“Who? Who’s speaking?!”
Vieno’s powerful magic began to coalesce within her, her mind highly synchronized with her Contract Beast, Xiao Cai, entering a combat-ready state.
She couldn’t detect the other party’s presence, much less determine their location. It felt as if the entire Mist had just spoken to her, pushing her unease to its peak.
‘No good, I have to get out of the Mist first!’
Vieno leaped into the air. The dazzling wings on her back flapped just once, propelling her skyward as if by Instant Movement.
But the moment she rose just above the Mist, she suddenly felt her connection to her wings sever.
Then came a piercing, heart-wrenching pain, and a large cloud of blood mist exploded from her back.
“Ugh!”
Before Vieno could even understand what had happened behind her, she tumbled back into the Mist.
Before she could stand, several mysterious, thin threads appeared again.
This time, they directly and precisely pierced through her collarbones, palms, thighs, and other key points, rendering her immobile.
More importantly, these Blood Threads perfectly restricted the flow of magic within Vieno’s body, making it temporarily impossible for her to use many Skills!
It wasn’t that she couldn’t move at all, but if she did, these sharp threads would easily slice through her body and detonate the magic inside her…
Still, Vieno had her Contract Beast.
“Xiao Cai!”
“Squeak!”
Xiao Cai spread its wings and flew out from Vieno’s collar, transforming into a streak of rainbow light that coalesced into a blade, slashing fiercely behind her, trying to cut those Blood Threads.
“Oh? You actually raised a Rainbow Hawk? Interesting…”
The hoarse voice spoke again. Before Vieno’s eyes, the swirling Mist suddenly changed, gradually morphing into a huge, cat-like monster!
This monster extended a massive, crimson-tinged mist claw and swiped directly at Vieno and Xiao Cai.
Xiao Cai didn’t hesitate, executing a sharp-angle turn.
The dazzling rainbow light collided head-on with the mysterious mist monster.
BOOM—!!!
Continuous flashes of light flickered within the Mist, shocking Vieno greatly. A hint of indignation gradually welled up in her heart.
‘Why didn’t it show itself when fighting me, but it reveals itself directly to fight Xiao Cai? Is Xiao Cai considered a greater threat than I am?!’
Indeed, the reason Truth revealed the form of the Mistveil Exalted was precisely because the Rainbow Hawk was harder to deal with than Vieno.
This creature’s place in the ecosystem was higher than that of a conventional Dragon.
If it were to grow giant-sized and unleash a Rainbow Sonic Boom, it could scatter over half of the Mist.
A Contract Master and their Contract Beast complement each other.
In battle, they can not only act with perfect synergy but can also use and even fuse each other’s Skills to achieve unexpected effects, making them extremely troublesome opponents.
So, from the start, Truth restrained the more intelligent but combat-weaker Vieno, making it easier to handle the highly destructive but strategically simple Rainbow Hawk…
Soon, the flashes of light in the Mist vanished, indicating the battle had finally concluded.
The next second, the unconscious Xiao Cai was casually tossed in front of the immobilized Vieno.
It was covered in a crimson aura, lying on its back with its bird feet sticking straight up.
Xiao Cai was down for the count.
“Uh…” Vieno stared at her Contract Beast, unable to calm down for a long time.
She remembered she was Nine-Rank, right? And Xiao Cai was also a peak Eight-level existence.
Logically, there shouldn’t be any human in this world who could suppress both of them within a minute. Yet now…
Fear filled Vieno’s heart. ‘Could I have encountered several Nine-Rank Evil God Envoys?’
This Deya City area was the southwestern border, a major activity zone for Blasphemers and Evil God Envoys.
If it weren’t for the Church of Life stationing troops here, the entire Dea Plateau would have descended into chaos long ago.
“Beastman, state your name.” The cat-like mist monster spoke again. Its overwhelming pressure and an impenetrable sense of mystery made it hard for Vieno to breathe.
She felt utterly seen through. She could sense the existence behind the Mist looking down on her from a superior position.
Vieno was certain: the other party was definitely not Nine-Rank, but above Nine-Rank!
At least King Rank!
‘Wait, I’ve seen a King Rank Blasphemer before. The pressure they exerted was nothing compared to this mist monster’s. That means… this monster’s strength must be above King Rank?’
‘A God?!’
A sudden tremor of excitement mixed with the fear in Vieno’s heart. Ignoring her pain, she tried to suppress her growing excitement and looked up to ask in return:
“Might I ask… are you… the legendary Hermit?”
The mist monster fell silent, not answering Vieno’s question. It took her a moment to realize she needed to introduce herself first.
“R-right… sorry, I forgot to answer your question. My name is Vieno. I come from the Northern Royal Family. I came here specifically to pay my respects to the… the Hermit within the Mist!”
“Come specifically to see me? Interesting… Where did you hear my name from?”
Truth was startled. ‘Not another one like Tia, coming specifically to worship me, is she? Could this catfolk who looks a lot like Wilona also be a descendant of a Taskmaster Receptionist?’
‘But catfolk Taskmaster Receptionists all worship the Beast God, don’t they? Why suddenly come to the Mist?’
“Um… I heard it from Suna… Oh, right, right! I forgot to mention I’m actually Suna’s Teacher!” Vieno hurriedly added, she was far too nervous.
‘Heard it from Suna… Wait, so Suna just sold me out?!’ Truth was instantly a bit angry. ‘I clearly told her not to expose my existence outside, and not long after she leaves, she tells an outsider!’
“So, she told you everything about me?”
Only then did Truth, with a thought, release Vieno. Since she was Suna’s Teacher and came specifically to the Mist to see her, she probably posed little threat.
Plus, she’d already revealed she was a member of the Northern Royal Family. If she dared try anything clever, Truth could consider paying a visit to the Northern Empire.
“Hiss…” Accompanied by another sting, Vieno found the Blood Threads on her body had vanished.
Once free, her first action was to pick up Xiao Cai to check its injuries, then take two healing pills from her storage ring to stabilize both her own and Xiao Cai’s wounds.
‘Sure enough, as soon as I mentioned Suna’s name, the Hermit trusted me!’
“That’s right, that’s right! Suna told me everything about you. I know the rules too. See, I’ve already prepared!”
Vieno removed her hood, revealing a pair of fluffy purple Cat Ears on her head. Not only that, she slightly pulled down her collar, exposing a small brown Neck Collar already fastened around her slender neck…
Truth: “?”
“Wake up, Xiao Cai! This is the Hermit. Get ready!” Vieno shook the unconscious Xiao Cai awake. The latter shook its head and immediately raised a claw.
It shared a deep connection with Vieno. Upon waking, it quickly grasped the situation… It was time for the offering!
With two clicks, Vieno took out two leashes, one large and one small, from her storage ring.
She immediately attached them to her collar, then knelt on the ground, hands slightly trembling as she presented them to the Hermit before her.
Xiao Cai did the same. A thin leg ring was fastened to its claw, connected to the smaller leash.
The eyes of both the woman and the bird were filled with anticipation, completely devoid of the previous sense of facing a formidable enemy.
“I hope… the Hermit likes me…” Vieno, covered in wounds and still bleeding from her back, said with a slightly flushed, somewhat shy face.
“Huh?!”
Truth was utterly baffled. ‘What in the world did Suna tell these two?’
This woman and bird… their voluntary submission made Truth feel a bit sick…