Consciousness slowly rose from the depths, like floating up from very, very deep water.
First came the light.
A dim, blurry light filtered in through a small window high above, falling onto her eyelids, carrying a trace of warmth.
Then came the smell.
The damp, musty air mixed with a faint, unfamiliar scent of blood?
Finally, the sound.
A soft breathing, not far away.
Debbie’s eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Her vision went from blurry to clear.
What she saw was the ceiling of that familiar basement, the mottled stone bricks, and that ventilation window that only ever let in a sliver of light.
Then, she subconsciously turned her head, and her pupils abruptly contracted.
Not far away, the thick, undissolvable mass of black mist stood quietly.
And at the foot of that black mist—
Baron Jiefulun lay sprawled on the ground like a pile of mud, his hands and feet tightly bound, a rag stuffed in his mouth, that greasy face still twisted with a certain… despair.
He just lay there, motionless.
Like a pig waiting to be slaughtered.
Debbie’s breath stopped for a moment.
That was…
That figure that haunted her nightmares.
The “demon” who robbed her of her parents, her sister, her best friend’s lives.
The enemy she hated to the bone and wished she could personally cut into a thousand pieces.
And now, he just lay there, at her mercy.
Debbie’s heartbeat began to race, thumping, as if it wanted to jump out of her chest.
Just then, the black mist seemed to sense something.
A touch of scarlet light at its head turned slightly, falling in her direction.
The moment she was stared at, Debbie felt her body instinctively stiffen.
That gaze…
Still so terrifying.
Even knowing that the other party was on her side, that instinctive fear of a superior being, etched deep in her bloodline, still made her want to shrink away.
This was a true demon!
Then, the black mist spoke.
[You’re awake?]
—That was what Xing Yue originally said.
But what reached Debbie’s ears was a different, twisted, cold voice that sent chills down her spine.
“Oh? I thought you’d just sleep yourself to death~”
When Debbie heard this, her body trembled again.
There was no warmth in those words, no concern, only a kind of… condescending amusement, as if watching something interesting.
She instinctively wanted to shrink into a corner, but reason made her hold back.
She was the one who summoned this Demon Lord.
She was the one who begged him to help her take revenge.
Now that he had really brought Jiefulun here, how could she be afraid and retreat?
Debbie took a deep breath, propped herself up on the ground and sat up, trying hard to keep her voice from shaking: “I’m sorry… for troubling you, Lord Demon…”
The black mist seemed to pause.
The scarlet light flickered slightly, as if sizing her up.
Then—
The black mist moved.
It slowly floated toward Debbie.
Debbie’s heart lifted again, but she didn’t back away.
The black mist stopped in front of her, and from the depths of the fog, a vague outline formed from condensed mist extended.
In that “hand,” it seemed to be holding something.
When Debbie looked closely, she froze.
It was a piece of bread and a carton of milk.
The black mist spoke again, this time with a longer sentence than before.
“Hehe~ Two days without food or water and you’re still alive—pretty tough, huh~”
“Here~ Eat up, don’t lose your strength for revenge.”
Debbie: “…”
She looked at the bread and milk in front of her, then up at the black mist.
Nothing was clear on that fog-concentrated face, only the scarlet light burning quietly.
But somehow…
She suddenly felt that the Lord Demon before her wasn’t so scary anymore.
Although his words were a bit harsh…
His actual actions were caring for her, right?
Debbie hesitated for a moment, then reached out, took the bread, and held it in her palm. A wave of warmth surged in her heart.
She was indeed starving.
From the moment she started preparing the summoning array until now, she had barely eaten anything.
She never expected that the Lord Demon would have prepared food before she even woke up.
Lord Demon… is so thoughtful…
Debbie was deeply moved. Carefully she tore off a small piece of bread and put it in her mouth.
Then a second piece.
A third piece.
At first she ate in small bites, but then hunger surged up like a tide, completely out of her control.
She started wolfing down the bread, her cheeks bulging like a little hamster hoarding food.
‘Eat slowly, don’t choke.’ Xing Yue felt helpless and a little worried as she watched, but when it reached Debbie’s ears, she heard: “Tsk tsk… eating that fast, trying to rush toward death?”
Before the words died—
“Cough, cough, cough—!”
Debbie really did choke.
She clutched her throat, her face turning bright red. She couldn’t swallow it down, couldn’t cough it up—only a painful series of coughs escaped her.
The black mist seemed stunned for a moment.
Then a hand made of mist reached out and lightly patted her back.
That touch was strange—not like a real hand, but like a gentle wind brushing along her spine, carrying a reassuring strength.
At the same time, the other “hand” brought the milk to her lips.
Debbie didn’t care about anything else. She took the milk and gulped it down.
The milk slid down her throat, the cold sensation clearing the bread stuck there. Finally she caught her breath, panting heavily.
“What a pathetic and ugly way to eat—and no one’s even fighting you for the food~”
Hearing the Lord Demon’s teasing, the blush that had just faded crept back onto Debbie’s cheeks. She hurriedly lowered her head, wishing she could crawl into a crack in the ground.
‘Uwaah… so embarrassing…’
‘Letting the Lord Demon see me make a fool of myself…’
After that, Debbie’s eating became restrained. She imitated the ladylike posture of her sister.
And during that time, the black mist crouched quietly beside her, using its “hand” to gently pat her back, soothing her.
Even though this Lord Demon looked terrifying—the kind that made your legs go weak at a single glance—
And his words were full of disdain—
His actions were so gentle that it reminded her of her father, who had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
Debbie felt her eyes grow a little moist. She looked up at the black mist.
“…Thank you, Lord Demon.”
Her voice was very soft, with a hint of a sob, but more sincere than ever before.
The black mist paused.
The scarlet light flickered slightly, as if a little surprised.
But soon, the light returned to calm.
“Hehehe~ I don’t just want verbal thanks, you know~ After you finish eating, stay put and don’t move around. I’m going to take a look at that fat pig first.”
With those words, the black mist turned and floated toward Jiefulun in the corner.
Debbie watched the black mist’s back as it drifted away, then stuffed the last of the bread into her mouth and finished it.
—
Xing Yue arrived beside Jiefulun.
She crouched down, extended her mana again, and carefully examined the contract traces inside Jiefulun’s body.
Before Debbie woke up, she had already returned to the manor, driven away everyone inside, and, adhering to the principle that art is an explosion, blown the entire Lord’s Mansion sky-high.
After all, searching for contracts room by room was too troublesome—destroying the whole building was obviously much simpler.
Of course, to be safe, Xing Yue had also learned magic dispelling. After returning, she used her mana to forcibly disperse all the soul links on Jiefulun.
Now, just to be absolutely certain, she decided to double-check.
Mana probed, perception spread.
Good. There really were no traces of any contracts left.
The “threads” that had once bound countless slaves had now been torn away cleanly.
Xing Yue let out a small sigh of relief.
This time, there was absolutely no problem.