The Heartbeat of the Cruel Elves

"So the agents of our Denitya family lurked inside your family and stole the information about this maze. It was also arranged by the goddess. Should you be grateful for it?" She said silently with a hint of sarcasm, secretly feeling a little amused in her heart.

Chapter 140: Princess's Confrontation

Yes, this is the truth of the matter - no scouts from two families discovered the maze at the same time, and Dufia did not come in with Cassia's troops. The reason she came here was precisely because she falsely accused the Borgnia family, but the roles were reversed - it was not the Borgnia family's spy who stole the intelligence of the Dinitya family, but the Dinitya family's agent. Not long after the Borgnia family received the news, they sent the news together with a copy of the scout's reconnaissance notes back to the Dinitya family!

That's why the number of people she led this time was far greater than Cassia's soldiers - because they had anticipated the visit of the Borginia family. According to the plan of the Denitya family - although Dufia herself was reluctant to do so - if necessary, they would carry out an annihilation operation against the Borginia family's expedition team!

Of course, this is only the most extreme case. The more ideal situation is that the troops of the Borginia family can be forced to retreat simply by relying on military might. This is not because Dufia loves peace, but because of the consistent style of the dark elves. Although the major dark elf families are constantly fighting each other, their conflicts all follow a supreme principle - all problems must be solved through airtight means and without anyone noticing.

However, if the problem cannot be solved without leaving any trace, the elf who solves the problem will find himself becoming the problem.

For example, if Dufia took the initiative to attack the troops of the Borgia family and failed to wipe them out, then when the fleeing soldiers went back to file a lawsuit with the ruling council, she would immediately become the target of public criticism. Although the matriarchs of the major families in the ruling council knew that similar bloody killings were commonplace in their tribes, Dufia would still be severely punished.

This punishment was not for her slaughtering her own people.

But to punish her for not killing carefully enough!

Du Feiya came back to her senses from her vague thoughts and looked at Cassia again.

Cassia used the name of the Spider Goddess to pressure her, which put her in a passive position. There was nothing she could do. Although she herself was not interested in this goddess, her subordinates and the troops on both sides were all die-hard followers of this goddess...

Since she was a mage, not a priest, she had no way to refute Cassia's remarks, which were based on divine will. She did not have the same authority in religion as Cassia. Once she opened her mouth and confronted Cassia, who had received divine revelation, it would become a questioning of the goddess' will, an act of blasphemy...

She really wanted to take advantage of the situation, after all, she hadn't come here to cause trouble for her. But she also wondered if it was unnatural for her to compromise so easily.

In the eyes of their own soldiers, would they think their leader was too weak? And for Cassia, would she notice that something was fishy?

Damn it... Du Feiya complained a little angrily... I just want to save a group of people, why is it so difficult? ? ? ! ! !

After thinking for a moment, she raised her head again and looked at Cassia. She seemed very enthusiastic, but in fact she was smiling:

"Honorable Princess Cassia, I have to admit that what you said does make some sense. Since it is the will of the Spider Goddess, I think we have no reason to disobey it."

Cassia smiled slightly. However, just as she was about to accept Du Feiya's "trust", she saw that Du Feiya did not pause, but continued to speak:

"However, I still have a little doubt. Could you please explain it to me?"

"According to what you said, the goddess' will is for both of us to work together and overcome the danger."

"But here comes the problem—" She curled the corners of her mouth, revealing a cold and playful smile.

"Our Dinitya family's troops do not need to cooperate with others. We can overcome danger on our own."

"Why should we 'cooperate' with you?"

"Although you are a priest of the Spider Goddess and claim to have received her oracle. However, considering the actual situation, it is hard for me to believe that you really received the oracle."

"Or, at least, it's hard to believe that this is the real oracle you got!"

What "cooperation"? Du Feiya was furious. It was obviously your goddess who ordered you to cling to me, and you, a burden, still have to speak so nicely!

She thought of what Li Yin had said before: "savior" and "hope", and recalled his admiring look when he said that. Well, her good friend was indeed more honest!

Cassia's usually calm and composed face froze for a moment, as if she was really stumped by this line of questioning.

The corners of Du Feiya's mouth curled up slightly, showing a slightly reserved look.

However, soon after, Cassia's expression moved slightly, and a hint of joy appeared above her eyebrows.

Her strange expression surprised Du Feiya, because it didn't seem like a disguise, but more like it came from the heart. But... at this moment, what was there for her to be happy about?

Du Feiya was just wondering, but she saw Cassia had already opened her red lips, with bright eyes and white teeth, smiling sweetly:

"From what Princess Dufiya said, you have found a way to pass through the maze?"

"Of course. Our Dinitya family never fights an unprepared battle." Du Feiya put his hands behind his back, tilted his head slightly, and spoke with a proud tone.

"That's great," Cassia said matter-of-factly, "In that case, I think we can share the method to pass through this maze."

"Sharing?" Du Feiya frowned slightly, then looked at Cassia deeply, not without teasing, "You call asking for help 'sharing'?"

Dufia's original plan was to expose Cassia's pretense of being relaxed and superior under the guise of "God's will" and make her frankly admit that she needed her help. Then, after some bargaining and exchange of interests, she would "reluctantly" take her along. Only in this way would this "rescue" be more in line with the general style of the dark elves, so as not to make her lose her prestige in front of her subordinates, and not to make Cassia doubt her kindness.

However, she never expected that the princess of the seventh family would be so shameless that she asked for help from her, but she called it "sharing" in a high-sounding way, as if they were really partners who contributed their own efforts.

"No." Unexpectedly, until this moment, Cassia's snow-white face still had a leisurely and indifferent expression. She smiled slightly and reiterated calmly: "Please note that I said 'share'."

"If I'm not mistaken," Cassia said slowly as Du Feiya was full of doubts, "Princess Du Feiya, the method you used to escape from the maze should be very valuable. To be more precise, it should be - one-time use."

This is not difficult to guess - if the troops of the Dinitya family could easily find a way out of this strange maze, they would have gone straight forward to explore the ruins and would not have wasted time with him here. They would not have gotten angry because of some minor disturbances that could not cause any substantial interference to them, and would not have come to him to settle accounts before completing their main task.

Even if they really wanted to cause trouble for me, it should be after they had collected all the treasures in the ruins. No matter how stupid the princess of the second family was, she should still be clear about this distinction between the primary and the secondary.

In addition, there is the most important point - if the Dinitya family can really control this maze easily, then according to the principle of maximizing combat advantages, the way they choose to deal with themselves should not be to appear here on their own initiative, but to ambush in advance somewhere where their troops are about to pass.

"This is a precious opportunity that only comes once," Cassia smiled and looked at Dufia with deep eyes. "I can only allow you to safely reach the exit you came from. I cannot allow you to continue your exploration."

Du Feiya was slightly startled, and stared at her intently, as if her secrets had been exposed.

This is not difficult to understand. As long as the above point is clear - Du Feiya only has one chance to enter and exit the maze freely, it can be inferred that this only chance, unless she is crazy about the treasure in the ruins, otherwise, she will definitely use it to escape, rather than explore through the maze. Otherwise, even if she finally returns with a full load from the lost ruins, she will face the same ending in the end - getting lost in the maze again on the way back, and dying of hunger and thirst while guarding the treasure mountain.

"So?" After a long pause, Du Feiya asked, "Even so, I don't see any reason for the Deniteya family to 'share' with you."

"Especially since this is the 'only' and 'precious' chance to survive." She deliberately imitated Cassia's previous tone, with a hint of sarcasm.

"That's exactly what I wanted to say," Cassia was still not annoyed, just smiled.

"If, I say——"

"What I can offer is another chance?" She raised her hand lightly, and something floated out from her waist bag, as if it was held up by an invisible hand, floating quietly in the air.

It was a white parchment scroll, sealed with a black silk rope. In the middle of the scroll, a golden magic emblem emitted a faint glow.

In an instant, Du Feiya's eyes became slightly angry, and his carefree face fell into astonishment.

"You have it too?" she murmured in disbelief.

As soon as she said this, she realized she had said something wrong.

Although it is an indisputable fact that she possesses some means of escaping the maze, rashly revealing the specific form of this means is always a manifestation of being too rash and imprudent.

"Very good." Cassia did not seem surprised. The corners of her mouth curled up, revealing an interested look. "It seems that the similarities between the two of us are even greater than I thought. This is indeed the guidance of the Spider Goddess."

"But... I don't understand." Du Feiya pursed her lips, thought for a while, then looked up at Cassia with confusion.

"Since you already have a way to find the exit, why did you let your subordinates wander aimlessly in the maze? According to you, you even prayed to the Spider Goddess, begging for guidance on the path. Don't you think all this is -"

"A bit redundant, isn't it?" Cassia continued with a smile.

Du Feiya hesitated for a while, as if she didn't want her thoughts to be revealed by Cassia, but finally nodded.

Li Yin, who was standing next to him, also looked up at Cassia with doubts. At this moment, his mind was filled with the same doubts as Du Feiya's.

Since Cassia already had a way to get out of the maze safely, why did she do so much useless work? She even sent out a vanguard team to explore the path, which resulted in the sacrifice of four squads of soldiers in front and behind for no reason...

Not only Rein, but also many dark elves from the Borginia family beside Cassia were looking up at their leader in shock.

"Actually," Cassia glanced around and took in the reactions of the many dark elves. Then she looked back at Du Feiya and said in a melodious and gentle tone, "The reason why I did this is not complicated. It's easy to figure it out if you think about it carefully."

"Princess Dufia, please allow me to ask you one more question."

"Your troops have encountered the same situation as us, and you have the same method of escaping safely as I do. In this case, why didn't you use this method to lead your troops out earlier?"

"I believe that you must have led your troops to wander around the maze aimlessly for a while - although not as long as we did, and not as embarrassed as we did."

"But please allow me to ask you one more question. Why did you do this, Princess Dufia?"

...In fact, Du Feiya thought to herself, I was already planning to evacuate.

However, after Cassia asked this, she suddenly understood clearly.

After she found her troops lost, she did try to find a way out by exploring on her own without relying on the route map. However, the difference between her and Cassia was that she only tried briefly and planned to retreat immediately after finding that it was impossible to do so, while Cassia seemed to be determined not to give up until the last moment.

She raised her eyes, no longer confused, and looked at Cassia with sparkling eyes.

Cassia's eyes were already cold, and she continued speaking sharply:

"I think that you are so smart that you would not simply think that everything will be fine if we use this scroll, walk out of the maze, and return to Nevre safely and without worries, right?"

"No matter who discovered the labyrinth first, your family or mine, whether it was the will of the goddess or the conspiracy of one of our families - by the way, the two could be two sides of the same coin - it doesn't matter. In short, the moment the two of us got involved, it all turned into a conspiracy against us personally."

"If we return from here without success, I believe that our respective sisters will not miss this good opportunity to help us 'reflect on our mistakes'!"

Chapter 141 The Princess's Cooperation

"We must achieve something in order to shut up those with ulterior motives."

"So, move forward - only moving forward is the only truly safe way home!" Cassia's tone was sonorous and cold, with a kind of unquestionable firmness.

"You mean, the path-finding scroll in your hand, plus the scroll in my hand," Du Feiya said, raising her right hand slightly, and an almost identical magic scroll floated out from her waist bag, quietly hovering in the air. The magic runes emitted a faint golden glow, facing the scroll in the Borginia family's army at the other end, just like their owner.

"Our two forces will be together, one to go deep into the maze and search for the ruins, and the other to evacuate safely?"

Cassia lowered her head and held it lightly.

Du Feiya tilted her head slightly, staring at Cassia meaningfully. After a while, she raised the corners of her mouth slightly, her eyes shining brightly: "I agree."

------

At the same time, she silently said to Li Yin in her heart:

"You didn't tell me that—your mistress didn't need rescuing."

"Sorry..." Li Yin's apologetic voice came from her heart, "I didn't know about this situation."

"Princess Cassia has not shared this with anyone."

Du Feiya was silent for a moment, and then said in a frivolous and playful tone: "Forget it, I forgive you."

In fact, she could also see the clues from the shocked expressions on the faces of the soldiers of the Borginia family. Until this moment, these dark elf warriors probably didn't know that their leader held the last trump card.

This female elf is unexpectedly cautious.

Du Feiya raised her head and glanced at Cassia again, who had a cold smile on her lips, and felt a little worried about the journey ahead.

"But, this... isn't very good." Li Yin's slightly relieved voice came from his heart.

They were now communicating secretly and quickly on the spiritual level through Rein's unique ability of connecting minds - yes, after reestablishing trust with Rein, Du Feiya was surprised to find that her friend was actually a psychic! And what he used to influence Cassia was the charm of psychic energy.

After learning this information, Du Feiya jumped up immediately. If she hadn't been sure that the man in front of her had no ill will towards her, and if she hadn't cast mind protection spells on herself every day after she "realized" that she was enchanted last time, and had specially selected magic treasures from the family treasury that could resist the effects of enchantment, she would have cast 17 or 18 spells in a row without saying a word, first making this guy lose all his ability to commit crimes and his ability to resist.

Although spells that affect the mind are not uncommon among both arcane and divine spellcasters, psychics are extremely threatening because their powers do not require chanting or gestures to be cast. They can even use their mental power to suppress some of the sound and light effects that may accompany the release of spells, thus achieving complete concealment!

Of course, Du Feiya himself could cast spells very secretly with the magic ring that could cast spells instantly. However, that was a priceless magic artifact, and those who could afford such things in Nevre were probably the rich and powerful, and the threat posed by any psychic was completely different.

This is getting off topic. Anyway, after knowing that Li Yin was a psychic, the two of them established a communication channel for communication through mental link.

The distance his mental ability could cover was not far, only a few dozen feet, not as good as teleportation, but it was much more secretive and convenient than teleportation. And secrecy was exactly what the two people needed most under the public eye.

"In this way, we can continue exploring along the maze and eventually find the ruins. Isn't this a win-win situation for everyone?" Li Yin's slightly relaxed voice continued to come slowly, echoing clearly in her heart.

"I'm afraid things are not as simple as you think, Li Yin." Du Feiya walked towards Cassia lightly with a smile on her face, but she was quite depressed in her heart.

"What's wrong?" Li Yin asked in surprise.

"Although I am personally very curious about what is in the ruins, that is limited to exploring alone. Do you know what is the most likely thing that will happen if two dark elf families explore a treasure at the same time?"

Li Yin did not answer immediately and seemed to fall into silence.

"Originally, I just planned to give your mistress a ride." She sighed softly in her heart.

"Now it seems that we will have to decide who is truly qualified to embark on the journey home."

"Does it have to be like this?" After a long silence, Li Yin asked heavily.

"That's not certain," Du Feiya said in a slightly more relaxed but still serious tone. "There are many external factors that may interfere with our subsequent trip and affect the decision-making of both parties. But for now, I have to admit that this is the most likely possibility, and I have to prepare for it in advance."

"Now, tell me, Li Yin," she asked very calmly, "if this situation really happened, whose side would you be on?"

Li Yin was silent for a while again, and then his hesitant voice slowly sounded in her heart.

"I told you I didn't want to hurt her."

Du Feiya's heart sank suddenly.

"But I will never let anyone hurt you, my..." He paused, then seemed a little embarrassed and held back the last two words.

Du Feiya was stunned for a moment before she realized what he was about to say.

She pouted a little, and was ready to "forgive" him "magnanimously", but after thinking about it, she decided to leave it at that for now. Because she inexplicably found his shy and awkward look very funny.

In short, she curled the corners of her mouth slightly and thought happily that Li Yin's answer was the same as she expected, but it wouldn't hurt to confirm it.

What's more, the word "more" pleases her even more.