Chapter 133: Ritual Resumes

In the second half, Tally also joined in.

It wasn't until Vivian knocked on the door at midnight that Luo De remembered the daytime invitation.

It nearly scared Little Ke to death.

Without caring that Luo De was still inside, she yanked him to hold the wooden door shut.

Refused outright to open it.

Then she lied to Vivian, claiming she was learning to cook—and the tree spirit's naive nature actually believed her.

Luo De got a brand-new experience.

Every time Little Ke lied to Vivian.

The pressure would surge sharply, directly preventing Luo De from locking his key point.

Five days later.

The ritual setup in Willow District was activated again.

Vernon, Leon, and Pavla, the three apprentice mages, regained consciousness two days prior and, after brief rest, decided to continue participating.

From then on, every time they encountered Luo De, they respectfully greeted him.

As for Sharon, her condition was far from optimistic—she was still resting.

The ritual was led by Dimia.

Kalistra monitored from the side and filled in the gaps.

After the previous accident, Sharon had not yet recovered, and though the elf grumbled about the trouble, he still came to help.

"Why do I have to come?"

Little Ke complained.

She hated crowded places and rarely participated in such events.

And now Vivian was standing right beside her.

It filled her with deep guilt and moral revulsion.

She unconsciously kept her distance from that man.

Since the mating season was over, let the memories fade with the wind.

"You said I could freely predict for you."

Luo De said.

【Time Echo】was a powerful divination spell.

The withering Shu, which even Kalistra couldn't detect, was exposed under Little Ke 's potent divination.

"A spell cast by a male mage around thirty years old, named 【Plant Withering】."

It could even discern age and gender!

No wonder she was a half-deer.

And since she had recently predicted danger in the ritual, Luo De decided to exploit her to the fullest.

He made her watch these fools work every day, to see who dared sabotage.

"I can't predict constantly—fine, I'll just be keeping Vivian company."

Since the appearance of 【Plant Withering】, the tree spirit feared humans would destroy trees, so she decided to act as supervisor here.

Luo De smiled.

He sat beneath the tree and began harmonizing his magic with his spirituality.

Yes! After using the witch's gift 【Auxiliary Spell】, he successfully entered meditation!

And within just three days, he raised his magic accumulation to mid-first stage.

Enough to cast magic missiles.

But he temporarily had no intention of learning spells—his focus remained on maximizing magic accumulation.

"Master~ You spend all day learning useless things; the priority is boosting your spirituality."

Tally pouted, pounding her leg as she spoke.

According to her, magic tasted far worse than spirituality.

"If you don't learn, you'll drain me dry someday."

Time slipped away.

In the blink of an eye, three more days passed.

The cutting and stabilization maze rituals were successfully set up and began.

On that day, Martin and Valery, the two inspectors, arrived to record proceedings.

Also present was Oona, deputy director of Containment.

Facing these three, Luo De only exchanged a few words with Martin.

A picky half-elf, a deputy director of the Magic Control League with ulterior motives.

He had no interest in them.

Whenever Oona tried to strike up conversation, he gave her a polite but distant smile.

First came the cutting ritual.

To ensure smooth operation, Luo De directly multiplied an arm for the ritual.

None of those present were surprised.

Limb regeneration wasn't a particularly advanced spell.

That night.

The ritual ended.

The classic pink soil of the open-air maze appeared beneath 【Dark Vortex Rift】.

But plans never matched changes.

The sand tornado intensified its rotation; under new pressure, the maze showed clear instability.

Kalistra judged the maze's current state too unstable for the next step, so she set an observation period—everyone rested in place and waited for changes.

Taking advantage of the gap.

Luo De climbed the tree and fed Tally her dinner first.

They nearly got spotted by Deputy Director Oona, who was wandering around, but they leapt between trees while feeding.

To move easily, the succubus clung to him like a koala.

After finishing the meal, he returned to Willow District with Tally, her face full of satisfaction.

Little Ke looked at them with disdain.

Clearly, through 【Time Echo】, she had seen everything.

"Dirty dog. Do you two always play like this?"

"Cough, cough. Have you found the one sabotaging the ritual?"

The half-deer snorted and pointed toward Valery, the half-elf inspector at a distance.

In the night, thick shadows draped over her, making her appear utterly dark.

Luo De shook his head.

I knew half-elves were never trouble-free.

"Can you predict what she's planning?"

Little Ke shook her head.

"Her rank is higher than mine—I can only get vague glimpses of her actions."

【Time Echo】is more precise when reviewing the past.

When predicting the future, it becomes fuzzy and inaccurate.

Actually, during Little Ke's mating season, Luo De had fed her another dose of 【Growth Spirituality】, but what emerged was 【Spirit Spear Throw】.

It was a skill that hurled spears of spirituality—the farther the distance, the more spirituality gathered mid-flight, resulting in greater explosive damage.

"Tally, go tie her up—stealthily."

"Okay~~"

With that, she slipped into the shadows like a fish.

Since activating 【Duke Bloodline】, Tally's shadow spell had improved dramatically—now she vanished without a trace.

Perhaps Oona could notice.

But it didn't matter.

No one was allowed to interfere with the ritual now.

Not long after.

Tally leapt out of the shadows, clapping her hands triumphantly.

"Done."

Luo De looked at Little Ke.

Little Ke shrugged helplessly.

"Future predictions aren't like you imagine—interfere and instantly get feedback? Even the stars need time to move, let alone time itself."

"Hmph, garbage." Tally judged.

"You!"

The half-deer fumed, wanting to retort but unable to find words—she could only turn away, sulking.

Luo De was about to offer some comfort.

His expression changed.

He suddenly turned his gaze toward the cutting maze inside the Death Desert.

At this moment, the mages had placed numerous 【Brightening Spells】 throughout the willow sand area for observation and spell deployment.

Under the white light, the willow sand area was illuminated as bright as day.

The massive sand tornado in the distance appeared even darker against the glow of the Brightening Spells.

The faint spiral tornado and its accompanying demons loomed infinitely larger beyond the light.

From the pink earth directly below, a visible heatwave rose.

Along with it came waves of pink-purple malice.

"It's the maze's consciousness—it's detected our presence in the cutting maze. This act is equivalent to an offense."

Kali said.

Her face was grim.

(End of Chapter)