Chapter 292 : Fox God Temple
......
The battle was finally over.
The girls collapsed on the ground in shock, gasping heavily.
Even though they had won, no one felt any joy—everyone's hearts were filled with confusion.
Why...
Had the power of the Rainbow Abyss actually failed?
Whether it was Lonis's Red Lotus Hammer or Bai Ye's Tree of Causality, they all seemed to have lost their original effects... Instead seeming to become energy sources for the Puppet Evil Worms, making the bugs even more troublesome.
If not for Elucia's final attack, the girls would have been surrounded by bugs and completely devoured.
"E-Elucia..."
"Hah, that black-clothed figure should have been the controller of those bugs... And with him eliminated, this place should be considered safe."
"But?"
"Let's leave first. This isn't a place to talk."
Elucia gradually helped up the girls who had fallen to the ground... Fortunately, thanks to Lonis's protection and Elucia's intervention, everyone wasn't seriously hurt.
But correspondingly, both Lonis and Elucia were in quite a sorry state.
Their bodies were covered with black slime, and their just-cleaned bodies were defiled by filth again.
Although this slime seemed to have no toxicity, it emitted an unpleasant smell... just like not having bathed for several days.
"Elucia, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. However..."
"However...?"
"Hmph, your reaction just now wasn't bad. Although it was a bit slow, I'll reluctantly praise you."
The girls walked out of the mushroom forest, and the lizardmen had been waiting outside for a long time.
"D-Divine Messenger, why are you... like this?"
Lonis covered in filth left the lizardmen somewhat at a loss... However, Elucia stepped forward and said sternly: "You few, don't you know what you should be doing?"
"Ah?"
"The Divine Messenger has already purified those bugs. Why don't you quickly prepare some hot water to help the Divine Messenger clean her body?"
"Received, we'll go right away!"
An hour later,
The exhausted girls sat in a spacious large room.
Although this place looked somewhat crude and had no luxurious wooden furniture... this was the cleanest and most formal room in the lizardman village.
Normally, this was the ceremonial hall that lizardmen used for worship rituals, but now it served as a resting place for the fox lady and her servants.
......
"Elucia, are we going to temporarily live here?"
"Yes, the lizardman village contains too many mysteries. We must figure them out."
......
After washing her body, Elucia walked over somewhat wet.
They had successfully saved the mushroom forest and naturally received an enthusiastic welcome from the lizardman villagers—the excited villagers not only brought down hot spring water in water tanks, but also served freshly cooked mushroom soup for everyone to taste.
However, Lonis's mood was heavy because she knew that what had just happened was definitely not simple.
......
"Elucia, why..."
"Yes, you want to ask why the Puppet Evil Worms we encountered this time were different from last time, right? It's simple—because this time, the enemy deliberately ambushed us."
"Wh-what?!"
"The Underground World is the enemy's home field. So the enemy is in the dark while we're in the light. Our every move probably can't escape their observation."
"!"
"Because they knew we would help the lizardmen, the enemy set up an ambush in the lizardmen's mushroom forest."
"Then the enemy's purpose was to capture us?"
Lonis seemed somewhat worried... She herself didn't matter, but she was very concerned that her companions' bodies might be violated by monsters.
Even tentacle monsters weren't acceptable, because Lonis had once been a hero, so she instinctively hoped all girls would be safe and sound.
......
"Yes, the fundamental purpose was to capture us, but even if they didn't capture us, it wouldn't matter... I think the reason we were attacked this time was because the enemy wanted to test weapons."
"Test weapons?"
"That's right. The Puppet Evil Worms we saw are a new type of weapon they're cultivating. And the power of top-level human experts all comes from the Rainbow Abyss. If the enemy could develop bugs to counter the Rainbow Abyss, humans would fall into hard battles."
"Ugh!"
What Elucia said was exactly what the girls were worried about.
How powerful the Rainbow Abyss was had already been witnessed in the Battle of Insolania... Mivira mobilized nearly a million demon coalition forces and released the Exotic Decay Core as a fatal blow, yet was still restrained by the power of Tree Abyss.
And now, if the power of Rainbow Abyss couldn't take effect and instead became food for Puppet Evil Worms, wouldn't everything be reversed?
Everyone's weapons would instead become the enemy's resources.
Evil insect swarms would overwhelmingly devour everyone.
......
Thinking of that possibility, the girls all became somewhat tense. And Elucia also frowned tightly, seemingly pondering some possibilities.
And just then...
Suling jumped in fright.
"Wah, who's touching me? It tickles!"
"Su-Suling...?"
"Eh? Everyone's looking at me... Wait, wait, that means..."
The pink-haired girl quietly swallowed.
The girls were sitting in a circle, meaning it was impossible for anyone to come behind Suling and secretly caress her back.
"Little Lo, is it you... using your tail to touch me?"
"How, how is that possible!"
Lonis protested, but just then even more bizarre things appeared before the girls' eyes.
A cold wind blew through, and the room suddenly became several degrees colder.
Lonis inexplicably felt her spine go cold, and the candles that had been burning suddenly went out all at once.
"Wah!"
"Everyone, don't panic."
Sethilu quickly took out an oil lamp, and just then...
The entire hall suddenly lit up again.
Only this time the light source wasn't the candles in the four corners of the room, but the most gorgeous and exquisite fox statue in the ceremonial hall.
Pale blue flames appeared in the fox's eyes, burning quietly, then a blurry human figure appeared before the girls' eyes.
"Wahhh!"
Suling was so scared she buried her head in Lonis's big tail, trembling.
And just then, the figure actually spoke:
"Hahaha, I was wondering who was impersonating me for free food and drink~~ I didn't expect... it's actually a cute little fox girl and several beautiful girls."
The voice from the light and shadow was somewhat ethereal, seemingly not from this world.
Elucia protected everyone in front and questioned:
"Who are you...?"
"Coming to my temple and still asking who I am?"
"You are... the fox god that the lizardmen worship?"
"That's right."
The ethereal light and shadow nodded, then said: "Originally, I wanted to teach you a lesson. But seeing as you drove away those annoying bugs for me, I'll receive you for a bit."
"What?"
"Tomorrow night at 10 o'clock, come to the cave with fox fire markings west of the village, and walk to the depths. I'll answer all your questions."