Chapter 54

"Thus, you know what to do, right? Mage, bring out all your best stuff, and fight with all your might. If you want to live, do as I say!"

The middle-aged vampire roared, the veins on his hands gripping the sword handle bulging, revealing his current state of mind.

Just a moment ago, under the cover of several reckless winter wolves, a smaller one, about the size of a fox, but equally reckless, suddenly jumped out from under the snow and bit his wrist.

Immediately, the middle-aged vampire threw it to the ground and slashed it with his sword. Although the immediate danger was averted, his left wrist was now useless. The pain from the wound was secondary; the most critical issue was the bleeding and the inability to wield the sword with both hands.

The former would make the already anemic vampire even weaker, while the latter prevented him from using certain techniques. Combined, these issues reduced the middle-aged vampire's combat effectiveness by a significant margin.

"Damn it..." The middle-aged vampire gritted his teeth and cursed.

In contrast, the succubus protagonist was faring much better. The small spheres containing pungent powder effectively made the pack of large dogs retreat.

These were gifts she had received when shopping at Delmont's general store. Initially, she had casually thrown a couple of them, but unexpectedly found them very effective.

It seemed that after the "general attack," although the winter wolves had become braver, the power of magic had not completely stripped them of their reason. Proper treatment still worked well.

"Really convenient."

Seeing his own situation deteriorating while the succubus protagonist still had room to maneuver, the middle-aged vampire couldn't help but sigh. He had to fight for his life, while the succubus just needed to throw some powder. Who could he complain to about this?

Several times, he opened his mouth, wanting to ask the succubus for a few of those spheres. But his pride prevented him from doing so.

He felt that he was still a significant figure. Even in a battle with a Balor demon, the outcome would be a fifty-fifty chance.

To ask for a few non-lethal, crudely made spheres that could be bought in bulk for a few copper coins at a street stall seemed beneath him. The middle-aged vampire felt that if he did this, he would no longer be a vampire.

So, since he couldn't resort to such a low tactic, he had to continue fighting hard. No matter what, he couldn't tarnish the reputation of the vampire race.

Just as the middle-aged vampire was thinking this, he saw the succubus protagonist extend her hand, holding a handful of those powder-filled spheres: "Here, take these."

The middle-aged vampire was deeply moved—this mage, who seemed unreliable, turned out to be quite a decent person.

"Thank you." He took the spheres from the succubus and threw them into the pack of winter wolves. The effect was good, quickly repelling a wave of attacks. Then he heard the succubus say:

"Don't thank me too much. Two hundred gold coins each, pay me when we get back."

"What? Two hundred gold coins each?!"

"You, " the succubus said matter-of-factly, "isn't your life worth that much?"

"How is this related to my life?!"

"It's simple," the succubus explained, "if you keep fighting like this, you'll probably die. To survive, you need my help. I help you with these stimulant powder spheres, and with them, you can deal with the winter wolves and survive. So these spheres are your life, and your life is—"

"Two hundred gold coins, I'll give it! Now shut up!!"

The middle-aged vampire couldn't bring himself to say:

"My life is as cheap as grass and as thin as paper, I'd rather have money than my life." He could only swallow his pride and channel his pain into the strength to fight the winter wolves.

At this moment, he vaguely realized that his greatest enemy was not the pack of winter wolves or the demons lurking in the snow, but the bastard fighting back-to-back with him.

He might die from the succubus's antics before the wolves and demons could kill him.

Meanwhile, seeing that the winter wolves' attacks were not effective, the other demons hiding in the snow grew impatient. One of them tightly choked another, shouting in a rage:

"What's going on?! What's happening?! The thing the master gave you is a divine artifact, a divine artifact! Why is it so useless in your hands?! Why did you summon winter wolves?! If you had summoned two white bears, this would be over now! "

"If it were that easy, I would have summoned two white dragons! The problem is my spellcasting ability is not strong enough! Let go of me!!" The other demon kneed the one choking him in a place that was too painful to describe. The latter "gag" and rolled his eyes, then stopped moving.

Another demon, who looked like a large toad, immediately stood up, raised his large blade, and shouted:

"Attack, attack! All out attack! Whoever cuts off either of those two's heads will succeed. When we return, a quasit will become a babau, a babau will become a bruer, a bruer will become a succubus, and a succubus will become a six-armed snake demon! Everyone will be promoted! Even those who aren't demons, if they want to become demons, can undergo the demonization ritual, and those who don't want to will get five thousand gold coins. I swear by my honor that what I say is true!"

Hearing this, the group of demons around him became excited and charged at the succubus and the middle-aged vampire. The toad-like demon led the charge. But then a small wind blew, and he inexplicably found himself at the back of the group.

"Oh, you foolish demons."

Seeing this, the succubus, facing the charging demons and other evil creatures, calmly shouted: "Stop! You're all being tricked!"

"..."

Her words were righteous and full of integrity, which immediately intimidated the group of ugly demons.

Then, the succubus put on a compassionate look: "The one who spoke is a demon. How can a demon have 'honor'? Think about it, you're all being tricked!"

As the succubus's words landed, the hundred or so enemies charging from all directions stopped, turned their heads, and looked at the toad-like demon, who seemed to be trying to hide. The attack came to an abrupt halt.

"This is too amazing... Mage, you—"

The middle-aged vampire, finding this incredible, turned to look at the succubus. He then discovered that the succubus, who had been standing next to him, had disappeared. When he looked again, he saw the succubus darting away like an arrow, moving with incredible speed, shouting:

"Are you stupid?! Run, run now?!"

The middle-aged vampire was taken aback, and then he noticed that the demons around him were also hesitating. The toad-like demon, who had been embarrassed by the succubus's words, regained his composure: "That was a slip of the tongue, get back to the attack!"

Without waiting for the demon to finish, the middle-aged vampire turned and ran, and the group of demons pursued him from behind...