141 THE MISSING GIRL
"You will not get away with this." The golden apparition of a dragon shimmered around Petunia, shielding her from harm.
"Impossible! Why won't this bitch break?" Kaledon snarled, his frustration mounting as his strikes proved futile.
The dragon's presence was overwhelming, its ethereal roar echoing in the air. Every attempt Kaledon made to subdue her was met with failure. Her body was impervious to physical harm after it was augmented by the magic water in the Spider Queen's lair.
Petunia's fiery gaze locked onto him, unwavering and defiant. "Lilleo will kill you."
As Kaledon hesitated, calculating his next move, one of Bogarth's men shouted, "Young Masters! What about the other two? They're indestructible! Dragons are shielding their bodies!"
Kaledon's jaw clenched as he saw golden dragons coiling protectively around Leo and Yun-Yun just like Petunia. If it was so difficult to break Petunia with just one dragon, he doesn't have the confidence to break all three.
"What kind of people have you dragged us into dealing with?" Kaledon scolded Bogarth, his tone harsh.
"I—I didn't know! They call him the Demon of Gullee!" Bogarth stammered.
"Lucky for us, those two are unconscious," Kaledon said coldly. "We'll take the girl and leave before they wake."
"You won't take me anywhere!" Petunia screamed, her voice filled with raw defiance.
"How can we take her, she's so tough?" Bogarth asked.
"You've surprised me with your strength, but it's not enough, besides your Body Transformation Dragon you have nothing else," Kaledon sneered as he brought out a strange artifact.
"Brother Kaledon, are you using the Tentacles of Mahari?" Bogarth asked.
Dark tentacles erupted from the ground, coiling around Petunia and pinning her in place. She thrashed and struggled, but their grip was unyielding. Although her dragon protected her from harm, she couldn't escape from the tentacles.
"Let me go!" Petunia shouted, her voice desperate.
"What should we do now? What about those two?" Bogarth asked with unease as he pointed to Leo and Yun-Yun.
"Let me go! When Lilleo wakes, he'll kill you all!", Petunia screamed.
"We leave," Kaledon replied coolly. "We came for the girl, and we've got her. Ignore the bastard and the other bitch. They are in some kind of meditation if we wake them, they could prove more difficult to deal with than this bitch. Move!"
As Kaledon dragged Petunia away using his powerful magic artifact her voice echoed with fury.
"You'll bloody regret this. I swear you will."
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Leo stirred awake, his eyes fluttering open just as Yun-Yun regained consciousness. The realm of the Giga Codex had vanished, leaving them back in the clearing.
"Did you learn much?" Leo asked.
"Yes," Yun-Yun replied, nodding. "I've learned many new runes and symbols. It's not enough to create groundbreaking spells yet, but it's expanded my understanding of magic significantly. What about you?"
"I compiled the codes from the Giga Codex," Leo said, his expression thoughtful. "There's an underlying programming language embedded in it, but the fragments I gathered aren't enough to make it useful as a programming language."
"Don't worry," Yun-Yun said reassuringly. "We'll find more pieces of the Giga Codex in the future."
Suddenly, a thought struck Leo. Something felt wrong.
"Where's Petunia?" he asked, his eyes scanning the clearing.
A shadow of doubt crossed his face. "Did she return to the Assassin Workshop to betray us? To reveal my secrets?"
Yun-Yun placed a hand on his arm, her voice steady. "Petunia doesn't seem like that kind of person. We've spent enough time together to know her better than that."
Leo sighed, the stress in his shoulders easing slightly. "You're right. I'm still too wary of others. Growing up in the Gullee household taught me to expect betrayal at every fucking turn."
"This time will be different," Yun-Yun assured him.
"But if she didn't betray us, then where is she?" Leo asked, his worry returning.
Yun-Yun's sharp eyes swept over the clearing, noticing deep cracks in the ground and signs of a struggle. "There was a fight here. A big one. It happened while we were inside the Giga Codex realm."
Leo's fists clenched. "Damn it! Did someone attack Petunia while we were vulnerable? Was she taken?"
"We need to find her," Yun-Yun said determinedly.
Without another word, the two of them set out, ready to uncover what had happened and to bring Petunia back.
------
They searched the ruins relentlessly, scanning every trace for signs of Petunia. After some time, Leo's sharp eyes caught movement in the distance—a gathering of people.
"There's a crowd forming over there," Leo said, pointing toward the commotion.
Yun-Yun's gaze followed his gesture. "We should check it out. They might have taken Petunia there."
The two followed the trail of people, their path leading to a massive, partially destroyed cathedral. The building's towering walls still stood, scarred and crumbling, but its roof was long gone. This structure seemed to serve as a makeshift refuge—a defensible position against predators in the dangerous realm.
Donning their invisibility cloaks, they crept silently into the ruined cathedral, their movements cautious.
"This place is just an open space," Yun-Yun whispered, her eyes scanning the vast hall. "No private rooms or corners to hide in."
As more people streamed into the cathedral, their chances of being discovered grew.
Leo's gaze darted around the structure, searching for an alternative. His attention snagged on the walls surrounding the cathedral. Jagged cracks and gaping holes marred their surface.
"There's an opening up there," Leo said, pointing toward a high, fractured section of the wall. "It's elevated and gives us a good view of the whole place. We can hide there."
"That is a good spot to play hide and seek," she replied in jest.
They carefully scaled the damaged wall, using broken masonry as footholds. The climb was treacherous, but they reached the crack safely. It was wide enough to crouch in and offered a perfect vantage point to survey the cathedral below.
From their hidden perch, Leo and Yun-Yun watched the gathering crowd below, their eyes scanning for any sign of Petunia—or the people responsible for taking her.
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