Chapter 528: The Flower Gate

The tiny fairy stared at Azrynn in disbelief. Suddenly, she brought both hands to her mouth, her luminous wings fluttering rapidly.

"Wait... You can see me?!"

Azrynn frowned, finding the creature’s reaction increasingly suspicious.

"What do you mean by that?"

She lowered her stance, positioning herself to attack if necessary. Her fingers tightened around the dagger at her thigh as she fixed her gaze on the fairy.

"Tell me what you meant when you said my kind was extinct!"

The fairy blinked before sticking out her tongue at Azrynn.

"Why would I tell a cursed Dark Elf anything?"

Azrynn’s expression darkened.

"Cursed?"

Before she could ask anything else, the fairy abruptly turned around and darted into the darkness, her glowing wings leaving a faint trail of light behind her.

"Hey! Stop!"

Azrynn immediately chased after her.

"Answer my question! What do you mean by cursed? Do you know something about the history of the Dark Elves?"

The fairy glanced over her shoulder and saw Azrynn rapidly closing the distance between them. Her expression twisted with annoyance.

"Stop chasing me, you cursed creature! I don’t want anything to do with you!"

But Azrynn had no intention of letting her escape.

"Then answer me! What happened to my people? Why did you say we were supposed to be extinct?"

"Ugh! You’re so annoying!"

The fairy suddenly stopped in midair and spun around to face her pursuer. She raised both hands, her tiny fingers spreading outward.

"Then just go away!"

The moment she finished speaking, the air around them began to stir.

At first, it was merely a gentle breeze. Within seconds, however, the wind grew stronger, swirling violently around the fairy as magical energy gathered between her outstretched hands.

Azrynn’s eyes widened.

’Wind magic?!’

A powerful gust erupted toward her.

"Ugh!"

The force struck Azrynn head-on, whipping her hair and clothes backward. Her boots scraped against the ground as she struggled to maintain her balance. Loose leaves, dust, and small branches were swept into the air, obscuring her vision.

The wind grew even more violent, threatening to throw her off her feet.

’Damn it! If this continues, I’ll be blown away!’

Azrynn gritted her teeth and immediately activated her runes.

Purple light spread across her body as magical symbols appeared beneath her feet. The runes flared brightly, anchoring her stance and allowing her to resist the relentless gusts.

Even so, the force was considerable. Her body tilted dangerously as she struggled against the wind, one hand reaching toward the ground to steady herself.

But she refused to give up.

She had finally encountered someone who seemed to know something about the history of her people.

There was no way she would let the little creature escape without getting some answers.

’You’re not getting away from me that easily!’

The tiny fairy, who had been watching Azrynn struggle against the wind, suddenly noticed the purple runes glowing beneath her feet.

"Eeek! She can use runes?!"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. For a moment, she even forgot to maintain the wind pressure.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Azrynn straightened her body and activated the runes on her legs. Purple light gathered around her feet before forming a pair of luminous wings, allowing her to accelerate forward with incredible speed.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Why are you so fast?!"

The fairy immediately turned around and fled.

Unfortunately for her, Azrynn wasn’t about to let her escape.

Azrynn reached for an arrow and nocked it onto her bow. Although she could use runes to create magical constructs, forming a complete object from runes was far from simple. The resulting structure would be unstable unless she concentrated intensely, and maintaining a fully formed object required an enormous amount of mana.

Creating a physical arrow from runes alone would therefore be a waste of resources, especially when an ordinary arrow could accomplish the same task.

Instead, Azrynn drew the bowstring and infused the arrowhead with purple runic energy.

"Got you!"

She released the arrow.

As the projectile flew through the air, the runes etched into its surface activated. Purple lines spread outward from the arrowhead, unfolding into a glowing net that shot toward the fleeing spirit.

"What?!"

The fairy hurriedly flapped her wings and raised both hands.

"Stop right there! I am a renowned spirit, you know! You should be grateful that I’m even allowing you to see me! Don’t you dare treat me like some ordinary little creature!"

A violent gust erupted from her hands, sweeping toward the approaching net.

The wind struck the magical threads, slowing their advance and threatening to scatter them. However, Azrynn had already anticipated the spirit’s resistance. She poured additional mana into the runes embedded in the arrow, reinforcing the net as she continued pursuing her target.

"I don’t care whether you’re a famous spirit or some kind of extraordinary being!" Azrynn shouted. "Just answer my questions!"

"Why are you so obsessed with this?!"

"Because you mentioned my race!"

Azrynn’s expression hardened.

"You called the Dark Elves cursed and said we should have gone extinct! How am I supposed to ignore that?!"

The fairy or spirit, clicked her tongue.

"Honestly, what a troublesome creature!"

She abruptly stopped fleeing and raised both hands above her head.

"Fine! If you won’t leave me alone, I’ll show you why nobody can catch me!"

The magical energy surrounding her suddenly changed.

A strange symbol appeared in the air behind her, followed by the emergence of an enormous gate decorated with intricate floral patterns. Its surface resembled a magnificent flower in full bloom, with layers of luminous petals unfolding around its circular frame.

Azrynn’s eyes widened.

’A gate? Is that some kind of spatial magic?’

The spirit flew toward the opening and glanced back at her with a smug grin.

"Hmph! I’m not so easy to catch! Even if you can use runes, you can’t possibly follow me!"

She turned around and began flying through the gate.

However, Azrynn had no intention of giving up now.

"Don’t think you can escape!"

She gathered the runes around her legs and accelerated one final time before leaping toward the spirit.

"WHAT?!"

The spirit’s smug expression vanished.

She hurriedly tried to slip through the gate, but Azrynn had already reached her. The Dark Elf stretched out her hand and managed to grab the spirit just before she disappeared into the opening.

"CAUGHT YOU!"

"LET GO OF ME, YOU IDIOT!"

The tiny spirit struggled frantically, flapping her luminous wings and twisting her body in an attempt to break free.

"LET GO! LET GO RIGHT NOW! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING!"

"Then tell me about my race!"

"NOT LIKE THIS! YOU’RE GOING TO GET US BOTH—"

Before the spirit could finish her sentence, the gate suddenly began pulling everything toward its center.

Azrynn’s eyes widened as she felt an overwhelming force seize her body.

"W-Wait! What’s happening?!"

The wind around them reversed direction, rushing toward the floral gate with terrifying intensity. Leaves, dust, and loose branches were dragged into the opening, disappearing one after another.

Azrynn tried to activate her runes to resist the pull, but the force was far stronger than she had anticipated.

"Damn it!"

Her feet left the ground.

The spirit, still trapped in Azrynn’s grasp, screamed in absolute panic.

"I TOLD YOU TO LET GO! NOW WE’RE BOTH DOOMED!"

Azrynn gritted her teeth, desperately trying to maintain her grip.

But it was too late.

Both of them were dragged toward the gate.

Just as Azrynn felt herself being pulled into the swirling darkness beyond its petals, a hand suddenly seized her wrist.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell is going on here?!"

Adam’s bewildered voice rang out behind her.

He had apparently sensed the disturbance and arrived just in time to see Azrynn being sucked into a mysterious floral gate while clutching a tiny, panicking creature.

Without thinking, he grabbed her hand to pull her back.

Unfortunately, the moment he made contact, the force pulling Azrynn intensified.

Adam’s eyes widened.

"...Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me."

The ground beneath his feet began to crumble as the gate dragged him forward as well.

"ADAM?! WHY ARE YOU HERE TOO?!" Azrynn shouted.

"THAT’S WHAT I’D LIKE TO KNOW!"

The spirit looked at the two of them in utter horror.

"YOU IDIOTS! WHY DID YOU BRING ANOTHER PERSON INTO THIS?!"

"YOU’RE THE ONE WHO OPENED THE GATE!" Adam retorted.

"I DIDN’T EXPECT YOU TO BE STUPID ENOUGH TO GRAB HER!"

"AND I DIDN’T EXPECT A TINY FLYING WOMAN TO OPEN A GATE THAT SUCKS PEOPLE INTO IT!"

Their argument continued for another second before the pull became unbearable.

Adam tried to dig his heels into the ground, but it was useless. With Azrynn holding the spirit and Adam holding Azrynn, all three were dragged toward the enormous floral opening.

"WAIT! WAIT! I HAVEN’T FINISHED ASKING MY QUESTIONS YET!" Azrynn shouted.

"THAT’S THE LEAST OF OUR PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW!" Adam yelled back.

The spirit let out one final, desperate scream.

"YOU’RE BOTH CURSED! I SWEAR, YOU’RE BOTH CURSED!"

And with that, the three of them vanished into the flower-shaped gate.

A moment later, the luminous petals folded inward.

The gate disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a few drifting sparks of light.