Soon, Lin Gui understood what Elvia meant by “easy to talk to when it comes to men.”
They had just stepped inside the interior of Eagle Fortress.
Lin Gui and Theia stared at the scene before them, completely dumbfounded.
How should one put it... there was a massive number of banshees with human bodies and eagle claws.
They were openly making merry with male mercenaries and adventurers, completely ignoring everyone else.
The entire Eagle Fortress was less of a military stronghold.
Instead, it was more like a giant brothel.
The air was thick with the scent of hormones.
The interior structure of the fortress had been heavily modified.
The corridors and rooms originally meant for defense were hung with suggestive drapes.
They had been turned into semi-open private booths.
Banshees ran their sharp talons over the taut muscles of the male adventurers.
They let out screeching yet seductive laughter.
As for the men caught in their grasp, their faces were written with sheer reluctance.
After all, although they were called “banshees.”
Aside from their torsos, which resembled human women, they were far from human.
Their arms were feathered wings.
Their lower limbs were sharp eagle talons covered in scales.
Even their facial features bore the traits of birds of prey.
It was hard for any normal man to feel aroused... except for the perverts, of course.
Lin Gui instantly recalled the records of banshee habits in the 《Demon Encyclopedia》.
He immediately realized he had been set up by Elvia.
Grabbing Theia, he immediately wanted to retreat.
“Don't worry!” Elvia immediately grabbed him and reassured him.
“I won't make you pay the 'toll' like those low-rank adventurers and mercenaries!”
“A toll? What's that?” Theia asked curiously.
Lin Gui was the first to answer with a dark face, “What else could it be? Leaving behind seed.”
“The banshee race only gives birth to females. This is their way of ensuring their population.”
“I just didn't expect it to be so... 'humanized.'”
“Usually, they would just abduct males to their nests and drain them dry.”
Elvia laughed, “Yes, exactly.”
“But with Empress Selene here, they won't do anything as short-sighted as killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.”
“Then how are we supposed to get through? We aren't actually going to...” Theia looked displeased.
“Don't worry, there's a second way to pass through here,” Elvia whispered into Theia's ear.
“Just don't get jealous in a bit.”
Theia watched on, completely bewildered.
Elvia wrapped her arm around Lin Gui's with extreme intimacy.
Her entire body practically clung to him.
Then, with a smile on her face, she walked toward the core area of the fortress.
Soon, several banshees circling above the fortress flew down excitedly.
However, they noticed the royal emblem on Elvia's chest.
They also saw her intimate posture holding Lin Gui's arm.
Disappointed, they immediately flew back.
Elvia explained in a low voice.
“There is only one way for a man to pass through Eagle Fortress unharmed, and that is to become 'one of the royal family's people.'”
She clung to Lin Gui and looked at Theia with a mischievous grin.
Theia looked at her, speechless.
Just as Lin Gui and Theia thought they could slip through so easily, something happened.
“Princess Elvia?! Is that you? You're back!”
A pleasantly surprised voice rang out from the side.
Like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, the voice instantly drew everyone's attention.
The originally noisy place quieted down significantly.
Countless gazes locked onto Elvia simultaneously.
“It really is Her Highness!”
“Seventh Princess, you've returned from Caran?”
“This is wonderful! We thought you had been exiled to that remote city and would never return.”
“...”
For a moment, greetings echoed from all directions.
The mercenaries and adventurers who had previously looked completely drained...
now showed genuine gratitude and respect in their eyes.
Theia leaned in close to Elvia's ear and whispered in a low voice.
“You have quite a lot of prestige among the adventurers and mercenaries of the Royal Capital.”
Elvia maintained a polite smile, nodding to the crowd around her.
At the same time, her lips barely moved as she whispered to Theia,
“Because most of the connections with nobles, knights, and the Defense Force were already divided up completely by my older brothers and sisters.”
“To survive, I had no choice but to pick up these 'scraps.'”
“Are mercenaries and adventurers so bad? There are many strong individuals among them too,” Theia asked, puzzled.
“Heh, country bumpkin,” Elvia teased in a low voice.
“Only in city-states like Caran, which lack major logistics routes, would you see a situation where the city defense force can't suppress the Adventurer's Guild.”
“In the Royal Capital, if you actually rise to prominence as an adventurer, there are usually only two paths waiting for you.”
“First, become a noble and marry a noblewoman. Second, get eliminated directly.”
“There's also a third path,” Lin Gui added flatly, “becoming a rebel.”
Elvia furrowed her brows and looked at Lin Gui.
This guy knew quite a lot... Was he really just a mage from a street urchin background?
Suddenly, a lazy and charming voice spoke.
It rang out from the top of the fortress, clearly drowning out all the noise:
“Princess Elvia, it has been a long time.”
“Come, let me have a look. Let me see the 'husband' you brought back from Caran.”
A mysterious smile played on Elvia's face.
She turned to Lin Gui and Theia and said,
“Let's go. Time to meet the Empress.”
Several powerful banshees descended from the sky, each radiating the pressure of the Legendary Rank!
They escorted Elvia and the other two.
In an instant, they arrived at the core hall on the top floor of the fortress, standing before a certain entity.
Seated upon a magnificent bone throne was none other than the Epic Rank Dread-Faced Banshee Queen—Selene.
Her human torso was flawless, her face breathtakingly beautiful, and her curves heart-stoppingly exquisite.
However, her massive wings covered in deep blue feathers and her cold, glinting eagle claws...
all declared her terrifying strength and non-human nature.
Simply by sitting there, her invisible pressure made the surrounding air feel as though it had frozen solid.
Selene, with eyes that seemed capable of peering into one's soul, sized Lin Gui up with great interest.
“Hmm... a Mid-tier High Rank mage? Rare black hair and black eyes...”
“As for his looks, seventy-eight out of a hundred.”
“Hmm... if only he were a bit taller and stronger.”
Being judged face-to-face by an Epic Rank demon, Lin Gui showed no trace of displeasure, even maintaining a somewhat friendly, fake smile.
After all, the other party was an Epic Rank entity.
Furthermore, she was a sonic and sensory-type demon, the ultimate counter to his concealment style.
The only reason she hadn't discovered the raft he had concealed was simply because she hadn't actively used her skills.
Once she got serious...
the Shroud of the Gloomy Night would not escape the perception of the Banshee Queen before him.
“Is this... your man?”
Selene looked at Elvia, her red lips parting slightly.
Elvia did not dare to be negligent. She immediately took a step forward and said in a pleasing tone,
“Replying to Your Majesty, this is the man I met in Caran City. It was love at first sight...”
As she spoke, she hugged Lin Gui's waist even tighter.
Lin Gui also cooperatively reached out, gently wrapping his arm around her armored shoulders.
“Then who is the elf behind you?” Selene's gaze shifted to Theia.
Elvia was about to say she was a maidservant.
But Theia beat her to it. She proactively hugged Lin Gui's right arm, smiled sweetly, and said,
“I am also his wife.”
Ever since that world-ending rain of blood destroyed all order,
the monogamous view of marriage had also collapsed.
Under the City-State Alliance Treaty, marriage of all kinds was permitted.
Powerful men could have multiple wives.
Naturally, powerful women could also have multiple husbands.
On the surface, this treaty was to address the population crisis brought about by the apocalypse.
In reality, it was merely to provide convenience for those in power back then.
After all, in the City-State Era, there was no such thing as too much population, only too little.
Theia's sudden forwardness took Lin Gui somewhat by surprise.
He instinctively tried to pull her back, a movement that made Selene laugh.
“Do not worry. In my eyes, the Demon Race is no different from any other race.”
Hearing this, Theia's body shuddered violently.
Selene had said “Demon Race” instead of “half-demon”!
Her identity was exposed.
Elvia's expression remained unchanged, as if she had long anticipated this outcome.
She glanced sideways, wanting to see Lin Gui's reaction.
As it turned out, Lin Gui was even calmer than she was.
“Tsk,” Elvia muttered.
Pulling Theia more firmly behind him, Lin Gui bowed respectfully to Selene and said,
“Thank you for your understanding, Empress Selene. I must also ask you to keep this secret for us.”
“Oh~?” Selene licked her sensual lips, the interest in her eyes deepening.
“Then, what can you offer to buy my silence?”
Lin Gui's expression did not waver as he said calmly,
“I can offer Her Majesty a piece of information that might be of help to you and the entire banshee race.”
Selene was taken aback, sitting up straight with renewed interest.
“Let's hear it.”
Lin Gui raised his head, looking straight into the Empress's eyes, and spoke clearly.
“In the Whispering Forest outside Caran City, I encountered a Brain-Digger Demon from the Red Clay Desert.”
The moment those words left his mouth!
Boom—!
A terrifying, monstrous Epic aura erupted from Selene!
Elvia felt her heart skip a beat!
Behind Lin Gui, Theia was almost triggered into a hostile reaction by this oppressive aura.
Yet Lin Gui himself did not budge an inch.
Because he was already used to it.
On his way to the Magic City back then, he had encountered no fewer than ten Epic Rank entities.
Compared to those truly world-destroying monsters,
Selene's pressure was nothing.
Under this pressure, the surrounding Legendary banshee guards fell to their knees, trembling.
Elvia reacted incredibly fast, pulling Theia down to kneel with her.
She was a princess, a member of the royal family, but the banshee before her was the only Epic Rank entity within the entire sphere of influence of the Royal Capital.
Not to mention her, even her powerful older brothers in the Royal Capital would have to kneel.
The entire hall fell into a dead silence.
The only sound left was Selene's sharp nails tapping rhythmically against the armrest of the throne.
After a long while, Selene's cold voice rang out.
“Are you certain, human?”
Lin Gui nodded, his tone firm.
“I am absolutely certain.”
“Your Majesty may immediately dispatch guards to investigate.”
Selene gestured to a banshee elder who had remained silent nearby.
Understanding the cue, the banshee flapped her wings.
In an instant, she turned into an afterimage and vanished from the fortress.
After the banshee elder left,
Selene's terrifying aura slowly receded, and her seductive smile returned once more.
“This information is indeed enough for me to keep the secret for that 'Demon' lady.”
“You may leave. I am tired.”
Lin Gui and the others bowed and quickly withdrew.
Just as they were about to step out of the hall,
Selene's lazy voice, carrying a hint of warning, drifted over once again:
“By the way, as a friendly warning, that Demon's disguise magic is far too crude, and her demon energy is leaking quite severely. It seems she has only recently awakened.”
“If you don't want her to die, find her a disguise spell or an enchanted disguise accessory of at least Legendary Rank.”
“Also, hide her well before she completely masters demon energy, this new power.”
“A half-demon who can use demon energy, exposed in the Royal Capital... Elvia, you know how miserable her fate would be.”
Lin Gui's brows twitched slightly. Within his perception domain, he could not sense the presence of demon energy.
He hadn't expected Theia to carry such a risk.
The Shroud of the Gloomy Night could not block the leakage of demon energy.
It seemed that once they reached the Royal Capital, he could not afford to take risks with Theia until this hidden danger was completely resolved.
Lin Gui turned around and said in a sincere tone,
“Thank you for your warning, beautiful Empress.”
After being escorted out of the fortress by the banshees, they crossed just a single hillside.
Lin Gui and the others finally laid eyes on the second destination of their journey.
The City of Mountains—the Carter Royal Capital.
Rate on N.U.
