Playing the role of “acting” always made Vyea involuntarily recall a game she had played before.
It was an old Japanese-style RPG. In that game, the player did not play as the Hero, nor the Demon King. The protagonist controlled by the player, along with several companions, went on adventures and leveled up.
But before facing the final boss, the party broke apart, even the protagonist disappeared, plunging the world into chaos and eternal night.
But how could the protagonist die? Of course, they had to crawl back from hell. After suppressing so much, the player still wanted to control the protagonist to brutally beat the boss — what a relief! If your protagonist dies, the game ends. Then how would we big players enjoy it?
Following the traditional heroic storyline, the protagonist should have reassembled their companions, and together, shouting bonds and friendship, defeat the boss.
But the idiot developer bailed halfway, and the game ended abruptly. The protagonist kept walking in the boss’s script until death.
For this, Vyea could only say:
“Ah—Ptooey!”
“Hey! Sister Ye, why’d you ptooey at me for no reason?” Xiaolu, caught off guard, covered her head, puffing out her cheeks.
“You drew the enemy here, and you’re blaming me for ptooeying you?” The Slime-girl stood with one hand on her hip, looking at the other like she was a fool.
“Weren’t you the one who told me to do it?” Xiaolu glared. Compared to Humans, these divine spirits seemed a bit too naive. “Besides, this is my home, not yours. If you bring the enemy to the door, shouldn’t the enemy be yours?”
“So what?”
Vyea frowned and added, “And are you sure you want to keep showing yourself around me?”
“……”
Xiaolu looked deeply at Vyea, a faint sigh disappearing into the night. Her form slowly dissolved into glowing green specks of light, like a handful of fireflies gently scattering.
“Sister Ye, then you better be careful next time…”
Careful?
A Slime-girl with no weaknesses cannot be hurt.
After Xiaolu completely vanished, Vyea finally put on her mask and took a Knight Sword from the waist of a nearby unconscious Arbitration Knight.
She chose not to revert to her loli form and instead, holding the Knight Sword, turned alone and walked toward the outer corridor of the Observation Tower.
The path was short, just a few steps, but Vyea felt as if she had been walking for a long time.
The upright, pure Hero no longer existed. From now on, everyone would only see the Monstergirl, a Monstergirl harboring unspeakable secrets.
Tap, tap, tap.
The steady footsteps echoed atop the tower, like a dancer stepping on black and white piano keys — orderly, calm. In the silent night, these elegant footsteps drew all attention.
The Arbitration Knights gathered below quickly shifted formation, opening a path wide enough for two or three to walk side by side.
A purple-haired girl holding a giant scythe entered slowly, her gaze sharp as lightning, fixed on the protruding section at the top of the tower.
She was that person’s only student. No matter what, Lania did not want her mistakes to damage her teacher’s reputation.
Look, is this how the legendary First Brave’s student acts? She couldn’t even detain a suspect properly, instead letting wolves into the fold and turning the entire city into chaos.
What? You say the demons flooding the city’s sewers have nothing to do with the suspect? Look at the piles of corpses in the demon horde and say that again!
It’s easy to give up the bottom line, but much harder to hold onto it.
Lania would not give up — because she was that person’s student.
Seeing the girl in the white hood and white mask appear at the top, Lania immediately demanded, suppressing her anger to keep calm without attacking rashly:
“Who exactly are you?”
“As a Hero, why do you keep pestering someone like me who wouldn’t even dare kill a chicken?” Vyea casually lifted her mask, revealing her unguarded emerald eyes fixed on Lania. “Your battlefield isn’t here. There’s no point in arguing with me. Go where you belong.”
“Vyea!”
Lania recognized the girl, whose appearance had changed little except for some growth in stature. She took a deep breath. Even with the facts before her, she still could not believe the gentle, soft-spoken, well-behaved human girl she once knew was now this suspected mastermind.
“Are you telling me any truth?” Lania sneered. Since the other party was laying their cards on the table, there was no need to treat her as a friend.
She would deal with her as a naturally evil high-tier demon—just fight.
“Can’t wait, huh?” Vyea hugged the Knight Sword she had picked up, speaking lightly, “Didn’t your teacher teach you to show reverence when facing the unknown?”
“Shut up! Who do you think you are to speak of my teacher?!”
Lania’s face darkened like still water. Everyone in the Human World already knew who her teacher was. Vyea’s words now only proved she had hidden something from the very first meeting.
“Don’t just talk, show me.”
Vyea smiled, holding the sword. “Attack me, and let me measure your worth. I hope you can prove your teacher isn’t a useless failure leading others astray.”
With that, Vyea relaxed her body and spirit, actively revealing her level — 66.
It wasn’t very high. Almost all the Arbitration Knights present were higher level than her. Without any special techniques, just brute strength, Vyea might not even beat the weakest Arbitration Knight here in arm wrestling.
Yet, this level made Lania even more cautious. Her senpai had told her the invader probably possessed more than two types of abilities.
“Oh, why so timid?” Vyea saw that showing her level had not given the other side courage but made them more careful, and she felt a bit deflated. She said:
“Is your teacher a mouse? Teaching you to be such a little mouse? Or are you all just a nest of mice?”
A heavy silence fell beneath the tower. The oppressive atmosphere vanished, replaced by a killing intent from Lania that was ten times stronger than before.
The Arbitration Knights stepped back uneasily, giving Lania enough space to fight.
Lania crouched slowly, tilting her monstrous scythe down. She quietly stared at the white figure on the tower, like a crouching tiger ready to pounce.
“Then, Miss Vyea, who likes hiding in shadows, please witness our resolve!”