Chapter 159: Never a Pleasant Word Between Us

In the afternoon, the elevator reached the ground floor, and Linley led the group out.

"It's him!"

Philip, who was in the middle of a fierce battle with the king, spotted Linley instantly. A shock went through his heart—this troublesome enemy was back!

"Little Prince, what are we doing here?"

Eve looked at the fires of war raging at the edge of the city and slightly frowned. "Can't you just use the Universe Inversion to take us away directly?"

Linley led them up to the top of a tower. "That won't do. The underground is too deep, and I can't gauge the distance properly. What if I teleport us straight into the earth's core?"

The first level of Sloca was closest to the surface; casting his spell here would minimize the chance of error.

"Alright, everyone come over here and stand close."

Linley walked to the top of the tower and instructed the others to gather around. Eve stepped forward and took his hand. Linley paused slightly, bewildered. "What are you doing?"

"Teleporting?" Eve replied as a matter of course. Weren't his Universe Inversion spells supposed to require physical contact?

"We don't need to hold hands now," Linley said. Eve immediately let go, feeling a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"You didn't ask."

Muttering to himself, Linley drove Blue Song into the ground. Golden holy light radiated from it, forming a large circle of fire that enclosed everyone.

"Stay inside this fire circle and don't move. I'm going to cast the spell right now."

Linley warned the others and began to chant.

"Universe Inversion—"

"Strip-tease maniac, I've finally found you!"

In the blink of an eye, a figure suddenly materialized inside the circle of fire, thrusting a gleaming, cold sword straight toward Linley's throat.

"—Shift!"

Linley sidestepped just in time, but simultaneously, his Universe Inversion spell triggered.

With a loud *whoosh*, the circle of fire vanished instantly, leaving the stunned crowd on the first level of Sloca staring in disbelief.

"Aah!"

Hundreds of miles away, the circle of fire materialized inside a cavern, and the female warrior's sword continued its momentum, piercing deep into the body of a massive monster.

The beast leaped up in agony.

"Ouch, it hurts so much!"

Its shrill, miserable scream made the entire cavern tremble. The people who had just arrived were so disoriented that they immediately covered their heads and crouched on the ground. Several humans, unable to bear the piercing shrieks, began to vomit on the spot.

"Who's stabbing my ass?!"

The monster clutched its rear, spun around, and glared down furiously at the group on the ground. "It's you lot! Humans, elves, werewolves, and... what on earth are youh?"

It caught sight of the Watermelons trembling together in a huddle.

"A dragon! It's a dragon!"

"Is it going to eat us?"

The Watermelons looked up in terror at the colossal creature before them. It was a white dragon, snowy white all over, with glowing red eyes.

"Little Prince, your teleportation went wrong!"

Eve looked nervously at the white dragon. This was one of the most ferocious and short-tempered giants in the world.

"Nothing went wrong! I sensed there was a cave here, I just didn't expect a dragon to be in it."

Linley said, then plunged Blue Song back into the ground.

The white dragon's eyes swept over the group. "Who just stabbed my ass?!"

"Her!"

Without a moment's hesitation, everyone pointed their fingers at the female werewolf.

The white dragon locked its gaze on the female werewolf. "So it was you!"

"I—I can explain..." said the female werewolf, holding her blood-dripping sword. Suddenly, a flash of golden light illuminated her side, and that strip-tease maniac had vanished without a trace once more.

In the cavern, vast and empty, only she and the white dragon were left behind.

The female werewolf instantly flew into a rage. "Damn it!"

"What else do you have to say?" the white dragon demanded.

"Say your ancestors!" The female werewolf raised her sword furiously. "That brat ran away again, you're going to pay for this!"

A brutal fight immediately erupted.

The circle of fire appeared once more, hundreds of miles farther from the cave, and this time right out in the open.

Linley felt rather pleased with himself. "I reacted fast enough back there, didn't I?"

Good thing there was a decoy to attract the white dragon's attention. But that werewolf from earlier looked kind of familiar—had he seen her somewhere before?

As Linley was pondering, a hand suddenly yanked him aside. "Little Prince, look out!"

"Huh?" Linley was pulled away just as a pair of claws launched a surprise attack right where he had been standing. Failing to grab him, the talons snatched up another human paladin instead.

"Squawk! Sisters, I've caught a paladin!"

A harpy lifted the paladin with her talons and flew toward the cliff face. Linley looked up to see that this was a harpy nesting ground, the sheer rock face densely packed with countless nests.

"There's an elf and a human warrior over there too!"

"Catch those two men!"

"Kill all the rest!"

Swarms of harpies descended from above. Without a moment's hesitation, Linley drove Blue Song into the earth. "Universe Inversion!"

The fire circle flared and vanished in an instant, leaving the harpies circling the empty ground with frustrated, shrill screeches.

"They're gone, they're gone!"

"Quick, search the surrounding area!"

The innocent paladin was carried up to a harpy nest with a bewildered expression, staring in shock at the light circle vanishing from the ground below. *Did Your Lordship the Prophet leave a bit too unceremoniously? Didn't he see that I was captured?*

Fortunately, a harpy tribe only consisted of a few dozen members. Though it would be tough, he could enchant his sword with holy light and barely manage to hold his ground against these harpies.

"Come on, beauty, I won't yield to you!"

Lance began stripping off his armor with righteous indignation. The harpy who had captured him was slightly stunned; this was her first time meeting such a cooperative prey.

"Sisters, this fellow has the power of holy light, come over here!"

The harpy let out a call, and the rest of the harpies immediately flocked over, blotting out the sky like a dark cloud.

"Paladins last a long time."

"I love paladins."

The harpies stared at Lance with glowing red eyes.

"H-how many sisters do you have?"

Lance stopped moving, his body trembling slightly. The numbers didn't add up!

"Not many, just a thousand."

The harpy tore away Lance's remaining clothes with her talons.

"No, please, stop—aaah!!"

The miserable screams of the young paladin echoed endlessly.

When the circle of fire appeared once more, Linley and his companions had arrived at a prairie blooming with Manora flowers.

"Phew, a good thing my reflexes were fast!"

Linley collapsed from exhaustion. Managing so many passengers over such a long teleportation distance, compounded by so many unexpected incidents, was a first for him.

"Did we really arrive this time?"

Reinhardt and Vivian scanned their surroundings vigilantly. Every teleportation cost them a member; they couldn't afford any more accidents this time.

"The Alliance!"

They spotted an army camp with fluttering banners.

"It's the Alliance banner!"

"We've arrived!"

The two youths ran excitedly toward the Alliance camp. Linley also stood up, casting a solemn gaze in that direction.

"Is something wrong?" Eve noticed his expression was a bit off.

"My royal brother is injured, and heavily at that," Linley said with a worried frown. "He might even be dead by now. Eve, do you think I should bring a couplet for a funeral procession?"

"...You can try!"

A chilling voice rang out from behind Linley. "Why can't you ever say anything nice whenever we meet?"