The private booth was a wreck. Shattered glass covered the floor, and the three Yakuza thugs were groaning in a heap in the corner, their bodies withering from the corruption magic.
Seraphina fell to her knees, scrabbling at the sticky red puddle where the vial had broken. She was sobbing, her composure completely shattered.
"No... no..." she whimpered, her fingers stained with the demon blood. "It's gone. The fire... it's coming back!"
As the effects of the previous dose wore off, her body arched in agony. Golden light began to leak from her eyes and mouth—not a gentle glow, but a blinding, searing radiance. Her skin started to smoke.
[System Analysis: Seraphina]
[Condition: Divine Overload]
[Status: Critical]
Ren watched her. She wasn't sick; she was a nuclear reactor on the verge of meltdown.
The curtain to the booth was ripped open. The Manager—the four-armed Djinn—stood there, flanked by two Minotaurs.
"What is the meaning of—" The Djinn stopped. He saw the unconscious gangsters. He saw the Saintess on the floor. And he saw Ren standing calmly in the center of the chaos.
Ren looked at the Djinn. His violet eyes swirled with the Void.
"They tried to rob me," Ren lied smoothly. "And the lady is having a seizure. I need a private suite. Now."
The Djinn looked at the platinum card in Ren's hand, then at the terrifying aura radiating off him. He made a business decision.
"Top floor," the Djinn grunted. "Suite 1. Do not break the furniture."
The Confessional
Ren carried Seraphina bridal-style into the elevator. She was burning up. Her skin felt like a hot iron against his chest, but his [Void Body] absorbed the heat effortlessly.
"It hurts," she moaned, clutching his coat. "Please... kill me. Let me return to the Light."
"You're not dying tonight, Seraphina," Ren whispered. "You're just changing management."
He kicked open the door to Suite 1. It was a lavish room with red velvet walls and a massive circular bed.
Ren threw her onto the mattress.
Seraphina curled into a ball, screaming silently as the Holy Magic ate her nerves. The golden light was intensifying, scorching the bedsheets.
Ren climbed onto the bed, looming over her. He reached down and grabbed the front of her heavy ceremonial robes.
RIP.
He tore the fabric down the middle.
Underneath the holy vestments, she was wearing simple white silk lingerie. But her skin... it was a map of agony. Brilliant, jagged lines of gold energy were pulsing under her flesh, threatening to tear her apart.
"Look at you," Ren said, running a finger down a glowing vein on her thigh. "Too much Yang. Your body is a vessel for a god, but the vessel is too small."
Seraphina looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. "Who... who are you?"
"I am the Void," Ren said. "I am the only thing that can eat the Light without burning."
He placed his hand flat on her stomach, right over her womb—the center of her mana core.
[Skill: MANA DRAIN (Gentle)]
He pulled.
"AHH!" Seraphina gasped.
But it wasn't a scream of pain. It was a gasp of sudden, shocking relief.
Where Ren touched her, the burning stopped. The golden veins dimmed, the energy sucked straight into Ren's palm. It felt like cold water being poured over a burn.
"The pain..." she breathed, her body relaxing for the first time in years. "It's... gone?"
"Only where I touch you," Ren said, removing his hand.
The pain instantly returned, ten times worse.
"No!" She reached for him, grabbing his hand and pressing it back against her skin. "Put it back! Please! Don't stop!"
Ren smiled. He had her.
"You want the cure?" Ren asked, hovering inches from her face. "The Demon Blood just numbed you. I can drain you. I can take it all away. But my services aren't free."
"Anything!" Seraphina begged, writhing on the bed as the heat consumed her. "I have gold! I have artifacts!"
"I don't want gold," Ren whispered, brushing his lips against her ear. "I want to be inside you. The most effective way to drain a core... is through direct connection."
Seraphina froze. She was the Saintess. She was sworn to chastity. To break her vows was to lose her position in the Church.
But the pain was blinding. And the pleasure of his touch—the cool, soothing sensation of the Void—was addictive.
"If I do this..." she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I will fall."
"Then fall," Ren said. "Fall into me."
He kissed her.
It wasn't a romantic kiss. He latched onto her mouth and inhaled. He sucked the breath and the mana right out of her lungs.
Seraphina's resistance shattered. Her survival instinct took over. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down. She didn't just want the cure; she craved it.
"Take it," she sobbed into his mouth. "Take the light! Take everything!"
Ren pulled back, his eyes glowing with predatory hunger. He stood up and unbuckled his belt.
"As you wish, Your Holiness."