"Lily!"

Sophia hurriedly rushed up the slope and ran to Celitia's side.

Having traveled so far and fought with fewer numbers against more, entangling with the red team's flag guards for so long, even though Sophia was usually strong and robust, she was now somewhat tired.

But she couldn't care about resting at all, her mind completely focused on the girl standing high on the cliff edge, gazing into the distance.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt??"

Sophia anxiously grasped Celitia's hand, pulling her around to examine her up and down, afraid she might have scraped even the tiniest bit of skin.

When Celitia had requested to stay behind as bait, Sophia had firmly opposed it.

However, Sophia really couldn't resist Celitia's insistence on doing this, and in the end could only reluctantly agree to the plan.

Even knowing that Margaret had fallen for the trick and retreated with her people to defend, Sophia still worried about seeing the girl tied up among the enemy forces.

Only after finally seeing Celitia in person did Sophia's anxious heart finally settle down.

"Stop looking, I'm fine."

Celitia laughed, shaking her head with a somewhat cunning expression.

"What injury? You know my physical condition. If Margaret really dared to make a move, I guarantee I'd faint faster than anyone. Then the protective magic would trigger directly, leaving her only able to stare at me helplessly."

Even though Celitia said this, Sophia, holding that thin and delicate hand, still felt heartbroken.

"Thanks to your strategy, Margaret has lost more than half her people and is now exhausted.

"Leave the rest to me. I'll reorganize the team with Shanie and defeat them fair and square, taking down the red flag."

"You and Shanie are also tired, aren't you?"

Celitia raised her hand, brushing away the girl's golden hair strands and tucking the sweat-dampened wisps behind her ear.

Her fingertips were slightly cool, like a refreshing clear stream gently flowing across Sophia's burning skin.

Sophia trembled slightly all over, her thoughts almost soaring to the heavens for a moment before she forcibly pulled them back:

"I'm... I'm okay, I can continue fighting."

"There's no need to be so fair and square when dealing with Margaret. Didn't you also say she was too despicable before the competition started?"

Celitia smiled with pursed lips, her usually misty purple-gray eyes rarely bright, dancing with tiny mischievous sparks.

"Let Shanie lead the people to rest and reorganize. We'll treat her with her own medicine and go mess with her together, shall we?"

At this moment, the girl seemed to have little horns sprouting from her head and small black wings growing from her back, her smile confident and cunning, looking exactly like a little demon.

"However, we need to move quickly. I might... need you to carry me for a stretch? Can you persist a bit longer, Sophia?"

"Carry you over? How about I just hold you instead—"

Although she knew the timing wasn't quite right, thinking of the faint lily fragrance in the girl's hair, Sophia's heart beat even faster.

"No!" Celitia's face instantly darkened. "Carrying me is fine, I refuse the princess carry!"

This was the last stubborn stand of a certain knight commander.

"Eh? O-okay..."

Why was it called a princess carry, and why refuse it... Sophia was a bit confused.

However, looking at the girl's slightly flushed cheeks, Sophia thought that no matter what request she made, she would agree to it.

Following Celitia's request, Sophia carried her on her back, heading upstream along the creek.

After half a day of fighting and rushing around, Sophia was actually somewhat tired.

But she could feel the girl's head buried in her neck, gently swaying with the rhythm of running.

Her ear tips were slightly cool, brushing against her jaw again and again.

She could faintly smell that light and fresh lily fragrance, whether it was floral or body scent.

Never mind carrying Celitia for a few hundred meters—Sophia felt she could manage several more kilometers.

Deep mountains... a world with just the two of them...

Suddenly beginning to lose control of her wild thoughts, the tips of Sophia's ears gradually turned a bit red.

Celitia had no idea what thoughts Sophia was entertaining.

Her attention was entirely focused on the opposite side of the stream.

Under Margaret's leadership, the red team carried their flag along the waterway, slowly moving until they found a relatively open area where the entire team set up camp to rest.

The red flag fluttered among the trees, quite conspicuous.

"Right here."

Celitia suddenly whispered softly in Sophia's ear.

"Ah?! O-okay..."

Blown by that soft, warm breath at her ear, Sophia nearly jumped on the spot.

Using the bushes to conceal their forms, Sophia reluctantly set Celitia down.

Her weight was still too light—she needed to eat more and gain some weight...

Thinking this way, Sophia watched as Celitia untied the pouch hanging from her waist and poured out a handful of reddish-brown pills from it.

"What is this?" Sophia asked curiously.

"Hmm... it's some kind of medicine with random effects."

Celitia crushed the pills one by one, sprinkling the powder into the stream.

She smiled as she watched the powder dissolve in the water, flowing downstream toward the red team's resting point.

The people over there had just sat down to rest, and some were already preparing to draw water to drink. Calculating the timing, it should be just about right.

Sophia was very puzzled: "Random effects? What does that mean?"

"This is the work of a certain alchemist, essentially a 'curse.'"

Celitia had later appraised the pills Florence had given her and reached a conclusion—they really weren't anything good.

The pills contained curses. Anyone who ingested them would acquire some kind of random misfortune status, with unclear specific effects lasting about an hour.

There were no fatal effects, making them quite good for pranking people.

During the competition preparation period, Celitia had visited Florence once, asking her to make more of the same pills.

And now, they were definitely being put to use.

"A curse? Is it powerful?"

Although they had agreed to mess with Margaret, Sophia couldn't help but worry now.

"Diluted in the stream water, the effects are weakened many times over."

Celitia smiled.

"Even if someone really has the worst luck, nothing serious would happen."

Moreover, this curse only affected humans and would naturally dissipate after some time, not affecting the animals in the mountains or the people downstream.

If some other unlucky souls really got caught up in it...

Then it had nothing to do with her. Please blame Margaret.

Celitia quickly blinked, her smile becoming even more cunning.

After washing her hands in the stream water to ensure no pill powder remained on them, Celitia stood up again.

"Let's go back and call Shanie and the others to watch the fun together."

Sophia suddenly felt sympathy for Margaret and her people.

Throughout the entire competition, Margaret had been played around by Celitia, losing more than half her people, mentally exhausted, and now she would also have to suffer from the curse Celitia had placed upstream...

She hoped that in this lifetime, she would never become Lily's enemy.

It was truly terrifying.

Sophia felt a chill in her heart.