Chapter 15: Can I Put You Down Now?
Xu Bai looked up, meeting Ice Lily’s indifferent gaze. She was being held like a doll, the sharp ice blades hovering inches away, frozen in mid-air.
Ice Lily had stopped at the last moment? Just a few inches further, and those blades would have killed her…
In her past battles with demons, Xu Bai had never encountered such a situation. Fights between knights and demons always ended in death.
Xu Bai was more surprised by this than by being held in a princess carry by Ice Lily. She opened her mouth to speak,
“You…”
“Who are you?”
Before Xu Bai could ask her question, Ice Lily spoke first, frowning slightly as she examined her. “I’ve never seen you in my clan before.”
“Never seen me? Clan? A demon clan?”
Xu Bai was increasingly confused. “I’m not a demon. How could you have seen me?”
“You’re… not a demon?” A flicker of confusion crossed Ice Lily’s eyes. She brushed Xu Bai’s hair aside, gently stroking her cheek. “Although still weak, these are indeed Demonic Runes.”
“What? Demonic Runes?”
Xu Bai’s heart pounded. She looked at the hovering ice blades.
Reflected in their surfaces was a pale, frail girl, her appearance strangely beautiful, yet unsettling.
Her short, black hair, transformed by the rune, was now the same grayish-white as Ice Lily’s, growing rapidly until it almost reached the ground.
And, instead of her expected dark-gold vertical pupils, her eyes were a pale blue.
But what truly alarmed Xu Bai were the simple patterns spreading across her cheeks, familiar yet foreign.
—Demonic Runes.
Ice Lily and Xu Bai, reflected in the ice blades, looked like sisters.
What was happening? Why was she transforming again?
Could it be that Sasha’s rune had malfunctioned?
But a malfunction wouldn’t turn her into a demon…
Xu Bai felt a surge of fear. She had finally been able to move freely in human territory, and now she had to hide again?
“Can I put you down now?” Ice Lily’s voice interrupted Xu Bai’s thoughts.
Xu Bai realized she had been held in this embarrassing position for quite some time, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
“Y-yes.”
Ice Lily, seemingly oblivious to Xu Bai’s embarrassment, gently set her down. “I was trying to figure out how to kill you without being discovered, but since you’re a fellow clansman, I can’t bring myself to do it.”
Xu Bai took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself, but Ice Lily’s words made her flinch.
What if… what if she said that her current appearance was perhaps… maybe… possibly just an illusion created by a rune? Would Ice Lily attack again?
Xu Bai wanted to fight, but her psychic circuits were depleted.
Although she sensed another source of power within her, seeing her current appearance, she feared it might be the Demonic Runes.
“It seems… I can’t change back for now…” Xu Bai brushed her grayish-white hair aside; it showed no sign of returning to black.
To change back, she would have to find Sasha again, but Sasha didn’t have any more runes, and she was now who-knows-where…
No, no, no. That wasn’t important right now.
Xu Bai slapped her cheeks, forcing herself to focus, then looked at Ice Lily.
The most pressing issue was the unknown threat posed by this Ice Demon.
“Miss Demon, what are you doing in Vikarn Port?” Xu Bai gripped her dagger. Even without her psychic circuits, she could still hold her own against Ice Lily with her swordsmanship.
For a while, at least…
“I’m looking for someone. I sensed her presence here.”
Ice Lily answered surprisingly readily, but she seemed displeased by being called “Miss Demon.” “My name is Ice Lily. You can call me Miss Ice Lily, or just Ice Lily.”
“I’ve never addressed a demon so politely…” Xu Bai muttered, still wary. “Well, Miss Ice Lily, regardless, don’t you think it’s inappropriate for a demon to be in a human town, even during a truce?”
Ice Lily’s indifferent expression remained unchanged. “Aren’t you too?”
“Me?” Xu Bai was momentarily speechless, then stammered, “I… I’m not a demon.”
“But you’re being hunted as a demon on the wanted posters in this human town.” Ice Lily pointed at Xu Bai’s face. “And look at yourself. Demonic Runes cannot be faked.”
“It’s just a misunderstanding. I’m not a demon. And these Demonic Runes don’t prove anything. As you saw earlier, I use psychic circuits.”
Xu Bai shook her head, continuing to deny it.
“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, I think you should explain it to him.”
Ice Lily looked towards the restaurant entrance, and Xu Bai followed her gaze.
The restaurant owner was leaning against the doorway, trembling, muttering to himself,
“Demon… a demon… the demon is here…”
Xu Bai fell silent. The owner’s terrified gaze was fixed on her. He believed she was the demon, the one he feared.
“I’m not the demon. She is. Look at her.” Xu Bai pointed at Ice Lily, her voice laced with frustration.
But her words only made the owner tremble more violently, his face contorted with fear.
“Stay… stay away! Don’t kill me…”
“I’m really not a demon!” Xu Bai took a step forward in desperation.
But that single step shattered the last vestiges of the owner’s sanity.
“Stay away!!!”
He scrambled towards the frost-covered door, smashing through it, leaving a trail of blood, and fled in terror.
“Demon… the demon killed someone!”
His earsplitting scream, filled with fear and despair, instantly infected the nearby crowd, drawn by the commotion. Even the approaching City Guards paled upon hearing the cry.
“What? It’s the demon!”
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