What a cunning fox—she wanted to sit back and watch the fight between Roy and the First Emperor from the sidelines. No matter who won or lost, she could satisfy her twisted pleasure, reveling in the misery of human lives.
'Humans killing each other, huh?'
Seeing the ferocious glee on Daji's delicate face, Roy couldn't help but scoff.
It was true—humans loved killing each other. While animals also engaged in intraspecies violence, theirs was for survival. Only humans, even with ample resources, would harm their own kind out of jealousy and greed.
But it was precisely because of this that humans stood apart from other animals. Other creatures didn't understand greed or desires beyond survival. That was why humanity, not any other species, became the pinnacle of creation.
Of course, Roy wouldn't argue this point with Daji—it was meaningless. No matter how one spun it, humans slaughtering each other out of greed was undeniably ugly.
Having gotten the answers he sought—though Daji still held some things back—Roy knew this was the limit of what she was willing to reveal. Pressing her further would be pointless.
He patted Daji's smooth cheek and slowly stood up, saying to her, "...Since you've satisfied my curiosity, you may leave now."
"Huh?"
Su Daji froze for a moment, as if unable to believe Roy would actually let her leave. With disbelief in her voice, she said, "...What did you say? Could you repeat that?"
"I said you're no longer useful, so you can leave! Unless you want me to send you off personally?"
This time, Su Daji finally heard Roy's words clearly. Her narrow eyes narrowed further as she gave him a deep look, then revealed an enchanting, bewitching smile. "...Hah, how interesting. To think you'd actually let me go just like that. I'd imagined so many ways to escape from you, yet it turns out all that planning was for nothing."
She slowly rose to her feet, her body still unsteady. "...Though I still despise and loathe you, I must admit you've piqued my interest somewhat. In that case, I wish you victory in your struggle against the First Emperor. Hehehe~~ How does it feel to receive blessings from someone like me, who detests humans?"
Su Daji giggled mischievously. Since meeting Roy, she'd been instantly dismembered before she could even utilize her full power. Thus, her magical energy remained abundant—only Roy's constant vigilance had prevented her from using her abilities to escape.
Now that Roy had declared she could leave unhindered, Su Daji naturally wouldn't linger, especially since she'd begun to feel an inexplicable fear toward him.
Her figure gradually faded until she vanished completely, leaving behind only her eerie, seductive laughter hanging in the air.
"Tch, just as you said, Tamamo—what a troublesome ability!"
Roy carefully observed Su Daji's departure, attempting to discern the nature of her power. If he could decipher this fox's escape mechanism, he'd have countless ways to deal with her.
But from what he could tell, the ability she used wasn't magecraft—it was closer to an Authority, making it impossible for Roy to instantly unravel.
"It resembles the Second Magic, though not as exaggerated. It's not parallel world travel, yet it's still dimensional in nature. No wonder no barrier or seal can contain her. She can enter any bounded field and even escape from the First Emperor's mausoleum."
After contemplating Su Daji's near-Authority escape ability, Roy couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Truly befitting a tail of the Nine-Tailed Fox, inheriting part of its power. For Su Daji, spatial distances and bounded fields meant nothing—she could appear anywhere in this world as long as she had coordinates and a 'connection.' Even the most hidden locations were within her reach in an instant.
"That's exactly why I couldn't do anything about her, Master! Otherwise, I would've captured and sealed her long ago~~ Sigh, when I severed that tail, I never imagined she'd inherit this ability."
Tamamo-no-Mae, standing nearby, spoke with equal frustration.
"My lord, are we really letting her go like this? Won't she cause trouble for us again?"
Yu Ji voiced her concerns anxiously. Her impression of Su Daji was extremely poor—merely thinking about that detestable fox made her blood boil.
"I don't have a choice either, Yu Meiren! Sealing methods don't work on this fox, and killing her is impossible. Keeping her by my side can temporarily solve the problem, but aside from me, it seems no one else can keep her in check. Even if I take her with me, this fox would never behave obediently—she'd definitely find ways to cause trouble. An ordinary human would probably fall under her charm with just one glance. It's like carrying a ticking time bomb around."
Roy spread his hands, feeling equally exasperated by Daji. It wasn't that Daji was overwhelmingly powerful—in a direct confrontation, Roy had countless ways to instantly defeat her. But the fox's unique abilities, coupled with her hatred for humans and the secrets she still kept, made her a genuine nuisance. This fox was simply too good at stirring up trouble.
"Still, there's no need to worry for now. This fox is terrified of me, afraid I might catch her again and skin her alive. Even if she has some scheme, she probably won't go too far."
At this point, Roy shot Tamamo-no-Mae a glare and added, "...You really split off a troublesome one, Xiao Yu!"
"Ahaha~ Xiao Yu couldn't help it either! Who knew the bitchy fox would be so annoying?"
Tamamo-no-Mae pouted pitifully, but soon perked up, wagging her eight tails. "Migu migu~~ Xiao Yu actually did a great thing! That bitchy fox is too weak now to cause any real trouble. If she still had the power of nine tails, that would be a real disaster!"
Roy had to admit she had a point. If Daji possessed the strength of a nine-tailed fox, the entire Human Order would be doomed. Even Roy himself would struggle to deal with a true nine-tailed fox—the ancient Sun Goddess of the Moon World.
If the problem with this world's Human Order truly stemmed from a nine-tailed fox, Roy would have no choice but to retreat and return only when he was stronger.
"Wait, you almost derailed me! If you had remained in your nine-tailed form without all that malice, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Roy snapped back to reality and grumbled at Tamamo-no-Mae.
"There's nothing Xiao Yu could do about it! She didn't want this either!"
Tamamo-no-Mae clasped her snow-white hands together in front of her lap, her voice sweet and pitiful, her charming demeanor like a girlfriend playfully apologizing for a mistake—making it impossible to stay angry at her.
"Fine, let's set Daji aside for now. The more pressing issue is about the First Emperor!"
Now that he knew the root of this world's Human Order problem, Roy naturally had to resolve it. Only then could this world stay on the right path and avoid being pruned by the Human Order one day.