Village Head's Debauchery-Chapter 1309: A Disturbance In The Middle Layer (2), Sudden Retreat

This wasn't unexpected.

Many Spirit Beasts were bold enough to ignore the lingering aura of the King-ranked beast and linger near the floating island, hoping to uncover some clue. This, in turn, meant that the Celestial Spirit Court forces had to restrain themselves—or risk angering a powerful, unaffiliated Spirit Beast.

Their efforts would ultimately be fruitless.

Suddenly, Greta's expression changed. "One of them is dead."

Orion raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How did he die?" He wondered if Greta had been discovered again and forced to act.

"He accidentally wandered too close to one of the newly arrived mysterious Spirit Beasts and was instantly killed the moment he was noticed," Greta explained.

Orion exhaled in relief. "Keep watching the other one. It looks like we won't need to make a move this time."

Greta nodded and redirected her focus to her clones positioned outside Ilse's barrier, which protected the island.

….

Within a dense forest, the leaves and bushes were layered with fragmented rocks that scraped together, producing a sound like stone grinding against stone, echoing throughout the forest.

A tall woman stood among the trees, dressed in a black robe adorned with grey embellishments. Two white furry ears protruded from either side of her head, and a tail extended from the centre behind her waist.

A trembling, two-headed, three-legged sheep lay weakly on the ground beside her.

The woman turned toward the sheep. "I'm not going to harm you. You're free to go," she said.

Then she added, "Leave this territory while you still can. Otherwise, you may not survive the coming days."

The sheep nodded repeatedly. "Thank you! Thank you!!" It quickly turned and fled into the thickets.

The woman paid no mind to the sheep's gratitude or its retreating figure. Instead, her expression turned contemplative.

"So, it's like this," she muttered.

She had devoured a member of the Celestial Spirit Court and, through her unique ability, absorbed his memories. Though she had access to many details of his life, she focused primarily on his objectives within this territory and the events that had transpired over the last few days.

As one of many Spirit Beasts drawn by the recent phenomenon—an event powerful enough to attract a King-ranked Spirit Beast—the information she had obtained was far more valuable than everything she'd uncovered in the past two days.

"The Celestial Spirit Court must have provoked a terrifying figure this time. Someone with a connection to a King-ranked Spirit Beast. But it seems they're unaware of the true scope of what happened, or else they wouldn't have made such a foolish move by sending only two 26,000-year-old Earl-ranked Spirit Beasts in response. Tsk, tsk. Serves them right," she said, her lips curling into a mocking smile.

She was curious about the entity responsible for all this. Now, she had a lead—the Floating Frost Valley, where a rebellion had broken out before escalating into a battle with the 1112th Base Division of the Celestial Spirit Court. Then came the mysterious destruction of the base.

She was sharp enough to see the connection between the events.

She needed to head to the Floating Frost Valley, but she couldn't do so recklessly. She would need to prove that she wasn't there to stir up trouble. And the best way to show that… was to eliminate the force the Celestial Spirit Court had sent.

The woman turned her head in a specific direction, sensing an approaching presence. In an instant, she vanished from her position and reappeared before a silver-armoured man with fish gills on both sides of his cheek.

The man was startled but reacted quickly, attempting to strike.

The woman lunged forward, grabbing him by the neck and completely incapacitating him.

The man froze, realizing he couldn't access the Spiritual Energy within his body. Fear flickered in his eyes. "I am a Commander of a Special Force within the Celestial Spirit Court! If you kill me, the Court will surely hunt you down!" he exclaimed, his frightened tone masked by a show of bravado.

"The last one said the exact same thing. Do you guys rehearse this line before every mission?" the woman asked mockingly.

The man's eyes widened in shock at her words. His expression quickly twisted into anger. "The Celestial Spirit Court has a treaty with the Spirit Beast Coalition! What happened here will be reported, and you'll be hunted to the ends of the Middle Layer. You'll have no choice but to flee or hide for the rest of your—" Before he could finish, the woman absorbed him.

Activating her innate ability, she sifted through his memories, extracting several detailed fragments. Unfortunately, nothing of further value was found.

She glanced around, aware of a persistent gaze silently watching her. Still, she ignored it. There were many mysterious Spirit Beasts currently roaming the territory, all searching for the same thing.

It would be unwise to provoke them and risk revealing the clue she had just uncovered.

The greater her chances of meeting them first, the more likely she could uncover the truth.

….

Meanwhile, Greta swiftly relayed the events she had just witnessed.

"Did you catch any details of their conversation?" Orion asked, frowning.

She had just informed him about the deaths of the two Celestial Spirit Court members sent to investigate. Though he was relieved, they didn't have to get involved—avoiding exposure to the other mysterious Spirit Beasts—he was curious about why this particular Spirit Beast had attacked them and what had been said between them.

Had the Celestial Spirit Court truly provoked so many powerful Spirit Beasts?

Most likely.

"No, I couldn't hear anything," Greta replied, shaking her head in frustration. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Orion nodded in understanding.

"What's your take?" he asked, turning to Ilse.

"If my senses are correct, it won't be long before our location is discovered," Ilse replied calmly. "We should head toward the 1113th Base Division territory in the meantime."

Orion nodded in agreement. "We've already made preparations for this, so we can move immediately," he said.

Suddenly, the space around the floating island rippled. The illusion cast to mimic the surroundings began to fracture as if reality itself were splintering.

"So soon…" Orion muttered, narrowing his eyes at the sky above. He hadn't expected them to uncover the island's presence this quickly.

Ilse's expression twisted into one of fear.

"What is it?" Orion asked, his heart tightening as he noticed her gaze.

"It's a Vylkr spawn," Ilse replied, her voice trembling. If there was one thing she feared most in this world, it was the Vylkr energy.

And the Vylkr spawns—the bearers of that energy—were among her worst nightmares.

Orion was momentarily stunned. He had searched far and wide for any information about Vylkr spawns, yet never once had he encountered one. And now, one had appeared right at his doorstep.

Had it also been drawn here by the unnatural phenomenon?

He didn't have an answer. Without hesitation, he issued the command for an immediate retreat while Ilse's barrier was still holding.

Suddenly, several figures appeared before them—his wives, the four-eared slaves, his bond slaves, Brane, and the others. They quickly processed the information and grew tense.

"Do you have a plan?" Zera asked.

Orion nodded. "We need to lure it into the Paradise Realm. With the Will of the Twelve-Step Stairs, General Reynold and Oberon, we should be able to suppress it and extract information about Naka and the Vylkr entities," he said, steadying himself emotionally.

"Can you handle it?" he asked. Among them, only Zera was capable of confronting a Vylkr spawn head-on.

After this, he could finally find a way to strengthen himself, to stop lingering on the sidelines. As a leader, it was good to have a dependable force. But choosing not to act should be his decision, not a result of circumstance.

"We can," Zera said firmly, clenching her fist.

A surge of joy flickered in her heart.

Suddenly, her body morphed, transforming into Avarielle.

"You can count on us," she said solemnly.

She sensed Zera's emotions. After witnessing the entire group, especially Ilse, demonstrate their value, she felt the same determination rising within her.

Finally, they would have the chance to showcase their prowess before everyone.

"We will help as well. We've never faced a Vylkr spawn before, and we want to see how powerful they truly are. These are disposable clones we created for situations like this, so it shouldn't be a problem," Celeste said, crossing her arms.

Greta nodded.

In an instant, dozens of her clones stepped out from her hovering form.

Avarielle glanced at the women but didn't respond. Instead, she turned her gaze toward Orion as though awaiting his permission.

Orion nodded. "They will accompany you," he said. "Ilse is enough to guide the rest of us out of here."

Avarielle nodded in return.

By now, Ilse's barrier had reached its breaking point and was on the verge of collapse.

Orion quickly received Sylvalis from Iy'yra.

....

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the late updates. I'm currently handling a lot of life issues.