Chapter 254 : Training Without Deception
"Master, you've... you've returned."
Seeing Elucia push open the door and enter, Candel showed a pitiful expression like a little pet.
Usually, it was Lonis who suffered teasing and showed such expressions, but at this moment, the red-haired little loli was even more humble than Lonis.
Her knees were on the ground, her wrists supporting her body along with her knees, her butt raised high. Her pure white petite body wore almost nothing, only black underwear barely covering her private parts.
...
"Mm, Candel, look who I brought back."
"Huh... this, this is..."
"Lord Candel!"
Shiman was stunned. She never expected that the originally rebellious and arrogant Vampire Queen would be lying here so obediently like a little pet.
"Shiman... you should also come, kneel down..."
Facing her former subordinate, Candel seemed somewhat embarrassed, her body trembling as she couldn't maintain face.
But compared to face, she seemed to value her position more... She secretly glanced at Elucia, becoming even more submissive, almost pressing against Elucia's feet like a little cat.
"My lord..."
Faced with this scene, Shiman also immediately fell to her knees with a thud.
Because she could see that Candel had no shackles on her body, and her body hadn't suffered any devastation... meaning Candel still retained 60% of her fighting ability. If she wanted to resist, she could still resist now.
But...
Candel just lay there obediently, looking at the black-haired girl with reverent eyes.
"Mm, quite sensible. Miss Shiman, by now you should know how wise your surrender was, right?"
"M-Miss Elucia, I..."
"Sigh, I still have some things to handle, so I'll come see you later... Miss Shiman, you can have a good reunion with Candel in prison. Oh... that's right! There's also an Exotic Decay Lord named Pearl in the adjacent cell. Remember to get along well."
After speaking, Elucia took Lonis's hand and left the Time Shuttle's prison.
However, compared to the shocked Shiman, the obviously more shocked one was Lonis... Her eyes were wide open, completely unable to understand why Candel would be so obedient.
She was 100 times more obedient than herself!
...
And Lonis's thoughts naturally didn't escape Elucia's notice:
"Hmph, Lonis, are you scared?"
"Huh?"
"Curious why Candel is so submissive to me, without any thought of resistance? Are you afraid that you'll also be trained into this state by me?"
"Wuwu... (Indeed scared.)"
"Hmph, let me tell you the truth. That Candel is just fierce on the outside but weak inside. Although she desperately wanted to invade the Bright Ember Kingdom, the fundamental reason in her heart was just wanting to reunite with family."
"Reunite?"
"Mm, she wanted to become the joint queen of both the Bright Ember Kingdom and demon territories, so she could live together with Princess Sethilu and Miss Lingli. King Ruowei Palace wouldn't have to work so hard handling various affairs, and everyone could live happily together."
Elucia let out a long breath, her expression revealing a hint of melancholy.
"Then Candel is..."
"Hmph, but she's really too young. She has all this ability but doesn't know how to use it. And her personality is also very troublesome tsundere, so when dealing with interpersonal problems, she's a complete mess, only knowing how to establish authority through a fierce mask."
"Oh, very similar to Elucia..."
Because she was thinking about Candel's situation, Lonis unconsciously repeated her inner thoughts aloud.
By the time she noticed, it was too late... The words couldn't be taken back, and Elucia was already glaring at her fiercely.
"Hah? Lonis, it seems you really want to be completely trained by me like Candel."
"N-no! Master Elucia, spare me! I was talking nonsense just now, I'm sorry!!!"
Lonis pitifully prepared to kneel down and apologize to the girl.
However...
"Hmph, tsundere? Perhaps..."
Elucia didn't make her kneel, but instead embraced her body.
Those crimson eyes looked directly at her, bright and gleaming like flames, without any impurities.
"Ah?"
"My nature might have some tsundere personality factors. But Lonis, I absolutely won't lie, absolutely won't do anything that abandons the essential for the trivial."
"..."
"I admit, yesterday I seemed to be somewhat overly exhausted, making Lonis and everyone worry. But if others think I've been defeated by this, they're gravely mistaken~"
"Elucia?!"
Lonis widened her eyes, because at this moment Elucia was so radiant, just like a true princess...
"Because no matter what suffering I endure, no matter what setbacks I encounter, I will use my method to drag the Trickster Demon Lord from its throne and chop it into complete mincemeat!"
...
In a trance, Lonis seemed to understand...
Elucia was truly a very strong girl.
This strength wasn't a disguise, but truly deep in her bones, resilience from the depths of her soul.
After all, spanning a hundred years, that kind of world-changing transformation wasn't something ordinary people could bear.
But Lonis also knew that being strong didn't mean not needing companionship.
In fact, Elucia also liked her very much, also valued her greatly... To give the simplest example, Elucia clearly had sensory deprivation and the ability to make others fall into illusions.
But when training her, she had never used these abilities.
Because—
"Training is not allowed to have deception."
After this, Lonis and Elucia threw themselves wholeheartedly into the war against the demons.
The demon offensive remained fierce. They constantly tried to break open the pure white walls protecting the royal capital using catapults, ladders, battering rams, and other methods.
Giant stones crashed against the city walls, roaring day and night like thunder, making violent sounds.
But under Lonis and Elucia's command, the garrison defending the city didn't give them any opportunity.
At the same time, Clear Academy's Time Shuttle also played a huge role.
Although mobilization had been done, there were still many Bright Ember Kingdom warriors trapped in some remote fortresses, unable to evacuate.
At this time, the Time Shuttle, under the companions' control, went to various places to organize evacuations.
In this process, the Zhou Suling and Zhou Mixue sisters also played a huge role... Sick crew members often received proper care as soon as they boarded the ship.
And those rescue supplies brought from Clear Academy also proved extremely useful.
...
Thus, the full-scale war between the demons and the Bright Ember Kingdom entered its heated fifth day.
On the night of this day,
An event occurred that no one had anticipated.
The demons launched a surprise attack.