Salome looked at the slightly suffering Vale and asked:

"Are you sure you're okay, or should we turn back?"

Vale, still blocking the sun out of his eyes with his hands, some rays peeking through the gaps of his fingers, assaulting his face, smiled and replied:

"No, I'm okay."

The succubus just nodded in turn, showing her trust in Vale's judgement. Or at least in Vale's will.

It seemed that one sentence Vale had said in the heat of a tumultuous situation had actually had quite the effect on Salome. Or maybe it was his actions that had finally proved himself.

Vale had no way of knowing if Salome was done testing him or if she'd finally stopped holding back. She'd at least taken a more involved, proactive role rather than reflexively working with whatever Vale said — Instead of waiting for a cue, Salome actually suggested a few operations and focuses before Vale. She also refuted or provided counterarguments for Vale's potentially risky or bad decisions.

All in all, Vale was happy with this step toward equality.

Of course, true equality was still a ways away because the succubus had a couple of centuries of wisdom and experience more than Vale. Plus, those centuries were spent with the knowledge of Aether and the hardships of growing her strength without a system.

This system, which was turning out to be quite a luxury…

As they started the journey, Vale passed Salome's decaying artwork, sending cursory glances at it.

Each beast had holes in their chest and lacerations all over their body. Besides that, the nails of their claw had been plucked off — their teeth too. Not to mention their eyes seemed to have been gouged out. However, Vale wasn't too sure if that one was post or pre-mortem.

A random animal could have done the damage.

Vale turned his head away from the gruesome sight, letting it fade out of view. But not once did his stomach churn.

It seemed that ever since he gained his 276 extra Aether, he'd lost even more of his original self. Or maybe he'd just grown accustomed to bloody, atrocious sights.

Vale had no way of knowing the absolute truth of Lust's effect on his mind, but it was clear that something was abnormal. At the same time, he didn't particularly care if something was wrong, because it was starting to feel right.

Vale continued maneuvering down the talus while Salome scouted above and took out any beasts that got remotely close to them.

It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the rampaging river, where the three, not caring if they were outside, shamelessly undressed almost entirely.

Salome tore off her boots, stockings, and most everything else. Vale only wore his bracers and necklace. Toy had on well… nothing.

Salome was the first to jump into the waters, quickly disappearing under the current, then quickly breaking the surface.

"It's safe."

Vale was next. He didn't particularly know how to swim… but he'd been thrown in a canal once as a kid and somehow survived, so surely this wouldn't be too difficult now that he was an adult and a superhuman one… 'right?'

Vale jumped in the water and quickly disappeared under.

The current started to drag his body away, and he soon learned the riverbank was quite steep; it didn't seem he could reach the bottom, even on the edge.

Salome soon noticed his plight and then reached out to lift him back above the water. She held him against her chest, their skin pressing together, causing Lust to activate and the rush of cold to dissipate.

"You don't know how to swim… do you?"

Vale, kicked and flailed in Salome's arms, shuffling a little over until he reached a slightly shallower point where his feet barely touched the ground.

"Nope…"

Toy looked too timid to jump in, but was all of a sudden scared by the scampering of something hidden under talus and quickly rushed in like a cannonball.

Once she disappeared underwater… the two waited for her to resurface, only for them to soon realize she was in the same boat as Vale… well, sinking boat.

Salome let go of Vale, who began to flail around and fight the current as Salome dove under and retrieved the goblin, who reappeared shivering madly. Then Salome scooped Vale back up, and they did a three-way hug, which made Lust dim the cold once again.

The usually complicated-to-discern Salome had a genuine, cheery look in her pink eyes. She couldn't help but bellow out in a mocking tone:

"Are you sure you've 'lived through the trials that give the meek their first taste of courage'. Or did you say that to act all tough, thinking it sounded cool? Haha!"

Vale tried to refute, but Salome let him go once again as her joyful expression turned sadistic as she watched his head plunge underwater.

Even Toy giggled a little at Vale's struggling.

If Ximena saw the disrespect of her master right now, she'd freeze the two cretins on the spot.

Salome picked Vale up and held him close as he flicked his hair back out of his eyes like a dog, then she looked over at the goblin whose dark green hair was stuck to her face and her beautiful green skin free of grime.

Another amused grin streaked across the demoness' face.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you… Toy."

Then, she dropped the pitiful goblin whose screams instantly drowned out the moment her head fell under.

"Ah-!"

Toy reached up and managed to grip onto Salome's leg, nearly pulling her down with her.

Vale coughed up a bit of water, then began to laugh at the sinking Toy. But the moment Salome noticed Vale's laugh, she picked Toy back up, and her animalistic, untamed gaze settled on him.

Pure panic and fear gripped his soul.

A moment later, he and Toy had switched positions.

Though his plight didn't last long as Salome quickly scooped him up, a pleasant and satisfied grin on her face, perhaps this treatment was revenge for all of the labor she, a queen, had to endure under Vale's lecherous rule!

Vale, with quite the undignified expression on his face, yelled while continuously flailing:

"When I get a little stronger, and it's safer out here, teach me to swim!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.