The streets of Demon King City were bustling with people.
Amidst the crowd, the former Church Saintess was currently having her neck bitten and sucked by a succubus.
Being bitten and having blood sucked by a succubus was an experience that could only be described as extremely uncomfortable.
Viya was a succubus, not a blood demon.
Blood demons, in order to reduce their prey’s struggling and extract as much blood as possible, often secrete anesthetic compounds with their fangs and saliva during feeding, and the blood clan also uses subtle suggestion spells to ease the victim’s pain.
But succubi did not possess this ability.
The primary source of energy extraction for succubi was not blood, but the absorption of certain special fluids.
Therefore, they fundamentally lacked the painless blood-sucking ability of blood demons.
This made Cecilia’s neck ache painfully; after all, Viya bit down hard.
“Lady Viya, what… are you doing?”
“Need to replenish my energy. Can’t you understand that?”
Viya raised her head, swallowing all the blood.
Almost the moment it entered her body, it transformed into energy she could digest, filling her magical reserves.
Succubi needed to replenish energy, and Viya did not want to become a succubus without boundaries within the demon clan.
So all along, the energy she absorbed came through this very method.
If she had fed in the usual succubus way, she wouldn’t have reached her current level of strength.
“But, here…”
This place was crowded, with countless demons coming and going, and Viya had no intention of sneaking around to feed.
Instead, she openly fed right here, which drew many curious gazes from the demons present.
Facing those looks, Viya responded in the simplest and most direct way—
She lifted her head and emitted a faint aura.
This power caused nearly all the demons present to tremble, immediately unwilling to linger.
“Alright, I’m full.”
When she was nearly done drinking, Via said.
Actually, she was far from full; as a succubus who did not feed conventionally, her demand for sustenance was greater, and she had never really felt satiated.
But she knew she couldn’t be greedy.
The energy contained in Saintess Cecilia’s blood was relatively abundant, and more importantly, she needed to win the other’s favor.
If she accidentally sucked the saintess to death, it would be a serious problem.
“Why replenish your magic here?”
Seeing Viya cast a healing spell on her, the wound from the bite healing quickly, Cecilia still didn’t understand why Via was so eager to feed here.
She had originally thought Viya wouldn’t do such things openly, but now it seemed her judgment was a bit too subjective.
“I haven’t been back to Demon King City for a long time. Though I’m not going to see the Demon King this time, I have to meet the demon lords. Once they heard I had a saintess under my control, of course, they want to make a move on me.”
As an “outsider” to the demon clan, Via naturally faced some ostracism.
Despite her high status next to the Demon King, there were always those who believed that since Demon Lord Via was once a human and a saint—a former enemy of the demons—they shouldn’t let their guard down.
But soon, Via rose to become one of the demon lords through her strength and achievements.
For most, whether outsider or not, a demon lord personally appointed by the Demon King held very high status; no one dared to oppose Via.
But among the other demon lords, things were different.
What Via did in the demon clan was viewed by others as a human trying to break free from the Demon King’s control.
Even as a demon lord, the others were not friendly toward her; many had long prepared to seize any chance to eliminate her once she showed a weakness.
This time, Viya had taken in the saintess, and of course the other demon lords already knew—among the elite troops the Demon King sent to her were many spies planted by those demon lords.
Via was well aware of these spies, but she wasn’t overly concerned about what they might discover.
Taking in the saintess, Via had many ways to explain, and could easily justify her actions.
The only real concern was if any of the demon lords suddenly rose up to overpower her by force.
Part of the reason Via returned to Demon King City this time was because she guessed the news about her harboring the saintess was about to reach others, and it was time to explain the saintess’s presence.
“Someone wants to take you down?”
Cecilia grew nervous.
She understood the trouble her presence caused Via from the start but hadn’t expected things to have escalated this far.
“Rather than taking me down secretly, it’s more like they’re doing it openly,” Via sneered.
“As a demon lord, I’m slowly catching up to them in strength. I also have battle experience against demons. The other demon lords aren’t fools; seeing that I hold a saintess, they’re bound to hesitate.”
As she finished speaking, a presence came from beside them.
“Demon Lord.”
Next to Viya stood a demon in the guise of an elderly butler.
He respectfully looked at her, holding an invitation in his hand, the emblem on it clearly distinguished.
“You are…?”
“I am a servant of Demon Lord Muir, here by her order to invite you to attend a banquet at the demon lord’s residence.”
The demon’s tone was gentle and his movements confident and smooth, giving off a comfortable and reliable impression.
The invitation he held was indeed from Demon Lord Muir.
“May I ask what the renowned Demon Lord Muir wants with me at this hour?”
“The demon lord did not say, but I suspect it concerns the lady at your side.”
The demon said softly.
“…Understood. Please convey to your mistress that I will attend the banquet at the appointed place.”
Via agreed.
She naturally knew the other party might try some tricks at the banquet, but this time, she was far less worried because standing beside her was a saintess.
The saintess’s combat power wasn’t yet enough to handle the higher-ranking demon lords, but at least within the demon clan, she had near-demon lord level strength.
Via simply brought her along, making it easier to handle matters involving her.