Chapter 79: The Forest Maze

"Is this for real?" 

I was shocked. The high-level magic I had cast to save Elara had turned into naught?

Although I didn't expect it to severely injure Michelle, at least hit and show some effects right? 

To be honest, since Michelle no longer had any angelic aura on her twelve wings, I wanted to see if she still had immunity against energy attacks.

"Feliciana! I thought you were alright, and was even thinking of recruiting you... But now it seems I can't let you off!" 

Michelle stared at me fiercely after my sure-kill attack was interrupted.

"Uh... Why don't you reconsider?"

I didn't expect myself to be so highly regarded in her eyes. After all, even someone as important as Meg had been persuaded by Jeanette. I suddenly realized that joining the Fire God's side might not be so bad after all.

"You..."

Michelle opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a dirty and dishevelled two-winged angel suddenly rushed in between us, shouting.

"Norma! Where are you, Norma!"

"Who are you?"

I looked at her up and down. She seemed very familiar, but with all that mud and blood on her face, I couldn't recognize her at all.

"Feliciana?" 

Upon hearing me speak, she recognized me instead, and immediately flew over to shake me violently.

"Tell me, did something happen to Norma? Just now when I was fighting monsters nearby, I met Gwen and the others. They said Norma had been killed by a red-haired angel who looks just like me!"

"You are Cyra? Why do you look like this?"

Through her words, I finally recognized who she was. I didn't expect her to show up at a time like this! I could only nod and reply:

"Yes, it's true. Norma was indeed killed! The murderer is that red-winged angel fighting Elara up in the sky..."

I was also very sad about Norma's death. But Cyra didn't give me much time to grieve. This fool went boldly forward, pulling out a long sword and charging straight at Michelle.

"You dare to kill Norma, I will fight you for her revenge!"

"You idiot! Do you want to die?"

Seeing this, I rushed forward and grabbed her back. But Cyra was still stubborn even after I held onto her clothes. She even threw the long sword at Michelle.

At that moment, two things happened at the same time:

First: Elara, who I had just saved, took the chance to sneak attack Michelle while she was distracted.

Second: Just as Michelle barely blocked Elara's attack, the surroundings abruptly changed, as if a switch had been flipped. The sky instantly reverted to Edenmere's endless light.

"How is this so fast? Could it be..."

Michelle looked up in disbelief. With the two sudden developments hitting her at once, her attention was completely drawn away. She no longer had any energy left to care about anything else.

This included Cyra's long sword that was spinning and flying haphazardly towards her...

And so, against all odds, the sword sliced past the unguarded Michelle, leaving a tiny cut on her cheek.

"You..." 

Michelle drove Elara back with a sword thrust, then touched the wound on her cheek. Looking at the blood on her fingers, she was suddenly furious.

"You dare injure me! And with a mere two-winged angel..."

"Crap!" 

I thought to myself that things had taken a terrible turn. Although it seemed we had somehow returned to Edenmere again, there was no time for celebration. I still didn't know what exactly had happened.

If it was Elara who had injured her, Michelle might not have been so angry. But to be wounded in the face by Cyra, a two-winged angel, given Michelle's arrogant personality, she definitely wouldn't let this go easily.

Cyra should look at the situation! The Royal Hall had already become a high-level battlefield for the big shots. How could a two-winged angel like her rashly interfere? 

Even I was looking for a chance to escape!

"You two have done it this time..."

Elara sighed, flew over and grabbed one of us in each hand. She then flew off in a random direction.

"Run away with me!"

"You think you can escape just like that? I'll catch up eventually!"

As expected, Michelle recklessly chased after us from behind. She had no intention of letting us off.

"Lady Elara, what are you doing? Let me go, I want to fight her to the death!"

All the way, Cyra kept struggling and trying to break free of the restraint. But with her strength, there was no way she could succeed.

"You should keep quiet for now! That's Michelle, even Nicola can't deal with a monster like her."

I said impatiently. Fortunately, I had learned high-speed flying techniques from Aetina earlier, so I could barely keep up with Elara's speed.

As for Cyra, she could only be carried by Elara the whole time.

"Michelle? She's the Michelle you mentioned?"

Upon hearing the name, Cyra seemed to have trouble believing it. Only then did she realize who she had provoked. 

"No duh, with those obvious twelve wings behind her, you can't see it?"

If not for this guy, Norma wouldn't have been charmed by Michelle's looks which led to her death. But she had some conscience for wanting to avenge Norma, though with her current strength, success was unlikely.

"This Michelle is too strong, simply unfathomable. Even I have no chance of winning against her. Escaping with you two now is just a stopgap measure. We can only lead her somewhere else first." 

Elara spoke up at this point. It seemed her earlier act of saving Cyra wasn't just an impulsive move, but because she had no choice but to retreat. 

"Then... what should we do?"

After keeping silent for a while, Cyra finally realized her situation and weakly asked.

"What about the other angels in the city? After I escaped from the Tivi Palace alone, I followed some angel guards and killed many monsters. Even the grunts seemed very difficult to deal with."

"That's because you are too weak! Actually, with the angel guards' strength, these invading monsters aren't that huge of a threat..." 

As Elara spoke, she glanced back at the relentless Michelle behind them. She abruptly twisted her body to narrowly dodge the Hephaestus Sword flung at them.

"We should be back in Edenmere now. Let's first head to the forests outside the city. The complex terrain there would be more advantageous for us."

"Wow, that was swordsmanship!" 

Seeing Michelle attack angels for the first time, Cyra cried out dramatically. 

"Still want to fight her to the death?"

I taunted her. Fortunately, Michelle's weapon had lost quite a bit of speed in high-velocity flight, giving us ample time to react.

"I didn't know back then..."

Cyra didn't dare speak anymore. Her current demeanour was a far cry from her boldness earlier. She had become utterly cowardly. 

Due to the high speed, we were already out of the city area. But Michelle was still hot on our tails, occasionally flinging fiery bullets and other tricks. She had no intention of letting us off.

"We can't keep fleeing like this right? Moreover, we're dragging a burden!" 

I glanced at Cyra and couldn't help asking Elara. After all, Michelle was travelling light. Getting caught was only a matter of time.

"I remember there's an ancient forest maze not far ahead planted by the previous Elara. Perhaps we might have some luck there."

She lowered her head in thought for a while, then pointed to the front. Looking in that direction, I could vaguely make out an abrupt short mountain peak standing there. Its top was slightly flat.

When we flew closer, I realized it was a very lush forest. Every tree stretched straight into the clouds, and the trunks even emitted a faint glow. 

"Quick, hide inside!"

Elara charged into the forest at the first command. Without hesitation, I followed right after. 

The trees here were deliberately arranged. Most trunks didn't have the slightest gap between them, forming interconnected passages. Coupled with the dense branches and leaves overhead, not a single speck of sky could be seen. It felt like an indoor maze.

If not for the glowing trunks providing light, the surroundings would have been pitch black and we wouldn't be able to see anything.

"This forest covers a large area. It can temporarily provide us with protection. Let's rest first!"

After a few turns, Elara landed directly on the ground and started using the Light magic "Healing" to treat her injuries. 

Aetina had just taught me this spell yesterday. The Council of The Mage specially developed it for angels. Unfortunately, due to the limits of human talent, the healing efficiency wasn't high and it had many restrictions. But it was still the only recovery magic angels could use.

"Has Michelle come in yet?"

Cyra looked back nervously at where we came from. Our entrance point had long been obscured by the dense trees.

"What if we get lost too? Can we fly out from above the treetops?"

"Of course!" 

Elara nodded.

"This place was originally built to provide entertainment for angels. Occasionally competitions would also be held here. For us, bursting through the tree canopy is very easy to escape whenever we want. But it would be difficult for someone outside to find our location."