Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 57: The Wicked Curse

“Kill them all? What nonsense. Who doesn’t know how to boast?” Uncle Ma sneered.

Teest didn’t respond. He was scrutinizing Nol’s features—there was no sign of collapse, despair, or any other unusual expressions on Nol’s face. Nol was just smiling, his face full of satisfaction, as if he had found the “solution”.

Even though they all knew what that solution implied in terms of slaughter and bloodshed.

…It was truly great.

Teest was staring intently at Nol. Every time he thought he had seen through Nol, this man always managed to give him a new surprise.

“What are you going to do?” Teest’s voice became somewhat hoarse with excitement.

“I haven’t figured out the details. It’s my first time considering annihilating the enemy.” Nol scratched his head embarrassedly. “But the direction is confirmed. The next steps are simple… I will find a way within two days.”

“Mm, but I need to capture a monster to study. Uncle Ma, do you know how to exit the ‘dream within a dream’ of the Nightmare?”

His tone was as if he was saying, “The lightbulb at home is broken, so I’ll buy a new one in two days.”

Ma Zhigang inhaled sharply. “What are you thinking—”

“Don’t worry. I’ve said we won’t force you to leave or force you to take us to the queen.” Nol smiled. “Once we organize the plan, I’ll discuss it with you again.”

Uncle Ma sneered coldly. “Then you have to be able to catch me.”

“The magic that guards here is an evolved version of ‘Dream Manipulation’, ‘Dream Dominion’. Only the ruler of the succubus tribe can use it.” Nol explained calmly, “‘Dream Dominion’ hides the succubus territory on the Dream Edge, like an invisible shield.”

“If I’m right, those monsters are surrounding this shield from all sides, just waiting for it to break. The succubi that left the shelter of the shield to feed would directly fall into the pile of monsters.”

Nol probably understood the truth behind the disappearance of the succubi.

The stronger the ruler of the race, the larger the shield. In the early years, when the border of the succubus territory was wide and there weren’t many Nightmares, some lucky succubi could successfully return home after feeding.

However, as time passed, maybe the number of those terrifying monsters surged, maybe the ruler of the succubi weakened generation by generation—or maybe both—the shield shrank, and monsters densely surrounded it, and the leaving succubi naturally died.

A simple but brutal reality.

“We could encounter monsters so close to the succubi lair. The current queen’s condition must be very poor, and the shield has shrunk further,” Nol continued.

Ma Zhigang’s expression darkened. “I know all these damn things, so what? What does this have to do with how you catch me?”a

Nol stopped next to Teest, who was sitting cross-legged, his fingers lightly brushing through some silver hair.

He answered almost gently, “The reduced protection magic is easy to calculate. I can calculate the queen’s position—I mean, real-time location.”

“You know, this is the best threat I have ever heard.” Teest looked up at him happily.

Uncle Ma’s face instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. “You damn fool…”

“If we really wanted to force a meeting with the queen, I wouldn’t tell you all this.”

Nol’s tone didn’t carry a trace of anger. He still had a weird sense of sincerity. “You might as well teach us how to leave. Otherwise, we can only follow you—I honestly don’t want to waste time on this kind of harmful and unbeneficial thing.”

Uncle Ma’s skeletal face twitched for a moment, and he looked at Nol again. The old man’s eyes were no longer careless but had become much more cautious.

“I can ‘Travel Through Dreams’,” Ma Zhigang said irritably. “You know everything. I won’t explain. You guys quickly do whatever you need with the monster, and I’ll get you out, okay? After that, you do whatever you have to. Just don’t bother me.”

“Thank you.” Nol bowed his head to him.

[Travel Through Dreams] was a passive skill that a few succubi were born with.

If the succubi possessed this skill, they could jump directly from one dream to another, entering and exiting freely between dreams and reality without preparing complex tools and magic rituals like their peers.

Most uniquely, they could pull other living and non-living things directly into the dream realm.

In general, [Travel Through Dreams] was very suitable for protecting specific targets and was likely a skill that Malvina inherently possessed.

‘[Travel Through Dreams], huh…’ Nol looked at the ground covered with fallen leaves and fell into contemplation.

……

Anakin decided to wait until the theoretical nightfall. If the “brothers” couple didn’t return for a long time, she and Solo couldn’t keep waiting like this.

Malvina’s room also had a timer hourglass. The time was gradually approaching midnight. The hazy sky outside the window didn’t change at all. Solo went to draw the curtains and turned on the light, creating a bit of a nighttime atmosphere in the room.

He honored his agreement with Anakin and didn’t inform anyone in Hermitage about the information of “peculiar monsters in the succubus territory”.

“According to the rules, I should inform ‘Mentor’ of important information. This is serious misconduct.”

Solo sat a bit dispiritedly by the bed, tearing blank paper piece by piece. “Sister, Hermitage studies these, and they are neutral. Why can’t we speak out? …Those higher-ups definitely have better judgment than us.”

Anakin crossed her arms. Leaning against the wall, her gaze was fixed on some non-existent point in the air. “I don’t want to create conflict.”

“What conflict could there be?”

“You think the subordinates will believe everything the leaders say?” Anakin said lightly. “Besides, the Temple of Life specifically chose the explanation everyone wanted to accept. Didn’t you have any doubts?”

“But their explanation has no issues.”

Solo, rubbing his face in pain, said, “Mr. Eugene’s explanations are all reasonable, and the Temple has been helping everyone. There’s no reason to lie about such things… I also want to ask, sister, how are you so sure that they have issues?”

“Firstly, that Malvina was almost seamlessly replaced. It’s not that easy to enter a succubus lair,” Anakin said.

“That’s too absolute. Didn’t the succubus say her personality changed? And she often goes out alone to find the queen. The possibility of being replaced is obviously the greatest,” Solo countered quietly.

“Secondly, that old man’s shirt was sewn too meticulously,” Anakin mentioned with a bitter smile.

“…Huh?”

“You can tell, the person who sewed it takes life seriously, at least the kind who finds joy in suffering and plans to live meticulously here.” Anakin said, “If it really was a monster created by the Eternal Church, would they have such leisure and elegance?”

“Maybe the Eternal Church thought of this and deliberately misled you—” Solo just wanted to continue when suddenly his mouth snapped shut, unable to make a sound.

Anakin put away her wand and sighed heavily. “See, even we with such a good relationship can argue. That’s why I said I don’t want to create conflict.”

Solo rubbed his mouth. His lips were sealed by a silencing spell, only making unclear mumbles.

Anakin seemed conflicted, looking at her wand and then her toes.

Seeing the troubled look on Anakin, Solo gradually calmed down. Yes, they weren’t ordinary guild members. Bluntly put, everyone here had close relationships, and he guessed Anakin also wanted to inform “Amazon” about this matter.

However, she didn’t reach for her wand.

Only the slight sound of the hourglass could be heard in the room. Finally, the last grain of sand fell leisurely, stopping on top of the pile.

Midnight had arrived, and the hourglass automatically turned over. At this moment, the room door was abruptly knocked.

“Come out, humans,” the voice of the Succubus Doni rang out, more panic than indifference in his tone. “Te… Landus and the others are back!”

The succubi were all crowded in the square in front of the dungeon. Although they looked mummified, the scene was still spectacular when gathered like this. Anakin glanced around. There were thousands of succubi. This was indeed a large tribe.

When the two Players approached, the succubi quickly made way.

‘Interesting,’ Anakin thought. Disdain and respect sometimes had the same effect.

The two Players soon saw the object of attention—

A monster covered in arms around its neck was tightly wrapped in vines, struggling on the ground. It was pawing madly at the ground with the palms on its “head”, emitting an incomprehensible scream.

An ominous aura surrounded it, giving Anakin goosebumps.

“We didn’t find the queen, but we found this thing in the forest.” Teest kicked the horrifying monster lightly. “They attack with dream within a dream. It’s conservatively estimated that there are tens of thousands.”

Nol raised his head, showing his bruised neck to the succubi. To enhance his credibility, he deliberately didn’t heal the marks on his wrists and neck.

The succubi finally showed some emotion, whispering like ripples in the water. Many succubi guessed the sad fate of the missing ones, and the sobbing in the whispers became more and more intense, like ripples caused by raindrops.

But not a single succubus in the field collapsed or went mad, to Nol’s surprise. The atmosphere felt somewhat familiar, and Nol couldn’t help but recall the day he first arrived and buried the tragically deceased college student with his neighbors.

These succubi were very much like his initial neighbors. They had no excess energy left to despair.

“It took us a great deal of effort to capture this one that was left behind.” Nol questioned angrily, “You all never explained that there were such risks in the selection of the heir. My partner and I need an explanation—we’ve seen ordinary monsters, but we’ve never seen this kind before!”

“What exactly happened to Her Majesty? What are these things? We need more detailed explanations!” Teest feigned tearing up, “painfully” putting an arm around Nol’s shoulder. “Yes, I almost doubted everyone’s sincerity…I came to help, but you keep concealing the truth time and time again. This has been a scam from the start, right?”

“If so, I’d rather accept the punishment for breaching the contract… My partner can heal me. I believe the pain from the punishment will never be greater than the betrayal of my compatriots.”

Anakin perked up. Here comes the NPC key event!

“This is the Demon King’s—” But before she could finish, she was pushed aside by Succubus Doni.

Doni rushed to Teest, kneeling halfway. “It’s not like that, sir. It’s not like that! This is also the first time we’ve seen such an ominous creature.”

After saying this, he bit his jerky-like lips, as if making some kind of resolution.

“You brought very, very valuable information. As…as a return, I will thoroughly explain the detailed information about Her Majesty. We… um, please change to a more private place.”

Teest and Nol exchanged glances before calming their anger. “Let’s go.”

‘Never mind,’ Anakin thought. ‘It’s the succubi’s exclusion phase again. It doesn’t matter if I wait for them to finish talking.’

“…Wait.”

As he was passing by Anakin, Nol stopped and said stiffly, “I want to bring our human companions.”

Doni subconsciously wanted to refute, but his gaze lingered on the frightening bruise on Nol’s neck, and then looked at Teest’s face, which contained a hidden warning, and could only bitterly say “fine.”

……

Anakin’s rare good mood dissipated the moment she stepped into the conference room—

The door of the room shut directly behind her, sealing with seven layers of magic. The atmosphere was oppressively terrifying. If it weren’t for the fact that Doni was the only succubus present, Anakin would have suspected that the succubi were planning to silence them.

“Before we start, I want to ask a question.” Everyone sat around the round table while Nol crossed his fingers. “Our companions should have done some investigation…”

“Yes, the two have investigated Knight Malvina’s room, and we didn’t stop them.” Doni’s voice was somewhat tense.

“I see.” Nol turned to the two Players. “Did you find anything?”

Solo subconsciously looked at Anakin, who paused for half a second before smiling and responding. “No, we found nothing—Ah!”

Before she could finish her sentence, countless golden threads shot out from under the table, binding her and Solo tightly to their chairs.

“Excuse me.”

A voice sweet as honey water came from behind her. Teest had left his seat at some point. He bent over and swiftly took Anakin’s magic wand.

“How can the two of you lie to your companions? This isn’t a good habit.”

Anakin was blank for a second.

These two NPCs…

“What do you want to do?” Rogue Solo was already yelling, horrified to find that his [Lockpicking] skill was ineffective against these beautiful golden threads.

His [Lockpicking] had been invincible before. This had never happened!

Wait, golden threads? Golden threads…?! Golden threads—!!!

Solo froze on the spot.

Anakin also came to her senses, shivering all over and nearly shrieking, “Are you the Mad Monk?!”

Teest looked at Nol, somewhat aggrieved. “You see, honey. This is the reaction I wanted.”

Nol pretended not to see.

Anakin slumped in her chair. She knew they must be hiding their identities when she found out these two weren’t brothers. But this…this was too much!

She didn’t know whether to be shocked that the Mad Monk was as handsome as a mainline NPC or that the Mad Monk actually had a husband. Speaking of which, that black-haired young man who called himself “Ross” seemed to be fully aware. Where did this supervillain come from?

Are they going to die?

This was what she thought, somewhat blankly. Coming from the Temple, she naturally knew of the “glorious” deeds of the Mad Monk. Anakin was a person who feared pain very much. She firmly believed that she couldn’t withstand half a minute of bloody torture.

But she didn’t want to die yet…

Anakin’s eyes were sour, and tears were about to fall. Beside her, Solo had already started to snort loudly, twisting like a worm. “Wuwu… Wuwuwu, we should have brought Eugene in… Wu…”

“Oh, so Mr. Eugene is outside. Thank you for informing us. You’re so kind.” Teest patted Solo on the shoulder with a smile, and Solo choked, looking like he was going to pass out.

“Stop messing around, Teest.” Nol sighed heavily. He had the illusion of watching a cat playing with a mouse.

Play with the people of the Eternal Church if you want but spare the normal ones.

“Ah, fine.” Teest stood up straight, went behind Nol, and circled his shoulders. The stolen priestess’ wand was now pressed against Nol’s throat, causing the mark on Nol’s neck to quickly disappear.

“We’re sorry. We don’t intend to harm the two of you. It’s just that the matter is of great importance, so we can only forcibly keep you here.” Nol put one hand on Teest’s forearm, apologizing to Anakin with a smile.

Anakin trembled all over, looking increasingly panicked.

“As for the specific actions, please hear the whole story before deciding.” Nol felt the weight of Teest on his shoulders. “We swear we won’t hurt the two of you. If you are not reassured, we can sign a formal agreement.”

“Tsk.” Teest clicked his tongue.

“I’m serious.” Nol muttered back.

Hearing this, the two Players finally weren’t as panicked.

Maybe they realized, the Mad Monk’s binding was relatively gentle—he really just fixed them firmly to the chairs. The force was just right. There was no bad bruising on their various parts.

“Okay, okay.” Seeing that the other party had no intention to kill temporarily, Anakin barely squeezed out a response.

Succubus Doni had been trapped on the Dream Edge for a long time and obviously didn’t know about the Mad Monk. He blankly watched this “infighting” until four pairs of eyes focused on Doni’s face, and then he came to his senses.

“Ah…” he uttered numbly. “Yes, yes… the situation with Her Majesty…”

Having said that, Doni stood up and took a deep breath.

“Lord Teest, you’re a succubus. You must be able to see. This place has been long guarded by ‘Dream Dominion’, and the next ruler also has to maintain this magic.”

Teest was still leaning on the back of Nol’s chair, loosely embracing Nol. “Mm, continue.”

He knew about this matter early on.

“Even the Great Queen Hyacinth couldn’t support such complex magic uninterruptedly… To be foolproof, the ruler must wear a magical ornament called ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ to enhance their own abilities.”

Anakin held her breath, Solo’s sobbing stopped, and even Nol’s gaze was more focused.

“But there has been debate within the tribe about that set of ornaments. In fact, the current queen isn’t the only one who has fallen into madness.”

“The Great Queen Hyacinth committed suicide inexplicably, and her successors either killed themselves or were obsessed with bewilderment grass, eventually weakening and dying… Our lifespan should be around four hundred years, but our rulers rarely live to two hundred years… Even a few died before a hundred.”

Doni twisted his branch-like fingers.

“So some people suspect that there may be a wicked curse on the ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.”

“Impossible!” Nol stood up straight away.

The author has something to say:

Anakin: Help, it’s a gay pervert—!!!

↑ Definitely from the heart.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 56: The Gatekeeper

“Oh, I understand now. You’re also from Joy Garden… But why should I help you two?”

The succubus neighbor sat cross-legged in the bushes, her eyes occasionally glancing in the direction of the gathering monsters, appearing quite nervous.

She wore a standard white old man’s shirt with a loose coat over it and large, coarse shorts, evidently modified from a cloak. This neighbor had long hair that was roughly cut, hanging tousled and frayed at the back of her head. Her tail swished irritably against the ground, making her movements quite crude.

After listening to Nol explain the situation, the neighbor showed no sign of movement. Whether hearing “this is a game-like real world” or “there are many Earth compatriots here”, she displayed a face of indifference as if the end of the world didn’t concern her.

“Don’t you want to go home?”

Nol was somewhat surprised at this person’s attitude, suspecting that even if he said, “The ground under your feet is all made of chocolate crumbs and cheese,” this neighbor’s expression wouldn’t change.

The skeleton-like succubus sneered, “I am Ma Zhigang. You’ve heard of me, living in Joy Garden, right? All you people babble all day. You think I don’t know.”

Nol’s expression suddenly stiffened.

Teest curiously looked at the succubus, then at Nol. [You know her?]

Nol was a bit at a loss for how to explain. He calmed his emotions for a few seconds before accepting the fact that “the young female succubus in front of him is actually the neighborhood gatekeeper”.

Most of Joy Garden’s gatekeepers worked in shifts and were external staff hired by the property management. Only Uncle Ma was both a gatekeeper and a homeowner. He was notorious for his bad temper, maintaining a stern face every day, and wasn’t easy to talk to.

However, no owner had openly complained, mainly because Uncle Ma’s life experience was too… extraordinary.

Ma Zhigang, in his fifties, was born in a northern rural area. He lost his parents in his teenage years and grew up under the care of others. He didn’t do well in school, and right after graduating from junior high, he became an apprentice tailor. It was said he had some underground experiences.

But he was smart, hardworking, and lucky. After years of struggle, he went from being an apprentice to a clothing factory manager, accumulating assets well over eight figures.

His wife passed away due to postpartum complications, leaving behind a daughter. Ma Zhigang never remarried and raised his daughter by himself. She excelled academically and professionally, marrying a well-matched elite.

Uncle Ma, having a house, money, no illness, no disasters, and an accomplished daughter and son-in-law, was once the envy of many middle-aged and elderly people in Joy Garden.

However, last year, Ma Zhigang’s daughter jumped off the roof. She died on the spot, leaving a one-month-old baby.

…Thus, the legend of Uncle Ma came to an end.

No one knew what happened. Everyone heard that Uncle Ma sold his retirement house and the clothing factory. He moved into his daughter’s house and became the gatekeeper of Joy Garden.

Uncle Ma was a decent person—diligent and responsible—but had a temper like a stone in a pit. Out of a feeling nearly akin to pity, the owners tolerated Uncle Ma’s stinky and tough attitude.

However, people still mentioned him from time to time, and even Nol knew about these things, proving his fame.

[I guess he has nothing to miss over there.] Nol summarized after recalling for a moment.

[It seemed he’s a pitiful person,] Teest thought silently.

Whether Ma Zhigang was pitiable, Nol really didn’t dare to confirm. After his daughter’s death, Uncle Ma’s spirit was still as energetic as before. No one knew what he was thinking.

Even now, Nol couldn’t figure out this man’s thoughts. He never interacted with Uncle Ma.

“Enough, don’t bother explaining. I don’t feel like going back, nor do I want to go with you two. You either kill me or let me go,” Malvina… No, Uncle Ma said, grinding his teeth, his hand gripping his modified crowbar.

Nol saw the black bloodstains of the “Thousand-Hand Nightmare” above.

“This succubus tribe will be annihilated. Do you know that?” Nol cautiously said.

Uncle Ma grunted. “I can’t do anything about the rain or my mother getting married. What can I do? I am already in this mess!”

“You will also die,” Teest, the onlooker, helpfully added.

“Then let it be!” Uncle Ma agreed readily.

Nol, Teest: “……” Well, this was their first encounter with a neighbor with such a unique attitude.

“But you’re still resisting.” Teest pointed to his crowbar.

Uncle Ma: “What are you talking about? I don’t care about dying or living. But one has to choose the way to die, right? Are you going to eat shit if I give it to you?”

Teest’s smile twitched, and Nol proactively touched his forearm, preparing for any possibility.

“You also saved us,” Nol said.

“Then I regret it. If I had known you two would talk so much nonsense, I would have let that thing chat with you two.” Uncle Ma’s neck stiffened, and his face was full of disdain.

“We plan to look around for other neighbors, and we are trying to save this succubus tribe now,” Nol continued patiently. “I won’t force you to assist us. Of course, if you are willing—”

“Unwilling. Just leave,” Uncle Ma replied instantly.

Nol: “……”

He rubbed his temples and cleared his throat. “Alright, at least allow me to ask you one question. How did you become the ‘Succubus Malvina’? This information can help others. Please be sure to tell me.”

Uncle Ma might be grumpy, but he wasn’t a sinister person. He could at least meet this minimum requirement.

Nol was truly curious about the size difference between Uncle Ma and the other succubi—he didn’t look like the type keen on survival, and the possibility of him stealing food was indeed slim.

Uncle Ma was silent for a while. “Alright, alright. That day I was sleeping at home, and suddenly I felt a chill on my back and woke up. When I woke up, it wasn’t my room, and lo and behold, I thought I had become a mummy somewhere.”

“Just like that?”

“Exactly. Those long-tailed foreigners are all baffling. I didn’t bother with them and just tried to leave here—then I started encountering those things with hands all over their heads, just like that.”

Nol paused for a while and asked a few more questions. His attitude was always good. Uncle Ma didn’t flare up again and answered straightforwardly.

Ma Zhigang didn’t inherit Malvina’s memories or abilities. He seemed to have woken up in the body of Malvina, who was dying—or had just died. When Uncle Ma woke up, this body naturally gained a lot more vitality, like a richly endowed seed. Since he woke up, this vitality had been consuming, never being replenished.

Nol fell into thought.

Currently, it seemed that the Players were using their original bodies, getting their appearance from the system.

The neighbors were more like possessing monsters that were about to die, taking over control of the monster’s body. To ensure they could wake up normally, they received a gift package of vitality when possessing.

This could explain a lot.

Like in the Dragon’s Lair. The dragons were famously low in birth rate. It was almost impossible for twin black dragon cubs from the same egg to exist. But those two dragon cubs both survived and became his neighbors.

Like Night of the Hunt. In such a harsh environment, the Luo Zhu couple, who knew nothing about the environment, successfully made it through the initial period of confusion, and this wasn’t something that could be achieved solely by experience.

The bodies used by the neighbors were most likely in a state of near-death beforehand.

…It was like some existence deliberately designed this to ensure the neighbors survive.

“Thank you. I have gained very useful information.” Nol bowed his head to Uncle Ma.

Uncle Ma waved his hand impatiently. “Go, go.”

“Um…I have been thinking. It still doesn’t seem quite right.”

Teest sat cross-legged opposite to Uncle Ma, casually playing with the small hunting knife in his right hand. “Sir, you know so much about the ‘Demon King’s minions’… You must have communicated with the Queen, right?”

Ma Zhigang’s breath stopped for a moment, and Teest’s mouth curled up satisfyingly.

“Malvina and the current queen have known each other since childhood. You can’t deceive her. She knows you are an impostor and is still willing to tell you this. This means you two have a good relationship.”

Teest’s action of playing with the knife slowed down. “You know where she is, right? Are you rushing us away because you are afraid that we will kill her?”

“Teest.” Nol couldn’t help but speak up.

“Shh, Mr. Lich. You are just too soft-hearted.”

Teest stared into Uncle Ma’s eyes. “Those succubi don’t know what happened here. The ‘Demon King’s minions’ could only have been told by the queen.”

“He’s thinking, if we know the existence of the queen, maybe we would kill her—we could easily escape from here as long as we kill the queen sheltering this place.”

Indeed.

Nol had thought of this too—

Kill the succubus queen, and this dream would return to reality. The succubus lair would be fully exposed. By then, he could summon the undead to protect himself, and they could leave the Black Forest with all their strength. If they do this, the quest of “Life or Death” could achieve ordinary conditions, and they wouldn’t have to endure the severe penalty of failure.

However, as a price, those succubi would lose their way to survive.

On the Dream Edge, they would only be surrounded by Thousand-Hand Nightmares.

Outside, even the cats and dogs of the Eternal Church could come up together. They two alone couldn’t protect so many succubi.

Speaking of which, once the tribe of the Black Forest was defeated, the contract of the heir selection would surely be voided, and Teest wouldn’t suffer from this.

…Although “aiding in genocide” was evil, it was theoretically a solution.

Uncle Ma stared at Teest tightly. The crowbar in his hand moved a bit.

“All you do is talk all day.” He said angrily, “Bastards, you two will never find her!”

Before the words fell, that crowbar directly hit Teest’s head. Teest blocked it casually with the hunting knife, and Uncle Ma’s force was immediately diverted, awkwardly hitting the fallen leaves.

“So what is your choice, honey?” Teest said with a smile, grabbing Uncle Ma’s wrist backhandedly. “Life or death may not necessarily refer to you and me.”

……

“I am with Solo at the ‘Dream Edge’, and there are no other Players around.” Anakin’s wand was hovering in midair. The milky light intertwined, forming a perfect circle.

Inside the circle was another picture, in the center of which was the face of Knight Eugene. “Do the two of you need assistance? If possible, please also tell us how to enter Dream Edge.”

Just as Rogue Solo was about to reply, Anakin quietly stepped on his foot.

“Let me talk.” She spoke in a steady tone, mixed with the right amount of fatigue. “We took a quest here to assist two target individuals. The quest difficulty is okay.”

“If you enter now, it might affect our quest. If help is needed, we will contact you first.”

Anakin didn’t mention the need to help the succubi.

“Understood, Lady Saint. We will station at the edge of the Black Forest, and the Fifth Brigade is at your disposal at any time.” Eugene bowed his head obediently, his green eyes smiling.

Anakin nodded. “There’s one more thing. Did you mention before that monsters who are proficient in all languages have appeared recently?”

“Indeed, have you encountered one too?”

“No. I just met a succubus who speaks the common language and thought of this.”

“Succubi are very sociable creatures. Probably one-third of them have learned the common language, so you don’t need to be nervous,” Eugene said gently.

“However, if you do encounter a creature behaving strangely and knowing a lot of languages, please stay away and leave it to us.”

The circle of milky light stretched between the two, seemingly adding a halo to the handsome knight. Eugene’s expression was warm, and his eyes were clear and sincere, without any trace of malice.

Being stared at by such a person could easily make one feel “loved”.

Although there was no fluctuation in spiritual magic, Anakin firmly believed that this wasn’t far off from spiritual magic. If she really was a native of Tahe, she might have been unconsciously persuaded by this man.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t.

Through the magic screen, Anakin looked straight into the eyes of this Knight Commander. “Why can’t we deal with monsters?”

“The Eternal Church excels at desecrating the dead. You know their methods.” Eugene’s words flowed like warm water. “We have verified that they have been extracting memories and knowledge from ‘Player’ corpses lately, bestowing them to monsters to shake your spirits.”

Rogue Solo subtly relaxed, letting out a silent sigh. Anakin remained expressionlessly silent.

“Please forgive my late explanation, Lady Saint. After all, at first, there were only one or two cases, and we thought it unnecessary to inform you.” Apparently, Eugene read some emotion from that expressionless face.

“Unfortunately, they have had more and more success recently… After you complete your quest, we will inform all the Saints.”

“So that’s how it is,” Solo said.

“What if the environment has restrictions and it’s inconvenient to hand over to you?” Anakin asked calmly.

“Then I suggest you kill on the spot. Otherwise, it is easy to be deceived.” Eugene smiled.

“Okay, thank you for informing,” Anakin said slowly. “You’ve worked hard, Mr. Eugene.”

She terminated the contact magic.

Different from Solo, who looked relaxed, her expression gradually became gloomy.

“We must find that female knight,” she said. “Sun Luo, don’t talk to anyone about Malvina first. Also, don’t mention it to Hermitage.”

“…Ah? Why?” Hearing his cousin call out his real name, Solo stopped texting.

Anakin grabbed her hair fiercely. “Just don’t say anything for now. It won’t kill anyone to speak after things are clear.”

“Okay, okay.” Solo canceled the messaging spell.

……

“What fucking bullshit. His whole family is made of corpses!” Officer Luo couldn’t help but curse in anger.

After Eugene smashed Witch Lynn’s surveillance puppet, Lynn swiftly switched to a more concealed one—just in case, she had placed multiple dolls of different attributes at every key monitoring point.

Thus, the conversation between Eugene and Anakin was overheard by the neighbors.

“They, they are just like that!” The Banshee cried out in pain. “Those people from the Temple of Life have always wanted to kill all monsters… especially us. Nothing we say matters! They don’t want to communicate at all!”

“This means those ‘Players’ don’t know about us. The Temple is deliberately deceiving them.”

Lynn frowned. “The natives and the Temple are hostile, so it may not be safe to contact Players in the future… Our situation is getting worse.”

Even if Xu Yue managed to protect a few of them and did her best to search for their neighbors, their efforts were like a drop in the bucket.

Joy Garden Community had a total of ten buildings. Each building had ten floors and three units that could hold two households in each unit. That worked out to a total of six hundred households.

However, Joy Garden Community was a high-end residential area. There was basically no situation where several generations squeezed into one house, and there were also many vacant or rented units. In Lynn’s impression, the resident population of the community was probably around 1,400 to 1,500.

The idea of finding more than a thousand people in such a vast world was despairing.

She could only rely on Xu Yue’s identity as a producer, Lynn thought sadly. Although that guy wasn’t sophisticated in dealing with people, he was very smart and kind, and he should be able to come up with some special solutions.

At the same time, the Dream Edge.

“Regarding ‘Life or Death’, I do have a solution,” Nol said. “You reminded me—such a simple solution. Why didn’t I think of it?”

Teest, curious, leaned closer, his hand still clamped like pincers around Uncle Ma. “Oh, what’s the solution?”

“To successfully escape, we need to find a way to break through those monsters. To save the succubus tribe, we also need to lead them all out of the monsters’ encirclement… Hmm, it does sound quite difficult to accomplish.” Nol’s tone was solemn.

“Indeed,” Teest responded cheerfully. “And then? And then?”

What peculiar method would his beloved husband think of this time?

Would he be able to entirely transfer the dream world, or would he use Kando to manipulate space? Or was he going to invent some kind of deceiving concealment magic, hiding everything from the outside world?

He was somewhat excited. His fingers unconsciously tightened, causing Uncle Ma to let out a “fuck”.

Nol continued to narrate seriously, “Then I thought, the solution is actually quite simple. If we want to perfectly avoid the attacks of those monsters…”

He paused slightly and showed Teest a bright smile.

“…We just need to kill them all.”

The author has something to say:

This time I really fell in love with the gatekeeper old man (not really)

Teest: Steadily and maturely going crazy.

Nol: Intermittently raging crazily.

…Who would look at this and not say they are a match made in heaven.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 55: Two Sides of the Gold Coin

That was undoubtedly an old man’s shirt—a white tank top style. This item had a high appearance rate in Country C during the summer and was deeply loved by elderly men of all ages.

Its stitches were neat, and the sewing style was completely different from other succubus clothes. It stood out amongst a pile of armor, as abrupt as a hand grenade appearing in a costume drama.

[Homemade Underwear: Hand-sewn intimate clothing.

※Produced by Succubus Malvina]

The two Players examined the clothing inside and out, momentarily speechless.

Anakin dove back into the wardrobe for a more thorough search. She found a pair of large underpants among a pile of cloaks, tailored from beige cloaks, just past the knee in length, with specially sewn deep pockets, and the waist was tied with magically enhanced vines.

Anakin compared the old man’s shirt and underpants, falling into deep silence—this style was too similar to a street old man and was entirely out of place in this delicate and beautiful Western fantasy palace.

Solo found a pile of draft paper at the bottom of the drawer, with clothing cutting diagrams drawn on it. “What is… this?”

Anakin approached with the underpants, her gaze suddenly freezing.

It hastily drew designs for cutting the old man’s shirt, large underpants, and simple guard clothing. The annotations were modern, in the succubus language, and…

“This is the modern basic method, isn’t it?” She muttered. “I have customized armor in Grape Collar. Those NPCs didn’t do it this way.”

“But succubus can’t be Players, so they can’t choose this race.” Solo stared blankly at the design in his hand. “According to what Doni said, Ma…Knight Ma-something has been friends with the queen since childhood. We have only been trapped for two months.”

Anakin’s mind was equally confused.

The developers of “Tahe” invited a large number of excellent professional and amateur Players, popular game anchors, gaming KOLs, and even a few people who like to study game culture. This showed that they were full of sincerity.

However, from the current point of view, many scoundrels had mixed in among the Players.

No one knew how they entered the game. These people weren’t even in the same novice village as a normal Player, and most joined the Eternal Church… This was the most shocking secret they had discovered so far.

“Hermitage has been exploring the direction of ‘the game has problems’, right?” Anakin said, her voice dry.

“Yes, ‘Mentor’ has been leading the group in research.”

Solo rigidly sat on the edge of the bed, still holding those few design drawings.

“The most recognized opinion in the Hermitage was the ‘Terrorist Attack Theory’—the game has been hijacked and infiltrated by terrorists aiming to achieve some purpose. They said if it were an internal staff going mad, they couldn’t bring in so many scumbags.”

This was also the view of the vast majority of Players.

Those trapped Players who had been invited by the official to experience the game had a good understanding of the game. The “Homeward Saints”, “Amazon,” and “Hermitage”—these three guilds had very clear existences.

Solo’s “Hermitage” was the only non-combat guild.

It was led by a university professor who loved gaming culture, was independent, and strived to be objective. The members came from all walks of life, hiding in every corner of this world.

The members had only three goals: try to survive, collect information, and figure out what the hell is going on in this world.

Over the past two months, the Players’ understanding had gradually unified.

This world was a game hijacked by terrorists. As long as you could find a way to clear the game, everyone might be able to exit.

However…

“Terrorist organizations obtaining login devices and permissions, implanting criminals, I can understand.” Anakin stared at the old man’s shirt spread out on the bed. “They have no ability and no need to turn people into game monsters, right…?”

Solo swallowed. “Perhaps, it’s a game bug. Someone logged into a monster model.”

“Everyone has counted the list. Normal Players aren’t missing.” Anakin clutched the old man’s shirt.

“The system is still there. Don’t diverge too much. It must be those criminals illegally logging in, creating such bugs… You also said that normal Players aren’t missing. We know those monsters aren’t our own. Isn’t this enough?”

Solo insisted, his voice loud and anxious, containing a trace of fear.

Anakin gave a bitter smile. She knew what he was afraid of. People always preferred to believe what they wanted to believe. No Player was willing to accept the idea that “there may be something wrong with the game itself.”

And… And this really didn’t prove anything unless they could find that succubus knight and confront her in person.

She hoped those two NPCs could survive safely. This time, she also had to step out of the quest and genuinely investigate this matter.

Various mechanisms collapsed, and characters decayed after logging out. All could be attributed to terrorists destroying the game program.

But if there were really unrelated ordinary people turning into monsters… Could this game still be considered a “game”?

“This world has normal quests, and there is also a Demon King. Except for games, where else would there be a deliberately set final boss?” At the bedside, Rogue Solo was still murmuring softly, not knowing who he wanted to convince. “Defeating the Demon King is clearing the game. Clearing the game means going home… Clearing the game means going home. This must be the case…”

……

“That is part of the Demon King’s minions!” A female voice yelled from behind Nol.

The Devil King’s minions? …That thing?

Nol looked towards the “Thousand-Hand Nightmare” not far away, while Teest remained the same, ignoring the stranger’s words and quickly rushing towards the target nearby.

Nol didn’t think that the “Thousand-Hand Nightmare” was very strong. Roughly estimating its strength, it wasn’t a match for both of them. However, even at this moment, it was still emitting that strange aura that made him feel uncomfortable all over.

​[Teest, danger!] Nol shouted in his mind.

This time, Teest abruptly stopped with a sharp and neat brake and easily jumped back as if inertia didn’t exist for him. [What’s wrong, honey?]

​[What that person said makes sense. We’re not in a rush. We should be cautious,] Nol ​thought.

​[But I have a better idea.] Teest’s thought came with a smile.

Immediately, Nol watched as Teest changed his step and turned into a silver whirlwind, rushing in the direction where the woman’s voice came from.

“What the fuck—!” The woman yelled in a confused common language, leaping out of her hiding place and running away.

She was quite far from them, and Nol could only see a silhouette.

The silhouette was almost like a living skeleton, but healthier than any succubus he had seen. Her clothes were a bit weird, and she was holding something curved overhead in her right hand, the outline resembling a crowbar.

“Wait!” Nol paused for a half-second, not caring about the Nightmare creature. “Wait, I also—”

Before he could shout out, the figure of the succubus disappeared into the fog.

Nol caught up, panting, and gripped the hem of Teest’s robe. “She kindly reminded us. Why did you scare her off?!” Damn, she could have been his neighbor!

“Look at the strength, the intention to fight, and the purpose. The instinctive reaction will not lie,” Teest said indifferently. “That guy is a female succubus. She’s not weak and has no intention of being our enemy. She’s very good at escaping, and she has a clear direction of escape. She definitely has a base.”

Although Teest appeared polite and gentlemanly on the surface, Nol suspected that this guy automatically regarded all breathing entities as enemies.

Now the compatriot was scared away. Nol rubbed his temples hard and sighed. “Consult me next time.”

Teest slightly turned his head. “No. Such probing requires the element of surprise.”

Fine. Nol wiped his face.

No matter how much sharp emotion he accumulated, in the face of this guy, they would collapse into a soft feeling of powerlessness.

At least they knew that there might be a succubus neighbor here, and the neighbor seemed to be in a good mental state.

Nol thought for a while on the spot and gently tapped Teest’s tail tip.

“Since the person is lost. Let’s go back first.”

“What do you mean the person is lost? I can continue tracking,” Teest muttered.

“Chase now or later, it’s all chasing. Give her some time to recover. If we chase now, it’s no different from an actual chase.” Nol shook his head. “Let’s check on that ‘Demon King’s minion’ first.”

He had seen the explanation of “Devil King’s minions” in history books.

They were mainly distributed around the border of the Desolation Islands and basically didn’t appear in inland areas. The book said they were monsters formed by being corrupted by the “aura of the Demon King”. They were irrational, uncommunicative, irredeemable, and full of malice towards everything.

The description was vague, and the setting was quite cliché. He didn’t know how many times he had seen it in various works.

‘Seeing is believing,’ Nol thought.

The surrounding area was still a dark nightmare scene, and the monster didn’t catch up. Nol skillfully released the invisibility spell and stepped on the path he came by.

By the time he reached the location, Nol almost couldn’t hold back and really vomited—

The earth wall he erected had already completely collapsed, and the originally empty ground was now crowded with those “Thousand-Hand Nightmares”.

They were packed like City A’s subway during peak hours, their bodies almost melting into one another, and it was impossible to distinguish them apart.

A thousand monsters? Ten thousand? Nol couldn’t count. He only saw endless, interlacing, skinny arms and the numerous human-like palms on them.

It was as if a new layer of shrubbery made of flesh and blood had grown in the forest.

Nol smelled a strong scent of blood—the wounded monster was surrounded in the middle, with nearby monsters surging incessantly. Along with the blood scent, there was also the faint sound of flesh being torn apart.

The monsters in the outer ring were slowly waving their arms, their fingers slowly twitching, like blind people exploring in a strange environment.

…Here, Nol couldn’t use his proudest summoning technique; it was difficult for him to deal with enemies of this scale.

A chill went through Nol’s heart.

No wonder the basic requirement of the mission “Survive or Die” was to “leave the Dream Edge alive.” Facing these monsters, they seemed to have no choice but to run away.

…How many of these things are there?

…How are they going to break through this sea of monsters’ tactics?

…The succubi are surrounded by them layer by layer. What can they do to save the succubi tribe?

“Wow, it would be strange if those succubi could win. Once these things step in, they could crush all the succubi.” Teest evidently thought of the same thing and almost whistled.

“Honey, if you want to find out the truth, you don’t have much time left.”

Nol remained silent.

“You’re not still thinking of saving those succubi, are you? From the hands of these things?”

Teest chuckled at the pun about “hands”, poking Nol in the chest with the tip of his tail. “No offense, the shadow wolf is much smarter than these filthy things. Although you are very charming, you better not think about getting along with them.”

‘Indeed,’ Nol thought.

The shadow wolf was at least filled with the vitality of normal creatures. The things in front of him only emitted emptiness and death.

Endless terrifying monsters, the walking dead succubi… this problem was really tough.

Nol manipulated the flesh under his collarbone to disappear and casually caught Teest’s precious coin. Oddly, even after residing in his stomach acid for a moment, the blood stain on the coin seemed to have seeped into the metal and remained extremely conspicuous.

And the scratches on that gold wheel didn’t seem like normal scratches; they looked more like irregularly carved marks.

“You take it back first,” Nol said, the flesh in his abdomen silently recovering.

The coin still held his body temperature, lying warmly in his palm. Teest took the coin, casually tossed it in his hand, then slapped it on the back of his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a bet with myself,” Teest said lightly. “If the coin is heads, I’ll assist you—no matter how much I hate it—in saving this tribe; if it’s tails, I’ll look for a way out first.”

He continued, showing a bright smile, “Then, when you fail the ‘perfect clearance’ challenge, I’ll snatch you out of here.”

Nol was silent for two seconds. “What’s the answer?”

“Unfortunately, it’s heads.” Teest didn’t sound very happy.

“You can actually control the coin flip, right?” Nol couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Teest sounded even unhappier. “Making a decision is hard. I need a bit of ceremony.”

Nol gave up on understanding his thought process. “Thank you for your full support. Is your ceremony done yet?”

“No,” Teest said unhappily. “You know, I’m very fickle. So, I need one final step—”

Teest walked in front of Nol and stretched out his hand. The hot coin was pressed again against Nol’s lips with just the right amount of force.

The gold sank into the soft, red flesh, and the edge of the coin knocked against Nol’s teeth, making a ‘clink’ sound.

“Please keep it for me,” Teest whispered.

“So you won’t leave me?”

Nol didn’t swallow the coin immediately. Teest’s knuckles were resting on his chin, astonishingly warm.

“No, no, no.” Teest’s voice lifted slightly. “This way, when I want to leave you, I will hesitate—very, very much.”

“This way, you will have a chance to grab my tail, honey.”

Nol stared at those nearly sincere golden eyes. He slightly opened his lips and swallowed the coin again.

This time, he swallowed slowly, almost provocatively. “Then I will definitely hold on tightly and never let go.”

Teest laughed as he withdrew his finger. The hand slowly approached his waist, then swiftly waved—only to see a flash of sword light, and several trees in the distance fell with a crash.

A familiar female voice screamed from the bushes. The person hiding inside was pressed perfectly.

“It seems everyone has the same idea.”

Teest rushed towards the bushes. “…Nobody likes to let go of their prey easily.”

The author has something to say:

Another neighbor is online! Roughly estimated, there are probably a thousand people in Nol’s community?

Neighbor: (Cursing loudly)

Neighbor: You’re all being sweet! What do you care about me?!

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 54: The Demon King’s Minions

For the two Players, in the blink of an eye, those two NPCs disappeared along with the thick fog. Just a few steps away, they couldn’t see anything clearly, as the whole process was frighteningly fast.

Solo suppressed a scream that was stuck in his throat. He was stunned in place for a full five seconds. “Fuck, it’s over—!”

Triggering the event right from the start, this quest is too perverse! They had just stepped into the Dream Forest on the first day. There should at least be some time to get familiar.

Were quests normally arranged like this, with absolutely no room for error? Did they also need them to tie those two NPCs to their belts and walk them like dogs…?

“Alright, alright, stop wailing.”

Anakin was equally tense. She immediately summoned the quest dialog box to repeatedly confirm. “The condition ‘Assist in saving the soon-to-be extinct succubus tribe’ is still there. Those two must still be alive—at least they haven’t both died.”

After all, those two NPCs were the ones who proposed the “rescue”. If they had died just now, the quest condition would certainly have been grayed out—otherwise, with the assisted ones gone, how could the Players achieve “perfect completion”?

“Yeah, yeah, those two guys really look extraordinary. They definitely have a big plot on them—yeah, a big plot.” Rogue Solo patted his chest, trying to comfort himself.

Anakin held her magic wand half-raised cautiously, and the two Players shifted towards the direction where Teest and the others disappeared.

They scanned every detail with their eyes. The environment where the two disappeared was no different from the surroundings. Unusual leaf arrangements, deformed trees, stones shining with special glows… Nothing, absolutely nothing.

So they boldly followed the mist, traveling through the dense fog, still unable to achieve any results.

“The attacker probably really thought that the white-haired one was a succubus, so they made a move.”

Solo, circling around the same tree for the fifth time, couldn’t help but speak up. “I vaguely saw it. The black-haired one made a forward movement at the end. It didn’t seem like he was taken away actively.”

“If you keep calling them ‘white hair’ and ‘black hair’ so casually, be careful when you say it in front of them. Their goodwill might plummet… tsk tsk tsk.” Anakin rested against a tree, responding irritably.

“Why do Western names have to be so hard to remember? It hurts my brain!” Solo argued loudly. “Movies are my limit. You know I can’t watch series. I forget who is who by the second episode.”

Anakin curled her lips. “Alright, I was actually considering this just now too. The mechanism in the mist may indeed be targeted only at succubi.”

“Sister, I think it’s useless for us to keep looking. How about you wear the succubus costume?” Solo suggested.

“Okay, you dress me up.”

A few minutes later, a freshly made pair of succubus siblings stepped on the fallen leaves.

Although their tails weren’t stiff, they hung stiffly, like genuine leather decorations bought online. One could say they looked quite soulless.

“It’s hard to control. It reminds me of when I first learned to ride a bike.” Anakin grinned. “I saw Landus controlling it quite easily. Could that guy really be a succubus?”

As she said this, she casually grabbed Solo’s tail. The latter immediately screamed and sat on the ground.

“Why are you pulling so hard?!” His tail flapped around like a live fish.

“Does it hurt that much?” Anakin curiously touched her own tail. This touch was critical. She shivered all over—that feeling wasn’t pain but was more like sensitive skin being stimulated. The surface of her tail seemed to be made of sole skin. Touching it made her extremely uncomfortable.

“Uhh, that Landus wrapped his tail around someone’s wrist, I thought…” she said while sucking in cold air.

“That white-haired brother is really fierce.” Solo wobbled to his feet. “My legs went soft just now. Oh god.”

The two semi-finished succubi wandered around the forest for a long time, but the surroundings were still quiet and beautiful.

“I’m wondering too. Could that white-haired brother really be a succubus? Or are we just too novice, and they look down on us…” Solo stared blankly at the fog, murmuring as he squatted under a tree.

“Then we can only follow the NPCs’ instructions.” Anakin squatted ungracefully a few steps away, both looking like idle old men at a village entrance.

“The NPCs’ instructions?”

“Yes, before they disappeared, they said they would go back and inquire about that female knight.”

Anakin stood up. Behind the tree trunk, she changed back to her original attire. “Old rules. If the way of finding people doesn’t work, we follow the process first.”

Seeing only two humans coming back, Succubus Doni, in charge of reception, said nothing and just looked at them expressionlessly.

“They said they need to investigate thoroughly,” Anakin said in her gentle and holy voice, her smile even more perfect than her voice. “The Lord sent us back to investigate some minor things.”

Doni still looked at them coldly. “This is not a place where humans can wander around.”

“We want to see the room of that female knight—Miss Malvina.” Anakin skillfully ignored his unfriendly attitude. “Our companions want to do their best to find the queen. They don’t want to miss any clues.”

She emphasized the lines “our companions” and “do their best”.

The skeletal-looking succubus narrowed his eyes. He finally looked at the two Players, and the corners of his mouth twitched. “Fine, but we have conditions. Just like last night, you need to keep providing life energy until you leave this place.”

Rogue Solo opened his mouth, his cheeks gradually reddening. “What, last night it was you…”

“I have no objections.” Anakin quickly covered her cousin’s mouth, suspecting that if she were a bit slower, this guy would ask the succubus if they could customize the plot.

“…I have no objections either.” Solo finally complied.

Doni gave a perfunctory nod, extending his thin arm. “Then please follow me… Malvina’s room, right? She lives nearby.”

“Why not tell them about Malvina? Since they are looking for the queen, this is pretty important, right?” Along the way, Solo couldn’t help but ask.

Doni glanced at him, clearly not wanting to deal with this human, but ‘beggars can’t be choosers*’ was also a fact.

*The mouth that has eaten someone’s food is soft (吃人嘴软) Idiom referring the feeling of obligation or gratitude that one feels after accepting a gift or favor from someone else.

“Malvina is the one among us who cares the most about our race. She always left food for the weak and became weaker faster than anyone. Two months ago, she almost died.”

He narrated in a flat tone. “Since then, her mind hasn’t been right—perhaps due to extreme despair, Malvina has become erratic and is no longer so devoted to the tribe and the queen. She and the queen disappeared separately. The two cannot be discussed as one.”

They reached the end of the corridor, and Succubus Doni stopped in front of a beautiful double door. “This is Malvina’s residence. You can stay as long as you want. Just make sure to sleep every day.”

Anakin and Solo looked at each other and almost simultaneously reached out their hands to push the door open.

……

The smoke was filled with a bitter, fishy stench, reminiscent of the thick smoke produced by burning inferior coal. Nol tightly hugged Teest’s waist, incessantly coughing due to the strange mist.

The thick mist hadn’t yet dissipated when a pair of hands suddenly choked him from behind.

No, more than one pair of hands.

Nol’s arms were tightly gripped by five or six hands, and his ankles were being dragged down fiercely by cold palms. The cloak on his body was also being pulled tightly, making it hard for him to breathe… If he indeed needed to breathe.

It seemed like they were planning to peel him off Teest and kill him swiftly, and the order of doing these two things seemed quite indifferent.

Teest’s tail was tightly curled in his hand, obviously not in a good situation either. This encounter wasn’t a quest design—they were facing an opponent who was adept at seizing the opportunity to strike when one was sick, catching them at a very tricky time.

Nol ignored the hands on his neck, clinging onto Teest like a drowning man.

[Bloodline Suppression] activated.

The fear effect of [Bloodline Suppression] took effect.

[Death Threat] conditions were met. The target had become immobilized for five seconds.

…The Mad Monk certainly wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Sure enough, Teest’s tense tail suddenly relaxed, and then the muscles in his waist tightened.

Nol heard the dull sound of a blade cutting through flesh and bone, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling—the arms that had been choking them suddenly lightened, and a warm liquid drenched Nol.

Throughout, he hadn’t let go of Teest. The staff almost got dragged away by those hands. Kando opened its crystal shell like a hermit crab, and its candle tears tightly entangled Nol’s clothes, barely avoiding disaster.

Something let out a painful shriek and ran away. Nol tentatively opens his eyes. His eyelids were glued together with thick plasma.

The blood emitted a stench like rotting flesh, appearing to be as black as oil.

“Shh, shh—it’s okay now. Well done.”

Teest spoke softly. The “Betrayer” had transformed into a long sword with thick black blood sliding down its blade. “You can let go of me now.”

Nol let go of his arms and wiped the black blood on his face. He then grabbed the staff with his blood-covered hand.

Kando rolled its eyes several times but cautiously didn’t reveal itself, quickly retracting back into its disguised crystal shell—however, this time, it closed its shell with unusual loudness.

The mist had mostly dissipated, allowing Nol to finally see the nearby scenery.

If the forest at the Dream Edge was like the Black Forest with a cute dreamy filter added, the forest in front of him was the horror movie-exclusive dark version—

The trees were still the same, but the colors and atmosphere had become especially oppressive. The sky, once ambiguously soft, had turned into a moonless, starless night.

Through night vision, Nol also clearly saw what attacked them.

It was a… monster that he couldn’t simply summarize.

This thing was large, entirely black, and barely resembled the dried corpse of a war horse in size. Unlike the clean and refreshing pure black of the shadow wolf, its body surface was like sewer sludge, reflecting a sticky light.

And it didn’t have a head on its neck.

Its dried neck was like a tree trunk, branching and branching again, extending dozens of “branch arms” that kept waving, and each arm ended with a human hand.

Currently, nearly half of its arms had been severed by Teest, and black blood was still pouring out endlessly.

The fingers of the remaining hands were frantically moving, like mad spiders. A blurred, hoarse shriek came from inside it, and it was unknown which organ was making the sound.

After the incident with the Lord of the Whitebird City, Nol thought he had developed some resistance to these inexplicable creatures. However, the familiar nauseous feeling returned, and he almost retched out loud.

[It… its body is like a nightmare.] Nol clamped his hand over his mouth, reminding Teest in his thoughts.

Nightmares, the old foes of succubi.

Nightmares also controlled dreams, drawing life force from them. However, they preferred nightmares—apart from a few with peculiar tastes, most people didn’t experience erotic dreams and nightmares at the same time. There was serious predatory conflict between these two species.

If succubi could use dreams within dreams to hide their bases, then it made sense that Nightmares could use them to capture prey… The problem was, no matter how he looked at it, this thing only had the skeleton and a touch of a Nightmare.

A Nightmare was supposed to be a robust warhorse with a mane burning in dark red flames. Its black fur should be sleek and healthy, and its blood should be an ordinary red color.

They would only politely feed on nightmares and wouldn’t physically attack their targets.

“I know about Nightmares. This thing looks more like a modified corpse of a Nightmare,” Teest commented. “You’re indeed an expert, recognizing it.”

The creature’s skinny arms were moving sinisterly as it started circling them slowly. Nol quickly lifted his staff, standing back-to-back with Teest.

It emitted an aura that made Nol very uncomfortable. Despite knowing that it would be hard for it to kill them again, the weird, icy feeling still made Nol shiver.

If it used the same tactics to capture the succubi, the weakened succubi indeed couldn’t resist. The problem was, where did those captured succubi go? Were they eaten by this thing, or…

Jingle.

With a crisp sound, an old, rounded gold wheel appeared on the fallen leaves, emitting a glaring golden light in the surrounding darkness.

Blood stained the coin, precisely on the eye of the engraved king’s face, leaving very fine traces, like a line of bloody tears.

The other side of the coin was engraved with leaves and the sun. The surface, which should have been smooth, was full of scratches, appearing somewhat dim.

Rolling around, the coin rolled under the “Thousand-Hand Nightmare”, as if following it.

One by one, identical coins rolled out from the darkness, gathering in groups behind the “Thousand-Hand Nightmare”, rolling together, bringing a sense of absurd unreality.

The monster was gradually narrowing the encirclement. The group of coins was getting larger and closer, grinding over the fallen leaves like a swarm of insects.

Teest’s tail gently pressed against Nol’s lower back, coiling tightly again. He moved, seemingly wanting to protect his pouch.

“Is what you saw earlier this?” Nol asked.

“Yes,” Teest admitted. “Honey, summon something. I don’t want them getting any closer—I don’t want to lose the real thing.”

…If this creature indeed had the characteristics of a Nightmare, this coin probably had significant meaning to Teest, and not in a good way.

A cake smashed on the ground along with the blood-stained gold wheel. He seemed to have touched a bit—a little bit—of the soul belonging to the Mad Monk that was human.

“I tried just now. I can’t summon corpses here. It seems dreams within dreams are special.” Nol made a sound of agreement, suppressing his urge to inquire further. “But I have an idea. Teest, take out the real thing.”

Teest titled his head, watching Nol from the corner of his eye. His left hand tightly grasped the pouch, and his tail rummaged inside for a moment before coiling around an old gold coin.

“What next?” Teest asked, his tail tip tightly wrapping the coin.

“Then face me.” Nol said, releasing a neat and sharp spell creating a wall of earth.

With the enhancement of the magic staff, the soil arched, and the fallen leaves quickly rose. A tall and hard mud wall was raised, temporarily blocking the creature and the group of coins outside.

Teest silently turned around, and Nol smiled at him, slightly opening his mouth.

He pointed to the tip of his bright red tongue with a calm and natural expression. “Please keep it here.”

Once this battle was over, he could let the flesh disappear. The coin would directly fall from his stomach. After all, stomach acid couldn’t corrode gold.

Teest’s expression froze.

“Time is limited.” Nol urged him, “Hurry up.”

Finally, Teest silently took out the coin from the tip of his tail. He didn’t hand it to Nol but pinched it with his fingertips and gently pressed it to Nol’s lips.

Nol raised his eyebrows and, in the end, neither questioned nor avoided it. His tongue tip curled around Teest’s fingertip, prying away the coin, and successfully clamped it between his lips. Then, he frowned slightly. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and the small coin was successfully swallowed.

“…Cough cough.”

Nol wiped his lips. The metal was too hard that he was still choking a bit. “Now you can play freely, Mr. Mad Monk—fortunately, your treasure is a coin. If it were a ball of gold thread or something, I would be powerless.”

Teest stared at Nol’s lips and slowly showed a smile. “I’m really lucky, aren’t I? …You are right. Treasures should be kept together.”

The next moment, the mud wall behind him collapsed. Nol raised his magic staff, and the hot wind brought up Teest’s hair strands. A terrifying fireball blasted towards that creature. The rain-like jumping coins flickered with fire and poured towards them.

With his back to the exploding dark flames, Teest curved his eyes.

He skillfully grabbed Nol’s hand and left a light kiss on the back of his hand. Then he turned around. The long sword in his hand drew an orange arc of light.

But before they set off, they had already launched [Betrayal Overture], Nol thought.

However, this problem only troubled him for a moment. In the instant, he raised his magic staff, and a recovery spell shot out.

“Stop!”

At this time, behind them, a woman’s voice shouted. “Don’t attack anymore. Be careful, or you’ll attract more!”

“Those are the Demon King’s minions!” she shouted hoarsely.

……

Anakin paced around in the female knight’s room. It was a large and open room, showing that Malvina didn’t have many personal belongings.

Solo was desperately searching near the desk. “Maybe she wrote a diary… There should be some diary hints in this situation!”

Anakin sighed as she closed another weapon cabinet. “Not every key figure has the habit of keeping a diary. Otherwise, it would be too ridiculous.”

“This place is almost like a succubus template room. There are no clues at all.” Solo painfully flipped through those books. “Sister, are we looking in the wrong direction?”

Anakin sighed even louder. “They won’t let us see the Queen’s residence. Let’s finish searching here first.”

At this moment, Anakin was checking the only wardrobe in the room. She had to agree with Solo’s opinion. This Malvina really didn’t have any personality to dig into.

The female knight’s clothes were all basic succubus styles, rows of square white cloth hanging full of the closet; the scene was like copy-paste. Her underwear was also folded neatly. Anakin could only see that she was a very disciplined person… and that was it.

Maybe they really were looking in the wrong direction. She numbly shuffled through each succubus suit.

Suddenly, her hand stopped.

Anakin hissed and pulled out one of the clothes—it was also white and hung with other white clothes that she almost missed it.

The fabric of that garment was the same as the other clothes but had very fine stitches, showing it was skillfully modified.

…And its shape, every person from Country C would be incredibly familiar with it.

Anakin held it up and flipped it back and forth, the puzzlement on her face growing thicker. Solo glanced over with his mouth wide open.

A few seconds later, he spoke up even more puzzled—

“Is this… an old man’s shirt?”

The author has something to say:

Teest: After getting married, I always feel that I am the more mentally normal one.

Teest: What a healthy marriage! [Thumbs up]

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