Six-Armed Serpent Demon

Page 55

She slipped the mind-control ring onto her finger and tried to use her mental power to activate its energy. Instantly, two brass beads on the bed began to hum and slowly float around her.

Lana said, "It cost me twelve thousand gold coins to make these six brass demon-binding badges. Just in case, you should take one with you. And Tusu, give him one when he comes back too."

Patrick looked thoughtfully at the brass beads flying around her: "I doubt how effective this thing will be against the six-armed serpent demon. High demons have strong magical resistance."

"Don't worry, the magical resistance of any otherworldly creature has no effect on the Brass Demonbane Emblem."

Lana stroked the mind-control ring on her finger and smiled confidently: "This is a secret technique passed down through generations of exorcists. Otherwise, how do you think Boto's ancestors captured that six-armed serpent demon?"

Patrick shrugged.

“When Tusu comes back later, we’ll choose a location and then we can take action,” he said. “When do you think would be more suitable, on her way to work at the dock in the morning, or on her way home from get off work in the evening?”

Lana asked curiously, "Why not just raid her house?"

"Because I don't want to add any variables."

Patrick said calmly, “The six-armed serpent demon enters the city as ‘Ivy Beate,’ always accompanied by a dinosaur and two owl bear cubs. The two little ones are nothing to worry about, but that dinosaur—you can think of it as a fine warrior clad in heavy armor. The demon keeps the dinosaur in the house to guard it, and has never taken it to the docks during the day. If we raid her house—let’s just call it her house for now—we’ll inevitably face one more enemy. If we attack her en route between the docks and her house, we won’t have to deal with that guy.”

Lana disagreed.

"There are too many people at the dock, and everyone takes the same route to and from get off work. If things escalate and our identities are exposed, it could lead to a diplomatic incident... What do you think about ambush?"

Lana thought she had come up with a good idea.

"When she goes to work, find a way to lure her out alone and ambush her in a secluded place. How about we impersonate Gluthus to deliver a message to her?"

Patrick shook his head.

“She and Gululos have information channels we don’t know about,” he said softly. “Meeting her in Gululos’s name will only alert her…”

He raised his head, lost in thought.

Lana didn't want to disturb him, so she could only wait quietly by his side.

"This is the most abnormal demon I've ever seen, which caused me to make several wrong judgments... If we can decipher her behavior patterns, perhaps we can find her weakness."

Patrick muttered to himself.

"There are too many mysteries surrounding her... A demon, posing as a noble lady, infiltrated a city ruled by the Bronze Dragon Paladins. Why? To evade capture? But she could have escaped much further, or hidden in the Sanrac Mountains, using advanced teleportation to move back and forth daily. We have a hard time finding her... After entering the City of Flames, she lingered in Fire Harbor, which is also very unusual. Why? What is her purpose in doing so? She wiped out the halfling gang in the Dragon Horn Tavern, yet she allied with Gurulos. Why is that?"

Lana said, "Maybe there aren't that many whys at all, it's just because she's a crazy demon?"

Patrick shook his head.

"Demons are definitely not madmen. Demons summoned to the Prime Material Plane usually exhibit extraordinary madness and cruelty because they know that the Prime Material Plane is an immortal playground for them, which they can squander at will. Being summoned to the Prime Material Plane and then killed simply means they can't descend to the Prime Material Plane again for a few hundred years; their true forms will not die. But once they are in their own territory, such as the Abyss, you will find that their attitude towards battle in their homeland is very different from what you see in the Prime Material Plane."

"What's the difference?"

"They are afraid of dying."

Patrick said, "The demons of the lower planes are a bunch of extremely selfish creatures, with no trust or cooperation among themselves. When they have an advantage, they charge in droves to seize the spoils, but once the battle goes against them, even with pressure from higher demon overseers, they will still try every means to escape and use their teammates to save themselves. This often leads to an awkward situation—although the individual strength of a demon is far greater than that of a devil, an army of demons is often defeated by an army of devils who can take on a hundred men each… Our demon should be no exception."

“She was afraid of death too,” Lana pondered, “but demons are also selfish. As far as I know, under certain circumstances, even the most selfish creature can become fearless… She had something she desperately wanted, to the point that she was willing to risk her life for it.”

She laughed sarcastically, “Just like Tankred.”

Patrick's eyes lit up.

"Speaking of being willing to die for profit, guess what Gluros has been up to lately?"

He said, "He's gradually taking over the halflings' power in Fireport, while also diligently investigating people and events completely unrelated to him. Those two demons killed by Tusu—the former seems like a mutually beneficial outcome, while the latter was probably just a condition of the deal. He's investigating them for his six-armed serpent demon allies! He's blinded by greed. Those two demons probably possess something that makes our demons linger in the City of Paladins!"

After Tusu, a native of the tribe, became the new totem demon-slaying warrior, he hastily captured two demons, mistaking them for monsters. Rather than subjecting them to severe torture, he tortured them to death before killing them.

The demon's things are still in Patrick's and his group's hands.

Patrick felt all the clues had come together in his mind: "We can use the clues about the Devil to lure her into the ambush."

Lana asked, "Where should we set up the ambush? Don't forget, she's a local celebrity. The ambush site has to be sparsely populated and somewhere that will lower her guard. That's why I suggested we raid her house. There's no place more relaxed than your own home."

"In that case, there is a place that fits your requirements."

Patrick said, "It's sparsely populated, and it's also Beate's property. It used to belong to the halfling gang, but after she cleaned it out, it's now in the territory of her dragon-blooded allies. All of this should be enough to make her lower her guard, right?"

"where is that?"

"The Beate family's warehouse."

Lana nodded, reached for the communication crystal ball, and wanted to report to Archmage Zaire.

However, before she could activate the crystal ball, Patrick reached out from the side and pressed his hand on it.

She looked up at Patrick, puzzled.

But she found Patrick staring at her, his eyes gleaming with an inscrutable light.

"what do you mean?"

Patrick asked, "Now you understand why the Archmage of Zaire wanted to capture that six-armed serpent demon alive?"

Lana came to her answer in less than half a second: "He wants her to be his magical pet?"

"Yes, and also wrong."

Patrick said, "The Six-Armed Serpent Demon is one of the most powerful high demons. Her body, every hair, and even every scale is made of the purest energy from the Abyss. This even has an overflow effect. You see, when she picks up any weapon, the abyssal energy within her overflows and corrupts that weapon, turning it into a weapon of evil and chaos. Mortals have no hope of controlling such a high demon or making her their pet."

He then changed the subject: "But it's possible that part of her is involved."

Lana frowned and said, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

“Before reporting to Zaire, you need a deeper understanding of arcane magic,” Patrick said, looking at her. “Fortunately, we have plenty of time.”

Lana's gaze sharpened: "You think you can convince me not to tell him about our plans?"

Patrick gave an irrelevant answer:

"As I said, the way wizards and sorcerers resist the backlash of spells is by using their magical creatures to transfer the backlash; this is the way spells are cast in our world."

"There are many kinds of magical pets. Originally, wizards and sorcerers mostly used bats, crows, or other small living animals, using magic to transform them into magical pets. But think about it, even a living person as big as you can hardly withstand the backlash of magic, and magical pets are much smaller creatures. Even if they are magically transformed, they cannot withstand the backlash of casting a lot of spells in a short period of time. And summoning magical pets again is extremely time-consuming, so gradually no one used this method anymore."

"Instead, there are item-based summoned creatures. This involves using constructs or certain items to magically modify them and turning them into summoned creatures. A sturdy, intelligent item or construct summoned creature can even last indefinitely if properly maintained. Most of the wizards in the Samarach army summoned their own swords or armor as item summoned creatures, like the murdered Cons."

He paused.

"Of course, that's a bit of a tangent. All you need to know is that to imbue an object with intelligence, making it a magical pet, or to create a construct that can serve as a magical pet, you need one thing: the essence of an extraordinary being."

Lana's eyes flickered.

"You mean, if Archmage Zaire wants to capture that demon alive, she can use the abyssal energy within her to create more magical artifacts and pets?"

"Though it may not be perfect, it is not far off."

Patrick said, "Our target has only recently recovered and is at her weakest, making it the perfect time to capture her alive. The abyssal essence within a demon like her can be used to create four to five item-type summons."

"But think about it, why squeeze her dry all at once? Why not just lock her in a cage, feed her with the flesh and soul of intelligent beings, and then harvest her endlessly? Zaire has done similar things before. Wasn't it he who brought the idea of ​​locking a bear in a cage and endlessly extracting its bile to Samarach? If it weren't for that, why bother sending you, a newly recruited demon slayer, just to use your demon-binding abilities to imprison her forever?"

"Think about it, imprisoning a high-level demon, continuously extracting abyssal essence from her body, then creating magical artifacts and nurturing new wizards and sorcerers—it's as smooth as an assembly line. So you understand why we must capture her alive, and why I demand you absolutely not tell the City of Flame? That's a fucking strategic-level magical resource!"

"With this power, all of Abel's arcane spellcasters will have to bow down before Zaire. Who can stop him? He could even become a figure of faith with this power!"

"my God!"

Lana gasped.

Patrick stared at her, his eyes flashing with an unfathomable light.

He leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice: "But why can't we be the ones who wield this power?"

Lana held her breath in shock.

Patrick pressed his forehead against hers, staring intently into her eyes. Lana felt as if her lover's gaze had a magical power, his soft voice seeping into her mind.

"Don't forget, you are the exorcist, you are the most indispensable piece of the puzzle in this whole plan, not him. Which title do you think sounds better, Countess Boto, or Queen of Samarach?"

Author's Note: Adding more chapters is difficult, I'll try to increase the word count per chapter...

Chapter 66 The Wind and Thunder Rise in All Directions

The communication crystal ball was placed to the side.

After ending his call with Lana, the great devil named Zaire extended a finger and gently tapped the armrest of his chair.

He slowly stood up, walked to the window, and looked out.

This is the VIP hotel at the top of the fiery city, open only to foreign guests during state visits. Two arcane knights from Samarachi guard the entrance, one on each side.

The Archmage of Zaire has taken up residence in the city of Flameland as the ruler of Samarachi.

It was late at night. Looking out the window, the boundless black sea churned with black waves, and together with the pitch-black sky, it presented a variety of strange colors in the devil's dark vision.

Zaire was somewhat surprised by his own calm demeanor.

I remember when I first heard the name of my girlfriend from my past life on Earth, I thought I would be shocked for a while, but I didn't expect that the emotional fluctuation would only last for a few hours.

"A six-armed serpent demon," he muttered to himself, "unbelievable."

Actually, this was the most unbelievable thing for him at the time.

She actually fell into demonic ways.

But who knows, the universe itself is entropy.

Based on Tankred's confession, Zaire could easily conclude that she possessed a long-dormant six-armed serpent demon... bullshit.

Extraordinary beings are inseparable, their spirit and body being one, because they are all embodied planes of energy.

So when he was reincarnated in hell, he was just a newly formed inferior demon. Later, he gradually accumulated merit and advanced in rank, and now he has finally climbed to the position of a great demon.

She's so weak, what makes her so special that she deserves to be an exception?

Zaire imagined her as a human-faced worm crawling among countless soul worms. This amused him.

But how did she gradually transform into a six-armed serpent demon through demonic ascension?

This puzzled him a lot.

Just because of that stupid bun who can't even open his mouth to speak, who is always careful to watch his expression, like a pet being raised by him.

— This is probably the effect of the "precious pearl".

He smiled dismissively as he thought.

—She does have the potential to exist as a puppet manipulated by some great demon.

After receiving several reports from Lana, Archmage Zaire understood.

That six-armed snake demon must be her.

Patrick thought the demon's behavior was abnormal, but Zaire thought it was the real her.

Despite her body transforming into a powerful demon, she remained a fragile Earth woman at heart.

Patrick couldn't understand why she would risk everything to escape into the City of Flames.

But he knew the reason was actually quite simple: she simply couldn't adapt to the desolate, primitive life in the mountains. Her yearning for civilization, ingrained in her bones from her past life, drove her like a moth to a flame to plunge into human settlements, seeking only to survive.

Zaire smiled sarcastically.

Thinking back to how I had previously suspected she was cheating, I realized I had really overestimated her.

You lack even the most basic ability to survive independently; you can only cling to the sturdy trunks of others like a vine. You've been like this since your past life, haven't you, Chu Shixin?

“I’m giving you a chance to be raised by me again,” he muttered to himself, looking out the window. “Thank me.”

A voice came: "What are you saying, Lord Samarach?"

The door swung open, and the host of the three-way meeting, a one-eyed dragon with a fierce expression, strode up to the Archmage of Zaire with a squad of bronze dragon paladins.

Zaire turned around upon hearing the sound.

“Good evening, Ambassador Turret,” Zaire said politely.

His little demonic pet flew onto his shoulder and settled down, grinning at the Thunderswallower.

“I’m admiring the beautiful night view of the City of Flames, and also watching how quickly the lower city is recovering from the explosion. I have to admire it; it’s a magnificent city,” Zaire said. “I heard that the temple where you live was blown up by a six-armed serpent demon, and that you were injured as well?”

The Thunder Devourer's single eye immediately turned red, and he snorted.

He made no attempt to hide his loathing for Zaire, just as Zaire made no attempt to conceal its evil lawful alignment.

Zaire said, "To be honest, I have never seen a high-level demon like the six-armed serpent demon. Could you tell me what that demon is like?"

Meanwhile, deep within the shaft.

A slow, heavy rumbling sound was rising from underground, as if a sleeping behemoth was breathing.

In the square stone chamber where Aprilton Bronk once perished, increasingly loud thunder rumbled from the square opening in the upper right corner.