Chapter 8: The Devil’s Smile and a Perverse Demon Lord

“So you just… finished them off then?”

Larry stared speechlessly at the hulking figures groaning on the ground.

“This isn’t even fun. It’s no different from just crushing them with brute force.”

“My heart is already bruised and battered because of them. Do you still have the nerve to make sarcastic remarks?”

Ellis channeled a powerful ‘Goddess’s Blessing’ into the hand gripping the Devil’s Smile, whereupon the staff automatically detached from her grasp.

“I merely used the Devil’s Smile to teach them a lesson.”

Larry retorted, “Your method of ‘teaching a lesson’ is exhausting, isn’t it? Harming a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred to yourself.”

Magical artifacts were also known as cursed items, for they were imbued with potent curses that afflicted their users deeply.

Once primal energy was infused into the Devil’s Smile, it would bind itself to the user, relentlessly siphoning off their primal energy, vitality, and mental strength.

The intensity of this absorption would only increase over time. Unless the binding was severed, even the most powerful individual would be drained to death if they failed to discard the artifact in time.

However, the insidious nature of the Devil’s Smile lay in the fact that this binding could not be broken at will.

Whether one severed their arm or cast it away, the artifact would always return to its user. Destroying it was an exceedingly difficult feat, and a botched attempt would only hasten one’s demise.

Apart from Ellis, all its previous users had been killed by its curse.

Ellis could wield it due to her unique ‘trait,’ the ‘Blessing of Heaven.’ Traits were akin to innate talents, with every creature in the异world possessing them from birth, ranging from common racial traits to individual peculiarities.

Ellis’s trait caused the effects of all supportive primal arts, healing primal arts, and defensive primal arts to double when cast on others, and quadruple when cast on herself.

She was an incredibly powerful buff provider and healer.

Yet, this came with a drawback: her primal energy consumption also doubled. Furthermore, Ellis found herself utterly incapable of learning any primal arts with offensive or cursing effects.

Even the most basic fireballs and water arrows eluded her, despite a year of dedicated practice.

This deficiency was perfectly compensated by the Devil’s Smile, which could reverse supportive magic into offensive and cursing magic.

Before using the Devil’s Smile, Ellis could also cast powerful enhancement and healing buffs on herself to temporarily counteract its side effects.

Beyond ten minutes, Ellis would find it unbearable, at which point she would forcibly remove the Devil’s Smile using the ‘Blessing of Allah.’

Ellis had amply proven that previous users had failed to remove the Devil’s Smile via primal arts simply because their effects weren’t strong enough.

Her ‘Blessing of Allah,’ with its quadrupled effectiveness, could successfully dislodge it.

“It’s fine, I think its suction felt weaker today,” Ellis mused, scratching her head.

She then kicked the Devil’s Smile away with a forceful swing.

After all, once this primal staff was a certain distance from its user, it would automatically conceal itself silently within the surrounding space.

This was Ellis’s usual method for putting away the Devil’s Smile.

Only this time, she wondered if she was hallucinating, as Ellis distinctly heard a sound of pure delight.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh!”

Ellis blinked. “…Larry, was that just my imagination?”

Larry, too, stared blankly in the direction the primal staff had flown, shaking his head. “We shouldn’t both be hallucinating. I heard it too. That bizarre screech gave me goosebumps all over.”

“What’s going on?” Ellis scratched her head, looking utterly bewildered.

Just then, the ‘Devil’s Smile,’ which had flown away, reappeared out of thin air at Ellis’s feet, instead of returning to its interdimensional space.

Ellis gasped. “What? Did this weapon break because it was disgusted by these perverts?”

As she spoke, Ellis picked up the ‘Devil’s Smile’ and examined it closely, finding no signs of damage.

Larry suggested, “How about you try that move again?”

“Alright.”

Without hesitation, Ellis performed an overhead kick, sending the primal staff flying once more.

Then…

“Oh, oh, oh, oh! So exhilarating!”

Larry and Ellis exchanged bewildered glances, completely at a loss.

When the primal staff reappeared, it floated before Ellis, emitting an excited voice.

“My dearest young mistress, my tsundere young mistress, my violent young mistress, my beautiful young mistress! That peerless countenance, a thousand times more radiant than any jewel, and that graceful, slender figure! Most importantly, that cunning, tsundere, and wild demeanor perfectly aligns with my aesthetic! You are the master I’ve always dreamed of!

“From now on, please guide me, insult me, and whip me to your heart’s content! I’m devoted to you!”

Ellis was startled by the fervent voice and stumbled back repeatedly, only stopping when she bumped into Larry.

“Larry, Larry, did you hear that?”

Larry also stared blankly at the primal staff, nodding. “I’ve never seen a talking primal staff before. Is this… the spirit of a magical artifact?!”

“Spirit of an artifact, my foot! Your whole family are spirits of artifacts!”

The primal staff spun in a circle before proudly declaring, “I am the great Demon Grand Overlord Mitchell Fred!”

Larry pondered, “Demon Grand Overlord? Is that impressive?”

Ellis chimed in, “I don’t know. Is it just like a noble title, perhaps?”

Larry added, “He certainly resembles those flashy nobles with his attitude.”

Ellis concluded, “And his personality is so strange. Doesn’t feel very strong.”

“No, no! My dearest tsundere young mistress! I, Mitchell, am not on the same level as those trashy demon nobles who merely hold empty titles!

“I am a true, super-powered demon, a top-tier big shot even in the Demon Realm!” Mitchell quickly explained, as if terrified Ellis might mistake him for a useless piece of junk.

Ellis narrowed her eyes. ‘He speaks as if he’s incredibly powerful, yet he’s just sealed inside a primal staff.’

“Sealed?! My dearest young mistress! You are gravely mistaken! Mitchell was forged by my own hands! And then personally sacrificed into this super magical artifact!

“I entered it completely voluntarily!” Ellis finally learned that the ‘Devil’s Smile’ was actually named Mitchell—a much nicer name, she thought.

“Huh? Why?”

“Because of love, of course!”

Mitchell’s voice became intoxicated as he spoke with a lingering fondness. “I recall when I was still a Demon Grand Overlord, living a life of luxury above all others. But I had long grown weary of that corrupt and decadent existence.

“Just as I was indulging my whims, searching for something to fill the emptiness within me, a woman as beautiful as you entered my sight. She bravely came before me, unlike those other insignificant ants.

“She did something that finally awakened my long-dormant heart!”

Larry asked curiously, “What was it?”

Mitchell replied with disdain, “You ugly, inferior creature, worse than a slime, could you please stop talking to me? I feel nauseous.”

Larry’s face twisted in indignation. He was being called ugly by a black, seven-inch primal staff that anyone on the street would mistake for a mere kindling stick?!

“Hahahaha!” Ellis pointed at Larry, clutching her stomach with laughter. “I—I’ve truly never heard anyone speak to you so horribly, hahaha!”

“My great master, are you that happy? I’ll insult him every day from now on!” The sycophantic Mitchell fawned, drawing closer to Ellis.

Under Larry’s murderous gaze, Ellis wiped tears from the corners of her eyes and waved her hand. “No need, hahaha. If I want to insult him, I’ll do it myself. You should tell us what that exciting thing was.”

“Of course, my beautiful young mistress!”

Mitchell organized his thoughts, then vividly recounted, “Upon seeing me, she not only refused to kneel, but instead stood with her hands on her hips, staring directly at me with eyes that viewed me as a lowly creature.

“She pointed at me and then hurled every insult she knew at me! Oh, oh, oh!”

Mitchell’s voice rose to a crescendo at this point, his perverse groans echoing in Ellis’s ears, causing severe psychological damage. Startled, she involuntarily clung to Larry, hiding behind him.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Hey, can you act normal? You’re scaring Ellis.”

Larry looked at Ellis, who resembled a frightened kitten, and a protective instinct surged within him. He pointed at Mitchell, scolding him.

“Shut your mouth, kid! If this were the old days, I’d throw you into the deepest hell to be roasted by endless flames for billions of years!” Mitchell retorted to Larry first, then apologized. “Ah, my apologies, my apologies. My adorable young mistress, that memory was simply the most exhilarating moment of my life so far. I couldn’t help but reach a climax, hehehe.”

Mitchell continued to make disgusting noises while inching closer to Ellis.

“Stop! Stay right there! And don’t make those noises that are ten thousand times more nauseating than a rot-heart worm!”

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, you compare me to a creature more disgusting than a rot-heart worm! I—I—I’m so happy! Yes! My crude young mistress!”

Mitchell’s voice soared for a moment, then he immediately stayed put like an obedient puppy.

Ellis and Larry exchanged glances. ‘Could this guy be a severe masochist?’

Seeing Mitchell behave, Ellis realized her tight embrace of Larry, her old face flushing red. She quickly released him and took a step back, saying, “I wasn’t scared just now. I was just startled. When a person is suddenly stimulated, their instincts make them perform protective actions, do you understand?”

Larry chuckled and nodded, while Mitchell cried out again, “Oh, oh, oh, oh! My perfect young mistress looks so adorable when she’s being tsundere!”

“Shut up, you pervert!”

“Oh, oh, oh, oh!”