Since we had already cleaned up all the demons around, we decided to set up camp there and then. The new batch of demons will only spawn after midnight, so we have plenty of time to spare.
Ember took four clones and made them disguise themselves as a family of four. Although their faces weren't perfect, they could only be recognized as fakes if one stared at them for a long time. Such cases shouldn't happen unless the faces are extremely beautiful or handsome, so there's no worry about that.
The four clones went out, heading for the town, while the three of us set up camp. Although I said "setting camp," it was basically just fixing up the tents, and that's it.
We let the dragon girl sleep in one of the tents as we sat around the lantern campfire.
"Fang, what do you think?"
As it was the topic of our conversation, I asked Fang for her opinion regarding the dragon girl.
"Well, she seemed to be around the 5th or 6th stage, so whatever it was that injured her to that extent should be a lot more powerful than her. We should worry more about such a powerful being nearby than the Luo family for now."
"Ember, what about you?"
I looked toward Ember, who was busy drinking soup from a mug.
"Well... She seemed to be afraid of something..."
Ember muttered as she tried to recall the dragon girl's state before. Given her bruises and her wounds, it's without a doubt that something attacked her, and she could do nothing but run for her life.
"If I could only master the Void element, then I could try and take a glimpse of her memories..."
She added before taking another sip from her mug.
"Right... For now, we can only wait for her to wake up."
I said as I too took a sip of my mug full of soup.
The sun couldn't be seen in the Dark Forest, but it should be reaching nighttime. It was easily noticed by the number of presences that were wandering all over the place. The energy from the barrier slowly faded away, as if the darkness were melting it.
As soon as the barrier faded, we could feel waves of intimidating air emanating from all over the place. It was sending warning signals to my mind. However, since we are inside the Dark Forest, we should be safe from other monsters. No monster would like to visit the Dark Forest of its own volition.
*shuffle*
As we were keeping watch over our surroundings, we simultaneously heard movements from within the tent. It seems that as soon as the barrier faded, the dragon girl had enough energy to wake up from her slumber.
"Fang, please."
I asked Fang to check. I could go and check on her myself, but I'm afraid for my own safety. Fang had pretty fast reflexes and acute kinetic vision. Even if she was attacked at point-blank range, she should be able to at least avoid a fatal hit.
Fang carefully parted the curtains and looked inside. A figure darted from inside the tent and aimed to wrestle Fang down. She quickly took a sidestep, making the figure tumble on the dirt.
"Stop, we're not your enemy!"
I quickly shouted from the side. However, the dragon girl seemed agitated. She was baring her fangs towards us, carefully alternating her gaze between Fang, Ember, and me.
"Look, we don't have any weapons, right?"
I tried to appeal to her as I raised my hands in the air. The dragon girl flinched at my action and pounced in my direction. Fang, who was on the other side, moved to intercept her a bit too late.
In my eyes, the dragon girl was moving slowly in the air as she pounced. I felt like the scenery was in slow motion as I gently tilted my body to avoid her looming claws. Her eyes widened in surprise as she noticed how I dodged her attack.
However, before she could land, I placed a hand on her back and pressed her down hard. She smashed straight into the ground; the air was knocked out of her lungs.
"Guh!"
She groaned as she tried to stand up again, but Fang reached my side and pinned her down. Her wings were wildly fluttering about, so Ember used a clone of hers to pin them down like a straitjacket.
"Let go of me, you demons! Let go!"
She tried to flail around, but despite having a higher stage than both Fang and Ember, she still hasn't completely recovered. The two had an easy time holding her down.
"I told you, we're not here to hurt you."
I tried talking to her in a gentle tone; however, she glared at me before spitting in my face. I watched as her spit flew, and I used the mug of soup I had in my hand to catch it.
"..."
I stared at her, who was still glaring in our direction. Although she stopped flailing, she was still trying to get out of her restraints. As we kept quiet for a while, the dragon girl slowly got tired and panted. As if giving up, she sent another glare as she spoke with an angry tone.
"Who are you guys? Why are you doing this to me?! Don't you know who I am?!"
"Why do we need to know about who you are?"
I asked her in return. She seemed surprised after hearing my words, though.
"Wait... You really don't know who I am...?"
She asked again. This time, her tone was much calmer than before, albeit with an undertone of doubt. I shrugged my shoulders as I replied.
"If we knew, then, would we even be talking to you like this?"
Based on her tone, she should be pretty famous around here. However, the three of us do not know, nor do we realize, who she is. We stared into each other's eyes for a good minute before she finally released the tension in her body. It seems that she's finally willing to listen.
"So, who are you, and why were you injured?"
I quickly went straight to the point. Ember and Fang were gently supporting her as she sat down, the two still maintaining vigilance.
But the moment she heard my question, her eyes opened wide before tears started falling from them.
"T-They! I-I was...!"
She kept stuttering, not even able to make a single coherent sentence. I was about to sip the soup from the mug while waiting for her to regain her calm, only to remember that I used it to catch her spit earlier. I gently placed the mug down...
The dragon girl suddenly stood up, took a few steps in my direction, and knelt. Fang and Ember were still maintaining vigilance, but I waved for them not to worry.
"P-Please! Please save my family!"
The dragon girl pleaded.
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