Chapter 222

"Um... no, really..." Lux glanced at the darkening sky outside the window, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded somewhat embarrassedly.

"Well... we can't stay up too late... Garen nag us if he finds out..."

"Garen? I didn't realize he was the kind of person who liked to ramble on and on." Chen Ce smiled and extended his hand to the girl, who was bound by family and aristocratic etiquette. "Then let's not go out through the main gate, no one will know you snuck out."

Looking at the outstretched hand, Lux suddenly felt as if she were in the girlish stories she often secretly read... A caged bird meets a soaring eagle, which spreads its wings on the windowsill.

She longingly grasped that hand.

"Running away like that... I guess I'm such a bad girl..."

"Being a little bad is fine too. Come on, I'll take you away."

Chen Ce grasped the girl's warm, soft hand and pulled her close to him with a slight effort.

The latter couldn't help but gasp in surprise. But when she threw herself into the other person's arms, she became so nervous that she couldn't utter a sound.

Only when Chen Ce gently closed the window and carried the girl over the wall did he smile and say:

Goodbye, cage...

"Sister Sona--!"

Duang~

As soon as Lux entered, Lux rushed over and hugged Sona warmly—for a moment, a strange sound echoed in the room.

Lux looked down at herself, then squinted at the other person.

Half of her enthusiasm was instantly replaced by a sour feeling. She asked the other person, her tone tinged with jealousy, "Sister Sona... when you look down, can you really see your toes?"

Sona tilted her head in confusion when faced with this question.

[Good evening, Lux... I don't quite understand what you're asking...?] She gestured in sign language.

"It's nothing." Lux continued to stare at the other person's two mounds, which were at least twice her size... snow-white.

Chen Ce suppressed a laugh and poured tea for both girls.

One is a small cup, and the other is a large cup.

And the English word for cup is...

"Here, have some tea." Chen Ce handed two cups of different sizes to the two girls. "The younger one should drink the smaller one, and the older one should drink the larger one."

"...?" Lux blushed, a little embarrassed and angry. "Vulgar joke...!"

"Vulgar? What's vulgar?" Chen Ce asked innocently. "Younger people use small cups, older people use large cups, what's wrong with that?"

[Reasonable.] Unaware of the problem Sona smiled and accepted the teacup—she didn't even think there was anything wrong with Chen Ce saying she was older.

Lux blushed deeply, her face turning completely red, yet she had no way to refute it.

"Hmph...! Pervert...!"

"Pervert? What's wrong with me? Or have you thought of something?" Chen Ce said, suppressing a laugh.

"You...! Sister Sona ~~ Look at Chen Ce ~~!" Lux turned to her gentle older sister Sona for comfort.

But the latter still looked completely bewildered.

[What's wrong...? I think I don't understand what you're saying...]

"It's nothing, it's just that our lovely Miss Lux generated electricity," Chen Ce said with a smile.

[Oh... I don't quite understand...] Sona was completely unaware.

Unaware of what was happening, she gave her full breasts a slight jerk.

Lux was already planning to investigate Sona's daily diet and routine overnight.

"You guys... sigh... fine, fine, so you can't have brought me here just so Sona could make fun of me, right?" Lux looked at Chen Ce with a half-helpless, half-resentful gaze.

[Eh...? Did I joke about Lux...?] Sona puffed out her chest in confusion.

Lux's eye twitched.

"Ahem... um... of course not." Chen Ce withdrew his gaze from the two girls. "I want to tell you something today."

"What is it?" Lux asked irritably.

"I would like to ask you to take care of Sona for a while, Miss Lux."

"Huh?"

[Huh?]

Both girls simultaneously voiced their doubts.

"Because I'll be leaving Great City for a while," Chen Ce explained. "I'm going to Fossbarrow to carry out a demon-hunting mission... I'm not sure when I'll be back; it might be a day or two, or it might take ten days to half a month."

"Fossbarrow?" The familiar name instantly stirred up Lux's memories—not pleasant ones. "As for the demon-hunting quest... can you tell me what kind of quest it is?"

"I don't know the specifics either. The intelligence only says that something resembling Black Mage has appeared there—and several innocent people have already been killed."

"This..." Lux pursed her lips. "I can help take care of Sona while you're away, but... Fossbarrow ... isn't safe... you'd better not go there at all."

[Does little Lux know anything?] Sona, the only one of the three who knew nothing about Fossbarrow, immediately asked using sign language.

"Hmm..." Lux nodded with difficulty, a hint of fear in her eyes. "Although I saw that monster leave with my own eyes back then... this incident might also be related to it... that terrifying monster..."

"[A monster? What monster?] "Sona asked curiously.

Lux was immediately lost in memories.

She remembered everything from that day... that horrific scene...

Countless monsters surged towards her... monsters like demons... some humanoid, some animaloid...

A demonic hound bit Garen's shoulder... The warriors of the Dauntless Vanguard fought valiantly against the monster's attack at dawn...

Finally... dawn... the sun rose... and the terrifying monsters receded like the tide...

And then... they seem to have disappeared again...

But their departure was as mysterious as their arrival... inexplicable...

That kind of monster...

"They are demons..." Lux unconsciously swallowed. "They enter people's dreams while they sleep... They become nightmares, haunting everyone in Fossbarrow ..."

"They can control human brains... That monster once controlled a child..."

"Sometimes they also materialize and pounce like a pack of hungry wolves..."

"I once thought that light could dispel them... but upon further reflection, I realized I was wrong..."

"They... have almost no weaknesses..."

Lux grew increasingly terrified as she spoke, her lips even trembling slightly.

Clearly, she not only remembered everything from that day, but also those terrible nightmares.

Like listening to a thought-provoking horror story, she was able to suppress her fear, bravely confront the monsters, and achieve "victory" at the time. However, in the many years that followed, the fear buried deep in her heart only grew stronger.

She once faced the darkness head-on, saving many people without much fear in her heart—she appeared as "light" and saved that town.

Now, even though she has achieved "victory," she is even more terrified of those indescribable monsters.

"Chen Ce, you can't go...you really can't..." Lux grabbed Chen Ce's hand tightly, like a drowning person grasping at a straw. "Fossbarrow ...it's too eerie there...I'll go explain the situation to His Majesty the King! The best solution is for the residents of Fossbarrow to move to a safe place...!"

"But I think the demon isn't tormenting a wasteland, but rather the people on it." Chen Ce shook his head—if it really Nocturne, then it's useless for the people to escape to— Nocturne's ultimate skill is used to "target enemies"...

"That place is too dangerous...!" Lux almost screamed.

The resurrected fear deep within her pushed her to the brink of losing control—a primal, instinctive fear, like an animal encountering its natural enemy.

Seeing this, Chen Ce quickly reached out and patted the girl's head to comfort her.

At the same time, it releases a trace of demonic power to probe her heart.

We can't let Lux keep remembering... Just skim through it yourself...

What she feared... that shadow... about Nocturne...

Chen Ce caught a glimpse of some blurry images. They flashed by in an instant.

These details may be the key to victory.

At the same time, Sona's soothing piano music began, calming Lux's frightened heart.

The magical "voice" entered Chen Ce's mind along with the music: [Little Lux looks very tired; perhaps she needs rest... We can't force her any further.]

"Okay." Chen Ce nodded. "I'll leave you here alone for the next few days... Lux will come regularly to deliver supplies and ensure your safety."

We can't trouble Lux any longer...

"I know, so--"

[What I mean is...] Sona interrupted Chen Ce, [I don't need Lux to take care of me anymore.]

"So you're all alone...?" Chen Ce asked, puzzled.

[It seems you still don't understand, Mr. Chen Ce...] Sona's lips curled into a smile, her eyes revealing a captivating tenderness.

I mean... I want to go with you.

[I've also fought demons before; I have experience.]

[I can help you, Mr. Chen Ce ~]

A figure emerged silently from the shadows.

Behind her was a deep, dark forest, and in front of her was a desolate town— Fossbarrow? That seems to be the name... I'm not sure, back then this was just a barren mountain area.

Her face was covered by an exquisite veil, and she wore a pure black backless robe—as black as her long hair. It was sleeveless. Her lower body was covered by a long skirt, but there were slits on both sides, and her slender, fair thighs were vaguely visible.

Her ears were unlike those of ordinary people—pointed like those of a legendary elf, protruding from the ends of her thick black hair. Her eyes always gleamed with an eerie light... a dark purple, like some kind of "evil sorcery" from Black Mage. Below her eyes were strange "tattoos" resembling tear stains.

She walked toward the town ahead, but did not enter. She stopped where there were people, making sure no one noticed her.

She only watched the human town from afar.

She sensed something was wrong—this wasn't the first time.

She didn't intervene the first two times, but this time, she couldn't stand idly by.

Even though she bore a heavy reputation in this kingdom.

Even though she is seen as the opposite of "fairness and law".

Even though... her wings were already chained.

"Poor people..."

Chapter 83: Use Nightmares to Defeat Nightmares

In the end, Chen Ce still brought Sona along.

As for Lux... although she wanted to come along, her condition was simply not suitable for combat—the seeds of fear that Nocturne had buried deep within her heart were beginning to sprout—just recalling it filled her with immense terror, and facing her in person would likely be even worse.

This is one of the reasons.

Well... the main reason is because...

Chen Ce could only guarantee the safety of one person 100%.

Although he had some understanding of Nocturne, it was only based on some "stories," not to mention that was the Nocturne of the past... He couldn't be sure of Nocturne's strength now.

This leads to three possible scenarios:

The first scenario is that Nocturne isn't very strong, and I can easily handle him – that would naturally be the best-case scenario.

In the second scenario, Nocturne's strength is average, and you can defeat it, but you cannot stop it from harming others with its strange abilities—this is the second-best situation. In this case, you need to use the Realm of Death to directly drag Nocturne into the Death Realm and beat it down, which can also ensure the safety of others.

The third scenario is that Nocturne is too powerful and he himself is at a disadvantage, so he naturally has no time to protect others - this is the worst situation. In this case, he needs to use the Realm of Death to take his "teammates" to the Death Realm to have tea, chat, and seek refuge with Mordekaiser.

If I bring both Sona and Lux with me, then at least one of them will have to be left outside.

That definitely won't work.

Therefore, bringing only one person is the most conservative approach.