Chapter 143: Wilted Rose

A blinding ray of white light flashed, causing both Dazed Kitty and Ice Rose to shut their eyes. They even used their hands to cover their eyes.

The white light quickly dissipated, but Dazed Kitty was still as terrified as ever.

Because…

Blue Maple was completely unhurt in front of both of them!

His fire slowly dissipated. The 10% strength had been completely drained. However, the pressure that came from Blue Maple didn’t vanish even as his fire dissipated. On the contrary, it became even stronger!

“How…” Dazed Kitty’s eyes were filled with hopelessness.

Ice Rose was equally astonished!

“It was such a sustained attack, and the final arrow clearly pierced through the defense of the fire. How…how did he avoid it?!”

Blue Maple ignored Ice Rose. He walked straight in front of Dazed Kitty.

“Kill me? You?”

His voice was filled with sarcasm and mockery.

“Bastard!”

Before Dazed Kitty even uttered a sound, Ice Rose couldn’t tolerate any further and wanted to attack Blue Maple. Blue Maple wasn’t protected by any fire.

His fire must be used up and has yet to cooldown. If I attack now…Ice Rose was nervously contemplating.

However, something strange happened just as she wanted to recite incantations.

“Boosh!!”

Terrifying flames burst out from Blue Maple’s body once again, but it was targeted towards her this time. They formed a giant firewall! Ice Rose couldn’t possibly dodge it!

Blue Maple’s blue fire had once again appeared. It was unexpected!

It was a firewall formed from 5% of Blue Maple’s Heavenly Fire.

“Sister Rose!”

Dazed Kitty stretched out her hand. She screamed helplessly to herself, but it was of no use…she could only watch as Ice Rose was engulfed by flames. It was as if there was a giant fire tomb and she was buried in it!

She didn’t even have time to make a sound.

The blue fire resembled a ferocious beast that showed no mercy as it devoured Ice Rose. The rain didn’t offer any help in weakening the fire. The moment the raindrops touched the fire, they immediately turned to steam.

The fire flickered as the wind blew. As the light from the fire illuminated Dazed Kitty’s face, it was clear that tears had already started to form in her eyes.

Her emotions reached the lowest point once again…

What she didn’t notice was that there wasn’t any announcement regarding Ice Rose’s death…

“Why…”

Her tears flowed.

Her hot tears mixed with the icy-cold rain as they trickled down her cheeks. Her shoulders were trembling and she clenched her lips tightly.

She stuttered as she stared at the ice-cold Blue Maple.

“Is there a reason to kill?”

This was Blue Maple’s second time saying this. He still sounded as apathetic as ever.

His ice-cold voice left Dazed Kitty in a sudden trance.

After this, she sensed an ice-cold blade pinned against her neck. This time, this blade was pushing against her jaw, causing her to lift her head up.

Blue Maple used one hand to hold the blade. He stared at Dazed Kitty as he did so. Cold lights shone as the incessant raindrops pattered against the silvery-white blade.

“Your teammates only dropped one level, but you are crying. You are weak.”

He didn’t elicit any response. Dazed Kitty was still in her trance and her tears were still trickling down her face. Perhaps it was because of Blue Maple’s words, her internal guilt, or the ‘buried’ Ice Rose.

“Pa pa pa…”

Suddenly, it was so quiet that only the sound of raindrops and the burning fire were heard.

Amidst the rain, Dazed Kitty gave off a poignant feel. It was strangely captivating.

Dazed Kitty still didn’t respond. The state that she was in was utterly heartwrenching. She seemed as if she was willing to let Blue Maple do anything he wanted with her. There was no resistance at all. She didn’t even curse back at him.

There was only disappointment in Blue Maple’s eyes.

But she suddenly spoke at this moment!

She slowly turned her head to look at Blue Maple. Her vision was still fuzzy because of her tears, while her melancholic expression invoked a sense of pity.

“Because, to me, it’s not just one level of XP.” She looked straight at Blue Maple.

“Also, someone like you wouldn’t understand!”

Her tears were still falling and her voice still trembled as she sobbed. However, she was determined as she shouted her heartfelt words at Blue Maple. It wasn’t just one level of XP to her.

It was also the guilt that engulfed her!

It was also the shame that she felt from trying to comfort herself that everything was fine after letting her teammates die and lose their XP!

It was also the regret that she felt from letting her teammates die because of her willfulness and recklessness!

Even though this was just a game…

A smirk suddenly appeared on Blue Maple’s face.

To Dazed Kitty, Blue Maple looked like he was mocking her. He was mocking how lame her feelings were and the things that such a weak person like her cared about.

To her, Blue Maple was just a person concerned about profits. He had no emotions and was just a killer!

“I might not know, but what I know is that you’ll be dead in reality.” Blue Maple mocked.

“Now, you’ll die.”

When his words echoed in her ears, it caused her to weep even more.

“Remember, I’m not the only one responsible for this…”

“You are too.”

His words left her stunned. At the same time. His blade turned into a ray of light!

Cold Light Slash!

-7869！

Instant kill…

At the same time, Dazed Kitty collapsed with that same poignant look on her face…

Tears, rainwater, blood…they were all mixed together…

A kind-hearted and loyal person like her couldn’t take such a blow.

At the same time, she was pampered and cowardly. Her fear of death was abnormal. She was afraid of blood and killing! She couldn’t watch others die in front of her, much less her own teammates!

She didn’t even dare to be a Priest. She was afraid that she had to keep staring at people who were hurt in the game.

A Priest had to do so to apply timely treatment. This was why she chose to be an Archer, always standing far behind. She only needed to watch the enemies. When the time was right, she could even flee. Archers were very quick.

Also, Archers discovered Thieves very easily. Once she detected them, she could lessen the number of casualties. This was also why she hated sneaky Thieves.

“What an emotional person.”

As Blue Maple swept his blade, a swish echoed and fresh blood dripped off the blade.

“No…I’d say she’s a fortunate person.”

Blue Maple thought about the real world. She wouldn’t have survived in the real world. She should count her blessings that she was born in a safe city and in a decent family.

A war-torn, chaotic Earth couldn’t contain someone like her. At the same time, it was probably a miracle that there was someone as emotional and sympathetic as her in such a dark age.

After this, Blue Maple turned back and looked at the fire that was still burning.

The fire that Ice Rose was buried in wasn’t actually lethal as it seemed.

The fire was still raging and even getting stronger as it absorbed the strength of heaven and earth. However, it started to dissipate at this moment.

As Blue Maple got closer, the fire became smaller and gathered towards him.

Ice Rose, who was ‘buried’ in it, was also revealed.

As she saw the fire disappearing, Ice Rose didn’t look as frantic as before.

“You can really hold yourself.” Blue Maple commented.

He was already in front of Ice Rose, but he wasn’t as cold now.

The fire couldn’t actually trap her, but she conceded defeat when she saw that she was engulfed. That was why she didn’t dare to try.

She was also thinking about why Blue Maple spared her life.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Ice Rose took in a deep breath and composed herself.

“I only have one question.” Blue Maple was indifferent.

“Why do I have to answer you? Kill me if you want.” Ice Rose stubbornly retorted.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Blue Maple pinned his blade against her neck.

“What kind of rose do you like?”

“What?” Ice Rose was stunned.

“Budding? Blooming? Or wilted…”

Blue Maple was still as cold as ever and there wasn’t any strange expression on his face or look in his eyes.

Suddenly, Ice Rose went silent.

Blue Maple was waiting. He didn’t move his blade at all. Ice Rose didn’t know what he wanted.

After a brief moment of silence, Ice Rose answered honestly.

“I like…a wilted rose.” There was a strange look in her eyes.

“Reason.”

“Because such a rose doesn’t die suddenly after blooming.” Ice Rose seriously answered.

……

Blue Maple was silent after hearing her words…

Finally…he slowly retracted his blade. He didn’t look at Ice Rose but faced his back towards her.

After this…he just left. He didn’t stop at all.

It was as if he had never seen her before…

“Pa pa pa…”

The rain was still torrential…

He left behind a confused Ice Rose standing in the rain…

“Why did he…”

She was utterly confused as she watched Blue Maple’s fading back figure.

“He killed all my teammates and said those words to Dazed Kitty. Why did he…leave after asking me a weird question?”

Ice Rose didn’t understand.

“Don’t tell me…he likes roses too? Or does he like wilted roses too?” Ice Rose was uncertain as she muttered.

But she soon brushed it off.

“No no no! How could such a person have the same inclination as me?!”

“Whatever it is, he’s the enemy. I must quickly rush to the spawn and wait for Dazed Kitty and the rest.”

After she finished speaking, she turned and left after glancing at Blue Maple one last time.

Blue Maple was acting very weird today.