Chapter 383: Into Inner Circle

"That was one terrible experience." Said Idonea with an ugly expression as she glanced at the viscous, gooey blood that coated the surrounding forest.

"Urgh, tell me about it; I didn't like it one bit." Muttered Marley lightly as she rubbed her head while leaning against her spear embedded into the ground.

"I don't want to spend any more time in this forest." Remarked Ember softly as she waved her hand, releasing greenish flames onto the ground, causing the gooey blood to disintegrate.

"Is it safe to come out? I don't want to be looked at by that thing again." Asked Sarah as she extended her hand from beyond a tree and waved it around, grabbing Marley's attention.

Grabbing her spear, Marley raised it into the air before slashing it toward the tree Sarah hid behind, causing it to be bisected from the base as it fell over, revealing the young noble.

"Yes, it's safe to come out, Sarah." Said Marley with a faint smirk as she waved her hand, causing Sarah's expression to twitch in annoyance as she pouted.

"Hmph, you could've just told me." "Hmm, you're right, I could've, but where would be the fun in that? It's best when I get to tease you." Remarked Sarah and Marley, respectively, as the former pouted in annoyance while the latter mischievously smirked.

"Does anyone else have a clue what we should be doing? It's been almost three hours, and I'm entirely clueless about our objective." Asked Ember as she glanced between Marley and Idonea, who both clicked their tongues in unison before shaking their heads.

"No." "I'm the same. Haa, stupid Elder, why did he have to go and upset his Highness?" Replied Idonea and Marley, respectively, as they glanced at Ember, who sighed while the latter aggressively kicked the ground.

"So, if we've got no idea what our objective is, should we even be in this forest? We might as well just leave; no point in further risking our lives." Said Sarah solemnly as she did her best to withhold a blooming smile, only for her joy to be crushed by Marley, Idonea, and Ember's refusal.

"I'm still going to give it my all even if I do terribly; besides, that is an excuse I can use for receiving a low ranking, and I'm sure His Highness won't mind. It will be completely different if I actively avoid attempting anything." Remarked Ember lightly as she glanced at Sarah while Idonea and Marley nodded in agreement, causing her to scoff in annoyance.

"Hmph, fine, whatever." Muttered Sarah as she folded her arms and looked away, causing Marley to wryly smile before shaking her head.

"Anyways, I'm proud of you, Ember! It seems all of that teaching has finally begun to pay off." Stated Marley with a grin as she skipped towards Ember before forcefully embracing her into a hug, causing her face to twitch.

"When we return home, I'll show you my private collection of His Highness." Added Marley softly as she whispered into Ember's ear, causing her eyes to widen while she rapidly nodded with an eager and slightly lustful expression.

"Hmph, first off, you're not the only one who helped when it came to teaching Ember; I offered just as much advice as you, if not more. Secondly, your collections of His Highness have completely ruined Ember's innocence; she has now become a miniature version of you." Stated Idonea firmly as she gave Marley an admonishing look before glancing at Ember, who awkwardly avoided eye contact, causing her to sigh, only for her to faintly blush.

"A-Also, I-I'd like to view your private collection." Added Idondea bashfully as she glanced at Marley, who simply grinned in response.

"Heh, you can dislike me all you want, but you can't deny His Highness's allure; no woman can, after all." Remarked Marley with a smirk as she glanced at Idoena, who said nothing since she couldn't refute her words.

"Oh, I can't wait until we return home. If you want, the two of us can have some fun while watching the collection of His Highness?" Asked Marley quietly as she leaned into Idonea's ear, causing her to shiver while Ember distanced herself from the two.

With a quick turn of events, while Ember and Sarah were preoccupied talking to each other, Idonea grabbed Marley's chin and leaned in for an aggressive yet passionate kiss while her other hand reached into her pants and entered her soaking womanhood.

"I'd love that, Marley." Muttered Idonea softly as she retracted her lips while licking her fingers clean of Marley's nectar, causing her to blush from embarrassment.

"Come, let us continue deeper into the forest." Stated Idonea as she left Marley and headed deeper into the Forest while her hand rested atop her hilt, prompting Sarah and Ember to follow.

"Hm, Marley, are you okay? Your face is red." Asked Sarah as she turned and glanced at Marley, who merely nodded before quickly following after Idonea, whom she couldn't look away from.

'Hmm, His Highness might be correct; Marley and Idonea might really have a unique relationship. Well, so long as they're happy together, I'm not one to judge, not after all the things I've done with Illumia.' Mused Sarah lightly as she glanced between Marley and Idonea with a faint smirk, only to swiftly chase after the trio.

"Hey, don't leave me! These monsters will kill me!" Yelled Sarah as she quickly ran after the trio of servants.

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"Tell me if I'm Sister, but should we really be toying with this monstrosity?" Asked Elif curiously as he turned and glanced at Elaine while holding a Diabolical captive within his purple palm.

"Hmm, why do you ask, Brother?" Asked Elaine lightly as she used Orcus to poke the eyes of the Diabolical before glancing at Elif, who simply shrugged his shoulder.

"No reason, just asking, that is all. Though what are you trying to achieve by poking out their eyes?" Said Elif as he gave Elaine a weird look before glancing at the Diabolical, which was missing roughly half of its eyes.

"I'm curious to know if they can still corrupt creatures without their eyes as it is like the window to flickers of the Flame of Madness inside of them." Replied Elaine as she glanced at Elif, who raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"Hmm, that is an interesting theory, though I doubt the Diabolical will still be able to." Said Elif with a nod as he rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression while waiting for Elaine to finish puncturing the monster's eyes.

After a few more moments, Elaine finished poking the eyes of the Diabolical, prompting me to remove my purple palm as she and I backed away, waiting to see what would happen; however, after a few seconds of staring directly at it, I scratched my head before glancing at Elaine.

"Huh, not what I was expecting, but good to know, I suppose." Muttered Elaine lightly as she slashed Orcus at the disabled Diabolical, bisecting it in half before suddenly exploding, spreading its gooey blood everywhere.

"Why must they always explode?" Muttered Elif in slight annoyance as he waved his hand, dispersing his purple palm that protected him and Elaine from the foul blood.

"Welp, we learned that even without their eyes, they can corrupt; however, they will be vastly weaker." Said Elaine with a faint smile as she turned and glanced at Elif, who nodded before floating deeper into the forest beside her.

"That was a teenage, Diabolical, correct? It didn't seem to have any survival instincts." "Maybe it realized without its eyes it wouldn't survive long, so it sought to take us with it?" Remarked Elif and Elaine, respectively, as they floated through the forest while glancing at each other, causing him to tilt his head before nodding.

"Perhaps. Or maybe it was just too mesmerized by my otherworldly beauty and simply couldn't look away; I find that to be much more believable." Stated Elif narcissistically as he flipped his hair behind his ear while smirking, causing Elaine to fold her arms and roll her eyes.

"You know, the funniest part is that while I doubt that to be the case, I also can't completely rule out that possibility. Your beauty is a one-of-a-kind wonder." Said Elaine with an amused expression as she turned and looked at Elif, who sported a narcissistic smirk before blowing her a kiss.

"Heh, they need to update the Nine Immortal Miracles of the OverRealm to the Ten Immortal Miracles of the OverRealm." Declared Elif with a grin, his words causing Elaine to chuckle, though she nodded in agreement.

"Okay, Brother, I think that's enough of your narcissism for now; let us head into the Inner circle of the Forest. There, we should be seeing Adult and Senior Diabolicals, so we should start taking some level of caution." Remarked Elaine as she increased her speed and dashed through the forest with Orcus in hand, causing Elif to click his tongue as he kissed himself.

"Until next time, dear Elif." Muttered Elif with a lovely expression as he summoned Hokori and attached it to his waist before swiftly catching up to Elaine.

Although there was no obvious sign that we'd entered the Inner circle, the sudden spike in madness that could be felt throughout the forest was rather hard to miss, not to mention I began noticing that, unlike before, there didn't seem to be any living creatures, it was purely Diabolicals and Trees.

'I hope adult and senior Diabolocals don't also explode.' Thought Elif with a hopeful expression.