Pleasure

A clearing in another part of the Forbidden Forest—Harley suddenly appeared.

Sensing that she might have to face a formidable enemy, Harley had prepared several Magic Mirrors and wands in the forest in advance. She could switch places or use Mirror Blink at any moment.

It had been a last resort to save her life, but it seemed her preparation had paid off.

Once she had steadied herself, Harley didn't waste time thinking. She quickly put on her gloves and took the Bottle of Decomposition from her bag.

Silver-blue blood was still slowly flowing from the Unicorn's head by Harley's feet.

Carefully aiming the bottle's mouth at the blood, Harley soon collected a full bottle.

At the same time, she dipped a gloved finger into the blood and brought it close to her eyes for a careful examination.

Although her strength was gone, Harley's knowledge was still extensive.

"There's a hint of a curse, born from the Unicorn's resentment as it died," Harley murmured to herself.

"And poison, too—poison that targets the body. Anyone who drinks the blood will remain forever on the brink of death."

Having identified the curse in the Unicorn Blood, Harley poured Spirituality into the Bottle of Decomposition to speed up the process.

Before long, the Unicorn Blood separated into two liquids, one silver and the other blue.

The silver liquid still carried a strong trace of the curse.

But Harley wasn't worried about curses. A Demoness was an expert at wielding them, and Harley knew far more than a Witch at her level should.

She couldn't remove the curse outright at her current level, but she had a more ingenious plan.

After setting up a Wall of Spirituality around the area, Harley quickly arranged three candles on the ground and scattered various hydrosols and essential oils around them.

She lit the candles, then pricked her wrist with a strand of hair again and drew some blood into a glass bottle. She also severed her connection to the blood.

Once all her preparations were complete, Harley poured the Unicorn's pure blood into her own and activated the ritual.

Spirituality surged, and Harley's blood quickly mingled with the Unicorn Blood.

After a violent churning and boiling, the Unicorn's bright silver blood separated from the mixture and floated out of the bottle on its own.

Harley caught the blood in a small black bowl. It was full of Spirituality, but the curse was gone.

With a satisfied nod, Harley ended the ritual. She used her still-vigorous blood, now disconnected from her, to imitate drinking the Unicorn Blood.

With the ritual's help, she had successfully tricked the unattended curse into merging with the discarded blood.

The Unicorn Blood itself, meanwhile, had been separated out again with the help of another ritual.

"As long as you don't lose heart, there are always more solutions than problems!" Harley hummed one of Emperor Roselle's famous sayings as she deftly took out various ingredients.

The Spirituality in the Unicorn Blood was fading, so Harley planned to prepare the Potion that very night.

She added various ingredients to an empty bottle, then solemnly poured in the Unicorn Blood last.

The liquid in the bottle had turned a brilliant, gleaming silver, with tiny points of starlight mixed in.

Harley reinforced the Wall of Spirituality, then drank the Potion without hesitation.

It was cold, but once it reached her stomach, it was like magma, quickly filling her gut.

Harley could clearly feel the thick, star-speckled silver liquid break down in her stomach and spread to every corner of her body.

Then came a pain that seemed capable of tearing her soul apart.

Harley collapsed to the ground. She couldn't even stand, curling up into a ball as her body convulsed again and again.

Her vision blurred. She felt something slowly peeling away from her Mythical Creature Form.

At the same time, Harley sensed her Spirituality growing more active and her strength gradually returning.

The state lasted only five minutes. Then Harley slowly uncurled and struggled to her feet.

She let out a fit of violent coughing and spat out a lump of gel-like material.

It was the Beyonder Characteristic of a Sequence 6 Baron of Corruption from the Lawyer Pathway. It was mixed with various other substances and tainted by the corruption of Harley's Mythical Creature Form.

If anyone tried to use it to prepare a Potion, they would either become a Lunatic or die on the spot.

But Harley had no intention of using it to prepare a Potion. She planned to make it into a Sealed Artifact.

Making a Sealed Artifact was simple enough: combine the Beyonder Characteristic with some supplementary ingredients, turn it back into a Potion, then pour it over any ordinary object.

After that came the waiting. What kind of Sealed Artifact it would become was entirely up to luck.

And Harley had always been lucky. It was as if the whole world adored her.

If she hadn't known of any Angels from the Monster Pathway, she might have thought she'd been blessed by an Angel of Fate.

Harley checked her strength. With a slight wave of her hand, strange threads instantly covered the surrounding trees.

The threads seemed to come alive in her hands, constantly changing shape. As nimble as extensions of Harley's fingers, they could perform all sorts of difficult movements and even assist her with her core abilities.

Harley nodded in satisfaction and put the threads away. She didn't plan to test the core ability of a Demoness of Pleasure—and she had nowhere to do so, anyway.

After all, Harley was just a little girl.

Having finished getting a feel for her abilities, Harley turned her attention to the Beyonder Characteristic.

She wouldn't be able to turn it into a Sealed Artifact anytime soon, but thanks to the influence of her Mythical Creature Form, she could still make limited use of it while enduring its negative effects.

Once she had confirmed her current strength, Harley smiled silently, her eyes cold.

That demigod had already been badly wounded, and he had forcibly taken over someone else's body.

On top of that, his strength had suddenly increased, so Harley was certain he had used a method of enhancement with severe side effects.

By now, whatever method he had used should be nearing its end.

"Then it's my turn. I'm going to enjoy a delightful hunt." Harley hummed a little tune as she performed a simple localization ritual.

The tool she used was the burning throwing knife from earlier. Unlike the Magic Mirror, it hadn't vanished into nothingness as it burned, but had been reduced to ashes by the flames.

Some tiny, Spirituality-infused particles had fallen onto the wounded demigod, allowing Harley to locate him.

The badly wounded demigod probably hadn't had a chance to examine himself, so Harley was fairly confident it would work.

But the result surprised her: it pointed to Hogwarts Castle.

Could the wounded demigod be going back to keep pretending to be Professor Quirrell? Or was he planning to steal something?

But that had nothing to do with Harley. In her eyes, he was already a dead man.

Dead men didn't need to talk. She could simply use Spirit Channeling. Harley knew the magical ritual for it.

Harley quickly cleaned up the scene and gathered all the materials. She also somehow managed to pack away the poor Unicorn's head.

Then she hurried toward Hogwarts Castle, pursuing the demigod whose location she had found.

"Come on. Let's celebrate the return of a Demoness of Pleasure with the life of a badly wounded demigod!"

(Thanks to Bao Baozi for the reward and encouragement!)

(Thanks to Nine-Tailed Flame Fox for the reward!)

(Thanks to Meng Lan Si Zhu for the reward!)