CHAPTER 80: PLEASURE

The sounds of approaching bandits grew louder as they crashed through the underbrush with the confidence of predators who’d successfully trapped their prey. Jack counted at least a dozen distinct voices.

"Surround them!" A rough voice shouted from the trees. "Take the nobles alive if possible, but kill anyone who resists!"

"The woman’s armed!" Another bandit called out. "Watch the one with the giant weapon!"

Sera’s laughter was like crystal breaking in a cathedral, beautiful and utterly wrong. "Armed? Oh, you sweet, simple little lambs. You have absolutely no idea what you’ve stumbled into."

She spun the war scythe in a complex pattern that made the air itself sing with barely contained violence.

The weapon moved like a living extension of her will, its curved blade describing arcs of potential death that seemed to hang in the air like afterimages.

"WHISTLE!"

"SNAP!"

More crossbow bolts whistled through the air, but Sera moved through them like water flowing around stones. Her scythe deflected projectiles with casual precision while she advanced toward the hidden archers with predatory grace.

The first bandit broke cover twenty feet away, charging forward with a battle axe raised high and murder in his eyes. He was a big man, scarred and weathered by years of violence, his face twisted with confidence.

Jack barely saw Sera move.

"SCHWICK!"

The sound of the scythe’s blade finding flesh was like silk being torn. One moment the bandit was charging forward with his axe raised, the next he was sliding apart in two perfectly equal pieces that hit the ground with wet, meaty thuds.

"SPLAAAASH!"

The spray of blood painted the forest floor in a crimson arc that caught the pale afternoon light like liquid rubies. The bandit’s expression hadn’t even had time to change from confident aggression to recognition of his demise.

"Oh, that was LOVELY!" Sera’s voice cracked with ecstatic pleasure, her entire body trembling with excitement. "Did you feel how cleanly we took him!!"

She spun the scythe again, blood droplets flying from its edge in perfect spirals that sparkled like deadly jewelry. Her breathing had grown heavier, her face flushed with the arousal.

"MAGNIFICENT!" she breathed, her voice husky with satisfaction. "Who’s next, my sweet? Who else wants to dance with death and desire?"

Two more bandits emerged from the underbrush on her left. They’d clearly recognized the threat she represented, their weapons held ready and their approach cautious.

"Spread out!" one shouted to his companion. "Don’t let her get both of us with that reach!"

Sera’s laughter was like honey poured over broken glass, sweet and sharp. "Oh, you think that will dave you? How naive!"

She moved like liquid shadow, the war scythe spinning around her body in patterns that seemed to defy physics. The weapon’s reach was impossibly long, its curved blade describing arcs of death that could strike from angles that should have been impossible.

"CRACK!"

"SLICE!"

The sounds of the scythe cutting through air created a deadly symphony that spoke of violence as art form. Sera flowed between her opponents like water, her movements so graceful they seemed almost like dancing.

The bandit on the right tried to close distance with a desperate lunge, his sword thrust aimed at her center mass. Sera simply wasn’t there when his blade arrived, having flowed aside with serpentine grace while her scythe swoosh through the air.

"SCHLICK!"

His head left his shoulders so clean, that his body was still in motion. His head tumbled through the air to land with a wet thump while his body took three more steps before realizing it was dead.

"THUD!"

"SPLASH!"

The headless corpse collapsed in a fountain of blood that painted nearby trees in abstract patterns of crimson violence.

"Beautiful!" Sera moaned, her voice thick with arousal that made Jack’s stomach turn. "The way his essence just left his body!!!"

The second bandit had frozen in terror, his sword trembling in hands that could no longer maintain their grip on reality. The casual efficiency of her kills had broken something in his mind, reducing him from predator to prey in the span of a heartbeat.

"Please," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the sound of blood dripping from tree branches. "I have a family. Children. I can pay you..."

Sera’s grin widened until it seemed to split her face, revealing far too many teeth that gleamed like ivory daggers. "Oh, but payment isn’t what I want, sweet little lamb."

She moved closer to him with the stalking grace of a hunting cat, her scythe held almost casually while dark energy writhed around the weapon like smoke given malevolent purpose.

"What I want," she continued in that husky voice of barely contained pleasure, "is to watch the light fade from your eyes while my precious darling tastes your essence."

"NO!" The bandit’s scream shattered the forest silence as he broke and ran, crashing through the underbrush with the desperate energy of prey fleeing certain death.

Sera watched him go with that predatory grin, making no move to pursue. "Run, little rabbit," she called after his fleeing form. "Tell the world what happens when mortals interrupt Sera Nightshade’s pleasures."

She turned to face the remaining bandits who were still hidden in the forest, her voice carrying clearly through the trees with cruel amusement.

"Any other volunteers!?" she called out sweetly. "I promise to make it memorable."

"SNAP!"

"RUSTLE!"

The sounds of rapid retreat echoed through the forest as the surviving bandits fled in panic. Whatever they’d expected when they’d planned this ambush, it clearly hadn’t included encountering a chosen one with both the skill and inclination to turn human beings into abstract art.

Sera stood in the center of the carnage she’d created, her scythe still held ready while she surveyed her work with obvious satisfaction.

Blood pooled around dismembered corpses, painting the forest floor in patterns that somehow managed to be both horrific and strangely beautiful.

"Mmm," she purred, running her fingers along the scythe’s blood-slicked blade with intimate affection. "That was invigorating. Though hardly a proper challenge, was it?"

She brought her bloody fingertips to her lips and tasted them with an expression of pure bliss, her eyes rolling back slightly as if savoring fine wine.

"Such sweet terror," she whispered to her weapon. "Did you taste how they broke when they realized what they’d awakened? The moment when predator became prey?"

Jack stood frozen in the aftermath, his mind struggling to process what he’d just witnessed. The woman who’d been his combat instructor, who’d pushed him to excel in martial disciplines, had just slaughtered three men with casual efficiency while deriving obvious sexual pleasure from their deaths.

’This is what Father meant by excessive methods,’ Jack thought numbly. ’She doesn’t just kill people. She enjoys it. Gets aroused by it. What kind of monster have I been training with?’

[Analysis: Lady Nightshade exhibits clear signs of combat-induced euphoria combined with sadistic pleasure. Recommend maintaining respectful distance during post-combat.]

Brother Matthias, Sister Elena, and Brother Thomas emerged from their hiding places with expressions of shell-shocked awe mixed with theological confusion.

They’d clearly never witnessed violence of this caliber, their scholarly understanding of conflict having been violently expanded by exposure to reality.

"Lady Nightshade," Brother Matthias said carefully, his voice carrying the kind of caution one used when addressing sleeping dragons. "That was... quite effective."

Sera’s grin was sharp enough to cut shadows, her green eyes still blazing with arousal. "Oh, that was just foreplay, Brother. If we encounter a real threat, I promise you’ll see something truly spectacular."

She began cleaning her scythe with methodical care, speaking to the weapon in tones of intimate affection that made everyone present deeply uncomfortable.

"There, there, my darling," she cooed while wiping blood from the curved blade. "I know you wanted to play longer, but we mustn’t be greedy. There will be other opportunities later."

Jack watched this display with growing unease, beginning to understand why Sera’s reputation inspired such wariness among experienced warriors. She wasn’t just dangerous because of her skills or chosen one abilities.

She was dangerous because she genuinely enjoyed inflicting death and suffering on other living beings.

"We should move," Jack said finally, his voice hoarse with lingering shock. "Other bandits might return with reinforcements, or the sounds of combat might attract unwanted attention."

"Oh, let them come," Sera replied with anticipatory pleasure. "We are just getting warmed up. It’s been far too long since we’ve had proper exercise."

But she began gathering her equipment with efficient movements, clearly recognizing the tactical wisdom of not remaining near the scene of such overwhelming violence.

As they resumed their journey toward the Ruins of Divine Convergence, Jack found himself walking considerably farther from Sera than he had before.

The casual way she’d dismembered three human beings while deriving sexual pleasure from their deaths had altered his understanding of the woman who’d been training him.

’She has a split personality,’ Jack realized as he watched Sera return to her normal predatory alertness. ’In normal circumstances, she’s dangerous but controlled. In combat, she becomes something else entirely. Something that finds ecstasy in ending lives.’

The forest around them seemed quieter now, as if the local wildlife had sensed the violence and decided to seek shelter. Their footsteps echoed strangely in the aftermath of the ambush, creating rhythms that somehow sounded like funeral marches.

"The Divine Avatar has witnessed the first of many revelations," Sister Elena said quietly, her voice carrying undertones of theological satisfaction. "Truth reveals itself in many forms, not all of them comfortable for mortal comprehension."

"Sera certainly revealed something," Jack muttered under his breath, though he was careful to keep his voice low enough that she wouldn’t overhear.

As afternoon shadows began lengthening into evening, their group continued eastward along ancient paths that wound between standing stones older than recorded history.

The Ruins of Divine Convergence drew closer with each step, promising answers to questions that had been plaguing Jack since his awakening.

Their footsteps created steady rhythms as they navigated increasingly sacred terrain.

Behind them, scavenger birds were already descending to claim the remnants of Sera’s artistry, their harsh cries echoing through the forest like prayers offered to gods of war and death.