[Host, what do you mean by that?]
Ni Tian System, are you implying that I was smiling back at the female protagonist?
If Lis had no guilt or unease in her heart, then my smile to her would certainly just be a reasonable greeting.
But Lis is not only the female protagonist of this world; she truly isn't a simple woman.
If Lis hadn't told the male protagonist Mo Ge about her family's secret, she would have remained mediocre her entire life, just an ordinary person rather than a mage.
She was nothing more than an abandoned pawn of her family.
[Host, actually, the Original Host is probably also an abandoned pawn of the Yi Clan.]
That's why I don't understand what kind of games these ancient magical families are playing.
Never mind, thinking about it just makes my heart tired and my head ache. After a while, I'll go complete this task.
[Host, the male protagonist is so slow! Why hasn't he sensed it yet?]
As for that? Probably only that difficult-to-deal-with fellow knows, right?
[Host, could he be operating behind the scenes?]
Inside a palace within the Dark Forest, a black figure busily finished drawing the final strange rune within the Magic Array.
He continued to gaze at the scene in the crystal ball.
Watching Mo Ge's strained reaction, the youth instantly felt a great deal of comfort in his heart.
It's not enough, this is still not enough! Your family and everything you did to me—this pain, very soon, you will pay it all back to me, one by one.
But when the youth once again caught sight of a familiar figure, all the negative emotions in his heart vanished without a trace in an instant.
At some unknown moment, that familiar figure gently raised her head to look at the sky, as if she—she was looking right through the crystal ball and smiling directly at him.
Her triumphant smile seemed to tell him that she had actually seen through everything from the very beginning.
[Host, what are you smiling at again?]
Because I discovered that that difficult-to-deal-with fellow is secretly staring at me again.
As you said, I need to show a bit more softness toward him and make our relationship a bit more harmonious in the subsequent plot development. That way, our first task can be completed more smoothly, and we won't end up failing this mission and getting wiped out...
If that happens, will I still be able to Return to my original world? To my real life?
[Host, you're able to consider so much all at once, and think so far ahead, too.]
It's just that the reality is what it is. If my cannon-fodder counterattack fails the first time! If it's not fun anymore, then whether we are real or fake, my whole life would just be a dream of Nanke—that would be way too unreal.
[Host, I believe in you, you will definitely succeed. This isn't... a dream of Nanke...]
Ni Tian System, you should say *we* won't fail instead.
Host.
A really long time passed before Mo Ge finally reacted, stumbling to the ground, and Lis stepped forward to support him.
"The Demon Dragon seal is loosening. It seems the Demon Dragon really wasn't destroyed by the Yi Clan!" Mo Ge steadied his breath as much as possible and said.
"Look, didn't I tell you the truth?" Yi Yan coughed with a playful smile.
"What should we do then, Commander Mo? How can we strengthen the seal on the Demon Dragon? Do we really have to rely on her?" A group of mages looked at Mo Ge, then at the calm Yi Yan.
"We have no other choice," Mo Ge said in a deep voice.
...
Mo Ge's private tent.
"What on earth is your method to prevent the Demon Dragon from breaking the seal ahead of schedule and reappearing in the world?" Mo Ge asked.
"That's a secret. Knowing it too early isn't a good thing for you," Yi Yan said indifferently.
"Is that so?" Mo Ge asked with a dangerous tone.
"If you still don't believe me, then I have no other way, *cough*." Yi Yan casually found a chair and sat down.
"Then how on earth did you manage to escape from Yi Yu's clutches in the first place? I'm quite curious, given your magical level, you shouldn't be able to escape from his hands," Mo Ge said thoughtfully.
One had to know that on that day, Yi Yan had been directly snatched away from right in front of them by Yi Yu.
Mo Ge himself hadn't been able to react in time on the spot. Not only was that due to the influence of the Dark Forest, but it also proved that Mo Ge's magical strength was somewhat weaker than Yi Yu's.
"You've hit right on my point. That day, I was somehow paralyzed by Yi Yu, the public enemy of the magical world, and by the time I came to my senses, I had already been dragged off by him. You guys should be able to empathize with me! *Cough, cough!*"
"Hm! There is some truth to that. That at least makes sense." Mo Ge's eyes flickered.
"And midway, he suddenly tripped and collapsed unconscious for some reason. Then I saw the magic inside his body seemingly vanishing bit by bit, so I seized that opportunity to hurry away from him, *cough, cough*." Yi Yan still spoke with a calm demeanor.
"As expected, it's retribution," Mo Ge said matter-of-factly.
It seems the Lis Family's magic is indeed very effective against Yi Yu. Judging by this situation, Yi Yu doesn't have many days left.
"What retribution? Could it be that Commander Mo knows the inside story?" Yi Yan softly asked.
Yet Mo Ge did not pick up on Yi Yan's remark, instead turning the question back on her: "Given such a good opportunity back then, why didn't you just kill him? You only cared about running away yourself."
"Commander Mo, aren't you asking the obvious? My magical abilities are right there. If I had left any later, there's no guarantee I'd still be alive to this day, *cough*," Yi Yan continued.
Is that so? What a pity then. Yi Yu's condition hasn't reached its worst state yet.
"Commander Mo, are you listening to me? Then I'll go on. Because my magic is mediocre, even if I managed to momentarily escape from Yi Yu's clutches, with the Dark Forest and Dark Magic Beasts around, how could it be so easy to leave? I spent a full eight days, *cough, cough, cough*, wandering around in that sunless forest, *cough, cough*, and finally managed to come out, *cough, cough*." Yi Yan coughed lightly as she spoke.
"So that's how it was. You really had a hard time then. Yi Yan, do you know how to enter the interior of the Dark Forest? After all, you stayed there for so many days." Mo Ge asked again.
"Commander Mo, you really are forgetful. With my lowly magic, how could I possibly determine, *cough, cough, cough*... and find the exact location of their camp? Besides, during this period, I also unfortunately caught a cold, and up until now, *cough, cough, cough*... it still... hasn't, *cough, cough, cough*, gotten better!"
Watching the young girl sitting in the chair and coughing continuously, Mo Ge couldn't help feeling a shred of sympathy in his heart, but it quickly dissipated. She might be pretty, but she was far too useless.
Because of her weak magical strength, she had been easily captured by Yi Yu.
And when she happened to encounter Yi Yu in a weakened state, she lacked the courage to eliminate the threat and simply ran away.
Running away was even more brainless; for eight days, not only did she fail to discover the Dark Magic mages' camp, but she even caught a cold. Still, she was lucky enough to finally escape...
As Mo Ge thought about it, he suddenly felt that something she said didn't sound quite right.
"Little sister Yi Yan, how do you explain your personality suddenly changing so drastically? You couldn't have been hit by Dark Magic, and then passed fake news on to us, could you?" Lis parted the tent curtain and said.