Kailith opened her dragon wings from her back, flapping them in the air. The rest of her body was still in human form as she descended, landing gracefully inside Esdeath's house. She immediately spotted Maruti standing in the living room, quiet and still.
But she couldn't help but look around in surprise. "What happened here? Where is Alice?" she asked, her eyes wide as she looked up.
Almost the whole ceiling was torn apart, and the walls were broken too. It looked like a giant monster had rampaged through the room.
"Well, you wouldn't believe it even if I told you, so let's do our main work instead!" Maruti answered, thinking about how Alice had just transformed into a giant nine-tailed fox and ran out somewhere without stopping. There was no time to explain the chaos to Kailith right now.
"Then why are you just standing there? Let's go!" Kailith said, extending her leg to take a step.
"Wait... wait... wait!" Maruti was about to stop her, worried she might trigger a trap.
But then Kailith casually took a step, and then another, without stopping. "What?" she asked, slightly irritated.
"Huh? The traps are gone?" Maruti muttered to herself, taking a step up and back to check. Just as she thought, all the traps had been disabled because of all the chaos that had happened.
"Let's go!" Maruti immediately rushed towards Esdeath's bedroom and threw the door open to enter.
Inside, Esdeath was still handcuffed and chained to the bed, wearing only a swimsuit. She saw Maruti entering and immediately sighed in relief.
"With all those loud noises coming from outside, I thought you failed!" she said, her voice full of relief.
"Why are you wearing a swimsuit?" Maruti was immediately freaked out by seeing Esdeath in that state.
"It's a long story. Free me first!" Esdeath said, her voice urgent.
"Yes!" Maruti nodded firmly and rushed towards Esdeath. She immediately grabbed the chains made of Yggdrasil metal.
She pulled back with all of her strength, but the metal was very powerful and tough. It refused to break.
"Just break already!" Maruti gritted her teeth, her muscles straining as she pulled it back.
At that moment, a single crack appeared on the chain. Maruti immediately started panting, her energy draining fast.
"Damn, it'll take half an hour at this point!" Maruti sighed in frustration.
"Let me do it!" Kailith walked inside the room.
She casually walked towards Esdeath and grabbed those chains. Her hands slightly trembled as she put her power into them.
CRACK!
One of the chains broke apart.
Their expressions immediately became happy.
One by one, Kailith broke those chains and then the handcuffs, freeing Esdeath completely.
Esdeath immediately stood up and stretched her limbs tightly, a sense of freedom washing over her.
"Where's Selene?" she asked.
"At my home. It was better to not get her involved!" Maruti answered.
"Good. Let's go!" Esdeath said, rushing out of the home.
"Just fleeing from here won't do anything. We have to at least get out of this area and go to some other city!" Kailith said while following Esdeath, her voice serious.
"We should focus on escaping from here for now!" Esdeath said as she ran on the road.
There were crowds everywhere because of all the chaos that had happened a few minutes ago. People were pointing and shouting, adding to the confusion.
Just as everything seemed under control, their worst nightmare came back.
"Esdeath, stop right there," Lortell's voice came from behind, cold and sharp as a blade.
All three of them stopped out of instinct. Especially Esdeath. She looked back at Lortell with a hesitant expression, her heart caught in her throat.
Lortell's voice was cold, but right now, she felt kind of hollow herself, having some doubts about her own judgment.
"Esdeath, run!" Maruti shouted, her body tense and ready to sprint away at any moment.
But Esdeath just wouldn't move. Her feet were glued to the ground.
"Esdeath? Hello? Run, you idiot!" Maruti shouted once again, her voice filled with panic, but Esdeath was standing still like a statue.
Esdeath then and took a step to run, but then she stopped. Her leg trembled as she looked back and forth between Maruti and Lortell, hesitating, torn between two choices.
"Esdeath..." Lortell took a step forward, but for some reason, the pained, hesitant expression on Esdeath's face hurt her like a stab in the heart.
"Did I go that far that she's even hesitating to come back to me?" Lortell thought to herself, a bitter taste in her mouth.
Guilt started building inside her. Flashbacks from ten years ago surfaced in her mind, combining with everything she had done and said to Esdeath recently.
"Am I making the same mistake as ten years ago?" she thought to herself, hesitating even further.
Meanwhile, Maruti and Kailith wouldn't stop calling Esdeath to run.
"Fable, you mother fucker, what the fuck are you thinking? RUN!" Maruti shouted once again, her voice cracking with desperation.
She even grabbed Esdeath's armpit to forcefully drag her away, but Esdeath wouldn't budge, as if her feet were rooted to the earth.
At that moment, Lortell smiled dryly, a small bead of tear forming in the corner of her eye.
"You know what, Esdeath? I was wrong. Feel free to come back whenever you feel like it!" she said, her voice soft and broken as she gave up on chasing after her.
The words directly stabbed deep into Esdeath's heart. Her jaw trembled as if she was about to cry out loud.
She immediately shoved Maruti away and directly ran towards Lortell, hugging her tightly.
Even Lortell was surprised that Esdeath actually came back running.
"No! You are not wrong. You are perfect, too perfect for someone like me!" Esdeath said, hugging her even tighter, her voice muffled against Lortell's chest.
She looked up at Lortell, her eyes pleading. "I promise I'll never leave you again. It's all my fault. You wanted to know the truth, right? I'll tell you the truth."
"Really?" Lortell's mood lifted immediately, a wave of relief washing over her. She hugged Esdeath back, a lovely reunion after a painful misunderstanding.
But that was only for those two. Maruti's eyes were as wide as they could be.
For her it was like "What the fuck just happened?",
Lortell gave up for some reason yet instead of using this opportunity, Esdeath ran back instead? Fucking why?
She felt like smashing her own head into the ground.
"This idiot! Why did I even bother to save her?... Sob... sob..." Maruti banged her fist on the ground in despair.
All that effort was for nothing. Esdeath had wasted it all in one go.
"Hmph, that's why I did not want to help!" Kailith crossed her arms, a smug 'I told you so' look on her face.
It wasn't just about wasted effort. Because now, by going back to Lortell, even though Esdeath had made a positive impression, Lortell would definitely see them as enemies from now on.
Esdeath finally withdrew herself from the hug. "I'll tell you everything later. We should calm the situation for now!" she said, pointing towards Alice in her nine-tailed fox form.
Her giant body was clearly visible even from a distance, her massive tails swinging around and causing a ruckus, destroying anything that got too close.
"Defeat Alice and make her turn back to normal. We'll talk later!" Esdeath said, her voice calm and steady.
"Wait a minute...that thing is alice?, How did it happened? And when?", Kailith was clearly freak out but no one bothered to answer her questions.
"If you had just done it earlier, I wouldn't have to imprison you at all!" Lortell said, her tone full of happiness now that they were reunited.
She bent down and kissed Esdeath on the cheek. "Just wait here, I'll be back in a minute!"
Lortell took out her bat-like wings and flew into the air, directly rushing towards the rampaging Alice.
Seeing Lortell go, Esdeath finally turned towards Maruti and Kailith.
"Yay! Everything has been resolved!" Esdeath said happily, a bright smile on her face. She extended one hand. "Give me a high five!"
"Tch! Fuck you, Fable. You used us as scapegoats. I really feel like slapping you in the face!" Maruti spat in anger, crossing her arms and looking away, her face a storm of frustration.
"Ohh... c'mon, it was necessary. Everything was part of my plan!" Esdeath said, trying to sound convincing.
"I panicked and did two wrong moves and had myself imprisoned. But I thought about what I was going to say to her. But who knows? What if she ended up believing the truth as a lie, too? That's why I had to escape first and then come back myself to show my sincerity. Of course, I did it a bit early, but everything went well though!" she explained, her words rushing out.
Esdeath's worry was real. It's not like Lortell had a divine rank Essence Stone—Perception, which could detect between a lie and the truth. Nor did Esdeath have a divine rank Essence Stone—Attitude, which could make people believe any lie she told.
"Hmph, I'm not believing you. There's no way you planned all this!" Maruti said, her voice full of suspicion.
"Then don't believe me. It's not like I want you to forgive me. I just stated my words, that's all!" Esdeath said calmly, looking up towards where Lortell had flown off to.
"Fuck you, Fable!" Maruti said calmly with a long, tired sigh.
"No, only Lortell can do that!" Esdeath added without any change in her expression, which made the statement surprisingly funny.
But then, Kailith meddled in their conversation. "By the way, what's this secret anyway? I would like to hear as well!"
"It's too complicated for a succubus brain like you!" Esdeath taunted with her calm voice, a small smirk playing on her lips.
"As you can see, I'm a dragon!" Kailith answered, crossing her arms. She was clearly offended by Esdeath's comment.
"Only the body, Opps...not even the body" Esdeath answered back instantly, pointing at kailith's tail.
"Quit fighting, you two. Let's go and see what's happening there instead!" Maruti stopped their fight before it could even start, pulling them back to the more urgent problem.