CHAPTER 98 (1): I WAS WAITING FOR MY TEAMMATES, WHAT WERE YOU WAITING FOR?

Hot wind swept over almost invisible spores, and imperceptible green light scattered everywhere. Marina turned to leave, gesturing at the soldiers to open fire. Sporadic gunshots rang out, but more frequent were the screams of terror. Her heart sank as she gripped her submachine gun and spun around.

Her body felt heavy, and her feet felt trapped in a swamp. The force of turning around made her lose balance and fall to the ground. She stared in terror at the fungi sprouting all over her body. The stems were pale and slender, the white caps mottled with clear black patterns on the undersides, as dark as ink.

Vines had covered the ground without anyone noticing, quickly spreading and grappling the soldiers, binding them in place. White mushroom caps emerged from their pores all over their exposed skin, drowning their eyes and ears and blocking their mouths and noses.

The vigorous lives competed in growth, draining the humans’ vitality. One by one, they slumped down with drooping arms until they were entirely engulfed in white.

A mage!

Marina raised her hand to pull the trigger and drag Wayne down with her, but lost sight of him as mushrooms grew rapidly, pushing out of her mouth and nose. Before she could struggle, she lost consciousness from the intense fatigue.

Wayne silently shook his head from the corner. Although he knew this would happen eventually, as an outsider, he would’ve preferred for the Barts to kill each other. Then at least their deaths would have some value.

Having dealt with the ambushers, he continued forward, sending spores flying with a push and instinctively knowing how to expand his vision through them. He had never formally studied the magic of the Church of Nature, but he had developed a few formulas on his own based on the books. The formulas weren’t complex. He could easily solve them to get answers.

This only applied to Wayne. Through the Book of Greed, he could easily cast magic related to faith. Other mages would need much more complex formulas to do the same.

***

At the center of the interconnected passages, the scorching heat made traversing feel like being burned alive. The dark red walls flickered like a silently beating heart. If the complicated rock formation was the heart, the expansive cave passages would be the blood vessels. After years of inaction, the flesh and blood turned into rock with blood settling down within; only the scorching vitality remained unextinguished.

At the deepest part of the rock formation—the heart’s chamber—layers upon layers of intricate magic circles overlapped with a ten-centimeter interval, stacking a full nine meters high in total. From top to bottom, the magic circles formed a funnel with the uppermost circle drawing in fiery waves, the crimson patterns going down layers of magic circles to extract the purest golden liquid.

Conversion into dragon blood!

The middle-aged man guarding the magic circles wore a black robe. His deal with the demon had not only restored his youth, but also granted him the magical power of blood.

Myron Bart.

However, Mr. Bart didn’t look youthful in the slightest, his hair silver and his body shriveled like a withered tree. The intense heat had baked him into a mummy. His protruding eyes were yellowed and pupilless. One would be hard pressed to believe that he was still alive.

The only reason he hadn’t died was the power he’d traded from the demon.

Dark blue veins writhed under his withered skin like earthworms crawling around, causing him extreme pain and unease, yet also relieving the soul-searing heat. He was suffering and being relieved from his torment. He deeply regretted his decision. Yes, he had indeed gained youth, as the demon had promised, but the demon never told him that his youth would be spent in servitude!

The demon sold everything except for the ability to turn back time. At this point, Bart could only see this path to the end and pray that the demon would honor their final promise.

Quiet footsteps approached.

Bart turned around with great difficulty, his eyelids scraping across dried eyeballs. He saw a team of armed soldiers led by his daughter, Heidi.

Unable to bear the heat, Heidi had tossed away her jacket and now wore only a white shirt. She stared at the complex magic circles with intense greed flashing in her eyes, then she looked at the black-robed mage withering away in place.

“Father, I finally found you.”

“You shouldn’t have come here, Heidi...” Bart said hoarsely. “As you can see, this is the fate of those dealing with the demon. It’s not that I’m unwilling to share with you, but the family needs someone to carry on the line. You’re the most outstanding heir of your generation. Leave now and be a good businesswoman. Do not step into the world of magic.”

“I’m afraid that won’t happen!” Heidi’s face twisted with fanaticism as she placed her hand over her abdomen. “Blood Worship mated with me in my dream. Give me the dragon blood, and I’ll deliver the child of the god. The family will prosper like never before.”

Bart fell silent, not knowing how to respond. He had tried to stop his daughter, but unfortunately, she still found her way here.

Making deals with the demon was like jerking off nonstop. Everyone knew it was unwise. The pleasure wouldn’t last, and continuing to do it would only be harmful. It wasn’t too late to stop now, but no one could reject the temptation of the moment of ecstasy. A fleeting pleasure was still pleasure.

Then afterwards, they would fall into immense guilt and regret.

Like Bart, his desire for youth had given the demon an opening. After the deal, he learned of the demon’s full plan and tried everything to push his daughter away to safety. It wasn’t that he loved his daughter that much, but that his two sons were too useless. For the family’s continuation, he had to do this.

“So this is the answer to the mystery. An old father who regrets dealing with the demon, a daughter sinking ever deeper into the marsh of desires, and an evil god trying to descend to earth.”

A voice interrupted the conversation between father and daughter. Kael, panting, entered the chamber from another passage. He unbuttoned his shirt while complaining about the terrible environment. The soldiers pointed their guns at him and rained bullets on him at Heidi’s order.

After their magazines were all emptied, Kael remained unharmed. His translucent form waved and chuckled before vanishing. Then another Kael emerged, speaking with a smile, “Stop shooting. With this much heat, you’ll only hurt yourselves if your guns jam.”

“Didn’t manage to catch you off guard...” Heidi’s face darkened. Her eyes glowed with a vibrant crimson, and with a growl, she tore off her white shirt, her bare torso covered in green scales. Her body swelled up and instantly transformed into a large bipedal crocodile—a dragon in a manner of speaking.

After the transformation, Heidi stood over three meters tall with scales covering her entire body, her limbs powerful. She swung her claws to grab a soldier and took a large bite with her maw. The remaining soldiers didn’t react at all. As if hypnotized, they mechanically reloaded their submachine guns.

Kael’s expression turned grave. “Look at your hideous state. Even an evil god in hell has standards. They won’t give you the chance to give birth to an evil offspring, but will only take over your body. Wake up. It’s not too late to let go yet.”

Heidi roared furiously, stung by his revelation. A swing of her claws sent crimson waves crashing toward Kael. He shifted into an illusion and toyed with the brutish crocodile like a matador, continuing to rub salt in her wounds and mock her delusions.

Many beautiful women were like Heidi, believing their looks and intelligence could win a demon’s favor. They didn’t realize that demons never lacked beautiful lovers.

“You know about succubi, right? Now those are real beauties.”

Kael couldn’t continue. Why did the evil gods in hell also get brainwashed by the mainstream beauty standards? Given their boring taste, hell would sooner or later meet its doom!