You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

With a single sword stroke, she sliced ​​off the attacker's head. Amidst the splattering blood, her long, grey-gold hair appeared both cold and striking. But when she raised her head again, it was already blocked by someone.

"A tangled mess...a pack of wild dogs!"

With a light bite of her pearly teeth, she flicked her longsword to wipe away the blood, and the beautiful female elf coldly surveyed her surroundings, killing intent flowing in her eyes—it was none other than Beatrice, the war goddess who had once been acquainted with Iori!

However, she seemed to have encountered trouble at this moment. Not only was she being chased by a group of mysterious figures, but she was also unable to exercise her power and was hampered in the battle, so she was unable to shake off her enemies.

The fundamental reason lies in the object she is holding in one arm, which is wrapped in gray linen, making it impossible to tell what exactly is inside.

"Mother……"

Suddenly, a weak moan made the murderous intent in Beatrice's eyes disappear, replaced by endless pity. She glanced at the object in her arms with some guilt.

"Are you awake...? It's okay, it'll be over soon!"

The God of War looked at the enemy leader blocking his way: "This battle won't waste too much time!"

Chapter 244: Sorry, it was his choice of location that was bad.

boom!

The sudden fall of crimson flames stirred up waves of heat, and with a loud "bang" like a fruit exploding, a hot wind mixed with the smell of blood blew away the smug mysterious man who was about to attack Beatrice.

The firelight, sparkling like shattered gems, swept past, its heat stinging her cheeks. The elf slightly turned her head to avoid the first wave of heat, then opened her eyes to see what had fallen from the sky. Reflected in her clear eyes was the figure of a person riding a majestic dragon beast.

"Roar!!!"

The towering figure emerging from the firelight stunned the surrounding enemies, who instinctively retreated, none daring to challenge it until they had a clear view of the situation.

"Yo!" Above the Flame Demon's head, a figure with its back to the sun greeted Beatrice, "Long time no see, Miss Elf~"

"……what?"

Beatrice blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change. She had been fully prepared for battle but was interrupted. Her simple mind was racing.

"You, you are..."

"Is that... a dragon?"

"Well!"

Someone let out a sound that was almost a groan, staring at the Flame Dragon with a look that was hard to tell whether it was shock or fear. Surrounded by the suddenly heated atmosphere, fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads, but they were quickly evaporated.

"It won't take long"—less than ten seconds after those words were uttered, the battle had already undergone a stunning reversal. However, this change seemed unrelated to the two sides in the conflict; it was purely due to the overwhelming brilliance of this intruder.

"Can't you remember my name? We haven't been apart for that long. It's really heartbreaking."

“…Iori?” Beatrice took a deep breath, her eyes filled with joy, and her mood instantly lightened.

She had chased him all the way from the elven kingdom to here, fighting off countless assassins and encountering numerous unscrupulous bandits and mercenaries. She had no support whatsoever, relying solely on her sword while also having to protect the "treasure" in her arms. It would be no exaggeration to say that she was physically and mentally exhausted.

Originally, she fled in this direction only on the "what if" side, thinking that since there was no other way out, she might as well take a gamble and encounter Iori and Enryu, or find the traces they left behind.

She felt the chances were slim, after all, from her perspective, several years had passed since her encounter with Iori...

This might not seem like a long time to the elves, but humans are a short-lived race that is constantly changing. It's impossible for a wandering martial artist to stay in one place for several years... Therefore, Beatrice's main goal is actually to find the Flame Dragon.

Unexpectedly, she was surrounded by a large number of pursuers before she even reached her destination. Even more unexpectedly, when she decided to take a gamble, powerful reinforcements appeared out of nowhere!

"You look quite disheveled, but didn't you go home?" Iori sat cross-legged atop the dragon's head, resting her chin on her hand, looking down at the female elf with amusement.

"Could it be that he got into trouble back home and can't stay there any longer, so he wants to come and seek refuge with me?"

While not entirely accurate, it wasn't entirely wrong either—Beatetori felt a bitter taste in her mouth and couldn't utter a word of explanation.

Iori narrowed her eyes slightly; she could understand a lot from that expression, so the Death God boy didn't press the matter further.

He then turned to look at the group of mysterious figures chasing Beatrice, stroked his chin, and asked directly, "Are you from the Diablo Order?"

"How...how do you know this name!"

A person who seemed to be of high status asked a question in a halting manner, which made Iori frown.

"That seems to be the case. In that case, let's call out your leader. I have some questions for him."

"..."

"What's wrong?" Seeing the mysterious figures fall into an eerie silence, Iori asked impatiently, "Who exactly is it?"

The person who had been speaking to Iori silently raised his hand and pointed to the area beneath the Flame Dragon: "The commander is... dead, isn't he?"

Iori looked down and noticed a clump of something that looked like crushed tomato sauce under the Flame Dragon's feet, now almost blackened by the intense heat...

"Too weak, I didn't notice."

Yan Zhilong always speaks frankly: "But it's all his fault for coming to my landing site without permission."

"Leader? 'Chief'?"

Iori then belatedly nodded.

"I see... I'm so sorry, it was a complete accident. Please accept my condolences and don't take it to heart."

"...Who...who exactly are you people?"

"My lord, this dragon might be... as mentioned in the intelligence... the former Lancelot..."

Someone leaned in and whispered something in the ear of the second-in-command—the leader was a researcher, but the second-in-command was the most powerful fighter—making his face grow increasingly grim.

"How is that possible? Didn't they say there hadn't been any news for several years... How could it be such a coincidence!"

"Have we discussed it?"

Iori said listlessly, "I've done a lot of work today, and I really have no interest in playing any last-minute last-minute tricks. You have two choices:

Is it unconditional surrender, or a willingness to let one's body turn to ashes?

Can you decide sooner?

Although she was very impatient, Iori still gave them time to consider, showing her kindness.

Perhaps by letting these people corner Beatrice, and then making a heroic appearance to save the damsel in distress, I can gain the girl's affinity points.

However, it doesn't fit Iori's character to arrive early and then watch her acquaintance in such a predicament, or rather, that kind of petty, scheming manner is too unrefined.

You need to earn bond points and also improve your art style points; only then can you have a complete game!

—And with the strength of these weaklings, even if he makes a heroic appearance, it's just bullying the weak, nothing to brag about.

Although Iori didn't say it directly, his indifference and nonchalance towards everyone really stung some people.

"...This is outrageous! There's only one person on the other side, everyone attack!"

Some of the mysterious figures couldn't take it anymore and roared with righteous indignation, which inspired all their companions. But just as they raised their weapons to rush forward, the person who had spoken disappeared from the spot.

"..."

"..."

"Ok?"

Iori lightly tapped the scales of the Flame Dragon with her fingers. This magical beast, whose magical power far surpassed that of mortals, lazily spread its wings and slowly flapped them—

boom!

The crimson wind pressure transformed into endless blades, tearing everything in sight apart within the spiral!

Without any further exchange, and with no interest in toying with a bunch of small fry like a cat playing with mice, the magical storm unleashed by the Flame Dragon swept across the entire area, engulfing all the assassins without exception.

Of course, there were also experts among these people. Some barely managed to maintain their footing and try to escape from the edge of the battlefield, only to find that the once dense forest had vanished, and the ground beneath their feet had turned into a crystal-clear ice surface.

laugh! laugh! laugh! laugh!

A series of slashing sounds rang out, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of assassins were either beheaded or cut in half at the waist. There was also a second-in-command who rolled out of the void with a broken leg...

Chapter 245: Demon Possession and the Descendants of Heroes (5K)

Iori had no interest in torturing or abusing others. He deliberately spared the life of his second-in-command just to test the waters. After discovering that the other party was quite principled and refused to reveal any information, he did not continue to harass him and sent him to reunite with his companions.

"This organization seems to have a lot of tough guys on them... Is it really true that they're called a 'cult'?"

"I hate these humans. I'd rather burn them to death on sight!"

"Calm down, my old friend. While this may feel satisfying, we still need to find a way to gather some intelligence. Otherwise, how can we eradicate them completely?"

Iori pondered for a moment. He believed that it was useless for such a secret organization to catch only small fry. However, if it was a "Knight of the Round Table" or a high-ranking person of similar status, they would often have taken the Demon Potion. Such people were not only physically modified, but also somewhat mentally abnormal, and were subject to some kind of control by the Order.

It's not impossible to extract information, but it will definitely be very time-consuming. Iori doesn't have that much energy to put into such things. It would be best to find someone to replace her, but where can she find such a sadistic person who is good at interrogation...?

Just as a familiar figure flashed through Iori's mind, Beatrice, who had been staring blankly, came back to her senses, let out a long breath, and completely relaxed. This breath seemed to take away all the fatigue she had accumulated over a long period of time, and she felt empty inside. She sat cross-legged on the ground, feeling slightly weak.

"Thank you, Iori... If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't know how I would have escaped."

"How could a dignified God of War be forced to such a state by these insignificant characters?"

Iori jumped down from the dragon's head and asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "What's going on? Didn't you go home?"

Beatrice looked up, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes: "That was four or five years ago... I don't think it's a big deal, but shouldn't that be a long time in your human eyes?"

Four or five years?

Iori was taken aback at first, then realized the problem:

"Shadow Reality" is composed of three worlds, and the flow of time is different in the three worlds: Earth, Purgatory, and the Otherworld!

Moreover, the speed in the other world is much faster than on Earth. When Iori traveled back to "Bleach" using the story CG last time, Earth was the starting point. Therefore, the flow rate in Soul Society is equal to that of the Shadow Realm Earth, and also higher than that of the Shadow Realm Other World...

Although it sounds complicated, to sum it up, from his perspective only half a year to less than a year had passed, but for Beatrice, five years had already passed!

While the 2,000x acceleration of the Boundary Breaker is not as outrageous, the Shadow Reality Otherworld also has an acceleration of more than five times... We'll have to be more careful in the future.

Fortunately, the only acquaintance he knew in the shadows was the elf Beatrice, so five years was nothing, and he wouldn't encounter the embarrassing situation of "the rotten woodcutter".

"I must have been living in a daze. But you're really lucky, 'Yan' and I just got back... So what exactly happened?"

Iori looked at the package in Beatrice's arms. With his keen insight, he could naturally recognize that it was a child, and he already had a guess in his mind.

Sure enough, Beatrice looked somber: "A lot has happened, too much to explain in a short time, but in short, I did it to protect this child... These stray dogs have been chasing and biting me for more than half a month."

"If you don't have any burdens, you can kill them all by yourself after dealing with them a bit more, right?" Iori said coldly. "The cult has deep roots and a powerful presence. These assassins are probably just cannon fodder. It's impossible for you to fight the cult with her by your side."

"Are you asking me to abandon this child?!"

Beatrice's expression was as if she were seeing Iori for the first time: "Absolutely not! She's my only family in this world!"

"Wei Yi, it seems you've really been through a lot."

Iori looked at her with sympathy: "I was just joking. I didn't expect something like this to happen... Let's leave here first. Such a bloody scene is not good for the children's psychological education."

“Hmm…that’s true.” Beatrice lowered her eyes, checking on the child with concern, then looked at Iori and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, I was too emotional. Iori, I’ve known what kind of person you are for a long time, and I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

Iori found this amusing, though she didn't show it on her face.

It's strange... it seems that many people who have only met him once or spent a short time with him feel that they know this friend named "Iori" very well.

On the contrary, Chunshui, who was truly close to him, would never say such self-righteous things.

Characters like Sera and Esdeath simply admit that they are being manipulated by Iori... but they are happy to do so and are also trying to outsmart Iori.

Perhaps only Yuuki viewed Iori as an "unsolvable equation" from beginning to end, and thoroughly enjoyed the process of solving problems together with Iori.

"You know me well? As an innocent elf, a swordsman obsessed with martial arts... where does your confidence come from?"

Iori countered, "What if I were also a member of the Order, and doing this was just a scheme to trap you?"

He turned around and pointed at Yanlong: "What if I had only intervened to save him to win his favor and then recruit him?"

The Fiery Dragon scratched its scales with its claws, seemingly unconcerned by Iori's words.

It had a soul contract with Iori, and although they could only communicate telepathically when Iori permitted it, sensing goodwill and malice was still possible at other times. Iori had never maliciously deceived it, and her words just now carried a strange sarcasm.

Therefore, Flame Dragon concluded that Iori was not a wicked person with a dark mind, but simply... had a bad personality.

“No,” Beatrice said firmly. “You wouldn’t do such a thing.”

"Wow? You're quite confident in me."

"A swordsman must trust his instincts!"

"..."

"mom, Mom, Mom?"

A soft murmur broke the tense atmosphere. A small hand reached out from the package and grabbed Beatrice's gray-gold hair. The childish voice carried a hint of forbearance, which made people feel sorry for her.