FLASH!
Suddenly, a dream portal opened before me as the little Belle, in her fox form, showed up, jumping over the bed.
She looked all wounded and tired, her hair was missing in a few parts, and she was covered in blood.
"Belle!" I cried, hugging her tightly as I conjured my strongest Dream Heal Magic.
"Ahhh… Master… I am glad you're okay…" she sighed.
I quickly continued to conjure Healing Dream Magic Spells, as her open wounds were finally closed, and her bleeding stopped. But she seemed weakened, very weakened.
"Belle… What happened?" I asked.
"Ugh… nothing much… The dreamscape exploded and we almost died… But I brought you using my other body, the original one in the inheritance, dragging you there and saving ourselves in a pinch! Phew…" she sighed.
"I see… But… What I saw…" I said.
"Oh… T-That's… well, it was the real me… the true Venerable." She said.
"T-The true Venerable?! Belle, are you not messing with me, right?!" I asked.
"No… As her creation, I know where she is… I broke the very protocols that made me myself… and I disobeyed the orders that were engraved into my very being… Perhaps because we had made a contract, it was now possible for me to prioritize it over the one of the Venerable, Master… I… I did everything I could and asked her for help, your body was fine but your soul…. It was in the verge of collapsing and shattering…" she sighed.
"You… you did such a thing?" I asked.
"I… It was all my fault… the fight… everything… I brought you there… I was… I shouldn't had… I was reckless and stupid to bring you there, thinking we could find clues together…" she sighed.
"Belle, don't say that, it was something we couldn't expect, and it was still insightful, I learned a lot I didn't knew by going there…" I said.
"But still… I couldn't bear to see you in the verge of death, Master… I-I supplicated her to help you… And she agreed at the end… but the punishment of violating my contract with her was severe…. I received a lot of pain…" she sighed.
"S-So that's… why you are like this?" I asked.
"Hmm… B-But I am fine… I am happy that you're okay… Master… I was so worried…" she sighed.
"Belle… You shouldn't had done this… I could had healed by eating souls over time…" I said.
"No… It wouldn't had worked… you had too much damage…" she sighed.
"Is… that so?" I sighed.
"Yeah… Master… Aahh… I am so tired…." She sighed.
I began to gentle caress her as I continued to pour all my Mana into healing magic using dream attribute.
She slowly continued to heal and feel better, but I don't really know if the "punishment" she received was merely just pain and superficial damage…
Her energy had suddenly become rather unstable, I feel that the very veins of mana around her body were punished painfully as well.
"There… there… I am sorry, Belle…" I sighed.
"Don't… be sorry… I am happy you're okay… It was my fault…" she said.
"No, it wasn't… It was the fault of that bastard… We are going to get there and kill him for real this time… He clearly stated that he wanted a rematch, and its pretty obvious that he's in the Dark Shadow Sect… So we are going there…" I said.
"Hehe… You look so awesome when you're filled with determination… I am happy to have someone like you at my side…" she sighed.
"B-Belle…" I said, I felt a bit embarrassed out of the sudden.
I hugged the little fox in my arms, and caressed her while she rested, she felt happy to be showed such affection, affection that she never was able to receive in her entire life since she was created.
I even kissed her forehead and told her that I also appreciated her and that she was someone important to me now.
"Master… I am sho happy… Uwah… I feel… sleepy…"
Belle suddenly fell asleep peacefully. I need to leave her resting for now.
I gently held her in my arms and left her in her bed, moving it where the light of the sun reached her so she could stay warm.
I continued caressing her soft fur while healing her, Benladann was still sleeping, so there was time for me to dedicate it to her.
To think that Belle would go to such lengths for me… She's really… a foolish girl…
After around an hour, Benladann was slowly moving around bed and she might soon wake up, so I left a few little slime clones using the healing spells from my Level 8 Dream Magic, while Belle rested.
"Phew…" I sighed, as I sat down over the bed.
Now what?
I must first rest a bit and assess things correctly…
Good thing Fuyu's time dilation ability can let us have double the time per day…
To think I would encounter someone related to Greenwood so soon…
Really, this bastard is just everywhere.
Is there a place where his rotten influence is not there? I can't even imagine a place without him being in the shadows somehow.
Even if they are completely unrelated at the beginning, they always end up showing that they're indeed related to him.
Ugh…
So Black, was it?
His name is Black… this guy was most likely the bastard that behind the inheritance that the Dark Shadow Sect got, the inheritance behind the power of the Shadow Army, the Mana-eating Spiders, and more…
He was the bastard behind everything, this damn bastard!
So he not only specializes in Shadow and Darkness, but also in Dreams and Nightmares… I suppose they make a deadly combination.
But now I wonder, does he has a physical body?
It felt like he didn't, as if he was something different.
Perhaps a wandering soul?
Or… a Will?
Wills are a concept I had learned from Belle, they were a copy of a person's mind made into a separate entity, sometimes they're not even made of soul… could this be it?
