Chapter 6: Pursuit
In Hilfanis, the cold was more variable—bright daylight with a clear blue sky as ice melted, followed by strong winds at night that howled but brought little snow, leaving the ground frozen and reflecting the moonlight. From afar, the entire world resembled a salt field cracked all over, vast and white, shining brightly yet marked with scars.
Neo stood like a statue at the edge of a cliff, eyes slightly closed, lost in thought as he waited for Duoman to arrive.
Over ten minutes earlier, his conversation with Milien hadn’t progressed in a way that satisfied Neo. Milien’s kindness and gentleness made her a likable girl, but they also meant her perspective on certain matters differed greatly from Neo’s. Take this hostage incident, for example—Milien preferred to end it there.
“Whatever happened before, Neo, I’m safe now. Let’s stop. I don’t want you to take any more risks.”
“Milien, for some people, being accommodating only encourages them to push further. Only by hitting them hard enough can we make them face reality and stay away.”
“But that will only earn us more enemies.”
“That’s true, which is why we need to become stronger, using enough power and facts to intimidate those scoundrels and protect our rights. We won’t go out of our way to hurt anyone, but we won’t let ourselves be bullied either. Those who are good to us, we’ll repay tenfold; the same goes for the rest.”
Although Milien agreed with Neo’s views at the time, he could sense that she still found such principles too harsh and aggressive, full of a desire for revenge—clearly at odds with her usual peaceful and friendly approach.
In Neo’s eyes, Milien’s “kindness” was somewhat outdated. Even after this hostage incident, she still hadn’t truly grasped how dangerous the world could be. Neo wasn’t sure whether to worry or be glad about her “stubborn simplicity.”
At the same time, Neo noticed some changes in himself. Especially when he saw Milien as a mirror, he realized how drastically his views had changed since his imprisonment in Solis City—more than in the previous 18 years combined.
“Two months ago, I thought I’d gone through enough hardships since childhood, that my temperament and worldview had been tempered into maturity. But now it seems I greatly underestimated what ‘maturity’ really means. Just as I once relied on simple assumptions and severely underestimated what a ‘strong person’ truly is,” Neo said, glancing at Duoman, who had arrived like a gust of wind beside him.
No logic meant anything to Duoman, but it could fully understand the emotions in Neo’s voice, for its own evil was a severely distorted form of emotion. Yet understanding didn’t mean anything either—Duoman’s emotions were too intense and extreme, like a raging fire, while ordinary people’s fervor was merely a few small flames to it.
It is precisely because of its intensity that such extremes must be constantly fed to endure. Compared to true love, extreme “emotional fuels” like fear, anger, and hatred are obviously easier to obtain. It is conceivable that relying on these to sustain one’s existence is, from a spiritual perspective, utter evil—nothing but the devil.
Neo patted Mephisto’s shoulder and smiled, a complex smile. One of the key reasons he felt he had changed so much was that he had come to genuinely believe, deep in his heart, that Mephisto’s existence was meaningful and necessary. In contrast, the man he had been two months ago could almost be called a saint.
“In some people’s eyes, this must seem like a rapid descent into darkness. But I feel no remorse at all. Is this self-destruction? Though I never set out to be a good person, how can I face myself in the mirror when my handsome appearance has been replaced by ugliness?”…
Neo sensed he was gradually drifting away from Milien. He could put on an act, say things against his conscience to make her happy, but he couldn’t deceive his own heart.
“Milien is still Milien, but Neo is no longer the Neo of before!” As he murmured these words, Neo’s gaze turned icy. He pointed afar at the lights on the cliff walls in the valley—signals for an attack. Mephisto didn’t hesitate and leaped down from the cliff over a hundred meters high.
The bandits now knew how Neo had rescued the hostages. The young woman who had humiliated Neo earlier stood in the prison, arms crossed, head raised, staring at the place where Milien had once hidden, as if admiring a beautiful view, for already five minutes.
“Damn it, Meido! Can’t you do anything?” One of the bandits’ leaders, Dogtooth Dolley, finally lost his patience and roared. His shark-like steel teeth gleamed in the firelight.
The young woman gave Dogtooth Dolley a lazy glance. “What’s in it for me?”
Dogtooth Dolley snorted. “300 pounds of flour.”
“That’s too little! At least…”
He cut her off immediately. “That’s all there is. Take it or leave it. If not, I’ll just go to the boss and take responsibility.”
His smug expression made Meido furious. She spat in his face. “What’s so proud about sending your own sisters to be used by others?”
Dogtooth Dolley wasn’t annoyed at all. He wiped the spit from his face, licked his palm, and even exaggeratedly sucked his fingers. “Unless you give yourself to the boss, sooner or later you’ll end up with me!” He then shook his hips at Meido. “Remember, the price is still 500 pounds of flour. In a while, it won’t be worth that much!”
Meido’s face turned blue with anger, but she calmed down after a while and even wore a smile. She took Nio’s Spirit Collar out of the Magic-Sealing Bag and, with a flick of her hand, threw it onto the hardwood bed in the center of the prison. “The guy who rescued the ram will definitely come back for this thing, and it won’t be long before he arrives. Aren’t you quite capable? Hmph…” Meido said, casting a disdainful glance at the Steel-Toothed Dog’s crotch before strutting away with a proud posture.
Behind her, the Steel-Toothed Dog questioned, “Just some trash like this can lure that guy into a trap?”
“Trash? That pendant is made ofMithril, with high-grade magic crystals embedded in it. The collar is also a special magical item. Bring enough men and keep your eyes sharp—your opponent isn’t just someone who knows how to stab with a knife! This is a free warning from me…” The voice gradually faded as she disappeared at the end of the passage.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” As soon as Meido rejoined her four guards, she saw a bandit in tattered armor running toward them, shouting as he headed straight for the main house.
Meido grabbed the bandit by the collar and slapped him hard. “What’s the rush? What happened?”
“A monster rushed in from the Little Cold Cave. Boss Moss says we need more reinforcements!”
Meido nodded. “Tell the Steel-Toothed Dog that the enemy has come to reclaim the magical items. Be careful not to fall for a feint!” She then pointed the way for the bandit.
“Oh, okay!” The bandit replied eagerly.
Seeing the bandit’s panicked state, Meido cursed angrily. Still worried, she sent one of her guards to warn the Steel-Toothed Dog not to fall for a trick and scatter his forces. Finally, she instructed, “Leave right after delivering the message. Return to the main nest through the third passage. Understood?”
“Yes!” The capable guard rushed off.
Meido then said to the other two guards, “Take my token and go to Valley Town through the fourth passage. Hand this box personally to the owner of the Buffalo Horn Inn. Travel all night without stopping.”
“Yes!” The guards took a palm-sized wooden box from Meido and tucked it into their chests before hurrying off.
After watching them leave, Meido glanced around and said to the last guard, “Go prepare a mount and wait for me at the main entrance.”
That guard also left, and Meido strode into the main house. When she came out again shortly after, she had changed all her clothes from head to toe and headed straight for the main entrance.
By the time Nio appeared near the main house in the dungeon again, Meido had been gone for about 10 minutes. Finding Meido’s clothes in the house, Nio realized the woman had become alert and had successfully escaped.
“It’s only temporary.” Nio took out an egg-sized wooden egg from the leather pouch at his waist. The power of life surged into it, causing the runes on the egg to glow with magic light. The egg cracked, and a mass of vines glowing with a faint green light, resembling dozens of entwined earthworms, appeared before Nio. These were intelligent vines—the larvae of rhododendrons. The difference was that these larvae were much stronger than their kin, and they were no longer limited to the form of six-legged lions. Besides being beasts, they could also take the form of birds.
With sufficient energy supply and the power of strong spells, just a few minutes later, this little creature had already turned into a Falcon Thistle.
Swish!
On the ground, the writhing Death Vines twisted Mido’s clothes into a mess.
“How is it, Ji? Have you gathered the tracking information?”
“Mm, but I’m not as keen-sighted as you. I can only detect targets that match the information from within 30 meters.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you where to wait for her. Keep her trapped without getting too close.”
“Understood!”
Ji left the Death Vines, which then became mere instinct-driven creatures. Meanwhile, the Falcon Thistle carried Ji to the gang’s lair where Neo had been abused. Neo knew Mido would never abandon the gang’s family…