A Familiar Salvation

No use.

From the very beginning, these two demons had no intention of sparing them.

Yet, those two girls were the last, most precious things left in her life. Even if it meant selling her body and soul, she would fight for them until her final breath.

Saranya would absolutely, unequivocally refuse to stand by and watch them be executed by demons.

“No…”

“Please… I’ll do anything… anything at all…”

Saranya clung to the demoness’s long, slender legs, her voice a desperate plea for Kaelan and Paresha’s lives.

She herself barely believed that such groveling, such an abandonment of all dignity before her enemies, could possibly yield results.

However, as if a thought had suddenly struck her, the demoness dispersed the crackling electric spears and spoke, seeking confirmation:

“Anything?”

Saranya, still kneeling, nodded frantically, her hand reaching to grasp the demoness’s slender waist.

“Yes! Yes, I—”

“Shh, shh…”

The demoness bent down, pressing a pale, skeletal index finger to Saranya’s lips.

“Excellent. So devout, I am quite pleased…”

A flicker of hope ignited within Saranya at the enemy’s praise, twisting her features into a grimace that was both eager and desolate.

“So! So then…”

“But I regret to inform you, everyone else on this ship, apart from you, must die.”

“Ugh… ugh ugh…”

“However, given your unwavering loyalty to me, I can bestow upon you a small grace—”

The demoness picked up Saranya’s broken sword and pressed the hilt into her palm.

“You, then, shall be the one to end their suffering.”

“Ah… ah…”

Saranya froze. The moment her hand closed around the hilt, a mad thought began to consume her mind.

It was a thought she had rehearsed countless times before.

‘Even if my master must die, I must be the one to kill her…’

‘Because, because my master… belongs only to Xiao Ya…’

Dark purple demonic light flared in the demoness’s eyes. She reached out a fingertip, affectionately stroking the demonic horn on Saranya’s forehead, then leaned close to her ear, her voice a sweet, seductive whisper, luring her further:

“Yes, they belong to you. Your masters, your loyal servants. That is why you must personally end them… You must prove to me that they are yours, prove to me that no one but you can do this, not even I…”

At the end of her words, the demoness parted her crimson lips and blew a soft, fragrant breath into Saranya’s ear, her expression openly revealing a twisted, perverse desire.

Saranya’s gaze dimmed, her pupils almost unable to focus. The only thing keeping her anchored was the broken sword clutched tightly in her hand.

“Go, fulfill our shared desire, then serve the noble Demon Overlord alongside your new master. I promise you a far more exquisite life of servitude…”

And so, Saranya pushed herself up, staggering to her feet.

“I won’t… let you suffer any longer…”

She shifted her bloodshot gaze to the nearby ground, seeing Paresha lying motionless, unresponsive.

Then, she turned her head, studying the weakened Kaelan, her expression brimming with adoration. Her hot, moist gaze slowly traced every inch of Kaelan’s skin, savoring her master’s body one last time.

Then…

“AAAAAAH—!”

Carrying all the humiliation and despair in her heart, Saranya roared, whirling around to plunge the sharp, broken edge of her sword fiercely into the demoness standing so close.

A dull thud echoed as metal pierced flesh.

The broken sword tore through the demoness’s pale, delicate cheek. The rough metal ripped apart her beautiful skin, carving a horrifying gash across her perfect face.

Shredded flesh hung, black blood splattered. The broken sword mangled the enemy’s mouth, then pierced through the opposite cheek, utterly destroying the demoness’s entire facial structure.

Naturally, the cruel, twisted smile on her face vanished with it.

The demoness’s eyes first flashed with immense astonishment, then that shock was swiftly devoured by a furious, dark purple demonic light.

“Despicable insect—!!!”

Saranya felt a colossal force instantly grip her throat. Her vision blurred at the edges with black, and by the time she registered what was happening, the demoness had lifted her into the air.

“Kkch… Ugh…”

Amidst a piercing shriek, the demoness’s fingers clenched savagely, her fingertips tearing through Saranya’s neck flesh. Her mouth filled with a coppery sweetness, and hot blood welled from the corners of her lips.

She struggled, frantically beating against the arm that held her captive, but the vast disparity in their strength ensured that her efforts were utterly futile.

Air whistling through her mangled cheeks, the demoness let out an incoherent roar, then violently pulled the broken sword from her face and plunged it into Saranya’s abdomen, again and again.

“Die!”

Thwack!

“Die, you hear me!!”

Thwack!

“Die, you wretch!!!”

Thwack!

Her limbs gradually lost all strength, dangling limply beneath her. With each thrust from her enemy, she swayed back and forth like a piece of rotting meat impaled on an iron hook.

Amidst the sickening thud of metal striking flesh, the defenseless Saranya’s abdomen was carved into a bloody, unrecognizable mess.

Columns of dark red blood, frothing and mixed with strange fragments of organs, spilled from her lower abdomen, streamed down her legs, and finally dripped from her dangling toes onto the floor, forming a thick, viscous pool.

At one point, the demoness’s arm abruptly loosened, flinging Saranya’s shattered body away like refuse.

Saranya’s body arced through the air, a crimson streak, before crashing onto the floor beside Kaelan. The immense impact sent her tumbling several times until she finally halted, colliding with Kaelan’s stiff thigh.

“Hoh… hoh…”

She lay paralyzed in the pool of blood, her silver-grey hair matted with gore, as her body began a final, death throe spasm.

Her consciousness blurred, her vision consumed by darkness, only vague outlines of objects remaining.

Yet instinct still drove her, compelling her to expend her last ounce of strength, to slowly and arduously crawl, inching her way towards that small body.

“Kae… lan…”

She leaned gently against her master, though she wasn’t sure which part of Kaelan’s body her cheek now rested upon.

‘It doesn’t matter. Any way is fine, as long as I can be with my master forever…’

In response, Kaelan seemed to tremble ever so slightly.

The little witch’s body was soft, emanating a faint, intoxicating fragrance that brought a strange sense of peace.

Electric arcs crackled, and above the two embracing girls, a terrifying ring of purple lightning shimmered into existence.

It was over.

Saranya didn’t know how she and Kaelan had managed it. Still, bathed in such lethal demonic energy, she felt Kaelan’s lips one last time—

Kaelan pressed her forehead against Saranya’s, bestowing upon her a wet, tender, deep kiss.

Immediately after, the purple lightning consumed everything.

….

…?

The searing embrace of death did not descend. Instead… a pair of holy, snow-white wings appeared.

“You have suffered, warrior…”

The voice in her ear was cold and majestic, yet laced with a faint hint of pity. The speaker seemed to be striving to embody their ideal of rationality, meticulously suppressing any emotion, unwilling to let even a trace escape.

That discordant, slightly twisted sensation felt remarkably familiar to her.