Miss Hebe is Fighting Her Way Out of the Lostbelt!

You can always remain in the wilderness, attacking cities as a great yokai, slaughtering villages, destroying civilization, and letting the Cruel Wolf temporarily surpass the Scarred Father; or you can enter the city, support the young and weak sprouts of civilization, and let the Scarred Father suppress the Cruel Wolf in the struggle for dominance.

When one of the parties wins this stage, the Lostbelt will proceed to the next stage.

"Currently, the Cruel Wolf is sharpening its claws. In the wilderness where monsters roam, there is no room for hunters to survive. However, the hunter is experienced and is waiting for the opportune moment."

Struggle State: "Cruel Wolf" occupies the primary position.

Hebe sighed, sweeping the dust off the ground with her tail, and squatted down in confusion.

Her tail was much larger than that of an ordinary fox. Although it was still pure white all over, a tuft of brilliant gold could be seen growing from the tip.

Legend has it that Tamamo-no-Mae was a beautiful woman from the late Heian period, known for her extensive knowledge and favored by the Emperor.

Later, when the Emperor fell gravely ill, Tamamo-no-Mae revealed her true form—she was not human, but a Golden-Furred, Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox. After her true form was exposed, Tamamo-no-Mae was forced to leave the imperial palace and was defeated in a decisive battle at Nasuno against a large army, transforming into the Sessho-seki.

"But why does it have to be a fox..." Hebe patted the ground with her tail.

The uncontrollable immense power caused the mountain shrine to shake, and dust rained down from the roof.

Hebe quickly withdrew her tail. If she collapsed the shrine, where would she live for the next few days? At least until she could fully control her terrifying monstrous strength, she had no intention of going down the mountain into the human world.

—Oh dear, you wouldn't want to wag your tail and turn an innocent passerby into mincemeat, would you?

Hebe swayed as she climbed onto the offering table, seeing several damaged incense sticks, as well as some dried frogs and mice.

"Ugh..." A visible look of disgust appeared on the fox's face.

Fortunately, there were more than just frogs and mice on the offering table; there were mostly wild fruits from the mountains.

Hebe leaned over and sniffed them. After confirming they were harmless with her superb medical skills, she began to eat the fruits one by one.

The fox held the wild fruits, nibbling the flesh and sucking the sweet juice from beneath the berry skins.

This was what she had to do now to control her monstrous strength.

After a while, there was movement outside the temple door. The fox put down the berry skins in her hand and got up to look.

A large snake swam slowly along the path in the sunlight. The weeds growing wildly on the path were pushed aside by it. When it encountered a ditch, its body, as if boneless, glided over it with ease.

The snake swaggered across the threshold and froze when it saw the indentation on the ground made by the tail and the fox squatting on the offering table.

The snake shook its head, looking left and right.

Then it crawled out, confirmed it was its temple, and swam back in.

"This... is my temple."

A clear voice rang out.

The snake did not get angry but coiled into a circle on the ground, holding its head high.

The fox raised its forelegs on the offering table and bowed. "May I ask what the Dragon Lord is called?"

"A-Long."

The snake held its head high, its amber eyes wide open. "And you?"

"My name is Little Jade. Miss A-Long, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Why are you in Miss A-Long's temple?"

"As a newcomer, I dared not disturb the mortal villages, so I came to your temple to rest," the fox said, twitching its ears. "Seeing that the temple doesn't seem to have much incense, I thought the deity being worshipped had already left, so I was rather presumptuous. Please forgive me, Miss A-Long."

"What is incense and worship?" The snake's eyes held a pure kind of foolishness.

"It's..."

Hebe looked down, wanting to explain, but hesitated.

How can there be such a simple snake... The fox organized its thoughts.

"It means that, Miss A-Long, in this mountain, mortals consider you a god," Hebe said. "These incense sticks, frogs, and mice, as well as the wild fruits, are all offerings from them, hoping you will protect them."

"Where are the frogs and mice?" A-Long's eyes lit up.

The fox then jumped down from the offering table. The snake slithered up the four legs of the table, opened its mouth, and sucked the frogs and mice into its mouth.

After eating, the large snake crawled back down.

"Miss A-Long doesn't like wild fruits," the snake said. "You eat them."

"I've already eaten my fill," Hebe replied. "What's important is that these things were given to you by mortals. Since you ate them, you must protect them."

Hebe had made her choice.

Although the Scarred Father was not a good thing, the Cruel Wolf wasn't even comparable.

With old and new grudges, it was time to settle the score.

59 She's Very Powerful! (Thanks to the box from Lord Lian Tai Ye Yu Zuo Jian)

The snake was stunned when it heard Hebe's words, then it stretched its body along the steps.

"These frogs and mice... were given to A-Long to eat by those people themselves."

The fox twitched its ears. "But you ate them."

Hebe saw the tip of the snake's tail trembling slightly.

"A-Long won't eat them anymore then."

"But you're eating them now."

Hebe and Miss A-Long's amber eyes met.

After a moment of silence, the great serpent slumped onto the ground, her voice muffled. "But they're so annoying. Sometimes when A-Long sneaks off to eat chickens, they chase her and beat her."

"Miss A-Long also said she was sneaking them," the fox seemed to be stifling a giggle.

"I only ate a little," the great serpent excused herself.

"Even a little is stealing," Hebe said earnestly. "And after people started worshipping Miss A-Long as a deity, she stopped sneaking chickens from the village."

The great serpent stared at Hebe, unblinking. "Mmm."

She felt a pang of guilt, as there had been a few times she'd been so hungry she'd secretly gone down the mountain.

"So Miss A-Long was doing a good deed," the fox said.

"Mmm!" This time, the great serpent's voice was full of righteous indignation.

"Rats chew up crops and clothes. Miss A-Long eating them is also doing a good deed."

"Mmm?!" The great serpent's face lit up with joy.

"So, as long as Miss A-Long eats more rats and fewer frogs, she's doing a great good deed," Hebe said with a straight face. "There are no paths in the mountains. After Miss A-Long swims through, paths are made, and people can walk steadily without falling..."

"Mmm, mmm, mmm!" The great serpent excitedly thumped the ground with her tail.

"So—" Hebe changed the subject. "Miss A-Long is actually a very kind and intelligent dragon."

Miss A-Long suddenly turned around, dragged a few dried rats from a corner, and reluctantly pushed them towards Hebe.

"Please eat!" The snake-like creature stuck out her tongue reluctantly. "They're very tasty."

"I only eat fruit," Hebe replied. "Thank you..."

Before she could finish saying "thank you," Miss A-Long swiftly stretched out her neck and swallowed all the dried rats.

She was perhaps a bit too hasty, as she couldn't even speak for a moment.

Hebe looked at the overly simple snake with amusement.

If all the monsters under the August Archon, Cruel Wolf, were as easy to talk to as Miss A-Long, how much better would things be?

In this era, it could be said that every mountaintop, every dense forest, every well, and every body of water was a dwelling for monsters. They embodied Cruel Wolf's barbarism, nihility, destruction, and violence.

Even with violence, Scarred Father focused on humans, while Cruel Wolf leaned towards beasts.

Miss A-Long was also a "monster," but she was different.

Hebe noticed that Miss A-Long's head was pointed, as if something was about to grow. In the East, people believed that when a snake grew horns, it could transform into a complete dragon.

Therefore, Hebe intended to try and pull Miss A-Long from Cruel Wolf's faction to Scarred Father's.

Miss A-Long finally finished eating the dried rats.

"Do you want to eat frogs?" she asked Hebe. "They're very tasty."

Miss A-Long was also dedicated to promoting the rats and frogs she found delicious, thinking the fox would surely love them too.

"You don't need to eat these either," Hebe said. "Miss A-Long can store them."

"A-Long does that because A-Long is very smart."

"So the smart and kind Miss A-Long will protect people," the fox said.

"Then the kind and smart Miss A-Long will protect them," the great serpent rephrased, changing the word order. "And Hu-Hu too."

She was referring to the fox, but her pronunciation was a bit off.

Hebe blinked, then sat up. "Will Miss A-Long protect me?"

"Because Miss A-Long is bigger than 'Hu-Hu,' and big means strong, and strong people protect the weak," Miss A-Long said earnestly. "Humans must be protected, and 'Hu-Hu' must also be protected."

In reality, Hebe didn't need Miss A-Long's care. She wouldn't be staying in the mountains forever and would eventually have to go into human society.

But this was the first time someone had promised her protection, so she solemnly clasped her front paws together and bowed to the great serpent.

Her fox tail, adorned with faint golden highlights, wrapped around from behind and covered the ground.

"Then, I'll be counting on you, Miss A-Long."

The great serpent widened her amber eyes, her tongue flicking out slightly. She thought, how could there be such a beautiful and intelligent fox in the world?

Miss A-Long also wanted to imitate the fox, but she realized she didn't have hands. So, the happy Miss A-Long became a little unhappy again.

She had never realized before how troublesome it was to not have hands.

And so, Hebe ended up staying in this temple.

Because of Miss A-Long's presence, there weren't many wild beasts on this mountain. However, there were many precious plants that grew in the caves, thriving on the scant sunlight filtering from above.

The mountain villagers harvested these precious plants to exchange for copper coins and food.

During this time, Hebe was forced to constantly move around the mountain. On one hand, it was to control her still-growing power, and on the other, to survey Miss A-Long's "territory."

"He who lives apart from the herd is either a god or a beast."

In Miss A-Long's territory, there wouldn't be another monster of equal standing. But when Hebe crossed a waterfall, she sensed the presence of another monster.

Through this probing, Hebe confirmed that three directions of Miss A-Long's territory were occupied by powerful monsters, conveniently blocking the shortcut to the human city.

"What are you doing?" Miss A-Long tilted her head. "Don't run around. Be careful not to be eaten by those who are neither smart nor kind. Miss A-Long is very worried about you."

"Thank you for your concern, Miss A-Long."

Hebe leaped onto the offering table, found a comfortable spot, and sprawled down, covering her body and limbs with her tail. She looked like a golden, shimmering ball of snow.

The fox poked her head out from her tail and looked at the coiled great serpent on the ground. "Miss A-Long, have you gotten bigger again?"

Not only had she grown larger, but there also seemed to be bulges on the sides of her body.

"Because Miss A-Long is very powerful," the great serpent said matter-of-factly. "Can you come down and sleep?"

Hebe opened her eyes. "Miss A-Long is so big, I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of all of you."

"Just the tip of your tail is fine too." The great serpent stared at Hebe, her tail tip restlessly sweeping the ground.

Hebe sighed and jumped down from the offering table. After so much training, such a simple movement wouldn't cause her power to go out of control, otherwise Miss A-Long's shrine would be in trouble.

She stretched her slender limbs and walked to the great serpent's tail, then crouched down.

Her fluffy, large tail perfectly covered the tip of Miss A-Long's tail, and before long, warmth began to spread.

The fox and the serpent watched the sky outside the shrine. The clouds were as gloomy as lead.

"It's snowing," Miss A-Long said.

Fine snow particles fell from the sky, and soon they turned into large flakes.

Miss A-Long buried her head and fell asleep.

Hebe looked at the twin claws on the great serpent's chest and abdomen that were about to emerge, thinking that after her hibernation, she could kill the monsters blocking her path.