I gave a warm smile while staring at the forest before me, the countless demons already swarming around me once more.
“Feel free to open your eyes now, Yue. Lead the party straight to the right no matter what you see. That’s where the real exit is.” Just to get out those words, I had to dig my nails straight into the soft flesh on my shoulder and tear off chunks.
Two seals were protecting the cave: the Seal of Imprisonment and the Seal of Isolation. Although typically used in grueling punishments, here they would prevent anyone from entering or leaving the cave, ensuring my party’s safety.
Seals were complicated—they could be broken by an overwhelming amount of spiritual power, or if they were weak enough, just by repeatedly trying to bypass them. The stronger the user and the more power invested, the more powerful the seal.
It wouldn’t be long before my party broke past the sloppy seals, but the pollen coating the forest would dissipate by then, and I’d hopefully have resolved the rest of the situation.
“Ready, Zhige?” I croaked softly while watching the blade’s bright red eye swiveling in frantic circular motions.
With a deep inhale, my breath steadied for just a moment before I lunged forward, screaming at the figures.
“Doesn’t this one have so much personality?” One succubus teased before he side stepped me and extended his arms. They shot out in twisting roots, dodging and adapting to all my movements.
My sword pierced straight through where its heart would be before twisted the blade in its body and swung it up toward the sky, splitting him in half.
Letting out a brutal shriek, the demonic man seemed to quickly shift forms, taking on the appearance of Yang.
My entire body was trembling with the excitement of finally being able to attack and kill something, but at the sudden morphing in appearance, I froze, my eyes widening.
“I-It hurts,” Yang pleaded, reaching out a trembling and gentle hand. “P-please, it hurts. It hurts.”
His delicate hand reached up, brushing my hair off my forehead and away from my eyes.
I pulled back slightly, my back straightening, and the demon immediately took advantage of my weakness. It let out a shrill cackle, completely exuberated, before roots burst out from the ground and grabbed onto my legs, pulling me down.
“Gah!”
The contact was enough for me to collapse on the ground, wheezing.
“Z-Zhige!” I gasped, and my eyes squeezed shut in the struggle to hold myself back.
Flying from my grasp, Zhige easily cut me out before stabbing through the demon’s head, pinning him against a tree. It tried to retake the form of Yang once more, but Zhige slashed the demon into small pieces before it dissolved into ash.
“So, her taste is the young man from her group, huh?”
“The poor girl has a crush! How cute.”
“Ah, he’s kind of frail, isn’t he?”
“If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.”
“Stop jumping to conclusions, you tramp!”
“Who the fuck are you calling a tramp?!”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Freed from the demon’s roots, I jumped back onto my feet and reached for Zhige, turning back to the dozens of demons in front of me.
I was seething now, my head throbbing and vision turning red. I could feel heat course through my entire body, causing me to tremble with excitement. I lunged forward again, swinging Zhige wildly at anything near me.
The bell flowers fell from the canopy and attempted to bite me, but with a quick swoop, I managed to slice their stems. They fell onto the ground with a loud thud.
They continued to writhe, however, and their small rows of teeth gnashed together while they inched toward me. Their movement resembled an awkward snake’s—they slid and bounced on the ground like water droplets in a hot pan.
Raising my foot in the air, I stomped down repeatedly on the flowers, smearing them into the ground.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
With a delighted giggle, I maniacally squished them under my foot before dragging them across the soil floor, no longer paying any mind to the pollen that still floated all over the forest ground.
My arm was completely gored at this point, and it hung limply at my side. Still, I forced my way forward and continued to attack the demons.
“Please don’t hurt us!” A slithering root wrapped around my ankle.
“Come on, beautiful, why are you being so difficult?” Another gripped onto my wrist.
“We promise that whatever pain you’re feeling right now, we can make all of that stop.”
“Don’t you want to feel good?” One trailed up the small of my back and nuzzled against it.
I grit my teeth, letting out another shout before another fiery wave ripped through me, causing me to collapse on the ground.
“Fuck all of you, god damnit! I’ll tear every single one of you out of the ground, one by one!” By now, I was virtually blind, my vision clouded by a blurry red sheen.
My hand felt the ground in a futile attempt to grab onto Zhige, but the blade had already returned to the fight and continued to slash, gore, and mutilate the demons around me.
I was writhing in pain on the ground, curled up into a ball. I hissed through my teeth, gripping tightly onto my abdomen. This was by far the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life, and I was going to completely break apart soon.
I wouldn’t need to be seduced to be convinced into giving up—the mere thought of any potential relief was enough for me to contemplate the option.
[10,000 stars used.]
[Hell Fire Lighter purchased.]
Since this was a demonic swamp, an ordinary flame wouldn’t be able to wipe out the demons—even if one were to possess a powerful, undying flame, hardly anything would combust in such a marshy, wet landscape.
However, with the abundance of pollen littering the ground and air in a gold sheen, the forest would practically burn down in a beautiful flurry of red flames. That being said, what I had told Yang earlier was true.
The plant’s combustion would release wildly toxic gas into the air, and not even a pigeon’s lung could defend against it. I tucked the lighter beneath my body while I continued to fight against the riveting pain.
“Aww, look how flushed she is!”
“Oh, but can you imagine how the rest of her friends would look?”
“You’re so right! This girl is kind of ugly, but it’s alright.”
“Ha ha ha!”
“Careful, you’re making her even more angry!”
Zhige was wildly fighting against all the demons now, barely in control of its own movements. The pollen clearly affected the demonic weapon’s sensibility, and it was beginning to get bogged down behind a web of thick, ever-growing vines.
One of the female demonic figures slunk over toward me before squatting on the ground before me, pouting. “You’re having a hard day, huh?”
She reached out a blossoming hand and brushed it against my ear, still pouting and cocking her head like a curious puppy.
“Give up yet?”
Turning away from her, I clicked on the edge of the lighter and kept it close to my side, sending a small blue flame bursting up, the edges tinted a soft orange and red.
By now, my entire arm was a dripping mess of tainted, iridescent blood and pulled flesh. The moment I dropped this lighter, it was practically a death sentence for me.
The cave was in the clear, though, and I supposed that’s all that mattered. The pollen hadn’t spread that far, and if they did escape, they could make it out of the forest. I was sure of it.
“Zhige, stop,” I called the blade back, shakily peeking over my shoulder and staring at the creature before me. The demon was now sporting Yang’s appearance, and more red flowers bloomed from his lean and bare chest.
Zhige was coated in the vile remains of demonic spiritual energy, but it still trembled with lust for more. The weapon was truly horrific—no wonder the karmic powers had such a strong initial reaction.
The demon’s eyes widened in shock, halting after raising a pointed arm to attack me. Its figure was still one identical to Yang’s, but my vision was quickly failing, so I couldn’t make out any of its figure other than those orange eyes.
“Is that… hell fire?”
I smirked, sitting up and letting the lighter fall onto the cushioned pollen surrounding me.
“Go fuck yourself.”
At once, a horrific flame burst into life before my eyes, scorching me and the demons as they let out vile, desperate shrieks.