She stared at the object that, moments ago, was attached to her body.

Moments ago, it had a different form.

Moments ago, it was her arm.

Thick branches grew from what was once a human limb. The wood's golden color was bright and shiny, almost ethereal.

She was obviously stunned, but the beast's growling in front of her brought her back to reality.

The behemoth lunged at her once again, intending to tear her body further apart, when...

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Meanwhile, Alpheus is running from the impending doom behind him.

With a completely blank mind, he continued to run.

He ran until a hand grabbed him by the shoulder. Cold to the touch, as though death itself took hold of him. His gaze met the murderous gaze of the mercenary who lifted his sword to prepare for the final strike.

This... moment reminded him of the other two instances where death nearly took him.

When the arrow darted towards his head.

When the dagger descended toward his chest.

Each time, he was able to avoid inevitable demise as though some unknown force had always saved him.

It was when this thought occurred to him that the blade stopped.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The man froze in place as he looked absentmindedly into the distance.

At that moment, it felt like time had frozen in place for both of us.

Looking past his assailant's unmoving body, Alpheus realized that the other members of his crew were equally unmoving.

“Yep... I guess I can no longer simply watch the party unfold. Then again, with how all this developed, I think it would be a shame to miss out on all this!”

Alpheus looked around, confused. He couldn’t pinpoint where that voice came from.

But more than that, the voice sounded... strange. The tone of the voice changed with each syllable, and the words carried a subtle... echo.

“Where...?”

“Where are you looking at dummy? Oh, right, I guess I should make myself visible...” The voice's mood shifted alongside its tone as though the person talking kept changing as well.

“All right, hang on...”

Right after the one speaking finished this sentence, something appeared in front of Alpheus as though it was there all along.

The being that came into existence was tiny. It was barely the size of Alpheus’ hand.

A humanoid body.

Green wings would belong to a butterfly.

The hair and eyes had the same color.

A bony physique and clothes made from plants.

He recalls reading similar characteristics in his books. At least, it was one of the forms that he gathered them to possess.

“This is a...” It spoke Before Alpheus could finish the thought.

“It’s nice to see you again!” The warmth that the voice carried felt... artificial.”

“No... come to think of it... I should say this instead.” The being puffed out its chest as though it made some dramatic entrance.

“It’s nice to meet you, Alpheus. I’m Amharclann, but you can call me Arclan for short. I’m just a humble fairy and your guardian angel!”

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Just as Marianne made a futile attempt to dodge the attack from the Behemoth, suddenly, branches emerged from the ground. They sprouted out and enveloped the body of the predator. It growled ferociously, but it was unable to free itself.

Marianne looked at the scene in front of her in shock until something else emerged from the ground.

The branches that emerged were different in color and the aura they emitted. They were just like her detached arm.

The branches were untangled, revealing the form of a beautiful woman emerging from the construct as though it were a cocoon. Alongside her, a crimson butterfly sprang from that cocoon and flew into the sky, fading into the distance.

Her golden hair flew freely in the calm wind that flew by them.

Her eyes, the same color as her hair, looked as beautiful as they were terrifying in their coldness.

It was clear to Marianne that she wasn’t human.

As their eyes met, she was about to turn around to run away. However, she stopped dead in her tracks when she took notice of her expression.

Her eyes did not bear hostility. In fact, ...

The woman walked towards her, kneeled on the ground, and bowed her head.

...her eyes held affection. She was showing respect.

“O divine one... your humble servant has come to collect you.”