After taking the form of a cursed fairy, Leon silently closed the distance between himself and Kiren. Step by step, he fell into rhythm with her.
Kiren’s eyes flicked toward him for the briefest second, cold and unreadable, before she turned her attention back to the parasite tree ahead. She didn’t say a word and continued to walk.
Leon released a long breath, as if the simple act of walking beside her without being torn apart was already a miracle.
’I thought she recognised me.’ He thought with a serious expression.
“Threads…” he whispered, his voice barely audible.
Thin strands of mana spun out from his head, invisible to the naked eye, weaving their way into the red glowing soul stone resting in his pocket. With a subtle tug, the stone began to rise. Slowly, it floated upward, hovering just above Kiren’s head. Its faint light brushed past her hair like a fleeting spark.
’One… two… three—’ Leon started counting seconds but,
Thud!
Kiren suddenly dropped the carcass of the monster she had been dragging. Without hesitation, she crouched low, her reflexes sharper than any beast’s.
The next second, she straightened up, her dark gaze locking on the soul stone now floating in midair.
Leon’s expression hardened. His lips curled into a grim line. “Fuck…” he muttered.
Her eyes darted toward him, sharp as blades—and in that instant, his illusion shattered and his real form was revealed.
“…Oops,” he said, forcing out a nervous smile as he instinctively stepped back.
*Swish*
Kiren vanished. In the blink of an eye, she reappeared behind him.
“Shi-!?”
Crack!
Her hand clamped around his neck and twisted it with full force.
Thud!
Leon’s body collapsed lifelessly on the ground.
For a moment, Kiren stood still, staring at the corpse. Then her pupils dilated. Her eyes flared into a bright, unnatural red.
“W-What…?” she whispered.
The black vines coiling around her limbs crumbled into nothing, withering away like dry leaves.
Swish!
Leon’s dead body vanished.
He reappeared right behind her, panting, his face pale from exhaustion and he was holding the soul stone right next to her shoulder.
“Kiren… take this.” He thrust the glowing soul stone toward her.
Her hands trembled as she accepted it.
“H-He created an illusion inside another illusion…” Orion’s voice cracked with disbelief as he stared at Leon from afar. “Even I can’t do that! Do you know how much mana it takes? Time flows slower inside the second layer… It’s a nightmare to sustain it! How much mana does this guy even have? Is he… a Maze Master? Just what is he and how powerful is he ?”
“Who are you?” she demanded as she clutched the stone against her chest. As soon as the stone touched her chest, it went inside her body and her glowing wings popped out from her back.
“I am someone who knows your mother… Medina. She sent me—”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of countless heavy crashes cut him off.
All around them, the other cursed fairies dropped their offerings in unison. Their dark eyes turned toward Leon and Kiren, faces twisted with fury.
Kiren staggered back, her wings trembling. Light flared across her body, and her wings started flapping at an incredible speed, glowing with a radiant sheen.
“Oh my god…” she whispered, her voice shaking. “We are heavily out-numbered, we have to get out of here immediately.” She spoke as she immediately started flying.
“The Village… Your mother is there.” Leon spoke with a serious expression.
“T-Take me with you.” Orion spoke with a scared expression as he immediately walked upto them.
“I don’t understand anything… But let’s go to the village.” Kiren spoke.
*Grab*
Grabbing Leon’s and Orion’s hand she picked both of them up and started flying towards the village with full speed.
’She is strong… Picking us up like toys, that’s really something.’ Leon thought with a neutral expression as he looked at Kiren.
“What happened ? I don’t remember anything… Uncle Orion.” Kiren asked with a serious expression as she looked at Orion.
“Tell her… Uncle Orion.” Leon spoke with a mocking smile as he looked at him.
“I-It was nothing just a little misunderstanding… W-We can discuss about it after reaching the village.” Orion replied with a fake smile.
“He betrayed your mother and stole all of your soul stones. Then he let a demonic parasite take over your brains and it sucked out your and your mother’s life force for the past five years.” Leon spoke with a neutral expression.
“WHAT !?” Kiren asked in a shocked and surprised expression.
“Uncle Orion… Is that true ?” Kiren asked with a serious expression.
“Hahaha… W-What can I say ? I-I might’ve been-”
“That’s it.” Before Orion could’ve completed his sentence, Kiren let go of him.
“AHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh….” Orion shouted loudly as he fell back inside the forest.
“I knew he was never going to become a normal fairy. I warned mother about him but she didn’t listen to me… Human, is she alive ?” Kiren asked as she looked at Leon.
“Yes… I saved her. So don’t throw me down.” Leon spoke with a neutral expression.
“I would thank you… But, I don’t really know what your true intentions are for doing this. A lesser human like you won’t help us without any reward promises.” Kiren spoke as she immediately started going down towards the village.
“Wow… You really are the smartest fairy.” Leon replied with a neutral expression.
*Thud-Thud*
Both of them landed inside the village and noticed that everyone was hiding inside their houses.
“Master…” Dusk immediately bowed down to Leon and looked at Kiren with a confused expression.
“Where is mother ?” Kiren asked as she looked at Leon.
Leon turned to look at Dusk.
“She is inside Orion’s house, Master.” Dusk replied immediately.
“Come.” Leon spoke as he started walking towards Orion’s house.
…
Inside Orion’s house,
Medina is lying on the bed and Rees is using some kind of healing spell on her.
“Don’t worry, My love. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Rees spoke as he touched her cheek.
*Click*
“There she is…” Leon spoke as he pointed towards Medina.
“Mother… Mother… Are you alright ?” Kiren asked with a worried expression as she immediately walked upto her and placed her hand over Medina’s head.
“Almpus Olmups…” She used some kind of spell on her and a grim expression appeared over her face as soon as the spell ended.
“She has lost too much life force and mana… We have to do something right now or she won’t live.
As long as we stay here… She won’t regenerate any mana and I don’t have any mana as well. We have to take her out of the runes.” Kiren spoke as she turned to look at Leon.
“I don’t think that’s possible… your sisters will immediately kill us if we stepped out of the village boundaries.
See… They are standing right there.” Leon spoke as he pointed towards the window.
Kiren looked out and noticed that her sisters were standing right outside the village looking at her with furious expressions.
“We can take her out tomorrow morning, when your sisters go back into their deep sleep.” Leon replied with a neutral expression.
“B-But… We have to do something. She won’t survive until the morning. She won’t even survive for the next two hours in this condition.
We need to let her body regenerate mana or-”
“Mr. Leon…” Rees spoke as he stood up and walked upto Leon.
“… Please.” He joined both of his hands in front of Leon and fell down on his knees.
*Thud*
“I will make myself the bait and you will take her out of the forest with the help of that shadow Velmora.” Kiren spoke with a serious expression as she looked at Leon.
Leon looked at her then glanced at Rees who was lying down on the floor.
“Dusk… Can you transfer the mana to her body ?” Leon asked as he looked at him.
“Without any problems master.” Dusk replied with a smile.
“Rees… You will bait the fairies and I will refill her mana.” Leon spoke with a serious expression.
“Yes, Sir.” Rees spoke as he immediately stood up and grabbed his scythe.
“I-I don’t understand… How are you going to refill my mana ? I am a fairy, my mana holding capacity is far more larger than a human.
I regenerate more mana than you are ho-”
“Listen to what Mr. Leon says if you want to save your mother.” Rees spoke as he turned to look at Kiren.
Kiren looked at Rees with a serious expression then looked at Leon and Dusk.
“Fine… But, if anything happens to her. I will… Chase you to the other side of the world.” Kiren spoke with a serious expression as she looked at Leon.
“Come.” Leon spoke as he took Kiren and dusk to the other side of the village, meanwhile Rees walked upto the cursed fairies.
“Come and catch me…” Rees spoke as he stepped out of the village.
…
“Dusk… I will give you the pure mana and you will transfer that to Kiren. I will only step out of the village for a single second.” Leon spoke with a serious expression.