Chapter 968: Enchanted Forest
The Deepest Labyrinth was the biggest and toughest dungeon in the entire continent. There were seven to eight entrances on the first floor distributed in remote corners of the continent and they were all guarded by countless powerful monsters. It was a huge challenge for players to simply find an entrance and they might even be eliminated before they found one if they were unlucky. The parties who successfully pa.s.sed the arduous test were viewed in a new light by others.
In this world, the Deepest Labyrinth represented rumors, sinister devils, mysterious traps, rare treasures, and countless powerful spells and equipment to the natives. There were mercenaries who partnered with adventurers in heading to that place occasionally, attempting to obtain some valuable treasures. But unlike players, they didn’t have the miraculous opportunity of reviving once they lost their lives…
“Heyah——!”
A ma.s.sive s.h.i.+ning s.h.i.+eld streaked a dazzling radiance in the forest, blasting away the monsters with the sudden burst of violent whirlwind. The half-a-meter-long bees flapped their wings and menacingly sprayed poisonous venom to stop the human intruders. But they only lasted for less than a second when suddenly, the whirlwind shredded their armored sh.e.l.ls like razor-sharp blade rays. Beads of dark green blood sprang up and scattered in the bl.u.s.tering winds.
At the next moment, a white, gentle brilliance shone and enfolded everything, purifying the lethal-looking streams of dark green blood instantly. When the radiance faded away, there were no signs of any monsters apart from the whirlwind-struck, devastated forest. The poisonous bees that swarmed the sky were nowhere to be seen anymore—not even their remains could be spotted.
“All done, Leader!”
Anne raised the s.h.i.+eld proudly and gestured to Rhode behind her. Then, she turned to Mini Bubble Gum with a wide grin while Mini Bubble Gum responded with a thrilled smile plastered across her face as they high-fived each other.
“Yeah!”
These two can’t be cured.
Rhode shrugged helplessly. Ever since that ‘pa.s.sionate’ night ended, he discovered some changes in the relations.h.i.+p between the young ladies in his harem. Perhaps it was easier for them to let their pride go after they saw one another naked because he realized that some of them had become much closer. For instance, Mini Bubble Gum and Anne. Both of them had similar personalities, were experts in close-combat, and often ran amok during battles. At this moment, their relations.h.i.+p had become even better.
“Seems like they’ve become really close, isn’t it, Rhode?”
Canary stood quietly beside him, narrowing her eyes and smiling at the two energetic young ladies. Rhode shrugged in silence, looked up at the azure sky, and heaved a sigh.
“Honestly, blue skies and white clouds are still the most pleasing to the eyes… Or maybe I was used to this.”
Rhode couldn’t find an entrance to the Deepest Labyrinth in the Void Territory despite using his system interface to locate one. He suspected that the entrances were buried underneath some ruins. In the end, he decided to head to the entrances in other regions. The Country of Light was a no go for him. Even though Mini Bubble Gum and Canary couldn’t wait to stir up trouble in the Country of Light, he decided to let the Country of Light off after considering the important people around him this time.
“Christie, how are you feeling?”
Rhode gazed at the little girl rather worriedly. Christie lifted her head and nodded with an adorable smile. Unlike in the past, Christie was now wearing a slightly thin white robe and a pair of dark brown high boots and was wrapped in a deep purple laced cloak. Judging from her appearance, she seemed like a wealthy young lady who was out sightseeing. Standing beside her was Bell who followed her quietly like a shadow, often glancing to the sides vigilantly.
This was the reason why Rhode forwent the entrance in the Country of Light and came to the Munn Kingdom’s border where the Enchanted Forest was. Of course, he didn’t inform Lydia about this. Even though he couldn’t roam around freely like a mercenary or overlord anymore, he wasn’t mindful about it.
He initially had decided to not bring Christie along. But to his surprise, the other ‘Christie’ requested to join him with the purpose of allowing Christie to adapt to her newfound powers. According to the other ‘Christie’, engaging in live battles was the best way to enhance one’s strength. Besides, there was also a need for Christie to get used to her strength so her body could adjust to the power and bloodline of a Deity Warden. In fact, even at this point in time, Rhode still couldn’t understand why the other ‘Christie’ chose to create a ‘doppelgänger’ in this plane of existence because according to the situation in High Cliff Village, Christie would have been sacrificed or killed if Rhode’s group didn’t arrive in time. He refused to believe that this was destined in the other ‘Christie’s’ life.
Even though he raised this question to the other ‘Christie’ in the past, she didn’t seem obliged to discuss it. She always skipped through the topic with a few perfunctory comments. Rhode wasn’t sure what att.i.tude she had with her ‘doppelgänger’. But through her care and concern, she obviously didn’t seem to have the intention of making Christie her vessel. If she decided to do so, Rhode would definitely not agree.
Before making this trip to the Deepest Labyrinth, he had considered the issues with manpower. Apart from bringing Canary and Mini Bubble Gum along, he also brought Christie and Bell. Initially, Angelina should have joined them, but after Erin arrived at the territory, he made her serve the moon princess instead. Even though Rhode had always been bustling about and didn’t seem like a ruler at all, he had actually predicted many problems and came up with means to resolve them. Even though the Country of Light couldn’t recover their forces during this time, they could still come up with several ways to stir trouble. This was why Rhode made Nell coordinate with Joey’s squad of thieves and a.s.sa.s.sins and investigate the immigrants. He knew that the Country of Light loved to instigate civilians as a means to cause trouble.
Rhode had no intention of letting them succeed. For that, he had specially requested Nell to be on standby and eliminate the threats when necessary.
He was certain that Nell understood what he meant. After all, she had lived in the society of Dark Elves for a long time.
The Void Territory was currently in a stable state. As Rhode’s Corpse Slave, Sara could monitor every corner of the territory 24/7. As soon as there was any strange occurrence, she would inform Gillian immediately. As for Gillian… He didn’t need to worry about her at all.
This was also why he was so a.s.sured to hand matters to others while he came to the Enchanted Forest.
The Enchanted Forest was located in the borders of the Munn Kingdom, the Country of Light, and the Country of Law and had an undetermined status due to many reasons. The main reason was that there were all sorts of terrifying and powerful monsters lurking within and ordinary armies couldn’t defeat them. One of the entrances to the Deepest Labyrinth was located deep inside the forest. It was known for its dangerous anomaly and no one was willing to step into the place at all. It was due to this that there was no need to dispatch military soldiers to manage the area.
Of course, the greed of humans often overpowered the fear of danger. There were some ‘Elf Hunters’ in the Country of Light who sneaked into the Country of Law via the Enchanted Forest, captured elves who were alone, and sold them back in the Country of Light. Of course, there were risks involved because there were several monster lords roaming the place. If the traffickers were unlucky, they would be killed ruthlessly. But even so, many groups of Elf Hunters existed because this was a highly lucrative business. Elves were the most valuable ‘playthings’ to the riches in the Country of Light. As long as the hunters caught and sold an elf, they could live the rest of their lives in luxury.
Normally, it was dangerous to enter the Enchanted Forest because one wouldn’t know when a monster would dash out of the dense woods. In such a tense atmosphere, n.o.body could relax and if they remained tense, they would be on the verge of going insane sooner or later. This was also one of the reasons why no one came to this place because they could hardly survive.
But this didn’t apply to Rhode at all.
After awakening the dragon soul power, he obtained several privileges of the dragon soul heir and one of them was the active skill of ‘Dragon Prestige’. When he activated this skill, the dragon aura in him would erupt and immediately permeate throughout the surroundings, forcing the monsters far away from him. It was due to this reason that his group had been strolling in the forest as though they were sightseeing. On the other hand, Mini Bubble Gum wasn’t idling around as she dragged Anne along in search of bees nest and destroyed them to their hearts’ content.
“Phew… It feels wonderful!”
Mini Bubble Gum stretched with a proud, satisfied look. After ensuring that Christie was doing well, Rhode walked up to Mini Bubble Gum and Anne and patted their heads.
“Alright, you’ve had enough. It’s time to leave now. There’s still a long distance before we reach the Deepest Labyrinth, so don’t waste anymore time. We…”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, he heard a series of loud explosions in the distance. Everyone turned to the roaring booms and witnessed bright flares, thick black smoke, and colorful, dazzling brilliances that forced them to narrow their eyes. Perhaps Christie and Bell couldn’t figure out what happened, but the others were veterans in the field. They immediately knew that it was a battle between spell casters.
“Oh-oh-oh. The show is finally starting. I’m bored to death, Leader. Let’s go!”
Mini Bubble Gum jumped up and down as she looked into the distance. She seemed as though she couldn’t wait to thrash both parties. On the other hand, even though Anne remained silent, she was obviously one who couldn’t stand loneliness, judging from her tossing the s.h.i.+eld and leaping up the tall tree. As for Canary, Christie, and Bell, they were waiting for Rhode to take the lead.
“Don’t start any trouble. Let’s go.”
Unlike the energetic Mini Bubble Gum, Rhode was apparently uninterested. Although they were currently not deep in the forest yet, they were still in an area where ordinary people didn’t dare step into. It could also be said that none of the monsters here were easy to deal with and yet, there were still people caught in a battle. It seemed like they were either dumb or confident enough in their abilities that they could take down their enemies and the curious monsters. No matter what, Rhode didn’t wish to get involved with their affairs.
“Sigh… Let’s go and take a look, Leader.”
Mini Bubble Gum said while pouting.
“What are you worried about? There won’t be any danger with me and Big Sister around. You see—Big Sister, Anne, Little Christie, Bell, and I—we are like the best five-women team in the entire Internet cafe! There’s nothing to be afraid of!”
… Can’t you describe it in another way?
Rhode twitched his brow and before he retorted, a flare shot up into the sky from the same location and burst into the dazzling pattern of a high tower.
“That’s the Mage Tower’s signal for help.”
Canary spoke, caressing Christie’s hair as though to protect her. Then, she turned to Rhode and he already knew exactly what she meant. At this moment, Anne who climbed all the way up the tall tree yelled.
“Ah. I see them, Leader. Those guys are being beaten up so badly! Should we go help them?”
Rhode pondered in silence before looking at Canary’s beautiful eyes. They exchanged looks briefly and Rhode let out a long sigh.
“Alright, let’s check it out.”