Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 216 - 217: Banquet

--

At night,

In the guesthouse at the center of Sky dome City,

the welcoming banquet was about to begin, a grand event attended by representatives of all major forces.

The Church of Asumos was no exception.

In order to attend the evening banquet, Nick had specially ordered a custom-made luxurious dress worth tens of thousands of Stone Coins and hired a professional stylist to come to Mengxi’s bedroom. This banquet was considered an important diplomatic occasion, and as the Girl of Destiny who represented the Church, Mengxi had to be meticulously dressed so as not to lose face for the church.

For this reason,

Although Mengxi was extremely reluctant, she was still "ambushed" in her room by several female attendants of the Church hours ago to prepare her for the event.

--

Inside Mengxi’s room, Bai Yanluo, like many other female attendants, wore a blue backless dress. Upon seeing the slender, silver-haired girl in the room, her eyes lit up, and she became excited. Bai Yanluo excitedly approached the silver-haired girl and took her soft hand.

"Wow, Mengxi, after a little dressing up, you are so beautiful!"

At this moment,

The silver-haired girl in front of Bai Yanluo was wearing a plain white V-neck evening dress with golden patterns, embroidered with silver-white threads forming delicate branches and vivid blue threads creating blooming snow lotuses from the hem up to the waist. A black wide belt tightened around her slim waist, creating an elegant and noble impression. A delicate shawl with the Church of Asumos emblem was draped over her shoulders, making the girl’s every move seem more graceful.

Mengxi’s hairstyle was also slightly modified. Her beautiful silver-white hair was braided into a long braid, with the remaining hair coiled up at the back of her head, showcasing her elegant swan-like neck. The thin and long bangs in front of her forehead were neatly trimmed, and her arched eyebrows accentuated her fair and delicate skin. After applying light pink blush to her lovely face, her complexion appeared even more radiant. A touch of light red lipstick on her lips added a hint of maturity to her pure and beautiful face.

Already a beauty unparalleled in the world, she became even more breathtaking after such careful dressing, leaving one breathless. Even Bai Yanluo, who had spent a long time with Mengxi, couldn’t help but stare for several seconds.

"Wow, I feel like standing next to you would make me pale in comparison~"

Bai Yanluo playfully said,

Although her eyes were full of admiration, there was no hint of jealousy. Instead, a strong feeling of accomplishment quickly spread across Bai Yanluo’s face, as she had personally helped design Mengxi’s beautiful dress.

"Thank you, Sister Bai, this is really beautiful, and I like it a lot. But, but, will this be too eye-catching?"

Mengxi, who didn’t like to draw attention, couldn’t help but show a worried expression.

In response, Bai Yanluo patted her chest and said enthusiastically:

"Don’t worry, you should be eye-catching! Let those guys see the true beauty of our Church’s ’ Holy Maiden!"

Bai Yanluo was proud of the masterpiece she helped create and wanted to show it off.

The smile on Bai Yanluo’s face become bigger,

Mengxi sighed helplessly,

"Ah, the problem is, like this, I’ll be watched by many people... and I don’t like it..."

Seemingly noticing Mengxi’s concerns, Bai Yanluo patted her shoulder and encouraged her,

"Ah, Mengxi, don’t worry about that! With me around, those guys won’t dare to bother you constantly~"

"heeh…, really?"

Mengxi showed a doubtful expression,

Bai Yanluo patted her chest and reassured her,

"Piece of cake! With me around, you can relax, Mengxi!"

Mengxi: "..."

"Since Sister Bai say so, then... all right..."

--

As it turned out,

It was a lie!

At this moment,

In the beautifully decorated, brightly lit, and luxurious welcoming hall, not long after Mengxi entered the banquet hall with Archbishop Nick, she was immediately surrounded by countless people...

"Miss Mengxi, I am the second prince of the Karolum Kingdom - Xiong Duoli, may I get to know you?"

"Miss Destiny, is it true that you defeated the leader of the Divine Punishment Sect?"

"Miss Mengxi, there are rumors about your indescribable relationship with His Majesty Xue Tianao, is that true?"

"Miss Mengxi, the moon is beautiful tonight. May I invite you to enjoy the moonlight together?"

...

...

Faced with this noisy crowd, Mengxi’s face gradually darkened.

’Bai Yanluo! Can you be a little more reliable?’

With an inner roar,

Mengxi glanced at the closed door not far away. There, the empire provided special services for the VIPs, including gambling...

Obviously,

After noticing the casino, Bai Yanluo "protected" Mengxi for a whole thirty seconds before slipping past Archbishop Nick’s gaze and sneaking into the casino. Without Bai Yanluo’s strong presence to protect her, a large number of people with intentions toward Mengxi swarmed around her.

Mengxi, who hated this kind of tedious socializing, couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

"Excuse me, everyone, I’ll be back shortly. I need to use the restroom."

With that,

Mengxi immediately took the opportunity to break away from the crowd and find Archbishop Nick.

"Your Grace, Sister Bai has gone gambling again."

That’s right,

In order to have a little peace and quiet, Mengxi chose to tattle without hesitation.

As expected, upon hearing the news, Archbishop Nick’s face changed dramatically. After all, it was damaging to the church’s image to have the church’s Apostle of Heaven indulging in gambling. So, he temporarily halted his conversation with the leader of the "Holy Tower" and stormed into the small casino, grabbing Bai Yanluo by the ear...

Several minutes later,

Bai Yanluo crossed her arms, pouted, and stood beside Mengxi with a wronged expression. She occasionally glanced at the silver-haired girl nearby with a complaining look:

"Really! Mengxi, you’re so mean, tattling on me! I was just about to win back my losses!"

"Ah..."

Mengxi shook her head helplessly,

"Please, Sister Bai, you always say that, and then you lose everything..."

"This time was different; I really could have won!"

"Fine, fine, whatever you say..."

...

Mengxi helplessly dealt with Bai Yanluo’s complaints. But dealing with Bai Yanluo’s complaints was still better than facing that annoying crowd, right?

With Bai Yanluo returning to Mengxi’s side,

and activating her ’No Trespassing’ domain,

Apart from a few Red Lotus Empire nobles who were relatively close to Bai Yanluo, basically no one else dared to approach. After all, although Bai Yanluo appeared as a naive big sister to Mengxi, she was more like a ferocious ogre in the eyes of others...

So, these people had to cozy up to Archbishop Nick.

Mengxi, who was no longer bothered, quietly sipped her wine while leaning against the windowsill with Bai Yanluo, observing the VIPs and representatives of various forces that entered the hall.

The nobles of the Red Lotus Empire,

Ambassadors of the Lomari Confederation,

President of the Adventurer’s Association,

The Dragon Envoy,

...

There were also heads of powerful merchant families, and even the Venerable of the Holy Tower had come...

An eighth-tier Venerable, who usually wouldn’t attend such events, had personally come this time?

Seemingly sensing Mengxi’s gaze, the white-haired man dressed as a high-ranking mage, who was communicating with Archbishop Nick, slowly turned his head and offered a friendly smile to Mengxi. Naturally, Mengxi politely returned the smile. She smiled, but instinctively wanted to keep her distance from these truth-seeking, experiment-loving magic fanatics.

The people of the Holy Tower had come,

However,

It seemed that the Red Moon Tower, another sacred place for mages, hadn’t sent anyone, huh?

hmmm...

But anyway,

’Xue Tianao, this guy really has some influence...’

Mengxi couldn’t help but mutter in her heart,

But it was reasonable,

After all, he was the son of Destiny prophesied and even accomplished the feat of "defeating" inferno. It was normal to attract so much attention from powerful people. Of course, many of them were also interested in Inferno, right?

?!

However, just as Mengxi was thinking,

The main door of the banquet hall opened again, and with the announcement of the welcoming attendant, Mengxi’s eyes suddenly narrowed,

"Sadiq Empire representative, Yu-Black Rose, has arrived."

Mengxi: Huh? The Black Rose family? And... Yu?

--