"Ugh...where am I? What am I doing?" Austin felt a wave of dizziness washing over his head. It was as if he had just awakened after getting a brain concussion, leaving him with a persistent brain lag.
"Brother, are you back to your senses?" He heard a familiar voice. He drowsily blinked his eyes and saw a pair of scarlet eyes staring back at him.
It took him a while to finally recognize it was Satella.
"Satella?" he croaked out. "What just happened?"
He recalled watching a live orgy, and in a sudden blur, he found himself kissing Satella. After that, his memory went blank.
"I was attempting to sober you up. Luckily, it seems to have done the trick," Satella explained with a handsome smile.
"Could you come up with a better and gentler method?" Alysia grumbled as she brushed debris off her hair and clothes.
While the pain from crashing into the wall meant little to her, it did leave her looking disheveled, with her hair resembling a bird's nest and her clothes torn.
"Hmph! You should be grateful that I'm helping you at all!" Satella snorted. Ever since the phone call incident, she had become cautious and wary around Alysia. She hated her for always acting casually with her brother!
The only reason she ended up helping her regain her senses was her fear that Austin would be captivated by seeing her in an aroused state.
A vulnerable and helpless woman, and to top it off, she was a beauty too – who could resist such a tempting prey? Even Satella wasn't sure if she as a man could resist such an alluring proposition.
On the other side, for the first time, Eris's typically expressionless face cracked into an embarrassed expression. Her eyes widened as she looked at the liquid stains on her knee, and she even stuttered when pointing at it. "Th-this...."
She was wearing denim shorts, so the liquid stains were quite noticeable.
"You were staring at them unblinkingly; it's no wonder you're the one who got affected the most," Alysia commented before adding, as she looked over at Satella, who had bright and clear eyes, "But I still don't get how this girl didn't get affected slightest under Asmodeus's Lust Domain."
"Hmph!" Satella snorted, but quickly noticed the curious expressions on Austin's face. She ended up explaining in a helpless tone, "I don't know myself. But could it be related to my bloodline ability? Agatha mentioned that my bloodline ability was that of a seductress. I haven't fully explored my abilities, but perhaps, there are some abilities that allow me to naturally resist Asmodeus's Lust Domain?"
"That's plausible, but for you to possess the ability to resist Asmodeus's Domain, even though what we encountered here was just a tiny fragment of its true power, that's still an insane feat," Alysia complimented sincerely.
"You should be careful from now on. A lot of demons and angels will definitely hunt you for possessing such power," Alysia advised.
"Hmph! You should have kept that word to yourself."
"You..." Alysia almost lost her temper when Eris suddenly yelled from the balcony. "I found it! I found the altar!"
Unknowingly, Eris had left the group and made her way back to the balcony. Mainly, it was because she couldn't bear to look the other three in the faces out of embarrassment.
How could she, an adult woman...peed herself?!
However, when she returned to the balcony, something strange happened.
This time around, she found herself remaining level-headed even though there was an obscene scene in front of her and Asmodeus's Domain surrounded the area.
It was as if she had just gained immunity, and because she didn't know how long it would last, she quickly seized the opportunity to scan the entire hall, eventually spotting the altar.
"You found it? Great! Where is it?" Alysia exclaimed as she made her way over to Eris.
Austin and Satella soon joined in.
"There!" Eris pointed to a specific spot where a pile of bodies lay. Among them was a blonde woman, being gangbanged by three men. Due to the angle, the altar remained fairly concealed behind their stacked bodies.
As they peered through the four people, they finally saw it.
A figure stood with hands joined as if in the midst of prayer. The person appeared tall and had a lean build, adorned in a grey robe.
While the others were mating, behaving like crazed beasts, the person refrained from participating. Instead, they stood still, a stark contrast to the chaotic scene, resembling an unmoved boulder in a flowing river.
In front of the person, a small table held a horn that bore similarity to the horn of a goat.
"So, this is Satan's Rite..." Austin mumbled to himself.
Going back to this morning when Eris barged in and informed Alysia that Satan's Rite would finally commence, Austin had inquired about it.
Alysia had briefly explained to him that Satan's Rite was one of the many methods to summon demons from the Infernal Realm. Typically, the summoner would attempt to summon a demon using objects associated with them, just like the man in the mansion hall, who appeared to utilize an object with the shape of a horn to summon Asmodeus.
For the past thousand years, demons had consistently sought ways to breach their way to Earth. However, due to the limited passageway between the two worlds and the watchful eyes of Heaven, they could only send cursed objects and artifacts through the small openings and were hoping for some humans to pick them up.
Afterward, the demons would attempt to corrupt those humans and transform them into their Incarnation, enabling them to descend on Earth at any time using the bodies of those humans as their vessels.
But the majority of humans weren't aware of the demons' true intentions. Upon discovering the cursed objects, their deepest desires would be evoked. Blinded by greed and various negative emotions, they would start to lose their reasoning and end up compromised with demons.
Among these demons, Asmodeus stood out as one of the greatest threats. Enjoying high status in the Infernal Realm and belonging to the prestigious 72 Pillars, he was, without a doubt, a walking disaster.
Alysia speculated that if he were to actually descend, a few large cities would immediately plunge into chaos.
Alysia herself had a fondness for Alves and considered the place her home. Thus, she was adamant about not letting such a fearsome demon wreak havoc on her home!
Therefore, in light of this unexpected development, Alysia and Austin had to cancel their plans for a trip to the Hell Market. She recognized the urgency of the situation and prioritized utilizing the time before midnight to make necessary preparations.
If only she could, Alysia wished to thwart the person planning to perform Satan's Rite even before they could execute it. However, from the very beginning, the person never disclosed their identity and always acted carefully.
She had spent a year tracking this person, but it always ended in failure. The only consistent detail she could glean was that the person frequently hosted wild sex parties, seemingly as a means of gathering energy.
A breakthrough in the case only occurred when she encountered a woman who, it later turned out, became a valuable informant.
Her informant, who was enjoying a pretty high status in society, even had to invest several months in the verification process before receiving an invitation to the gathering.
Even then, due to her relatively new rank, she had never received an invitation to the gathering where the Satan's Rite would take place, until today.
However, the details of the gathering remained shrouded in secrecy. She was only informed about the demon they worshiped, with the specific details of the location and other aspects revealed just one hour before the commencement of the Rite.
Alysia was left with no choice but to head over to the location as soon as possible when her informant finally told her about the location.
Upon reaching the destination, she had already spent nearly twenty minutes on travel.
To her dismay, it became evident that the Satan's Rite had been performed even before her informants arrived. It seemed the group still harbored doubts about her.
"It seems like this Rite will be the last one. The demonic energy appears to be reaching its peak, just a step away from solidifying and, by extension, summoning Asmodeus's projection onto Earth," Alysia stated grimly.
"Shall we spring into action now, young miss?" Eris said coldly. Her expressionless face had returned, and in her eyes, only decisiveness remained.
Alysia nodded. "Let's go," she turned to Satella and Austin. "You two stay right here."
She refrained from saying anything more due to the tight time constraints. However, unexpectedly, Satella grabbed her arm, shaking her head. "Don't go."
"What are you doing?" In a situation where every second counted, Alysia felt a twinge of frustration with Satella's actions.
Satella quickly released her arm and spoke with a solemn tone. "Are you willing to trust me?"
"What do you mean?" Alysia inquired sharply.
"Leave this matter to me."
"You? Do you even realize what we're dealing with?" Alysia snapped in exasperation. She turned to Austin and immediately expressed her concern, "Hey, Austin, keep an eye on your sister. I think she might be losing it."
Austin calmly faced his sister and asked, "What are you planning to do?"
"I-I don't know, brother. I'm not so sure myself, but I feel like I'm itching to give something a try," Satella stammered. She raised her head, and her bright scarlet eyes came into focus. A bold and dominant aura began to emanate from her. "Before, I couldn't even release my power correctly under Sister Agatha's guidance. But now, whether it's because of the pressure we're under or Asmodeus's domain complemented my power, I've started to get a good grasp of my power. I feel like a fish returning into water."
Austin patted her head and smiled. "Sure, we can give it a try."
Although he didn't understand what she was trying to achieve, he could only choose to believe her now. Suddenly, he felt weak, helpless, and a bit furious at his circumstances. Why were the women around him so strong while he remained so weak?!
He had believed he was already quite accomplished, having beaten William in a sprint race and even defeating an Alpha werewolf.
But in this battle between powerhouses, he truly understood his own weakness. While his sister might not have made progress in training to utilize her power, she was undeniably a true demon who had awakened her bloodline. Her only shortcoming was a lack of experience.
As for him, the only thing he could boast of right now was his physique. He has no special power whatsoever.
'Four more runes. I hope I can acquire them in the next four days,' Austin thought, clenching his fists in determination.
"Give it a try, my ass! This is not a game! The lives of a thousand, or even a million, are at stake here!" Alysia exclaimed.
"I think we should give her a chance, young miss," Eris interjected thoughtfully.
"Don't tell me you too, Eris?" Alysia almost pulled out her hair in frustration.
"Didn't you notice it, young miss? Ever since Satella threw us against the walls and made us regain our senses, we surprisingly haven't been affected by Asmodeus's domain again. Somehow, it feels like we've become immune to it. I believe it has something to do with her bloodline ability and she unknowingly had this ability cast to us. Maybe, she really can solve this problem. Moreover, I don't think we can just force our way inside the hall. That summoner wouldn't be that stupid not to set up any defensive measures," Eris explained.
Alysia was stunned. It took her a while to recover and said with mouth agape. "Eris, this is the first time I've heard you speak this many words."
"Young miss..." Eris was embarrassed.
"Say no more," Alysia turned to Satella and instructed, "Go for it then."
"I'm going to do it even if you don't ask me!" Satella retorted.
"If you fail-"
"There's no way I'm going to fail. I might not care about your life, but I care a lot about my brother. There's no way I'm going to play around when my brother's life is at stake!" Satella's voice echoed resolutely. Her scarlet eyes began to glow with a mysterious light.