As the sunlight falling on his face was suddenly blocked, Khazak fluttered his eyes open. When he did, he saw Mylia leaning over him, her hands resting on her knees, quietly watching his face. Embarrassed by the situation, Khazak quickly blinked a few times. Realizing what was happening, Mylia immediately pulled back, looking away with her eyes closed in embarrassment. Khazak couldn't hold back a small chuckle at Mylia, who now resembled a bashful kitten. This only made her even more flustered, and she puffed her cheeks, glaring at him with playful annoyance. Trying hard not to laugh at her adorable expression, Khazak, as if pretending to be affected by her cute anger, suppressed his laughter and asked:
"How long have I been asleep?"
Khazak asked.
Mylia returned to her usual self and responded,
"About two hours..."
After saying that, her eyes suddenly lit up with a childlike excitement as she exclaimed,
"While you were sleeping, I caught something amazing for us!"
After saying that, Mylia dashed outside, and after a few dragging noises, she appeared in front of the cave, bent over and holding the tail of a massive boar with both hands. She shouted from the entrance,
"Look, do you see it? I ran into a whole group of these and managed to grab one!"
Khazak rushed outside, and his jaw dropped when he saw the giant boar lying on its back with its tongue hanging out, nearly twice Mylia's size even when it was down. Mylia, clearly proud of herself, stood tall with her hands on her hips, exuding confidence. After a moment of stunned silence, Khazak finally asked,
"How did you even manage to catch this?"
"This giant boar is said to be as strong as a monster; did you hunt this thing with your Ki?
"Yes, that's right. As I mentioned before, it's an event that can elevate your power to an incredible level... I guess you've never seen my Ki, have you?"
Upon hearing this, Khazak closed his eyes and, with a helpless smile and his hand behind his head, said:
"I actually saw it... I saw it when you put the sword to my neck... heh heh..."
After hearing this, Mylia slightly lowered her head, clasped her hands in front of her, and, feeling embarrassed and regretful, said:
"Ah, yes, about that... I shouldn't have attacked you out of nowhere; I'm sorry."
"No, no, you did the right thing. It's quite good to keep your guard up in a situation like that."
Mylia gathered a bit more confidence and, after thinking for a moment, said with enthusiasm as if a bright idea had come to her mind:
"While wandering in the forest, I stumbled upon a demon flower field. If you don't know, demon flower fields consist of pure white lilies, but among these flowers, there is also a red lily. If any living being interacts with this lily, the red lily takes on a humanoid form to protect its field, or rather its offspring, and tries to defeat the person who touched it. It's not a very strong monster, so it's a fantastic opportunity for me to show you my power."
After hearing this, Khazak said with a hint of hesitation and anxiety,
"Are you sure we will be safe?"
"Of course, if necessary, I'll protect you, so don't worry."
After hearing this, Khazak felt a slight embarrassment, although Mylia didn't notice what she had said. However, he nodded as if to agree, not wanting to oppose her enthusiasm to show off her power. Immediately afterward, Mylia took Khazak's hand, and they began to run together at a light pace. Mylia was overly eager to demonstrate her strength. As they got closer to the field, the number of flowers around them increased. Mylia led Khazak by the hand through a few bushes and they arrived at a wide field filled with pristine white flowers, where the white petals danced in the air. At that moment, Mylia released Khazak's hand and turned to face him. With this swift turn, her long white hair swirled around her, and she tucked a strand behind her ear with a smile on her face.
Khazak was left speechless in the face of the beauty of Mylia's white hair and the surrounding white flowers. All he could do was watch as Mylia ran gracefully among the white lilies. After a little more running, she fell backward onto the ground, scattering white petals around her. Laughing out loud, she lay there for a moment before pointing with her finger to a small hill behind her and said:
"Do you see the red lily on that hill? I'm going to cut that lily now, and you'll see what happens, but for now—"
After saying this, she suddenly got up, grabbed Khazak by the wrist, and pulled him down to the ground with her. Now, they were looking at each other among the white lilies. Even though Mylia was smiling cutely, Khazak was captivated by the beauty in front of him, as if Mylia's lovely face adorned his vision. After a few more seconds of staring at Mylia in admiration, the words slipped out of his mouth involuntarily.
"Very beautiful..."
Mylia suddenly stopped laughing and blushed in response. Overwhelmed by the extreme embarrassment, she couldn't even manage to say thank you, so she cleared her throat and said:
"W-well, let's get to the fight."
Then Mylia stood up and quickly walked towards the red lily. Khazak also got up but stayed in place, watching her. When Mylia reached the flower, she took a deep breath and, with a seriousness reminiscent of the day Khazak first saw her, placed her hand on her long sword. With a swift strike, she cut the red lily, and as soon as she did, the ground began to shake. Mylia fully withdrew her sword and jumped back into a defensive stance, waiting.
Then, from the earth, emerged a figure resembling a muscular man with no legs, its body a stark white. Atop its head sat the severed red lily, and its pale skin bore spirals and red patterns reminiscent of clouds. On its abdomen was a strange red emblem resembling a flower. As if it were screaming, it spread its arms wide and looked up at the sky. Khazak braced himself for a loud roar, but instead, a powerful wind began to blow. The rustling of the flowers on the ground and the surrounding trees sounded as if the monster itself was howling. The swirling white petals created a scene of magnificent beauty, yet equally terrifying.
After a few seconds of silence, the monster sprouted two additional arms from its body, merging them in front and gathering the surrounding leaves into its hands. The flying white petals spiraled together and collected in front of the creature's hands. Then, the leaves took the shape of spears and shot towards Mylia at high speed. Ready for this, Mylia took a deep breath and blew back, producing a sound like rushing wind. Her red eyes sparkled, and with a single strike, she cut the incoming leaf spear. The leaves scattered and continued to flutter around. Mylia's hair whipped back from the impact, beautifully harmonizing with the white petals floating in the air, as if she was meant to fight here.
Then, the creature suddenly sank into the ground. After a few silent seconds, numerous white petals shot upward, and Mylia jumped up along with them. Just as she soared into the air, the monster burst forth from beneath, launching a flurry of red leaves towards Mylia. She plunged downward, holding her sword upright against the ground, diving towards the creature. As the leaves approached, she pierced through them with her sword and finally drove it into the monster's head, using one foot to stand on the blade. Immediately after, the creature began to tremble, and Mylia gracefully leaped off to the side as the monster exploded, scattering a multitude of red lily petals everywhere.
Mylia's shining red eyes, the white petals already in the air, and her flowing white hair created a stunning tableau at that moment. Mylia's sword fell back into her hand. After twirling the sword a few times around herself, she sheathed it, took a deep breath, and looked into Khazak's eyes. Stunned by the sight before him, Khazak could hardly make a sound. Then Mylia said:
"Thank you, you... you look really beautiful too."
After saying this, Mylia had intended it as merely a thank you, but as she realized what she had actually said, she was overcome with incredible embarrassment. The strong form she had just displayed was nowhere to be found; she now resembled a sweet, bashful cat, avoiding eye contact as she swayed slightly and said,
"I'm sorry, it's a bit late."
In response to this sight, Khazak felt more than just admiration. He didn't know how to describe what he was feeling, but it was as if butterflies were fluttering in his stomach, and warmth flooded his chest. He tried to speak, but fearing he would make a mistake, he held back his words. From that moment on, he felt that everything he did needed to be perfect in front of Mylia. What he didn't know was that Mylia had felt the same way from the very beginning.