Ye Bai opened her auxiliary skill panel and spotted the newly acquired life skill ‘Deception I’.
【Deception I】: Active skill. When used, the target’s likelihood of believing your lies increases by 40%. Cannot be used on the sa target within 30 minutes. Consus 20 stamina points.
In simple terms, this skill could be called the ‘Art of Bluffing’. Its core chanism was making the target more susceptible to deception—though its effectiveness still depended on the circumstances and the individual, as the skill rely amplified existing conditions.
For instance, if soone already trusted Ye Bai, using Deception would ensure they’d believe almost anything she said, as long as the lie wasn’t too outrageous. But if used on a devil who had just realized they’d been tricked? That would undoubtedly fail.
Still, aside from obtaining Alicio’s true na, acquiring a life skill like this was an unexpected boon for Ye Bai. Such skills often proved unexpectedly useful in certain situations.
Watching the devil Alicio still lost in existential despair, Ye Bai waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve technically fulfilled the contract, haven’t I? You’re out now, aren’t you?”
Hearing this, Alicio’s face turned green. “So I should thank you, is that it?”
Compared to his current predicant—having his true na unilaterally controlled—Alicio would rather have stayed trapped in Iris’s cage. At least then, escape would have been possible. But now, with Ye Bai holding his true na, she had him by the throat. Unless she willingly released him, he could never break free.
Fundantally, a devil’s soul resided in their true na. They drew power from their contracted partners, but the contract also bound them in return. Devils were just experts at exploiting loopholes, ensuring the contracts they signed were always one-sided. Revealing a true na was supposed to impose even greater restrictions on the contractor.
Under normal circumstances, even if a devil was defeated and their true na exposed to a demigod or divine-level entity, it was simply a matter of overwhelming power—an unavoidable outco.
But now, as a devil renowned for deception, Alicio had been tricked into surrendering his true na. He was probably the first in all of the Infernal Realm to suffer such humiliation. He felt too ashad to even show his face in the Infernal Realm anymore!
Ye Bai, anwhile, responded with a magnanimous smile. “No need for thanks. We’re practically family now.”
Alicio’s expression twisted through shades of green, blue, and purple before he finally let out an unhinged scream: “Aaaah! Who the hell is family with you—?!”
The next mont, the shrieking Alicio vanished from Ye Bai’s sight, forcibly returned to the Infernal Lord’s prison.
Ye Bai had manually ‘muted’ Alicio, giving him a harsh reminder of his new reality.
As for Alicio reporting her to this layer’s Infernal Lord, Iris? Ye Bai wasn’t worried in the slightest. With his true na in her grasp, a single thought could end him. Given a devil’s innate fear of death, such betrayal was impossible.
Turning to the Paper Man, Ye Bai brought up the intel she’d extracted from Alicio: “About the Abyss being hidden in the Infernal Realm—did you know that?”
The Paper Man shook his head. “The Abyss lies at the edge of the surface world. My range of movent through text is limited to the Sky City’s vicinity. However…” He paused, then mused, “The coordinates and information about the Abyss were verified by the contract. With the devil’s true na under your control, perhaps you could attempt to explore it. If the Abyss is indeed nestled within the Infernal Realm’s dinsional seams, it might serve as a passage between different layers.”
Ye Bai nodded slowly. The Paper Man’s thoughts aligned with hers.
Unlike their prior knowledge of the underground dungeons, the Paper Man had little intel on the Infernal Realm. He could only confirm that the quest item was sowhere deep within—but which layer and exact location required further exploration.
Much like the spatial rifts leading to the surface, the passages between Infernal layers weren’t fixed. They shifted unpredictably, requiring extensive trial and error to navigate. So rifts even skipped layers—jumping from the third to the seventh, or the seventh to the fourth.
The only guaranteed path was defeating the Infernal Lord of a given layer, which would reveal a stable passage.
But Infernal Lords were, at minimum, demigod-level bosses. Despite being far ahead of other players in level, Ye Bai was self-aware. Against a demigod, she wouldn’t last five skills.
Originally, Ye Bai had planned to rely on her Perfect Mask to explore the Infernal Realm incognito. But as the Paper Man suggested, the devil’s intel opened new possibilities.
The Abyss, a colossal realm now ‘hidden’ within the Infernal Realm’s spatial fabric, might function as a ‘shared space’—like a vertical tunnel cutting through a chaotic maze. Using it, she could traverse layers more efficiently.
Moreover, Ye Bai was deeply curious about how the Abyss, which had vanished from the surface, ended up in the Infernal Realm.
Had the devil’s soul contract not confird it, even Ye Bai—a fantasy ga developer—wouldn’t have imagined such a fantastical plot twist.
Having made her decision, Ye Bai prepared to set out again.
Then, she suddenly rembered sothing. Holding up the magic scroll, she asked the Paper Man:
“Naless, can you try morphing into a few more scripts?”
“Hm?”
Though puzzled, the Paper Man obliged, cycling through all the magical scripts he could manifest.
【You have gained 10 proficiency in ‘Elvish’.】
【You have gained 10 proficiency in ‘Abyssal’.】
【You have gained 10 proficiency in ‘Ethereal’.】
The Paper Man could only transform into magical scripts with inherent power. He cycled through Ancient Draconic, Demonic, Elvish, Abyssal, and Ethereal—but only the latter three granted Ye Bai additional language proficiency through her Historian subclass.
She quickly confird that while the Paper Man’s transformations were effective, each language could only be ‘fard’ once. Repeated attempts, even with different content, yielded no further gains.
“No such luck, huh…”
Still, every little bit counted. After a brief sigh, Ye Bai resud her journey.
With the magic scroll bearing the Paper Man in her left hand and her mystical donkey trailing behind, she followed a faint glowing light toward the spatial rift Alicio had ntioned.
This spatial rift was indeed extrely well-hidden, tucked within a crevice beneath a massive stone platform—the kind of spot that would be perfect for 'wall-clipping' in traditional keyboard-based gas.
As Ye Bai approached the rift, she received a system notification:
[You have discovered a spatial rift leading to an unknown region. Proceed?]
The item offered in Alicio the devil's deal was, of course, not entirely trustworthy—aning the environnt beyond the rift wasn’t necessarily safe for Ye Bai.
However, since she had co this far, she was naturally prepared.
"Alicio Bal Croni..."
At her call, the devil Alicio once again tore through space. A swirl of black mist later, he appeared before Ye Bai, floating like a deflated balloon.
Alicio currently resembled a wilted cabbage leaf, likely having suffered a major setback in a short span of ti. His incorporeal form had visibly shrunk.
After being forcibly 'cald' for a while, he glanced at Ye Bai with a dejected air. "What do you want now?"
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the surroundings, quickly recognizing the rift leading to the abyssal depths. His expression shifted. "Don’t tell you’re planning to—"
"Of course, I’m sending you ahead to scout. You’re more familiar with what’s inside," Ye Bai finished his thought.
"Fine." Alicio nodded, resigned to his fate.
Under the summoning contract, unless Ye Bai actively restrained him, the devil could move within a certain range.
Following her instructions, Alicio drifted into the spatial rift. Monts later, at Ye Bai’s ntal command, he erged again.
Devils inherently possessed teleportation abilities, making him oddly suited for this task.
Not just this rift—any future rifts could also be scouted by him.
At the very least, it would significantly reduce the risks of her blindly stepping into potential 'instant-death by overpowered foes' or 'environntal hazards.'
"Inside is an unnad island. It’s safe," Alicio announced, spinning in place to demonstrate his unscathed state.
No matter how earnest the devil acted, Ye Bai wouldn’t take his word at face value—but she also knew his weaknesses well.
She nodded. "Good. I’ll follow you in. If I encounter any danger the mont I arrive, I’ll still have ti to obliterate you."
Alicio froze mid-spin, glancing at the crimson chain around his neck before muttering sullenly, "I know."
"Excellent. Proceed."
Alicio vanished into the rift again. Shortly after, Ye Bai summoned him back, unhard.
"Convinced now?" Alicio grumbled.
This ti, Ye Bai smiled. "Can’t be helped. Devils aren’t exactly known for their credibility."
Alicio rolled his eyes dramatically. "And you are?"
Ye Bai spread her hands. "Did I or did I not get you out of that prison cell?"
Alicio: "..."
After his latest scouting trip, Ye Bai didn’t delay further. Signaling Autofis to follow, she stepped through the rift.
The sensation of traversal washed over her, and soon, she felt herself breach an intangible barrier.
The next mont, her vision brightened. A cool breeze brushed her face, carrying the briny scent of seawater—a stark contrast to the hellish environnt she’d left behind.
Then, another system notification appeared:
[You are affected by an unknown force...]
Ye Bai’s heart lurched. She hurriedly checked her status and found a new buff labeled '[Unknown Aura Influence],' though its effects lacked further description.
She shot a glance at Alicio, who feigned ignorance ahead of her, then scrutinized her stats. Whether positive or negative, buffs always left traces on her attributes.
It didn’t take long to spot the anomaly: her stamina was draining several tis faster than usual.
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