“As you command, Lady Qimeng.”
The young girl responded in a crisp, clear voice.
Yinzhi, the Wood Elf personal handmaiden who had been waiting quietly beside the throne, took half a step forward.
She lightly flicked her fingers in front of her.
Countless translucent leaves burst out of thin air!
These leaves spun at high speeds like boomerangs, tracing brilliant trails of light in the air to form an impenetrable storm of glowing foliage!
“So fast!”
The Snake Girl Chief's eyes narrowed. Slapping her snake tail against the ground, she transformed into a dark purple afterimage, slipping through the gaps in the leaves like an intangible specter!
Her Black Wind Poison Blade traced a lethal arc, aiming straight for Yinzhi's throat!
Meanwhile, the Red Hammer girl on the other side put on a display of violent aesthetics!
“Haaah! Out of my way!!”
The Red Hammer girl roared, swinging her heavy hammer in a sweeping arc with one hand!
The Herculean Strength magic runes on the hammer suddenly lit up, and the gale generated by the swing tore a gap right through the incoming storm of glowing leaves!
Faced with this dual assault—one swift and one brutal—Yinzhi remained completely unperturbed.
An instant before the poison blade and heavy hammer could land, her skirt fluttered slightly, and two palm-sized, glowing flower buds bloomed beneath her feet!
Pop!
The buds burst open, releasing dense sleeping spores and a gentle, repulsive halo of light.
The Snake Girl's lethal dark purple poison blade struck the halo, only to feel as if it had plunged into thick glue, unable to advance or retreat.
Meanwhile, the Red Hammer girl's unstoppable hammer blow was deflected by a soft, redirecting force, slamming into the wooden floor beside them with a loud crash and sending wood splinters flying everywhere!
Before either of them could react, Yinzhi had somehow blinked behind them.
Two unopened flower buds hovered right next to the Snake Girl's neck and the Red Hammer girl's face, ready to send them to sleep at any moment and leave them at her mercy.
“You both have fierce moves, but... this is as far as we go.”
Yinzhi withdrew her hands with a smile, bowed, and stepped back to Qimeng's side.
The battle ended in the blink of an eye.
The Snake Girl and the Red Hammer girl were completely stunned, thoroughly awed by the maidservant's strength.
But when they looked back at Qimeng on her throne, a trace of doubt still lingered in their eyes alongside their amazement.
No matter how strong a maid was, she was still just a maid. Was the delicate and beautiful girl sitting above them truly worthy of their oath of allegiance?
The Snake Girl Chief grit her teeth and tentatively took half a step forward.
“Your maid is indeed highly skilled! A genuine Extraordinary Rank powerhouse! But... how can we be sure that you are the Demon Marquis worthy of us offering our souls?!”
“Oh? You want me to prove it myself?”
Qimeng smiled, not at all angry.
She remained seated on her throne, merely raising her small hand.
Boom!
In the next instant, the Tree Lord's vast, physical natural magic swept through the hall!
The plants throughout the entire hall instantly shot upward, and an irresistible forest will enveloped all the foreign clans!
Faced with this overwhelming pressure that crushed them from the depths of their souls, the lingering doubts in the hearts of the Snake Girl and the Red Hammer girl were instantly shattered!
“T-This... this ocean-like density of magic power?!”
“There's no mistake... This is the pressure of a Demon Marquis!!”
Awe filled the eyes of the Snake Girl and Red Hammer Chiefs!
They crossed their arms over their chests and led all their clansmen to kneel on one knee.
“We were foolish to dare doubt you, noble Lord! Your great power and magnanimity have utterly won us over. We are willing to offer our loyal souls unconditionally! As long as it is your will, our poison blades and heavy hammers will crush all your enemies!”
“We pay our respects to the Demon Marquis! We are willing to lay down our lives for you!!”
Their voices echoed loudly throughout the hall.
Seeing that the suspense was resolved, the spheres of light floating from Qimeng's palm turned into Tree Lord spirit marks and sank into their foreheads.
“Thank you for bestowing the marks, Demon Marquis!”
Sensing the species rank limit increase brought by the spirit marks, they bowed their heads in even greater gratitude.
Not only had Morona brought back the girls, but she also dumped out a massive pile of spoils from her leaf-pattern personal pocket dimension as if seeking praise!
They were all items dropped by human adventurers.
There were long steel swords, full suits of plate armor, map crystals, amulets of protection, and several magic scrolls!
“Hehehe, Mother! These are all treasures I found while leading teams to clear out magical beast nests and scavenging through ruins!” Morona bragged.
“You did well.”
Qimeng smiled and gently rubbed Morona's mushroom hat. The latter immediately wore an expression of sheer satisfaction!
Next, Qimeng turned her gaze toward Xiaomi.
Sensing carefully, she discovered that Xiaomi had actually stealthily reached the High-tier Intermediate rank!
This little dummy usually looked like she was always running away. Who would have thought she was working so hard in secret? There had to be a catch.
“Xiaomi, Morona brought me such a big gift. What about you? Where is that 'huge treasure' you said you were bringing back for me?”
Qimeng teased.
Xiaomi hurriedly pushed open the doors to the hall, pointing outside with a face full of excitement.
“My Lord! Look! They're right outside!”
A series of heavy footsteps echoed as several mountain-like shadows blocked out the sunlight.
Qimeng peeked outside.
“Wait... Stone Giants?! Xiaomi, why did you bring Stone Giants back? No, wait... why are there so many?!”
On the open ground outside the Tree Court, an entire clan of Stone Giants was actually standing there!
Leading them was a massive Stone Giant over ten meters tall, its entire body radiating a fiery red glow!
“This is a High-tier Advanced mutated stone giant—the Red Stone King!”
Xiaomi puffed her chest out proudly.
Qimeng's confusion grew, and she pulled Xiaomi over.
“Xiaomi! How on earth did you bring back a whole bunch of living rocks?!”
Xiaomi giggled, pulling a large handful of strangely colored, lustrous crystals out of her personal pocket dimension.
“With these!”
Qimeng took them and had a look, her eyelids twitching slightly.
“This... These aren't ordinary magic stones. Are these mutated magic stones?!”
“Mm-hmm!”
Xiaomi nodded repeatedly.
“I found these mutated magic stones in the western cliffs! I only managed to rank up because I ate them! But it seems like they stop working if you eat too many. I got stuck at High-tier Intermediate and couldn't budge.
Then I ran into the Stone Giants in the woods at the western edge. They really love eating these, so I used the mutated stones to lure them all back!”
“The mutated woods to the west...”
Qimeng fell into deep thought.
“Is that the abandoned area you mentioned before, the one that turned you into a monster girl?”
“Yes, yes, yes! That's the place!”
Xiaomi blinked her large eyes.
“My Lord, do these mutated stones count as treasures?”
“They do! Absolutely!”
Qimeng picked up a mutated stone and examined it closely, feeling the uniquely active flow of magic power inside.
This thing was definitely not simple. As for how to use it, she would need to spend some time researching. Once developed, it would be a trump card!
“Oh, right, My Lord!”
Xiaomi suddenly remembered something.
“Besides the Stone Giants, there are two more groups behind them!”
“Oh? There are other groups?” Qimeng raised an eyebrow.
“Yes! On my way back, I rescued the Treasure Tanuki girls and the Moon Rabbit Clan!”
Xiaomi pointed toward the feet of the Stone Giants.
Rate on N.U.
