Chapter 62: Rage

“Over there.”

The male land naga holding the star disc pointed the direction after careful observation.

This was a band of armed pursuers, all intent on hunting down the deposed princess.

Their leader was a female naga, clad in armor, radiating a ferocious aura—a sixth-rank expert.

Unlike Eve, she had the same number of arms as a human.

It was said that multi-armed nagas were a symbol of royal nobility.

Pfft—

Geothermal steam surged upward, white mist blooming like fireworks in midair.

“Good heavens, is this the labyrinth?!”

Behind the lead naga, a second-rank high-tier jackal-man wiped sweat from his brow and cursed.

At the same time, he glanced nervously at the leader, terrified she might be angry and beat him.

Jackal-men and wolf-men are not the same species.

They resemble jackals that evolved limbs—skin, fur, and heads still entirely jackal-like, with no human features.

His name was Skinn.

Skinn considered himself a romantic poet, unlike his kind who only knew how to rob travelers on roads—he preferred traveling, encountering events, and recording them all on paper.

Of course, if the chance arose, he’d submit his writings to major newspapers in Aetheron.

So, in his second year after adulthood, he set out for the nearby human metropolis—Blazing City.

Unfortunately, before he could even observe the Holy Fire patrols on the streets, he was captured by a band of land nagas and thrown into the female leader’s tent!

He’d heard nagas were savage, often kidnapping men—but he never believed it.

But when it happened to him, Skinn nearly cried.

Oh my god!

I’m so thin! She’s so huge! And she torments me every night?!

I’ve only just come of age!

“Does it hurt?”

This was a captured male half-dragon elder.

Last night, the elder had served another female naga.

Compared to his near-death appearance, this half-dragon seemed more resigned.

“I’m not the type she wants outside of mating season,” Skinn said with a gloomy face.

“Ah—I know, beastfolk have mating seasons. But do any beastfolk want anything outside of it?”

“Some do, though nothing like humans.”

“I see.”

Half-dragons carry the noble traits of dragons.

Though many have diluted dragon blood and are weak, they still fall outside the beastfolk category.

Skinn hesitated a moment, then whispered:

“By the way, Elder… can we escape?”

To his shock, the half-dragon’s face turned serious—he rushed over to the female leader and loudly denounced him.

“No! You—!”

Skinn panicked and immediately denied it.

The female leader turned and stared at him coldly, extending her long tongue to lick her lips.

Just as his scalp prickled—

Suddenly—

The jackal-man’s innate keen sense of smell detected an odd odor.

It was hard to describe.

The acrid stench of burning fire, mixed with a bitter tinge of resentment.

“Resentment?”

When did I start smelling resentment?

The moment the thought passed, the ground shook violently.

An earthquake?

No!

“On guard!!!”

The female leader roared in fury.

“Damn it! A beast surge?! Even this labyrinth has beast surges?!”

The nagas swiftly drew their weapons, tense and staring into the distance.

The jackal-man instinctively turned toward the direction—and saw a massive horde of fifth- and sixth-rank monsters charging through swirling dust!

Behind a massive boulder nearby—

“You’re insane!”

Eve cursed.

Then she pushed Rod away with all four arms.

As she moved, her large white rabbits bounced, then settled again.

Rod smiled, unconcerned, and turned to watch the battlefield below.

The naga squad had activated some artifact—each of them now shimmered with spiritual light.

Their strength and speed had increased slightly.

They formed a tight circle, defending and attacking in coordination, gaining temporary advantage against the overwhelming monsters.

As for the highest-rank resentful-fire lion—

It had lost its mind, wildly hurling resentful fire at the naga formation while ordering lower-rank fire lions to attack.

When they infiltrated the naga pursuers’ position, they’d consumed invisibility and aura-suppressing magic potions, hiding directly behind them.

“So this slaughter counts toward me too?”

Rod murmured.

Threads of energy from the pink soil continuously gathered on him.

The pass was accumulating progress.

Was this because he’d instigated the battle?

“Hmph. Unrepentant as ever—even now, collecting male pets.”

Eve sneered.

Her gaze fixed on the terrified jackal-man and half-dragon among the nagas.

“Hearing is one thing, seeing is another. Look how thin that jackal-man is! I heard you collect male pets as backup rations—is that true? You’ve starved them all to bone—do they even have meat left to eat?”

Rod clucked in amazement.

“It’s true that frontline nagas have this habit—but it’s their deserved reward. What’s wrong with that?”

Eve was unmoved.

Clearly, human and other races’ moral standards still differed greatly.

About an hour later—

Countless fire lion and worm corpses lay shredded on the ground.

The nagas had lost two sixth-rank members, over half dead or wounded; the survivors were disoriented and covered in wounds.

The resentful-fire lion had its tail severed by their combined efforts and now suffered severe injuries; its lower-rank minions were nearly all gone.

Rod could feel the pass trial had reached its final stage.

All he needed to do was kill every remaining naga and monster on the battlefield to complete it.

Yet now, both sides were locked in stalemate.

“I didn’t expect they could handle such a massive beast surge.”

“There’s a labyrinth in the Mirror Desert where beast surges frequently occur—nagas are experts at dealing with them. But this time, they only won thanks to their magic rings.”

As she spoke, Eve narrowed her eyes and noticed many of the dead nagas’ spell bags remained intact—only then did she exhale in relief.

Good they weren’t damaged—those belonged to the Braal Clan.

Rod couldn’t let them remain locked in stalemate.

While the invisibility potion’s effect still held—

He slipped quietly behind the nagas.

From afar, he stomped the ground.

【War Trample】!

The nagas, caught off guard, were violently shaken, momentarily stunned and unbalanced.

He expected the resentful-fire lion to seize the opportunity and attack.

Instead, it whirled its head, fixing its gaze on Rod.

“Ah—”

The lead naga among them sneered at him, her magic ring crumbling to dust.

A magic ring that dispels invisibility?

“Roar!!!”

The resentful-fire lion unleashed a massive burst of pink resentment fire, charging forward like a giant cannonball.

In Luo De’s peripheral vision, he saw the nagas’ eyes filled with hatred and mockery.

Fine, fine, fine.

Besides, I haven’t tried one of my skills yet, and everyone here is an enemy, not a friend.

Come on.

Boom!!!

A surge of overwhelming spiritual energy erupted into the sky, shocking everyone present!

The spiritual shockwave formed a barrier that blocked the resentful-fire lion’s brute-force charge.

Hss—

A golden-glowing longsword was thrown out from the swirling dust, casually planted upside-down into the ground.

Immediately after, a red figure shot out from the barrier.

It slammed straight into the resentful-fire lion.

At the moment of impact, the spiritual force even shattered the air barrier.

With a howl, the resentful-fire lion was driven into the ground, the immense force carving an extremely long furrow across the earth.

And in place.

Luo De’s entire body swelled by a full circle.

His skin turned pale red, his eyes flooded with crimson, fangs bared!

Spiritual Art — [Rage]!

“Run!!!”

The lead naga, face pale with terror, shouted without hesitation.

(End of Chapter)