Chapter 441: Cash in Hand, Gone in a Flash

Rod said with a perfectly straight face: "Of course I'm talking about the matter of Lilith's bloodline. We covered that part in our previous deal — I'm only making good on it now. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"Hold on — you don't think I'm going to. you."

He looked troubled and slipped his hand free from Wen Na's stiff, two-handed grip: "Sorry, I don't fancy you."

And Wen Na stood rooted to the spot like a stone, so still that even the night wind couldn't stir a hair on her head.

Her big blue eyes had gone hollow, their focus lost.

"Hahahahahaha—"

Tally was beside herself, doubling over with laughter.

She didn't dare let go of the vial of medicinal liquid in her hand, so she just leaned against the tree trunk, one moment clutching her belly, the next jabbing a finger at Wen Na.

Mockery and scorn came in equal measure.

Wen Na's cheeks were still flushed, but the color had shifted from shyness to mortified fury.

Amid the laughter, she clenched her fists until her knuckles went white, stubbornly bit her lip as she stared at the ground, and held the mist in her eyes back with all she had.

Is there a rock around here?

She really wanted to drop one on each of those two bastards and be done with it!

Rod pushed Tally off — she'd seized the chance to throw her arms around him and start stripping his clothes — and gave Wen Na a pat on the shoulder.

"Lilith's bloodline won't do you much good. In the long run there's even the chance of a deep awakening — meaning you'd turn into a succubus. And you do know what succubi survive on, don't you?"

A born succubus wouldn't mind — they don't see anything wrong with absorbing essence as food.

But Wen Na was different. She was a pampered daughter of human nobility, and she'd always lived on normal food.

After the transformation she'd have to take in a man's filthy essence?

That alone was enough to drain the color from her face.

"My mother warned me more than once that, when I marry, I must never so much as touch a second man for the rest of my life."

"Glad you understand. Don't worry — I have a mage friend nearby too, and her spellwork is excellent. It absolutely won't hurt."

"Th-then if the Lilith bloodline is drawn out, will my spellcasting talent also—"

"What spellcasting talent? You're already eighteen or twenty, and you've only accumulated two ranks of mana."

"."

The night wind was bleak.

All the more so on the cliffside by the sea — the sparse little grove couldn't keep out the salty, cloying sea spray that crept along the wind and clung to the skin.

Rod's 【Spider Sense】 stirred.

He turned his head to look right.

Quickly.

The figure of the land-dwelling naga, Eve, emerged through the hazy night.

Eve had taken off her leather and armor, leaving only Rod's shirt, which hung loose on her.

She'd gathered the shirt's hem up under her chest and tied it in a little rosette knot, the two soft mounds pressed on top of it in plain view.

Full and pert, like honeydew melons.

Her lower serpent body glided forward, her hips swaying gently, and as she moved the tight lines of her abs and the faint outline of her abdominal muscles flickered in and out of view on her exposed belly.

Her thick hair she'd deliberately gathered into a casual little twist by her ear, giving her a quieter, gentler look than usual.

Eve spotted Rod, and her brows lifted slightly.

"I heard Earl Gubao at Axe Beach got attacked — was that you? I thought you were dead."

She crossed her arms under her chest, which lifted them slightly and made them all the more conspicuous.

Before leaving during the day, Eve had been pulled into Rod's 【Far Whisper Chain】 — effectively joining the Wind-Wall Forest chat group.

And so she'd been summoned over.

As she spoke, she caught sight of Wen Na Miss Puwei standing off to one side, her face a picture of grievance.

Her brows knit at once.

Another woman — and such a pretty one at that?

Eve looked her up and down.

Confirming she wasn't like her own giant rabbit, and was just an ordinary human, she gave a cold laugh and dismissed her.

That dog of a man has peculiar taste — not a thing for humans.

"Had a run-in with a Rank Eight from Santarin. Nearly died."

Rod went over and hugged her,

but when she saw him start kissing her again, she stiffened and pushed him off.

No — she couldn't have any more kiss marks. Any more and she'd never be able to explain it to her mother.

"You look perfectly fine to me, still in the mood for that."

"Can't help it. Missed you too much."

"On to business — what did you make of that Rank Eight from Santarin? The real deal?"

"Not bad, pretty fierce. A Spirit Warrior of the Tyrant-Body school — in raw strength he had the edge on me by a fair margin, and his resistances weren't weak either."

The half-elf Virgil's various resistances really were nothing to sneeze at.

If the Plague Domain hadn't invaded his body and forcibly weakened him, the 【Extreme Cold Pearl Shot】 of Pruning Shears probably wouldn't have worked nearly so well.

Eve's brow furrowed.

She knew Rod was formidable, but even so — he was Rank Seven, and he did have means to unleash Rank Eight power. That, however, had been a genuine Rank Eight.

"You're sure you weren't hurt?"

Rod grinned: "How about you come check for yourself?"

Eve was a little tempted. She had played during the day, sure, but that was only two or three times — nowhere near enough.

The image of that dog of a man's body kept lingering in her mind, impossible to shake.

She swallowed hard. "No. Since that Shantalin is a tough Tier-8, we can't stay here any longer. The Naga are pulling out."

Rod was caught off guard.

"Retreat? That doesn't sound like the Naga style — no more money to be made?"

"Hehe, after you left we negotiated one more time. I just bluffed a little, and who knew they'd agree — they were actually willing to settle the balance and then let us keep working."

"Mm, leave as soon as the money's in hand?"

"Of course. The money's already in hand — why would we still work?"

Eve looked matter-of-fact.

Good. Very much the Naga-on-land way of doing things.

"Then you must have signed a magic contract. Is breaching it not a problem?"

"Did you forget the Naga's old trade? Breaking contracts is the specialty of Naga priestesses — that is, my mother."

Rod laughed.

Seeing her roguish look again, he was instantly reminded of when they first met in the open-air labyrinth.

He couldn't help but kiss her delicate, fair, creamy cheek.

Eve shot him a reproachful glance, then kissed him back.

Then she stuck out her slightly cool snake-tongue and, ignoring everyone around them, hooked his chin and licked him all over.

Rod hadn't even done anything, yet she was already licking him with sultry, dewy eyes, and the fragrance on her body grew richer and richer.

"The whiskered roots are rooted to death."

Horniness maxed out.

Even the Wen-na beside them was blushing.

At the same time, she also recognized Eve's voice — that priestess Lady Lilian's daughter.

Terrifying.

Good thing I never got involved with him. Uh, although I was the one who got rejected, actually.

"Wen-na."

Suddenly, that man called out to her.

"Huh?" She looked up and saw the Naga woman squeezed in his arms, her snake-tail already coiled around his waist.

"Advance me the White Dragon Horn Seal first. I need it."

Wen-na frowned, hesitated a moment, then chose to nod. "Oh."

No choice — her heart was honest; deep down, she still trusted this man quite a bit.

Tally, however, read her master's intention and said, "Master wants to open the White Dragon Tomb before the Naga leave and absorb the dead dragon's scales?"

Rod nodded. "With the Naga covering for us, I can do it more covertly, more smoothly. Demons and Shantalin are both trouble — the sooner I finish absorbing, the better."

(End of chapter)