Chapter 34

"That guy must live! It would be such a waste for him to be killed by those ignorant fools! I've made up my mind; he can only die by my sword!"

The pale-faced vampire shouted this as he charged towards the succubus protagonist—without a sound, without a trace, without the flow of air or the change of shadows. Although the vampire was running at his top speed, he seemed to blend into the space, invisible unless seen with the naked eye.

Meanwhile, the succubus protagonist's situation did not improve; it only worsened. The chain demons, unaffected by the death of the bone demon, continued to pull her limbs in four directions, as if trying to tear her apart. Her body was stretched out into a perfect "大" shape.

The succubus protagonist felt as if her arms and legs were about to be torn off—then came a "crack," indicating that her left shoulder joint had dislocated. The intense pain almost made her want to scream, but she managed to hold it in.

But even so, it would be over soon. First, the dislocation, then the tearing of her limbs... Although her tail could still move, the range of attack was not enough... The succubus protagonist tried to attack with her tail and tried to turn her head to bite the chains, hoping to unlock the not-so-secure lock. However, both attempts ended in failure.

The range of the tail's attack was insufficient, and the strength of the teeth's tearing was not enough.

"Right, I'll use my teeth to attack—no, I mean, I'll try to use my tail to unlock the chains." The succubus protagonist suddenly realized this, then focused her attention, enduring the pain while using her tail to manipulate the chains, preparing to unlock them.

However, it seemed there was not enough time.

The rogue demon, who had been lurking outside, also approached the succubus protagonist. His eyes flashed with an evil light, slightly surprised and slightly frivolous:

"Silver Executioner? So it's a succubus..."

As he spoke, he raised the dagger in his hand, aimed at the succubus protagonist's throat, and stabbed down—then his movements froze.

A silver blade emerged from his chest, taking his blood, life, and soul.

"You, you...!" The rogue demon's pupils contracted sharply, revealing a grotesque expression. He turned with great difficulty and saw the young vampire with a stern face. The hilt of the long sword was connected to his pale hand. At this moment, the blood and water in his body had been almost completely drained by the sword, making him look like a dehydrated mummy.

The young vampire mercilessly cut off his head. Then, with a flash, the chains binding the succubus protagonist's limbs were severed by his sword. As he sheathed the sword, the four chain demons' throats spurted blood, and they fell to the ground without a sound.

The succubus protagonist was saved. She fell to the ground, her body weak, and once again pushed away the young vampire's outstretched hand, struggling to stand up. At this moment, the one-hour limit had just expired, and the succubus protagonist turned and walked towards the exit.

"Hey, aren't you going to say something to your savior?" The pale-faced vampire shouted at the succubus protagonist's back. Still immersed in anger, the succubus protagonist paused, then turned and shouted at him, "Next time, I'll return the favor!" After saying this, she left without looking back.

The pale-faced vampire shrugged and then focused his attention. He didn't think the succubus protagonist had a chance, and the indiscriminate gladiatorial combat continued. This time, the target of the attack changed from the succubus protagonist to him.

He held out for two hours and forty-seven minutes, nearly twice as long as the succubus protagonist. If the succubus protagonist had won with superior skills and tactics, the pale-faced vampire had won with sheer brute force. And from the way he walked out of the arena, looking as fresh as ever, it seemed he could have held out for another two hours without any problem.

"His strength is unfathomable... Is he showing off, that guy..." Many people couldn't help but think.

In fact, the pale-faced vampire did have that intention. With the vampire sword in hand, he could continuously draw strength from his victims to replenish his own physical energy and heal his wounds. This way, he could fight continuously at his best. In such a state, unless using non-living matter, such as puppet golems, or the undead, or someone strong enough not to be injured by him, it would be impossible to defeat him.

"Damn, this is cheating!"

Still at Delmont's general store, the succubus protagonist looked terrible. After leaving the arena, he watched the pale-faced vampire's battle for a while. He was indeed very strong, extremely strong. To be honest, he was much stronger than the succubus protagonist. But it wasn't impossible to defeat him. However, with that cheating, bug-like sword, it was a different story...

"The guy comes from a family that has been around for hundreds of years, with a couple of sub-artifact level swords as family heirlooms, which they take out to show off when the younger generation debuts. It's inevitable... So I went to notify that Sid? If he uses his influence, he can save your life. Your life is at stake, so make a sacrifice with your dignity."

Next to the succubus protagonist, the jackal-headed Delmont smiled and said this.

"Transformation potion," the succubus protagonist said.

"Huh? Ah?" Delmont didn't react, not understanding what the succubus protagonist meant.

"I mean, use the transformation potion to turn you into my appearance, and then give you to that pervert. That way, there won't be any problem."

"But what benefit would you get from that? The magical mark can't be transferred to me," Delmont said, slightly puzzled.

"The result I'm most interested in isn't being given to a pervert and getting violated. It's the benefit..." The succubus protagonist looked at the Yggros merchant with even more disdain.

"Please don't doubt my professional ethics," Delmont said solemnly. "Compared to the purity of one's dignity, understanding the issue of benefits is more important. As a merchant, one should think this way—everything should be based on benefits!"

"Whatever. If you ask, I can only say that this will make me feel good." The succubus protagonist shrugged. "Revenge on a fool I don't like... No, two fools."

"Yes, so what?" Delmont asked.

"That's all there is to it." The succubus protagonist said, "Revenge—feeling good—end. How simple, can't you understand?"

"I can't understand... Not the process, but your thinking. It's completely meaningless." Delmont shook his head and said.

"Yggros demons, pitiful creatures who only chase after benefits." The succubus protagonist had a philosophical expression and said this.

"I don't want to be told this by someone like you," the Yggros merchant replied.

"You... You seem a lot more arrogant than when we first met. Didn't you say the customer is the demon prince?"

"Only those who spend money are considered customers," the Yggros merchant replied.

"Alright then—" The succubus protagonist stood up from a random chair, ending the pointless conversation. Recently, due to the fear of the dangerous situation that occurred last time, the succubus protagonist had no interest in going to the arena. And just idling in the inn every day wasn't a solution. So, the only place to pass the time was Delmont's.

As the number of visits to the general store increased, Delmont became less polite to the succubus protagonist—especially after discovering that he wasn't there to spend money.

After standing up, the succubus protagonist asked, "You said you can get anything here?"

"No." Delmont surprisingly shook his head. "It's just a marketing tactic. Don't take it seriously. The final interpretation rights belong to the store."

"Why so serious? Even if you trick me, I can't go to the God of Justice to complain."

"Integrity is the most important thing for a merchant. Also, if you trick me, you might cut me. That's not without risk."

"Then, can you defeat that guy?" the succubus protagonist asked. "You should have something to defeat him, right? Equipment, weapons—oh, that thing that can transform into any weapon. Can you sell it to me cheaply?"

"Regarding that weapon, I remember we already made a deal."

"Even a prepayment? Installment payments. If I die, the deal is off, right?"

"But if you fail even with that weapon, wouldn't I lose more?"

"Then, how about something else? Like a divine artifact of the Dawn Lord? Any positive energy artifact? Something that can turn that pale-faced vampire to ashes with just one activation, do you have it?"

"Even if I did, you, a demon, couldn't use it. And positive energy artifacts are extremely lethal to all evil beings. Do you want to die with him?"

"Hey, I was just asking, but from your tone, it sounds like you really have such a positive energy artifact?!" The succubus protagonist was surprised.

"Yes." Delmont said this while pulling out a test tube from his pocket. The succubus protagonist took it, examined it from all angles, and with his not-so-high appraisal skills, concluded that it was a vial of holy water.

"From a certain perspective, it is indeed a positive energy artifact for dealing with the undead." The succubus protagonist nodded, then suddenly threw the test tube to the ground: "Are you f***ing with me?! I never thought you had such a comedic talent, you bastard!"

Before the test tube exploded, Delmont quickly raised a steel plate to avoid the holy water splashing on him: "Are you crazy?! Do you know how dangerous this is?!"

Indeed, for evil beings, "positive energy" holy water is more terrifying than strong acids, strong nitrates, or aqua regia.

"So, I—hey?" The succubus protagonist carefully touched the skin where the holy water had splashed.

"It doesn't seem to have any effect—oh, I remember! I'm chaotic good! So this stuff doesn't affect me! Ahahahaha... I get it—quick, bastard! Sell me all the best, purest holy water in your store! I'm going to teach that pale-faced vampire how to behave!"