While My Mage Wife Grinds, I Power Up Idly-Chapter 80: You’d Better Protect Me Well

The Blood Fiend was fast, but in Vivita’s eyes, it was still no match.

She looked at the charging Blood Fiend. The creature wielded a blood-red trident, its arm veins nearly fused with the weapon’s handle. From its mouth full of fangs, it spat an unknown liquid wildly.

"Bang—"

Without a word, Vivita raised her hand and slapped hard.

That single slap shattered the Blood Fiend’s trident and sent its body flying violently, smashing it against the distant Castle of Dry Bones.

"Boom—"

The Castle of Dry Bones was struck by the immense force carried by the Blood Fiend’s body, creating a huge hole.

Demons and Undead resting inside swarmed out like bees disturbed from their hive.

They looked toward the Blood Fiend and realized that the usually indestructible creature was now nothing more than a pile of mush.

Its body was splattered with blood, dirty chunks of flesh scattered here and there.

"That guy actually died?"

"What’s with that woman?"

"Heh heh heh, who cares about her background? Brothers, she’s strong, but if we rob her, we’ll become even stronger!"

"Exactly! Charge! Attack!"

The countless Demons and Undead surged toward Vivita like a swarm of bees.

They gave off an overwhelming aura that seemed to blot out the sky—but unfortunately, the Netherrealm had no sun.

Vivita remained calm and unhurried.

However, Ymir, who was following right behind Vivita, was already starting to wobble on her legs.

Usually, Marauders traveled in small groups that ruled the surrounding area, but today, they faced an entire Marauder stronghold!

Anyone caught by them would suffer a fate worse than death.

"B-big sister, you have to protect me well."

Vivita didn’t react at all to those words.

She simply fixed her gaze on the rushing Demons and Undead and began slaughtering them.

Low-level Demons and Undead couldn’t last a single round against her and often ended up smashed to pieces.

Even the highest-level Demons in the entire Castle of Dry Bones were only equivalent to human Grand Archmages.

That level was still beneath Vivita’s notice.

Ashu watched the battlefield from afar.

They had agreed beforehand not to be too brutal, but once Vivita entered Demon Hunter mode, she became ruthlessly decisive.

Demons or Undead—no matter what, she smashed them all to pieces without hesitation.

This way, they couldn’t get any information about Kakarim, nor could Ymir be trained.

So, Ashu had no choice but to summon the Holy Shield Knight—he didn’t think his own voice could quiet Vivita. Those Demons were making such a racket that even from hundreds of meters away, Ashu’s head was about to explode.

And then—

In the gloomy Netherrealm, a dazzling light flashed, and the tall, sturdy Holy Shield Knight materialized out of thin air.

Ashu didn’t hesitate at all. The moment the Holy Shield Knight was summoned, he immediately launched the Knight’s Shield Bash.

The Holy Shield Knight charged toward the numerous Demons ahead.

Demons were extremely sensitive to Holy Light. Although the Holy Shield Knight wasn’t a direct skill from the Divine Mother Goddess, its light element still belonged under Holy Light, naturally having some restraining power over Demons.

Because of this, the Demons hated it all the more.

On one side was the Demon Huntress Nun blessed by holy power, and on the other was the Holy Shield Knight radiating dazzling light.

"Gah gu gu! Damn it! What the hell is going on today? Who are these people?"

"Fuck! Has someone exposed our Marauder camp to the mortal world?"

"Damn it! Who did it? I’ll skin them alive!"

"No, wait, guys! Look at that little one—that’s Ymir of Death, right? That little bitch is still alive!"

"So it’s her! She’s colluding with that damn Holy Light!"

The remaining Demons roared furiously and all pointed their spears at Ymir.

Seeing this, Ymir’s face drained of color and she hurriedly fled toward Ashu’s direction.

Then, the Demons spotted Ashu, the summoner of the Holy Shield Knight.

"Take out that kid over there first! That Knight was summoned by him!"

"Kill him! Steal his power!"

"Don’t fight me for it, I spotted that kid first!"

"Kill, kill, kill! Whoever kills him first gets him!"

At this moment, Vivita immediately furrowed her brows.

Anyone daring to lay a hand on Ashu, she would show no mercy.

Then—

A sudden burst of sound exploded on the spot. Vivita’s figure vanished and reappeared right in the center of the Demon horde.

Holy Light power swirled around her like a sun goddess fallen into the Netherrealm.

In that instant, the Holy Light cleansed vast numbers of Demons and Undead.

All the weaker ones left behind only a wail before being burned to nothing but ashes.

In the end, only a dozen or so Demons of decent strength remained.

But even they were severely injured by the Holy Light, each falling heavily to the ground like roasted chickens.

Thud—

Vivita landed. These guys didn’t even deserve her to use a skill—just plain punches and kicks could kill them.

However, since they lunged at Ashu in such numbers, she had no choice but to use skills to quickly clear the field.

"Ashu, are you okay?" Vivita asked.

"I’m fine. They’re still far from me," Ashu replied.

They had originally planned to capture survivors, but now nine out of ten were dead.

Still, Ashu couldn’t blame Vivita—she was only protecting him.

Luckily, a few were still alive.

Ashu stepped forward. The surviving Demons all looked grotesque, and after being scorched by the Holy Light, they resembled half-roasted ducks.

Ashu had no skills in communicating with Demons. Before they could even react, he swiftly condensed a blade out of Magical Essence and began carving Cidi’s mark into their blistered, half-cooked skin.

The pain layered atop pain made the Demons convulse uncontrollably.

"AAAH! AAAHHHH!! Damn you, human!!"

Ashu had drawn Cidi’s mark many times before—awkward at first, but now he could do it with his eyes closed.

His strokes were fast. Within just a few breaths, the mark of Cidi had already appeared on the Demon’s body.

Then, pressing his foot down on the Demon’s head, he activated Cidi Hypnosis.

Whether it was because of something particular to the Netherrealm or because this Demon’s mental resistance was simply too weak, it took just one cast of Cidi Hypnosis to successfully bring it under his control.

Ashu repeated the process, quickly subjugating the rest of them as well.

Ymir watched Ashu’s actions with a serious expression. Once she noticed him looking, she quickly composed herself again.

"Why did you run toward me after being discovered by the Demons?" Ashu asked.

"Big bro, without realizing it... you’ve become my emotional pillar. In that moment of panic, I just instinctively ran toward you."

"Kissing up won’t help you. Just wait and see how I punish you later."

Ashu left it at that and then called all the Demons on the ground to get up.

They struggled to their feet, each looking like they were just barely clinging to life.

"I ask, you answer. Say one word too many, or leave out one word of truth, and I’ll kill you." Ashu said coldly. "Recently, a Cardinal fell to corruption and transformed into a Demon. That should be big news in the Netherrealm. Have any of you heard about it?"

A Demon with a head like a rooster quickly replied, "S-sir, I’ve heard of it. The news came from the territory of the Greater Demon Shava."

Hearing that, Ashu cast Divine Grace on the rooster-headed Demon.

Divine Grace wasn’t part of the "Sacred Codex" skill set, but rather an upgraded form of Healing Arts. It might’ve contained a trace of Holy Light, but instead of causing burning pain like true Holy Light, it focused more on healing. The rooster-headed Demon’s wounds began to mend.

He trembled in both pain and joy—and was finally pulled back from the brink of death.

The other Demons, seeing this, were filled with envy.

One after another, they rushed to speak:

"Sir! I know too! Greater Demon Shava imprisoned the soul of a Cardinal’s son—that was a great honor in the Demon world!"

"Sir! I’ve heard it as well! After leading the Cardinal into corruption, Greater Demon Shava was promoted!"

"Sir, please heal me! I know Shava’s weakness!"

...

Faced with this chorus of Demonic chatter, it was Ymir’s sudden outburst that brought silence.

She barked, "You damned Demons, you filthy mongrels—where the hell did you hide my scythe!?"

The Marauders had taken Ymir’s treasured weapon.

Now, the entire Marauder force had been wiped out—and even the ones left had been converted into CidiDevotees.

That meant anything the Marauders had taken should rightfully be returned to her. At the very least, as the original owner, she should be able to sense where her artifact was.

But the reality was—she couldn’t feel a thing.

That item was incredibly important to her.

She had come here full of hope, hoping to use someone else’s hand to kill for her and smoothly reclaim her treasure in the process.

"Your scythe..." The rooster-headed Demon, now partially healed and slightly more lucid, answered, "We offered it up to the Greater Demon Shava. We knew it was important to you, but you know how Demon customs work. If we didn’t present a tribute, we’d be the ones to die."

Ymir clenched her teeth at the answer but said nothing more.

Even now, her strength was borrowed, her authority secondhand. Let alone standing up to a Greater Demon like Shava.

That kind of power level—she didn’t even dare dream about it.

Once her artifact had fallen into Shava’s hands, there was basically no chance of ever getting it back.

That scythe had been a gift from the God of Death, containing the key to unlocking her true power.

Without that scythe, she was nothing special. Just another face in the crowd.

Just then—

Ashu and Vivita exchanged a glance, and Ashu fixed his eyes on the rooster-headed Demon and said, "This Greater Demon Shava you mentioned—how far is his camp from here? What is his strength? I want a clear, word-for-word report."

The rooster-headed Demon’s feathers bristled instantly. "S-Sir... you... you’re not planning to go after Shava, are you?"