My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 46 What a beautiful mechanism, what forbidden power!

"Hmm... I'll consider it later."

"..."

Looking at the wandering knight in front of her, Aphrodite's expression twisted, and she trembled with rage.

Is this guy making fun of himself?

Seeing Aphrodite's face flush red and then pale, Rhode secretly asked Alina in his consciousness space:

"What a strange expression. Is she overjoyed and excited because she survived?"

"Uh... just pretend she is," Alina said helplessly.

If Rhodes were told the truth, he would probably immediately ask Aphrodite why she was angry, causing this topic to keep going on and on...

Even demons, who are universally hated, shouldn't suffer such torment.

For her physical and mental well-being, let's stop here.

"So," Aphrodite asked after calming down, "you really intend to let me go like this?"

She slowly pushed herself up on her knees, looking up at his tall figure: "Why didn't you kill me?"

"Do you usually use killing as a means of solving problems?" Rhodes stroked his chin and looked down at her.

"Isn't this how you see us demons?" Aphrodite asked in bewilderment. "Chaos, violence, disorder, cruelty..."

"But you used to speak properly... Hmm, never mind," Rhodes seemed to have thought of something, glancing at the chaotic cemetery, "The main thing is, if I kill you, who will restore this place?"

"But wouldn't it be easier to just kill a dangerous demon like me?" she asked calmly. "Aren't you afraid that keeping a menace like me around will cause even greater harm?"

"Danger..." Upon hearing this word, Rod paused, clearly wanting to say something, but considering the other person's feelings, he politely inquired, "You really want to know?"

"Speak," Aphrodite said with a smirk, noticing his somewhat strange expression. "I'm really curious, what kind of image do you have of me, this demon feared by everyone?"

She suddenly remembered the unusual attitude he had towards demons when she first met him.

"Although your spell damage is decent, the coverage is moderate, and the mechanics are quite unique."

Rod first offered a brief compliment, then abruptly changed the subject, sighing and saying:

"But your attack speed is slow, your spellcasting has a long wind-up, and your hit rate is not high... Moreover," he glanced at Aphrod, whose body was trembling as she stood up, "your endurance is obviously insufficient, and the cost of using you is very high."

"So," Rhodes looked at her with pity, "where's the danger?"

"That's because I was..." Aphrodite, hearing Rhodes's sharp assessment of her strength, instinctively tried to defend herself, feeling both embarrassed and angry.

But then she heard Rod mutter something under his breath, as if answering someone's question:

"Just because of the demon race? That's not scary at all!"

The words that had been on the tip of her tongue to defend her strength caught in her throat. Aphrodite stood there, stunned, then suddenly smiled with relief:

"Really? So that's how I am in your eyes..."

"Ha, ha, ha ha..." For some reason, she suddenly burst into laughter, only stopping a little when she was out of breath.

If she hadn't acted impulsively, but instead had been able to communicate more calmly, perhaps...

However, for her, this is already a pretty good result.

"You, you..." She wiped away tears, mostly from laughing, and pointed at Rhodes, laughing:

"You may have some mental issues, but you're quite interesting, much more interesting than those boring guys."

"?"

Rhodes was deeply puzzled by her words.

"Why is she both scolding and praising me?" Rod couldn't help but complain to Alina.

"Don't worry about that, it's just your chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)," Alina's voice rang out from the consciousness space at just the right moment, "Isn't it only natural to receive such a judgment?"

Rhodes thought about it and it seemed to make sense, so he didn't pursue it any further.

"How long will it take you to restore this place?" He turned his attention back to the scene before him.

Looking around at the vast expanse of scorched, yellowed land, as if it had been plowed, he couldn't help but frown.

"I can try to restore the vegetation here, but I can't do it right now."

Aphrodite suddenly smiled at him, her face, which had been pale from the intense exertion, now glowing with an eerie blush.

"so……"

She pressed her right hand tightly against her chest, her fingers bent like hooks, as if trying to grasp something through her skin.

"what……"

Her beautiful face was contorted in extreme pain, her previously folded bat wings uncontrollably spread open, her tail under her skirt stretched taut, and her whole body convulsed violently.

Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, and a few strands of white hair clung to her cheeks. Her breath suddenly became much weaker.

A moment later, a pure, viscous, dark red energy was forcibly pulled out of Aphrodite's body and eventually floated in her palm.

"Huff..." She caught her breath for a moment before looking up at Rhodes with her crimson eyes and laughing, "If I want to save my own life, I have to show some sincerity, don't I?"

"Don't worry about me breaking the contract," Aphrodite said, manipulating the dark red energy floating in the air and slowly guiding it toward Rhode. "This is a part of my bloodline's essence. Now, it belongs to you for the time being."

"She actually dared to give this thing to you directly..." Before Rhodes could speak, Alina said in disbelief.

Sensing Rhodes's confusion, Alina, who was in the consciousness space, quickly provided an answer:

"That is the foundation of her strength and the source of her life. If this thing is damaged, not only will her strength plummet, but she may even die..."

Hearing this, Rhodes looked at Aphrodite in confusion and asked, "Why would you do that?"

"Obviously, since I can't fulfill your demands right now, I have to do something to make you believe me, so you won't turn around and kill me because I'm useless."

Aphrodite's weak voice carried a hint of mockery and frivolity as she casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes glazed as she gazed at the bloodline essence floating before Rhodes.

"There's always a price to pay for doing wrong, and I have to pay for my stupidity and mistakes."

Just like her birth, her mother's tragic end was due to her mistaken choice to marry that man.

Seeing that Rhodes didn't move, she raised a slight smirk and reminded him, "Aren't you afraid that once I recover, I'll run away or even turn around and kill you?"

Whether it was due to her strong regenerative abilities as a demon or simply a desire to appear calm in front of her enemies, the nimble heart-shaped tail under her skirt swayed slightly, as if trying to entice the person in front of her to do something to her.

"Is that so...?" Rhodes looked at her and opened his mouth, but didn't say what he really thought.

You don't seem that hard to catch.

Thinking about it carefully, they have already met three times in just two days.

While Aphrodite is wanted, her range of movement is limited, not to mention that Rhode, in his non-fused state, has a system that can detect his presence at close range.

"Oh well."

Since she offered it to him voluntarily, Rod didn't refuse and accepted it without hesitation.

"Release a portion of your mental perception and use your consciousness to envelop that energy," Alina whispered in her mind space.

Rhodes did as he was told. He reached out and touched the ball of pure energy, focused his mind, and an invisible spiritual force extended forward to envelop it.

The two forces touched and slowly merged together.

In that instant, a strange feeling arose in Rhodes' heart.

An invisible bond seemed to appear in the void, tightly connecting him with Aphrodite before him.

At such close range, he could even clearly sense the other's extremely weak physical state, heartbeat, breathing, and even the chaotic flow of magic power within the body... all were under his control.

This sense of control felt incredibly real. Rhodes was certain that with just a thought, he could easily shatter this bloodline essence and inflict a devastating blow on Aphrodite.

Under his conscious control, the dark red energy transformed into a stream of light and merged into his body.

At the same time, a system notification also popped up.

[New material information being entered...]

[Fusing Material: Aphrodite (Half-Demon), Material Compatibility: High, Material Condition: Poor]

[Resonance Level: Unknown, cannot be detected in the current state. Please exit the combined state and try again.]

Rod was taken aback when he saw this.

Why couldn't I resonate with her when I saved her earlier, but succeeded after defeating her?

After his brain raced, Rhodes suddenly had an epiphany.

Because the properties and characteristics of the materials are different, the requirements for combining them will also vary.

Some may be gentle and timid, so as long as you show goodwill, you can merge directly;

Some may be cautious and easily angered, making them difficult to approach.

Different materials require different methods of capture. Perhaps some, like Aphrodite, require defeating and capturing them before they can be combined?

While pondering this, Rhodes also unexpectedly discovered that he had unlocked a new skill.

[Support skills have been unlocked!]

Support Skills:

Reverse Energy Absorption: When an attack imbued with magic hits an enemy, there is a chance to absorb the enemy's energy and convert it to replenish your own.

[Due to obtaining the bloodline essence of this material, there is a very small chance that its bloodline talent "Silver Light Whisper" will be triggered when the support skill is activated.]

"?" Rod was taken aback when he saw this.

Could this skill be...?

Thinking back to the two times his attacks were interrupted by Aphrodite's strange silver magic, Rhodes' breathing became a little rapid.

[Silver Light's Sharp Words: When used, it targets an enemy within the attack range, distracting them and momentarily disrupting their attacks, spellcasting, and other actions.]

"Hiss..." Upon seeing this, Rhodes gasped in shock.

What a beautiful mechanism!

He simply couldn't refuse.

The effect of [Reverse Flow Absorption] doesn't seem very powerful at first glance. It only works on classes that can use magic, so it doesn't seem to be very suitable for classes like Rangers.

Even in Aphrodite's hands, it wasn't very effective.

After all, as a sorcerer, she only knows pure magic attacks, and each attack consumes a lot of magic power and may not even hit the enemy, so she cannot absorb energy and can only draw energy from the surrounding environment to replenish herself.

Krod is a Wind Ranger, who naturally possesses high accuracy with skills like [Archery Specialization] and [Precision Strike], and also has an enchantment like [Armor Upgrade] that can trigger this support skill.

【Reverse Absorption】 combined with the arrows after 【Armor Upgrade】 consumes less energy, has a higher hit rate, and can also restore mana with a chance.

Rhodes didn't even dare to imagine that if it were triggered a few more times, wouldn't his magic reserves in battle be enough to spiral upwards with his left foot stepping on his right?

As for the effects of [Silver Light Whisper], let's not even talk about it; the mechanism is terrifyingly absurd.

Even if it's difficult to trigger, with enough attempts, you'll eventually succeed.

Sensing his inexplicable excitement, Alina couldn't help but ask:

"What's wrong with you?"

Could there be something wrong with the bloodline origin given by the demons?

Just as she was worrying, she heard Rhodes speak:

"I...I felt her deep sincerity..."

Rod looked up at the sky with mixed feelings.

No wonder the demon race is hated by everyone.

What forbidden power...

And now this power belongs to me.

"what……"

The thought of almost losing this power made Rod's hand tremble slightly as he touched the source of Aphrodite's bloodline.

At that moment, he was extremely grateful that he had listened to Alina's advice and used a more emotionally intelligent way of speaking to Aphrodite.

"Alina, you were right, thank you."

"?"

Alina, completely bewildered in the consciousness space, could only nod blankly in agreement.

Rhodes calmed the surge of elation in his heart and turned his gaze back to what was ahead.

Looking at the weakened succubus girl before him, he kindly offered to support her swaying body.

"You look terrible. Let me take you to a nearby clinic for treatment and rest."

"?"

wrong!

Even Aphrodite had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

If these were ordinary humans who had fallen under their own "bewitching eye," such enthusiasm would be understandable.

But this guy in front of me isn't an ordinary person...

Aphrodite wasn't stupid enough to repeatedly fail in front of him; she was still confident she could use her charm to seduce him.

"Could it be a problem with the origin of my bloodline?" Aphrodite wondered.

She admitted that she took a risky move by voluntarily relinquishing her identity, and that she did indeed use some minor tricks in the process.

Taking advantage of the other party's previous special attitude towards the demon race, she hoped to gain more trust by showing weakness, and then, seeing how docile and cooperative she was, let her live afterwards, or at least not deal with her immediately.

But she definitely didn't tamper with her own bloodline essence...

Just as Aphrodite was wondering what was going on, she suddenly felt a burning, stinging pain in her arm.

zizi——

With the sound of burning flesh, even with Rhodes's support, her legs gave way and she collapsed to her knees in a sorry state.

"Damn it..." Aphrodite instinctively covered her mouth and cried out in pain.

A ray of holy golden light leaked out from under her clothes, and Rod immediately reached out and lifted the sleeve she was using to cover herself.

On her pale arm, a dazzling mark of holy light was firmly imprinted, like a mark of divine punishment for a sinner, constantly burning her body and soul.

"They, they've already found us..."

Aphrodite's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and her body was curled up in pain, but she still clung to Rhodes's clothes.

"Could you please take me... away from here...?"