Chapter 142: Ayona

Following my call, the space to my right churned in an almost invisible manner, I instantly turned my head towards that direction as a wide grin made its way to my face. "Gotcha!" Not giving them any time to react, I launched myself like a predator at its prey.

The moment I did, the entire scarlet hill seemed to turn hazy as the countless flowers lost their bright red color, and turned into a dull normal color. The previously pleasant aroma was no more, as my nose picked up a familiar presence.

A small figure was hastily retreating ahead of me, yet I did not give them any chance to do so. With the disparity in size between us, I only needed a single claw to pin the tiny fairy to the ground as It let out a panicked yelp.

I had to be extremely careful not to accidentally squish the tiny thing beneath my weight. Now that the illusion was gone and the hill reverted to its normal state, I finally had time to study the little fairy squealing.

Short raven hair, long pointed ears, dark abyssal eyes without any white in them, and a row of tiny sharp shark-like teeth. Her overall face would have been considered cute if not for her sinister eyes and teeth.

As I was studying the little thing, it continued trying to break free as It bit and scratched at my claws, yet to no avail. I was honestly quite surprised I already encountered one so fast.

Still, I now understood why they were so hard to find. Their illusions were truly one of a kind. I was almost fooled as well, perhaps if the little fairy remained calm, she might have just gotten away. Yet that single moment of panic gave her location away.

That and a few other details helped me in the overall situation. Firstly, the illusion was not perfect, from the moment I saw the hill, something just did not seem right. Perhaps due to my high sensitivity to the mana, but the second I landed, I instantly felt a tiny almost invisible wave brush over me.

Then there were the flowers. Normally, with my giant size, I would leave a few dents in the ground as I passed through, needless to say, no normal flowers should be able to hold on under my claw. Yet these ones surprisingly did, I might have brushed it off as them being special, if not for the lack of reaction I got.

It felt as If I was touching something that wasn't quite there. This was when I was almost sure that everything was an illusion, yet here came the problem, I was still unable to sense the presence of the fairy responsible.

And so I took a gamble. With the Ynos's experience fighting them, I knew that one had to be close by to maintain the illusion, and so I chose a random direction and called out for it. Had the fairy been able to remain calm, I might have not noticed, yet It panicked and I managed to catch that small ripple in the surrounding mana.

Seeing that its struggle was meaningless, the fairy turned its gaze towards me, the madness that was there a second ago seemed to disappear as It gazed at me with a pitiful expression. It closed its mouth hiding those sharp pointed teeth and lowered its head trying to look harmless.

"Hoh? Aren't you a sneaky one?" I chuckled.

This was the first time I saw a fairy behave this way. Usually, the ones Ynos brings have eyes full of madness, almost akin to that of beasts. They always struggle until they can't anymore, yet this one was trying a different approach.

"Trying to make me pity you huh?" I smiled as I grabbed it between my claws, careful not to squish it to death.

Sensing that its plan was not working, the fairy began to panic once again as It struggled to escape. I curiously brought it closer to my face as I studied its features in greater detail. 'No matter how I look at it, this one seems more civilized than the others, It even has a dress of sorts,'

It was then that to my surprise, the tiny fairy began to speak, and what was even more surprising was that I could understand it.

"Oh, mighty dragon, guardian of the holy forest spare this little one! It was not my intention to drag you into my illusion, I beg for your mercy oh mighty dragon!"

The little fairy's voice had a childish hint to it and for a second I was baffled as I looked at it in surprise. "You can talk?" I asked almost subconsciously, to which the tiny little thing nodded her head constantly.

"This little one has been thought to use my illusions to communicate with other races by the great mother, I beg for your mercy oh mighty dragon!" She said causing my eyes to rise in surprise and curiosity.

"Using the illusions to communicate, that's quite interesting," I muttered, before asking.

"The great mother? Is that your queen?"

Hearing my question, the tiny fairy tilted her head to the side as a confused expression made its way to her face, "Q-Queen?" She said with unfamiliarity, almost as if she did not know what the word meant.

"Please spare me mighty dragon! I do not understand what this Queen means, I beg for your mercy!" She said as she constantly pleaded for her life.

'Hmm, it seems like the whole using illusions to speak isn't all-powerful as it seems, at least it looks like there are words and phrases she doesn't understand,' I inwardly noted before nodding.

"Calm down, If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already, so for nor answer my questions first," I said.

Hearing that, the tiny fairy's eyes opened wide in surprise before she began to tap on her forehead with two fingers as she constantly thanked me.

"Thank you oh great merciful dragon! Thank you for your mercy!" She said while as she continued taping her forehead.

'Interesting is that how they say thank you?' I mumbled, before continuing.

"Queen is like a leader of sorts, is this great mother the leader of your people?" I asked.

Hearing that, the tiny fairy had an enlightened expression on her face as she replied, "Ah, leader? Yes! The great mother is the mother of all fairies! She is the great mother! The great leader!"

"Hmm, I see one more question, do you have a name?"

Hearing that, a shocked expression took over her face as she gazed at me blankly for a few seconds before lowering her head and muttering, "Ayona..."

"Ayona?" I repeated causing her to nod as she further lowered her head.

'Hmm? What's wrong with her?'