Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

Driven by the river's current, the two looked towards a towering palace atop the river's high mountain, its appearance shifting between a lavish palace forged from gold and stone and a hell constructed from writhing flesh.

At that moment, a crimson invitation materialized from the air.

It began to twist and transform into a bridge, arching towards the palace not far away.

Connecting from the deck to the palace entrance.

In their vision, the doors of the palace before them slowly creaked open—

A blur clouded their sight, and in the next instant, the world the two occupied was instantly transported inside the palace, and at this moment, Polo's eyes snapped wide open.

Because the layout and architectural style of this palace were extremely familiar to him!

In the forests of the Kingdom of Sino, in the illusion he had seen earlier, influenced by the Mad Dancer, Polo had hallucinated such a grand palace.

But unlike before, this palace appeared much brighter.

Many people danced within it, dressed in various attires, from lavishly dressed nobles to ragged beggars, adults and children alike.

They were all moving about, dancing joyfully.

Polo and Rake were no longer affected by this near-spiritual illusion of dance; the pages of [Circular Regression: Twelve Dancing Princesses·Curtain Call Note] floated in mid-air.

Having seen those four spells, Polo no longer needed the help of the magic mirror to ignore these phantoms.

Polo and Rake had stopped as soon as they entered the hall; there was no need to adhere to these invisible rules here.

The dancing people began to dissipate, turning into chaotic crimson phantoms.

But unlike before, these crimson phantoms vanished one after another, swallowed by the shadows of the palace.

The lights and candlelight also flickered out one by one.

Darkness surged towards Rake and Polo from all directions, leaving only the thick pillars standing tall in the dim space.

The dance music that was once clearly audible also began to become chaotic, fading in and out of existence until it disappeared completely.

"It's coming..."

Polo raised his head and looked into the distance; deep within the palace, a crimson, constantly dancing shadow gradually approached the two.

The dense sound of footsteps grew clearer and clearer.

However, as it got closer and closer, the originally dense footsteps became fewer and fewer...

Until only the last, solitary footstep remained.

It sounded very faint, forming a stark contrast to the oppressive force of the huge shadow.

"Tap—tap—"

It approached the two with a certain rhythm and cadence.

But at a vaguely discernible distance, it stopped growing larger, instead falling back again, as if moving away.

Or rather... deliberately guiding Polo and Rake.

"We'll follow it."

Polo thought for a moment and said softly to Rake.

The two held hands and walked towards the huge shadow in front of them, reaching the place where the footsteps had just sounded; on the dim ground, there was a pair of crimson footprints.

Very small, looking like the size of a little girl's feet.

These crimson marks looked more like some kind of bloodstain.

Two lines of footprints stretched crookedly towards the depths of the palace.

It looked like... they were dancing as they moved forward.

The two followed the jumping footsteps in the darkness, walking into the deeper darkness, and the halls on both sides suddenly began to become shorter.

In the darkness, flickering sparks of fire seemed to illuminate the outlines of some things.

"This isn't a palace anymore; it's like a church?"

As Rake spoke with some doubt, Polo looked around; a row of seats did indeed reveal the layout of a church.

Ahead should be the pulpit, and... the location of the statue?

Polo guessed from the layout.

After entering this inexplicable space, the light footsteps ahead disappeared.

The two followed the blood-colored footprints on the ground and walked forward; in the darkness ahead, candles were lit again one after another, these candle flames carrying a blood-colored light.

Illuminating the entire space, making it look shadowy and strangely unclear.

"Why did it come here? Why did the Mad Dancer come to the front of this church?"

Polo made some guesses while thinking about the layout of the church.

In front of the church, statues of gods are often placed; could it be that the Mad Dancer is now claiming to be a god?!

Sure enough, illuminated by the blood-red candlelight, Polo saw that on the altar not far in front of him, there was no statue of God or other gods.

But closer, when the things inside were revealed in Rake and Polo's eyes, the two fell silent.

There was no statue there.

The original location of the altar was abruptly occupied by a high execution platform.

On it was a tall guillotine.

Next to the guillotine, an axe was stuck in the ground, and fresh red blood was still dripping from the blade of the execution axe.

Those blood droplets connected into a thin blood line on the ground.

The end of the blood line, in the center of the execution platform, in the focus of the blood-colored candlelight of the entire church, was a pair of crimson dancing shoes.

Inside the dancing shoes, there were two severed feet, dripping with blood, with white broken bones wrapped in the center.

Blood soaked the entire dancing shoe.

It was impossible to tell whether it was the red of the blood or the color of the dancing shoes themselves.

Obviously, the long string of blood-colored dance steps earlier came from the severed feet in these dancing shoes!

The blood-colored candlelight around them extinguished one by one, and the execution platform and church around them also disappeared after the candlelight was extinguished.

Finally, in a pitch-black space, only a pair of red dancing shoes stood quietly in front of Rake and Polo.

The blood light of the red dancing shoes themselves was extremely bright in the darkness.

Polo had always thought that the Mad Dancer was a terrifying, indescribable god, but for some reason, when all the energy, illusions, spirits, and images converged on the pair of red dancing shoes in front of him...

He felt an indescribable feeling.

It was as if the pair of red dancing shoes in front of him were trying to express something with the illusion just now.

The red dancing shoes moved again, jumping a step closer to Rake and Polo.

The blood light on the surface of the red dancing shoes suddenly pulsed, and faint chaotic blood-colored shadows appeared in the darkness around them, and the noisy dance music suddenly reappeared in the distance.

But soon, the red dancing shoes trembled slightly.

Those mutations disappeared again—the red dancing shoes seemed to be reminding them of something with their actions.

"Okay, do you also want to... end all this? This uncontrolled dance banquet?"

The Mad Dancer, or rather... the red dancing shoes.

It is not human, but a creation of the concept of spells and dance; human souls and thoughts may seem mixed and incomprehensible to it.

At the same time, its thinking process may also be different from what most humans think.

But then, it took another step closer.

Polo breathed a sigh of relief. In the current situation, there is no need to fight or face a strange and unpredictable powerful enemy. No matter what—it is a good thing.

Polo waved his hand, marking [Circular Regression: Twelve Dancing Princesses·Curtain Call Note]

It flashed in front of him, and invisible micro-light projected from it and attached to the red dancing shoes in front of him. A complex rune appeared on the surface of the red dancing shoes.

The blood-colored rune combined with the light of the curtain call note.

Then, it shattered.

At this moment, Rake and Polo saw the darkness in all directions twist again and appear in color, but this was a completely different feeling from the previous illusion switching!

It's like... seeing the faint light of the sea from the dark seabed.

Floating up from the heavy seabed and breaking out of the water.

Air, once again entering the stinging throat and lungs, unspeakably happy all over...

Reality is back.

The outline of the main hall reappeared, like a huge underground palace, the walls and pillars in all directions were covered by constantly dancing flesh and blood.

Those flesh and blood extended blood lines like spider webs, and in the center of the blood lines, they were connected to...

Inside the red dancing shoes in front of Polo and Rake.

...

Deep in the Stetz Kingdom Palace, behind the sealed stone gate, tens of meters underground, inside a gloomy and dark underground palace.

Countless flesh and blood perched around.

"Bang—"

A dim golden light slammed heavily on the ground, and Karen struggled from the flesh and blood paved ground, trying to get up. Her body was already covered with wounds.

The pair of wings on her back had been soaked in blood.

Her wings waved weakly, trying to drive her body to fly, but at this moment—

"Crack—"

The sound of bone breaking, a black and red shadow appeared next to Karen.

The red-bearded devil appeared next to Karen, he raised one hand, grabbed Karen's wings, and in the depths of his pupils, which presented two horizontal lines, a red light flashed.

Breaking Karen's wings directly!

"Long time no see, Karen, you have been an angel for so long..."

The red-bearded devil's voice was filled with illusory gloom.

He said with a sneer, looking at Karen on the ground, who maintained the appearance of a girl because of the power of the angel.

"I really didn't expect that Heaven has been destroyed, and you, a cowardly surviving angel, not only didn't hide and secretly live on—but instead found this place again?"

The red-bearded man lowered his body, pinched Karen's neck with one hand, and lifted her up.

The golden light on Karen's body flickered constantly, trying to attack the devil in front of her, but the black and red light and shadow inexplicably emitted from the red-bearded man blocked the weak power of the angel.

"It's really sad, little girl, you are still like this after so long.

When God dies—

What's the use of your kindness and compassion on this doomed to die land?"

Karen stared at the appearance of the red-bearded man in front of her, and in her mind, something finally completely recalled something.

"I... have seen you..."

Karen struggled to spit out a few words, "You were the one at that time..."

"Yes, I praised your dance for being good at that time."

The devil said in a teasing voice, and then looked down at Karen's wooden prosthetic limb, "But I didn't expect that you would give up your feet and dance so easily—

It really surprised me."

"You—my dancing shoes, it's because of... you?!"

A trace of anger flashed in Karen's golden pupils, but at the moment, due to the disparity in strength, she couldn't do anything.

"Yes, I just gave your dancing shoes some small 'blessings', and I left some weaker blessings to other people in the kingdom."

The devil shrugged, "They are very happy, because from now on, they can dance endlessly."

He leaned closer, and two blood-colored horizontal pupils carefully looked at Karen, and the halo on her head that became a little dim:

"At that time, both I and God saw the potential value in your soul.

But it's a pity that at that time... Heaven was still there, you cut off the blessings I gave you, and were taken away by those annoying guys."

The devil said, the ugly corner of his mouth suddenly raised, he looked up, looking at the blood-colored underground palace all around.

Like indulging in the artwork he created with his own hands.

"But it's different now. Today, when Heaven has fallen, I don't need you anymore, and there is no disgusting sacredness staring at me in the sky.

I don't need you either—

With my day-to-day efforts, the demonic nature you left behind has gradually blossomed and borne fruit, and the dance plague is unstoppable!"

Karen's lips trembled uncontrollably.

She waved her hands, hitting the devil in front of her weakly, but she was not a combat-type angel in the first place, and the devil ignored her weak attack.

"You..."

"Huh? What did you say?"

The devil's hand tightened slightly, pressing Karen's last half of the sentence into her throat, and then showed a mocking smile, "You must still be worried about those ordinary people who came with you, right?"

Just now, at the moment when the stone gate sealing the Mad Dancer was opened, Inve, Dans, Rake, and Polo, who were originally standing with Karen, disappeared.

Only Karen, who was surrounded by the power of angels, and the red-bearded devil who stood up from the bones, were left.

The devil seemed to be able to see the fear in Karen's heart.

He stretched out a scarlet tongue and licked his lips, and then said:

"You, and a few ordinary people, what confidence do you have—to dare to come here, trying to stop the inevitable fall and collapse like a mantis trying to stop a chariot?

Do you think that you can kill a few ordinary princes who only have a little power, and you can see the whole picture of what I have done?

How stupid!"

Looking at Karen, whose eyes were filled with emotions such as resentment, sadness, and guilt, the devil's expression became more and more cheerful, and he dragged Karen to the depths of the flesh and blood hall with satisfaction:

"Next, you should take a good look at the sins born from you—after being separated for so long, you must miss it very much, right?"

The devil said, spreading out one hand.

From the palm of his hand, black and red energy threads dissipated.

They swirled around the golden halo above Karen's head, like snakes wrapped around those... angelic powers that exuded golden light.

At the same time, the golden light emanating from Karen's body, under the irradiation of those black and red lights, actually began to slowly deteriorate!

The color deepened, gradually becoming a crimson that blended with the surrounding hues.

"Ka Lun, these sins originate from you; your angelic power shares the same source as evil."

The devil's voice was filled with the joy of impending success. "I must thank you for traveling so far, so soon after the fall from Heaven, to arrive here in time—

To allow my destruction to gain even more power."

As he spoke, at the center of the quivering, spiderweb-like mass of flesh above, the devil saw the silhouette of wriggling limbs encased by the red dancing shoes in the depths of the darkness.

He extended a finger, and the black-red bloodlight emanating from Ka Lun seeped into the dancing limbs on the ground under his control…

"Hmm? What's going on?"

But at that moment, the devil frowned. He felt that the dancing limbs around him seemed to be moving slower than usual.

No, this wasn't an illusion!

The devil's horizontal pupils suddenly contracted. He noticed that the dancing limbs around him visibly stopped at a certain moment!

They drooped as if they were beginning to rest!

"Why is this happening!? They shouldn't… be stopping like this!?"

The devil murmured. A blood-colored rune lit up on his forehead, and his eyes rolled back as if he were trying to sense something—but then, his eyes widened!

The century-old curse he had placed on the red dancing shoes was now being erased by some unknown force!

He hurried forward, his eyes piercing through the darkness, but what he saw only shocked him even more!

He saw…

A girl in a red cloak, and a… figure whose form was beginning to melt in the bloodlight, standing next to the red dancing shoes, the Mad Dancers!

The person whose body was constructed from the Mad Dancers' energy was raising a hand.

Although the devil couldn't see what was in front of his hand—

There was no doubt that he was the one breaking the curse!

"Bastards, you, you dare—"

The smug pleasure on the devil's face had completely vanished.

His crimson eyes bulged with bloodshot veins. After casually throwing Ka Lun aside, he transformed into a shadow and leaped forward!