Chapter 576: Wishcraft 2

Boom!

The red shadow slammed straight into Rod's body.

The shirt he'd only just put on was once again shredded to ribbons by the dull shockwave, scattering outward together with the red spiritual essence in a vigorous burst.

Rod didn't move a muscle.

The blood-red crystal shards smashed against the surface of 【Dragon Scale Art】 with a clatter, flying off in every direction.

He watched the purple Bahadur mage robe fluttering before his eyes.

He gave a soft, cold laugh.

So impatient?

I thought I'd have to toy with you for at least a few days.

Rod's right hand drew its five fingers together and thrust forward in a sudden jab.

The pale-red spell barrier was pierced through in an instant.

The Zi Pao Fa mage couldn't dodge in time, but for a mage, her reaction speed and physical conditioning were still passable.

She twisted desperately in midair, barely dodging the vital spot.

A steel-blade-like palm tore open a bloody, mangled wound on her flank, snagging the purple robe along with it.

The mage twisted her body once more.

With the supple grace of a yoga dancer, she slipped free of the purple robe's binding and pull, then rocketed backward at top speed.

Rod didn't pursue.

He glanced at the purple robe and the lingering bloodstains in his hand, then looked back at the mage ahead.

Amid the drifting blood-red long hair—

The woman's pupils were the color of blood, and through the gaps left by clothes burned through by 【Flame Ray】, her skin showed a bloodless, ashen white.

Not only was her healthy but slightly soft-bellied midriff exposed, but the left hemisphere was bared as well.

Heavy, fleshy, clearly no small handful.

Her delicate, mature face carried a fierce, sickly look.

She grimaced in pain, baring a pair of terrifying fangs, with a ring of dried blood at the corner of her mouth.

Rod watched her with an appreciative gaze.

Suddenly the fresh blood on his hand began to writhe, quickly breaking away and racing back to its owner.

Then it rapidly began repairing the wound on her abdomen.

Blood manipulation?

"Cat fairy! Where is she?!"

She roared, a crazed look on her face.

"Vampire?" Rod, however, ignored her and said, puzzled.

"She's a half-vampire."

Tally corrected him from the side, "Vampires are naturally immune to shadow spells, but my 【Shadow Track】 has already been cast on her."

A half-vampire?

There are half-vampires too?

Rod was already someone who had done considerable research on non-human races.

Vampires themselves preferred to call themselves the Blood Clan.

But unlike the Harpies, who considered the term 'Harpies' a slur, they felt that 'Blood Clan' was a more noble title.

The truth was that many years ago, a powerful vampire had occupied a small country in the south.

It just so happened that this vampire was a novelist of no small skill, and with the added aura and hype of his kingly status—

A novel he wrote called "Count Dracula" instantly became a sensation across the entire continent.

Vampires thus gained a certain sense of identity from this novel, and adopted the noble hierarchy within it.

When selecting new members, they even deliberately chose those who were already of high status.

Over the long years—

Quite a number of vampires rose to high positions, further cementing the foundation of their self-proclaimed noble Blood Clan theory.

A classic case of manufactured history.

Just like the small countries on the fringes of radiation zones, who, during peacetime, love to hop around everywhere, claiming this is theirs and that is theirs too—a bunch of clowns, that's all.

Whether in his past life or here—

Rod had seen plenty of them.

But the question was—

Vampires were a race incapable of natural reproduction; they increased their numbers through a method called 【The Embrace】.

So how could there be half-vampires?

Tally seemed to read her master's confusion.

"They can't reproduce naturally, but accidents do happen. Some vampires whose transformation was flawed can, through interaction with other races, conceive normally—though the odds are slim."

"Which of your aunts has never tasted a vampire's flavor?"

She spread her hands: "Male vampires are essentially corpses—long-dead, dried-out corpses at that. They lost all their essence during the transformation. They can still complete the act like other races, but what they produce isn't essence at all."

Rod understood.

Vampires were masters of blood manipulation.

Localized blood flow was a trivial feat for them, but the problem was they had no essence.

Naturally, no succubi ever took a liking to them.

Tally laughed and hugged Rod's waist, pressing her chest against his back.

"For us succubi there's no appeal, but other races are different. I heard that when they suck blood, it produces a pleasure comparable to intercourse. Doesn't Master want to try?"

Rod raised an eyebrow.

"I'll count that as one merit for you."

"Then can Tally join in too?"

"Sure."

Tally laughed excitedly.

She even took the initiative to strike — the shadows broke free from the ground's binding and truly entered three-dimensional space.

They gathered into shadow blades and pierced through.

The half-vampire across the way was, after all, high-tier eighth-rank, and her strength was amplified under the moonlight — a blood-red shield rose once more.

Crackle, crackle, pop.

Though the shield was pierced, the shadow blades were also stuck and couldn't advance further.

She stared at Tally in astonishment.

If it were Rod being this strong, fine — after all, he'd made the papers.

But why did the succubus beside him, only seventh-rank, also have shadow magic of this intensity?

Rod was amused by her stunned look.

He raised his hand and fired off a full-power 【Repulsion Spell】.

Boom—

The absurd force created a spreading pressure ring that smashed everything to pieces — the shadow magic blades and the blood-red shield alike.

The fragments of the shadow blades, carried by the tremendous force, sent spurts of blood flying — pshhh, pshhh — and embedded straight into her body.

The half-vampire woman gritted her teeth and showed no sign of pain.

Her body drenched in fresh blood, she rapidly chanted spells.

At the same time, fresh blood flew behind her, gathering into a blood-colored magic network.

Midair.

A portion of the deep-blue magical canopy manifested, intertwining with the blood-colored magic net behind her.

Immediately after, blood gushed from her five facial orifices; her mature, brooding face was full of agony.

Rod watched with great interest.

Standing still.

He didn't believe that, with this person's strength in front of him, she could wish for a "wish" that far exceeded her limits.

"So this is Wish Magic? Let's see what happens."

Vanessa Valentine clenched her teeth tightly.

She knew she couldn't defeat this person.

But she didn't need to defeat this person.

As long as she overloaded the ninth-rank 【Mind Invasion】 through Wish Magic to obtain the memory of the cat-spirit's labyrinth address, she would immediately retreat.

As long as she reclaimed the 【Memory Wish Stone】, she could take back everything she'd lost!

"Invasion!"

The words had just fallen.

From the magical canopy in midair, a blurry magical humanoid slowly descended.

That magical humanoid had elegant long hair, carrying a compassionate, all-loving benevolence.

Though her features couldn't be seen clearly, the three starlight tear-moles lined up at the corner of her eye revealed that this was an avatar of the goddess of magic, Mystra.

Mystra's avatar faced Rod, magical power surging in her hand, and she raised her hand to lightly tap—

She didn't tap out.

It stopped, as if a pause button had been pressed.

Rod didn't move either, a smile on his face.

Just like that, he and Mystra's avatar in the sky gazed at each other in silence.

The half-vampire Vanessa Valentine was stunned, just as she was trying to figure out what was going on—

The avatar's spell finally activated.

Vanessa Valentine was overjoyed and turned to run.

Then, in her peripheral vision—

She saw that 【Mind Invasion】 spell fall straight onto—

The succubus beside Rod.

Immediately—

That succubus's memories flooded crazily into her brain.

But there were no cat-spirits, no labyrinth entrance, no Memory Wish Stone — not even any other useful information.

All of it, every last bit, was memories of intercourse with that man.

Bodies intertwined, flesh entangled.

The pink aura of lust practically hit her in the face.

"?"

The moment the question marks popped up in her head, Vanessa discovered a red, withered arm of a Hyakume, formed of soul mist, gripping her ankle.

(End of chapter)