The Princess And The Lord

"Are you all right?" Lory breathed a sigh of relief to see that Garrof and Lloyd were unharmed, just a few scratches here and there on their body and that's normal.

Thankfully due to the tremendous blaze of fire Zhao Li Xin, Garrof, and Lloyd didn't realize what Lory had done, they didn't even suspect when Zhao Li Xin and Lory came without a single scratch at all despite being face to face against the Maren and the Fire.

"We're fine, what about Maren, this time it's really dead right?" thought Garrof's voice sound playful but he actually meant it.

"That thing should be burnt to a crisp by now," Lory said confidently even though she had not examined the beast's carcass.

To be sure they all checked the beast's carcass and just like Lory said it had been scorched by the fire causing half of the beast's body to turn black as charcoal. Garrof and Lloyd glanced at Zhao Li Xin but said nothing.

Perhaps to them, it would take an enormous amount of power to burn Maren's body to a crisp like this, but in Lory's eyes, this was nothing compared to Zhao Li Xin's previous golden flames which could burn everything to ashes with a mere touch.

If Zhao Li Xin had her old strength, she should be able to kill this beast in less than a minute but now that Zhao Li Xin had even received internal injuries from encountering this kind of beast. 

If this happened to a normal person they would definitely feel devastated and angry falling into this situation but, Zhao Li Xin remained calm without a hint of regret in his eyes as if this was a small matter for him, maybe it does.

"Have you ever seen a Maren like this before?" Lory fixed his gaze on Garrof.

Garrof crouched beside Maren's carcass, then shook his head "No, I never saw any beast could transform like this, not even during the Dark Age war" he exchange worry glance at Lloyd. 

"Look at all these vines, they seem to grow from the inside out" Lloyd inspected the vines on Maren's body but unfortunately after being burnt, their shape was almost unrecognizable.

"Wait what's that?" Lory frowned.

Vines suddenly grow from the beast's chest and then spread rapidly, the vines seem to try to regenerate the beast once again. The four of them were stunned and in reflex, Garrof immediately pointed his gun at the beast's chest then pulled the trigger he shot the vines incessantly.

"There's something in it!" Lloyd's voice was tight with panic luckily he was a professional he immediately make a sudden decision, Lloyd took his dagger from his belt and stab onto the beast's chest then quickly slit open the chest of the beast that cover with vines that growing in rapid speed.

Lloyd noticed a dark green glowing object hidden within the beast's heart covered in hundreds of vines which were now wrapping around his hands as if trying to stop him.

"Lloyd, get your hand's away from that thing!" Garrof warns him frantically.

"Shut up, I have this!" Lloyd sped up his small operation and then forcibly reached into the beast's heart, after feeling a foreign hard object he hastily grabbed it and quickly pulled his hand out. The strangest thing is the moment Lloyd pulled whatever object out of Maren's body the vines that previously swarmed them suddenly dried up and died.

"O-kay… this is getting weird" Lory was shocked as she stared at the dry vines even Zhao Li Xin couldn't hide his shock either.

Lloyd slowly opened his grip at that moment, but any glow on the object had disappeared.

When Lloyd opened his hand and he was stunned "Is this...a rock?" Lloyd furrowed his brows then he wiped the remnants of a beast off the rock to make sure then he saw then a strange symbol was seen engraved into the rock.

"Do any of you know what this symbol means?" Garrof asked Lory and Zhao Li Xin but even Lory who claimed he had seen everything in the two worlds did not recognize the symbol on the stone let alone Zhao Li Xin.

"We need a full inspection of this object," Garrof felt they were involved with something more dangerous than they thought.

"Maybe then we  would know why this thing does inside Maren's body and the more important question is...who did it?" Lory's eyes crinkled with worry.

Lory wondered if the same thing happened to Zhyger but previous Zhyger's carcass remained dead after being burnt by Zhao Li Xin so what's the difference? Lory looked at Zhao Li Xin with a serious face.

Zhao Li Xin felt the piercing glare on his face and it belonged to his wife, Zhao Li Xin didn't know why she was looking at him like that, but then suddenly something cross his mind, he reached into his pocket, and a moment later his long finger that picks a chocolate candy stopped right in front of Lory's mouth.

Lory was snapped back from her deep thought and then looked at Zhao Li Xin with a questioning look [What are you doing?]

[Oh I thought you were looking at me because you were hungry?] said Zhao Li Xin with a sincere expression.

Lory's mouth twitched [I'm not a child!] now she forgot what she had just thought earlier.

Zhao Li Xin tilted his head [Oh, so you don't want to...] he casually pulled his finger away but Lory immediately swallow the chocolate on his fingers then she chomp the chocolate then stare at Zhao Li Xin defiantly but he only smile affectional at his wife silly attitude.

"Hey, what else is this?" Lloyd a small red light flickered on the remains of the beast.

Lloyd took it and then blew the remaining dust and beast from the strange object still the red light flashing continuously. The object seems covered with special metal that does not melt from Zhao Li Xin flame.

"It looks like a transmitter, but where did it come from? could it be it's from the beast? I used to see hunters using this device to track animals to get information about the beast, maybe it came off after the fight earlier" Garrof rub his chin while examining the transmitter in Lloyd's hand with curious eyes.

"You mean someone tagged this Maren, deliberately?" Lloyd's voice caught in disbelief.

"Well, your guess is as good as mine" Garrof shrugs.

"Wait a minute if this still works, maybe they know that the beast is dead now?" Lloyd and Garrof exchanged glances.

Garrof muttered under his breath "This is not good.."

[Did you hear that?] Zhao Li Xin's brow furrowed he then looked up [There was a buzzing sound coming towards us and it was very - very fast]

Lory's eyes instantly widened she immediately hollers at the top of her lungs "It's coming, RUN-RUN-RUN!"

Lory pulled Zhao Li Xin to run with her and the others reflexively followed Lory and Zhao Li Xin, unfortunately, their legs is not quick enough, and moments later they heard a deafening boom coming from the top of them all of a sudden they were blown away by a strong gust of hot wind

The explosive impact created a shockwave that hit them with sharp hot air that blew them away along with dust and debris like dry leaves swept away by a tornado.

Lory had no other choice, she used her wind power to keep them together and then summon the Trinity staff. Lory used all her might to stab the silver staff into the ground, the next second a purple shield covered with runes covering them safely inside the transparent dome.

However, the impact of the explosion hit her as if she had been hit by a mountain she couldn't breathe, and her legs lost their strength Lory could barely stand if it wasn't for Zhao Li Xin who was somehow already beside him holding her waist so she not fall.

The impact of the explosion was still crashing at her incessantly "Lucients, lend me your power!" Lory gritted her teeth and the shield around them suddenly grew bigger until it completely absorbed the pressure from the explosion around them and everything become dark

After a while, everything seems to become quiet yet the ringing in their ears remains to torture them, blood trickling from Garrof and Lloyd's ears but it was a small injury considering what had hit them, for a long moment, they just lay on the ground without moving or making a sound just like a dead man.

Smoke and dust floated in the air as everything gradually died down after that they were greeted by a horrific sight, they saw a clear blue sky meaning they were out of the cave or the mountain itself had disappeared.