“Sigh “
Inside an exquisite, petite treehouse, the pretty little succubus rested his chin in both hands, gazing blankly out the window with vacant eyes and letting out a string of sighs. Even his usually lively little tail drooped listlessly, its little heart-shaped tip resting on the windowsill like a completely defeated little heart.
“Sigh “
Frowning his pretty little face, Huey let out his three hundred and fifty-sixth sigh.
“Huey! What on earth is wrong with you? Your sighing is already disturbing my communication with my dear house!”
Suddenly, from outside the windowsill, a wheat-skinned dark elf inverted upside down, staring with a deadpan expression of solemn accusation at Huey’s tree- and neighbor-disturbing behavior.
“The tree tells me that in the days I was away, you’ve been sighing for ten whole days straight.” With a graceful tuck of her body, Sophiel settled onto a curved branch drooping from the giant tree, affectionately stroking her home as her fingertips intertwined with the tender green leaves communicating with the tree in a manner unique to elves.
“Oh, it’s Sophiel. Are you feeling better?”
Perking up a bit, Huey offered a greeting to the owner of the house.
Ten days ago, Huey had been happily live-streaming in the red-blood-flower sea when an unidentified entity suddenly appeared, attacking all the dark elves present and plunging them into unconsciousness. Fortunately, just as Lord Xavier had said, as long as the elves were placed beneath the Mother Tree for a few days, they would make a natural recovery.
Originally, this matter had nothing more to do with Huey; he could have simply collected his reward and run off. However, the Dark Elf Queen had extended a warm invitation, insisting that Huey stay a few more days in the elven territory under the guise of hospitality to reward the brave succubus who saved her people.
After all, in the eyes of the dark elves, it was Huey who had saved them. Xavier clearly had no desire to let anyone know of his existence, so Huey simply claimed that he had used his whip to disperse the black mist, while the bizarre entity had vanished, leaving only a field of unconscious dark elves in its wake.
“I’ve been well since early this morning. Enclosed by the embrace of the Mother Tree, I feel my mind and spirit to be extraordinarily peaceful and tranquil.” Sophiel was filled with reverence. “This is actually the first time I’ve been embraced by the Mother Tree again since my birth four hundred years ago! It’s a true blessing in disguise, and I feel like my perception of elemental magic has grown even stronger.”
Huey nodded, offering his heartfelt congratulations. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
“However,” Sophiel pivoted, her expression of reverence for the Mother Tree instantly shifting into one of worry for a friend. “I’m fine, but I get the feeling you’re not doing so well at all.”
“Little Huey, what actually happened that day? We’ve been friends for two hundred years, and I know very well that you couldn’t possibly defeat that creepy thing. Did someone else step in and save us that day?”
Huey shot Sophiel a look of mild surprise; this dark elf lady was truly sharp, instantly guessing the core truth of the matter.
Glancing out warily, Huey pulled Sophiel inside and whispered, “Don’t ask about that anymore. As long as everyone is safe and sound, that’s all that matters!”
Sophiel nodded, flashing a cunning, sly wink. “Don’t worry, little Huey! Since you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll just assume you ran into a charming, passionate romance. I won’t tell the Queen.”
“W—what are you talking about!” Blushing furiously at her teasing, Huey stammered a soft defense. “I did no such thing!”
Seeing his state, Sophiel needed no further explanation. What started as a casual remark turned out to be spot-on she hadn’t expected this little succubus to actually be stirred by spring affections!
Ah, the poor Queen, Sophiel thought, shaking her head. It looks like the person little Huey ran into is quite the powerful Abyssal demon.
“Alright, little Huey, what are you planning to do next? Are you going to go look for that lord of yours?” Sophiel teased him with a rather suggestive smile. “Do you need some help from me? After all, our little Huey hasn’t even been in a single relationship in three hundred years.”
Sophiel spoke with utmost confidence; after all, she was a remarkably charming lady who had experienced quite a few romances over her long years, and she considered herself to possess ample experience to guide this “pure” child.
Feeling somewhat offended, Huey puffed out his cheeks and retorted indignantly, “I’m a succubus, you know! Things like this are practically a racial talent where on earth would I need a dark elf to teach me?!”
She couldn’t keep teasing the child; even though little Huey was utterly adorable when he got angry, Sophiel was still keen on preserving their precious friendship.
“Alright, alright. Then do you even know where to go to find him?” the dark elf asked, rummaging through a wooden storage cabinet to pull out several odd-looking glass bottles filled with bizarrely colored, translucent liquids.
Huey shook his head despondently, his little heart-shaped tail drooping and swaying desolately in synchronization.
Xavier had left behind nothing but a single feather and his name; Huey didn’t even have the other’s magic crystal contact number. If he had known it, he would have long since set off to chase after his romance. After all, succubi were never hesitant or coy when it came to matters of the heart he certainly wouldn’t have been moping and sighing away days inside Sophiel’s home.
“Hmm,” Sophiel murmured, rubbing her chin in deep thought. “Sounds like quite the mysterious lord.”
The dark elf lady slammed a hand down onto the table and asserted decisively, “In that case, Huey, you should go look for him in the Verses Valley!”
Huey couldn’t quite keep up with Sophiel’s erratic train of thought, asking in confusion, “Why go to the Verses Valley? How could you possibly know he’ll be there?”
Sophiel looked back at him with genuine astonishment, as if staring at some bizarre monster. “Are you even a succubus? This year’s ‘Sweet Romance’ festival is being held in the Verses Valley, and it starts in just three days! By then, every single powerful entity in the Underworld will want to head down there to claim a succubus of their own.”
The “Sweet Romance” festival was a grand celebration hosted by the succubi themselves, lasting for five full days. During the event, various competitive games were held, all of which required cooperation between a succubus and their companion, with prizes featuring exquisite clothing and jewelry beloved by succubi. The ultimate goal was to allow succubi to freely select a powerful companion who suited their fancy.
Naturally, such grand celebrations barred creatures like goblins, orcs, and minotaurs from participating in the games. However, visitors who purchased admission tickets were welcome to wander around; while succubi certainly weren’t lacking in money, they never turned down an opportunity to make a profit.
Huey was well aware of this decennial grand festival of the succubus realm. However, ever since his coming-of-age celebration at age one hundred when he attended the festival for the very first time only to return empty-handed and endure merciless mockery from a rival succubus Huey had never attended again. It was also from that exact day onward that Huey had poured himself into live-streaming to make money, purely driven by the desire to afford a tail-dye potion that would rid him of his universally loathed platinum-gold little heart-shaped tail.
“But… but my tail…” Huey clutched his tail with an aggrieved expression, the tail itself drooping miserably, radiating pure depression.
“Did that lord of yours show any disgust toward your tail?” Sophiel asked calmly.
Xavier…
“Your tail… is very lovely.”
The gentle, soothing voice echoed once more within Huey’s heart. The little succubus flushed a brilliant crimson and shook his head rapidly.
“Well, there you have it.” Sophiel waved a hand dismissively, speaking with utter nonchalance. “Besides, you’re only looking for that lord anyway. Who cares what anyone else thinks? You’re not looking for them to be your companions, so why on earth do you need all of them to like you?”
That… that makes so much sense!
Huey’s dimmed eyes instantly began to sparkle once more.
“You really are such an empathetic and understanding lady, Sophiel.” The dainty little succubus praised her with a soft, sweet tone, the little heart-shaped patterns in his eyes radiating a dazzling brilliance resembling the tiny, blinking stars that supposedly existed in the sky above ground, sights that never appeared within the Underworld.
Those were visions Sophiel had only ever witnessed within the inherited memories of the Mother Tree: up on the surface world, the night sky was adorned not only with a moon, but with countless blinking little stars.
A strange surge of maternal affection welled up inexplicably within Sophiel’s heart, and she scratched her head in mild distress, wondering if perhaps she should head over to the Mother Tree to pick up a little sprite to raise for fun.
“Alright! Take all of these treasures with you.” Shoving all the bottles she had just rummaged up across the table toward Huey, Sophiel declared with grand generosity, “These are all best-selling hits you’ve been live-streaming and selling over all these years! If they could make even the Grand Archangel unable to resist, how much less a mere demon of the Underworld?”
Huey gave a helpless sigh. “Sophiel, you know full well those were just advertising slogans I made up.”
Even so, despite saying that, the little succubus flushed red and honestly stuffed every single bottle into his storage ring.
Well, these potions were brewed by elven artisans who specialized in alchemy within the dark elven clan. Whether they could truly captivate the Grand Archangel, Huey had no idea, but their actual effectiveness was leagues ahead of anything on the market they were genuine, top-tier goods capable of enhancing affection between companions!
Ultimately, Huey and the enthusiastic dark elf lady set off together toward the teleportation array leading to the Verses Valley.
In Lady Sophiel’s own words: I have no interest in demons, nor do I care for succubi. If anyone dares to look down on you or mock you, I’ll shoot their mouth to pieces with a single arrow!
Dark elves had never feared battle!
And this brave lady happened to be the peak martial powerhouse of the younger generation within the dark elven clan, lagging not far behind those formidable high-ranking demons.
And thus, flanked by his personal “bodyguard,” Huey returned to the “Sweet Romance” festival two centuries later.
Meanwhile, cutting swiftly through the sky, Xavier felt the communication crystal in his embrace vibrate. Pulling it out, he found Frank’s face etched with deep solemnity.
“My Lord, it’s bad.”
Stopping mid-air, Xavier casually wove an array to isolate and shield the space around him.
“What is it, Frank?”
Transmitting a map across the crystal, Frank reported, “I just searched the memories of that evil spirit we captured and brought back, and discovered that massive hordes of evil spirits are gathering at this exact location. Furthermore, it appears they intend to launch an assault on this region in a few days, spreading contamination to every living creature present.”
The angels had only recently discovered that these evil spirits possessed contaminating properties; one of their fellow angels had unfortunately suffered deep contamination that even holy light could not cure, resulting in his assimilation into a creature identical to the evil spirits.
“Understood. I will go deal with them.”
Xavier nodded. The denizens of the Underworld remained oblivious to the existence of evil spirits, and naturally possessed no knowledge of how to combat them. Presently, those evil spirits seemed exceptionally terrified of pure energy; upon coming into contact with pure energy, they would dissipate like melting snow.
While it sounded simple to eradicate them, whether angels or demons, the vast majority of their native energies contained impurities, making it exceedingly difficult to purify and project their energy outward on a large scale. Up until now, across all of Heaven, only Xavier possessed energy of absolute purity capable of annihilating evil spirits across a broad area.
Enlarging the map transmitted by Frank, Xavier locked his gaze upon the geographic name highlighted at the center.
The Verses Valley.