Notre-Dame Square
Another paladin blocked Isaac's path, wielding a warhammer that swung fiercely at him. A lightweight rapier couldn't parry such a forceful blow, but thanks to D'Artagnan and Athos's training, Isaac dodged backward, evading the strike.
No, I can't retreat. Sophia's right there.
Isaac drew his Bloodheart magic dagger and unleashed a massive fireball at the paladin. The paladin glowed with divine golden light, enduring the blast. Though scorched, he survived.
The opening let Isaac close in.
But that was all.
The paladin's warhammer swung at Isaac's back as he ran toward Sophia—exactly as Isaac planned. He positioned Moonshine behind him, its auto-attack blocking the hammer without needing his eyes.
Still, the divine-powered impact was too much. Isaac was sent flying—
Straight to the pillar.
"Ugh… three broken ribs. Not bad," Isaac spat blood. The paladin charged, and Isaac muttered, "Damn, I can't beat him."
Far off, Athos and Duchess Elisabeth were surrounded by twenty spear-wielding soldiers. Stone dominated his divinely empowered paladin foe but faced seven soldiers. D'Artagnan, though skilled, was losing ground to Olivier's heavy armor, divine power, and greatsword. Meanwhile, Sergei, a giant novice mage, somehow held his own against a high-tier Church mage. How?
No time to think. Isaac faced the charging paladin, knowing he had to fight.
His skill and strength couldn't wield Moonshine's lightness against a divinely powered, multi-kilogram warhammer. Sheathing the rapier, he drew his cross longsword, Slayer's Blade.
"I'll save you, my lady," Isaac said to Sophia on the pillar.
"AAAAH!" Gripping the longsword, Isaac roared and charged the paladin.
Training paid off. The paladin's strike didn't crush him. Isaac closed the distance.
But the paladin's divine knee strike slammed into Isaac's abdomen, blood spurting from his mouth.
Isaac's goal was achieved: reaching the paladin.
The Bloodheart dagger slipped through a gap between the paladin's thigh and chestplate, piercing flesh. Blood and energy flooded into Isaac. The paladin writhed in pain.
Isaac seized the hammer with his other hand. The paladin pulled back, disarmed.
Moonshine, now a whip, lashed the paladin's unprotected face, knocking him unconscious after several strikes.
Isaac rushed to the pillar, hacking its base with Slayer's Blade.
Elsewhere, Stone felled his seven soldiers and paladin. The paladin attempted a holy heal, but the divine glow vanished, as if something rejected his prayer.
"See, my Lord is with me," Stone told the fallen paladin.
D'Artagnan, outmatched by Olivier's armored, divinely enhanced might, heard Olivier guess, "Swordsman, are you Baron D'Artagnan?"
D'Artagnan smirked, eyes blazing, and made a final charge: "One for all!"
His aura surged, rushing Olivier like a meteor. Caught off guard, Olivier briefly faltered.
At that moment, two elegant voices echoed from the square's other side: "All for one!"
The Musketeers' second and fourth captains, Aramis and Porthos, arrived.
"You were hundreds of kilometers away!" D'Artagnan exclaimed.
"Thanks to me," Elisabeth said, blowing him a kiss amid scattered bodies.
The Musketeer captains were complete.
Isaac finally severed the pillar's base, toppling it with Sophia.
"Bear with me, my lady." Isaac cut her ropes.
Sergei, with half his potion left, held off the high-tier mage despite being outclassed. No one knew how.
The three Musketeers ganged up on Olivier, who struggled.
Hope emerged, but it wasn't simple.
"Watch out for Clement!" Stone shouted.
A sixty-something man floated down from the night sky like a god—Master Clement.
"We should truce," D'Artagnan said.
"Agreed," Olivier replied.
Clement descended, waving a hand. A massive shockwave swept the square.
Everyone fell, except one.
Gray Knight Stone.
Though ignorant of magic, as Goulens' famed ranger knight, he'd traveled the continent, battling wyverns, manticores, and trolls, witnessing countless spells. Like Sophia, he knew "Spellbreaker Strike," shattering magic with a single blow.
Not as potent as Sophia's, but it negated Clement's shockwave.
"Knight Stone, the voice advising Belmont—it was you," Clement said.
"Indeed," Stone replied, closing his eyes to pray.
"Little knight, ready for my wrath?" Clement waved.
Nothing happened. He'd cast a polymorph to turn Stone into a sheep, but divine will granted Stone immunity, nullifying the spell.
"Thanks be to my Lord!" Stone charged with Durandal.
"Pathetic. Think you're the lone knight tilting at windmills?" Clement sneered, floating higher. With a wave, hundreds of soccer-ball-sized, blue-white arcane missiles stormed toward Stone.
A few dozen he could handle, but hundreds? Even a dragon would falter.
Stone slashed incoming missiles while charging.
Seven missiles came from different angles, overwhelming him.
Stone closed his eyes, praying.
Hundreds of counter-missiles flew from another direction, clashing with Clement's, saving Stone.
"What?" Stone was baffled—not divine intervention.
"Little knight, don't worship me as a goddess," a cold, haughty voice said behind him.
"Elisabeth of Styria, why are you here?" Clement addressed the woman.
Her clone's left arm was gone, blue blood-like fluid leaking from her minidress.
"This body's fun—no pain," she said. Casting had shattered her clone's arm, lung, and liver, but painless, she conversed casually.
"You think you can stop me? Even as a legendary mage, not in a clone," Clement taunted.
"No, but making the Radiant Right Hand of the Council squirm is delightful," Elisabeth retorted.
The two council mages sparred verbally.
"You owe me, little knight," Elisabeth said.
"Lady, you—"
"No time for that, knight. Sorry, Rosian boy."
"Ura! It's my duty!" Sergei, on the ground, drank his remaining potion.
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Earlier That Morning
After Isaac's group left to train, Elisabeth turned to Sergei. "Rosian boy, know what that potion is?"
"It's from Dominatrix—she saved me and gave it, saying it's for emergencies, but I'll die."
"Right. It's vampire magic, turning your organs and blood into magical energy, with her memories, letting you briefly use her spells."
"Really? I was ready to—"
"She didn't tell you the safe dose. Half a bottle won't kill you—maybe three-quarters of your liver and stomach, but you'll live."
"I need to teleport them. I'm ready to die for my teacher and savior."
Elisabeth pressed a finger to his lips. "I love brave men. I'll teleport them—my clone dies in two days anyway. Save your life. Half a bottle boosts your magic; don't overdo it."
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Now
Elisabeth's clone was crumbling, facing Clement. Teleportation fell to Sergei.
"Ura!" Sergei shouted, downing the entire potion.
All organs except his brain and heart turned to magical energy. Life force fueled immense power, like a sorcerer's. Dark wizards sacrificed others' organs; vampires like Sophia used blood. Sergei's suicidal boost was unprecedented, even to the square's witch hunters.
This explained how half a bottle let him stall a high-tier mage.
"Ura!" Sergei focused all magic into his eyes, locking onto D'Artagnan, the Musketeers, the stunned Stone (watching Elisabeth, now one-eyed and limbless, duel Clement), the fallen Isaac, and the freed but bound Sophia.
"Ura!" With his heart dissolving, Sergei unleashed his final power.
Olivier tossed something to the fallen Isaac—not a weapon, but a metal clamp.
Isaac's group vanished.
Only Sergei's desiccated corpse remained, repaying his savior.
"Brave Rosian," Elisabeth's disintegrating clone said. Limbless, floating by magic, she hurled a final lightning bolt at Clement before dissolving like sand.
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Ding Yangchun's Dungeon
Ding Yangchun doused Anna and Chanel with ice water, then unbound his belt, letting the two "pleasure machines" experience ultimate bliss.
He recalled Anna, who'd maimed him, her lustful gratitude as he relieved her bound body's desires.
He planned to punish her further.
Now, Anna was alone in the dark dungeon, her left ankle roped to a floor ring, immobilizing it. Her arms were bound behind in a high-arm X-shape, a rope from the X's intersection tied to the ceiling.
Another rope from her cleavage's binding linked to the ceiling ahead.
Worst, a crotch rope tied to the ceiling behind forced her to tiptoe her left foot to avoid its sting. Ding Yangchun's fluids lingered between her legs, evidence of her recent torment.
Her right leg was free, but to ease the crotch rope, she lifted it high, tilting left, spreading her legs, her right knee near her chest—a humiliating pose.
Ding Yangchun's cruelty: some Dongyingese suspended one leg to force shame. He used the ceiling-tied crotch rope and immobile left foot to make Anna actively spread her leg, letting him ogle her.
Anna loathed raising her leg but feared the ginger-and-alcohol-soaked rope touching her tender parts.She felt like she was willingly spreading for him—far more shameful than being forced.
How long could her left calf endure tiptoeing, or her right leg stay raised?
"Bebe, ready to submit?" Ding Yangchun stood on a stool, licking her harness-gagged face.
Anna kicked his bandaged chest with her free right foot, toppling him.
The kick abandoned her "comfortable" pose. The soaked crotch rope bit into her.
"Mmph! Mmphhh!" She clenched her eyes, moaning.
"You beastly bitch!" Ding Yangchun rose, jumping to grab her breasts. His weight and hers sank her left foot, the rope digging deeper.
"Mmphhh… mmphhh!" He pulled her body, shouting to the ceiling, "Release the millipedes!"
"Mmphhh???" Anna's eyes turned to terror. The damp-loving bugs would… settle in…
"Mmphhh! Mmphhh!" She heard them scuttle down the rope.
Master, I'm sorry! I'll never hit you again! Please, no! I'll die! Bebe's sorry!
Her gagged mouth could only wail: "Mmph! Mmphhh! Mmphhh!"
"What? You want more?" Ding Yangchun leered.
No! Please, Master! I'll do anything!
"Mmph! Mmphhh!"
Anna cried again. After age fourteen, she'd only wept once when caught by Isaac. Now, in Ding Yangchun's hands, the proud Belmont heiress had lost count of her tears.
"Bebe, be good." He patted her head as the first millipede reached her groin.
"Mmphhh! Mmphhh!" As the only one controlling her fate, Ding Yangchun left, leaving her in despair to face her punishment.
"Mmph! Mmphhh—mmph—mmph—mmphhhh!" Her gagged moans, cries, and screams mixed with the sound of release. Ding Yangchun smiled.
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A Paris District
Teleported, the Gray Knight leapt to a rooftop, heading for the palace.
D'Artagnan and the others scattered to avoid capture.
"No time to mourn Sergei," D'Artagnan told Isaac before leaving.
They reached Shadowswift, their prearranged escape point.
Isaac used a master key to unlock Sophia's spreader cuffs and shackles, placing her, still bound by dulled holy ropes, on the horse.
Mounting behind her, he removed her gag and spurred Shadowswift onward.
The object Olivier threw wasn't a weapon but a clamp. Isaac nearly discarded it.
"Little Zack, use that clamp on my ropes, quick!" Sophia said from the horse.
"Okay." Isaac clamped the ropes, designed to release them.
"Hurry, untie me!"
Isaac fumbled, freeing her after some effort.
Sophia snatched the clamp, removing her three plugs. Fluids and solids spilled, soiling the saddle and Isaac's pants.
Shadowswift neared the closed city gates. They needed a way out.
Fully freed, Sophia's body, infused with Jeanne d'Arc's holy fire energy, was restored despite the collar's suppression.
She leapt off, naked, hoisting Shadowswift's belly and jumping to the city wall.
No guards were there, and with mercury cleared from her ears, she confirmed safety.
"We just climb over," Sophia said, kissing Isaac. "Thanks, Little Zack, for saving this princess."
Isaac blushed, but before he could think, the world shifted.
One moment on the wall, the next in a blue realm with repeating golden fleur-de-lis. No horizon, walls, or edges—just blue and fleur-de-lis everywhere.
"What's this, Sophia?"
"This spell… it's complete?"
"What spell?"
"The Great Goulens Ward, built by centuries of archmages and legendary mages. Halted during the Hundred Years' War but finished."
"We were on the wall—its range… meant to repel invaders…"
"Clever, Lady Dominatrix," Clement said, descending.
"This demiplane, crafted to protect our nation, draws on two millennia of Goulens' arcana, countless mage wards, and artifacts. Here, I wield power beyond a legendary mage."
"Even as a legendary mage, you're no match," Clement sneered.
Sophia touched her collar, still blocking her magic. Her swordsmanship and vampiric body couldn't counter Clement, empowered by this demiplane's millennia of magic.
She needed blood but lacked fangs.
No choice.
Wielding Moonshine, Sophia charged, spotting magical polarization in the air. Her rapier pierced a node, cracking the spell like glass.
"Spellbreaker Strike," Clement noted, floating. Moonshine's whip form lashed at him, clanging against his shield.
Naked, Sophia leapt with vampiric strength beside Clement, sensing magic. She stabbed left, shattering another spell.
Clement vanished, his power far greater.
Isaac drew Slayer's Blade, but Sophia signaled him to hold.
Her infrared vision and hearing pinpointed the invisible Clement. She lunged like a cheetah.
"If you break spells, how about physical attacks?" Clement said.
A ten-meter-high, two-hundred-meter-wide mountain appeared, hurtling at Sophia.
Too wide to dodge, she leapt ten meters up but sensed trouble.
A massive air-compressed palm hid behind the mountain. Her ears caught the distortion, and she could break it with a Spellbreaker Strike.
But—
Clement cast four spells simultaneously, invisible telekinetic forces striking from four directions.
She sensed them but couldn't counter all.
Boom!
Sophia was hurled three kilometers, crashing onto the endless blue fleur-de-lis ground.
"Ugh—AAAAH!" Her cervical spine snapped, blood gushing from her mouth.
A giant stone arm rose, crushing her, aiming to shatter her bones and organs.
"Urgh! AAAAAH!"
Her spine was broken, but the spinal cord was intact, thanks to her vampiric body. Though some nerves failed, she retained control.
Drawing on Jeanne's holy fire, Sophia broke the stone arm and escaped.
"A bigger one, then," Clement said from above.
Ignoring her broken neck, head tilted, Sophia sprinted to Isaac.
Clement struck with another invisible hand. Sophia veered, letting it hit, flinging her a kilometer to land before Isaac.
"Little Zack, trust me," she gasped.
Before Isaac understood, Sophia, bones broken, struggled up.
Her tilted head's lips kissed his, then a sharp pain pierced his abdomen.
The Bloodheart dagger stabbed Isaac, avoiding organs.
His blood drained into Sophia. For humans, the dagger took life force; for vampires, it absorbed blood directly.
Isaac's blood nearly depleted, Sophia's neck realigned.
She conjured a latex bodysuit, no longer naked.
Clement's magical eyes saw a suppression field form around her collar.