Volume 4, Chapter 10-1 – My Chastisement Spirit Colleagues Are All Loyal and Righteous!

Stella thought it over.

What was the big deal about eating a demon?

Mia, the Lord of Blood. Eaten.

Lavinia, a pureblood Dragon Attendant. Eaten.

Her Chastisement spirit colleagues from the White Tower. Eaten all the same.

She ate demons herself, and she ate colleagues too.

And it was hardly the first or second time. Stella had long since gotten used to it.

No harm done.

Besides, it was the Blood Shadow that did the eating. What did that have to do with Stella?

The Lord still hadn’t brought down punishment upon her, which meant the Lord tacitly approved of it.

It didn’t matter.

More importantly, she’d only resorted to this desperate measure to save Lainia from dire straits.

Without a doubt, this was a great sacrifice she’d made to save a fellow colleague of the Holy See.

A deed of tremendous merit.

As for why Lainia had ended up in dire straits in the first place…

Don’t ask pointless questions.

Although recklessly absorbing a demon’s essence might make the Holy Light have a few opinions, weren’t her Chastisement spirit colleagues conveniently right beside her to help?

A small matter, a small matter.

Rеαⅾ οn КatRеаdіոgСafе

Besides, she’d spent so long trembling in fear in the Abyss. What was wrong with asking her colleagues for a little help?

Stella had already unmistakably entered her own world of logic. Compared to either dreams or reality, the only thing more reliable was her own logic.

In short, she’d convinced herself.

Once she’d made up her mind, she acted.

Stella’s gaze swept over the Samael Dragon Attendants sprawled across the courtyard.

Six higher dragon-type demons lay scattered across the ground. The Chastisement spirits had already severely wounded them, and now they were as helpless as mosquitoes caught in a spiderweb.

“Good thing you came to kill me today.” Stella muttered. “If you hadn’t come, what would I have eaten?”

Where there was light, there would be shadow.

And no matter how long or vast a shadow became, in the end, it would still remain beneath her feet.

Stella lowered her eyes. With a thought, the shadow beneath her feet instantly transformed.

The Blood Shadow, viscous as asphalt, began to churn. Heavy darkness rose like a wall and formed a solid surface. Then the shadow split apart. Crimson eyes opened within the darkness, and hideous rows of interlocking teeth emerged. The eyeballs rolled, locking onto their prey.

They aimed directly at the six Samael Dragon Attendants.

Tentacles of Blood Shadow shot out from the ground. In moments, they completely wrapped around the bodies of the Samael Dragon Attendants. The ground beneath their feet transformed into a dark crimson pool of blood, and fissures filled with interlocking sharp teeth surfaced one after another, pressing themselves against the dark golden dragon scales.

Meanwhile, the viscous blood surged upward, dragging the bodies of the Samael Dragon Attendants down.

“Take all of their essence.” Stella said very, very softly.

Upon receiving the command, the fissures moved.

The quiet sound of chewing arose.

The Blood Shadow’s sharp teeth bit through the hard dark golden scales.

Reαⅾ oո KαtRеαԁіոɡCαfе

There were no screams.

The unconscious Dragon Attendants were powerless to resist.

The fissures gulped down the blood and magical essence of the higher dragon-type demons, draining them completely dry like cordyceps feeding on their hosts.

Blood that still held traces of warmth flowed freely through the blood pool. The crackling sound of bones shattering resembled the world itself wailing beneath maddening pressure as everything collapsed and broke apart.

The chewing soon stopped.

The blood pool flattened back into a shadow and withdrew beneath Stella’s feet. The surroundings fell silent again, everything becoming so faint and insubstantial that it was as though nothing had ever happened.

Only the thud, thud, thud of Lainia being chased and stomped at by Veronica remained in the distance, accompanied by the occasional strange shriek from Lainia.

Stella closed her eyes and silently sensed the changes within the Blood Shadow.

Dragon bloodlines of the same origin attracted one another. Six fresh streams of essence slowly converged along the tentacles, eventually flowing entirely toward Lavinia’s essence.

They did not remain separate. Instead, like rivers flowing into the sea, they merged with Lavinia’s essence.

The essence of seven dragon-type demons entangled, blended, and reorganized itself, fusing together perfectly, like fish with water, flowers with rain and dew, the breeze with birdsong, and the moon with the Milky Way.

A pale sphere of light finally took shape within the Blood Shadow.

Stella could feel that Lavinia’s essence seemed to have undergone some kind of complete transformation.

Lavinia’s essence kept squirming within the Blood Shadow, like intangible air sending ripples through the surroundings.

As usual, Stella felt like she’d eaten something she shouldn’t have.

But…

She had to admit…

‘Demons are delicious.’

Rеаԁ on КаtRеаⅾiոɡСаfе

Stella immediately raised her eyes and glanced at Lainia.

Although things were more or less ready on her end, Lainia’s situation was already getting rather bad.

Veronica’s intelligence might have declined, but the efficiency of her stomping certainly hadn’t.

Lainia rolled and scrambled between the enormous claws, narrowly avoiding being stepped on several times.

Even with the Heart of Holy Light supporting her, the intense physical exertion had begun to slow her evasive movements.

Her clothes had already been torn to tatters by the rubble, her hair was covered in dust, and the sound of her panting could be heard from far away.

If Stella didn’t go help soon, she really would need a shovel later.

Lavinia’s essence should be enough now, right?

Stella thought.

She withdrew her gaze and focused her attention, sinking her consciousness downward and directly into the depths of the Blood Shadow. She quickly located the spiritual link connected to Lavinia’s essence.

Spiritual link, connected.

Stella willed it.

Almost instantly, Stella felt an unbearable heat erupt within her body. Her temperature rapidly climbed, and in the deepest reaches of the Blood Shadow, the essence of the dragon-type demons stirred restlessly.

The scorching essence seemed to be searching for an exit, surging wildly through her body.

Then, little by little, it burrowed outward, rustling as it slowly spread through her seven meridians and eight vessels. Scalding blood flowed invisibly through slender veins and arteries, and wherever it passed, dark golden patterns faintly appeared beneath her skin.

In a single instant, she underwent a transformation as profound as being reborn. Blood surged through her vessels like a great river after the winter ice had thawed. Every cell breathed wildly like spring shoots, straining with every ounce of strength to draw breath.

Endless power traveled silently through her muscles and meridians.

Stella closed her eyes.

Rеаԁ οո КаtRеaⅾіnɡCafе

In the darkness, she heard an enormous heartbeat.

It was her own heartbeat.

She was enveloped within the sound of her own heart.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

It was not a human heartbeat.

It was…

The heartbeat of a dragon.

Stella opened her eyes.

Her eyes shone with dazzling brilliance.

Golden eyes.

Translator Note

Her eyes keep changing from purple, to red, and now golden lmao xD