Chapter 214 Concerto



In the darkness of the night, the melodious sound of the flute suddenly became piercing.

Under the rhythmically charged melody, the bodies of the three doe spirits underwent a transformation once again.

The massive antlers on the heads of the doe spirits swiftly shrank, allowing them to shake off the bodies of the giant wolves that had been impaled on them. Then, the hind legs of the doe spirits were further strengthened, allowing them to stand upright like humans and use their forehooves as fists to strike at the enemy!

The wolves rushing in for the second wave did not expect this change and were caught off guard. They failed to breach the defensive circle and reach Vanessa.

However, the wolf pack reacted swiftly. Upon the shift in the situation, they immediately reinforced their ranks with three more giant wolves, leaving the doe spirits who had yet to completely subdue the second wave of wolves spread thin!

Vanessa, unflustered by this turn of events, used the notes of her flute to command the doe spirits to concentrate on the enemies at hand.

As for herself, when the three new giant wolves infiltrated the area around the carriage, she suddenly leapt high into the air, evading the wolves' onslaught and landed next to one of the doe spirits.

Vanessa, with her nimble footsteps, continued to play her tune while circling the doe spirits. The wolves' attempts to bring her down – their charges, their bites, their claw attacks – all fell flat.

While she was dodging their attacks, the humanoid doe spirits methodically shattered one wolf skull after another with steady strikes.

In an instant, the corpses of nine wolves lay strewn across the field.

Seeing no further wolves daring to step up, Vanessa temporarily halted her performance.

At this moment, from the shadows of the wolf pack, a humanoid wolf stepped to the forefront, standing across from Vanessa at a distance of forty to fifty meters.

Vanessa recognized this creature; this werewolf had led attacks against her twice before, and this was the first time they had faced each other directly.

Just as Vanessa was about to say something to him, the werewolf let out a rough growl from his throat. Immediately after, the remaining three giant wolves spread out, apparently gearing up for a desperate battle with Vanessa.

— (It would have been much better if they'd done this earlier. What a waste of my sleeping time. My skin is going to suffer.)

Vanessa twirled the silver flute between her fingers and began to play again. This time, having a clear view of the number of enemies, she had no intention of continuing to defend.

— "Doe Spirit Concerto: Sixth Movement - Peach Blossom"

Under the profound musical notes emanating from the slender silver flute, one of the doe spirits' bodies inflated to the size of an elephant, becoming a humanoid giant.

Another doe spirit gained stronger limbs based on its current figure, while the last one reverted back to the original four-legged hart form, its giant antlers still glistening coldly with the blood of the wolves.

Vanessa continued to play her tune as she walked towards the werewolf, with the humanoid doe and the hart on her left and right, and the gigantic doe spirit standing behind her.

Every step the giant doe took made the ground tremble.

The werewolf growled angrily and charged first, followed by the three remaining giant wolves who also launched into a sprint!

Despite the perilous situation, Vanessa's performance didn't miss a beat, and there was not a hint of tremor in the sound. In her concerto, the three doe spirits were as one with her, sharing sight and intention.

Vanessa and the doe spirits cooperated with each other, and in the magnificent Sixth Movement, the werewolf and the giant wolves were turned into immobile corpses.

"My dear children, you've worked hard."

After the performance ended, the doe spirits returned to their cute and petite forms, swarming around Vanessa's feet, asking for belly rubs as a reward.

Vanessa rewarded each one, then knocked on the carriage door, letting the two drivers go dig out the magic cores from the wolves, while she herself, along with the doe spirits, went back into the carriage to continue her sleep.

.

When Vanessa awoke the following day, it was already nearing noon.

While she had been asleep, the carriage had made good progress, traversing a considerable distance across the landscape.

She instructed the carriage drivers to pull over onto a verdant meadow, letting the doe spirits out to graze, while she herself retrieved some dried rations from her luggage and began to eat with water.

The attackers from the previous nocturne were from the werewolf tribe of the neighboring Falnas Empire.

The werewolf tribe and the Snowy Hart Family were sworn enemies, and any werewolf would take pride in killing a member of the Snowy Hart Family.

Vanessa was unsure how the werewolves had discovered her whereabouts. Living outside of the Snowy Hart Family's territory, she was considered an easy target by the wolves.

However, Vanessa didn't see the situation as entirely negative.

Due to border security restrictions, the werewolves that could reach her were not overly powerful, which gave her the opportunity to accumulate combat experience and grow stronger.

Having been exchanged to the Azure Lizard Family for the sake of familial friendship, she had to exert effort several times that of her siblings in the Snowy Hart Family. Otherwise, the fate awaiting her would be to marry a young master from the Azure Lizard Family, much like a child bride.

This was the destiny of being the "child of exchange" for the two families' friendship.

·

After about ten minutes, Vanessa and her party were ready to depart.

But just as they were about to set off, a doe spirit, attracted by a little white rabbit that had hopped over from afar, refused to get back in the carriage. Just as Vanessa was about to scold the doe spirit, a swift arrow whistled through the air, puncturing the little rabbit's skull and ending its life in an instant.

The three doe spirits were startled but didn't give out the alarm cry for enemies' approach.

Vanessa turned to look in the direction the arrow had come from, but initially saw nothing.

Squinting, she spotted a person on horseback approaching from the edge of the woods about a hundred to two hundred meters away.

—("He hit from that distance?")

Vanessa tried to imagine what it would be like if the rabbit was placed a hundred meters away—it would probably look no bigger than a white dot the size of a fingernail.

To accurately hit a moving target of that size from such a distance, this archer was either extremely lucky or...

"Driver, we won't be leaving just yet. Go pick up that rabbit."

Vanessa was intrigued by the archer. If he was talented, she wanted to bring him under her wing. This would be helpful for her when she returned to the Snowy Hart Family in the future.

—(If he's strong enough, he could even serve as my retainer in the labyrinth, providing some much-needed ranged capabilities.)

·

Vanessa stood by the carriage, waiting for the horseman to come closer.

Up close, the horseman's steed was even more formidable than she had anticipated, its arrival causing the doe spirits to watch with rapt attention.

The rider himself was a young man with striking features.

Although his tanned hair, dark cloak, and worn leather armor were all rather shabby, they did little to conceal his austere charisma.

Furthermore, the equipment carried on the horse's back caught Vanessa's attention. Although all were covered with leather cases, based on her experience, they were likely no ordinary goods.

Vanessa quickly concluded that this horseman was not only skilled in archery and quite handsome, but also a seasoned "veteran" of warfare.

"May I have a word with you, horseman?"

Vanessa lifted the rabbit in her hand, signaling to the young man. She believed that her beauty could instantly compel the young man to dismount and converse with her.

"I'm in a hurry, take the rabbit if you like it."

The young man didn't even slacken his pace, he simply responded curtly and spurred his horse onwards.