Chapter 14: Escape

Chapter 14: Going Out

What just happened?

Wen Ying was caught off guard by the sudden force that sent him flying. He rolled on the ground several times before coming to a stop, still dizzy and with blurred vision.

"Cough...cough..." Levimo coughed relentlessly, spitting out blood.

Wen Ying was alarmed. The amount of blood made it seem as if Levimo was on his deathbed. Frightened, he used another healing card before the previous one had even finished, asking anxiously, "Are you alright?"

No, he wasn’t. That kick from Beros almost killed him. Levimo cursed Beros hundreds of times in his heart. He was already weak, and speaking earlier had been a struggle. Now, after being kicked, he was lucky to still be breathing, let alone talking.

He could only convey his distress and anger with his eyes.

Wen Ying, however, only perceived Levimo's pain. His enchanting fox-like eyes shimmered with tears, glowing brighter due to his agitation. The weakness only added a delicate beauty to those eyes.

Unaware of Levimo's anger, Wen Ying simply stroked his...head, soothingly saying, "Don't be afraid."

Levimo: "..."

Levimo spat out another mouthful of blood.

Upon hearing the meaning behind stroking a demon's ears from the tiger demon, Wen Ying felt too embarrassed to touch those yearning fox ears. Instead, he gently patted his head.

By the time they finished talking, Wen Ying's dizziness had subsided. He glanced to the side.

In fact, he already knew what had happened just now without looking. In his perception of auras, an overwhelmingly domineering presence had intruded, showing no regard for being detected. That aura even produced a scorching sensation in his mental sea, pressing down upon him like a tidal wave.

Just now, Beros had kicked Levimo, sweeping them both away.

Still reeling from their near-death experience, Wen Ying couldn't help but stroke Levimo's head again to calm him down.

...They were so close to death. Wen Ying's heart tightened as he fell silent, watching Beros overpower the magic beast.

Beros' strength exceeded his imagination, surpassing it in every way. He didn't even use magic; he merely relied on his physical prowess to bury the magic beast's head into the ground.

An even more powerful and magnificent black flame erupted from Beros' bat wings. The mystical, ancient magic patterns on his face glimmered faintly, seemingly illuminated by the flames or radiating their own light.

The raging black flames seemed to be hosting a grand feast, filling Wen Ying's entire field of vision and soaring towards the heavens.

It was an intensity unmatched by any SR card, and it was someone whose survival relied on innate magic—someone Wen Ying couldn't possibly defeat. With that reaction speed, he might have been pummeled the moment he revealed his card.

Wen Ying swallowed hard. If that powerhouse found out he had stolen his family's magic, he would be in deep trouble. Taking advantage of Beros' engagement with the magical beast, he hastily scooped up Levimo and fled.

Beros finished dealing with the magical beast in no time. He knew Wen Ying had escaped, and as he watched the traces of Wen Ying's aura vanish, a thoughtful glint flickered in his eyes.

Why did this weak demon that Aruda had picked up possess his flames? Was it the result of Aruda's new research?

Wen Ying dashed out of the forest as if his tail were on fire, even using a Speed Card on himself. The instant they burst through the trees, he felt an immense relief. There were quite a number of demons outside the forest, all looking reliable and powerful, which put his mind at ease.

A few demons noticed Wen Ying—or rather, Levimo in his arms—and their expressions changed as they hurried over in alarm.

"Master! Oh my God, how did you get so badly injured?"

The elderly demon with a streaked beard but an elegant demeanor was fraught with anxiety. After giving some instructions to the demons around him, one of them stepped forward, muttering incantations as he performed high-level healing magic.

Wen Ying placed Levimo in the demon's care. These were likely the demons the vixen girl had pointed to.

The elderly demon looked around but didn't spot the demon he was looking for. Despite his urgency, he still extended his hand politely to shake Wen Ying's before asking, "Hello, I'm the steward of the Heath family. Thank you very much for bringing Master Levimo out. May I ask if you know the whereabouts of our Miss Lilith?"

"Lilith? If it's a girl, she's still inside. She asked me to bring her brother out first," Wen Ying pointed at Levimo. "He's been poisoned, so we need to get him out for treatment."

An impatient demon nearby interjected, "Then, what about Miss Lilith now?"

”She’s with the—,” Wen Ying paused, “Second Prince, I suppose…” Before he could finish his sentence, the demons around him wore expressions of despair as if Lilith was on the verge of death. A few of them even hurriedly approached Wen Ying, asking, “Where did you last saw Miss Lilith?”

"Hurry up, there might still be a chance to save her if we rush over now!"

"Tell us quickly!"

Surrounded by towering demons, Wen Ying looked like a tiny chick. Each of them was more agitated than the last, and he raised his hands in front of his chest to stop them from getting too close while shouting, "Don't worry, the Second Prince is protecting her."

After Wen Ying shouted that, everything suddenly fell silent. Not just the demons in front of him, but also those farther away became quiet.

Feeling that something was amiss, Wen Ying looked through the demons in front of him and saw that all the others were staring at him. The tense atmosphere felt wrong, and Wen Ying began to doubt if he had touched upon some taboo in the demon world with his words.

Wen Ying cautiously asked, "Was there something wrong with what I just said?"

"It can't be that Miss Lilith has already…," a demon's voice cracked, tears welling up in his eyes. He wiped them away with the back of his hand, "That's why you're lying…" Before he could finish, an old man with white whiskers slapped him across the face.

"Silence if you have nothing constructive to say!" the elderly demon scolded.

This familiar melodramatic vibe—could it be that something was amiss with Second Prince again?

Wen Ying had no desire to get involved in such matters. The memory of nearly meeting his demise under the claws of a magical beast just now had revived his fear of the Demon Realm. He was now highly averse to any potential dangers and immediately wanted to leave.

His movement seemed to trigger some sort of switch among the surrounding demons, who began chattering noisily.

"What's happened to Miss Lilith? There must be trouble!"

"I've heard that the mixed-blood black dragon His Majesty the Demon King just found is incredibly weak. How could he possibly protect Miss Lilith?"

"I'm so worried about Miss Lilith. That fellow doesn't even have Azure Flames; I've heard he hasn't inherited any of the Demon King's power!"

"Forget power—he can't even beat a child! With the blood of a weak human mixed in, if I were the Demon King, I'd never allow such a weakling back!"

Trapped in the midst of these demons, Wen Ying felt overwhelmed. The discrepancy between what he was seeing and what he was hearing grated on his nerves. A hand pulled him out of the crowd, and Wen Ying caught a whiff of a familiar scent. He glanced to the side and confirmed that it was Aruda.

Feeling a sense of parental intervention, Wen Ying couldn't help but call out, "Grandma," in a slightly accusatory tone.

Despite understanding their concern for Lilith's safety, anyone would grow irritable after surviving a calamity only to be jostled and bombarded with noise by so many demons for so long. Wen Ying's initial grumbling was merely an unconscious expression of grievance, a means of venting. Yet, to his surprise, the surroundings fell silent once more.

The atmosphere returned to the stifling stillness of before, but this time, it was different. They seemed like chickens with their necks held down, their voices forcibly suppressed.

In the quiet, Aruda gently patted Wen Ying's head and asked in a soothing tone, "Little Yin, who has been bullying you?"