16.4

Angeline was quiet.

She had been in John’s embrace for a good while now, taking comfort in the gentle strokes John gave along her head and back.

It was moments ago that a river of tears flowed from her, and now her puffed eyes were as dry as sand. At this moment, she fully aware of John’s gentle yet forlorn embrace.

Unsure whether it was because John had his arms wrapped gently around her, whether it was because of how lovingly he stroked her head, or because how vulnerable he was being with her.

Angeline’s heart flustered like a wild bird caught in a cage, like the bird that wanted escape, Agneline’s heart too could never get what it desired.

Perhaps it was her womanly intuition. Perhaps because John cared too much for her to want her selfishly. Perhaps it was because he was the first and only man to have caught her heart. Perhaps because she could not do a thing to ease his suffering.

Whatever the case was, Angeline knew holding onto him this moment was all she could do. For this might be the last time she would see John, her first love.

From the moment she met him, Angeline knew that John was a man of intrigue. Her artifact glass may have hinted something about John to her, but she found that behind his goofy and albeit whimsical personality, he was a perceptive man, a selfless warrior, and a humble genius.

He was fairly young, yet yielded a level of maturity beyond a man like him that left Angeline yearning for more.

Even when he lost everyone he loved, his heart still beats for others. He still so stubbornly chose to prioritize Angeline before his own well-being. He was willing to walk the path of despair alone, than to fathom burdening her to ease his agony.

John’s eccentric yet noble self, puzzled her with no end in sight. He was quick witted but he could not see past his faults, he was protective of her but he could care less for his own well-being, he claims to be a demon but he never once sinned.

If Angeline was anything proficient in mind magic, she would no doubt have already used it to uncover what went on in John’s mind like the curiosity driven researcher she was.

If only, if only…

Yet here John was, explaining himself to her, laying down his faults, his reasons, the weights that he bore, to Angeline without ever so flinching.

But she still wanted to prove to him that she could, that she will make sense of his accursed fate, to do anything, to tell him anything to soothe his self-imposed heartache.

Alas, it was impossible.

John was not a man easily swayed, by words or by action.

It wrangles Angeline’s heart knowing that she could do nothing more for him but to help him flee the Empire.

When she screamed and yelled at John earlier, she wanted more than anything for him to request her for something blasphemous, for something so ridiculous that it was something beyond stupid that John would say to him.

She wanted him to ask her to leave everything behind, leave the empire, abandon her family, her nobility, the hero’s party, and run away with him,

And Angeline would have dropped everything had John so selfishly asked.

But John already knew that.

Instead of making her leave to the empire like the rascal she wished him to be, John did none of that.

He wanted to keep her safe from harm.

And he, thought of himself to be the embodiment of harm.

It was the repeat of Kershent Village where he placed himself between her and the shapeshifter’s blades.

For Angeline, John was willing to sacrifice his desires, his joy, his life even, to keep her safe.

Maybe this is why I love…him. Even in his worst, he still stays true to himself. Demon or no demon, if it’s John, I know he’ll never stray from his path. If only he cared more about himself.

Resolving her feelings for him, she let go of his waist.

Angeline pulled her head out from John’s chest.

“I am fine now…” she shifted her eyes to the ground and announced, “T-thank you. For telling me and...calming me down.”

John’s arms gently parted away from her, forcing a smile akin to a bright ray on a cloudy day.

“Right. What’s next?”

John spoke as he moved away from her and focused his eyes on his sword that Angeline brought for him.

“Helen, Gobbert and Randolph weren’t there to just escort me, weren’t they? That’s an awful lot of work for them to just create a small moment for the two of us.”

Unable to resist John’s intense gaze, Angeline handed him the arming sword, “They were there to make sure your tracks are covered. You are aware who Fester Aquilla is don’t you? The so called ‘hero’ that saved you in the vampire hideout.”

“He’s also the guy who arranged the Harvest’s burial. Not someone who he claims himself to be.”

“Long story short, prior to him jumping in and saving you, Fester and all of us were by the roof observing you with magic. We thought he was trying to show us what the vampires were trying to do to figure out the Sovereign was planning. But instead he showed us...the dark magic you used.”

“Mhmm...”

“Initially, it was Fester wanted to bring you to the Immortal Emperor and Immortal Empress to be judged by them. Scywell interjected and challenged Fester’s claim, that’s why you were brought before the council.

With Fester having gained an interest in you Scywell asked all of us to aid your escape.”

“Scywell…” John mutter the hero’s name. The hero who was partially responsible for the Harvests' deaths, his family’s deaths.

The hero was doing everything for him out of guilt and perhaps paying homage to the friendship they used to share, but no matter what the Scywell had done for him, the bitter taste of losing the Harvests in his heart remained.

Angeline continued, “Knowing you, the decision of the council confining you to the academy would provoke you. That was what gave us the opportunity to intercept the imperial soldiers. I bet your retaliation against the imperial soldiers based on the vampires that failed to bend you to their will.”

Angeline perked her chest, proud at her accurate assessment that brought John here.

“How can any of think of helping me, knowing I am...a demon?”

“I am unsure what to make of the dark magic you use, but Scywell himself had gone head to toe with demons. He assured us you are far from one. Plus, I am certain no demon would fight for their friends when offered more power.”

“I should have never brought Aurelius there to begin with...he was there because of me…”

“My plan for you to escape, involves Helen and Gobbert arriving where you were, claim that they tried to subdue you. But you ended up using the teleporter before they could capture you.

“But that would be a far too simple plan. The empire officials would catch on to that if they traced to where you’ve teleported to. So, to lose their trail, I had Randolph waiting for you by a waste disposal tunnel. Using a teleportation scroll from my end, your trail would definitely not be detected by the imperial soldiers, only tier 6 magic users could fathom of tracking you down with all the rerouting I have done.”

Certainly, teleportation scrolls were one time use items, making it impossible for most magicians to trace what sort of spell was used. No doubt, this was the best plan Angeline could have come up with in such a short time.

She is really something else, isn’t she?

“After this, I will send you off with yet another teleportation scroll. You should arrive at one of the empire’s old teleportation network that should bring you to one of the adventurer’s guilds. This would, and should, cover all your tracks from the empire’s forces, unless someone...no, that wouldn’t happen.”

“Adventurer’s guild?”

“By registering yourself as an adventurer, neither the Empire nor Moxnet Academy can exert their rules and regulations over you, you would be free from them. The downside is, you’ll never be able to enter the premises of Dezarith Empire unless it is mission related…”

“That means I won’t see you anymore after this. You must have known that when you decided to help me…”

Angeline’s face drooped as she searched through her bag for a bundled parchment, unrolling the piece of teleportation parchment as she let a small unhappy smile sprawl on her face.

“Have you given your sword a name?” Angeline said, trying to make conversation with John one last time. “They say a man’s sword is the manifestation of his willpower, that if you named it, it would give you strength.”

“No, I’ve never named my weapons.”

To begin with, John was never one that pertained to meaningless gestures such as giving names to inanimate objects.

Sure, he would get possessive about his belongings, but naming them was far too odd for him, he already had a hard time remembering people’s names, he needed not yet another way to jumble his already cluttered mind.

“You ought to.” Angeline tucked a hair behind her ear, “Think of it as a memento that you made this girl cry...”

“That’s quite the segue into telling me what you really want.”

“I did help you pick this sword,” she insisted, being as stubborn as he was. “You’re lucky I don’t ask for you anything more…”

John scratched his head.

Angeline’s reasoning was silly, he knew she wanted him to remember her when he left the Empire for good. That in a way, this sword of his would remind him that she was always by her side.

“I can’t come up with a name on the spot—”

“Convictus.”

“That’s…”

“A fitting name for the sword of a man bound to his beliefs, a man so stubborn in his ways that it baffles me to no end, that it was almost as if he was the convicted to his own suffering.”

Angeline moved her hands to adjust John’s collar, dusting his shoulders and made sure his clothes were properly fitted on him as she continued.

“More than anything, this name is given to his sword so that no matter what he does, he would follow his true self and what he deems to be right, in honor to his unwavering flaw, his very core self, his conviction.”

In a poetic manner, Angeline explained herself to John.

Raising the teleportation scroll, tears welled in her eyes as she surged her mana into the teleportation scroll, causing the parchment to glow bright orange.

“May we meet each other again.”

John became enveloped with a bright light.

Angeline disappeared before his eyes and so did the warehouse.

Thud.

His shoes made a soft noise as John arrived in his new location, into a room that was constructed mostly out of marble, a place though void of dust and soot but was as lonely as an abandoned hut in the woods.

It was one of the empire’s old teleportation grounds.

And right before John, a green portal was a lit in between a golden ring.

“This should be it, right?” John spoke as he attached the sheath of his mythril sword, Convictus, to his right hip.

A sad smile came to John’s face as he entered the green portal making on last teleportation jump before he truly leaves the empire for good, he did not know which of the Adventurer’s Guilds it would lead him to, but he was certain, anywhere was better than Dezarith Empire

“She’s done so much for me. If it were any other circumstances, I won’t mind—”

Eeeeeaaak... Ack!

No sooner while John exited the teleportation portal, his throat made a screeching sound as he felt the air in his lungs whisked away from him.

What is going on? Adventurer’s guild’s poison?

As if the gravity increased a tenfold on his legs, his eyes watered, his knees fell to the ground as John wheezed for precious air.

The p-portal I need to get back!

Using what strength he had, he dug his fingers to the ground as he crawled to the waning green portal.

[Heal].

The dark aura appeared as soon as he used his magic spell, enveloping him with the familiar recovery magic that he was accustomed to. Yet, air had yet to return to his lungs, John’s face grew blue as he sprawled weakly with his inflated chest that drew no air as the green portal abated from his vision.

No…

John’s vision dimmed, the constant application of [Heal] kept his conscious but he could not do a thing.

[Heal] could regenerate his cells as quickly as they died, but without the intake of oxygen to his bloodstream, John would soon run out of energy and eventually succumb to his death.

Clack!

Brash snapping of metal cuffs bit into his wrist as he felt his hands bent towards his back.

“The insolent boy is subdued…”

“...dispelling supression magic.”

Two voices spoke in tandem behind John. Not a moment sooner air returned to John’s lungs, giving him a much needed breath of fresh air as he coughed violently with his hands behind his back.

That speech pattern, I recognize them…that’s Prishine’s—

John’s eyes grew wide.

“[Heal]!!!”

Immediately, his magic regained whatever lost strength he had, and with the black aura that was now a part of [Heal], the very pitch black aura gathered to his lower body in response to his sudden panic, enhancing his legs as John bolted.

He did not care to remove the cuffs on him, all he knew was to run away as far as could. Far away from the clutches of the succubus.

Where’s the adventurer’s guild!? Angeline made sure of my escape route!!!

John yelled in his mind as the musky air flowed to his nostrils, he had full confidence in Angeline’s plans and abilities.

Yet…

Pang!

The hilt of a sword struck John’s forehead, causing him to fall to his back.

A short-haired female stood before him, dressed in full plated metal armor as she looked down at John with a spiteful scorn.

“Welcome back to Meastes, Sarvod.”

It was Erin, the girl who clashed with John back before he received the mission sphere from Prishine. The one that accused him of forcing himself on her, the one that had mental issues and a deep grudge against him.

Silently casting [Heal] on himself once more, John attempted to make another run for it, but the tip of a thin spike appeared before his neck before he make a noise.

“We wouldn’t do…

“...anything if we were you, John Sarvod. Even if you ran, our magic will reach you before the blink of an eye.”

Wham!

A kick from Erin landed at John’s face sending his head to the rocky ground.

Pleh!!!

Saliva from Erin splattered on John’s cheeks before as he tried to get up, but with his hands tied to his back, and bruised, there was nothing he could do.

“Just because your little girlfriend helped you against Fester Aquilla, doesn’t mean we’ll forget what you did to Lady Prishine!” Erin declared. “Fester knew what that naïve hero and his party were up to!”

Fester? They know Fester!?

“Hijacking Angeline Grisst’s grand plan was as easy as snapping our fingers…

“…when it comes to Lady Prishine. All she had to do was to charm those who provided Angeline Grisst her tools, rewire the teleporter and here you come.”

They are here to bring me back to the Empire!!!

“My, finally afraid now, aren’t you?” Erin squat before John and looked him in the eye. “Where is that cockiness you had? Did the vampires suck them out of you too, like they did your friends?”

“!!!”

“Ahahahahaha!!! That’s a great expression, you scum!!! That’s right, you heard me correctly, vam-pi-re-s. That was a little gift from Lady Prishine to your merry band of friends. What a fool you are, receiving a mission sphere, thinking you would owe Lady Prishine nothing. If only you offered your obedience to her earlier...”

John scampered backwards.

His limbs shook as he watched Erin’s sadistic smile before him.

“V-vampires…? T-team Rectiser? When—”

Then it hit him.

The very reason Prishine was so willing to give John Team Rectiser’s mission sphere despite John’s constant rejection at the accursed succubus’ seduction.

It was all so that she could have John dancing at the center of her palm.

“Ahahaaaaaaahaaaaahaaaaa!!!!” Erin laughed, her voice reverberated throughout what seemed to be the ruins that John had teleported himself into. “Of course, we had to enlist a special individual that went by the name, Kirksten. Without him reporting in on your actions and his tempering with the mission sphere, how would all of this had happened?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck...

John knew Kirk behaved weirdly around him ever since the commencement of the aptitude test in Meastes, since John had gotten used to people throwing baseless accusations at him, he had thought that Kirsten was just being overprotective towards Matilda and Cacti.

Team Rectiser’s imprisonment by Captain Rabugra, Fester’s desire to acquit John’s identity as a demon, the failed teleportation to the adventurer’s guild…

“It did not have to come down to this, had you not ran away from me back then.”

From beyond the broken pillars behind Erin, Prishine, in her wine red hair showed herself as she moved towards where Erin had been.

“All I wanted was to share my body with yours~ To take in your essence, as a strong healthy male, I wished only to have your seed~”

John’s heart rolled in his chest.

The more she spoke, the more disgusted he became.

“I even asked Fester about the vampire attack on your family, something I’ve never done for any of my boy toys. I treated you kindly and gave you your team’s mission sphere without asking much in return. I allowed you to rest under my protection and provided you with food. Yet...yet…you can’t do something as simple as taking me like the woman I am.”

Shaking his head, John’s pupils shrunk.

These were the words of a deranged woman.

“From the very first day we met in Moxnet, I knew you weren’t like the other guys I’ve met. I knew, like me, you were a creature of chaos, someone who inspires pain in others. We both are one and the same, we are demonic beings that sought to sow destruction.”

This was the woman who had put him through hell, she was the one responsible for Aurelius’ injuries in the vampire’s den, she was the monster that drugged and kidnapped him.

She was working for the empire. She was acquainted with Fester Aquilla. She was manipulating Kirksten behind the scenes to get him to lay with her.

This was a horrible woman who would stop at nothing to satisfy her sick desires.

“Why, John, why can’t you accept me!!!??? Is it because I lack beauty? Is it because I lack intelligence? Is it because I lack appeal? Is it because I lack power? We are so alike, but all you do…is reject, this poor, poor, poor succubus’ love.”

Because she made him sick.

It was as simple as that.

Prishine was a sultry woman. Though a resourceful one, she had neither understanding of attraction that went past her physical beauty. For all of her life, her own worth was dependent on how physically attractive towards the opposite gender.

She was a succubus who knew not of the life outside of her superficial beauty.

Tales spanning from ancient times spoke of powerful men that were far noble than anyone else, of men that were invincible, of men that were of the highest intelligence. But like each of these tales, their downfall came from of their weakness for beautiful women, of woman whose beauty were so entrancing that it overridden the minds of such great men.

To regard feminine beauty as evil would be akin to blaming gravity for making things fall from the sky. In truth, it only behaves as a catalyst for people, to propel them into giving into their biological instincts.

Civilizations were built, societies prospered, knowledge expanded

Solely because men were intrinsically bound to be charmed by a woman’s beauty.

But just as it could inspire men to great things, it could just as easily undo everything.

Needless wars were waged, morals corrupted, families broken.

To dictate what the outcome of said power, all depended on the type of woman behind the veil of beauty.

And Prishine chose to use her beauty to satisfy her lust.

She controlled both men and women with her looks and her succubus prowess, twisting their minds and molded them to fit her sickening goal of obtaining the unattainable.

Of obtaining John who wanted nothing to do with a harlot like her.

After all, what is most unattainable is the most desired.

Unlike most of the people that this deranged succubus was able seduce, John himself, had standards. To him, Prishine the succubus, was just a glorified whore who John wanted nothing to do with. The last thing he would do is subjecting himself the fate for being a sexual tool for the succubus.

“Kindness? Bull-fucking-shit!!! You drugged me and kidnapped me made me blind if not for my magic! You have no personality, you don’t know who I am except for my name!!!” his voice roaring even when shackled. “Tell me one thing that brings me joy in my life, tell me one goddamn fucking thing I care about you stupid whore! You can’t, can’t you!? The more you use your pathetic, cheap tricks at seducing me, the more I feel like vomiting! I’ve never liked you!!!

“All you know is lust, all your care about is sex, the fuck is wrong with you wanting to have intercourse with me!!! ‘Take me like a woman’ this, ‘Take me like a woman that’, how about you develop your own fucking personality and take yourself out of my stupid life, you vapid pleasure hole!!! Fuck all the way out of my life, you dumb slut!!!”

Unsure whether it was because he was afraid or angry at the succubus, John spat his unfiltered thoughts at Prishine.

Love?

The succubus knew nothing of love. All she did was to parrot the word at John hoping he would somehow become magically attracted to her.

Presumptuous, selfish, and cruel.

There was nothing in Prishine’s eyes except for herself. All that she did to John was to fulfill her sick sense of self worth, which stemmed from how the world perceived her.

She was like them. Like his biological parents, his father and mother who cared not for him but what he could do for them.

People who actively did horrible things just because they wanted to exert a maniacal desire to control others.

He hated people like her.

In some ways, he too...felt he was just as horrible as his biological parents.

That the reason for his hatred for the succubus, was merely a reflection of himself.

“Ahhhhhhh~ Your emotions towards me, remarkable~” the succubus moaned in pleasure as she reveled in the ‘vitality’ that John was exuding. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to feast on your intense emotions?”

Whatever he said about her did not reach her ears. All the succubus cared for was his vitality.

“It is as you say, Lady Prishine…

“...he is no doubt a demon. A newly turned one, at that.”

Erin shrugged her shoulders at Saeza and Theza’s words, “I don’t care when or how he becomes one, our duty is clear, we are to bring his body to Loirmeil. Lady Prishine, give me the orders to butcher him.” She already placed her hands at the hilt of her weapon, ready to cut John down at a moment’s notice.

“…”

“Lady Prishine, your orders, I beg you.”

Prishine placed her on Erin, eyes focused on John.

“Erin, step aside. Lady Prishines…”

“...wishes to deal with John Sarvod herself.”

Erin moved to where the Saeza and Theza stood without another word.

“The fuck are you trying to do again?” John spat as the succubus stood before him.

Twish, twish, twish…

Prishine’s shoulders moved erratically, growing in size as her flesh expanded into a grotesque lump, reaching a maximum size and…

Pop.

The lumps exploded as though a needle went through an inflated balloon, and the result of that…

Were a pair of black wings.

Wings that bore no resemblance to any living thing, wings that had no flesh, no feathers, no skin to them.

All that was, were a pair of skeletal wings drenched in a sticky dark aura that constantly dripped from Prishine’s newly spouted wings.

What had once been Prishine’s thin tail was now transformed into one that was constructed of horrid black aura that was akin to John’s.

She’s a demon.

Prishine’s perfect skin had become replaced by a red saturation that resembled the atmosphere of the underworld native to her species. What had been the little fabrics that covered her body had transformed into links of floating chains that protruded from her body.

Erin, Saeza, and Theza fell to their knees upon witnessing Prishine’s sudden transformation.

As for John? The succubus’ transformation had dawned an oppressive force around his body that he became frozen in where he stood.

A succubus demon from hell.

That was the only thought that John had in his mind.

He could not move. He could not breath. He could not think.

John was utterly paralyzed from her transformation.

“It appears only my true form has utterly stunned you, John. Ahhhh~ Not even you with your indomitable will can resist my overwhelming presence. Feast your eyes on me, the descendant of lust of heeds you so!!! [Soulbind of The Condemned]!!!”

John’s eyelids widened themselves and fixed themselves on Prishine’s wine red eyes, eyes so deep that he was certain an infinite void laid beyond it.

A compelling force overtook him, his body no longer responded to his mind as he was forced to look at a horrible monster like….her...

Licking her lips, Prishine swayed her hips and approached John, making sure to flaunt her exposed body to him.

Get away from me!!! No…

The more she moved her body before his very eyes, the more his conscious waned, his heart rate grew.

Her magic was simply far too strong for John to react as he usually would, clouding his judgement as he became overwhelmed by the aura that she was exuding.

Unnatural thoughts that he never held for Prishine took root in his heart.

Bit by bit, he could feel heat growing in his crotch, his chest, his arms. The closer the succubus moved towards him, the more his body shuddered.

[Hea—]… Why would I do that? I must...

Then, the succubus that he harbored such strong spite for disappeared in his vision of view, along with her three attendants, Erin, Seaza and Theza.

There before John, now stood a familiar presence.

“Raina…” Consumed by the horrible magic that plagued his being, John muttered the name of the female whose image had been projected before him. “I-I…please...don’t l-leave...”

“A woman’s charm is all that it takes for you to crumble. Such a pity. I thought you’d put up more resistance like my previous attempts.”

Prishine had started to feast on his vitality as John’s eyes rolled into their whites while his body became drenched with cold sweat.

The bitterness, the guilt, the embarrassment, the hatred that spewed from John as he haplessly succumbed to her magic was akin to the finest of nectar, filling Prishine up with pleasure that she had never felt before.

John Sarvod was a man who kept many things to his heart.

But her succubus transformation was all that is needed to break the dam that was in John Sarvod’s heart. All at once, the suppressed emotions of John Sarvod burst forth crashed into Prishine.

To a succubus like her, it was ecstasy in the most concentrated form.

Who knew, the man who resisted her charms had so much welled up deep inside of him was that easily broken.

Prishine should have done this from the beginning.

“Ahhhh~ More, more, give me more!!!!!!” Prishine moaned as her knees shivered from the surge of vitality that John gave off.

His fears taste like honey, his anger was akin to the finest wine, his sorrows were the juiciest of meat. The more she feasted on his vitality, the greater her hunger grew—

“Mera… Meli…” tears swelled at John’s eyes despite having completely under Prishine’s spell. “I-it’s m-my fault…”

“Two more women?” the succubus raised a brow when she noticed the sudden change in John’s emotions. “How do you see me as three separate females? I am the embodiment of every man’s weakness!!!”

[Soulbind of The Condemned], it was a magic passed on from generations of generations of succubus to the next

Where the magic was used on suspecting men and bind them to their deepest desires for the woman who bore great significance in their lives.

The man would see spouses or lost lovers as they would be devoured by desires, his lust would build up to the point where the succubus themselves needed not to do anything before said man would release their pent up lust on the succubus.

Ensuring a lavish meal for the succubus before draining the man fully of their vitality, mind, heart and eventually soul.

“A-angeline…” John’s body fell to the ground, still twitching as though he had caught a stroke. “Kahnira… I m-missed...you—”

“How are you able to see multiple women in your life at once!?”

Prishine screamed, frustrated that John had collapsed instead of jumping at her to ravage her body as she expected. Instead what she got was a man wailing over multiple women that should have never appeared to him.

[Soulbind of The Condemned] worked precisely because the succubus race understood the manipulations needed to bring a man down to his knees. They did so by manifesting the man’s most cherished person.

But in John’s case, Prishine’s magic had gone awry.

“I-I…even had the Demon Lord of Ruin’s power to enhance my being!!! [Maximum Amplification: Soulbind of The Condemned]!!!”

Concentrated black blots of magic flew from her palm and hit John, contrary to shaking John out of his daze and began indulging into his sexual desires.

White foam erupted from his mouth.

“E-phie-lyth...grrrk…”

John choked as his body trashed on the ground.

With the increased surge of Prishine’s magic into his fragile body, blood seeped from his mouth, turning the white foam pink.

“He’s not… he is not...reacting,” Prishine had her hands on her head, unable understand, her face writhed in agony for having failed as a succubus. “I…”

“Lady Prishine!” Erin, who had been staying silent, called out to the succubus.

Much to her avail, Prishine was too engrossed with John that she paid no attention to Erin at the slightest.

Twinkle.

A bright glitter from John’s body caught Prishine’s eye, causing the succubus to halt in her actions.

“I see, I see~ It wasn’t me...you’ve had something to protect you, right John?”

By John’s neck, a faint outline of a necklace made from silver adamantite showed itself. Prishine had an unsteady smile as she moved herself closer to John’s trembling body as to observe the trinket of interest.

As soon as she got a closer look at the necklace, her smile vanished.

Aside from the elegant Elven engravings that were etched on the piece of adamantite, Prishine could not detect a single protective charm enchanted to it.

“It’s just a useless item!” she screamed. “[Presence Concealment]!? Who in their right mind would own such a useless thing!? This thing hides itself from everyone, including its users!!!”

“Lady Prishine, that necklace might not have protection magic…”

“...but the possibilities of it enhanced with trackers are not out of the question.”

Saeza and Theza quickly offered, warning Prishine of such a scenario.

“Sarvod?! Ha, he has no allies. Who would he contact for help?” Erin mocked. “If you ask me, this is a stupid toy one of his girlfriends gave him.”

“Doesn’t matter…” Prishine dismissed her companions’ comments. “If they wish to come for him, so be it.”

With one arm, the succubus lifted John.

Her her red skin cracked as dozens of swiveling tentacles appeared in place. Her body doubled in size, no sooner she was at least twice John’s height, her arms elongated, her face stretched and warped as all human looking features on her became nothing but a blur.

No longer Prishine bore a humanoid body, she had complexly transmogrified herself into the nightmares that not even the most horrible supernatural could rival.

“I am blessed by the Demon Lord of Ruin herself!!! There is no known living being can surpass this demon succubus! Man, woman, all shall fall to their knees before me!!!”

For this was her true demonic form.

The true form as a succubus, who had been touched by the powers granted to her by the Demon Lord of Ruin

A succubus was an underworld creature that only sought to drain the very essence of beings, draining them not only of their lives, but their very existence themselves.

With none of her succubus seduction methods work on John, Prishine in her humiliation had decided to eradicate of this lowly demon’s existence for not only denying her advances but made a fool of her.

It was time, she brought John to ruin.

“Yes, Lady Prishine.”

“It is as…”

“...you speak.”

The three female companions got to one knee in response to Prishine’s proclamation in her now horrible voice.

For they know, even if the hero known as Scywell Shatterstep and his merry party showed up at this moment, it would mean for their inevitable ruin.

This was a power that not even the Immortal Emperor was immune from.

A power that originated from the Demon Lord of Ruin herself, Loirmeil Dezarith, the Immortal Empress of the Dezarith Empire.

A power that brought about ruin to everything it infects, to corrupt and bring decay to all that is.

“As for you, John Sarvod, you shall fill my insatiable hunger with your very damned soul~ You will then never, ever reject me~”

The succubus was just one of the many vessels of chaos for the Demon Lord of Ruin.