The second female lead Dual Cultivates

"Get your mutt off me" the other growled, clutching her stomach protectively. And for a second, no one moved to do anything. The situation was far too delicate to make any sudden moment before Maria snapped into action and decided to try tugging Suna off the pregnant lady before harm could be done to her.

"Suna, off. She's not a danger" Maria's words must have worked since Suna finally decided to listen to her and release the pregnant demoness in her clutch. The harpy looked happy but also pissed at being treated so harshly and Maria did not blame her for it either.

Had she been in Suna's position, she would have tried to fight off the intruders as well. But she was not and the rational part of her won the war. She moved to physically move Suna off since it did not look like Suna was going to listen to her anyway.

And as soon as her hands fell on Suna's shoulder, the hybrid did let go of the pregnant demon and Maria could finally have a good look at her. She did not look harmed in any way, shape, or form but some indications marked her as not well. It must have been something serious that had dragged her out into the open.

"Can we help you out? It's not safe for someone in your condition to be out here right now. I've heard rumors about what is happening in Imu and they do not sound pretty" Trisha also moved closer but she was much more careful than Maria. She also had a more delicate touch to her.

Also, her eyes had a troubled look as she looked at the pregnant hybrid's condition and it did not take a genius to guess why that had been so. Maria could physically feel the need to help out the other and she was a foreigner in these lands. Trisha must be feeling it much more accurately than she.

"No, it's alright. This is what I expected would happen when I took this mission but I was the only one they could spare. You are the people Lady Elma sends to aid us, are you not?" The pregnant lady asked and Maria nodded her head.

She had to wonder how these people knew how to recognize them but she did not pay much attention to it. They had not done anything to change the future yet which also meant that things were happening as they had in her vision. Besides, Maria did not want to suspect a pregnant lady of things that could potentially happen.

"How did you know?" Trisha asked the lady even as she helped her up. Maria could see her strain under the weight and it made her remember that Trisha was not fully healed yet.

As bad as her condition had been, there was no way the heat would have been cured only after one try. It would be better for Lady Elma to tend to her but Maria was not sure they would get a chance or even time to do so before things derailed. Two days was just too short of a deadline.

"You're not trying to be subtle and Lady Trisha looks like her father. It was not difficult to put two-on-two together. You might also want to get your hybrid companion checked out since she looks like she's suffered heavy trauma" The lady explained as she led them through the rest of the forest.

Maria kept an eye on the coordinates given to her by Lady Elma as a precautionary measure since she did not fully trust the harpy just yet. The story she had told the group did sound genuine but it had a lot of blanks in the mix as well.

Most importantly, Maria knew she had her other two companions safe in her hand and it made her cautious as a result. She did not want to somehow end up compromising everyone of her lack of vigilance.

The forest thinned the further they went and soon it opened up into a small clearing with a cave on the other side. It had a small opening, just enough for one person to cross at a time and the pregnant harpy moved toward it.

"It's safe. Let me go in first so that you don't get taken in as an intruder" the harpy informed before she entered and Maria tensed up. As soon as the harpy had left, a lot of eyes had snapped onto the group but Maria could not pinpoint their exact location.

Even Suna seemed tender as she sensed all the new auras around the duo and Maria was sure she was going to do something foolish. However, since there was no attack on them yet, Maria decided to give them the benefit of doubt in this case.

"Don't attack them till they give us a reason to. We don't want them as our enemies" Maria reminded her hybrid companion who may or may not have understood her. Maria had not spent a lot of time with Suna in her new form, so she had no idea how much she could understand her and follow orders.

But somehow, Maria's words caused the aggression in Suna's frame to drop down but not her guard. She was still as vigilant as ever but no longer hostile to the presences around them and Maria knew this was as good as it was going to get for them.

Trisha entered the cave ahead of them. Out of them all, the enemy had the least incentive to kill her. She was a safe bet to send in as bait in any condition and Maria had confidence in being able to break her out in case this did turn out to be a trap

Maria decided to push Suna into the cave first before taking the rear guard. Suna had the better reflexes among the pair but Maria was not sure if she would be able to stop when the time came. It was just better to eliminate the risk and put herself between Suna and a potential enemy.

But it seemed as if there was no need to. No attack came in and Maria spotted a few familiar faces in the mix. It was the resistance camp and there were very helpful individuals inside.

"You all are finally here. Lady Elma left instructions for us since she will not be able to join us. Sit down so that we can brief you" the familiar shape of the resistance head greeted them and Maria felt her nerves calm down. Now things were really on the right track. The one she had seen in her vision and she also knew what to do now.