Chapter 819: Exposure and Escape, Delagosi

In a corner of the spacious, ornate, and brightly lit Helien courtyard, Xia Duo hid in the shadows, carefully observing the Gold Elves who were exchanging toasts not far away.

This banquet, which lasted until near dawn, seemed to be held to entertain a certain distinguished guest; almost every Elf at the table was, whether overtly or subtly, showing reverence, worship, awe, or even sycophancy toward that guest.

Xia Duo did not know the identity of the distinguished guest being entertained by the Helien family, but he knew that as long as he disrupted this banquet, he would certainly be able to draw a large amount of "hatred."

However, with so many Elves present, and very likely many Mages among them, Xia Duo worried that acting rashly might make it difficult to escape, so he decided to observe a bit longer.

"Hahahaha!"

Just as Xia Duo was hesitating over whether to act, a burst of laughter suddenly came from the banquet side, and Xia Duo looked over at the sound.

It seemed the distinguished guest had told some joke, causing the group of Helien family Elves to burst into loud laughter as if they were supporting actors.

Xia Duo couldn't help but move a little closer, wanting to hear clearly what they were talking about.

But when he approached to within a few steps of the banquet, he heard that distinguished guest suddenly speak, "I told you, that little guy wouldn't be able to resist coming over to eavesdrop, look—"

Little guy? Eavesdropping?

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo felt a sense of foreboding. Sure enough, the next moment, he discovered that the surrounding Magic Net seemed to undergo some subtle changes, forcibly knocking him out of his shadow-incarnation state and exposing him under the bright light.

"Ah! A Drow!"

Some members of the Helien family stood up in terrified screams, as if they would leave immediately if anything went wrong, but more remained calm and seated, merely casting their gazes toward the distinguished guest who had just spoken.

At the same time, realizing he was exposed, Xia Duo triggered the 【Teleportation Mark】 on his body almost without hesitation.

This spell was a pre-cast spell; in essence, he had already completed the teleportation, only forcibly delaying it in place. As long as he "gave up resistance," he would immediately teleport to the location where he had pre-set the mark.

Under normal circumstances, even a 【Dimensional Anchor】 would find it difficult to block such a teleportation spell.

But now, Xia Duo had no confidence. The distinguished guest from just before was definitely a powerful Mage; he could even discover him while he was hiding in the shadows, so it was not impossible for him to block the teleportation effect pre-cast by the 【Teleportation Mark】.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario did not occur; the sudden change in the scenery before his eyes made him realize that he had ultimately managed to leave successfully.

But merely leaving was not true safety; he immediately and quickly wiped away the traces of his recent teleportation and continued to teleport.

At the same time, at the Helien family banquet site.

The Helien Patriarch looked at the distinguished guest with some surprise, his expression exaggerated, "My Lord, that Drow just escaped like that?!"

He knew that the true identity of this distinguished guest was an incomparably noble high-level Mage, who had only come to Helien City in person to give instructions on some important matters because of an old acquaintance with his uncle.

But he did not expect that this Lord, having clearly already found the Drow, would let him go for some unknown reason.

The Helien Patriarch dared not question him; he could only use a questioning tone to remind the other party that letting a Drow who might have heard their plans go could likely have an adverse effect on the plan.

"Do not worry, I will handle it."

Suo En said in a flat tone, then glanced at the various expressions of the Elves at the banquet; his interest dropped to the lowest point, so he said, "I have other matters, so I will not disturb you further!"

After speaking, he stood up, wanting to leave.

This frightened the Helien Patriarch, who hurriedly stepped forward to plead, "My Lord, has the Helien family failed to provide proper hospitality? Please stay one more day, and we will certainly satisfy you."

"No need, I am very satisfied with the Helien family's hospitality. For the sake of your uncle, one final reminder: great events are near, take control of Helien City as soon as possible; I want there to be only one voice here!"

"Yes, yes! My Lord, the only voice in Helien City is support for the Delagosi family, the great Delagosi family for ten thousand years!"

"Very good!"

Having heard a satisfactory answer, Suo En's mood was quite good, though at the thought of the tasks ahead, he still felt somewhat irritable.

Ignoring the Helien Patriarch's slightly deliberate flattery, Suo En left directly.

On the other side, Xia Duo, who had teleported multiple times in a panic, had lost his bearings; the only thing he could be sure of was that he was still within the borders of Siluwende.

It was just that the map he brought up from the Underdark did not contain the entire territory of Siluwende; only the part near the Underground Passage was relatively detailed.

"Damn it!"

Xia Duo cursed under his breath. Without time to check his current location in detail, he once again chose a Fuzzy Teleportation at maximum distance.

Since leaving Helien City, his luck seemed to have run out; not only was there the invisible pressure brought by that mysterious guest of the Helien family weighing on his heart, but there was also the persistent, real-world search from Duomutuosi City.

The so-called Scrying spell was actually very similar to radar on Earth.

When the technical level was not significantly different, if one side could scry the target, the target would also perceive the scrying.

As for avoidance, concealment, and camouflage, they did not essentially deviate from the scope of Scrying spells; they were merely different Applications of the Perception Field.

The problem with Duomutuosi City was not major; although the constant searching was annoying, it was ultimately within his ability to handle.

As long as the spell for Avoidance of Detection on his body did not fail for a day, the other party would be unable to determine his true location for a day.

But that mysterious guest of the Helien family was not so easy to deal with.

Xia Duo had just discovered that the trap he had set at his previous stop had been triggered, which meant the other party had already caught up!

Although he had wiped away all the teleportation traces he thought existed, the problem was that he had no way of knowing what special methods that Gold Elf Mage possessed.

More seriously, it was very likely that the other party was just toying with him, and in reality, had long since discovered his current location and could teleport directly in front of him.

This profound uncertainty brought even greater pressure to Xia Duo.

The other party had triggered the trap he had set earlier; regardless of the other party's psychology, Xia Duo could only assume that the other party had not discovered his true location, and he should continue to run.

Until he was truly certain of safety, or the other party jumped directly in front of him.

Up to this point, Xia Duo had only been transferring via teleportation, and the traps he had left behind several times in succession had been triggered; he finally confirmed—

That distinguished guest of the Helien family was truly able to track his teleportation traces.

For a moment, Xia Duo felt both panicked and excited. The panic was naturally the worry of being caught, while the excitement was that if he could know the other party's tracking method, he might be able to improve his own Teleportation Spell.

Of course, if there were improvements in Scrying spells and the Perception Field, that would be even better!