Chapter 23: The Elves' Ambition and Secret History

Compared to Lady Kali, Farshad's features were far gentler.

He walked over to his companion's side, a smile on his handsome face.

He nodded in greeting to every person present.

Though he was an adult elf, in truth his age differed from Lady Kali's by a full hundred and fifty years.

And precisely because he was young, unlike many stubborn elves, he kept his curiosity about every new thing he encountered.

This was the first succubus he had ever seen.

Rumor had it that succubi could easily arouse desire in every intelligent race, but standing before this one, he felt not the slightest hint of enchantment.

"Truly an eye-opener."

He said sincerely, "I had always thought succubi were evil creatures."

"No," Rod said, seeing he bore no ill intent, "succubi really are evil creatures."

"Hey!"

Tally kicked him from behind.

Farshad suddenly caught sight of Lady Kali gathering magical power.

"Calm down." He hurriedly pressed a hand to her shoulder and urged her in a low voice.

Then, turning to Rod, he said, "Are you heading to the deeper levels? The monsters down there are powerful—especially the self-detonating venom ones, quite the handful. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it."

"Thanks for the concern, but Mr. Rod has a treasure that defends against venom," Sid hurriedly smoothed things over. "It's getting late, we still have to keep exploring!"

He urged Rod to press on deeper.

Fearing the two of them would come to blows.

Rod shrugged and stepped past the two elves.

Along the way, he glanced at the cold-faced Lady Kali.

He watched her disappear into the cave.

"That human Mr. is only fifth-tier, so he'll probably leave the deeper levels soon enough," Farshad said.

Lady Kali said coldly, "You should have let me act. Even if we didn't kill that succubus, we should have taught her a lesson."

"This is Wing Crystal Clan territory."

Farshad shook his head. "We can't make a move against their friends here."

"I've long heard the situation in Flawless Crystal Land was bad, but I never expected it had already reached the point of colluding with succubi."

"You seem to harbor deep malice toward succubi?"

He caught another emotion in Lady Kali's tone.

Not merely disgust at succubi.

"You're still young, Farshad. Our clan once suffered a serious incident because of these disgusting creatures."

Farshad's eyes lit up.

The nerve of curiosity shot straight from his spine to his brain.

"What was it?"

"You don't need to know."

"."

Lady Kali drew a deep breath and said:

"On this trip, besides bringing you out to gain experience, the most important thing is to get clear on the situation in Flawless Crystal Land."

"Mm?"

"The Elder Council intends to assist the Wing Crystal Clan and stabilize the situation in Flawless Crystal Land, on the condition that they allow us to station ourselves here and exchange labyrinth-traversal techniques."

Farshad's face went pale with shock, and he could not help but stop in his tracks.

"This is aggression, Lady Kali!"

"It is not. It is the guardianship of nature."

Lady Kali's expression did not change in the slightest as she walked step by step forward, out of the mine and into the vast crystal forest beyond.

Dwarven alchemical lamps gradually came into view.

Farshad did not quite understand.

This was far from the picture he had imagined of elves living in harmony with the world.

And the words Lady Kali spoke next instantly shattered his entire worldview.

"Thousands of years ago, all that the eye could see was nature—that was the elves' golden age. Until humanity grew strong, turning everything from natural to artificial, and our territory retreated from the center of the continent to the forests at its edge. Farshad, returning the continent to nature is the ultimate dream of the Natural Faction."

Boom!

A monster self-detonated, blood and entrails splattering everywhere.

The longsword in Rod's hand spun, slicing across another lizard-monster's arm.

Blue arcs of electricity crawled up the creature's scales, instantly burning away a large patch.

The lizard-monster let out a piercing shriek.

As they descended to a deeper level, the lizard-monsters had changed somewhat.

Their forelimbs were longer now, and their fingers far more defined.

By this point Rod had no choice but to employ various spiritual arts.

"Those two elves' attitude is quite interesting, isn't it."

He unleashed 【Aetheron Flash】.

A dazzling burst of spiritual light instantly illuminated the mine.

He swung three blades at a speed the naked eye could not follow, slicing the monster into pieces in an instant.

"A hundred years ago, the Elder Council was controlled by a Grand Elder named Elder Elder Manla. He believed that humans were also part of nature, so he sent many young elves into human society to learn. Because of this, those elves had to understand human ways a little, and they were also more tolerant when dealing with matters."

Xiti hid at the back.

Seeing Rod looking so at ease, he finally wasn't so nervous anymore.

Tally was normally lazy by nature, but this time she actually picked up a magic short sword and stepped forward.

Her movements weren't as crisp and clean as Rod's, but as she tangled with the monsters, she gradually grew familiar with it.

At first, Rod was afraid she couldn't handle it.

He wanted to give her the 【Guardian Veil】.

Who knew she'd get into character, not only flatly refusing, but also saying things like "Stinks to death" and "Who wants your stuff," giving him a good scolding.

Even Rod got annoyed.

But he couldn't help looking forward to the scene later when she'd beg to replenish her essence.

"Elves, known for restraint, have met a succubus, known for indulgence." After hearing Xiti's words, he commented.

"Exactly so, oil and water don't mix. And I once heard a Mr. Rock Spirit say that a long time ago, a major incident happened within the elves because of a succubus."

As he spoke, Xiti secretly glanced at Tally.

Looks like his gossip-loving heart was stirred, wanting to get an answer from Tally.

"What are you looking at! I'm not interested in midgets!"

"Wooo."

Rod weaved and dodged, using 【Aetheron Flash】 one after another.

Boom boom boom—

Venom splashed across a large area onto his body.

【Chang En Fa Yin】, 【Tree Armor】, and 【Guardian Veil】 stacked three layers over each other. More importantly, his recent massive boost in poison resistance made this venom no more than a tickle.

The most fatal point for others was nothing to him.

Unfortunately, the Crystal Stone Tree didn't meet the conditions for 【Tree's Blessing】, so 【Tree Armor】 didn't get any special bonus, but the high recovery was still there.

After a long battle.

He felt signs of his spiritual essence growing again within his body.

"Tally, come on, tell us." Rod asked with a smile, while also slicing off a monster's forelimb.

"Call me Young Lady Tally!"

". Young Lady Tally."

The corner of Tally's mouth curved up.

【Tally's obedience to you +1, current obedience: 61】

She took a big step back and drank another bottle of healing magic potion.

"It's no big deal, just that a high-ranking succubus accidentally drained that Grand Elder Elder Manla to death."

"What?!"

Xiti turned pale with shock, utterly astounded.

"No wonder, no wonder there's never been any news of Elder Elder Manla's death."

He pulled out his little notebook and quickly recorded the information.

Rod finally finished off a large wave of monsters, caught his breath, and began collecting the stomach sacs.

"You don't have to believe everything that girl says."

"Tch, are the men our succubi have drained really that few? A mere elf is nothing, even an ogre would do, I have an aunt who—"

"Stop."

Rod raised his hand: "I don't really want to know your bizarre recipes."

"How dare you interrupt Young Lady Tally's words! Punishment: you have to act like a dog later!"

(End of this chapter)