The Wasteland was a barren, desolate place. Rey wasn't foolish enough to believe he had suddenly gotten lucky and stumbled upon a sexy, open-minded stunner out here.
Perky breasts, long, slender legs, an exquisite face—everything about this woman seemed designed to tempt Rey.
In his past life, Rey had seen his fair share of beautiful women (at least on screens), so he had built up some resistance. After stealing a few glances, he calmed down.
It wasn't that the beauty before him had lost her appeal. Rey just used a little trick.
When staring at a bright light, if you focus your attention on a peripheral point, the intensity of the light on your eyes is significantly reduced.
Rey did the same thing now. He focused his entire attention on a single strand of hair on the woman's forehead. By doing so, her allure was minimized because he simply wasn't looking at the parts that would trigger inappropriate thoughts.
It was a form of self-hypnosis. Coincidentally, Rey had studied a bit of self-hypnosis in his past life.
"Oh! ..."
The woman in the tattered cloak parted her lips, letting out a soft sound of surprise.
Within two or three seconds, Rey had regained his composure and was eyeing her warily. In that regard, this little boy with the remarkably mature soul had already surpassed all the male wizards she had killed before.
Of course, long ago, she had encountered one wizard who was completely immune to her charm.
That wizard was incredibly handsome but cold as a viper. His eyes gleamed with danger. If another evil spirit of her rank hadn't chosen him first, she might have ceased to exist that day.
What was his name again? Sala-something-zar? It had been too long; she couldn't remember clearly.
"Interesting little fellow."
The woman smirked, her demeanor instantly turning overwhelmingly seductive.
"Little brother, what brings you to such a desolate, remote place?"
Ugh... Rey shivered. He couldn't stand that overly sweet, husky voice. It felt like it was seeping into his pores.
He couldn't stand it not because he liked it too much, but because the forced sultriness repulsed him. Maybe experienced players enjoyed this type, but Rey preferred something more natural. This affectation was like nails on a chalkboard; it set his teeth on edge.
---
The woman's sudden appearance made the chubby dragon at Rey's feet wisely let go of his pant leg. However, it didn't leave. It stuck close to Rey's feet like a shadow. Rey stepped back; it stepped back.
The sexy woman only had eyes for Rey. She didn't even glance at the chubby dragon.
Rey slid his right foot, nudging the chubby dragon away slightly. The woman misinterpreted this action as Rey preparing to run.
"What? Trying to run away? Big sister went through so much trouble to find you. If you run away like this, I'll be heartbroken." The woman was practically moaning now, her provocative movements intensifying.
She posed in various ways to showcase her alluring body, frowning slightly with a feigned, coquettish anger, as if Rey's attempt to flee had genuinely hurt her feelings.
Rey thought suspiciously, Can she not see this chubby dragon?
From the moment she appeared until now, Rey hadn't seen her look at the dragon once. That was why he nudged the little guy—to test his theory.
If she couldn't see the chubby dragon, did that mean she also couldn't see the ancient battlefield ruins in the desert beyond the wasteland?
Rey didn't know how to confirm that. Facing this sudden woman, his heart was pounding. Meanwhile, the woman on the rock had now laid down on her side, posing seductively, her finger tracing a line from her toes all the way up her long thigh.
"Don't bother trying to seduce me. It won't work!"
Rey feigned calm as he spoke to her. In his mind, however, he added, This demoness is seriously hot.
Concealment is an art. People who study hypnosis usually know how to hide their emotions well.
However, clearly, Rey's concealment wasn't perfect. The woman saw right through him. A man who wanted it but tried desperately to hide and suppress it amused her greatly, eliciting a peal of delighted laughter from deep within her.
"Still not coming over?"
Eyes half-closed, the woman lifted her vine staff and pointed it gently at Rey. Immediately, Rey's face changed.
His body was seized by a powerful magical force, dragging him involuntarily toward her.
"She's the main body, not a Guide Spirit."
Rey was alarmed. Terence had said Guide Spirits weren't that powerful. Being controlled so easily meant this was undoubtedly the main body.
If an avatar could do this, the world was doomed; might as well wait for death.
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"Eee... What a cute little boy!"
Just as Rey was being dragged forward, with the chubby dragon biting his ankle to hold him back, another female voice rang out across the empty wasteland.
This voice wasn't affected at all. It lacked the husky sultriness; instead, it was filled with genuine curiosity.
A woman in a red cloak appeared opposite the woman with the vine staff. Her attire was much better than the black-cloaked woman's—no tatters, no rags.
If the black-cloaked woman was the wild, sexy type, this newcomer in red was elegant and noble.
"What are you doing here, Mika!"
The woman in the tattered cloak sprang to her feet. Her eyes narrowed as she stared intently at the newcomer.
"What am I doing here? What do you think, Reppel? This is my territory."
Facing one powerful evil spirit was stressful enough for Rey. Now facing two? His face was grim. He looked back and forth between the two women squaring off, not daring to make a sound.
They seemed evenly matched; otherwise, they wouldn't start with verbal sparring.
Rey gathered from their conversation that originally, the Valley of Evil Spirits had three king-tier spirits, all female.
They divided the valley into three territories. Whenever they encountered a wizard who piqued their interest, they would go personally to seduce, toy with, and eventually torture the victim to death.
The three partitioned the valley, balancing each other out in relative peace. But long ago, a powerful wizard came and killed one of them. The balance was broken, and these two had been fighting ever since.
Rey knew he couldn't handle the wild, sexy one. He also had no luck with the noble, elegant newcomer.
While the two women were at each other's throats, he slowly backed away.
However, just as Rey started to retreat, the two women, who were just glaring at each other, suddenly turned their heads in unison and sneered. "Trying to escape? Hmph."
"Petrificus Totalus."
With a soft cry, the sexy woman named Reppel pointed her staff at Rey and cast the Full Body-Bind Curse.
The tip of the vine staff flashed, and Rey, who had just lifted his foot to run, suddenly felt his entire body go rigid.
It was a spell that paralyzed the target's muscles. Unless the caster lifted it, the only way out was to circulate one's own magic throughout the body to restore muscle activity.
The foundation of magic is mana.
And mana can counter mana. For a wizard who can control the magic within their body, the effects of some common spells—excluding physical and soul damage—can be neutralized by circulating internal magic.
Of course, this requires a significant amount of magical power, at least equal to that of the caster.
Rey was unlucky. He had planned to run a short distance while they were distracted, then use the teleportation stone Terence gave him to escape. But even while fighting each other, the two women hadn't forgotten their little prey.
Hit by the spell, Rey circulated his magic rapidly, but even if he could break the bind, he wouldn't make it in time before hitting the ground.
Rigid as a board, Rey tipped over and fell straight onto the hard wasteland.
It was going to hurt.
Because this was rocky ground, not soft sand.
As his body tilted, Rey closed his eyes, ignored the impending pain, and focused entirely on circulating his magic to break the Body-Bind Curse.
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