Chapter 239: Desire Demon Kaogu

"Be quiet!" Farama's shriek was no less devastating than You the banshee's. The movements of both the Six-armed Snake Demon and Ron's group faltered slightly.

But this brief hesitation gave Constance, who was under the effect of an Acceleration Technique, a window of "time."

"Hah!" The Half-Elf was now moving at nearly twice the speed of the others. With a sharp cry, the blade in her hand easily pierced one of the Snake Demon's palms.

Howling in pain, the Snake Demon immediately swung its remaining five scimitars in a counterattack. However, in its eyes, the one who had seemed like the easiest target was now incredibly nimble, almost matching its own speed and dodging every single one of its attacks!

"HISSSSSS—" Humiliated, the Snake Demon grew furious. The weapons in its hands once again blazed with a light even more dazzling than before. As if they had souls of their own, the five infused scimitars left trails of afterimages in the air and even began to predict Constance's evasion routes!

It hadn't even been using its full power until now!

For Ron and his party, the demon getting serious was nothing short of a catastrophe. Ron subconsciously raised the Gemstone again, only to hear a fizzling sputter—even his Magic was spent!

"CLANG!"

As the Snake Demon's thick tail swept out like an iron whip, the tower shield in Aive's hands could no longer withstand such a heavy blow. It shattered into countless pieces, and the force sent Aive flying backward, where she crashed into the bloody remains of the Owl Bear corpse.

"Is that... all you've got!" Seeing its most solid obstacle shattered, the Six-armed Snake Demon let out a wicked cackle, speaking in broken Common Language, "Mortals... can't even give me a good fight... so weak!"

"Hand over... the head! And I might grant you a quick—"

The Six-armed Snake Demon's voice stopped abruptly. It froze for a moment, then subconsciously used the hand that Constance had pierced—the one that could no longer hold a weapon—to touch its chest. Just to the left of the center, it felt something hard. It felt like... the tip of a sword.

'The tip of a sword...?'

Its strength drained away like water from a punctured bladder, flowing out along the blade that had pierced its heart. The demon struggled to turn its head, wanting to see who had ambushed it, but it never got the chance. Just before darkness consumed it, a black feathered wing entered its vision.

A creature with a striking face and figure appeared, exuding a rich aroma of champagne and perfume, laced with a faint scent of sulfur. She pulled her Longsword from the lifeless corpse and flung the massive body, two heads taller than her own, into the dust.

This being from the Hells, like a valkyrie, had effortlessly ambushed the Snake Demon. When her gaze shifted to Ron, her icy stare instantly became playful.

"Heh heh... I was wondering who was crying for help. So, it was you," the devil said as her broad, black wings trembled, shedding a few feathers. "My dear 'Lord'?"

"You're that—" Ron's mouth fell open. He stared in shock at the suddenly-appeared devil, then glanced at Yelena, who had collapsed from Magic Power exhaustion, and finally turned to Queen Farama's head. "Did you summon her?"

"A Desire Demon... Her Grace must have sent her," the flames in the queen's head flickered between Ron and the devil. "What, you two know each other?"

"No..."

"No? How could we not know each other?" The devil, who looked completely different from the Desire Demon Ron had seen last time, covered her lips and chuckled. "Lord, you've seen me naked twice now. How could you possibly deny it?"

"Last time, I was accidentally captured by demons, and we struck quite a deal. This time, I was in the middle of a bath at home when Lady Gracia summoned me to save you. With all this fate between us, you still want to deny it?"

The Desire Demon's soft chuckle quickly turned into a wild, unbridled laugh. She strode toward Ron, laughing all the while, causing him to back away continuously. 'Is this devil going to use this as an excuse to settle a personal score and kill me right here?!'

"I don't care who you are, halt!" Klade stepped forward, placing his halberd between the Desire Demon and Ron. "We just fought a demon, we don't mind clashing with a devil!"

"Clash? You say clash?" The Desire Demon stared at the Earth Goblin Warlord as if he were an ant. "Do you think you're worthy?"

"I am not one of those addle-brained demons. To fight a group of mortals? That would be an insult to both me and the Duke!"

The Desire Demon stopped, her gaze burning as she looked at Ron. "My dear Lord, your subordinate has no need to be so vigilant. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't need to go to all this trouble—after all, you're not in the Abyssal Silver Vein right now."

"Actually, that's not entirely true," Ron said with a shrug. He raised his arm, shaking his sleeve to reveal a silver bracelet on his wrist. "To be honest, it's quite heavy."

"..." The Desire Demon shot Ron a look that was half-smile, half-glare. It was just a test, a warning, but she hadn't expected him to actually be prepared for it.

"Fair enough. An unprepared Mage isn't a good Mage," the devil sighed. "But you're not my target today, anyway."

"Wasn't your target this Snake Demon?" Sera asked, curiously eyeing the black feathered wings on the Desire Demon's back. She reached out to touch them but was forced back by the devil's Longsword. "That's strange. The last time I saw you, didn't you have leathery wings? Can you change them?"

"That was because I was going into the Abyss," the Desire Demon said, the corners of her lips curling up. "I had to disguise myself as a succubus."

"But this time, the Six-armed Snake Demon was just an unexpected complication. My true goal is to settle a grudge from several hundred years ago."

The maze suddenly began to shake. Two terrifying presences appeared simultaneously from the left and right, approaching rapidly. However, the Desire Demon turned to the left, completely exposing her back to Ron's group and the hostile visitor from the other side.

"There are two demons stationed here: Brogmir and Sarisha. I'll help you defeat one of them; the other is up to you. The Bull-headed Fool's strength is far inferior to the Six-armed Snake Demon and that succubus bitch. If you can't even handle him, you might as well just die here."

Just as the Desire Demon finished speaking, a heart-rending female scream echoed from the left side of the maze, rapidly growing closer. "Kao Jia! I smell you! Are you here? Are! You! Here! KAO JIA!"

Unlike a typical succubus, this voice was filled with madness and hatred, completely devoid of any allure.

The Desire Demon named Kao Jia remained calm. She gripped the blade of her Longsword, and as her hand slid down its length, the sword ignited with scorching, purplish-red flames. She glanced down at her blood-drenched palm, then, under the stunned gazes of the others, formed her hand into a blade and plunged it into her own chest!

Unexpectedly, no blood flowed from her chest. Instead, wisps of abyssal energy began to seep from her body. Ron subtly shifted his position, and as he observed her from the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but frown.

'If I'm not mistaken, beating inside this high-ranking devil... is a heart from the Abyss! But... is that even possible?'

Kao Jia seemed to notice Ron's gaze, but the Desire Demon was in no mood for distractions. Holding her Flaming Longsword, she slowly beat her wings and rose into the middle of the maze.

"Yes, Sarisha." The Desire Demon's voice once again held the same enchanting quality it had when Ron and the others first met her. Ignoring her current state, one might think Kao Jia was the real succubus.

"Yes, Sarisha, I am here," Kao Jia said, her wings beating behind her, her voice like an Angel's hymn. "I am right here. Your heart is right here."