Chapter 216: 216
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There was anger and bloodlust in her tone as her eyes were looking at Valentine like he was a cornered prey.
Not having the intention to reply, Valentine just took out the dagger and held the cane in his left hand, using it as a shield instead. He didn't want to risk using it again and getting a debilitating negative effect.
Stretching his hand in front of him, he began chanting again.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
The same illusory tendrils drilled into Eveline's head, affecting her next course of action. Valentine took a step back and got ready to capitalize on her next mistake with his sharp dagger in his right hand.
"Not killing is definitely more difficult than just straight up killing our targets, G," he mumbled a complaint.
Eveline's eyes that were projecting out strong killing intentions looked like they were burning in yellow flames in that dark tunnel. She was like a demon hunting an unsuspecting victim with her glowing eyes and sharp claws that looked like they could shred metal as easily as they could paper.
She dashed forward, but instead of aiming for Valentine, she attacked the sewer floor instead for some reason like it was some kind of enemy that must be killed.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Domination and Order, intensify your desire to attack the sewer floor!"
Crash! Crash!
Eveline began attacking the floor more vigorously without any sign of stopping. Her expression was twisted and her eyes were glowing even brighter.
Her sharp claws were gouging out pieces by pieces of concrete from the floor with ease until there was a hole in the floor. If it had been Valentine, he would have definitely died from those sharp claws.
Seizing his chance, he quickly got behind the woman and placed his hands around the woman's head while chanting.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, hereby erase all of Eveline Herrick's memories about me!"
Black smoke came out of his hands and entered the woman through her ears. Her face showed confusion for a split second but was quickly replaced by the same ferocity and bloodlust as she continued savagely destroying the floor.
Valentine had done what he came for, and he had a feeling that something was waiting for him back at the hotel, just like what had happened to Graham. However, he couldn't just leave the woman like that, or else she would chase him non-stop-- her unnatural obsession for killing hadn't been satisfied after all. He had to at least disable her so that she wouldn't be able to give chase or kill her if possible.
Raising the dagger up high above her neck, Valentine focused his power on it and made a quick and sudden downward movement.
Clank!
"If I can't break it, then let's just overwork it!"
Stab!
Valentine thrust his dagger and sank it into Eveline's back. The sharp metal cut open the flesh easily, but there was no blood coming out of the wound. In fact, his dagger was forced out by the flesh that was closing rapidly. The necklace was glowing all the while.
Stab!
While the woman was still unable to control herself, Valentine stabbed her one more time with all his strength. Again, there was no blood and the wound healed very quickly, leaving no scar. Eveline didn't even seem to be in pain from his attack-- or maybe she was, but her intensified desire to decimate the floor just made her ignore it.
He repeatedly stabbed the woman and her wounds kept on healing rapidly. She then regained control of her body and quickly turned around, aiming for Valentine's heart.
Clank!
Luckily, he was fast enough to block her claw with the indestructible cane!
Valentine quickly took a step back and watched as the woman was visibly exhausted from having her stamina drained to heal her wounds.
Suddenly, something under her dress glowed visibly, and in an instant, her exhaustion seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Eveline became as powerful as she was before.
"I don't know who you are, but I have a strong urge to kill you... Teehee..." she had a slightly confused look on her face since a 'stranger' was suddenly attacked her. However, the confusion was quickly replaced by bloodlust.
"Shit! That's another enhanced equipment? That one is able to return her stamina? What a bullshit combination!" Valentine complained while maintaining his distance.
The glowing object wasn't visible to him, so he couldn't use Reveal to see its full capability. He couldn't even try to take it out since it was placed somewhere he couldn't reach easily without disabling the woman, which was currently impossible.
"G, I have nothing that we can use against her. We need to switch right now!"
Sleeping was out of the question as long as he couldn't put her under his control effect to buy himself time. Although he had Graham's Order stored inside Purloin, he still needed time to completely switch, during which time Eveline could kill him with ease. He had no other choice but to provoke the woman.
"I bet your ugly ass can't make me fall in love with you!" he shouted with mockery.
Enraged, Eveline scratched her sharp long nails together in a threatening manner. Then, a smile surfaced on her face. Her heightened obsession for killing didn't seem to make her go berserk as shown by her ability to still think rationally. It must just make her unable to resist the urge to kill anyone she saw, whatever the method.
"You would regret making me do this... teehee..." with a chuckle and eyes full of bloodlust, she dashed towards Valentine, ready to shred the man into pieces. She seemed to have forgotten what the man was capable of, so it was easy to bait her.
Protecting himself with his cane, he managed to prevent her claws from sinking deep into his flesh. However, what she aimed for wasn't that. The moment she was close enough to him, she opened her mouth and began chanting seductively.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Lies and Attraction, hereby declare that you're in love with me!"
Valentine's body felt hot all of a sudden and his judgment became clouded. Although he knew he could do it easily, he didn't try to resist as it was what he wanted.
Once her ability took complete effect, Valentine strangely saw Eveline as a figure that looked very delicate and in need of protection. Her innocent round face and her kind smile made his heart beat faster. He didn't lower his weapons since her sharp nails still looked dangerous, but slowly, his desire to attack her diminished.
"Now do you want me? We can have fun before I gut you alive and use them to strangle you. If only those mists aren't covering your handsome face... teehee..."
Eveline's killing intent was still leaking out of her voice and body language, but to Valentine, it looked just like she was teasing him. His body felt warmer despite the cold sewer night. However, his grip on his weapons hadn't loosened since his sense of danger was still working.
"Now, let me take total control of you. It seems that you can still resist my charm," she said while looking at the cane and dagger that the man was still holding up. If she approached recklessly, the man would definitely attack her and her spell would be broken.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Lies and Attraction, hereby put the one in love with me under my total control!"
Valentine's consciousness began to quickly fade. He could faintly hear Eveline mumbling about him being her pet and what she would do to him before he finally fell unconscious.
Just when he began stumbling, suddenly his footing became steady again. Graham had taken over!
With a surprised look on her face, Eveline looked at her victim and knew something was wrong. She quickly dashed forward with her sharp nails forming a sharp spearhead.
Graham, who wasn't as fast as Valentine, could only guard against the attack using the cane after he barely managed to conjure an illusory flame to help him see. The woman's attack was too fast for him to dodge.
Clank!
The sound of strong, sharp claws hitting the indestructible material of the cane echoed in the sewer.
"How did you break free from my control?!" asked Eveline angrily as she launched another attack with her left hand.
Graham kicked her away before she could land her attack and quickly took a step back.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Like someone who had been petrified, Eveline was suddenly unable to move her body. However, she quickly felt a terrible headache that broke her free from Graham's control. His Order had been rendered ineffective!
The reddish-orange light from the tiny flame in front of him cast away the darkness in the tunnel. Stretching his hand in front of him, Graham began chanting while targeting the woman who had just recovered from his control effect.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
Eveline had no way of avoiding that ability as the illusory dark orange tendrils drilled into her head. Now, whatever next action she chose to do, she would stupidly make a mistake.
Graham took out his lighter and with a flick of his finger, created a real fire. He then used Fire Manipulation to make the fire float. Now, there were two tiny fireballs floating in front of him. In the dark tunnel, Graham looked like a menacing master of flames.
Worried about her enemy's actions, Eveline decided to attack first. However, instead of attacking Graham with her sharp, long nails, she retracted instead and fist punched the man.
Her attack was very easy for him to dodge, and using the chance while she was next to him, he sent the real flame to her. The flame set her coat on fire upon contact.
"I ask that you burn more violently!"
Whoosh!
The flame suddenly became bigger and started burning her whole coat. It also managed to spread to her dress and began burning it as well.
Eveline was uninjured by the fire because of her necklace that kept on glowing. Something under her dress was also glowing as it sent her more stamina to be converted to health. However, she knew that if she didn't do anything about the fire, even the necklace and the other equipment wouldn't be able to keep up with her injury.
Heading towards the water, she began running. However, Graham already expected her action. He stretched his hand forward and chanted one more time.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
Instead of jumping into the sewer stream, Eveline backed away from it, going in the other direction because of her enemy's ability.
Crackle!
Her coat burned off completely a few seconds later because of the violently raging flame. Although uninjured, there was panic and confusion on Eveline's face. She wanted to get back to the water again, but the flame was too uncontrollable.
"No!! My hair!! My beautiful hair!!"
She screamed in extreme anger as her hair and eyebrows burned off. Her skin remained pristine, but her hair was disappearing quickly. Her dress was also almost completely turning into ashes, revealing the other enhanced equipment.
It was an ornamental waist chain!
That was the thing that kept supplying her with stamina. Since he had seen it, he would be able to use divination on it with ease. But for now, Graham's goal was to overwork the enhanced equipment since they should be finite.
Besides the ornamental waist chain, Graham had also noticed the scroll that fell from her burning dress a moment ago. It appeared to be a contract scroll, seeing as it was unscathed by the fire. But Graham couldn't pay attention to it for the moment.
"I ask that you burn the woman to ashes!"
The flame didn't go out even after burning all of her clothes, revealing her naked body that was adorned with a glowing necklace and waist chain.
Eveline was too shocked and panicked before, but now she had to take action, or else she would really burn to death. She didn't know how many times her enemy could still use the Stupidity ability, so whatever action she chose to do might end up in failure again.
Finally, Eveline chose to attack the caster. Even if she ran for the water, if the enemy was still alive, he could burn her again easily.
"Die!"
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
Dark orange tendrils drilled into her head, making her attack a failure. Instead of attacking Graham, she dashed towards the wall, creating a dent on it at the spot where her sharp nails landed.
Whoosh!
The flame was still raging on her body in a strange manner because it didn't seem to be burning anything. However, slowly, Graham could see that her skin began changing color and the smell of charred flesh began filling the air, fighting for dominance with the smell of moss and rot.
"Arrghh!!! Arghh!!! It hurts!!!"
Eveline was finally burning alive!
Her waist chain was no longer glowing, and neither was the necklace. The woman's breathing was very heavy as if she had already exhausted all of her stamina. She was writhing and screaming in pain as the flame was engulfing her, eating her from the outside.
"Argghhh!! Stop it, please!!! AARGH!!!
Her screaming became louder and louder. The dark tunnel was now filled with her cry of pain as the flame dispelled the darkness around her.
Suddenly, Graham felt a gust of wind!
Zwoop!!
Eveline was gone! He only blinked and the burning woman was suddenly nowhere to be seen! Not even the flame remained.
Graham quickly assumed a defensive stance while listening to his surroundings.
Besides the sounds of water dripping and the gentle stream behind him, there was nothing else. It was as if no one else besides him had ever been there. If not for the scroll lying on the floor, he might have thought that he had been under the effect of an illusion the whole time.
"Her backer decided to help her? How did they take her away?"
After making sure that everything was normal, he focused on the illusory flame in front of him and began divination.
'Where is Eveline Herrick?'
The illusory flame burned brighter, but instead of showing him an image, it gave him a throbbing headache. As expected, even his divination couldn't locate her.
"Her backer must be very powerful. That scroll must be what they promised her for dealing with us. Well, it's ours now, Val,"
Graham didn't take the scroll right away. He used divination again to make sure it wasn't cursed or something. Once he was assured that the scroll was safe to take, he walked towards it and picked it up.
The brown scroll felt heavy and sturdy in his hand. Quickly, he opened it and took a glance at the complicated pattern drawn on it as the knowledge entered his mind.
"It's a Demise contract scroll, Val! I think this one is suitable for you. Since you have pleased your Deity, you can do the ritual right away tonight," Graham rolled the scroll and tucked it inside his jacket while heading towards the exit of the sewer, "As for me, I think I'll check the other contract scroll that we got. I've pleased three Deities, so I should be able to check its content now,"
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There was anger and bloodlust in her tone as her eyes were looking at Valentine like he was a cornered prey.
Not having the intention to reply, Valentine just took out the dagger and held the cane in his left hand, using it as a shield instead. He didn't want to risk using it again and getting a debilitating negative effect.
Stretching his hand in front of him, he began chanting again.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
The same illusory tendrils drilled into Eveline's head, affecting her next course of action. Valentine took a step back and got ready to capitalize on her next mistake with his sharp dagger in his right hand.
"Not killing is definitely more difficult than just straight up killing our targets, G," he mumbled a complaint.
Eveline's eyes that were projecting out strong killing intentions looked like they were burning in yellow flames in that dark tunnel. She was like a demon hunting an unsuspecting victim with her glowing eyes and sharp claws that looked like they could shred metal as easily as they could paper.
She dashed forward, but instead of aiming for Valentine, she attacked the sewer floor instead for some reason like it was some kind of enemy that must be killed.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Domination and Order, intensify your desire to attack the sewer floor!"
Crash! Crash!
Eveline began attacking the floor more vigorously without any sign of stopping. Her expression was twisted and her eyes were glowing even brighter.
Her sharp claws were gouging out pieces by pieces of concrete from the floor with ease until there was a hole in the floor. If it had been Valentine, he would have definitely died from those sharp claws.
Seizing his chance, he quickly got behind the woman and placed his hands around the woman's head while chanting.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, hereby erase all of Eveline Herrick's memories about me!"
Black smoke came out of his hands and entered the woman through her ears. Her face showed confusion for a split second but was quickly replaced by the same ferocity and bloodlust as she continued savagely destroying the floor.
Valentine had done what he came for, and he had a feeling that something was waiting for him back at the hotel, just like what had happened to Graham. However, he couldn't just leave the woman like that, or else she would chase him non-stop-- her unnatural obsession for killing hadn't been satisfied after all. He had to at least disable her so that she wouldn't be able to give chase or kill her if possible.
Raising the dagger up high above her neck, Valentine focused his power on it and made a quick and sudden downward movement.
Clank!
"If I can't break it, then let's just overwork it!"
Stab!
Valentine thrust his dagger and sank it into Eveline's back. The sharp metal cut open the flesh easily, but there was no blood coming out of the wound. In fact, his dagger was forced out by the flesh that was closing rapidly. The necklace was glowing all the while.
Stab!
While the woman was still unable to control herself, Valentine stabbed her one more time with all his strength. Again, there was no blood and the wound healed very quickly, leaving no scar. Eveline didn't even seem to be in pain from his attack-- or maybe she was, but her intensified desire to decimate the floor just made her ignore it.
He repeatedly stabbed the woman and her wounds kept on healing rapidly. She then regained control of her body and quickly turned around, aiming for Valentine's heart.
Clank!
Luckily, he was fast enough to block her claw with the indestructible cane!
Valentine quickly took a step back and watched as the woman was visibly exhausted from having her stamina drained to heal her wounds.
Suddenly, something under her dress glowed visibly, and in an instant, her exhaustion seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Eveline became as powerful as she was before.
"I don't know who you are, but I have a strong urge to kill you... Teehee..." she had a slightly confused look on her face since a 'stranger' was suddenly attacked her. However, the confusion was quickly replaced by bloodlust.
"Shit! That's another enhanced equipment? That one is able to return her stamina? What a bullshit combination!" Valentine complained while maintaining his distance.
The glowing object wasn't visible to him, so he couldn't use Reveal to see its full capability. He couldn't even try to take it out since it was placed somewhere he couldn't reach easily without disabling the woman, which was currently impossible.
"G, I have nothing that we can use against her. We need to switch right now!"
Sleeping was out of the question as long as he couldn't put her under his control effect to buy himself time. Although he had Graham's Order stored inside Purloin, he still needed time to completely switch, during which time Eveline could kill him with ease. He had no other choice but to provoke the woman.
"I bet your ugly ass can't make me fall in love with you!" he shouted with mockery.
Enraged, Eveline scratched her sharp long nails together in a threatening manner. Then, a smile surfaced on her face. Her heightened obsession for killing didn't seem to make her go berserk as shown by her ability to still think rationally. It must just make her unable to resist the urge to kill anyone she saw, whatever the method.
"You would regret making me do this... teehee..." with a chuckle and eyes full of bloodlust, she dashed towards Valentine, ready to shred the man into pieces. She seemed to have forgotten what the man was capable of, so it was easy to bait her.
Protecting himself with his cane, he managed to prevent her claws from sinking deep into his flesh. However, what she aimed for wasn't that. The moment she was close enough to him, she opened her mouth and began chanting seductively.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Lies and Attraction, hereby declare that you're in love with me!"
Valentine's body felt hot all of a sudden and his judgment became clouded. Although he knew he could do it easily, he didn't try to resist as it was what he wanted.
Once her ability took complete effect, Valentine strangely saw Eveline as a figure that looked very delicate and in need of protection. Her innocent round face and her kind smile made his heart beat faster. He didn't lower his weapons since her sharp nails still looked dangerous, but slowly, his desire to attack her diminished.
"Now do you want me? We can have fun before I gut you alive and use them to strangle you. If only those mists aren't covering your handsome face... teehee..."
Eveline's killing intent was still leaking out of her voice and body language, but to Valentine, it looked just like she was teasing him. His body felt warmer despite the cold sewer night. However, his grip on his weapons hadn't loosened since his sense of danger was still working.
"Now, let me take total control of you. It seems that you can still resist my charm," she said while looking at the cane and dagger that the man was still holding up. If she approached recklessly, the man would definitely attack her and her spell would be broken.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Lies and Attraction, hereby put the one in love with me under my total control!"
Valentine's consciousness began to quickly fade. He could faintly hear Eveline mumbling about him being her pet and what she would do to him before he finally fell unconscious.
Just when he began stumbling, suddenly his footing became steady again. Graham had taken over!
With a surprised look on her face, Eveline looked at her victim and knew something was wrong. She quickly dashed forward with her sharp nails forming a sharp spearhead.
Graham, who wasn't as fast as Valentine, could only guard against the attack using the cane after he barely managed to conjure an illusory flame to help him see. The woman's attack was too fast for him to dodge.
Clank!
The sound of strong, sharp claws hitting the indestructible material of the cane echoed in the sewer.
"How did you break free from my control?!" asked Eveline angrily as she launched another attack with her left hand.
Graham kicked her away before she could land her attack and quickly took a step back.
"I order you to stop moving!"
Like someone who had been petrified, Eveline was suddenly unable to move her body. However, she quickly felt a terrible headache that broke her free from Graham's control. His Order had been rendered ineffective!
The reddish-orange light from the tiny flame in front of him cast away the darkness in the tunnel. Stretching his hand in front of him, Graham began chanting while targeting the woman who had just recovered from his control effect.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
Eveline had no way of avoiding that ability as the illusory dark orange tendrils drilled into her head. Now, whatever next action she chose to do, she would stupidly make a mistake.
Graham took out his lighter and with a flick of his finger, created a real fire. He then used Fire Manipulation to make the fire float. Now, there were two tiny fireballs floating in front of him. In the dark tunnel, Graham looked like a menacing master of flames.
Worried about her enemy's actions, Eveline decided to attack first. However, instead of attacking Graham with her sharp, long nails, she retracted instead and fist punched the man.
Her attack was very easy for him to dodge, and using the chance while she was next to him, he sent the real flame to her. The flame set her coat on fire upon contact.
"I ask that you burn more violently!"
Whoosh!
The flame suddenly became bigger and started burning her whole coat. It also managed to spread to her dress and began burning it as well.
Eveline was uninjured by the fire because of her necklace that kept on glowing. Something under her dress was also glowing as it sent her more stamina to be converted to health. However, she knew that if she didn't do anything about the fire, even the necklace and the other equipment wouldn't be able to keep up with her injury.
Heading towards the water, she began running. However, Graham already expected her action. He stretched his hand forward and chanted one more time.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
Instead of jumping into the sewer stream, Eveline backed away from it, going in the other direction because of her enemy's ability.
Crackle!
Her coat burned off completely a few seconds later because of the violently raging flame. Although uninjured, there was panic and confusion on Eveline's face. She wanted to get back to the water again, but the flame was too uncontrollable.
"No!! My hair!! My beautiful hair!!"
She screamed in extreme anger as her hair and eyebrows burned off. Her skin remained pristine, but her hair was disappearing quickly. Her dress was also almost completely turning into ashes, revealing the other enhanced equipment.
It was an ornamental waist chain!
That was the thing that kept supplying her with stamina. Since he had seen it, he would be able to use divination on it with ease. But for now, Graham's goal was to overwork the enhanced equipment since they should be finite.
Besides the ornamental waist chain, Graham had also noticed the scroll that fell from her burning dress a moment ago. It appeared to be a contract scroll, seeing as it was unscathed by the fire. But Graham couldn't pay attention to it for the moment.
"I ask that you burn the woman to ashes!"
The flame didn't go out even after burning all of her clothes, revealing her naked body that was adorned with a glowing necklace and waist chain.
Eveline was too shocked and panicked before, but now she had to take action, or else she would really burn to death. She didn't know how many times her enemy could still use the Stupidity ability, so whatever action she chose to do might end up in failure again.
Finally, Eveline chose to attack the caster. Even if she ran for the water, if the enemy was still alive, he could burn her again easily.
"Die!"
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
Dark orange tendrils drilled into her head, making her attack a failure. Instead of attacking Graham, she dashed towards the wall, creating a dent on it at the spot where her sharp nails landed.
Whoosh!
The flame was still raging on her body in a strange manner because it didn't seem to be burning anything. However, slowly, Graham could see that her skin began changing color and the smell of charred flesh began filling the air, fighting for dominance with the smell of moss and rot.
"Arrghh!!! Arghh!!! It hurts!!!"
Eveline was finally burning alive!
Her waist chain was no longer glowing, and neither was the necklace. The woman's breathing was very heavy as if she had already exhausted all of her stamina. She was writhing and screaming in pain as the flame was engulfing her, eating her from the outside.
"Argghhh!! Stop it, please!!! AARGH!!!
Her screaming became louder and louder. The dark tunnel was now filled with her cry of pain as the flame dispelled the darkness around her.
Suddenly, Graham felt a gust of wind!
Zwoop!!
Eveline was gone! He only blinked and the burning woman was suddenly nowhere to be seen! Not even the flame remained.
Graham quickly assumed a defensive stance while listening to his surroundings.
Besides the sounds of water dripping and the gentle stream behind him, there was nothing else. It was as if no one else besides him had ever been there. If not for the scroll lying on the floor, he might have thought that he had been under the effect of an illusion the whole time.
"Her backer decided to help her? How did they take her away?"
After making sure that everything was normal, he focused on the illusory flame in front of him and began divination.
'Where is Eveline Herrick?'
The illusory flame burned brighter, but instead of showing him an image, it gave him a throbbing headache. As expected, even his divination couldn't locate her.
"Her backer must be very powerful. That scroll must be what they promised her for dealing with us. Well, it's ours now, Val,"
Graham didn't take the scroll right away. He used divination again to make sure it wasn't cursed or something. Once he was assured that the scroll was safe to take, he walked towards it and picked it up.
The brown scroll felt heavy and sturdy in his hand. Quickly, he opened it and took a glance at the complicated pattern drawn on it as the knowledge entered his mind.
"It's a Demise contract scroll, Val! I think this one is suitable for you. Since you have pleased your Deity, you can do the ritual right away tonight," Graham rolled the scroll and tucked it inside his jacket while heading towards the exit of the sewer, "As for me, I think I'll check the other contract scroll that we got. I've pleased three Deities, so I should be able to check its content now,"
There was anger and bloodlust in her tone as her eyes were looking at Valentine like he was a cornered prey.Not having the intention to reply, Valentine just took out the dagger and held the cane in his left hand, using it as a shield instead. He didn't want to risk using it again and getting a debilitating negative effect.Stretching his hand in front of him, he began chanting again."I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"The same illusory tendrils drilled into Eveline's head, affecting her next course of action. Valentine took a step back and got ready to capitalize on her next mistake with his sharp dagger in his right hand."Not killing is definitely more difficult than just straight up killing our targets, G," he mumbled a complaint.Eveline's eyes that were projecting out strong killing intentions looked like they were burning in yellow flames in that dark tunnel. She was like a demon hunting an unsuspecting victim with her glowing eyes and sharp claws that looked like they could shred metal as easily as they could paper.She dashed forward, but instead of aiming for Valentine, she attacked the sewer floor instead for some reason like it was some kind of enemy that must be killed."I, in the name of the Deity of Domination and Order, intensify your desire to attack the sewer floor!"Crash! Crash!Eveline began attacking the floor more vigorously without any sign of stopping. Her expression was twisted and her eyes were glowing even brighter.Her sharp claws were gouging out pieces by pieces of concrete from the floor with ease until there was a hole in the floor. If it had been Valentine, he would have definitely died from those sharp claws.Seizing his chance, he quickly got behind the woman and placed his hands around the woman's head while chanting."I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, hereby erase all of Eveline Herrick's memories about me!"Black smoke came out of his hands and entered the woman through her ears. Her face showed confusion for a split second but was quickly replaced by the same ferocity and bloodlust as she continued savagely destroying the floor.Valentine had done what he came for, and he had a feeling that something was waiting for him back at the hotel, just like what had happened to Graham. However, he couldn't just leave the woman like that, or else she would chase him non-stop-- her unnatural obsession for killing hadn't been satisfied after all. He had to at least disable her so that she wouldn't be able to give chase or kill her if possible.Raising the dagger up high above her neck, Valentine focused his power on it and made a quick and sudden downward movement.Clank!"If I can't break it, then let's just overwork it!"Stab!Valentine thrust his dagger and sank it into Eveline's back. The sharp metal cut open the flesh easily, but there was no blood coming out of the wound. In fact, his dagger was forced out by the flesh that was closing rapidly. The necklace was glowing all the while.Stab!While the woman was still unable to control herself, Valentine stabbed her one more time with all his strength. Again, there was no blood and the wound healed very quickly, leaving no scar. Eveline didn't even seem to be in pain from his attack-- or maybe she was, but her intensified desire to decimate the floor just made her ignore it.He repeatedly stabbed the woman and her wounds kept on healing rapidly. She then regained control of her body and quickly turned around, aiming for Valentine's heart.Clank!Luckily, he was fast enough to block her claw with the indestructible cane!Valentine quickly took a step back and watched as the woman was visibly exhausted from having her stamina drained to heal her wounds.Suddenly, something under her dress glowed visibly, and in an instant, her exhaustion seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Eveline became as powerful as she was before."I don't know who you are, but I have a strong urge to kill you... Teehee..." she had a slightly confused look on her face since a 'stranger' was suddenly attacked her. However, the confusion was quickly replaced by bloodlust."Shit! That's another enhanced equipment? That one is able to return her stamina? What a bullshit combination!" Valentine complained while maintaining his distance.The glowing object wasn't visible to him, so he couldn't use Reveal to see its full capability. He couldn't even try to take it out since it was placed somewhere he couldn't reach easily without disabling the woman, which was currently impossible."G, I have nothing that we can use against her. We need to switch right now!"Sleeping was out of the question as long as he couldn't put her under his control effect to buy himself time. Although he had Graham's Order stored inside Purloin, he still needed time to completely switch, during which time Eveline could kill him with ease. He had no other choice but to provoke the woman."I bet your ugly ass can't make me fall in love with you!" he shouted with mockery.Enraged, Eveline scratched her sharp long nails together in a threatening manner. Then, a smile surfaced on her face. Her heightened obsession for killing didn't seem to make her go berserk as shown by her ability to still think rationally. It must just make her unable to resist the urge to kill anyone she saw, whatever the method."You would regret making me do this... teehee..." with a chuckle and eyes full of bloodlust, she dashed towards Valentine, ready to shred the man into pieces. She seemed to have forgotten what the man was capable of, so it was easy to bait her.Protecting himself with his cane, he managed to prevent her claws from sinking deep into his flesh. However, what she aimed for wasn't that. The moment she was close enough to him, she opened her mouth and began chanting seductively."I, in the name of the Deity of Lies and Attraction, hereby declare that you're in love with me!"Valentine's body felt hot all of a sudden and his judgment became clouded. Although he knew he could do it easily, he didn't try to resist as it was what he wanted.Once her ability took complete effect, Valentine strangely saw Eveline as a figure that looked very delicate and in need of protection. Her innocent round face and her kind smile made his heart beat faster. He didn't lower his weapons since her sharp nails still looked dangerous, but slowly, his desire to attack her diminished."Now do you want me? We can have fun before I gut you alive and use them to strangle you. If only those mists aren't covering your handsome face... teehee..."Eveline's killing intent was still leaking out of her voice and body language, but to Valentine, it looked just like she was teasing him. His body felt warmer despite the cold sewer night. However, his grip on his weapons hadn't loosened since his sense of danger was still working."Now, let me take total control of you. It seems that you can still resist my charm," she said while looking at the cane and dagger that the man was still holding up. If she approached recklessly, the man would definitely attack her and her spell would be broken."I, in the name of the Deity of Lies and Attraction, hereby put the one in love with me under my total control!"Valentine's consciousness began to quickly fade. He could faintly hear Eveline mumbling about him being her pet and what she would do to him before he finally fell unconscious.Just when he began stumbling, suddenly his footing became steady again. Graham had taken over!With a surprised look on her face, Eveline looked at her victim and knew something was wrong. She quickly dashed forward with her sharp nails forming a sharp spearhead.Graham, who wasn't as fast as Valentine, could only guard against the attack using the cane after he barely managed to conjure an illusory flame to help him see. The woman's attack was too fast for him to dodge.Clank!The sound of strong, sharp claws hitting the indestructible material of the cane echoed in the sewer."How did you break free from my control?!" asked Eveline angrily as she launched another attack with her left hand.Graham kicked her away before she could land her attack and quickly took a step back."I order you to stop moving!"Like someone who had been petrified, Eveline was suddenly unable to move her body. However, she quickly felt a terrible headache that broke her free from Graham's control. His Order had been rendered ineffective!The reddish-orange light from the tiny flame in front of him cast away the darkness in the tunnel. Stretching his hand in front of him, Graham began chanting while targeting the woman who had just recovered from his control effect."I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"Eveline had no way of avoiding that ability as the illusory dark orange tendrils drilled into her head. Now, whatever next action she chose to do, she would stupidly make a mistake.Graham took out his lighter and with a flick of his finger, created a real fire. He then used Fire Manipulation to make the fire float. Now, there were two tiny fireballs floating in front of him. In the dark tunnel, Graham looked like a menacing master of flames.Worried about her enemy's actions, Eveline decided to attack first. However, instead of attacking Graham with her sharp, long nails, she retracted instead and fist punched the man.Her attack was very easy for him to dodge, and using the chance while she was next to him, he sent the real flame to her. The flame set her coat on fire upon contact."I ask that you burn more violently!"Whoosh!The flame suddenly became bigger and started burning her whole coat. It also managed to spread to her dress and began burning it as well.Eveline was uninjured by the fire because of her necklace that kept on glowing. Something under her dress was also glowing as it sent her more stamina to be converted to health. However, she knew that if she didn't do anything about the fire, even the necklace and the other equipment wouldn't be able to keep up with her injury.Heading towards the water, she began running. However, Graham already expected her action. He stretched his hand forward and chanted one more time."I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"Instead of jumping into the sewer stream, Eveline backed away from it, going in the other direction because of her enemy's ability.Crackle!Her coat burned off completely a few seconds later because of the violently raging flame. Although uninjured, there was panic and confusion on Eveline's face. She wanted to get back to the water again, but the flame was too uncontrollable."No!! My hair!! My beautiful hair!!"She screamed in extreme anger as her hair and eyebrows burned off. Her skin remained pristine, but her hair was disappearing quickly. Her dress was also almost completely turning into ashes, revealing the other enhanced equipment.It was an ornamental waist chain!That was the thing that kept supplying her with stamina. Since he had seen it, he would be able to use divination on it with ease. But for now, Graham's goal was to overwork the enhanced equipment since they should be finite.Besides the ornamental waist chain, Graham had also noticed the scroll that fell from her burning dress a moment ago. It appeared to be a contract scroll, seeing as it was unscathed by the fire. But Graham couldn't pay attention to it for the moment."I ask that you burn the woman to ashes!"The flame didn't go out even after burning all of her clothes, revealing her naked body that was adorned with a glowing necklace and waist chain.Eveline was too shocked and panicked before, but now she had to take action, or else she would really burn to death. She didn't know how many times her enemy could still use the Stupidity ability, so whatever action she chose to do might end up in failure again.Finally, Eveline chose to attack the caster. Even if she ran for the water, if the enemy was still alive, he could burn her again easily."Die!""I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"Dark orange tendrils drilled into her head, making her attack a failure. Instead of attacking Graham, she dashed towards the wall, creating a dent on it at the spot where her sharp nails landed.Whoosh!The flame was still raging on her body in a strange manner because it didn't seem to be burning anything. However, slowly, Graham could see that her skin began changing color and the smell of charred flesh began filling the air, fighting for dominance with the smell of moss and rot."Arrghh!!! Arghh!!! It hurts!!!"Eveline was finally burning alive!Her waist chain was no longer glowing, and neither was the necklace. The woman's breathing was very heavy as if she had already exhausted all of her stamina. She was writhing and screaming in pain as the flame was engulfing her, eating her from the outside."Argghhh!! Stop it, please!!! AARGH!!!Her screaming became louder and louder. The dark tunnel was now filled with her cry of pain as the flame dispelled the darkness around her.Suddenly, Graham felt a gust of wind!Zwoop!!Eveline was gone! He only blinked and the burning woman was suddenly nowhere to be seen! Not even the flame remained.Graham quickly assumed a defensive stance while listening to his surroundings.Besides the sounds of water dripping and the gentle stream behind him, there was nothing else. It was as if no one else besides him had ever been there. If not for the scroll lying on the floor, he might have thought that he had been under the effect of an illusion the whole time."Her backer decided to help her? How did they take her away?"After making sure that everything was normal, he focused on the illusory flame in front of him and began divination.'Where is Eveline Herrick?'The illusory flame burned brighter, but instead of showing him an image, it gave him a throbbing headache. As expected, even his divination couldn't locate her."Her backer must be very powerful. That scroll must be what they promised her for dealing with us. Well, it's ours now, Val,"Graham didn't take the scroll right away. He used divination again to make sure it wasn't cursed or something. Once he was assured that the scroll was safe to take, he walked towards it and picked it up.The brown scroll felt heavy and sturdy in his hand. Quickly, he opened it and took a glance at the complicated pattern drawn on it as the knowledge entered his mind."It's a Demise contract scroll, Val! I think this one is suitable for you. Since you have pleased your Deity, you can do the ritual right away tonight," Graham rolled the scroll and tucked it inside his jacket while heading towards the exit of the sewer, "As for me, I think I'll check the other contract scroll that we got. I've pleased three Deities, so I should be able to check its content now,"
