Chapter 95: The Banshee and Blazing City (Seeking First Subscription)

"It can't be that they're here to look for me, right?"

As the surging blast wave gradually subsided.

Rod stepped aside, watching the great army of Blazing City march past in a grand procession.

The salamander-folk and humans in the ranks glanced back at him every now and then.

A mage carrying a long staff came jogging toward him from behind.

"Mr.! Mr.!"

He was thin, wearing a great mage's hat wider than his shoulders.

His skin was considerably paler than that of the humans in the army.

Lily came over from behind.

She pouted, brushed the leaves off her head, and cast a cleaning spell on herself.

"Legendary spell."

"Mm, don't act rashly."

Rod had finally witnessed the might of a seventh-tier legendary mage specializing in destruction.

He couldn't help but think.

If he had stood at the center of the blast and taken it head-on with 【Dragon Scale Art】, he wasn't sure if he could have withstood it.

The army mage ran up to the two of them.

"Oh! And a halfling young lady as well."

"Good afternoon to you both. My name is Torbert, the accompanying protocol mage of the Blazing City army. My sincere apologies for disturbing you."

Having said that, this Torbert gave a slight bow.

Seeing he was at least polite, the two of them.

Each gave their name in return.

"Mr. Rod, Miss Lily—are you heading to Emerald City, or toward Blazing City?"

"There was still someone at the bottom of that temple. We had originally intended to rescue her."

The two did not answer directly.

Torbert was taken aback for a moment.

He looked toward the front.

Then he nodded at the empty air, saying "Alright," "Understood."

Rod knew he was using a spell akin to 【Far Voice Chain】 to communicate with someone.

And the one he was communicating with was most likely the legendary mage in the ranks.

As Torbert spoke, he suddenly let out a breath of relief.

He turned to the two of them and said with a smile:

"Good thing my lord sensed someone below and set up a protective field in advance. She should be fine. You two are awfully brave—that was a seventh-tier Dread Beast."

"We had no intention of taking it on; we were only focused on saving people."

"That's brave enough! Squads F12 and E8, step out—head to the blast site and search for survivors."

"Copy!"

"Copy!"

The words had barely fallen.

Two squads of ten peeled off from the column and headed toward the temple.

Lily asked, puzzled, "Will that work? Won't it get in the way of your mission?"

Honestly, she was a little surprised by Blazing City's good attitude and warmth.

Rod, on the other hand, was somewhat wary.

He still remembered the Holy Fire Squad and the army being in cahoots.

He himself had even killed a wave of Holy Fire Squad pursuers.

"It won't get in the way. As long as they catch up later, it's fine. This isn't some secret mission anyway—we're just heading to Emerald City to bring back that jade tree after it got corrupted."

Rod and Lily exchanged a glance.

Each could see the doubt in the other's eyes.

An entire army on the move, led by a legendary mage no less, just to transport a corrupted, ruined jade tree?

But army business was never something one could pry into.

The two nodded, said they still had to go rescue someone, and hurriedly took their leave.

About half an hour later.

The Blazing City squad cleared a passage through the collapsed temple, soon revealing the banshee within the protective field.

She had long been knocked unconscious by the shockwaves of the legendary spell, lying beside Luen's corpse.

After she was fully moved outside.

Rod gave the soldiers who had helped a little reward for their trouble.

The two squad leaders were a human and a salamander-folk respectively.

Faced with Rod's coins, the salamander-folk squad leader seemed even more pleased.

He couldn't help but ask Rod where he was headed.

And when he got the answer "Emerald City," he said with a smile:

"Emerald City, huh. Honestly, I wouldn't really recommend you go there."

"Why?"

Lili asked.

Just as the other party was about to answer, that human corporal gave two light coughs and looked at them with a warning gaze.

The fire lizardman captain shrugged, unwilling to say anything more, and soon led his squad away.

The sun sank toward the horizon, its golden evening light spilling across the land.

The labyrinth's temperature dropped sharply, and a wave of heat rose upward from the temperature differential.

"What do you think?"

Rod watched their retreating backs, gradually distorted by the heat shimmer.

"Doesn't look like a good thing. I don't believe a legendary mage would go just for a single enchanted jade tree."

Lili said expressionlessly.

Same here.

Rod thought to himself.

An army like that wouldn't move very fast. He needed to hurry back and have Gemma lead them around Blazing City on the return trip.

"Then what about her?"

Lili pointed at Chris on the ground.

Emerald City looked like it was in for more trouble; tossing this stupid, reckless banshee back was obviously not a good choice.

Seeing a thing through to the end had always been the Chivalrous Alliance's principle.

Casually throwing her back went against her aesthetics.

"We'll talk as we walk."

Rod slung Chris over his shoulder, barely feeling the weight.

"Actually, you could hand her over to me. I have an enslavement spell—re-educating, ahem, teaching her is certainly not out of the question."

Lili slowly turned her gaze over.

A pair of dead-fish eyes looked at him skeptically.

"What kind of look is that? Please, she's an incorporeal being, okay?"

"A man who keeps a succubus—I wouldn't doubt for a second that he'd do something out of line."

As she spoke, Lili suddenly recalled the look in Rod's eyes when her breastplate had slipped.

Her expression instantly became a little unnatural.

"Don't you slander me! I'm chas—mmph, I'm not talking to you anymore."

Rod had been about to say "keep myself clean," but the moment he thought about having done it with a tree not long ago, his mood instantly soured.

Damn it!

Yvette's given me a damn trauma!

"Fine, it's the best we can do. I'll leave her to you. I hope you can teach her how to be a proper banshee."

"Don't worry, I'm great at teaching. Just the other day I taught a dragon girl how to maintain her health."

【Nu Yi Cheng Gong】

【Enslavement Target 7: Chris Holder Frederickson】

【Race: Banshee】

【Age: 21】

【Obedience: 31】

【Evaluation: An intelligent race converted after the death of their physical body. They lose all memories from when they had a body, becoming new members of the continent. Note: Banshees are compulsive liars and let out hideous wails the moment they learn of anyone's death—a truly vile-tempered race.

However, they can shift between the physical and the incorporeal, and that experience is rare on the continent. Don't miss out.】

Rod once again ignored the teasing in the evaluation.

Low obedience was normal. He had plenty of time anyway—more than enough to train her step by step.

One day later.

When Rod arrived at the relay station outside the labyrinth.

He was pleasantly surprised to find Gemma, sitting on her magical puppet, lingering nearby.

The goblin spotted Rod at once.

She excitedly waved at him.

A quick exchange revealed that she had felt uneasy ever since Rod left.

Gemma, who always trusted her intuition, decisively packed her things and came to wait at the relay station before the labyrinth.

And when she saw Blazing City's army, she was all the more glad she had.

Forgot to write the launch acknowledgements. Here I'd like to thank all the bros who've supported me—wishing you good health and may all your wishes come true.

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(End of chapter)