The downpour drenched the once-immaculate sand of gold and overlaid it in the blood and with the tears of the trees whilst the once-flowing dunes pocked with red-brown splotches.

The fine sand was turned into a slippery mess. It hampered the movements of those still fighting.

What added to the hardships was the wind that whipped through to carry the blood and wet sand into the faces and eyes of the combatants.

The bats' fiery tails now sputtered as they came into contact with the water while the succubi found it more challenging to land blows with their gauntlets slick with bloody mud.

So the fight raged on.

Some larger worms lashed out and sent succubi flying off their bats into the swarming mass below. Screams spread yet waned as those unfortunate enough to be thrown into the swarm were quickly overpowered and devoured.

The worms continued to press forward.

Thorny found herself face-to-face with one of the largest worms. She lunged at it in aim for its eyes.

Hel sliced through the advancing worms.

The succubi fell, and yet they kept fighting selflessly, driven by their loyalty to their mother despite the death looming over them.

Thorny felt her strength waning. Suddenly, out of nowhere, one worm from the horde lunged and bit at her arm. Pain shot through her body as the worm's jaws clamped down. She instinctively drove her talons into its brain to kill it instantaneously.

The worm collapsed whilst dragging her down toward the cesspool.

She knew she had only seconds to act before being buried in a churning sea of death below.

Thorny hurriedly sawed through the flesh and bone of her trapped arm with her remaining hand. Blood spurted as the pain she had never known wracked her body.

Her arm came free. She propelled herself upward to gain altitude.

The severed arm and the dead worm fell into the writhing mass below to be swallowed instantly by the voracious horde.

Thorny's vision blurred. She felt the edges of consciousness slipping away. Yet she forced herself to keep flying and away.

Her breath came in force as her remaining hand clutched at the wound in an attempt to stem the flow of blood.

Thorny mounted a stronger bat and took to the air. She directed its flight as they descended. Her gauntleted fist struck whilst the bat’s claws tore into the worms’ flesh.

More succubi were thrown from their bats. Their screams traversed through as they were eaten alive.

The bats attacked the worms with their blazing tails, whipping back and forth. They scorched the layered hides of the worms to leave trails of smoking bodies.

Their front pair of limbs tore into the flesh, ripping and shredding. Their jaws pressed down to tear off chunks of meat and sent buckets of blood to color the desert air.

The larger bat dove straight into the thick of the horde and latched onto a worm's head with its claws digging deep into the creature's eyes and its teeth sinking into the soft tissue of its throat to severe vital arteries.

The relatively smaller bat was surrounded by a swarm of smaller worms. It fought valiantly, yet the sheer number of attackers proved too much. The worms dragged it to the ground. They tore into the bat's flesh and ripped it apart.

Similarly, one other succub found herself isolated from her sisters amidst the chaos. Her bat had been struck down. She fought alone.

She knew why she fought. She knew she would die.

She hoped to live. She despaired.

After all, fear was integral to every living being.

Hope was integral to every living being.

The nameless succub continued to persevere.

Jaws closed around her waist.

Crunch

“ARGHHHHHH!” she screamed. The worm's teeth sank deeper—slowly crushing her bones and tearing through flesh and muscle.

She cried.

She scratched and gouged at the worm's hide.

Yet to no avail.

The worm thrashed. It shook her in its grip.

Her body was jerked back and forth, bones snapped under pressure, and wings were torn from her back, ripped away by the worm's frenzy, screams weakening, and strength fading.

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She landed, broken. The worm slithered over her to pin her further into the mud.

Death?

The succub pondered—

What happens after death?

Tears flowed down into the mud.

The worm's teeth tore into her abdomen to rip her open and devour her piece by piece. Her intestines spilled out.

Others tore chunks of flesh from her arms and legs, swallowing them whole.

Pain. Agony. Anguish.

The succub thought—

Why wouldn’t she die? The appeal of death was suddenly so sweet.

Her mind craved but a single thing—

Death.

She died.

What was left was worm food that would be soon turned into shit.

Val positioned himself closest to Monika—an impregnable barrier against the ceaseless onslaught.

When will this wench finish absorbing the accursed heart?

‘Oi, commoner.’

‘Yes.’

A massive gloth lunges at the girl. I conjure a bloodied sword in my right hand and strike. The blade cleaves through its head in an elegant arc as the lifeless body collapses.

‘You’ve mentioned the girl has a Willpower of SS+, yet I still cannot believe your words.’

‘She’s just pretending.’

Ha! As if!

Such a ridiculous lie. Who does he take me for? The candidates are selected from all across the universe with the minimum Willpower of a B grade in systematic terms.

Only a select few would have an A grade, and very, very few, on an off chance, would have an S.

‘The way I see it, she’s misguided you. She’s used the Talisman of Trickery to make you think she has a Willpower of SS+. She’s only shown the truth to me because she’s now under the effect of my Relic.’

Another gloth tries to flank me. I sense it before I see it. I summon a bloodied spear and hurl it to pin the gloth to the ground. I finish it with a swift slice of my sword, spilling its entrails onto the sand.

‘You’re underestimating her too much—’ The kid whispers inside my head.

‘Shut up!’

The girl has summoned a familiar way above her capabilities. Hence, she lied about her Willpower to confuse him.

‘I understand your feelings. But there are always exceptions. This woman has resisted my Mindstring and even used my skill against me. I’m playing along and chatting with one of her summons inside my mind to keep the archdemon assured and unguarded while secretly communicating with you.’

‘Kid, you don’t understand, do you?’

This fool. ‘It is expected to make mistakes while using a skill for the first time. You lack bare common sense. She was quicker to adapt. Just because you’re incompetent…’

Tsk. What else should have been expected from a commoner? The kid has even betrayed the one who’s granted him a second life.

This whole tirade is unnecessary. I only need to bring her to the administrator’s room and force her into making a contract. Why bother with all this?

I hurl one more spear down into the attacking gloth’s skull. Brains and blood explode outward.

‘Do you have any plan, kid?’

‘Yes. Not far away, in the sector B5, there’s the Dungeon of Sloth. Miasma will cloud her mind, and its druglike effect will let us easily make a contract with her.’

‘Rejected. We’ll proceed as I say.’

‘...’

Does he believe his own words? Even the strongest among rank 2 would barely survive a few seconds under the effect of Miasma. Our archdemon is merely of the first rank.

‘Understood,’ he voices.

It is a surprise in and of itself that a commoner had the guts to come up with such a plan. Praise should be given when it’s due. But that’s as far as the mind of a peasant can get. To think that I’d have to cooperate with the vampire of the lowest and tarnished blood. But all is worth it considering the rewards.

‘Just continue acting and speaking to that succub she so much cherishes. That’s the only thing required of you. Leave the rest to me. Understood?’

‘Yes.’

I will make sure to tame this kid once I’m over with the archdemon. I’ll also make sure to impart some discipline to the girl.

How dare she jump without my permission?

I’m biding my time to immediately pick up the girl and rise into the air once she’s done with her absorption since one shouldn’t be interrupted during the process.

Otherwise, it can result in—

The girl suddenly falls to the ground, unconscious.

The good news is that she’s finished absorbing the heart.

The bad news is that she’s failed at absorbing the heart.

Her skin darkens as blood seeps from her pores, first in tiny droplets and then in a torrent—the ground beneath her pools with blood pouring out of her body faster than it should be possible.

"Monika!" I shout. She remains unresponsive.

Veins bulge against her flesh as though struggling to escape.

Karma absorption is essentially soul absorption. To absorb one’s Karma, one must win in strife for dominance against their prey.

What happens to her is undoubtedly soul degradation.

There are four stages to soul degradation.

First is soul subduction. This occurs when the souls are in dispute, and they struggle to subdue one another.

Then comes the soul contamination. This only happens when the owner’s soul is on the losing side. They start to lose their reason.

If one fails to confront the enemy soul or grasp the situation, the third stage begins—soul corruption. The survival rate from here on out is minimal.

She’s currently experiencing soul corruption.

With no time to waste, I jump forward to grasp her limp form.

I call upon my subordinate bat and fly off the ground.

Hmph. A Willpower of SS+. How foolish of me to even suspect that!

The fight ends here.

The fourth and final stage is when the owner’s soul gets devoured—soul destruction.