There was no mistake; at this moment, the danger radiating from Lin was exactly the same as the Pioneer Su! He was also one of the Pioneers of the Previous Era!
These Pioneers each had their own goals, and the last time she met Su, he had attacked without a word. Could this person...
Schwing!
A tall phantom immediately appeared behind Bianka, raising a knight's sword and swinging it down at Lin!
Clatter.
However, beneath her feet, golden glowing chains burst out from the ground. The sharp chain-blades pierced the phantom, and the imposing knight figure instantly lost its form. Even Bianka hadn't expected this; before the chains pierced the phantom, four strands had already split off to bind her limbs.
He clearly didn't bring the Oath of Judah with him...
On the back of Lin right hand, a miniaturized Oath of Judah emitted a holy dark glow. He looked down at Bianka, who was bound to the ground by the chains.
After a brief daze, Bianka immediately exerted force with her waist. Her terrifying physical strength pulled on the chains. Before Lin could react, he was pulled down by the force and slammed into the ground.
Bang!
Lin was pulling the chains with all his might, but he was still pulled over by Bianka. Although he had anticipated it, he had still underestimated her strength once they actually started fighting.
"Hmph, a mushroom is still no match for a goose." Bianka scoffed, pulling the chains with even more force. Lin dug his hands into the ground to steady himself, pulling back with equal force.
The combined strength of the two pulled the chains—which were buried deep underground—right out of the earth, turning the fight into a tug-of-war.
"True, a mushroom breaks as soon as a goose bites it." The remaining four chains split off; two grabbed Bianka waist, and the final two flew toward Lin back, grabbing two massive boulders embedded in the ground hundreds of meters away. Lin had chosen his position before coming.
"You just made a dirty joke, didn't you, scumbag?" (Note: In Chinese internet slang, "eating mushrooms" can have sexual connotations).
The strength in her hands suddenly increased. The chains extended from Bianka limbs toward her body, looking like they would wrap her up entirely. She couldn't move, and her armor's abilities and the Holy Sword's power within her were being suppressed by the chains' energy-nullifying authority.
The Overseer's granddaughter's ability to suppress Houkai energy when using the Oath of Judah wasn't this strong at all! Could it be that the Oath of Judah he uses is the true Divine Key? Is he the true user of the Oath of Judah?
Bianka made a final resistance. She felt the strength in her body being drained away bit by bit. In a head-on fight, she believed she would never lose, but now she was about to be caught before she could do anything. She frowned, staring at Lin as he slowly stood up: "What is your purpose!"
The man buttoned his torn sleeve and gave her a cold glance. The rattling chains answered all her questions.
...
It was dusk when Bianka woke up groggily. She lowered her eyes, her vision still a bit blurred.
Gurgle, gurgle...
She looked up. The red clouds of sunset spread across the land. A person sat in front of a campfire, adjusting the heat with a branch.
Clatter.
Bianka looked down and saw the golden chains tying her tightly to her own lance. Turning her head slightly, she saw the Oath of Judah, now back to its normal size, in its deployed state. All the chains were entangled around her body, preventing her from using even a shred of strength.
She then remembered that when Lin was observing her body earlier, he must have already been thinking about how to catch her.
"What do you want?" Bianka cleared her head quickly. She watched calmly as Lin put seasonings into the pot, her hands under the chains already secretly gathering strength.
Lin didn't speak. He scooped up a bit of soup with a spoon and tasted it. Only then did he say in a level voice: "Eating goose meat."
"..."
Bianka took a second to understand his meaning, and her face instantly flushed red. Even she stammered: "Y-You jerk..."
Lin picked up a bowl, scanned her coldly, and asked: "Do you want to eat mushroom?"
Bianka, even more flushed, raised her neck and closed her eyes: "Who would want to eat that!"
How shameless. I've never met such a foul-mouthed guy.
Gulp. The sound of swallowing reached her ears. She secretly opened one eye.
Lin was eating the various fungi he had brought from the base in large mouthfuls. Since there were no edible animals, they could only eat plants. Mushrooms were easy to prepare in various flavors and were highly rated among the ELF.
Does it really taste that good... Bianka thought silently. The way he wolfed it down made one want to eat too, especially since she was starving after not eating for so long.
Her stomach growled. She couldn't help but wonder if his earlier words were literally just asking if she wanted to eat.
Tap, tap, tap...
Seeing Lin walk over, Bianka raised her fair neck again and closed her eyes. But she couldn't stop her eyes from squinting into a slit to watch him eat a mushroom coated in soup with great relish right in front of her. The growling of her stomach couldn't be ignored.
Finally, Lin finished even the soup. He went back to the pot, filled a bowl, and came back to Bianka.
"Want some?"
Lin held up a bunch of spicy, red needle mushrooms in front of the wide-eyed Bianka, asking indifferently.
They looked very chewy, and the flavor must be great... Saliva uncontrollably dripped from the corner of her mouth, but her hands were tied; she couldn't even wipe it. Bianka, the so-called strongest Valkyrie, now looked like a pitiful puppy, her eyes red as she stared at Lin. Even if Lin were torturing her, she wouldn't have made such an expression.
"Not eating?"
Lin put the needle mushrooms in his mouth, letting the flavor explode on his taste buds. After swallowing, he picked up a piece of king oyster mushroom—same color, plump and full, dripping with bright red soup.
"Want some?"
"..."
"Guess not."
Lin ate the king oyster mushroom right under Bianka increasingly red gaze. He picked up a third mushroom—this time a button mushroom holding a bit of red soup like a small bowl. He said nothing, holding it in front of Bianka. The meaning was clear.
Want some?
"I..." Bianka forgot to even struggle. Her gaze shifted between Lin and the mushroom. The appetizing soup looked more and more tempting. In a moment of almost stopped time, she couldn't control her mouth.
"I want to eat..."
"Want to eat what?"
"Want to eat..."
Lin leaned in to hear the girl's indignant whisper.
"...Mushroom."
"I didn't hear you."
"Mushroom!"
She shouted in self-abandonment: "I want to eat mushroom!"
Lin finally nodded. He moved the chopsticks toward her mouth. As soon as she opened her mouth...
He pulled the chopsticks back.
Snap.
Bianka bit the air. she felt like she could hear the mournful cry of her teeth colliding.
Lin took a step back, calmly putting the mushroom into his own mouth. He pointed the chopsticks at Bianka: "If you want to eat, answer my questions."