Chapter 27: Bewitchment
Early morning. The magical winds blew against the walls of Vanguard City.
Originating from the realm of the Color Sin, these winds influenced everyone’s various desires.
Ji Ma sat on her bed, glancing at the fiery red evening dress hanging at the head of the bed, unable to suppress her sighs.
This was her last decent outfit. The clothing group that her sister was a part of had spent years carefully crafting this fitting garment, which was satisfactory in every way. It fit her well, accommodating her bust while leaving ample allowance, and offered the right amount of elasticity.
Wearing it felt like a second skin, with hardly any wrinkles; the dress clung to her body as if painted on—pretty good for an ordinary person who couldn’t use magic.
But she had only one, and had to wear it repeatedly. It would eventually suffer battle damage and tear, likely needing patches to keep wearing it.
Thinking of this, Ji Ma sighed even more.
She looked around the simple room, displeased by the decorations, and noted that the kitchen was too far away, and useless. She would still have to chop wood, and the ingredients were inadequate. It was all terrible. How long until the Dream Palace goes online? I can’t even muster the confidence to abduct a beauty; this place is utterly unsuitable for romance.
Ji Ma complained continuously in her heart.
Completely unaware of the unusual presence behind the screen, Lian Xi was preparing breakfast for Ji Ma, composed of apples, cheese, and milk.
However, her hand grasped a small bottle containing an unidentified substance that was not a condiment.
It was tiny, only as thick as her little finger, with a flowing liquid of a pink hue—the color of love.
In her nightmare last night, a gentle voice told her that if the other party drank this potion, they would truly fall in love with her.
It would be genuine love.
Lian Xi did not desire exclusive affection. She constantly feared that her master would abandon her, dismiss her sisters, and turn to love herself instead.
She simply wanted her master to love her properly.
To that end, she was even willing to betray her master.
Lian Xi’s hand trembled as she hesitated to pour the potion into the milk.
The sound of the wind outside transformed in her ears into a soft yet stern voice.
Pour it in, pour it in, pour it in and she will fall in love.
But the quantity was limited… What if she forever lost her master’s love?
Thinking of this, and how Ji Ma would show her disgust and revulsion, Lian Xi felt overwhelmed.
“Ah, this is so annoying.”
Outside, Ji Ma’s voice floated in, lamenting her mistake, realizing she shouldn’t have returned to another world with a scumbag. If she hadn’t come, she wouldn’t be stuck wearing the same dress repeatedly nor facing formidable enemies, and could have spent every day gathering firewood with countless maids to serve her…
But, if given a choice, she would still follow her master.
Lian Xi recalled the diverse, multifaceted witches who were cherished by Ji Ma.
Yet Ji Ma had never considered them; to her, they were merely playthings.
She thought of yesterday when there was a pool of unknown liquid in the command center. Ji Ma rarely found comfort in bad environments with maids but was never picky when with George.
Master, I really want your love.
Lian Xi trembled as she poured the colorless, tasteless liquid into the milk.
Then, she quickly stashed the potion into her pocket, took a few deep breaths, and carried the wooden tray, stepping out to say, “Master, breakfast is ready.”
“Oh.”
The succubus was sitting on the bed. She turned her face, her waist-length black hair flowing like silk, the ends swaying at her waist, and her golden eyes were still so beautiful that one could get lost in them no matter how many times they looked.
This time, Lian Xi was no exception, standing frozen in place.
Ji Ma casually cast her usual charm towards Lian Xi, who snapped out of it without noticing anything unusual and walked a few steps to Ji Ma.
“How simple.” Ji Ma picked up an apple and asked, “Do you want some? I hate apples.”
“Sure, I’ll eat whatever you give me, Master.”
“If I were back on Earth, I could drink iced cola right now.”
Ji Ma muttered, reaching for the wooden cup: “This milk looks pure and natural, it must taste terrible.”
Filled with infinite affection for Ji Ma, Lian Xi trembled and exclaimed, “Don’t drink it, Master!”
“Huh?”
“It’s… it’s…”
“Poison…”
“Poison?” Ji Ma instantly set the milk down. “I hate otherworldly realms; back on Earth, I can drink any poison made by humans. I really shouldn’t have gone back to another world with that scumbag. By the way, how do you know it’s poisoned?”
Tears streamed down like pearls unstrung onto the wooden tray.
Lian Xi smiled and said, “I poisoned you.”
“Why?”
“Last night, a gentle big sister asked me if I wanted your love… I agreed.”
“Oh, that’s likely the work of the Color Sin,” Ji Ma stated. “You’re quite… earnest… similar to the first kill of that maid wanting to put on a show and touch me.”
“Ah? Ah? Master, but I betrayed you.”
“Look at me, little Li.”
Lian Xi gazed into Ji Ma’s eyes, her golden gaze illuminating Lian Xi’s heart with warmth.
“You are my first maid, my personal maid.”
Ji Ma said, “I love you.”
Ding ding ding.
Lian Xi gently set the wooden tray down, leaped into Ji Ma’s embrace, laughing aloud. Ji Ma patted her cat head, her face devoid of any expression.
Ji Ma thought:
Indeed. After weeks of forgetting to charm her, I almost didn’t know what trouble I’d cause. Thankfully, these past few days, I noticed something was off with her, charm her today, for the second time today, that should last quite a while, right?
Well, I’ll make it a habit to charm her every morning. Otherwise, where else can I find a maid with looks, capable of work, and with cat ears?
Ji Ma thought, rubbing Lian Xi’s cat ears, “Alright, get to work; I’ll act as if this didn’t happen.”
Lian Xi wiped her tears with her fingers, choking out, “Thank you, thank you, Master, I…”
“Did you forget something?” “At your service, Master.”
“Good.” Ji Ma patted her head, “You can release your grip now; I must teach the Color Sin God Chosen a lesson, lest more deities wish to defecate on me.”
Indeed.
An emergence from the will of Color Sin, a legendary demon from the demon realm commanding the Color Sin army.
Now, her gem-like eyes were fixated on a crystal ball.
“Her?” she asked, her face concealed behind a green smiling mask, singing: “She drank it; she must have drunk it. Her servant, weak and pitiful; her jealousy, her desires, deeper than the ocean.”
She sang, her feet keeping rhythm with the song, tapping the ground each day, like eight maids, vibrating in unison.
“Oh Master, oh Master.”
Her two attendants, with heads adorned with ram horns, wore bitter expressions, sticking out their long tongues as they danced while steadying their upper bodies, supporting a tray draped with soft velvet that contained a crystal highball.
They said:
She is the powerful succubus.
All she needs is to bewitch that weak servant to gain their undying love.
The dance-loving Color Sin demon raised her ram-headed, elegantly turning in a grand arc. In her right hand, she held a “staff,” each end adorned with masks—one a green smiling face, the other a red angry visage.
This time, she donned the red angry visage.
Almost shouting, she sang:
This jerk! Shameful, disgusting; I’ll tear out her hair to use for my strings. Then, I’ll present this imposter who dares to call herself a demon, her head and that fake crown, as offerings to the most magnificent eternal deity.
The attendants chorused, “Offer it to him, offer it to him.”
One of the attendants, her legs weary, stuttered and collapsed to the ground.
But her exhausted hands still held onto the ground, wanting to rise and dance.
“Master, please, let me take a break,” the attendant said, “I’m so tired.”
“Dance with me, dance with me.” The dancing demon elegantly raised her head: “Dance, oh dance. I want to assemble an army…”
She sang, still dancing, leaping out of the tent, stepping with graceful and beautiful movements.
The soldiers and demons beside her couldn’t help but join in the dance.
The hornblowers, wearing vegetable and fruit helmets and showcasing their muscular bodies, hopped and danced, each raising their flowered brass horns, sending out rhythmic blasts of sound.
Accompanied by the crackling of whips for accompaniment, the calls of horns resonated.
Primarily composed of color sin succubi, the demon parade danced as they gathered for their grand entrance.
George stood atop the walls of Vanguard City, below which hung a row of bodies from the Color Sin army that had been caught off guard.
He lifted his mask and asked, “Is this some mysterious ceremony?”
“I recognize her.” Ji Ma, wielding a disguised root weapon, was on the wall, piercing the bodies hanging there like a mosquito drinking blood, continuing, “Originally, she was the favorite concubine of the Color Sin court; he adored her dancing. But once, terror fell upon the realm of Color Sin, the army suffered heavy losses, and Color Sin was nearly vanquished; she danced before him to try to console him.”
George guessed, “But Color Sin became greatly enraged and instead cursed her to dance forever.”
“Exactly,” Ji Ma said. “It’s troublesome; when she dances, everyone around must join in as well, and it’s rare to see anyone who can escape that fate. Have you ever seen the Sludge Great Demon dance? They’re all clumsy, and when they dance, it’s a disaster, especially when they use loud sounds to accompany their steps.”
“But this is our only solution,” George said. “Eliminate her, and you can take her place.”
“Have you done some mental preparation with the soldiers?”
“Compared to becoming the defeated under Color Sin, they would rather assist a succubus demon lord.”
“Don’t speak of cowardice so eloquently.”
Ji Ma rolled her eyes. She forcefully tapped the syringe she held on the wall’s parapet, threatening, “Be loud again, and I’ll make you absorb the true blood of the Sludge army!”
A calf born unafraid of tigers.
It shouted, “Then let’s go! Coward!”
Just don’t regret it later!
Ji Ma said, leaping from the parapet with her hands clutching the twig spear, heading toward the Color Sin army to proclaim her identity as a demon lord.
