531 The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

Nobody expected Frangipani to come forward, as he had been reticent from the beginning. The battle was almost at the peak, and Arthur and his companions were about to lose. Frangipani came forward and indicated that he could win the battle.

Normal people would think that Frangipani was crazy. However, the gamers weren’t normal people, and Frangipani was a special NPC to them. When Frangipani came forward, the morale of Arthur and his Guild members was boosted. The Strange Encounter Mission wasn’t that simple after all.

The other gamers weren’t bothered with Frangipani even though they recognized him. They were focused on Arthur and the Little Fairy.

The body of Frangipani emitted powerful Mana and transformed into a huge arm that swept aside the gamers who were blocking the way. The gamers didn’t manage to get out of the way and were in a pathetic state.

Arthur and his companions followed behind Frangipani and proceeded towards the Dark Portal. When Arthur pulled the Little Fairy to the front of the portal, the Little Fairy seemed to recall something and looked back at Frangipani as she said, “Leave with us. Though your appearance is frightening, I believe you’re a good creature. My race will accept you. You don’t have to stay here. Sherlock won’t let you off. He’s a terrifying Devil.”

Frangipani smiled and shook his head. He looked at the Little Fairy and said, “Get lost. Don’t make things difficult for me!”

“Ah?”

The Little Fairy was befuddled. However, the gamers had pulled the Little Fairy along to leave the place.

In her vision, she saw the despondence of Frangipani mixed with a sense of relief. It was as though he was happy after completing a mission.

“Wait, isn’t Frangipani leaving with us?” The Little Fairy was full of doubts, but the gamers were in a hurry to leave and weren’t interested in Frangipani’s plight.

Frangipani turned around and faced the horde of opposing gamers. His body emitted powerful Mana. Skilled Mana users could observe that the Mana didn’t originate from Frangipani. It was as though an invisible creature was releasing Mana behind Frangipani.

However, the gamers weren’t experts in Mana, and the observers who were highly skilled in Mana weren’t able to observe the phenomenon at close range.

Frangipani’s Mana stopped all opposing gamers while a protective oyster escorted Arthur, his companions, and the Little Fairy through the Dark Portal. Peasant was the last creature to enter the Dark Portal, and when he did, the Mana from Frangipani vanished, and he collapsed feebly to the ground.

He looked spaced out while his lips quivered. His lips seemed to be saying, “Life is too difficult.”

…

The Little Fairy arrived on the Surface World in shock. When she saw the dim cave, she thought she was back in the Underworld. However, from the surrounding plants and the Mana ripples, the Little Fairy was very confident that she was back on the Surface World. The fresh air and fragrance of the soil were very different from the Underworld.

The Little Fairy was in tears. She didn’t expect to return to the Surface World alive.

She used to despise Underworld creatures like Orcs, Gnomes, and Houndhead Men. But now, their sacrifice and fearlessness helped her escape from the Underworld.

It wasn’t time to celebrate. The opposing gamers could appear behind them at any time. Arthur pulled the feeble Little Fairy up as he pointed to the front and shouted to his comrades, “Proceed forward! We have to leave this place! Dragonborn and his friends are waiting for us by the cave!”

Shouting and the sounds of movement and battle were heard from the interior of the cave.

The shouting was in the Victorian language that was also the Surface World common language. Arthur and his companions couldn’t understand, but they figured that the Victorians were fighting over the Little Fairy.

Arthur and his companions looked at each other. They were worried that Dragonborn would be attacked by opposing gamers and be unable to escort them.

Without Dragonborn’s protection, they wouldn’t be able to leave the cave, as the Victorians would kill them. Arthur and his Guild members would die and lose their equipment. However, the opposing gamers would capture the Little Fairy. What if they killed her accidentally?

Arthur was mentally prepared. If the situation didn’t look optimistic, they would retreat back into the Dark Portal. They would rather face the Changan City members. Arthur was prepared for the worst as sounds of galloping horses approached them. A group of horsemen soon appeared before them, and the leader was Dragonborn.

Dragonborn rode a huge horse in the spacious cave. The gamers behind Dragonborn also rode Warhorses, and they looked like they went through a vicious battle. Dragonborn was even wounded, but he was unaffected by the injuries.

Behind Dragonborn was an NPC without any green symbols as well as two Forest Wolves.

Standing beside the NPC was a Fairy without any green symbols.

The two Fairies looked at each other. Then the Fairy beside Dragonborn shouted excitedly, “Princess! Princess! Is that you, Princess?”

The Fairy shouted happily and dashed towards the Little Fairy Princess, and the Fairies hugged. If not for the difference in costume, the gamers would be unable to identify the Fairies since they looked identical.

It wasn’t a good place to catch up with each other. Dragonborn asked Arthur and his companions to leave the cave in Mandarin.

Outside the cave, the Victorians were embroiled in battle. The Pioneer Alliance members were losing the battle in the Underworld, while the Hoodlum Yoga Association and For that night with Sherlock were winning the battle on the Surface World. As the two largest and most powerful Guilds in Victoria City, they overwhelmed the opposing Victorians who wanted snatch away Dragonborn’s Strange Encounter Mission.

Arthur and his companions were considered safe once they arrived at the Surface World. Under Dragonborn’s leadership, a group of Victorians surrounded Arthur and his companions as they proceeded to Victoria City.

Though the Fairy beside Dragonborn showed his distrust of Arthur and the Orcs, the Little Fairy Princess didn’t want to abandon Raintea. She wanted to bring Raintea back to Yggdrasill.

However, she had to ask Raintea first.

Raintea had no intention to leave Eternal Kingdom because her friends were in the Dungeon. If she left with the Little Fairy Princess, then she would lose contact with the other gamers. Yggdrasill was a faraway place. It wouldn’t be practical for her to do missions, challenge the Instance Dungeon, or take part in activities. Her online game would become a single-player game.

This matter could be discussed later. The most important thing was safety. The gamers wanted to escort both Fairies out of Victoria Forest. The Fairies constructed a Teleport Portal outside Victoria Forest, which connected Victoria Forest to the forest of Yggdrasill.

The Teleport Portal wasn’t stable. Though the Fairies’ Mana Skills were strong, it was still inferior to the Mana Skills of the Underworld. The Teleport Portal was using the large Mana pool of Yggdrasill for sustenance. It wasn’t constructed based on good Mana techniques.

Though the Teleport Portal wasn’t stable, it would suffice for their use.

The group left the cave and proceeded to the boundary of Victoria Forest.

Success was within their grasp.

The group didn’t expect the Godly Kingdom army that was led by General Shidan to be waiting outside Victoria Forest.

After his last defeat, General Shidan was unable to recover from his loss. He didn’t think that he had failed. He suspected that the Victorians had betrayed him.

General Shidan was distrustful of Victorians. If the Victorians hadn’t sought him out, he wouldn’t have been involved in the Dark Portal battle and suffered huge losses.

When he heard that a Fairy appeared at the Dark Portal and that a group of Underworld creatures and Victorians was helping a Fairy Princess escape, General Shidan thought that it was a deception.

Though he wasn’t sure how the Victorians were going to deceive him, he was sure they were up to no good. How could the Underworld creatures help a Fairy Princess escape? How could a Fairy Princess end up in the Underworld?

When General Shidan witnessed the Victorians killing each other, he thought that things weren’t that simple.

It wasn’t difficult to collect information. If it were other cities, he would have to spend extra effort. As it was Victoria City, the Victorians were competing to tell General Shidan about their city.

General Shidan understood what was going on after the Victorians explained it to him.

The Little Fairy Princess was captured by the creatures of Eternal Kingdom. However, the creatures of Eternal Kingdom contacted the Victorians and wanted to help rescue the Little Fairy Princess from Eternal Kingdom for a handsome reward. The Victorians didn’t know the details of the reward, but General Shidan pondered for a while and figured that it was a generous reward. The Fairies were a mystical race living under the Yggdrasill and would have a lot of treasures.

If General Shidan could rescue the Little Fairy Princess, he could obtain the friendship and alliance of the Fairies. He could make up for his loss and elevate his status in front of the King.

At this thought, General Shidan became excited. He discussed with his advisors, and they thought General Shidan was a genius.

The plan had to be carefully thought out. General Shidan had to find out their escape route and required the help of the Victorians. General Shidan gave some coins to the Victorians who divulged the escape plan and the construction of the Teleport Portal.

General Shidan was growing impatient. He led his remaining soldiers to attack the fleeing Victorians and creatures of Eternal Kingdom outside Victoria Forest. This time, he was going to exterminate the Victorians while capturing the Underworld creatures alive. He would treat the Little Fairy Princess as a VIP and escort her to the Godly Kingdom. The King would then decide what to do next.

General Shidan made his plans discreetly. He didn’t tell the Victorians. The gamers weren’t aware of the schemes being hatched by this NPC. They merely treated General Shidan’s orders like their missions. Dragonborn, Arthur, and his companions had just walked out of Victoria Forest when General Shidan led his soldiers and appeared before them.