Once the affection level is maxed out, the rivalry begins!

Rhea, panting, severed the head of the last mechanical priest.

She had noticed the leader of the cult's movements, but at the time she was entangled with the remaining mechanical priests and could hardly find an opening to break through.

Fortunately, the other party also encountered the unknown attack of the silver threads and died on the spot; otherwise, the hostage's life would probably have been in danger.

In that case, she wouldn't know how to face the witch.

She looked around and, after confirming there was no threat, immediately ran to the other side of the factory.

"Bai Ze! Are you alright?"

Rhea brandished her buzzing chainsaw. "I'll help you untie the ropes!"

"This can usually be done with your hands..."

Bai Ze made a sarcastic remark to the girl in front of him, who seemed to have run out of the Saw movie set.

"Yes, yes."

She awkwardly tossed aside the dangerous weapon. "Sorry, this is a side effect of the anomaly. If I use it for too long at a time, I experience a slight chainsaw urge to destroy objects or torture people... but I can completely suppress it!"

Judging from their performance just now, it's really hard to believe.

Bai Ze let her come closer and helped her untie the restraints.

The girl lowered her head, her golden hair brushing against his cheek, making him feel a little itchy.

Fortunately, she quickly stepped back, and Bai Ze stood up and rubbed his wrist.

But his desire to move his body was instantly stopped when Rhea raised her black leather glove and pressed it firmly against his shoulder.

"Please wait a moment, I need to check if Bai Ze has suffered any potential harm."

The effects of abnormal and extraordinary abilities are varied, and the absence of external damage does not necessarily mean that one is unharmed.

Bai Ze cooperated perfectly by remaining completely still.

But then Rhea's actions exceeded his expectations—she stood on tiptoe to close the height gap between them and leaned close to his neck to gently sniff.

Like a hound searching for truffles, the slender girl, in turn, restrained his movements and sniffed intently.

Breath exhaled onto the skin, carrying a subtle warmth.

A few minutes later, she left satisfied.

"Bai Ze, you are very healthy, both mentally and physically."

"May I ask how you figured that out?"

He didn't realize at all that his actions were meant to probe for damage; it was more like sexual harassment.

"Well... I'll tell you sooner or later anyway."

She scratched her cheek. "I'm not human."

"Like the Witch, I am classified as a life-type anomaly, an extrahuman being—in human-compiled myths and legends, I am called a succubus."

The girl pried open her eyelids to show him her golden pupils, which had suddenly turned into vertical pupils like those of a snake.

"I can tell the level of vitality of living things by their smell—to be honest, Bai Ze is quite energetic, and I'm getting a little hungry."

Upon hearing the news, Bai Ze distanced himself slightly.

So that's why. He was puzzled by her seemingly young age when they last met. If she were a non-human race, it would be understandable.

But in modern times, this thing called a nightmare also has another name: succubus...

So, not wanting to be eaten, he maintained social distance, which ironically seemed to hurt Rhea.

"That was a joke!"

She frantically explained, "I don't have any of those legendary abilities! That was the first time I'd ever used this power!"

"Aren't you one of those old monsters who've lived for so many years but still acts like a young man... a senior figure?"

Bai Ze is now even further away.

"Why are you suddenly using honorifics?"

She looked like she was about to cry. "I was sealed away for some reason not long after I gained consciousness, and it wasn't until a few months ago that the witch who came to investigate the anomalies released me. In terms of actual age, I'm probably not even older than Bai Ze!"

"There's more to this story? No wonder you admire her so much."

He finally understood why the other person kept calling him "Witch."

"Because of the debt of gratitude for rescuing me, I consider myself the witch's familiar! Although she doesn't acknowledge it..."

Rhea explained dejectedly that her hair, styled in pigtails, was also dull and lifeless.

"So you came to save me because you wanted to repay a debt of gratitude?"

Bai Ze then asked, "How did you know I was here?"

The cult kidnapped him to lure Lin Tingwan, but it turned out that she was the one who appeared here.

Regarding this issue...

The girl blushed, as if she couldn't bring herself to speak, and suddenly bowed down.

"I'm sorry, I was monitoring Bai Ze's movements."

—So, were our whereabouts when Lu Xingyao and I dealt with the [Reincarnation Infection Disease] exposed?

This suspicion flashed through Bai Ze's mind, but Rhea's next words dispelled his doubts.

"Ah, of course I've made a special effort to avoid invading your privacy."

She looked around, approached like a thief, and whispered in Bai Ze's ear.

"Bai Ze sometimes sneaks out on dates with another girl behind the witch's back, right? I didn't spy on your schedule."

—Great, it was definitely the right thing to do to go out disguised as an ordinary man or woman.

"And it seems the target is the anchor point expansion target chosen by the Disaster Management Bureau. Shouldn't they be assigned to a small group with the two of you now?"

She continued with a grin, "It's a chaotic scene..."

It was indeed the Bureau of Spirit Disasters that was behind this.

"So when you saw me being kidnapped, you rushed over there yourself."

Bai Ze looked at her with a strange expression.

Isn't this guy being a bit too reckless?

"I'm sorry, but the thought that Bai Ze might also be drawn into this abnormal world and harmed because of my invitation to join the Bureau of Spirit Disasters and the failure to erase his memory made it hard for me to stand idly by. So I came here without even notifying the Bureau of Spirit Disasters."

Rhea apologized sincerely.

"If Bai Ze were to die because of this, I would be overwhelmed by guilt."

She clutched her chest and emphasized, "Fortunately, an unknown anomaly helped us."

"I should be the one helping you. I didn't participate in the fight; I was just trembling and tied to a chair, watching."

Bai Ze corrected him with a calm expression.

The girl, whose race was Nightmare, stared into his eyes, her golden pupils contracting and then dilating.

Finally, she smiled and said, "I misspoke—because Bai Ze didn't seem flustered at all, I was wondering if you knew anything about those silver threads."

It seems she's become suspicious.

Just as the leader of the cult would use the process of elimination to determine that he was the one who did it, Rhea would naturally suspect that he, who was also present, had done something.

Bai Ze sincerely met her gaze: "Actually, I was very scared before, but I felt relieved when I saw you come to save me—after all, Rhea promised to protect me when she invited me to join the Bureau of Spirit Disasters."

"Huh, is that so?"

She cried out as if she had been struck by lightning, "...This is the first time anyone has ever said this to me."

The girl lowered her gaze, fixing it on her toes: "After all, all the troubles that happen in the Fumina area can be left to the witch to solve. Compared to her, I'm so weak. I'll be content to be a familiar that provides support from behind... The Spirit Disaster Bureau won't have any expectations for a dream demon that has only recently broken through its seal."

"If it weren't for the witch's opinion, I wouldn't have been able to get the job at all. I would have been treated as a humanoid anomaly long ago."

This time, Bai Ze gently pressed down on her shoulder: "But you rushed to help me the moment I was in danger—isn't that reliable? That's why I trust Rhea."

"Believe me?"

She looked up at the boy's handsome face, trying to find traces of trust in it.

"You don't actually need to aim to become anyone's familiar. That guy isn't anything special in real life—that's something I can assure you as his childhood friend, a witch."

Bai Ze gently increased the pressure on the girl's shoulders.

"You saved me; to me, Rhea is my savior!"

"Um……"

The young nightmare nodded hesitantly.

She harbored an instinctive reverence for Lin Tingwan, who had freed her from the seal, and this feeling extended to Bai Ze as well.

The moment he thanked me, I wanted to humbly say it was no problem.

But the satisfaction she couldn't get from Lin Tingwan, who refused to let her become a familiar, devoured Rhea's heart like a wild beast.

"I am... the savior who rescued Bai Ze from his kidnapping?"

Her exquisitely beautiful profile, like that of a doll, was flushed with a vibrant blush.

Self-affirmation increases dramatically.