Chapter 87: Ritual Array

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

After that, no figures remained.

Another twenty minutes passed.

They suddenly felt the sky’s light dim slightly, and at the same time, a white mist drifted toward them.

It quickly obscured their forward view.

“Be careful—the mist carries spiritual energy; it’s likely their ritual array.”

Lily warned.

“Can we force our way through?”

“Absolutely not—we don’t know what kind of spell this is. If it’s a magical trap, we’re done for. Fall back a bit and assess first.”

With that, the two stepped backward several paces.

Clearly, the thick fog had a limited range; they immediately stepped out of it.

Looking up, they saw dark clouds gathering, deep green magical currents flashing like lightning between the layers.

The next moment.

Whoosh—

A torrential downpour suddenly fell.

It immediately scattered the thick fog before them.

But the temple-like structure remained shrouded in mist, and several enormous arms extended from within, drifting and grasping wildly through the air.

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

“What’s wrong?”

“The rain feels off.” She pointed to the ground.

Luo De immediately saw that where the rain hit the earth, it turned green.

Tally also stepped out from the shadows, mimicking Luo De’s posture to peer closer.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay inside?”

“The light’s weakened. This half-light dims the effectiveness of shadow magic.”

She reverted to her previous form—the Night Elf from when she fought the Ruins Brotherhood.

Her upper body wore only a short, shallow bustier, exposing her small, cute upper and lower curves.

“How’s this? Pretty?”

Tally displayed the ten magic rings on her fingers, her big eyes blinking innocently.

Luo De rarely used such things, so he’d simply given them all to her.

“Looks tacky.”

“Your spiritual energy isn’t strong enough to handle that many.”

Lily warned.

She worried the succubus would over-rely on the magic rings, unaware that Tally’s bag already held ten bottles of rapid spiritual replenishment potions.

“Are you jealous?”

“. Not at all.”

“That’s right~ Not everyone gets spoiled like this by their master. You have no idea how adorable he was when he clung to me the day before yesterday~”

“Cough! Cough!”

Luo De coughed twice with a blank expression.

“Let’s get back on track, Lily—do you know what’s happening with this rain?”

Lily muttered under her breath, lips pursed.

No one could make out what she said.

“It’s a dual-ritual combination—the rain ritual and the mist ritual aren’t the same. I must say, their array ritual knowledge is quite advanced.”

She pulled out a small notebook and flipped through it rapidly.

Inside were all handwritten entries.

Tally seized the chance to wrap her arms around Luo De’s shoulder, rise on tiptoes, and kiss from his neck to his ear, whispering: “She’s jealous.”

Luo De ignored her and shoved her aside.

A moment later.

“Found it—【Erosion Rain】. A rare and powerful nature spell. The rain carries nutrients the land needs, nourishing it well, but it also produces a peculiar erosion effect on surrounding magical energy.”

“Erosion? To what extent?”

“Whether it’s a magical shield, a spell being chanted, or an already cast effect—all will gradually be eroded by the magical force, growing fragile until they vanish.”

Tally said: “It nourishes the land but erodes magic—doesn’t that seem odd?”

“This array ritual was created to counter the demons’ 【Wasteland】 spell. After all, they feed on negative emotions; famine suits their needs perfectly.”

Lily paused, then spoke with a serious expression:

Remember—if you ever encounter a demon race, don’t hesitate. Either run or kill. This race is no different from vermin. Once targeted, it’s a matter of life and death.

She spoke from experience.

After all, Jade City had been attacked by demons just days ago.

“Relax—I’m kind and proper, and I rarely go out. I’ve only ever encountered demons through Tally.”

Lily glanced sideways.

There, the succubus clung tightly to Luo De’s arm, cooing and pouting.

She giggled incessantly.

“.”

What a perfectly good man.

How did he end up keeping a succubus?

For some reason, Lily felt as if a fine cabbage had been trampled by a pig.

“【Erosion Rain】—is there a countermeasure? Or is spiritual energy immune to erosion?”

Luo De pushed the pouting succubus aside again and asked.

“Unfortunately, while spiritual energy isn’t directly eroded, it slows down dramatically. I do have a method—but it’s currently unfeasible.”

With that,

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

“The key to 【Erosion Rain】 lies in the sky’s cloud layer. This is a dwarf’s alchemical bomb. If we have enough, we could blast open the clouds, and I could then dismantle the array—perhaps breaking the ritual.”

“Array dismantling? Isn’t that supposed to be extremely difficult?”

Luo De had heard of it—even he, not a mage, knew it was a notorious challenge.

The Snow Hill Evening Post had reported several cases: criminals in villages outside Windstorm City had set explosive traps, blowing up multiple people.

Despite clear criminal warnings and early detection by constables, they still couldn’t dismantle the traps successfully.

If even Windstorm City’s top-tier authorities struggled, how hard must it be?

Lily shrugged, smirking.

“The problem is we can’t blast open the clouds.”

Luo De took the alchemical bomb from her hand and tossed it lightly.

He smiled: “Not entirely impossible.”

With that, he activated 【Blessing of the Celestial Tree】.

The alchemical bomb instantly expanded several times in size, becoming enormous.

His internal spiritual energy was drained completely.

“Object transformation magic? You can use spells? It doesn’t matter—just changing the shape—”

As she spoke, Lily’s eyes glowed with magical light—likely a sight-enhancing spell.

Then her eyes widened in shock.

“What’s going on? Alchemical materials even magic can’t replicate—”

“Not a spell.”

Luo De couldn’t help feeling proud.

“Just a little trick. The cost is—well, never mind.”

Lily smiled.

“Then let’s go. You blast open the clouds, I’ll dismantle the array.”

With that, the two began coordinating details.

Luo De noticed that objects altered by 【Blessing of the Celestial Tree】 rapidly reverted to their original state once removed from his body.

Fortunately, another skill granted by the Celestial Tree Eva came into play.

【Partial Authority of the “Maintain” Domain】.

Though it could only sustain for five to seven seconds.

Lily stared at him as if seeing a ghost.

“This is impossible—even if it’s faint, how are you using domain power?!”

(End of Chapter)