Damn it! He should have realized earlier that Mirexia hadn’t used the token to call for help when she was cornered because she didn’t want to?
It must be because she couldn’t use it, that’s why she didn’t.
But how could these cloaked figures be so powerful that even Mirexia wasn’t a match for them?
Vinny was momentarily confused and incredulous. He had some understanding of Mirexia’s strength.
In the original story, Mirexia was like a humanoid dragon. Even if this wasn’t her peak, as long as she didn’t run into the royal knights of various nations, she could definitely retreat unscathed from a regular army.
Either these monsters were ridiculously strong, or she had encountered some unexpected trouble.
As he gazed at the dilapidated church surrounded by thorns and these terrifying monsters and purple-robed figures, Vinny began to understand.
Could this be a conspiracy targeting Mirexia?
But that didn’t make sense?
Vinny racked his brain but couldn’t find this part in the original plot.
In the original story, there were no unexpected incidents during the demon extermination in Reiswyn.
Whether Mirexia was targeted by these heretics was unknown, but she definitely didn’t encounter any trouble. The extermination mission went smoothly, and the midterm exam concluded without a hitch.
Mirexia was ambushed and defeated by a group of heretics. Why? Why did this happen?
Where did things go wrong to cause such a significant deviation from the original plot?
Vinny couldn’t figure out which part had gone wrong. Could it be because the list of students entering the student council this year was different from the original story?
His presence meant that someone from the original plot had been replaced by him.
Who was that person?
Vinny felt he had discovered a blind spot. The person he had been trying to remember, the one who had joined the student council in the original plot, gradually began to take shape in his mind.
That person was...
Yes! That person was Byran!
Vinny remembered. The person he had replaced was Byran, who he had defeated in the freshman entrance exam!
But if the problem really lay here, why was it that with Byran around, the demon extermination went smoothly, but with him here, Mirexia ended up in trouble?
What was the connection? What had he done that Byran hadn’t, or what could Byran do that he couldn’t?
“Vinny, why are you here?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you, Princess Mirexia. Are you okay?” Vinny supported Mirexia, who was so weak she could barely stand.
“Vinny, leave here quickly and notify the instructors. I’ll hold them off.” Mirexia gasped for breath, clearly at her limit.
“Princess Mirexia, even if I wanted to leave now, I can’t.” Vinny said helplessly. “After entering this place, the way back disappeared.”
“...Anyway, I’ll hold them off. Try to hide as best as you can. Don’t let them find you. This demon god’s plane, which relies on the existence of the Terraria continent, so it must be unstable. As long as we buy time, there will be a chance.” With that, Mirexia broke free from Vinny’s support.
Hide?
Vinny felt helpless.
How could he hide? This was their territory.
But trying to fight back was equally unrealistic. If even Mirexia couldn’t defeat them, what chance did he have?
Two to seven. They’d chop him into seven pieces in two minutes.
Now, it seemed they were at a dead end.
Vinny sighed. He wasn’t the protagonist, so why did he keep running into situations only the protagonist should face? It was so hard for him, trying to walk the NPC path.
But was he truly helpless in such a desperate situation?
Ha, kidding.
Who did they think he was?
Vinny, the Idea King of Camella!
Would he not come up with an idea?
Now, in this critical moment, he had a brilliant idea.
So, while Mirexia stood in front of him, with the heretics’ attention on her, Vinny’s expression turned cold. He quietly drew a dagger from his waist, grabbed Mirexia’s shoulder, and pressed the dagger against her slender, white neck.
“Don’t move,” Vinny threatened, holding Mirexia hostage. “If you make another move, my knife won’t be so forgiving.”
“What?!” Even the purple-robed man was stunned.
He thought the two were already trapped, with no way out, but he hadn’t expected Vinny to pull such a stunt.
Even he was caught off guard.
“Imposter, what are you doing? That’s your princess.” The purple-robed man frowned.
“Haha, princess or not, nothing is more important than my life! You said you wanted her alive, right? If I kill her here, you’d be in trouble, wouldn’t you?” Vinny hid behind Mirexia, grinning with a standard villainous smile.
Vinny’s actions completely surprised Mirexia, who had trusted him with her back. She widened her beautiful eyes, unable to believe it.
“Virtue +100.”
“Current Virtue: 1754.”
“Tch, you two stop acting. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve secretly planned this. You wouldn’t dare harm your princess.” The purple-robed man sneered, tilting his head back. “Stop putting on a show. I won’t believe it.”
“Hahaha, you clown in a hood, looks like you don’t know me well. Have you been stuck in a stinky sewer for so long that you haven’t heard of me?” Vinny’s lips curled into a cruel smile as he pressed the dagger further against Mirexia’s snow-white neck, drawing a thin line of blood.
“I’m the infamous scoundrel of the capital, known for bullying men and women, committing all sorts of evil deeds. Do you think a vague oath of loyalty is more important to me than my life?”
“Besides, as long as I can leave here, who would know I betrayed the princess?” Vinny laughed wildly, his demeanor and tone perfectly portraying the image of a despicable villain.
“Sorry, Princess, but this is the only way. It’s better for one of us to survive than for both of us to perish. At least this way, someone will avenge you, right?”
Feeling the cold blade and the pain on her neck, Mirexia remained silent. Though her heart was filled with inexplicable disappointment and despair, Vinny was right. If her sacrifice could ensure his escape, it was her original intention. So even if she could break free from Vinny’s grip, she didn’t.
Protecting her subjects was her duty.
But...
Recalling their childhood memories and Vinny’s changes over the past few months, she felt things weren’t so simple.
“Don’t be rash. What do you want?” The purple-robed man never imagined he’d one day become the protector of the princess.
Indeed, Erunes wanted her alive, not dead. Failing the mission would result in punishment.
The torment would be worse than death, just thinking about it made one’s bones tremble.
“Let me leave, you hooded clown.” Vinny growled coldly. “Unless you want a corpse.”
“You can turn around and leave. No one cares about the life of an insignificant person like you.” The purple-robed man said.
“Haha, do you think I’m a three-year-old kid? Does my face say ‘I’m easy to fool’? Don’t mess with me. I know I can’t get out of this place on my own. Only you have the way out. Spill it, or you won’t get her alive!” Vinny said fiercely, waving the dagger near Mirexia’s neck.
“And don’t try any tricks! No matter how fast you are, my knife is already on her neck. If I see you trying anything, I won’t hesitate to go down with her!” Vinny said with a crazed expression.
“Anyway, I’m trapped here with no way out! Might as well take you bastards down with me!”
“All right, all right, let’s talk this over.” The purple-robed man first calmed the restless black keratin monsters, then took out a bottle of azure potion from his robe and smashed it on the ground.
The blue potion exploded, and the liquid formed a magical circuit on the ground. A portal appeared, and through it, one could vaguely see the outside world of Reiswyn.
This must be the exit potion. There’s no way these heretics could have anticipated this situation and prepared a fake potion to deceive him.
“This is the exit. Release the princess and leave through here.” The purple-robed man pointed at the portal formed by the blue liquid.
“Hah, you think I’m an idiot? If I release the princess, I lose my only bargaining chip. Why would you keep your promise then? You’d just kill me on the spot, right?” Vinny sneered.
“I give you my word of honor, I won’t harm you,” the purple-robed man said.
“That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all day. Honor? Take a look in the mirror. Do you even have that? You can’t guarantee something you don’t possess.” Vinny mocked.
“Besides, I never believe in such vague things!”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“What do I suggest? I don’t trust your honor. I need to retreat to a safe distance before I can feel secure. Otherwise, forget it. You can prepare to collect the princess’s corpse.” With that, Vinny, still holding Mirexia hostage, began to back away towards the exit portal, keeping an eye on the heretics’ every move.
During this time, the restrained monsters watched the two, none making a move.
“All right, this distance should be enough for you to leave. Any further, and we’ll have to act.” The purple-robed man frowned.
In his eyes, this imposter’s behavior was exactly what a selfish, power-hungry villain should look like, completely consistent with the rumors about Vinny.
With his values, he was more inclined to believe that the world was full of people like Vinny, rather than those willing to sacrifice themselves for others.
The desire to survive is an instinct of all living beings. If one can’t even ensure their own safety, why would they care about anything else?
People always prioritize themselves.
Combined with Vinny’s earlier villainous speech and foolish actions, the purple-robed man was already half-convinced of Vinny’s selfish, cowardly persona.
Such a malicious scoundrel would be extremely arrogant when not facing reality, but once in danger, he wouldn’t hesitate to use others’ lives as a shield.
Such a person wouldn’t take risks to save others, especially not at the cost of their own life. That was completely impossible.
“Haha, right. Well, goodbye everyone, goodbye Princess.” Vinny said mockingly, then suddenly pushed Mirexia towards the exit.
“Princess Mirexia, run!”
Mirexia, pushed out, was momentarily stunned, not reacting immediately.
“Virtue +300.”
“Current Virtue: 2054.”
“You brat, you dare trick me?!” The purple-robed man was stunned, then furious.
“Hahaha! So what if I tricked you, you brain-dead clown.” Mirexia was just a step away from the exit, and he wasn’t far behind. Vinny, thinking he had won, started celebrating, switching his victory pose to a mocking expression, sticking out his tongue and making faces at the purple-robed man.
Most of his earlier villainous speech and actions were to make the demon god’s believers think he was a cowardly scoundrel, all bark and no bite, revealing his true colors when out of options. The information gap often led to the enemy’s underestimation.
A small part of it, though, was that Vinny really enjoyed playing the villain. It was addictive, honestly. The feeling of letting go and just acting out felt incredibly satisfying.
“Remember this, I’m Camella’s Idea King!” With that, Vinny ran towards the exit, sticking out his tongue and opening his shirt.
“You brat!” Faced with this sudden turn of events, the purple-robed man wasn’t completely unprepared. He had already secretly gripped his staff, and a tentacle-like appendage, resembling that of a giant octopus, extended from a void array, lashing out at Vinny.
Holy crap! He had this move too?
Vinny’s expression changed drastically.
“Vinny!” At that moment, Mirexia, who should have stepped out of the demon god’s plane, turned back and pushed Vinny away, only to be caught by the tentacle and lifted into the air.
Vinny fell near the exit, watching the golden-haired girl, writhing in pain, his eyes wide.
Behind him was the exit, within arm’s reach. If he wanted to leave alone, all he needed to do was reach out.
“Vin...ny, go...quickly...” Mirexia, weak, used her last bit of strength to speak.
“...”
“Tch, that blue-haired brat got away.” The purple-robed man was displeased. His staff could only summon one Erunes’s Hand, and with Vinny so close to the exit...
But it didn’t matter. The main target was captured. An imposter like him was worthless, Erunes wouldn’t be interested.
A fraud, with no value whatsoever.
Vinny glanced at the exit, so close, then stood up, ignoring it. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward, took off his ice crystal earring, and transformed it into Fang of the Frozen Earth, twirling it a few times.
“Vin...ny?” Mirexia, seeing this, grew anxious. “Go, tell the instructors, the exit...it’s about to disappear!”
Vinny remained silent.
Leaving the demon god’s domain to call for help, letting the instructors know Mirexia was in trouble, might be the best choice, but perhaps not.
When Vinny looked through the exit at Reiswyn, he noticed that the time flow in the demon god’s domain and the Terraria continent wasn’t synchronized.
Time in the demon god’s domain was much slower, so even though they had been inside for a while, the sky in Reiswyn hadn’t changed.
The time it would take for him to leave and call for help would probably be enough for the demon god’s believers to take Mirexia back to their lair several times over.
And—
“If I leave, what about you?” Vinny shook his head, smiling at Mirexia. “Princess Mirexia, deep down, you’re actually scared I’ll abandon you, aren’t you?”
Hearing this, Mirexia’s eyes trembled.
“Even though you’re terrified, you still insist on telling me to escape. You’re still as kind as ever, just like when we were kids, afraid of being left alone.”
These words left Mirexia speechless, as if in that moment, all the armor she had built around her heart, all the strength and rationality she had shown, shattered. Her most vulnerable, true self was laid bare before him, making her both embarrassed and ashamed.
Perhaps her true heart had never been hidden from this young man, after all, he was her childhood friend.
Memories of their childhood flooded back.
“I won’t leave! I’ll stay here with Mirexia. Mirexia, she’s always been afraid of being alone, afraid of the dark, afraid of being left behind...”
“Mirexia, don’t cry, okay? We’ll always be friends. I won’t leave. I’ll always be with you.” When the girl was heartbroken, locking herself in her room to cry, the young blue-haired boy stood at her door, refusing to leave no matter how much she tried to drive him away, always trying to talk to her, to comfort the girl who wanted to see no one but secretly longed for someone to console her.
Back then, just like now.
Though much had changed, he could still see through her fragility, still see through the hard shell she had built around herself, knowing that inside, nothing had really changed.
Though time had passed, the blue-haired young man still kept his childhood promise, staying by her side, appearing when she was most helpless, giving up the chance to save himself, choosing to face the danger with her.
Only then did Mirexia realize that, from childhood to now, her life had always had his presence and companionship.
“Vin...ny...” Mirexia gazed at the blue-haired young man, who she had always seen as just a childhood friend.
“Virtue +400.”
“Current Virtue: 2454.”