Celebrate your victory.

"What the heck is going on in here?!" Eva looks at you in terror.

Niki laughs. In her hand is your magic sword as well.

You're a shirtless man holding the leash of a collar binding the neck of a naked Vampire Queen. In the heat of the moment, you didn't really think about how this would look.

Dajy cackles maniacally. "Weak, you said? I have no idea how he managed this, but look at you, Catty. Subdued by a mere mortal man. That's what you called him, right? Oh this is a good look for you~."

"Bite me!" Catherine barks back.

"Don't tempt me..."

Amara covers her mouth with her hands. "Oh Mr. Warren. This is not what I expected at all."

"Hold on, guys. I can explain," you say. "It was Dixby's potion. It gave me the edge I needed to weaken her, though I got pretty damn close to dying."

"You do not have to explain," you hear from Alice. As you turn, you see she's completely flushed, but she can't look away. "You merely did what needed to be done. Nothing more. A leash was all you could find to bind her. Th-That seems appropriate. I--" Though her words peter out into mumbling. Her mind is definitely racing.

"... Thanks," you reply. "And thank you, Dajy. You saved my life. All of our lives. I don't really know how to repay you."

Mistress Dajy actually seems a little flustered. "Oh sweetie. You don't need to thank me. I've wanted to slap Catty around for a long time now."

"Hmm. You know what? I do have an idea on how to repay you."

"Oh? How exciting."

You walk over to Dajy, and simply extend the end of the leash to her. "A present."

She takes the leash and grins from cheek to cheek, and then begins to laugh. "Kyle, you shouldn't have~! This is the best gift I could have asked for. You're coming home with me, my darling Catty."

"There's no way--" Catherine begins to speak, but she's cut off by the collar pulling on her neck.

Dajy reels her in close. "I'm the mistress now," she whispers. "We're going to have a lot of fun together."

Eva purses her lips. "Are you sure this is all right?" she asks you quietly.

"Yes." Alice nods as she leans closer to you.

"I say work her hard for what she did to us!" Niki says. "She deserves it."

I can't believe it. We actually succeeded. It was mostly luck again, but we lived. It still bothers me though how fortunate we've been. If we keep fighting this Demon King's army, we can'y rely on luck alone. Also...

"Are you all right?" Amara asks. She looks to you with concern.

Behind her you see Dajy tugging on the leash of the vampiress. She seems to be having a lot of fun with her new toy.

"Yeah," you say with a soft chuckle. "I'm fine."

"He's thinking about the necklace," Niki suddenly says.

She could tell...

"Right. We never got it, which means Sa'dis has exactly what he was looking for."

"Which means we sort of failed," you say.

Suddenly, you feel a hand on your shoulder. As you look over, you see it's Alice, and she looks to you with a warm smile. "That is not correct. Our enemy may have received the treasure he sought, and perhaps he is even stronger now, but w did not fail. We defeated the second of his generals, and because you are no longer in possession of this pendant, he should no longer be after you."

"But it'll be our fault if he--"

"He has done nothing that we know of yet."

Niki suddenly grabs her hand and squeezes it tight, causing a surprised whimper to escape. "That's right, Alice! And now that we're not being hunted down, we have time to prepare. Just because he got some dumb piece of jewellery doesn't mean everyone is screwed."

"Your grip is very tight..." Alice mumbles.

"We should worry about getting some rest," Amara says. "Do not exhaust yourself further worrying about the future."

You let out a long sigh. "You guys are right. Hey, let me fix up your clothes. I imagine you're all tapped out, but I still have mana. It's the least I can do."

"See? He's a gentleman too," Dajy says as she grins at the vampiress.

Catherine scowls. "A gentleman puts a leash on a naked woman?"

"Call me mistress when you speak!" She yanks on it hard.

Amara is right. We need some rest. Luckily, the town isn't that far away. We should get going in case the adrenaline is the only thing keeping us standing...