Crimson Servant

[As expected, the shadowed areas in your brain expand. 】

Mariana moved her tentacles away from John's head, her blood-red eyes stared at his ear holes that were leaking mucus, and took out a handkerchief to carefully wipe away the remaining body fluids.

[My "control" influence on your memory is weakening. As the corruption expands, one day, I will completely lose my effect. 】

John opened his eyes, and the discomfort in his brain seemed to be relieved when he saw the face of the Mind Flayer. He looked at those eyes, and then glanced at the blue-black ceiling of his home, the crimson color flashing away.

"Then should I cherish the time I have now more? Before it disappears completely."

The Mind Flayer pushed John off his knees, and Mariana stood up, using her power to levitate her body.

[You should learn to get rid of dependence, John, this is just an opportunity. 】

The body strengthened by the dragon's blood has excellent reflex nerves. The magician held up the fallen body with one hand and looked at the friend who visited at night with a little frustration. After my body was strengthened, I always felt that my friends were treating my actions very perfunctorily.

It has been nearly a week since John returned to the Dark City. He immediately broke into Mariana's divination house, threatened her guests with death, and got time alone with the mind flayer. Although Mariana's slow attitude seemed to have been mentally prepared for all this, the Mind Flayer's telepathic communication was obviously much more relaxed after learning that Nora Sebas had survived.

The Crimson Wendigo has not returned yet, and the Dark Elf Future Warrior even disappeared the day after his picnic in the forest. He has always been mysterious.

John seems to have returned to his ordinary life of hunting warlocks and replenishing tourists, and the blasphemous plan seems to have become a distant prophecy.

On this night when Mariana came to visit late at night, John watched her walk into the moonlight after the examination.

He bit his lower lip.

"Mariana."

The mind flayer turned around, the hem of his clothes dancing in the moonlight like a train.

It must be the impulse given by the dragon's blood, and his healthy body squeezed those words out of John's heart.

"I still remember the blond lady I danced with. Her beautiful dance was comparable to the radiance of the gods. This has never changed in my eyes."

Mariana's pause made John feel uneasy. He felt like he was shrinking in the shadows, and his body felt like he was being electrocuted.

The mind flayer laughed, her tentacles pulsing briskly, the open door closing slowly with inspiration. John felt a touch appear on his forehead from a distance, as well as Mariana's teasing reply.

[Leave these little thoughts to the next girl who is not so smart! Trust me, John, this will come in handy. 】

The door was closed, and John Kemp stood in the darkness. For a long time, he bent down, climbed onto the bed like a zombie, and closed his eyes.

As the mind flayer descended the stairs, she sensed that the strange hotel was falling silent with his master's movements. Mariana held on to the stairs. It didn't matter to her actions, but touching the hard wooden railings could calm her somewhat excited heartbeat. He wanted to stay by himself, but he was still close, and Mariana was still close to ignoring her own reason and letting her emotions beyond racial restrictions control her to agree to him. Then use this weird and evil body to bring him unforgettable bad experiences and destroy the good memories in his heart. Becoming like this made Mariana Dahl choose to give up many things, but maintaining her past self was the last reserve of the bard who once pursued art.

"You have never changed in my eyes." This sentence completely touched Mariana's heart, bringing joy and sadness at the same time.

The mind flayer passed by the counter, the puppet receptionist controlled by the warlock and the goblin cleaner lowered their heads in fear, staring at their bloated bellies or dirty toes. Mariana guessed that she didn't need to plant a psychological hint of intimidation. She pushed open the door of the hotel, and the dangling signboard creaked in the cold wind.

The mind flayer made a hoarse sound.

"But in my eyes, these have long been changed beyond recognition."

Mariana Dahl floated in the deserted streets, her psychic tentacles unhiding her aura, and soon the hunters of the night found her.

A tall gargoyle with wings and sharp claws blocked the exit of the dark alley, while on the other side, three vampires with white hair and red eyes released the form of a swarm of bats.

The vampire Count Smelky appoints these low-level similar people as guards in his city. Many of these vampire guards were personally transformed by Count Smelky, and more are lonely souls attracted by his open-door policy. Vampires and gargoyles surrounded the mind flayers. This group of handsome, elderly monsters maintained a superficial respect in front of the mind flayers.

The vampire guard bent down and greeted Mariana with a soft and enchanted voice.

"Madam, the count sends you his regards on this sweet evening."

[No need to salute, let’s get straight to the point. 】 Mariana saw their distress at being bound by orders, and the annoyance caused by the vampire's arrogance was easily captured by her.

The leader vampire, Ed Kramer, breathed a sigh of relief. Even so, he still did not raise his head to look up at the pair of soul-piercing eyes. It was rumored that the mind flayer's gaze could control a soul. Ed did not want to personally test the truth of the rumors.

He lowered his head and conveyed the needs of the Dark City administrator.

"The appointed time is coming, and the count hopes that you are ready."

[Stop repeating the cold-blooded noble's greetings. Your repetitions are as redundant as his greetings. Mariana used to care about decorating her appearance with etiquette, but now, she likes to be more direct when dealing with the malicious manager.

Ed pretended not to hear anything and continued: "On the agreed date, Count Smelky promised to give you temporary management rights, including the vampire guard and some gargoyles, but the tolerant Lord also has Corresponding requirements..." Ed Kramer mentioned several names. On the day of the Great Purge, Count Smelky hoped that something unexpected would happen to these people who were not on good terms with him. A plan carefully planned by the mind flayer lady Prepare for the unexpected.

Mariana narrowed her eyes. The destined disaster was about to come, and the scheming lady used Francis' prophecy to reach a deal with the cunning vampire. While he was fleeing to avoid disaster, he would protect his territory, and he would give Mariana certain law enforcement powers. . This was the deal that had been agreed upon, and now the greedy vampire wanted to add an additional demand.

The mind flayer gladly accepted this.

Mariana immediately communicated with the vampire guards about the planned deployment, changing the guards' patrol routes and troop distribution, making some possible accidents inevitable.

Referring to the city's defense map, Ed Kramer carefully thought about the Mind Flayer's layout. Soon, he found several unusual deployment points.

"Wait, madam, these places are different from the requirements of the Earl."

The vampire guards looked at Mariana in surprise, surprised that she had planned a betrayal so blatantly in front of several people.

[No, this is not a betrayal, because we and Count Smelky have never been allies. 】

Mariana Dahl ignored the confusion in the minds of several vampires and said to herself.

[I don’t like to manipulate an intelligent soul. This is not difficult for me. I just think that a conversation from an equal position can be called communication. This is a rule I have made for myself to be independent of the mind flayers. But some opinions cannot be changed with persistence. 】

[Do not believe that a mind flayer will maintain an equal position to talk. Everyone will think that the consensus reached by the will is nothing more than a disguised control. You will fear my sight, you will be wary of your thoughts, you will suppress your emotions and wear whatever trappings of mental resistance you can find. 】

[The shackles of thought are put on by you yourself. 】

[Mr. Ed Kramer, has Count Smelky informed you about the arrangements for your team on Purge Day? 】

The vampire clenched his teeth, and he began to wonder whether the somewhat chaotic thinking still belonged to him, whether he was being attacked by imperceptible psychic energy, and whether he could think about himself. At least his thoughts were following the mind flayer's guidance toward a vulnerability she wanted him to reach, along with the fear.

"Your Majesty the Earl, order us to assist you in completing your defense."

[He left you behind, leaving you soldiers who made great sacrifices and communicated frequently with a mind flayer monster to face a threat with heavy casualties. Trust, Mr. Ed, is apparently a luxurious virtue for vampires. 】

"He is guarding us, but we are obviously not mentally controlled." The vampire guard has tasted the reality of being abandoned.

This is a conspiracy. Having been in contact with the Mind Flayer for a long time, I and others have lost the trust of Smelky. Even if they know their spiritual freedom, they will be treated as puppets. It was doomed from the beginning that they were the outcasts in the game between the Count and the Mind Flayer. They are not only the weak guards left behind to set up defenses, but every vampire left behind will be marked with the mark of the Mind Flayer. Maybe after they survive, the vampire count who has lightened his burden will launch an internal purge.

Ed Kramer found his answer. He knelt down on one knee and bowed in humility with all his heart.

"My lady, I am willing to support you in completing the permanent control of Dark City. I firmly believe that you are a more powerful and tolerant manager than Smelky."

Mariana Dahl smiled as the vampire guards swore allegiance to her, which gave her a sense of accomplishment far beyond the ability to control powerful forces.

She felt her own transformation, that she was becoming a monster.

Psychic energy and mana are not the only means to control a soul. There are better things of her own that originally belong to her.

【This is just the beginning. 】

The non-stop vampire guard turned his suspicious eyes to the gargoyle guard on the other side. The cold monster made of stone sculpture was indifferently observing everything in front of him with its blood-red eyes.

"My lady, we must deal with this count's creation. The gargoyle is the eye that monitors us, and we must destroy it before it can report everything to Smelky!"

The vampire guard grasped his weapon and carefully stayed outside the range that would not trigger the gargoyle's self-defense order.

[No, this has never been a problem. 】

Mariana Dahl looked at the nervous vampires. The gargoyle began to move. It walked behind the mind flayer and glanced at the vampires with its cold eyes.

The gargoyle's eyes were as crimson as blood as Mariana Dahl's.