his intent.
She said, “Maybe you don’t get the situation, Senior’s…”
Duente cut her off, “Forget it, Liweida. No need to explain to her.”
He hadn’t expected this Ailisi to act so irrationally.
He decided to extract information from her himself.
“What’s wrong with you?” Duente said to Ailisi, “By your personality, you should be letting your mother torture me. Why are you so abnormal this time?”
“I…”
Ailisi couldn’t say it.
She didn’t want Duente to know she had also come back from the future.
She fell silent.
“Why?”
“I can’t explain right now.”
“Can’t explain, or don’t want to?”
“Can’t explain.” Ailisi emphasized the word.
She looked up at Duente to make sure he wasn’t leaving because of her evasion.
Then she lowered her head, clasped her hands in front of her, and twisted her fingers together.
“I really want to protect you.”
Duente stayed silent.
Liweida naturally didn’t say anything either.
Ailisi looked at Duente with a hurt expression, as if she might cry.
Duente sighed, composed himself, and said calmly, “I won’t believe a single word you say anymore.”
Ailisi’s eyes reddened.
She tried to explain, but the words stuck at her throat.
“The engagement between us is just a tool used by the adults. You don’t actually have to lower yourself to be with me.”
Liweida nodded wildly beside him.
“Duente, I… I really…”
“I told you, I won’t believe anything you say anymore.”
Because the person he once trusted most was her—and the one who killed him was also her.
Ailisi couldn’t say anything.
She held back her tears and could only curse her own incompetence in her heart.
‘If only I could have defied fate back then… if only I could have been awake… even for a second…’
Duente watched Ailisi.
He sensed something off and asked directly, “Is there something you haven’t told me?”
Ailisi slowly raised her head and met Duente’s gaze.
His eyes held no warmth, no hatred, no trace of kindness.
Her lips moved.
She remembered the scene of him falling under her sword in the past life.
She remembered the decisiveness when he shook off her hand earlier in the hallway.
She had a million reasons to speak but none of them could be said right now.
“…I’ll tell you later,” she said, “Not now.”
He observed her for a long time, then coldly threw out, “As you wish.”
Liweida had been sitting quietly through their conversation, but her eyes never left Ailisi.
“Alright.” Liweida stood up and clapped her hands, “Since we’re already out here, we need at least a plan. I estimate Lady Selina will find us sooner or later. We have to figure out how to deal with her.”
Ailisi thought for a moment, then said, “…There’s an abandoned mine tunnel nearby. I stumbled upon it. We can take that route and get away from Sky Dome Academy first.”
Duente remembered that path.
In the past life, Ailisi had taken him through it.
There were dangers inside, but it could indeed lead far from Sky Dome Academy.
And deep inside, it was even more hidden—the perfect place to seize Ailisi’s power!
“Alright,” Duente said decisively, “Lead the way.”