The elite demon’s head tumbled through the air. Its face contorted with defiance. The soldier demons paused as they processed the order. They suddenly surged into action, clutching the disgraced sisters of Mercy surrounding Estra. Their revealing robes were torn from their bodies by grasping hands. Estra successfully broke free with a string of magical attacks reducing the nearest soldier demons into clouds of black mist. She retreated to a safe distance up the stairs.

The soldier demons abandoned her to grasp hold of the hapless girls’ tender flesh, dragging them toward the death gate. They futilely clawed at the stairs, their supple breasts jiggling on full display. Dink fell to his knees watching it all happen, waves of agony washing over him from the consecutive forbidden techniques.

This forbidden technique would obviously cripple me in the Expert realm without the draconic bloodline, unlike the one I use to control my mana. Which forcefully etches pathways of power into my flesh until I no longer need to use it. Well, that would be true if Goblin mana wasn’t so unpredictable, forging new routes each time I stimulate it.

Unfortunately, I never had the chance to refine my Eight Internal Spirit Gates forbidden technique. I can feel the strain of opening my first spirit gate, the Succour gate. Because I developed it while in the Champion realm, my current conditioning isn’t suited to handle this level of intensity.

On the plus side, my former self could only endure opening the second spirit gate, Atonement. But now, with this cursed body, my upper limit is inconceivable. I guess every cloud has its silver lining.

Dink’s silhouette menacingly grinned, visible through the wisps of dispersing flesh and azure light. The Beastfolk woman screamed as she was reluctantly dragged through the death gate. Sister Eos thumped against the back of the demon with her naked figure slung over its shoulder, only moments away from being plunged through the portal.

[Explicit content for Chapter 71.1 Lured Into Temptation found for FREE at Patreon.com/jackofheart]

Annoyance provoked Dink to his feet. He turned his attention toward the wall of soldier demons crowding the inner sanctum. Unlike the expected scene of chaos with demons fighting to claim the essence of the slain elite demon. They instead veered well clear of its corpse, causing Dink to frown in confusion.

“What the fuck are you all avoiding? That’s an all-you-can-eat buffet, right there. If there’s more to it, stop wasting my time and do it already,” Dink muttered to himself. As if in mockery of his words, the enormous corpse began to twitch. The feeling of mana being utilised started going nuts at the nape of Dink’s neck. Dink began to tremble in apprehension, stepping away from the headless corpse climbing to its feet, cold sweat blanketing his back. “I’ve never felt magic like this before. This easily exceeds the Legend realm.”

Get a hold of yourself, you’re the Sword Saint. Remember what you were taught before your first battle. It’s okay to be afraid, but don’t allow yourself to be intimidated. Never hesitate to try to hurt your opponent. Now fight!

Dink narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth, pushing the overwhelming feeling of fear to the back of his mind. The corpse was mutating before his eyes. Countless bone spikes erupted through its tough hide, twisting its already grotesque form into something worse. The undead demon clawed itself forward onto all fours, the bone protrusions continuing to grow. Its shape was obscured from view, forming a strange spiky ball.

“Fuck, this is an advanced corpse explosion. Take cover!” Dink shouted. He shot forward, the world slowing to a halt.

Without hesitation, he aimed his dragon sword at the bone spikes, whistling to resonate with the blade. He unleashed a torrent of sonic pulses at the colossal undead demon, severing countless spikes. A significant number of unfortunate soldier demons were caught under the barrage and reduced to piles of gore.

Initially, when Dink stimulated his mana, the spike growth had slowed with the rest of the surroundings. After each consecutive barb was removed, the pace of the regrowth increased exponentially until he could no longer keep up.

There’s no choice, I need to destroy the anchor. One problem though, it’s about to blow!

Dink gathered his mana into the dragon sword, igniting the draconic runes along its length. Urged his body to its limit, to any onlooker he appeared to teleport across the room to the altar. Wart, the mushroom monster, was quietly waiting atop the altar swinging his tiny legs.

Wart’s appearance had changed after drinking the avatar’s golden blood. The mushroom cap had become an intense magenta colour decorated with oddly heart-shaped white spots. Now, his fungal body resembled a vaguely Humanoid shape with two arms and a pair of legs. Three root tendrils emerged from his arms to act as fingers, while his feet were merely round.

“Mew,” Wart said in greeting, smiling at Dink with his toothless mouth. His tiny face looked up at Dink with large innocent eyes.

“I’m going to need you to move,” Dink said, offering out his hand beside Wart.

The Myconid accepted his offer and leapt into Dink’s open palm. He was still small enough to fit inside Dink’s hand. Dink placed him atop his shoulder, his demeanour instantly changing with the small creature out of harm’s way. Dink raised the dragon sword into the air. Roaring with pain, he gathered a maelstrom of mana to encompass the blade.

Wart instinctively seemed to understand his intentions. His friendly disposition changed to one of determination. Closing his eyes, Wart concentrated to release a pall of spores. The spores twinkled hypnotically with an inner light. They leisurely drifted through the wisps surrounding Dink directly into his nostrils. The effort left Wart looking shrivelled and wilted but the effect was immediate.

Scales formed unseen under the shadows obscuring Dink’s form. His physical strength magnified as he felt Akarad stir slightly inside his consciousness, unable to become fully alert. Dink was also aware of psychic screaming from across the world from the outraged Hags. He ignored all of that, striking down with full force upon the sacred alter. The sound of metal clashing rang out, accompanied by a burst of sparks erupting outward.