Six-Armed Serpent Demon

Page 121

“It’s been a long time, my dear,” the Archmage of Zaire sighed, “I have so much to say to you—”

Before he could finish speaking, he raised his hand, and six small silver balls engraved with "Imprisonment Array" and "Dimensional Anchor" flew towards her.

Ivy Beatrice remained motionless.

The moment the silver ball touched her, the magic array engraved on it flashed, then pierced through the giant figure of the serpent demon and flew into the darkness. There was a clattering sound, and it rolled away to who knows where.

"The projection technique was used quite well."

Zaire looked around, his tone approving. "It seems you've fully recovered by now. Should I call you Diraz now, or should I call you as before—"

"Shut up."

Before he could utter his old nickname, the six-armed serpent demon interrupted him, his icy voice coming from all directions, "You have no right to call me that."

Zaire walked slowly into the circular underground chamber, saying as he went, "You didn't say that back then. I remember you lying lazily in my arms, so comfortable that you didn't want to get up."

In their past life, he had said this: "The heart of stone is jade. The color of jade is found within the heart of stone, and the luster of pearls comes from the belly of a fish. This is what Wang Chong wrote in *Lunheng*. If you open the heart of stone and look at it this way, it is indeed the color of jade..." As he said this, she and he were lying on their sides on the narrow bed in their rented single room, the large quilt wrapping them both up like cocoons. He pressed against her back, pulling her into his embrace: "Li Bai also wrote about the emperor choosing jade-colored women to serve him in bed, behind a golden screen, so I'll call you... okay?"

She happily agreed.

"Trying to provoke me with something like that?"

Ivy Beatrice sneered repeatedly: "You're so low."

"Of course I was low, so I became a devil after I died."

Zaire sighed, “But I never knew you would be reborn as a demon. Besides its literal meaning, ‘jade’ has several other connotations, one being beauty, another referring to virtue. Although countless years have passed, I remember you as so timid and submissive. How could you be reborn as a demon? I’m so curious, how did you crawl out of that bottomless abyss from a lowly, mud-eating soul worm to become what you are now? Even as a six-armed serpent demon, you were still captured by Eric van Boto and made his concubine, making me wear a green hat for so long. Where is your virtue?”

She remained silent in the darkness.

His words made her speculate about his past. Since he didn't know her true reincarnation, he more or less incorporated his own experience of becoming a demon into his assumptions about her.

Zaire said, "You're still as cowardly as before. Didn't you want to face me? Why are you hiding again? You don't even dare to speak."

He approached the projection of the six-armed serpent demon standing in place, his gaze sweeping across the darkness, observing his surroundings, especially the dragon's head. He guessed she was hiding behind the enormous dragon's head.

"You probably didn't expect it, but I knew you would come back."

Zaire said.

“When the people I sent to find you were killed by you, I was actually in the City of Flame, on the top floor. You should have seen how we fought with Hesladi,” he smiled. “But I was too busy with my schedule at the time and was being monitored by the Bronze Dragon, so I couldn’t spare the time to find you in person, which gave you the opportunity to regain your power.”

Ivy Beatrice broke the silence: "You weren't injured back then?"

"of course not."

Zaire said, “Those injuries were meant for you, and also for the Bronze Dragons and Giljin. They will lower their guard against Samarach when they see me severely wounded, so I can carry out my plan… As for you, I guess there’s a 50% chance you’ll come back for revenge after seeing how badly I’m injured and that half of my body is gone.”

She scoffed, "Only a 50% chance?"

“With your courage, a 50% chance is already quite high. The other 50% chance is that you'll run as far away as possible,” the man said. “According to your habits, even if you come back for revenge, you'll definitely choose a secret and safe hiding place first, and then slowly extend your tentacles to spy on me in the city—you're such a homebody—there's no better hiding place than here, because you know this place best in Samarach. So I set up a small spell nearby to monitor this place from a distance. You triggered it when you filled the hole in the stone wall. And so I came.”

Zaire's voice held a hint of greed as he spoke: "But I never expected you to bring me such a great gift, a head of Heslati... With this divinity, I can take another step forward..."

The six-armed serpent demon standing behind the red dragon's head suddenly noticed that the small silver orbs that had flown into the darkness had returned without anyone noticing, silently circling around him, linking with each other, and shining with a circle of silver light. That was the "Anti-Evil Magic Array" that was powerful enough to imprison demons!

She raised her eyes and met Zaire's gaze.

"To repay this generous gift, I will not send you back to the abyss. Since becoming a demon, I have come to understand one thing: death is not possession, but separation. So this time, I do not want to let you go again."

Zaire smiled and said to her, "Stay by my side forever, just like before."

He called her by her nickname affectionately and snapped his fingers.

The next instant, magical energy similar to "Advanced Otherworldly Binding" surged in the underground chamber.

This is no longer a simple otherworldly binding magic.

All magic, as it ascends to the legendary level, undergoes a transformation from quantitative to qualitative change. As the saying goes, "all things change, but the essence remains the same." With deeper research into magic, spellcasters discover that spells and mental constructs are merely appearances; ultimately, it is through these means that the fundamental rules of magic are triggered.

These fundamental rules of magic are called "seeds".

The relationship between magic and the source seed is like that between an apple falling to the ground and gravity.

All magic in the world is inseparable from the thirty-two magical seed species. For a legendary mage to develop their own legendary magic, they must not only "know what" it is, but also "know why." Only by deeply understanding the "seed species" can new magic be developed.

Just like if you want to successfully develop a sports car on your own, you need to be familiar with related knowledge such as dynamics, materials science, and air resistance.

Zaire's magic has no name, but it is undoubtedly far superior to legendary magic.

With a snap of his fingers, the power of multiple magical source seeds, such as "Call," "Bewitching," "Coercion," and "Connection," was skillfully woven together by his will, unleashing unimaginable power to create a binding magic trap designed to capture legendary otherworldly creatures.

Even legendary otherworldly creatures, as long as their life level is not high enough, will be immediately turned into obedient slaves by the spellcaster once they are entangled by this power, and the instinct to disobey the spellcaster's commands will be stripped from the mind and consciousness of the target.

Zaire's magical skills have long since transcended the limitations of legendary magic configurations. He can directly and freely mobilize and combine the power of several magical source seeds, a feat that is extremely rare even among legendary mages.

But nothing happened.

Zaire's expression stiffened slightly.

He saw the six-armed serpent demon still standing unharmed behind the red dragon's head, its emerald-green vertical pupils staring coldly at him, completely unaffected by the magic.

"Is it a projection?" he muttered to himself.

But there are no other six-armed serpent demons here, except for the one behind the stone dragon's head, and only this one standing in front of us—

He instinctively reached out his hand.

His fingertips touched the smooth, warm, white abdomen projected in front of him, and the sensation sent chills down Zaire's spine.

——I was fooled.

At some point, the "projection" replaced Ivy Beatrice's real identity again.

Zaire jolted awake and immediately attempted to cast a spell, using his fingertips as a medium to unleash all the source seed power he could muster, even if it meant shattering her into dust—

Zaire's pupils suddenly contracted.

He discovered that he could no longer sense any magical energy, and he couldn't even mobilize the magic power within his body! It was as if some invisible force was isolating him from the source of magic in this area!

“Anti-magic field…” he said dryly.

For legendary mages, magic spells below level nine can be considered "basic magic".

While these spells are vast in number, they only scratch the surface of the Source Seed's power, yet they are still means of applying that power. It is through this continuous learning of basic spells year after year that mages glimpse the mysteries of the Source Seed and realize their dream of mastering legendary magic.

Although "Anti-Magic Field" is a basic spell, its rule of brutally isolating the source of magic is effective even against more advanced spells. While this spell cannot suppress fully developed legendary spells like it can suppress other basic spells, it can make it difficult for the caster within it to cast spells.

He looked up at her in astonishment.

A familiar yet unfamiliar face was coldly watching him from above. "Quite the opposite of you, to repay your generous gift of allowing me to be reborn, I will kill you."

She said that six flawless white jade arms stretched out, raising six gleaming swords.

"Go back to hell and start fighting again as a soul worm, you scum."

"I didn't expect this little trap; you were quite well-prepared."

Zaire said he regained his composure in the face of swords and blades, “Congratulations on winning a point, but you may be disappointed… However, out of consideration for our old friendship, this body will be given to—”

"Go to hell!"

A silver-blue greatsword and a scarlet recurve blade descended in a flurry of slashes accompanied by profanities.

Author's Note: A couple of days ago, something unexpected happened at home. I'm making up for the word count today, so there will be another long chapter tonight.

Chapter 155 Subduing Your Mother

Zaire let out a long, mournful scream.

In a mere instant, his body had been struck by more than a dozen swords.

The greatest damage to Zaire came from the Holy Spellbreaker Greatsword, "Mand of the Spellbreaker," and the legendary Soul Drinker's Crimson Kiss. ​​The silver-blue blade cleaved into the archmage's left shoulder, cutting straight into his chest like a hot knife through butter. The crimson recurve blade circled his ribs, plunging into his soft abdomen and slicing back and forth, almost shredding his internal organs.

Zaire was covered in blood, and his feet slowly lifted off the ground.

Ivy Beatrice held the other four greatswords, imbued with "chaos" and "evil," in her other four hands, piercing her body into the air.

She looked at his miserable state, impaled on the blade, and a gleam of pleasure flashed in her emerald-green vertical pupils.

Zaire groaned, looked up, and met her gaze.

He grinned at her, his white teeth stained crimson.

"Have you vented your anger yet? I have a suggestion," he said with a smile, "Let's get back together, what do you think?"

Ivy Beatrice laughed in anger.

Her response was to casually stab him again with "Crimson Kiss," then stare into his eyes as she twisted the blade with all six of her hands.

Large spurts of blood sprayed onto the ground.

Zaire trembled all over, his smile twisting even more grotesquely: "Oh, so powerful... I'll take that as your agreement."

He suddenly stretched out his arm and, with his blood-stained hand, reached the back of Ivy Beatrice's hand that had impaled him in mid-air on the sword fork.

Zaire gently stroked it, his face filled with ecstasy.

A chill ran down Ivy-Beate's spine, from the tip of her tail all the way to the back of her head.

Instinctively, she swung all six arms simultaneously, throwing the blood-soaked Zaire far away. The splattered blood traced several arcs in the air before landing on the ground, resembling a strange postmodern painting, albeit with a rather monotonous color palette.

Zaire flew more than twenty feet backward and crashed into the stone wall next to the bronze door with a loud bang.

He slid slowly down the wall, leaving a thick, long trail of blood next to the brass runes on the stone wall.

Ivy-Beate's blue eyes were filled with rage. She hurriedly sheathed a sword and used one hand to vigorously wipe the back of her hand that Zaire had touched.

“You disgust me,” she said in a hoarse voice.

"How about a little more trust?"

Zaire leaned against the wall and stood up again, wiping the blood from his face, but his tone was relaxed, not at all like someone who had been stabbed more than a dozen times.

"You have no idea what happened after you died."

Ivy Beatrice suddenly opened her mouth.

The deafening chorus of countless female voices echoed in the circular chamber, completely drowning out Zaire's voice.

At the same time, the snake's body, which was standing on the ground, suddenly moved.

Its jet-black tail lashed wildly from side to side. Using the momentum of the tail swing, the six-armed serpent demon lowered its jade-like upper body and charged forward with the speed of a whirlwind!

Zaire stared blankly at the emerald-green vertical pupils opposite him, then felt a sharp pain in his chest as he was pierced by a silver-blue blade.

The immense impact caused him to fly backward involuntarily for the second time.

He felt the stone wall inlaid with brass runes in the underground chamber shatter upon impact with his back. In the blink of an eye, he was propelled out of the underground chamber by the force amidst smoke and rubble, and slammed against the stone wall of the outer passageway.

Zaire looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar blue eyes opposite him, coughed, and spat out mouthfuls of blood. Then he looked down at the silver-blue blade that had pierced his chest.

—I can't feel my feet touching the ground…

Ah, so this sword has pinned me to the stone wall of the passageway.

“I don’t want to know,” Ivy-Beate’s voice came from the other end of the line. “I don’t want to hear a single word of your bullshit.”

Zaire raised his hand and gripped the silver-blue blade.

The "holy" attribute of "Mand the Slayer" caused the wound on the devil's chest and the hand holding the sword to sizzle and emit black smoke.

But he didn't care at all, and just grinned at Ivy Beatrice.

Two red lights shone in his eye sockets.

"Then I'll have to find another way to make you obey, darling."

Ivy Beatrice narrowed her blue eyes; she felt an astonishing power emanating from the blade.

Moreover, the dying, mutilated human body nailed to the wall began to radiate a powerful energy—an evil magic as profound yet distinct from that of the six-armed serpent demon herself, the power of a lawful demon.

She saw that Zaire's blood did not flow down the stone wall to the ground, but instead spread out in all directions on the stone wall, like the veins of two giant leaves. The veins grew longer and longer, intertwining with each other, and eventually became two thick, membranous wings.

Zaire's face is distorted.

His face turned red, his nose shortened, but his nostrils widened. The corners of his mouth stretched out to the sides, revealing long, nail-like teeth.

Two black and red horns emerged from his forehead and extended towards the back of his head.

His body grew exponentially larger, and his two enormous claws, covered in black and red scales, tore through his magnificent robes and boots, allowing him to stand firmly on the ground.

Zaire has disappeared.

Instead, there was a giant covered in black and red scales with wings on its back—a great demon.

The stench of sulfur assaulted our senses as the great devil exhaled its breath.