Being incorporeal, the shadow creatures took up no physical space. Like materials in a game inventory, they could be stacked in massive quantities.
Half a day later, the entire swarm had entered the press. The abandoned skeletal carapaces were piled up like a small mountain of discarded oyster shells.
Wang Yue waved her wand. Driven by magic, the press hummed to life. Massive pressure was applied to the Dead Souls through the hammers.
After a moment, the machine shuddered, the hammers stopped, and the work was complete.
Wang Yue didn’t rush to open the press. She kept a close eye on the instrument in her hand; the Mental Pollution index flickered slightly between 5 and 6, a level all three of them could withstand.
Once safety was confirmed, she extracted an eerie, sinister black diamond from the machine, weighing approximately forty carats.
Though the diamond’s shape was crude from the pressing process, it was sufficiently large.
Such a terrifying object could never be treated as a common gemstone. If it were set into a ring and circulated among ordinary people, it would subvert the wearer’s sanity, driving them to a maddened death and becoming a legendary “Cursed Gem.”
According to the information she had queried through White Fish, this substance—known as a “Shadow Diamond”—was a rare Transcendent Material with stable properties.
Wang Yue wrapped it in the Amorphous Sheath and tucked it away.
Because she had transformed into a cat to evade the Shoggoth, she currently wore no clothes, but a layer of silver fluid coated her skin, serving as a form of shapeshifting garment.
The “audience” had been flattened and concentrated into an essence. The world was suddenly very quiet.
The “wicked” musician allowed a smile to cross her face. It truly was a marvelous adventure.
This had been her plan all along. Whether or not Lilith and Medeili had alerted the Death-Husks, she would have created the Shadow Diamond; she had spent the entire day preparing for this.
The two girls gathered around her, waiting for her to speak.
“Next, we’re heading to the Reincarnation Machine to retrieve the ‘Primal Rule’ and destroy the wish-granting system… ‘Dagon’ is just a title for the leader of the Deep Ones, held by their eldest, much like a patriarch. The Dagon of this branch has already abandoned its people. The remaining Deep Ones and hybrids total less than a hundred—all small fry. We’ll just kill anything that gets in our way.”
“What about Dagon? Are we going to kill it?” Lilith’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Is life not good enough for you?”
Wang Yue rolled her eyes. A Dagon with the power ceiling of the Great Old Ones, coupled with a Star Stone Tablet once owned by an Outer God—she had no desire to touch that at her current level.
If she summoned a Taboo Name, she wouldn’t gain much benefit anyway. The best approach was to leave the boss alone and return when they were strong enough.
Besides, if she killed Dagon and took the tablet, she’d end up crouching there for hundreds of years in its place. Just the thought of her legs falling asleep was enough to make her pass.
Lilith grumbled a bit but gave up on the idea of killing Dagon. She liked courting death, but she didn’t actually want to die.
Now that she had found Wang Yue… well, it was time to replenish her mana.
Lilith swallowed hard. After the battle, she felt the emptiness of her magic and was desperate to be filled.
She circled behind the young black-haired girl and reached out, trying to grab the leisurely swaying tail. The tail flicked away. She tried again, and caught only air.
It was just like a cat’s tail; it would reflexively dodge the moment it was touched.
Wang Yue was busy explaining the upcoming tasks and didn’t notice.
Replenishing mana is so hard…
Lilith bit her lip, looking troubled. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she remembered what Medeili had taught her—the “stroke.”
She reached out with both hands, gripped the base of the tail, and gave it a sharp, firm stroke all the way to the tip!
The young black-haired girl’s body jerked violently. Her legs went weak, and she collapsed into a kneeling position on the ground. Her small face flushed bright red, and her entire frame trembled slightly.
She braced herself with her hands on the floor, her waist going as soft as mud. She couldn’t even stand.
Medeili rushed over to check on her, asking with concern, “Does it hurt?”
Wang Yue kept her head down. It wasn’t a matter of pain; the nerves of the tail were connected to the spine, and the density of nerves at the base was incredibly high. Just as a cat suffers when its tail is yanked, she felt completely overwhelmed. In professional terms, it was “coccygeal nerve overstimulation.”
“Lilith…”
Wang Yue ground her teeth. If Medeili weren’t here, she would definitely give Lilith’s little backside a thorough thrashing—preferably with a long, flat board that would make a nice, sharp cracking sound.
