Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Paji was dead?

Receiving this information, Susanna’s mouth hung slightly open, her eyelashes trembling violently like feathers caught in a gale.

Then.

“Impossible!”

She suddenly stood up, her volume spiking from a mix of disbelief and fear.

Her voice, squeezed thin and sharp, drifted across the empty grass, its tail end shaking slightly.

“You are perfectly entitled to remain skeptical, Susanna.”

Looking down at the stiff ladybug in her hand, the grey-haired, red-eyed girl spoke in a calm tone. “Because I am also not certain if this tool is accurate. I am merely sharing the information I have deduced with you.”

“I’m sorry… Sister Bartholomew.”

Realizing she had lost her composure, Susanna twisted her fingers and whispered, “I just feel that Holy Island Academy wouldn’t let something like this happen…”

Rather than believing Paji had died during the closing Hunt Banquet, Susanna preferred to believe this was a lie made up by Sister Bartholomew to scare her.

As the sixth-ranked Hunter Student, Paji wore a Defensive Magic Pendant, a magical item provided by Holy Island Academy that had to be worn before entry.

Once put on, these pendants could not be removed unless a highly skilled mage took it off intact before killing the wearer.

Otherwise, once the defensive layer formed by the Magic Pendant shattered, Paji would have been automatically teleported back to Holy Island Academy.

The closing Hunt Banquet was an event held under the guarantee of absolute safety for the students; the Academy would never allow a student to die here.

Susanna believed this implicitly.

“I hope it is just my magic tool being inaccurate,”

Beili said, her tone carrying a hint of hope. “After all, we all just want to achieve our respective goals through the rewards of winning the event. No one wants anything unusual to happen.”

Susanna nodded gently and crouched back down, sitting once more on the soft grass.

Looking at the several people who were still asleep, Beili guessed that they weren’t simply sleeping.

After all, Susanna had just screamed in shock at the news she shared, a volume loud enough to wake anyone from a dream. Yet, the three of them still showed no reaction.

“Is it time to wake them up now?”

Beili asked tentatively.

Susanna hesitated for a moment, then walked over to them, preparing to chant the dispelling spell.

Just then, a cold voice interrupted Susanna’s movements.

“Wait a moment.”

Beili and Susanna turned to look, seeing a Black Panther and a fox running toward them in a hurry.

After the Black Panther and the fox approached quickly, they transformed into two young men in the blink of an eye.

Neither of their expressions looked good.

“It’s better if we digest the information we’ve found before waking them up,”

Lance said. He still had a smile on his face, but the curve of his lips was somewhat forced.

Susanna noticed their strange expressions and couldn’t help but ask, “Prince Cyril, Prince Lance, what happened?”

Lance shrugged and spoke to the two girls in a casual tone. “We just had a fight with Quinna and broke her defensive magic layer. The pendant around her neck has completely shattered.”

“And then?”

Susanna pressed further.

Standing to the side, Cyril’s voice held no warmth as he said coldly:

“And then Quinna remained in the Maze. She was not teleported back to Holy Island Academy.”

Withdrawing the smile from his lips, Lance narrowed his long, upturned fox eyes.

“I really don’t know who was in charge of this batch of pendants for the closing Hunt Banquet, or where they were bought. To think there would actually be defective products!”
He spoke in a dissatisfied tone, “It’s a good thing we stopped in time. If we had accidentally let things go too far, the consequences would have been unthinkable!”

Lance shook his head and sighed.

“After realizing she hadn’t been teleported back to Holy Island Academy, Quinna was terrified. She immediately underwent Beast Transformation and flew away, completely ignoring Cyril’s and my attempts to get her to stay.”

Hearing their description and thinking back to what Sister Bartholomew had just said, Susanna turned and gave Sister Bartholomew a hesitant look.

“That explains it, then.”

Beili suddenly spoke up.

“What?” Lance asked, confused.

“I’m afraid Quinna isn’t the only student wearing a defective Defensive Magic Pendant.”

As she spoke, Beili slowly opened her palm, revealing the red and black ladybug that had shrunk into a tiny semi-circle to the two young men.

“After Paji’s Defensive Magic Pendant was damaged, it also failed to automatically teleport her back to Holy Island Academy.”

Pressing her lips together, she continued in a calm voice, “If the information provided by this magic item is accurate, then Paji is already dead.”

As the girl’s words fell, Cyril and Lance’s expressions stiffened slightly.

No one knew what thoughts crossed their minds, but their purple and black eyes constricted simultaneously, a strange light flickering within them.

Just then.

The sky over the entire Gloomy Maze suddenly darkened, turning from day to night in the blink of an eye.

Unlike the normal progression where light gradually fades as the sun sets, this maze shrouded in grayish-white mist felt more like a sealed room.

It was as if an invisible hand had suddenly flipped a switch, extinguishing the light source and plunging the entire space into pitch-black darkness.

“Ah…!”

As her vision went black, a surge of intense fear and unease rose in Susanna’s heart.

She couldn’t help but scream, stumbling through the darkness in an attempt to get close to someone reliable.

Then, her forehead collided with someone’s firm, broad chest.

A familiar, faint scent of cold air swirled around her nose.

It was like the crisp scent of burning fir wood on a sunny winter day.

His presence was like a solid fortress, instantly filling Susanna with a sense of security.

A series of fluent, rapid incantations sounded above her head.

Then, a ball of brilliant white light ignited in the darkness, illuminating their position.

Susanna pulled her shoulders in and looked up, still shaken, only to realize with surprise that she was leaning tightly against Prince Cyril’s chest.

Her heart skipped a beat, and a flush of crimson involuntarily crept onto her cheeks.

Cyril’s hand rested on the girl’s slightly trembling shoulder, while his other hand held a cluster of magical light at his fingertips.

His back was somewhat stiff, and he subconsciously turned his head to look toward a certain someone.

On the other side.

The moment they were plunged into darkness, Beili was momentarily stunned, but her internal alarm bells rang loudly as soon as she recovered.

With a face full of vigilance, she turned all her attention toward the direction behind her.

Consequently, when the magical light flared up, she didn’t notice the situation between Cyril and Susanna at all.

She only saw-

Under the glow of the light, the sleeping youth remained in the same position, hugging his knees.

But the corners of his mouth were curled into a slight arc.

He was smiling.

…

“Hmph… Luoluo-!”

Someone spoke in a dissatisfied tone.

A somewhat roguish smile reappeared on his lips as Lance glanced at Cyril and Susanna, then sheepishly withdrew his open arms.

Shaking his head and sighing, his face was full of regret as he said, “Your composure commands my admiration, but it also leaves me feeling quite helpless…”