Chapter 1333: Dark Palace (3)

The moment Rhode heard that voice, he tensed up and raised his guard instantly. Although the voice that rang in his ears was still Celestina's, it was in a completely different tone this time. If it were said that the voice of the little Celestina, who had just been toyed with by him, sounded as refreshing as an ice-cold spring, her voice now was like a glass of strong, aromatic wine. Before the wine entered one's mouth, one could feel the hot and spicy scent hitting one's face, seizing control of one's nerves almost instantly.

Rhode entered a state of trance as soon as he heard the voice. He felt as if there were a naked, gorgeous woman standing behind him right now, stretching out her soft arms to gently caress his body and tease his nerves. The alluring fragrance that was as strong as poison assailed his nostrils, almost succeeding in stealing his consciousness. There was a moment when he simply wanted to lie down and let the other party do whatever she wanted; as long as he could fall into a heavenly dream, everything else was irrelevant!

But fortunately for him, this wasn't his first time dealing with Celestina. He relaxed his mind a little and soon woke up with a start. He frowned and collected his thoughts quickly. He had to admit that this was difficult for him as well. He was as though one who slept in when it was time for one to get up, feeling frustrating and reluctant. His instincts longed to just fall into a dreamland and never wake up again. However, he used his senses to instinctively pull himself back from the edge of danger.

Just this single statement from her brought such a terrifying charm upon him. Rhode knew right away that this 'Celestina' was a demon in Celestina's mental world—that's right, Celestina was still a demon at heart, so it wasn't surprising that there was a 'Celestina' in a pure demon form in her mental world. After all, it was a part of her nature that could never go away no matter what. And though she might be able to hold it back, it would never go away. It was just like how humans were essentially humans.

As expected, when Rhode looked in the direction of the voice, he quickly saw the Celestina he expected. Unlike the brat from before, this Celestina in front of him looked exactly the same as the original Celestina. However, their clothes were quite different. Even though the original Celestina was also attractive, the clothes she wore were basically gorgeous, western-style dresses. Because in her opinion, this was the only way to show off her status as a high demon. She had more than once shown her dissatisfaction toward the Lustful Demons, sarcastically criticizing them as lowly wh*res of hell, who had no other uses apart from relying on their bodies to seduce a herd of rutting male pigs. That was also why Celestina basically never acted similarly to them.

But now, the Celestina that appeared in front of Rhode was basically no different to those 'prostitutes' that she described. She wore a one-piece, tight leather suit, which could be said to be really bold. It revealed her white, smooth belly and more than half of her breasts were exposed on the top. Not only that, but the plump base of her thighs were also exposed completely. At that moment, she was dressed like a queen in an SM club, wearing jet-black riding boots and black leather gloves that extended over her elbows. And in her hands, she held an equally black leather whip, making her look like a genuine queen.

Rhode looked at Celestina who sat on the middle of the throne with her legs crossed and showed an odd smile at him. Her gaze was so strong and aggressive as if he were just an innocent little boy. He would have already passed out under her gaze by now, but unfortunately, he wasn't an innocent little boy at all. Facing her gaze, he remained unmoved and didn't avoid it. He also took advantage of this opportunity to scan the room around him carefully.

It was only at that moment that he discovered that the room was built entirely of steel plates. And as far as the eye could see, be it the ceiling, walls, or floor, all of them were heavy steel plates. Icy-cold air blew from all directions, mixed with the hardness of steel and distinct scent of blood. On these thick steel walls, blood was stained everywhere. Hard shackles could also be seen, as well as a variety of torture props that sent chills down one's spine just by looking at them. This room seemed just like a torture chamber, while Celestina was the mistress. And upon observing the torture chamber, Rhode felt a bit of a headache. It seemed like this Celestina was even more difficult to deal with than the previous one. She made him almost lose his mind with just one sentence. And although it also had something to do with the fact that Rhode was in a bit of a trance, if she were to continue using that kind of method to influence and manipulate him, this would become a very difficult and dangerous test.

"What's wrong, human? Come here and let me get a good look at you."

Looking at Rhode's appearance, Celestina smiled proudly. She changed her sitting position and leaned forward as if she were tempting him. Those scarlet eyes, glowing in brilliances that were more glorious than jewels, stared straight at him as she stuck out her tongue, licked her lips lightly, and leaned back in her chair.

"Come here, human, let me take a good look at you. Tell me who you are and how you got here. Come here. Come closer to me..."

Celestina said, stretching out her right hand and grabbed at Rhode. Although Rhode was prepared for it and dodged as soon as she struck, it didn't seem useful at all. He felt tightness in his chest, while the scenery around him flew backward all of a sudden. Soon after, he appeared right in front of Celestina. Not only that, but at the same time, he also found that he lost the strength to resist her. It was as if his body were completely bound and couldn't budge in the slightest. Upon realizing that, he could only helplessly shake his head and show an inward bitter smile. There wasn't much that he could do. This was Celestina's mental world. Unless he really wanted to resist, there was no way he could stop her. Just like the little one who threw him out of the room before; she wasn't very strong at all and was unable to put up any strong resistance though she was held down by him. This was the mental world, where will was everything. And no matter how strong his strength was, it was useless. After all, if one resisted too much here, it could cause irreparable damage to the owner of this mental world.

"That's interesting... I like you, human."

While Rhode thought hard about how to face this situation, Celestina, on the other hand, grabbed the whip in her hand, lifted his chin, and gazed at him. Her scarlet eyes emanated a faint glow, which was also the ability of the high demon. As long as a mortal was enveloped by the demon's eyes, the mortal would be completely lost in her charm. But Rhode was obviously prepared for this. Facing her 'flirtation', he let out a light snort and didn't do anything strange.

On the contrary, he was pondering over how he should deal with the Celestina in front of him. For him, this Celestina was even trickier and more difficult to deal with than the little brat from before. And judging from the way she gazed at him, he perceived that she was a true demon. Celestina in this form was the most troublesome to handle because even if Rhode were to use his strength to make her give in, it would be impossible to really gain her acknowledgement. She would keep lurking, like a viper waiting for the right time to bite him, so that she could eventually turn over to the top.

There wasn't much that he could do about this version of her. The only idea he could think of right now was to rely on Celestina's other mental projections to hold back this demon. After all, from the Celestina that he knew, although she also possessed the same demonic characteristics, she didn't really display that side of her. That was why he was certain that a third mental projection must still exist within Celestina. After all, he refused to believe that the little brat had any ability to suppress this purely demonic Celestina.

"Why don't you talk? Am I so ugly that you don't even have the desire to open your mouth, male? Come on, tell me. Am I pretty? What do you think of when you look at me? Tell me and I'll bring you on a journey that you'll never forget..." While whispering softly, Celestina reached out and stroked her fingers gently along Rhode's cheek, neck, and chest. She held her hand on his chest and squinted at the same time.

"Your heart is beating so fast, male. And I can feel the life force contained within your body burning so wildly... I think we might be able to communicate even better about this? What do you think, human? Come on, let's introduce ourselves first. Tell me your name..."

"I don't think I need to tell you my name, Celestina. And if you don't know who I am, then I don't think we need to have any more interactions between us for the rest of our lives."

This time, in response to Celestina's teasing, Rhode finally responded. The corners of his mouth curled up in a mocking smile.

"And I must say, Celestina, that you're full of confidence for speaking about beauty in my face."

"You———!"

Upon hearing his mockery, Celestina sulked right away. Indeed, even though she was considered an outstanding beauty, she couldn't compete with him at all. Rhode's face that was identical to his younger sister's was capable of making even his harem feel bad about themselves most of the time, not to mention Celestina. Although Celestina was considered a beauty among demons, it would be both hilarious and ridiculous if she showed her satisfaction with her beauty in front of him. For that reason, her expression changed abruptly after hearing his jeering. After all, this was a huge slap in the face by him, so much so that she was left entirely speechless.

Rhode initially didn't intend to do that either. But now, the situation was critical and he had to take advantage of it. Something worthy of a mention was that as much as he resented being judged on his looks, he had no psychological barrier if it were up to him doing the judging. That was why he would mess with one when one judged his looks and yet, didn't mind dressing up as a woman. Wasn't that how cool it was to make use of double standards?

"Hmph! How dare you talk back to me when you're just a human! You're asking for death!"

Celestina retorted and lashed out the whip in her right hand. Almost at the same time, with the slightest switch of Rhode's thoughts, the invisible object binding his body dissipated. In the blink of an eye, he flitted across and in the sound of a whistling wind, the long black whip flew past his body and slammed onto the ground in a loud, resounding crack. Celestina, on the other hand, raised her eyebrows slightly after missing her assault. She stood up from her throne and stared at him with a teasing smile.

"Interesting, human. I didn't expect you to be so capable. In that case, I shall see how long you can continue hiding from me!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Immediately after she yelled, Rhode felt a series of shadowy whips striking him from almost all directions. He stretched out his hand instinctively to pull out the sword at his waist, but ended up grabbing only air. It was only until then when he realized that the sword at his waist had somehow made its way to Celestina's left hand. It must have been stolen when she caressed his body earlier.

What a bothersome fella.

Upon seeing her smug smile, Rhode criticized inwardly. However, revenge was a dish best served cold. At that moment, he didn't do anything else, but darted across to evade her attacks continuously. And upon witnessing this scene, Celestina's smile grew wider and wider.

"That's right. That's right, cute little mouse, keep running hard. Heh, heh..."

Along with Celestina's coquettish laughter, long shadowy whips once again sliced through the air and swept past toward Rhode. And in the face of her attacks, he had no other solutions apart from dodging them for now. Although he thought of taking advantage of the openings in her attacks to take her down, he tried several times and realized that at some point, a solid and transparent protective barrier would appear in front of her and he was blocked no matter where he rushed over from. It seemed like this Celestina also realized his thoughts, which was why she prepared the barrier in advance. There was nothing that Rhode could do about it. This was Celestina's mental world. If she didn't want him to get close to her, no matter how hard he tried, he would end up like a clown...

Smack!

The moment Rhode was distracted, a stinging pain landed on his wrist, which made his heart sink. But it was a pity that it was too late. The instant the long whip wrapped around his arm, he lost the ability to move his body. And at the same time, Celestina also looked satisfied as if she had enough of the game. She tugged on the long whip and gazed at the prey in front of her with a smug look.

"That's amusing... human, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. How about you stay here with me, become my pet, and let me love you well? Heh, heh, you look like you're not going to give in, huh? Good, I think we'll have plenty of time to discuss this issue..."

With that, Celestina strolled over to Rhode's side, pressed her body up against his, stretched out her tongue, and gently licked his earlobe as she whispered in his ear.

"I'll show you what eternal pleasure is. I'll make you the most faithful slave of all; until then, resist as much as you can, my little darling. Heh, heh, I can't wait for the time I see you surrender to me and crave my gifts..."

Argh, she's so annoying!

Upon hearing her words, Rhode was at a complete loss. He was also really unlucky to meet this version of Celestina in her mental world. It seemed like if things didn't turn out better, he would have no choice but to use his strength to deal with her. Otherwise, if he were really trapped here by this demonic Celestina, how was he going to gain the acknowledgement of the next holy sword card spirit? Rhode felt like it was unlikely that using force would make this Celestina yield, but it was still better than letting her torture him, wasn't it?

Bam!

However, just when he was about to take action, suddenly, a deep crashing sound came from the closed iron door. And in a loud bang, the iron door was blown out. Immediately after, a voice filled with pride emerged and rang out from the smoke.

"What's going on here? Why is there an ugly human here? Damn it, what are you up to this time?! Didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to do that kind of nasty business here? You slut! Are you trying to mess around again while I'm not watching?"