"What do you really want? If this is just to make me obey you, that's absolutely impossible!"
Staring intently at the explosive bug in Fernando's hand, Adrian had no choice but to clarify his stance first.
This Sky City was probably the last remaining legacy of the Loren Family, so its importance was self-evident. If it was really damaged because of this, as the king, he certainly wouldn't want to see that.
But the other side's attitude was so resolute, it was really quite frustrating. After all, Fernando and his people's ultimate goal was to obtain this city. Now that things had reached this desperate situation, he couldn't provoke them too much. He could only try to negotiate by lowering his tone first.
"My condition is simple, just hand over that crown on your head!"
Unexpectedly, Fernando didn't actually push Adrian's bottom line, but instead made another bizarre demand.
"Huh?"
Adrian was stunned when he heard this, but he didn't immediately hand over the crown. Instead, he asked cautiously:
"Why? You should know very well that currently only I can control this city! Even if I really give you the crown, it would be just an ordinary decoration in your monster's hands, right?"
Indeed, he wasn't wrong! In the end, this crown was at most just a wearable device to assist control. The real lead role should be the king's throne. Similarly, it's like a smart wristband paired with a smartphone on Earth. Fernando's demand was like threatening to blow up your phone, but the condition was only to get the wristband - it's nonsensical. Moreover, even if he really wanted the throne itself, it's not like he could take it away...
"Never mind why, just throw it over!"
Very impatiently, Fernando waved his hand and stretched out his palm, urging repeatedly.
"You absolutely cannot hand it over!"
At this moment, Eleanora's voice suddenly cut in. It turned out she had woken up! This was a godsend. Although I couldn't use advanced water healing spells now, Eleanora could. As long as I found an opportunity for her to heal me, it would be fine.
"You absolutely cannot give him the crown! Although the Loren clan's traceable royal heirs only have you left on the surface, in their thousands of years of history, there were always a few close princes who left Parristol and hid their identities for various reasons. If the monsters uncover them, that would be trouble! Not to mention, like that third princess who went missing a few hundred years ago..."
Not knowing how much of our conversation she had heard, Eleanora spoke urgently to stop Adrian as soon as she opened her mouth.
"Shut up!"
Cutting off her words directly, Fernando roared and threw out a light dragon, blasting Eleanora away without a second word.
"Ugh..."
Watching the professional healer's body arc gracefully over the throne hall's railing and plummet towards the bottom of the tower, I reached out wanting to call out but didn't have the strength.
Sis, you just woke up, no need to pull aggro like that? At least heal me first before provoking, no rush right...
Luckily my own slow healing hadn't dropped, and the wound on my wing was showing a bit of improvement. The broken half of the wing had slowly started regrowing. As for the other two, I had completely given up on them. In this situation, if I could have one pair of wings to barely provide flight, I should be burning incense in gratitude. Where would I have the mind for anything else!
"Did you hear that? Hand over the crown! Otherwise, I'll detonate the Exploding Bug and no one gets this city!"
Having dealt with the troublemaker, although it might not necessarily kill her, at least no one was objecting anymore. Fernando turned his head back to Adrian and threatened him again.
"No way! If Lantine Oasis ultimately ends up in your hands, what's the difference between that and you blowing it up now? It might even be better!"
The other side's attitude seemed a bit urgent now, as if seeing through his bottom line. Adrian shook his head and firmly refused this demand. After all, he wasn't an idiot. Although Eleanora didn't say much just now, she basically said the key points clearly, so he definitely couldn't agree anymore.
Besides, even if this crown was just an accessory, there were still many unknown hidden functions within it. Who knows what new tricks the monsters might come up with after taking it away, not to mention the risk of it being cracked.
On the other hand, if Fernando really detonated it, he would have no more trump cards left. Adrian probably guessed he wouldn't easily "tear up the ticket", so at this point it was about who could hold their nerve better. Whoever backed down first would lose.
"We have to find a chance to take him out in one shot!"
I reminded him softly. The biggest threat to us now was that Exploding Bug. But the problem was we couldn't just seize it like the remote detonator, because beast tamer could remotely control their beasts. So the ultimate solution could only come down to Fernando himself.
Adrian naturally saw this point too. He nodded slightly, but couldn't find an opportunity, so the arrow with the explosive rune attached could only be temporarily hidden behind his back for now.
We just needed to find a suitable opportunity. From my long observation of Brennan, beast tamers generally couldn't control multiple beasts at the same time. If we could force him to use another beast unexpectedly... maybe that could work!
Thinking of this, I gave Adrian a signal and clenched my fist, then suddenly attacked by swinging my arm towards Fernando - Paradise Lost Shockwave!
I was betting that he wouldn't have the guts to actually detonate the Exploding Bug!
In an instant, a huge white beam of light descended. I originally thought Fernando would probably summon a defensive beast to respond, but unfortunately he seemed to have foreseen it, simply shifting his body to easily dodge this move, while also counterattacking me.
"Hmph! Petty tricks..."
Before he could finish speaking, a huge semi-transparent object descended from the sky, directly pressing me underneath!
What the heck is this thing? So weird!
Was this a beast that he summoned? I was trapped inside it! Although its whole body was a mass of liquid, it didn't disperse after landing, with the center seeming to have some kind of attractive force gathering it into a mass, like a huge water ball.
Of course, the liquid inside wasn't ordinary water either, but rather an indescribable jelly-like substance. Its viscosity was a bit thinner than water, but also stickier. It wasn't easy for it to enter my mouth and nose.
The most deadly part was the stench - it was way too foul! And currently I couldn't breathe smoothly. Struggling desperately, I quickly felt the oxygen depleting. I barely "swam" out and stuck my head out to gasp some fresh air, but a moment later the undulating edge engulfed me again.
What the heck is this thing? Although I didn't understand it yet, this was undoubtedly the best opportunity! Because it was definitely summoned by Fernando.
"Adrian!"
For my "hint", Adrian gripped his arrow but didn't immediately attack. He looked at me with a conflicted expression, then towards Fernando who hadn't completely withdrawn his attack yet in the sky. Unexpectedly, he chose to give up, turning and shooting the arrow at the "water ball" trapping me instead.
Dude, shoot him! Why save me? If Fernando died, wouldn't I be saved too?
Trapped in the "water ball", I could only anxiously watch as the arrow hit its target and then violently exploded. The explosive arrow's effect was immediate - the "water ball" scattered. Just as I was relieved at being rescued, those scattered "jellies" moved as if they had lives of their own, quickly regathering around me again. Soon, I was encased just as tightly as before.
"Ugh..."
I got it, they were trying to smother me to death! The putrid, acidic stench assaulted my nostrils again. Although I managed to take a big breath this time, I didn't know how long I could last.
"This is the Slime King. That kind of attack has no effect. If you don't want to see your queen smothered to death, then obediently hand over the crown!"
Fernando spoke up to remind him. This was too insidious! Seeing the Exploding Bug's threat wasn't enough, he actually thought of using me as a hostage with this underhanded trick!
To think a great angel like me would be so embarrassed, being handled like this by a mere slime! Of course, the main reason was due to my injuries. The impact of missing wings was really huge! Not only was the pain severe enough that I couldn't move easily, but also lacking enough supply of light elements, my strength was greatly reduced.
If it was my normal state, I would have just used brute force to directly burst open this mid-level magical beast. Even if it could recover, it would just be recovering once, bursting once. At the very least, I could have just flown away, how would I be in such a wretched state now!
But come to think of it, the size of this Slime King was a bit exaggerated too. An ordinary slime is actually only about two feet big. Although they're also hard to completely eliminate, they don't pose this kind of smothering threat.
It's said that the Slime King's status in the slime tribe is like that of a queen ant or bee - you basically can't easily see it under normal circumstances. Of course, it also wouldn't easily move its nest.
Precisely because it was too big, no matter what Adrian did, the effect in the short term was undoubtedly like a drop in the ocean. And the reason this Slime King moved so frequently to target me was probably because Fernando was deliberately controlling it behind the scenes.
The only way to completely eliminate a slime is to use intense fire to slowly evaporate its water content. But in the current situation, even if I succeeded in killing it, as long as the beastmaster wasn't dead, the beasts of beastmaster magic could theoretically revive infinitely. Actually, I wouldn't have to wait that long - having been trapped in the slime for too long, I could already feel my consciousness gradually fading.
"Alright, I'll give it to you!"
Finally out of options, seeing me still trapped inside, Adrian hesitated for a moment with a conflicted expression before taking off the crown on his head.
"Toss it over!"
As soon as Fernando saw it, he ordered. Just as Adrian threw the crown, I immediately felt that the Slime King stopped following my movements. What was I waiting for? I immediately struggled with all my might to swim out.
It seemed I was rescued, but did the crown really have to be given to the enemy? Not only would we lose a tool to control the city at any time in the future, there was also the risk of the enemy finding an opportunity to seize the city.
However, reality is always changing rapidly. An ordinary-looking magic light ball suddenly came horizontally from below, striking the crown in mid-air with a "bang" and knocking it off course.
"Who is it?"
This time Fernando was completely dumbfounded. The duck he almost had in hand had flown away! Seeing the crown changing direction to fall towards the ground, he didn't dare immediately go after it, instead turning his head to look behind him first.