Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

Those infected by the Dance Plague shakily rose, swaying and clustering as they gathered towards the blood-colored carriage.

The blood-red carriage slowed slightly, advancing along the cobblestone ground towards Sweetwater.

"That damned Demonic Prince... is heading to Sweetwater?!"

Hidden in his cloak, Inve watched the ornate blood-colored carriage, his eyes flashing red.

He could sense the strange and unfathomable energy fluctuations emanating from the blood-red carriage—

Bearing considerable power, much like the Demonic Prince who hunted him and the others in the Kingdom of Boren.

I can’t stop him alone!

"The Angel of the Fertile Plains... hasn't sensed it?"

Inve gritted his teeth and ran.

After entering the town, the Prince's carriage began to slow down.

This gave the veteran Inve the confidence to notify the more populous City of Miracles before the Demonic Prince reached Sweetwater.

Outside the town, a carriage was parked in a wheat field by the roadside, the one the old soldier had driven.

Dans had remained in the carriage after Inve entered the village.

But as Inve stepped into the clearing of the wheat field, his steps faltered abruptly, his face turning ashen.

He saw a second blood-red carriage, the one belonging to the Demonic Prince, parked in front of his own carriage, blocking the way.

This time, there wasn't just one Demonic Prince—but two!

"Long time no see, Inve."

The hoarse voice came from the ornately dressed Demonic Prince.

His face was expressionless, his skin pale, like a vampire who never saw the sun. His eyes were fixed on Inve, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

"The thing you stole, now, should be returned to the Mad Dancers, along with your dull life—"

Inve's gaze passed over the Demonic Prince, towards his own carriage.

His lover, Dans, seemed unharmed. The former princess was hiding in the corner of the carriage, clutching a knife for self-defense, trembling.

"You, you damned things."

The old soldier bit his teeth. He knew that running away this time would solve nothing.

He gripped the military knife at his waist, and his figure instantly disappeared.

But the next moment, the Demonic Prince in front of him swiftly raised a hand. The human skin on that hand instantly disintegrated, revealing crimson and white flesh fibers.

The exposed muscles twitched violently.

The next moment, the old soldier's figure faltered, popping out of invisibility!

"What's happening?"

Inve's pupils shrank. He felt a sudden spasm in his leg, interrupting his mental focus.

"Inve, you lowly thief, this time... you won't escape."

The human skin on half of the Demonic Prince's face instantly peeled off, revealing crimson flesh. Those muscles rapidly extended, grew, and spawned countless twisted, dancing limbs!

As the Demonic Prince moved, Inve saw beneath his feet.

A patch of blood-colored muscle fibers surged from under the grass and wheat stalks, wrapping around his ankles, piercing deeply into his flesh.

This Demonic Prince had hidden blood-colored muscles near Inve's carriage!

"Bastard!"

Inve used his invisibility cloak to block the Mad Dancers and their followers from controlling the Mad Dancer energy within him, but now, the Demonic Prince's flesh directly pierced through the cloak and into his flesh!

In such circumstances, Inve began to lose control of the energy within his body.

Inve himself did not possess a special constitution like Polo.

He didn't know any magic either. Although his will was strong, there were times when will alone was not enough!

No, I must kill or interfere with it before being completely controlled!

The old soldier roared, he tried his best to temporarily regain control of his body, stepped up, and swung the military knife in an arc, slashing towards the top of the Demonic Prince's head—

However, the muscles on the Demonic Prince's inhuman face twitched into a bizarre smile.

He slightly pointed a muscle-covered finger upwards.

The next moment, an uncontrollable red light shone in the old soldier's eyes!

His body instantly lost all control, and the military knife in his hand clattered to the ground.

"If you don't devote yourself to the Mad Dance, you'll always be just a mortal... You only think about restraining your desires, but now, your body seems to disagree!"

A restlessness that no ordinary person could endure instantly overwhelmed Inve.

He felt his reason being submerged by demonic desire in an instant, and countless chaotic colors appeared before his eyes, gradually becoming clearer...

Like countless dancing figures.

But just as Inve's will was about to break—

A loud noise, carrying a surge of wind, suddenly pushed Inve's body away!

His mind instantly cleared, the blood-colored fibers beneath his feet snapped, and control over his body immediately returned.

"Huff... Huff... Hah..."

He gasped heavily, and the scene before him began to solidify.

The Demonic Prince who had been standing in front of him disappeared—

The huge shadow in front of him was the foot of a Giant Corpse Guard, like a white pillar!

Caught off guard, the Demonic Prince was crushed by this sudden, heavy impact, turning into a pool of blood.

But those bloody muds were still squirming, and a head spontaneously formed from it, making a hoarse voice:

"What... is... this... thing... again..."

Seeing that the Prince was about to gather again.

A silver light suddenly burst out like a meteor from the edge of the wheat field!

Leake's Star Killer Sword, gleamed with starlight, her deep blue pupils were tightly staring at the pool of flesh formed by the Demonic Prince.

Faint energy flowed and gathered before her eyes.

A flaw... was exposed.

It was a heart, originally wrapped in countless muscles. The muscles were extremely tough, and countless Mad Dance energies poured out from that devilish heart.

Allowing this body, which should have turned into blood, to reassemble!

At the moment the flaw appeared—

Leake's Star Killer Sword had already pierced into it!

The Star Killer Sword, vibrating with starlight, pierced the flesh, and then, the twitching flesh drooped weakly. The Demonic Prince didn't have time to say a word before collapsing back into a pile of debris.

"Mr. Inve, are you alright? We're a little... late."

Leake shook the juice from her sword, sheathed it, and helped the old soldier who fell to the ground.

"Thank you, I'm fine."

The old soldier didn't have time to reply to Leake. He raised his hand and pointed to the blood-colored carriage of the Demonic Prince, and said, "Wait, he still has a heart, in the Dancing Princess's—"

"Oh, Mr. Inve, I remember."

Leake was stunned for a moment, and added.

When the old soldier stepped forward and opened the curtain of the blood-red carriage, he saw that the Demonic Prince's Dancing Princess had already fallen there.

"How did you..."

Inve was stunned for a moment, and then, he saw the wound of the Demonic Princess.

Behind the blood-red carriage, there was a hole. An arrow passed through the carriage and through the heart of the Demonic Princess from behind. The sharp tip of the arrow was still sticking out from the princess's chest, hanging with a string of blood beads.

The speed of death was so fast that the princess didn't even have time to show a distorted posture!

"Uh, I can actually shoot arrows."

Leake pointed to the longbow on her back and a bag of arrows, "You should have seen it before, right?"

"But how could ordinary arrows directly penetrate a demonized heart?"

Inve stared at the arrow, and said blankly.

"Oh, you're asking about this... This arrow isn't ordinary."

Leake said, pulling out an unused arrow from behind, and showed the old soldier a golden rune on it, "These are blessed by Ms. Karen!"

"This blessing..."

The old soldier Inve stared at the rune on the arrow, his eyes slowly widening.

He recalled some things, an angel who gave him the opportunity to take back his lover, and survive from the collapse in the Dance Plague.

"You met... that angel?!"

"Yes, the process was a bit tortuous, but I'll explain later."

Leake looked towards the town, "Polo and Ms. Karen went to stop that Mad Dancer. If you want to see Ms. Karen, you can see her by going over there."

The old soldier and Leake didn't dawdle for long.

After solving this Demonic Prince, they rushed to the previous village without stopping.

"By the way, in the town, I originally wanted to evacuate the townspeople, but there are still many people."

The old soldier said with a solemn expression as he approached the town, "They are infected with the Dance Plague. If they are directly controlled by the Dance Plague Prince, they will become very dangerous—very aggressive!"

But after approaching the battlefield, Inve's eyes gradually widened again—

On the street, a twisted, dancing villager had been completely distorted by the influence of energy, his skin peeling off, and he had long lost his own consciousness.

Muscles abnormally proliferated during twitching, and countless arms spewed out from under his body like a fountain.

But this wasn't the point.

This seemingly terrible, completely controlled demonized townsperson died the next moment.

"Pfft—"

The spearhead was pulled out from the demonized townsperson's chest, bringing up a splash of blood.

Three gingerbread men pulled out the spears stuck in the demonized villagers' chests, and their cracked bodies slowly recovered.

Then, the gingerbread men quickly continued to rush into the town.

Blocking the second distorted townsperson.

"Is this... the power of the Fertile Angel?"

Inve asked blankly.

"No, this is Polo's magic."

Leake smiled, stepped over the twisted corpse on the ground, and walked along the stone road to the center of the village.

The two also passed by one food soldier after another, and ran to the central location.

"Crack—"

The wall next to him was pushed down, and a deeply infected townsperson with seven or eight dancing arms and fleshy buds all over his body rushed out.

Just as Leake was about to draw her sword, she saw the townsperson suddenly sway and slowly kneel down.

"Huh?"

Inve held his military knife and also glanced over in confusion.

Around, other deeply infected dancers also gradually stopped. Those townspeople whose bodies were distorted due to the active influence of the Demonic Prince had lost the opportunity to survive.

But in the more distant places, the townspeople whose bodies were not distorted...

After they wake up, they may be able to survive.

"What's going on, the second Demonic Prince is also dead?"

Inve followed Leake, bypassed the houses, and saw the second blood-colored carriage in the center of the village. The blood-colored carriage had been entangled by green and red vines.

Seven or eight food soldiers tore it apart.

In front of the carriage, the blood-red figure of the Demonic Prince knelt on the ground.

The proliferating flesh on his body was quiet and motionless.

In front of him, a girl with golden pupils, a halo on her head, and wings on her back stood quietly, with one hand on the Demonic Prince's head.

The next moment, the Demonic Prince was engulfed in golden flames.

In the blink of an eye, it disappeared without a trace.

"Why do I suddenly feel that killing these guys is a lot easier."

Next to him, Polo lay on top of a chocolate sculpture, walked out, yawned as he looked at the dead Demonic Prince, and the other gingerbread men stopped.

Now, Polo's blue bar length is not enough to support him to manipulate a large number of food soldiers for a long time.

"Thanks, Ms. Karen."

Polo said, looking at the golden-eyed angel.

"No, I should thank you."

After Karen killed the Demonic Prince, the halo on her head and the wings on her back slowly disappeared, "These deaths, madness, and sins were originally... from me.

I'm actually not worthy of being an angel."

Karen sighed and shook her head, but soon, she restrained the loss on her face, returned to her peaceful tranquility, and looked at Leake and the old soldier Inve who came over.

"Mr. Inve, we meet again."

"You—"

The old soldier Inve was stunned, his vicissitudes of life, which seemed a little dim, showed a brief loss of consciousness at this moment, "Lord Angel, I finally... see you again!"

...

"So, you wanted to get rid of the Mad Dancer a long time ago?"

"Yes."

Karen looked at the village not far away, the people who had recovered from the Dance Plague began to pick up the things on the ground.

Cries came faintly.

"A long time ago, I came from heaven, that was... when Inve and I first met."

Karen continued to narrate, "I wanted to end all this, but I failed."

"Failed?!"

Leake and Polo looked at Karen's golden pupils, and both showed a trace of horror.

They had personally seen that the power of this angel could easily erase the Demonic Prince who had previously been killed by several people working together.

"How could it be? That Mad Dancer, so strong that even you..."

"Because, in a way, it comes from me, it is a part of me, and this part, more precisely, is my 'shadow'."

Karen shook her head, "I thought at the time that I was already an angel, and I could solve this matter—but I was wrong.

"It has also become stronger, even stronger than me."

The veteran Inve listened to Karen's previous account, his expression becoming somewhat complex. After a long silence, he suddenly looked at Karen and said:

"Your feather saved my life, allowing me to retain a last glimmer of hope in the dark apocalypse."

The veteran reached out and gently stroked Dans' back beside him, his eyes softening. "Compared to more, more important things, death becomes less frightening, doesn't it?

Now, we are no longer alone. No matter what the so-called Mad Dancer is—

Compared to knowing nothing at the beginning, now, when such a god hidden in the shadows reveals its true face,

It's no different from us."

"Inve..."

Karen's golden pupils rested on the veteran, and then she smiled. "I think you are more suitable to be an angel than I am now.

Compared to you, I have always been just an ordinary girl, except for this God-given power."

Saying that, Karen restrained her smile, nodded, and continued from her previous words, "After the first failure, I fell into confusion.

I watched thousands upon thousands of people dance to their deaths in the dance plague. I could save some of them, but I couldn't save everyone.

I watched helplessly as hell enveloped a city, but I was...

Helpless!"

...

Countless years ago, before the Fertile Plains appeared.

A girl dressed in tattered white clothes, with a golden halo above her head and wings on her back, walked on the wasteland.

Blood stained her snow-white dress, a shocking sight.

The illusion of the fall of heaven replayed in her mind, those hymns twisted from the depths of her memory into noisy, incomprehensible demonic sounds.

The verdant garden withered into black wreckage.

The radiance was gone, the ruins fell into the abyss...

The glory of heaven suppressed the evil spirits and demonic thoughts hiding in the shadows on the ground, but now, heaven is gone, and I am the only one left on the ground...

What can I do?

I can't even defeat my own shadow. I can only watch helplessly as those who pray die in pain and twisted agony—

Why me?

What qualifications do I have to be an angel?

What reason do I have to think I have returned to purity just because I severed that part from my flesh?

What qualifications do I have to enjoy peace and pleasure in heaven for so many years?!

Tears welled up under her golden pupils.

The angel Karen trembled, looking at the withered fields around her, sobbing silently.

God is gone, who should I ask my questions to...?

"Angel, I can help you to once again envelop this world in endless radiance, so that people in deep pain can once again be filled with carefree smiles!"

At this moment, a slightly sharp voice sounded from the side.

The angel Karen looked in the direction of the voice. It was a slightly fat woman wearing a robe. She looked kind, and she was carrying a basket.

Karen didn't know who the person in front of her was, but now she was like a drowning person, seeing a reed in the water!

"Madam, please... teach me, what should I do?"

Karen opened her eyes wide and asked.

"Since heaven has fallen, we just need to create another one."

The slightly fat woman said with a smile, "God can create heaven, you are an angel, and you can do the same!"

"Madam, can you... explain it more clearly? I still don't quite understand."

Looking at Karen's bewildered expression, the fat woman smiled again and pointed to the roadside—

There, two farmers leaned against the field, looking pale and thin from hunger.

Their wheat had failed in the previous period due to locust plagues and frost.

"Hunger brings pain to humans, and delicious food is the cure for famine."

The fat woman said, "And a place without famine, for them—is heaven!"

Immediately, the fat woman opened her basket, took out a bottle of potion from it, unscrewed the lid, and finally chanted a spell, dripping the magic potion on a red rock on the ground.

The next moment, the rock began to change shape rapidly, becoming a...

Huge cake served on a plate!

The fat woman picked up the cake that had changed from the ground and handed it to the two hungry farmers by the roadside.

The two farmers' eyes showed ecstasy.

They kowtowed ecstatically, and kept saying in their mouths: "Thank you, Angel, thank you, Angel!"

The fat woman's expression remained the same, without responding to the two farmers who were feasting, but turned her head to look at Karen and continued:

"Do you understand? Real Angel."

"Then, what should I do?"

Karen's eyes glowed, "What should I do... to create a heaven without hunger?"

"It doesn't matter, Angel, I'll help you."

The fat woman put the magic potion back into the basket beside her, looked at Karen, and a faint light flashed in her eyes, "All you have to do is lend me the power of the angel—

That's all!"

...

Polo and the others' carriage passed the sign of the Fertile Plains and drove into the forest not far away.

"At that time, the Gluttonous Witch asked me to lend her all my power, and I didn't refuse."

Karen sighed and continued, "At that time, pity had already taken away most of my sanity—if it weren't for you, my mistake would have caused an even more irreparable consequence!"

As Karen spoke, she picked up a bullet from the veteran.

A feather from the white wings on her back fluttered and landed on the bullet, slowly merging into it, forming a golden rune.

"I'm sorry, although I am an angel, the help I can offer... is very limited.

I am not good at fighting. Before becoming an angel, I was just an ordinary girl who had lost her legs."

Karen said, panting, and handed a box of bullets infused with angelic power to the veteran, "Moreover, in these decades, the Gluttonous Witch has extracted a lot of my power.

Now, I can only cut off the connection between the Mad Dancer's devotees and the Mad Dancer when they are outside the Kingdom of Stedz."

Speaking here, Karen paused, raised her head, and a trace of firmness flashed in her golden pupils, "But I promise, this time, as long as I reach the Mad Dancer's presence—

I can completely eliminate it!"

The carriage entered the forest.

The maze barrier on the outer layer of the Fertile Plains rippled invisibly.

Polo raised his paw, and a crystal stone engraved with runes flew out of the backpack behind him, emitting a layer of magical light, resonating with the surrounding barrier.

The next moment, the trees on both sides changed rapidly, and the sound of rustling was endless...

Through the manipulation of this barrier, Polo can directly pass through the maze and reach every border of the Fertile Plains.

And now, what the group arrived at was the border between the Fertile Plains and the veteran's homeland, the Kingdom of Stedz.

Ahead, a broken road sign appeared in front of them.

Under the road sign, there was also a pale armored skeleton lying down.

The carriage gradually stopped, and a complex look flashed in the veteran Inve's eyes. He dismounted, walked forward, and picked up the old road sign that had fallen to the side.

Wiping off the mud and dust on it, several rusty metal characters were revealed.

[Traveler, welcome to Stedz]

The carriage turned over the overgrown ground. The path here, because it has been unattended for a long time, can no longer see any special traces.

Crossing a hill, Polo stuck his neck out and saw... that dim city.

The dilapidated city walls, twisted bones scattered everywhere on the ground, buried in the soil for a long time.

Further inside.

In the center of those matchbox-like houses, that magnificent palace that should have been imposing.

The roofs and terraces all seemed to be covered with a layer of light red, indistinct material. They seemed to be wriggling, along with a kind of... red light that shot straight into the sky!

Red light...

In Polo's eyes, in the next moment, he uncontrollably showed a red glow!

After the two demonized princes in the Fertile Plains died, it seemed that some of their essence was also added to Polo's body, and that trace of demonic abnormal attraction became more and more intense.

At this moment, when Polo saw the red light in the city, this attraction finally reached its peak!

Polo felt the muscles all over his body begin to twitch uncontrollably.

Another will was fighting with him for control of his body!

The illusion in front of him spread in the red light, the huge and gloomy palace, the blood-red candlelight, flickered on the walls on all sides, along with the blood-colored light and shadow, dancing wildly.

At the deepest point, the source from which the wriggling muscular arm extended.

The huge shadow was getting closer and closer.

Its voice did not seem dull, but more like... countless chaotic footsteps!

That outline was getting closer and closer.

Vaguely, Polo seemed to see in the darkness the countless dancing limbs...

"Wake up!"

At this moment, a voice sounded, and the illusion disappeared.

Polo opened his eyes, and the angel Karen retracted her hand from the top of Polo's head, smiled apologetically, and explained:

"We are about to approach the Mad Dancer's demonic realm. Here, all the energy that originates from it will be re-dominated by it."

As she spoke, Karen handed a feather to Polo.

"If you hold it, you will no longer be affected by this abnormal call—my aura can also suppress this abnormality."

"Thank you."

Polo took the feather, and the feather turned into a golden glow and merged into Polo's palm, forming a delicate mark.

Looking up again.

In the distance, the shape of the capital of Stedz has been hidden in the gray mist.

The previous inexplicable red light also disappeared, as if it was just a phantom.

"Fortunately, such energy can never be a good thing. Although it has strengthened my body to some extent—but this is a time bomb."

Polo rubbed his throbbing temples.

He remembered something, and waved his hand towards the luggage beside him, and a blood-colored invitation flew out.

At this time, the pattern on the invitation lit up with a faint red light.

The faint blood line, like a guiding arrow, extended towards the distant city.

"Let's go, to Stedz."

"End... this twisted dance that should not have appeared."