Chapter 52. Cinderielle Arrives at the Grove.

Words : 1151 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 52. Cinderielle Arrives at the Grove. Cinderielle and her group stood a distance away from the beast group and followed with silent steps. They wanted to check if more beasts would join in the way. Based on her extensive research, Cinderielle was well aware that a beast tide was a phenomenon triggered by the primal instincts of the creatures. Sensing the impending doom of a natural disaster, they would all, without exception, move in a single, unified direction. While fleeing, beasts usually become much more aggressive toward anything blocking their way, and because of the group's group mentality that was born, the ones in the front were pushed to go forward, making them look like unintelligent beasts that just threw themselves at city walls and other kinds of defensive structures built by creatures. However, unlike that feeling of unity that beast tides gave, Cinderielle realized that these creatures were marching together, but their steps were not rushed at all. It was orderly, and their groups were mixed but separated. Ariel whispered. "What do you think, Cinder?" Cinderielle was about to speak when the group of <River Beavers> stopped and separated, turning right and going in a completely different direction. This solidified Cinderielle's conjecture that this was not the signals of a tide but a group formed from different beasts for an unknown objective. A young-looking man with a slim body called Doles, one of the three men accompanying them, asked. "Do we follow them?" His brother, a very similar-looking man called Maley, asked with a weird expression. "Why would we follow them? Are you stupid?" Doles snorted. "Hey, aren't we investigating? Knowing why that group separated might bring us unexpected results!" Ariel looked at the brothers and commented. "Can you two be more silent? What would we do if those hundreds of beasts heard us?" Cinderielle commented. "Let's follow." Ariel was surprised. "Are we really going to?" Cinderielle looked at her and nodded. "Why not? Moreover, from what I've seen, there is only one Level 10 in that group. They are strong, but nothing we can't deal with." Robert, the third man walking with them, asked with a serious tone. "Are you sure you want to do this, missy?" Looking at the man who looked well into his fifties but had a strong body, Cinderielle decided to ask. "What do you recommend, sir?" Ariel complained. "Hey, why are you so respectful to him and not me?" Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she answered with a sigh. "He is probably double your and triple my age. He is an experienced person who is alive at this job even after so many years. So, listening to his advice is something we must do." The man smirked and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, missy. I was just going to say that if we do go that way, we need to do so by their traces and not by keeping them in our visual range." Cinderielle asked. "Why is that?" The man explained while rubbing his bearded chin. "Well, if we can see them, that means that they can see us as well. While we will be hidden, all it takes is one misstep to create an unavoidable situation where we need to fight." The other four found his reasoning logical, so they all chose to follow his words. To be honest, Cinderielle was prepared to give up many decades of her life just to find something that felt right, and if she found nothing, she would give up and try to search for happiness somewhere else. Of course, this thought was just that, a thought. She had never been sure if she would be able to let go of such a profound and deep-rooted feeling. It had been just a glance, and it carried over years without any difficulty, making romance of any kind a lost cause even before it had the chance to start. Cinderielle felt a hand landing on her shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she looked sideways with her orange eyes glowing with a strange light and a gentle blush on her face due to the accelerated heartbeat. "What's wrong, Ariel?" Ariel took a step back involuntarily. The sensation Cinderielle's current eyes gave was utterly different from usual. It was deep and covered by a mysterious veil. What was strange was that they had a visible glow, making it feel like the colors inside her iris were swirling. The three men also got alert, looking at Cinderielle with serious expressions. Ariel gulped and asked. "You, are you okay? You look... different." Cinderielle smiled, her red cheeks looking extremely attractive, as if her body used everything to become alluring and appealing. "Don't worry. Let's go quickly." And with that, they all saw Cinderielle rushing out of the grove. Meanwhile, by Liu Shu's side, Clavel was flying and looking at the several corpses created by Liu Shu's attack. "Hm... some of them are in quite a bad state to skin them for their coat." Zinia looked at her and asked, confused. "Why do you want their skin?" Clavel shrugged. "Queen Flor told us that we can sell it to Sylvans and other creatures, and selling them will usually avoid an attack." Zinia tilted her head. "Why?" Clavel pondered and commented. "Perhaps because the <River Beaver> has a natural ability to repel water, so it is a nice cloth?" Zinia was about to answer when the shrubs by the side moved, and a tall woman appeared. Her stature, coupled with her neat red colored hair and orange eyes, accentuated her fiery aura and glamorous body. The fairies that saw a Sylvan appear weren't that nervous. While Sylvans and Rose Fairies weren't considered even in the same category, they were good for cooperating. This time, though, they weren't leisure. Clavel knew that Liu Shu had just gone through a tough battle, and her ability to defend had taken a hit. Clavel pondered. 'Is this that ambush they were expecting? Or another group altogether.' Clavel moved forward and summed a pair of wind blades. "Stop!" Focusing on her face, not only Clavel but the rest of the Rose Fairies couldn't help but frown. The red-haired and orange-eyed Sylvan was looking at Liu Shu as if nothing else mattered in this world. Her face, full of adoration and fascination, couldn't probably be faked even by the best of actors. The raw emotion in her eyes was enough to make a few Rose Fairies feel strangely intimidated. Clavel didn't really know how to react to a Sylvan that rushed at them without any protection whatsoever. Zinia realized that Cinderielle was really not that high level, making it much more strange. 'How did a Level 6 enter here alone?'

Chapter 52. Cinderielle Arrives at the Grove.

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