Chapter 276: Tentacles Say Nothing, Only Accelerate (4K)

Puki, puki, puki.

Sashasha…

Slimy, eerie sounds rhythmically echoed from hidden corners of the bronze fortress, as if a scaled creature crawled across the ground.

"Mmm, mmm…"

Beyond that, muffled groans, as if forcibly stifled against the lips, occasionally leaked out, adding further strangeness to the scene.

It made one involuntarily imagine slightly peculiar visuals.

Finally, a weary sigh broke the silence.

"I'm saying… enough already, okay?"

Herbert gathered all the fallen angel feathers, then glanced sideways at the side scene—a world-famous painting of "Tentacles and the Devil."

"You're bullying her too much."

That's too much!

Under Herbert's speechless gaze, four slimy shadow tentacles slowly extended, precisely gripping the Devil Young Lady's limbs and hoisting her high into the air.

But not like the stretching and tearing of five-horse dismemberment, nor like the torture of interrogating prisoners.

The shadow tentacles merely lifted the Devil Young Lady off the ground and rocked her back and forth like a cradle.

The Harmonious God Young Lady's punishment game wasn't that cruel… but neither was it kind.

Meanwhile, the remaining shadow tentacles weren't idle either—they darted about like mischievous children, weaving through the soft flesh of the Devil's waist, the soles of her feet, and her palms.

Gently brushing past, their delicate touch felt like a breeze skimming a lake's surface, yet carried an unbearable itch.

Scratch-scratch-scratch!

The Devil's soles were especially "cared for," the tentacles lightly tickling them, sometimes darting swiftly, sometimes pressing gently on specific acupoints, as if playing a strange melody.

The Devil's tail was not spared either.

The tentacles twined and slithered along Crete's tail, as if searching for treasure at its tip; every touch made her body tremble slightly.

Though unconscious, the Devil Young Lady's body instinctively reacted to the stimulation.

In her dream, she involuntarily struggled, twisting and trembling incessantly.

"Mmm—"

But the final shadow tentacle clamped over her mouth, preventing any louder sound.

Crete could only frown, emitting weak muffled groans through her nose, powerless to resist in her dream.

Her pitiful state—itching everywhere, yet only able to writhe helplessly—was truly heartbreaking.

How could one word—"惨"—possibly capture it?

So惨!

Also, last time I wanted to ask—your control over these tentacles… is it too damn extreme!?

Nie Nasha just didn't seriously target Crete's truly sensitive spots, otherwise… Herbert couldn't even bear to watch.

Sister, how are you so skilled at this?

Did you used to enjoy this kind of… hmm, never mind, I won't ask.

Feeling the urgent warning from his spiritual intuition, Herbert suppressed his bold thoughts and swallowed the question back down.

Don't ask.

If you ask, something unbearable will happen—to me!

Let the sect brother die, not the poor disciple.

You already beat her today, so you can't beat me now. JPG

"Cough, stop it!"

Herbert reached behind him and grabbed the tentacle that had silently slithered to his rear end.

Fuck, stop it!

Don't touch my hook!

Herbert gripped the tentacle's vital point and complained to Nie Nasha: "I'm serious—just play around, that's enough."

"She's passed out this many times—she'll eventually notice."

Crete isn't… Bai Chi—how could she not sense or suspect the repeated, sudden gaps in her memory?

As for the boy's complaint, the deity gave no response.

The tentacles remained silent, only accelerating further.

Scratch-scratch-scratch!

Naturally, the consequence was the Devil Young Lady suffering—her body arched backward from the itch.

"Mmmmmm!!?"

It was only because Crete was unconscious—if not, she would've screamed.

Loudly.

No, even now, Herbert faintly thought he heard a phantom "Hmm-hmm-hmm, haaahhh—"

But more than that stinking muffled groan, Herbert's attention turned to Nie Nasha's attitude.

Oh? Pretending not to hear?

Giving me the cold shoulder?

Ignored, Herbert raised an eyebrow and grumbled: "Tsk… I'll count to three. If you don't stop, I'm really going to get mad."

"Three, two…"

Under Herbert's warning countdown, the shadow tentacles finally halted.

The tentacles shrank back sheepishly, lowering the Devil Young Lady to the ground and releasing her body.

Before disappearing, one considerate tentacle even tidied up her clothes from head to toe—conveniently wiping away all of its own evidence in the process.

And only after every trace had been destroyed did Nie Nasha's reply finally arrive, late as ever.

【"Ahahaha, my dear ally, did you summon me?"】

Nie Nasha let out a laugh, entirely unashamed, and said: 【"What were you saying just now? The wind was too loud, this one didn't hear~"】

Miss Xie Shen had come up with an extremely perfunctory excuse, trying to bluster her way through like that.

The good news was—she succeeded.

Herbert hadn't paid the slightest attention to the small matter of Nie Nasha dangling Miss Xie Shen like a toy, hadn't given it a second thought at all.

The bad news was—she didn't quite succeed.

What Herbert did care about was the fact that she had ignored him and refused to follow his commands.

"Heh, so you do remember I'm your ally, do you? Seeing how unwilling you were to cooperate just now, I thought you'd forgotten."

To be precise, Herbert was a bit annoyed about Miss Xie Shen taking matters into her own hands.

For this pair of allies, what is the most important thing?

Cooperation.

Nie Nasha cooperates with Herbert, helping him grow, helping him obtain greater power as soon as possible.

Herbert cooperates with Nie Nasha, advancing toward the great goal of liberating her.

To achieve that unreachable ideal, neither one's cooperation can be lacking—without either of them, it simply won't work.

Nie Nasha popping up on her own to tease the demon girl wasn't a huge deal, but Herbert felt it still needed to be taken seriously.

Thinking of this, Herbert snorted in annoyance and said:

"If you don't cooperate again in the future, then I won't cooperate either. As for your grand plan of revival… just take your sweet time waiting."

"It's not like you seem in any rush to revive, anyway."

Why should I work so hard?

I'm done, I'm done!

Sometimes, a wage-slave needs to understand one truth.

Working appropriately is so that one can live a good life.

But working oneself to death is only so that the boss can live an even better life.

As for Herbert making a fuss over nothing, Nie Nasha wasn't angry at all, and cheekily continued to brush him off: 【"The wind was too loud, I told you, it was the wind~"】

Want to morally绑架 a Miss Xie Shen? Make a Miss Xie Shen feel guilty over something like this?

Kid, you're still too young.

【"Aiya, don't fuss over something like this—a petty man won't be liked!"】

【"I'll cooperate from now on—mm, if it's something important."】

Nie Nasha's stance was—knows she was wrong, but firmly refuses to change.

As long as this Miss Xie Shen doesn't drop the ball at the critical moment, that's fine!

"Sigh, since you've said so much, fine then, I'll take you at your word this once."

Herbert was helpless about it, knowing he couldn't really force her into line over such a small matter.

"Here's the deal—if you drop the ball at a critical moment later on, you'll have to properly listen to me from then on."

A promise alone isn't enough.

Put it in writing!

【"Fine~"】

Nie Nasha didn't refuse, and was also trying to bluster her way through.

The shadow tentacle Herbert had been holding in his hand shattered, then re-coalesced, and grabbed Herbert's palm, shaking it up and down.

The contract was established.

"Alright then, with that said, I won't bother about you… hmm?"

Once the contract was signed, Herbert suddenly realized something—he seemed to have fallen right into Nie Nasha's trap.

She was the one who'd been holding back and itching to cause trouble all along. By setting up this contract, hadn't he effectively given her permission to run wild?

Wait, that's still not right.

"Eh?"

The problem circled back again—in fact, even if Nie Nasha hadn't signed this contract with him, when she wanted to cause trouble, could he really have stopped her?

Seems like he couldn't have stopped her either.

Rather than saying this contract was Herbert binding Nie Nasha, it would be more accurate to say Nie Nasha had voluntarily put a shackle on herself.

If she crossed the agreed-upon red line, then she would be restrained by Herbert.

What was she after?

Herbert was pondering Nie Nasha's true intentions, while on the other side Miss Xie Shen continued to defend her earlier behavior:

【"Besides, wasn't I just helping you exorcise her like you said? Hehehe…"】

【"Who's fault is it that she laughed at you like that?"】

【"And hey, didn't you not stop me either just now?"】

Nie Nasha suddenly realized something too.

That's not right.

When I first started making my move, you didn't stop me either!

How come only after I was done did you start acting like the good guy?

The god hidden in the shadows cast a sidelong glance at the youth.

"I'm the bad guy, and you've got that act down, don't you?"

"You're asking me for a reason?"

Facing such a question, Herbert pursed his lips and said calmly, "Well, of course… it's because I was a little annoyed seeing her laugh so smugly too!"

【"Ha! I knew it!"】

Herbert chuckled and shook his head.

Just kidding~

If I'm not stopping you, it must be for this reason!

I worked so hard borrowing the arrows with the straw boat, even going so far as to be the "straw boat" myself and take all those feathers shooting at me—how much effort did I put in!

And the result was being laughed at by that small-fry devil Kreti?

Heh.

If this can be endured, what can't!

Since Nie Nasha wants to make a move, that just happens to suit his wishes, and saves trouble too.

To put it plainly, the reason Herbert finally spoke up to stop her wasn't to keep Nie Nasha from doing it, but to keep her from going too far.

It was like some special rule he'd heard from a friend before, in certain circles—

You can do it, but not too blatantly, can't leave obvious traces; once someone else notices, it's over.

"I just told you not to make a mess you can't clean up."

Herbert looked at the devil lying on the ground like a dead fish, and lightly tapped her side with the tip of his foot.

"…Mm, cut it out."

The sleeping Young Lady devil's body swayed slightly; she raised a hand to push Herbert's toe away, then lifted her hand to scratch herself.

But after going through this whole routine, she still hadn't woken up—in fact, she was sleeping even more soundly.

The devil said nothing, only sleeping away.

"What if Kreti notices? How am I supposed to explain it to her?"

【"Isn't there still you? Just say you did it~"】

Nie Nasha teased with a smile and said languidly: 【"As for the method of knocking her out, just chalk it up to the Sealing Technique's ability—after all, she doesn't know the specifics."】

【"As for whether she'll hold a grudge against you over this… what? You're worried about being misunderstood by her? You care about that?"】

"Mm…"

Herbert thought for a moment, then quietly nodded; he unexpectedly felt like this really wasn't much of a problem.

You know what, hey, it really is.

Anyway, the monster girls don't know what abilities the Sealing Technique actually has, so I can just make it up however I want.

Deceive, sneak attack!

As for whether Kreti will hold a grudge against Herbert over this—who cares.

"Fine then, let's leave it at that."

【"Exactly! That's the spirit! This is part of the 'reformation'!"】

【"Right! I'm not tormenting her—I'm actually helping her!"】

Herbert shook his head, paid no more attention to the trickster god's crooked reasoning, and turned his gaze toward the outside of the bronze fortress.

Strange.

He'd been here for quite a while now, played with Kreti for a bit on the hanging grape trellis… where was the other prisoner?

Where did Flora go?

Why hasn't she reacted at all? Could it be she didn't notice?

"Flora? You there? There's a Kreti here you can bully…hm?"

Herbert walked to the edge, his gaze slowly drifting downward, searching for the demon's figure.

"That's…"

And when his gaze fell into the lava pool that churned and surged with scorching magma, his eyes slowly widened.

Herbert didn't see Flora; instead, he saw an enormously huge ball of lava.

And right in the center of this huge lava ball was embedded a massive crystal, within which a petite, slender body was sealed.

Flora's gentle body curves flickered in and out of sight under the firelight, lending her a special charm instead.

"Why has she sealed herself again?"

Herbert's brow furrowed slightly; he didn't know why she had once again taken the initiative to seal herself away.

According to what Nie Nasha had said before, she'd already helped suppress it once, so she shouldn't fall back into a chaotic state again so soon.

【"You finally noticed her condition?"】

Nie Nasha stopped delivering her strange speeches and said languidly: 【"You find it surprising?"】

Herbert was silent for a moment, didn't answer, then shook his head and asked, "Your seal shouldn't have failed, right?"

【"Of course not—it's enough to hold her up for several more months."】

"Then, that means… she just doesn't trust me, huh?"

【"That's perfectly normal. Compared to the promises made by you, her master, a cautious sage would rather trust her own judgment."】

Nie Nasha giggled and asked softly:

【"So then, my dear ally, how do you plan to truly earn her trust?"】

To this playful question—

Herbert gazed at Flora's sleeping face and thought for quite a while.

Then, he said:

"In short, first pull her up for me!"

"Use the shadow tentacles to pull her up!"

(End of this chapter)