Eddie's Ashen Blade struck faster than lightning, viciously stabbing into Marion's heart.
The Heart of Fire and the Demonic Dragon Crystal vibrated as if alive, furiously draining the energy from Marion's demonic heart.
Eddie thought Marion was finished, but an unexpected turn of events left him shocked.
Instead of collapsing like a typical Demon General, Marion recovered from his daze and let out a painful roar.
He quickly retreated, pulling out the Ashen Blade from his heart, and rolled on the ground in a desperate bid to escape.
Eddie reacted swiftly but was a moment too late. As he lunged with a second strike, a black column of teleportation light enveloped Marion.
The Ashen Blade nearly split Marion in half, but ultimately, the Demon Commander escaped death.
Marion, severely wounded, had narrowly avoided being slain by Eddie. At the last moment, he crushed a Demon Abyss-specific "Teleportation Orb," enabling his rapid escape.
The high efficiency of the orb and Marion's unique physiology and survival instincts caught Eddie off guard.
Eddie was puzzled as to how Marion, with a pierced demonic heart, could still move.
It was only when he cleaved open Marion's chest during the second attack that he discovered the shocking truth: Marion had two demonic hearts.
Piercing one heart inflicted severe damage but wasn't enough to incapacitate a Demon Commander of Marion's caliber.
Regretting his lack of experience, Eddie realized that had he known about the two hearts, he wouldn't have allowed Marion to escape.
As Marion vanished, his golden grimoire disappeared with him, but his summoned dragons were left behind.
In his rage, Eddie swiftly killed the remaining dragons: he shot the giant Moon Blade at the unconscious black dragon, impaled the flame dragon's heart with the Ashen Blade, and used a burst of innate sword energy to instantly kill the largest Spiral-Horned Dragon as he leaped into the air.
Eddie was determined to eliminate any potential threats from these dragons, ensuring they would not awaken or be recalled by Marion.
Meanwhile, the Barbarian Bull Shadow crushed the skulls of the three unconscious Demon Generals, ensuring their demise.
The Falling-Flower Master lay unconscious, affected by the Banshee's scream, with the Six-Tailed Spirit Fox whimpering by her side, also visibly shaken by the scream.
The protective barrier around her had disappeared, but a sapphire ring on her delicate finger emitted a faint blue light, producing several water-like spirit entities that circled around her, seemingly protecting her in her vulnerable state.
Eddie surveyed the aftermath of the battle, realizing the scope of his victory. Although Marion had escaped, Eddie had successfully defeated his subordinates and eliminated the summoned dragons, drastically weakening Marion's forces.
The battlefield was now eerily silent, with the once formidable enemies lying defeated.
Eddie understood that this victory was not just a triumph of strength, but also a testament to his strategic capabilities and adaptability in the face of unexpected challenges.
As he stood amidst the quiet aftermath, he contemplated his next moves, aware that the battle against the forces of the Demon Abyss was far from over.
Eddie was fascinated by the sapphire ring on the Falling-Flower Master's finger, which seemed to possess its own consciousness.
"Could this be a spiritual weapon, as mentioned in the unfortunate man's diary?" he wondered.
Eddie was not well-versed in spiritual weapon, but he knew they were formed when the soul of a deceased summoning beast, unwilling to leave its master, merged into an object to continue fighting alongside them.
While they couldn't be summoned for battle like typical beasts, they offered some assistance to their masters.
The Bloodthirsty Queen, now standing weakly but upright, captivated Eddie's attention. Her fiery red hair cascaded down her back, with curls like flames occasionally reflecting streaks of gold – a hallmark of a golden-level beast.
She had angelic wings with brilliantly golden feathers, but with demonic spines at the joints, creating an eerie mix of purity and wickedness. Her bare skin
contrasted with the golden armlets on her arms. Her chest was covered with a crimson scale armor adorned with purple-black chains that connected just between her breasts, adding an allure of seductive danger to her appearance.
The Bloodthirsty Queen's abdomen was smooth and flat, with a perfectly round navel, dividing her body into a golden ratio that further accentuated her bewitching figure.
The combination of her revealed and armored parts created a deadly temptation, making her presence both alluring and intimidating.
Eddie realized that the Bloodthirsty Queen was unlike any other creature he had encountered.
She possessed her own thoughts and acted independently, such as when she flew out of the protective barrier on her own volition, without any command from him.
This autonomy was different from Little Wenli, who acted entirely out of Eddie's control, and somewhat similar to the Barbarian Bull Shadow, whom Eddie could command forcibly.
As the Blood Queen gazed at Eddie with her captivating blue-purple eyes, he understood that she was a unique entity – a fusion of his shadow and a powerful beast with her own consciousness.
Eddie pondered the complexities of such beings and their potential roles in his future battles.
Eddie observed the Bloodthirsty Queen's attire, which barely covered her most intimate areas, resembling an otherworldly version of a revealing swimsuit.
He couldn't help but swallow hard at the sight of her perfectly sculpted and alluring figure. "Contracting beautiful female beasts seems like a better idea," Eddie mused, considering the aesthetic benefits over practicality.
"Why bother feeding tigers or lions when you can have such pleasing sights instead?"
The Blood Queen, unaware of her master's lecherous thoughts, spoke at length in the language of the Demon Abyss, which Eddie couldn't understand.
Language barriers aside, Eddie was bemused by her crying, having initially thought her akin to a perfect, emotionless automaton.
"Uh, you can cry?"
Eddie was surprised by her display of emotions.
"I understand it's tough going from a queen to a servant, but remember, you chose to contract with me. Technically, I saved your life."
he tried to console her, deciding to skip the part about promising her a blissful life, fearing it might exacerbate her sobbing.
The Blood Queen's cries intensified the more Eddie attempted to console her, so he eventually gave up and focused on extracting magical crystals from the fallen dragons and the Demon Blade Butcher.
Handing them to the Barbarian Bull Shadow, she only accepted the Butcher's crystal. Consuming it, she and Eddie's Bronze Grimoire both upgraded, transitioning from high-tier bronze to low-tier silver.
With the upgrade, the Grimoire gained a new ability, "Shadowmeld," allowing the shadow to blend into darkness, becoming invisible to the naked eye.
However, in the presence of enemies far stronger than Eddie, this skill would not be effective.
Eddie sighed, still hoping for the coveted storage space in his Grimoire but pleased with the progression.
The Bloodthirsty Queen, still sobbing, gradually calmed down as Eddie tended to the aftermath of the battle, preparing for the challenges that lay ahead.
"Is it just the shadow that can use 'Shadowmeld,' or can both the Barbarian Bull Shadow and the Bloodthirsty Queen use it?"
Eddie wondered as he looked up at the bright sunlight, contemplating testing the new ability if it weren't so sunny.
The upgrade to a Silver Grimoire required further examination, but Eddie had no time for that now.
He rushed over to the Barbarian Bull Shadow to assist with her body reshaping, initially thinking he would be the one to shape her form.
Eddie fantasized about transforming her into a voluptuous Draenei warrior but quickly discovered that the reshaping was entirely driven by the Bull Shadow's instincts.
The Bull Shadow absorbed an immense amount of energy from Eddie, slowly morphing her form.
The process was surprisingly quick, taking less than a minute. Exhausted, Eddie found that the Bull Shadow hadn't transformed into the curvaceous figure he had envisioned but remained a minotaur-like creature.
However, upon closer inspection, her body had improved significantly – more refined than before, still muscular but with a face that was closer to human and even somewhat beautiful.
"Slow and steady upgrades, I suppose. The most important thing now is to figure out how to advance her tier."
Eddie thought as he noticed the Bull Shadow had jumped to Bronze Level Five after consuming the Demon Blade Butcher's crystal.
He pondered how to elevate her to Silver Level, as advancing to Bronze Level Six wouldn't offer much future potential.
According to what the Falling-Flower Master had said, the best way for a Bronze Level Five creature to advance to Silver Level was to consume a Golden Level Six or higher Minotaur's crystal.
Eddie knew finding such a crystal would be challenging, as even Silver Level Six crystals were hard to come by.
He was about to abandon the idea when a sudden inspiration struck him.