Vol 2. Chapter 81: Purpose

How many of Jiu Lixue’s tail hairs had he pulled out, exactly?

Vinny couldn’t remember. He only knew one thing for sure—never in her life had Jiu Lixue, the proud Queen of the Fox Demon Tribe and the Succubus Queen, been subjected to such an obscene level of humiliation. Not only had she been collared like a pet fox, but that mortifying moment had also been permanently recorded using a Recording Stone... after he plucked out so many of her tail hairs.

Put yourself in her shoes—anyone who went through something like that would be out for blood. If she didn’t want him dead, she was a saint.

There was no doubt about it. He had royally screwed himself with Jiu Lixue.

Vinny didn’t even dare imagine what would happen if he transformed into Vanessa in front of her now. That would be... truly spectacular.

Besides, this wasn’t something he could let his subordinates know about, either. If Jiu Lixue’s authority as Queen were to be tarnished like this—if even one person knew the truth about her black history, let alone the very person who caused it—she would absolutely annihilate him, down to the last speck of dust.

Which was why Vinny was absolutely sure: if he so much as uttered half a syllable about it, Jiu Lixue would immediately dismember him on the spot, confirm he couldn’t resurrect, then chop off his head and kick it around like a ball.

“Gulp.” Vinny swallowed with difficulty.

Vanessa. He couldn’t turn into Vanessa. If he did... even the tiny sliver of hope he had left would be crushed by his own hand.

He told himself to stay calm. In a crisis, the only way to survive was to put yourself in the enemy’s shoes.

Calm down. Now. Think clearly!

So, the real question was—why had Jiu Lixue come here?

Vinny didn’t know if she ever appeared in this place in the original story, but he was fairly certain that Aesphyra wasn’t supposed to meet Jiu Lixue in the early chapters.

If memory served, their first meeting had been... well, hostile. Aesphyra’s little problem as a green-eyed, beauty-obsessed reincarnator had flared up again. When she saw Jiu Lixue—this stunning, sensual, devastatingly seductive beauty—she’d lost all self-control. Her mouth had gone off-script. She flirted.

And of course, Jiu Lixue hadn’t taken it well. She took it as a blatant provocation. One thing led to another, and the two of them ended up fighting, three hundred rounds with no clear victor. Jiu Lixue was at a higher cultivation level and had total confidence, but she still couldn’t fully suppress Aesphyra. The battle ended in a deadlock.

The thing was, Aesphyra didn’t just fight. Even mid-battle, her hands, feet—and mouth—never stopped moving. She flirted the entire time, bombarding Jiu Lixue with a barrage of seductive lines while still maintaining perfect combat precision. It left everyone speechless.

Let’s not forget—Jiu Lixue wasn’t just anyone. She was the Demon Queen, ruler of the entire demon realm. One mistake, one slip-up, and Aesphyra would’ve lost her life. And yet, she pulled off that relentless seduction routine like it was nothing. You had to hand it to her—she really was born to run a harem.

So then, why had Jiu Lixue, who should’ve been busy with the demon realm’s internal affairs, come all the way into human territory? There was no way she mobilized this many top-level elites just to deal with one little village, right?

Absolutely not.

Would the future Demon Lord seriously summon her full all-star entourage just for one human village?

Why shift her strategic focus away from the northern continent for this?

Surely it wasn’t because Aesphyra’s aura had clashed with hers so violently that it magnetized her here like an iron filing?

Vinny was starting to realize he was missing something. There had to be a deeper reason Jiu Lixue would make such a big move.

And with that realization, a flicker of hope lit up inside him. Maybe... maybe there was still a way out of this.

What’s more, Vinny had noticed something odd—many of Jiu Lixue’s inner-circle confidants weren’t even focused on him or Aesphyra. Their attention was more directed at the surviving succubi. Especially that red-haired one.

That was strange.

Silently, Vinny crept closer to Aesphyra.

Staying near an ally felt safer in moments like this. It’d be best to stick with her.

“My Queen!” The red-haired succubus’s voice cracked with emotion upon seeing Jiu Lixue in person. Tears welled in her eyes as she dropped to her knees and crawled forward, as if to prostrate herself at the Queen’s feet.

But before she could even reach her, a succubus Grand Duchess standing beside Jiu Lixue raised her foot and kicked the red-haired succubus clean across the field.

“Huh??” Vinny scratched his head, processor stalling again. What the hell was that?

Internal strife? Or was this some kind of traditional “greeting ritual” among succubi when meeting their superiors?

Aesphyra, standing nearby, furrowed her brows slightly too.

Even Farkas, lying on the ground, looked puzzled—but most of his brainpower was being spent figuring out how to escape. The rest? Not important.

As for any allegiance he once felt toward the red-haired succubus? Please. Faced with death, who remembers that kind of thing?

Vinny gave Aesphyra a glance, then continued watching the drama unfold.

“You disobedient wretch. And you think you have the right to crawl here and bow before Her Majesty the Queen? Who do you think you are?” sneered the Grand Duchess who had kicked the red-haired succubus. She wore ear studs and spoke with undisguised contempt.

The other high-ranking fox demons and succubus Grand Duchesses didn’t comment. They simply watched the red-haired succubus with cold, indifferent eyes.

As for her subordinates? They had never seen a Grand Duchess in their lives—let alone the Queen. They were already on their knees, too terrified to breathe.

Disobedient?

Vinny frowned.

So there was something going on here.

“Dis—disobedient? Lady Flora, I... I didn’t—” Even after being violently kicked, the red-haired succubus didn’t dare show a hint of temper. If anything, she became even more humble, even more submissive.

Gone was the unyielding defiance she had shown earlier to him and Aesphyra. It was like she had a completely different face now.

“Didn’t? Then what are we doing here? What business does Her Majesty have in this place? Anlis, do you think we all have as much free time as you, you lowly thing?” The Grand Duchess—apparently named Flora—folded her arms over her ample chest and looked down at Anlis with frigid disdain.

“Or do you truly believe, Anlis, that someone of your status and importance was worth dragging all these Grand Duchesses here—even Her Majesty herself—to save you?”

“There’s only one answer,” Flora said, walking up and lifting Anlis’s chin with the pointed toe of her black high-heeled boot. “We’re here... to send off a traitor who disobeyed Her Majesty’s orders.”

“Y-Your Majesty?!” Anlis looked around in disbelief, then stared directly at the regal white-haired girl with fox ears, now surrounded by the highest elites of the demon realm.

“Anlis. Who authorized you to bring your subordinates into a human village?” Jiu Lixue’s voice rang out. Just like in Vinny’s memory, she was so beautiful it was soul-crushing. Her lips curled into a bewitching smile—utterly devoid of warmth.

“I... I...” Anlis faltered.

“You arbitrarily started a conflict. You slaughtered a human village. You tried to drag us into a war with the humans. Who gave you that permission?” Jiu Lixue’s voice was like silk and shadow—soft, but heavy with consequence. Not a single fox demon or succubus dared to speak while she did. Even their breathing was silent, afraid to interrupt their Queen.

“Th-the thing is... Your Majesty, I thought—”

“Anlis.” Jiu Lixue cut her off. “I am not interested in thoughts or guesses. Answer the question.”

“Do you realize that provoking conflict with a target we should not be fighting right now... is enough to brand you a traitor?”

“Me?! I...” At the word traitor, Anlis’s face turned ghostly pale. Her lips lost all color. Clearly, within demon society, traitor wasn’t just a label—it was a death sentence. Possibly worse.

“And even among the more lenient demon territories, the punishment for traitors is always death,” Jiu Lixue said, inspecting her fingernails, painted a dark wine-red.

“Given that this is your first offense, and given the current wartime circumstances, I’ve decided to make an example. Let all demons know: in wartime, disobedience leads to only one outcome.”

The first part of her sentence gave Anlis a flicker of hope.

The second half crushed it utterly.

“Anlis,” Flora added coldly, “your family is already under control, awaiting punishment. This is entirely because of your actions.”

“Disobeying military orders. Defying the Queen’s will. Starting unauthorized wars during a state of conflict. Any one of these crimes is enough to justify your execution a hundred times over.”

“Lady Flora...” Anlis looked at her with despair.

“Don’t say my name. I don’t have such a disgraceful subordinate.” Flora sneered. “You’re nothing but a failure.”

“Listen carefully, Anlis. You have only one option left.” With that, Flora tossed a sheathed dagger onto the ground in front of her.

“This dagger is coated in poison. You know what to do.”

“Your next action will decide your family’s fate.” Flora’s voice was final. “You can die with some dignity—or without it.”

“...I understand.” After a long pause, Anlis’s lips trembled. Her hands shook as she picked up the poisoned dagger.

“I’m sorry... Your Majesty... Lady Flora... I’ve disgraced you both...”

“This was all my doing. Please... leave my family out of it.” She bit her lip, braced herself, and slit her own throat.

Blood spilled. Her face twisted from the poison. She twitched a few times—then collapsed.

Dead.

“Pathetic.” Flora spared the corpse a glance.

“Your Majesty. The traitor has been dealt with. Shall we?”

“Arrest every succubus who knew Anlis had disobeyed orders but followed her anyway,” Jiu Lixue said coldly. “We’ll execute them once we’re back. Publicly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Flora nodded. She gave the group of succubi a single glance, and they all collapsed to their knees in terror.

“You’d best confess everything now. Save me the trouble.”

“If I find out you lied to me...” Flora’s smile turned razor-sharp. “I’ll make sure your suffering is beyond death. Got it?”

The low-rank succubi and dream demons nodded frantically.

“Good. Clean up your superior’s corpse. Bring it back.”

Vinny and Aesphyra had watched the entire scene in silence.

Vinny didn’t even dare swallow. He played dead the entire time, praying no one shifted their attention to them.

So—so it was just a matter of executing a traitorous succubus? That was it?

He knew it. Jiu Lixue wasn’t so petty. She didn’t care about humans. There was no way she’d invade the human world for such a ridiculous reason.

Turns out, it was that red-haired succubus—Anlis—who disobeyed orders, stirred up trouble at the human border, seduced a priest of the Church, and tried to start a war.

None of that had anything to do with Jiu Lixue.

That’s why she came in person with her full entourage—to make an example for her subordinates. A clear message: defy her, and this is your fate.

God, he’d nearly died of fear.

He thought Jiu Lixue had come to take revenge for her subordinates... but she’d only come to execute a traitor.

Which meant... he and Aesphyra were unrelated bystanders, right? This whole thing had nothing to do with them, right? Could they leave?

Vinny gave Aesphyra a look, signaling: We’re done here. Time to go!

Better to slip out before the execution ended—because once it was done, the next thing drawing attention might just be the two of them.

Leading the way, Vinny began tiptoeing away, motioning for Aesphyra to follow.

And then—

“Your Majesty,” Flora said, “there’s also a bag of trash... and two tasty little white rabbits still on-site. What shall we do with them?”

“?!” Vinny heard it. He just pretended he didn’t. Pretended it had nothing to do with him or Aesphyra. He walked faster.

Then...

A water-fox spell made of deep, dark current zipped right past him.

Huh?? What was that??

Vinny snapped his head around—Jiu Lixue had extended her palm in their direction.

That spell... she’d fired it herself.

Shit!

Vinny frantically checked himself—nothing missing. He was unharmed. Completely intact.

Tch. Lame. So she did throw a spell at them, but neither he nor Aesphyra got hit? That was pathetic.

Guess Jiu Lixue wasn’t that scary after all. At most, she was—

“BOOOOOMMMMM!”

A thunderous roar erupted behind him.

Vinny froze.

Slowly, mechanically, he turned his gaze.

At some point—he wasn’t sure when—the distant, desolate mountain behind him had collapsed.

The entire upper half was gone.

Just... gone.

Vinny stood there, eyes widening. Pupils contracting.

Ah... ah???

AHHHHHHH???!!

Very clearly... Jiu Lixue had deliberately missed.

Vinny was fine.

But that mountain?

It had been bisected.