Chapter 655: Moonshadow

"Moonshadow."

Luo De raised an eyebrow. "The labyrinth's rules have changed. Have you ever encountered this before?"

Haley stared in shock at the shadow figure identical to herself and shook her head. "Never. I've never heard of such a change."

"Then it must be due to the revival of the Moon Goddess Luka. Perhaps She has influenced the labyrinth."

"Moon Goddess Luka?"

Haley was confused. After being struck by [Luka's Mad Eye], she had fallen into unconsciousness and struggle, unaware of Luo De's later conversation with the eyeball Luka.

Luo De explained the events concisely.

Of course, he omitted his strategic nuclear deterrence part.

So this is a sealed shrine of an evil god, and She is about to begin her revival.

Haley glanced at the dark mist forest ahead, then at the ancient Hall of Observing the Moon behind.

She felt as if invisible eyes watched them from everywhere.

evil god

If this were a deity of the caliber of Mistress Mistralla, how could the two of us possibly escape?

Fear slowly spread through her heart.

"Luo De, you said those three test subjects claimed the pale moon in the sky was an eye—was that true?"

"What's there to believe in from three madmen?"

Luo De answered casually.

He crouched down and examined the shadow figure briefly.

"Hmm. The magical accumulation, fluctuations, and strength are nearly identical to a real person's. Haley, can you cast all the spells she just used?"

"Yes. And her casting speed and incantation habits are almost identical to mine. But she isn't connected to the Weave, so she has no spell slots."

Spells stored in spell slots are enhanced by roughly 5% to 8% in effect and are cast instantly.

Incantations, gestures, and material components are pre-consumed within the Weave, making them terrifying in actual combat.

Ordinary mages have limited spell slots.

Even a top-tier ninth-tier mage has only four first-tier spells, three each for second through fourth tier, two for fifth tier, one each for sixth through eighth tier, and ninth-tier spells remain temporarily unopenable in slots.

Luo De is different—he has four slots for every tier from first to eighth, you could say he exploited a backdoor of Mistralla's system.

A backdoor in every sense.

But having more spell slots doesn't mean much.

A certain forest warden, surrounded by many mage girls, has magical accumulation only at sixth tier and learns spells only to abandon them immediately, unable to fill his current spell slots.

"So the new rule [Moonshadow] can fully replicate a mage's abilities, aside from Mistralla's Weave."

"The Weave is the manifestation of Mistress Mistralla's divine power. If this labyrinth's rule can replicate even that, it's absurd. Watch your tongue, Luo De—when speaking of the Magic Goddess, use proper honorifics."

Haley emphasized the word "Mistress" heavily.

She glanced down at Luo De.

The less she looked, the better—once she did, she grew furious.

The man had placed his palm on the chest of his shadow duplicate and was rubbing it gently.

Haley's face flickered with luminescence, showing her displeasure: "What are you doing?"

"Of course checking its physical strength. Elasticity and softness are identical. Muscle and bone density, as well as spiritual intensity, are the same too."

"Hey! It sounds like you're very familiar with my body!"

"What else? Do you think we've hugged how many times in this short time?"

"Umm."

Haley was flustered and angry, feeling as if she seemed frivolous.

Luo De ignored her, reluctantly pulling his hand away from the duplicate's chest.

He shook his head, frowning slightly. "This is troublesome."

"What's troublesome? They can't connect to the Weave. Their casting efficiency isn't even on the same level as ours."

"The problem is me. [Moonshadow] replicates the body with nearly 100% accuracy. Who in this labyrinth, besides me, could handle my Moonshadow duplicates?"

Haley froze, finally understanding.

She knew well the man's strength—she had even witnessed him directly clash with the Infernal Duke Asmodeus.

Luo De standing before her as an enemy?

Merely imagining it, fear flickered in Haley's eyes: "What do we do?"

Luo De smiled. "Of course, kill them all—none left alive."

BOOM!!

At that moment, a massive explosion echoed from the distant forest.

A wave of scorching heat swept through the air, causing the mist to spread outward.

Haley's face lit up with relief: "That magical intensity—it's ninth tier! A Homecoming Prophet has entered!"

"It's strange if such a change in the Pale Corridor didn't draw their attention. Good news: reinforcements. Bad news: I still have to fight a ninth-tier mage."

Luo De's smile didn't fade. He turned and raised his hand toward the misty forest.

ZZZZZT!!

Crimson, superheated energy warped space, instantly piercing through the mist and impaling a grotesque Moonshadow duplicate hidden in the tree.

In the brief flash of firelight, over a dozen tall or short black shadows darted through the mist.

Some had humanoid forms; others were towering, bizarre shapes.

"They're coming. Stay alert."

"Understood."

Haley's expression hardened. She glanced at Luo De's broad back—and felt almost no fear.

Luo De directly pulled the Starling Lady into the [Group Hunt] subordinate position.

[Keen Scent] and [Wild Synergy] might be useless, but now it was night, the perfect time for the derivative skill [Moonlit Intimidation].

[Moonlit Intimidation: During moonlit nights, when the leader and subordinates total two or more, reduce enemy spiritual/magical accumulation, physique/strength/agility, and casting speed by 10%. Each additional subordinate increases the reduction by another 10%!]

ZZZZ—

An invisible intimidation pressed down. All Moonshadow duplicates in the forest froze.

Blue-white lightning exploded.

[Thunder-Strung Sinew]!

Luo De slid forward, wreathed in crackling arcs, vanishing from his original spot.

A mud golem twice the height of an ordinary human erupted from the ground. The [Moonshadow] even replicated its earthy properties—appearing as a black, humanoid mass of soil.

But such clumsy, brutish things were no different from targets standing between Luo De and his prey.

Thick, dense plasma tore through it. Its body of soil and gravel instantly turned to charcoal and glass.

Luo De charged forward with his body, instantly exploding it into a shower of blackened ash, glass, and soil.

The lightning twisted.

He ignored inertia entirely, executing a ninety-degree turn, and kicked the head of a giant deathspider as large as a warhorse to shatter.

The spraying silk slid past him. He twisted aside, evading a brutal grapple from an armored bear, then delivered a single kick that launched an ice blade, shattering the spell shield of a Starling Lady Moonshadow duplicate into two pieces.

"ROOOOAR!!!"

The armored bear roared, its broken, grotesque bio-armor glowing faintly as it took Luo De's punch head-on.

A cloud of black mist swelled—but the bear did not explode.

It roared triumphantly again, lunging to grapple.

"Huh?"

Luo De was slightly surprised.

Behind him, blue-white soul mist flickered. The withered, crimson arm of the Hundred-Eyed Ghost reached out, clawing forward as Luo De's arm swung—piercing the bear's skull without resistance.

The roar cut off. The bear collapsed limply to the ground.

Behind him, Haley stared, dumbfounded.

In just his first charge, less than five seconds, Luo De had slain four units.

She had barely finished casting her defense and was just beginning to chant her second offensive spell.

(End of Chapter)