Chapter 124: Exploitation? Anyone Can Do It
There were numerous ways to steal life essence, alchemy being the simplest. Once, Wayne had drained the Lord of the Void’s elemental space, and the man had planned to get the four elements back through alchemy.
The Thousand-Eyed Demon was incredibly powerful, able to extract one’s thoughts, mana, and life essence for his own use, which was an ability Wayne had witnessed when fighting Sigma.
“It’s ridiculous. Won’t that make him unbeatable...?”
He sat down cross-legged with his arms around his chest. The Thousand-Eyed Demon’s power was incredibly formidable, more so than his cheat, yet the Thousand-Eyed Demon wasn’t among the Seven Demon Lords of hell. That meant that while the demon was strong, there was a limit to his power, far from allowing him to do whatever he wanted.
Of course, there was also the possibility that the Seven Demon Lords were stronger.
“Let’s put it to the test.”
Wayne looked around before reaching toward Mona. As soon as he touched her face, she jerked up with one hand propping herself and kicked her leg out, her leg blurring into a black line.
It was quick and quite powerful. Before it landed, Wayne already felt the gust it brought about. He raised his hand to catch her ankle, five fingers clawing into her flesh. The pain shooting through her body made her grunt.
“Don’t be shy. I was only going to touch your face. I touched much more while you were asleep.” Wayne played the villain perfectly and delivered his lines without a hitch. It seemed like his acting had improved. Tomorrow, he would debut and become a star!
He rose to his feet and made a sidestep, hurling Mona to the ground with his grip around her ankle.
The ancient city’s bricks and stones had become fragile over the long years. Mona shielded her face with both hands as whooshing winds roared past her ears. She collided with the ground hard, half of her body embedded into the stone. Wayne pulled her out of the rubble by her ankle, tossing her away like trash.
She panted, lying prone in an unseemly posture. She had been drained of the last of her strength and could only watch as her enemy extended his insidious hand.
He crouched down and grabbed her face. Meeting the eyes blazing with anger through his fingers, he threatened, “Don’t worry. It’s my first time as well. I’ll try not to make it hurt.”
He used his newly gained power to extract Mona’s thoughts, mana, and life essence.
Even when she was at her peak, her thoughts and mana were nothing compared to Wayne’s, let alone now. She had almost no thoughts or mana for him to extract.
“This little? I won’t even bother taking them for free.”
He tried a few more times, repeating the process of extracting and injecting thoughts and mana to familiarize himself with the ability. The version the Thousand-Eyed Demon granted him was limited, so he couldn’t easily plunder and manipulate someone’s mind like Sigma. As a result, it was challenging for him to control Mona.
Mona looked terrified when she sensed the enemy’s attempt to enthrall her. She quickly said, “You’re a disciple of the Lord of Blood. If they learn that you’ve betrayed your faith, what awaits you will be your doom...”
“Shut up, or I’m going to pull out your tongue.”
Wayne continued to practice his new ability. After that, he set his eyes on her life essence, namely the earth, fire, water, and wind elements in her body.
He didn’t need mana, and her thoughts weren’t great enough for him to covet. His only target was her life essence. Improving his life essence would make his thoughts and mana stronger, too.
Thoughts and mana from someone else would never be as dependable as his own. Perhaps the Thousand-Eyed Demon had failed to become one of the top demon lords for that exact reason. The demon’s power made him, but was also his unmaking.
Nevertheless, Mona’s mana wasn’t completely useless. From the little amount Wayne extracted, the Book of Greed gained some holy light. Even a mosquito’s leg was a leg. A little gain was better than nothing at all.
The Book of Greed got its snack. Then Wayne started extracting her life essence.
Half an hour later, he pulled his hand away. Mona’s face was feverishly flushed as she stared blankly at the sky. Her white robe, drenched by her cold sweat, clung to her body and hugged her curves. Someone would’ve thought she had been broken in another way!
Wayne stared at his hand. He had gotten what he wanted, but the efficiency was too low. Even his meditation was more efficient, much less compared to the elemental space or the grey space.
“What’s going on? Why doesn’t it work...”
Confused, he analyzed his situation and came up with two possibilities: first, with his hexagram completed but his Silver Cross Star not yet developed, he couldn’t gain more of the four elements. Second, the Thousand-Eyed Demon saw him as an expendable tool with a much lower status than Sigma, his servant. Thus, the demon granted him power, but only a lite version.
“So stingy. If you pay me so little, how am I gonna work for you?”
Wayne gained the power of his dream, but unfortunately, it wasn’t as strong as he had thought, and gaining it didn’t help him much.
He had knelt to the demon for nothing!
It wasn’t his first time encountering a demon, but it was the one time he suffered the greatest losses. While patience was a virtue, it certainly didn’t help with his mood. He admitted he was a petty man. In his eyes, the Thousand-Eyed Demon was already a dead demon.
“Still, before he dies, I need his power...”
Wayne rubbed his chin. It wouldn’t be easy to have the demon willingly grant him the power. He had to win his trust first—well, it wouldn’t be trust since the concept was completely foreign to a demon, but he should demonstrate his value, making the Thousand-Eyed Demon know that the plan wouldn’t work without him. For success, the demon had to invest more.
Thinking about that, Wayne took the alchemy book out.
The insidious ritual from hell involved stitching six hundred and sixty-six corpses into a magical creature. As the corpses would be related to the hellish faiths, after the ritual’s success, the resulting creation would have the terrifying ability to communicate between the human world and hell.
He remembered the Thousand-Eyed Demon requesting sixty-six corpses, one digit fewer than the figure in the alchemy book. The ritual’s effect would be diminished for sure.
“What is he planning?”
Wayne couldn’t figure out an answer. He knew too little about hell, so he decided to consult an expert: Mona!
She seemed quite broken because of him, but oh well, since she was close to breaking down already, she might as well go all the way. It was all for justice!
He helped her up and pressed both hands to her shoulders, pushing his new ability to the limit. He murmured, “Look at my eyes!”
Dazed, Mona heard the murmur and looked over reflexively. In the vast darkness, she saw a giant demonic eye floating in the air. It contained endless desires, eeriness, mysteries, and evilness, yet it was irresistibly alluring.
Wayne connected his thoughts to Mona’s, taking down her mental walls in the simplest and most direct way possible. Then he pushed his mind-manipulating power to the max to plant his voice in Mona’s mind.
Mona resisted desperately, ready to die for it. After eight consecutive failures, Wayne finally managed to plant his thought in her.
Afterward, they both collapsed to the ground.
Mona was exhausted. She could barely lift a finger. Wayne didn’t fare much better, feeling dizzy and drained. He said with difficulty, “I didn’t expect you to be the first woman to get me to go nine rounds. I’ve sacrificed too much for you to disappoint me.”
Half an hour later, Mona slowly woke up. She stared at the dark grey dome and asked hoarsely, “What did you do to me, Devil?”
I’ll give you a chance of promotion and praise. Work hard. I’m relying on you to get information from your church.
“Watch your tone,” Wayne said coldly. “I’m your master from now on.”
“Only in your dream! I’d rather die!”
The Thousand-Eyed Demon had granted him a mediocre power, so no matter how hard he tried, she still retained her own will. Nevertheless, his voice could reach her soul and dominate her body, so whenever he spoke to her, she would become a bystander to her body as it carried out his orders.
It was good enough!
Putting aside his frustration, he scoffed and said, “You’re welcome to kill yourself. I’ll respect your decision. After all, even without you, I have other options. The woman named Nancy is a good candidate. She isn’t as strong-willed as you are.”
Mona sat up and lunged at Wayne, biting at his neck. He narrowed his eyes and drained her of all strength, and she ended up gnawing on his shoulder without doing damage.
Disgusting! She rolled to the side, despairing at her circumstances. She saw no hope for her future.
“Terrible!” Wayne wiped her saliva from his neck. Not even Veronica had bitten him! Realizing his line was at odds with his character, he amended, “You’ve got a skillful mouth, but it’s not the right spot. Remember to bite me elsewhere next time.”
The more he talked, the more he risked exposing himself. He stopped wasting his breath and instructed, “I’m ordering you as your master to never commit suicide or tell anyone your current situation.”
Mona glared at him, trying to see through the mask to get a look at his hideous face.
Unfazed, Wayne felt quite good about himself. This was only a fake identity he would toss into the sewers after use. If Mona wanted revenge, she was welcome to find it in River Thame.
“I’ll give you a mission,” he continued. “Find the faiths of hell in Londan, how many followers there are, and where they are. Once you get to sixty-six people, compile a list for me.”
“Won’t you seek them out yourself?” Mona bit back, not giving an inch.
“Sheesh, I’m helping the Church of Heavenly Father in a sense. Find them and kill them all...” He threw her the alchemy book. “You’re from the church, so you should be able to understand the book. Work hard. Once you succeed, your master will reward you accordingly.”
Mona picked up the book. The more she read, the harder her heart pounded. She said in a trembling voice, “You’re opening a gateway to hell in Londan? No, I will not help you, not even if I die.”
She closed her eyes, her white robe radiating white light. It was likely self-detonation or another suicide method, but the order Wayne had planted in her interrupted the spellcasting, and her thoughts ended up suffering the backlash. She looked so pale that she resembled a ghost. On her knees, she gasped for breath.
Wayne sauntered up to her like a demon and lifted her long hair, caressing her face. “Remember, I’m your master. Without you, I can seek out someone else. Think about it. If a clergy member is going to become a demon’s minion, why can’t it be you?”
“You’re kind-hearted, aren’t you?”
So a good person deserves to be a demon’s plaything? Mona stared at Wayne with murderous eyes, swearing to one day make him pay.
“Go. Do your job well. After you succeed, I’ll set you free. If you fail, however...” He blew into her ear and whispered the little tricks the Thousand-Eyed Demon had taught him. “You wouldn’t want to become a wench and be left at the door to your church in your holy robe, would you?”
Mona clenched her teeth, her body shaking from rage.
“Tomorrow night—no, eleven tonight, I’ll seek you out at your place. Prepare the list. Remember, you only have one chance. If you don’t do it, someone else will.”
Wayne waved a hand and opened a portal before tossing Mona in. Looking around the empty ancient courtyard, he got on with setting up the alchemy circle, but gave up in ten seconds.
There were no materials!
He widened his eyes. The demon was trying to earn money without making any investment, even asking a lackey like him to pay for everything. How was the shameless action different from that of a capitalist?
“Oh, there is a difference. At least capitalists can be hanged from lamp posts, but not demons!”
He grumbled in complaint. He would never pay for something out of his pocket. Exploitation? Anyone could do it. Tomorrow, he would have Mona prepare the materials.
***
The cold moon shone down like ice, and the streets were dim under the shrouding mist. Mona stumbled while supporting herself on the walls, having exhausted her stamina. She weakly stared at the familiar street block with a lost look in her eyes. She wasn’t sure what she should do after arriving at the cathedral.
She wasn’t even sure if she should head there.
Master... Bah! She had been ordered not to talk and wouldn’t be able to explain the truth of her situation. Heading to Saint Paul’s Cathedral now would be akin to leading the way for the demon.
Just then, the white robe she wore lit up, the cross on her back pulsing softly. Ten minutes later, four church mages arrived in uniform. They immediately offered her treatment when they saw her sickly state.
Warm holy light entered her body. Her complexion improved noticeably.
“Nancy told us what happened. Captain’s waiting for you. The situation is too dire for you to rest now.”
Mona shook her head with a bitter smile. She didn’t mind working overtime, but she wasn’t sure what she should say when she saw Captain.
Mona was a member of the tactical unit of the Church of Heavenly Father, a group similar to the Church of Nature’s surgical strike unit. Originally, it was the order of knights guarding Saint Paul’s Cathedral, consisting of two hundred experienced fighters. After the Church of Heavenly Father came to face oppression in Windsor, the order disbanded, reassembled into the nameless tactical unit today.
The captain, Atori, was a powerful Gold-rank mage and supposedly the strongest fighter of the church in Windsor. He was brave and smart, with numerous achievements under his belt, protecting the last shred of dignity of the church.
Mona knew her inability to answer any question wouldn’t escape Captain’s eyes. Then... Yes, as long as Captain noticed something wrong, she would’ve succeeded in providing information without being able to talk.
She brightened up, following her teammates into the cathedral, meeting Captain Atori in his office. The old man had silver hair and beard, his shoulders broad and his arms long. His impressive physique and authoritative appearance made him a naturally dominating presence, but also a source of comfort to Mona.
“I heard you got ambushed by a cultist of hell, Mona, and the cultist used Blood Magic. What have you got?”
Mona didn’t speak. She closed her eyes with visible signs of struggle on her face. It was her attempt to convey information, telling the captain that she was compromised and no longer trustworthy.
Thank God the demon hadn’t fully controlled her, or there would be nothing she could do.
Atori asked a few more questions. Seeing Mona’s conflicted reaction, he nodded softly and said in a gentle voice, “You’ve done well, child. Stay here. I’ll seek out the Archbishop. He’ll help you speak.”
“Don’t worry. No one can hurt you with us around.”