After Niu Zida finished speaking, he had Yor hold him and asked the demi-human where those two adventurers were. After clarifying the general direction, he quickly rushed over. It seemed those two adventurers hadn't gone far, so quickly getting rid of them might still earn the demi-humans' goodwill, preparing for the integration of the demi-humans.
Niu Zida, preparing for the upcoming battle, did not let Yor hold him. Instead, he rode on Yor's beautiful back, using stirrups. Because Yor herself possessed stealth skills, her movement speed was very fast when she used them. So, following the direction the demi-human had indicated, they quickly caught up to their targets. Just as the orc had said, there were indeed two adventurers.
One was a short, chubby boy, presumably the male protagonist from Accel World, named Arita Haruyuki. The other was a tall, slender, beautiful girl with long black hair, fair skin, and black stockings. She was the female protagonist from Accel World, named Kuroyukihime, or rather, her real name was Kuroba Sayuki or Kuroba Yukiko (for everyone's convenience, she will still be referred to as Kuroyukihime in future plotlines, except for a few plot-driven instances where her real name will be used).
"Kuroyukihime, you were the ones who attacked the Demi-human Village, weren't you?"
Unexpectedly, being called by her name by a short Goblin, Arita Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime, whose path was blocked, were both very surprised. Moreover, the other party was actually speaking human language while lying on the beautiful back of a stunning woman.
"Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. Since you attacked the village, you shall pay the price."
Niu Zida didn't waste words, letting Yor directly launch an attack. Yor activated her stealth skill and quickly approached the two. Kuroyukihime and Arita Haruyuki could only hastily meet the challenge, but strangely, neither of them entered acceleration state before transforming into their virtual forms: Black Lotus and Silver Crow.
Arita Haruyuki quickly flew into the sky. Yor seized the opportunity to rapidly approach Kuroyukihime and engage her in close combat. Kuroyukihime's virtual form, a black armor, enveloped her slender body, and her limbs were equipped with the skill "Sword of Termination," capable of absolute severance, earning her the nickname "Absolute Severance." Niu Zida specifically reminded Yor to be careful in close combat and not to be touched by her, otherwise it could cause significant damage.
Kuroyukihime probably didn't expect her opponent to approach so quickly and was busy parrying. However, even with Niu Zida on her back, Yor's speed still overwhelmed Kuroyukihime. Arita Haruyuki, transformed into Silver Crow, saw Kuroyukihime being suppressed and became anxious. In a moment of desperation, he flew down to assist. Yor had been waiting for this moment and, with a backhand, directly struck Arita Haruyuki down with her kunai.
"Oh no..."
Seeing her lover injured, Kuroyukihime rushed forward, trying to rescue him. What Yor wanted was an opportunity to disrupt her opponent's rhythm. She turned around and kicked Kuroyukihime down. Although the Thorn Princess was usually gentle as water, she was never sluggish in battle. After kicking Kuroyukihime away, she turned to finish off Arita Haruyuki. Suddenly, she heard Kuroyukihime loudly shout:
"Burst Link!"
Unexpectedly, with this shout, Yor and Niu Zida were instantly teleported into a confined space, and Kuroyukihime also entered, transforming into her Black Feather Butterfly form.
"What is this place?"
"This is my accelerated consciousness space."
Wait, the accelerated consciousness space in the Accel World was created with modern technology, right? How is it possible in this differentworld?
"I remember your accelerated space consciousness relied on a neural linker, right? How could it be achieved here?"
"You actually know about the Neuro-Linker? As expected, you're also a transmigrator, aren't you? A Goblin being able to command humans in battle, speak human language, and possess such combat power already made me suspicious."
Kuroyukihime was slightly surprised that Niu Zida knew about her world, but she didn't seem too surprised. It seemed she also knew that many people who didn't originally belong to this world had transmigrated here.
"What do you want to do by pulling us into this accelerated consciousness world? Are you going to continue fighting?"
"Of course not. Here, only our consciousness can enter; we cannot interfere with the real world."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"I hope you won't harm Haruyuki-kun. Speaking of which, we didn't make a move against you, so why did you attack us?"
"Because we want to recruit the Demi-human Village, and as a Goblin, and you as a human adventurer, we are naturally in an adversarial relationship in this world, aren't we?"
Just like the opposition between factions in a game, Niu Zida stated this concisely, not wanting Kuroyukihime to waste more words arguing whether they should be hostile to each other. However, he suddenly thought, Kuroyukihime hasn't played World of Warcraft, has she? She might not understand his analogy.
"Is there really no room for negotiation?"
"Can you infinitely extend the accelerated consciousness state and keep us here forever?"
Niu Zida immediately saw through Kuroyukihime's thoughts. Kuroyukihime could only shake her head and say:
"In this differentworld, I can only accelerate the consciousness of people within 1 meter of me for 10 minutes. 10 minutes in this differentworld's accelerated space equals 1 second in the real world. But that's all. I accelerated our consciousness because I want you not to harm Haruyuki."
"If you don't want me to harm Haruyuki, that's fine. You sign a subservient contract with me and become my maid, and I won't harm Arita Haruyuki."
When it came to Arita Haruyuki, Kuroyukihime had no room to bargain. Niu Zida had long known Kuroyukihime's feelings for that pig, Haruyuki, which was why he could directly propose terms that pushed her psychological bottom line. He wasn't one to beat around the bush; a direct confrontation was fine.
"Such a condition..."
"If you don't agree, then so be it. After 10 minutes, Yor can start. There's no need to be merciful to enemies on the battlefield. I think you understood this when you assassinated the Red King in pursuit of truth, didn't you? There's no reason to use a different standard when it comes to yourself, is there?"
Niu Zida's words stung Kuroyukihime's heart. The beautiful long-haired girl with slender, snow-white arms bit her small mouth, a difficult expression on her delicate, snow-white face. After a moment of hesitation, she finally nodded in agreement and said:
"As long as you don't harm Haruyuki-kun, I can sign a subservient contract with you."
"As expected, Kuroyukihime, you are rational..."