Fire Slope Island. Upon receiving the news from Chaos Demon Soros, Tianhuo was engulfed in rage:
“A trap— it has to be a trap set by those gods!”
An Original Demon had died within mere minutes, leaving behind no clues. This was something none of the Four Calamities could achieve; only the gods possessed such power.
That Blood Demon was merely a decoy!
No wonder a Ninth Rank dared to bark at me like a lackey — it was meant to provoke me into stepping right into the trap they had long prepared.
They actually intended to make me their first target. How outrageous!
Tianhuo tried to summon his follower Ariel again, but it was as if she had vanished from the mortal world—no matter how he called, there was no response.
Because Ariel’s magical power had been completely sealed by True Bury, without mana, she was helpless.
Forget it. Might as well consider her dead.
Tianhuo continued discussing countermeasures with Soros, who proposed sending someone to Deya City — the closest city to where the Lipo demon died — to investigate, and simultaneously attempt to decipher the ancient information left behind by a certain someone’s countermeasure skill.
Countering Soros’s reconnaissance skill? Who else could do that besides the Oracle? Tianhuo was certain it was the Oracle’s doing!
After ending negotiations with Soros, Tianhuo immediately contacted the other three Calamities to explain the situation.
Though they usually disliked each other, facing a divine threat required unity.
Soon enough, the other three Calamities replied perfunctorily.
Death Tide: “Don’t rush. I need time to grow stronger.”
Earthquake: “Why panic? If it comes down to it, we’ll just clash head-on.”
Storm: “Doesn’t matter. I’m invincible.”
Tianhuo: “……”
Forget it. Those three were completely unreliable. For his own survival, he’d have to keep cooperating with Soros…
…
At the edge of the mist, near the wall where Ariel was, the clash of swords rang out fiercely.
Evans was panicking. He had been chopping a tree when suddenly a very strange Second Rank warrior emerged from the grass to ambush him.
Fortunately, the attacker was too slow to succeed, and the two immediately engaged in combat.
At first, Evans felt relieved — the opponent wasn’t strong, and he could hold him off alone. But he soon realized the longsword the attacker wielded was very unusual!
Evans’s swings were always slightly faster than Reger’s. Normally, he should have had the upper hand. But after blocking one of Reger’s attacks, things took a turn for the worse.
For low-rank warriors like them, a back-and-forth exchange of blows was normal. Evans intended to block and then seize the opportunity to counter during Reger’s attack recovery.
Then he noticed — Reger didn’t have any recovery at all.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!…”
Every time Reger’s longsword struck heavily against Evans’s blade, his body would twist in some distorted way, shaking rapidly before resetting to the stance of preparing for the next strike!
What style was this?!
Evans had no chance to counter and could only defend.
What was going on? Did Reger have some strange magical artifact? Or was it a skill? But Evans sensed no mana fluctuations from him!
Luckily, Reger’s attacks still had brief openings, allowing Evans to create some distance and let his comrades distract him.
But trouble — Reger messed up his combo!
Although Reger’s mind had learned to cancel attack recovery, his body was not yet accustomed. Also, using the skill continuously was extremely draining.
Despite his hero constitution, after just a minute, Reger was already gasping for breath.
The skill the boss granted was powerful — very powerful, enough to let him dominate among low-rank warriors.
But the cost was enormous: the immense physical exhaustion aside, his weapon’s durability was nearly broken!
Gripping his longsword riddled with chips, Reger continued to duel the enemy. Anderson jumped down from a tree with a flying kick, shouting, “I’m here to help!” and engaged one of the foes.
No choice—Anderson had been busy making money lately and was only First Rank. He could barely defeat one of Evans’s minions.
“Be careful not to get close to him. He’s got a longsword that cancels attack recovery!” Evans warned his men.
But with their arrows used up, they could only fight in close quarters — and dared not approach Reger. They retreated step by step toward the carriage, until Evans ordered a full retreat.
He temporarily gave up on capturing Anderson and planned to return after reinforcing the Watchtower stronghold.
Anderson’s covert dragon egg smuggling business was tempting even to mid-tier big shots!
The innocent are blamed for their treasures. After noting Anderson and Reger’s appearances, Evans and the others boarded the carriage and left the mist.
Reger finally exhaled deeply, discarding the nearly broken longsword. He’d have to find a better weapon next.
Then he asked Anderson, “Who did you piss off this time? And who’s that woman by the pond?”
“Probably the previous buyer of that illusionary dragon egg. They found me in the black market through a mid-tier ranger. As for the woman by the pond — I suggest you stay away from her. She might be a little crazy.”
“I see… Good thing I saved you in time. You didn’t give away the dragon egg’s location, right? Where’s the priestess lady’s dragon egg now?”
Reger knew well that the boss’s reason for granting him such a powerful skill to save Anderson was all about the dragon egg. Anderson’s life was secondary; the egg was the real priority.
“Oh, it’s on that carriage over there.”
Anderson pointed toward the carriage, already vanishing on the horizon…
……
“Ohhh, so this cave connects to the second level of the Maze. Exiting here leads to a large plain. The cave entrance is just too small—using that Meteorite as the entrance would be better.”
Inside the underground Maze beneath the mist in Deya, after surveying the terrain, Truth made bold modifications.
She bulldozed several passages, making the meteorite crater the best entrance to the vast plain.
Plus, the crater was large, allowing the mist to seep in easily. Like the Swarm’s mycelial carpets, wherever the mist spread, that territory belonged to Truth.
“Perfect.” Truth clapped her hands, though she still needed to repair the mist.
“Once it’s fixed, how should I collect tolls… Got it! The road in 365 is ready! While the mist is still unfinished, I’ll spread word now to let those adventurers get a taste of the rewards.”
Marketing before opening the shop was still necessary. So Truth quickly returned to the Enforcement Bureau and found Coste, only to see him talking with Tia, who looked extremely tense.
“I don’t care about the rest, but you must find the Saintess!”
Since the meteorite crashed into the mist, Truth had disappeared. Coupled with Soros’s reconnaissance skill, Tia feared something might go wrong with Truth.
She wanted to ask the Hermit directly, but after seeing how angry the Hermit was when possessing Truth…
She simply dared not!
Getting punished by the Hermit was one thing, but being slapped to death was absolutely unacceptable!
Besides, with Truth now the Saintess, Tia had received an Oracle from the Church of the Goddess of Life instructing her to personally guide Truth on how to be a proper Saintess.
In the near future, the Divine Selection Ceremony would officially announce Truth as the Church’s Saintess.
So she hoped the Hermit wouldn’t wear out poor Truth. Her little body couldn’t take too much abuse. If she died, the Goddess of Life would surely investigate. Then the Hermit’s own secrets would be exposed!
“What are you two talking about? Let me hear.”
Truth pulled down her hood and poked at Tia’s butt, which was bigger than her own face. The move made Tia shiver violently, glaring down fiercely — then she flipped her expression at lightning speed:
“Truth!”
Tia immediately crouched and hugged Truth tightly — but her chest was so broad that Truth couldn’t breathe.
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