Chapter 87: Array Ritual

Ten minutes later, Rod and the others drew another wave of Snake People attacks.

After that, no one else appeared.

Another twenty minutes passed as they moved forward.

Suddenly, they felt the sky's light dim slightly, and at the same time, a white mist drifted over.

Soon, it blocked the view in front of the two of them.

"Be careful; the mist carries spiritual energy. It's likely the array ritual they're performing."

Lili warned.

"Can we force our way through?"

"Absolutely not. We don't know what type of spell this is; if it's a magical trap, it'll be disastrous. Step back a bit and assess it first."

Having said that, the two stepped back several paces.

Clearly, the thick fog had a certain range limit; they immediately found themselves outside it.

Looking up, they saw dark clouds gathering, with streams of deep green magic flashing between the clouds like lightning.

In the next moment.

Splash—

A torrential downpour suddenly fell.

It immediately scattered the thick fog before them.

But the temple-like building remained shrouded in the thick fog; moreover, several huge arms reached out from the mist, wandering and grasping wildly in midair.

Lili pulled his cloak and stepped back a few more paces.

"What's wrong?"

"The rain is a bit off." She pointed at the ground.

Rod immediately saw the rain hitting the ground turn green.

Tally also jumped out of the shadows, mimicking Rod's posture to peek and look.

"Didn't I tell you to stay inside?"

"The light has weakened; this kind of dim, in-between illumination will greatly reduce the effectiveness of shadow spells."

She transformed back into the Night Elf form she had used when fighting the Ruin Brotherhood.

Her upper body wore only a short, pale tube top, exposing her small, cute upper and lower hemispheres.

"How is it? Do I look good?"

Tally displayed her hands, all ten fingers adorned with magic rings, her large eyes blinking.

Rod rarely needed such items, so he simply handed them all over to her.

"It looks tacky."

"Your spiritual energy isn't enough to use so many."

Lili reminded.

She worried the succubus would become overly reliant on magic rings in battle, unaware that Tally's bag already held ten bottles of quick spiritual energy replenishment potions.

"Are you jealous?"

"... No."

"That's right~ Not everyone can be spoiled by the Master like you. You have no idea how cute the Master was when he kept pestering me the day before yesterday~"

"Ahem! Ahem!"

Rod coughed twice with a blank expression.

"Let's get back to the matter. Lili, can you tell us what's going on with this rain?"

Lili pouted and muttered a few words under her breath.

No one could make out what she said.

"It's a combined dual spell: the Rain Ritual and the mist ritual inside aren't the same. I must say, their array ritual studies are quite impressive."

She pulled out a small notebook and kept flipping through it.

Inside, everything was handwritten.

Seizing the opportunity, Tally hugged Rod's shoulder, stood on tiptoe, kissed from his neck to his ear, then whispered, "She's just jealous."

Rod, too lazy to care, pushed her aside.

A short while later.

"Found it: 【Eroding Spell Rain】, a rare and powerful natural-type spell. The rain carries nutrients the land needs, which can nourish the soil well, but it produces a peculiar corrosive effect on surrounding magical energy."

"Corrosion? To what extent?"

"Whether it's a spell shield, a spell being chanted, or a released spell effect, the magical energy will gradually be eroded, becoming fragile and finally dissipating."

Tally said, "Nourishing the land yet corroding magic; doesn't that seem a bit strange?"

"This array ritual was originally created to counter the 【Barren Land】 released by Demon Kin. After all, they feed on negative emotions, so famine suits their needs perfectly."

Pausing, Lili said with a serious expression:

"Remember, if you encounter Demon Kin, never hesitate. Either flee or kill. This race is no different from pests; once targeted, it's a matter of life or death."

She spoke from personal experience.

After all, Emerald City had been attacked by Demon Kin just a few days ago.

"Don't worry. I'm kind and decent, and I rarely go out, so I have little chance of meeting Demon Kin, except for Tally."

Lili glanced sideways.

She saw the succubus, upon hearing this, tightly hug Rod's arm, acting cute and coquettish.

She giggled continuously.

"."

A perfectly good man.

How did he end up raising a succubus?

For some reason, Lili felt like a fine cabbage had been trampled by a pig.

"【Erosive Rain of Magic】, is there a countermeasure? Or perhaps Spirituality lies outside the scope of erosion."

Rod pushed away the coquettish succubus again and asked.

"Unfortunately, although it is outside that scope, it will cause the flow of Spirituality to slow down drastically. As for a solution, I do have one, but it may not be achievable at present."

Having said that.

Lili pulled a round object resembling a pocket watch from her spell satchel.

"The key to【Erosive Rain of Magic】lies in the clouds above. This is a dwarf alchemical bomb; if there are enough of them, they can be used to blast open the cloud layer. I can then take the opportunity to deconstruct the formation, and perhaps the effect can be dispelled."

"Spell deconstruction... I recall that is quite difficult, isn't it?"

Rod had heard of this thing; it was a problem known even to someone like him who was not a mage.

The Snow Hill Evening Post had reported on related incidents several times, stating that criminals had set up fire-explosion traps in villages on the outskirts of Gale City, blowing up several people in succession.

Yet even though the culprits had issued a crime warning and the constables had discovered it in advance, they still could not successfully deconstruct the traps.

If even the authorities of a top-tier city like Gale City were unable to do so, one could imagine how difficult it truly was.

Lili shrugged, her expression arrogant.

"The problem is we cannot blast open the clouds."

Rod took the alchemical bomb from her hand and tossed it up and down.

He smiled and said, "It is not entirely impossible."

Having said that, he cast【Blessing of the Ancient Sky Tree】.

The alchemical bomb instantly expanded several times in his hand, becoming gigantic.

The Spirituality within his body was instantly drained dry.

"An item transmutation spell? You can actually use spells. It's useless; mere appearance alone—"

As she spoke, Lili's eyes glowed with magical light, likely a spell of some kind of X-ray vision.

Then, in an instant, her eyes widened in shock.

"What's going on? Even alchemical materials that are difficult to replicate with magic are..."

"Not an algorithm spell."

Rod could not help but feel somewhat proud.

"Just a little trick, although the price paid is... hmm, never mind, it's nothing."

Lili smiled.

"Then let's go. We'll coordinate: you blast open the clouds, and I will deconstruct the formation."

Having said that, the two began to discuss the details.

At this moment, Rod discovered that objects affected by【Blessing of the Ancient Sky Tree】would rapidly revert to their original state once they left his body.

Fortunately, another skill granted by Eva, the Ancient Sky Tree, came in handy here.

【Partial Authority of the 'Sustain' Domain】.

However, it could only be maintained for about five to seven seconds.

Lili looked at him as if he were a ghost.

"This is truly ghostly. Although it is still very weak, how can you even use the power of a Domain!"

(End of Chapter)