Rachels’s body shone with a bright blue light, weakening the dark tendrils wrapped around her. Just a second or more, and she would be able to break herself free from these disgusting things.
“Too late!”
But her eyes widened in shock when she heard Hellbringer’s voice behind her and could feel the air behind the bottom of her spine getting pushed away forcibly. This could only mean he was trying to punch her back, and she immediately gathered her mana to use a defensive spell.
*Splktch!*
“Ahh!” Her eyes shook when she felt the claws of a beast digging into her back. But it was not the pain that shook her since the claws didn’t even go that deep. Instead, it was the fact that she was unable to draw upon even a wisp of her mana that made her heart tense and her mind thrown into confusion.
However, before she could even think of her next move, she felt a burning fist smashing against the lower half of her spine, throwing her body into shock. Since she couldn’t even use her mana to defend herself, the damage she took was too much, making her legs weak and numb as she collapsed on the ground.
“Good job, Merina,” Asher said, not because she helped him immobilize Rachel but because he noticed that Merina had already incapacitated the hunter girl in the gazebo despite the fact that Merina was not in top shape.
Merina nodded with a respectful smile as she bowed, “This slave will do better next time.”
“Unnh…What…happened…” Rachel came out of her stunned state as she weakly opened her eyes only to find herself lying on the ground. She felt as if her entire body was numb and grimaced hard as she tried to put some strength into her weak legs and get up.
But what shocked her the most was that she was still unable to gather any mana!
“Don’t push yourself, Rachel. I temporarily blocked your mana circuit, which also caused your body to go into shock. But don’t worry, you will be alright within a couple of hours,” Asher said as he crouched before her, looking down at her teary blue eyes.
𝑜𝗏𝗅xt.𝐜𝗈𝑚
Rachel felt her heart drop, realizing what had happened to her because this meant she was at the complete mercy of this demon. Even if this despicable demon doesn’t do anything to her, the Heavenly Immunity will soon be over, and she will suffer and die a horrible death in this hell.
The only escape was through the gate they came from. But that gate will close shortly after the Heavenly Immunity becomes no longer active, and there was no way she was getting to that gate without going through these two dangerous demons.
However, hearing him call her ‘Rachel’, she didn’t know why it felt as if he wasn’t seeing her for the first time. The tone in which he was addressing her and the way he was looking at her seemed as if he knew her already.
Did she fight him in the past? She couldn’t remember fighting such a cunning demon like him in the past. She would have surely remembered since he didn’t look like any ordinary demon.
“Merina, keep an eye on her. By the time I return, she should be able to stand up,” Asher said as Merina nodded, “Yes, Master.”
“N-No…wait…” Rachel weakly called out as she saw Hellbringer walking towards the gazebo where Sarah was squirming on the floor. She knew Sarah’s life was in danger and wanted to stop Hellbringer desperately but couldn’t.
“Stay still unless you want to anger my Master even more,” Merina said in a fierce tone as she looked down at her.
‘Master?’ Rachel couldn’t help but wonder who this Hellbringer really was to have a werewolf woman like Shadow Maid be his slave. She could only worriedly twist her neck around weakly to see what Hellbringer was going to do with Sarah.
“Fuck…That vicious demoness…Unhh..” Sarah was moaning in pain as she laid on the floor, her legs bleeding. Shadow Maid crippled her legs, making it impossible for her to escape while keeping her alive for god knows what.
However, suddenly she heard steady footsteps and saw the legs of a tall demon entering the gazebo, “S-Stay away!”
“Shh…we can make this go two ways. I am going to ask you a simple question, and you answer me, and then we both can go home happy. The second way is when you don’t answer me, and I become unhappy, which would force me to kill you. So what is it going to be?” Asher asked with a simple smile as he gently placed his palm on her head.
Sarah’s lips quivered as she looked at his dangerous dark eyes, her heart thumping against her chest, “You…You are going to kill me anyway…” She was sure no demon would be kind enough to let her go.
Asher sighed and said as he patted her head, “Silly girl, I find no pleasure in killing an unarmed girl like you who doesn’t pose any threat to me. All I need is the pattern to unlock these runes, and I will let you go, I promise. It’s either that or you die anyway. Are you really going to deny yourself the chance to live?”
“I…I don’t know the pattern. I didn’t get enough time to figure it—”
“Too bad. I guess I have to kill you since you are this useless,” Saying so, Asher’s hand blazed with dark green flames, making Sarah’s eyes shudder.
“Wait, wait….I…I think I figured it out. I will tell you, but you have to let me go after,” Sarah said as she continued to take short, deep breaths.
Sarah felt that his words made sense, and he also didn’t kill Kara, who was still breathing while lying on the ground. Maybe he was the kind of a demon who doesn’t like killing those who don’t pose a threat to him. In her desperation to live, she didn’t want to let go of this chance.
Asher nodded and said in a reassuring tone, “Of course I will. Now, the pattern…” Asher said as he looked at the six glowing runes on the floor of the gazebo. He knew these runes were special kinds of runes that served as a password, though he wondered what was hidden here that even Rowena didn’t know of.
Sarah had figured out the pattern, but before she could check out what was hidden beneath the floor, Shadow Maid stopped her.
Now she reluctantly revealed the pattern to Hellbringer, knowing that she would fail the quest by doing so. But it was worth it as long as she could get out of this hell. How could she have known such an easy quest would turn out to be a nightmare?
*Clak!*
“Good, it worked,” Asher said as he saw the tiles on the floor shift backward, revealing a hidden pocket.
Sarah endured the pain as she weakly extended her neck to see what was hidden in the floor. Since she went through so much trouble only to put it in the hands of a demon, the least she could do was find out what it was.
“Huh…” Asher had a blinking expression upon seeing a piece of velvet fabric wrapped around something. He put his hand inside and took it out before unwrapping the cloth with a curious gaze.
“This is unexpected…” Asher mumbled as he took out a beautiful necklace with a gleaming pear-shaped crimson gem attached to it. He could see a drop of fiery blood inside this gem and wondered what kind of necklace it was,
[ Item Name : Crimson Heart ]
[ “A crimson gem carved with the magic of a mother’s love for her daughter. Wear this necklace so that I can always be with you and protect you” ]
[ Grade : Legendary ]
[ Level : 34 ]
[ Effect : Absorb any life-threatening attack completely and reflect it back. Activates only once ]
[ Status : Unlinked ]
‘Damn…this is…a worthy treasure!’ Asher wasn’t expecting to find something like this by coming here. A powerful necklace like this was priceless. Based on its level and grade, he was sure this was one of the strongest artifacts to ever exist. And that meant it could absorb the attack of any strongest being in the demon realm or anyone on Earth.
Even if it only activates once, it was something that could decide the life and death of a person. The fact that it reflects the attack too only makes it even more powerful.
Based on the description, it seemed that Rowena’s mother, whom she never talked about, left it for her. He knew Rowena’s mother died during a quest right when Rowena was just a few years old, though he wondered how come Rowena didn’t know about this necklace. Maybe her mother died before she could tell her about it.
Still, it was a surprise that not even her father told her about this since it seemed that the two used to frequent this place unless in the off chance he didn’t know about it as well.
Whatever it was, he could see that this necklace could only bind to a single person. Since he found it first, he can bind it to himself, but he held back his temptation and put it into his Damned Dimension.
‘A necklace? Why does fate have to be so cruel…’ Sarah lamented upon seeing that it was just a pretty necklace.
Still, she didn’t care about it and only wanted to go home, “You got what you…wanted. Now, let me go…please…” She begged upon seeing him put back the necklace.
Asher sighed as he raised her chin with his fingers, “About that…you see, I really meant it when I said I don’t take any pleasure in killing you but…I do need the rating points I would gain from your death,” Saying so, Asher grabbed her head with both his hands.
“NOO!!” Sarah cried in horror as she couldn’t believe she was so stupid to believe the words of this psychopath.
*Crack!*
But before she could even try to grab his arms, Asher twisted her neck, rendering her body lifeless.
“No! Why??!” Rachel screamed with a saddened look as she looked at this villain killing a helpless woman.