Emily immediately turned around. The cold fury on her face vanished instantly.
"Alice? How are you feeling?" Emily quickly checked Alice with worried gaze, her expression no longer frigid with cold wrath.
Alice had already returned to her human form and changed into clothes from her spatial ring. Earlier, Lume, the Abyssal Trickster, had hidden her transformation using illusions while also blocking the livestream from seeing it.
Afterward, Alice had immediately used healing skills on herself. Most of her injuries were gone now.
Still, exhaustion remained visible in her expression.
"I’m okay," Alice answered quietly.
Then her gaze shifted toward the trapped Mistborns before returning to Emily.
"Let them go."
"But—"
"They were doing what they were supposed to do. This is still a competition," Alice interrupted gently.
Alice understood the situation clearly.
She had been the weaker party. Even so, she stubbornly blocked the Mistborns and attacked them anyway.
Naturally, they attacked back.
Getting angry because they defeated her after she challenged them directly would only insult the spirit of battle itself.
Alice accepted her defeat. The injuries she suffered were the result of her own choices.
In fact, she could tell some Mistborns had held back because they did not want to seriously injure her. Being underestimated irritated her, but she also knew the responsibility ultimately lay with her own lack of strength.
She simply needed to grow stronger, and that was something she planned to do after gaining a lot of experience from today’s battle.
"No. I’m going to crush them."
"Emily."
"No!" Emily shook her head vehemently.
Alice stepped closer without saying anything else and pulled Emily into a hug.
Emily initially resisted, tension remaining throughout her body. But Alice continued patting her back slowly and gently.
Little by little, Emily’s resistance weakened. Then finally, tears began falling from her eyes.
Alice held her quietly while Emily trembled against her shoulder.
"I’m sorry for getting injured."
"Y-You aren’t sorry at all! You—"
Emily could not even finish her sentence properly.
Her voice shook too much, and the tears in her eyes only increased further.
Earlier, when she saw Alice covered in blood and barely standing, she genuinely felt as though something inside her had stopped.
For a moment back then, Emily truly thought Alice was going to die.
Alice, knowing how Emily felt, spoke gentle words to calm her down.
At the same time, she looked at the Mistborns, and subtly waved her hand, signaling them to leave before Emily noticed them again and restarted the fight out of anger.
The Mistborns wanted to cry seeing that gesture. Would they not leave if they could?
This damned Mini Boss was not letting them go!
The Thorn Tyrant’s massive crimson roots remained wrapped tightly around the Mistborns and their broken Steam Suits. Some roots were still slowly tightening every few seconds as though trying to remind them who controlled the battlefield now.
The Mini Boss noticed Alice signaling it to let go of the Mistborns.
It snorted. Why should it listen to a mere Adept?
Yes, Alice had injured it earlier, but that only happened because she attacked while its guard was lowered. In a direct fight, things would obviously be different.
At least, that was what the Thorn Tyrant believed.
Before it could ignore Alice completely, a gigantic shadow descended from above.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm landed nearby with a heavy thud.
Its eyes glanced toward the Thorn Tyrant lazily before a voice echoed through their shared connection.
[Let them go. You don’t want to get on Lady Alice’s bad side.]
[Hmph. I’m not afraid of her.] The Thorn Tyrant immediately snorted again.
The monsters communicated through the Beast Bond upgraded version, something that came after Emily created her Soul Space.
The connection allowed her summons to communicate with each other directly.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm looked at the arrogant Mini Boss with a strange gaze. It had been so subservient to Emily, but now it was being arrogant.
For a brief moment, the Sky Wyrm genuinely considered staying silent and letting the Thorn Tyrant suffer later.
Only when it was beaten by Alice would it understand its position.
What? Alice couldn’t beat it because it was a Mini Boss?
Just a few days ago, the Crimson Sky Wyrm had been arrogant like that, believing Alice was weak compared to it.
Then Alice suddenly grew strong, could transform into a dragon, and beat it black and blue.
Later, the Sky Wyrm discovered something even more horrifying.
Apparently, all the older summons had already experienced this.
Whether in the name of training, discipline, or sparring, Alice had beaten every single one of them at some point. Worse, her growth speed was absurd. Even if she could not defeat a summon immediately, she usually became strong enough to do it within days.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm had learned that lesson painfully.
That was why it now looked at the Thorn Tyrant with faint pity.
[Sigh. I’m only saying this because we’ll be partners from now on, but listen to Lady Alice.] The Sky Wyrm paused before adding, [If you don’t, Lady Emily will make sure you do next time.]
The Thorn Tyrant was about to refuse again.
Then it looked toward Emily.
Emily was still hugging Alice tightly while crying. Even now, she clearly looked more concerned about Alice than anything else around her.
The Thorn Tyrant was arrogant, but it was not stupid.
It could tell Emily cared deeply about Alice.
How deeply?
The Mini Boss did not know.
But if an older summon was giving advice this seriously, perhaps it should listen for now.
After thinking for a few seconds, the Thorn Tyrant finally replied,
[Hmph. Fine. I’ll give you face this time. But don’t think you can order me around again.]
The Crimson Sky Wyrm’s eye twitched slightly. However, it decided not to argue.
Soon enough, reality would educate the new summon better than words ever could.
The Thorn Tyrant loosened its roots at last.
Well, partially.
Before releasing the Mistborns fully, the Mini Boss made sure to completely rip apart the remaining sections of their Steam Suits first. Metal tore apart loudly while several Mistborns’ body began to grow, as if dispersing into the wind.
Only after ensuring their armors were ruined beyond repair did the Thorn Tyrant finally withdraw its roots.
The Mini Boss felt extremely satisfied with itself.
This way, it had technically obeyed Alice by releasing the Mistborns while also making sure Emily would still be pleased.
Truly brilliant.
The Thorn Tyrant silently admired its own intelligence.