Suddenly, a flash of cold light cut through the silence of the night, coming from a distance and hitting Susano'o with tremendous force.
The light instantly shattered the early stage of Susano'o's skeleton, blocking its manifestation before there was any chance it could develop further.
El looked up, aware of the presence of a human scent approaching quickly from a distance, but still vague about the condition of himself who had just activated Susano'o unconsciously.
The human scent was approaching from above, moving at high speed towards him.
"How dare you attack me," El hissed, rising from his kneeling position. With a swift movement, she pulled out Metsu, his signature sword, from inside the Storage Ring, preparing to face whoever was approaching.
El stared at the mysterious figure in front of him, wearing a long black robe that completely covered his body. Without hesitation, the figure swung the sword, and El instantly countered its attack with a powerful and decisive slash.
Clank!
Their swords met with a sharp clink of sharp metal, the loud sound echoing in the surroundings. The impact created a powerful wave of wind, sweeping away the surrounding dust.
In an instant, the wind wave also blew away the figure's hood, slowly revealing his very young-looking face.
El widened hia eyes, shocked at the sight before her. "A little girl?" he said in a surprised tone, unable to believe that his opponent was a girl.
As El saw it, the figure that attacked her was indeed a pretty-faced little girl, with a pair of heterochromic eyes.
The girl's right eye was blue, while her left eye was red. Her long, dark purple hair fell around her shoulders, adding a mysterious air to her presence.
The girl smiled gently, then suddenly took out a yellow piece of paper that appeared out of thin air. In an instant, she pressed the paper to El's forehead with a movement so fast that El had no time to react.
As soon as the paper touched her forehead, El's consciousness began to fade instantly, and his body collapsed. As consciousness began to fade, the girl seemed to whisper softly, "Oyasumi," the girl said softly, in a sweet and unique tone.
Inevitably, El completely lost consciousness. With his unconsciousness, this sudden battle was won by the mysterious young girl from who knows where.
"It's a good thing I'm not late," the girl looked at the ruins, where Kirai was buried. "But still, fate is hard to change." said the girl irritably.
***
The morning sunlight infiltrated between the leaves, hitting the face of El who was still unconscious.
Slowly, El opened her eyelids, and she realized she was in the middle of the forest, her body tightly tied to a tree with a golden rope that looked sturdy and luminous.
"Where is this?" muttered El, confused about his situation. Instantly, memories of the events before fainting came rushing in, clearing up what was previously vague.
"That's right... I suddenly lost control. My emotions were out of control... Ilya is dead too," he said in a flat tone, without the slightest expression of sadness in his eyes.
"Forget about it," El continued, as if taking her sister's death as a normal thing not worth dwelling on any longer. "But... how did I end up bound like this?"
"Feeling calmer?" suddenly came a woman's voice, interrupting El's reverie. Without turning his head, he immediately recognized the same scent as the night before.
"You're the one who attacked me here, right?" El asked in a cold voice, her gaze still straight ahead.
"Attacked you yesterday?" the girl repeated, chuckling. "Hihi... it's been five days since you almost went berserk like a mad dog. Five whole days you were unconscious."
"Five days?" El raised an eyebrow, a curious tone starting to creep into her voice. At once, El realized the mysterious girl's scent was not lying.
Not long after, the owner of the voice emerged from among the grass, revealing herself with a sweet smile.
The little girl of about 148 cm tall had rare heterochromic eyes, blue on one side and red on the other, making her gaze seem mysterious and charming. Her dark purple hair was down, adding an elegant look to her cute face.
The outfit the girl is wearing is a black Gothic Lolita with a red ribbon at the waist and other decorative embellishments, creating a contrasting yet harmonious mix.
"Hey," the girl greeted calmly, stepping closer to El. "Don't want to ask about your wife?" she asked with a friendly smile that seemed at odds with El's tightly bound situation.
El was silent for a moment, suddenly struck by a deep sense of guilt over his emotions that had hurt others. "Is Kirai alright?" he asked, his voice laden with worry, her gaze demanding reassurance from the little girl in front of his.
The girl nodded softly, 'My soul fragment has been working quite well. Adrian's soul damage has been suppressed.' the girl said in thought, with a sharp gaze.
Then answered El's question in a casual tone. "Jiejie has regained consciousness. But... she will be paralyzed for the rest of her life." A sardonic smile appeared on her cute face. "Hihi... You're a trashy guy, aren't you?"
El let out a long breath, trying to hold back her irritation. "Ugh... You can make fun of me all you want if it makes you happy."
El's gaze shifted to the golden rope holding him down. "By the way, can you untie this? There's something strange about the smell of this rope."
"Well," the little girl said to the back of El's body, untying the knot she had made "You made a very good choice, not trying to break the rope that binds you."
"If you try to break this rope by force, lightning will strike you... Boom!" the girl exclaimed with fiery enthusiasm, a wide smile on her face. "You... explode!"
El felt his hair stand up, imagining the threat. "Ugh..." he muttered, cold sweat pouring down her face. After sighing, El asked, "May I know your name?"
The girl smiled faintly. "My name is Hao Yuri, just call me Yuri," she replied as she untied the knot of rope holding El.
Once free, Yuri stepped closer, then without warning, placed the animal choker complete with rope around El's neck. "Greetings, El Ira Adrian," he said, his smile turning into a mischievous grin.
El froze, not knowing how to react. "Uh, wait... what's this choker?"
{N/A: Hao Yuri, an original character from one of my novels. He's free-spirited, unpredictable, and cruel to bad people. Has an IQ of over 300}
{N/A: I took mixed references from Kurumi Tokisaki and Yayoi Haozuki from Dark Gathering. The reason I included Yuri, one of my original novel characters was to see the MC a little miserable}}
Ignoring El's protests, Yuri pulled on the choker's leash with tremendous force, dragging it like a pet dog. "Let's go see Jiejie, and you have to apologize properly!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, her smile growing wider.
El struggled to resist, holding his pace and trying to keep up with the pull of the rope. However, no matter how hard she resisted, the little girl's strength was simply beyond comprehension, as if she could not be matched.
Finally, El gave up, letting hisself be taken away, like a pet obeying its master. Resignedly, he followed Yuri, the mysterious girl who seemed to enjoy treating his like a toy.