Chapter 127: Fireworks
“Winnie’s gift…” these words were completely novel to Kailun. He had never imagined that Winnie, whom he constantly bullied, would one day take the initiative to “give back”.
He glanced at Winnie’s goodwill rating. It was only 30, not even reaching the level of liking.
Following Carol to the plaza in front of the small building, he saw a dozen carriages loaded with goods.
Anna, who didn’t go to help Ella today, was counting the goods, envy filling her eyes.
Compared to Winnie, she only had herself, and the only gift she could offer was herself.
She looked down at her flat stomach, devoid of any fat or bumps.
She didn’t reject the idea of carrying Kailun’s child, but as his realm increased, conceiving would become increasingly difficult. Anna could only comfort herself by working harder.
However, she didn’t know that as long as Kailun wanted, he could be a first-rank at any time.
But to Kailun, being a first-rank often meant being instantly defeated, a humiliation, a shame that even Afra couldn’t overcome.
Kailun shifted his gaze to Winnie, who was wearing a yellow dress. A helpless smile was plastered on her face. “Master…”
Winnie seemed extremely restrained as she addressed him as “Master”.
“Don’t be so formal. We’re all family.”
Kailun walked straight towards Winnie, and Isabella, who had been surrounding her, made way for him.
Her gaze was fixed on the wooden box in Winnie’s hand. She sensed the aura of destiny emanating from it.
“You brought me so many things this time. Did your mother scold you?”
Kailun walked over and ruffled Winnie’s hair. Obedient girls get candy.
Of course, don’t ask what kind of candy.
“Mother was indeed a little unhappy, but my father and I persuaded her.”
Winnie lowered her head, overwhelmed with gratitude. The timid and cautious Winnie was a far cry from her initial self.
“Your mother probably hates me even more now, but it doesn’t matter. Her daughter is in my hands.”
After messing up Winnie’s hair, Kailun looked at the wooden box she was holding. “Is this a gift too? What’s inside?”
“Yes, yes, this is a scroll I managed to get from home. My father said it was something dug out from an unknown ruin when our ancestors were developing the territory. But no one in our family could understand it, so it has been passed down to this day.”
Winnie opened the box in front of Kailun, revealing two ancient parchment scrolls inside, their surfaces engraved with complex magic circles.
“Scrolls excavated from a ruin…”
Kailun picked up a scroll and carefully rubbed it between his fingers. Based on the feedback, it was indeed parchment.
But looking closely at the patterns on it, even Kailun felt a headache.
“It’s a special scroll. I can’t determine its specific rank. Let’s classify it as a Taboo Scroll for now.”
Kailun rubbed his forehead and put the scrolls back into the box. As a gift, these two scrolls were quite substantial.
Taking the wooden box from Winnie’s arms and handing it to Carol, Kailun ruffled Winnie’s hair again. “I’m very satisfied with your gift. I heard your family’s main business is fruit and textiles. I’ll give you some preferential treatment later, so you can go further in the future.”
“Thank you for your generosity. The Laurist family will always remember your kindness.” Winnie’s face lit up with joy.
[Your generosity has increased Winnie’s goodwill. Goodwill +15, Total Goodwill 45]
Poor girl, Kailun didn’t even know how to bully her anymore.
But he could still bully Hilna recently, so he wasn’t completely deprived of his fun.
“Um, can I see the scrolls? I can pay for it.”
Isabella looked at the box in Carol’s hand with longing. She desperately wanted to open it. The contents held a fatal attraction for her.
“No.”
Faced with Isabella’s plea, Kailun refused.
“Why not? I can pay a lot of money, even 100,000 gold coins. Can I just take a look? Just one glance, please~”
Isabella clasped her hands together and pleaded with Kailun, trying to act cute.
Kailun let go of Winnie, walked over to Isabella, pressed her head down, and asked gently, “You really want to see?”
Isabella: “I really, really want to see. Please~”
Her soft voice and seductive eyes gave Isabella a unique charm.
Kailun smiled even wider. He flicked Isabella’s forehead with his finger and said, “I won’t let you see. This thing is more dangerous than you think.”
His intuition told him to avoid touching the scrolls in the box. They were extremely dangerous, and even Kailun had never seen those unknown patterns before.
Until he fully understood them, he wasn’t going to hand them over to the little girl in front of him.
[Your disdainful look has hurt Isabella’s feelings. Goodwill -5, Total Goodwill 40]
Isabella didn’t reply. Her gray eyes expressed a wealth of emotions.
After teasing Isabella, Kailun turned to Winnie again. “By the way, does your family remember where the ruin was located?”
Winnie shook her head, her black hair flowing like ink. “No, the map has long been lost. Nothing is left except these two scrolls.”
“That’s a pity. I’ll have someone investigate it carefully later. You go and rest for now.”
Kailun stood up, looking disappointed. If he could find the ruin, he might be able to unearth more interesting things.
However, this could be done alongside other tasks. The territory inherited by Count Laurist wasn’t large. Even a thorough search wouldn’t take more than a month.
Winnie, tired from her journey, did want to rest. After bidding farewell to Kailun again, she returned to the familiar small building and entered her familiar room.
She didn’t even notice that she had subconsciously walked into Kailun’s room.
Kailun asked Anna to show him the list of goods. Most of Winnie’s gifts were fabrics and fruits with magical properties.
Isabella, having failed in her attempt to act cute, sat dejectedly on the steps in front of the small building, her chin resting on her hand as she stared at the wooden box in Carol’s hand.
“Where’s Vivian? Why haven’t I seen her today?”
After having the servants unload the goods from the carriages, Kailun asked everyone.
Carol and Anna shook their heads. They didn’t know where Vivian had gone.
Isabella casually said, “She went out early this morning. She said the custom handcuffs and shackles she ordered from the blacksmith were ready.”
Kailun: “…”
……
“That’s hilarious. That guy actually said the Pope personally went to the main battlefield. Do you think I believe his nonsense?”
In the Abyss’s command room, Fox was laughing with Bella the dragon girl.
She pointed at the clock on the wall. “The Pope of the Temple of the Celestial God hasn’t left Alaye since her ascension. This war hasn’t reached a critical stage yet, so she wouldn’t set off so early. Besides, the Temple of the Celestial God is busy with the transition between the old and new Saints. The Pope is probably furious that a bunch of candidate Saints have died.”
“What if it’s true?”
Bella covered her mouth with her hand and looked at the clock on the wall. “If it’s true, wouldn’t we be caught off guard?”
Fox: “Don’t worry about that. The elders of the Abyss have already gone to the front lines. They will defend well. With my Destiny Magic, they will be blessed with good fortune today.”
Bella continued to cover her mouth, which was leaking air when she spoke. “Is that so? Then I’ll reluctantly believe you this time. By the way, didn’t you say you encountered a hateful human and were captured? His name is Kailun, right? Tell me, did he inject you fiercely? Do you feel like you’re pregnant with little foxes now?”
Hearing this, Fox’s face darkened. She couldn’t help but scratch a long, thin mark on the table with her fingernails. “Stupid dragon, do you believe I’ll cut off your tail and use it as a snack! I told you, we fought eight hundred rounds, and it was a draw. In the end, we became friends after fighting and signed an alliance agreement.”
“Hmm, it must have been eight hundred rounds in bed. Otherwise, why would your communication device end up in his hands?”
Bella’s purple vertical pupils gleamed with gossip.
“I told you I was just joking! Why don’t you believe me?”
Fox wished she could strangle both Kailun and Bella. Now she couldn’t even preserve her own reputation.
“I believe you, of course I can believe you, but you can’t even remember what you wrote back then. How can I believe you were joking? Besides, it’s clearly your handwriting. Stop lying to me.”
Bella spread her hands. Because she didn’t have her hands to cover her mouth, her speech was leaking air, so she quickly covered her mouth again.
Fox: “I… I can’t explain it to you.”
Even now, the Fox couldn’t understand why Kailun could use her communication device. The Abyss had been researching this for a while, but they still hadn’t found an answer.
“You’re just a vixen who can’t even handle a man. Tell me, what kind of person is this Kailun you speak of? To be able to single-handedly subdue you, he must be at least eighth-rank. An eighth-rank at such a young age, tsk tsk tsk.”
Bella clicked her tongue. Even with her talent, she couldn’t achieve such an incredible feat.
“It was a sneak attack! I told you it was a sneak attack! If you slander me again, I’ll pull out a few more of your teeth.”
Fox emphasized once again. She stood up from her seat, rolled up her sleeves, looking like she was about to pull out Bella’s teeth.
If she had known that this stupid dragon was so good at slandering people, she wouldn’t have come back.
She had rushed back to the Abyss in a hurry, but in the end, she had only been able to help a little. The war between the two sides was maintained at a specific intensity and hadn’t escalated.
“I’m not afraid of you. If we really fight…”
Bella rolled her eyes at the Fox, wagging her dragon tail. Before she could finish her sentence, a huge mushroom cloud rose into view.
Bella’s words abruptly stopped.
“Boom!”
Twenty seconds after the mushroom cloud rose, they heard the deafening roar of the explosion.
Fox and Bella turned their heads stiffly. The time on the clock on the wall was exactly twelve o’clock.
Fox gulped. “It can’t be such a coincidence, can it?”
In fact, when she asked this question, she had already realized that Kailun’s words were most likely true.
“Crash!”
Bella knocked over her chair and ran out of the room without a word. As soon as she exited the door, she spread her dragon wings and soared into the sky, disappearing from Fox’s sight in the blink of an eye.
The explosion just now was far beyond what an ordinary ninth-rank mage could create. If Fox’s information was accurate, it meant that the Pope had truly arrived.
Bella couldn’t help but wonder if her grandfather could withstand the Temple of the Celestial God’s attack while injured.
Seeing Bella run away, Fox didn’t think twice and teleported after her. No matter what, she couldn’t let Bella go to the battlefield. Even if the entire front line was wiped out, she had to keep Bella alive.
This wasn’t just her own thought, but also the request of everyone else in the Abyss. To them, the last princess of the dragon race was more like a precious symbol.
Bella in the Abyss had almost become another symbol.
She was a princess who was willing to sell her own teeth for the impoverished Abyss.
On a hill near the main battlefield, Fox teleported in front of Bella and stopped her.
“Don’t be impulsive. Let’s observe for a while. If there’s really a problem, I’ll help.” Fox gritted her teeth. She had already begun to place her hopes on Kailun.
She only hoped that that bastard could actually be of some use.
At this moment, they were less than two kilometers away from the main battlefield. The deafening sounds of explosions continuously reached their ears. The fierce battle was already visible to the naked eye.
Looking from the hilltop, the Abyss was in a one-sided rout, driven out of the second mineral vein’s defense zone in just a moment.
In midair, an elderly man with wings and dragon horns was constantly fighting against a ball of light. It seemed like a heated battle, but the elderly man was clearly at a disadvantage.
Fox quickly scanned the battlefield. There were five ninth-rank mages on the Abyss’s side and eight ninth-rank mages sent by the Temple of the Celestial God, including the Pope.
The difference of three ninth-rank mages became an insurmountable gap, and even the Fox’s Destiny Magic was hardly effective.
“Fox, get out of the way. I know what I’m doing.” This time, Bella didn’t cover her mouth with her hand.
“No, you don’t. You going up there now will only distract everyone. The Temple of the Celestial God is more decisive than we thought. They came prepared. You go back first. Leave this to me. I will help everyone.”
Fox spread her arms and blocked Bella’s path.
In fact, Fox knew very well that she couldn’t help much.
Since a while ago, she couldn’t even accurately predict the fate she used to be able to calculate.
The talent she was proud of seemed to have been quietly stripped from her body. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to predict the future.
Otherwise, with her talent, she would have definitely sensed Kailun’s ambush and the Pope’s sudden arrival.
Fox couldn’t help but ask herself in her heart: “Did it start from the day I met Kailun?”
She shook her head, dispelling the unnecessary thoughts, and looked at Bella seriously. “You go back first. As long as I’m here, the Abyss won’t lose.”
Bella: “But Fox, you’re only eighth-rank.”
Fox: “…You even know that an eighth-rank is useless in this situation.”
Bella fell silent. In their current state, even retreating was difficult. This was already the worst-case scenario.
“Sigh, do I really have to ask that guy for help?” Fox took out her communication device with a pained expression.
She didn’t have time to hesitate. She could only place her hope on that unreliable person.
Thinking about how she had been so resolute just an hour ago, Fox felt even worse.
“Wait for me. I’ll go ask that guy for help.” Leaving behind these words, the Fox took the communication device and hid behind a tree, starting to write.
Bella looked at the battlefield, then at Fox, and finally, considering that she was only eighth-rank, she placed her hope on the “that guy” Fox had mentioned.
While Fox wasn’t paying attention, Bella stealthily climbed up a tree and watched Fox’s communication with Kailun from above.
Fox: Sob sob sob~
Kailun: Speak human language.
Fox: Since you knew about the Temple of the Celestial God’s offensive, you must know how to counter it, right?
Kailun: I do, but what does that have to do with you, Miss Fox?
Fox: We’re allies. Shouldn’t we help each other?
Kailun: But I’m only allied with you, not with the Abyss. Unless you have that purple little dragon from the Abyss sign an alliance agreement with me.
Fox: We can discuss that later. Please, it’s an emergency now. If you don’t act, that stupid purple dragon will die.
Kailun: Oh.
Fox: …
Fox: Hello?
Fox: Are you there? Did you go take a bath? Or are you sleeping?
Fox: Wuwuwu, if you don’t reply, I’m really going to die.
Fox: Hey hey hey, please reply, I beg you. The stupid dragon is about to die…
Kailun: I just contacted a few kind-hearted ninth-rank mages who are willing to self-destruct. They can resolve the current crisis. So how should you repay me?
Seeing Kailun’s message, Fox’s heart pounded wildly. She kept swallowing, trying to calm herself down.
There were ninth-rank mages who were willing to self-destruct in this day and age?
Choosing to believe first and question later, Fox quickly replied to Kailun: “What do you want?”
Kailun: How about you offer yourself to me? Miss Fox’s beauty can barely catch my eye.
Fox: If you can change all this, I can consider it.
Kailun: Vixens just love to play hard to get. But first, I’ll treat you to a fireworks show. I hope you won’t be too infatuated with me later.
Raise your dog head and look at the Temple of the Celestial God’s base camp. Yes, right there. And then…
“Boom!”
A massive mushroom cloud soared into the sky. Unlike before, this mushroom cloud was entirely composed of magic power.
Terrifying magic power erupted instantly, making one wonder if a ninth-rank mage had gone mad and self-destructed.
The massive shock wave swept across the entire encampment of the Temple of the Celestial God, knocking tens of thousands of people to the ground. Those who were closer were instantly reduced to ashes.
The fighting on the battlefield came to a halt. They couldn’t understand why the Temple of the Celestial God had started self-destructing when even the Abyss, who had been driven to a corner, hadn’t resorted to such a tactic.
“Boom!”
However, this wasn’t the end, but the beginning. Another thunderous explosion rang out, and the Temple of the Celestial God’s encampment was once again blown to smithereens.
“No!”
The Pope’s roar woke everyone up. The people from the Temple of the Celestial God and the Abyss separated. The former retreated to their camp to organize rescue efforts, while the latter retreated in an orderly manner.
However, just as the Temple of the Celestial God turned around, another dazzling firework exploded in their camp.
Colorful magic showered the earth. These were the fireworks of a ninth-rank mage.
Fox stared blankly at the apocalyptic scene in front of her. “Are ninth-rank mages so worthless now?”
Bella, hiding in the tree, kept repeating the name “Kailun,” a mesmerized smile on her lips.
[Your kind act saved the Abyss. Princess Bella of the Dragon Race has developed special feelings for you. Goodwill +60, Total Goodwill 60]
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