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]