"That fuckin’ holy bitch..." Quinn grumbled, gasping in both pain and exhaustion as he continued to run while bleeding from his wounds—the very reason he couldn’t completely escape Kaori.

After all, wounded prey was as good as dead, and the only reason the Huntress was letting him escape was either to toy with him or force him to lead her back to his nest, where more of his kind awaited slaughter.

At that thought, Quinn could only grind his teeth in frustration before shouting curses loud enough for Kaori to hear from where she was hiding.

"FUC’—!"

"Huh? What was that about?"

"Wait, you’re bleeding."

"Are you okay, young lady?"

"Can anyone use healing spells or have any potions?!"

Quinn’s cursing caught the attention of nearby bystanders, and as they began forming a crowd around him by the side of the street, an idea for escaping Kaori came to mind.

"Get away from him!" Kaori shouted, realizing what her prey was about to do.

Before the crowd could react to Kaori’s warning—or before Kaori herself could reach them—Quinn swiftly pulled out multiple syringes from beneath his bloodstained white apron and injected their blackened liquid contents into a dozen bystanders.

"ARGH—!"

The bystanders quickly became cursed, causing chaos throughout the area as they attacked anyone nearby like undead creatures rampaging to devour the living.

"Are you really gonna abandon them just like that?" Quinn said after slipping through the chaotic crowd just before Kaori could reach him.

With most of the soldiers and adventurers gathered at the town square, there was no one else around to handle the situation behind her—forcing Kaori to choose between capturing her prey or helping the townsfolk before more people got hurt.

"You better choose quickly, you fuckin’ huntress."

With one last mockery, Quinn continued his escape, already knowing what Kaori would choose.

"I will hunt you down, you disgusting bastard!"

***

[LU-EL@LIVESTREAM - GODDESS’S VESSEL]

"Isn’t that cheating, big guy?"

"Argh—!"

"LU-EL—!"

Poru@Knight: Where the fuc’ did this creepy guy come from?!

Poru@Sage: Was that even important?! Our dude is dying!

Poru@Undead: DEATH—Welcome to the Donut Club!

Poru@Beast: Donut Club?... Searching... Googling... OHH—Hahaha! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Poru@Ghost: This is no laughing matter, and that wasn’t even funny!

Poru@Astronaut: Can’t you do anything to help him, Luvira-sama?!

Luvira@Goddess: If our dear Livestreamer dies, then that’s the end for him—and for this livestream.

***

"You freaking—ARGH!"

"Language, big guy."

Lu-el wasn’t referring to the assassin, but rather to the irritating response of the scammer goddess toward his loyal viewers pleading for help on his behalf—not until the assassin twisted the dagger lodged in his guts, making him scream in excruciating pain.

"I’m going to beat the shit out of you... before killing you... bastard," Lu-el grumbled, stammering through the pain as he glanced back with murderous rage in his eyes.

"Go ahead and try, while you still have time—Hahaha!" the assassin said, mocking him with laughter.

"Get away from him, you creep!"

The remaining thirteen young hunters all rushed to save Lu-el, forcing the assassin to retreat only after kicking Lu-el in the back and sending him stumbling to the ground with the dagger still embedded in his guts.

Despite the excruciating pain, Lu-el desperately tried to stay awake, fighting the urge to lose consciousness while gripping the vial of Lust Elixir and his bag of supplies in his hands.

One of the hunters moved toward Lu-el to help him up while the others rushed at the assassin.

"We can’t pull out the dagger, or you’ll bleed to death," said the young hunter.

"I know..." Lu-el muttered in response before grabbing a healing potion from his bag with trembling hands and frantically drinking its contents.

While waiting for the potion to take effect, Lu-el carefully observed the one-sided fight between the dozen young hunters and the creepy hooded assassin.

It was barely even a fight. The assassin effortlessly evaded every attack, moving so quickly that their swords couldn’t even touch his black robe.

"You guys are a bunch of weaklings—Hahaha!"

The creepy assassin retaliated by merely toying with the young hunters, slashing them with a second dagger—not deep enough to immobilize them, but just enough to make them bleed—before kicking them away and sending them stumbling dozens of meters across the ground.

With such a massive difference in speed and strength, Lu-el could only assume the assassin possessed enhanced strength from the blessing of intimacy, leaving the virgin hunters completely outmatched despite their advantage in numbers.

Not to mention, the assassin’s fighting style clearly showed how much he enjoyed toying with his opponents.

Yet Lu-el’s bleeding, hollowed-out guts told him there was something more.

One by one, the hunters fell, and none of them could get back up to fight again—or even stand on their feet—and Lu-el soon realized why.

"UGH—ARGH!"

Instead of recovering from his injuries after drinking the healing potion, Lu-el coughed up more blood and began feeling even greater pain than before.

"Poison..." he muttered, feeling his guts slowly go numb.

"You’re running out of time, big guy," the assassin said, turning toward Lu-el after taking down the last of his opponents.

"That won’t be a problem..." Lu-el paused, grabbing the battle axe strapped to his back and using it to support himself as he stood before continuing, "What I have left is enough to beat the shit out of you."

"Pfft—but you’re already a dead man—Hahaha!"

"Have the others drink the potions I gave earlier," Lu-el instructed the terrified last hunter before drinking the Lust Elixir himself—restoring his stamina and boosting his lust, giving him more time to stay alive and fight.

To extend his remaining time even further, Lu-el removed his restraining bracelet, unleashing the enhanced strength granted by the blessing of intimacy.

It would automatically disqualify him from the Goddess’s Trial, but he would rather fight with everything he had until the bitter end.

And if he survived, he was just going to file a complaint to justify what he did.

Lu-el then tore apart his shirt, including the strap holding his axe, revealing his muscular frame and bleeding guts that had already turned black from the poison.

He followed by tearing apart his shorts and trunks, revealing his massive erection—not because fighting naked gave him some kind of power-up, but simply because it was more comfortable considering how aroused he had become from the effects of the Lust Elixir.

"You’re definitely way bigger than the little guy who put a bounty on your head," the assassin said, genuinely impressed by Lu-el’s size while simultaneously mocking Reiji’s formerly small manhood.

"Tell me who that cowardly bastard is, and I won’t mind giving you a quick death."