Willo turned, bent at the waist, and bowed to Charles, her white bosom plainly visible. "I am truly sorry, Mr. Charles. When I return, I will do my best to clear up these misunderstandings and prevent any needless conflict."
Charles breathed a sigh of relief. Since it wouldn’t come to a fight, that was all that mattered. Ever since he’d found that eliminating undead, fiends, and loophole creatures earned Purification Points, he preferred battling those foes; fighting other material world beings held little appeal. "It’s all right, this isn’t your fault. I trust your sincerity, and I believe you and Mr. Danche can bring peace to these mountains."
He glanced upward at the sky. "We should go soon. We’ve been missing for days—Blackstaff Tower will need our report on the demons."
Willo nodded. "Safe travels. And please, when you report to your superiors, take care to clarify any misunderstandings. Let’s all try for restraint, and avoid causing further trouble."
Charles smiled, replied, "Of course," and called for Anno and the nuns to join him. As they left, Danche suddenly called out, "Nidalee, aren’t you coming with us?"
Nidalee hesitated. Returning to her tribe meant marriage pressure, not to mention the minotaur Torun, who was surely still furious after recent events. Shaking her head quickly, she called back, "No, I have a more urgent mission... Go on, just tell my father I’m safe!" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝※𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖※𝕟𝕖𝕥
She hurried to catch up to Charles. Willo’s eyes wandered to the tail still trailing behind Nidalee, growing suspicious that the true reason she was avoiding home was that she wanted to keep playing her games...
Thinking of how Theresa had been developing Willo’s own appetites the past few days, Willo blushed, shook her head, and tried to drive those surging thoughts away, turning instead to the rest of the Mountain People. "Let’s get going too, before anything else happens."
So the Mountain People departed as well. Many of them were still upset, unwilling to forgive Charles as an outsider, but under joint urging from Willo and Danche, they grudgingly held back their murderous intent and abandoned any thoughts of starting a fight.
Meanwhile, a short way off, once safely out of sight, Charles quickly moved away from Nidalee and jogged to Anno’s side, grabbing her hand.
As the familiar warmth flowed into his palm, Anno’s eyes filled with tears. All her recent grievances rushed to the surface, and unable to restrain herself any longer, she pinched his palm sharply.
Charles winced but didn’t complain, knowing she was angry. He took a deep breath, braced himself for the pain, then pulled her into a hug.
Anno struggled symbolically, then realized Charles really was stronger now and simply let herself rest in his arms. Seeing that she let herself be held, Charles let out a breath of relief and kept his arm around her as they continued forward in silence.
Hattie kept sneaking glances at them, feeling conflicted, while Theresa pretended to look forward innocently—though she used magic to bend the light and sneak peeks at the couple, her heart racing as she watched.
Only Nidalee felt a sense of loss—her twice-daily bliss had suddenly come to an end, and she hadn’t even had time to remove her tail.
Damn, it looked like the coming days would be rough...
The group walked on in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, the atmosphere somewhat subdued.
At last, they left the ravine and climbed a hillside. The sun was already near the horizon. Charles didn’t call for camp, instead suddenly turning and calling out, "Theresa!"
Theresa, who’d been sneaking peeks at the others and quietly enjoying the scene, jumped as though caught reading a novel in class. "Yes?"
"Can you use your magic to check whether Willo’s intelligence about those places is accurate?" Charles asked. "Once we’re sure, we can report everything properly."
Anno returned to her senses, a look of expectation in her eyes. "Is that possible?"
Earlier in the cave, Anno and Willo had shared a deep conversation. The Satyr Matriarch had honestly marked every demon pollution point, cultist stronghold, and the possible Abyssal Lord’s lair on their map.
While Anno badly wanted to trust Willo’s sincerity and her intent to purify the pollution and bring peace, there was too much uncertainty in the details. She needed to check before reporting back to Blackstaff Tower.
"Ah... Yeah, I can do it!" Theresa nodded, relieved. "But probably not until tomorrow. It’s too dark now— even I can’t see much."
Charles nodded. "That’s fine, we can wait until tomorrow. Let’s focus on making camp for now."
At the Mountaineer Tribe—Alliance Headquarters
Succubus Ines was in a foul mood lately—she felt she’d messed up. For over a month she’d been undercover as a female minotaur among the Highmountain tribes. Thanks to her scheming, everyone expected her to be Torun’s future wife.
Even Torun himself seemed resigned to that destiny.
But... why wouldn’t Torun even touch her?
She hadn’t even gotten the chance to sweet-talk him or fish for secrets!
Not that she doubted her own charisma; in truth, plenty of elderly and even adolescent minotaurs had slept with her, and she’d seduced a number of female minotaurs too.
But for some reason, she simply couldn’t win over Torun—as if the tribe’s strongest young bull had zero sexual desire whatsoever!
It drove her nuts, but what could she do? If seduction couldn’t get her into the Alliance of the Mountain Purifiers’s upper echelons to access top-secret intel, she’d have to take risks and try other ways to unearth useful information.
Today was just the opportunity: all the tribal leaders had gathered for a rare conference. Risking exposure, Ines cloaked herself and slipped past the guards to eavesdrop outside the main round tent:
"My son may be dead! How do you expect me to stay calm?" From the sound, this had to be the true leader of the Chimera tribes.
"We can’t wait. We have to strike at Rockseeker’s Outpost—now!" The familiar voice belonged to Luger Stonehide, the werebear always at Torun’s side.
"...Since that’s your decision, I’m going out for some air." This was a somewhat childish, impatient girl’s voice.
"Let her go." That was Ilarode, sounding weary and tired.
Outside, Ines quickly ducked away, dissolved her invisibility, and saw a young, rather small female satyr emerge from the main tent, even her fur tinged with pale pink. Her face looked almost like a human girl of fourteen or fifteen—youthful, cheeks still plump with the last traces of baby fat, cute and full of innocent charm.
At that moment, the girl looked pretty disgruntled as she walked to the camp’s edge, leaned against a fence, and sighed deeply toward the leafless forest.
Ines’s heart raced: she might look young, but anyone sitting in on the conference and released personally by Ilarode had to have real power.
Feigning simple concern, Ines strolled over and smiled. "Whose child are you, looking so upset? Oh, I’m Ines Highmountain, Torun Highmountain’s fiancée."
She made her introduction confidently, all the while deciding how best to probe for information.
"Adele Green Vines," the satyr replied, and she clearly wanted someone to talk to. "My mother sent me to represent her at that conference, so I could convey the real threat we’re facing. But they just won’t listen, and there’s nothing I can do."
Ines’s heart skipped a beat. With wide, innocent eyes she asked, "The real threat? What’s that? Could you tell me?"
"Sometimes you just need to talk, you know."
"Oh, it’s the Chthonian." Adele answered offhandedly. "Mother’s long been sure Shudde M’ell lies dreaming here, and those demons—they’re trying to wake her up so she can destroy everything."
"But for some reason, no one wants to listen." She pouted. "Maybe it’d be better just to let those demons succeed! Let them see for themselves when it’s too late!"
Ines’s pupils contracted in shock.
She never dreamed that after lurking here so long, unable to fulfill Montport’s orders, she’d accidentally stumble onto Montport’s true objective!
Her real mission—suddenly, just like that, was complete!
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