Chapter 409: Axe Beach

A stable hellgate.

Which means the Lord of Hell could dispatch various demons to invade the surface.

Luo De knew the 【Bloodbirth Pool】 was located in Hell.

But back then, he and Kali Site had only speculated that the necromancers resurrected at the 【Bloodbirth Pool】 would return to Coral Bay via a special teleportation ritual—never imagining there was a direct channel linking to Hell.

The severity of demon invasions is always high.

Spreading this news might attract more attention.

Can the internal forces of Athelon just ignore a hellgate within their borders?

Besides, there are plenty of factions on the surface that despise demons.

At that point, dealing with Coral Bay would surely become easier.

Thinking this through,

Luo De's mood improved considerably.

Looking again at the surveillance footage, there was no further information.

Luo De stroked his chin, studying it closely.

Too bad this angle couldn't be shown to the other girls—if it could, he'd have made sure to bring her along to learn.

The 【Despair Mycelium】's extra skill, 【Despair Mind】, activated.

Half a month passed in a flash.

The hellgate incident had long been reported and spread.

Yet there was not a single response.

Major newspapers didn't report it at all—not even the small ones known for their boldness dared to scribble a sentence or two in some obscure corner.

Out of fear that civilians would panic and feed the demons?

That doesn't make sense.

A few years ago, Luo De had seen major newspapers report a newly discovered, much larger hellcrack—why weren't they afraid of panic or feeding demons then?

Only when the rabbit-people Oona returned to Shi Ying Town after finishing her duties with the Magic Control League did he find out.

Fuck.

There are so many hellgates across the continent they've become a hornet's nest!

It turned out that Asmodeus, the Lord of Hell, after briefly possessing the Holy Blood, had mastered a stable teleportation hell Shu and immediately gifted it freely to all demons in the Nine Layers of Hell.

In the chaotic, frenzied war of Hell, every demon coveted that drop of Mistralla's blood.

But not every demon had the ability or Zige to act.

Attacking the surface, where large populations dwelled, via a stable hellgate clearly offered better cost-efficiency.

So it spread like wildfire.

Luo De was speechless.

This damned continent was growing more chaotic by the day—he even considered finding a remote plane to hide in, like the cat-fey.

But then he decided against it.

After all, he'd invested so much in the Windwall Forest, and he'd grown attached to it.

And over these past half months, aside from the hellgate, nothing else bad happened.

The fairy Roshalia left, but she chose to leave behind her previously trained team, under the management of the Town Council, with everything progressing smoothly.

The stepdaughter of the old gentleman Humbert, Tobeca, refused an abortion and firmly decided to give birth to the hyper-male tiefling in her womb.

The two had a huge argument in the street.

Then they argued in bed, reconciled the next day, and got married by the third day.

The whole sequence left observers stunned.

Even the gossipy aunts of Shi Ying Town hadn't caught up yet.

Don't ask.

If you ask, it's true love.

Though the past half month had been calm, Luo De dared not lower his guard.

He expanded his patrol range again and again.

From the Windwall Forest to the Claw Valley Highlands, he'd recently begun circling the Dusk Hills outside Shi Ying Town every day to feel at ease.

So when the eighth-rank Oona arrived,

Luo De entrusted her to keep an eye on the forest's condition, finally freeing himself to head to Axe Beach to retrieve the second Dragon Body material for Nao Lin.

"It's a beach!"

Tally pointed excitedly at the distant coastline.

The Magic Control League's 【Remote Teleport】 didn't land directly at Axe Beach.

Luo De, Tally, Kali Site, and Rat Girl No. 3 materialized on the Trade Road east of the Mistwood Forest, between Axe Beach and the Dwarven Dragon-Serpent Fortress.

Despite its name "Beach," Axe Beach isn't a coastal town—it's a peninsula surrounded by swamps, forests, and ocean.

It includes multiple towns, villages, and important landmarks.

Luo De followed Tally's pointing direction.

Sure enough, he saw the endless blue coastline of Jianwan to the west, sharply dividing sea from land.

In the distance, on a peninsula bordered by the Delinbi River to the north and Jianwan to the west, the famed Axe Beach Ancient Castle stood proudly, encircled by dense buildings and black walls.

"Master! Let's go sunbathe! Tally wants to wear a swimsuit, then lie on the beach, getting pounded by waves while you ram into me!"

The succubus exclaimed excitedly.

The elf Kali Site, arms crossed and scowling, coldly said:

"Every year at this time, people die on Jianwan's beaches from sea tigers and blue crystal jellyfish—even eighth-rankers have been surrounded and killed. Go ahead, it'll save me the trouble of cleaning up your corpse in the forest."

"Why are you such a buzzkill? The master will never take you out again! No wonder elves all die lonely!"

"Fun? Taking you out? Hmph. The teleportation cost is split between me and him—you're the only useless one with nothing to do, succubus."

"You!"

Today, Tally was a tall girl with wheat-colored skin, nearly as tall as Luo De, and she stormed forward to strike the elf.

But she couldn't possibly fight.

After all, her master highly valued that damn elf.

So she pretended to stumble, tripped over her own foot, and collapsed into Luo De's arms.

She fumed: "Why are you stopping me? If you hadn't pulled me back, I'd have already punched her in the face! What? You want to fill my mouth tonight? Fine, fine—I'll spare her for your sake."

"What's with this self-directed performance?"

Luo De sneered.

Then he turned to Kali Site: "Are you leaving now?"

The elf didn't share his goal.

She was just passing through.

Luo De and Tally were heading west to Axe Beach, while she and No. 3 were going east to the Mistwood Forest—their directions were completely opposite.

Kali Site scowled and nodded.

"First Mistwood Forest, then Farstar Lake—only local areas have these magical materials, so I must collect them myself."

"Too bad—I was hoping to tour the new city with you, see the local scenery."

"Don't impose your human sense of time on elves. I've visited Axe Beach more than ten times in fifty years—scenery is meaningless."

"True. Looking at scenery is meaningless—the real meaning lies in who you look at it with."

Luo De stepped closer two paces, smiling as he leaned in.

Kali Site 's gaze darted away; she clenched her teeth and turned her head, avoiding his burning stare, her long elven ears faintly flushing pink.

"Maybe another time."

(End of Chapter)