Chapter 105: [Interlude]—Heavenly Time, Geographical Advantage
“Hmm?”
Bai’s pupils constricted, her body tensing as she scanned her surroundings.
The beastkin in the square were a boisterous, chaotic mess, their auras a swirling vortex, making it difficult for her to pinpoint the source of the gaze.
“What’s going on? Isn’t the Abyssal Demon Realm sealed?”
She thought of the gazes she had felt these past few days, a sense of unease settling in her heart.
With Isabelle’s reminder, she realized the gaze she had felt, the one that had been so familiar, so… unsettling, had been Shaya’s.
“It seems she really has left the Abyss, and is likely already at the Wild God Altar…”
But she hadn’t expected Shaya to be so close, to be watching her, always.
Isabelle, after delivering her warning, fell silent.
She had only dared to speak when Shaya’s attention had been diverted.
Otherwise, her shadow-based communication would have been easily detected.
And she didn’t want to face Shaya…
Bai tried to contact Isabelle, but the intense gaze returned, and she quickly looked away.
“…”
It seemed Shaya didn’t want to meet her yet.
“Fox-kin? Get lost! This is no place for you!” a rough voice boomed from above.
Bai was now near the center of the square, the prime location for the “boon.”
After a series of bloody skirmishes, the most powerful associations had claimed this area, and they had just noticed Bai, her head bowed, only her fox ears visible.
To them, a fox-kin was a slave, a lower-class being.
So, their hostile reaction was not surprising. Some of them, their faces still contorted with rage, their eyes filled with a murderous intent, began to approach her.
The festival was about to begin, and they wouldn’t let a lowly slave steal even a fraction of the boon they had fought for.
Bai kept her head down, her voice a timid whisper. “My apologies, sirs. I’ll leave right away…”
She backed away, her feet treading through the blood-soaked ground.
“You’d better,” one of them sneered, then turned his attention back to his preparations.
But they didn’t notice the faint marks she left behind, concealed by the blood and the chaos of the square, a magic circle taking shape before their very eyes.
Who said a magic circle had to be drawn by hand…?
With her precise footwork, and a deep understanding of the fundamentals, she could construct a magic circle with her feet.
And with the immense energy of the boon, and a powerful medium to contain it, the circle’s intricate details were less important.
Like a graceful deer, she weaved through the crowd, and soon, the marks she had left formed a complete circle.
Before anyone noticed, she had finished the preliminary construction, and had rejoined Eleanor, who had finished setting up her own spirit-gathering and amplification circles.
“All set,” she said, using a human tactical hand signal, then realized Eleanor wasn’t a knight.
But Eleanor simply smiled, returning the gesture—her index and middle fingers touching her temple, then flicking upwards.
And she mouthed the words, “All set.”
How does she… know that?
Bai was surprised, but Eleanor quickly took her hand and led her back to Dorothy.
“What took you so long?” Dorothy asked, relieved to see them return.
“I thought you had gotten lost, and had been… well, never mind. Come on, the festival is about to start.”
“Alright,” Bai said, and she and Eleanor sat down beside Dorothy.
A few beastkin had been watching them, but seeing they were with Dorothy, they lost interest.
Dorothy and her association had a certain… reputation among the Blood Spider Patrollers, thanks to her friend Rosia.
“See the sun?” Dorothy asked, pointing at the sky, where the sun was partially obscured by clouds. “When it reaches its zenith, the festival will officially begin.”
Bai looked up. The sun was almost there.
“Just a little longer, and this will all be over…” she murmured.
“Hmm? Over?” Dorothy asked, confused.
“No, it’s just beginning,” Eleanor said, a strange look in her eyes, her head bowed.
…
“Please be seated, Commander Lin,” Diana said.
Lin Yan followed her to the top floor of the Crimson Nest, an open-air platform with a panoramic view of the Wild God Altar.
Uncle Lin’s gaze was fixed on the scene, memorizing every detail.
But Lin Yan seemed uninterested. Her gaze was fixed on the massive, grotesque chair beside her seat—the Queen’s throne.
“At my mother’s request. Perhaps she’ll grace us with her presence,” Diana smiled, a sharp glint in her eyes.
“If she can come sooner, I would be most grateful,” Lin Yan said, her gaze sweeping across the Wild God Altar.
In the outer districts, she could see several large-scale magic circles, radiating a cruel, bloodthirsty aura.
Diana smiled, looking up at the sky.
She stepped forward, her arms outstretched, several spider legs emerging from her back, her voice a low, raspy imitation of the Queen’s.
“Miss Lin Yan, open your eyes and behold the grand performance!”
Just then, the sun reached its zenith, the clouds parting.
A brilliant sunlight filled the sky, bathing the Wild God Altar in a light it hadn’t seen since its creation.
An ancient presence was awakening, and the usually gloomy, desolate altar seemed to come to life.
The crimson magic circles began to glow, the concentration of bloodlust in the air intensifying, and the beastkin in the square began to absorb it, their bodies pulsing with power.
“The scent… it’s getting stronger…”
In one of the many squares, Bai’s nose twitched, her expression grim.
