Chapter 93: Sacrifice (1)
[Before Hunter began his battle with Lothar.]
Aimee had sunk into the vast pool of liquefied souls, unconcerned about the casualties.
Though she had managed to get some of the souls for her own use before this risky move, she had purified their lifespan with her determination.
To say nothing of her skills and origins of her powers, Aimee also dealt with a small number of souls and their pain, so it was easy to gather their lifespan for herself.
The same couldn\'t be said about her being nested in the middle of the lake of wailing souls, where every negative emotion gnawed at her soul, which was weaved with her flesh, making her feel like thousands of piranhas were chomping her.
Outside, Gilmore was shivering from indignation and genuine anger filling his veins; his eyes widened.
"Sacrifice… what a fucking pointless sacrifice! You just tainted the lake!"
Even if Lothar believed in mere chances of Aimee coming out of the lake with a power-up, Gilmore was convinced that this foolish human was gone.
But he still followed his partner\'s words, using his demonic powers to check the lake\'s content.
Following his release of demonic mana, the vast tree shivered, bending and casting shadows over the dense lake. Then, its branches stretched like fast arrows, piercing the water\'s surfacer in search of the human woman.
As the lake rippled and splashed, creating turbulent waves, Gilmore\'s expression gradually became more twisted…
…for he could see that the woman inside the lake was weaving between his attacks, avoiding them all while picking up more and more souls!
\'Lothar… was right! What does he know? Fuck… how can a mere human harness so much of souls without any ritual, let alone domain?\' Gilmore grew warier and irked.
That was when something clicked within his mind.
That woman had a companion… the crimson-haired woman hanging above the lake, whose eyes were trembling from concern toward the golden-haired bitch.
His lips arced, Gilmore ordered his tree to kill Seraphina. His demonic presence washed over the vast tree, making it switch the targets.
Soon, the branches extended toward Seraphina like wild beasts, ready to turn her into cheese.
But before even one got close to her, the lake suddenly howled, and its surface cracked. From the depths of it, the water, loaded with lots of lifespans, surged, turning into a water cannon that shattered all branches, including those keeping Seraphina and Mayun cuffed to the tree.
The cannon slammed into Gilmore\'s domain\'s ceiling, splashing and turning into rain.
With shadows cast on his eyes, Gilmore looked up, only to see that Seraphina and Mayun were gone. The annoying rain kept slapping his face, telling him how he had failed at every move…
…telling him that Aimee had everything in her hands now.
Which was such a slap to his face that his body started cracking, his innate skill taking over him.
His pale skin became dotted with cracks, soon turning him into a tree man. His previously handsome face was now quite ugly, with wrinkles of nature draping his skull.
"One thousand units… plunge into the lake and bring her out!" Gilmore ordered.
His voice swept through his domain, waking up all his units. Demons and demonesses of various origins rushed to his side, then, without any question, jumped into the lake to find the troublemaker.
"The more you move, the less oxygen left for you to breathe, human," Gilmore\'s eyes gleamed with evil intent. "How long can you be underwater for?"
At the same time, Gilmore spoke in a monster language, hissing.
A few breaths later, the vast snake boss slithered its way inside the domain, replying with obedient hisses.
What it had said had displeased Gilmore, but nothing could be done about it.
"Right… we\'ve been preparing a monster tide to snatch more humans to finish the lake this month…" Gilmore curved his lips into a sneer. "Those fucks from the World Order must be already up here to ensure we don\'t take too many souls! Let the monster tide begin, then! Fucking humans couldn\'t have made me angrier! You hear me, golden bitch?! Because of you, thousands of humans will die!"
Gilmore laughed aloud, his chest heaving up and down because of his quiet laughter. "You… search for the crimson-haired woman you had just brought here together with Hunter and that golden bitch. You alone are enough to take her life."
The blue anaconda obediently hissed, heeding the order.
-
Washed over to one of many corridors in Gilmore\'s domain, Seraphina coughed up and strained to stand up, feeling sore.
She wasn\'t alone, for the orange-haired girl Seraphina had met in this cruel place was here to help them with their plan.
Which was to escape this place.
Soon, Gilmore\'s voice swept through the entire domain, calling his forces.
"Come here," Seraphina said while extending her hand for Mayun\'s hat, dragging her close to herself and coating them in her immensely useful hiding skill.
Which proved its worth as the flood of demons hadn\'t noticed them at all!
Mayun was compelled to voice her opinion, "Awesome! They didn\'t even suspect our presence here!"
"I told you about this skill and its origins… prepare a cheat for Aimee to learn it in a minute," Seraphina whispered to the young witch, believing in her.
Hearing her tone, Mayun became serious and began the silent preparation to ensure their plan succeeded.
Alas, they weren\'t free from burdens.
The entire corridor trembled.
Once, twice, thrice… and it just continued shaking as though someone too big was forcefully slamming its entire weight into the small entrance.
Based on the sound, it was exactly like that… and that someone was slowly en route toward them!
Seraphina grew vigilant, standing still with her hands clenched.
A few breaths later, the forked tongue of the blue anaconda boss threatened to lick her! At that moment, Seraphina was momentarily overwhelmed by the pressure and danger, only to calm herself down.
She had grown stronger.
Her friends were suffering more.
And that damn boss was wounded from Brandi\'s poison!
"Focus on your task…" Seraphina stated, her back facing Mayun. "I\'ll deal with this bastard."