Chapter 163: Worship Me

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you!"

The mushroom creature Toru immediately dropped to his knees, lacking any real backbone.

He dropped his staff and even began forcing tears from his eyes.

In truth, unlike the avian Karoline, he was not under the command of the demon Artu, but an adventurer introduced by the Ruins Brotherhood.

He had done plenty of dirty work in his time.

But he rarely directly carried out killings.

Indirect involvement didn't count—at least not in Toru's eyes.

"But I can't tell you! I signed a magical contract."

"What's this, Eve?"

Hearing the call, the natural contract-breaker—Naga Eve—ran swiftly from behind.

"Hahaha, a tiny magical contract? What's that to me? But I should warn you, these contract-removal magic rings are quite expensive."

The latter part was meant for Luo De.

We Naga never make losing deals.

"How about I give you a new Spiritual Skill tonight?"

Anyway, there's still plenty of Growth Spirit left over.

By the way, infusing 【Growth Spirit】 doesn't keep generating new skills indefinitely.

The two who received the most were the Tree Spirit Vivian and the Succubus Tally.

Both have already received the same Spiritual Skill multiple times.

Duplicates don't become invalid—they merely strengthen the existing Spiritual Skill to some degree.

For example, Vivian's 【Vine Bind】 and Tally's 【Hypnosis】 have both been upgraded to +7 and +8 respectively.

But heavy infusion also causes spiritual instability in them.

To avoid burdening their bodies, Luo De has not performed any new refreshes recently.

"That's more like it."

Eve was pleased—another deal that brought only profit, no loss.

She pulled out the magic ring she'd used against Luo De in the open labyrinth and handed it to the mushroom creature Toru.

But the fellow hesitated.

"You two understand—I'm an adventurer. If word got out that I broke a contract on my own, my reputation would be ruined."

"That's true."

Tally poked her head out from the shadows and smirked sarcastically, "Reputation or life? Hard choice, isn't it? Both are so important."

"..."

Sensing the succubus's threat in her tone,

Toru swallowed hard as he noticed Luo De's expression grow colder.

He quickly activated the magic ring.

"Huh? It failed."

As it activated, spiritual energy gathered in midair, forming a magical contract.

But when the ring's power tried to dissolve it, it lost strength and could not tear it apart.

"Is this a countermeasure?"

Luo De asked.

"Not likely."

Eve studied it for a moment, then remembered, "It's a demon-blood soul contract. These are extremely difficult to break, and demon-bloods haven't been active in decades—I have no method to break this kind."

As experts in contract-breaking, the Naga had deep knowledge of contract types, and Princess Eve especially so.

Demons.

Luo De rubbed his chin.

This matched the sulfur smell mentioned in Xiao Ke's prophecy.

Frieder Argyle is colluding with demon-bloods?

That was unexpected.

But right now, regardless of anything, he must inform the witch Dimia first.

An hour later.

Tally arrived with Dimia in haste.

After hearing Luo De's description, she showed no hesitation, ignoring the fact that evidence was still insufficient.

She immediately planned to organize a strike team to ambush and seize Frieder first.

As for this mushroom creature who contributed no useful information—

Killing him would nullify the contract, which would alert the enemy, so he must be imprisoned for now.

Destroy the array.

Then the group left the pit.

Dimia and Luo De each went to gather their forces, agreeing to a night assault.

Luo De returned to the forest.

He planned to form the frontline with the female beastwoman Amy, the zombie Selena, Tally, and himself.

The Tree Spirit Vivian and the ghoul Pan Ni would control the enemy's scattered forces from the center.

The centaur Bond would serve as ranged firepower; he would assign the elf Calist and the half-deer Xiao Ke to protect her, since neither were his slaves and it was hard to ask them to risk themselves.

Naga Eve's identity was too special to appear openly—she would remain hidden as a covert force.

As for the banshee Chris—

To be honest, her combat power was weak.

In a recent reconnaissance test, the fifth-rank low-tier banshee failed to defeat Bond, who was only fourth-rank mid-tier.

Bond, after all, possessed 【Half-Centaur Bloodline】; crossing ranks in battle was no big deal for her.

But it was clear from practice that she was terrible.

"Under my command, you won't be allowed to sit idle."

Luo De had no intention of letting her off.

Such a good training opportunity—let her fight minor enemies alongside Vivian and Pan Ni.

He ran around, informing everyone of the mission.

When Luo De finally found Chris in the sand willow zone of the forest, it was already dusk.

"How unusual—you're here doing what?"

Chris rarely came to the sand willow zone; she feared the 【Dark Vortex Rift】 sand whirlwinds, terrified of being swallowed whole.

This was out of character.

Moreover, she was currently in physical form.

Her face bore a thick black smoky makeup.

Clearly, since the banquet, she'd grown fond of this look.

"Hehe, Master, big business!"

"Your only business right now is the farm—stay grounded."

"Farm? What farm? After this succeeds, you're going to worship me."

The banshee's tone was arrogant, smug, and disrespectful toward her master.

Luo De's lip twitched.

He wouldn't indulge her.

He immediately ordered her to kneel.

The banshee instantly realized her mistake and knelt, sobbing as she begged for forgiveness.

"Speak. What did you do this time?"

"That's not true—I did it all for you, Master."

Chris knelt beside Luo De, smiling obsequiously.

The banshee said she couldn't take it anymore.

Staying chaste wasn't a solution.

Being constantly drained hurt terribly.

It'd be better to just give in—maybe then you'd show me some care.

Look how happy the ghoul Pan Ni was after that night—the farm lost money, yet she wasn't punished, and her magical energy even subtly strengthened.

When you're under someone's roof, you bow your head.

After all, I'm already enslaved.

But Luo De remained unmoved by this small temptation.

He snorted coldly—this creature had impure intentions and refused discipline; she must not be coddled.

The "pain and pleasure" approach didn't suit her.

Only harsh discipline would work.

"Speak! What did you do!"

"Nothing much. I'd been worried about the master ever since the farm lost money, to the point I couldn't eat or sleep—so I struck a deal with a naga from the desert."

She knelt and crept closer.

She pressed her two breasts against Luo De's knees.

Then she bent her head and kissed them.

But her movements were clumsy and awkward; she tried desperately to look seductive, yet only resembled a pubescent monkey making grotesque faces.

There wasn't even half a spark of sexual tension.

Nothing compared to Tally's natural, effortless allure.

Luo De couldn't muster even a hint of desire.

He grabbed her cheeks.

"Ow! Ouch! Ouch!"

"Say another word, and I'll hang you up and whip you a hundred times."

(End of chapter)