Chapter 44: Yisela’s Attire

“Capture her alive.”

Those two words lit up her entire train of thought like a lamp.

(On the surface, she put on her most imposing posture, ready to tough it out, but deep down she was terrified. She knew full well she was no match for these two magic beasts.

The only reason she did this was to take a gamble—to bet on whether her instincts were right, to bet that their mission was indeed to capture her alive. If she guessed wrong, then her little life would truly end here today.)

“Go.”

To verify this judgment in her heart, she did something very reckless.

She dispelled all her defensive postures.

She let go of her tightly clenched fists, relaxed her tensed shoulders, and even her eyelids drooped slightly. She made herself look like a prey that had completely given up resistance.

Yesha’s ears twitched.

It took another step forward, this time a little faster than before.

Ting Xiao’s feathers crackled with arcs of electricity again, but it didn’t release them. They just hovered there, as if ready to do something at any moment.

Not enough.

Yisela deliberately lifted her foot and took another step forward.

The moment she took that step, she felt her heart leap into her throat.

If her judgment was wrong, then these two magic beasts would tear her to shreds in the next second.

A hint of nervousness flickered in the scarlet beast’s pupils. Yesha’s paw unconsciously retracted a bit, as if carefully avoiding stepping on an egg that might shatter at any moment.

Ting Xiao froze in midair at that moment.

It even forgot to flap its wings, dropping a bit before hurriedly flapping to steady itself.

The cry that squeezed out of its throat held not a trace of killing intent, only full warning.

Yisela took another step forward.

Yesha retreated another half step back.

“Just as I thought.”

Yisela let out a long sigh of relief in her heart.

Her entire back was soaked through with cold sweat, but a slight curve appeared on her face, making her smile unconsciously.

They don’t dare kill me. Their real goal is to capture me alive, and they don’t even want me hurt.

The remaining magic power in her holy light boots wasn’t enough to outrun them if she made a break for it.

So let’s stall for a while. The Temple Master said reinforcements would come.

A very bold idea popped into her head.

With a thought, a faint light flickered on her holy light boots.

Then she pretended to trip on a stone underfoot. Her whole body stumbled forward, landing right next to Yesha’s claw.

She frantically reached out and grabbed the nearest thing to steady herself—that thing being Yesha’s claw.

Yesha was stunned.

It clearly hadn’t expected this prey to throw itself right in front of it.

Yisela gave it no time to react.

She opened her little mouth and bit down hard on its thick paw pad.

Crunch!

(On the surface, Yisela pretended to be weak and flustered, but inside she was incredibly nervous. This was her only chance.

The moment she bit down, she could hear her own heartbeat clearly. If her fangs couldn’t break the skin, or if Yesha got furious and killed her outright, she’d have no backup plan.)

That bite actually made a sound like shattering metal. This was a dragon’s bite—even the Elven Queen would cry out in pain if bitten!

“Owwww—!”

Yesha let out an especially pitiful scream. A gash appeared on its paw, blood spurting out.

The intense pain made it instinctively lift its huge wolf paw and slap back.

“Bang!”

Although the slap carried anger, Yesha was clearly afraid of actually killing her, so it used only a very, very small amount of force.

Yisela flew through the air and crashed heavily onto the ground.

Pain. Real pain. Not an act.

Her back slammed into the rubble, and she felt like her internal organs had been completely turned upside down. The tightness in her chest from the dragon’s might still hadn’t fully faded, and now this slap made her vision go black in waves.

But she clenched her teeth, swallowing the scream that had risen to her throat.

Can’t scream. If I scream, it’s all over.

She lay on the ground, not moving.

She lowered her breathing to the absolute minimum, using all her strength to control her body so it looked like a lifeless corpse.

‘I’m a corpse. I’m a corpse now. I am a corpse.’

She repeated this in her mind over and over.

Yesha and Ting Xiao were both stunned.

A few seconds later, Yisela twitched twice extremely slowly and weakly—like a dying person’s last struggle.

Then she let out a “wow” and spat out a small mouthful of blood (actually, she had saved a bit of blood from biting the wolf paw earlier using her tongue), and then her head lolled to the side, completely motionless.

The air was dead silent.

Ting Xiao in the sky reacted first. It let out a frantic and angry cry, swooped down, and screeched at Yesha.

“You idiot!”

“Master said to capture her alive!”

“How could you kill her!”

Yesha looked at the dragon cub that seemed to have no life left, then down at its own still-bleeding paw. Its huge wolf head hung low, its face full of innocence and grievance.

“I really didn’t mean to…!”

Its voice sounded as pathetic as a big dog being scolded by its owner.

“I just gave her a light flick…!”

“Who knew she was so fragile…!”

It carefully nudged Yisela’s hand with its nose, and when there was no response, it panicked even more.

Ting Xiao ignored it.

It circled low, its sharp eagle eyes fixed on Yisela, as if judging the life force of the prey.

And on the ground, the “dead” little silver dragon was slowly, almost imperceptibly, moving her fingers one by one, bit by bit, toward the holy light talisman hidden in her bosom.

Her body still ached, and the gripping feeling in her heart hadn’t completely dissipated.

But she held on.

Just endure a little longer.

Just a little bit more.