Chapter 46: The Mutual Reservation of Trade

“Alright, now that you know the truth you wanted to uncover, what are you planning to do next? Ah, just to be clear, you can’t back out of the deal we settled earlier!”

Seeing the Black-haired Girl frowning in silence for a while, Tiyelu quickly shook her head and flapped her wings, emphasizing loudly.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to pull a fast one over something like this; I’m just a bit surprised… By the way, what exactly is the Source of Magic? If it’s that important, how could you let humans steal it?”

“Why do you have so many questions…?”

Xiao Die muttered impatiently a few times, but ultimately decided to explain honestly.

“Alright, when it comes to the Source of Magic, it’s quite complicated to explain… First, you should have at least encountered the concept of ‘Ley Lines,’ right?”

“Ley Lines?”

Upon hearing a familiar term, the Black-haired Girl nodded slightly.

“I’ve dabbled in it a bit; is the Source of Magic related to Ley Lines?”

“Not directly, but they are essentially similar… Forget it, let me just break it down for you. Vilyric, have you ever wondered why so many magical beasts choose to dwell in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, even though they constantly clash with the United Kingdom, yet refuse to leave?”

The Priestess was sharp; as soon as Tiyelu mentioned it, she immediately understood.

“You mean it’s related to this so-called Source of Magic?”

“Exactly.”

Now that the topic was open, Tiyelu no longer held back.

“Earlier, I mentioned Ley Lines. If we compare Ley Lines to the blood vessels of this world’s energy flow, then the Source of Magic is like a special magical heart crafted by our Lord the Demon God using His supreme divine authority, guiding the flow of magic for the homes of the people living in these mountain ranges.”

“The Source of Magic is a divine creation modeled after the fragments of His divine spark, transformed using the endless magical properties He possesses. I know that might sound hard to grasp…”

Just as Xiao Die was about to elaborate further, Vilyric suddenly clapped her hands as if she had just realized something.

“Divine Spark fragments, huh? I get it, I really do! Not to brag, but there’s probably no one who understands this better than me!”

“Is that true…?”

Though somewhat skeptical, seeing the Black-haired Girl posing confidently with her hands on her hips led Tiyelu to skip the further explanations and go straight to the point.

“Long before the United Kingdom appeared, the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons were already a long-established paradise for us magical beasts. It was precisely because of the Source of Magic enriching the flow of magic that magical beasts could transform the decayed into the miraculous, evolve beyond their species limits, and become demon generals, which is nearly impossible elsewhere.”

“Well… that makes sense.”

This was indeed the case. The unique form of demon known as a demon was essentially a specialty of the largest gathering of magical beasts in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons. In other regions, like those winged magical beasts in the Kingdom of Azure, they could barely maintain their basic racial forms.

Like that Brown Bird Tribe leader, Gugasah, whom Vilyric had seen on Omoland, who was clearly a purely upright bird-type magical beast, even though her strength was no less than some of the demon beings outside.

The form of a demon general is a poor imitation of the divine — the Demon God Olivya — which is why they appear human-like.

And that Demon God lady, whether it be the old dragon turtle in the Black River or Xi Fu Lin, has clearly stated that the other possesses an extremely petite humanoid female appearance.

“As for why the Source of Magic was stolen by humans, the problem began right after our Lord the Demon God fell; we had to employ various methods to frequently change its vessel to maintain stability, which gave the thief an opportunity.”

“Of course, there are many factors involved, explaining it would be too complicated, but you just need to know that it’s a last resort. And ideally, that cub’s existence and location were supposed to be closely guarded secrets, humans shouldn’t have known, let alone seized it during a lapsus.”

Upon hearing this, Vilyric raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“You mean there’s a traitor? A magical beast helped the humans pull this off?”

“Not necessarily; after all, there are many ways to gather intelligence, and who can say for sure? Personally, I tend to believe those kids. In any case, the matter is still under investigation; otherwise, do you think Tiyelu would have come all the way from home for no reason?”

“Mm…”

This matter indeed felt peculiar.

Given the way the United Kingdom, especially Demon Town, bullies and represses magical beasts, there shouldn’t be a magical beast with a hole in their head who actively helps the enemy.

Humans most likely have no clue that the cub was the Source of Magic; otherwise, they wouldn’t tolerate such a dangerous thing remaining in Demon Town. They probably consider it just a special magical beast like Liliya does.

In that case…

Is someone deliberately luring humans to steal the Source of Magic and intending to incite a disaster?

But if that were truly the case, the cub had been missing for several months; any disaster that should have happened would have occurred by now, and the lack of action suggests things are not as she imagined.

Indeed, not forcefully searching for that Moonshadow Clan cub right away was the correct decision.

Putting aside the fact that Vilyric had never seen that cub, even broad-range scans might not have recognized it. Even if she really found it, if she charged in blindly at that time, it would complicate subsequent handling — she might just fall into a trap.

That Tiyelu seems not to have been particularly eager about searching for the cub like the demon beings of Nan Dao, but instead had the time to stroll outside earlier and ‘rescue’ the ones they ran into, probably leaving some leeway for remedial actions, or maybe didn’t fully express their intentions.

But given Vilyric’s current relationship with her, it would be challenging to directly clarify things.

If nothing unexpected occurs, it may involve some deeper secrets concerning the “Demon God.”

Let’s leave it here for now.

Since we’ve gathered new intelligence, things will become easier moving forward.

First, I need to fulfill the agreement or trade with Tiyelu.

“Once we get out of this sacred place, we’ll definitely return to the original location, right?”

Upon hearing this, the small butterfly flapped her wings, her tone reflecting some difficulty.

“Yeah, that’s the nature of the sacred place, and there’s nothing I can do about it. But you know, that cave outside collapsed, as soon as we pop our heads out, little Nan and her crew will probably get buried underneath—I have no idea where you two ridiculous characters even appeared from… Anyway, it’s up to you, Vilyric!”

“Okay, okay… Actually, this isn’t too difficult to resolve. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll go out first and leave Xiao Guang here. Once I’m ready, I’ll have her notify you. How about that?”

“Ah? I don’t think that will work; the creatures within the sacred place can’t communicate directly with the outside. I can sense the contract between you two, but spiritual connections will also be blocked. How about I go with you instead…”

Vilyric smiled and gave a thumbs-up.

“Oh, just relax, I’ll handle everything! Let’s get going first!”

“Okay? Wait… hey! Don’t open random passages within the sacred place, you fool!!!”

   

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