Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 235

Chapter 235

Right at that moment.

Another tremor shook the ground, more violent than the one before.

Flowerpots perched on windowsills tumbled down, and shop signs swayed precariously. People who had been forced to remain indoors let out cries of terror and weeping. The dull, heavy rumbling became more distinct. It felt as though an abyssal beast buried deep underground was about to burst through the earth at any second.

The Knights’ horses were spooked once again. Countless steeds neighed as they tore free from their reins and bolted, seemingly desperate to escape this place.

“Beast Transformation.”

Seizing the opportunity, Beili dropped those words.

She then transformed into a swarm of butterflies and flew toward the heights. The cluster of butterflies crowded around her, shielding her from the falling rain.

Crossing the wide Cradle River, Beili didn’t stop until she reached a balcony with tightly shut doors and windows on the opposite bank.

A figure flew over.

Rainwater slid off its wings as the creature folded its broad pinions and landed beside her on the railing beneath the eaves. Its elongated neck lowered, and its sharp eyes fixed on her.

Beili looked up, meeting the gaze of the dark-brown vulture. Its head and neck had only a few white feathers, and the skin not covered by plumage was a deep, dark red.

The vulture’s hooked beak opened slightly, emitting a familiar voice.

“Miss Bartholomew, why am I here?”

He asked curiously, his voice sounding dazed and a bit confused.

Beili couldn’t spare the mental energy to answer him just yet. She landed gently and reverted to her human form. Then, she fixed her gaze on her right wrist while silently issuing a command in her heart.

Among the butterflies circling her, several Morpho Butterflies flew closer. They began to nibble away, bit by bit, at the black line on her wrist-a slightly curved arc that looked as if it had been drawn on temporarily-until it was consumed entirely.

Watching her wrist become clean again, Beili breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering something, she raised her hand to touch the cold, interlocking fine black chain around her neck and issued another command to the Black Bone Scythe in her mind.

The latter expressed confusion at her command, but after being scolded a couple of times, it obediently unlinked the chain. Beili had the Black Bone Scythe remain pressed against her collarbone to continue feeding her back Mana.

Then, she took out the map she had purchased from her Spatial Bracelet and unfolded it.

Because her method of escape had changed, the convoluted route she had previously planned had now become a straight line between two points.

“It’s time for us to leave, Mr. Vulture.”

Beili didn’t have time to let him remain in a daze and spoke directly.

“Where are we going, Miss Bartholomew?”

The vulture had seen the large contingent of the Knights and the people in the carriage as soon as he regained consciousness. His mind was a complete blank. Fortunately, a somewhat familiar person was standing before him-Miss Bartholomew of the Santos Kingdom.

“Leaving Nauze.”

The girl offered no explanation. She instantly underwent Beast Transformation into butterflies, leaving behind a single sentence: “If you want to live, follow me first.” Then, she flew back into the sky where the torrential rain was pouring down.

The vulture spread his wings and followed behind her.

“Miss Bartholomew, it feels like we’re on the run,” the vulture said with a laugh, his voice reaching her ears through the pea-sized raindrops.

“You’re right, Mr. Vulture.”

With the intersecting swarm of butterflies shielding her from the wind and rain, Beili replied in a serious tone, “We are indeed on the run.”

There were three items in total. Now that he had two of them, Ashera’s next step would be to come and carve out her heart. She had to keep moving and then find a place to hide.

“So-fly faster!”

The girl’s shout echoed from within the swarm of butterflies.

In the next second, as if swept away by a powerful gust of wind, the butterflies accelerated, nearly leaving the vulture behind. The vulture stared at the shimmering blue-green cluster of light in the storm and hurriedly flapped his wings to keep up.

***

The torrential downpour only occurred in the Imperial City. Once the two of them left via a Teleportation Array and arrived at another town, the weather turned into a cool, overcast day.

The vulture had assumed that once they left the Imperial City, the girl would slow down her escape. At the very least, they could fly side-by-side so she could explain why he had appeared in the Nauze Imperial City.
But the girl did not slow down, flying far ahead without a single pause.

They flew over one town after another, passing through Teleportation Array after Teleportation Array.

Just as Vulture felt like he was about to die of exhaustion, the girl finally came to a halt.

She shifted back into her human form and stood waiting for him in an open meadow, surrounded by a large swarm of shimmering blue-green Morpho Butterflies.

Vulture sighed inwardly, thinking, ‘Finally-‘ before immediately diving down to join her and returning to his human form.

The bearded man collapsed directly onto the ground, lying flat on his back.

“Miss Bartholomew, you don’t have to tell me anything else in a hurry, but could you at least give me a hint-exactly how many days has it been since I last bathed?” Oh… that foul stench.

The rough, bearded man was merely his disguise, but Vulture had no desire to actually become a filthy slob.

“…”

The girl remained quiet for a moment, seemingly calculating the time in her head.

Then she said, “I think it’s been… ten days?”

Vulture fell silent.

However, the girl had no intention of making small talk.

“We are already within the borders of Sainthos. You are safe for now, Mr. Vulture.”

Her red eyes lowered, and her voice was devoid of emotion as she spoke.

“Let us part ways here. I hope that the next time I see you, you haven’t had your soul stripped and your body stolen by your own father.”

…

“You…”

An expression of clear shock appeared on his bearded face.

“How do you know?” Vulture asked in disbelief.

“I guessed.”

Beili withdrew her gaze and answered truthfully, “Besides, although it isn’t obvious, your eyes are actually very similar.”

Even if the King of Nauze ate an apple every day to strengthen his body, given that lumbering physique… Beili had reason to believe he couldn’t possibly have fathered so many children.

Combined with Ashera’s cryptic words, Beili could almost guess that within the massive Royal Family of the Nauze Kingdom, the vast majority were not the King’s blood relatives.

Otherwise, the King wouldn’t have gathered all the princes and princesses and arranged for doctors to perform a Kinship Verification.

The King of Nauze knew the truth in his heart.

Now, he was trying to find his own child among the Forbidden Fruit Lord’s brood.

“And your reaction has confirmed my suspicion,” Beili said.

His soft-contoured eyes blinked, and the beard covering half his face trembled slightly as he spoke.

“Your guess is correct. I am indeed a blood relative of the King of Nauze, Miss Bartholomew. Because from the moment I was born, I took after my mother’s vulture lineage.”

Vulture continued, “He felt that since I didn’t inherit the wild boar lineage, I wasn’t fit to stay in the palace or be part of the Royal Family. So, he sent me and my mother to the town furthest from the capital.”

“You’ve seen that town, Miss Bartholomew. It’s the place where it rains constantly and the mist is thick.”

As if talking about the weather, Vulture said in a casual tone, “Back then, my mother had just given birth. She relied on the charity of those around her to take care of me alone for a month. After that, she passed away.”

…

Beili remained quiet for a few seconds.

Her curled lashes lowered along with her deep red eyes.

“I did not intend to bring up your painful past, Mr. Vulture.”

She raised her hand, and a single Morpho Butterfly flapped its blue-green wings to land on her fingertip.

Her voice softened as she said, “I only wanted to remind you that the King of Nauze will likely send out a large number of men to search for your whereabouts now-if none of those other children are his blood relatives. It would be best if you didn’t stay in the Nauze Kingdom anymore.”

“Why is he looking for me?” Vulture asked.

“Because he wants to possess a young body. It’s the only way he can escape the death that comes with old age,” Beili answered him.

“So that’s how it is…”

Vulture let out a long sigh, then patted the dust off his trousers and stood up. He nodded to the girl.

“Thank you for the warning, Miss Bartholomew. Although I still haven’t figured out how I ended up in the capital, that doesn’t matter anymore.”

The two looked at each other, and without any further words of farewell, they each underwent Beast Transformation and flew off in different directions.