Chapter 477: The Two-Bodied Ghost and the Help

At the girl's strong insistence.

Rod still placed his palm on her waist and abdomen.

Another round of practice was smoothly completed.

And that terrifying two-bodied monster, amid several dozen underwhelming fire rays, was burned to death bit by bit, alive.

It was somewhat cruel.

Coincidentally at this moment.

Rod, through the Star Spirit Hailey he had contacted via the magic stone, stood atop the giant gargoyle's head and slowly flew over from not far away.

She wore a black mage robe that shrouded her whole body, the wide brim of her mage hat blocking the sunlight from the sky, revealing a pale blue, semi-transparent face.

After all, being semi-transparent, Rod couldn't really make out a Star Spirit's face clearly.

But Hailey's face was noticeably more defined, and even through the translucence one could make out her delicate features.

"Long time no see, Hailey."

"It's been a while, Rod. Seventh-tier? And mid-stage at that?"

Hailey had originally wanted to greet him with a bit more grace.

She hadn't expected that once she clearly saw the man's tier, she'd be startled as if she'd seen a ghost.

I've been at the upper stage of seventh-tier for ages with no progress.

And in just this short time, this guy has actually almost caught up to me.

Truly worthy of being the vanguard servant I personally chose!

"Just a small accumulation," Rod said, waving his hand.

Hailey then looked toward the tiefling Sael beside them, her chin lifting slightly.

"And this is?"

Another girl.

A tiefling, no less?

She's quite pretty, but a bit young, barely any meat on her chest.

But she carried a kind of youthful, tender air that Hailey herself lacked.

There's an eternal ache in adolescent love — girls of the same age are always more mature than the boys.

Which is why every man, upon meeting a girl of that age, feels an inexplicable stirring in his heart.

"A junior. I brought her here to practice spirit arts. Sael, call her Auntie Hailey."

Hailey's face changed: "You're the auntie!"

Sael saw Rod teasing her, and felt a twinge of sourness in her heart.

So, ignoring Rod, she obediently said, "Sister Hailey, Sister Hailey is so pretty," and successfully made this nearly-forty shut-in Star Spirit happy.

Back to the main topic.

Hailey cast a barrier, keeping the roaming beast-plague patients outside.

The three landed and gathered around the strange corpse.

"Two-bodied ghost? It's already spread this far…"

Rod saw her expression turn solemn.

"Two-bodied ghost?"

"A mutant strain of the beast plague that's appeared in the past half month. Depending on the type of beastification, it can display different magical abilities."

"It appeared underground, and indeed there were traces of magical disguise. After I blasted it out, killing it once didn't finish it off completely — but they were mages in life, so why would they use spells?"

Spells are man-made.

They're not the same as spirit arts, which are heaven-born and heaven-nurtured.

"Whether they were mages or ordinary people in life, once they become two-bodied ghosts, they can cast spells — it's truly strange. We've dissected over a dozen two-bodied ghosts, and without exception, every one had traces of a magic circuit."

"Two clearly different bodies fused together, yet the magic circuit still flows through — now that's interesting."

Hailey nodded.

"Yes, that's the strangest part. Every mage's magic circuit is different, but that's built up bit by bit through meditation. How would a two-bodied ghost meditate?"

"Huh — could it be man-made?"

"The fusion of the two bodies doesn't look natural, so it's hard to say. But the magic circuit inside flows naturally and smoothly, no different from that in an ordinary person's body. If it were an artificial circuit, we couldn't achieve that level yet — unless there's a Spirit Seed."

Rod shrugged: "No one would waste a Spirit Seed on something like this."

"Right, so our Star Association believes it's possible that the continent's spirituality and rules have changed, actively adapting to magic and producing natural magical creatures."

Nowadays, whether in the material dimension or the various planes in otherworldly space, varying degrees of upheaval have been observed.

Hearing that the continent's rules had changed no longer struck Rod as strange.

"Does it have anything to do with what happened in the Infernal Realm? After all, modifying rules sounds like something only a deity could do."

"You mean that battle over the holy blood of Mystra?"

Hailey glanced at the tiefling girl crouching and examining the corpse.

She noticed she had her back to the two of them.

"Perhaps. For now, the temporary holder of that drop of blood is an Infernal Archduke. I don't think he'd have any interest in the continent's magical rules."

As she spoke.

She cast 【Mage Hand】 to pick up the corpse.

But whether intentional or accidental.

The arm formed of magic happened to catch her mage robe, and as it lifted the corpse, it also hitched up her robe — like flipping up a skirt — revealing her full, straight legs.

They were thighs with plenty of fleshy softness, yet at the curve of the hips and waist they astonishingly tapered into a slender line.

"Do you still want this thing's corpse? Any mage you know would probably be quite interested."

"…You take it."

Hailey gave an "oh," calmly stowed the corpse away, and as the mage's hands faded, her alluring spring scenery was once again concealed.

The old shut-in woman, however, sneered coldly inside.

As expected, a lecherous dog — even with a girl beside him, he'd still stare his fill.

So what if the girl is young? Heh.

What charm and flavor a mature woman has — that girl wouldn't know the first thing about it.

The three of them rose back into the air.

Facing the sunlight, they patrolled while clearing the beast-corrupted patients nearby.

"Someone told me you came looking for me?"

Rod asked.

"Mm, I heard there were two dragons threatening Shi Ying Town over at the Twilight Hills, so I thought I'd come see if you needed any help."

Hailey summoned an energy greatsword for her gargoyle, then sent it diving to the ground for a wild hacking spree.

Rod was clearly a much stronger forward — when he wasn't around it was fine, but now that he was right beside her,

she felt the gargoyle in her hands growing clumsier and clumsier to use.

For the upcoming Star Society trial, this thing definitely wouldn't cut it anymore.

Star Trial.

That was also the reason Hailey had taken the initiative to come help.

She had originally wanted to set up a mutual-aid pact with Rod — I help you slay the dragons, you help me pass the trial.

But on second thought, that would be too standoffish.

So she came over first to help slay the dragons, and they'd talk about the rest afterward.

This man was the loyal and righteous sort — otherwise he wouldn't have so many girls willing to follow at his side. She figured he wouldn't refuse.

"Oh? Is that alright? Slaying dragons is no easy task."

"Of course, we're all friends, and besides, I've never dealt with dragons before — using this to gain some combat experience sounds pretty good too."

Rod had no idea what she was thinking.

He was actually quite pleased.

Although Hailey was an exhibitionist with a flashing habit, she was still a decent person.

Judge by deeds, not by motives — whatever schemes she had, the fact that she was willing to come help slay dragons at a time like this was loyal enough.

(End of chapter)