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Chapter Eighty: The Shift of Offense and Defense

“Ah, so that’s how it is…”

With a thoughtful nod, Miss Vilyric glanced at the little mole demon, who stood up cautiously at her signal, seemingly at a loss for how to continue.

“I understand the gist, but Little Mole, if I’m not mistaken, you’re actually worried that you won’t be able to provide us with satisfactory compensation, and that afterward, we might turn against you, right?”

The priestess’s judgment was not without basis.

In the world of demons, things are quite straightforward—much simpler than human society. The stronger the demon, the higher their status, and if there are no ties of friendship among them, requesting help necessitates the corresponding reward. These are almost universally acknowledged principles among demons.

Thus, if Vilyric had readily agreed to help, it would have only terrified Little Mole further, making her suspect ulterior motives.

As expected, upon hearing this, the other party was startled and quickly pricked up her round ears, shaking her head.

“No, no, no! Divine One… while I may just be a poor little demon, if it’s the Digger King…”

Vilyric raised her hand, halting Little Mole’s attempts to issue a blank check with a shake of her head.

“No need for that. Not to mention that the Digger King’s current situation is unclear, and we don’t know what kind of relationship you’re in. You may not even be under duress or control. Even if they truly need our help, I don’t plan to accept any reward for this.”

“Let’s be frank, Little Mole. This is a cooperative effort based on mutual assistance. Just as you surmised, our relationship with the Demon-Suppressing Sect is quite poor, and we happen to be investigating certain actions of theirs…”

“How about this? We’ll handle this matter for you free of charge, striving to resolve the issue satisfactorily. But during this time, you must assist us unconditionally until everything is settled, and we all get what we need. How does that sound?”

“Really, really, Divine One!?”

“Of course it’s true. Come over here.”

Stopping Little Mole, who was almost jumping for joy, the girl beckoned her over.

Not daring to disobey, Little Mole awkwardly stepped closer, maintaining a safe distance as if afraid to offend the noble presence. She tentatively raised her head to look at the White Robed Girl, who seemed to be carefully observing her frail face.

“What’s wrong, Divine One?”

“Um… it might hurt a little, so hold on.”

Mumbling to herself, Vilyric knelt down, lifted the crude leather made from Little Mole’s fur, and gently pressed her pale fingertip on the now-exposed little belly.

“Ugh!”

At Little Mole’s sudden scream, the priestess helplessly shook her head.

“What are you doing… I haven’t even started yet.”

“I’m sorry, Divine One, it’s just a bit ticklish, and I feel kind of embarrassed…”

“Really? You’re just a little girl, after all~”

“Woohoo!!!”

As soon as she finished speaking, a golden light erupted from the tip of the girl’s fingers, swirling with a gale that blew through the nighttime forest. The golden light quickly permeated the smooth surface of the girl’s belly, sending intense, indescribable pain surging through her!

“Divine One!!”

Not understanding what was happening, the little demon instinctively screamed in agony, but Vilyric, focused on the task, ignored her and adjusted the magical intensity at her fingertip, making the golden light move rhythmically as if breathing.

Soon, a complex and bizarre pattern began to emerge from Little Mole’s skin where Vilyric touched, resembling characters on a charm and forming a strange arc shape, with sharp barbs along the edges, almost like a sturdy collar embedded around a beast’s neck.

At that moment, the sharp, barbed pattern emitted bursts of light, resisting Vilyric’s purification and subjecting the little demon to indescribable pain.

“Indeed…”

Vilyric recognized this thing known as the “Demon Suppression Charm”. Although its appearance differed from that of the previous black python demon, at its core, it was the same thing.

According to Ling Feng, this mark is present on most demons controlled by the Demon-Suppressing Sect, usually hidden in sensitive areas and not revealed to outsiders.

Earlier, Little Mole mentioned feeling inexplicably dizzy and sluggish at crucial moments, indicating that some important areas in her body were being eroded by foreign energy.

Where Vilyric pressed was actually where the core of the demon’s life energy coalesced. The last snake demon’s charm was similarly hidden in such a spot, and Little Mole, being a demon, faced a similar situation.

Sure enough, with the external stimulus, this yet-to-be-formed magical imprint became exposed.

This Demon Suppression Charm had not fully matured and was still latent within the little demon, secretly expanding its influence. However, if it encountered a crisis that might lead to its complete erasure, it would still manifest, retaliating as if in its death throes.

Hmm… it seems Little Mole wasn’t lying—her current physical condition fully aligned with her earlier descriptions. With this confirmed, the next steps became quite simple.

“Divine One… can… can we proceed… it hurts… it really hurts…”

Though the forcibly effective mark caused her to gasp in pain and her frail body trembled slightly, Little Mole chose to trust and cooperate with Vilyric, not putting up any resistance, which greatly pleased the priestess.

The black-haired girl nodded slightly, concluding her testing and investigation.

“Heavenly Blessing.”

Light gathered, and a drop of blessed water coalesced at the girl’s fingertips, seeping naturally into Little Mole’s belly skin.

Immediately, the latter radiated with golden light.

The collar-like emblem that brought ominous and enslaving power had no resistance under the illumination, seemingly washed away like grime, fading, dissolving, and ultimately becoming nothing.

“Eh… what is this?”

Closing the demon’s clothes, Vilyric stood up and smiled, patting the little mole demon’s head, which wore an astonished expression.

“You did well; you didn’t lie to me and understood the right choice. How do you feel now?”

Instinctively touching her still flat belly, the girl honestly replied.

“My stomach feels warm… it doesn’t hurt anymore, Divine One. What was that just now?”

“It was the filth you had within you, and I’ve removed it. Luckily, that thing hadn’t fully formed yet; otherwise, you wouldn’t have had the chance to ask for my help.”

“Well then, let’s deal with another matter.”

With that, Vilyric suddenly raised her hand, and a beam of light erupted from her palm, forming an immense light body that almost perfectly mirrored the girl’s hand. Her fingers curled slightly.

“Woo!!”

As the energy molecules in the air violently compressed, a fierce wind whipped through the surrounding forest, rustling the trees. Before Little Mole could question what the “Divine One” was doing, a dark shadow suddenly flew out from the underbrush, landing precisely in the grasp of that light hand, firmly grasping its throat.

“Ugh! Wuwuwuwu…!!”

The shadow struggled violently but couldn’t resist Vilyric’s immense control, only managing to flounder in vain.

“Hehe, it seems you’ve been targeted.”

“Divine One, what is it…?”

Keeping the luminous hand suspended, Vilyric took a few steps forward, bringing the frightened, trembling little demon closer.

“Do I need to say more? It’s sent by the other party to follow and observe you.”

Approaching the shadow, the black-haired girl casually lifted the hood from atop its head with her appearing holy staff.

“I told you before, you did well. It’s precisely because you were cautious and didn’t act recklessly that you secured your chance at survival.”

“This guy has probably been following you for some time. If you had exhibited any signs of awareness or sought help from outsiders, it would likely have acted to capture you or even kill you directly.”

The priestess turned back to glance at Little Mole, who was growing pale as she understood the implications of her words.

“You almost met your end there.”