Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
The air itself seemed to solidify.
Perhaps finding the atmosphere far too awkward and wanting to say something to ease it, Vivian had just opened her mouth.
"Um."
"Stop! Shut up!"
"D-don't you dare say anything!!" Seeing the little girl across from her looking all soft and frail as she prepared to speak again, Bella, the Epic Witch, hurriedly interrupted her with a shriek.
She was genuinely terrified of Vivian, who was either outwardly innocent but inwardly sinister—or perhaps just naturally sinister.
"Oh, all right."
The little girl obediently nodded, but a trace of grievance still appeared on her little face. She had clearly only wanted to comfort Bella.
For example:
"It's okay. Maybe something went wrong with the magic just now. Why don't you... try casting it one more time?"
Fortunately, Bella had learned her lesson. If she had really let Vivian finish that sentence, Bella might have been angered into vomiting blood.
Was her forbidden spell something she could cast whenever she wanted?
Hadn't she seen that summoning this wolf king had nearly drained her body dry?
And she still wanted her to cast it again.
What for? To embarrass herself one more time?
Bella was not truly stupid. After her initial shock and confusion, she quickly understood and formed a guess.
First of all, there was absolutely nothing wrong with her magic. That was the unquestionable confidence of a genuine Witch.
Then, by process of elimination, the only thing that could be at fault was—
At that moment, the Thousand-Faced Witch, an Epic-rank powerhouse, stared at the Wolf Cub in Vivian's arms with a complicated look.
Wolves placed great importance on bloodlines. Bella knew that very well.
There could only be one explanation for the Dark Wolf King refusing to obey her orders, declining to attack the other party, and even turning around and leaving on its own before disappearing into the darkness.
There was another wolf king present—one even more "wolf king" than it was!
Even if the other party was currently—
Perhaps still very young.
Bloodlines were bloodlines. The higher-ranked naturally suppressed the lower-ranked, and that had nothing to do with age or strength.
It was like the newborn child of a king. From the moment it was born, it was already second only to one person and above countless others. Humans were like that, and the brainless magical creatures who lacked most human intrigue were even more so.
"Hmph, I didn't expect you to have this trick hidden up your sleeve! No wonder you dared to enter Claw Forest alone and even cause trouble for the Fire God Cult."
After Bella forcibly finished her grandstanding speech, Vivian had yet to react, but the two Beta Testers were already depressed.
Big Watermelon and Melee God of Magic: "..."
What did she mean?
Did the two of us not count as people?
Then, as if sensing something, Bella glanced at the two players. They looked as if they were deeply aggrieved, their faces practically declaring, "Vivian and we hacked down the Fire God Cult together—eighty-one points, no, we wiped out the entire Fire God Cult together and overpowered an Epic Witch."
The two immediately backed down.
Fine. We're not people.
Woof, woof!
We're all Miss Vivian's dogs!
"How exactly did you establish a soulbound contract with a magical creature like that?" Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, Bella asked Vivian.
Did Bella envy her?
Hmph, she was an Epic Witch. Why would she envy a yellow-haired girl who had not even grown all her hair yet?
She absolutely envied her!
She envied her like hell!
Jealousy was practically making Bella spontaneously combust.
It was like a racecar driver encountering a supercar, a sharpshooter discovering a peerless firearm, or an old lecher seeing a seductive beauty—cough, cough, that last one seemed a little off.
In any case, Bella, who had devoted her life to researching the "Drive Wolves" magic, was now looking at Liao Zixuan rather strangely, as if green light were shining from her eyes.
The Wolf Cub shuddered all over and instinctively nestled closer into the little girl's arms.
Granny, please show some restraint.
We're not suited for each other.
If Bella had possessed a statistic called "Guard-Break Value," its progress bar would probably have reached ten percent.
Then—
"Ah? Little Black... you're that amazing?" Vivian gently stroked Liao Zixuan's fur, smoothing it down.
"Could it be that the big gray wolf ran away because you scared it off?"
Liao Zixuan, feeling extremely comfortable under the little girl's touch, proudly raised his little wolf head.
Watching the girl and wolf flaunt their affection as if they were deeply in love, the corner of the Epic Witch's mouth twitched violently.
Big gray wolf?
That was the Dark Wolf King, Oloris Barry Jin Nu Ying, whom I had exhausted myself and gone through untold hardships to invite!
Do you know how much I paid to form a contract with it back then?
And you're saying you don't know where this Wolf Cub of yours came from?
Heh!
Do you think I'm a ghost?
Bella's Guard-Break Value reached forty percent.
"If you don't even know what kind of wolf it is or what bloodline it has, how did you summon it? How did you perform the ritual? How did you establish the contract? Don't tell me it just appeared out of thin air and ran to you on its own?"
Unable to contain her anger, Bella mocked Vivian.
She felt that the little girl across from her had gone too far.
At a time like this, she was still deliberately pretending to be clueless. What was the point? Was it just to annoy Bella?
Yes, Bella believed Vivian was pretending to be stupid.
If it had been an ordinary magical creature, then fine. But the stronger the magical creature, the more complicated the process of forming a contract with it. First, one had to consult all sorts of ancient tomes and learn the creature's true name. Then, one had to prepare the appropriate offerings, rituals, and so on based on its preferences and habits.
That was also why Bella, despite being unwilling to speak to Vivian, whom she had labeled "devious," still could not suppress her intense curiosity and asked.
You were just a village girl from the countryside. You said you had powerful magic—fine, that was talent. You said you could imitate other people's magic—fine, that was talent. You said your combat strength was absurdly high—fine, you had a split personality, and Bella accepted that.
But no matter how talented you were, and no matter whether you had another personality within you, how had you produced all that mysterious knowledge and the materials and preparations needed for a high-level summoning?
Those resources were things even a grand Witch like Bella might not be able to produce. How had Vivian managed it?
Yes, how had the little girl managed it?
The answer was actually very simple.
Bella even said it herself.
"What summoning? What ritual? What contract?" Under Bella's furious questioning, Vivian revealed a confused, bewildered expression.
Then a look of recollection appeared on the little girl's face, and she honestly told the truth:
"It seems... Little Black really did run over by himself."
"Come to think of it, he scared me half to death back then. I thought Little Black was a wild magical creature that had come to eat me."
Bella's Guard-Break Value reached one hundred percent.
She could not stay in this place for even one more second.
Her strongest attack was completely countered by the other party, while the other party could do nothing to her soul form. Neither side could do anything to the other, so why should she continue suffering here?
"Vivian, remember this. We'll meet again sooner or later!"
After leaving those threatening words behind, Bella prepared to leave the lair.
But just then—
A sudden change occurred!
Another creature at the scene, one that everyone had overlooked all this time, suddenly stirred.
From the center of the lair, the Magic Tyrannosaurus, which should have been undergoing hypnotic catalysis through a secret technique, suddenly writhed with the strange black runes on its skin. More than a dozen pitch-black arms extended from its body and swiftly reached toward Bella's departing soul, dragging it back!
When Liao Zixuan saw those chilling black hands, the Wolf Cub's expression changed drastically.
Two words instinctively surfaced in his mind—the two words that inspired the greatest fear in countless factions in Fall of the Gods.
Abyssal Fall!
Before you continue