Chapter 128 - A Husband Invites Xiaoxiao To The Party!
The whole red cloud was already shining with bright red colors.
Only a mere remnant was still deep red, but it was just a matter of time before it disappeared. Xiaoxiao was doing a great job at both learning the concept of her goddess and getting rid of this filthy abomination.
She was soaked in her own sweat, but nothing could possibly change her orange eyes! Widely open at the red cloud, Xiaoxiao was already close to getting back her mana to strike this last remaining part.
However, the commotion suddenly rang out in her right ear.
It was as if a huge group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere, the sound of their equipment then betraying them. However, Xiaoxiao could tell that they were confident in their abilities from the smirks on their faces.
And that they came here to cause problems.
It was clear from the way they moved and kept their eyes around. The group soon began to surround Xiaoxiao\'s party and Kyoya\'s team, just worsening the expression they brought up here.
"What do you want?"
Kyoya was the first to speak as these people were filled with filthy vibes. He felt like puking straight onto their faces from the amount of lust these people possessed and redirected at his wife.
However, it made Kyoya realize two things.
First was that these people were here for him and Xaya. Then, the second was that they knew about Xaya for a long time. Such lust couldn\'t be just built up from a few glances or even days. His eyes narrowed with an unusual red glint slowly spreading from within.
"Who are you looking for?"
One of the adventurers asked.
It was Gumba, who felt like this situation was too strange. He also spotted that these people were looking at Xaya mostly, so he was ready to use her to save his own life. It was not his fault to meet such beauty.
But similarly, it wasn\'t Xaya\'s fault for being so gorgeous, was it? The man just lowered himself to such low acts out of fear, and when the leader of this incoming party spoke, Gumba instantly nodded.
"We are here for this guy and his wife. No need to be worried, just step aside."
"Yes! We will gladly comply!"
"What? Why would you do that, Gumba?!"
Xiaoxiao felt betrayed the most by the words of her friend. She looked at him as if looking at someone totally different, but Gumba was ready to provide excuses that would make Xiaoxiao hate him less.
And slowly, he would rebuild the trust.
What he spoke first was the adventurer\'s life topic. The adventurers must be ready to sacrifice their life for others as the world was the most merciless one. The same applied when meeting stronger people who followed this world\'s rules closely. This was something that made Xiaoxiao hot with anger!
However, Gumba didn\'t allow her to speak as his saliva kept flapping around.
"We have to sacrifice him for our party! If not, then they will go for us and even kill! We just fought against the pyromaniacs and even killed them, so the mission\'s rewards will be so ample we will be able to take a break and focus on training… We have to survive not to waste our hard work! If we can do it by sacrificing him, then… we should be more than eager to do it!"
Gumba looked at his friends that nodded belatedly. They didn\'t know Kyoya well, and although he seemed like a great guy, he was someone who could take Xiaoxiao away from them.
They felt like she would leave them the more she spent time with him. Then, the invitation to the festival… Why would Xiaoxiao do it? Of course, many people had the same thought, and it was merely because she was charmed by the husband!
"I thought you were different…"
Xiaoxiao\'s disappointment was immeasurable. She believed her friends were genuinely similar to her, and wholeheartedly wanted to help others on their path to growth. It was the reason why she took the leader\'s position and grew up in strength with them.
Maybe it was just a mere illusion of hers, but Xiaoxiao was just a nineteen years old woman, only three months before twenty. She was a young woman who really wanted to have close people on her side.
This was an unconscious desire of hers, which made the illusion possible. She was growing up in strength alone, but her party was not the same. They were strong, but only as a party. Of course, some friends adapted, but if one put them at someone a tad above average, then the results would be devastating.
"Xiaoxiao, we know he is your friend, but Kyoya himself should be aware that it is impossible to go against such a party."
"Yes, let\'s wait for his words!"
Each word shook Xiaoxiao\'s heart profoundly. She didn\'t even look into her friends anymore and just turned to face the ground with the red cloud still lingering atop the sky. Everything seemed so different and foreign to her right now Xiaoxiao just halted...
And yet, something familiar suddenly reassured her.
[Kyoya: I will be fine. They want just Xaya and me, so we can run away with my high speed. Everyone else will survive, so raise your head, Xiaoxiao. I don\'t want to see you looking so sad.]
In the meantime, Kyoya also spoke loudly.
"I feel like I have seen you somewhere. Are you someone who is affiliated with Wings Free?"
"Exactly. I know about you because you are \'friends\', not the party members."
There were many people in this adventurer party as their business reached many floors. Though the party leader was a fine person, she also had people below her that had many divisions. Their goals were common, but many would change by greed and desire to get stronger in the face of extraordinary treasures.
It wasn\'t only Xaya that fueled those people, but also Kyoya\'s game system. Of course, these filthy people were just aware that the husband could summon the house. The house was also filled with many items, so it was like he had personal inventory treasures. This and Xaya\'s beauty were their goal.
They were ready to bet their lives on this and increase their strength growth pace later with those treasures. If they were to get found out, then they would just change the \'special floors\'.
Grooma Kingdom and Wings Free adventurer party were just one of many strongholds. There were many options available for them, so the risks have been taken. Now, it was time to catch Kyoya and his wife.
[Kyoya: Xiaoxiao, go with your friends. I will-]
Kyoya couldn\'t type as the enemies came here prepared. They not only surrounded Kyoya but also used treasures to create personal space around them. It was either a special item from the shrine or treasure born from the belief in the floor.
Regardless, this treasure made things worse.
"As I said, you can leave, so what are you waiting for?"
The leader of the enemies spoke toward Gumba and Xiaoxiao. Both of them had yet to leave the special space. Of course, Gumba knew that if Xiaoxiao stayed here, then his chances would fall to zero.
So he tried to convince her completely unbeknownst that Kyoya also asked her to leave while reassuring that everything will be okay. This didn\'t mean Xiaoxiao would leave even if the personal space didn\'t appear.
She shook Gumba\'s hand, then closed up the distance with the husband.
"So that\'s your choice… Xiaoxiao…"
Gumba muttered so quietly no one could hear him. He then spun around and ran away from the personal space, leaving behind Xiaoxiao and his friends. He ran so fast no one could catch up to him.
However, it was limited to people from the 15th floor.
A red tear from the cursed cloud fell straight onto his head. It didn\'t do any damage to Gumba, and he himself was not aware of it. He just ran forth without caring about anything else.
He was completely unaware that Fire Divine Demon began eating up his belief to plant the evil concept seed!
As for Xiaoxiao, she stood next to the husband.
"What a stupid woman."
There were only five of them, including Josef and Maria. However, Xiaoxiao believed that they were strong enough to deal with it. She then got surprised when Kyoya invited her to the party.
There were five of them in the party with stats exposed. HP and MANA were the primary ones, and it was not that depleted at all. This only made Xiaoxiao more convinced, but then Kyoya\'s message appeared in front of her.
[Kyoya: Xiaoxiao, your game system is better than Josef and Maria, so don\'t talk much about it, okay?]
And why would it be better? Xiaoxiao smirked widely, then raised her spear.
"Kyoya! Let\'s beat them all! I don\'t like being called stupid!"
"Is that really a reason to beat them? Haha~~"
"Of course not. I want to join your party, so please watch me, leader."
Xiaoxiao was three floors ahead of Kyoya, so it was evident that she did her best to climb in this one year. She had an important reason for that, but Kyoya\'s growth was also phenomenal. However, Xiaoxiao knew that he casually continued his adventures with his wife and friends. This just showed that despite their casual approach, Kyoya and Xaya were unique individuals.
This became obvious after she met with the goddess. Still, Xiaoxiao knew that being with Kyoya\'s party would be not only beneficial to her strength as an adventurer, but herself too. Those casual adventures would make her heart merrier and fulfilled, which was only seen in Xiaoxiao during her time with her sister. This was the reason for her spear to shout with raw power!
Boom!
For a moment, Kyoya felt like Xiaoxiao\'s arm also exploded with flames, but it had to be a mere illusion, right?
"Let\'s beat them then and go to the festival later for some nice rest!"
"""Yes!"""
"..."