NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The First Encounter
In fact, Miss Vilyric had hoped to encounter local residents hunting or gathering fruit in this forest, as it would allow her to conveniently understand the general situation of this world without taking too much risk.
However, now that night had fully fallen without a single shadow in sight, it seemed this plan would have to be temporarily shelved. According to the common sense of Blue Star, hunters generally didn’t venture into the mountains at night; it was too dangerous.
Just as Miss Vilyric was about to pull out her gear to set up camp for the night and think of a new plan, a faint scream suddenly floated on the wind, piercing through the tranquility of the night. Although it wasn’t too loud, it stood out in the quiet night.
“…?”
“Master, it’s coming from that direction.”
Little Dragon Daughter Xiao Guang evidently caught the sound too, but she didn’t make any special movements; she just looked at Miss Vilyric with a questioning gaze.
“Let’s go check it out.”
Without further hesitation, the black-haired girl jumped off the stone, summoned her weapon, and dashed towards the source of the sound, with Xiao Guang right on her heels.
Unlike her previous leisurely pace, Miss Vilyric cast two swift blessing spells upon herself, increasing her speed significantly. In less than a minute, she traversed the dark, treacherous forest and approached the location of the incident.
Not barging in recklessly, Miss Vilyric found a slightly higher thicket where she and Xiao Guang could hide their forms and observe quietly.
This was a life-and-death struggle.
One side was a group of five led by a man in gray armor, while the other was a gigantic feline beast, its fur so dark it nearly melded with the night.
Indeed, those were humans, the same species that Miss Vilyric recognized. However, compared to the generally frail and bookish humans from Blue Star, these individuals appeared much more robust. Even the youngest girl, who seemed small and thin with a wooden staff, looked quite spirited.
The black tiger engaged in battle was nearly three meters long, its muscles rippling, yet agile as a cunning rabbit. Every swipe of its claws made a heavy thud and a piercing scratch against the warrior’s shield or armor, causing the opposing side to falter and struggle to respond.
The tiger moved swiftly, expertly using the cover of night to conceal itself, leaping through the dense forest like a shadow as it attacked the human group.
In contrast, although the human side had five members, aside from the leading warrior, the others couldn’t keep up with the black tiger’s movements. A woman in light leather armor perched in the trees could occasionally use her bow to restrain the enemy, but the other three were stuck behind a translucent shield, staring wide-eyed in frustration.
Miss Vilyric noticed that among the three onlookers, a young man in armor similar to that of the leading warrior lay pale on the ground, a large pool of crimson blood beneath him. The armor on his side seemed completely torn open, exposing a bloody mess.
The girl with the wooden staff was attempting to save him, a faint white light continuously seeping into the wound, but it appeared to have little effect.
The scream they heard earlier probably came from this man.
The situation was quite unfavorable for the human side.
Although the woman in the tree was safe, her arrows were ineffective against the black tiger’s tough hide, having little impact on the battle. The middle-aged warrior could only defend himself, struggling to find an opportunity to inflict serious damage on the agile foe.
As for the remaining three, one man stood in a wizard-like outfit, but it seemed he couldn’t aim at the enemy, so he cast a few colorful spells to slightly boost the attributes of the middle-aged warrior. Still, it did nothing to reverse the passive beating they were enduring.
Unless something drastic changed, it seemed likely that the human side wouldn’t be able to turn the tide.
It was clear that the middle-aged warrior wanted to retreat, but he and the woman in the tree might manage to escape. The other three, however, were probably doomed; without the former’s restraint and the translucent barrier, they would have already become food for the tiger.
“Ugh…”
Miss Vilyric crouched down, peeking her head out from the bushes and carefully observing the movements and displayed lethality of both sides, seemingly deep in thought.
“Master, what do you plan to do? Those humans shouldn’t last much longer.”
Xiao Guang asked quietly beside her, her expression rather indifferent, as if the fierce battle wasn’t life and death, but merely two crickets jousting, and she was the one who hadn’t placed a bet.
Miss Vilyric glanced at this expression and suddenly spoke, “Let me ask you a question, Xiao Guang. What do you think humans are?”
“What kind of beings…? Just ordinary ants, I don’t pay special attention or target them. After all, they’re just lower beings with a short lifespan and weak strength; it doesn’t matter if they’re left alone, right?”
“Although some humans possess considerable strength, those are usually blessed by the will of the world and cannot be compared with pure humans.”
Miss Vilyric’s eyelids twitched, and she nodded but didn’t respond particularly.
That made sense. After all, Xiao Guang was, in essence, a giant dragon—a supreme race within the game “Fantasy World,” a Holy Crystal Dragon. Since she had now emerged from the game’s confines and gained self-awareness, she was a true apex existence in the food chain. It was only natural for her not to feel much for ordinary humans, who were much weaker and shorter-lived than her.
Miss Vilyric originally intended to emphasize that she was also a human but suddenly realized that “Miss Vilyric” might not actually be human. Although she had selected the human race during character creation, after a certain plot point, Miss Vilyric had broken through the level 100 cap, and her race had transformed into the Divine Race.
Upon this realization, the girl belatedly discovered that she had completely become “Miss Vilyric,” seemingly leaving behind the human group and becoming another form of special existence…
How should one put this? Although the idea of “xx, I’m no longer human!” was a cliché she used to play around with several times a day, realizing it was genuinely happening left her with a sense of bittersweet loss.
“It seems it’s over.”
Xiao Guang’s indifferent comment brought Miss Vilyric out of her reverie as she noticed the middle-aged warrior’s stout shield, finally buckling under the relentless strikes of the black tiger, shattering into several pieces.
Without his shield, his expression grew grim, and he raised his sword with both hands, focusing intently, trying to land a counterattack when the tiger lunged again, aiming to inflict real damage.
He wasn’t running away, indicating his determination to stand by his teammates until the end. As the strongest member of the team, having such a mindset was commendable.
But Miss Vilyric knew very well he wouldn’t succeed; if he could, he wouldn’t have waited until the last moment to make a desperate move. The black tiger was gathering strength in the night, while the warrior had to maintain high focus, a test of endurance that would inevitably lead to the soldier’s demise when the predator reappeared.
In fact, Miss Vilyric could clearly pinpoint where the massive tiger was hiding. It had only visually blended with the night—its heartbeat, energy fluctuations, and temperature were all far too apparent. Any random level 40 or 50 assassin from “Fantasy World” could do better.
Yet the five humans seemed truly incapable of locating this clumsily concealed enemy. Based on her observations, it was evident that both the humans and the magical beasts were vastly inferior to Miss Vilyric and her companion.
Having made such a judgment, the girl nodded at her pet dragon.
“Go, Xiao Guang. Don’t let them die; I need information.”
“Yes!”