Chapter 543: Ending and Planning

The two of them awkwardly endured the entire process.

Once Mistra had recovered her wits and figured out what had happened, she collapsed on the ground after they separated, not caring about the 【Creation Dewdrops】 scattered all behind her.

Her face flushed red, she gazed at him with a brooding look.

Rod, meanwhile, got dressed as if nothing had happened.

While spouting some nonsense about severe bodily depletion, expenditures exceeding income, and the possibility of dropping a rank.

He tossed her a spare set of clothes.

Mistra said nothing in silence, quietly putting on the slightly oversized top.

She was about 1.7 meters tall, so Rod's clothes served directly as a dress.

She looked up again.

A few hints of grievance had crept into her eyes.

Rod paid her no attention at all, changing the subject: "So, you're already a deity now?"

Mistra braced herself against the wall to stand, her long slender snow-white legs wobbling, still dripping.

She worked her throat for a while, unaccustomed to it, and shook her head:

"Rebuilding the flesh is only the first step; what comes next is the crucial part—by then I will have fully digested the spark of divinity."

"So this is our last meeting, I suppose? I'm nothing but a mere forest ranger; I have no connection to a magic goddess."

"No, the relationship between you and me—"

Rod waved his hand: "Relax, I know what you're talking about. No third person will ever know about this. I will absolutely keep the secret between us."

Mistra shook her head: "That's not what I mean. Although this matter does indeed need to be kept secret, this flesh was created from your energy and essence. From that perspective, you are the father of this body of mine."

"?"

"However, if you're thinking of using this identity to blackmail me for anything, the odds are it won't work. Later I will establish the Church of Mistra, and in the Divine Selection among the faithful it will be mentioned that the 'Father' is dead. Don't think you'll get away with it."

"You've already planned out founding a church and establishing a Divine Selection?"

"What else? You think I was just spacing out in Asmodeus's sulfurous blood? I've even decided on the church's interior decoration style—"

As she spoke.

Mistra's stomach let out a gurgling sound.

She froze for a moment, as if she hadn't yet gotten used to her newly acquired body.

Then she held out her palm toward Rod: "Father, I'm hungry. Give me something to eat."

"Don't call me Father."

Rod's spell satchel did, as it happened, always stock a pile of candy and snacks, all meant for teasing Little Little Bangde the pony girl and the squirrels.

He grabbed a handful and placed them on the future magic goddess's fair, pink palm.

"Thank you, Daddy."

Rod's face darkened: "Don't call me that either. Just call me Rod normally."

"I wonder if it's because of the blood tie between us, but I actually feel you wouldn't harm me. How strange."

"I never planned to harm you in the first place."

Mistra tossed aside the savory snacks like little biscuits and cakes, keeping only the sweet candies and dried fruit.

"Any more? I want something sweet."

Rod grabbed her another handful.

He actually fussed over her just like an old father would: "Don't eat so many sweets—"

The moment he finished, he covered his forehead with a dark expression, feeling inexplicably overwhelmed.

From three hours ago until now, he had been going at it hammer and tongs with the woman in front of him.

And the result, after finishing, was that she claimed to be his daughter.

What a heavy sense of wrongdoing.

The time spent in 【Liormon's Hermitage】 had also been a bit too long.

The messages in 【Far-Speaking Chain】 were bombarding him crazily.

Rod said to Mistra, who was sitting on the bed crunching on candies: "How are you leaving? There are a lot of people outside."

"Just drop the spell. I'll leave however I want. They definitely won't notice anyway. Oh right, I've linked you to the Weave. Once I ascend to godhood, I'll give you a big gift."

"I don't like using spells. We'll talk about it later."

No one noticed Mistra's presence or her departure.

But once Rod showed himself, the girls waiting outside the cabin swarmed over.

With the great stone in Coral Bay's heart finally set down, Rod simply let himself go.

He put on a show of collapsing from severe injuries, insisting on falling into the girls' arms.

Specifically targeting the girls he hadn't enslaved or gotten his hands on yet—halfling Lily, elf Lady Kali, rat girl Number Thirteen, rabbit-folk Orna, witch Dimia, and the like.

With everyone pitching in, bustling and chattering, they carried him to the medical treehouse in the Bai Yu district.

And wouldn't let him leave.

Insisted he be hospitalized for observation.

Presumably because the title of Grand Duke of Purgatory carried too much weight, and Rod's hole-ridden appearance was simply too terrifying.

Miss Xiao Ke, the half-deer attending physician, was nearly scared out of her wits.

And the days of hospital observation were always boring.

Apart from receiving visits from the old gentleman Humbert, the five dog-people, and the male elf Bernhard, Rod had nothing to do.

Even Tally was strictly forbidden from entering, presumably for fear she would secretly devour his essence and harm Rod's body.

But a certain forest warden didn't care about that either.

Every night, she would sneak in to have a meal.

With inspections of various rituals.

In the blink of an eye, five days passed.

The sun shone brilliantly.

Outside the walls of Coral Bay.

Rod leaned on a cane with his left hand, while his right arm was held by a grinning Tally.

Silently watching the people clearing the battlefield on the walls and on the ground.

These people wore tattered clothes.

Most were those Shi Ying Town could not absorb, camping outside the relay station and pitching simple tents.

Many heard that Coral Bay had been captured; the City Hall also released news that they were hiring workers there. Very simply, they hired these refugees with a wage of two meals a day.

"Master, are we moving house?"

Tally buried her face in her master's chest, sniffing vigorously, her delicate little face rubbing against the skin, cool and smooth.

The cold war with her master had not yet ended.

A certain succubus had not been able to bury herself in her master and absorb primal energy so recklessly for a long time.

This excuse of leaning on him due to severe injuries was finally an opportunity to get close.

Her heart rejoiced wildly.

She would surely sniff her fill of the portion missing these past days~~

But had her master become even more fragrant again?

Tally subtly rolled her eyes, her little bottom swaying back and forth.

She trembled secretly.

Then she looked up to steal a glance at her master; knowing he hadn't noticed, she boldly pressed the arm she was holding deep into her embrace, operating it quietly.

"No, we will still live in the forest, but not just the Windwall Forest."

"Tally doesn't understand, oh my, ah~~ Tally is silly~~"

Rod turned back and pointed to the southwest.

Faintly visible was the northern edge of the Windwall Forest; a vast plain near the coast separated the forest from Coral Bay.

"I have spoken with Lady Kali; we plan to expand the forest and fill that plain."

It was true that the Windwall Forest had advanced in rank.

However, compared to the super-large Emerald Court Forest, there was still a considerable gap.

The development of a forest is also simple: the more trees, the wider the area, the more powerful it becomes.

So, just plant trees.

Besides the construction of Coral Bay, this is one of Rod's most important current plan objectives.

(End of this chapter)