Chapter 344: The Defector

"Who."

Rod said coldly.

He stood up and stepped forward, shielding Miss Xiao Ke behind him.

Although he could not rule out a lone dark elf, given the current situation of the environment, the dark elf appearing at this time was very likely one of the Coral Bay bunch.

Amy stood shoulder to shoulder with him, her crystal-stone greatsword resting on her shoulder, wiping the food scraps off her face with one hand.

Face full of fighting spirit: "Amy likes to work off a meal."

Unlike Rod, who wore a greatcoat, even in winter she always loved to show off her bare arms; leather vambraces were bound around her wrists, revealing a pair of arms far sturdier and harder than a man's.

Add to that a rugged crystal-stone cleaver taller than half a person, and she looked even more intimidating than Rod.

Tally slipped into the shadows to lie in wait, while Watching Yuna's face went cold, ready at any moment to cast spells and provide support.

"I mean no harm."

Seeing this formation, the dark elf in the distance could not help but break out in a cold sweat on his forehead.

He raised both hands high to show he carried no weapons, and tactfully stopped his approaching footsteps.

"My name is Atticus, I belong to the Black Moon Clan, I am 268 years old this year, my birthday is July 15th, my mana accumulation is Sixth Order Lower Segment, I specialize in Zhou Fa system spells, because I became a warlock, I have not grown for fifty-five years now, I am interested in carving and planting, I have no bad habits, I don't drink alcohol, I don't chew hallucination grass, I don't inhale hallucinogenic spores, I don't like eating mushrooms, the people I like are Melinda and Louis of the enemy Magic Moon Clan. On the way here I did not harm anyone, to avoid the guards of Shi Ying Town, I deliberately took a big detour, crossing through the farmland on the south side, to arrive here"

His words fired off in one burst, with useless information reaching as high as 90%.

"Mm."

Rod was actually frozen for a moment.

Moreover, the man's trembling legs and the deathly pale face that even his pitch-black skin could not conceal both proved that this person was a complete coward.

Just as the man himself said, he did not seem to have come with ill intent.

Watching Yuna sent a voice transmission: "The Black Moon Clan, the clan that worships the Demon Archduke. That is, the bunch in Coral Bay. After he became a warlock, he can directly borrow the power of the Demon Archduke, thereby omitting the spell-casting process, but as the price, the spells he can use and the level of his mana accumulation are both in the grasp of that Demon Archduke."

Spell methods and mana accumulation cannot be controlled by oneself.

Isn't that purely being a dog?

There might not even be a chance to turn things around.

Dark elves also have very long lifespans; such long-lived species are generally quite wise, so how come when it gets to you lot you're such pig-nosed idiots?

The dark elf Atticus saw that Rod still looked doubtful.

He voluntarily undid his great robe, pulled open his collar, and revealed a hollow piercing through his body on the left side of his chest.

This hollow was perfectly round, about ten centimeters in diameter, with the internal organ tissue and rib and spine bones on the inner wall clearly visible.

It was as if, in a modern laboratory, it had been sliced by arcuate fixation and its side structure displayed.

"I come from Coral Bay, I am one of the dark elves now blockading Coral Bay. That lord took our hearts, life and death are at a single thought of his, I have had enough of a fate controlled by others, I have had enough of the endless desecration of life, I want to leave, I want to have freedom"

His face was woebegone, his eyes a mix of grief and indignation, with a trace of cowardice mixed in.

"So? What did you come for?"

Rod patted battle-spirited Amy, signaling her to calm down.

Amy probably had not caught on, baring her teeth, about to go chop someone, until the back of her head was slapped and her eyes finally cleared.

An unnatural shadow in the distance shifted to Atticus's side.

Countless ribbons of shadow burst forth from the ground, then rapidly gathered, binding him up tightly.

"Master, he has not a trace of mana, he cannot cast spells at all."

Tally leaped out from the shadows and said.

Rod nodded and unhurriedly approached.

That Atticus then said excitedly: "The Half-Deer Elder Chief's prophecy of a hero has already spread across the continent, and here, since the extreme western frontier of the Kingdom of Aethelon has dispatched two 【Hero Bestowers】 at once, there must be a future 【Hero】 here! Forester Rod, Mr. — no, my lord Rod, if anyone is the hero of Dusk Autumn Forest, it can only be you!"

"I, Atticus, am willing to make a promise in my mother's name, to help you, until you help clear every obstacle on the hero's road! I beg you, my lord Rod, please help me out of my predicament!"

He was utterly sincere, and by the end was weeping bitterly; it really did not seem like an act.

Moreover, Watching Yuna's lie-detection spell showed no reaction.

But then again.

Genuine feelings are genuine feelings, but as a controlled warlock, does he have any room to choose?

If that Demon Archduke waves a finger, don't you still have to do as he says?

The promise is a little laughable, to say the least.

Atticus seemed to see this layer of Rod's consideration, and hurriedly explained:

"Just as the lady who bound me said, there is no mana in my body; this is a new type of spell I researched, which can reduce that lord's observation and control over me through a state of mana depletion. As for the aftereffects of mana depletion, they can be offset by consuming lifespan"

Consuming lifespan, huh

Heh, after all, long-lived species have plenty of capital.

Rod did not bother to say that he had already been rejected by a 【Hero Bestower】.

Instead, he asked:

"In Coral Bay, what's the situation now? What did you lot summon two giant dragons for?"

"Could you trouble yourself to set up spells to conceal prophecy and stellar fate first? I am afraid of being sensed by the clansmen over in Coral Bay."

Atticus looked around, his expression fearful.

"Watching Yuna."

"At your service."

The drider walked up from behind, her purple eyes warily watching the bound dark elf.

Only now did Atticus notice her.

He clearly froze for a moment, and at her spider-transformed state before him showed obvious disgust, blurting out: "Loth's running dog?"

Smack—

Rod slapped him across the face.

The man's whole head wobbled into a blur of afterimages, then swelled red and puffy at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Pay attention to the situation, will you? She's my person now."

Rod said coldly.

He had held back his strength, so it was only a superficial flesh wound.

Atticus naturally noticed as well, his face going pale with terror.

He apologized again and again.

Watching Yuna gently bit her purple-black lower lip, casting her spell while sneaking glances at Rod, her eyes shimmering with flowing light.

【Watching Yuna's obedience toward you +5, current obedience: 76】

Very quickly.

The casting ended, and the spells of Star Fate Concealment and Prophecy Evasion took shape.

Atticus deliberated for a moment, then said:

"Since Shi Ying Town has captured the old tiefling Lu Lu Xiusi, you must already know about the bloodline node matter."

The old tiefling Lu Lu Xiusi — that was the unlucky fellow they had run into when chasing the Wen Yi Fa-shi Amer; before being captured, he had been one of the controllers of Coral Bay.

Currently in the great prison, the man himself kept declaring every day that he wished to help the City Hall solve its troubles, but after all, he was one of the main figures behind the Coral Bay rebellion, so naturally he wasn't that easy to trust.

Seeing Rod nod.

He continued with a fearful expression: "That lord, he plans to use the bloodline nodes among the tieflings to carry out a special super ninth-tier Infernal spell. This spell will make all the tieflings on the continent become his bloodline, and that lord will thereby become the racial god of the tieflings, thus achieving apotheosis!"

(End of chapter)