315: Loli vs. Elf Girl

Shang Wan Ning's withered hand reached out from her sleeve, hovering over the damaged runes. "City Lord, please wait."

A ghostly blue Soul Fire danced in her palm, accurately sinking into the cracks of the runes.

Dark red flesh energy collided violently with the ghostly blue Soul Fire, making a 'sizzling' sound.

The damaged runes began to mend and reorganize at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The newly drawn lines were more concise than before, and the surrounding spatial fluctuations gradually stabilized.

The crystal points in Angmar's compound eyes suddenly brightened. "Good, excellent technique! It's more than thirty percent more stable than the old-style formation."

In a state of ecstasy, his tentacles heavily slapped the flesh carpet beneath him as he shouted, "Mordecai!"

The Bone Priest's figure flickered into existence. He bowed and stepped forward quickly, replying, "Subordinate is here."

"From today onwards, Shadow Erosion, the candidate priest, will be fully responsible for the refinement of the Space Anchor. All resources in Wormrock City are at his disposal; no one shall interfere."

Angmar's compound eyes turned toward Shang Wan Ning, showing a rare hint of high regard.

"Shadow Erosion, do not fail my expectations. The Mother Goddess is watching you."

Shang Wan Ning's hood nodded slightly. "I will not fail the City Lord or the Mother Goddess." The moment she turned around, the withered hand hidden in her sleeve quietly clenched.

[Trust has finally been obtained.]

Deep within the Furnace District was Shang Wan Ning's exclusive alchemy room.

A bone door completely shut out the noise from outside, and Marrow Stones embedded in the flesh walls illuminated the entire secret chamber.

In the center stood a giant furnace that had been restored to its original state, with newly carved runes flowing with ghostly light.

Chen Yu leaned in close to the furnace wall, her hand gesturing toward the newly carved runes. "Your Majesty, can this thing really stabilize Sabrina's passage?"

"Stabilize?"

Shang Wan Ning's withered hand brushed over the runes, and the ghostly blue Soul Fire slowly seeped into the patterns.

"The array I've modified looks stable on the surface, but in reality, I've buried seven Dark Erosion Nodes. The longer the passage stays open, the more violently it will collapse."

A sharp light flashed in You Yu's eyes. "This is a masterstroke of undercutting them."

Tudor gripped the scepter of purification and lightly tapped the ground. "Your Majesty, when shall we detonate these nodes?"

"No rush."

Shang Wan Ning walked toward the mountain of rare materials in the corner—the 'sincerity' just allocated by Angmar.

"We need to fleece them for all they're worth first. The Space Anchor must be refined, and it must be even better than Angmar expects, making him completely unable to do without my handiwork."

Her withered hand grabbed a Void Stone. "A-Yu."

"Here!" Chen Yu hurried over.

"Take this."

Shang Wan Ning stuffed a copied diagram of the new array into her hand. "Go find Mordecai and tell him that to optimize the core, we need three pounds of 'chaos crystals' and ten buckets of 'Bone-Eroding Vine Sap'."

"If even one item on the list is missing, the power of this Space Anchor will be reduced by thirty percent."

Chen Yu's eyes lit up. "Extortion? I'm best at that." She tossed her ahoge and rushed out the door like a gust of wind.

You Yu gave a light chuckle. "At this rate, Mordecai will probably be so heartbroken he'll cough up blood."

Shang Wan Ning's withered hand pressed onto the furnace's fire-control runes, surging Soul Fire into them.

The dark fire inside the furnace 'whooshed' into a deathly white, the temperature soared, and the light of the spatial runes flourished accordingly.

"Cough up blood?"

Her raspy voice pierced through the roar of the flames. "This is only the beginning. What I want is to turn all of Wormrock City into a coffin lid that injures Sabrina."

...Chen Yu, clutching the list Shang Wan Ning had given her, rushed toward Mordecai's priestly residence amidst a gust of fishy wind.

The Bone Priest was currently baring his teeth in pain over a pile of accounts; Angmar had just taken half his resources, and the warehouse was nearly empty.

"Lord Priest Mordecai!"

Chen Yu's voice arrived before she did. She slammed the list onto his bone desk with a 'thwack', causing several strands of flesh to tremble.

"Alchemy materials my teacher needs. It's urgent."

Mordecai's skeletal claws grabbed the list and scanned it, the Soul Fire in his eye sockets dimming by half.

"Three pounds of chaos crystals, ten buckets of Bone-Eroding Vine Sap!!! Is Master Shadow Erosion trying to refine a Magic Artifact?"

His voice cracked, and his bone jaw clattered. "The warehouse... the warehouse doesn't have that much in stock!"

"Teacher said~"

Chen Yu put her hands on her hips, mimicking Shang Wan Ning's harsh, gravelly tone. "If the materials on the list are short by even a tiny bit, the power of the Space Anchor will be reduced by thirty percent. If the City Lord blames us..."

She intentionally trailed off, her eyes glancing toward the top floor of the spire.

Mordecai shuddered all over, as if he could see Angmar's enraged tentacles lashing out. The dark red flesh strands under his robe writhed frantically, twisting into a tangled mess.

"Give it! Give it all!" he almost roared, his skeletal claws trembling as he fumbled for a token and tossed it to a nearby skeleton servant. "Go, open the secret treasury. Take everything according to the list, quickly!"

The skeleton clutched the token and ran off in a flash.

Mordecai slumped back into his bone chair, clutching his chest.

Although there was only a hollow cavity and writhing flesh there, he still looked like he was suffering from major blood loss and exhaustion.

Chen Yu was overjoyed. "Lord Priest is so straightforward; Teacher will surely remember this favor."

While waiting for the skeleton to fetch the goods, Mordecai caught his breath, his skeletal eye sockets darting around Chen Yu.

He suddenly leaned in, his jaw almost bumping against Chen Yu's nose, and lowered his voice with a greasy sort of flattery.

"Little apprentice, Master Shadow Erosion is devoted to magic and lives a life of abstinence... He must be quite frustrated, isn't he?"

Chen Yu was stunned, not understanding what this old bag of bones was playing at.

Mordecai rubbed his skeletal claws together, winking and nudging.

Although a skeletal face couldn't really make expressions, the 'man-to-man' implication was thick enough to overflow.

"An Elf Girl, fresh stock just delivered, very supple. Pick one to take back for some fun; consider it a 'little gift' from this priest personally."

He chuckled, his skeletal knuckles tapping the desk. "Don't worry, the dungeons are well-soundproofed; it won't ruin Master Shadow Erosion's image."

[Crap, trying to poach from This Old Lady, and with a beautiful Elf Girl at that?]

Chen Yu nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, cursing Mordecai up and down in her heart.

Taking a deep breath, she forced down the urge to flip the table and tried her best to squeeze out the 'piety' and 'dullness' expected of an apprentice.

"Lord Priest must be joking."

She took half a step back to create distance. "Teacher instructs that the path of magic is vast and boundless, and one should discard mundane desires..."

"No interest?"

Mordecai's skeletal jaw split open exaggeratedly, letting out a 'clack-clack' weird laugh, the Soul Fire in his eye sockets flickering suggestively.

"Little apprentice, stop pretending. Desire and magic have always coexisted! Like fine wine with gourmet food."

His skeletal claw pointed at Chen Yu, looking smug as if he had long since seen through her.

"The skeleton servant saw it this morning; you woke up in your teacher's arms, didn't you!"

"Tsk tsk, such deep master-disciple affection... What, are you jealous? Afraid the Master will be distracted by an Elf Girl?"