性瘾者

"TTEOKBOKKI, Skewer," Neoma said, summoning her major weapon and her Soul Beast. "It\'s time to execute what we\'ve been practicing lately."

The Lynx Ring that served as a storage device that hid her accessories shone brightly.

Then, the mini version of the Death Scythe that dangled as a pendant of her hidden choker sparkled before it turned into a fine dust. But it didn\'t disappear. The fine dust reappeared above her right hand until Skewer materialized.

She wasn\'t using the Death Scythe\'s replica– this time, it was the real deal. Trevor returned the Death Scythe to her before he left for the Spirit World with Nero. Since he didn\'t need the Death Scythe to protect his lair anymore, he just returned it to her.

And since it was the original Death Scythe, she was able to easily adjust its size to fit her small body. After all, the original size of the scythe was too big for her to swing.

[Of course, my Skewer is customized. In the past, I only changed the handle\'s color into baby pink– my favorite shade of pink. But this time, with Trevor\'s help before he left, we changed the silver blade into baby pink as well.]

"Crown Prince," Xion said, his pupils shaking as if he was still in disbelief. "Do you really remember me?"

"Yes," she said, then she swung Skewer while lighting up the curved blade with Tteokbokki\'s red flame. [Tteokbokki, change your flame to pink!]

<"No,"> Tteokbokki firmly said in her mind. <"I won\'t change my red flame to pink, you thug princess! That violates my right as a Soul Beast! If you force me to change my flame\'s color, I will file a formal complaint against you!">

She naturally ignored her Soul Beast\'s whining.

Plus, Xion finally moved.

The assassin disappeared suddenly, catching her off-guard. It was as if he blended into the dark. She couldn\'t even hear his footsteps or the sound of his breath. Worse, she also couldn\'t feel his Mana.

[Stealth, huh?]

Since she couldn\'t detect the human, she focused on the divine power of the god that she saw earlier. Her glowing red eyes soon met a pair of other red eyes above her.

Clank.

The sound of a blade clashing against another blade broke the night\'s eerie silence as Xion appeared in front of her.

Sizzle.

The next sound was like the sound of samgyupsal getting barbecued on the grill. It came from Tteokbokki\'s flame, licking the blade of Xion\'s dagger. Eventually, the flame grew bigger and swallowed the blade whole until it melted.

"Damn," Xion cursed under his breath before dropping the melting dagger to the ground.

But his attack didn\'t end there.

The assassin threw several blades at her while jumping backward to create a significant distance between them.

"Skewer," she said, ordering her major weapon to do her bidding. "Baton form."

Skewer\'s curved blade turned into ashes, and the scythe\'s holder turned into a baby pink staff. Now it looked like the baton that a majorette would use. Now that it was easier to handle, she twirled the staff in her hand to block the daggers approaching her.

She\'d love to burn and melt the daggers, but she was conserving her Mana.

That moment of distraction almost cost her and arm. A sharp, Mana-infused dagger pierced through her shoulder blade as if it had the intention of cutting her arm off. If she wasn\'t wearing her Coat– the Holy Barrier that covered her whole body, taught by the former saint– she would have received a grave injury.

Thanks to her Coat, the Mana-infused dagger simply bounced off of her.

[And yes, this is the reason I\'m conserving my energy. The former Saint Zavaroni would often tell me that the Coat requires a lot of Mana when in use.]

"Hah!" Xion said when his feet landed on the ground without a sound. The significant distance between them made her realize he was a long-range attacker. It was befitting of an assassin like him. "What an absolute defense."

"My master taught me well," she said with a smirk, then she punched a hole in the ground by stabbing it with her staff– creating cracks all over. Then, the staff changed back to its original form with its curved blade still burning in red flame. "But I\'m also good at attacking."

Red flame emerged from the cracks that led to where Xion was standing.

The assassin jumped high to avoid the growing flame.

"Tteokbokki, catch him," she ordered her Soul Beast. "Or else, you have to change the color of your flame to my favorite color!"

<"Argh!">

Tteokbokki groaned as if complaining, but the red flame between the cracks grew as high as the Mother Hisa Tree.

[Hehe.]

She saw the edge of the flame turn into something like a whip. Then, the whip-like flame wrapped itself around Xion\'s ankle. The assassin groaned in agony as his ankle was burned immediately.

"Bring him down, Tteokbokki!"

Tteokbokki, that damned reptile, threw Xion in her direction.

"Mochi," she summoned the Wind Spirit this time. "Give me wings."

<"As you wish, Your Royal Highness.">

It was Mochi\'s voice, but the white bunny didn\'t materialize.

Instead, she felt an icy breeze on her back. It gently carried her until she was on the same level as Xion who was approaching her as if a catapult had thrown him. At this rate, she\'d get hurt if they clashed.

"Soju," she said, summoning her Water Spirit. "Drown him."

<"Sure, sweetheart.">

Like Mochi, Soju didn\'t materialize as well.

But she felt the Water Spirit\'s power when Xion suddenly stopped moving while still suspended in the air. Then, suddenly, an enormous sphere of water appeared and swallowed the assassin.

Xion immediately reached for his neck while struggling to breathe.

"Soju, don\'t kill him," she said as she moved through the air with Mochi\'s help. "Drop him once he\'s unconscious."

<"Understood, sweetheart.">

She moved past Xion trapped in Soju\'s Water Sphere to chase after the shadow of a man with red eyes. The "god" was running away from her.

"Tteokbokki, is it really a god?"

<"It could only be a god,"> Tteokbokki said. <"Only gods have red eyes. And oh, people like you, too. But since you only have the blood of a god, your eye color only turn into red when you experience a powerful emotion.">

"Is there a possibility that it\'s the same case for that shadow bastard?"

<"No, those eyes are authentic eyes of a god.">

"Then, can we kill it?"

Her Soul Beast fell silent for a while.

Then, Tteokbokki laughed. <"It\'s already weakened, but it\'s still a god so I can\'t say that I\'m confident. Still… let\'s try it!">

She laughed with her Soul Beast.

Then she stopped while still suspended in the air. She realized she couldn\'t close the distance between her and the god who was escaping fast.

"Skewer," she said. "Spear mode."

The scythe\'s curved blade strengthened and shortened like a spearhead. She stopped moving in the air and gripped the staff tightly. Then, without further ado, she threw it as if she was a Javelin athlete, even though she rarely used that kind of attack.

It only worked because of her natural strength as a de Moonasterio.

[Bull\'s eye!]

Skewer, in the form of a spear, flew straight to the god and pierced through the shadow\'s chest. As a result, the god plummeted to the ground.

Mochi then safely put her down next to the shadow man.

"Tteokbokki said that you\'re too weak for a god," she said as she looked down at the god full of malice. "But I didn\'t expect you to be this weak."

The god, who was on the ground lying on his stomach with Skewer still pierced through their chest, laughed. Then, the god looked up at her with glowing red eyes. "I see," the god said while looking at her as if they were examining her face. "You\'re a de Moonasterio– the descendant of Yule."

"Ah," she said. "You probably recognized me because of my hair and eye color."

"No, you\'re covered by a weird mist that I couldn\'t see your features clearly," the god said calmly. "I just recognized you as Yule\'s descendant because of your sheer arrogance. Only a de Moonasterio would talk down to a god."

She let out a fake cough out of embarrassment.

[Tsk. Why am I born this arrogant? Is this Papa Boss\'s fault?]

Anyway…

"Are you a male or a female?" she asked carefully. "I mean, your voice sounds manly. But you may never know."

"I\'m a male."

"May I know your name?"

"I don\'t remember," the god said. "But the family who worships me call me \'Lord Redgrave.\'"

"I see."

She grabbed the staff, then she moved the spear from the god\'s body.

As soon as she did, the god\'s appearance changed.

His shadow form turned into a human appearance. Now he looked like an old man in his early fifties with long gray hair and red eyes. His skin was tanned, and he wore a white robe with red accents. Just like the only god that she had met so far, Redgrave also looked otherworldly, just like Yule despite looking old.

"Little de Moonasterio," Redgrave said with a bitter smile on his face. "Your breath smells… nice."

Those words were creepy.

But they weren\'t the reason she swung her scythe and jumped backward to create a distance between her and the creepy god.

Suddenly, Redgrave stood up. She didn\'t notice it when he was lying down earlier. But damn, the god was tall. He was at least seven feet tall, and his limbs were long. For a nine-year-old child with a petite form like her, Redgrave looked like a tower.

And that tower attacked her.

Well, he wasn\'t holding a weapon or anything, but his malice that was directed at her made her shiver. Then, much to her chagrin, she found herself frozen on the spot while being crushed by the god\'s pure bloodlust.

She couldn\'t move an inch, and her body trembled in fear.

[I am… scared?]

Her thoughts were interrupted when Redgrave squatted down and grabbed her face roughly.

The calmness in the god\'s eyes earlier turned into a frenzy. Now he looked like a man who had lost his sanity. And the worst of all? His insanity seemed to be focused on her.

"Do you think I allowed you to "catch" me just to have a shallow conversation with you, little de Moonasterio?" Redgrave asked in an arrogant voice. But he wasn\'t smiling. That made him look scarier. "You let your guard down easily just because you realized that I\'m in my weakened state, didn\'t you?"

She wanted to retort, but she couldn\'t find the right words to say.

After all, the god was correct.

She really let her guard down.

[Fuck. I never learn.]

"Your breath," Redgrave said, then he inched his face closer to hers and closed his eyes. "You\'re literally breathing life into me."

That gave her goosebumps.

But she didn\'t have time to react when suddenly, Redgrave grabbed her face harder until her mouth formed an \'O.\' Then he literally sucked her breath out of her mouth and inhaled it.

So. Fucking. Disgusting.

An ungodly amount of rage rose in her chest. As soon as her anger was awakened, a distinct presence inside her had woken up as well.

She knew who it was even without checking.

"Crimson," she said coldly, summoning the other personality of Tteokbokki– the vicious side of her Soul Beast. Ah, now that anger replaced her fear, her body finally stopped trembling, and she found her voice again. "Burn this disgusting god to ashes."

Her head hurt when Crimson\'s demonic laugh filled her head.

But she endured it.

A moment later, a ring of fire emerged from the ground. If she would compare Tteokbokki\'s flame with Crimson\'s, then Tteokbokki\'s flame would be the spark from a match, while Crimson\'s flame would be Hellfire itself.

"Hot," Redgrave complained, then he was forced to let go of her face and jumped away from her.

But he had nowhere else to go.

They were now surrounded by Crimson\'s flame. Unlike Tteokbokki\'s, Crimson\'s flame was pitch black.

"Hah!" Redgrave said as if impressed. "Why do you have a scary amount of demonic power stored in you, little de Moonasterio?"

She was about to snap at the god when she realized something.

[Lord Redgrave suddenly looks… young?]

His gray hair turned black, the wrinkles on his face smoothened, and now he looked like a man in his twenties.

[He looks lanky earlier but he looks a little bulkier now.]

"Are you surprised by my change of appearance?" Redgrave asked while smiling. Then, he opened his arms and motioned to himself. "This all thanks to you, little de Moonasterio."

She tilted her head to one side. If she would rewind all the creepy things that Redgrave had done to her, she could only arrive at one conclusion. "Ah, so this is why you said my breath literally breathes life into you."

"You don\'t seem surprised."

"Why would I get surprised?" she asked, then she motioned to herself with one hand. "Isn\'t it only natural that every inch and part of me is special?"

The god laughed at her. "That\'s going to be a problem, little de Moonasterio. But you don\'t seem to realize how your existence as an Aether endangers your life."

"Aether?" she asked, confused. "What is that?"

"Aether is the pure air that gods in the Upper World breathe," Redgrave explained. "But the old Aether in the Upper World is slowly dying now. And thus, the air they breathe in has become polluted recently. What do you think they\'ll do if they find out that you, little de Moonasterio, have the potential to become the next Aether?"

The answer wasn\'t that hard to guess.

[They\'re probably going to make me an air purifier or something.]

"I\'m nothing but a lesser god," Redgrave said, then he put one hand on his chest. "But if I tell the gods in the Upper World about how I discovered the next Aether, maybe the Major Gods will give me a spot up there?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But Lord Redgrave, do you know?" she asked, then she smiled sweetly at her. "Dead men tell no tales?"

"Are you saying that you\'re going to kill me?"

"Uh-huh," she said, then she created a Dome over the ring of fire that Crimson created earlier.

Yes, now she and Redgrave were trapped inside the dome with fire.

Redgrave laughed when he realized his plan. "I may be a lesser god with a human body right now," he said. "But you\'re underestimating me too much if you think that killing me with smoke would work."

"It will work, Lord Redgrave," she said, then her gaze went past the god. "I\'ll just have to imitate what you did earlier."

Crimson, in his human form, appeared behind Redgrave and grabbed the god\'s face until his mouth formed an \'O.\' The god looked surprised, but the whips of fire that wrapped themselves around his body prevented him from moving. "Hello, nameless god," Crimson greeted Redgrave. "My name is Crimson– the God of Wrath."

Redgrave was about to speak when suddenly, a whip of black flame covered his mouth.

"Hold him like that, Crimson," Neoma said, then she took a deep breath. Mochi, the Wind Spirit, was helping her fill her lungs with clean air. "I will suck the life out of Lord Redgrave now."

***

THE SUN Priestess opened her eyes after a shocking vision entered her mind while she was praying.

A god\'s death.

Granted that it was a lesser god whose physical body had weakened already, a god was still a god.

[No way…]

The Sun Priestess smiled in disbelief. "Are you telling me that a nine-year-old child has killed a god?"

Well, the little de Moonasterio wasn\'t alone.

She saw the God of Wrath help her. But still, killing a god was a huge feat that not even Nikolai de Moonasterio– the strongest de Moonasterio born in history– had ever accomplished.

[But then again, only crazy people pick a fight with gods.]

"Should we wake him up?" her aide asked while lighting the candles on the altar. "Didn\'t little Ruto tell you to wake him up if the little de Moonasterio\'s life is in danger?"

"The little de Moonasterio\'s life isn\'t in danger though."

"But little Ruto said–"

"Yoan doesn\'t need to wake up for something so trivial," the Sun Priestess said cheerfully. "A god slayer is a bad match-up for our future king."

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