“What in the world was that?” Ghilanna asked Svinjko.

“I …” he hesitated before answering, “I … maybe we’ve seen divine intervention at work.”

“Divine intervention?”

“The voice did say they were even, so …”

“It said what?” Ghilanna’s brows furrowed in surprise.

“Ah, yes. It was talking in the devilish tongue, so you don’t know.”

“Do we have anything to fear?” Vulin asked.

“That depends on what the devil will do next.”

The devil turned to face the adventurers and yelled, “What are you doing back there? We have work to do! The slime won’t clean itself!”

“Should we go out?” Ghilanna asked.

“Let me check first,” Svinjko said before heading out.

The devil smirked at him as he approached, “What? You guys are acting like you’ve never seen a god before.”

“So … your arrangement is over?” Svinjko asked.

“It was already over. Now it’s just official.”

“And I take it that doesn’t change the terms of our own contract?”

“Of course not!” The devil recoiled as if offended, “Our contract has nothing to do with that jerk!”

Svinjko motioned for the adventurers to come out, and they did. Although they were pretty slow with it.”

“What? Don’t tell me you thought I was about to turn the tables on you?” The devil asked Svinjko with a twisted smile on her face.

“You never know with the devils. It wouldn’t be the first time you did it either.”

“I promised I would help you slay the guardian and won’t harm you. We devils aren’t virtuous, but we do keep our word … most of the time. Now help me get rid of this slime and drain this damn snail.”

“Is it safe? Will the snail move again?” One of the adventurers asked.

“If Dungeon Master could possess its body, it’s surely dead. Now get to work!”

-----

It took a lot of time and effort before the area was cleaned of the slime and the portable cauldron was put under the snail. It was placed under its head, to be more precise, as not only was that the easiest part to lift, but it also had many blood vessels holding the precious blood.

The snail’s skin proved to be quite thick, and a lot of slicing had to be done before the blood started flowing. However, the devil’s mood soured noticeably as soon as the blood started filling the cauldron.

“What are you so mad about?” Svinjko asked her, “Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?”

“This blood …” the devil’s face grew ever angrier with each passing moment, “this blood isn’t blood!”

“What do you mean it’s not blood?”

“It’s… it’s not … I have no power over it.”

“Maybe it’s because the snail had anti-magical properties?” Ghilanna said.

The devil’s eyes grew wider, and her lips opened more and more until her clenched teeth showed completely. Then she let out a roar of rage as she punched the dead snail’s head so hard it fell off the cauldron.

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“That mother fucker!” She cursed in the devilish tongue, “He had to find that one goddamn creature that doesn’t have blood for blood!” She screamed in rage as she kept on kicking the snail’s head over and over again. Its blood squirted everywhere, soaking up both the devil and the floor.

Most of the adventurers scattered out of her way. Even Ghilanna and Rutmuik took a few steps back.

As the devil put her hands on the cauldron, Eric grabbed her shoulder from behind.

“Hey, hey,” he said calmly, “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” The devil yelled at him with bloodshot eyes, “Everything!!! This piece of shit has no blood!”

“Do you need a specific kind of blood? Do you need red or white cells?” He asked in a calm voice.

“I … NEED … BLOOD!!!”

The devil put force into her arms, intending to flip the cauldron over. Luckily, Eric noticed it right away and grabbed her hands.

“No! No! Don’t be rash!”

“I’m not in the mood now, Eric! Move out of the way, or I’ll smash you against the wall!”

“What’s wrong with the blood? What is giving you trouble? Let’s talk about it before you smash the cauldron into pieces. You can always do that later.”

The devil still yelled, but not as loud as before, “I can’t control it! It won’t react with my magic!”

“Have you ever seen something similar?”

“Of course not!”

“What kind of blood can you work with? Can you work with insect blood, for example?”

“Insect blood?” The devil said in a mocking tone, “Are you serious?”

“Insects have blood too. Not much of it, but there is some blood when you squash them. But that’s not the point. What kind of blood can you work with?”

“Well … I thought all kinds of blood! Blood is blood, it should make no difference,” her voice started toning down slowly.

“But that’s where you’re wrong. We and other mammals need blood to transfer the oxygen. Other creatures need it for much more.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I remember reading about it long ago when I was just a little kid. I remember reading an animal encyclopedia saying that snail blood is also used to process waste, not just carry oxygen and energy. I don’t know why that piece of information stuck with me, but it did.”

“So?”

“So, maybe you need a pure kind of blood? Maybe you can’t use this blood because there is also waste in it? If you, let’s say … if you take the cauldron we have back in our camp and take a piss in it, would you still be able to use that blood?”

“I mean …”

The devil paused as she considered Eric’s words for a moment.

“I mean … it would taint it but … wait …”

She thought some more. Eric didn’t dare interrupt her.

“How sure are you about that? About the snail blood?” The devils asked.

“Quite sure.”

“How would you even know that? The very idea of any creature having waste mixed with its blood is outlandish. There is no way any creature could live with such tainted blood.”

“I just … other people have studied snails, and they wrote it down. I’ve learned about it the same way you learn about anything else. I read it in a book.”

“Are you telling me some of your people have studied snails?”

“Yes.”

“Your people … study snails?” There was a mocking edge in the devil’s voice.

“We study all kinds of things. We just … seek knowledge … of any kind. There is nothing wrong with studying animals.”

“Snails …” Her eyebrow rose to accentuate it even further.

“Including snails.”

The devil shook her head in disbelief, “How … why, why the fuck would anyone bother studying snails of all things? And out of all the things you could’ve remembered as a little kid, how did that stick in your mind?”

Eric just shrugged innocently, “Humans work in mysterious ways. Is that not what happens with the demons too?”

“That’s…” the devil stopped mid-sentence, a wide smile forming on her lips, “Oh, I see what you’re doing! That’s actually very clever!”

Seeing her reaction, Eric smiled too, “Thanks. But the important thing is, can you work with such blood? With blood that filters waste too?”

“No, I mean, I can’t work with shit-stained blood. That corrupts it completely. But … hmm …”

The devil looked Eric in the eyes again, and he knew exactly what she was about to ask, “Yes, I am absolutely certain that the snails have their blood filter waste for them. They don’t have guts, do they?”

“Hmm … I guess they don’t. You might be onto something here.”

The devil moved her hands away from the cauldron.

“But I can’t know if you are right about it yet,” she said, “I will need the … wait a moment.”

She took one of the vials that were strapped to her body and emptied its blood into the portable cauldron that had collected some of the snail’s blood. Her hand moved to dip the now empty vial in the cauldron but stopped mid-way.

“I’m not going to put my hand in snail shit. You do it!” She said as she handed the vial to Eric.

He rolled his eyes, “It’s not … I don’t want to argue.”

He took the vial and dipped it into the cauldron, filling it with snail blood.

“Hold it like that. I’ll check it quickly.”

She took another vial and emptied its bloody contents in her mouth. It was obvious she didn’t swallow it though, as her cheeks bulged out.

She put her finger on the tip of the vial that Eric held in his hand, but just on the edge of it, leaving plenty of room on the entrance. She closed her eyes and focused. After a few moments, the blood inside the vial started moving upwards. It wasn’t long before some of it went all the way towards the entrance and started spilling out of it.

The devil opened her eyes, grinning triumphantly upon seeing the sight, so much so that the blood in her mouth started spilling out.