Relying on the terrain advantage of the staircase, Feili and Felix won with great ease.
While an enclosed high-rise stairwell naturally made escape difficult, it placed their pursuers in an equally tight spot. Due to special circumstances, Feili and Felix were able to establish mutual trust, but the other sorcerers were all cutthroat rivals. Once they rushed into such a cramped space, it was all too easy to be ambushed by someone from behind.
In fact, this had already happened: one sorcerer holding a Holy Grail Fragment was caught in a pincer attack between two others in the passage, and his fragment dropped.
It was precisely this climate of mutual suspicion and betrayal that made it impossible for the sorcerers to gang up on Feili and Felix. Each time, only one came down at a time, and each was easily defeated by the pair.
In addition to the stage-clearing fragment from this battle, they claimed two more fragments dropped by other sorcerers.
Because Felix had held the stage-clearing fragment for over five seconds, a portal leading to the next battle manifested on the open ground outside. Seeing that further struggle was futile, the remaining sorcerers dispersed.
"I'll take two, and you take one."
Feili pressed a Holy Grail Fragment into Felix's hand and asked, "Do you want to condense a Rainbow Holy Grail too?"
"You want to condense one too?" Felix took the fragment and probed cautiously, "Are you a sorcerer as well?"
The Little Sheep shook her head. "I'm not a sorcerer, but Yaxiu really needs the Rainbow Holy Grail, so I came to help."
"Then are you a demon?"
The Little Sheep blinked, tilting her head adorably. "What's a demon?"
Felix instantly felt a wave of profound disgust toward Yaxiu. It was completely natural for Yaxiu to want the Rainbow Holy Grail—even Divine Lords coveted that power, and Yaxiu possessed an oracle from the Four Pillar Gods, so it would be strange if he didn't come to contest the Grail.
Yet just to bolster his fighting strength, he dragged Feili, an ordinary person, into this mess?
What was more...
"How did you meet Yaxiu?" Felix suppressed the irritation in her chest as best she could. "Since you're helping him, you must know that Yaxiu isn't from your world, right?"
"A few months ago, I accidentally ran into Yaxiu and Sister Weixi fighting at my school. Sister Weixi wanted to silence me by killing me, but Yaxiu fought desperately to save my life. That's how we met." Feili concealed nothing, a nostalgic look washing over her face. "Even though only a few months have passed, it feels like it happened so long ago."
"And then you accepted Yaxiu's employment? What excuse did he use to hire you to work for him?"
"It wasn't really employment. I volunteered to fight by his side," Feili said earnestly. "He told me our world is in grave danger—that after the Prime Angel dies, the Divine Lord of Stars is very likely to destroy our world. I want to save the world together with Yaxiu."
Felix didn't even know what to say. Even as a believer of the Four Pillar Gods, the notion that a 'feeler of the Four Pillar Gods would save the world' sounded like dark humor even within their cult, didn't it? Even the Starry Four Pillar God Cult—while stopping short of destroying the world—was aiming to 'shatter the sky curtain,' which was a far cry from protecting the world.
"He hasn't mistreated me at all, though," Feili said. "Aside from money, he and Sister Weixi train me earnestly every day, and they celebrated my birthday with me, and... oh, right, they're helping me look for my father, even though we haven't found him yet."
Felix was startled. "You don't have a father?"
"Yeah. But I don't really miss him—after all, I've never seen him. I just want to see what kind of person Mother once loved." Feili shrugged. "And to ask him why he abandoned Mother and me."
"...You really ought to ask."
"What about you? How did you meet Yaxiu?" Feili blinked.
"Similar to you. He saved me." —Leaving aside the fact that I tried to use him as a meat shield.
"Are you close with Yaxiu?"
"Not very close. I rarely see him on formal occasions." —Though I touch his naked body every day in the bathroom.
"Then are you familiar with the Sword Princess and the Witch?"
Felix didn't answer right away, countering with a question instead: "Did Yaxiu tell you what his relationship is with the Sword Princess and the Witch?"
The Little Sheep nodded. "Yes. He said the Sword Princess and the Witch are the people he loves, and every now and then he reminisces about the fun things that happened between them."
*Eh?*
Felix was somewhat surprised. She had thought Yaxiu would conceal it, but hearing this, she also breathed a sigh of relief. "Right now, I'm technically a subordinate of the Sword Princess and the Witch. They've been waiting for Yaxiu to return. I don't know if I should say this, but their love for Yaxiu has reached a morbid degree. I really don't know how Yaxiu managed to bewitch them..."
"I don't think normal love can be called morbid," the Little Sheep said timidly.
"That's because you haven't seen it." Felix could finally vent her grievances. "Because Yaxiu went to your world, his body remained here, essentially in a deep slumber. I don't even want to say what specifically they did—after all, I wasn't there in person—but doing anything to an unconscious, sleeping person is obviously morbid behavior, right?"
After venting, she received no response from the Little Sheep. Looking up, she saw Feili wearing an expression of shame and embarrassment. Feili asked pitifully, "Is... is it really that terrible? But if they couldn't help themselves, surely it's forgivable?"
Felix's eyes went wide. Stunned for a moment, she asked, "You like Yaxiu too?"
The Little Sheep thought for a moment and nodded.
"You know he's from another world, right?"
A nod.
"And you know he has people he loves in another world—more than two of them, right?"
"Huh?" The Little Sheep was shocked. "There are others besides the Sword Princess and the Witch?"
"That depends on your next answer," Felix said. "Do you think he likes you?"
The Little Sheep blinked, then nodded anyway.
Felix let out a long sigh. Leaning against the wall beside her, she lowered her head and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders trembling slightly. The Little Sheep pondered for a moment and asked tentatively, "Don't tell me you like Yaxiu too?"
"Like him? Like hell I do!"
Felix abruptly seized the Little Sheep by the collar, completely unable to suppress the fury in her heart. She berated her furiously, "What kind of rare exotic beast do you think you're in love with? Just because you love him means everyone else has to? Sorry, maybe in your eyes he's some sort of treasure, but in my eyes, the only place he belongs is the trash can!
"Are you out of your mind? You knew he had other lovers, didn't you? Don't you know he's using you? You're not even a sorcerer, yet he trained you into a living weapon! How could you possibly like him?"
"I'm not a living weapon," the Little Sheep said stubbornly. "I volunteered to fight by his side! He didn't deceive me—he said he needed me, and I was the one who asked him to train me so I could help!"
"Volunteered, my foot! You... how could you—how could you—" Felix shoved her straight onto the ground. Pacing back and forth on the rooftop in pure fury, she felt a blazing rage that she couldn't contain at all. Her innards felt as if they were on fire, and she felt so stifled she could hardly breathe.
She shoved the Little Sheep against the wall, pinning her there, and ground her teeth as she asked, "Did he say he would abandon that world and stay by your side forever?"
"No." The Little Sheep shook her head firmly. "Even though there are difficulties, he has never given up on reuniting with the Sword Princess and the Witch. He will definitely return to his world."
"So you know full well that there will always be other women in his heart, yet you still want to love him, still want to chase after him?"
"It might not be forever. Maybe something else will happen, like if he has a change of heart..." The Little Sheep's voice grew quieter and quieter. But under Felix's piercing glare, her temper finally flared up.
How could someone who aspired to save the world and charge forward even in the face of the apocalypse be a spineless pushover with no temper?
"That's right! Even if he has other people in his heart, I still like him!"
*Slap!*
Felix didn't even know why she was this furious. Her whole body trembled, and she was so angry that she hadn't been able to stop herself from striking out.
Mist welled in her eyes. Biting her lower lip, she said in a cold voice, "How could you be so cheap?"
The Little Sheep touched her cheek, flushed red from the slap. She looked at Felix, bowed her head, and said, "I thought we could become good friends.
"It was nice meeting you. Goodbye."
With that, the Little Sheep pulled away from her and walked toward the portal.
Leaning against the wall, Felix felt as if her spine had been ripped out; all strength drained from her body.
She shouldn't have been so impulsive. She was just a shadow, they had only just met, and none of this had anything to do with her...
Yet she just couldn't help it. Seeing this girl who looked identical to herself walk down the path she loathed most—the path her mother had walked!
Was she... scolding Feili, or was she scolding her mother?
*It's like I've become an older sister, gaining a younger sister.*
Felix roughly wiped her eyes, turned, and ran toward the portal, shouting, "Wait! What... what is your name?"
Feili stopped in front of the portal. Rubbing away the tears forced out by the slap, she sniffed and shouted back, "Feili! What about you? What's your name?"
"I'm Felix!"
Just then, the portal expanded again, sweeping Feili in as she stood at the edge.
Without a second thought, Felix dove straight in after her. But a second later, she realized how foolish she was—after entering the portal, people were scattered randomly; there was no way to catch up to her.
Yet when she landed and looked up, the Little Sheep was standing right before her eyes.
Before she could apologize, gunshots and the clash of swords rang out together!
"So many people!" Feili pulled her behind the corner of a nearby building, complaining, "How are they allowed to team up? I got separated from Yaxiu!"
But Felix knew why these sorcerers could team up. In that brief glance just now, she had recognized their attire—they were all uniforms of the Fortress Legion, the Gryphon Company, and the Star-Flicking Guard!
They were the Starry sorcerer legions, who entered the Kingdom of Dreams through sleep!
Unlike the other Sanctuary sorcerers, they could naturally identify one another and belonged to the same faction, very likely carrying out a mission under orders!
A plan sprang to mind. Signaling the Little Sheep not to move, she shouted, "I'm a Starry sorcerer too! Must we fight?"
"You can join us. There is another very powerful Sanctuary sorcerer here that needs to be dealt with," a Star-Flicking warrior called back. "However, you must hand over your Holy Grail Fragments for centralized distribution."
"No way!" the Little Sheep said immediately. "I need to condense a Holy Grail too!"
"Then our apologies."
Felix took a deep breath and cast an enhancement miracle on the Little Sheep. "Feili, I'll cover you."
The Little Sheep shot her a surprised and delighted look. Forgetting the pain instantly, she smiled sweetly, "Okay, Little Sister Felix!"
Chapter 907