“Could it be... for my sake?”

Ariel pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat start pounding uncontrollably again.

They had clearly shaken off the enemy for now.

She could clearly have collapsed to rest at any moment.

She clearly... didn’t need to push herself this hard at all.

And yet Miss Muse had held on until now—ignoring the fact that her spirit had already been completely drained, dragging along that exhausted body, persisting all the way to this moment.

What kind of willpower was this? What kind of unyielding obsession!

She had even gone out of her way to cook for her!

If there wasn’t some emotional foundation here, would she really have pushed herself this desperately?

Even if the affection level wasn’t a full hundred percent, it had to be at least seventy or eighty!

“It seems my efforts haven’t been in vain.”

Her injuries still throbbed faintly, but Ariel felt her heart lighter than it had ever been. This burning, moved emotion even made tears gather at the corners of her eyes—she, who had always been iron-blooded yet tender.

Once, she had suffered several crushing defeats and sighed to the heavens.

Once, she had watched helplessly as the frog in the pot slipped through her fingers, leaving her in agony.

Once, pink gauze curtains had swayed within a room while she could only spy from beneath the bed, from outside the door—washing her regret again and again with tears...

Those days... all unbearable memories.

But this time, it was different!

Her intuition told her that this time she would not fail. The crystal palace she had longed for with all her heart would finally welcome its first mistress after so long lying empty!

Her intuition was always accurate!

“Don’t worry, Miss Muse. Even for the sake of my dream—so as not to betray your feelings—I will definitely bring you out of here completely unharmed!”

Ariel steeled her resolve once more.

This resolve was so firm that even diamonds could not compare.

“Right—this time I absolutely have to examine Miss Muse’s injuries first!”

Ariel suddenly clapped her hands, belatedly realizing.

She had been so excited she had nearly forgotten something this important.

How could a cursory check of heartbeat and pulse like before be enough?

Although she had already confirmed at once that Miss Muse was not in mortal danger, what if there were hidden injuries she hadn’t discovered?

If any aftereffects were left behind, that would be terrible!

Besides...

Last time, out of courtesy, she hadn’t examined carefully. But this time Miss Muse had personally treated her so attentively—how could she simply ignore things just because she was “not in immediate danger”?

Miss Muse had seen mine; if I take a look at Miss Muse’s too, what’s the problem?

Isn’t that what reciprocity is supposed to be?

No, reciprocity sounded very inappropriate—rather... mutual help? Willing on both sides? Supporting each other? Conjugal affec—

Peh peh peh, getting carried away. They weren’t at that stage yet.

“Ahem. In short, Miss Muse, please forgive me—this isn’t any kind of improper intent. Just like you before, I’m also forced into this... yes, forced.”

Ariel flexed her fingers rapidly, her gaze sweeping back and forth over Miss Muse’s tall, flawless figure, already worrying about where to start the examination.

Miss Muse appeared to have no external wounds—just like before, her skin was unbelievably pale and unblemished. But in that battle with the enemy she couldn’t possibly have escaped injury, or she wouldn’t be this weakened.

The close-fitting magitech armor stained with blood was proof enough—she must have undergone an equally fierce fight before!

Which meant she likely possessed some kind of rapid-healing ability. Its recovery speed was powerful—not inferior to her own, perhaps even superior.

And since what Miss Muse had exhausted was spirit rather than battle aura or mana, there wouldn’t be lingering external wounds that failed to recover like Ariel’s own.

“So external injuries look fine... which means what needs checking is... only internal injuries?”

Ariel stroked her chin, frowning.

A flicker of disappointment flashed through her heart... no, joy—she ought to be happy in this situation!

It was just that if there were no external injuries to examine, there didn’t seem to be any need for hands-on touching. And if it was internal injuries...

“Come to think of it, I should barely be able to use the Delusion-Breaking {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Eye once now, right?”

Ariel suddenly thought of this, her hand unconsciously rising to cover one eye.

Back atop the tower, because she had used the Delusion-Breaking Eye to look directly at the Enchantress Grand Duke—a true Crowned One—her eye had suffered severe backlash damage.

Forget using it; the fact it hadn’t affected her normal vision was already fortunate.

That was why she hadn’t been able to use it when she first found Miss Muse.

But after a short adjustment, if she gathered enough mana now... she might be able to activate it once.

“Although wasting so much mana in our current situation is hardly wise... if it’s for Miss Muse...”

That’s right.

If it’s for Miss Muse, this cost is nothing at all.

Thinking this, Ariel slowly closed her eyes, beginning to gather what little mana she had left—

“Who’s there?!”

The sudden shout shattered that rare moment of calm and stillness. Forgetting to accumulate mana, Ariel snapped her eyes open, pivoted, and shielded Miss Muse behind her. Her hand was already gripping the hilt of the Heavenly-Fire Greatsword.

Thin mist drifted, spreading around the camp temporarily propped open by the firelight.

And at some unknown moment, that mist had grown dense, compressing visibility to only the range the light could reach.

Gust after gust of bone-piercing wind continued to lash. The already feeble campfire wavered violently, as if it might extinguish at any moment. Ariel stood ready, eyes fixed on the fog.

Something had just flashed through it.

Demon pursuers?

No—didn’t feel like it.

Whether aura or that ghostlike presence, it differed greatly from the Flayers she had encountered before.

And this direction...

“As expected. Miss Muse was right—the road ahead won’t be easy.”

Ariel let out a long sigh.

She had hoped she could remain peacefully with Miss Muse a little longer. Now it seemed that until they escaped this place entirely, there would be no rest.

Ariel quickly turned, expertly binding Miss Muse to her back as before, then fed her several pills that replenished qi and blood.

She didn’t have rare spirit-recovery items, but at a time like this, more medicine couldn’t hurt.

After finishing all this, she drew the Heavenly-Fire Greatsword and held it ready, guarding the surroundings at all times.

Whatever lurked in the mist, she had to—

Puchi...

The yin wind suddenly intensified. The campfire, already nearly spent, lurched violently a few times—and finally reached its end.

The firelight went out completely.

Everything fell into darkness.

And in that darkness, Ariel heard a bizarre giggle—like a child’s prank.

“Hee.”

It’s here!

A death warning no weaker than Muen’s rang simultaneously in Ariel’s mind. She instantly shifted her body slightly sideways, and by instinct alone slashed her sword toward her flank!

Clang.

It struck something for an instant—but the thing hiding in the darkness moved even faster than Ariel had imagined.

The yin wind surged again, and the sense of imminent death never ceased.

The attack continued.

“Damn.”

Ariel arched backward violently, her body forming a perfect bridge, while still protecting Miss Muse from striking the ground. Relying on extreme flexibility, she narrowly evaded the blow.

Something sharp swept just above the tip of her nose.

She slashed again around her body—but this time there wasn’t even the sensation of contact. Purely empty air.

The opponent was agile, and clearly highly adapted to darkness. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

To entangle with it in such an environment was obviously unwise.

No wonder it had targeted the light source first.

“But do you really think wood is the only thing that burns?”

With anger at how close Miss Muse had come to harm, Ariel’s body suddenly blazed bright!

Flames roared to life.

Blazing radiance dispelled the dark; searing heat devoured the mist.

In an instant, the hiding place of the ambusher was completely destroyed by Ariel.

And so she finally saw it clearly.

That face that made her pupils contract.

“This is...”

It was a person.

From appearance, very close to human.

That “person” wore no clothes or adornments. Its entire body was naked. The wrinkled skin resembled that of an old man on the verge of burial, yet beneath it the muscles were thick and knotted like a python’s.

Its arms were extremely long—so long it could move on all fours like an ape. The ends of those arms were not hands, but sharp claws.

From these traits alone, the creature before her perhaps couldn’t be called “close to human.” And yet—

That face was unquestionably human.

Though its eyes were wide and lidless, bloodshot eyeballs staring fixedly at Ariel.

Though its mouth stretched upward almost to the ears in a grotesque grin, exposing two rows of unnaturally neat teeth.

Though from between those teeth constantly dripped black, fetid saliva...

There was no doubt: this was a human face.

“A ghoul?”

Ariel searched her mind and finally found a word to describe this “almost human” monstrosity.

But she knew this thing absolutely was not a ghoul.

Because the kind artificially modified from corpses by evil magicians—without special magic enhancement—were at best like graveyard scavenger dogs. They could only frighten children who disliked sleeping at night.

They were nothing on the same level as this creature capable of crossing blades with her.

“What exactly are you?” Ariel demanded again, her mood heavy.

“...”

The “ghoul” tilted its head. It did not answer, could not answer—only grinned strangely.

“Hee.”