“ You gave her what? “, Phong looked at the original protagonist with a concerned expression. He turned to face his best friend, who had the same puzzled expression, the fox on her shoulder still chillin like everything is so normal.

Nho politely asked, “ My lady, are you saying that you gave Thu a ring to track her down? “.

‘Linh’ nodded, her bright smile remained, if not a lot brighter than before. The pair of best friends felt as if lightning was shot through them. Their mouths were agape but neither dared to say anything, because the thoughts in their head were far from nice.

They both stared down at their teacup.

That’s fucking creepy, The best friends was sweating balls.

Kim noticed the awkward atmosphere, however, ‘Linh’ remained oblivious, her face clearly relaxing in the moment. He mentally sighs before leaning forward, causing Phong’s eyes to follow him. “ The lady gave her a ring, that’s fortunate then “.

Fortunate, my ass!, Nho and Phong kept their expressions blank at their best ability.

The second prince continued, “ We should be able to find her then without roaming around too much “. Phong couldn’t help but stare at his sharp jaw and his hand, the rings and god bracelet complimenting it, the second prince had a huge hand with visible veins. Phong quickly catches himself staring, his eyes averted at the speed of light.

They packed all of their necessities ready to visit the Vinh Quang town. Nho turned to thank the Đào family, “ Thank you for taking care of me all this time. We’ll be leaving for the town soon “.

“ Take care Tuyết. If you need anything, we’ll try our best to help you “, Misses. Đào took her hand. The warm gesture filled her heart with love.

Kim stood up from his warm up, a habit everytime he sets out on a long journey, “ You know that staring at people is rude, right? Especially royalty “. Phong internally rolled his eyes, he was just about to say that it’s a free country and that he has the rights. Except he forgot it wasn’t a free country. The earth elementalist cleared his throat.

“ Are you going to take them too? “.

“ Take who? “.

“ Your guards “, he pointed his hands towards a crowd of serious looking men who looked semi-constipated. Phong swore he saw the prince’s lips curved into a small smile.

“ They have to go with us regardless, the palace is near the main town anyways. Unless..you’re afraid of something? “.

“ Hey man, stealing your stuff was a one time thing “.

Kim shrugged, “ A criminal is still a criminal. No matter how.. “. His eyes scanned the male in front of him, meaning to say attractive, “ How decent looking he is “. The second prince stood up and walked away, leaving a puzzled Phong behind.

Vinh Quang town was not far from the small village, going by horses would take at least half a day to get to their destination. Two of the guards were assigned to “escort” their guests, but Phong wasn’t very happy.

“ Hey, why can’t I ride alone? “.

Kim raised an eyebrow at his question, as if the male in front of him was spewing nonsense. “ Why else besides there’s not enough horses? “. He tapped his head, this time Phong actually rolled his eyes.

“ Yeah? Why can’t I ride with you? “, The earth elementalist asked, causing the guards to go stiff and Nho to facepalm herself. Ly on her shoulder whistled, “ Quite the bold lad, isn’t he? “.

The second prince turned away to help ‘Linh’ on his horse, “ No, you may not be riding with me “.

“ That’s not fair, why is she allowed to then? “.

“ Because the ladyship is noble “.

Phong took this opportunity to tease him, “ Your heavenly majesty, are you telling me that if I was a nobleman, you would let me ride you, I mean with you? “. Nho exhaled heavily.

Kim stared at him, “ If that’s the case then you’re an exception “, with that the prince’s horse took off. The guards followed suitly after.

Everyone was quiet in the forest, only the sound of hove was heard, and the rustling of grasses. One would find it uncanny but this was the norm for royal guards and the prince. Years of expedition made fears of forest fade away. Once she made sure it was suitable to start speaking, Nho leaned over to whisper.

“ I know you’re really into the prince but can you stop patronizing him? “.

“ You call that patronizing him? “, Phong smiled.

“ What do you call it then? “.

“ Teasing “, the earth elementalist’s lips curved into a smirk, his best friend quickly grasping his intentions, her face crumbling in disgust.

“ You are disgusting! “.

“ Oh come on! It’s just sex nothing biggy “.

“ I take the concept of sex very seriously! “, Nho half shouting and half whispering. Her best friend snorted.

The guardsman behind Phong cleared his throat, making his presence known, this caused the best friends to sit quietly on their horses. After a while, the sound of crickets rang amidst the silences, there were few sounds of coughs from the others here and then. “ Your ladyship here told us earlier that we’ll track our friends down with a ring. How is that possible, I mean, how does that work? “, Phong asked. His sudden loud voice startled everyone but ‘Linh’ remained unfazed, she turned around, flashing a wink in response. “ I have my own ways “, and with that everyone continued crossing their journey.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Ly, yawning at how uneventful everything was, the fox lazily laid itself on its master shoulder. “ It’s so boring, saintess… “.

Nho exhaled heavily as she spoke, out of habit, it wasn’t out of annoyance. Truthfully talking to anyone else other than her close friends, really uses a lot of her energies. “ Well, I guess you can just look at the forest view and allow yourself to relax “.

Ly’s mouth curved downward into a frown, it waved its hand away, “ Nah, that’s boring! I want some actions like, like, what if there’s wolves hunting us down? “.

Its master turned to look, she raised an eyebrow. “ Are you a sadist or something? “. The fox’s fur spiked up, as if it was offended, “ I just like a little bit of action, is that bad? “.

“ There’s no wolves in this forest- “.

“ You don’t know that lol “, the fox smirked. Nho’s expression went blank, her mouth parted a bit, she turned around to ask.

“ Excuse me, are there wolves here? “.

“ No. “, Kim and Phong answered in unison. They glanced at each other for a moment before the second prince coughed, his attention turned away from the other male, “ There are no wolves in this part of the forest, Miss “.

Nho sighed in relief, not forgetting to give the fox a little smack on the head, it yelled out of pain. “ Hey, what the hell--You bully. This is animal abuse! “.

Its master looked straight ahead, ignoring the creature’s annoying whining around her ears. “ It wasn’t my fault that you were the one who believed my words!! “. As if she was a monk in another life, Nho’s patience was extraordinary, however they do have limits.

“ Stupid! Stuuuuupid!! “, She gritted her teeths, veins popping out from her forehead. Nho reached over to grab the fox.

“ IF YOU WON’T SHUT UP, I'LL TURN YOU INTO STEW, YOU PIECE OF SHIT “, her eyes widened as she threatened the fox. For once in its life, Ly was grabbed and told to shut up or it’ll be cooked into stew, it stayed quiet out of shock for a bit, “ Don’t you dare turn me into stew! “.

You seemed to forget that these guards can’t see that fox, Phong snorted as the other men on their horses stared at her weirdly. They had no idea why this woman was screaming and grabbing air.

Kim sighed, “ It’s going to be a long trip.. “.

They arrived at the main town, the sunset dyed the heavenly blue sky with red and yellow flocks. Most of the townspeople were a bit surprised upon seeing the royal guards passing through their road. Many of them gasped upon seeing the dazzling prince.

The second prince was not favoured by the king, but he was certainly favoured by the people. Phong could see the looks on their faces, how it brightened upon seeing him, he thought the prince came across as cold and judgemental, but if the common people adored him, then he wouldn’t be that bad.

Or, perhaps, it was just because he chose to steal from the wrong people. Kim got off his horse and offered a helping hand as ‘Linh’ followed him. He turned to his men, his rich voice calmly commanded, “ You all may return to the palace, and tell father that I stayed for business matters. If he even bothered to ask “. The guards nodded and rode their horses away, leaving them behind.

Phong and Nho were just about to ask where their friends were, a sudden explosion startled the group. A woman’s voice cried, “ DEMON! DEMON! “.

Everyone’s face paled upon hearing the word “demon”, people quickly scurried away, running in fear. The group ran towards the source of the fire, a crowd struggling to get away from the chaos.

The earth elementalist prepared his power for whatever demon they were dealing with. What he saw was unexpected, it was enough to nullify all of his muscle energy.

Standing on top of the burned building was a woman, her ghastly face twisted into a state of anger, only a few strands of burned hair hung from her head. Her lower body was that of a red bird, the monster ominously looked down at them.

“ That’s a phoenix hybrid ”, ‘Linh’ mumbled.

“ What the fuck, that was totally not how hybrids looked like in comics! “, Phong whispered to Nho. Both of their faces completely frozen, petrified, the only thing on their mind was: Hell no, I ain’t fighting with that thing.

Kim glared at the demon, he clapped his hands together, a gust of strong wind formed within his manifestation. He shot a blast at the hybrid phoenix, it quickly dodged with a scream, piercing everyone’s ears.

The demon took a deep breath in as her wings flapped heavily up the sky, in one exhale, she drew raging fire from her breath, aiming down at them. “ EVERYONE, DODGED- “, Kim's warning was interrupted as he felt the unbearable heat wrapped themselves around the group.

Phong was honestly expecting a painful burn, he shut his eyes tightly preparing for the attack, after a few moments of nothing. Everyone slowly turned around to see what’s going on only to find Nho standing in front.

Her body was drenched in the flames yet her body showed no damages. “ Huh? “, she asked in confusion. Earlier, she was just frozen in fear and shock, upon seeing the creature’s attack, she quickly accepted her fate.

“ Fire doesn’t faze her AND she’s a fire shielder, you all! “, Ly floated around the group, gushing in excitement. ‘Linh’ nodded with a smile, “ She’s a fire elementalist, after all “.

“ If that’s so then.. “, Nho touched the fire with her palm, absorbing the flames till there was nothing left.

The phoenix hybrid’s angry face turned into one of pure nightmares, it seemed like she was angry that her attack did nothing.

Phong flicked his fingers, his brown eyes now shining with emerald light. The earth ground roared, sharp razor-like stones formed beneath the creature, stabbing her as she screamed out of pain. He was taken back as her chopped body dropped onto the floor, which later to reform itself.

“ The phoenix hybrid can regenerate limbs, healing itself in the process too “, ‘Linh’ said as the group watched as the bloody flesh reinforced itself. This time her rage radiates stronger than ever, she let out a blood filled screech. Blowing building roofs off, almost sending them flying, if it wasn’t for Kim shielding the wind with his powers.

“ HOW THE FUCK DO WE KILL THAT THING? “, Phong screamed.

“ By forcing her to puke out her own blood “, Kim answered, his expression troubled and focused on defending the group. His arm withstood the strong energy.

“ H-how do we do that? “, Nho asked.

“ Well, we need a liquid elementalist to do that- “.

“ OH GOD WHERE IS SHE THEN??? “.

With a grunt, Kim converted the strong current, forming a big orb of air, he then threw it to the creature’s direction. This time, the phoenix hybrid was thrown off a large distance, she scrambled to find her balance.

“ Don’t let her get away! “, Kim yelled, with a jump his body floated amidst, a backward cartwheel before he landed perfectly on the rooftops. Phong was in shock again but he quickly slapped himself, turning to Nho and ‘Linh’, “ Come on, let’s go “.

The girls nodded and followed, sprinting towards where the creature was, upon seeing them, she immediately resorted to flying away and escaping. Kim was quick to summon a circle of dust around her, trapped in the middle of a hurricane, the hybrid set itself on fire.

“ It’s burning itself? “, Nho whispered in disbelief. They watched as the thing burned itself into ashes. Scattering the ground before she quickly reforms herself.

Phong cursed under his breath, “ If we can’t kill this thing then we’ll have to at least find a way to trap it “. His extended arms summoned the earthly power, and a large pit of rocks and stones lifted up the air, once he made sure the creature was cornered. He commanded a rain of rocks on the hybrid, the loud rumbling of the earth floor could be heard from miles away.

Thư, before all of the roaring chaos, decided it was best she stayed in today. Dương could see how much the nightmare drained her motivation to explore. It wasn’t till she heard the screams of the townspeople and the word “demon”, did she hurried outside with her little guide to see what was going on.

Not forgetting her mask of course.

What she didn’t expect to see was first, the hideous demon looking straight out of a horror movie. And what was more shocking is that she heard familiar voices. That can’t be.

The second prince, the main protagonist, AND her two best friends were at the fighting ground taking the creature down. If it wasn’t for Dương light tapping on her cheeks, she would have fainted out of shock.

“ Well we need a liquid elementalist to do that- “, she heard ‘Linh’ soft's voice and Phong’s usual loud voice again. “ OH GOD, WHERE IS SHE THEN? “.

Thư anxiously held her other hand tightly, “ What am I supposed to do? “.

Dương explained, “ Forcing the creature to puke out it’s own blood is the only way to kill it. Or else it’ll keep regenerating itself, it won’t end “.

They watched as Phong’s earthly power trapped the creature in her place, it wouldn't be long till she broke out of the rock concealment with her powers. “ Hell, we can’t hold her in any longer. “, Kim muttered.

The moment a laser like line formed around the rock, destroying it, peeling the ghastly face of the woman yet again. Everyone stood their ground, ready to attack again. Before she could open her mouth and set yet another blast of flame, Thư closed her eyes, opened it again to reveal a pair of bright blue eyes.

With a close of Thư's fist, the hybrid fell out of command, she gagged and choked, holding her own neck. She immediately let out a dense pool of blood, the group watched she stumbled around for a moment before dropping onto the floor to her death.

Everyone looked around, only to see a masked stranger stepping out of their hiding. ‘Linh’ chuckled, “ There she is “.

A hand reached over to take the mask off, revealing her fair face, a familiar face that made her best friends teared up. Thư furrowed her eyebrow, the delicate expression never wavering in its beauty, “ Holy shit...it really is you guys “.