Chapter 318: Crown

'Hm!'

Tally cried out in pain.

She woke up dazed.

The first thing she saw was her master holding her; she felt no fear, only grinned and nuzzled against Luo De's chest.

She kept pawing at him.

'Do you know what hit you?'

'Of course I do~ But isn't my master right here~~'

Luo De pinched both her cheeks firmly and said seriously:

'Do you know what caused it?'

The hallucinogenic spores were already present before the stone door—clearly placed by the Mycelium Tribe.

He couldn't be sure whether it was the golden crown or some other trap left by the Mycelium Tribe.

Tally pointed at the golden crown.

'When I saw this thing, I heard a voice whispering in my ear—deep, solemn, piercing straight into the depths of my mind—then I lost consciousness.'

She dared not look at the crown as she spoke, her face buried tightly against Luo De's chest.

Her warm, sweet breath brushed against his skin, tickling it.

It seemed the succubus was just putting on a brave face—she knew fear too.

Luo De patted her little head reassuringly, stroking down her smooth black hair to the back of her skull.

She looked up with a mischievous grin: 'Patting the back of the head? I remember that's your little gesture with that orc—now you want to use it on Tally? Fine, while they haven't found us yet, let's do it fast.'

'You're asking for death. Don't even think about it.'

The 【Will of the Heavens】 gave no trigger warning.

Yet this was clearly a mental assault.

So the crown must be selective—did it skip him because his mental resistance was too strong?

In other words, is it conscious?

Hmm.

Artifacts with consciousness aren't uncommon; the Containment Division of the Magic Control League probably holds many such items.

Lucky for us, there's a deputy director of the Containment Division right here.

'Time for the expert to step in.'

Luo De had no desire to touch this strange object.

He went to brief the others still handling the corpses.

In truth, only Bunny Oona and Star-Spirit Hali were handling the bodies, using Mage's Hand to avoid contact with blood.

As for Mushroom Noah,

he had plopped down on the ground, inhaling the hallucinogenic spores drifting from the wall fungi.

Mushrooms, after all.

They usually suffer severe hallucinogenic spore dependency.

And they don't bother with corpse disposal—especially hate cremation. They believe death is a return to nature; letting the body decompose over time is the best funeral.

Of course, planting hallucinogenic spores on the corpse of a close friend or relative is even better.

'That's the situation.'

Luo De briefly explained.

He asked Oona to join him in handling the golden crown.

'I also know 【Mind Barrier】 and other anti-hallucination spells.'

Star-Spirit Hali spoke up.

Clearly, she was dissatisfied that Luo De and Oona had sidelined her.

After all, she was a high-level seventh-rank mage—she had her pride.

How powerful could a mental illusion be if a sixth-rank Spiritual Warrior could resist it?

It wasn't that she underestimated Luo De—just that mental resistance was never a Spiritual Warrior's strength. Even if he was the strongest in combat, she simply couldn't imagine her spells being weaker than his mental resistance.

Everyone has weaknesses. If you're perfect at everything, how am I supposed to survive?

'Hold on a moment, Miss Hali. Oona has a slight edge in spiritual magic—we'll go first. If anything goes wrong, you pull us back and contain us.'

Luo De persuaded her for a while.

Mainly to emphasize her critical role.

Hali frowned, clearly reluctant.

But since it was said like that, she couldn't oppose the team's decision.

So Luo De and Oona once again entered the underground river passage.

As for Tally, she hid back inside Luo De's shadow—too scared to come out now.

'Another girl, Luo De.'

Oona chuckled softly.

'Friend. This one's truly just a friend—we've only met twice.'

Luo De shrugged.

Due to the Star-Spirits' insane attempt to deliberately contract Beastplague, he had developed a psychological barrier against the race.

Perhaps they truly pursued their ideals—but the process was something he couldn't endorse.

'Friend? Maybe you think so. But she might not. I noticed she secretly tucked her skirt in—and gossiping about other girls behind their backs is never good.'

'. You know, in my hometown, saying only half a sentence—'

'What happens if you say only half a sentence?'

Oona, seeing him stop mid-sentence, pressed.

Then she turned and saw him shrug—she realized he'd done it on purpose, and couldn't help laughing.

Perhaps it hit her funny bone.

The bunny girl burst into laughter, slapping Luo De's arm several times.

Back to the matter at hand.

The two arrived before the stone door.

Oona had already cast multiple spiritual protections on herself.

But when she faced the golden crown directly, she still cried out in shock.

Good—no surprise, given she was a rabbit-mage skilled in spiritual arts.

She recovered quickly.

'Ah, it's a line-of-sight type. As long as you don't look at it, its mental influence won't activate.'

'Is it conscious? I've been staring at it too, but felt nothing. Earlier, when Tally and I came here, only she was affected.'

'Hard to say. We need to test.'

Saying that,

Oona pulled out a recording orb and activated it.

Then she chanted a spell, summoning a rhombus-shaped magical barrier that enclosed the golden crown atop the stump.

'The spiritual protection barrier doesn't work—eye contact still triggers the effect.'

She then replayed the recorded footage.

'Even the recording can affect you?'

Oona frowned. 'The crown's mental influence level is extremely high. No mage below eighth rank should make direct eye contact.'

Luo De found this fascinating.

This was his first Magic Control League containment operation.

Although his hiring contract clearly stated he must participate in at least two missions per month, Oona used her managerial power to reassign him to the Containment Division—and waived his mission quotas entirely.

So after months as a Magic Control League employee, Luo De had never once gone on an actual mission.

He still received double pay—from both the Field Division and the Containment Division—though it wasn't much.

Meanwhile,

Oona deepened the barrier's color, completely obscuring the crown.

'Once eye contact ends, the mental influence vanishes too. For now, leave it like this. This is likely a Mycelium Tribe artifact—we shouldn't forcibly contain it.'

'Done?'

She gave a bitter smile and shook her head.

'Far from it. This is only preliminary control. The real issue will come when someone physically touches it—after all, the mental command it issued was "Put on the crown."'

'So putting on the crown is the real test?'

'You could say that.'

(End of Chapter)