Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 55: Queen Medusa

"I heard someone calling my name," Haoran said, his voice smooth, cold, and carrying an authority that made Hua Lin’s bone-sword tremble in her hand. "And it sounds like someone was threatening to turn my woman into dust."

"Who are you?! How dare you interfere in our private affairs!" Hua Lin glared at him, her pink snake tail thrashing the sand into a fine mist. "Are you courting death, Human!?"

Her bone-sword hummed with a lethal, vibrating frequency, yet even she could feel a cold sweat beginning to form at the nape of her neck.

Something about this man seems to make her feel very unsettled. This is the same unsettling feeling she has when facing the Queen, an absolute suppression of bloodline.

But how is that possible?

This man is clearly a human!

Shen Haoran didn’t deign to answer her immediately, instead, he jumped down from the flying sword with a practiced, weightless grace, landing softly on the desert floor directly between the Lamia army and the two girls.

His golden-blonde hair caught the dying light of the sun, and his golden-purple robes fluttered in the dry breeze.

"Haoran!"

Huo Yue didn’t hesitate for even a second as she leaped into his arms with a cry of pure, unadulterated joy.

All the fear of being swallowed by Lamias and all the worry of being a fugitive washed away in an instant just by the sight of him.

She buried her face in his chest, breathing in that familiar, warm scent that she had missed for two long years.

However, unlike Huo Yue’s exuberant joy, Zhu Ziyan froze in absolute shock, and before she realised it, her body began to tremble, not with excitement, but with a primal, bone-deep fear.

She remembered him, yes, of course she does, she couldn’t forget him even if she tried.

After all, this was the man who had single-handedly humiliated the entire Ogre Seven at their own academy because their teacher had acted arrogant.

He had literally crushed their pride and their bodies beneath his feet without breaking a sweat.

In her mind, this guy wasn’t their savior, he was a demon.

And also...

’Fiancé?!’ The word finally clicked in Ziyan’s brain, and her head snapped toward Huo Yue, then back to Shen Haoran. ’This is the fiancé that she always bragged about?! The gentle, caring, and very romantic fiancé that she would always mention whenever she had the chance?!’

With how much Huo Yue had praised Shen Haoran over the past few days, Ziyan had actually begun to imagine him as a handsome Prince Charming—gentle, kind, perhaps riding on a white horse, a man who ignored his noble family to be with a commoner out of pure, selfless love.

Now... What Prince Charming? What gentle and kind?

Looking at the sharp, domineering aura radiating from the youth before her, Ziyan realized he was definitely a Demon King!

"Boy, it seems you are that fiancé the girl talks about," Hua Lin spat, her eyes slitting. "The one she wanted to give our Queen to so you could ’play around’ with her until she forgot her own name."

Haoran blinked, a look of genuine confusion crossing his face as he turned his gaze down toward the red-haired woman currently clinging to his robes. "You said that?"

Huo Yue blushed a deep crimson, looking everywhere but at him as she scratched the back of her head. "Just... in the heat of the moment. I had to act tough, you know?"

Haoran offered a short, dry chuckle and patted her head before turning back toward the thousands of Lamias.

His expression immediately flattened into one of aristocratic indifference. "My name is Shen Haoran, and I am from the Imperial Capital. This woman is my fiancée. Why don’t you give me face and let this matter go? I’m sure we can reach a civil understanding."

"Impossible!" Hua Lin retorted, her aura flaring with renewed vigor. "I don’t care if you’re from the Imperial Capital, from moon, or even from beyond the stars! That girl must hand over our Heavenly Flame and return our Queen immediately, or this desert will become your tomb!"

"No way!" Huo Yue stuck out her tongue, her spirit restored by Haoran’s presence. "I got this fair and square through luck and ability! I can return your Queen to you, but the Blue Lily Earth Flame stays with me! I’ve already refined it!"

Let it be known that taking away a Heavenly Flame that has already been refined by an owner would cause a backlash so great thay your meridians frying itself from the inside is the best outcome.

Hua Lin gritted her teeth so hard it sounded like stone grinding on stone.

She wanted to kill Huo Yue immediately, but the mention of the Central Region gave her pause.

If she killed a scion of a Hegemon Clan, the retribution would mean the extinction of the entire Lamia race.

"Fine!" Hua Lin finally barked, deciding to compromise for the sake of survival. "Give us back our Queen! We will forgo the flame for now, but the Queen must be returned!"

Compared to a Heavenly Flame, the life and soul of their ruler were infinitely more important.

Huo Yue raised her arm, letting the colorful scales peek out. "Go, Xiao Mei. Your sisters are here to take you home."

From her sleeves, the rainbow-scaled snake slithered out onto Huo Yue’s palm.

It looked around at the thousands of Lamias with a confused, and a tilted head, but then, to the horror of everyone present, it slithered up to Huo Yue’s cheek and began affectionately caressing her skin, letting out a soft, content hiss.

"QUEEN!" Hua Lin and the other Lamias screamed in horror, seeing their absolute ruler acting like a common house pet to a human girl.

"Xiao Mei, these guys want to take you home. What do you think?" asked Huo Yue, stroking the snake’s head.

Xiao Mei turned her head toward the Lamia army, observed them for a brief, cold moment, and then let out a distinct scoff before turning back to nuzzle into Huo Yue’s cheek once more.

"No! Queen! Please return to us!"

"You bitch! You must have done something to her mind!"

"Yes! Yes! You must’ve tused a soul-control art!"

"An evil Cultivator! You are definitely an evil Cultivator!"

Haoran’s eyes narrowed, and he let out a cold snort.

Suddenly, his Infinity Dragon God Divine Physique flared up, and a massive, invisible pressure erupted from his body, carrying the ancient, primordial weight of a True Dragon.

The effects were instantaneous.

Lamias are part snake, and snakes are distantly related to the dragon lineage.

Haoran’s physique gave him an absolute, biological suppression against all dragon-type creatures and their subordinates.

The thousands of Lamias suddenly felt a sense of overwhelming dread and an instinctive urge to kneel.

"No need to get agitated," Haoran said, his voice echoing with authority. "Why don’t I make a deal with your Queen first? She is clearly suffering from a damaged soul."

Indeed, he had seen earlier when Xiao Mei appeared. This innocent little snake seems to be a fragment of a soul of some powerful expert, left behind to control this body while the main soul was resting.

It isn’t rare. Anyone from Nascent Soul should be able to do this, but generally, none wanted to do this because it’s troublesome.

It’s far easier to have their souls escape their body to survive and find another body to occupy.

He stepped forward, reaching into his spatial storage to produce a small, translucent glass bottle containing a few shimmering, emerald-green pills.

He handed the bottle to Huo Yue. "Feed it to that snake. It’s a Rank 7 Soul-Nurturing Pill, it should be able to temporarily allow Medusa to regain control of the body."

Although Huo Yue was confused, she followed his orders without question as she took one pill and fed it to Xiao Mei.

The snake swallowed it eagerly, sensing the vast medicinal power within.

But for a moment, there was silence, as everyone stared at the little snake in confusion.

"Um, is the pill effec—"

WHOOSH!

Just then, the snake began to glow with a blinding, iridescent light before it hovered into the sky, its small form expanding and lengthening.

Within a few breathtaking moments, the light shattered, and in the snake’s place stood an incredibly beautiful woman.

She had long, dark purple hair with a strands poking upward like an ahoge, and she wore regal, shifting robes that matched her previous scales.

She opened her eyes, revealing cold, piercing hazel orbs that seemed to hold the wisdom of centuries.

Not just that, her aura burst out—, and unlike the 9th stage Spirit Ascension Realm she was known for, this woman’s strength was now a genuine, crushing aura of the Nirvana Rebirth Realm.

Even without someone telling them, they can already see...the Queen was awake!

She hovered in the air, her gaze landing on Haoran. "Human... what is it that you want from me?"

This woman was none other than Medusa, the Sovereign of the Great Tao Desert and Queen of the Lamias.