Chapter 654: Cage and New Rules

Rod crossed his arms over his chest and stood proudly.

"Moon Goddess Miss Lu Ka, I want to fuck you."

"What are you saying, human Rod?"

The pale pupils within the crystal revealed a human-like expression of astonishment.

Then, after a brief easing, they calmed again.

"You are a decent man, but right now I do not possess a body capable of satisfying biological reproduction. If you can become my proxy, I can bestow my blessing upon you."

"No, I want to fuck you right now."

"Are you insane, human? You can get aroused by me in my current form?"

"What do you think? From Hailey's memories you should know I'm a person who likes exotic species, right?"

"But I'm not even female! I don't even have that organ."

The voice of the pale eyeball Miss Lu Ka lost its composure, unable to hold back and roaring out loud.

It was somewhat unbefitting of its status as the Goddess of the Moon.

Rod's smile widened.

"Your voice is female, isn't it? And quite pleasant to hear."

"You... you pervert..."

The pale eyeball stared fixedly at that grotesque thing, and the blood vessels on the eyeball twitched strangely.

What it saw was not only the man's lust, but it also clearly perceived the Abyss of Erosion contained within the man's essence.

Without a doubt, once that thing drenched itself onto her, let alone asking this man to help revive her, she might immediately be grievously wounded and fall back into slumber.

Hmm?

Miss Lu Ka narrowed her eyes: "Are you testing me, human Rod?"

"Obviously. Who would get aroused by a big eyeball? Especially such an ugly big eyeball."

Rod sneered, "You're not as powerful as you boast. Your only method, eyeball magic, is useless against me. More importantly, you now know I can easily threaten you."

"You think I'm afraid of you?"

"Bring it on. I just happen to want to test how much power this so-called deity of yours still has."

Miss Lu Ka snorted coldly, her tone carrying a hint of impatience.

Rod chuckled twice.

Although the intensity of this thing didn't look that great.

The spells and rituals here he couldn't understand, and those twelve crumbling sealing chains he wanted even less to touch.

Once a fight started, there would inevitably be destruction.

And the 【Tide of the End】 that the Charm Body Fluid gained after advancing.

【Tide of the End: A certain body fluid of yours contains a miniature Abyss, capable of eroding the power of domains or laws.】

It was mainly to achieve a nuclear deterrence effect.

After all, this might be an evil god from the First Epoch. Confirming a method to intimidate was enough; being a bit more cautious wouldn't hurt.

However—

If one were to say Rod had no real intention of actually going through with it, well, there probably was a little bit.

"Next is my turn, Miss Lu Ka."

"I have no gender."

"I don't mind. Miss Lu Ka, what happened in the Pale Corridor, that is, this labyrinth? Also, please hand over the token 'Pale Pupil' to me."

Being a big eyeball, Miss Lu Ka really couldn't show much expression.

She calmed for a moment, then said unhurriedly:

"The appearance of divinity on the Spiritual Continent has awakened us. Since we are awake, naturally we must begin the revival ritual."

Rod nodded, having somewhat anticipated this.

Mystra's ascension to godhood set a precedent. The Weave's celestial canopy swept across the entire continent, representing that the continent's magic system had risen to a higher level.

Where there is one, there will be two. Ascension to godhood will not stop.

"This labyrinth, the Pale Corridor? Heh heh, is merely the place where some cowardly wretches imprisoned me. Hmph hmph hmph, now that I've awakened faster, those mongrels won't have it easy."

At this point, the blood vessels on the pupil twitched even more noticeably, taking on a few shades of madness.

"Those mongrels?"

"In the eyes of you mortals, they are the evil gods and outer gods of the First Epoch. They fell into slumber for some plan, and out of fear of my power, they dismantled my Moon Domain and used the lizardfolk's hypocritical worship to seal me away for ages!"

Rod pinched the bridge of his nose.

Although he already knew, the moment of confirmation was exasperating and vexing.

This continent indeed slumbered with a great many evil gods and outer gods.

Yet, the current mainstream theory among mages still held that Mystra was the first deity on the continent, because the traces of her divine laws/domain, namely the Weave's celestial canopy, were clearly visible.

But the evil gods and outer gods of the First Epoch had none.

The laws and domains of divinity were beyond what ordinary mages could compare to; existing for several hundred thousand years wouldn't be a problem, yet in the current reality dimension there wasn't the slightest trace.

Very strange.

Unless they had never exerted their power to affect the reality dimension at all.

But—is that possible?

"Eyeball, skull, blood body, heart—they divided my power, placing them in different temples and altars for sealing. Too much time has passed, and we have each developed our own consciousness. Human Rod, that's why I'm so easy to talk to—I possess the least Moon Domain. If you encounter other Miss Lu Kas, heh heh heh..."

The eyeball let out a cold laugh.

"You ask about a way to leave, the token 'Pale Pupil'? I couldn't possibly give it to you. Gathering three tokens at the central altar for sacrifice was originally a ritual to strengthen the seal. How about you assist my revival, bring the skull, blood body, and heart to the Moon-Gazing Hall, and I'll personally see you out."

Rod raised an eyebrow.

The giant dragon raised its head and let out a ferocious roar; drool laced with 【End Tide】 dripped from its maw.

Once again, demonstrating nuclear deterrence.

"Are you sure?"

". Even if you kill me it will be the same—as long as I can take revenge on those dog bastards who haven't revived yet, I'd rather my current consciousness not be in the dominant position and still escape and resurrect!"

Miss Lu Ka ground her teeth, the madness in her words gradually beginning to show.

One day, after Rod and Lady Kali finished inspecting the waterway problems, it was already evening; it happened to be the full moon period, and he had wanted to bring up some romantic topic to set the mood.

But unfortunately, the erudite elven Young Lady's temperament was far too steely and rational—she actually began lecturing Rod and giving him a popular science lesson on how the various races viewed the moon.

Among them, she said that in the legends of wolf-type, nocturnal insect-type, and bird-type races, the full moon was often bound together with hysterical madness.

This Moon God also vaguely carried an unstable madness.

Rod suspected it was precisely this instability of hers that got her kicked out of the little clique by those outer gods and evil gods forming their factions.

"R-Rod!"

Just as he was considering whether to simply blast that big eyeball away, a panicked shout came from Hailey behind him.

"Oh, you're awake."

"Don't even think about touching him!"

"?"

She seems to think I was controlled?

For a moment, Rod thought through many things.

First, the current scene.

A panicked, frenzied giant eyeball, a dragon with its pants down looking up, and him standing proud and tall.

Mm. A little weird.

No, very weird.

Strategic nuclear deterrence was a spur-of-the-moment idea—if someone who knows me sees this, do I still have any face?

Since that's the case—

Hailey snorted angrily; a spell slot of the Weave was rapidly consumed, and tongues of fire spewed from her staff.

At the same time, a Mage Hand grabbed Rod's ankle and yanked him backward with force.

The tongues of fire struck the sealed crystal, and the twelve chains of runes clattered and trembled ceaselessly.

Rod did not resist Hailey's grab, letting her drag him rapidly back and away from the Hall of Moon-Gazing.

Before leaving, he glanced back and saw black blood vessels bursting across Miss Lu Ka's eyeball, the sanity in her pupils beginning to fade, and a crack appearing in the sealed crystal.

"Oh?"

Behind Rod, the psionic war-soul of the fungal warrior Gorgon flashed past; green psionics transformed into an invisible fungal thread that burrowed into the crack.

Swoosh—

The two leapt out through the arc-shaped crack of the exit.

The cold, gloomy fog, the withered black ancient trees, and the eerie feeling brought by the pale moon in the sky assailed them once more.

The Star-Spirit Young Lady panted; the weakness from the earlier psychic shock had not yet fully faded, and the hastily-cast Mage Hand failed in an instant.

She turned her head in panic, intending to catch the flung Rod.

But with Rod's build, how could a frail mage like her possibly hold him up—thud—he pressed her down onto the soft muddy ground.

Grass clippings flew up.

Rod's face collided with hers; looking at a pair of bright, resolute eyes, Hailey's heart pounded so hard she could barely contain herself.

"Are you alright?"

Rod wore a look of 'after-fear' and said with a guilty-conscience air: "You saved me; I was being controlled just now."

Hailey's chest was pressed by Rod, and her collar had slipped a little, thus slightly squeezing out an alluring curve.

She proudly tilted her little head:

"I can tell—I saved you. Huh? What's that poking me?"

She thought of something, and her translucent deep-blue pretty face immediately flushed with a large swath of bioluminescence.

"Hey!"

"It has nothing to do with me—it was that big eyeball controlling me; everyone saw it."

". Get up quickly, you're hurting me."

Rod was reluctant to part.

He pretended to be out of strength, dawdling against her body, and only after quite a while did he successfully stand up and pull his pants back on.

Hailey turned away, refusing to look at him, and grumbling, downed a bottle of magic potion to soothe her spirit.

"What do we do now? We can't get the token, and we can't contact the outside."

Rod fastened his belt: "Not being able to get it here doesn't mean it's the same elsewhere; I plan to sweep through the other two places."

The other three organs had also developed self-awareness.

The eyeball Miss Lu Ka acting stupid doesn't mean the others will be too—first take a stroll, beat up every Miss Lu Ka, then talk.

When the time comes, a prisoner's dilemma—maybe we can bluff the big eyeball.

"That's all we can do."

Hailey was a little deflated, and slowly stood up.

At this moment.

A tongue of fire came crashing out from deep in the woods; she reacted very quickly, and with practiced ease raised her magic shield.

The flames shattered on impact, scattering sparks in every direction.

"Who's there!"

Hailey barked sharply.

No one answered. What came back was a burst of light erupting from within the trees.

A massive chain of blue-white lightning charred the ancient trees and earth around them, and in the blink of an eye leapt onto Rod and Hailey.

Hailey was already prepared, stacking two consecutive layers of 【Protective Energy】 over her spell shield.

Rod plainly raised 【Dragon Scale Art】; violent arcs of electricity crawled across his whole body, but aside from a puff of white smoke, not a single wound.

Rip—

Rows of eyes on his arm snapped open, and the Hundred-Eyed Ghost War Soul behind him flashed past.

【Omnivision +11】, perception enhanced.

"Here."

Rod raised his hand and fired a 【Flame Ray】; the condensed, surging flames lit up the woods, and in the half-light a black shadow took a heavy hit and staggered back into a tree.

【Gravity Wave】 followed immediately, yanking that person straight toward him.

Whoosh—

A figure with a blood hole melted clean through its chest crashed to the ground, scraping a drag-mark behind it.

Strictly speaking, this was not a person.

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

Even more interesting, this shadow looked exactly like Hailey.

"What is this? Why does it look like me?"

Hailey was shaken, uncertain.

Rod lifted his foot and nudged Shadow Hailey's head. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed a message that had appeared on his panel at some unknown moment.

【Labyrinth Rule 'Unknown 1' has been triggered】

【Moon Shadow: Any shadow touched by the Pale Moon's light may become an accomplice to madness.】

(End of chapter)