Chapter 201
The Great Beast seemed to have no intention of hiding itself; on the contrary, it answered whatever Maria asked.
After seeing Maria fall silent, He took the initiative to speak.
"Now, leave. I have no hostility towards you."
"... Oh."
This Great Beast clearly didn't want to fight Maria.
This doesn't mean He had any curiosity about His own kind; it's simply that He couldn't be sure what was going on with Maria.
Pushing someone of similar stature to their limit is clearly not a good thing to do.
He can toy with other creatures without restraint, but He dares not act rashly towards beings of the same level as Him.
He even proactively stated that if Maria chose to leave, He would not make things too difficult for her.
After all, Maria is a neurotic who likes to see herself as a biological being.
But...
"You are as arrogant as ever."
Taking a deep breath, Maria remained kneeling on one knee and slowly closed her eyes.
"Don't want to make things difficult for me? Leaving aside whether you even have the ability... are you really not going to attack?"
Maria slowly raised her head, her usually calm face now appearing even paler.
She looked at the group of people in front of her with a cold gaze.
"You are nothing but a greedy bunch. I don't even consider you human. Etiquette, wisdom, interaction... these are things you will never develop in your lifetime."
Maria whispered, her words calm yet tearing away at their facades time and again, revealing their true nature.
"You are a pack of beasts, devouring each other to strengthen yourselves."
"In your eyes, I'm just a piece of food that has turned itself into a walking lump of meat..."
"Give up?"
"If you really just wanted to warn me and make me leave, why did you even appear in front of me?"
"Why not just let Rob inherit the power and attack me?"
As Maria spoke, she slowly stood up.
The wounds on his body were almost healed... although there was still a large hole through his chest, but there was no time to wait.
Her eyes were cold as she slowly raised her hand.
Looking at the group of people in front of him whose gazes were gradually unwavering, a slow smile crept onto his lips.
"So... no need for further explanation..."
Let's solve this in a way that we can both understand...
"This should be the right place, right?"
In the darkness, the silver-clad girl wandered through the forest, searching for the strange scene she had witnessed earlier.
Just before the explosion, she was training idly outside the manor.
She didn't care what her grandfather and father were talking about, nor did she want to know.
She just wanted to duel with that Celinina one more time!
She noticed the fireball flying up immediately after the explosion.
If she wasn't mistaken, the fireball should have risen from the ground.
This was something she had never seen before.
Out of curiosity, and also because of her confidence that the area was all Saluzzo Family territory, she set off to search without telling anyone.
But as she went deeper, she increasingly felt that something was wrong with her surroundings.
A cold and oppressive feeling constantly lingered in her heart, making it difficult for her to breathe.
What's even more terrifying is that she realized she was lost!
For her, it was as if she had gotten lost in her own familiar territory, her own room!
This made her, who was still young, start to feel nervous.
She gripped the dagger tightly in both hands, her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings.
The slightest disturbance would frighten her for a long time.
"Sough--"
Who is it?!
Upon hearing the strange noise, the girl instantly aimed her weapon, her face deathly pale.
But there was nothing in the area she could see.
In the darkness, only the occasional small wild animal thrashed about, its shimmering green eyes looking this way with an incomprehensible, terrifying oppression.
For a moment, the girl couldn't help but have second thoughts.
"That's fine then..."
She comforted herself and slowly backed away.
The surroundings grew darker and darker, and her breathing became increasingly erratic.
She began to feel uneasy and fearful.
Her previous overconfidence made her completely overlook what she was actually facing.
All she could feel now was her muscles starting to ache and stiffen.
After encouraging herself for a while, the girl gritted her teeth, turned around, and began to retreat.
The pitch-black environment made it difficult for her to determine her direction.
At first, she could still see some familiar signs.
But as time passed, the vanished city lights did not reappear before her; instead, she was met with screams and shrieks.
A thick mist of blood began to spread, while the azure moonlight hung high in the sky.
The sounds of wild beasts grew clearer and clearer!
"Woo!"
I was scared.
Lappland was frightened.
Ultimately, she is still just a child of seven or eight years old. At this age, she should be a happy, quiet little girl from a wealthy family.
But her inherent adventurous and curious nature led her to choose to travel alone.
Now, she deeply regrets the choice she just made.
Why did I come out?
Why didn't you notify others?
Why am I here?
A dark fear began to spread rapidly into her heart, and strange whispers echoed incessantly in her ears.
She instinctively started running, trying to escape the fear.
But the whispers wouldn't let her go, clinging to her like a leech.
She ran faster and faster, and tears began to stream down her tense little face.
The immense fear did not diminish as he ran; instead, it grew stronger and stronger.
Her steps began to grow heavy, and her breathing became rapid.
Inside her body, a stinging sensation began to relentlessly warn her brain, but her body refused to stop.
She wanted to leave... to escape from here.
Despair seeped into her very bones time and time again.
But at that moment, a ray of light suddenly appeared before her eyes.
This caused her body, which was already showing signs of approaching its limit, to unleash its power once again.
She gritted her teeth and sprinted frantically toward her goal!
She strained every last ounce of strength in her body, tensing every muscle, again and again, little by little...
Until... breaking through that layer of blue light...
"Sulfone--!"
In an instant, she was enveloped in light once again.
The little girl had never imagined that such ordinary moonlight could make her feel so safe.
She had never imagined that the battlefield could be so devastating...
Right in front of her, the woman in black pulled her hand out of the man's chest.
The flesh and bones held in her slender hands were still connected by a lot of muscles.
She could even see the pulsation of those internal organs!
Even so, the other party didn't care about the bloodstains at all and simply pulled it out of the other person's body!
Squeeze it to pieces!
"Bang!"
Fresh blood and flesh splattered all around, and the poor man's eyes were completely empty.
He was bewildered, and silently knelt down on the ground, no longer breathing.
Lappland just stared blankly at the woman in front of her, watching her slowly turn her head and look at her face...
It was a face that suddenly made her heart race.
Indifferent, calm.
Her elegant demeanor, coupled with her compassionate gaze that seemed to evoke a goddess-like love for humanity, conveyed both cruelty and tenderness.
Her fighting was extremely brutal; there was no one left alive around her.
But her gaze was so gentle, like a mother looking at her child.
A strange feeling instantly seeped into her memory.
The delicate fragrance slowly filled the air...
"This... is not a place for you."
Maria glanced at the unfamiliar girl a few times but made no move.
She simply watched the moon recede further and further away, watching it gradually rise into the sky, and slowly narrowed her eyes.
"Two... moons..."
"Is it you?"
By the time Maria returned home, it was nearly midnight.
But the room, though not large, was still brightly lit.
The two girls sat obediently together, discussing their opinions.
But aside from the initial discussions in the first half of the night, the rest of the time it was entirely Lavinia explaining things to Celinina on her own behalf.
Even Celinina had to admit that her passive approach to learning, which she was trying to do well, was no match for the other person's understanding and comprehension.
Although she was very independent, Celinina wasn't completely obedient. After realizing that the girl knew much more than she did, she began to humbly learn from her and gradually listened to her advice.
Then...