A Demon's Journey

Erica sat with Christina for about two hours, listening to her and calming her down. After Christina calmed down, Erica put her down to sleep in her tent.

Erica soon left the area and flew towards Azaroth's camp. She wished to express her gratitude to him for saving Christina.

No matter what motive he had in mind, the fact remained that he saved Christina.

Erica was quite aware of what Christina would have to endure if the Night Mountain Sect got their hands on her.

She would be tortured daily and maybe even do some despicable things to her.

After nearly 15 or so minutes, she reached Azaroth's camp. Azaroth sensed her presence and had already come out of his tent.

"Greetings, what brings the Sect Mistress here?" He asked with an amused tone. He knew perfectly well why she was here, but he wanted her to speak it from her own mouth.

"…I have come to thank you for saving my daughter," Erica spoke at that moment, "If not for you, the Night Mountain Sect would have tortured her to break my willpower."

"The Black Lake Sect would have most likely lost this battle against the Night Mountain Sect. Thus, I sincerely thank you," Erica spoke as she bowed slightly.

Azaroth smiled slightly while remaining silent. He knew what she was trying to do. She was genuine while thanking him. However, Erica was thanking him in such a manner that he wouldn't request anything excessive for this favor.

She wanted him to feel slightly embarrassed. When an individual wants something from a person who genuinely respects him, he would feel reluctant to ask for something excessive and ruin that respect that the other person held for him.

However, Azaroth was far above this sort of awkwardness. He spoke out with a clear tone, "You owe me an enormous favor. After all, I was the one who rescued your daughter. And I've heard that nothing is more precious to a mother than a child. This must be true even for a sect mistress like you."

Erica gazed at him with a serious expression and then nodded. This was a fact, after all.

"To return that favor, I want your Black Lake Sect to assist my Sacred Ice Aurora Valley Sect whenever we require it." This was a rather fine condition in Erica's eyes. It was akin to forming an alliance with the Sacred Ice Aurora Valley Sect.

Although the Black Lake Sect won't gain anything from this deal, Erica was willing to form this alliance. This was the least she could do to return the favor she owed Azaroth.

However, Azaroth wasn't done yet.

"There is one condition to that statement. You can't say no to aiding the Sacred Ice Aurora Valley Sect as long as you remain the sect mistress."

When Erica heard those words, her eyes widened. She understood what this condition meant.

With the previous condition, the Black Lake Sect would be in an alliance with the Sacred Ice Aurora Valley Sect. However, if she agreed to this condition, the Black Lake Sect would more or less become a subordinate to the Sacred Ice Aurora Valley Sect.

At the least, as long as she remained the sect mistress, she could never go refuse Azaroth's order. This was akin to selling herself and her whole sect.

"…Aren't you being a little too excessive with that demand?" Erica asked with a cold tone.

Azaroth didn't appear to be affected by those words, "The favor you owe me is just that huge. I am not someone who is willing to suffer a loss."

"Heh. Really? And if I don't accept this condition?" Erica asked while coldly snorting. She wasn't going to sell her sect away to this man. Personally, kneeling to Azaroth was one thing, but betraying her entire sect was another matter!

Azaroth spoke with a calm tone, "I understand." He took a small pause and added with a cold smile on his face, "You should return to your daughter's side then. You will understand everything."

Erica didn't understand what he meant. However, Azaroth had already turned around and left the area.

After a couple of seconds, Erica realized what Azaroth was talking about. She took an about-turn and rushed towards her daughter's side.

At this time, Christina's Variant Flame Root had erupted with an unreal flame Ardor.

The warriors of the Black Lake Sect utilized their best Water Ardor techniques, but the flames continued to burn.

Christina's body was burning from the inside. Moreover, the flame was burning rather slowly.

Around 5 or so minutes later, Erica arrived, and she gasped in shock as she saw what had occurred to her daughter.

"Christina?!" She shouted with her voice full of concern and anxiety.

She then recalled Azaroth's words and his cold smile. She now realized that this must have been his motive to save Christina.

He had somehow managed to trigger Christina's Variant Flame Root without Erica realizing it. Not just Erica, but the Golden Crow and the Great Kun were also caught off-guard.

This meant he had expected Erica's response and prepared this time bomb for this situation.

At this moment, Erica created a colossal water sphere and struck Christina with that attack.

Christina's body submerged within that water sphere and the flame ardor around her became weaker.

Erica frowned as she sensed that she couldn't permanently suppress the Flame Ardor that was released from Christina's Variant Flame Root.

Erica raised her output and tried to forcefully suppress Christina's Variant Flame Root.

At that moment, the Great Kun Spirit within her spoke 'You can't suppress her Variant Flame Root using my Water Element. It seemed as though something is actively triggering her Flame Root.'

'If you don't purge that thing which is triggering her Flame Root, your daughter would continue to release energy till she dies.'

"How do I deal with it?" Erica immediately asked the Great Kun Spirit. Her voice displayed her urgency.

The Great Kun Spirit responded a moment later 'You would need a Heavenly Herb that is on the same rank as that of the thing triggering the Flame Root. However, you should give up on that method.'

Erica's eyes widened when she heard the Great Kun Spirit asking her to give up. She asked with her voice filled with anxiousness, "Why?! Do you want me to give up on my daughter?!"

'That's not the case. It's just that whatever is triggering her Flame Root is an existence even greater than mine. And this means you would need a Seven Star Heavenly Herb that can suppress Flame Element! Moreover, you would need to gather this herb in less than a day. Since that's how long your daughter can last. However, you should realize the difficulty of this mission. Moreover, even after you get a Heavenly Herb that can suppress Flame Element, I cannot guarantee that it would work.'

Tears began to well up in Erica's eyes as she heard the Great Kun Spirit's explanation.

The Great Kun Spirit continued speaking 'Another method would be to ask an Array Expert to create an Array that would suppress her Flame Root. However, this would be a temporary method, and Christina would need to reinforce that array periodically.'

The more Erica listened to the Great Kun Spirit's words, the more she realized how awful the situation was.

'You don't need to be so disheartened. You do have a way to save your daughter. And I suppose I don't need to mention it to you.'

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A/N: I hope you have liked the chapter. Please vote for the novel.