Chapter 699: Tears of Pain

Shien Buztout noticed Shafney’s unusual behavior, but couldn’t understand the reason. With so many strange things happening today, he didn’t want to overthink it and just wanted to rest.

So, after leaving the matter of the Shajin Clan’s settlement in Succubus City to Liel, he returned to his room, ignoring her displeasure, closed the door, and went straight to bed.

He didn’t care how much attention Shafney’s decision regarding the Shajin Clan attracted.

That day, Shien didn’t leave his room, only appearing for meals.

It wasn’t that he was too tired to move, but he wanted to avoid Liel’s challenges, so he pretended to be sick.

Liel, although aggressive, wasn’t heartless. Despite being annoyed that she couldn’t fight Shien, she still followed his instructions, arranging the Shajin Clan’s settlement and even gathering some tonics for him.

Although there weren’t any goji berries or oysters, the natural treasures of this world were truly effective. After consuming some, Shien felt revitalized, his body no longer sore.

“If I could sell these back in my previous life, they would be a godsend for men,” he thought.

Thus, a rather peaceful yet strange day passed.

Night arrived, and Shien went to bed, happily returning to the land of dreams.

Until midnight, when a seductive figure appeared outside his window again.

It was Shafney.

Looking at the sleeping Shien, her expression was a mix of complexity and determination.

“I need to see if that’s truly my mother’s treasure,” she murmured, then transformed into a stream of light and entered Shien’s body, just like last night.

Shien was completely unaware of this.

…

Dream, Flower Field.

Following last night, Shafney once again arrived here, descending like a fairy.

Upon landing, she couldn’t help but look around.

“This flower field also seems extraordinary. I wonder if that guy has really been to such an unbelievable place.”

Having lived for tens of thousands of years, Shafney had never seen such a beautiful place. If such a place existed in the real world, she would claim it for herself.

“I wonder why that shameless Hero’s dream has such a place.” She chuckled, then looked up at the vast blue sky, her expression gradually turning serious. It was a beautiful sight, but not what she was looking for.

“Could it be just a dream?” she wondered.

Since this was a dream, anything was possible. Perhaps the red gem last night was just a figment of his imagination, not a real object.

But then, she dismissed this thought.

“If it’s just a dream, then why was I immobilized by its power?”

This might be a dream, but her power was real. She could enter dreams with her power and thus could also leave at any time.

However, last night, she was immobilized here, her power completely gone, proving that the red gem’s power was also real, not just a dream.

“Then why didn’t it appear?” Shafney pondered and quickly found an answer.

“Did it appear because it sensed my power?”

This was most likely the correct answer. If the red gem was real, it was undoubtedly on Shien, even within his body. And since she entered his dream, using her power as a Demon Lord within his dream, it wasn’t surprising that her mother’s treasure would react and appear.

Perhaps the red gem even wanted to protect Shien from external forces, appearing in his dream and immobilizing this dreamscape to suppress Shafney’s power, making her harmless.

That was why she was immobilized last night, unable to leave or even resist, allowing someone to have their way with her.

Thinking of this, Shafney was on the verge of tears.

“Mother, you’ve truly ruined your daughter.”

That being said, Shafney knew she had brought this upon herself, having her plan backfire. And although the price was heavy, if her mother’s treasure truly reappeared, it was great news for both herself and the entire Demon Race.

Thinking of this, Shafney pondered for a moment, then spread her arms and released her magic power, the astonishing magic power of a Demon Lord, filling the flower field.

At this moment, as she expected, something happened.

“Weng!” The flower field trembled, and a crimson light converged above.

Within the light, the red gem appeared, like a crimson sun, illuminating the entire dreamscape.

This made Shafney incredibly excited.

“It really is it…”

“It truly is it…”

“Mother…!” Tears of joy streamed down Shafney’s face.

She finally confirmed that her mother’s most important symbol had returned.

Shafney instinctively tried to grab the red gem.

Unfortunately, her power was completely suppressed, immobilized along with the dreamscape by the red gem.

“It’s truly protecting the owner of this dream, preventing any external forces from harming him,” Shafney also confirmed this.

This also meant that she couldn’t take the red gem out of here.

Shafney calmed down.

But before she could think of a solution, an aura appeared behind her.

“…” Shafney froze, a bad premonition rising in her heart.

“Could it be…?” Her expression shifted, and she slowly turned her head.

There, Shien appeared silently, his expression dazed, but his eyes filled with a drunken infatuation as he looked at her, a burning passion gradually igniting within them, making Shafney’s heart tremble.

“Slap!” In the next second, Shien’s hands landed on her slender shoulders.

Shafney trembled and cried out,

“Wait…! I am…!?”

Her struggles were futile.

Shien, ignoring her cries, pushed her down into the flower field, just like last night.

…

The next day arrived quickly.

Shien woke up, feeling refreshed again, just like yesterday. However, along with the refreshing feeling came the same sensation as yesterday: soreness all over.

“Hiss~~~” Shien supported his lower back, a pained and confused expression on his face.

“What’s going on?”

“Why is this happening again?”

“I’m sore without doing anything?”

“Is there something wrong with me?”

Shien was dumbfounded, feeling uneasy.

However, despite the soreness and weakness, he also felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction, as if he had been indulging in pleasure all night.

“There’s definitely something wrong,” he admitted.

This happening two days in a row couldn’t be a coincidence.

“I have to do something,” he thought, racking his brain, then he remembered Shafney.

“That woman was also acting strangely yesterday. She definitely knows something.”

Thinking of this, Shien couldn’t sit still any longer.

“I have to ask her what’s going on.”

He immediately got up, washed up, and then, supporting his back, opened his door.

Liel was standing there.

“…” Shien was silent.

“…” Liel was also silent.

Looking at Shien’s tired face and how he was supporting his back, almost trembling, Liel’s eyes filled with disdain.

“You’re not ‘functional’ again?” she asked, mocking him.

Shien almost exploded. What did she mean by “not functional again”?

Just as he was about to curse, argue with Liel, and even prepare for a fight, she suddenly turned and left.

“W… where are you going?” Shien asked instinctively, startled.

Liel simply replied,

“To get you some tonics.” Her tone and her back were full of disdain as she disappeared down the corridor.

“…” Shien fell silent for a long time.

Then, he exploded.

“Come back here!” He chased after her furiously, shouting, “I can last three hundred rounds!”

That day, Shien didn’t go to Shafney, but to reclaim his dignity as a man, he insisted on fighting Liel, no longer rejecting her challenges.

Unfortunately, Liel didn’t want to fight him today, looking at him with disdain, as if not wanting to bother with someone who lacked stamina, telling him to go back and rest.

Shien naturally couldn’t accept this, pestering Liel until he dragged her to the training room, where, as he declared, they fought for three hundred rounds.

Shien didn’t lose a single round.

But to ensure complete victory, in the end, he had to use [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree] at triple amplification.

Afterwards, he received a large pile of tonics from Liel.

Looking at the tonics, the exhausted Shien shed tears of pain.

Time flew by.

Soon, the second night arrived.

However, this night, Shien didn’t sleep. After consuming his tonics with a frustrated expression, he sat on his bed, holding his Holy Sword, determined to stay awake.

He had made up his mind.

“I’ve been feeling weak after waking up these past two days. In that case, I won’t sleep tonight.”

Shien wanted to see if the strange phenomenon was related to him falling asleep. Did something happen at night? Or was something done to him while he slept?

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

After thinking about it for a whole day, he decided to stay awake and keep watch.

“I don’t believe I’ll still feel weak like this.”

At this point, he was just being stubborn.

However, he genuinely wanted to know if something was wrong with him.

This feeling, which he’d never experienced before, happening for two days in a row, made him wary.

So, Shien sat on his bed, his eyes wide open, staying awake for half the night.

Later, he started to feel sleepy, but he forced himself to stay awake. He was experienced in staying up late. As a night owl from the 21st century, all-nighters playing games or watching anime were the norm. He’d even stayed awake for three days straight to finish an anime.

Therefore, he was confident in staying up for one night.

But just as he was feeling confident, for some reason, he felt his eyelids growing heavy. An uncontrollable drowsiness washed over him, and he started nodding off.

“I… what the…” He wanted to curse, but he couldn’t.

A few seconds later, Shien couldn’t resist any longer and fell asleep.

As he slept, a figure floated in through the window.

“Actually staying up all night, it seems this guy has noticed something,” Shafney said, standing by the bed, looking at the sleeping Shien, her voice filled with frustration and resentment.

“I’m the one who suffered, twice! I haven’t even settled the score with you yet, and you’re still trying to figure things out?” She glared at him, wanting to bite him.

She was much more tired than Shien. As a Demon Lord, Shafney had extraordinary stamina, yet she was so exhausted after two nights that she could only rest in her room. One could imagine how “active” Shien was in his dreams.

Even with his strong constitution, it was no wonder Shien felt sore.

As a Hero with maximum growth in all abilities, at level ninety-five, he shouldn’t be so easily drained. It wasn’t that he wasn’t strong enough, but his opponent was too much.

Having a transcendent Demon Lord as his opponent, and being so thoroughly “used,” it would be strange if he wasn’t exhausted.

Unfortunately…

“Now that we have such a close relationship, isn’t it easy for me to make you fall asleep with my ability?” Shafney said, somewhat smugly.

Her Unique Skill was very special. The more someone was captivated by her charm and the closer their relationship with her, the easier it was for her to manipulate them.

Liel had also said that Shafney’s unparalleled charm wasn’t her Unique Skill, but her Unique Skill was enhanced by her charm.

That’s why Shien, having unknowingly developed such a close relationship with Shafney, couldn’t resist her ability, even with the protection of [Inner Manifestation of Heaven’s Decree] and the Holy Sword.

Of course, such a powerful ability that even the Holy Sword couldn’t negate naturally came with a price.

The effect of Shafney’s Unique Skill was mutual. The more captivated by her and the closer the relationship, the stronger her influence, but the same applied to her.

After these two nights, Shien could no longer resist Shafney, and neither could she resist him.

Fortunately, Shien didn’t know about Shafney’s ability, nor did he realize how close he had become with the person everyone was madly infatuated with.

And as long as he didn’t realize this, Shafney could control him unknowingly like this.

After feeling smug for a while, Shafney became serious. Although she suffered a great loss these past two days, she had confirmed that Shien did have her mother’s treasure.

Shafney didn’t understand why this treasure, which shouldn’t have reappeared, was now on this Hero. Did he know about this? Was this related to his summoning?

She felt that a great secret was hidden within this Hero.

She wanted to discuss this with Sara and her other sisters. This was an extremely important matter for the Demon Race, especially for the six of them.

But before that…

“I need to find a way to take the treasure from him.”

Shafney had been pondering this all day, finally coming up with a plan.

First, she couldn’t take it within his dream. Last night’s experience proved this, showing that if she tried that again, she would only suffer another loss, being tormented by this hateful Hero all night.

Therefore…

“If I can’t take it from inside his body, then I can only take it from outside.”

Shafney planned to do this. Although this Hero had the Holy Sword’s protection and astonishing abilities, and he would immediately wake up if she acted against him in reality, with her Unique Skill and their close relationship, she should be able to do it without harming him or causing too much of a backlash.

Moreover, her strength was ultimately greater than his. With proper manipulation, she might be able to “connect” to his body and retrieve the treasure.

“Hopefully, I’ll succeed.”

Shafney took a deep breath, then spread her arms, a hazy light, like soft moonlight, emanating from her and enveloping Shien.

Soon, the hazy light covered Shien and seeped into his body.

“Mmm…” Shien began to groan. His [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] reacted. His heightened senses warned him of danger. However, the warning was faint, as Shafney had no malice, even harboring complex feelings towards him. His [Outer Awareness] didn’t fully activate. And neither did his [Inner Manifestation]. After all, Shafney wasn’t harming him, only trying to take something from his body, and her Unique Skill bypassed all his defenses, including the Holy Sword.

Perhaps only Shafney could approach him so silently and do this without him noticing. (Again, that unscientific maid was an exception.) Even a Transcendent Level being couldn’t do this without alerting him.

This was the special nature of Shafney’s Unique Skill. The more captivated by her and the closer the relationship, the stronger her power, even able to influence the target.

Now, Shien was being influenced by her Unique Skill.

After a while…

“Weng!”

A crimson light flickered on Shien’s body.

“Success!” Shafney was overjoyed.

But then, she panicked. As the crimson light intensified, the world seemed to react, trembling slightly.

“This is bad!” She suddenly realized the consequences of letting that treasure appear. Its emergence would definitely be noticed by everyone in Omnipotence. If that happened, things would become troublesome.

“I can’t let the God Race and the Human Race know the treasure has reappeared. I can’t even let the Demon Race know…!”

Before she could take action, the crimson light pulsed.

“Bang!” The hazy light covering Shien was dispelled. The crimson light receded into his body, as if resisting its emergence.

Shafney’s face paled, as if suffering a backlash.

No, it wasn’t a backlash, but her power was suppressed again by the crimson light.

“It… it’s still protecting that Hero and even willingly staying inside his body, refusing to come out…?” Shafney muttered in disbelief, her body swaying.

Then, she lost her strength and collapsed onto Shien.

“Mmm…” Shien seemed to sense something and rolled over, pinning Shafney beneath him. Perhaps because of his sweet dreams for the past two days, he instinctively started to get handsy.

Shafney was stunned, then filled with indignation.

“Even in reality, I have to be bullied by this fool?”

She only had time to cry out before being overwhelmed.

That night, Shien once again had a sweet dream.

However, this time, it was truly his own dream.

Just… a rather indecent one…