Vol 3. Chapter 69: The Forest in Revolt
"Go ahead and do it. I know you understand how to keep things within the proper 'limits.'"
Looking at the communication magic stone in Saiboke-Baniya's hand, which was emitting a faint blue glow, Miss Yumo slowly spoke,
"Also, I'll leave command of the Abyss Demons in the eastern part of the forest to you."
Upon hearing this,
Saiboke-Baniya's brow twitched as he looked somewhat apprehensively at the calm-faced black-haired girl. Judging from past experience, whenever the fury inside the girl was completely ignited, she often appeared exceptionally calm, just like she did now. She stroked Lady Karina's forehead, comforting her daughter, while calmly speaking with the Duke over the communication magic stone.
Meanwhile,
Xiao's tone on the other end unexpectedly carried a trace of shock. Apparently, even he hadn't expected Yumo to entrust him with command over so many Abyss Demons.
At the same time, a feeling of gratitude arose in Xiao's heart. After all, Yumo placing so many Abyss Demons under his command clearly demonstrated how much she trusted him. This undoubtedly made Xiao extraordinarily excited.
However, as someone with exceptional mental composure, Xiao quickly suppressed the astonishment and excitement in his heart and replied steadily in a respectful tone,
"Understood, Lady Yumo. I will certainly complete the mission and give this Child of Destiny a trial he will never forget."
"Mm."
Yumo nodded calmly.
However, in the next moment, the black-haired girl seemed to remember something and slightly raised her eyebrows.
"Speaking of which?"
"Do you have any other instructions, Lady Yumo?"
"Xiao, will there really be enough time for that plan of yours? The coronation ceremony is tomorrow, and the Great Winter Forest is still quite some distance from here..."
Faced with Miss Yumo's question, Xiao gave a meaningful smile on the other end of the communication and replied in a somewhat playful tone,
"There's no need to worry, Lady Yumo. I've already obtained enough spatial magic stones to construct large-scale teleportation magic. We have enough time."
"Large-scale teleportation magic? That requires a huge number of spatial magic stones, doesn't it? How did you get so many of something that rare?"
"Well, there's really no need to worry about that, Lady Yumo. Someone has already 'donated' the spatial magic stones~"
...
...
Elsewhere, inside a certain cave,
As his previous communication with Miss Yumo came to an end, the communication magic stone in Xiao's hand, being a single-use consumable, abruptly shattered and dissolved into countless particles of magical energy.
The benevolent smile on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by an icy poker face.
The atmosphere surrounding Xiao also gradually dropped to freezing point.
After casting a rather amused glance at the enormous stone gate before him, which stood roughly fifty meters tall, Xiao slowly turned his head and looked behind him.
At this moment,
An exquisitely adorable little girl was tightly wrapped in countless grayish-white magical chains,
hanging upside down inside the cave.
The girl possessed dazzling platinum-blond hair. Her slightly curled long hair cascaded downward like a waterfall, framing delicately curved brows, a pair of watery eyes captivating enough to steal one's soul, a dainty and elegant nose, cherry-red lips that looked as though they were dripping with moisture, and a flower-like oval face...
Without a doubt, the little girl was extremely adorable. A single glance at her would give someone the urge to pull her into their arms and thoroughly squish her.
However,
Anyone with even a little intelligence probably wouldn't dare do that.
After all, judging from the two conspicuous golden dragon horns atop the girl's head, the tail beneath her skirt that was constantly lashing back and forth, and the violently rampaging aura continuously surging around her, this girl was clearly not someone to mess with...
However, as the Duke of the Black Rose Family, Xiao obviously wasn't among 'most people.'
Looking somewhat speechlessly at the 'dangerous' dragon girl before him, who had repeatedly overestimated herself and caused trouble, Xiao spoke with perfect politeness,
"Your Majesty the Dragon King, I know your people have always been exceptionally generous, so... would you mind letting me take a look inside your treasury?"
Upon hearing this,
The dragon girl, who was already baring her teeth and repeatedly using her 'Bite Through' skill in an attempt to break free of her restraints, immediately exploded with rage!
Her crimson vertical dragon pupils, filled with violent fury, locked viciously onto Xiao. If looks could kill, Xiao would probably have died thousands of times over by now...
Seeing that her visual attack was ineffective, the dragon girl had no choice but to activate her skill of cursing him out.
"You bastard human! You're here to steal our treasure again! Fuck your Xxxxx! Your mother xxxxx! You'll die a horrible death!! I... no... This King will never compromise! This King will absolutely never hand these spatial magic stones over to you! Not even in your fucking dreams...??!!!"
However,
Before she could curse for much longer, Xiao casually raised his hand, and chains formed from grayish-white energy forcibly sealed the little girl's mouth.
Xiao then looked at the dragon girl with an expression filled with 'kindness' and 'gratitude.'
"I just knew Your Majesty the Dragon King would agree. Thank you for your generosity..."
As he spoke,
Under the dragon girl's furious gaze, Xiao skillfully removed the key from her tail, opened the treasury, and openly walked straight inside.
His movements were so practiced that the dragon nearly exploded...
Faced with this sight, watching her treasure get robbed by the same human yet again, and again, and again, the dragon girl was on the verge of tears. All she could do was struggle continuously while letting out miserable, grief-stricken whimpers...
'Bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!!'
--
Several dozen minutes later, accompanied by the dragon girl's muffled stream of vicious ancestral greetings, Xiao, returning with a full haul, leisurely left the cave surrounded by grayish-white light.
He left this Dragon Valley, departing from the second most 'dangerous' region on the Anqieka Continent after the Great Winter Forest.
Looking at the five spatial rings in his palm, each filled with rare spatial magic stones,
a deeply emotional smile gradually appeared on Xiao's face.
The Dragon Clan was as 'generous' as ever.
After sighing with emotion for a moment, Xiao quickly took out and activated another communication magic stone.
Now that the spatial magic stones had been secured, it was about time for the north to show some movement, wasn't it?
"Can you hear me? Lady Shuoyue, it's time to begin..."
...
...
—
Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the Great Winter Forest, north of the former Hall of Ten Thousand Demons—or rather, the little wooden house—
"La la la~ La la~ La~"
Accompanied by a clear and melodious humming sound, waves of blue-gold light suddenly rippled across a mountain peak engulfed in a raging blizzard.
In the next instant, amid the rippling light, a beautiful and adorable blue-haired girl with an almost ethereal presence suddenly appeared atop the mountain.
The girl was none other than our little Shuoyue.
Judging by the way she was humming, Shuoyue was clearly in an exceptionally good mood.
Naturally.
After hearing that Mommy had agreed to Xiao's plan, how could she possibly not be happy?
Moreover, unlike before, this time they weren't just causing some minor trouble~
Once Shuoyue's little feet touched the ground, the blue-haired girl gazed toward the vast mountain ranges and plains ahead, all buried beneath the blizzard and utterly devoid of life.
Then, little Shuoyue suddenly recalled a few memories from her childhood.
She remembered that not long after she had first become an Abyss Demon, her Second Brother had brought the still-young her here to play. Hmm, although he'd claimed they were coming here to play, in reality...
Second Brother had merely come here looking for demons to join him in a group fight, saying something about beating up the people from the Holy Tower...
Afterward, although her hooligan-like Second Brother had successfully beaten the crap out of some Tower Master and two Venerables, Mommy eventually found out about it.
And then, unsurprisingly, Second Brother got his ass beaten raw...
However, what Shuoyue was remembering right now wasn't how that incident had ended, but rather the incredibly 'cool' pose Second Brother had struck when recruiting demons for his group fight!
The Abyss Demons sleeping beneath these glaciers had originally been Second Brother's subordinates.
If she wanted to wake them up, she might as well use Second Brother's pose.
It definitely wasn't because she simply wanted to try it herself~
Besides,
This was different from back then!
This time, she wasn't acting on her own initiative.
She had a 'military order' from Mommy herself!
After recalling Second Brother Piere's movements, Shuoyue planted one hand on her hip, leaned her waist backward at a full forty-five-degree angle, tilted her face toward the sky, and looked ahead using only the corner of her eye, striking an incredibly arrogant and punchable pose.
Then, Shuoyue lowered her voice and shouted in an even more arrogant tone,
"Minions! Wake up! It's time to cause some troubllllllllllllllllle!!!"
...
Shuoyue's voice, infused with blue-gold Shadow of Silence Power, instantly roared toward the glacial world ahead.
And as the echoes gradually faded,
The earth suddenly began to tremble.
Accompanied by deafening explosions, the glaciers shattered with a thunderous crash as terrifying Shadow of Silence Power erupted overwhelmingly from beneath the glaciers and the earth!
In an instant, the horrifying aura of power swept across the entire surrounding world of ice and snow like a flood bursting through a broken dam.
In the next moment,
Under Shuoyue's expectant gaze,
countless terrifying colossal creatures began awakening from their slumber...