Chapter 281: Countdown

"Look, didn't I tell you they'd come?"

Rod said with a smile.

He knew the dark elves still had a card up their sleeve.

Sharon glanced over at the Aether-energy stormcloud with a hint of surprise, desire gleaming in her eyes.

"If I could get inside that cloud, it would greatly deepen my understanding of Aether."

"That won't be enough for you."

"I'm just saying, I'm not asking you to help me."

"From what I know about girls, that kind of casual remark is basically their core demand in disguise."

"I'm not like ordinary girls. I'm pretty straightforward."

The dog-girl lifted her chin, proud and satisfied with her own personality.

Rod's hand itched; he tried to scratch under her chin, but got slapped away.

"Keep your hands to yourself. Don't you know what time it is?" the girl snapped.

"At times like this I just love grabbing something."

"Here's some advice, Rod—being too lecherous gets you killed in bed. How long are you going to keep touching me?"

She slapped his hand again.

Her shorts were tugged upward.

That palm was wandering back and forth along the boundary between the fur on her right leg and her bare skin.

The hair covered nearly three-quarters of her thigh, and beneath the rounded curve of her peach-shaped rear it made for quite a sight.

"You really like this leg that much? I think it's hideous—it's why I can't even wear skirts."

"I love it so much I'd even want to hold it in my arms and give it a good kiss."

Rod answered bluntly.

In his mind's eye, a pose of sprinting while clutching a leg flashed into view.

Hearing this, Sharon had never heard anyone say they liked that about her; her heart went tingly.

She quietly swallowed, barely resisting the urge to lean in and lick his face.

While they were talking—

a violent blue flash lit up the Aether stormcloud in the distance, and a giant spider's limb poked out of the cloud, covered in fine bristles.

The Great Cultivator went on high alert, halting her assault on the soldier swarm.

She raised her pruning shears, facing the giant spider leg charging straight at her.

"Now's the moment!"

Rod rose and headed for the botanical garden.

Sharon quickly layered two casts of 【Stealth】 and followed close behind.

Taking advantage of the battle up ahead, the two of them didn't dawdle; staying as concealed as possible, they raced toward their destination at top speed.

Not long after—

the two of them pushed aside the enthusiastically welcoming Blood Marrow Tree vines.

They successfully set the ritual array in place.

And no one else noticed.

"How long does a hundred and two circles take?"

Rod kept a wary eye on his surroundings. Unlike the violently churning front line, the botanical garden was now empty, carrying an inexplicable bleakness.

"About three minutes."

"That long?"

"You think a ritual of this level is simple to run?" Sharon shot back immediately. "We'd best hold position here for about two minutes, then leave the spell's range in the final minute."

Rod nodded, no objections.

The ritual in Sharon's hands was indeed powerful, but in truth not high-tier, which was why they were stuck in this awkward situation.

It was tied to her rank. Once her rank went up, she could even buy ritual arrays that were more convenient, faster, and cheaper.

The current complicated, hard-to-cast kind existed entirely to accommodate lower-ranked mages.

Thirty seconds had passed.

Rod silently counted the seconds.

His gaze stayed fixed on the duel between the giant limb and the Great Cultivator in the distance.

It felt as if even the air had slowed down.

One minute.

Sharon sneered, "One minute is quite a while—no wonder you men."

"Where'd you pick that up?" Rod laughed despite himself.

"Back in Bahadur, Dimia and I used to hide under the covers reading smutty novels. She loved them—would even secretly imitate them and submit them to the newspaper. Sadly they never got accepted. I wonder if she still writes now."

She does.

And she's quite famous—the protagonist is a flower demon with both male and female organs, extremely raunchy.

In fact, this time her magic going out of control might even be connected to the novels.

But since Witch Dimia herself hadn't told Sharon, Rod didn't feel right exposing her.

One minute thirty seconds.

"Get ready to pull out."

Sharon said.

Rod saw the fierce battle raging over there and let out a sigh of relief.

Although the Great Cultivator was vaguely showing signs of defeat, the outcome would not be decided in such a short time.

"Are you leaving immediately?"

"I'll leave right after giving the Rot Moon Seed to Dimia."

"Won't you stay in the forest for two days? I'm already missing you."

"Your sweet talk has no effect on me, hehe."

Two minutes.

Boom!!!

As expected, something unexpected happened.

A massive roar suddenly erupted from the distance.

Rod saw the Great Cultivator's chest pierced by an arthropod limb, then flung toward the direction of the Botanical Garden as if he were trash.

It happened to be exactly the direction where the two of them stood.

Pfft!

The Great Cultivator's figure broke the sound barrier mid-air, and in the blink of an eye, shot into the ground not far from the Botanical Garden like a cannonball.

With a thunderous crash, he directly smashed out a meteor crater in the ground.

Again, a huge curtain of blood splashed upward.

Splash-splash-splash—

"Damn it!"

Rod couldn't help but curse aloud.

Sharon frowned tightly: "What do we do? The formation has one minute left, and the fluctuations are already obvious; he will notice."

"Forget it, let's fight him!"

"Fight who?"

"The Great Cultivator. You leave the spellcasting range first; after all, we only need to stall for one minute."

Upon hearing this, unexpectedly, Sharon revealed a smile, wild and unrestrained.

"Asking me to leave you first and go on my own is an utter humiliation."

She leaned in and smacked a kiss on Rod's lips.

Just like that, a light kiss as a dragonfly skimming the water, yet she still stuck out her tongue.

Rod was somewhat speechless.

Was it because of the Dogkin race? Why did this guy like licking people with his tongue so much?

Clear the distracting thoughts.

Since we're not leaving, then we won't leave.

Rod didn't drag things out and cast 【Punishment Lash】 on each of them.

Then came 【Dragon Scale Technique】.

Dense, transparent dragon scales crawled over the surface of their skin.

【Sighs of Resentment Shake the Heavens】.

Pink-purple resentment fire suddenly engulfed their entire bodies, and in the next moment, their whole forms were wrapped in thick, fearsome armor of the Resentful Lion.

On the visor and the inner sides of the arms grew dark-yellow sharp horns and arm blades respectively.

Two sharp, fearsome spikes protruded from both shoulders.

Even the 【Sword of Sacrifice】 in their hands had changed.

From an exquisite one-handed sword, it became a rugged, angular greatsword.

The golden blade was covered with interlocking serrations.

It radiated a sense of overwhelming power.

Once the transformation was complete.

The curtain of blood over there had also completely fallen.

The battered and ragged Great Cultivator did not look at Rod; his huge single eye rolled around and spotted the casting staff operating within the Botanical Garden.

He cursed a few words in his mouth.

Rod did not hold the 【Trembling Soul Blade】 and could not understand what he was saying.

But the Great Cultivator's current state was truly terrible.

A basin-sized hole in his chest, his lower body densely pierced by giant spider bristles, and his right hand twisted into a pretzel.

Although all of these were in the process of regeneration, the speed was obviously much slower than before.

The only thing he could use was his left hand.

The left hand holding the giant pruning shears.

(End of this chapter)