Chapter 11 [Tragic Betrayal]

Alph Played around with the grimoir for a while before preparing to sleep.

Tomorrow they would be leaving the forest and arriving at a town, he couldn't wait to see what the towns and cities in this world were like.

The Draylion was already standing guard near their camp, he had ordered it to send him distress signals if it encountered anything suspicious, and after telling the Orc to stand guard near his tent and do the same Alph decided to retire for the night.

"Maybe we can throw a surprise party for Kane and Saila!" He was still thinking about the new couple, he wanted to congratulate them properly.

He closed his eyes with such thoughts and soon he fell asleep.

It was a silent night, the moon hung high and the stars shined brilliantly.

In the silent and beautiful night, a short girl wearing a priestess robe was hurrying towards a certain direction.

Her eyes were slightly red and tears were streaming down her face.

She stopped after arriving in front of a tent, there was panick, uncertainty, sadness and hesitation on her face.

Looking at the tent, she appeared hesitant and afraid.

Alph who was sleeping soundly woke up from the distress signals sent by the Orc, it had deemed this strange situation as something suspicious.

"What- Is it an enemy attack? But I don't hear any sounds, a sneak attack maybe?" Alph hurriedly stood up and picked up the Grimoire.

He quickly used the observation on the Orc, ready to unsummon the Draylion but what greeted him outside was a disheveled Saila, trembling in the cold wind of the forest.

"Huh?" Alph was dumbstruck, struggling to understand the situation.

Just a few moments ago he had seen here blushing and smiling with Kane.

What could have happened in such a short time?

*Oh no, did something happen to Kane?*

He immediately rushed out of the tent, Saila flinched after seeing him suddenly rush out.

"Saila, what's wrong? Did something happen to Kane?" He didn't stop and kept rushing towards the double rivers.

However, Saila suddenly held his hand and stopped him.

"K-Kane is f-fine... I-It's something else..." She spoke with a low and trembling voice and started sobbing right after.

Looking at the innocent girl sobbing silently, Alph felt confused and angry.

"Ah, please calm down. Let's talk about it inside" He tried to comfort her and invited her in, it was the only thing he could do.

"I-It was all my fault! How could I forget my identity and dream of love and romance! Sniff- Kane is right, I'm just a useless baggage...."

Inside the tent Saila started weeping and talking to herself loudly, it seemed that she was letting out all her pent up emotions.

"WHAT! Kane said such things?!" Alph almost dropped the glass of water he was pouring for Saila.

Although he looked shrewd and calculative at a glance, Kane had always been a gentle and caring person especially towards Saila, so how could he suddenly start spouting such nonsense?

Was he just acting? For what?

He grinded his teeth in anger, *What the fuck is going on?*

"NO! You are wrong! Who was the one who healed his leg when he got hurt by a goblin archer? Who was the one who always looked out for us, bringing towels and water after every single battle? It was YOU! I don't know what has gotten into Kane suddenly, but if he said such things I will be the first one to put him in his place!" For some reason, his emotions were way over the top and he grabbed Saila's shoulder and looked her in the eye as he deneid her previous words.

Saila appeared shocked, her eyes widened as she looked at Alph whobwas looking at her with an intense gaze.

Her body was slightly tremblng and her face was turning red.

"A-Alph.. P-please. Please let me..." Tears started to well up on the corner of her eyes and she suddenly threw herself on Alph, wrapping her hands around his head.

Saila's soft lips touched Alph's and her sweet and fragrant smell enveloped him.

Alph's mind suddenly went blank, no it literally went blank as his body suddenly started to harden and petrify.

In a flash Alph was turned into a stone sculpture, his eyes widened, he didn't even know what happened.

Clang!

The Orc which was standing on the side immediately brandished it's giant sword and slashed at Saila, but a blue barrier suddenly appeared around her and it was blocked.

"Huhuhu, it seems like I had worried needlessly. You were also just a fool!" Her demeanor completely changed and the sadness on her face was replaced by a huge smile and blush.

She pulled out a glowing stone from her robe and threw it at the Orc.

Bang!

It exploded in mid air and a frosty aura erupted from it, completely freezing the Orc.

Swoosh- Boom!

A burst of wind exploded and the tent was blown away but Saila remained unharmed due to the barrier.

The Draylion dashed towards her quickly, brandishing it's crystal claws and fangs.

"Oh little cat, do you want to hurt me? Hah!" She waved her hand and surprisingly the barrier disappeared, leaving her with no protection.

The Draylion didn't stop, it opened it's jaws wide intending bite her head off.

Tzzz-Drooom!

Unfortunately it couldn't achieve it's goal as a blue lightning bolt suddenly fell down on its body.

The lightning bolt was so powerful that it completely disintegrated the Draylion and caused a huge charred crater to appear on the ground.

"Hmph!" Saila didn't even spare a second glance at the Draylion's ashes before walking back to the now petrified Alph.

"With this there are no more witnesses. My years of hardwork has finally paid off!" She smiled widely, unlike her usual self, and glanced at Alph.

"I was worried that you might hinder my plans considering that you were a Grimoire User but looks like you were also trash in the end." Saila slowly walked towards the petrified Alph with a glowing stone in her hand, intending to blast his petrified body into pieces.

Wooosh- Booom!

At that moment, a ball of fire flew through the air and exploded into Saila.

"You! How are you alive?" Saila exclaimed as she looked at the assailant.

Her purple hair disheveled, Riri's whole body was riddled with dozens of burnt holes.

Charred blood covered her body as she struggled to stand, her eyes were burning with rage.

"BITCH! EVIL BITCH! HOW DARE YOU?!" She shrieked, her voice breaking with pain.

"Ahaha lighten up, isn't it obvious? I was just after those Elven Treasures from the start. I only joined the little group of yours because Kane was already destined to find the Cave Of Tranquility." Saila didn't seem the least bothered as if everything was going as planned and they were just pieces for her to sacrifice.

"Speaking of secrets, who could have guessed that there was a half devil among a group of nobody adventurers? I guess I hit two birds with one stone." Saila grinned as she looked at the blackish wing on the left side of Riri's back.

"I'll KILL YOU!!!" Riri cried as a devilish aura erupted from her body, rapidly altering her body.

In just a matter of seconds Riri had completed her transformation, her hair turned white, her body purplish and a single glowing horn had appeared on her forehead.

Bang!

With a single leap, she appeared In front of Saila and swiped with her clawed hands.

However it was futile, the blue barrier seemed indestructible and Riri's full force attack couldn't even leave a scratch on it.

"How pathetic, it wouldn't have been of any use even if you were a true devil let alone a half devil who has lived her whole life suppressing her true nature." Saila looked at the enraged Riri repeatedly striking the barrier in an amused manner.

"Know your place filth!" She crushed a glowing stone in her hand and an intense golden light burst out of it condensing into magical lance emanating a holy aura.

The lance was extremely fast, and before Riri could even react it had already pierced through her chest.

"Kaaaaaaa!" She cried as the holy lance started burning her from the inside, causing her skin to sizzle and start emitting smoke.

She grabbed the lance with her left hand, disregarding the pain, and yanked it out of her chest.

Throwing the lance aside, Riri fell down on her knees with black blood spilling out of the hole in her chest and her mouth.

"Quite a resilient one you are, aren't you?" Saila spoke, ready to crush another glowing stone but she suddenly stopped.

Her eyes started to glow with golden light and she frowned in discomfort. It lasted for a few seconds before she returned to normal.

"Hmph, you are lucky, it seems like I won't be able to finish you off by my own hands." Saila put back the glowing stone inside her robe and giving Riri a last look, tore a small talisman which caused her body to burst into light before disappearing along with her.

Riri who was being driven by her rage also flopped down on to the ground.

The devilish energy slowly diminished untill it was completely emptied, turning her body back to normal.

She struggled to turn towards the petrified Alph as, her gaze fell upon a golden mark on his hand which was still glowing before focusing on his face.

A single tear slid down her cheek as her chest stopped moving.

The forest was once against still and quite.