Chapter 18: Fox God Temple
……
The battle was finally over.
The girls, still shaken, collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
Even though they had won, there was no sense of joy. Everyone felt lost.
Why…
Did the power of the Rainbow Abyss fail?
Whether it was Lonis’s Crimson Lotus Hammer or Bai Ye’s Tree of Origin Collapse, they seemed to have lost their original effects… Instead, they seemed to have become energy sources for the puppet worms, making the worms even more difficult to deal with.
If it weren’t for
Elus’s final attack, the girls would have been surrounded by the worms and completely drained.
“E-Elus…”
“Hoo, that person in black should be the controller of these worms… and now that he’s gone, this place should be safe.”
“But?”
“Let’s leave first. This isn’t a place to talk.”
Elus gradually helped up the fallen girls… Fortunately, thanks to Lonis’s protection and Elus’s intervention, no one was seriously injured.
However, in contrast, Lonis and Elus were in a sorry state.
Their bodies were covered in black slime, their recently cleaned bodies stained by the filth again.
Although the slime didn’t seem toxic, it gave off a foul odor… It was as if they hadn’t bathed for days.
“Elus, are you alright?”
“Mm, I’m fine. But…”
“But…?”
“Hmph, your reaction just now wasn’t bad. Although it was a little slow, I’ll give you a passing grade.”
The girls walked out of the mushroom forest, and the Lizardmen were already waiting outside.
“G-Divine Envoy, how… how did you get like this?”
The Lizardmen were a bit at a loss seeing the dirt-covered Lonis… However, Elus stepped forward and said sternly, “You few, don’t you know what you should be doing?”
“Huh?”
“The Divine Envoy has purified those worms. Why aren’t you preparing some hot water to help the Divine Envoy clean her body?”
“Understood, I’ll go now!”
One hour later,
The exhausted girls sat in a spacious room.
Although it looked a bit simple, and there was no luxurious wooden furniture… this was the cleanest and most formal room in the Lizardmen village.
Normally, this was the auditorium the Lizardmen used for worship ceremonies, but now it was being used as a resting place for Miss Fox and her entourage.
……
“Elus, are we going to stay here temporarily?”
“Mm, the Lizardmen village holds too many mysteries. We must figure them out.”
……
After Elus finished cleaning herself, she walked over, her body still a little damp.
They had successfully reclaimed the mushroom forest and, naturally, received a warm welcome from the Lizardmen villagers – the excited villagers not only brought down hot spring water in water vats but also offered freshly cooked mushroom soup for everyone to taste.
However, Lonis’s mood was heavy, because she knew that what had just happened was by no means simple.
……
“Elus, why…”
“Mm, you want to ask why the puppet worms we saw this time are different from last time? It’s simple, because this time, the enemy deliberately ambushed us.”
“W-What?!”
“The Underground World is the enemy’s home turf. So the enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. Every move we make should not escape the enemy’s attention.”
“!”
“Because they knew we would help the Lizardmen, they set up an ambush in the Lizardmen’s mushroom forest.”
“Then the enemy’s goal is to capture us?”
Lonis seemed a little worried… She didn’t care about herself, but she was very worried about her companions being violated by monsters.
Even a tentacle monster wouldn’t be acceptable, because Lonis was once a hero, and she instinctively hoped all girls would be safe.
……
“Mm, the fundamental goal is to capture us, but it’s okay even if they don’t. I think the reason we were attacked this time is that the enemy wanted to test their weapons.”
“Test weapons?”
“That’s right, the puppet worms we saw are a new type of weapon they are cultivating. And the top experts among humans, their power comes from the Rainbow Abyss. If the enemy can develop worms that counteract the Rainbow Abyss, then humans will be in a tough fight.”
“Ugh!”
What Elus said was exactly what the girls were worried about.
How powerful the Rainbow Abyss was, was already evident from the battle of Insoraia… Milra mobilized nearly a million demon race allied troops and released the Yixiu core as a fatal blow, but it was still countered by the power of the Tree Abyss.
And now, if the Rainbow Abyss’s power could not be brought into effect, but instead became the food source for the puppet worms, wouldn’t everything be reversed?
Their weapons would become the enemy’s resources.
The evil tide of worms would cover the sky and swallow everyone.
……
Thinking of that possibility, the girls became a little nervous. And Elus’s brows were furrowed, as if she were pondering some possibility.
And at this moment…
Su Ling jumped in fright.
“Wah, who’s touching me? It tickles!”
“Su-Su Ling…?”
“Eh? Everyone is looking at me… Wait, that means…”
The pink-haired girl quietly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
The girls were sitting in a circle, which meant that no one could have come behind Su Ling to quietly touch her back.
“Little Luo, is it you… touching me with your tail?”
“H-How is that possible?”
Lonis retorted, and at this moment, more strange things appeared before the girls’ eyes.
A gust of cold wind blew through, and the room suddenly became several degrees colder.
Lonis inexplicably felt a chill down her spine, and the candles that were burning suddenly went out.
“Wah!”
“Everyone, don’t panic.”
Cécile quickly took out an oil lamp, and at this moment…
The entire hall suddenly lit up.
But this time, the light source was not the candles in the corners of the room, but the most gorgeous and exquisite fox statue in the auditorium.
A faint blue light appeared in the fox’s eyes, burning quietly, and then before the girls’ eyes, a blurry human figure appeared.
“Wahhh!”
Su Ling buried her head in Lonis’s big tail, trembling.
And at this moment, the figure actually spoke:
“Hahaha, I was wondering who was impersonating me and eating for free~~ I didn’t expect… it’s actually a cute little fox girl, and a few beautiful girls.”
The voice of the light and shadow was somewhat ethereal, not seeming to come from this world.
Elus shielded everyone and questioned:
“Who are you…?”
“You came to my temple and you still ask who I am?”
“You are… the Fox God that the Lizardmen worship?”
“That’s right.”
The ethereal light and shadow nodded, and then said, “Originally, I wanted to teach you a lesson. But since you drove away those annoying insects for me, I’ll entertain you.”
“What?”
“Tomorrow night at 10 o’clock, come to the cave west of the village with the mark of fox fire carved on it. Walk to the depths, and I will answer all your questions.”
