Chapter 120

"It's nothing, I'll Ilulu."

Theresa further reduced Judas's Binding Vow.

Feeling the magic power surging within her body, Ilulu didn't waste any words and directly used True Magic to restore her original form. The cross, which was originally only the size of a child's neck, grew much larger as Ilulu grew. While it could still tightly wrap around her neck, the cross also became the size of an adult's arm.

The feeling of being Binding Vow still made Ilulu somewhat uncomfortable, but she knew her current position, and with a burst of dragon breath, she blasted a large hole in the soil at the foot of the mountain.

Destroying a mountain is very easy for a dragon, and digging a cave is also commonplace. Ilulu, who is skilled in this technique, used her breath to construct the shape of the cave according to Theresa's instructions, while using True Magic to generate hard rock walls to prevent the cave from collapsing.

With the aid of True Magic, the two completed a cave large enough for a short-term life in less than half an hour.

"This cave is so small, can people really live in it?"

Ilulu, however, was not very satisfied.

"That's enough for humanity."

Theresa nodded, and after Ilulu transformed into human form, she asked a question, "Ilulu, do you know anything about demons?"

Chapter Thirty-Five: Ilulu, I Didn't Lie.

She has already created many clones to investigate the situation around the world, but ultimately the time is too short, and many places cannot be handled simply by having enough people.

"Demon?"

Ilulu tilted her head, unsure why she was suddenly asking this question, but she had no reason to hide anything. "I should know quite a bit about demons, since they occasionally cooperate with the Chaos Faction. But what specific aspects does Theresa want to know?"

"Back in the back mountain, when you attacked the ground, Ilulu, you must have sensed something was off, right?"

Although Theresa knew that Ilulu definitely knew about the other world, Theresa still vaguely said, "We originally planned to slip away quietly, but some of our members said that they were possessed by demons and did things that attracted attention."

"Oh... that's the aura of flowing magic from back then..."

Speaking of this, Ilulu felt a little embarrassed, after all, she had breathed fire and crashed her plane. "I don't think demons are that strong... at least I've never seen a very strong demon, and I can be sure that the flow of magic at that time didn't seem to be that of a demon."

At the time, Ilulu didn't really make a careful distinction, since it was somewhat of a standoff at that point, but it wasn't difficult to make a distinction afterward.

After thinking it over carefully for a while, Ilulu came to an answer that even she herself found puzzling, "More like a dragon than a demon?"

Distinguishing the flow of magic is not that difficult. After all, different races use magic, and the organs and methods for storing magic are different, so the flow of magic will vary greatly.

For example, the core of a demon's magic is usually its horn, while for a dragon it is its heart. Gods do not have a specific organ, but humans are the same as gods in this respect.

So if, based on the flow of energy, it's not a demon or a dragon, then it must be a god or a human.

Of course, the magic organ is the core organ for storing magic power, but magic power does not only flow within the magic organ.

At this point, Ilulu looked at Theresa, her expression increasingly confused. "Does your team have a dragon? Dragons shouldn't be possessed by demons."

The demons of today are practically extinct because of the pact between the Lord of Hell and the God of the Bible. Unable to appear in their true forms, they can only appear on earth by attaching themselves to human bodies. Ilulu has never taken them seriously.

"Our team consists of ordinary people who do not use magic, so using magic flow to judge is not accurate."

These words revealed to Theresa the origin of the 'key's' working principle; it must have come from Tohru and the other dragons.

"You don't know how to use magic?"

Where does that flow of magic come from?

Ilulu's eyes revealed confusion.

She didn't press further. "Are you trying to find the demon that's possessed your subordinate? Or would it be better to give up? After all, your previous move completely eliminated the magic power, and demon possession requires magic power to maintain its state."

Theresa knew this too. "But... the team members are being targeted, and I'm worried they might encounter some danger... If possible, I'd like to know if there's any way to detect someone possessed by a demon as soon as possible..."

"Demons are masters at concealing their presence; if they don't actively reveal themselves, it's almost impossible to detect them."

Ilulu had no idea what to do about it, but Theresa's attitude did intrigue her. "You're so strong, you don't need to worry about demons coming after you, right?"

"Well... but I'm the leader of the team, so I have a duty to protect everyone."

Why go through all that trouble?

Ilulu couldn't understand. "If you can't keep up with the tribe, does that mean you're not suitable for the tribe? Eliminating them is best for everyone."

"That's the rule for dragons, it's different for humans."

"As far as I know, humans are not much different from dragons."

"Maybe that's true... but I don't want my team to be like that."

Theresa shook her head, then looked at Ilulu: "Besides possession, do demons have no other means of interfering with this world?"

She didn't say anything like, "If you were eliminated, how would you feel?" because that was completely irrelevant to Ilulu. For Ilulu, who was young and already stronger than many mature dragons, the word "elimination" was completely foreign to her.

"..."

Ilulu looked at Theresa with even more confusion. "Although we often interact with demons, Theresa should know more about them, after all..."

She glanced at the cross behind the white-haired girl.

This person is clearly a follower of the God of the Bible. Even though Ilulu isn't particularly interested in the petty squabbles between humans and demons, she knows that followers of the God of the Bible would exorcise demons, so they should theoretically know a lot about demons.

After all, to exorcise a demon, one must know its true name, and Ilulu certainly can't remember that many names.

"... I am not one of the personnel responsible for exorcising demons."

Theresa was not lying.

"That's true, it would be a waste to use Theresa to exorcise demons."

Ilulu accepted the explanation immediately, since she wouldn't care about the relationship between demons and humans, and it wasn't surprising that Theresa, who was stronger than her, wouldn't care about such trivial matters.

"What do you mean by 'using Theresa '? You're making it sound like I'm some kind of prop."

Theresa flicked Ilulu's forehead. The power of the Prometheus Soldier was no weaker than that of the dragon, let alone the dragon whose magic was sealed at this moment. Although Theresa did not use much force, the flick still made Ilulu feel refreshed.

"Ouch, that hurts!"

Ilulu covered her slightly reddened forehead, wondering why the other person was suddenly unhappy.

He didn't say anything strange, and even praised her strength. Shouldn't she be happy?

"Huh? Does it hurt that much?"

Theresa was somewhat surprised that the other person's endurance was so weak, even though she hadn't used much force.

The dragon, whose magic was sealed, was more fragile than imagined.

Theresa shifted Ilulu's hand that was holding her forehead, and after Ilulu obediently lowered her hand, she brushed aside Ilulu's bangs, revealing a noticeable red patch. Although this pain was only temporary for a dragon and would recover in a minute or two, it was still something she had caused herself. After thinking for a moment, Theresa bent down slightly.

"Huff... huff..."

A gentle, cool breeze caressed my forehead, and the area that had been aching felt much less painful after being touched by the cool breeze.

Ilulu was initially alarmed by Theresa's approach, suddenly froze in place.

She seemed to have seen this gesture before.

It was the action her mother made for her after her human friend fell down.

Ilulu couldn't understand this behavior before, but now she understands why humans do it.

This movement... is it really this comfortable?

Chapter Thirty-Six: Out of Place

Are you feeling better?

Theresa looked at her forehead, which had already turned red.

Dragons have a strong ability to recover, even without the support of magic, they far surpass ordinary races, let alone this minor bump that doesn't even qualify as a wound.

"Ah... um, it wasn't that serious to begin with! You're making a big fuss over nothing!"

Ilulu then realized what was happening and quickly took two steps back.

"Is that so? Okay, I'm glad you're alright."

Theresa noticed her resistance and didn't press the matter further. Instead, she changed the subject. "Should I go call the others over? Will Ilulu come too?"

"I?"

Ilulu pointed to herself in confusion, not expecting to receive this question. Then, without thinking, she shook her head. "I'll pass. It would be good enough if those humans didn't faint from fright if they saw me."

There was one more thing she didn't say: she was, after all, indirectly responsible for the destruction of their home, and when facing those humans... she didn't know how to conduct herself.

Thinking of this, Ilulu's face darkened. She regretted coming with Theresa; she would have preferred to remain sealed in that place...

"Okay, I'll go alone then. You need to be careful."

Although Theresa didn't know Ilulu's specific thoughts, she didn't intend to force her to go. After giving her some advice, she left.

The two men made quite a commotion; even though the residents didn't see what happened, they could feel the ground shaking and hear a loud noise.

Upon seeing Theresa's return, before Reiner and Tifa could even approach her, the residents and priests had already come before her.

As the town's representative, the priest cautiously asked, "Ms. Theresa, what was that just now...?"

"Don't worry, it was me and Ilulu... that red dragon, who dug a rather large cave."

Theresa explained, "We can use that place as temporary accommodation. I'll go back to town tomorrow to check on the situation. If there's no danger, we can start the town's restoration work."

"So that's how it is..."

Tifa had just told the townspeople about Ilulu, and the people didn't seem to mind the bishop's subjugation of the dragon; on the contrary, it increased Theresa's importance in their hearts.

"If we replenish the water supply, let's head to the cave first. Tonight will probably be tough. On the way there, try to find some branches to lay on the ground so we can keep warm at night."

Theresa said, looking at Tifa.

Ordinary people would be exhausted after running for so long, and the combination of fatigue and hunger would only add an excessive burden to them. Therefore, this task could only be left to the Valkyrie.

"I see."

Tifa nodded naturally.

Although they are not from the same world, they also act for the weak and ordinary people.

Theresa didn't choose a location for her temporary residence too far away, but to prevent it from being discovered by any dragons, she chose a secluded spot at the foot of a mountain surrounded by forest. The entrance to the cave was only two people high and three people wide, just big enough for Ilulu to crawl in.

The cave was very cold at night. The Valkyrie collected a lot of branches and weeds from all directions and spread them out on everyone's resting place. With this layer of grass, plus everyone's clothes and coats, although it was still a simple bed, it was enough to get a good night's rest after being tired.

In addition, the Valkyrie lit a bonfire at intervals and made a wooden door at the cave entrance using arranged logs to block most of the cold air, so the cave had some warmth.

The Scout Team didn't carry much heavy equipment, but Reiner still managed to find some coats to make a relatively soft bed for Theresa. Theresa's condition affected their chances of survival, so it had to be a priority.

Unable to refuse, Theresa finally had no choice but to accept and lay down next to Ilulu.

Ilulu's existence is now known to everyone, after all, it was Theresa subdued and reformed the dragon. But knowing and accepting her does not mean that people's fear of her will decrease. Her power to easily destroy cities is enough to make people regard her as an anomaly.

Moreover, their current predicament also stemmed from the dragon, and even if they viewed it as a test from the Lord, it was impossible for them to be completely without resentment towards Ilulu.

As a dragon, Ilulu possesses senses far exceeding those of ordinary humans, giving her a stronger perception of others' emotions. The fact that humans avoided her was not unexpected, but even so, Ilulu's mood remained somewhat sour.

This feeling of being out of place among the other people made her expression even more somber.

Despite noticing this, Theresa had no better solution at the moment, because everyone's rejection of Ilulu did not stem from prejudice, but from fear.

It is difficult to eliminate prejudice in people's hearts, and it is equally difficult to eliminate fear. Even though everyone knows that this temporary shelter was Ilulu's doing, they still attribute the credit to Theresa.

Of course, even Ilulu couldn't deny this point. Although she was the one who contributed the effort, she also understood that if it weren't for Theresa, there would have been no shelter at all, and that these humans might have died long ago if it weren't for Theresa.

Even though she rationally knew all this, the fact that her efforts didn't earn her praise or recognition from the beneficiaries still made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Furthermore, the fact that others naturally pushed Ilulu into Theresa's care after learning Ilulu she was going to live with them further exacerbated Ilulu's feeling of being out of place among humans.

Although Theresa is also human.

"It will be alright."

Theresa couldn't offer any more comfort. After all, if Ilulu hadn't been a child, Theresa would have treated her the same way as the dragon before.

If Theresa hadn't been in a hurry, she would have killed that dragon.

Ilulu's shapeshifting True Magic wasn't particularly proficient, and her thick, dragon-scaled claws and excessively large fire sacs on her chest made Theresa, who was squeezed next to her, quite uncomfortable.

But in order to maintain her public image, Theresa hugged her and comforted her.

Having lived a life without being treated like a child, without receiving care and attention for an unknown amount of time, Ilulu, who lost her parents at a young age, was very pleased with Theresa's actions. Although the collar around her neck made her uncomfortable and the rejection from humans made her feel sad, at this moment she felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

I just hope that this version of Theresa can stay by my side forever.