Sacrifice the Small You to Fulfill the Great Me!

The third update of the day, totaling over seven thousand words. Please support!

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"What have you done to my husband?" Seeing the Snake Demon suddenly transform into this state, the Fox Demon was both shocked and furious. No longer caring about maintaining her disguise, a pale red ripple flashed from her hands and instantly coiled around the newcomers who were entangling her. These newcomers, previously dull-eyed but ferociously aggressive, immediately went limp and collapsed to the ground, snoring as they fell into a deep sleep!

This was the innate racial skill of the Fox clan—Dream Return!

The Fox Demon's original plan was to wait for the Snake Demon to finish his sneak attack and disable one of the enemy's main combatants, then use Dream Return to shatter their morale and capture them all in one fell swoop.

She had not expected the Snake Demon to be counter-ambushed the moment he appeared. Deeply devoted to her husband, the Fox Demon had no choice but to use her skill prematurely, unaware that every step of her actions had been anticipated by Tang Mei'er, leading her gradually into a deadly trap.

After shaking off the newcomers, the Fox Demon hurried toward the Snake Demon. However, halfway there, her expression suddenly stiffened. Terror filled her eyes as she looked at Tang Mei'er not far away, hissing through gritted teeth, "You are actually using their bodies as a battlefield to contest mental control with me? Do you not care about their lives at all?!"

Although the sleep state caused by Dream Return would be broken if the target suffered any damage, those trapped in the dream could not protect their vital points. If the Snake Demon's giant scythe were to strike now, the outcome would be self-evident!

To break the effect of Dream Return halfway, one would either need a targeted skill or to invade the target's brain with superior mental power to forcibly purge the Fox Demon's demonic energy.

Unless one possessed an overwhelming advantage, such a method would easily cause irreparable damage to the target's brain, which is why true companions would never resort to it.

But clearly, this was the moment Tang Mei'er had been painstakingly waiting for. She knew very well that the Fox Demon's Dream Return, much like her own Charm, consumed a massive amount of energy; if one were to retreat halfway, the resulting backlash would be fatal.

Therefore, Tang Mei'er clung tightly to the Fox Demon's energy, refusing to let her withdraw. With the advantage of having struck first and no need to worry about the lives of the newcomers, she let out a giggle, her face finally revealing the smugness of someone in total control: "Instead of worrying about their lives, you should worry about your husband. Haven't you noticed that his power has grown and his strength has increased? The only downside is... he doesn't seem to recognize you anymore! Tee-hee!"

The Fox Demon never imagined that this enemy was ten thousand times more ruthless than herself, stopping at nothing to achieve her goals. Now, under the influence of the Berserk Demon Art, the Snake Demon only knew how to kill and had no concept of coordination. With her own energy tied up, the situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse!

The Fox Demon was highly decisive. Realizing the enemy had come prepared, she set aside all other thoughts and focused entirely on resisting Tang Mei'er.

At this moment, the drawbacks of the Succubus bloodline became apparent. Although she had the newcomers as a buffer and did not need to fight directly, the drain on her mental energy was still more than Tang Mei'er could sustain. Even worse, because she had activated her Succubus transformation early, there was very little time remaining.

Seeing this, Tang Mei'er took a deep breath, her eyes filled with immense heartache as she retrieved a bottle of bloodline enhancement potion from her emblem space and downed it.

Immediately, her mental state became incredibly stimulated, forcing the Fox Demon's energy into a steady retreat. Some of the newcomers on the ground even began to stir, as if they were about to wake from their slumber.

The Fox Demon's face turned deathly pale, and her HP began to drop slowly; it was clear she was forced to overdraw her life force to hold on to the bitter end.

"Fifteen more seconds, and the Fox Demon's energy will be completely exhausted. When that happens, I only need to detonate my mental power to fry the newcomers' brains, and the massive backlash will be enough to shatter her, forcing her to reveal her true form! This is the method with the highest chance of obtaining the inner core. Combined with the Loot Drop Bell, success is guaranteed!"

Tang Mei'er counted the time in her heart, as if she could already hear the miserable, resentful wails of the Fox Demon as the newcomers' brains burst.

What a beautiful sound that would be~ After planning for so long and sacrificing so much, the moment of harvest was finally arriving!

Just as she trembled with excitement, her cheeks flushed, a cry for help from Qin Guang and Zhu Hao suddenly echoed in the team channel:

"Boss, help us! This target is too tough, we can't hold him off!"

Tang Mei'er impatiently glanced at the Snake Demon, her expression turning grave.

After knocking down the three plot characters, the Snake Demon had not finished them off. In fact, with his current intelligence, he had no interest in the half-dead Xu Lang and the others lying on the ground. Thus, no matter how cowardly Qin Guang and Zhu Hao positioned themselves, they inevitably became the Snake Demon's targets.

The Berserk Demon Art lasted for 40 seconds. In the original plan, the Snake Demon was supposed to prioritize killing the dozen or so fleeing girls, and with the three plot characters interfering, the most ferocious attacks would have been poured onto them, making Qin Guang and Zhu Hao's task light.

But now, with the girls missing from the equation, the three plot characters who had fought the Snake Demon head-on had only lasted 10 seconds. With three-quarters of the berserk duration remaining, could Qin Guang and Zhu Hao handle it?

The answer was—no!

As the saying goes, the first drum of war inspires courage, the second wanes, and the third is exhausted. Having crushed the plot characters, the Snake Demon was unfortunately in the state of the first drum. Qin Guang only felt a blur before his eyes, and a blood-red whirlwind suddenly surged before him. The Snake Demon had gripped his scythe again and swung at him with lightning speed!

Facing the thunderous pressure, Qin Guang only had time to raise his blue round shield to block his head before he felt an irresistible force surge through him. A roar echoed in his ears, and his entire body was sent flying like a cannonball, slamming into the stone wall with a loud crash. His HP plummeted by nearly half!

Seeing that even the high-HP, high-defense Qin Guang had ended up in such a state, Zhu Hao was terrified and turned to run. They had originally thought they could kite the Snake Demon and wait out the berserk duration, but they hadn't realized that the immensely strong Snake Demon's speed had also increased by a level after going berserk!

In reality, Zhu Hao's main attribute was agility, and having consumed an agility potion, his speed was slightly superior to the Snake Demon's. But the gap in their momentum was too vast; the Snake Demon was like a tiger descending from the mountains, while Zhu Hao was like a rat scurrying for cover. With his legs turned to jelly from fear, how could he effectively dodge?

Battle, battle—once the will to fight is gone, the outcome is truly miserable. The sound of the thick snake tail scraping the ground drew closer and closer. Instead of thinking of how to counterattack, Zhu Hao began to wail for help in the team channel.

Although Tang Mei'er had long planned to sacrifice these two subordinates, she hadn't expected them to be such trash. At this rate, they wouldn't last 15 seconds before following in the footsteps of the plot characters!

If the Snake Demon intervened in this battlefield, the hard-won situation would be ruined in an instant. No matter how muddled the Snake Demon's brain was, he certainly wouldn't attack his own wife first~

"My apologies, but in this situation, I have no choice but to sacrifice the few to save the many!" A flicker of gloom crossed Tang Mei'er's beautiful face, as if she were saddened by the fate awaiting her loyal subordinates. However, there was no hesitation in her voice as she said calmly, with a hint of encouragement: "Zhu Hao, use the move I taught you and hit the Snake Demon hard! Qin Guang, once Zhu Hao succeeds, you step up with your shield and stall for the remaining time!"