I am the Executioner Dragon, but a cute mod.

The matter of collecting monsters by Rōsō is also part of her plan. In order to achieve the assimilation of all mankind with Tengen, she must first prevent Tengen from merging with the Stardust, turning her from a white-haired beauty into a half-cursed spirit that is neither human nor demon.

Then Lu Suo released the cursed spirits he had collected over a long time, disrupting the order. Taking advantage of this time, he launched the Death Return, resurrecting the sorcerers who had made contracts with him. He used their deadly battles to fill the barrier with a huge amount of cursed power to complete the assimilation.

We are still a long way from the ultimate goal. At present, Lu Suo is in the stage of collecting cursed spirits and signing contracts with those powerful sorcerers.

What kind of cursed spirits are worth collecting? Lu Suo thought for a moment, and the image of the overwhelming force of the Serpent Demon appeared in his mind... At least it has to be a monster of the Serpent Demon's caliber to be worth collecting.

Thus, Lu Su naturally set his sights on the Tengu. As social creatures, each Tengu possesses strength comparable to that of a serpent, not to mention the leader of the clan, [Great Tengu]. Although his strength is inferior to that of Yamata no Orochi, he is still among the top-tier demons, alongside the Nine-Tailed Fox and Shuten-dōji.

With Amelia by his side, Lu Suo was not afraid of the Great Tengu at all. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he could capture him with a single click. So even though there were only two days left of his vacation, Lu Suo still took Amelia to a tavern that only nobles could afford. They drank a cup of sake, which cost the commoners half a month's worth of food.

As for what happened afterward, Lu Suo didn't know. She only knew that after she and Amelia got drunk, they both passed out. When they opened their eyes again, they were tied up and placed in an oxcart whose destination was unknown...

"My head hurts so much. What happened? How did I get here?"

Lu Suo opened her eyes groggily, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, as if her body had been hollowed out. Before she could recover, a sudden jolt caused her head to hit the wall, and the pain instantly brought her back to her senses.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! My head...!"

Lu Suo opened her eyes, trying to find the source of the pain, but the first thing she saw was Amelia, who was bound hand and foot, her eyes closed and still unconscious.

Upon seeing this, Lu Suo's mind went blank. She began to search her memories from last night, wondering if she had gotten drunk and played the bondage game with Amelia.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the truth. Lu Suo looked down at himself, who was also bound hand and foot, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, so I was kidnapped. I thought I'd done something terribly wrong last night. That's great... What the hell! How did I get kidnapped?!"

Lu Suo Gu stood up from the ground and leaned against the wall, finally seeing the whole scene around her: the space was about five square meters, with birch floorboards, small windows on all sides, and a bamboo curtain hanging at the back for entry and exit.

Thinking of the constantly bumping space, Luso immediately realized that she and Amelia were in an oxcart. Listening carefully, in addition to the sound of the wheels rolling and the steady footsteps of the oxen, there was also a sporadic "tap-tap" sound.

Rōsō was very familiar with this sound, or rather, her body, Gamō Chihaya, was very familiar with this sound; it was the sound of horses' hooves, the sound of guards riding the oxcart.

By combining all the information, Ronso learned the truth about his and Amelia's kidnapping:

After Gamo Chihaya fled, the Gamo clan sent out guards to search for her, since Gamo Chihaya's fiancé was of high status, and if the marriage went through, the Gamo clan would gain a ticket to the upper world.

Now, these guys must have mistaken the body of Gamo Chihaya for her own, and took advantage of her drunkenness to capture her and bring her back to their senses.

"What is this? A stand-in?"

Rōsō had no intention of marrying in place of Gamō Chihaya; she was only after Gamō Chihaya's body and had no interest in her family.

So Lu Suo immediately manipulated her magical power and decided to break free from the ropes. However, no matter how hard Lu Suo tried, the ropes binding her showed no signs of breaking. Lu Suo then realized that these were not ordinary ropes, but real magical artifacts.

"Damn it, I'm so dizzy... I can't muster any strength at all."

Lu Suo was completely helpless. Suffering from a hangover, she couldn't exert her full strength, and being bound by the cursed artifact, she had almost no chance of escaping.

Knowing full well that any struggle would be futile, Luso simply lay down on the ground, preparing to try again when he was fully awake, or perhaps when Amelia would wake up.

With this thought in mind, Lu Suo yawned and, exhausted both physically and mentally, drifted off to sleep peacefully...

The oxcart continued its journey under the protection of the guards, just as Tōsō had guessed. These guards were directly under the command of the Gamo clan and were on their orders to find Gamo Chihaya.

Thinking the chances were slim, he unexpectedly discovered Gamo Chihaya, who was drunk and passed out in a tavern, while slacking off and drinking.

"Big brother, pinch me! Am I dreaming? Did we really find Gamo Chihaya?"

At this moment, one of the guards looked dazed, as if he hadn't yet recovered from the joy of finding Gamo Chihaya. The bearded man beside him chuckled upon hearing this.

"Back then, when I asked you to drink, you said drinking would lead to trouble. Now what do you have to say?"

The guard smiled sheepishly and scratched his head:

"Ha, you're right, brother. This wine is excellent. I'll treat you next time."

"That's more like it..."

The bearded man listened, closed his eyes contentedly, and nodded with satisfaction.

After enjoying a moment of peace on horseback, the bearded man suddenly sensed an uneasy atmosphere in the air. He slowly opened his eyes, looked around, and realized that something was wrong.

The chirping of insects in the forest suddenly ceased, and birds took flight in fright. An ominous atmosphere spread along the rugged path. The bearded man, the strongest of the guards, immediately understood what these anomalies meant. He said coldly:

"There's a monster nearby. Prepare for battle."

His words were met only with endless silence. The bearded man grew impatient. He turned and looked back, saying:

"I said, there's danger nearby, so stay alert..."

His voice grew softer and softer, and the impatience in his eyes was instantly filled with fear. He saw his companions, who had been riding horses and chatting and laughing, now slumped on their backs, pale-faced, and had been dead for a long time.

"When...?!"

The bearded man cried out in surprise, his mind instantly abandoning his mission to bring Gamo Chihaya back to the Gamo clan. Only one thing remained in his mind: I must survive.

He held the reins, fearfully urging the horse to flee the place. Only when the oxcart receded further and further away until it became a dot and disappeared from sight did he dare to breathe a sigh of relief.

Before he could even feel relieved, a loud crashing sound came from ahead. Turning around, he saw a crow-faced tengu, over two meters tall, descending from the sky, wielding a katana and shouting:

"Where can we escape to?"

The next second, the bearded man felt a sudden lightness in his body, and the world spun wildly before his eyes. He saw his body cut in two, and he saw his horse cleaved in two, followed by endless darkness...