Chapter 211

Chapter 211: Chapter 211

Asael got to his feet as well, creating a portal without so much as a protest. He didn’t care about the assassins in Huayuan, but he did care about the distress their actions could bring Dulce.

On a rare occasion, they were all in the Hells at the same time, all four stepping through the magical rift.

They arrived to a rather tense situation, Ruoxi facing off against two Shadow Assassins while Qingyi supported a barely upright Lihua in the distance.

The Incubus wore disdain as he calmly punched one of the Shadow Demons, sending the Demon flying out into the water to the surprise of his companion.

Eliad saw the punch coming but didn’t step out of the way, a hit from an Incubus couldn’t cause any real harm. So he took the full impact of the hit, splashing into the lake quite a distance from the force.

Qingyi gaped in disbelief, momentarily forgetting the gravity of the situation. She used to be able to beat up Ruoxi with ease, although her victories were simply because he was too lazy to retaliate.

But even then, the strength he just displayed was far beyond what he could do.

Next to her, Lady Lihua wore a strange expression. She knew that Ruoxi had gotten stronger from feeding off a Holy Demon but she didn’t quite expect it to be of this magnitude.

It was the only reason she had sent Qingyi to get him. She hoped to use her high charm ability to hold them in place so Ruoxi could easily get rid of them, but she had barely made it till he returned.

Na’im pinched the bridge of his nose and warped away just as the target launched an attack at him as well, he knew he shouldn’t have taken such a ridiculous mission.

A tiny needle launched from him next, glinting off the sunlight as it sank into the spot just before Ruoxi’s collarbone.

He sighed in irritation as he waited for the Incubus to succumb to the poison. He hoped that returning with the Incubus would be enough to ease the Holy Demon’s anger.

Eliad returned then, he was soaking wet but no worse for wear. His pale eyes were hard as he took in their target with new eyes, the power behind his unarmed attack had been worrying, their mission had suddenly amped up in difficulty.

They had both noticed the moment a new group joined the scene, but the group kept its distance and didn’t interfere, so the two Shadow Demons ignored them in turn.

Ruoxi only noticed them now, frowning at the sharp sting he felt in the next moment. He didn’t take his eyes off Dulce though, noting that the Vampire was held back by Asael.

Dulce frowned, tense in Asael’s hold, "He’s been poisoned."

Asael wore a detached expression, "He won’t die."

Dulce was far from reassured by that, very close to slipping out of his restraints and hurrying to Ruoxi’s side.

While Kath’tan was focused on the fight, his purple eyes gleaming at Ruoxi’s show of strength, Caedos was focused on Dulce.

Ruoxi glanced down and pulled out the needle, flicking it away. "You can either tell him you failed or sink endlessly in the lakes of Huayuan, your pick."

It was strange, Ruoxi had been dreading this very moment, but now that it had arrived, he was hardly shaken. Merely displeased at the trouble it brought to his mother and Lotus Garden.

Na’im’s face grew colder, not at the Incubus’ words but at the fact that he was still standing. A few thin lines of black veins had already begun to crawl up the side of his neck but he looked no worse for wear.

Asael had been disinterestedly watching, waiting for the appropriate time to step in, but he equally wore a strange expression at Ruoxi’s reaction to the poison.

He watched now with more focus; Ruoxi was essentially imbued with the strength of a Holy Demon, so his reaction plunged him into thought. There were rumors that Shadow Demon poison had no effect on Holy Demons. It remained unproven because no Shadow Demon was about to test it out.

However, Ruoxi being largely unaffected by the dosage of poison he had received was very telling.

The assassins were suddenly at a disadvantage, they couldn’t harm the Incubus but he had not a single hesitation in doing so in turn.

Shadow Demon poison had only one counter, the blood of a Shadow Demon, so seeing a Demon find a new way to nullify it baffled them.

They couldn’t be too liberal with poisoning him, if they mistakenly killed the Incubus or harmed him severely, there would be retribution.

For a short while, there was a one-sided beat down, forced to keep defending, the Shadow Demons were soon soaked and sporting injuries.

They healed easily but that was because the Incubus wasn’t wielding a weapon, or the fight would quickly change its tune.

Dulce could barely stand still, he wasn’t allowed to go forward, deathly worried about Ruoxi. "Could you lend him a weapon?" He requested of Asael.

Asael paused, he had no intentions of turning Dulce down, but he doubted Ruoxi even knew how to wield a weapon. He thought of the Incubus’ raw power when he fought and tossed over a two-handed battle axe.

Ruoxi lifted it with a single hand in disapproval, he could feel himself turning into a brainless brute the longer he held it. He felt another stinging sensation, this time over his chest.

He tossed the battle axe over a shoulder without care, his unbelted robe swirling around him, just before he warped next to the Shadow Assassin closest to him, punching him away again.

Ruoxi held no animosity towards the Shadow Demons, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them if he had to. When a strange notched sword fell into his hands, it caught his interest long enough not to be thrown over a shoulder again.

Na’im and Elaid only grew more and more tense, they were unsurprised by a Shadow Demon interfering but his strange weapon was incredibly surprising. Able to change shape at will, and in the hands of an unnaturally powerful Incubus, they might very well be in genuine danger.

With curiosity in his eyes, Ruoxi tentatively swung the weapon, watching as it fluidly transformed into a whip, its black blades unnaturally sharp.

"Not bad," He muttered, admiring the weapon’s design.

Understanding the nature of the weapon now, he wielded it with ease, swinging the whip sword around dangerously.

The Shadow Assassins brought out their weapons in silent agreement. Shadow Demons weren’t regarded as harbingers of doom for no reason, being bought out was common, but backing out of a mission they had agreed to was nearly unheard of.

So though the situation grew more and more tense, they had never once considered backing off. Their options were quickly dwindling, now they could only incapacitate the Incubus before grave harm was done to either party.

Ruoxi stilled his sword when he felt two more sharp strings, and then two more scowling. Cold was starting to claw at his insides, the black veins spreading, his breathing stifled.

The light, sweet scent of lotus heralded danger, and as Ruoxi used his charm ability, he was reminded of what he had come to see when he stepped out of the portal.

His mother, who was as serene as a willow tree amidst lotus ponds, was using the very ability he had only gotten after centuries of absorbing a Holy Demon’s essence.

She had been straining, but they were completely immobilized, her mark burning bright enough to bleed, her lustrous skin pale.

Ruoxi didn’t even know if he was strong enough to subdue Shadow Demons, there was an insurmountable difference between Vampires and elite Demon assassins.

This time, when the coiling sword whipped down on Na’im, he couldn’t lift his sword to deflect it, the rows of blades slashing into him with more force than if it had been a simple weapon attack.

The battle was decided in a few short moments, the clear blue lakes stained silver as the bodies of the assassins sank into the depthless lake.

The whip sword dissipated into black mist as Ruoxi fell down on one knee, Qingyi yelling out his name. But he turned to the side, to where Dulce had also called out to him in worry, at his side in the next moment.

Ruoxi leaned his upper body against the Vampire, still down on a knee. "Are you worried about me?" He managed to tease in a raspy voice even as his throat closed up from the poison.

"Don’t speak," Dulce held him close, easily holding up the Demon. "Asael, do you have another antidote with you?"

The three Demons closed the distance for the first time, staring down at the duo wrapped around each other.

"You look fine to me," Kath’tan muttered, glancing around.

Caedos silently agreed, "Let’s leave first, he’ll meet us at the cottage."