Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 59

Beili watched that slender figure from afar.

Although she couldn’t make out the face, there was a faint sense of familiarity.

……

Suddenly.

A series of subtle and hurried footsteps echoed from the passage behind them.

They drew closer and closer to Beili and Cyril.

Cyril was the first to become alert. In the blink of an eye, he beastified into a black panther, leaping swiftly to the mouth of the passage and shielding the Young Woman behind him.

A cool, youthful voice came from between the black panther’s sharp canine teeth.

Cyril ordered Bartholomew:

“Don’t get in the way. Go stay with Susanna.”

As his words fell, the gray-haired, red-eyed Young Woman didn’t move.

She looked down at the ladybug that had already spread its wings and flown from her right pinky, her expression calm as she said, “It’s Lance.”

No sooner had she spoken than a red-furred fox came running swiftly along the path enclosed by ‘green hedge’ walls.

Even after seeing the red-furred fox and confirming it was Lance in beast form, Cyril dared not lower his guard.

Because the fox was running so fast, it was hard not to imagine there might be hunters chasing behind him.

His figure was as light as the wind, like notes leaping across a musical staff, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of them.

The fox nimbly leapt onto the black panther’s back, his retractable claws gripping the short, glossy black fur to steady himself.

The fox’s narrow, pointed mouth opened, revealing sharp teeth, and a few long whiskers on either side quivered.

A somewhat excited and agitated youthful voice came from within-

“Cyril! Cyril!”

“There’s something I have to tell you right away, and that is-the hunters are fighting each other!”

The fox bit off each word of the last sentence.

The black panther hadn’t cared about the fox climbing onto his back, his face still wary as he stared at the passage.

But after hearing those words, the black panther immediately rolled his eyes, then twisted his body and swiped a paw quickly behind him, saying at the same time:

“Boring. Get down.”

“Don’t be so quick to call it ‘boring,’ my friend!”

The fox leapt lightly, dodging the attack and landing on the grass.

The slightly curved lines of his narrow, pointed mouth outlined a natural cunning.

His obsidian-like eyes sparkled with starlight, and he couldn’t wait to say:

“One side is Nauze’s two little wild boars, Taryn and Bruno. As for the other side, guess who it is! No prize for guessing!”

“Paji.”

Recalling the ladybug she’d seen earlier, Beili spoke in unison with Cyril.

“The sixth-ranked Sainthos hunter… uh.”

The fox’s excited gaze instantly turned helpless.

It was as if he’d been doused with cold water; his upright ears drooped into airplane ears.

“So there’s no suspense at all, huh?” he muttered with a slightly bitter tone.

Then, his gaze finally drifted to the gray-haired, red-eyed Young Woman behind them.

“Oh, so Luoluo is here…”

The fox suddenly let out a rather mischievous chuckle.

His fluffy tail swayed left and right with slow elegance as he circled around the black panther, and the moment he reached the Young Woman, he reverted to human form.

His short, maple-red hair was tousled by the wind, a stray lock gently lifted.

His long, upturned fox eyes held a hint of a smile.

He looked refined and calm, and gentlemanly took the Young Woman’s left hand, about to leave a kiss on her delicate, fair hand.

But in the next second, he saw the red-and-black ladybug on her fingernail, its antennae trembling and restless.

Oh, Luoluo’s taste… truly unique. Lance sighed inwardly.

During the boy’s brief pause, the ladybug on Beili’s left index finger spun in place a few times, then suddenly vibrated its red-and-black wings and flew up.

“There’s a hunter nearby. It’s the fourth-ranked female student, Quinna of Sainthos.”

This was the hunter Beili had nearly run into when she first entered the Gloomy Maze, and after beastification, this hunter took the form of a moth.
In this way, her advantage of leading people around in the air with her wings was gone.

Thinking, Beili quickly withdrew her hand from between the boy’s fingers, then gently reached forward and grasped, catching the hovering ladybug in her palm.

“If we fight with more people, our chances of winning are very high. But I’m not very familiar with her, so I’ll leave it to you. Prince Cyril, Prince Lance.”

After offering her words of encouragement, the gray-haired, red-eyed Young Woman calmly and politely lifted her skirt, bowed to the two, then turned and walked away toward Susanna without looking back.

……

The center of the maze.

Aside from the lush, soft green turf, there was a pool at the very center.

The water was very shallow-even if you stepped in, it wouldn’t reach your knees.

At the center of the pool stood a tree, but it had already dried up and lost all vitality, leaving only half of a shriveled, wrinkled trunk.

It looked especially out of place amid the vibrant green grass.

Susanna and the others were sitting on the grass some distance from the withered tree in the pool.

When Beili approached them, Susanna stood up in advance, looking at her with a somewhat panicked expression.

Her words betrayed her fear as she said, “Miss Bartholomew… I heard you were chased by Paji… Are you alright?”

Susanna’s gaze fell on the Young Woman’s elegant collarbone, where a teardrop-shaped white crystal pendant hung.

Then-

Susanna’s round, pale eyes widened in disbelief, and the smile at the corner of her lips grew stiff.

At the Hunt Banquet, watched by Nobles and royals alike-

If Susanna could display her excellent abilities, especially her specialty in Healing Magic,

Then, even though she had no blood relation to the Constance Family, the controversy surrounding her would gradually fade with time.

The Duke trusted her enough.

Duke Constance had persuaded the Duchess to let Susanna take advantage of the closing Hunt Banquet, so that if she won as prey, she could use the banquet’s reward to rightfully secure a second admission spot for the Constance Family.

The Duchess agreed to temporarily pause changes to the admission list until Susanna completed the closing banquet, meaning neither Susanna nor Bartholomew had the right to attend magic classes.

During this period, they could only improve themselves by other means.

Susanna had encountered Bartholomew several times at Holy Island Academy.

Each time, Miss Bartholomew was always wandering aimlessly.

Susanna understood this situation very well.

After all, her sister had been lost for so long, and locked up in Thorn Prison for so long, she had no foundation in magic at all.

Starting to learn magic at this point was truly difficult.

Moreover, her sister was cold and indifferent, treating the other students with aloofness and never taking the initiative to make friends, so of course no one was willing to offer her any good advice.

But-

Miss Bartholomew’s Defensive Magic Pendant was actually intact, without even a single crack.

Susanna couldn’t believe it-how was that possible…

……

“I’m fine.”

Beili replied simply, without further explanation.

Then her red eyes shifted to the grass nearby.

There, a boy in white prey attire sat crouched, his figure extremely thin.

He hugged his knees, resting his chin lightly on his arms.

The skin exposed at his neck was so pale it seemed never to have seen sunlight, tinged with a bloodless gray.

She almost immediately sensed that this person was Ashera.

Because he looked so weak-a gust of wind seemed enough to knock him over.

At a glance, he was the most fragile among them, even Aili was stronger than him.

If a hunter suddenly burst onto this open grassland and saw the group of white-clad prey gathered here,

Beili had every reason to believe that the hunter would unhesitatingly choose the boy as the first target for the hunt.