A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

If it's just once, she can tolerate it.

Sucking on fingers is also a good option; there's only a stinging sensation at the beginning, but the rest is actually pleasurable. However, the person who was supposed to be serving her has collapsed, so she has to do it herself.

Fortunately, this bloodletting was worthwhile, as Saint Karina coldly slit her own wrist.

It went down with a "swish".

The wound wasn't very deep, and it wasn't cut in a place that would affect wrist movement or the ability to hold a weapon, but it still bled quite a bit.

154. Establish deeper connections

"Gurgling..."

Blood gushed from the wounds as if it were free, some even falling directly to the ground, forming glistening red beads on the grass, as beautiful as blood-red agate.

For some reason, the blood seemed to have a strange sweetness in addition to its bloody smell.

"Gulu..."

Philomena, who had been motionless in Saint Karina's arms and was in pain, seemed to twitch her nose slightly.

She hadn't fainted, but had only temporarily lost the ability to move. It seemed that, besides Saint Karina herself, she had also noticed the changes in her blood.

His eyes suddenly brightened after Saint Karina's blood was fed to his lips.

The glistening blood, once ingested, quickly flowed into her golden heart, revitalizing it.

Not only that, her body, which had been unable to move due to pain, was now able to move again, and wanting more, she pushed Saint Karina down!

"Blood... wants more..."

Philomena made a longing sound; she was very strong.

After all, waiting to be fed by her owner, being a helpless, hungry cub, was not what Philomena wanted. A true woman dares to express her thoughts, whether through action or words.

This mindset, combined with her personality, is reflected in how, after pinning Saint Karina beneath her, she deliberately shifted her position to find a more comfortable spot.

Then, she sat on Saint Karina's lower abdomen, folded Saint Karina's wrist, leaned forward and pressed up, and kept licking around the wound.

"Hey! Philomena! Are you a dog?!"

Although she knew that Philomena was probably acting on instinct, Saint Karina couldn't help but complain.

The priestess, who used to be so celibate and diligent, is now burning with passion, wishing she could devour Saint Karina's flesh and blood, tearing her bones apart and eating her whole.

Even under normal circumstances, under the dual influence of the Holy Sword's constraints and the evil god's corruption, Philomena only appears to be very clingy to Saint Karina. She is not often enthusiastic or lively, and rarely takes initiative. Most of the time, Saint Karina has to force her or show a strong, commanding attitude.

This is probably Philomena's inherently submissive personality, cultivated by the cult of order. After all, she's Esther's darling; in modern society, it's like the relationship between an idol and her assistant.

Orphans, lacking love and care, are easily brainwashed by religious figures.

Even when it comes to taking the initiative, it's usually Saint Karina who sets the tone and lets the rest take care of the rest, serving the saintess.

"Philomena, wake up. There are a lot of people here, don't do this."

Saint Karina was pinned down, bearing a weight that shouldn't be on someone her age, and Philomena, who kept launching flesh-ball attacks to better lick the blood flowing from the wound on her wrist, spoke up to warn her.

However, the blood output could not be stopped during the experiment, and Saint Karina did not want to hurt Philomena by pushing her away.

Thus, Saint Karina's words became weak and ineffective, and Philomena, who was usually obedient and followed her orders, simply ignored them. They went in one ear and out the other, as if nothing had happened.

This meant that Saint Karina could only maintain this shameful position, pinned beneath him, singing of conquest for love. This small amount of blood wasn't enough to immediately wake Philomena; her eyes remained clear and unwavering.

Not only that, she felt as if she were drinking such delicious blood for the first time, and she pounced on Saint Karina like a greedy kitten, transforming from an elegant and noble Persian cat into a greedy fat cat, unwilling to leave at all.

Looking up at the tree branches and dark green leaves of the forest, and the sky that was once clear blue but now seemed to be shrouded in mist, like a smog-like gloomy sky, Saint Karina, who had been pushed down by Philomena's counterattack, was now somewhat speechless.

It seems she's been tricked by the evil god again; this time, her dignity has been completely shattered, and she's utterly defeated...

She didn't dislike being close to Philomena, and occasionally having a falling out with her wasn't bad either. The problem was the look in the eyes of the people accompanying her. Their hearts were pounding with shock, their pupils dilated. Saint Karina felt like she wanted to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.

"what……"

Just as Santa Karina was about to die in embarrassment, the disaster finally ended with Philomena regaining her senses.

"Huh? What's this?"

Philomena was somewhat confused. Looking at Saint Karina, whom she had pinned to the ground, and the paladins and priests standing nearby with mouths large enough to fit duck eggs, she had no idea what was going on.

Previously, due to the influence of her blood, her body acted faster than her brain, and her thinking was in a state of chaos.

“Philomena, get off me first.”

Saint Karina patiently called Philomena away first.

"Ah...oh...oh..."

When she got up and saw Saint Karina bandaging her wound, and then having a random priestess cast healing magic on her to stop the bleeding and heal her wound, Philomena gradually pieced together what had just happened from her jumbled memories.

Recalling the faint taste of bloodsucking, Philomena licked her lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction.

The way she looked at Saint Karina was a little strange, as if she weren't looking at a lord she was loyal to, but rather a walking blood bank or a strategic reserve.

Who were you just now?

As a result, the priestess who had been healing the saintess in silence spoke first.

You mean blood?

"It's red..."

Licking away the remaining blood from the corner of her mouth, Philomena, with a bloodthirsty smile, made a slashing gesture and explained:

"After you chop someone up, that kind of stuff will suddenly spray out."

Philomena, with a joking tone but a longing look in her eyes, stared intently at the spot where Saint Karina had been bandaged and now the bandages had been removed.

Don't get me wrong, she didn't suddenly become infatuated with Saint Karina, she just really wanted to drink Saint Karina's blood again.

"Don't even think about it. What do you take me for? A walking health pack, or the kind that can replenish mana anytime?"

Even if it's her favorite toy, Saint Karina won't give someone a friendly look if they stare at her like she's food.

At this moment, thanks to the treatment, her wrist had fully recovered, without any trace of wound, not even a scab or scar. Unlike herbalism, the effects of healing magic were far greater.

Not only that, she could feel that the relationship between the two had deepened. She could accurately feel that after her blood merged into the other's body, Philomena's loyalty and submission on a spiritual level had transformed into her physical form as a saint.

Moreover, the evil god Eris has also established a connection with her. For example, when the two make tofu together in the future, in addition to Saint Karina benefiting unilaterally, Philomena will also benefit.

In terms of strength, she broke through from the sixth rank to the seventh rank, becoming stronger than Saint Karina, who was only at the sixth rank on the surface. She served as the face of the team and was the strongest member of the team.

155. Lizardman Bandits

"Let me explain..."

Seeing Philomena's overly excited state of mind, Saint Karina quickly cut off the conversation and decided to speak herself.

After all, she only wanted to lure Esther into a trap, not want her toy to be violently destroyed by Esther.

"Whoosh-"

Just then, a javelin was thrown in this direction. It was two meters long, with a metal spearhead and a wooden section at the back. If it pierced a person, it would surely leave a large hole and get stuck to the thick tree trunk behind them.

"Holy Shield!"

Saint Karina simply summoned a solid light shield with a wave of her hand.

When the metal tip of the spear touched the light shield, it was as if it had encountered an unbreakable invisible wall, and could not advance any further.

"who?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I've been captured."

First, there was a tall, scaly creature with a snake's head. When it stood upright, it was over two meters tall, at least two and a half to two and a half meters. Its skin was blue, and its chest muscles were painted with white tribal tattoos.

This was the language of the lizard people, and Saint Karina did not know what it meant.

The one in the lead was probably the leader, and the one it was holding was Miss Lucosi, who had recently criticized Saint Karina for showing off her love and going out to have fun. This little girl, not yet sixteen, looked so tiny in the hands of the tall lizardman.

Then, emerging from the dense thicket were hundreds of green-skinned lizardmen. They were also over two meters tall, covered in green spots, with only three fingers on each hand, and long tails that ended up like syringes.

Unlike mindless monsters, these lizardmen seemed to possess a rudimentary form of civilization, with their lower bodies covered by skirts made of animal skins, concealing their private parts.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I am Ron Emerson, the chief of the tribe."

The blue-skinned lizardman leader greeted everyone with a smile. He had a noticeable scar on his face that pierced one eye, but the eye wasn't blind. His smile, however, was hypocritical, like that of a human bandit leader.

The smile that should have been friendly now resembled a cunning smiling tiger, with ulterior motives.

"Ron, is it? What brings you lizardmen here?"

Saint Karina raised an eyebrow. Seeing that Lucoxi had only been captured and had some superficial injuries, and was not seriously injured, and that her mental state was not affected, she was not angry because of the other party's rash greeting.

After all, besides the other party's smile, Saint Karina had not forgotten the act of stabbing with a javelin.

If Saint Karina were to take a tougher stance, she could interpret the other party's actions as provocative and take direct action.

The lizardmen aren't particularly strong in the Black Forest, but they prefer to travel in groups. Normally, Saint Karina, with only a team of about twenty people, would find it troublesome to be surrounded by hundreds of lizardmen. Even a discerning person would see that the humans would be at a disadvantage.

Of course, things shouldn't be judged solely on appearances. In fact, even without Philomena and the others' help, Saint Karina could easily defeat all the lizardmen single-handedly if she wanted to.

"Of course it's robbery. The Black Forest isn't rich. As long as you hand over your money and all your equipment and weapons, I can spare your lives."

Ron, the lizardman leader, still wore a smiling expression, his cold, serpentine vertical pupils carrying a hint of disdain, displaying an unwavering confidence in Saint Karina and her companions.

With such a large number of people involved, it's really hard to imagine how it could possibly backfire.

"You lizards have such big breaths, is it because you live in swamps and don't know how to brush your teeth, so you're just exhaling marsh gas?"

When the other party arrogantly told her they were robbers, Saint Karina almost laughed in anger and drew her holy sword to cut them down.

If they captured Lucoxi with the intention of provoking hatred, then she had to congratulate them on their success.

"You woman, who are you saying hasn't brushed their teeth?!"

Upon hearing Saint Karina's sarcastic words, Ron, who had been smiling, immediately stopped smiling. His face turned ugly, and he was very unhappy to be insulted.

"Do you know how many lizardmen this little thing has injured? Taking only some of your valuables and equipment is already letting you off easy..."

It waved its large hand, a gesture resembling that of an amphibian with webbed feet and long, sharp claws, and a dozen or so young, strong, green-skinned lizardmen emerged from among the lizardmen, carrying a lizardman-like stretcher.

The injured lizardmen had severed limbs, and their green snake faces had faded, turning pale and purplish-black, clearly due to excessive blood loss. Their bodies were also extremely stiff.

It's fair to say that without effective treatment, they would have died today.

Seeing the stretchers made of animal hides instead of the white cloth commonly used by humans reveals that the medical conditions of the lizard people are definitely inferior to those of humans. Even if they have shamans, shamans who know a little about fur and herbalism, how could they possibly be a match for priests who believe in God and can use holy miracles of healing magic?

"This was done by one of the women in your group. If she hadn't said that other women in your group dressed like her could save my people, I would have killed her long ago instead of simply capturing her and sending her back without even letting her suffer."

Even so, Lucixi, the sixteen-year-old girl, did not suffer any physical pain, but she was still tightly bound from head to toe, like a rice dumpling, or a caterpillar bound by a spider web, unable to move.

The lizardmen didn't use the ropes or chains that humans prefer, but rather vines from green plants that grow in the forest. I don't know how those plants grew, but they were lush, green, and thick, binding Lukoshi very tightly.

Saint Karina was relieved that these lizardmen were not yet fully civilized beasts, and their customs were quite simple compared to the tricks humans played. They didn't use the tortoise shell binding of a certain island nation, which allowed Miss Luci to happily receive a new Muzan defeat CG.

Of course, it was the female lizardmen who went up to tie up Lukoshi; the males just beat her down and then had the females of their tribe tie her up.

Unlike humans, the female reptilians are equally strong and powerful, making it difficult for Saint Karina to distinguish their sexes.

"She said she could also heal, but her personal magic and divine power were insufficient. Among them, there was a most powerful one, called a saintess or something. As long as the other priests and saintesses dressed like her joined forces, my people could be saved."

The lizardman completely disregarded Saint Karina and simply dumped out what Luco had told her.

156. Detecting Lies

In fact, the lizardmen are notorious bandits in the Black Forest; they plunder merchants' goods and kill people.

Saint Karina didn't believe a word of the lie that if they treated their own kind, they would only plunder goods and spare passersby.

She believed that once she healed them, the lizardmen's swords would fall on their heads in the next moment.

So, she immediately made up her mind about how to make a decision.

"So you want a priest... But do you think people would care about uncivilized beasts?"

Saint Karina's sneer made her stance clear.

Before the lizardmen could even get angry, she did what she had wanted to do for a long time.

"Divine Sword Technique, Light of the Sky, grant me a sword!"

Without any fancy moves, Saint Karina's holy sword surged, forming a white sword aura, and the white-light-blown blade swung directly at Ron's face.