"Co out," deia’s voice echoed through the room. "Your queen has arrived. How dare you not welco properly?"
The room stayed silent for so long that deia could hear her own heartbeat. The underground chamber was completely sealed from the outside world, not even the howling snowstorm above could be heard from within.
She walked slowly, her boots clicking against the cold stone floor as she approached the altar in the center. The scent of blood had long faded, but the stains were still there, dark, dried patches that told stories no one wanted to rember.
Looking at them, she could imagine how many children had been sacrificed here. This place had witnessed the cries of countless parents whose children had their hearts ripped out by monsters.
"Where was your Lord while you were trapped here?" deia asked, tossing the silver dagger in her hand casually. "Did he abandon you?"
Not long after, she finally heard a voice. It sounded low and raspy, the kind of voice that hadn’t tasted water in years. "Our Lord would never abandon us."
deia tilted her head toward the corner of the room, where an old tal cabinet sat. Through the slightly open door, she could see a pair of red eyes peering out at her.
"You’re not our queen," the voice growled. There was a pause, then a bitter hiss. "Our Lord doesn’t need a filthy woman at his side."
Well, that made it clear. In this world, Satan truly was considered the Lord of Hell. After seeing the runes and carvings in this chamber, he looked more like the ruler of Hell than just one of its princes.
"Your Lord must be awfully dull if he can’t handle a woman," deia laughed softly. Then she tilted her head. "It’s funny you still believe in him after all these years... after he left you here to rot."
The cabinet door creaked open. Before deia could blink, the creature with the red eyes crawled out and rushed toward her, suddenly stopping just inches from her face.
He was barely alive. Just bones stretched tight under dry, grey skin. His eyes bulged, wild and sunken, and when he breathed, the sll of rotten flesh hit her like a slap. She flinched slightly.
She took a step back, only to bump into sothing solid behind her.
Another demon. She had no idea when he’d gotten there.
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. So, they weren’t low-ranking demons after all.
It seed the runes made by Tian’s mother were considered powerful in this world, but compared to the ones from deia’s own world, they were much weaker.
"He didn’t abandon us," the demon in front of her said.
deia’s disgust deepened as she looked at his mouth because his teeth were completely rotted.
"He told us that one day, soone would co and free us from our suffering."
"We didn’t understand what he ant at the ti," the demon behind her whispered, his breath brushing against her ear. "But after so wretched woman sealed us inside this place ... we finally understood what that suffering ant."
deia nodded slowly. "I see. I guess that bastard can really see the future."
Suddenly, the demon behind her grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked it hard, forcing her head back. Her body arched slightly from the pull.
"Watch your mouth, you filthy woman!" the demon snarled, his voice echoing through the chamber. "How dare you insult our Lord?!"
deia stared into his glowing red eyes with a blank expression. Then, calmly, she said, "Let go." She warned once more, her voice cool and sharp. "I don’t like being touched."
They weren’t just low-ranking demons, but they had been rotting in this place for far too long. Their bodies hadn’t consud any nutrients or water in years. Even though they were still alive, they were nothing more than broken shells.
The only problem was ... they could still move fast.
So fast, in fact, that deia didn’t even notice more demons creeping toward her. Before she realized it, she was surrounded, standing in the center of a circle of decayed demons.
Their glowing red eyes stared straight at her, looking at her like a al, one that could finally satisfy their hunger.
"You stepped into this chamber," one of them growled. "So you should already know, the only thing leaving this room will be your bones."
"Our Lord said," another hissed, "that if we consu you, our bodies will beco stronger."
"You have magic," the demon behind her said. "You can summon water."
At this point, deia had to admit, she was impressed by how accurate their Lord’s visions were.
But that wasn’t surprising. So demons were gifted with the ability to see the future. Even Lucifer could see it with ease.
Unfortunately for him, Lucifer couldn’t predict his own fate. Or hers. That was why deia had once managed to trap him.
"So what if I can?" she said calmly. "Why would I give my water to any of you?"
She grabbed the wrist of the demon who was still holding onto her hair, her voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. "Let. . Go."
She squeezed tighter, and a soft crack echoed in the air, bone beginning to snap under the pressure, but the demon didn’t even flinch.
Most demons had a high pain tolerance. Even with his wrist on the verge of breaking, he looked completely unfazed.
Since the demon still refused to let go of her hair, deia didn’t waste another second. With one swift motion, she swung the silver dagger and sliced through his wrist.
The mont the blade touched him, his rotten flesh hissed, steam rising as if it had been thrown into fire. The silver burned him from the inside out.
The demon let out a piercing scream, stumbling backward and clutching the stump where his hand used to be. His eyes, once glowing with hunger, now burned with rage.
[The Dagger of the Hollow Fla is Activated.]
[The demon’s soul has been burned by 7%.]
deia clicked her tongue in mild annoyance. "Only seven percent?"
Too low.
Then again, it made sense. She had only sliced through his wrist—not his entire arm or chest. The damage was minimal. Still, even that small amount had made the demon scream in agony.
That ant one thing: the dagger was working.
She glanced down at the blade, now faintly glowing with red-hot lines pulsing through its silver surface, and smiled. The dagger looked dull, but the mont it touched a demon’s flesh, it beca razor-sharp.
"This won’t take long," she whispered, stepping forward. "Let’s raise that percentage, shall we?"
Her eyes shifted to one of the demons who was trying to sneak away while the others were still focused on the one with the burning hand. Quietly, he crept along the edge of the room, moving faster and faster toward the door.
Unfortunately for him, deia noticed.
Without hesitation, she spoke in a low voice, "Activate the wings."
She held her breath, bracing herself for the pain that would co the mont the wings pierced through her back.
[Wings have been activated.]
[Pain has been reduced by 95%.]
The pain was still there, but so faint that deia barely felt it. Compared to the agony she experienced the first ti she used her wings, this was nothing at all.
The smile on her face slowly widened as she realized—she could finally use her wings again without fearing the pain.
Within seconds, she moved them and soared through the air, flying straight toward the door. As she landed in front of the demon, black feathers rained down from above.
"Where do you think you’re going, my dearest demon?" she said, her voice low and cold. "This is a battleground. Unless you’re strong enough to kill , no one is getting out of here."
deia turned her head toward the others, her gaze sharp. "I’ll make you understand sothing," she said clearly. "I’m more than just a filthy woman."
Her voice dropped to a near-whisper. "I’m the Queen of Hell. And in my world, Satan is nothing compared to ."
Her true demonic body may have perished, but even in this form, she was still powerful, more than enough to handle these rotting demons.
She considered unleashing her full demonic strength, but the system had warned her about the arrival of the King of Worms. So no, she wouldn’t waste her energy on demons like them.
But just as she walked back toward them, the all-too-familiar, irritating voice of the system rang in her head: [Warning: Due to the system’s upgrade, Host’s strength is temporarily reduced by 15%.]
deia rolled her eyes. "Really? Now you tell ?"
The timing couldn’t be worse.
Still, even with the strength drop, she wasn’t worried.
Fifteen percent less power didn’t change the fact that she was still the most dangerous thing in this room.
Well, at least that’s what she believed. For so reason, she still trusted that Tian wouldn’t have asked her to enter this room if he wasn’t sure she could make it out alive.
And if the battleground didn’t end well, then maybe ... she could count on Lucian to clean up her ss.
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