Chapter 48: What a Plot Twist!
Edmund’s grip on Tsundria’s breasts seemed to have sent her into a frenzy. Thus, she flipped her griffin like a possessed conductor, jerking it here and there to get rid of him once again.
Wasn’t it ridiculous? She had seen how the bubble was strong. How he was already going to come back once it would reach its elasticity limit. Did she have another plan?
Well, that would not be so surprising. Tsundria had been alive for a thousand years, faced thousands of enemies and passed through thousands of different tricky situations. Having survived meant how formidable and intelligent she was. There is no way she was not cooking something bitter for Edmund in that head of hers.
That couldn’t stop Edmund from teasing her though.
"Take it easy, Tsundria!" his voice was calm despite her attempts to send him plummeting into the nothingness below.
"Trying to kill me won’t do you any good. Let’s talk about this. Uh... that is if you don’t want something worse than grabbing your breasts to happen, of course."
Edmund was still holding the said breasts, afraid that letting go of them to search for her waist would cost him to fall off her griffin. The bubble would bring him back to her. Why was he afraid of falling?
Well, though it was going to bring him back to her after falling, slamming into her body like a shooting star was not something he would like to experience again.
There also was another reason for him not letting go of them. The feeling of having his hands over those otherworldly melons of hers was nothing like he ever experienced. There was something intoxicating about her body.
Meanwhile, his words reminded Tsundria that his hands were still on her breasts. She didn’t say anything, though. Instead, this made her more hostile which cost Edmund a trip off her griffin.
This time, Edmund’s face didn’t show any hint of panic when he found himself free falling. Satisfaction instead. He knew what exactly was going to happen. The bubble would reach its elasticity limit and shoot him back to her.
’I can even speed up the process!’
True! He could pull the purple string to boost the speed at which it would reach its elasticity limit.
That’s what he did and, a few seconds later, he was shooting toward her. When he slammed into her body, it didn’t seem to bother Tsundria. She was busy summoning something.
A mist of white sparks enveloped her right hand, then an ivory sparkling dagger appeared there when the mist dispersed.
Edmund watched in horror as Tsundria brought the dagger toward his bubble. It was obvious that she wanted to destroy it.
Afraid that he might loose the Legacy forever if the dagger pierced through it, Edmund hurried to dismiss it. The bubble was his only hope, after all. He couldn’t allow any damage to happen to it.
Tsundria noticed that he had dismissed the bubble. That there was nothing connecting him to her anymore. This might have brought a smile on her face, but Edmund had more important matters to care about.
His life.
The griffin was on a flip.
Before even a second could pass, it went upside down.
Edmund struggled to keep his grasp on her but to no avail. Thus, he found himself plummeting once again. Fortunately, the bubble was there for him. When he summoned it, his free fall came to an end. Thus, he remained floating in the air, wandering his eyes here and there to find Tsundria. He was sure that she was somewhere near, staring at him.
The reason?
Well, with his bubble, he would not die. She knew it. So, if she really wanted to kill him, she would have to stay and finish him before proceeding with whichever other wicked plans she had.
As expected, Tsundria was only twenty meters away, slightly above Edmund. Again, as expected, she was about to finish him.
"Are you really going to shoot me before you talk to me?"
She harrumphed, exerting more energy into drawing her bow.
"You should have used those words to explain yourself."
Then, she loosened her grip on the arrow.
’This bitch!’
Edmund shifted all his attention on the oncoming blue fletched arrow. He didn’t even dare to bat his eyes. He wanted to survive.
Out of instinct, Edmund tried to sail the bubble further away from the direction of her arrow. Unfortunately, the bubble limited his speed. His mind went into another spin for a trick out of this situation.
’I found it!’
Tsundria had aimed for the bubble, not him. Though Edmund saw no difference at all because any damage to the bubble meant death to him. Whatever got shot first, he was dead either way. However, better in the bubble than in his skull.
’What do I do?’
Once again, his mind went into a spin for a jackpot out of his misery. He was lucky.
’Let me dismiss the bubble!’
Just as the tip of the arrow was about to touch the purple texture of his bubble, Edmund dismissed the Legacy and summoned it again once the arrow had fully passed past him.
’Jackpot!’
He knew this was not a full victory but he was grateful. Better die later than now... someone had said these words for a reason. Like he expected, his victory was short-lived. Another arrow was on the string of Tsundria’s bow, ready to lunch at him.
Surprisingly, this time, she didn’t shoot. Instead,
"Tell me," she demanded, her expression unwavering. "Is it Skylark or that bitch back there?"
Her green eyes were as cold, her oval face as austere as ever. Only her bob black hair with blue balayage was acting different from when Edmund met her. It was dancing in the air.
"She’s not a bitch. She’s Peony."
"I don’t care about who she is!"
"You should care!"
"OK! Is it her?"
"Her who did what?" Edmund roared at Tsundria. "I’m just an 18-years-old young man. I don’t know who the hell is Skylark or why Peony would want to kill you. Why are you insisting I should admit that I’m their ally?"
Tsundria chuckled, so louder for him to hear. Then, she loosened her grip on the arrow. Another arrow appeared on the string of her bow after that one was released to lunch at Edmund.
’Dammit!’
Like he did before, Edmund dismissed the bubble to allow the arrow to pass. He then summoned it back. This was a bad idea. Because, as soon as the bubble finished weaving itself from a whirlwind of sparks, another arrow pierced through it, bursting it afterwards.
*Pa!*
A thunderous sound assaulted his ears. It was followed by a hurricane of hot air. Coupled, the combo forced him to lose concentration... not that concentrating would prevent him from plummeting... then he found himself free falling.
’No! This can’t be happening!’
He wasn’t as weak as he used to be. It didn’t mean he was afraid, though. He knew how lethal the Infected Monsters below could be. They were many, big and dangerous. He could not fight them all alone. That is if he survived the fall of course.
"..."
He tried to shout at Tsundria, but the wind whipping past him could not allow his words to traverse through it.
’I don’t feel like dying. I don’t!’ he kept telling this to himself.
’I don’t feel like dying! There has to be a way!’
That’s when he felt someone’s hand grabbing his wrist. The jerking of his arm sent tons of excruciating pain spreading through his entire body, but he didn’t care.
The important thing was that he was no longer free falling.
The Powerful hand jerked him upward... once again... then, the next second, he was sitting on something both soft and hard.
’I’m back on the griffin!’
He smiled at the realization, but had many questions in his mind. Why did Tsundria save him? Just a couple seconds ago, she was adamant on eliminating him, right?
"I wanted to know if you’re not lying to me," explained Tsundria as if to answer Edmund’s questions. "Since you are not, let’s go somewhere safe. You have a lot to explain. A lot to do."
’What a plot twist!’
The battle was over. Edmund was overjoyed.
