Chapter 105: Kill Erik

The black veins gradually sank beneath Saraya’s skin, as though they had never existed.

She walked a little farther, then suddenly shook her head. The sorrowful expression on her face slowly disappeared, replaced by a chill that made her seem like a completely different person.

"No."

She continued forward and spoke softly, her voice now completely free of hesitation.

"I have to kill Erik."

...

At the deepest level beneath the Men’s Council headquarters.

The space here was completely different from the luxurious reception rooms above. The walls were made of black stone, with red runes running through every seam and glowing faintly. The entire room was steeped in a dim light, as though it lay inside the body of some enormous creature.

Zeka sat in a magical chair at the center of the room. Two Succubi stood behind him, carefully holding up his long white hair, which nearly reached the floor. His claws, each more than half a meter long, rested on the armrests.

Directly before him, a Succubus knelt on the floor with a large crystal sphere in her arms. Inside it, the image of Saraya walking through the bar’s hallway was displayed with perfect clarity. Every so often, the black veins beneath Saraya’s skin would flash before swiftly vanishing again.

Zeka watched for a moment, then gave a disdainful snort.

"Rank S."

There was not the slightest interest or surprise in his voice as he commented coldly, "And a few words were enough to turn her into this."

The Succubus holding the sphere trembled faintly and immediately lowered her head further. More than ten other Succubi stood around the room, waiting on him, but none dared to look Zeka in the eye.

The image inside the sphere continued to change. Saraya had now left the resting floor and was making her way downstairs.

The Succubus holding the sphere watched for a while longer. At last, she seemed unable to endure it any longer. She swallowed hard, then cautiously spoke.

"God Zeka..."

Zeka did not turn toward her. He only replied evenly, "Speak."

The woman’s hands instinctively tightened around the sphere. She knew she should not ask, but fear could not completely conceal the unease in her heart.

"Is... is this really all right?"

Zeka’s gaze slowly shifted toward her, and the Succubus’s face immediately turned pale. But the words had already been spoken, so she could only continue, her voice trembling even more clearly.

"If Silver Moon discovers that someone used a Forbidden Mind Art on a Rank S Succubus, then traces the mana and finds out that the Council is involved..."

Zeka looked at her for several seconds before asking softly, "Are you questioning me?"

The Succubus’s body shook violently.

"No!"

She hurriedly set down the crystal sphere and threw herself flat against the floor. "I did not mean that, God Zeka."

Zeka continued to look at her.

That silence was more terrifying than any shout. The woman grew even more panicked and hurriedly tried to explain.

"I am only worried that this might affect your plans. I would never dare question you. I only—"

Zeka slowly raised one hand.

A black pen appeared in his palm.

The entire room fell silent.

The kneeling Succubus lifted her head. The moment she saw that device, all the blood seemed to drain from her face. Almost on instinct, she crawled forward as tears quickly welled up in her eyes.

"No... God Zeka, please."

Zeka merely watched her calmly.

The woman became even more terrified. As she crawled toward his chair, she kept pleading, "I was wrong! I will not ask again. Please forgive me. I will obey you. I will do anything you ask of me."

Zeka placed his finger on the control button.

Seeing that motion, the Succubus began to shake uncontrollably.

"Please!"

She nearly screamed in terror. "I will never—"

Click.

Zeka pressed the button.

The woman’s words stopped at once.

Her body convulsed violently. Both arms braced against the stone floor, her nails clawing hard at the surface and producing a harsh scraping sound. Her mouth opened, but her throat seemed to have lost the ability to scream. Only ragged, choked sounds were forced out.

"Ugh... ah..."

Red veins began to rise from her neck and quickly spread. At first, there was only a single thin line, but within seconds, dozens of red veins crawled over her face, spilled down her shoulders, and ran along both arms.

The Succubus stared wide-eyed at Zeka, trying to beg him, but her voice was now so weak that it was almost impossible to hear.

"Please... my lord..."

Zeka did not react in the slightest.

He only watched.

The woman’s skin swiftly turned red. Blood began to seep from every pore. At first, it was only a thin red mist, but the blood continued to increase until it slowly began to run down her body in streams.

She tried to crawl toward the chair one more time, but had not even moved half a meter before her arm went limp. Her body collapsed to one side, while the red veins beneath her skin continued to swell, causing her flesh to gradually lose its original shape.

Her shoulders distorted first, followed by her arms, her face, and then the rest of her body.

There was no violent explosion. No blood and flesh splattered across the room. Her body simply lost its shape little by little, like a block of ice left beneath the sun, slowly melting away.

Except what spread across the floor was not water, but dark red fluid.

Several dozen seconds later, nothing remained where the Succubus had been kneeling except a pool of blood slowly widening across the stone floor.

The crystal sphere still lay beside it.

Inside, Saraya continued walking, as though she had no idea that someone had just died merely for daring to ask a question related to her.

Not a single Succubus in the room dared to make a sound.

One woman standing near the door bit her lip so hard that blood began to seep out, yet she still did not dare let go. The woman beside her hid both hands inside her sleeves, her fingers clenched so tightly that her nails pierced her palms. Her entire arm trembled faintly.

Another Succubus lowered her head even further. At last, she could no longer hold back her tears, and one fell onto the floor.

A very soft sound rang out.

Drip.

In a room so silent that no one dared breathe too loudly, the sound was terrifyingly clear.

Zeka slowly turned his head.

The woman who had cried immediately went rigid, cold sweat covering her body. Fortunately, Zeka’s gaze did not settle on her. He was only looking at the pool of blood in front of his chair.

His brows drew together slightly.

After a moment, Zeka lifted one long hand to cover his nose, a clear look of disgust appearing on his face.

"Dirty."

No one dared respond.

Zeka glanced at the nearest Succubus and ordered, "Replace the floor."

The woman immediately trembled and bowed her head. "Yes..."

Zeka looked around the room again.

The blood was almost entirely confined to the floor. Only a few droplets had splashed onto the legs of a low table, while the sofa, carpet, and curtains remained perfectly clean.

Yet the displeasure in his eyes only grew.

"No."

The servant who had been about to call someone stopped at once.

Zeka calmly amended his order.

"Replace all the furnishings."

The Succubus lowered her head even further. "Yes, God Zeka."

He did not spare the pool of blood another glance. Instead, he returned his attention to the crystal sphere.

Inside it, Saraya had stepped out of the bar.

Watching her figure walk down the street, Zeka’s lips slowly curved upward.

"Let her go."

A Succubus standing behind him trembled faintly, but no one dared ask where he wanted Saraya to go or what he intended for her to do.

Zeka leaned back in his chair. His long claws tapped slowly against the armrest as his gaze remained fixed on the figure inside the sphere.

"I want to see..."

The smile on his lips deepened.

"...how Erik will deal with a Rank S Succubus who wants to kill him."

In the corner of the room, the Succubus who had accidentally shed a tear silently closed her eyes. She felt another tear sliding down from the corner of her eye and hurriedly tilted her head, letting it soak into her hair before it could fall to the floor.

This time, she did not dare allow even the slightest sound to escape.