The blood-red mist thickened throughout the hollow, suffocating with its oppressive magic. In its midst, Dorothy glared at Rita and Cecilia with eyes full of hatred, linking her own magic with the barely surviving magic circle.
Kill you both, then find another place to finish my unfinished research!
I’ll use this succubus’s corpse as an excuse for all I’ve done. After all, it’s just an unloved princess and a demon despised by humans—dead with no one to testify. Those fools will surely believe my side of the story.
With this blow! I’ll use everything I have left to bring this to an end!
The magic, reaching its peak, gathered in Dorothy’s hands. She had already offered the sacrifice—now, she only waited to reap the fruit of victory.
Sizzle—
The magic circle let out a sound like water doused on flames. All the light dimmed at once.
What’s happening? Why is this happening?!
It can’t be my fault! I’ve already fixed the flaws in the spell! I’ve filled up the missing magic power myself! Even if I can’t reconnect to the great magic array on the surface, I guarantee this thing should work!
Impossible! Completely impossible!
“You… what did you do?!”
Dorothy’s eyes were bloodshot, her fingers trembling in fury.
“Ah… um, well…” Rita averted her eyes awkwardly.
Trying to use a car motor on a Remote Control Car—if it doesn’t burn out, it’d be a miracle!
No, it’s not even a Remote Control Car. This is more like plugging a potato chunk into a Server.
Rita had no idea what that Fake Tail really was. It definitely wasn’t from a succubus, and it certainly wasn’t a real tail.
“Knew it!”
Rita’s unnatural expression had already told Dorothy that this final failure was linked to her!
Her again! Every time, it’s her, smashing every gear I carefully set up with some cheap trick, forcing my plans into these small but disgusting obstacles.
Though Dorothy’s reason told her to take this chance to escape, the fury in her mind—bigger than she’d ever felt—urged her instead to wipe out Rita, once and for all, to vent her anger!
As Rita spaced out for a split second, Dorothy shot toward her like a shadow. Several red light orbs hovered at her side, casting an eerie glow as Dorothy closed in.
Rita hurriedly drew her sword to defend, but Dorothy didn’t dodge or flinch—she let Rita’s blade pierce straight through her body.
Is this woman insane?
As Rita wondered, the floating light orbs beside her exploded. Not even the double defenses of Pink Mist and the Gold Halo bestowed by her emblem could fully absorb Dorothy’s attack.
“Gah!” Rita coughed violently, her insides roiling from the blast.
Meanwhile, the wound Rita made through Dorothy’s body was healing rapidly, and new orbs of light formed in Dorothy’s hand.
She’s using the blood demon’s hyper-fast Regeneration and fighting by trading injuries!
Is this woman mad? All I did was swap out a tail—does she hate me that much?
But now that things had come to this, they’d entered her favorite part: close combat. Could she really be afraid now?!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Scarlet, gold, and pale pink auras intertwined, shattering what remained of the faded magic circle beneath their feet. Dust billowed where they fought.
Just from the violent wind, Cecilia knew she absolutely couldn’t step into this battlefield.
Cecilia didn’t even dare to breathe, terrified that even a single shout would distract Rita and cost her the match.
She had a feeling—this was the final clash.
And soon, it would be decided.
It’s decided!
Dorothy drove her chest right into Rita’s sword. The blade pierced her heart, burning her body now tainted by blood demon blood, making Dorothy grit her teeth against the pain.
But it was worth it!
For the blood-red magic wrapped around her Blood Claw also pierced Rita’s chest.
Dorothy could even feel the faint pulse of Rita’s Heart in her palm—how powerful, how wonderful. Ever since she’d implanted the blood demon’s power in herself, she’d never felt so thrilled. Amazing, as if a burning current raced through her, as if another twitch would send her over the edge!
Dorothy’s hand trembled as she caressed the hot, fragile pulse of Rita’s Heart.
Yes! Yes! This is it! This is it!
Crush it! Crush it!
Pop.
All the accumulated pleasure burst forth the instant the Heart shattered.
Dorothy felt ultimate ecstasy.
Cecilia gulped, watching Dorothy, blushing and twisted, pant and gasp in a way she’d never seen.
What… in the world is she doing?
But Rita was right behind her—so why didn’t she feel anything?
“Hey! Slash!”
Rita raised her sword and hacked at Dorothy’s back. Blood sprayed, Dorothy’s knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground.
Even so, Dorothy hugged her own shoulders, laughing idiotically in a low, feverish voice.
“Rita, she’s…” Cecilia swallowed hard again.
“Ahaha, who, who knows?” Rita, covered in wounds, forced a silly laugh, but couldn’t hide the delighted mischief in her eyes.
Come on, I’m a succubus—of course, my specialty is charm magic!
Usually, I’d only used it on mice and little birds, but as long as I didn’t try to manipulate someone—just disrupt their mind and stir their desire—it worked pretty well.
Though I really don’t want to know what Dorothy just saw.
Eek—not interested. She looks so gross right now…
“Lady Cecilia, what now?” Rita pointed at the collapsed Dorothy with her sword.
To be honest, while she could hit Dorothy hard, killing a human felt different from killing goblins or beetles.
She probably could do it—but she didn’t want to.
Maybe if Cecilia just gave the order, she’d make up her mind.
No matter what, she had to prepare herself.
“She’s lost the ability to resist. Don’t kill her—letting her live is more meaningful than killing her.” Cecilia’s answer caught Rita completely off guard.
But Rita was also a little relieved.
But then Cecilia’s next words sent a chill down Rita’s spine.
“But the blood demon’s Regeneration is troublesome, so chop off her hands and feet. If they grow back, chop them off again—keep going until she’s completely unable to resist.”
Maybe this was the best way, and Rita had to admit that if Dorothy survived, it would benefit most people.
Still, hearing Cecilia say something so terrifying in such a calm tone gave Rita an unspeakable unease.
“Lady Cecilia, you’re joking, right?”
Cecilia opened her mouth, but before she could utter a sound, Rita felt a surge of magic gather behind her, about to erupt.
Crack.
In an instant, Rita teleported in front of Cecilia, hugging her tightly, shielding her with her own body.
“You… you dare! You dare!” Blood-soaked Dorothy staggered upright, eyes burning with endless hatred. “You dare use such filthy magic on me! Damn demon! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!”
She’s gone mad—completely mad.
That blood-red magic seemed ready to annihilate everything here—ferocious, wild, beyond reason.
Unwittingly, I’ve made another dumb mistake.
If only I’d been more decisive, maybe things wouldn’t have come to this.
Now, all Rita could do was gather every drop of her magic and emblem power to withstand the coming blast.
Splurt.
But the terrifying magic wave didn’t arrive. Instead, there was a nearly inaudible sound of something breaking.
Dorothy’s arm suddenly cracked. Blood spurted from beneath her skin like a tiny fountain—so small, so striking.
Splurt, splurt, splurt.
One sound after another, Dorothy’s body was like a punctured balloon. Blood oozed from her pores, and the magic she had gathered scattered and vanished with her tottering movements.
“Ugh…” Dorothy swayed, then collapsed to the ground, blood flowing.
She raised her hand—faint motes of magic gathered in her palm, but just like the first time she ever tried magic, the light shattered before it could even form a sphere, disappearing without a trace.
Now, Dorothy couldn’t even lift her head.
“How… can this be?!”
This was from overusing Regeneration.
A human body could never withstand the blood demon’s power—these were completely incompatible species. After Dorothy had recklessly drawn on strength beyond human limits, her body finally reached its end.
Under Rita and Cecilia’s gaze, Dorothy let out a few parched moans, then her head fell.
The room fell into dead silence.
Victory came so suddenly, yet so naturally.
“Pfft—uwah—!”
Rita felt someone pushing hard in her arms, only then realizing she’d been holding Cecilia’s face to her own treasure chest.
“Lady Cecilia!” Rita cried out, immediately letting go. Cecilia’s face was already flushed red. Rita retreated to the side.
As she took a few steps back, Rita felt a flash of emptiness in her heart.
This simple embrace, it might already be the last between them.
Rita glanced at her still-unfolded wings and heart-shaped tail, then looked at Cecilia standing before her.
Some things, she knew, she’d have to face eventually.
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