Chapter 654: Cage and New Rules

Luo De crossed his arms and stood tall with arrogance.

“Moon Goddess Lu Ka, I’m going to fuck you.”

“What are you saying, human Luo De?”

The pale pupil within the crystal showed a human-like expression of shock.

Then, after a brief pause, it calmed down again.

“You are a fine man, but currently I lack a body capable of biological reproduction. If you become my agent, I may bestow favor upon you.”

“No, I want to fuck you right now.”

“Are you insane, human? Can you even get aroused by something like this?”

“What do you think? You should know from Haley’s memories that I’m attracted to non-human species.”

“But I’m not even female! I don’t even have that organ!”

Lu Ka’s pale eyeball voice grew unsteady, unable to hold back a shout.

It was somewhat unfitting for a Moon Goddess.

Luo De’s smile widened.

“Your voice is feminine, isn’t it? And quite pleasant, at that.”

“Y-you pervert.”

The pale eyeball stared intently at the grotesque organ; its surface veins twitched involuntarily.

What it saw wasn’t merely male lust—it clearly sensed the abyssal corruption within the man’s essence.

Undoubtedly, if that thing touched her, she would never regain resurrection and would likely suffer another severe injury, sinking back into slumber.

Hm?

Lu Ka narrowed her gaze: “Are you testing me, human Luo De?”

“Obviously. Who gets aroused by a giant eyeball? Especially such an ugly one?”

Luo De sneered. “You’re not nearly as powerful as you claim. Your only trick—eye magic—doesn’t work on me. Worse, you know I can easily threaten you.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

“Go ahead. I’d like to test how much power you still have left.”

Lu Ka snorted, her tone edged with impatience.

Luo De chuckled twice.

Though this thing didn’t seem strong.

But the spells and rituals here were beyond his understanding, and those twelve wobbling sealing chains? He had no desire to touch them.

Any fight would inevitably cause destruction.

And the upgraded [Charm Fluid] now possessed the [End Tide].

[End Tide: Your bodily fluid contains a micro-abyss, capable of eroding domains or laws.]

The main purpose was nuclear deterrence.

After all, this might be a First Epoch demon god. As long as he could instill fear, a little caution wouldn’t hurt.

But

If Luo De truly had no intention of going through with it… well, perhaps he did have a little.

“Now it’s my turn, Miss Lu Ka.”

“I have no gender.”

“I don’t care, Miss Lu Ka. What happened in the Pale Corridor, this labyrinth? And hand over the relic—‘Pale Eye’.”

As a giant eyeball, Lu Ka was hard to read.

After a moment of stillness, she spoke slowly:

“The emergence of divinity on the Spiritual Continent awakened us. Now that we are awake, the revival ritual must begin.”

Luo De nodded, unsurprised.

Mistral’s ascension set the precedent; the Mana Veil spread across the entire continent, elevating its magical system to a higher tier.

Where there’s one, there’s two. Ascension won’t stop.

“This labyrinth, the Pale Corridor? Hah! A place where cowards trapped me. Hahahaha. Now that I’ve awakened faster, those bastards won’t get a moment’s peace.”

As she spoke, the blood vessels on her pupil twitched more violently, revealing a touch of madness.

“Those bastards?”

“To your mortal eyes, they are the First Epoch demon gods and Outer Gods. They fell into slumber for some grand plan, feared my power, shattered my Lunar Domain, and used the Lizardmen’s false worship to imprison me for ages!”

Luo De pinched the bridge of his nose.

Though he’d suspected it, confirmation brought only weariness and frustration.

This continent truly holds countless sleeping demon gods and Outer Gods.

Yet current mage theory still holds Mistral as the continent’s first deity, for her divine law/domain—the Mana Veil—is clearly visible.

But the First Epoch demon gods and Outer Gods leave no trace.

Divine laws and domains aren’t something ordinary mages can match; they could endure for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet in the current reality, there’s not a single trace left.

It’s strange.

Unless they never exerted any influence on the physical dimension.

But… is that possible?

“Eyes, skull, blood-body, heart—they split my power, sealing each part in different temples and altars. Time passed, and we each developed our own consciousness. Human Luo De, the reason I’m so reasonable is because my Lunar Domain is the weakest. If you meet the others… hahahaha…”

The eyeball emitted a cold laugh.

“You ask for the way out? The relic ‘Pale Eye’? I won’t give it to you. Gathering the three relics at the central altar is a ritual to reinforce the seal. Better yet—help me revive. Bring me the skull, blood-body, and heart to the Moon-Gazing Hall, and I’ll personally escort you out.”

Luo De raised an eyebrow.

The dragon lifted its head, roaring fiercely; droplets of saliva infused with [End Tide] dripped down.

Another display of nuclear deterrence.

“Are you sure?”

“Even if you kill me, it won’t matter. If I can punish those still-sleeping dogs, I’d rather lose control of this consciousness to escape and revive!”

Lu Ka gritted her teeth; her words now brimmed with madness.

One night, after Luo De and Kali had finished investigating the water issue, it was full moon. He’d wanted to say something romantic to lighten the mood.

But the scholarly elf lady’s personality was too rigid and logical—she began lecturing Luo De on how different races viewed the moon.

Among them, she mentioned that in wolf, nocturnal insect, and bird races’ legends, the full moon was often tied to hysterical madness.

This Moon Goddess, too, carried an unstable madness.

Luo De suspected it was precisely this instability that caused the Outer Gods and demon gods to gang up and expel her from their circle.

“Luo Luode!”

As he pondered whether to just blast the giant eyeball, Haley shouted from behind, panicked.

“Oh, you’re awake—”

“Don’t you dare touch him!”

“?”

Does she think I’m being controlled?

In an instant, Luo De’s mind raced.

First, the scene:

A frantic, mad eyeball, a dragon with its member raised, and him standing tall.

Hmm… slightly odd.

No—it’s extremely odd.

Strategic nuclear deterrence was impulsive. If someone I know saw this, do I still have any dignity left?

If so—

Haley snorted, rapidly consuming a Mana Veil spell slot; flames erupted from her staff.

Simultaneously, a Mage Hand seized Luo De’s ankle and yanked him backward.

The flames struck the crystal casing; the twelve rune chains trembled violently.

Luo De offered no resistance, letting her drag him swiftly out of the Moon-Gazing Hall.

Before leaving, he glanced back and saw black veins bursting across Lu Ka’s eyeball, her consciousness fading, and a crack forming in the crystal casing.

“Oh?”

Behind Luo De, the spectral soul of the Fungal Warrior Gorgon flickered—a green psychic energy, invisible as fungal thread, slipped into the crack.

Whoosh—

The two leapt through the arched fissure.

The cold mist, the blackened dead trees, and the eerie pale moon returned.

The Star-Spirit lady gasped, still weakened from the earlier psychic shock; the Mage Hand vanished instantly.

She turned in panic, trying to catch the flung Luo De.

But how could a frail mage possibly hold up this body? Thud—he crushed her into the soft, muddy ground.

Grass flew up.

Luo De’s face pressed against hers; he met her bright, resolute eyes. Haley’s heart pounded wildly.

“Are you alright?”

Luo De looked shaken and said, as if trying to prove his innocence, “You saved me—I was just controlled.”

Haley’s chest was pressed against him, her collar slightly lowered, revealing a tempting curve.

She tilted her head up triumphantly:

“You figured it out? It was me who saved you. Huh? What’s poking me?”

She realized something, and her beautiful translucent sapphire face instantly flushed with glowing luminescence.

“Hey!”

“It’s not my fault—it was that giant eyeball controlling me. Everyone saw it.”

“Get off me—you’re crushing me!”

Luo De hesitated, reluctant to move.

Pretending to be exhausted, he rubbed against her for a long while before finally standing up and pulling his pants back on.

Haley turned away, muttering curses as she downed a bottle of mental-relief magic potion.

“What now? We can’t get the token, and we can’t contact the outside.”

Luo De tightened his belt: “Just because we can’t get it here doesn’t mean it’s not elsewhere. I’m going to search the other two places.”

The other three organs had also developed self-awareness.

Just because Eyeball Luka acted foolishly doesn’t mean the others will too. Let’s check them all first—beat each Luka up before anything else.

Then, with the prisoner’s dilemma, we might be able to trick the giant eyeball.

“That’s all we can do.”

Haley slumped, then slowly stood up.

At that moment,

a tongue of flame shot from deep within the woods. She reacted swiftly, raising her magical energy shield with practiced ease.

The flame shattered, scattering sparks everywhere.

“Who’s there!”

Haley shouted sharply.

No answer came—only a sudden burst of light from the forest.

A massive blue-white chain of lightning carbonized the ancient trees and earth around them, then leapt instantly onto Luo De and Haley.

Haley had prepared—she layered two [Energy Protection] spells atop her magical shield.

Luo De calmly activated [Dragon Scale Art]. Violent arcs of electricity surged over his body, leaving only a puff of white smoke—no injury.

Riiip—

A row of eyeballs suddenly opened along his arm; behind him, the specter of the Hundred-Eyed Demon flashed briefly.

[Total Field of Vision +11], perception enhanced.

“There.”

Luo De raised his hand and fired a [Fire Ray]. The concentrated, surging flame lit up the woods, and a shadowy figure was clearly struck, staggering back into a tree.

[Gravitational Wave] followed instantly, yanking the figure toward them.

Splash—

A man with a bloodied hole burned through his chest crashed to the ground, leaving a trail.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a man.

It was a shadow, as if conjured by a shadow spell.

More interestingly, this shadow looked exactly like Haley.

“What is this? Why does it look like me?”

Haley stared, bewildered.

Luo De kicked the shadow-Haley’s head—just as he was about to speak, he noticed a message had appeared on his panel without warning.

[Maze Rule ‘Unknown 1’ Triggered]

[Moon Shadow: Shadows exposed to the Pale Moon may become accomplices of madness.]

(End of Chapter)