Taking Care of the Fairy

The fairy's escape was extremely quick, and even the little angel had great difficulty catching up to her. But quite abruptly, the fairy slowed down. It seemed as if her burst of speed had chugged and come to an end, due to a complete exhaustion of her own strength. Now, even slower than usual, it fluttered away from the battle.

Han Sen and the little angel followed the fairy to the black mountain, and watched it retreat into the mouth of the cave the scorpion had once dug. Together, they followed the fairy inside.

Hastily, the tiny menace whizzed her way through the bamboo forest in a bid to reach the icy domain where they had first discovered it. Han Sen wasn't sure why it would retreat there, but he knew he would have to finish it off soon. He commanded the little angel to venture ahead and close the distance the fairy was currently gaining on them.

But the fairy had now gained a fair lead, and even if they went at their top speed, it'd be difficult for them to catch up anytime soon.

The fairy managed to reach the lake, and now that the narcissus was gone, a thick layer of ice coated the entire area. Not even the water could be seen anymore.

The fairy smacked the one foot thick ice that paned the water and shattered it. Without lingering, it quickly dove into the icy cauldron.

The little angel didn't hesitate to follow her in, and plunged in after her. To her surprise, the lake itself was shallow, only a few meters deep, at the most. Han Sen caught up and stood by the water's edge. The lake was pure and he could see what occurred below with startling clarity.

Han Sen watched the little angel swing her greatsword beneath the water, but it seemed as if something was repelling the completion of her strikes, and she was unable to deal damage to the heavily injured fairy.

When Han Sen looked closer, he noticed the fairy was hiding inside a fist-sized scallop shell. The scallop shell was translucent like refined ice, and you would only notice its presence if you peered closely.

As the fairy lay inside the scallop shell, it was naked and bleeding heavily. Its butterfly-like wings fluttered weakly, and it looked scared by the menacing angel that lusted for its blood.

Han Sen observed the little angel deliver a few more strikes, all to no avail. Then, he commanded her to pick up the entire scallop shell from the lake.

The scallop shell felt cold when Han Sen held it in his hand. It was unlike any other shell he had ever held before. It looked as if it had been carved from some icy jade, yet it looked natural and it didn't seem to have been crafted by anyone.

"Is this gear that was created by the fairy?" As Han Sen mulled the question, he examined the dying fairy, which appeared to be in shock.

But Han Sen came to the conclusion that this assumption was incorrect. The fairy was born from a narcissus, so it hadn't had the opportunity to create gear for itself yet. After all, even if it could make gear, why would it create a scallop shell?

Han Sen placed the scallop shell on the ground and bid for the little angel to smack it a few more times. But it was incredibly durable, and try as she might, she could not break it open. The repeated strikes only drew thin white marks across its previously untarnished exterior.

Han Sen then sought to try out his toxic-dragon drill on it, but that proved futile. After that strike, all that remained on the shell was a little white dot.

He tried everything at his disposal, but still, he could not crack the shell open. With a great depression, his heart sunk with the thought, "Taking on this fairy was no small feat. Will this whole thing result in failure, all due to its hiding?"

But quickly, Han Sen noticed something was amiss. The fairy should have been happy at Han Sen's inability to get at it. But instead, it looked shocked, and worse than ever.

Han Sen picked up the scallop once more and noticed something wrong with it.

The scallop was not empty, as its interior was full of a transparent liquid. Han Sen at first believed it to be water from the lake, but upon closer inspection, realized it wasn't.

The liquid was corrosive, and it was rotting the fairy's wounds. It wasn't healing, and instead, it was doing much worse.

Han Sen smiled at this revelation. Just as he believed, the scallop shell was indeed not a gear created by the fairy.

Han Sen then assumed the scallop shell belonged to another creature but somehow, it had ended up at the bottom of the lake. Searching for safety, the fairy tried to use it as a hiding spot. She most likely did not realize the oozy mucus inside the shell would deteriorate her wounds into an even worse state.

Perhaps she had hidden inside the shell before, but the liquid couldn't do anything to her fair and undamaged body. Maybe that was why she thought it a great idea to hide inside, and jovially prevent Han Sen from finishing her off.

But the fairy did not expect the previously harmless liquid to begin finishing her off. She was trapped inside, all the while her wounds eroded.

"Let's see you get out of this one," Han Sen calmly mocked the fairy, but did not believe she would submit to the fate of a grisly corrosion inside the shell without attempting one last daring escape. By remaining inside, a far less merciful death would await her than what Han Sen would gleefully provide.

Her entire body now slowly melted, and it was going to do so until only her bones remained. It was going to be a horrific death, for sure.

If Han Sen was the fairy, he'd have come out and fought by now. Dying in battle was far better than the slow, torturous death of being withered away by a thick and translucent mucus.

But the fairy was still stubbornly holding on, not daring an escape.

Han Sen was in no rush, though. He allowed the little angel to hold onto the scallop shell for him as they departed the bamboo forest and returned to the Yellowstone City. There was no fear of the fairy daring an escape, as her death was secured no matter what she attempted.

But it did look like it was going to be a while before it died, and judging from the fairy's face, it wasn't yet ready to run off, if it ever would be.

The fairy was already badly injured, and it was only going to get worse the longer it remained inside. The later it exited the shell, the weaker it would be. Han Sen no longer had any worries about this entire affair with the fairy. For the chance of obtaining its beast soul, Han Sen allowed the little angel to continue holding it and stay vigil for its slaying, if the fairy every decided to leave the shell.

Even if he could not receive the beast soul, he could refine her Life Geno essence or eat her flesh. Either way, slaying her would be beneficial. Her blood could feed the Death Knell, too. With the blood of a second-generation super creature, perhaps his bell pet would start growing.

After resolving the entire debacle with the fairy, Han Sen no longer wanted to linger in the solitary shelter. He hadn't found out why there was a super spirit chained up in the spirit hall, but he ultimately decided it had nothing to do with him and didn't mind leaving the mystery unresolved. After preparing his supplies, he rallied Zhou Yumei and Little Orange to accompany him in a journey across the desert sands and away from the Yellowstone City.

The fairy was still hanging on inside the scallop shell, as her wounds got worse and worse. Han Sen figured she wouldn't survive another ten days, and by then, she'd be nothing but bones.

"Do you actually know the way out of here?" Zhou Yumei asked from atop Little Orange, as the unceasing sun bore down on her.

"No." Han Sen quickly replied. He had selected a direction and decided to stick to it, but he had no defined path that would lead him out of the Black Desert.

Zhou Yumei thought about starting an argument with Han Sen, and she raised her lips to do so. But right before the words left her lips, the sound of a bird screeching pierced their eardrums. Far across the sweltering dunes of the Black Desert, a black-flamed phoenix-like bird was flying.