15 Why Did You Not Escape?

It was at this moment when the Greenwood spirit moved. It was so fast that Lin Fang couldn't even see how it moved. To him it looked like he had vanished into thin air. But Flame Princess seemed to sense something as she jumped left raising her staff. Unfortunately, her movements weren't enough to save her as a large number of stones hit her pinning her to the ground. The Greenwood spirit was standing on top of the rocks that pinned her down. It laughed and said something to her which Lin Fang couldn't hear from this distance.

It turned to look in Lin Fang's direction. Lin Fang felt like he was being eyed by death itself as his back was covered in cold sweat. No chance of escape, this was the only thought that rang in his mind. But the monster seemed to be one who kept his words as didn't chase after Lin Fang directly. It vanished from the spot leaving a trapped Flame Princess behind. Normally, Lin Fang wouldn't let such an experience mountain go but he realised the situation he was in. Seeing the confidence and speed of the spirit he knew his chance of survival were too low.

He could start running now and maybe he would make it out alive, but thinking of the monsters expression, he knew how that would turn out, plus that splitting headache was clouding his judgement making it hard for him to move his body. Suddenly his body felt weak as the world around him turned upside down. Just what was wrong with him?

Since he couldn't move his body to escape, he only had one chance of survival. He turned back and used every ounce of energy in his body to start running towards the large pile of rocks. The journey which barely took 30 seconds originally now took a whole 3 minutes.

By the time he reached Flame Princess's, his whole body was covered in sweat and he was breathing heavily.

The moment everyone scattered, she had hope that some of them would survive. But looking at The Greenwood Spirits speed shattered all of it. Just when she was planning on what to do next, she felt a terrifying killing aura in her surroundings. Her body couldn't help but shiver at the strength of this aura. Since young, she had learned to recognise killing intent and even felt the intent of many strong practitioners but compared to this, they were like a dwindling candle in the face of a burning sun. Who could this terrifyingly strong being be, she thought.

At this moment something hit the rocks upon her and shattered them to pieces allowing her to move again. She looked up to see the face of her saviour only to find Lin Fang standing above her. His condition didn't look good as his face was completely pale, he was breathing heavily and covered in cold sweat. No mistaking it, the aura is coming from him, she thought.

When Lin Fang saved her, her familiar smiling expression didn't change at all. Even if it did, he wouldn't care right now as his body fell backwards on the ground with a thud. He was in too much pain to even move a muscle

"The 10 minute spell- only chance- survival", he said as he went to and fro between consciousness and unconsciousness. She seemed to understand what he said as she started making preparations by pulling out various items out of her storage. It is him, no doubt about it, she thought in her mind as she prepared the spell. But how does a noob like him have such a terrifying aura, she thought. She couldn't think of an answer but it was clear that this guy was not simple.

Meanwhile, Lin Fang's breathing had stabilised, even though his head was still splitting up, he could control the pain now. He looked towards Flame Princess and asked in a weak voice, the question that had been bugging him for a while.

"Why?"

"hmm",she said, Lin Fang took that as a signal to continue.

"W-why did y-you stay b-back when you c-could have tried to e-escape?", he asked as his voice shook.

He had been wondering about this in his mind since he saw her cover for her men. He didn't understand, he only cared about his grandfather since young, for him the rest of the world might as well go to hell. She on the other hand decided to cover for her guild members. Since the players had spawned randomly, the chances of her knowing those guys were too low, so why? Why would she try to protect them?

She continued her work as if she hadn't heard his words. Just when Lin Fang thought that she wasn't going to answer she started speaking.

"For they are my guild mates, my subordinates, people whose I trust." As she replied, she saw that Lin Fang was about to say something but she continued without stopping as she knew what he wanted to ask.

"So what if I didn't know their names before they spawned in this region, as their superior if I ran away before them, they may not question my authority or position outside, but their would still be some dissatisfaction left in their hearts. So many guilds have collapsed because the leaders were incompetent and used their own as meat shields but not me. Besides this is just a game so what if I die, I can always come back to kill that demon again."

Even though she said this to Lin Fang, she was also comforting herself. She had a distant and profound look in her eyes as she made weird hand signs. Lin Fang didn't see that look in her eyes because his headache was increasing due to his contemplation. But he didn't stop, he continued thinking about what she said, he wanted to know, know why she did what she did.

Then it struck him like lightening. Yes, originally he wanted to play this game because he enjoyed games and wanted to play games his whole Life. But after seeing his Grandfather's message, all that was left was a thirst, to learn the truth behind it all, to fight back and regain what should have been rightfully his. He had forgotten all his grandfather taught him, forgotten that this was a game, and turned heartless. Normally, he wouldn't have killed random players like this and tried other avenues but his hurry had made him lose his way. It cost something way more than what he gained, it had cost him his consciousness.

It takes time to explain this but went through his enlightenment in barely anytime.

"Har-Har-Har, what a nice and touching speech, a pity those men weren't able to survive anyway." A voice came from the trees in front. Flame Princess seemed to have expected this as their wasn't any change in her hands speed. The Greenwood Spirit had appeared before them.

"Time to end this farce." It said as it appeared from behind the tress and started moving towards them slowly, waiting for their faces to turn from expressionless to pure horror. Unfortunately its dream wasn't about to come true.

Lin Fang felt that this headache would kill him but instead of screaming in pain or shivering in horror, he smiled.

"Yes you are right. Its just a game, my grandfather would have been very disappointed." he said in a barely audible voice. He felt as if an explosion had gone off in his head and he fell unconscious after saying this.

The moment he fell unconscious, the killing aura around him didn't dissipate but seem to increase by at least ten fold. It felt like it was screaming for blood. Song Ming(Flame Princess) found this aura suffocating as she felt a terrible danger. But this time she didn't lose her composure like last time, she still had that smile as she moved a bit away from Lin Fang. Even the face of the Greenwood Spirit had lost its playful smile as it turned serious looking towards Lin Fang whose unconscious body stood up on its own.