Chapter 135 – -134- Know Thyself (1)

The forest, where neither humans nor animals live, was a paradise for plants.

The trees that grew up without any interference were the only threat to each other because they had adapted to the demonic period.

A competitor who sucks up the nutrients he should have.

As they had to steal more nutrients from their opponents, the trees grew larger, taller and taller, and their roots became denser.

The leaves grew thick enough to block out all the light coming up from above, making the area below it as dark as night.

The small trees that could not receive the light gradually withered, and the surviving large trees grew thicker and taller by feeding on the corpses of dead competitors.

Beneath the thick trees, the defeated and rotten trees softly rotted to make soft soil, and only mushrooms that grew well without light survived.

The trees that grew without gaps made it impossible for enemies at close range to know where they were, so the two people who only followed the lead of the person in front said worriedly.

“Are you sure you’re here? You really remember the road?”

“Rather than remembering the road, you remember the smell. It’s certain, so don’t worry. Trust the beastman’s sense of smell? Now slowly… Can you see the light?”

“Hmm…” They lightly landed on the floor.

After overcoming the harsh environment, the barely grown mushrooms are crushed by the shoes.

Spreading a sound-absorbing barrier with magic, they flew through the trees as if flying aerobatics, focusing their attention on the faint light seen through the trees in the distance.

“Hey there? Okay…Then right now…”

“It’s not there. That’s where the warriors live… This is where our princess is imprisoned.” Was

Lois’ replica pointed to a small clearing next to it with its sharp claws.

After climbing to the top of the tree, I wrapped demons around my eyes to enhance my eyesight, and I saw the sisters tied to iron stakes.

“I see, it’s tied up there!” She cheered in a low voice.

‘It’s not too late…!’

“Are you alive?” Bella-Duplicate asked in a worried voice.

“Even if it’s small, my heart is thumping… Yes, I’m alive.”

“It’s good… By the way, why did you lock it outside?”

“Isn’t it because she was thinking of the damage she did when she was released? If her only lodging is destroyed, her future journey may be difficult.”

“Hmm… Maybe.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be better to ask the person herself for the details? After rescuing her, you can slowly hear what happened from her own mouth.”

“Could it be her trap? It seems certain that she is using her as bait to lure her cage…”

“What’s the matter with her? Even if it’s a trap, we have to save her. Besides, with this power, it’s rather impossible not to take out one of her people.”

A replica of a great wizard and a saint, and a beast close to the strongest. Wouldn’t it be enough to rescue a prisoner tied up?

“That’s true, but…”

“Stop, during the time we waste arguing, she’s suffering. Didn’t you see that too?”

“…Okay”

Something was amiss, but everyone agreed that a quick rescue was needed.

“While the two of us, keep an eye on her surroundings. You rescue her quickly.” Lois-duplicant suggested sharing her role with her gray-haired retinue.

“What?”

“I have a good sense of smell, so if something goes wrong, I can quickly notice it. And if the copy of the great wizard is out, I can quickly spread the situation to you too, right?”

“…Is”

…Ignoring my instinctive intuition that something is not right. She sets out to rescue her comrades.

‘Wait a little… I’ll… Save you…!’

***

She crouched through the sprawling trees, approaching her tied-up companion.

Something, I kept feeling uncomfortable.

“Even if it’s a decoy or a trap…Because they’re enough people to break through head-on…”

Ignoring the intense ominous feeling I continued to feel, I approached my colleague.

With each step I took, I bit my lower lip at the sight of my colleague’s miserable figure becoming clearer and clearer.

“Oh my god…”

Full body.

The look of the sisters I saw again could be expressed in one word.

Her body was full of traces of defeat.

On the jewel-like skin, like brown topaz, there were palms and bite marks, as well as unhealed bruises.

‘These bastards…Doesn’t there be any respect for prisoners?!”

There were bite marks on the shoulder, and a reddish tinge remained on the lower abdomen, as if it had not fully recovered from the blow.

If it was a blow that even her strong body, given to her by her mother, could not fully recover, I could imagine how painful she must have been during the interrogation.

To her thick iron stake, she was tied behind her back with her arms bent.

“There… Who is…?”

She said in a hoarse voice.

“Water… Can you give me water…? I can’t tell you about the demon lord… But I can give you water…”

The request in a earnest voice was simply a request for a sip of water to quench one’s throat.

‘That’s terrible’

It seems that these filthy human bastards interrogated her severely without even giving her water, in a state where her powers were greatly weakened by her eye patch and various restraints.

‘…Disgusting’

With one hand she pulled her iron stake out of the ground and carefully set it down beside her.

Hearing her iron stakes being pulled out, she flinched.

“You…Who are you…? Am I being executed now?”

She trembled like an aspen tree and was afraid. The bridge of her nose was red, and it was clear that she was holding back her tears.

‘How frightening it must have been…’

I loosened her blindfold and reassured her.

“Ah…”

Looking at my face, several emotions pass through her expression.

Surprise, delight, doubt…

“It’s me, I’m here to save you,” I said over and over again, making eye contact with her to reassure her that I was real.

Her eyes, hidden by her blindfold, were too haggard.

Ruby-like lips, as if beaten, showed traces of cracking and healing.

As if she was relieved to see my face, her eyes quickly became watery.

“Uh…Sister…Are you really a sister?”

“…Yes, sister.”

“Hey, hehe…I…Didn’t say a single thing…Didn’t I…?” Leaning on me, she seemed as weak as her dying sick man.

Seeing my face, her body, which was barely holding on to her miasma, seemed to completely relax, and she fell into my arms.

She staggered to me with a drowsy expression like a weak balloon doll and wrapped herself around her body.

She leaned against me like her corpse, petting her, I loosened her restraints from her ankles.

The ignorantly large iron ball tied to her ankle gave a bruise to her pretty ankle.

“You’re late…Sister…”

“I’m sorry…I came right away, haha…I had no idea…”

With that fragile body, how much pain did you have to go through?

“No, because I came… It’s okay… Thank you…” With her half-open eyes, she was grateful for coming.

When she thought of the hardships she had been through, her heart broke.

She groped her back as she tried to free herself from the restraints that were tied around her wrists one last time.

“Thank you, Sister…”

“…No, thank you.”

I was proud of her for maintaining her loyalty to her mother despite all the hardships she suffered.

She wanted to take her to her demon castle as soon as possible and restore her, so naturally, her hands were busy releasing her restraints.

‘I’m sure there must be a restraint here…?’

She loosened all other restraints and looked for what was binding her wrists, but she couldn’t find it.

Even groping her hand, I couldn’t touch her chains.

‘What?’

Even stroking her wrist up and down didn’t even catch her string.

In other words, nothing existed between the two smooth wrists.

“…Uh?”

That is, her wrists were not tied in the first place.

“Thank you so much…And, I’m sorry…♥” The eyes seen through the half-down eyepatch were no longer those of a difficult person.

Vigor returned to her face, which she thought was haggard. Her eyes were curved in the shape of half moons, and she had a fishy smile on her face.

“Huh!”

Before I had time to react, her fist flew towards my chin.

She narrowly escaped, but couldn’t avoid being hit on the cheek with her elbow as she snapped her shoulder.

The skilled swordsman’s strike from zero distance dealt fatal damage to me, who had no defenses.

“Kuhhh…!”

With one blow, I almost passed out.

Barely

“Ha, can you stand this? What a big deal? Sister?”

“Right now…Run away…!” I shouted to the two people who were preparing for the situation behind me to inform them of the current situation.

…Was useless.

‘Ah… Well, that filthy bitch…’

When I bent my head and looked behind me, I saw that the bewildered Bella-duplicant was being ambushed as well as I was.

With her shriek of “Kyaa”, She was hit on the head and fell down.

‘There are two traitors…?!’

Perhaps because both the saint and the wizard duplicated the original, which specializes in support, we were unable to come to our senses from a sudden blow from close range.

If I hadn’t judged the situation a bit later, I would have been knocked down in one hit along with Bella-duplicant.

“You… You cursed prostitutes…! What are you doing…!”

“Haha, look at this. Am I right? Everyone says something similar at first, right?”

“Whoops, that’s true…”

The two disgusting traitors celebrated their victory as if they had already won, palms to each other.

“Traitors who will burn in hell…!

My chilly resentment ended as the two of them overpowered me with lightning-like skill.

“Oh, I’m running out of time. You guys have to finish teaching assistants before dawn!”

“That’s right, I have to go back before my mother feels uncomfortable, so I don’t have enough time for education!”

“What, what nonsense” I was confused by the appearance of the girls who were completely different from what I remembered.

I felt as if I had been subjected to a bad hallucinatory spell.

‘Is this…Really happening?’

“Whoa, even if you don’t understand now, you’ll understand soon. Then, will you be quiet for a moment?”

One wrapped around my neck perfectly, then began to squeeze tighter and tighter, like a boa constrictor.

The other subdued my demonic energy, making it impossible for me to resist.

“Keukhuk…Kkeuk…”

As the blood to the head runs out, the pupils try to rise.

“If you wake up again, then there will be a lot of fun waiting for you…!”

“That’s right, since you’re going to be with the person you really like… Are you excited?”

The two of them were talking nonsense that I couldn’t understand, and they were knocking me out.

Feeling my vision gradually darken, I realized that I had reached my limit.

“Hehe…Heh…Ah…”

If you faint, you can’t…!

At the last thought, my consciousness was cut off.