Chapter 484: Anger and Joining the Dragon Hunt

"Vivian, no! We're friends!"

Just wounded by Luo De, Greta had no strength left to resist the vines wrapping toward her.

She didn't even know it herself.

Even in her prime, she likely couldn't break free from Vivian's control.

Although Vivian's value in the brass Spirit Test Ball was only around 230 marks, her skill enhancement levels far exceeded her current class.

Not that.

Even Danen, a Level Eight beginner snake-person, if caught off guard, was instantly taken down by Vivian's brutal combo and turned into fertilizer.

At this moment.

Greta could only hope to awaken Vivian's few remaining emotions, to show mercy and spare her life.

"Friend, Greta, is no longer."

Vivian's pure white pupils showed no ripple; her exquisitely beautiful, pristine face didn't tremble at all.

"Luo De, forest, most important. Caution, Vivian, bad."

Greta understood.

The tree spirit merely lacked emotion—not intelligence.

She knew Luo De hesitated to kill out of concern for her feelings, and she also clearly understood the threat posed by Greta and Danen.

That was why Vivian had come specifically to intercept.

Greta finally realized: the two withered ones had mistaken their enemy.

The most dangerous person had never been Luo De—it was the extreme, empathy-devoid tree spirit!

Greta hurriedly replied: "I understand, I understand. The debt of my past life-saving favor is erased. We are no longer friends. I will never return here again! Absolutely! I swear!"

She remembered how Danen had been slowly scraped clean by the sentient green leaf blades, and her fear reached its peak.

The tree spirit before her, with her cute, expressionless face, resembled a great demon from hell.

And upon hearing her words.

Vivian seemed to enter thought.

She stood frozen in place for a long while without moving.

It was because Greta differed from the snake-person Danen—her current combat style remained Druidic wild shape, and during the earlier fight, she hadn't directly drained the trees like Danen had.

Whoosh—

A strong wind swept through.

A giant peregrine falcon dove from the sky.

As it neared the ground at high speed, it transformed again into a massive wolf with blue-white fur, landing gracefully.

Vivian turned her head, recognizing the half-wolf Druid, Oja.

"Vivian, kill her."

"Druid! None of your business! Get lost!" Greta broke down, screaming at Oja.

The giant wolf's human-like eyes glanced at her coldly.

Druids and withered ones were sworn enemies.

She added fuel: "She and that snake-person threatened the Forest Warden, intending to turn the forest and Shiying Town into their playground. Then the Forest Warden would be held hostage, even risking his life."

With that said.

Greta saw Vivian turn back toward her.

In shock, she noticed a rare flicker of anger in those pure white eyes.

"Do not, attack Luo De!"

"No no! Not that!"

The words weren't finished.

A thorn-like vine pierced straight through Greta's chin, driving up to the top of her skull.

She froze, her eyes still filled with defiance and terror, not yet fully faded.

Compared to Danen's slow, torturous death, she died cleanly enough.

Luo De lay on a rock at the edge of Baiyu District, gazing at the sky slowly turning golden.

His shadow stretched long behind him, extending across the grass.

Suddenly, a light breeze brushed past.

Carrying a faint, elusive fragrance, mixed with the scent of grass and morning dew.

Vivian's expressionless, beautiful face appeared at the corner of his vision, filling the entire sky, her curiosity barely perceptible.

Luo De sat up with a smile.

He didn't ask where she'd been, just pinched her soft cheek.

Though he could already guess what had happened from the two inactive 【Despair Mycelium】 on his panel.

The girl clung to him.

She had never learned how to hug—she simply pressed her chest against his, buried her face in his neck, and stayed perfectly still.

Luo De felt Vivian's warmth and gently stroked her back.

He looked up at the giant wolf with blue-white fur blazing like fire nearby.

"Thank you for watching over her, Oja."

"Withered ones have always been Druids' mortal enemies, Forest Warden."

Oja opened her mouth, speaking in human tongue: "Besides, Vivian is not someone who needs watching. She is strong enough."

"Yes, I know. I'm just a little uneasy."

He wasn't worried about what happened to Greta and Danen.

Dying this cleanly might even be easier than being slowly drained by 【Despair Mycelium】 to harvest soul and spiritual energy into mycelial cores.

"By the way, it's been a long time. Has your plague wound fully healed?"

Luo De brushed away stray debris from Vivian's slightly curled green hair as he chatted.

Only now did he remember the reward from Battle of Axe Beach—the 【Seasonal Cloak】 in his pack.

He took it out and wrapped it around Vivian.

Honestly.

It looked quite nice.

"Thanks entirely to your help last time—it's completely healed."

Facing his concern.

Oja's eyes grew slightly wary.

As if saying, "Don't target me—I have no interest in you."

As a neighbor tormented nightly by Tally's cries in bed, she kept a respectful distance from Luo De, this human seed-spreader.

Luo De understood.

He chuckled silently and changed the subject: "Do you remember the mission you mentioned before? The Balance Association Druid who went to Coral Bay to negotiate peace, then got entangled emotionally with the Dark Elves?"

That was the current leader of the Black Moon Clan of Dark Elves.

Come to think of it, the Dark Elf previously controlled by 【Despair Mycelium】 was from the Nightfall Clan.

So it seems the clans controlled by the Infernal Duke aren't limited to just one.

"Of course."

"You must have noticed our recent activities, right?"

Oja narrowed her wolf eyes and nodded.

The mercenary company, the growing girls, the repeated disturbances in Shiying Town.

As a Druid living nearby in the forest, she naturally knew.

"Join us?"

"Of course."

Hearing the answer, Luo De's mood lifted instantly.

Another Level Seven.

Counting up, even excluding the Blizzard Mercenary Company, there were now fourteen confirmed Level Seven or higher personnel ready to strike Coral Bay.

After all, as the child of dragons, Luo De was a member of the generation that suffered from chronic insufficient firepower anxiety.

He felt it was time to speak with the two Level Eight: the Bunnywoman Oona and the Scorpionwoman Hera.

The secret and ambition Greta and Danen mentioned about Shiying Town didn't feel false—he sensed danger drawing near.

Coral Bay is a thorn. With strength now nearly sufficient, the sooner it's resolved, the better.

"Huh? Forest Warden, your spell satchel is glowing—is that normal?"

Oja suddenly exclaimed.

Luo De paused, looked down.

Indeed, his spell satchel at his waist emitted an eerie yellow light.

He felt something, and pulled out the source of the glow.

—A scroll of ancient parchment, its surface crawling with writhing white living mycelium.

(End of Chapter)