Chapter 413: Ambush

Rod could feel it — and from Alfonso's confused words, he smelled the whiff of conspiracy in the matter.

Wen Na · Miss Puwei Er — the daughter who murdered her father and tried to seize power.

Setting aside how she colluded with the lizardfolk.

As the sole heir of the Miss Puwei Er family, did she even have any need to do such a thing?

The photo in the newspaper was plainly just a girl of seventeen or eighteen.

Bu Ge · Tuo Leisi.

A newly-empowered figure of no reputation.

Not only had he never heard of him, even Alfonso, a merchant who often lingered at Axehead Beach, didn't know either.

Of course, neither of them was actually a local of Axehead Beach, so it wasn't impossible that some back-room official who talked big but did real work had risen to the top.

"Also, when Alfonso and the others passed through Dragon Snake Fortress, they ran into some refugees; some of them said demons had been appearing around Dragon Snake Fortress lately."

Rod was a little jumpy, and thought of the recent surge of Infernal passages.

Dragon Snake Fortress was only three or four days' journey from Gubao at Axehead Beach.

Honestly, quite close.

If a demonic invasion broke out there, Axehead Beach would surely be the first to bear the brunt.

"Overthinking it — it's just refugee rumors."

Rod shook his head.

Kissing Tally while pulling on his trousers, he sat down leaning against the tree trunk beneath the tree.

Tally sat astride his lap, so she was slightly higher; looking down from above, she hugged his head and remained lost in the kiss.

Rod pushed her a little, wanting to get up.

But the succubus held on tighter, afraid he would leave, sealing her lips to his and refusing to let go.

Fine, one more kiss then.

"According to Naolin, the second Dragon Body material is in the possession of the Lord of Axehead Beach."

At the time Naolin had traced the appearance of the Dragon Body material in the sand with her finger — it was a large seal made from a neck-crown-shaped dragon horn.

It looked exactly like the official certification and official seal representing Axehead Beach.

Legend had it that before Gubao at Axehead Beach was built, a white dragon had fallen here, and this horn seal was made from that fallen dragon's horn.

After long refinement by mages, the horn's resentment was diminished and transformed into a new spell property.

Opinions on that spell property varied — it had never been definitively settled.

Rod didn't much care about these stories, that was all.

As for the horn seal's whereabouts, he leaned toward it being on the current power-holder, Bu Ge · Tuo Leisi.

As for this matter, he'd just inquire once they entered the city tomorrow.

With Tally's 【Deceiving Gods and Fooling Ghosts】 and his own 【Truth-Begulled】, intel of any kind was a piece of cake.

No way around it.

Axehead Beach wasn't a labyrinth; Naolin's own influence couldn't reach into it, so this time the Dragon Body material required him to handle the whole thing himself.

And given that the destination was in the sensitive period of a regime change, to avoid drawing attention, he had specifically used the power of the Disguise domain to mask his true spiritual rank.

Right now, he was just a freeloader guy leaning on Tally.

Smack—

Rod pushed Tally's head away.

When their lips parted, it even made a crisp sound.

"Enough."

"Master. Scent."

The succubus was dazed from kissing, lazily tilting her head.

Her eyes couldn't hold the shapeshift, and shifted back to the succubus's pink-and-black interlaced pupils.

An aroused succubus unconsciously casts charm magic — every smile and frown is a thousand charms.

"Back to the shadow."

"Nooo~ one last kiss~~"

Smack—

Rod didn't bother wrangling with her — one clean, decisive kiss.

Tally immediately beamed, licked the spot she had just kissed, and her eyes curved into crescents.

"One more, one more kiss~"

"Don't push your luck — get in."

"Okay~"

Rod watched her sink into the shadow.

Then he stood up too, and patted the dust off his trousers.

Better head back and rest early — tomorrow he still had to enter the city to investigate.

Thinking so, Rod was just about to return to camp when he noticed the tree trunk beside him, stained with the love-fluid of him and Tally, was somewhat shriveled.

Frowning, he surveyed this little grove.

Good grief — not looking was fine, but once he looked, he actually felt bad.

A grand total of just 2 points of growth spiritual income.

"Insect damage, blight all over the place, and harmful fluid dumped from spell experiments near the west side — do you people even understand how to cherish trees?"

As a forest ranger, he immediately felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart.

He sighed.

Just as Rod was about to take out nutrient solution and ointment from his spell satchel to maintain and heal himself,

Hiss!!!

Suddenly, a rapid sound of an arrow piercing the air came from the woods to the side.

Oh?

【Spider Sense】 didn't react at all? A spell that blocks perception?

Rod raised his hand and swatted away the arrow aimed at his chest.

Unexpectedly, the moment the arrow touched his palm, the arrowhead suddenly exploded, turning into a huge white spider web that descended right over his head.

He reacted extremely fast, retreating calmly as if taking a stroll.

At the same time, a shadow of an Astral Ambusher, pitch-black all over with knotted muscles and arms reaching his knees, flashed past behind him.

The spider web fell.

Naturally, it missed completely, landing precisely a few centimeters in front of his shoes, skillfully controlling the distance.

This was 【Reflective Evasion】.

It was a new skill he obtained after forging the Astral Ambusher war soul.

Half a month was enough time for him to complete a not-so-complex new war soul.

As for 【Reflective Evasion】,

although the name was ordinary, this skill came with a quite good agility bonus upon acquisition, and in terms of function, it could even dodge some targeted magic attacks and special attacks.

Besides 【Reflective Evasion】, there were also 【Backstab】 and 【Prey's Craving】.

【Backstab: When attacking a target's back, an agility check is triggered. If the user's agility is greater than the target's, the attack deals an extra 20% to 80% damage.】

【Prey's Craving: Mark a target. When the marked target is in a hostile state towards you, your agility gains a 25% bonus. This skill becomes invalid when the target is over 500 meters away.】

And when Rod used the Brass Spirit-Testing Sphere again, the value reached 341 marks.

Even though two of them were active skills, it still increased by a full 17 marks.

This also made Rod sigh.

Why bother cultivating Xing De Mo Fa and spells at all? Isn't it better to just stack war souls?

"Attack!"

A familiar low shout rang out.

It was unmistakably the voice of the Land Naga squad leader he had encountered during the day.

Suddenly, fallen leaves and trees between the branches went into a frenzy, shaking and vibrating.

Seven or eight Land Nagas, wielding weapons, charged down ruthlessly.

Rod shook his head.

I gave you a chance to live, yet you still don't know how to admit defeat.

Then don't blame me. Resurrect.

Slime Xiao Hei quickly 【Over-Speed Split】 into a sub-body, sprang out from the inner cuff of Rod's wrist, and then 【Form Solidification】 in mid-air into a black Slime cross-sword with exquisite patterns.

Rod reached out and grabbed it, about to swing it in a fluid motion, splashing a large amount of corrosive slime.

With this strike, the noobs in front would probably be wiped out.

But he froze, unable to swing it.

Because just now, when the Land Nagas appeared,

Rod's 【Spider Sense】 and 【Dark Vision】 successfully captured a beautiful Naga holding a staff and wearing an exquisite crown behind the attackers.

Is this Eve?!

No.

Looking closely, there seemed to be some differences.

She was slightly shorter than Eve, but older than Eve, not as strong as Eve, and a bit older in age, though she had more charm.

Moreover, the Land Naga Eve was not a priest, so she wouldn't use a staff at all; as a subject of enslavement, she would be even less likely to organize people to attack him.

She had mentioned before that she had a mother who was a priest.

Hiss—

Could it be... Mother-in-Law???

(End of Chapter)