Stray

    Hedging took much longer than they thought.

      The magic power condensed into an extremely thin bundle through the bones in his hand, and swam away with the slightly trembling roots. In his eyes, the ugly root system was getting closer and clearer.

    The wriggling roots almost covered Natine's thin body. Nemo dared not move a step, patiently withering them one by one. He could feel sweat seep out of his forehead and slide down his brows. It seemed like an endless job, and it was daunting to look at, but fortunately Oliver couldn't see the roots.

    Nadine was still bleeding slowly, she was barely hanging on with a little magic. And Oliver is holding her hands to input magic power gently, and adjust carefully as the root system absorbs. That's not an easy job, the amount of root extraction will only get bigger, and people will only get more and more tired. The two of them tensed their nerves, making sure that every second that slipped by was flawless. This is a wrestling with no end in sight, after all, no one knows how the roots will react when they leave.

    They can only continue to concentrate, and seven hours have passed.

    There was a clatter of spell collisions across the house, and there was only one possibility—Godwin was coming, and Adrian and Jesse were stopping him.

    "Lopez is here!" Ann, who was in charge of vigilance on the roof, proved their idea, "He's not alone..." She sounded hesitant for a while, but changed the subject. "Cross can carry it for the time being, you two will keep it up - if it really doesn't work, I will go to support."

      Nadine has lost too much blood, and she can't be drawn for life as her body is on the verge of death. As they had deduced, the root system apparently sensed this, and instead tried to drain all the energy that supported the body.

    Ten, five, three, last. The speed at which the root system extracts power is getting crazier.

    Nemo could see clearly, the sweat had slipped down on Oliver's eyelashes, but he didn't even dare to blink. Lisa stubbornly stood aside, and did not retreat to the side to rest due to the long time-consuming process. She clenched tightly on the small wooden comb that she had just used to comb Nadine's hair, the teeth of the comb got stuck in the flesh of her palm, and blood dripped on the sand, but she didn't seem to notice it.

    Nadine's hand moved suddenly. She opened her mouth slightly and let out a sharp, dying gasp.

    "Stop it...you've done your best," she said softly, in a tone like a sigh.

    "But..." Oliver's voice was questioning, but the huge magic output was not messed up at all. A huge torrent of power surged in the root system without any fluctuation.

    "...otherwise I'll kill you, Mr. Ramon." Nadine's hands trembled a little, "It's almost over, I know. I might struggle, and you're right now I opened my mind, and once I..."

    She didn't go on, but the two people present understood.

    No one expected that the process would take so long. She was in a dying state for seven hours, and the end must be accompanied by the greatest burst of energy. They don't know if they can keep up. If something goes wrong, they may or may not be able to save Nadine in time. But the roots will definitely sense this, and they won't have a second chance.

    At this moment, she is like a person who is about to drown. When the most distressing moment comes, she may be desperate to grab the rescuer and drag them into the water with her. Oliver was pouring magic power into her, his spirit was open, which meant—his lifespan was at hand for Nadine.

    It was like a glass of water appeared in front of someone who was about to die of thirst, and a fire appeared in front of someone who was about to freeze to death. Her will has been consumed overnight, and the desire to survive at the moment of death will be stronger and difficult to restrain.

    And Nadine herself noticed it.

    "As I said, you owe me nothing, Mr. Lo... Mr. Ramon."

    "I help you because I believe in you." Oliver didn't withdraw his hands, even a smile appeared on his face. "It has nothing to do with what my father did. Miss Nadine, I trust you - if you stop because 'might be in danger'."

    He glanced quickly in Nemo's direction. "...then that trust is meaningless."

    "You are such a cruel person." Nadine murmured.

    "Yes." Oliver replied gently. "I repeat. I trust you, Miss Nadine."

    The witch raised her head very slowly, her sand-gold eyes emerging from the sagging skin, calm and sad.

    The root system swells suddenly and then shrinks rapidly. Nemo took a breath, the black magic thread quickly tightened, and at the same moment, Oliver suddenly increased the magic output. The sky above them made a series of roars, and all the roots withered, and then slowly faded away. Nemo snapped his gaze to the witch in the rocking chair—

    The air around Nadine was twisted, and she seemed to be burned by transparent flames. Oliver let go of his hand subconsciously, took a few steps back, and also stared at the thin figure.

    The witch didn't whine, she didn't even move. Nadine lay there quietly, like the ashes of firewood after the last sparks had gone out. Her eyes were closed, and she couldn't see the rise and fall of her chest.

    Oliver was about to touch her when Nemo stopped him.

    "She doesn't seem to be in a conscious state, I'll be safer." Nemo said calmly, wiped the sweat from his face, and stretched out his right hand in front of the rocking chair.

    But he didn't touch the "skin" of the living creature.

    Despite what looked like skin, it cracked and collapsed under his touch, dispersing into a pale powder. Nemo's back froze, and he increased the strength of his fingers while trying to activate the healing spell—

    He caught something under that thick layer of ash.

    The witch moved a little, and the ashes all over her body began to collapse. Her wrinkled skin cracked, and then fell off as dust, and her gray hair fell down in huge chunks. It was a horrific sight.

    In the gap of dust, a little gold was exposed.

    Most of the dust on Nadine's body fell off, and what was exposed looked like a living mummy, or a dying anorexic patient. The witch's pale skin stretched over the skeleton, the blood vessels worming around the bone. Her eyeballs were particularly bulging, and her short, soft blond hair was clinging to her scalp. She looked weak and frightening.

    But it was not the body of an old man.

    "I held it back." She said in a very soft voice, and the nice voice didn't seem so discordant at the moment. "...I held back."

    "I didn't kill you..." Tears slid down Skull's eye sockets, "Good."

    Nadine was so weak that she closed her eyes slightly. Nemo hurriedly grabbed her hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

    "She's all right," he said with a lingering fear, "just...very weak and needs rest."

    Lisa sat down on the ground, she unconsciously grabbed the sand with her injured hand, the expression on her face was a mixture of crying and laughing, and finally the mixed emotions turned into a difficult choking. The orange cat slipped to the rocking chair and rubbed the witch's skinny ankle skillfully, making a purring sound in her throat.

    Oliver was also relieved. He swayed a few times and nearly fell, but Nemo quickly caught him.

    "Oli." Taking advantage of the numbness in his brain, Nemo took a few deep breaths, intending to explain it clearly in one breath. "Listen, I-"

    "This is what you guys did?" A somewhat familiar voice sounded, interrupting Nemo's muttering.

    The two raised their heads—Godwin Lopez folded his arms in front of his chest and was looking at Nadine, who was no longer aging in the reclining chair, with no joy or anger on his face. "The power response in her was gone."

    Nimo looked up to the roof immediately, and the figure of the female warrior had disappeared - but Ann would not strike without leaving a signal, perhaps the situation was not as bad as they thought. Oliver, who was beside him, grabbed the hilt of the Sword of Rest, barely standing still.

    "Yes." Oliver raised his green eyes that were the same as the other party, "Miss Nadine has broken away from her roots, she is no longer the Eastern Witch."

    Godwin raised his eyebrows and strode up to the witch. The orange cat's tail that was still rubbing at the witch's feet quickly drooped down, it hurriedly ran away, and hid quietly behind Oliver.

    Oliver clenched the hilt while Nemo had a hand behind his back, shadows flowing quickly between his fingers.

    But Godwin did not draw his sword, he seemed to have no interest in Nadine in front of him. The two magic circles formed in the air, and then the wonderful translucent pattern directly filled the entire backyard, extending to the sky above their heads.

    "The strength of the abyss magic is not worth mentioning, but the control precision is very good." After studying the lines, he glanced at Nemo. "As for surface magic...well, interesting."

    He put away the magic circle and walked to Oliver. Nemo arched slightly, ready to activate his defensive spells. If there is an emergency, he doesn't mind revealing his identity.

    At the same time, the familiar scream of a girl came from far to near. "Captain, wait a minute—"

    "Oliver Ramon." Godwin's voice was steady. "Join the horizon and follow me."

    Debbie stumbled on her feet, and her whole body fell hard. And the black shadow group between Nemo's fingers trembled and almost fell to the ground.

    “…Huh?” Oliver expressed his doubts very bluntly.

    "I investigated." Godwin said in a deep voice, "From the Black Badge exam to all the tasks you have taken over, you have not led your team to cause any casualties. The evil in Vincent Township The most comments, but I found someone to investigate, and it is almost certain - that war was settled by your help."

    "There is no way a person with this style of behavior would conspire to kill his own father just because he 'wanted property'." "If you join the horizon, I can send someone to help you find out. Your strength is very strong, you should use it on the right track." He glanced at the bone sword in Oliver's hand.

    "I don't think I've strayed from the right path." Oliver's face did not show the joy of being praised.

    "Nimo Wright, Adrian Cross, Jesse Dillon." Godwin said word by word, "The first two have no connection with the devil, the latter He is known for his ruthlessness and bloodlust. Even if you don't stray right now, it's not wise to walk on this edge."

    "I've been an adult for a long time, Mr. Lopez." Oliver twitched the corners of his mouth, "I have my own judgment."

    "I am offering you a chance to break away from the black seal." Godwin did not show any surprise, "You can live as a legal citizen and serve the country and justice. — If you're worried about your mates, I'm sure Ms Savage would make a good leader."

    Nemo held his breath subconsciously, and turned to look at Oliver.

    "I appreciate your proposal, Mr. Lopez. But I don't quite agree with Horizon's style of doing things." Without hesitation, Oliver shook his head seriously. He accentuated the pronunciation of the word "Lopez." "Take a step back, I have no dissatisfaction with my current situation. I'm just a small person, and the word 'righteousness' is too heavy... Before I figure it out, I prefer to help the people around me."

    This time Godwin stared at him for a long time before speaking: "Aren't you proud of being a swordsman?"

    "Of course not." Oliver grinned.

    Nimo tried very hard to suppress a chuckle.

    Godwin frowned, seeming to resent the answer. "I respect your decision, Mr. Ramon." His voice was a little cold, also accentuating "Ramon". "Then that's it, my mission is over. According to the rules, I won't do anything to Ms. Nadine. You really don't have any actual 'hostile' behavior, and I won't clear you this time."

    “…but it won’t be the case next time we meet.”

    "Captain..." Debbie got up from the ground and patted the soil on the robe. "Can I stay here for a while?"

    "As you like, remember to meet at the hotel at noon." Godwin didn't hesitate, he simply turned and left.

    "Is this okay?" Seeing Debbie walking in this direction, Nemo put away the shadow between his fingers. "He might actually be able to clear your name."

    "When the situation stabilizes, we can try it ourselves." Oliver shrugged, "I have a hunch that my cousin and I will not be in harmony... After all, I still don't know what is' Swordsman's Pride'."

    This time Nemo let himself chuckle. But to his surprise, Debbie didn't come to talk to him first - the girl nodded at him, ran to Nadine first, and used magic to float the rocking chair.

    "I'll see you later, Nemo." Debbie said seriously. "I'll go and help settle Ms. Nadine first."

    "Okay, let's go get her something to eat." Nemo nodded and grabbed Oliver again. "Ann must have gone to Adrian's side. Listening to Godwin's tone, they shouldn't be a big deal."

    But Nadine cleaned everything up, not even a cookie was left. After a few minutes, Nemo sternly closed the last cabinet.

    "Speaking of which... what did you want to say to me just now?" In the gradually white sky, everything in the kitchen gradually became clear. Oliver, who was resting against the wall, turned his face - he had just washed the sweat and sand off his face, showing a look of anxiety on his face.

     Nemo's movements froze. He walked numbly to the kitchen door, locked it with a snap, and cleared his throat unnaturally. Watching the other party's movements, Oliver, who was leaning against the wall, straightened his back instantly, looking definitely more nervous than when facing Godwin.

    "Oli."

    Nemo took a deep breath, his heart twitched, and his fingertips were numb as electric shock. Does confession feel like this? Compared to Oliver, who confessed calmly, he was not even a little bit worse. After adjusting his emotions for a few seconds, Nemo strode up to Oliver, frantically sorting out all the relevant knowledge in his mind. He tried his best to look calm, but judging from Oliver's expression, he shouldn't have been too successful.

    "I do have something to say."

    He stretched his left arm over the right side of Oliver's neck and put his hand on the wall behind him. Nemo obviously did not control his strength, and accidentally pressed several obvious gaps on the tiles on the wall.

    "...you said." Oliver responded with difficulty when he heard the cracking sound of the tiles breaking in his ear.

    "I figured it out... I like you." Nemo solemnly grabbed the other's front with his spare right hand, and his voice became a little erratic due to nervousness. "Oli, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

    "..." Oliver was silent for a long time, and put his hand on the other's hand grabbing his front.

    "It's a bit difficult." He answered blankly, his tone still a little dazed after shock. "How is your boyfriend?"

    (m..=)