Ylarnia had already finished changing.
She wore a tight-fitting long dress made of the finest black velvet, which seemed to absorb light.
The neckline was almost severely high, tightly wrapping her slender and elegant swan-like neck, extending all the way to her delicate jaw, creating an illusion of asceticism and dignity.
Her long hair was simply tied back, revealing her pointed and sensitive elven ears, adorned with small earrings crafted from mithril and stardust.
Wearing red high heels.
Stepping on the cold floor, her face bore a trace of laziness and expectation after her wishes were satisfied.
Jerry was also ready.
Jerry had changed into a handmade dark grey suit with subtle patterns. The material was a magical fabric mixed with a small amount of fire dragon tendon, which was both crisp and possessed excellent toughness.
The fitted cut perfectly outlined his shoulder line, which, though still slightly boyish, was beginning to take shape. Beneath the suit was a soft black silk shirt, the first button at the collar casually undone.
Jerry looked like an impeccable young heir about to attend a family banquet—elegant, noble, with a composure beyond his years.
Everything was ready, leaving only the final "accessory."
Jerry extended his hand and clenched gently at his empty palm.
Accompanied by a faint fluctuation of magic, a strangely shaped staff, about the length of his arm, appeared out of thin air in his hand.
This staff was Jerry's proud creation, forged personally in the core furnace of the alchemy workshop a few days ago using the one-time-use [Staff of Withering] blueprint, a reward from the "Elf Avenger" mission.
The body of the staff was not made of wood or metal, but of some twisted, eerie material that looked like countless dried black veins and bones entangled together, its surface covered with disturbing, protruding vein-like patterns.
What caused the most physiological discomfort was that at the top and middle of this staff, there "grew" seven or eight eyeball-like objects of varying sizes.
These "eyeballs" were not real organs but highly concentrated magical crystals.
The lenses were a cloudy grey-white, while the pupils were bottomless black, as if capable of swallowing all light.
They seemed to possess a vague "sight," turning extremely slowly and irregularly with the changes in the surrounding magical environment. Every rotation seemed to scrutinize the world silently with a gaze full of malice and decay.
"This staff looks... so ugly!"
Ylarnia's beautiful eyebrows furrowed in disdain; she made no secret of her contempt for the weapon's appearance.
As an elf who loved beauty and nature by nature, this thing full of twisted, morbid, and unnatural aura repulsed her from the bottom of her heart.
"It looks like an ugly stick glued together messily with a pile of swamp troll eyeballs and basilisk tendons!"
She stepped forward and extended her slender finger, but stopped a few centimeters away from those "eyeballs," as if afraid of being contaminated by something unclean. "Jerry, taking this thing out will lower your taste."
Jerry didn't speak, just looking at the "masterpiece" in his hand lightly with the gaze of appreciating a work of art.
Ylarnia's assessment wasn't wrong.
The appearance of this [Staff of Withering] indeed had nothing to do with beauty.
But its design philosophy was ultimate viciousness and efficiency.
Jerry couldn't be bothered to explain the terrifying effect of this staff, which "could randomly amplify a single spell into three to five," and simply began to cast Transfiguration silently in front of Ylarnia.
Jerry held the staff level, the fingers of his other hand brushing lightly over the twisted patterns on the staff body in an extremely complex rhythm.
Accompanied by an imperceptible magical hum, the ugly staff began to change at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The entangled veins and bones began to contract and merge, and the color gradually purified from muddy black to a deep matte black gold that seemed capable of absorbing light.
And those "eyeballs" that made Ylarnia most uncomfortable sank into the staff body one by one like melting candles. Finally, only the largest one remained, turning into a pitch-black gem the size of a grain of rice, inlaid at the very top.
The entire transformation process was smooth and rapid. In just a few seconds, the disgusting staff had shrunk and coiled in his hand, finally turning into a men's ring with a simple yet powerful design.
The main body of the ring was matte black gold, and the face was inlaid with that deep black gem transformed from the "eyeball."
Jerry put this ring casually on the middle finger of his left hand.
The size of the ring was just right, complementing his expensive suit perfectly. It looked like a luxury item with unique taste, showing no trace of its previous ugly appearance.
Ylarnia covered her small mouth in surprise, but then nodded with satisfaction.
This was worthy of her Jerry.
However, what Ylarnia didn't know was that this ring was merely the tip of the iceberg of Jerry's massive "arsenal."
Under Jerry's black silk shirt, on his chest which was still slightly thin but already had very distinct muscle lines, hung a necklace woven from dense, hair-like mithril.
On his wrists, hidden by the expensive shirt cuffs, was a pair of bracers made of ebony and Thestral tendons, capable of significantly shortening spell casting intervals.
At his ankles were tied two light anklets made of Windfrost Duck feathers and mercury alloy, imbued with "Feather Fall" and "Haste" spells, allowing him to maintain absolute mobility in any situation.
Even the lining of Jerry's suit was embroidered with miniature "Death Substitution Runes" in silver thread, capable of blocking fatal curses one by one.
All these magical jewelry and equipment were connected together by an extremely brilliant "Silence Ward" and "Energy Series Matrix," forming a perfect whole.
They wouldn't make any clinking sounds due to body movements, and the magical fluctuations they emitted were perfectly constrained to the surface of Jerry's body, making him look exactly like an ordinary, harmless little wizard.
This was Jerry Rosier's true armament.
Still as a mountain when motionless; when moving, it would be as thunderous as a thousand bolts of lightning.
"Let's go."
Jerry finally adjusted his cuffs, completely covering the bracers on his wrists, and then extended a hand toward Ylarnia.
"My Princess!"
Inside that inconspicuous secret room in Knockturn Alley, the air wafted with a slightly bitter exotic fragrance mixed with calming incense and high-grade incense, starkly different from the rot outside.
The furnishings of the room were extremely simple, even plain.
No magnificent wallpaper, no complex furniture, only a few necessary oriental-style artifacts flashing with powerful magical aura, hinting that this was not an ordinary hideout but a temporary base of extremely high level.
In front of a huge obsidian screen capable of reflecting figures, Mei-Ting Jin was sitting at a small dressing table, applying the final touches to her makeup.
Mei-Ting Jin's iconic hair, shining like amethyst shards, was groomed meticulously.
She wore an extremely fitted evening gown. The fabric of the dress was smooth as water, but at the chest, there was a shocking, bold cutout design.
On that exposed snow-white skin, a magnificent bra made of black lace and shimmering silver lines, like a second skin, was not fixed by traditional straps but seemed directly "glued" to her skin, full of futuristic and erotic visual impact.
Mei-Ting Jin was using a delicate brush dipped in gold powder to gently sweep across her cheekbones, her movements precise and calm, as if performing the final polishing on a precision weapon about to be sent to the exhibition stand.
Behind her, in the center of the room, on that cold floor paved with a whole piece of Hetian jade, a woman's figure sat quietly cross-legged.
She was Mei-Ting Jin's true "Boss."
Unlike Mei-Ting Jin's beauty full of modernity and aggression, what this woman exuded was an otherworldly charm as if walking out of an ancient painting.
She wore a Hanfu made of layers of moon-white gauze as thin as cicada wings, the wide sleeves piled up like flowing clouds at her sides.
Faint magical halos flowed on the gauze dress, making her whole person look hazy and unreal.
What made it impossible to look away were the nine huge and magnificent fox tails behind her.
Those were not simple magical illusions.
Every tail had a real texture; the fluffy silver-white long fur was like top-quality silk, and the tips were dyed with a faint pale purple like the dawn sky.
They didn't dance wildly but stretched and curled extremely slowly and lightly behind the woman as if possessing independent lives. Every swing drove the tide of magic in the air, the posture elegant to the extreme.
However, if one observed carefully, one could find that under this fairy-like appearance hid a trace of imperceptible, heavy fatigue like a mountain.
At the roots of those nine tails, closest to the body, a few tufts of fur that should have been flawlessly white presented a dull, slightly withered yellow color, as if vitality was continuously being extracted by some invisible force.
She was Su Chan, one of the supreme rulers of the Asian wizarding world, one of the four Executive Vice Directors of the "Heavenly Dao Alliance," a massive power governing hundreds of worlds in the East.
The Heavenly Dao Alliance, a name that sounded strange and distant in the European wizarding world, was indisputably one of the three giants alongside the European Ministry of Magic and the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA).
Unlike the European Ministry of Magic, which was keen on internal power struggles and maintaining a "delicate balance" externally, the style of the Heavenly Dao Alliance had been full of aggression and pioneering spirit in Eastern philosophy from beginning to end.
While European wizards were still wrangling over the ownership of a newly discovered uninhabited island full of magical herbs, the "Realm Gates" of the Heavenly Dao Alliance had long opened passages to hundreds and thousands of otherworlds, expanding their sphere of influence to a vast area unimaginable to outsiders.
However, one cannot walk by the river without getting one's shoes wet.
Ten years ago, a routine plane exploration by the Heavenly Dao Alliance led them to hit an unprecedented iron plate.
It was a massive cultivation civilization connected by countless worlds, known as the "Dynasty."
The people there called themselves "Cultivators." They didn't use wands or chant spells.
Their power originated from themselves. By breathing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and tempering their own bodies, they cultivated their mortal flesh into magical artifacts comparable to gods and demons.
Their spells were the manifestation of "True Essence," the extension of will; their essence was completely different from the way wizards borrowed external magic power.
This essential difference led to the cruelest outcome.
There was no confrontation and friction like that between the European Ministry of Magic and the False Olympic Pantheon, no probing, no diplomacy.
The moment the two sides made contact, war broke out in the most tragic and white-hot manner. In the eyes of the "Dynasty" cultivators, the wizards of the Heavenly Dao Alliance were "Heretical Demons" stealing the power of heaven and earth.
In the view of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, these cultivators capable of turning the entire world into the source of their own power were the fattest "resources" ever seen.
Both sides wanted to devour the other completely.
However, the Heavenly Dao Alliance severely underestimated the heritage of the "Dynasty."
The vast territory and the number of cultivators in that seemingly primitive cultivation world cluster far exceeded their imagination.
Even more terrifyingly, inside that civilization, there was a near-paranoid, monolithic cohesion.
A "resource expansion war" originally expected to end within a few years was forcibly turned into a bloody quagmire that lasted for a full ten years, exhausting a large amount of the Heavenly Dao Alliance's reserves.
The pioneering legions that once advanced triumphantly were now firmly dragged into dozens of battlefield worlds known as "Flesh Grinders," in a dilemma.
And the pride belonging to a super power rooted in the bones of the Heavenly Dao Alliance made them make a decision that seemed incredibly fatal today—refusing aid.
Time and time again, they refused the "well-intentioned" mediation and military support from the International Confederation of Wizards and MACUSA, declaring that the war situation was under control.
They were unwilling to let outsiders see their embarrassment, and even less willing to have that fattest piece of "Dynasty" cake divided by these "vultures" after victory.
Thus, the Heavenly Dao Alliance was roasted on the fire, like riding a fierce tiger that could not be tamed. Advancing meant having more flesh and blood torn apart by sharp claws and teeth.
Retreating meant that the huge investment of ten years would be lost entirely, and it also meant that the hegemonic status of the Heavenly Dao Alliance would plummet, becoming a laughingstock for the other two giants.
They could only grit their teeth, claiming "the advantage is mine" externally while frantically seeking any possibility internally to break the deadlock.
And Jerry Rosier, the sole heir of an ancient dark wizard family silent for ten years, and the ancient alchemy related to souls and bloodlines he represented—which were listed as taboos by the European Ministry of Magic and did not belong to the conventional magic system—became the thinnest and sharpest straw Su Chan grabbed while sliding down.
Just then, Mei-Ting Jin's movements stopped. She revealed a formulaic smile to her flawless self in the mirror.
"Boss!"
Mei-Ting Jin didn't turn back, her voice as calm as stating the weather: "He's arrived, and brought one along. Should I separate it first?"
She referred to Ylarnia. Any powerful existence was an unstable variable in such a sensitive meeting.
Su Chan's long, curled eyelashes, which had been closed for a long time, trembled slightly.
Finally, she opened her eyes.
In those eyes as deep as ancient pools, Mei-Ting Jin's back figure, full of modernity and danger, was reflected, but her gaze seemed to penetrate her, penetrate the walls of this secret room, seeing a more distant and bloody future.
"No need, Mei-Ting."
Su Chan's voice was as soft as a wisp of green smoke but carried a lingering fatigue. "Elves' 'eyes' are keen, but their hearts are also pure.
As long as that boy doesn't speak, that little elf will just be a pretty, mute decoration.
Kidnap them together!"
Su Chan paused, a trace of helplessness and self-mockery that only the two of them could understand seeping into her tone.
"We no longer have the extra energy to care about these trivial details.
After all, we are now... betting the entire future of the Heavenly Dao Alliance on a boy."
Mei-Ting Jin fell silent.
She turned around, leaning against the dressing table. That bold evening gown outlined her nearly perfect body curves, but her expression shed all coquettishness, leaving only the calmness and solemnity belonging to a top wizard.
"Boss, let me confirm one last time." Her voice was pressed very low. "Is 'that' thing of the Rosier family... really worth us paying such a huge price?
The description of it in the archives is too... crazy.
The European Ministry of Magic listed it as the highest-level forbidden art, and even destroyed eight or nine out of ten related research records.
What we rely on are just some fragments dug out from ancient classics, chasing the wind and clutching at shadows.
Moreover, kidnapping someone here..."
"Crazy?"
Su Chan laughed softly, but there was no warmth in that laughter; instead, it was like thin ice cracking on a cold winter pool. "Mei-Ting, look at our current situation. Is there anything crazier than this?"
She slowly raised a hand. The wide moon-white cloud sleeve slid down, revealing a wrist so white it was almost transparent.
Her fingertip gently swiped in the air, and a water mirror composed of magic power appeared out of thin air.
In the mirror, what was presented was not the scene here, but a battlefield dyed red by blood and fire, like purgatory.
Countless wizards in armor, harnessing the brilliance of spells, were fighting tragically with those "Cultivators" stepping on flying swords and surrounded by multicolored brilliance.
The explosions of spells and the tearing sounds of sword qi intertwined; figures constantly fell from the sky, turning into charcoal or mashed flesh.
"'Flesh Grinder', this is the codename we gave to Frontline World No. 3. Very apt, isn't it?" Su Chan's gaze fell on the water mirror, her voice becoming somewhat hollow. "In ten years, we have filled more than thirty thousand excellent wizards into such 'grinders'. Every one of them was a precious asset of the Heavenly Dao Alliance."
"Our spies, no matter how well disguised, as soon as they approach the core areas of those so-called 'Sects', will be instantly seen through by their 'Divine Sense' as keen as ghosts and gods.
Of those sent in, counting every single one, not even a splash was made.
And their 'Almighty Ones', 'Ancestors'... each one is equivalent to a small-scale Forbidden Curse that can move freely.
We can't break into the frontal battlefield anymore, Mei-Ting.
We are dragged down, like a giant beast stuck in a swamp, unable to move."
The picture in the water mirror changed, turning into a tattered parchment manuscript written in Ancient Elvish. On the manuscript, a lifelike humanoid carved from pure crystal was depicted.
The lines of that humanoid golem were smooth and perfect, like a work of art carved by a god personally. But at its chest core, an extremely complex rune array filled with destructive aura was inscribed.
"But the creation of the Rosier family is different."
Su Chan's voice finally carried a trace of near-morbid desire.
"Did you see?
'Soulless Body, Cauldron of Ten Thousand Spells'.
This is the description of it on the manuscript. It is not alive, has no soul, and naturally won't have any aura that can be captured by 'Divine Sense'.
It can be a stone, a piece of dead wood, or even a speck of dust.
It can silently infiltrate any heavily guarded 'Blessed Land', right to the bedside of those old monsters."
Her breathing quickened slightly, and one of the nine fox tails uncontrollably swept gently across the cold jade floor.
"But this is not its most terrifying aspect.
Its most terrifying aspect is its 'Core'.
It is a container, a container that can be pre-infused with 'Concepts'.
We can seal a most vicious, most powerful Forbidden Curse, such as 'Abyssal Withering' or 'Eternal Silence', completely within its crystal core."
"Then, when this perfect 'artwork' that won't be noticed by anyone reaches where it should be..." The corner of Su Chan's mouth hooked into a cold and cruel arc.
"Boom."
"It will self-destruct. Releasing the entire Forbidden Curse unreservedly in an instant.
The spirit vein of a sect, all the elders of a school, a mountain gate with a heritage of a thousand years... will all turn into nothingness silently.
It is not a weapon, Mei-Ting. It is a perfect, precisely deliverable, undefendable 'Assassin'."
Mei-Ting Jin's breathing also hitched.
This tactic had exceeded the scope of conventional warfare and entered the most despicable yet most effective realm of assassination.
"Moreover..." Su Chan waved her hand to disperse the water mirror, her beautiful eyes staring dead at Mei-Ting Jin. "Don't forget its other ability.
'Mirror Replication'.
It can perfectly replicate and release any spell it 'sees' at a one-to-one ratio. Imagine, when a certain 'Sword Immortal' of the Dynasty sacrifices his strongest natal flying sword, only to find an inconspicuous crystal doll opposite him also sacrificing an identical flying sword... what an interesting scene that would be?"
"So, do you say it's worth it?"
Su Chan leaned back on the soft cushion behind her, as if those words just now had exhausted all her strength. "Risking offending the Ministry of Magic to kidnap a boy in exchange for a unique opportunity to turn the entire war situation around instantly.
Are we losing on this deal?"
Mei-Ting Jin took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.
She knew that strategically, Su Chan's judgment was not wrong.
This was indeed their only hope to break the deadlock, that thinnest and sharpest straw.
"...Not losing."
Mei-Ting Jin finally spat out these two words, the expression on her face returning to that impeccable calmness. "I will go 'welcome' our distinguished guests now."
With that, she turned and walked toward the dilapidated wooden door connecting the two worlds with elegant and deadly steps.
...
When that door was pulled open, the world in front of Jerry and Ylarnia underwent a drastic change that could be called a split.
Outside the door was the eternal darkness of Knockturn Alley, full of filth and despair.
Inside the door was a luxurious world flowing with light and color, warm as spring.
The air rushing to their faces was no longer dampness and rot, but a rich fragrance mixed with sandalwood, precious potions, and top ingredients cooking, making one's index finger twitch.
Underfoot was no longer a slippery stone road, but a thick, soft dark red carpet embroidered with oriental cloud patterns.
They walked into a top-tier Western restaurant with a decoration style completely out of tune with the entire European wizarding world.
Rather than a restaurant, it was more like a small oriental palace moved indoors.
The walls were pieced together from whole blocks of ebony, inlaid with a galaxy map composed of luminous pearls and diamond fragments.
No candles hung from the ceiling; instead, hundreds of palace lanterns of various shapes wrapped in light gauze floated, emitting soft and bright warm light.
The scale of the restaurant was huge, enough to accommodate hundreds of people dining at the same time, but at this moment, there were only a dozen or so tables of "guests" scattered in the huge space.
These people, without exception, all had Asian faces.
Some wore well-tailored suits, while others wore gorgeous silk long gowns or Qipaos.
They seemed to be whispering or tasting the dishes, exquisite as works of art, automatically served by magic in front of them, but everyone's sitting posture maintained a vigilance ready to erupt and attack at any time.
Their eyes seemed to glance casually at the void outside the window, but in reality, like an interwoven spider web, they locked every corner of the entire restaurant firmly.
At the outermost periphery of the restaurant, close to the walls, a layer of almost transparent magical barrier rippling like water was faintly visible in the air.
It was this massive covering array that completely isolated this "enclave" full of oriental extravagant atmosphere from the dirty reality of Knockturn Alley.
From the outside, this was still that dead-end alley no one cared about.
This was an extremely high-profile showing off.
Su Chan didn't choose a hidden base but used supreme financial and manpower to create a heavily guarded "temporary palace" belonging to herself out of thin air in the garbage dump of the enemy's heartland.
What Su Chan wanted to show was not only strength but also an absolute control of "Where I want you to meet me, you must meet me there."
Mei-Ting Jin stood at the door, wearing an impeccable commercial smile on her face, bowing slightly to the two who walked in.
"Mr. Rosier, good evening."
Mei-Ting Jin's gaze lingered on Jerry for a moment, then fell on the breathtakingly beautiful Elf Princess behind him who was almost stuck to him, a gleam like data analysis flashing in her eyes. "And, this beautiful lady.
Please follow me; my boss has been waiting for a long time."
Ylarnia was shocked by the scene before her. She instinctively gripped Jerry's arm tightly, hiding her body deeper behind his side.
Every "guest" here exuded a sharp aura full of slaughter, completely different from the wizards of Hogwarts, making her feel a strong sense of oppression.
Jerry looked as if he were walking in his own backyard, his expression unchanged.
He let Ylarnia cling to his arm and followed Mei-Ting Jin without squinting, passing through the "human background boards" disguised by top wizards.
Mei-Ting Jin led them to the deepest and best-located semi-open private room in the restaurant. It faced a huge floor-to-ceiling window. Outside was not the dirty wall of Knockturn Alley, but a misty Jiangnan garden scene created by magic, complete with the sound of babbling water and crisp birdsong.
In the main seat of the private room, Su Chan sat quietly.
She had changed out of the gauze Hanfu and was now wearing a more formal black silk long dress embroidered with dark gold phoenix patterns, her long hair tied up with a simple jade hairpin.
Those nine huge, fluffy silver-white fox tails, as if possessing life, slowly stretched and coiled on the huge armchair behind her, forming a unique "living throne" full of mythological color.
In front of her was a set of exquisite white jade tea sets, from which curling steam rose, blurring her face that was beautiful beyond mortal means.
When Jerry approached, she put down the teacup in her hand and raised her eyes.
It was a silent confrontation.
One was an oriental female tycoon burdened with the pressure of a civilization war, riding a tiger and unable to get off, forced to pin her hopes on forbidden arts.
The other was the last descendant of a dark wizard family carrying the secret of world destruction, with a mind far beyond his age, viewing the entire world as a chessboard.
"Mr. Rosier!" Su Chan spoke first. Her voice was ethereal and soft like her person, but carried a trace of fatigue that could not be concealed: "I am glad you could come. Your courage is as admirable as your legendary ancestors."
"Your Excellency Vice Director is too kind."
Jerry's answer was simple and direct. He pulled out a chair and sat down extremely naturally, casually pressing Ylarnia, who had been hiding behind him, into the seat next to him. "I just don't like wasting time.
Your people 'escorted' me all the way here from Hogwarts, presumably not just to treat me to a cup of afternoon tea."
His words directly pointed out the dragnet set by Su Chan, those seemingly "customers" who were actually monitors.
A trace of surprise flashed in Su Chan's eyes, but it immediately turned into a deeper appreciation.
"Of course not." She smiled, a smile like a blooming Epiphyllum, carrying fatal temptation. "I invited you here to discuss a business deal with you.
A business... concerning the future direction of multiple worlds."
She extended a slender finger and flicked the teacup in front of her gently.
With a crisp ding, invisible ripples rippled in the air around the private room. A more powerful soundproof barrier formed instantly, completely isolating this place from the outside world.
Mei-Ting Jin stood quietly outside the barrier like the most loyal guard, her back to them, blocking all gazes that might be cast here.
Now, only the three of them remained here.
"Mr. Rosier, I believe you are well aware that most of the materials required for your family's brilliant alchemy, especially the core part about 'Life Constructs', have long been listed as the highest-level contraband in Europe."
Su Chan spoke first, filling the white jade teacup in front of Jerry with hot tea emitting a strange fragrance, her movements elegant and smooth as flowing clouds.
Her voice was soft but like a lover's whisper, full of enchanting power.
"The core of a 'Living Star' to construct the golem's perception system.
The nerve bundles of a 'Deep Sea Nightmare' to weave its thought network; and the most critical, needing at least a whole river of 'Styx Water' to temper and cool its crystal body... These things, in Europe, you can't find a gram even if you dig three feet deep.
But in the treasury of our Heavenly Dao Alliance, they are just dusty trophies piled in the corner."
She pronounced the word "trophies" extremely lightly, but it was like a heavy hammer striking the balance of negotiation.
Before Jerry could speak, Ylarnia beside him let out an imperceptible, slightly lazy hum. She extended a slender finger, drawing circles on the tabletop boredly, her eyes half-lowered, her voice cold as moonlight.
"Director Su Chan, I happen to have read about these materials you mentioned in an ancient elven classic." Her voice wasn't loud but clearly drowned out the gurgle of the tea. "If the core of a 'Living Star' is not harvested after its natural death, strong resentment will remain inside, easily causing the construct to lose control.
The nerve bundles of a 'Deep Sea Nightmare'... heh, with all due respect, that thing is more like a highly active parasite. Using it to construct thoughts?
Do you want to create a smart servant, or a monster that will eat the master's brain?"
She raised her eyes, looking directly at Su Chan, the corner of her mouth hooking into a smile that seemed innocent but was actually extremely sharp.
"As for the 'Water of Styx'... it is indeed an excellent coolant, but its greatest characteristic is 'Soul Annihilation'. A body tempered by it will never be able to carry even a shred of the spark of wisdom. What you get in the end will only be a useless, pretty empty shell that only executes the simplest instructions."
After finishing, Ylarnia added another sentence unsatisfiedly: "Of course, perhaps the technology of the Heavenly Dao Alliance is advanced enough to solve these small 'side effects'?
After all, we Forest Elves haven't interacted with the outside world for a long time, so our knowledge is very shallow."
These words were like a gentle scalpel, precisely cutting the seemingly gorgeous chips thrown by Su Chan into worthlessness instantly.
She not only pointed out the fatal flaws of these materials but also insinuated that what the Heavenly Dao Alliance offered were defective goods, bullying Jerry for being "young and ignorant."
Su Chan's hand holding the teacup paused extremely briefly, almost imperceptibly, in the air.
In those deep eyes, for the first time, a trace of genuine surprise flashed.
She obviously hadn't expected that this Elf Princess, who had been clinging to Jerry like a dodder flower and looked as beautiful as a vase, possessed such profound and vicious knowledge.
"Miss Ylarnia is joking."
Su Chan's face still wore a perfect smile, but that smile had less calmness and more solemnity. "It seems there are indeed hidden dragons and crouching tigers around Mr. Rosier.
Then, we might as well speak frankly.
Technical blueprints, complete, unredacted technical blueprints for the 'Ultimate Crystal Golem', including the construction method of core runes.
In exchange, the Heavenly Dao Alliance will provide a demiplane with independent sovereignty and an area no less than Earth as your private territory, and supply you with all the 'flawless' materials needed to complete at least three golems. At the same time, the Heavenly Dao Alliance can provide you with the highest level of political asylum, allowing you to ignore those stupid laws of the European Ministry of Magic from now on."
This condition was generous enough to drive any dark wizard family crazy.
However, Jerry just picked up the teacup, blew gently on the steam above, and then took a small sip unhurriedly.
"A demiplane in exchange for the highest technology capable of subverting a civilization?"
Jerry's voice was calm, as if discussing a trivial matter. "Your Excellency Vice Director, your calculation is really shrewd."
Jerry put down the teacup, looking up at Su Chan, a playful look of seeing through everything in his eyes.
"If I guess correctly, you not only want the blueprints but also want me personally to preside over the construction of factories, train craftsmen, and even personally supervise the birth of the first batch of golems for you, right?
After all, some technologies are useless even if written on paper.
And this so-called 'demiplane' sounds more like a gorgeous cage that can imprison me forever."
Su Chan's smile finally disappeared completely.
She discovered that the boy in front of her was simply not an ordinary person who could be bewitched or bought by interests.
His mind was like steel wrapped in thousand-year-old ice, impervious to everything; any rhetoric appeared pale and ridiculous in front of him.
The negotiation reached a stalemate.
The atmosphere in the private room became somewhat cold instantly.
Su Chan gave Jerry a deep look, then exhaled slowly, that breath carrying a faint fragrance.
She put the teacup back on the table; the slight collision sound seemed exceptionally clear at this moment.
"Mr. Rosier, it seems there is indeed some... cognitive gap between us." Her voice shed all softness, becoming cold and full of coercion. "Language is indeed the weakest tool.
In that case, let me give you a personal experience of what kind of... brand-new world you will be able to touch by cooperating with the Heavenly Dao Alliance."
The moment her voice fell, Su Chan raised her slender right hand wearing jade-colored nail guards.
She didn't chant any spell, just gently drew a circle in the air.
Just such a simple action triggered a terrifying change enough to make the entire space tremble.
Jerry and Ylarnia only felt their vision blur. The private room they were in began to "retreat" in a way violating all physical laws.
No, not retreat, but the concept of "distance" between them and the walls, ceiling, and floor of the private room was being infinitely stretched!
The sandalwood walls originally within reach became distant instantly, turning into blurred black lines at the end of the horizon.
The palace lanterns overhead rose rapidly, turning into stars emitting soft light hanging in the night sky.
The carpet underfoot turned into boundless, soft emerald green grass; one could even smell the fresh scent of grass wet with dew.
In the distance, beautiful mountains rose out of thin air, surrounded by clouds and mist.
A clear stream came from nowhere, winding past their feet, the sound of water babbling, real and true.
Within inches, turned into a world thousands of miles away!
In this beautiful miniature world created out of thin air, Su Chan still sat in her main seat.
Only at this moment, she no longer looked like a guest in a restaurant but more like a Creator Goddess sitting high above the Divine Kingdom.
Those nine huge fox tails behind her stretched under the water-like moonlight, each hair emitting a faint, holy brilliance.
"This is still the private room we are in.
Mr. Rosier." Su Chan's voice rang in this world, carrying an ethereal echo. "This is the application of spatial laws we comprehended and improved from their 'Universe in a Sleeve' technique during the war with the 'Dynasty'.
A power... that the European Ministry of Magic can't even dream of."
Su Chan looked down at Jerry, her eyes full of absolute confidence and pride.
This was a naked demonstration, a crushing of strength like a "dimensionality reduction strike." She believed that in the face of such absolute power, any verbal struggle was superfluous.
Ylarnia was completely shocked by this miracle-like scene. She instinctively grabbed Jerry's sleeve tightly, her eyes full of vigilance and unease.
However, Jerry's reaction exceeded everyone's expectations once again.
Jerry looked around this beautiful "small world" with interest. There was no shock or fear on his face; instead, like a tourist visiting a theme park, his eyes were full of novelty and scrutiny.
Finally, his gaze didn't stop on those magnificent mountains and rivers but landed slightly aggressively on the huge, furry tails behind Su Chan, which were undulating slightly due to the owner's agitated mood.
He smiled.
It was a smile full of pure, heartfelt curiosity, carrying a bit of badness unique to teenagers.
He leaned forward, elbows on the table, and said softly to the goddess-like ruler in an extremely sincere yet extremely offensive tone:
"Your Excellency Vice Director, I admire everything you have shown."
"But... compared to this small world..."
He licked his lips, a near-greedy light flashing in his dark green eyes.
"Can I touch your tail?"
"Pfft!"
Ylarnia, who was originally tense all over due to nervousness, couldn't hold back a breath upon hearing this sentence and almost laughed out loud.
She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, shoulders shaking violently, looking at Su Chan with eyes full of sympathy and gloating.
And that miniature world created and stably operated by Su Chan flickered violently at this moment because the owner lost her composure.
The mountains in the distance blurred and double-imaged for an instant.
Su Chan's face, frozen for ten thousand years and perfect, cracked for the first time.
Shock, astonishment, disbelief... finally, all emotions turned into a thin anger mixed with shame and indignation.
A touch of abnormal, extremely faint flush rose rapidly from her neck and was forcibly suppressed by her.
"You...!" For the first time, her ethereal voice carried a taste of gnashing teeth. "Shameless!"
The nine tails behind her seemed to feel the owner's shame and annoyance. With a whoosh, all their fur stood on end, like nine huge, fluffy fans, full of warning meaning.
Jerry seemed not to see her gaze that was about to kill. He still maintained that forward-leaning posture, a pure and innocent smile on his face, and repeated it again.
"Just once, okay?"
On Su Chan's face, perfect as an ice sculpture, all blood finally disappeared completely, replaced by a morbid flush surging due to extreme shame and annoyance.
Those nine originally lazy and gorgeous fox tails, like giant dragons whose reverse scales had been touched, straightened instantly!
A terrifying magic power huge enough to make this small world tremble exploded from her body!
"Presumptuous!"
Two words, cold and containing endless killing intent, squeezed out from Su Chan's clenched teeth. She didn't even make a spellcasting movement; just with a thought, this world she created instantly turned into the deadliest weapon!
In an instant, the verdant grass under Jerry and Ylarnia's feet grew madly. Countless thorny vines, tough as refined steel and covered with barbs, shot out like awakening vipers at a speed difficult to catch with the naked eye, winding toward the vital parts of their bodies!
"Thorny Heaven Prison!"
This was no longer a warning, but a pure attack intending to subdue the opponent completely!
"Jerry!" Ylarnia exclaimed, but her reaction was fast as lightning.
Facing these overwhelming deadly vines, Ylarnia didn't retreat but began her "dance" with Jerry as the center.
Ylarnia's body was as light as weightless. Her snow-white long legs drew breathtaking arcs in the high slit of the black dress.
Every rotation, every toe tap, drove a soft and holy silver moonlight.
"Moonlight Dance · Thorny Cage!"
With her clear shout, those moonlights composed of magic power interwove into a huge, constantly rotating light net around her.
Ylarnia's dance was not only defense but also counterattack. Her slender arms swept through the air, fingertips bringing up streams of silver light.
"Star Arrows!"
Dozens of incredibly sharp arrows condensed from pure starlight appeared out of thin air. Like precisely guided missiles, they bypassed those vines and shot straight at Su Chan, who was still sitting in the distance!
"Hmph, dare the light of a firefly compete with the bright moon?"
Su Chan's face showed no fear, eyes full of contempt.
She didn't even move, just gently raised a finger, and lightly spat out a word at those incoming starlight arrows.
"Disperse."
Words followed by law!
The moment the word "Disperse" was spoken, an invisible force of law from a higher dimension descended. Those sharp Star Arrows, tens of meters away from Su Chan, decomposed and collapsed without warning like sand sculptures thrown into water, turning into sky-filling scattered light spots.
However, just as she neutralized Ylarnia's attack, a colder...
And more vicious attack had struck silently.
Jerry had not moved from beginning to end.
Jerry still maintained that forward-leaning posture, that pure smile on his face not changing a bit.
But his left hand, the middle finger wearing the black gold ring, had aimed at Su Chan at some point.
No incantation, no light. Only a subtle black ripple, almost invisible to the naked eye, flashed from his fingertip.
This was the most basic and insidious ability of the [Staff of Withering]—applying curses directly to the soul level!
The black gem on the ring flashed violently!
That subtle black ripple, the moment it left Jerry's fingertip, split into five strangely out of thin air!
Five soul spikes full of decay and rot penetrated the distance of space like ghosts, instantly stabbing toward Su Chan's mental core!
"Mmh!"
Su Chan let out an unsuppressable muffled groan. On that cold and beautiful face, a look of pain appeared for the first time.
Su Chan only felt her soul being pierced fiercely by five red-hot iron nails quenched in potent poison. A tearing severe pain originating from the depths of her soul made her vision go black. The operation of the entire small world stagnated, and large-scale collapses even appeared in the distant mountains.
This is the flaw!
Ylarnia's combat instinct was keen as a beast; she seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity immediately!
Her dance style changed abruptly, from elegant defense just now to full of sharp killing aura!
"Moonblade · Dance of the Crescent!"
Her body performed an incredible backflip in the air, legs splitting in the air with amazing flexibility like a perfect compass.
Countless semi-lunar energy blades formed by highly compressed moonlight burst out from her dancing posture like a storm, sweeping indiscriminately toward Su Chan and everything around her!
These moonblades were sharp to the extreme, not only tearing the air but even cutting fine black cracks in Su Chan's sturdy spatial laws!
"You seek death!"
The severe pain in her soul completely enraged Su Chan; her beautiful eyes were instantly covered with bloodshot veins. She stood up abruptly, a magic power far more violent than before soaring into the sky!
"Mystic Water · Nine Dragon Bind!"
Her hands formed a complicated seal in front of her chest. The stream transformed by magic under her feet surged instantly, turning into monstrous waves!
Nine lifelike water dragons composed entirely of liquid Mystic Water roared out of the waves. Each one was comparable to a moving hill, crushing toward Ylarnia, vowing to tear this elf who dared to provoke her to shreds!
The huge water dragons and the sky-filling moonblades collided with a boom in mid-air!
Boom!
A terrifying explosion occurred!
This was not a simple energy collision but an extreme conflict between water and light, law and element!
The aftermath of the explosion turned into a visible, devastating white shockwave, spreading madly in all directions!
Where the shockwave passed, everything was annihilated!
Ylarnia's black long dress made of top-quality velvet, which already had very little fabric, couldn't hold on for even a second under this violent energy, instantly decomposed into the tiniest fiber fragments, scattering like butterflies!
On the other side, Su Chan's gorgeous black long dress also shattered inch by inch in the shockwave.
That precious fabric embroidered with dark gold phoenixes turned into spots of golden light, dissipating in the air.
At the outermost periphery, the suit made of magical fabric on Jerry's body automatically activated the attached defensive array the moment the shockwave hit, flashing a weak shield.
However, this was after all the aftermath of an unreserved attack by top powerhouses. The shield lasted less than half a second before declaring shattering.
The expensive suit, along with the runes and fabric inside, was instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks, then with a crash, completely disintegrated into countless fragments.
In just an instant, in this picturesque small world created by magic, all three people became stark naked, without a trace of cover.
No!
Jerry's whole body was covered with various magical jewelry!
The dust of the explosion slowly dispersed.
The battle stopped abruptly.
Ylarnia panted delicately. Her snow-white skin was covered with a moving pink layer due to the intense exercise just now.
A few red marks scraped by energy added a bit of broken beauty.
Her body, full of elf-unique flexibility and beauty, was exposed unreservedly to the air at this moment. Slender legs, flat lower abdomen, and those full, perky snow-white mounds contrasting sharply with her slender figure emitted an ivory-like luster under the moonlight.
Without the slightest shyness, the first moment her body regained freedom, she threw herself into Jerry's arms again like a swallow returning to the forest.
"Jerry!"
Ylarnia hugged him tightly, wrapping him completely with her soft, warm, naked body.
Ylarnia's legs wrapped around Jerry's lean waist again, her whole body entwining him like a water snake, declaring her sovereignty to another woman in the most primitive way.
And Jerry, his situation was not much better.
Jerry's skin was even fairer than Ylarnia's, but his muscle lines were more distinct, full of power inconsistent with his age.
Hugged by Ylarnia like this, Jerry's somewhat childish face was buried deeply into that soft, warm deep valley again.
What was more fatal was that under the stimulation of the thrilling battle full of power and destruction just now, his weapon, which was different from ordinary people, had long fully awakened, and was standing erect brutally and angrily with an unprecedented posture, pushing his flat lower abdomen into a terrifying arc.
When Ylarnia's smooth, soft, and equally naked lower abdomen pressed tightly against him, that giant object, like a branding iron that found its home, embedded itself deeply and悍然ly into the softest, warmest heart of her legs between her thighs.
Squelch...!
A water sound clear enough to accelerate the heartbeat rang out.
That was the sound of Ylarnia's body fluids, which had long flooded due to extreme excitement and possessiveness, being squeezed out under the tight fit of their skin without obstruction. Slippery and warm liquid flowed slowly down the roots of her thighs, pulling out a crystal and erotic silk thread under the moonlight.
"Mmh ah..." Ylarnia let out a nasal sound of extreme satisfaction. She aimed her secret realm at that scalding hard giant object, rubbing against it provocatively, feeling that unparalleled fullness and burning sensation. At the same time, she looked at Su Chan opposite with purple eyes full of a victor's smile.
And opposite them, dozens of meters away in mid-air.
Su Chan was hovering there quietly.
Her posture remained arrogant, like an eternal iceberg goddess. But her equally naked, flawless body was telling a completely different story.
Su Chan's figure was more mature and voluptuous than Ylarnia's. Years of high position and continuous combat gave her lower abdomen extremely beautiful vest lines (abs), legs firm and full of power. And those full breasts flashing with healthy luster under the moonlight were even a notch superior to Ylarnia's in size, perfect in shape like a masterpiece calculated with the utmost precision.
Her cold eyes containing anger stared dead at Jerry and Ylarnia entangled tightly together, especially at Jerry's giant object, which made her heart jump even with her experience, completely not belonging to a boy.
Humiliation, anger, and a trace of strange heat aroused by witnessing this primitive mating posture, which she herself was unwilling to admit, intertwined in her heart.
The nine huge fox tails behind her were stretching in an extremely contradictory posture at this moment.
Several were fluffed up due to the owner's anger, like cobras ready to strike, full of aggression.
While several others stretched and swayed gently in the air uncontrollably, lazily, with a bone-deep seductive posture.
One of the snow-white tails even unconsciously wound around her front, that fluffy soft tip intentionally or unintentionally sweeping gently across the crystal nipple on her chest that had quietly become erect due to stimulation.
Cold goddess, and seductive fox demon.
These two diametrically opposed temperaments achieved a weird harmony full of taboo temptation on her naked, perfect body.
She looked at Jerry, at the boy covered in jewelry, saying nothing.
But the light flashing in those eyes was more dangerous, and more... intriguing than ever before.