"Who are you, handsome boy...?"

The woman asked, scrutinizing Chang Long.

"I'm a friend of Prince Duck,"

Chang Long replied nonchalantly. The young men who had been under her spell shook their heads, snapping out of their daze as the woman's concentration broke.

"Where is he?"

The woman demanded, her tone hardening slightly.

"From your question... it seems you know him,"

Chang Long smirked, her gaze piercing as if she could see through the woman's very soul.

"What if I say I don't!"

The woman challenged, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Chang Long.

"Then we'll just stay here for the night. It's pretty dangerous outside,"

Chang Long shrugged, unfazed by her menacing demeanor.

"...Fine. But you'll have to leave all your pets outside. I don't like their behavior,"

the woman glanced at the pets, who were still growling at her.

"They're usually well-behaved, but I don't know why they're acting this way toward you,"

Chang Long replied with a smile.

"And... that woman there, I don't want her in my cabin either,"

the woman said disdainfully, glaring cynically at Peach Blossom.

"What did you say, you little—!"

Peach Blossom started to yell, stepping forward to confront the woman, but Chang Long quickly held her back. Siegfried instructed the men not to look directly at the woman's eyes to avoid falling under her spell again, leaving them unable to act freely.

"We won't enter your cabin. We'll just set up our tents nearby. It seems this area is safe from the zombies,"

Chang Long maintained his smile. Peach Blossom, hearing this, calmed down and clung to Chang Long's arm, taunting the woman who had failed to lure the men into her cabin.

"As you wish!"

The woman snapped, glaring at Peach Blossom before retreating into her cabin.

Chang Long's group set up their campfire and tents around the cabin. Although everyone was curious about Chang Long's decision, no one dared to question it out loud for fear the woman might overhear and ruin their plans. Once the camp was set up, everyone brought out their bowls to receive food from Chang Long's Cone of Abundance, exciting the two young men and Peach Blossom, except Oliang and Wet Trash Can, who had seen it before.

"What's that, Master Chang? How does it produce food like that!"

Peach Blossom asked excitedly after seeing freshly cooked meals emerge from what looked like an animal horn.

"It's the Cone of Abundance,"

Chang Long explained, distributing the food.

"It's amazing. Where can I buy it? I want one too,"

Peach Blossom asked eagerly.

Everyone perked up, waiting to hear the answer. Such a convenient item would surely be expensive, but knowing where to buy it and how much it costs would allow them to save up and purchase it later.

"I don't know. The Goddess Veritas didn't say."

"What? A goddess?"

"Yes, the goddess from the Sacred Water Pond."

"Huh!!"

Everyone exclaimed in unison. It turned out that Chang Long had not bought the Cone but received it from the Goddess Veritas of the Sacred Water Pond. This information was incredibly valuable. They made a mental note to visit the Sacred Pond when they had time, hoping to receive a quest that might reward them with a food-producing horn like Chang Long's!

Currently, Hulu was sticking close to Chang Long because she fed it elemental gems. Chang Long also set conditions for Flatear to follow before giving it the gems, teaching Hulu to be very affectionate towards her. Siegfried, Peach Blossom, and Draco all generously handed over their elemental gems to Chang Long without charging, despite their high market value.

"Thanks a lot,"

Chang Long accepted the gems gratefully, planning to repay them later.

"No problem, we get these regularly from hunting monsters. Take them,"

Siegfried said generously. Draco nodded, feeling lucky that his Firetail did not have the peculiar taste for elemental gems like Chang Long's Hulu.

The Ugly Duckling Prince remained unusually silent since seeing the woman, making it clear to everyone that she was indeed Lily. Talking openly in the territory of the enemy that used magic, especially about plans to take them down, was highly unwise. Chang Long took a notebook and pencil from Kimhant and began scribbling before passing it around for everyone to read and comment on.

"I think that woman is Lily, and the Ugly Duckling Prince's joyless behavior is good evidence of it,"

Chang Long wrote on the first line and passed it around. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Where do you think she's hiding Princess Anna?"

Peach Blossom wrote.

"Should we sneak inside and look?"

Wet Trash Can suggested, but everyone shook their heads—it was too risky.

"I think we should wait and observe a bit more. She showed many suspicious signs while we were talking,"

Chang Long wrote.

"Then we should rest and gather our strength until it's time to confront her,"

Siegfried suggested. Everyone agreed. Kitsune volunteered to keep watch, allowing everyone to sleep peacefully, except for the Ugly Duckling Prince, who sat silently, barely touching his food and showing no signs of sleepiness.

"Hey!"

Chang Long crawled out of her tent after Hulu had fallen asleep and sat next to the Ugly Duckling Prince, who was still sitting gloomily by the fire.

"Why aren't you sleeping quack? You need to conserve your energy quack,"

the Ugly Duckling Prince said quietly, not looking at Chang Long and staring into the fire.

"I've slept. It's almost morning. Aren't you going to get some rest?"

Chang Long asked.

"...I'm not sleepy quack, not even one bit quack,"

the Ugly Duckling Prince replied, still not taking his eyes off the fire.

Suddenly, a sweet, clear voice echoed through the forest, singing a sorrowful song that woke everyone up. They looked at each other in surprise for a while and decided to pack up and find the source of the singing.

Deep in the forest behind the small cabin, several kilometers away, they found a small pond. The haunting song was coming from the middle of the pond, prompting everyone to quicken their pace to see who was singing so beautifully and sadly. When they reached the edge of the pond, they saw a majestic white swan swimming and singing that sorrowful song.

The Ugly Duckling Prince gaped at the white swan, tears streaming from his eyes as if he had rubbed onions in them. He immediately swam towards the swan in the middle of the pond.

"Quack!"

He cried out as he hit an invisible barrier and got shocked, injuring himself. The swan stopped singing and turned to look at him, tears streaming from its eyes as well.

"Did you think I'd let you meet so easily, Prince?"

A sweet but malicious voice came from the other side of the pond, making everyone strain their eyes to see in the dark early morning.

"I thought if she saw you as a ridiculous big duck, she'd leave you. But she still chose to marry you, so I had no choice but to take her away,"

the woman continued, walking into the pond without sinking.

"I'm not a prince anymore quack! I left the city years ago quack! By now, my father must have found a new heir quack!"

The Ugly Duckling Prince shouted. It was now clear that this woman was Lily, the witch and former lover who had cursed him, and it seemed she had also cursed Princess Anna.

"Do you think I did all this just for your wealth? Even though it was not long, I realized I had truly fallen in love with you. I couldn't bear to see you marry someone else!"

Lily replied harshly, standing in the middle of the pond, next to the terrified white swan.

"You're lying... Quack!"

The Ugly Duckling Prince shouted angrily at Lily.

"Hehe... No matter how seriously you speak, with that voice, I can't help but laugh,"

Lily laughed mockingly at him without any regard.

"That has nothing to do with me quack! Release Princess Anna right now quack!"

The Ugly Duckling Prince ignored her mockery and kept trying to break through the barrier to help the crying swan, injuring himself further each time.

"Why should I let you be happy together!"

Lily snapped, pointing her long finger at the swan, causing its neck to droop suddenly.

"Princess Anna quack!"

The Ugly Duckling Prince screamed, throwing himself at the barrier with all his might, getting shocked so badly that his feathers burned. His action weakened the barrier surrounding the swan.

"We have to do something! He'll die at this rate,"

Draco said urgently.

"Hey... you old hag. Fight me instead!"

Chang Long shouted loudly. Lily, who had been enjoying the sight of her former lover's pain, turned her furious gaze towards Chang Long. Her friends went pale and wide-eyed, not expecting Chang Long to provoke Lily this way. Even though she might truly be an old hag in disguise of a young woman, taunting her like that seemed suicidal.

"You've got a sharp tongue!"

Lily roared, charging towards Chang Long's group.

Dark energy balls, each the size of a tennis ball, were hurled at them rapidly. Everyone was stunned, unsure how to respond, but Hulu stepped forward, emitting a bright, clear light. The light formed a transparent shield, absorbing all the dark energy balls until they vanished completely.

"Hulu!"

Chang Long exclaimed in alarm as Hulu collapsed after using its ability to absorb Lily's energy balls. She quickly ran to support Flatear's body, bringing it over to Kimhant for care, then turned to face Lily, who was standing smugly on the water, with a look of cold fury.

"Do you think standing on the water means we can't do anything to you!"

Chang Long said in an icy tone, dark energy slowly emanating from her body.

"If you could stand on water like me, then we might have a fight, hehe. But I don't think you can!"

Lily taunted without hesitation. At that moment, the Ugly Duckling Prince managed to drag the white swan to the shore.

"Everyone, spread out around the pond. When I give the signal, we'll attack the old hag together. Kimhant, stay back and take care of Hulu,"

Chang Long ordered. Though they did not know her plan, everyone complied.

'Kitsune, can you freeze the pond?'

Chang Long asked telepathically.

'I can try, but it's beyond my usual power. The pond is too wide, and my primary element is fire,'

Kitsune replied, concerned.

'What if Peach Blossom assists you with her ice magic?'

'...If she helps, we might be able to freeze the pond completely,'

Kitsune thought for a moment before responding. Chang Long quickly sent a secret message to Siegfried, who then relayed it to Peach Blossom. She began casting her ice magic discreetly.

"What's the matter? All talk but no action? I don't see any of you coming at me."

Lily mocked again, but Chang Long only smiled mysteriously in return.

Kitsune gently touched the water with its paw, and a cold mist spread outwards. The water's surface began to freeze into a thin layer of ice that only covered the water surface, but could not be walked on. Seeing this, Peach Blossom placed her hands on the fragile ice, releasing a stronger wave of cold energy.

Crack!

The sound of the ice compression echoed throughout the forest. Lily's face turned pale; she had not anticipated that these people had such strong magic, especially since none of them were dressed as mages. Kitsune and Peach Blossom collapsed, exhausted from transforming the pond into solid ice.

What shocked Lily even more was the sight of Chang Long, who was now flying towards her, her feet not touching the ground. Behind Chang Long trailed a grim reaper, his cold, emotionless face and sharp scythe fixed on Lily. Just meeting the reaper's gaze made Lily feel as if her soul was being torn from her body.

Lily quickly regained her composure and cast a spell, summoning nearly ten puppet-like humanoids to intercept Chang Long's attack just in time.

"Pathetic,"

Chang Long said coldly as she slashed at the puppet humanoids. The sharpness of the Sovereign Sword caused severe damage to them immediately.

Lily's face paled with shock, but before she could react further, a large, fiery red energy ball was hurled at her. Being a powerful mage, Lily easily deflected it with a flick of her hand.

However, diverting her gaze from Chang Long was a grave mistake. In an instant, the Sovereign Sword slashed deep into Lily's abdomen, accompanied by the sharp scythe of the grim reaper. Lily's body crumpled to the ground, her scream of agony echoing as blood spurted from her wounds, staining the ice beneath her a vivid red. The young witch lay motionless.

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