Chapter 583: The Goddess Ban and the Ancient Tree's Memory

Twilight Hills banish mana-ether?

Watching the sonic waves of magic expand outward, the vast mana canopy covering the land reacted as well.

It stirred up a ripple of magic, spreading rapidly outward.

Rod's expression changed.

Mistara was protecting him; this had been confirmed when the vampire Vanessa used Wish in Olive Town.

But now it was different.

This Goddess of Magic had clearly issued such a declaration, even proclaiming it across the entire continent.

This meant the matter was actually unrelated to him, but rather that the Twilight Hills themselves possessed a certain uniqueness.

Rod's first thought was the Igo clan.

As the far western frontier of Aethelorn, this place was separated from the exiled Igo clan only by the Death Desert.

One could say that if anything were to affect them at the closest possible distance, or if they truly managed to escape the bonds of the Death Desert,

the first point of contact would be Shi Ying Town, and even the Twilight Hills.

But upon second thought, it felt wrong.

Did the exiled Igo clan truly have any influence over a Goddess of Magic?

"Or perhaps the relic from the First Era hidden beneath Shi Ying Town?"

That was also possible.

Rod shook his head and did not think much further.

These jackalmen, who claimed to serve the Campbell family, were thoroughly terrified after the gray dwarf Karen was shattered into powder by Mistara's magic.

Covered in blood and wounds, they knelt on the ground begging Xiang Taili for mercy.

The jackalmen, beaten into a daze, seemed to believe this succubus lady had summoned a deity.

Xiang Taili proudly flicked the blood from her sword.

Then, with her handsome and spirited face, she buried herself in Rod's chest, acting spoiled as she asked if she had been good.

She naturally did not care about matters outside her master.

She paid little attention to Mistara's Goddess Ban.

The halfling Lily, recovering from her shock, expressed concern:

"Mages are a sufficiently curious group; the life of the Goddess of Magic is enough to make them risk venturing here. As a result, the Twilight Hills will likely not be spared their disturbance."

"I only hope these mages who come here cause less trouble."

Rod pinched the space between his eyebrows in distress.

Banning mages from coming and going was impossible; although mages loved to stir up trouble,

their creativity was also unparalleled.

Xiang Taili, with a face similar to Rod's yet softer, smiled and said, "Master, what shall we do with these little things?"

"Kill them."

The jackalmen were horrified and quickly shifted their target of worship.

"Inappropriate."

Lily frowned and said.

She was a halfling of the Heroic Alliance, and the Heroic Alliance had a clear principle of non-killing, though it was not that rigorous.

Lily herself killed when she deemed it necessary.

She had never held back against the people of Bahadur Magic Academy; after humiliating them, every strike was lethal.

But under normal circumstances, she would also choose restraint.

"Coral Bay is still under construction; offending a notorious underworld family across the continent too severely might have consequences."

Rod thought for a moment.

He was not afraid of the Campbell family.

But the problem was that the Twilight Hills were too vast, and his sphere of influence was currently insufficient.

These people were also involved in the disgusting business of human trafficking; confronting them before Coral Bay was fully established might not be good.

He nodded: "Lock them up, then let them come to extradite the prisoners and pay bail."

As for the gray dwarf Karen,

it did not matter; if he was dead, then he was dead.

Asking him to come redeem the people was already Rod's final act of decency.

If the other party wanted to turn hostile, let them.

Not long after.

These jackalmen were taken by Shi Ying Town into the dungeon.

Rod also went to find the old gentleman Humbert and the witch Dimia to tell them that the conscription corps had arrived in Windstorm City.

Both were not very optimistic about this.

They were clearly well-traveled and knowledgeable, knowing what sort of behavior these conscription corps displayed when they went to the countryside.

They immediately ordered cured meat and cheese to be hidden in the cellar, and sealed the mill under the guise of "plague quarantine," in reality to preserve flour.

They also had unmarried young women smear furnace ash to disguise themselves as old women, while youths of marriageable age hid in the forest beyond Double Finger Mountain.

Since Rod had already learned

that the war between the Heavenly Court Flower Kingdom and the Kingdom of Aethelorn was to rapidly reduce the population, in order to forcibly cope with the emotional projection from the extra-dimensional space,

he knew this war was utterly meaningless.

Naturally, he would not let the people of Shi Ying Town go to their deaths.

When the time comes, he will also appropriately unleash a 'plague' in Shi Ying Town to stonewall the conscription.

It's not that he's afraid of them.

After all, this represents a nation's army; the appearance must at least be presentable.

After discussing all this.

By the time Rod returned to the forest, it was already evening.

The elf Kali had long been waiting outside the Bai Yu district of the forest.

The same blue-white tight high-necked bodysuit, clinging to every inch of her skin.

Thigh-high cuffed boots accentuated legs longer than life itself.

A naturally perfect proportion.

She stood with arms crossed and a sour face.

"Does the Goddess of Magic Mystra's prohibition have anything to do with you?"

Rod almost thought she knew about his relationship with Mystra.

He spread his hands: "How could it not? But I've heard Shi Ying Town has a First Epoch relic buried there; perhaps it has something to do with this."

"A First Epoch relic?"

Rod recalled he seemed to have never mentioned this to her.

So he told her the news that the Vampire Queen Yulia had given, and that the Witherer Greta had learned some piece of information from the ancient spiritual memories of the Windwall Forest.

Kali pondered for a moment:

"Tracing the ancient memories of trees is a druid's secret art. But it happens I know it too, though the success rate is very low."

"Leave this one to me."

Rod's Tree Blessing had sublimated into 【Child of Nature】.

One of its nature phases, 'Tracing Phase', is 'Trace ancient tree memories, obtain lost nature secret arts'.

Just hearing it, it sounded far more reliable than their low-success-rate secret arts.

Kali was already used to Rod mastering quite a few 'little tricks'.

And she wasn't surprised.

"The Windwall Forest isn't small; checking spot by spot wastes time. I can examine whether the trees have any special spirituality. Wait for me a moment."

"Sorry to trouble you."

"Hmph, the things you've troubled me with have never been few."

Kali said coldly.

Rod laughed.

An elf's tsundere— the actual meaning of those words is no different from 'no need to be so polite'.

Having said that.

The Young Lady elf's snow-white hands glowed with white magic, splitting into thin streams that linked toward the forest's trees.

"This process won't be short; you don't need to wait here."

She looked unable to move, maintaining a single posture.

"I'm asking you for a favor—how could I possibly go rest? I must stay here and keep you company."

". Hmph, then why are you staring at my body?"

Rod pretended he hadn't heard.

He walked over: "This seems to be a perception-type skill. I can temporarily boost your casting efficiency and perception. Want to give it a try?"

Saying so.

In his hand, the spiritual whip of 【Pain Lash】 manifested.

Seeing this, a flash of trance and longing passed through Kali's eyes.

But it immediately turned to shock and fury.

"You dare!?"

"Alright, alright, alright, not using that one."

Rod didn't tease her any longer and directly shared 【Spider Sense】 over.

Just at that moment.

A message suddenly popped up on the panel:

【'Tracing Phase' triggered! Successfully intercepted memory ancient tree!】

【View?】

(End of this chapter)