Chapter 668: Neighbors and Familiar Faces

The rescue of the Pale Corridor went extremely smoothly.

After establishing contact, the five Homecoming Seers of the Star Association did not lower their guard, choosing instead to enter fully armed.

Only after multiple patrols and inspections of the entire Pale Corridor maze, and confirming the maze remained stable, did they gradually exhale in relief.

Next came the official rescue operations, with large numbers of Starling mages entering to assist.

Within less than three hours, all surviving trialists were rescued.

Including the severely wounded Homecoming Seer Motas.

But the situation remained grim.

Of the twenty Starling trialists, six were severely injured, twelve were killed, their remains vanished.

It was nearly total annihilation—equally devastating for the Starlings.

The trial would naturally be abandoned, and as a race skilled in manipulating mazes, the issue of maze safety was once again raised.

Some bards stationed at the Starling stronghold quickly learned of the incident and began investigating the truth behind it.

The five Homecoming Seers had no time to care.

They had more important work.

Still within the Pale Corridor.

Less than two hundred meters from the central altar lay a fresh, massive impact crater.

Bloodstains and chunks of pulped flesh on the soil indicated it had recently been saturated with disgusting organic matter.

The gentle warm glow of the night moon illuminated the ground, while the rising mist from the humus layer was constantly scattered by Starling mages passing by, setting up various sealing, research, and identification rituals.

The eerie aura had diminished from 100% to just 20%.

Yet the five Homecoming Seers stood gathered at the crater’s edge.

After a brief discussion on deities and seals,

the atmosphere grew heavy.

As the only female Homecoming Seer, Halia elegantly crouched down and crushed a clump of charred, unidentifiable matter.

Residual sparks sputtered and hissed, burning a small hole through her magical skin membrane.

Startled, she spoke her first words: “That man is Luo De.”

“Luo De isn’t an uncommon name, but someone with this level of power—there’s only one such person on Dusk Hill.”

Orion rubbed his chin.

“The forest warden Luo De who drove back Asmodeus, the Infernal Duke? Why is he here? This is Starling territory.”

The usually placid Garzak showed clear interest in Luo De.

“The trialist Hali Strauss brought him in as auxiliary vanguard support.”

Wickes pinched the bridge of his nose: “Wait—I recall even auxiliary vanguards are checked for enslavement marks. That man… he actually agreed?”

Halia gave a knowing smile: “Hali Strauss once personally helped that warden expel the dark elves from Coral Bay. More importantly, that gentleman has an unusual fondness for non-human girls.”

Wickes widened his eyes: “You mean he’s courting Hali Strauss?”

“There’s a possibility.”

“What kind of nonsense is this? So boring!”

“To me, it’s rather romantic.”

Orion cleared his throat and returned to the matter at hand.

“The problem is we lost twelve promising seventh-rankers. With the current state of the continent, underground factions openly opposing the Igo Church have begun emerging—especially in Brilliant Light City, Deepwater City, and Noisy Water City—and Igo Church-led blood purges are far from rare.”

Garzak snorted coldly: “Blood purges are only part of it. The Igo Church has always focused its efforts on the war against the Heavenly Flower Kingdom, yet lately its internal maneuvers have intensified—it must have another agenda.”

“Precisely. Though our Star Association isn’t afraid, directly clashing with Aitheron would be irrational.”

“The research on the Ke Plains is our primary direction—we can’t easily shift focus.”

Seeing the atmosphere grow stiff,

Halia clapped her hands: “Distant relatives are no match for close neighbors. Why not have Hali Strauss act as our liaison to draw closer to that warden? If marriage could be arranged, it would be even better!”

“Hmm, I’ve also heard the forest warden Luo De is fiercely protective of those close to him—he has a spider-morphed dark elf by his side, and rumors say her involvement was key in the attack on Coral Bay.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve also heard he traveled to Silverhoof Deer Valley to negotiate with the half-deer elder so the half-deer lady in Windwall Forest wouldn’t be burdened with the title of ‘Hero Giver’—and ended up secretly betrothing himself to the elder’s youngest daughter (still just rumor).”

As a race skilled in stargazing and reading stellar destinies,

the Homecoming Seers are usually occupied searching for their distant homeland, and naturally don’t bother verifying the bards’ idle tales.

Besides, probing a powerful being’s stellar destiny is extremely impolite.

We had no interest in Luo De before, and no connection to him—now that we know, we certainly won’t do it.

With that said,

everyone turned to Committee Chair Elrith.

The elderly Starling mage’s expression remained unchanged: “The forest warden Luo De possesses such power despite not yet reaching the ninth rank—befriending him early is certainly wise, though it’s a pity to burden Hali with this.”

Halia smiled: “I think that girl would be delighted.”

After returning Laila Starwhisper, Luo De returned to the forest warden’s cabin as the sky had just begun to lighten.

Though the “Moon Domain” no longer required sleep, he himself was fond of lying down and doing nothing.

Whether after finishing work or completing matters with the girls, he always preferred falling asleep wrapped in warm, soft bodies.

Luo De removed his gear, planning a quick shower before sneaking into one of the girls’ rooms.

“Who to pick? Vivian? Xiao Ke? No—Bond has been acting up lately; he might peek.”

He had just poured himself a cup of hot tea and crossed the living room partition,

when he was startled to see a familiar figure asleep on the bed.

Her skin, darkened to purple by enhanced power, bore twin horns of the same purple, fading to pink at the tips, ending in a slender, soft heart-shaped tail.

Her exquisite, sultry face carried two alluring black markings, enhancing her inhuman beauty.

It was Tally.

Rarely did she manifest her true succubus form—since consuming the Abstinence Pill, even less so.

She lay curled on her side, clutching Luo De’s pillow, her plump, soft flesh pressing against the white cotton, creating an alluring distortion.

Her faint breathing tickled Luo De’s eardrums; his brow twitched slightly.

Tally rarely transformed—since the Abstinence Pill, even less so.

Luo De sat on the bed’s edge and poked her cheek.

“Rare indeed—you came here to sleep on your own?”

Hali’s trial ended faster than expected—he’d thought it’d take a day or two, and had already told the forest girls where he’d be.

Girls are like that.

Once they can’t see you, they keep asking.

Especially the old Tally.

Perhaps she only dared come because she assumed Luo De wouldn’t return home.

“Mmm…”

The sleeping Tally emitted a cute whimper, then grabbed Luo De’s hand and pressed it into her chest.

She parted her lips and bit his index finger between them.

Luo De smiled and decided to playfully tease her tongue.

She seemed to mistake his finger for something else.

She began breathing shallowly, her body trembling slightly.

“Heh…”

Luo De froze.

Huh?

Why did this feel so familiar?

After the Abstinence Pill, he hadn’t touched Tally much—only forced himself to a couple times, and her technique was abysmal. Though it could still bring pleasure, seeing the girl burst into tears always pained him.

But… why is her technique so refined now?

Because of subconscious behavior while asleep?

(End of Chapter)