《Magic Chronicles : Fallen Race》 Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Unforgiven Note: Theitalicizedtext is the character''s inner thoughts. Note: The italicized text is the character''s inner thoughts. ------------ "Whew! Finally!" Reji stretchedzily in his chair, sighing with great emotion as he watched the game enter its grand finale CG animation on the screen. This was a single-yer RPG game calledMagic Chronicles. In the game, the yer takes on the role of ther Hero, traveling the continent, encountering variouspanions during adventures, and constantly growing through one dispute and crisis after another. By the tenth year in the game, the true main storyline eventDemon Race Invasionwill be triggered. This was a single-yer RPG game called Magic Chronicles . In the game, the yer takes on the role of ther Hero, traveling the continent, encountering variouspanions during adventures, and constantly growing through one dispute and crisis after another. By the tenth year in the game, the true main storyline event Demon Race Invasion will be triggered. At that time, countless powerful and brutal demons from outside the realm will tear through the sky via dimensional rifts, descending upon the world andunching an invasion war. The nations of the continent will fall one by one, and millions of humans will be ves under the demons'' rule. As the Chosen One, the yer bes thest hope for humanity and the world. They lead the remnant forces of various nations to form the Dawn Defense Line, resisting the demons and reiming upiednds step by step, liberating their envedpatriots. The grand finale CG on Reji''s screen now depicted the character he controlled finally defeating the Demon King, exterminating the invading demons, sealing them into the chaos rift, and restoring peace to the world. As the CG concluded, the screen fell silent, and the narration text began to scroll and appear. [The century-long human-demon war has finallye to an end. Under your leadership, the No. 001 civilization has sessfully eradicated the demon race. The world has escaped the fate of being ravaged by demons, and civilization can continue.] [However, the cruel war has left the world in ruins, and the dying earth is filled with suffering. The once vibrant homnd is no longer full of life. For the No. 001 civilization, an arduous era has only just begun.] [Nheless, the history you have written will be remembered by the world. The song of human courage you have led will continue to inspire future generations and be the driving force for progress.] [Thank you for ying "Magic Chronicles".] [Next, you will enter the extra settlement interface.] [We will select your outstanding performance in this round of the game for additional scoring. Based on the score, you will receive special achievement rewards.] Hmm? Extra settlement and special achievements? Is this a hidden gift? Reji immediately clicked in with curiosity and anticipation. The screen changed. The narration text began to scroll again. [You have cumtively seized vehicles from passersby 703 times in the game, earning the bronze medal achievement - Shared Bicycle] (Settlement score +5) [You have cumtively destroyed 15,836 public/others'' items, including wooden crates/ceramics/y pots, etc., using violent means such as smashing/breaking/kicking in the game, earning the silver medal achievement - Lending a Hand] (Settlement score +10) [You have cumtively trespassed into others'' vis/manors/castles/mansions 5,970 times without permission in the game, earning the silver medal achievement - Your House is Huge] (Settlement score +10) [You have cumtively stolen 47 thousand-year-old artifacts, destroyed 24 world wonders, hunted 16 legendary creatures, and toppled 7 fate track statues in the game, earning the gold medal achievement - No Good Undone] (Settlement score +50 [You have cumtively eliminated 199 subi in the game, earning the gold medal achievement - Impervious] (Settlement score +50) [You have cumtively snatched lollipops from little children 148 times in the game, earning the silver medal achievement - Young at Heart] (Settlement score +10) [You have cumtively dispatchedpanions to execute out-of-party missions for one hundred and fifty-eight years, seven months, and three days in the game, averaging 23.6 hours per day, earning the gold medal achievement - Conscientious Capitalist] (Settlement score +50) [You have cumtively formed bonds beyond friendship with4panions in the game, earning the gold medal achievement - Peerless Warm-hearted Man] (Settlement score +50) [You have cumtively formed bonds beyond friendship with 42 [You have cumtively kicked4panions out of the party in the game, and in the final chapter, you single-handedly conquered all ten boss battles without anypanions, earning the gold medal achievement - Lone Brave] (Settlement score +50) [You have cumtively kicked [You have cumtively ughtered 5,268 innocent chickens in the game, earning the gold medal achievement - What Are You Doing?] (Settlement score +50) [You have cumtively flirted with the Radiant Saintess 65 times in the game, earning the silver medal achievement - Beast] (Settlement score +10) [You have cumtively defeated and captured the Radiant Saintess 21 times in the game, and still allowed the Radiant Saintess to maintain her saintess status at the end of the game, earning the gold medal achievement - Worse Than a Beast] (Settlement score +50) [You have cumtively in the game...] [.] [..] [.] Reji nced at the long string of narration text that was still scrolling. "..." [The settlement is not yetplete. Are you sure you want to skip?] [Skipped] [After calction, your final extra score is: 18,695 points. Congrattions on obtaining the extra clearance achievement - Unforgiven Evil] [Unforgiven Evil] [Quality: Supreme] [Your noble morality deserves such praise!] [Note: The extra clearance achievement will affect your mysterious gift.] Reji: "..." Heh This game''s developers understands achievement. However, what is this mysterious gift? Just as Reji was wondering, the next game screen came to the next interface. [In view of your outstanding performance in the game, we sincerely invite you to participate in a survey questionnaire.] [Note: Afterpleting the survey questionnaire, as a thank you for your gamey and clearance, you will receive a generous mysterious gift~] [Note 2: Please fill out the questionnaire carefully. Each item you fill out may affect your final mysterious gift, so please be sure to fill it out seriously.] Magic Chronicles is not a publicly released game and is still in the closed beta stage. Its productionpany seems to be an unknown small workshop. Anyway, Reji has never heard of it, and he can''t find much information about Magic Chronicles online. As for how he got ess to Magic Chronicles, thepany actively sent the closed beta invitation to his email inbox. As a veteran strategy yer with many certifications on the online tforms, Reji is used to receiving simr invitations wanting him to participate in closed betas, which is quitemon. He originally just tried Magic Chronicles with a casual attitude, but unexpectedly, once he yed, he gotpletely hooked and immersed in it. Pulling his thoughts back, Reji refocused his attention on the survey questionnaire. Games in the closed beta stage basically all have a section for yers to fill out survey questionnaires, which Reji is not very surprised about. And in order to encourage yers to fill them out carefully,panies will give out some gifts, which is also a basic industry practice. Heh, you gave me a final achievement of "Unforgiven Evil", didn''t you? Clearly, there''s no such thing as Unforgiven Evil. I was just a hero who worked diligently for the cause of saving the world. Reji had always been a person who reciprocated, so since the official developer was so yful and implied, he had to return the favor properly. After opening the survey questionnaire, the content inside was notplicated, with only three questions in total. < first question> [In your opinion, how does the background level of you (the protagonist) affect your gaming experience?] [1. Difficult - (I think the protagonist''s background is too rough and arduous, bringing me many difficulties and setbacks, making my gaming experience very poor, and I hope it can be strengthened)] [1. Difficult - ( I think the protagonist''s background is too rough and arduous, bringing me many difficulties and setbacks, making my gaming experience very poor, and I hope it can be strengthened )] [2. Normal - (I think the protagonist''s background is okay, although it''s quite hard in the early stages, it gets much better after persevering through)] [2. Normal - ( I think the protagonist''s background is okay, although it''s quite hard in the early stages, it gets much better after persevering through [3. Easy - (I think the protagonist''s background is pretty good, and the growth along the way is very smooth)] [3. Easy - ( I think the protagonist''s background is pretty good, and the growth along the way is very smooth [4. Very Easy - (I think the protagonist''s background is too easy, I don''t feel any pressure at all, and I hope the difficulty can be increased)] [4. Very Easy - ( I think the protagonist''s background is too easy, I don''t feel any pressure at all, and I hope the difficulty can be increased In the game, the protagonistes from a fallen noble family. In his childhood, his parents arranged a marriage with an earl''s daughter, but unfortunately, the familyter declined, leading the earl''s daughter toe to break off the engagement, which kicked off the initial chapter of the game''s story. In Reji''s opinion, this starting background was actually a bit difficult. From the start, the yer has to face all kinds of exclusion and provocations from within the family, and participate in a series of arena duels, with almost every battle requiring challenging higher levels. Andter, when the earl''s daughteres to break off the engagement, if the yer chooses to divorce first before the breakup like Reji did, they will immediately be enemies with the earl and be chased and wanted. If it were an ordinary yer, they would probably be stumped by just the prologue chapter. But for him Reji quickly moved the mouse. [You have selected "Very Easy". Are you sure you want to submit?] [Note: Once submitted, it cannot be changed. Please choose carefully.] [Sessfully submitted] [In your opinion, how does the talent level of you (the protagonist) affect your gaming experience?] [1. Difficult - (I think the protagonist''s talent is too low, bringing me many difficulties and setbacks, making my gaming experience very poor, and I hope it can be strengthened)] I think the protagonist''s talent is too low, bringing me many difficulties and setbacks, making my gaming experience very poor, and I hope it can be strengthened [2. Normal - (I think the protagonist''s talent is okay, although it''s quite hard in the early stages, it gets much better after persevering through)] I think the protagonist''s talent is okay, although it''s quite hard in the early stages, it gets much better after persevering through [3. Easy - (I think the protagonist''s talent is pretty good, and the growth along the way is very smooth)] I think the protagonist''s talent is pretty good, and the growth along the way is very smooth [4. Very Easy - (I think the protagonist''s talent is too high, obtaining power is too easy, and I can''t experience the joy of cultivation at all. I hope the difficulty can be increased)] I think the protagonist''s talent is too high, obtaining power is too easy, and I can''t experience the joy of cultivation at all. I hope the difficulty can be increased In the game, the protagonist, as someone with the setting of Chosen One, naturally has unquestionable talent and can simultaneously get two or even threefate tracks. In the game, the protagonist, as someone with the setting of Chosen One, naturally has unquestionable talent and can simultaneously get two or even three fate tracks . In theter stages of the game, Reji had the protagonist reach the top-notch transcendent level in the three major fate tracks of[Radiance],[Judgment], and[Defense]. In theter stages of the game, Reji had the protagonist reach the top-notch transcendent level in the three major fate tracks of [Radiance] , [Judgment] , and [Defense] This question was also a no-brainer, still[Very Easy]. This question was also a no-brainer, still [Very Easy]. After submitting, it came to thest question of the survey. [In your opinion, how does theRadiant Saintessas the supervisor of your (the protagonist''s) actions affect your gaming experience?] [In your opinion, how does the Radiant Saintess as the supervisor of your (the protagonist''s) actions affect your gaming experience?] [1. Difficult - (I think the Radiant Saintess is too strong to rival, bringing me an extremely poor experience and serious psychological trauma. I hope she can be weakened.)] I think the Radiant Saintess is too strong to rival, bringing me an extremely poor experience and serious psychological trauma. I hope she can be weakened .)] [2. Normal - (I think the Radiant Saintess''s strength is okay. Although I can''t beat her, it''s not hard to escape her pursuit. Maintaining the status quo is fine.)] I think the Radiant Saintess''s strength is okay. Although I can''t beat her, it''s not hard to escape her pursuit. Maintaining the status quo is fine [3. Easy - (I think the Radiant Saintess''s strength is a bit weak. I can often fight her to a draw. I hope she can be strengthened to give me more tension.)] I think the Radiant Saintess''s strength is a bit weak. I can often fight her to a draw. I hope she can be strengthened to give me more tension [4. Very Easy - (I think the Radiant Saintess is too weak and not my match at all. She can''t supervise me at all and gives me no sense of tension or pressure. I hope she can be greatly strengthened.)] I think the Radiant Saintess is too weak and not my match at all. She can''t supervise me at all and gives me no sense of tension or pressure. I hope she can be greatly strengthened Hah The Radiant Saintess The concept of theRadiance fate trackis light and brilliance. It is also the one among the many fate tracks in the game with the most followers, the most adherents, and the most extensive influence. The concept of the Radiance fate track is light and brilliance. It is also the one among the many fate tracks in the game with the most followers, the most adherents, and the most extensive influence. Just like in most games, there will be an organization simr to a police station to restrict yers'' evil behavior in the game. The saintess belonging to Radiance probably has this kind of role. In the early stages when Reji had not yet grown, there was indeed a period when he was overshadowed by the Saintess. However, by the mid-game, as Reji gradually figured out the game and became more and more skilled, the Saintess''s growth could not keep up with him, and he began to pull further and further away from her. Eventer on, as can be seen from the previous achievements, the Radiant Saintess, who was originally supposed to punish evil and eliminate wickedness, had fallen to the point of being treated like a small monster by Reji to farm. Let alone stopping his evil behavior, she had almost be anRBQ. Eventer on, as can be seen from the previous achievements, the Radiant Saintess, who was originally supposed to punish evil and eliminate wickedness, had fallen to the point of being treated like a small monster by Reji to farm. Let alone stopping his evil behavior, she had almost be an RBQ RBQ, Request Bank Queue, refers to a gold coin farming machine. Unlike the first two questions in the survey where he was fighting against the gamepany, for this question, Reji wholeheartedly chose the[Very Easy]option. Unlike the first two questions in the survey where he was fighting against the gamepany, for this question, Reji wholeheartedly chose the [Very Easy] option. Firstly, he felt a bit embarrassed that the Saintess had been farmed by him so many times. Secondly, he quite liked this strong female character who was full of justice and persevered in her beliefs despite being teased and defeated by him so many times. Reji hoped that the officials could strengthen her a bit. Good people shouldn''t be RBQs. [Submitted!] After clicking the mouse, all three questions were answered, and the survey questionnaire came to the end page. [We have received your valuable feedback and will listen carefully and make improvements.] [To thank you for your participation, the mysterious gift has been prepared for you. Do you want to receive it immediately?] No need to fill in a shipping address or anything like that? Making it so formal, Reji thought that the mysterious gift would at least be a physical gift like a cushion or figurine. But now they don''t even want a shipping address, so it''s probably just some achievement medal, right? Feeling a bit disappointed, Reji casually clicked the[Yes]option. Feeling a bit disappointed, Reji casually clicked the [Yes] Then in the next second. This light...!? Buzz! Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Summoning the Demon King -Outer Realm. -Chaos Rift. This ce was outside the world. There was no sunlight, no fertile soil. There was only boundless darkness and barren destion. In such a harsh environment, only the Demon Race could survive. Since their defeat in the human-demon war a thousand years ago, the Demon Race, sealed here by that Chosen One, had not given up. They clung to life, utilizing the meager resources to slowly recover their strength bit by bit. They endured hunger, cold, and endless darkness, multiplying for a thousand years, hiding and enduring for a thousand years. Finally, the day that all demons had been anticipating, hoping for, and yearning for had finally arrived. It was the day theirNew Kingwould descend. It was the day their New King would descend. -Demon King''s Hall. Although it was called a hall, it was actually just a crude altar made of giant stones. "Can we really summon a qualified Demon King like this?" A high-ranking female demon beside the altar couldn''t help but ask. From the curved horns on her head that resembled those of an antelope, and the pink tail behind her that kept swaying, either due to nervousness or worry, her identity was clear - the Third Apostle, TheSubus Demon, Eileen. Answering the subus''s question was another demon beside her, whose hands and feet wereposed of sharp spikes - the Fifth Apostle, Sword Demon Pierre. "I''m sorry, Eileen." "But the ck rocks in the Chaos Rift are incredibly hard. Even our Sword Demon n finds it difficult to cut them. Being able to piece together an altar like this, we have already done our best." Eileen wanted to say that this wasn''t how they were at their peak. There was nothing in the world that their sharp des couldn''t cut. That should have been how their Demon Race''s Sword Demons were. But when Eileen''s gaze fell on the other lower-level Sword Demons behind Pierre, whose bodies had shrunk by half, and then looked at the core of the Sword Demons, their limbs that should have been sharp and pointed des, now emitting an unhealthy green color, Eileen sighed. We are too short on food. With the pitiful and barren resources in the Chaos Rift, if they wanted to multiply their n''s numbers, they could only be forced to reduce the quality of individual demons. This was what led to... When the subus''s gaze looked towards the distant basin below the altar, she could see a dense and terrifyinglyrge demon army there. Unfortunately, these demons were all of the lowest and inferior ss, with no intelligence to speak of, only left with instincts. It was precisely because of this that they didn''t care about the crudeness of the altar, nor did they know about the ipleteness of the ceremony. They only knew that their race, which had lost their king for a thousand years, would finally have him return today. They would wee a new Demon King. " Eileen, don''t make uselessints. This is our only andst chance." Another tall and sturdy demon walked over from behind. Just based on his terrifying body of several meters in height, it was enough to indicate his identity - the Seventh Apostle, The Great Demon Hektor. "The environment of the Chaos Rift is continuously deteriorating day by day. If we don''t initiate the Demon King Summoning Ceremony, our end will only be to be buried here." Hektor shook his head. Walking closely beside Hektor was a middle-aged man with snake eyes. Like Eileen, he had a body simr to humans, which was also easy to distinguish among the Demon Race - the Second Apostle, The Wisdom Demon, Leo. Leo: "The thirteen high-level Wisdom Demons are ready. We can begin the summoning ceremony." "What? Wait a moment!, Leo, for such an important matter as the Demon King summoning, why are there only the four of us here? Where are the remaining five Apostles?" Faced with Eileen''s questioning, the Wisdom Demon flicked his tongue, his cold snake eyes stating an even colder fact: "The Sorcery Demon Apostle is researching new magic against humans, the Shadow Demon Apostle is guarding the rift entrance, the Decay Demon Apostle is preparing the gue toxins for the counterattack, the Breeding Demon Apostle is continuing to produce soldiers in the birthing room, as for the Wicked Demon... The Wicked Demon Apostle Lordan says he is feeling unwell." The more Eileen listened, the more she frowned, until finally, when Leo stated the reason for the Wicked Demon''s absence, Eileen couldn''t hold back anymore and angrily shouted "Bastar*--" among the four Apostles. It was very obvious. Among them, except for the Shadow Demon and Breeding Demon who indeed had important duties and couldn''t spare time, the other three Apostles were more or less making excuses. Especially thest one, Wicked Demon Lordan. He didn''t even bother to pretend, almost directly saying the wordmockery. He didn''t even bother to pretend, almost directly saying the word mockery . But... What could they do? The previous Demon King they summoned had suffered a miserable defeat at the hands of the human so-calledChosen One, which also led to their Demon Race''s defeat like a copsing mountain, sealed in the Chaos Rift. The previous Demon King they summoned had suffered a miserable defeat at the hands of the human so-called Chosen One , which also led to their Demon Race''s defeat like a copsing mountain, sealed in the Chaos Rift. This caused distrust towards the Demon King among these Apostles. And now, after enduring for a thousand years, the new Demon King summoning ceremony, with such barren summoning resources, without even a decent altar, no one believed they could summon a qualified Demon King. It was no wonder the remaining three Apostles were unwilling toe. Their intentions were very clear. Even if they, the Apostles, truly summoned the Demon King, that kind of inferior Demon King, they had no intention of pledging allegiance to him at all. "Those stinking bastards!" "They are viting the ancestral teachings that our Demon Race has inherited for tens of thousands of years!" "Just you wait, I''m going to call the three of them over right now!" Eileen said as she was about to p her wings and take off to confront the other three Apostles who refused to participate in the ceremony in other areas. It wasn''t hard to see that Eileen was a staunch supporter of the Demon King. But the Wisdom Demon stopped her, "Come back, Eileen. Our Demon Race has already suffered too many losses. We can''t afford any more internal consumption." "The four of us presiding over the ceremony is already enough. If our new king truly has sufficient strength, then I believe without you taking action, the Demon King will also discipline them." "And if..." The Wisdom Demon didn''t continue. "Everyone, take your positions. Don''t dy. Let''s start the ceremony." With a wave of his hand, he calmly directed the remaining high-level demons of each n to stand at their corresponding sacrificial positions on the ceremonial altar, and began chanting loudly. "Great Demon King, I am the Wisdom Demon Apostle, the brain of the Demon Race. Our n is willing to offer our heads toy the foundation for our King''s wisdom!" The thirteen high-level Wisdom Demons, under Leo''s voice, without hesitation, immediately plunged into the mes of the altar. Next was Sword Demon Pierre. "Great Demon King, I am the Sword Demon Apostle, the de of the Demon Race. Our n is willing to offer our sharp edges to aid our King''s ughter!" The eight high-level Sword Demons, under Pierre''s voice, without hesitation, severed each other''s limbs and threw them into the mes of the altar. The next one was Great Demon Hektor. "Great Demon King, I am the Great Demon Apostle, the blood of the Demon Race. Our n is willing to offer our hearts to purify our King''s bloodline!" The six high-level Demons, under Hektor''s voice, without hesitation, tore each other''s bodies apart with their ws, took out their hearts, and threw them into the mes of the altar. Thest one was the Subus Demon Apostle, Eileen. There were no other high-level Subi. Eileen alone used a bone dagger to cut open her wrist and sprinkled her blood into the mes of the altar. "Great Demon King, I am the Subus Apostle, the charm of the Demon Race. Our n is willing to offer our essence toplete our King''s fate!" As one sacrificial item after another was thrown in, the originally very weak mes on the altar now began to expand rapidly, growing more and more intense. In just a short moment, they turned into raging mes, illuminating the entire altar. The size of the mes could more or less represent the bloodline of the summoned Demon King. It was a good omen. After the Wisdom Demons threw in the Shadow Demon''s eyes, the Decay Demon''s feet, the Sorcery Demon''s tongue, and the Breeding Demon''s touch into the altar mes, they were about to take half a step back to observe the altar when the altar mes suddenly erupted, directly covering and enveloping the entire huge altar. "Huh!?" The four Apostles present all showed shocked expressions. They had never seen such a scene before. Those deep mes seemed to want to devour the entire altar. Even the Chaos Rock that Sword Demon Pierre found difficult to cut open couldn''t withstand the mes for even a few breaths, melting and crumbling. Far more than that. The mes that devoured the altar eventually turned into a beam of dark light, shooting straight into the sky of the Chaos Rift. Immediately after, the entire rift space began to shake violently. A strong tremor emanated from the barren ground beneath their feet, like ament of something unable to bear the weight, as if saying that this Chaos Rift couldn''t withstand the existence that was about to descend. After the initial panic and shock, the first one to show ecstatic joy was none other than Subus Apostle, Eileen. Even if the ground cracked and kept shaking, she still stared fixedly at the dark light pir rising to the sky, staring into the depths of the altar. The stronger the anomalies disyed by the altar, the more powerful the summoned Demon King would be. And now, the anomalies of the altar were not even limited to the altar itself, but affected the entire Chaos Rift, making this prison that had sealed their Demon Race for a thousand years, the most unshakable, seem to be on the verge of copse. There could be no mistake! The Demon King they summoned this time would probably... probably be the most powerful one in the history of the Demon Race!! With such an excited mood and strong anticipation, as the dark light pir finally slowly faded away, what reced it in the center of the altar ruins was an increasingly clear... clear... clear... Human? More specifically, it was a young man who remained confused and perplexed. Reji looked at the chaotic and deste rift space around him, at the ck mass of millions of demon troops in the basin below, cheering and letting out deafening, excited roars towards him. Then he looked not far in front of him, at the four Demon Apostle bosses that he had spent no small effort on in the game, farming them a hundred and eighty times before he could solo them. And at this moment, these four Demon Apostles were half-kneeling, lowering their heads towards him in a weing posture. Reji: "..." Chapter 3: Chapter 3: You Are Not Worthy Good news: I had transmigrated into the world-saving game I had cleared! Bad news: I had be the loser Demon King who was exterminated and sealed as the viin by myself in the game. This starting point was indeed much, much more difficult than in the game. It seemed that his choice of[Very Easy]for the "protagonist''s" background in the survey questionnaire wasn''t in vain! It seemed that his choice of [Very Easy] for the "protagonist''s" background in the survey questionnaire wasn''t in vain! This game really did listen to the yers'' feedback! Sigh I need to calm down. Reji had read many transmigration novels, such as "Fallen Chronicles", where the protagonist also entered the second ythrough of the game. There is no need to panic. First, I need to check the game panel! I must have inherited the invincible attributes of the Protagonist that I had obtained by crazily farming who knows how many demons to clear the final fight solo! Reji frantically called out to the system in his heart. Good news, the familiar personal panel information was indeed summoned. Bad news... [Reji] [Race: Human] [Fate Track: Demon King] [Sub Fate Track: None] [Strength: 1] [Physique: 1] [Mental Power: 1] [Skill Mastery: 0] [Magic Power: 0] [Luck: 1] [Sin Value: 103,692,498] [Current Equipped Title: Unforgiven Evil] [Unforgiven Evil] [Quality: Supreme] [Title Equipment Effect: Proportionally increases Sin Value based on the yer''s past actions] Reji: "..." A*ssholes, are you F*ing Keding me!? After a moment of cursing in his heart, Reji''s worst premonition still came true. After all, in the survey questionnaire back then, he had also chosen the[Very Easy]option for the protagonist''s talent. After all, in the survey questionnaire back then, he had also chosen the option for the protagonist''s talent. Calm down! It''s at times like this that you must stay calm! Reji recalled a novel he had read calledDusk Chronicles. The protagonist in it was also very trashy at the beginning, but that didn''t stop him from bing a legendter on. Reji recalled a novel he had read called Dusk Chronicles . The protagonist in it was also very trashy at the beginning, but that didn''t stop him from bing a legendter on. He now had aDemon King fate track. Although Reji hadn''t encountered this in the game, just from the name, he knew it must be very powerful with unlimited potential. He now had a Demon King fate track . Although Reji hadn''t encountered this in the game, just from the name, he knew it must be very powerful with unlimited potential. As long as he was given some time to develop, returning to the peak wouldn''t be a problem! So Why didn''t my race change!? Why am I still human? If Reji was given a "Demon" race now, he wouldn''t be so panicked. Just as Reji was frantically thinking about the current situation, the four Demon leaders opposite him were also a bit stuck, frantically thinking. After all, Reji''s current appearance was quite different from what they had imagined the Demon King to be. Demons generally judged an individual''s strength based on two aspects: physique and characteristics. For example, Great Demon Hektor was several meters tall, with terrifying, ferocious muscles bulging all over his body, and a pair of huge, sinister ws. Another example, the Sword Demon Pierre, although small in stature, had his limbspletely specialized into des, able to easily take an enemy''s life with any casual movement. Another example, the subus demon Eileen at least had antelope horns, subus wings, and a seductive tail. Another example, Wisdom Demon Leo was covered in snake scales, had a cold snake gaze that made people shudder at first nce, and asionally flicked out his tongue to capture information from the outside world. And these characteristics of demons, they couldn''t see a single one on Reji''s body! That''s why they had the subconscious thought earlier. A human figure. What appeared on the altar was a "human" figure. But these four were basically traditional Demon King supporters, so even if they were filled with confusion and perplexity towards Reji, they still knelt on one knee and pledged their allegiance. Before Reji indicated or spoke, they didn''t dare to take any action. Unfortunately. This brief bnce was quickly broken. Because the other five Demon leaders who didn''te to participate in the summoning ceremony had now rushed over. Themotion at the altar was so great that it even caused the entire Chaos Rift to tremble. The anomaly of the dark light pir rising to the sky could be seen from anywhere. The stronger the anomaly, the more powerful the Demon King. This was a universally acknowledged fact in the Demon Race''s heritage. Therefore, regardless of whether they had urgent matters and tasks at hand, or had not intended to participate in the ceremony, the five Demon Apostles immediately dropped whatever they were doing and had to rush over to check as quickly as possible. Just like that. Five more old friend bosses that Reji had solo farmed before appeared in front of him. Shadow Demon Apostle Shermen, wearing a cloak that shrouded her entire body in its shadows with a mysterious and indiscernible expression. Sorcery Demon Apostle Dian, wearing a crow mask, only the lower half of his face exposed. Decay Demon Apostle Eris, a butcher-like fat monster, with maggots crawling all over the rotting flesh on her body. Breeding Demon Apostle la, a giant octopus with endless regenerating tentacles. And finally... Wicked Demon Apostle Lordan, his entire body wrapped in bandages, only his eyes exposed, like a mummy, now examining Reji with a curious gaze, as if he had discovered an interesting ything. The first to break the silence was none other than Lordan. "So, this is the Demon King you summoned, a... human? Oh, sorry, I should say a Demon King who currently appears to have highly ovepping characteristics with humans?" The Wicked Demon made a sharp, sarcastic sound. Eileen immediately frowned. She had wanted to confront Lordan for a long time, and now she exploded, immediately standing up and angrily rebuking the Wicked Demon. "Lordan! Is this your attitude in front of the Demon King? Kneel down!" "Heh!? Kneel?" The Wicked Demon chuckled. The bandages covering his face wrinkled with it. He withdrew his cloudy eyes from Reji, as if he had finished appraising something, and instead used a mocking tone to sarcastically say to Eileen, "Eileen, I''m very sorry that your Subus n only has you left. After all, if there were other Subi, they definitely wouldn''t let a fool like you continue to be the leader. Open your eyes and take a good look." "What you summoned is not a Demon King at all, but a human, and..." Lordan shifted his gaze back to Reji at the center of the altar. "And a very weak human at that," the Wicked Demon added. Finally, Lordan''s arrogant and mocking words finally made Great Demon Hektor, who was standing to the side, unable to watch any longer. "Lordan, you can choose not to follow the Demon King, but if you continue to disrespect the Demon King like this, I have the right to expel you ording to the rules!" Hektor took a step forward, his sturdy physique as a Great Demoning in front of Lordan. Inparison, Lordan, as a Wicked Demon, was like a small child. "Heh... No wonder our Demon Race has fallen to such a state. It seems there''s more than one blind fool." Although Lordan still had to retort a couple of sentences, he didn''t dare say much more about Reji due to Hektor''s powerful presence. After all, among the Nine Apostles, the Great Demon and Sword Demon were undoubtedly the strongest inbat power. The Wicked Demon could only turn his gaze towards Wisdom Demon Leo''s position. "Leo, as a Wisdom Demon, don''t tell me you''re also going to be like these fools and pledge allegiance to a human, to such a Demon King?" Leo was silent at first. Then he spoke, "As the initiator, I can sense that the ceremony was sessful, and perfectly sessful at that. Lordan, you all must have seen the anomalies in the space just now, which is why you rushed over, right?" What Leo said was indeed the truth. Lordan searched his head. He had also been startled at the time, thinking of countless excuses in his mind, ready to kneel and beg for forgiveness in front of the Demon King. But when he actually arrived and saw such a Demon King, he regained his spirit. Seeing that he couldn''t convince the other apostles, and even the Wisdom Demon was still so stubborn, Lordan also became a bit angry. "Haven''t you all realized yet? Your so-called Demon King, has he said a single word so far? Has he ever shown you any power?" "Fine! Since you all want to be blind and turn a blind eye to the fact that the summoning failed, wanting to continue deceiving yourselves, then I, Lordan, will wake you up!" In fact, proving that the Demon King on the altar was not a Demon King, but just an ordinary human, was very simple. Lordan stepped forward with his bandage-wrapped body, walking step by step towards Reji. He only stopped when he was about ten meters away. "Oh great Demon King, I, Lordan, am very honored to be able to see your face. I wonder if you could also satisfy a small request from me, a humble Wicked Demon?" "I hope to have a duel with you. Of course, I have no intention of provoking you. I just want to let the many demonpatriots who have high expectations of you witness your mighty power. Oh! Rest assured, I understand that you have just been summoned and are not yet used to this ce, so I''ll lower the conditions a bit." "You don''t need to defeat me. If you can withstand my five attacks... no, three, as long as you can withstand three of my attacks, then I, Lordan, will immediately offer my allegiance to you!" "So, may I ask our respected king, do you... dare?" Wicked Demons, also known as Fear Demons. This demon n was skilled inunching mental attacks, and able to inflict various negative statuses on enemies, such as fear, confusion, betrayal, and so on, which were all the Wicked Demons'' specialties. Reji clearly remembered that in the game''s plot, Wicked Demon Lordan had once single-handedly caused who knows how many human fortresses that were originally easy to defend but difficult to attack to self-destruct, with the guards inside abandoning the city and fleeing, even voluntarily opening the city gates and surrendering. This led to the Demon Race being able to easily march straight in, and countless civilians inside the city instantly became demon ves. Now, Lordan was also using his ability in his speech, activating his fear aura. ording to the Wicked Demon''s mental script, the next Reji, this weak human who was wrongly summoned by the ceremony, would soon kneel and beg for mercy in front of him, showing apletely ugly state. However, Lordan wouldn''t have thought that although Reji was indeed a human, a weak human, he was also a weak human who had once "solo-farmed" them. The fear aurapletely acted on the mind. It could infinitely amplify inner fear. Ordinary humans would definitely be afraid just by seeing Lordan now, wrapped in bandages, with a sinister gaze, and hearing the Wicked Demon''s name. As long as they felt scared and timid, it would be exactly what Lordan wanted, and the Wicked Demon would infinitely amplify it. Reji, who had studied these few demon bosses countless times in order to achieve the solo clear achievement, was all too familiar with the little trick Lordan was using now, the fear aura imposed on him. As for the countermeasure, it was also very simple. The low-level method was calledcourage, which was also amon strategy used by the allied forcester in the game. The low-level method was called courage , which was also amon strategy used by the allied forcester in the game. The mid-level method was calledconviction, using conviction to cover up inner fear, which was the Church''s approach. The mid-level method was called conviction , using conviction to cover up inner fear, which was the Church''s approach. As for the high-level method, it was called... "You''re too weak." "Not worthy of my time" Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Come at Me Together i Reji spoke from the altar, looking down at the Wicked Demon, cidly shaking his head. Human fear stems from the unknown. Unfortunately for them, Reji''s understanding of wicked demons was clearer than Lordan''s own. Human fear stems from the disparity in status. Unfortunately, Reji was well aware that his destiny, named the Demon King, made him the king of all demon races, with Lordan as his apostle, a demon king''s apostle, and thus his subordinate. Human fear stems from past experiences. Even more unfortunate, as someone who had once soloed Lordan without much difficulty, Reji held nothing but disdain for this defeated boss underling of his. A fear aura breaks down on its own when the target feels no fear, even to the extent of scorning you. Thus, in the game, the Wicked Demon Lordan, this boss, was evaluated by Reji as good at bullying the weak. But not to speak of being under pressure; the moment he faced someone of equal footing, he would immediately falter, basically a wimp of a boss. Lordan was just an appetizer, the real powerful one was something like the Sword Demon or Great Demon. Those had been the hardest nuts to crack for Reji, fighting with them for days. "You''re too weak, unworthy." These words were spoken from the bottom of Reji''s heart. And now, in Lordan''s head, the shock was far greater than his anger. ''Why?'' ''Why was this human unaffected by my aura of fear?'' ''This...this is wrong!'' He could clearly sense that the human on the altar was very weak, a unique "perception of the weak" talent of his as a Wicked Demon, which couldn''t possibly be mistaken! ''But why...'' This human pretending to be the Demon King was not even afraid of him and could even look down on him? It''s like he''s. ''The real Demon King!?'' Like what Reji predicted, Wicked Demons like Lordan are scared of something to be slightly uncontroble and bully the weak properly, and Lordan was thrown into disarray. Despite being humiliated in such a manner by him, Lordan didn''t speak up, nor did he dare retort. Because he was afraid. Afraid that he was wrong, and what if Reji really was the Demon King? Reji indeed didn''t inherit the invincible attributes of the "Chosen One." But the thousands of hours he spent in "Magic Chronicles" umting a hardcore level of world knowledge, still lingered in his mind. "Pfft Hahahah~!" Yet one of the apostles ced at the za of the altar couldn''t resist andughed out loud at Lordan''s current state of trouble. "Lordan, sorry, out of all those people from your Wicked Demon race, they made a fool like you their leader. Open your eyes. He is our king. That''s the one who will lead our demon race to glory!" A mocking retort came out from Subus Eileen right away. She returned the mockery Lordan had directed at her without any change. Therefore, Reji turned his gaze towards Eileen. This apostle had been the most protective of him from the beginning. Subus. One of the most loyal underlings to the king among the demon races. Also, the only apostle boss he hadpletely defeated in the game. While other apostle bosses could hide their true essence within the chaos rifts, he could only manage to push them back. Although Subus n could do it as well, in the final battle, Subus apostle and her kin chose to have her true appearance at the final battle, to advance and retreat together with their Demon King, fight together against him. Of course, in the end, the Demon King was killed, and the Subus apostle followed in a lover''s suicide. Reji, because he was still in a daze from crossing over, hadn''t paid much attention at first. But now, upon a closer look... The Subus apostle before him had only a simr appearance and physique to the previous generation, but her actual appearance had indeed changed, much younger, clearly a new generation of Subus apostle. ''Hmm'' For Reji, this was somewhat unwee news. After crossing over, Reji wasn''t just calmly thinking about his panel but was also observing and analyzing the situation through the exchanges between the apostles. Firstly, it''s unknown whether it was because the previous Demon King had been disastrously defeated by him, or because his human appearance really didn''t meet their expectations for a Demon King. ''In any case, these apostles clearly didn''t show me as much respect'' Reji remembered that in the game, the Demon King summoning ceremony was supposed to be conducted by the nine major apostles together. But the first thing he saw was only four of them. The remaining five apostles had arrived btedly. And only Eileen and Hektor tried to detain Lordan when Lordan was so provocative. Wisdom Apostle Leo only retorted after being questioned, which shows that deep down, he wasn''t that trusting of him either. He had a single hardcore fanEileen the Subus from the new generation, much weaker, for sure,pared to the apostles of the past. And he really couldn''t rely solely on her to protect him, could he. ''This start'' ''Really fits the "Very Easy" option in the survey.'' However ''Phew!'' Reji took a long breath inwardly. He already had a way to break through. It should be said that from the moment he saw his terrifying nine-digit sin value on the game panel, Reji felt much more at ease. For him, who was on the side of human justice in the game, sin value was purely a negative attribute. But here. ''On the side of the demon races, which are the viinous faction...'' Reji withdrew his gaze. Although he had subdued Lordan, seeing the Wicked Demon''s demeanor, he was still not giving up. He must truly show something to subdue him and the remaining apostles. ''Since that''s the case'' ''Then I would just show something'' "However." Reji spoke again. "Lordan, I acknowledge your suggestion just now. The demon race has endured in silence for too long, suffered for too long. Indeed, I should meet your expectations and show all of you and the million demon brethren below, hope." "So, I am willing to engage in battle with the true strong ones among you." Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Come at Me Together ii Lordan likes to be sarcastic, and so does Reji. He emphasized the words "true strong ones," coupled with his earlier "you''re too weak, unworthy," effectively pping Lordan''s face hard in front of the demon race. Although the current Wicked Demon''s face is all bandaged up, making it impossible to see his expression, one could tell from Lordan''s clenched fists. Of course, no one among the apostles present paid any more attention to Lordan. Their entire focus was on Reji, their new Demon King. The true strong ones. Battle? The apostles were guessing Reji''s intentions. And then, Reji finally set his sights on the Great Demon Hektor Among the nine great apostles, in terms of physical andbat power, the Great Demon is undoubtedly ranked first. Capable of easily overpowering Wicked Demon Lordan even with one hand tied behind his back. Seeing this, Eileen couldn''t help but want to speak out. The Subus wanted to stop Reji; she was very aware of Hektor''s strength. Reji had just been summoned, and starting a fight with Hektor was too risky! Unfortunately, Hektor spoke before she could. The Great Demon, seeing Reji''s gaze on him and after hearing "the true strong ones," felt his demonic blood boiling all of a sudden. Being so valued and chosen by the Demon King was an honor for him as an apostle, as a Great Demon. Hektor immediately stepped forward. The Great Demon''s muscr body bowed deeply towards Reji on the altar, who looked very frail inparison, as if apologizing for the uing battle with Demon King Reji. But soon, when Hektor raised his head again, his eyes were filled with a burning desire to fight. "To be a stepping stone for my king is my honor. I will not fail your will my king, and will give my all!" Hektor pounded his chest with his fist, and his words rang truly. Seeing the Great Demon like that, thest bit of hope Eileen had that "Hektor could be smart and go easy on the Demon King" shattered into splinters. Especially the "give my all", she found it totally naive. The words gave Eileen such frustration that she stamped her feet. Reji wasn''t too surprised at the disy on the altar. After all, that''s just how the Great Demons are. A straightforward n. A pure martial fighters. And only Hektor among all the game''s boss fights didn''t summon minions to assist like the rest of the apostles. In every phase, it was Hektor vs. Reji alone in a one-on-one. Of course, he was also the one Reji soloed and struggled against the most. As the Great Demon, Hektor also had a supermodel attribute, but what even more troubled Reji in the game was Hektor''s domain skill. When strength reaches a certain level, illuminating a moreplete life path, the strong can possess their own domains. A domain is the power of rules. After pulling an opponent into the domain, one can fight under rules that are favorable to oneself. And Hektor''s domain power is extremely perverse. Its name is [Malice Bloom] The effect is to judge based on both parties'' sin values and proportionally enhance their own attribute values. Of course, the extent of the enhancement can at most not exceed three times Hektor''s own attribute values. Reji clearly remembers when he used the detection skill to probe Hektor. This Great Demon''s sin value was up to tens of thousands! What concept is tens of thousands of sin values? In the game, stealing a passerby''s vehicle ten times would only add one sin value. Illegally entering someone else''s residence and public areas ten times would add five sin values. Even the most sin value-increasing thing Reji did, such as toppling the statue of fate or stealthily, cough, borrowing someone''s religious and n heirlooms, only added fifty sin values. And after the sin value exceeds thirty points, it would trigger the warning of the Church of Light; surpassing fifty points, the Church of Light would send people to capture you; exceeding seventy points, the Holy Maiden of Light would personallye to kill you. Reji''s highest sin value in the game was only 845 points. Later in the game, during the "Demon Invasion" main event, every ten low-level demons killed would offset one sin value, so when Reji fought Hektor, his sin value had already been reduced to zero. This means, Hektor''s Malice Bloom, could benefit from the domain effect brought by tens of thousands of sin values, making the already supermodel-dimensional Great Demon''s attribute values nearly double, while Reji''s zero sin value meant nothing. This is the domain skill. This is the power of rules. It seems like both sides are under the same rules, but not really. Pulling his thoughts back from that difficult boss battle in the past. Now, Reji, looking at the Great Demon Hektor before him, full of fighting spirit and ready to duel him, felt a sense of kinship. ''Just you with a hundred thousand sin values?'' ''What goes aroundes around'' After being tormented in the game for so long, it''s time for him to enjoy the full effects of the Malice Bloom domain! Reji''s billions of sin values could undoubtedly directly elevate attributes to the domain''s limit, letting him experience what three times the Hektor feels like! ''Hmm'' ''No, that won''t do!'' ''Can''t miss such a good opportunity'' ''What I urgently need now is to establish my authority'' ''Urgently need a strong and powerful proof to make the apostles believe I am not human'' Crushing a Great Demon, Reji feels it is still somewhatcking. After all, his real attribute, just like Lordan''s unique "perception of the weak" as a Wicked Demon, is not even worth mentioning, barely a fight. ''So I must achieve my goal in one step'' ''A single punch to avoid a hundred punches'' And with three times Hektor''s attributes, not to mention a duel with the Great Demon, Reji feels he could take on another apostle without any problem. This has nothing to do withbat skills, just a pure numerical crush. ''However, just to be safe and avoid flipping the script, I cannot choose those apostles with weakening and control abilities'' The best would be another one like Hektor, without any fancy magical abilities, purely a physicalbat-type BOSS! At this point, the choice is clear. Reji ignored Hektor, who was eager to start fighting with him. Instead, he turned his gaze to another apostle. Sword Demon. Pierre. The de of the demon race. Reji''s action left the apostles present puzzled and unclear. What does it mean? Did the Demon King change his mind, intimidated by Hektor''s fullmitment and wanting to switchbatants? Even Hektor himself thought so. The fighting spirit ignited by the Great Demon seemed to diminish a lot due to disappointment. However, although Sword Demon Pierre is somewhat inferior to him in strength, he is also ranked second inbat power among the nine apostles. Watching such a battle is also excellent. Hektor could onlyfort himself this way. On the other side, Eileen sighed in relief. She thought to herself, ''As expected the Demon King is sensible, not so rash'' ''Although changing the opponent midway is a bit'' ''But it''s better than being messed up by Hektor''s brute force!'' Eileen was clear about Sword Demon Pierre. Compared to Hektor, Pierre, although also very strong, is much more meticulous, being the edge of the demon race, an assassin. Even if the Demon King truly cannot win, Pierre would considerately go easy, never letting the king look bad or embarrassed. ''Good!'' ''Very good!'' Eileen''s beautiful Subus face just showed a relieved happy smile, but then, the next second, her smile froze. Because Reji spoke again: "Pierre, you too. Come up together" Chapter 6: Chapter 6: The Might i ''What, what?!'' Not only Eileen, but all the other apostles present doubted their ears. Was their new Demon King not switching opponents? But wanting Sword Demon and Great Demon, the two most powerful apostles, to fight him together? Wisdom Demon Leo slightly frowned at this. Sorcery Demon Dian finally shifted his attention away from the scroll in his hands, casting an interested nce at Reji under his crow mask for the first time. Breeding Demon la excitedly waved her tentacles as if cheering for Reji, the new Demon King with bold ims. Decay Demon Eris patted the rotten flesh on her belly, grinning as if looking forward to a more brutal fight. Shadow Demon Sherman didn''t show much change, remaining silent under the shadow of his cloak. The biggest reaction was from the Subus Eileen. "My King, you must not!" Eileen cried out anxiously. Then Eileen realizing herpse, calmed down a bit, but her very urgent persuasion did not stop. "You have just descended, and your body has not yet adapted. It is not advisable to engage in too intense battle. I earnestly request my king to retract his statement. Just crossing swords with Pierre alone would be enough to demonstrate your power to all the demons!" Eileen gave Reji a way out. Afterwards, she also didn''t forget to re fiercely in the direction of Sword Demon and Great Demon. Meaning for them to express their stance as well. Hektor hesitated a bit. Pierre, however, quickly stepped forward, following Eileen and also said to Reji on the stage: "My King, I think Eileen is right, your health is more important than anything." "I understand your desire to motivate everyone, so... My King, I propose that I first cross swords with you. If My King still has the strength afterwards, then Hektor cane up to the stage." Pierre''s suggestion was quite reasonable. Eileen quickly agreed. First, let the more sensible Sword Demon go up and test the new demon king. If the new demon king struggles, then they could end it there. If the he truly has such overwhelming power, it''s not toote for Hektor to take the stage. Eileen could ept this proposal. But Reji... He absolutely could not ept! His greatest confidence in bluffing was Hektor; if you ask the Great Demon to step down first, then what''s he to y? Sword Demon Pierre also has a domain skill. But Sword Demon''s [River of the Dead] is calcted based on the "number of killings" both parties had in the past. Although Reji also farmed countless monsters in the game, this does not have a specific numerical disy on the panel, so Reji didn''t dare to bet whether this value was inherited. And even if it was inherited, Sword Demon specializes in attack, the domain''s added value isn''t aprehensive enhancement like Hektor''s. Pierre would only increase critical hit damage and attack power. As for constitution, health, defense, etc., nothing at all. Therefore, Reji ignored the suggestion from Sword Demon. He didn''t voice any objections either. The less said, the fewer slip-ups. Reji made noment. Just stood there quietly on the stage. He believed the apostles below could naturally interpret this. Indeed. Sword Demon and Eileen exchanged nces. Although the Demon King remained silent, this was the best statement he could make, clearly rejecting them and even being so dominant that he didn''t wish to speak another word to them. The moment''s silence was a great pressure for them. The king was urging them to quicklye up to the stage. "Pierre! Hektor! What? Is the king''s intention not clear enough? Are you going to make our respected king and the million demon brethren below wait for you any longer!?" The Wicked Demon Lordan, who had been rebuked by Reji earlier, spoke up at this time. It seemed like he had switched to Reji''s side, speaking on behalf of Reji, but from Eileen''s angry look, it was clear Lordan was just fanning the mes, adding fuel to the fire. After the Wicked Demon''s loud questioning, Hektor was the first to move; he no longer hesitated and took a big step onto the stage. ''Good!'' ''Very good!'' Reji nodded in satisfaction at the Great Demon towering several times over him. Then, turning his gaze to Sword Demon, seeing this, Pierre could only cast an apologetic look at Eileen and followed by leaping onto the altar, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Great Demon, directly facing Reji. "You two!" "If anything untoward happens to the Demon King, I will not let any of you off!!" Seeing that she could no longer stop what was happening, Eileen could only issue such a heart-wrenching threat and warning. Seeing the subus''s kindness for him. Strikingly different from the other eight apostles. It would be a lie for Reji to say he wasn''t moved. Reji gathered his emotions, focusing all his attention on this key battle that could potentially turn the situation around and change the dire start. Hektor and Pierre, facing the new Demon King, were also under great pressure, taking it very seriously. The two apostles ranked first and second inbat power among the demon race, both took their fighting stances. The atmosphere on the altar became tense in an instant. The battle was about to break out. ''About to break out'' About to About ''No, wait!....'' ''What about the domain?'' ''Hektor, open your domain for me!'' The opposing Sword Demon and Great Demon, already having the numerical advantage, felt awkward to make the first move, waiting for Reji to act. This made Reji a bit uneasy. Continuing this standoff would be too odd. Reji was forced to speak. "Is this how you give your all?" "Bring out all your power." "I hope that after this battle, there will no longer be any apostle who, in today''s difficult circumstances, still doubts me, rebels against me or disobeys me." Reji''s message was simple. -I am not satisfied with your attitudes as apostles- -I must establish my authority!- -From now on, the demon race, under my rule as the Demon King, will be a dictatorship! And the demon race is about supremacy of strength- -Supremacy of power- -The stronger the power you demonstrate now, the happier and more helpful it is for me!- To sum up in one sentence. Fight seriously, no holding back! "Sorry my king, I was disrespectful." Hektor immediately apologized. Indeed, for a warrior, and for a battle, waiting for the other to strike first is a form of disrespect! ''The king is right'' The Great Demon no longer held back, his already reddish-brown skin now seemed to ignite, the muscles swelling, the demon blood within boiling as if on fire. Centered around Hektor, the environment around the altar was also affected, continuously refracting blood-red images in the air. They were the wailing mourners, the twisted sufferers. They were the unwilling dead, the trampled weak. They were countless, gathered throughout the Great Demon Hektor''s life of warring for the demon race, the malice umted, the resentment of others collected. And now, these negative emotions became Hektor''s power, became the Great Demon''s weapon. A blossoms of blood showed up on the alter. "Domain expansion " "*Malice Bloom*" Chapter 7: Chapter 7: The Might ii "Domain expansion " "*Malice Bloom*" The budding illusory blood flowers that covered the altar, covered both Reji and Hektor. Next, the domain would begin to judge, based on the malice on both parties, to bloom flowers under their feet. The more flowers that bloom, the stronger the malice. Having more blood flowers in the domain would grant stronger power amplification. Under Hektor''s feet, a total of seventeen blossoms opened. Bringing him almost a doubling of strength enhancement. This made the already terrifying Great Demon even more terrifying. His ferocious muscles immediately gained more blood lines, and the hot breath that came out of his nostrils seemed to have a dreadful demonic power. Eileen below was almost fainting from anger at this scene. Familiar with the Great Demon, she knew Hektor was truly not holding back at all. This was his strongest form. Even the once human herp, the Chosen One, had to retreat before the ultimate demonic form of the Great Demon. ''Open the domain as a sign of respect!?'' ''Hektor, you fooldead brain!'' Eileen''s internal rage at the Great Demon was one thing. She, along with the six remaining apostles below, including Sword Demon and Great Demon on the stage, now all focused their gaze on one person. Reji. Their new Demon King. In fact, after being enveloped by Hektor''s domain, seeing the number of blood flowers blooming under the opponent''s feet, one could almost predict the oue of the battle. ''Twenty blossoms?'' Eileen couldn''t help but imagine. Fifteen would also do! Or, even ten, give the king a half-strength boost! However. Everyone present guessed wrong. The blood flowers at Reji''s feet cannot be described by the number of blossoms. Because That is a sea of flowers. [Reji] [Race: Human] [ Fate Track: Demon King] [Sub-Fate Trac: None] [Strength: 2657 (1+2656)] [Physique: 4740 (1+4739)] [Mental Power: 2442 (1+2441)] [Skill Proficiency: 780 (1+779)] [Magic Power: 500 (1+499)] [Luck: 1] [Sin Value: 103,692,498] [Current Title: Unforgivable] [Current State: Sin Domain] [(Sin Domain: Gain attribute enhancement based on sin value)] In the game, the strength attribute determines attack and defense power. The Physique attribute determines health and health recovery speed. Mental power determines the level of magic power. Skill Proficiency rtes to critical hit damage, and magic power is equivalent to magic strength. Reji clearly remembers that at the end of the game, his character''s attributes were on average about 1500 in each category. But now. Just the terrifyingly high Physique attribute of over five thousand, when converted to health points, would be over a million. Not to mention the over two thousand strength attribute, bringing so much attack and defense power. ''Awesome!'' In the game, Reji was a true believer in numerical strength; just having this attribute panel in front of him was enough to excite him. Although he''s now a nk te, without any skills. But. So what? *Ahhh* Not far away, Hektor roared, not a bit of fear against Reji amidst the sea of blood flowers, nor retreating. He fulfilled his promise to give his all to Reji, the great demon was going all out, boiling blood gathering in his fists, his massive body instantly turning into a blur, rushing towards Reji with a punch. ''Bring it on!'' In the game, the panel was just a set of data, but here, Reji truly felt the enhancement of his bodily strength. His body was filled with an explosive power, his sensory perception also enhanced, the body of the Great Demon Hektor rushing towards him appeared in slow motion in Reji''s eyes. ''Then, a simple punch will do!'' Reji was just a regr person with nobat experience; in contrast to Hektor, whose fist was glowing scarlet red and burning with demonic blood, Reji also delivered a simple, unadorned punch. In an instant. The two fists collided. The shockwave of the impact sted outward from the arena. And the oue was not surprising. Reji''s attributes, three times that of the Great Demon, meant that Hektor was now repelled. The Great Demon staggered back three or four steps before stabilizing his body. Before Reji could even rejoice, his perception ability sent him a danger signal from behind. Although Reji turned around immediately, such a in and simple action, in the eyes of the "Sting of the Demon Race," was undoubtedly no different from giving away for free. Pierre, using the attack gap created by Hektor, circled to Reji''s back, the pair of sharp des in his hands now already close to Reji, shing viciously towards his waist. Pierre actually held back here. If it were a real fight to death, Pierre would have aimed for vital spots and would have used a "stab" rather than a "sh." Reji couldn''t dodge Pierre''s attack, a case of his brain not keeping up with his body''s movements. Suddenly gaining great strength, Reji indeed wasn''t ustomed to it. But that didn''t stop Reji from taking an action in the next moment thatpletely caught Pierre off guard. Reji had no intention of defending at all. The defense brought by his nearly 3000 strength made Reji very confident. He didn''t retreat but advanced instead, reaching out his hand and fiercely grabbing towards Sword Demon''s sharpest de. The de of the Sword Demon is like their limb. When Reji grasped the de that Pierre couldn''t withdraw in time and applied a bit of force, Pierre''s body immediately lost control and was forcibly pulled off the ground. Then Reji, essentially swinging the Sword Demon around, made a throwing motion. Using about half of his strength, he threw Pierre towards where Hektor had just stabilized himself. *Bang!* As expected of Pierre, even while being thrown at high speed, he was still able to adjust his bnce, changing hisnding point, barely missing Hektor''s body. After several rolls to dissipate most of the impact force, he stabilized himself again. The exchange between the three on the altar seemed extensive but actually urred within a few breaths. Even because their movements were too fast, several apostles below couldn''t clearly see their figures. But the process doesn''t matter. The oue was clear. Hektor''s frontal attack, along with Pierre''s sneak attack from behind, under a pincer attack, left the Demon King unharmed, not even moving from his spot!? In contrast, both the Great Demon and Sword Demon, although unharmed, their repelled and disheveled appearance said a lot. "Again!!" Extremely unwilling, the martial fighter Great Demon Hektor, roared with rage, his aura surging once more. He stomped the ground with his demonic hoof, the hard chaotic rock instantly cracking. This time, the Great Demon didn''t use his fists but leaped into the air, using his entire demonic body as the stake for this attack. Seeing such an all-in attack, Reji also gave the due respect. He used about seventy percent of his strength, still in and unadorned, throwing a punch towards the Great Demoning down from the sky. Reji named this move, ''Serious Punch!'' *Boom!* The Great Demon diving from the sky stirred up a terrifying airwave, followed by the explosive sound of their collision, echoing like thunder in the altar along with the airwave and finally... Hektor was sent back the way he came. The Great Demon''s massive body was thrown back, and on his broad reddish-brown chest, one could see a depression from the punch. Hektor was thrown dozens of meters away, rolling several times before crashing into a giant rock, showing the terrifying impact he had just endured. And when the apostles turned their gaze back to the altar as the dust settled. That figure. No. Now, not a single apostle dared to use that term anymore. That demonic figure, still standing there, unmoved. Reji simply flicked off the dust that had justnded on his clothes. Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Loyalty part 1 The Great Demon Hektor was knocked away. On the altar, only sword demon Pierre was left. When Reji looked at him, Pierre also gave up neatly, directly raising his hands with the des, making a gesture of surrender. "I concede." It wasn''t just a simple concession. Pierre quickly also exined his forfeit of the battle to Reji, and even to the other apostles around. "If even my des cannot break through my king''s defense, then continuing to fight is meaningless." The Sword Demon is an assassin of the demon race. And what makes an assassin most desperate is a hard shell, a defense as solid as rock. That was exactly the feeling Reji gave to Pierre. The Sword Demon''s gaze was fixed on Reji''s waist area. That was where he had sessfully attacked from behind. But there, aside from the torn garment indicating an attack had urred, there was no blood to be seen. Well, to say none at all, actually there was a bloodstain, butpared to what would normally be expected from an attack of a Sword Demon, which would at least result in a injured gushing blood, it was negligible. Not to mention, Pierre then saw Reji dusting off his hands, which had directly grasped his de. Not even the Great Demon Hektor, for whom the physical aspect was an obsession, would dare to grab his de with his bare hands, but the Demon King had. And, It had left both hands unharmed. This was enough to prove that the Demon King not only had the strength to go head-to-head and then knock away Hektor but also possessed an extremely terrifying physique and defense. Indeed, there was no need to continue this battle. Pierre hadn''t finished speaking. Because the king had specifically emphasized before the fight that they should give it their all. As one of the apostles, Pierre naturally also had domain skills. However, as an assassin, the deployment of his domain certainly wouldn''t be as mboyant and conspicuous as that of the Great Demon Hektor; Pierre''s domain was very secretive, known only to himself. "After my king repelled Hektor, I also deployed my domain against the demon king at the first opportunity." "But what I saw behind my king" Pierre paused here. Then, for the first time, the other apostles saw a look of fear in the eyes of the Sword Demon. "The number of dead souls behind my king was unprecedented." "It was a sea of the underworld." Pierre struggled to recall the phantom image revealed in the moment he tried to use his domain against Reji. His power of rule is based on the number of killings to enhance attack power. As the Sword Demon, he didn''t know how many souls had fallen by his de. Among them, there were nock of powerful souls. These souls of the dead, gathered by the power of his domain''s rules, formed stream after stream of soul streams, eventually converging behind Pierre into a vast and turbulent river of the underworld. This was also known to the other apostles. Among themselves, important abilities like domain skills are still individually understood. Because of this. when they heard that Pierre had deployed his domain against Reji and described it with the term "sea of the underworld," they were incredibly astonished. On their new demon king''s body, just how many souls must there be, that even "river" cannot begin to carry the burden, and "sea" must be used to describe it at a higher magnitude. ''No we should have been able to guess it earlier'' After the release of the domain by the Great Demon Hektor, one should have thought of the sea of evil flowers behind the new demon king! To be frank, After hearing Pierre''s words, Reji himself was a bit surprised. ''So, Sword Demon had also deployed his domain'' However, it seemed that Pierre was just probing and immediately ceased his action, retracting it, which was different from Hektor. As a great demon responsible for martial strength, Hektor is purely a warrior by design, who does not retreat. But the Sword Demon, being an assassin, knows how to be much more flexible and adaptable. ''So It seems, although it wasn''t shown on the panel, the data records of leveling up through grinding monsters in the game must have been inherited as well'' Even Reji had a bold guess. ''Could it be possible that the sea of dead souls behind me, wasn''t just from the monsters I grinded in the game?'' ''But rather, could it represent my entire gaming career as "Reji"?'' ''That would exin why it reached the exaggerated level of a "sea." '' Knowing that "Magic Chronicles" is an RPG game, so in terms of grinding,pared to those strategy games Reji yed before, where you''dmand millions or even a''s army for battles, it''s hardly worth mentioning. As formitting evil deeds that are inhuman, that''s even less worth mentioning, ahem, cough cough! Now Reji also somewhat understands how he came to have such a sin value that seems like he had a cheat activated, in the millions. No matter what. His second ythrough''s start, in terms of the game, would be considered the "prologue," right? It should be settled now. This punch thrown. Very beautiful. "The Sixth Apostle, Wicked Demon Lordan, offers loyalty to Demon King, willing to do everything for my king, for the revival of the demon race! Ready to be dispatched!" Initially, it was Lordan who first jumped out to question Reji. And now, he is also the first to lead, the first apostle to announce his "loyalty" to Reji. It can be said to be very demon-like. Lordan knelt on one knee on the ground, his head bowed in Reji''s direction, while stretching out one hand. This is a very traditional gesture of allegiance among the demon race. Next, as the Demon King, Reji only needed to walk over, take Lordan''s hand, and pull him up as a sign of epting the allegiance. Reji stepped forward,ing down from the altar. He walked towards Lordan. The Wicked Demon, hearing Reji''s footsteps getting closer, stared nervously at the ground, secretly relieved, as long as Reji was willing to ept the allegiance. After all, he was an apostle. His earlier questioning of the Demon King was, after all, for the good of the demon race, a precautionary measure. Without his questioning, the Demon King wouldn''t have had the opportunity to demonstrate his authority before all of the demon race. With this thought, Lordan even felt reassured. Unfortunately. This sense of reassurance didn''tst long before it quickly turned into panic. The reason was simple. Reji was indeed walking towards Lordan. However. When Reji reached the Wicked Demon, he didn''t stop, but walked straight past him, without even a pause. Reji''s final destination was the Great Demon Hektor, whom he had knocked away earlier. The Great Demon had already returned from the distant rubble, and when he realized that Reji''s target was not Lordan but himself, Hektor also quickly knelt on one knee. "Are you alright?" Faced with Reji''s caring question, Hektor was pleasantly surprised. The Great Demon''s robust figure, now bowing and lowering his head even more, as if trying to appear shorter than Reji, looked somewhat adorable. "It''s an honor to bear scars given by my king!" "Please rest assured my king, I am ready to continue fighting at any time, to serve by your side! To serve my king!" "Good!" "The Seventh Apostle, Hektor, I ept your allegiance" Reji ced his hand on the palm of the Great Demon stretched out towards him. Although Reji''s hand,pared to the giant-like Great Demon, felt a bit too miniature, Hektor showed no disrespect, his broad palm even trembling a bit. After receiving Reji''s eptance, he stood up, issuing another unwavering deration to Reji. "I, your servant, will dedicate my life to serve my king!" ''Well, well'' It''s just short of adding "your servant" in front. Reji thought to himself, now Hektor, just like in the game, despite being set in a fantasy background, always manages to throw in some ssic ancient phrases. He hadined about this when he was ying, the game was just too much of a mishmash. Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Loyalty part 2 After Hektor''s allegiance, Reji approached Sword Demon Pierre. The process was the same. However, no Demon King before had ever ced their hand on the Sword Demon''s, after all, the Sword Demon has no hands, only specialized des. But Reji was different. He might be the first to truly use his hand, to once again catch a de barehanded, and pull the kneeling Sword Demon up from the ground. This action was undoubtedly perceived by the already submissive Pierre as a gesture of immense respect and attention, leading him to offer his loyalty to Reji without reservation. After the Sword Demon, the next one was the Subus. As Reji approached, Eileen''s heart pounded wildly. She seemed to need to put on a show, after all, this was such an important asion for pledging loyalty, and as an apostle, she had to act formally. But in reality, the wildly swinging tail from behind the Subus already betrayed Eileen''s boiling heart. And Reji, to his only die-hard fan, from the beginning took himself seriously, even without showing his power, she was trying with all her power to protect him. Naturally, Reji also offered her more care. Reji not only ced his hand but also more tenderly on the Subus''s hand, after pulling the kneeling Eileen up, he even smiled at the Subus and said softly: ''Thank you, Eileen'' The Demon King''s smile was the best catalyst for the Subus. Eileen already had a special filter for Reji. Now, just this short thank you almost made the Subus ecstatic, nearly ascending to heaven. It was evident that Eileen was very, very excited and agitated. Her whole body trembled. She even tightened her legs a bit. Her adoring eyes looking at Reji were as if glistening with water. "No, no, no, my King, I, I..." Eileen was incoherent in front of Reji, more like a young girl experiencing her first crush rather than a Subus. Reji raised his hand. Signaling the Subus not to say more. Again showing an incredibly gentle side, at least in Eileen''s eyes, it seemed that way. Afterwards, Reji, the next one he approached was the Wisdom Demon Leo. Compared to the previous three, Reji didn''t speak, took Leo''s hand, pulled the Wisdom Demon up, and just nodded at Leo. After all, Leo was also one of the four apostles who participated in the ceremony to summon him. Reji still showed the appropriate attitude. And as for the next few. Reji turned around, his gazending on the remaining apostles still kneeling, waiting for him to ept their loyalty. Based on Reji''s understanding of the demon race, he first approached Shadow Demon Sherman and Breeding Demon la. It''s understandable that these two didn''t attend the ceremony. One is a guardian of the demon race, and the other is akin to the demon race''s hive. Given the current dire situation of the demon race, their inability to attend can be understood. However, Reji did not extend his hand to pull them up as he did with the first four apostles; he merely nodded at them. Next were the Sorcery Demon Dian and the Decay Demon Eris. For these two, Reji didn''t even nod, but simply said, "Rise" and that was it. For someone like the Decay Demon, whose body is covered in rotting flesh and maggots, Reji''s reluctance to touch them was one reason, but it was also his way of silently expressing disapproval. -I am not satisfied with your earlier attitude- -What happens next is up to you- That was essentially the message Reji conveyed. As for thest. The remaining eight apostles, whether seriously addressed by Reji or briefly dealt with, at least all stood up. The only one still kneeling on the scene, who did not receive Reji''s eptance, was the Wicked Demon Lordan. How to put it. Lordan''s heart could perfectly be described as "tormented" at the moment. He miscalcted. Completely misjudged their new Demon King. Although Lordan was bowing his head in submission, he still sneakily watched Reji epting the other apostles from the corner of his eye, naturally noticing that their new Demon King was not forgetting past offenses at all. In fact, he was very much holding a grudge! Luckily for Lordan, he was covered in bandages, otherwise, the Wicked Demon would definitely be sweating profusely and drenched in sweat by now. Especially now. All the apostles had risen, and everyone''s gaze, along with Reji''s, was focused on the Wicked Demon, as well as on the million demon army looking up at the ceremony below. Lordan felt Immense pressure. If Lordan had the chance to go back in time, he would definitely reprimand and punish his past self who disdained the summoning ceremony and provoked Reji. Unfortunately, there''s no medicine for regret. It''s all toote now. Lordan gritted his teeth, made a quick decision, and activated his domain skill, a good trait of the Wicked Demon being his ability to recognize the situation. He immediately activated his domain skill, and a surge of green, sinister energy rose around him. Not all domains amplify; some domain rules weaken, like Lordan''s. The strength of the Wicked Demon lies in the spiritual realm, with his domain capable of such powerful abilities as extracting souls, and now, Lordan''s domain target was himself. Many pitiful green lights shot out from Lordan''s seven orifices, and after a painful wail from the Wicked Demon, these green lights leaking from his body finally condensed into an emerald essence. Like having undergone a severe illness, bing extremely weak, Lordan extended his hand, shakily offering this green essence to Reji. "My King, for my previous foolish actions, I feel profound fear. Please, you must ept this Soul Stone, in hopes of contributing a meager strength to enhance my King''s power further!" *Tsk* Reji couldn''t help but smack his lips upon seeing the essence offered by Lordan. Of course, he recognized it. A super rare item in the game that wouldn''t necessarily drop even after killing a hundred Wicked Demons. The Soul Stone is one of the few items that can significantly increase the "spiritual power" attribute. However, for Reji, the greater use of the Soul Stone was as a key ingredient to synthesize another legendary itema Skill Copy Scroll. ''It seems Lordan really went all out to apologize and make amends'' In the game, among the nine apostles, Reji disliked this one the most. He really wanted to eliminate Lordan right there, but being the new Demon King and with the other eight apostles present, it clearly wasn''t feasible. epting the Soul Stone seemed to meet Reji''s expectations. Seeing Reji take his offering, Lordan finally breathed a sigh of relief, quickly dragging his weakened body to stand up and obediently returned to the apostles'' lineup, standing behind Reji. Just like that. All nine terrifying demon apostles now pledged their loyalty, respectfully arrayed to the left and right of Reji, supporting their new king. As Reji stood atop the summit where the altar was located, looking down at the million-strong demon army in the basin below, the demons let out an even more deafening roar and howl. By standing against two, including the Great Demon and Sword Demon, absolute powerhouses of the demon race, Reji had conquered these lower demons with his strength, winning their absolute loyalty and reverence. With just a gesture of raising his hand, the restless demon army seemed to make the ground itself tremble. ''So, this is what it feels like to be a king'' '' Well it is not that bad'' Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Succubus Ritual 1/4 === Inside the Demon King''s chamber, Reji, now pressed down on the bed by Eileen, who wears only a thinyer of gauze and is burning hot all over, only wishes to retract his previous arrogance and haughtiness. After sessfully establishing his majesty image as the Demon King, Reji led by the subus, returns to his chamber. Reji originally wanted to take this opportunity to be alone for a while, to catch his breath and n for the future. However, Eileen insists on following him in under the pretense of treating Reji''s wounds. These ''wounds'' were the small bloodstains on his waist from being stabbed in the back by Sword Demon Pierre. Reji thinks that no matter how minor, a wound is still a wound and indeed needs treatment, so he agrees to Eileen''s request. Unexpectedly, the subus starts by lying down and lifting her hair with her hand, then buries her head into his waist, and is about to lick his wound with her tender little tongue. This startles Reji. He immediately stops the subus''s vulgar behavior. And Eileen with an innocent tone, imed that her bodily fluids indeed have strong healing ability. But under Reji''s protest, Eileen was forced to give up the licking treatment method and obediently takes out the medicine box hidden behind her back to seriously treat Reji. However, this seriousnesssts for maybe One minute? After all, Reji''s injuries are really trivial. At most, they''re just scratches. Afterwards, Eileen starts to be restless again. The subus forcibly ignores Reji. Directly pressing Reji down onto the bed. That''s how the opening scene came about. Reji, now close at hand, It takes a great deal of willpower for Reji to bring his rational mind back to the forefront. "Eileen, enough!" Reji faked anger and scolds the subus riding on him. Actually, Reji wanted to push Eileen away directly. But he couldn''t. He just couldn''t. Now, the effect of Hektor''s domain has long disappeared, and he remains a weak human with all attributes at 1, facing a demon apostle with at least all attributes over 800+. Even in the flirting stage, Reji cannot resist Eileen, at least in terms of strength. Fortunately, Reji has plenty of Demon King''s authority. Plus, Eileen herself, as a subus apostle, is also an absolute loyal fan. So even though she''s restless and desperate, after Reji issues such a stern warning, Eileen immediatelyes to her senses. The subus girl quickly gets off Reji, even directly getting off the bed, bowing her head low in unease and fear, half-kneeling at the side of Reji''s bed. Seeing Eileen in such a humble state, Reji''s heart softens instantly. The subus is the only apostle he absolutely trusts. Reji slightly adjusts his emotions and speaks again in a gentle voice: "Get up, Eileen. I was too harsh." "No, no, no, your majesty, it was me. I was too eager and did not consider your majesty''s feelings." Hearing Reji calm down, the subus girl seems to breathe a sigh of relief. When she finally gets up and turns to face Reji on the bed, Eileen purses her moist lips, appearing to struggle and hesitate, but ultimately she couldn''t resist asking Reji: "But, my king, Eileen doesn''t understand, why, why does my king resist so much, not wanting to proceed with the ritual with me? Is there something I didn''t do right? Does my king not like Eileen''s appearance enough?" "If that''s really the case, I... I am willing to go to the Decay Demon to reshape my body, willing to go to Dian, and have the Sorcery Demon change my appearance, until... until your majesty is satisfied!" Eileen bows her head. There was a look of inadequacy on her face. After all, being rejected by the Demon King, being refused by her master, is the greatest humiliation for a subus. The subus apostle is different from the other eight apostles. They advance and died together with each demon king, born to be the king''s consort, and there is no precedent for a subus serving multiple generations of Demon Kings. Every new Demon King corresponds to a new generation of subus apostle. And as "consorts" subi are not only responsible for taking care of the Demon King''s daily life. More importantly, they bear the important task of performing a "ritual" with the Demon King. This is something Reji is very clear about. Although he hasn''t inherited any Demon King lineage, his in-depth understanding of "Magic Chronicles" is Reji''s best legacy. Reji knows that subus are set to "dual cultivate" with the Demon King. In the early stages of the Demon King, when he is still weak, he relies on dual cultivation with the subus to quickly grow and gain strength. Andter, when the Demon King bes powerful, it is as if he gives back to the subus. It is precisely because of such a setting. All subus apostles are born so staunchly royalist, the Demon King''s loyal follower. The deep bond formed between the two through "dual cultivation" is obviously not something the other eight apostles canpare to. Now, Reji actually resists her. He refused the dual cultivation ritual. Can Eileen not be anxious, no wonder the subus girl eventer followed up, wanting to "reshape her body" for Reji. Demons are simr to humans, subus have had many instances in demon history where they were disliked by Demon Kings. However,ter subus all sessfully through the reshaping mentioned by Eileen, became more in line with the demon race''s aesthetic standards, such as mother tyrannosaurs, slime monsters, millipedes, green-skinned goblins, cyclops, etc. Eileen thought Reji meant this. So now, she is eager to know. Only then can she tailor her remedy to the situation and quickly establish a bond. But in reality, Eileen waspletely wrong. Where was Reji dissatisfied with the current appearance of the subus? These majestic twin peaks that overlook all. These perfectly formed, wild long legs. And those antelope horns that could be used as a steering wheel. That yful and flirtatious velvety peach heart tail. Not to add Eileen''s wlessly jade feet, which are constantly exposed! The subus girl from head to toe, simply exudes a seductive aura to Reji, fully deserving of the "subus" apostle title. What really stops Reji is... He''s a human! Although after the previous battle, no demon even considers him a "human" anymore. But it''s one thing to deceive apostles and demons. Reji can''t deceive himself. A human ying with a female lion, no matter how gentle the lioness is, the human can''t withstand it, right? Let alone what he''s facing is not a lioness. It''s a milf like subus, a thousand times more terrifying than a lioness! Reji really worries that his frail body won''t have time to absorb Eileen''s dual cultivation power before being overwhelmed. And more importantly. Once he truly performs the "ritual" with her, his body will be branded with the "Mark of the Subus"! Reji remembers the setting is such that if he has too much interaction with any female other than the subus, Eileen can immediately sense it. How could that be okay! How could this be eptable! When I return to the human world and go to meet what I believe to be my many-generations-removed granddaughter, *the current incarnation of the Holy Maiden, won''t my entire identity be revealed all at once?!* (You will understand this in the future chapters.) Chapter 11: Chapter 11: I Wont let that happen "Eileen, Come here " Reji patted the bed, inviting the subus to sit back down. He then earnestly answered Eileen''s confusion. "You''re wrong, Eileen. On the contrary, I think you''re beautiful, exactly my type," Reji said as he took the subus''s soft hand. This was the truth. He absolutely didn''t want Eileen to change herself into something bizarre to fit the majority of demonic aesthetic standards. Eileen''s face flushed with Reji''spliment, and her previous inferiority seemed to vanish like a sigh of relief. However, she couldn''t help but continue to ask, "Then why my king still refuse..." "Because I don''t want to take power from you at this moment" Reji said, gently stroking the subus''s hair. As mentioned before, the dual cultivation ritual with a subus is essentially a sacrifice on their part to serve the Demon King in the early stages, even if the Demon King himself is powerful. This tradition must be followed. Moreover, after the initial ritual, the subus would fall into a long period of weakness. Reji used this point to persuade Eileen. "Among the nine apostles, you are my only one, my most trusted apostle, my...woman" "I need you to conserve your strength. If there is a betrayal among the apostles, I need you by my side, I need your strength in battle." Reji did not hesitate to say the most affectionate words. Sure enough, Eileen waspletely taken by being described as "the only one" and even directly being called a "his woman" If there were an attribute panel, her intelligence would probably drop by half. And the reason Reji gave afterward made sense. If Eileen previously thought the idea of "apostle betrayal" was utterly fanciful and impossible, After enduring a thousand years of torment and this very "unpleasant" new Demon King summoning ritual, plus being swayed by Reji''s sweet nothings, she was indeed convinced. "My king, I understand now" Eileen finally nodded. The subus then nestled into Reji''s arms, sniffing his scent deeply as if topensate for the halted ritual, clinging to Reji''s clothes, and said tenderly, "Rest assured my king, Eileen will always stand by your side, no matter what happens!" "Eileen will also keep the initial ritual for you until our demon race ispletely stabilized." "But" "Please, my king, promise Eileen not to let me wait too long, okay?" Gazing down into the subus''s sincere eyes while cradling him in his arms, Reji made a solemn vow, "I promise you." Using "the revival of the demon race" as an excuse, he temporarily persuaded Eileen, but in reality, Reji''s thoughts were far from it. After all, ''The revival of the demon race?'' In the grand finale of the first ythrough, like all beautiful fairy tales, as the child of destiny, the hero who saves the world, he ends up bing partners with the Holy Maiden, rebuilding their post-war homnd together. The new Holy Maiden, Reji''s many-times-great-granddaughter mentioned earlier,es from this lineage. So, theoretically, arge part of the human world a thousand yearster should belong to his and the Holy Maiden''s family legacy. This is different from Earth. When "individual martial power" can crush a nation, maintaining a family''s prosperity for a thousand years is not difficult. Moreover, although for Reji, the first round was just a game, he indeed witnessed and experienced the tragedy of the continent being invaded by demons, with all living beings suffering greatly. Reji does not want such tragedies to happen again. As the best proof. Reji once again spoke to the subus in his embrace, who was like a docile littlemb. "Eileen, if we win, how would you treat humans? Or rather, do you have any ns for our counterattack?" Hearing the Demon King bring up serious matters. Eileen immediately sat up from Reji''s embrace. She stood by the bed again, changing from the previously delicate and shy subus demeanor to a face filled with coldness and hatred, returning to her identity as a demon, as an apostle. "My king, Eileen will capture all the queens and princesses of the kingdoms, transform them into subus, and let them serve our demon race in disgrace before their subjects!" "Eileen will also seek out the descendants of the original human savior, the so-called ''Child of Destiny,'' and make their lives worse than death, to avenge our mothers, with blood for blood!" "For this, Eileen has prepared. Please rest assured my king, once our counterattack begins, any human military forces, nobles, and even the high ranks of the church will be subservient to you. I, Eileen, will personally train them to be dogs, ves only to my king. Then, your majesty won''t need to lift a finger to take them down and wash away our race''s shame!" Eileen, in the end, had deep hatred in her eyes. Filled with hatred towards humans. This is both the natural opposition between demons and humans. And also because Eileen''s mother, father, the previous generation''s Demon King and subus apostle, were both killed by the Child of Destiny, dying tragically at the hands of the human savior. This is not just a conflict between races. For Eileen, it''s a deep-seated vendetta between loved ones. Reji remained silent. Because it was as he imagined. Eileen''s approach to conquering humans was the same as the previous generation''s subus in the game. Reji remembered clearly that one of the main countries fighting against the demons had a very wise queen and a sagacious king. This royal couple was very kind to him in the game, helping him grow and facilitating many conveniences. Butter, they were seduced by the previous subus apostle, and the wise king ended up killing his beloved queen with his own hands one night, bing a servant at the feet of the subus, leading the entire country to defect to the demons. Later, as the protagonist, Reji personally defeated this king bewitched by the subus. Before dying, the king regained his senses, realizing he had killed his beloved wife and brought such tragedy to the nation, chose tomit suicide. Before his death, he gave Reji, even under the subus''s spell, the ring of true love he had always treasured with the queen. And this ring, Reji always had equipped on the protagonist, helping him resist many negative buffs and providing a lot of support in battle. That''s why Reji remembered this tragic story so vividly. And because of this. "Eileen, I, won''t allow you to do this." Reji blurted out. Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Fate ''Why!?'' Eileen had a confused look on her face. She hadn''t even considered the possibility that Reji was siding with humans. Just puzzled. For this, Reji naturally couldn''t use his real thoughts and had to find another angle to convince her. ''Still the old strategy'' For a subus, there''s no better method than love. "Eileen, as I''ve said before, you are mine, the only one, my lover." "So I won''t allow my beloved woman to charm or seduce others! Even if it was a life and death situation!" Such a statement might be too overbearing for humans, but for a subus, it''s just right, fitting for a Demon King. When Eileen previously brought up serious matters, mentioned humans, she was indeed full of deep hatred and malice. But once everything shifted to her and Reji. The subus immediately reverted back to that docile littlemb. It''s not surprising that Eileen felt warm inside, her cheeks blushing red, given how much the Demon King appreciated and cherished her. After all, throughout the entire history of the demon race, there had never been a Demon King who asked a subus to give up her strongest "charm" ability. However. Just as Eileen was about to retort something, Reji seemed to anticipate this and immediately added: "No charm spells without physical contact either!" "" Seeing how serious and earnest Reji was, Eileen reluctantly lowered her antelope horns a bit, looking somewhat pitiful. Eileen wanted to refuse rationally. After all, their existence as subus is to disrupt the enemy from within. But in the end, emotions took over. After all, Which subus wouldn''t like such a monogamous and domineering Demon king? "Eileen, your task is to watch our rear, that''s all." "You don''t need to worry about the front lines, and I won''t allow you to secretly contact any human male behind my back!" "What about human females then?" Eileen tentatively struggled. After all, the subus''s charm doesn''t necessarily have to be directed at the opposite sex; it can be just as effective, if not more so, between the same sex. Unfortunately. Eileen was met with a re from Reji. "Not allowed!" Having been denied the initial ritual with Reji and now being forbidden from the front lines, Eileen knew all these were demonstrations of Reji''s love and care for her, yet she couldn''t help feeling a bit moody. Seeing the subus pouting unhappily, Reji felt he should offer something to make up for it. After a brief hesitation, Reji made a promise to Eileen. "I''ll capture some human noblester aspensation for you, to entertain you. Is that okay?" There are good and bad people among humans. Especially among the nobility. Loving royal couples like Reji had previously mentioned are rare. In the first round of the story, Reji encountered many nobles who were no less dark than demons, even more evil, making Reji wish he could personally enter the game and punish the despicable nobles. For example, the countess who bullied the protagonist and called off their engagement at the start of the first round. Giving these heartless evildoers to Eileen for her entertainment was something Reji could ept, also serving as deserved punishment for their wicked deeds. On the other side, after receiving Reji''s promise, Eileen was as happy as a little girl receiving a gift. The subus moved forward to hug Reji, her lips burning with passion, nting a fierce kiss on Reji''s cheek. ''Cough!'' ''Hold on!'' ''I Must keep cool!'' Afraid that he might not be able to resist if Eileen stayed any longer, Reji took advantage of the subus''s satisfaction to have her leave first, so he could rest alone for a while. And tell Eileen, about an hourter, to notify the other eight apostles toe to the Demon King''s Pce for a formal meeting. The topic of the meeting will be what he and Eileen just discussedallowing the demon race to return to the world. Excited, Eileen left the room upon receiving themand. Finally. Alone in the Demon King''s chamber, Reji let out a long sigh of relief and copsed onto the bed, feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders. But he couldn''t rx too much. After all, he couldn''t always rely on Hektor''s domain to bluff his way through. After returning to the human world, it wouldn''t be possible to just show up with his stats all at one; it would be too embarrassing for an "ancestor" like himself. Truly strengthening himself is Reji''s current priority. Soon, Reji sat up again and hurriedly began to study his golden finger. ''Fate TrackDemon King'' The so-called "Fate Track" is actually simr to a profession. And his "Demon King" fate track was not present in the game, belonging to one of the fewpletely unknown directions to Reji. Reji closed his eyes and concentrated his mental energy. He soon felt as if his soul had reached another dimension, within the sea of his consciousness, there was a vague trajectory line. The shape of the trajectory was uncertain. The destination of the trajectory was also unknown. The only certainty was that he was currently standing at the starting point of the trajectory, and there was a star shining and revolving around him. This scene was not unfamiliar to Reji. It was identical to the "Fate Track" development interface in "Magic Chronicles." Having inherited the game system, Reji needed no exploration and could immediately see the rted description by cing his consciousness on it. << [Name: Reji] [Lvl: 1] [Exp: 0/50] [Fate Track: Demon King] [Current Number of Lit Stars Sculpt: 1] [Star Sculpt I King''s Birth (Activated)] [Activation Condition: Complete the summoning ritual, sessfully descend into the world] [Activation Effect: Demon King, born to plunderAll basic rewards you receive are increased by 10000%] [Star Sculpt II - King''s Rise (Not Activated)] [Activation Condition: Possess a "Stronghold-level" demon territory and obtain at least one apostle''s "Utmost Loyalty" favorability] [Territory: NoneNot Achieved] [Current Number of Apostles with "Utmost Loyalty" Favorability: (2/1)Achieved] [Activation Effect: Demon King standing above allYou ignore any "skill/item" learning/usage requirements] [Star Sculpt IIIKing''s Momentum (Not Activated)] [Activation Condition: Possess a "Castle-level" demon territory and obtain at least three apostles'' "Utmost Loyalty" favorability] [Current Number of Apostles with "Utmost Loyalty" Favorability: (2/3)Not Achieved] [Activation Effect: Demon King, unstoppableYour personal attribute values increase by 100%, your spell effects'' uracy increases by 100%, your attacks will always critically hit, you will ignore any control effects, any "instant death" spells or attacks will not work on you] [Star Sculpt IV???] [Star Sculpt V???] [Star...] >> There are seven stars in total, with the ones beyond the first three all being question marks. However, that''s not important. Just the activation effects of the first three stars alone were enough to astound Reji. No, not even the first three. ''Just the effect of the first star, is this for real? Are these values seriously not made up!?'' Reji confirmed repeatedly, making sure he hadn''t misread. ''10000%'' ''Four zeros'' ''Ten thousand percent!'' ''Meaning all basic rewards I receives will be increased... by a *hundred times*!??'' Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Planning Another chapter aftet 30m. ------- ''Good!'' ''This is very Demon King state!'' If this star-sculpt effect were applied to a yer, it would either mean a cheat was activated or it was a major BUG. But on a BOSS... Especially being the game''s biggest antagonist BOSS. It makes sense!''= Reji finds it perfectly reasonable! While Reji was incredibly excited, he also notices that the reward boost from *Star Sculpt I* only applies to *basic rewards* increasing them by a hundredfold. In the game, *basic rewards* refer to experience points, cultivation materials, and gacha resources obtained from quests. Items like equipment, reputation, or other special items fall under *special rewards* and are not included in *basic rewards*. ''Even so, the effect of Star Sculpt I is utterly insane'' ''Completing a quest and then receiving a hundredfold experience and cultivation materials!'' ''Isn''t that enough?'' With this effect, Reji believes his level will skyrocket as if on a rocket. ''The only slight pity is...'' Reji sighed, looking at his pitiful, all "1" initial base attributes. In "Magic Chronicles," the amount of starting attributes also determines how much attributes can increase with each level, a concept referred to in game terms as*attribute growth*. Simply put, the higher the starting attributes, the stronger the potential and talent ceiling of the character. For example, if everyone is at level 10, your total attributes might only add up to 30 points, while someone with higher attribute growth could have 50 points at the same level, and the gap only widenster on. In contrast, the protagonist in Reji''s first round had starting attributes totaling around 15. Reji''s current starting attribute of all "1s" puts him at the standard human temte in the game. This fits with the "Very Easy" option he selected for the protagonist''s talent in the initial questionnaire. ''No fear!'' ''If talent iscking, cheats will make up for it!'' ''So what if my attribute growth is low? If I can''tpete at the same level, I''ll just level up beyond others! I''llpensate for my attribute disadvantages with levels that are double or triple those of others'' Reji looked at his experience bar. He is currently at level 1. The progress to the next level is [0/50] His Fate Track is Demon King, but his race is still human, so naturally, the experience temte he inherits is also that of a regr human! It''s known that humans, as a race, cannotpare to demons in terms of attributes. However, humans'' strength lies in needing less experience to level up or learn skills, much less than demons. Like now, going from level 1 to level 2 only requires 50 experience points, while demons probably need 500 points. This is probably why the Demon King''s Fate Track effect gives such a terrifying boost to basic rewards. After all, demons do have arger appetite. Thinking this through, Reji realizes thatpared to a normal Demon King, his experience requirements are ten times less, and ifpared to regr humans, his experience gains are a hundredfold more! ''What a deal'' ''I am taken all the advantages for myself'' With such an exaggerated boost, Reji feels his somewhatckluster attribute growth can bepletely ignored. Focus on brute force. Moreover, Reji opened his eyes, exiting the sea of consciousness of the Fate Track, to check another system feature from the game. Its name is[Bonding] In "Magic Chronicles" besidespleting quests and grinding monsters, another major way to gain experience is through [Companion Dispatch]. Sending up to fourpanions toplete tasks on one''s behalf, with all rewards earned being attributed to oneself. These rewards are basic rewards, so they benefit from the "Demon King" Fate Track''s boost. The amount of dispatch rewards depends on thepanions'' "level" and "affinity." After all this talk. How exactly to obtain the most crucial [Companions]? This is the system interface that Reji is currently opening. [Bonding] A virtual scroll slowly unfolds in front of Reji, revealing a world map. It''s the continent of "Magic Chronicles" However, the world''s tes on the map are all obscured by clouds, showing only vague outlines. This is the fog of war, which he must visit the corresponding locations to unlock. As the Child of Destiny, the hero destined to defeat the Demon King, it''s inevitable to havepanions. The so-called [Bonding]is about forming bonds, actively gatheringpanions from around the world for oneself. In simpler terms. It''s a gacha system. Bonding is divided into [Random Bonding]and [Directed Bonding]. Random Bondingspends 60 Starlight to search for apanion once in the current region, or 500 Starlight for ten searches. Directed Bonding doesn''t require spending Starlight; it''s when yers, through quests or events, reach a certain level of favorability with other NPCs, they can bepanions. As for the currency [Starlight]mentioned earlier, it''s included in the "basic rewards" as a gacha item. However, due to its special nature, Starlight can only be obtained from "Daily Commissions," with no other means avable. Daily Commissions are essentially the yer''s daily tasks. There are four each day. They''re designed to help yers level up quickly in the early stages, characterized by low difficulty and high basic rewards. Since "Magic Chronicles" is a single-yer game, The "daily" here doesn''t refer to real time but to in-game time, where it automatically refreshes after all action points are used up and it moves to the next day. The four Daily Commissions, whether for helping yers level up quickly early on or for grinding reputation and earning Starlight to draw forpanionster, are very worthwhile for investing action points. Reji opens his [Daily Commissions]task tab. Unfortunately. It''spletely empty. The prompt is... [The yer''s current region has not discovered an "Adventurer''s Association"] ''As I thought'' In the game, Daily Commissions are obtained from the association because, as the Child of Destiny, the yer is supposed to do good deeds daily, fitting the savior''s image. But currently, Reji is in the chaotic rift, a deste area with only demons, naturallycking humanmissions and thus unable toplete tasks for rewards. At this point, Reji has reviewed both the game system and his attributes thoroughly. And his ns for the future are now clear. Hurry out of the chaotic rift. Truly arrive in the world, head to a human city. Find any Adventurer''s Association, take on Daily Commission tasks, rapidly level up with a hundredfold basic reward, and with a hundredfold Starlight reward, draw heavily forpanions! After quickly gathering four qualitypanions, dispatch them to work for him, opening another channel for experience points! Depending on the situation, then light up the remaining three stars of the Demon King''s Fate Track, continuing to increase his own strength. Once strong enough, go find his however-many-greats-granddaughter, and discuss the future of the demon race with the Holy Maiden. This is roughly Reji''s n for the future. Sounds easy, very simple. But in reality, just this first step, leaving the chaotic rift, is.. *Knock Knock* A knock sounds from outside the door. After Reji gives permission, Eileen appears at the door. The subus apostle bows slightly to Reji, respectfully reporting, "My king, the eight apostles have assembled and are waiting in the main hall." "The Demon King''s council. Shall we begin now?" Reji gathers his thoughts, closes the game panel. After tidying up his clothes a bit, he walks towards the door where Eileen is. "Let''s begin." Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Council -Demon King''s Pce. -The main hall. Reji sits on a throne made of chaotic ck rock and skeletons. A few steps below the throne, Eileen stands gracefully and dignified. This is a privilege that all previous generations of subus apostles have had. To be the closest to the Demon King. Further down is the council table, where the remaining eight apostles are seated on both sides. Actually, it should be said that six are seated properly. The remaining two, Breeding Demon la, because her true form is a giant octopus, doesn''t require a chair, and Decay Demon Eris, who is too fat with a body full of rotting flesh, can only stand. Being so quickly summoned for a meeting by the new Demon King Reji, none of the eight apostles show any signs of irritation on their faces. In fact, several apostles arrived and took their seats well in advance. For example, the Wicked Demon who had previously offered a Soul Stone to apologize to Reji, consuming a significant amount of his origin power. Lordan was genuinely unwell this time but was still the earliest to arrive. This is the effect of Reji''s earlier show of authority. The topic for discussion at the Demon King''s Council is the counterattack, returning to the continent from the chaotic rift, and conquering the world, which Eileen has already informed them about. And this is undoubtedly the greatest goal of the demon race after a millennium of patience. It''s what all demons aspire to. Therefore, each apostle is somewhat excited and has many suggestions for the counterattack and ns for confronting humans that they want to propose to Reji. But before Reji speaks, none of the eight apostles dare to utter a word. Even if they are anxious inside, they hold back. Finally after some time. "What''s the situation with the void passage now?" Reji asks the most critical question first. The chaotic rift exists outside the continent. Also known as the Forgotten Land, a corner abandoned and forgotten by the world. The void passage is the only way between the chaotic rift and the continent. It''s also the prerequisite for his departure. In the game, the first round''s him, as the savior,pletely destroyed the void passage connecting the chaotic rift to the world of the continent, to permanently trap the demon race inside. At that time, all humans believed that, given the deste environment of the chaotic rift, it wouldn''t be long before all demons died out. But now, it seems the vitality and will to survive of the demon race are much stronger than imagined. Shadow Demon Sherman answers Reji''s question. This demon, shrouded in the shadow of his cloak, rises from his seat and reported: "My king, after relentless searching by the Shadow Demons, we finally discovered a weak point in the chaotic rift three hundred years ago. After further efforts by our tribe, we have now sessfully established a new passage" Shadow Demons, the eyes of the demon race, are the reconnaissance units of the demons. In the game, Shadow Demons caused great trouble for Reji and the humans. Thanks to their excellent reconnaissance abilities and their ability to hide like shadows, they made any of humanity''s secrets and strategic ns transparent in front of the demons, as if they were nothing. <> This was the despairing shadow that loomed over all human soldiers, officials, generals, and even kings at the time, a heavy burden. Such a dire situation continued until the mid-game when, as the yer and the Child of Destiny, Reji teamed up with the Holy Maiden to develop the "Radiant Shine" a regional continuous anti-reconnaissance magic that exposed the Shadow Demons hiding in the shadows, significantly turning the tide for humanity. Feeling somewhat nostalgic. Reji pulls his wandering thoughts back. His gaze returns to Sherman. The once-feared Shadow Apostle, who had made all intelligence agencies of the continent''s nations lose face and tremble in fear, now reports information to him with focus and seriousness. From beneath her cloak, Sherman extended a shadow that quickly spread across the floor of the grand hall in front of Reji, forming an image. The image depicted a murky, gray sky and a world of fissures filled with barren, scorched earth, where a crack leading directly to the ley lines had been excavated, pulsating with void energy. From this void passage, looking towards the other side, Reji, as well as all the demon apostles present, could vaguely see the azure sky. They saw lush greenery. They saw sunlight. They saw fertile soil. They saw fresh and clean air. They saw apletely different world, brimming with vibrant life and fertility. "This new passage, originally estimated by Dian to require at least several years to transfer our entire race, based on its carrying capacity." At this point, the Shadow Demon paused. Then, from beneath her cloak, a new shadowy image extended. "However, just one hour ago, we discovered several new void passages, muchrger and wider than the previous ones. I believe the formation of these new passages is greatly linked to our king''s summoning ritual." No one questioned the Shadow Demon''s spection. After all, the engulfing mes at the summoning altar and the towering column of ck light that seemed still vivid in their minds. The new demon king''s arrival caused the entire chaotic rift to tremble violently, creating these new passages that connect to the outer world. And at this moment, Reji learned that his arrival had such grandeur, even "shattering" the chaotic rift. Back to the main topic. "What is the strength of these new passages?" Reji immediately followed up with another critical question. This time, the respondent was not the Shadow Demon. The Sorcery Demon, wearing a crow mask, rose from his seat. The division ofbor among the demon race has always been clear. Dian, like a gentleman, first elegantly ced one hand on his chest, bowed to Reji, and then began his report: "My king, although I have only conducted a preliminary survey, there is no doubt that these new, vast passages, with just a bit of reinforcement, would be sufficient" "Sufficient toplete the transfer of our brethren within a week." Upon Dian''s words, the apostles in the grand hall were astounded. Astounded by the surprise. After all, their arrival time had been reduced from the original "several years" to now just "one week." Such incredibly good news invigorated every apostle. Wicked Demon Lordan even stood up at this moment, extolling towards Reji on the throne: "The Child of Destiny, the so-called savior from a thousand years ago, would never have imagined that the seal he exhausted his heart and strength to create, intending to perish together with our demon race, in front of our new king, is simply insignificant and easily shattered! Howughable!" "I am grateful and excited for all demon brethren that, at this critical moment of our race''s survival, we have weed such a great new king!" "Under the leadership of our king, the demon race will surely rise again, conquer the world, and restore our race''s glorious splendor!" Lordan''s voice was passionate and his expression excited, showing his admiration for Reji. To those unaware, he might seem like a firm loyalist or even a fanatical supporter of the Demon King. Even Eileen, standing on the higher steps, couldn''t help but cast a disgusted look at Lordan. But the Wicked Demon did not care. Lordan, even more fervently, continued to push his proposal directly to Reji: "My king, with such an opportunity, I suggest we seize the moment andunch a full-scale attack in three days!" "And I, Lordan, am willing to lead the Wicked Demons to charge at the forefront for our king!" Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Tonight Reji, seated on the throne made of chaotic ck rock and skeletons, now looks down at the Wicked Demon, whose exaggerated ttery genuinely amuses him. Wicked Demon, the soul of the demon race. Sounds quite impressive. But if Reji were to judge, the Wicked Demon is just a type of demon born to annoy others. Wicked Demons are arguably the weakest singlebatants, only surpassed in strength by Breeding Demons. On the battlefield, the main role of Wicked Demons is to harass. They specialize in hiding behind the lines, casting negative mental states on the enemy, such as fear, blindness, confusion, etc. Understanding the role of Wicked Demons makes it easy to see why Reji is amused by Lordan''s grandiose deration. Willing to lead the Wicked Demons to charge at the forefront? To charge ahead and feed the enemy, right? It''s like asking a group of strategists, no, calling them strategists might be apliment, it''s more like asking a bunch of street thugs to be the vanguard. Everyone knows it''s impossible. Lordan knows this too. So, essentially, the Wicked Demon is just trying to ingratiate himself with Reji. Attempting to recover from a previously unfavorable image. ying the fool. Just to amuse Reji. Demons don''t engage in as much intrigue and scheming as humans do. Most demons are so pure that it baffles humans. A normal new Demon King might actually fall for Lordan''s act. Unfortunately. Reji is not one of them. Not only is he not, but he also has the experience of the first round, as the Child of Destiny, as the savior who witnessed many of the Wicked Demons'' crimes. For Reji, what attracted him to "Magic Chronicles" was not its gamey or unique settings, but rather its storyline, a tragic yet passionate epic of heroism. In the game''s story, the Wicked Demons contributed greatly to the emotional value for the yer and the game. The reason why Wicked Demons are one of the nine major demon races is not because of their performance on the battlefield. But rather, their actions off the battlefield. The real terror of Wicked Demons is manifested in the areas overrun by demons. Reji mentioned this at the beginning. Wicked Demons indeed do not y well when the odds are against them. But in a winning situation, nobody can outdo the Wicked Demons. In the game''s storyline, Wicked Demons were the first to advocate not killing all humans, not to excessively ughter. But don''t get it twisted. This is not because the Wicked Demons pity humans. On the contrary, it''s so they can enve humans, to better torment them, not physically, but mentally. Whenever a human city was conquered, Wicked Demons would gather all the civilians in the square, give each person a knife, and then tell these civilians that if they wanted to survive, they had to kill. Make civilians kill each other? That underestimates the Wicked Demons. What the Wicked Demons demanded was for these civilians to use the knives in their hands to stab those who had defended the city, who had bravely fought against demons on the front lines - their fellow human beings, the prisoners of war from the resistance forces. Protectors, dying by the hands of those they protected. Frontline soldiers, killed by civilians from the rear. This is what the Wicked Demons desired. When Reji, as the hero, infiltrated the upied areas to n liberation and witnessed this part of the story, it greatly traumatized him and fueled his rage beyond measure. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the wicked demons. There are even more shocking and sinful actions toe. For example, establishing evil cults in human society, brainwashing propaganda that "demons are supreme" "demons will bring salvation," etc., and raising up a great number of followers of the demons. For example, using the civilians in the upied areas as human shields when attacking other cities. For example, capturing heroes among humans, legendary figures, and torturing them day after day, depleting their soul and will, making them fall into puppets of the wicked demons, internal support. There''s just too much more to tell. Carelessly falling back into those bad memories in the game. Reji,ing back to his senses, loosened the hand he had clenched unconsciously. In the game, what Reji hates the most is undoubtedly the wicked demons. If possible, Reji really wants to see, if he really agreed to the wicked demons'' foolishness, letting Lordan and his demon n take the lead, charging at the forefront, what expression Lordan would have. But reason stopped Reji. ''I can''t do that'' ''At least not now'' The other apostles would definitely not agree for one. After all, from the human perspective, wicked demons are utterly evil, but from the demon''s perspective, even if despised by other apostles, it cannot be denied that wicked demons indeed have many benefits for the demon race. Especially now, when the demons is in decline, having finally gained some strength, they cannot be sent to death. As for the second point. It''s also the most crucial. Reji has had a better strategy for a long time. Finally, after Lordan''s words, Reji on the throne, after a brief silence, spoke up. But what Reji said next shocked all the apostles present. Reji rejected Lordan. Anyone could have guessed that. Lordan himself had long been certain that the king would not entertain his frivolous words. Until "Three days?" Reji on the throne shook his head. Then he calmly said: "Three days, too long." "Tonight, we will travel through the passage and descend upon the world." Silence. Still silence in the Demon King''s Hall. A shocked Lordan opened his mouth wide. Even the wicked demon doubted his ears. ''Did I hear it wrong?'' ''Did he just say. Tonight!?'' Meaning, in a few hours, the king is going to lead the army directly to invade the world, conquer the continents, and start the second great war between humans and demons!? Lordan thought Reji was definitely in a hurry to counterattack, definitely very wild. But he never imagined, their new Demon King was in such a hurry, so wildly insane! No. This is not wild. This is simply madness! Even more frivolous than his previous words! The king''s proposal could never pass in the council. No, even the true royalist, Eileen, was stunned, and aftering back to her senses, the subus immediately said to Reji nervously: "My king, I understand your urgent desire to revive our demon race, we feel the same, but...but this is too important, we cannot be so reckless!" "Our demon race, although havingin dormant for a thousand years, is still far from its heyday. We cannot afford a second failure, My King, at least give us some more time to prepare!" After Eileen earnestly persuaded Reji on the throne, she immediately cast an anxious look at Hektor below, signaling the Great Demon, acting as themander, to also persuade the king quickly. Hektor indeed stood up. But what came out of the Great Demon''s mouth waspletely opposite to what Eileen had hoped for. "Your Majesty, Eileen is right, doing this carries great risk, our n''s army is not yet fully prepared for battle." "But" "If my king is aware of the situation and still decides to do this, then I...am willing to follow the demon king''s steps! I also believe, those millions of brethren who witnessed your majesty''s power beneath those altars, will do the same!" Chapter 16: Chapter 16: The Real Plan part 1 [Time left until the demons descend: 7 hours, 27 minutes, 18 seconds] Hektor''s massive figure stood tall and straight, his serious face devoid of any jest. He was different from the other apostles. The Great Demon, who revered martial strength, was conquered by Reji''s absolute power and was willing to believe everything Reji said, no matter how absurd it seemed. After all, in the face of absolute power, nothing is impossible. Hektor believed that the new Demon King''s devastating strength could clear any obstacles for them. The Great Demon''s vote of approval not only infuriated Eileen but also angered the Wicked Demon Lordan, feeling that Hektor had stolen his role. The second to cast a vote of approval for Reji''s "absurd" decision was the Decay Demon, Eris. "War. Hee hee, the war is about to start." "This way there will be... corpses. Eris''s favorite corpses. Lots and lots of corpses. Endless corpses." "Like. Love it. Eris loves his majesty, and Eris too... can''t wait. Hee hee." The Decay Demon, sitting there, swung her blood-stained butcher knife. It was probably her way of expressing joy for Reji. Her belly, built up of rotten flesh and corpses, trembled with her excited movements. Her face, patched and stitched together from various pieces of flesh, grinned at Reji, looking as innocently delightful as a little girl told by her parents that they were going to the amusement park tonight. A little girl weighing several hundred kilograms. "Eris, shut up! This is not the ce for your whims!" Eileen immediately scolded the Decay Demon below. The Subus was considered the leader among the female apostles. Especially after the Demon King''s descent, Eileen''s status would rise along with the tide. Therefore, the Decay Demon, included in the "female apostles," couldn''t help but shrink back, muttering grievously, "Eileen is scary... frightening." But that was limited to a few murmurs before she quieted down. "My King, even if we have enough void passages, these new passages have not yet been reinforced by Dian. The risk of rashly traversing them is great, with the chaotic space streams inside causing a high casualty rate for our army. These losses arepletely avoidable! Please, consider la! It''s not easy for the Breeding Demon to produce these armies!" Seeing that there were already three votes in favor, Eileen became even more anxious. She was different from the Wicked Demon Lordan. Lordan ttered Reji blindly for self-preservation and to curry favor, but the Subus genuinely cared for Reji, considering the whole demon race, so she must dissuade when necessary. "My King, Eileen makes sense." The Sorcery Demon Dian spoke up, providing Reji with further detailed data. "I estimate the casualty rate of traversing these native passages to fluctuate around 15%. If we let the army pass tonight, we will lose hundreds of thousands of troops before even shing with humans." "This number, in terms of time, is the number of demons that la''s breeding grounds would take decades to produce again." After the Sorcery Demon''s words, la, also a member of the "female apostles," immediately waved her tentacles under the hint from the Subus Eileen, emitting "la...," "la la..." cries ofment to express her stance. The Breeding Demon, the breeding ground of the demon race, is a producer type of troop. So for la, even low-ranking demons are like her children, losing hundreds of thousands of them for nothing, la was very distressed and reluctant. However, at this time, the Wicked Demon Lordan, who had not found the opportunity to speak, finally became spirited. "My King, our Wicked Demon n is willing to sacrifice ourselves to assist the Sorcery Demon, greatly speeding up the reinforcement of the passages!" The proposal of the Wicked Demon brought a new turn of events. Dian has always been pragmatic. After Lordan spoke, he pondered briefly as if calcting, and soon nodded affirmatively, saying, "If we use the essence of the wicked demons as an aid... hmm, it should indeed be possible toplete the reinforcement tonight, reducing the army''s traversal loss rate to below 3%, only..." The essence is produced only after the death of a wicked demon, and the yield is very low. Lordan understood the meaning of the sorcery demon and bit his teeth, loudly saying, "It would be our honor as the Wicked Demon n to pave the way for our king''s n!" This solved thest problem. After tonight, a million demon troops would descend upon the world, returning to the continent from the banished chaos rift, seemingly a done deal. Seeing this, Sword Demon Pierre no longer remained silent and stood up to express his stance: "My King, if your decision is made, please allow me to lead the team, bringing thest seven high-ranking Sword Demons of our n as our vanguard, to assassinate the strong, political leaders, and military officers among humans in advance. This can greatly avoid our n''s casualties andy the foundation for the victory of the king and our n." The Sword Demon squad. Reji is very familiar with it. In the first ythrough of the game, the Sword Demon n had illustrious military achievements, with countless humanmanders, prodigies, and even kings ultimately falling to the de of the Sword Demons. Reji did not expect that, after a thousand years, there would still be seven high-ranking Sword Demons left. You should know, a high-ranking Sword Demon is equivalent to at least a human with "five moldings" lit in their life track, around level 70, roughly equivalent to a sect master, college dean, or a high-rankingmander of a legion-level force. And it doesn''t stop there. After the Sword Demon spoke, Hektor shook his head. The Great Demon, with his massive stature, stood up and voiced out to Reji in a deep tone. "My King, let the vanguard duties be entrusted to our n. Although only three high-ranking Great Demons remain in the Great Demon legion, we still have over fifty mid-ranking Great Demons." "In a surprise attack, the Great Demon legion can help our race to capture the most cities before humans can react, securing the most victories for the king." Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Real Plan part 2 Reji is well aware that Hektor''s words are not boastful at all. If the above Sword Demon squad is the nightmare of all human elites. Then the current Great Demon legion is the nightmare of all human soldiers. The Great Demon is, without a doubt, number one in solobat strength among all demon races. Even the lowest-ranked Great Demon is level 50. Forparison, The "Champion Warrior" among humans is around level 40. The "Grand Archbishop" of the Radiant Church is about level 55. And even if both sides are of the same level, unless it''s a once-in-a-generation prodigy among humans, Great Demons typically have 1.5-2 times the attribute values, especially in terms of physique. It can be said that Great Demons are pure war machines. Just like a modern tank in a farming society. Three high-ranking, over fifty mid-ranking,pared to the Great Demon n in its prime during the first ythrough, has indeed shrunk quite a bit. But even a lean camel is bigger than a horse, this is still a terrifying force that can sweep through any small human kingdom. That''s right. Hektor is being conservative here. It''s not about capturing a few more human cities for Reji. It should be said, capturing a few more countries. In charge of the military, Pierre and Hektor, were already discussing the order of troops to be deployed, preparing to tally the troops. Afterwards, not wanting to be outdone, the Decay Demon Eris also showcased the gue she created to Reji during the meeting, while the Sorcery Demon Dian brought out many magic scrolls with great lethality against humans. On the throne, Reji did not speak or stop these apostles, just silently listening, using this as an opportunity to quickly understand the remaining strength of the demon race after a thousand of years. Whether it''s the million demon troops. Whether it''s the assassination team proposed by Pierre, targeting political figures with Sword Demons, or Hektor''s n for a violent breakthrough with the Great Demon vanguard. Whether it''s the corpse poison gue brought out by the Decay Demon, capable of destroying several strong fortresses without shedding blood, or the Sorcery Demon''s magic, refined over a thousand years, specifically terrifying and exquisite against humans. The strength of the demon race after a thousand years is very different from what he had imagined before; although fallen, it is not at the point of decline, still possessing the power to fight. Reji indeed must leave the chaos rift, and the sooner, the better, as this would allow for development opportunities. However, Reji does not wish for the demon army to leave with him. This force of demons is undoubtedly powerful, but Reji believes it''s better to keep them in the chaos rift until he has grown fully and can have absolute control over military matters. This is no simple task. Although Reji has thought through how to convince these apostles, he cannot be the one to initiate this. It needs to be someone else, no, a demon. Someone who can "grasp" what he means, Reji finally set his gaze on the Wisdom Demon, the only one among the apostles, who were eagerly discussing the counterattack, who had kept silent the whole time. Feeling Reji''s gaze, Leo seemed to confirm something. He nodded at Reji. As if they had understood each other without speaking, already in tacit agreement. Then, the Wisdom Demon stood up from his seat, and Leo loudly broke the council''s discussions. "Everyone, stop." "Discussing in the wrong direction no matter how much is just a waste of energy, a futile effort. I think... you all have misunderstood our great demon king." If the Subus is considered the leader among the female apostles. Then the Wisdom Demon should be the one with the most weight in his words among all apostles. When Leo started to speak, the other apostles consciously quieted down, waiting with puzzled looks for what the Wisdom Demon would say next. "Firstly, I also agree with his majesty''s decision to leave the chaos rift tonight." The Wisdom Demon stated his position. But then, he continued, "However, I believe that his majesty''s departure does not mean we should openly start a war with humans." "On the contrary, our departure should be stealthy, low-profile, minimizing the noise and visibility of our exit from the chaos rift as much as possible." Hektor, themander of the army and a Great Demon, was the first to object to Leo''s statement. "As a military leader, I do not understand, Leo. Not all demons can conceal themselves like Sword Demons and Shadow Demons. Your idea is too difficult, simply impossible to achieve." "Indeed." "So, our action tonight will not include any demon army." Leo did not argue but nodded, seizing the moment to make his main point. This statement caused many apostles to frown. For demons, they have grown ustomed to steamrolling their way through, an offensive approach passed down from their ancestors. Without an army, What kind of counterattack is that? What are they counterattacking against? Only the Wisdom Demon turned his gaze back to Reji on the throne. Although Reji was inwardly pleased, The Wisdom Demon did not disappoint him. But outwardly, he still had to maintain the cool demeanor of a Demon King, which also facilitated the execution of his strategy. The less he spoke, the better, allowing his subordinates to speak more. "Continue" One simple words. Reji merely nodded slightly as a sign. But for Leo, this was already the best encouragement and affirmation from the Demon King. Following this, the Wisdom Demon spoke with even more confidence andposure. "Fellows, ever since our defeat a thousand years ago, I have been reflecting, trying to learn from our failures, and I havee to a conclusion." "Arrogance. We, the demon race, were too arrogant." "We thought we could destroy everything effortlessly, believing that the mere resistance of humans was but a tickle, useless before our mighty demon armies." "However, the reality proved us wrong, and it was our continuous sess that made us lose the most important thing - the ability to strategize" The Wisdom Demon showed a look of regret and sighed. "Imagine, if a thousand years ago, we had captured a few humans for the Decay Demon to study before our attack, having the gue we have now, would those human fortresses that troubled us have fallen without a fight?" "What if we had captured a group of human mages for the Sorcery Demon before the attack, would the human magic that caused us heavy losses also have been easily dealt with?" "Even, if before the invasion, we had acquired information about the chosen one, and sent Shadow Demons and Sword Demons to eliminate him before he grew, would the humans, without their savior, have any capital to resist us? Would they have posed any threat to our previous king?" The Wisdom Demon''s words were sharp. Making many apostles lower their heads. Especially regarding the chosen one. Eileen''s reaction was the strongest, her lips pursed, fists clenched tightly. Seeing everyone silent, Leo finally took a deep breath and slowly concluded: "Fellows, we are no longer as glorious as in the past. We need to admit the decline of the demon race, and because of this, we cannot afford to be reckless, impulsive, or continue to use the traditional methods." "We need intelligence, to understand the state of humanity after a thousand years of recovery and development post-war." "Which countries, which strong ones do we need to be aware of? Will there be another chosen one like before?" "Without rifying these things, I do not support any form of attack. Our greatest advantage lies in staying hidden; humans not knowing or even forgetting our existence. Premature attacks would only waste this advantage" The Wisdom Demon''s speech resonated with Reji on the throne, who internally agreed with every point. He would have approached it from the same angle. Leo''s speech came to an end. The Wisdom Demon finally exined to the other apostles: "Therefore, I believe my king''s intention tonight is for us, the apostles, to traverse the portal to the human continent." "This is a long-term infiltration n. We need to root ourselves in human nations, fully integrate into human society, and gather intelligence on humans. Only when we truly control all aspects of humanity, should weunch an official attack, crushing humanity in one fell swoop. This is the true way to avenge our thousand years of resentment and to restore our race''s glory!" The more Leo spoke towards the end, the more firm and certain his voice became. As proof. The Wisdom Demon then turned around, respectfully asking Reji on the throne, "My King, have I correctly interpreted your intentions?" Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Eileen is Not Unhappy Last chapter for today. -------- If Reji were to grade the Wisdom Demon, he would definitely give a score of 99 out of 100. The Wisdom Demon truly did not disappoint his expectations. With just a few words, he had very well deduced his thoughts. As for the remaining one point, The only imperfection was... "Very well said, Leo." "But there''s one thing where you are mistaken" The Wisdom Demon immediately expressed his willingness to learn: "Please enlighten me, my king." "I''ve said it, tonight, it''s ''us'' going to the human cities." Us. Reji emphasized this word. Leo immediately understood. However, the Wisdom Demon immediately attempted to object: "My king, that cannot be! How can you, as our leader, take such a risk..." Leo hadn''t finished speaking when Reji raised his hand, stopping the Wisdom Demon with his gesture. "This matter needs no further discussion." "As the Demon King, I will not only have my subordinates at the forefront. Moreover, as you''ve just said, Leo, arrogance was the greatest reason for our failure a thousand years ago. So this time, I will personally interact with humans" "Not just me, I will also require you, all of you, every demon apostle, to interact with humans. Only by doing this can you better understand humans, understand our enemy" Reji was candid, openlyying the groundwork for his subsequent ns. Had it been in the past, Reji believed that if any Demon King dared to say such things, they would be looked down upon by the entire demon race, and would be ousted. After all, interacting with humans was considered a disgrace for the demons, not worth their time, akin to why would one want to interact with insects? Perhaps only the Wicked Demon would be keen and fond of it. But now, Reji was very clear. The pride of the demon n had been severely crushed in the disastrous defeat of the war between demons and humans a thousand years ago. Completely shattered by him, who hailed as the "savior." So, after making such a dangerous statement, Reji looked around below. As expected. No apostle objected, not even Eileen, who despised humans the most. This somewhat proved that, in some sense, the demon race also recognized humans as a powerful opponent, admitting that they were not weaker than daemons. Having sessfully implemented the overall direction as nned, The rest was down to the specifics. Reji quickly changed the subject: "However, considering we are still in the early stages, for tonight''s first descent, I will only take three apostles with me." ''''''''''''''''''Three?'''''''''''''''''' The nine apostles in the meeting were all guessing who these three mentioned by Reji would be. Such a crucial position, whom would the king choose among them? Firstly, Reji pointed to the Wisdom Demon. This was not surprising, and Leo himself was already prepared. "At yourmand, my king." The Wisdom Demon''s calm serpent eyes twinkled with determination. The next one Reji pointed to was the Sorcery Demon, Dian. This was also within the apostles'' expectations. The Sorcery Demon, behind his crow mask, gracefully bowed deeply to Reji: "It is my honor, my king." It''s not hard to see that those selected by Reji were simr in stature and appearance to humans, which is normal since they are going to infiltrate and gather intelligence. Actually, after the first two apostles were chosen, everyone already knew who the third would be. Eileen adjusted her clothes, ready to kneel to receive themand. However. Reji''s finger did not point in the direction of the Subus but towards another. That was a demon apostle cloaked in a cape. Shadow Demon, Sherman. . [Time left until the demon n''s descent: 4 hours, 18 minutes, 07 seconds] -Demon King''s Pce. -Inner Pce. In Reji''s bedroom, Eileen was like a wife preparing her husband''s travel pack for a long journey. "My King, these clothes of human nobility have been washed and dried by the servant demon. They are a bit old and have faded a bit, but I have selected the ones that best fit your stature." "My King, here is approximately ten gold coins worth of currency. Even if these currencies are no longer in cirction among humans after a thousand years, here are also some agate ornaments and precious metals. These hard currencies can also be exchanged for a significant amount of money at human pawnshops." "My King, thending point of the void passage is uncontroble, so I''ve also included this map of the continent. Although a thousand years have passed and I''m not sure if it will still be useful, it can at least help the king to identify the general direction." "My King" Reji was curious as he watched the Subus disy each item from human society, introducing their uses to him. After all, the demon race has always looked down on humans. Even more so after being sealed for a thousand years. "Eileen, where did you get these?" "My King, these aren''t mine. They were sent by the Wisdom Demon''s n on Leo''s orders not long ago. They must have been collected and preserved during the war a thousand years ago." Eileen shook her head as she said this, as if inment. "It seems Leo had indeed been thinking along the same lines as your majesty for a long time, preparing to infiltrate human society, hence the deliberate collection of these items." After storing the basic items, the Subus woman became even more serious, carefully exining to Reji: "My King, this is the ghoul potion I got from Eris. Sprinkling it on any corpse can summon high-ranking ghouls to serve your majesty. Some physical tasks, menial tasks, can be left to them. If your majesty finds himself in a crisis, the ghouls can explode, producing arge cloud of poison gas to buy time to retreat." "And this crown ring I got it from Dian. You must always wear it. It can help my king to be immune to curses, confusion, poisoning, and many other negative spells and effects. I know your majesty is powerful, but humans are extremely cunning and specialize in underhanded tactics. With this ring, I can be a bit more at ease." "As for weapons, since I''m not sure which type my king prefers, I''ve taken the liberty of gathering the best weapons from our demon race that I could get from Pierre and Hektor. take a look my king, which one of these suits you?" Eileen was truly thorough. Like a secretary. Although the role of the Subus is to manage the Demon King''s internal affairs, Reji felt moved seeing Eileen so concerned, having run around nearly every apostle to gather the best for him. "Thank you, Eileen" Reji sincerely thanked her. The Subus was initially pleased, feeling Reji''s sincerity. However, Eileen''s head quickly drooped once more as she silently carried on getting Reji''s travel pack ready. Given the gloomy appearance of the Subus, Reji was aware of the reason. In the end, "Eileen, are you still upset about what happened at the meeting?" Eileen did not look up. Continuing to pack the items for Reji while answering, "No, not at all" But after a pause of about a second or two, She repeated in reply: "I am most certainly not unhappy because my king didn''t take me with him." Chapter 19: Chapter 19: My King, Do You Have Any Clues? You can see till chapter 40 for free in the special chapter which is after chapter 01 characters. ----------- ''Alright'' ''The same old method'' For the Subus''s current mood, Reji directly went over and hugged Eileen from behind. The Subus''s body was very soft. Through the thin garments, her slim waist felt slick and alluring. Caught off guard by Reji''s sudden embrace, Eileen was obviously very surprised. The close presence of the Demon King made her heartbeat elerate rapidly, and the warmth from her king''s palm on her waist made her body heat up. Just a hug and a gentle stroke made Eileen melt,pletely leaning back against his chest as if surrendering herself to him. What also surrendered, not just the Subus''s body, but also the little mood Eileen had just made, vanished into thin air. "My King" With a tender expression, Eileen leaned her head on Reji''s shoulder and tipped her neck. The Subus''s swan-like white neck was enticing, and below the sexy corbone, the deep cleavage between her full breasts was like a tempting abyss of desire. Eileen''s affectionate hands also moved towards Reji. But Reji was ready; he took hold of the Subus''s hands without pausing to look intently into Eileen''s eyes or to murmur constion in her ear: "Eileen, do you remember what I said? You are the only apostle I trust, I need you to watch over our rear." "I understand my king, it''s just that..." "Trust me Eileen, it won''t let you wait too long. As soon as we stabilize, I will bring you back to my side at the first opportunity." Reji''s warm breath tickled Eileen''s ear. Any resistance from the Subus ultimately turned into a mere "mm" and ended. Eileen said no more. She curled up in Reji''s embrace, choosing to greedily enjoy this blissful moment. Actually, the reason Eileen was upset was mainly that she had finally, after a thousand years, awaited the arrival of the demon king, her king, but had barely spent a day together before he was about to leave her again. There had been a scenario like this before, Eileen vaguely remembered. When she was young, others in the demon n had said simr things to her, asking her to stay behind. That was her mother. But in the end, what Eileen awaited was the tragic news of her mother and the Demon King, the bodies of her parents strangled by the chosen one. Reji did not know what the Subus in his arms was thinking. However, he sensed Eileen''s strong unwillingness to part with him. To slightly change the subject, Reji quickly pointed to a strange item among the luggage Eileen was packing for him. It looked like a skewer. Except the meat on it was twisted, and upon closer inspection, there were many small suckers. "Speaking of which... Eileen, I''ve always been curious, what is that? It looks... very much like la''s tentacle?" Reji was right. Following Reji''s pointing, the Subus in his arms also looked over and nodded: "My King, that is indeed la''s tentacle, turned into jerky after our processing. It''s an emergency food supply I prepared for my king, just in case." ''Uh...'' Seeing the king still puzzled, Eileen, regaining someposure, exined the origin of the "octopus jerky" to Reji. "In the thousand years ago, when we were first banished into the chaos rift by the chosen one of humans, this ce was barren and deste, with no food to speak of. If not for la''s jerky, we might have perished or starved to death by now." ''la'' Reji remembered that in the game, this Breeding Demon apostle''s boss trait was a powerful self-healing ability. ''So, does that mean...'' Eileen''s next words confirmed Reji''s guess. "la, even without actively consuming food, can absorb energy from the environment on her own. Although the chaos rift is deste, it is not entirely devoid of material energy. By relying on this, la allowed her tentacles to proliferate indefinitely, then continuously cut her tentacles to serve as food for us, enabling us to survive those most difficult first hundred years." "After that, Eris created a rot grass crop that could grow on the barren, deste burnt earth, greatly alleviating la''s food dilemma. Later, Dian and I sessfully modified the breeding grounds to trade off quality of our race for a greater adaptability to the environment. Only then were our demon race pulled back from the brink of extinction, starting our slow reproduction and growth." Although Eileen spoke simply, anyone could hear that this period in the real history of the demon race must have been incredibly hard and fraught with adversity. And this also solved a puzzle Reji had for a long time. The demon race survived in this way. What surprised Reji the most wasn''t just la''s self-sacrifice for her race... but rather the rot grass crop mentioned by Eileen, researched by the Decay Demon. ''The demon race had actually started farming!'' ''This was beyond my expectations'' After all, in the game, the demon race, being from another realm and having invaded countless worlds before invading theirs, was known only for plundering and destruction. However, because the demon race only knew how to loot and destroy, they had to invade the next world immediately after depleting the resources of one, for survival. Unexpectedly, the demon race, being sealed in the chaos rift for a thousand years, under extreme conditions, actually unlocked potential and developed a technology tree they never had before. ''This is undoubtedly good news'' ''It meant that the demon race indeed had more possibilities'' Humans are greedy. Reji''s heart wasn''t entirely leaning towards humans; having crossed over as the Demon King and possessing this ability, he pondered whether he could also find another path for the demon race. For this reason, Reji had been trying to avoid premature contact between demons and humans. This was for the good of humans, but actually also for the good of the demons too. Reji hadn''t forgotten, the original game''s survey had three questions. The first two were about the yer, about the protagonist, which is himself. But thest question... was about the Radiant Holy Maiden. The survey asked for his evaluation of the Radiant Holy Maiden''s strength, and he had answered[Very Easy] So, ording to the pattern that had unfolded for him, A thousand yearster, the new Radiant Holy Maiden among humans, his descendant many generations removed, would probably be terrifyingly powerful, even bing like him, a new savior, the chosen one. And knowing the setting of the Radiant Holy Maiden, letting this descendant acknowledge her ancient ancestor would be easy; she would definitely be very respectful towards him, but epting the demon race... just thinking about it gave Reji a headache. In summary, this goal was too far and too difficult. Everything, first and foremost, depended on him bing stronger. "Don''t worry Eileen, the demon race will never have to starve again, nor consume the flesh of our kin." "Tonight, after we return to the maind, I will immediately instruct Dian to construct a portal between the maind and the chaos rift. Then, a continuous stream of human resources will be transported to the chaos rift, serving as nourishment for the growth of our race" Reji wasn''t just making empty promises. Privately, this would help solidify his prestige among the lower ranks of the demons; publicly, being well-fed leads to stability, and if the demons is no longer starving, humans can be at peace too. A win-win strategy. "Mm, I believe in my king, and on behalf of a million of our kin, I thank your majesty for your grace." Seeing that it was about time, Reji prepared to let go of the Subus and then find an excuse to have Eileen leave quickly. However, as if she had foreseen it, Eileen put her arms around Reji and refused to let go. Reji had intended to bring up the same set of arguments about the revival of the demon race and the greater good of the race. But Eileen''s next statement directly countered everything Reji was about to say. "My King, since a few minutes ago, I''ve felt something continuously poking me down there~" "It''s so strange. Do you have any clue what it might be?~" Chapter 20: Can Eileen See My Kings Secret Weapon? Reji: "..." There was no helping it! Allow any adult male with normal desires to continue holding a busty Subus in his arms; such a reaction is entirely beyond Reji''s control. That''s also why he was so eager to have her get down and send her away. "Eileen, you see, it''s about time..." Reji''s attempt to change the subject was abruptly sealed with the Subus''s fingertip. "My King, I always get the impression that you ignore me after you say lovely things to me. This must be my misunderstanding, right?" The Subus looked up at Reji, blinking her innocent eyes at him. Reji was sweating inside. It seems the old saying is right; even the best tricks fail when overused. Fortunately, Eileen''s purpose in saying these things wasn''t to make Reji ufortable. "My King, this demonic de was forged from the corpses of several high-ranking Sword Demons a hundred years ago. It is imbued with the power of lost souls, which can intimidate opponents during your ughter, and it also has a spell-breaking effect. Any shield spell below the fifth level is as fragile as brittle paper in front of this demonic de." "My King, this demon trident has been passed down from the generation beforest of Great Demon apostles. It contains terrifying blood energy, Hektor said even he has difficulty controlling it, but having witnessed the sea of blood you created in the domain before, Hektor believes you might be able to wield this demonic weapon." "My King, this is the bloodstained cleaver Eris gave me for you. She said any being that dies under this de will be transformed into a corpse servant. If you''re interested in summoning, you might want to give it a try." "My King, with so many weapons, which one do you prefer? Or" Eileen hesitated, as though the dumplings she had wrapped before were only a taste of the vinegar toe. "Do you have any... very powerful secret weapons on you?" Eileen leaned into Reji''s ear. Softly whispering: "Can Eileen take a look?" Reji: "" Reji indeed couldn''t help it anymore, even getting a bit angry. How could he, a mighty Demon King and the chosen one from his previous life, be yed with by a Subus? Indeed, for the sake of future ns, he temporarily could not perform the ritual with the Subus. But think about it differently. There are many ways to discipline a bad Subus. "My King, is there anything else to take? I will have someone prepare itter, um, and put it in the ring." "No more!" "This space ring, um, is also a trophy from human society back then, Hmm, humans really do have a talent for tinkering with these little things." "I''ve already had, um, the Sorcery Demon seal the space ring, only, um, my king can open it. This ring has also been engraved with, um um, a spell that can disguise a human appearance. My King just needs to, um, attach his consciousness to it." Then, Eileen seemed to demonstrate the ring''s disguise function for Reji. After a sh from the ring, Eileen''s Subus horns and fluffy tail disappeared, concealed by the spell, and her skin turned from a bit grayish to malt color, truly resembling a human. This new skin had a significant impact on Reji. A humanized Subus is both strange and cringeworthy. And for Eileen, such a reaction from Reji was undoubtedly even more surprising, like discovering a new continent. ''So, this is what excites my king?'' ''Humans?'' Eileen didn''t express any doubt towards Reji. On the contrary. ''So my king''s experience is with humans'' ''And humans are the rulers of the world.'' ''So...'' ''Indeed, conquering the world is my king''s experience!'' Even his experience is so dedicated, so for the sake of the demon race, Eileen was deeply moved in her heart. No amount of words could express it, ultimately turning into even more loyalty towards Reji. Reji and Eileen were sitting together, next to each other. You could see how red Eileen''s face was, she was moving her legs, as if she was impatient. The two exchanged nces, deep, slowly bringing their faces closer together. Until the subus''s lips touched Reji''s. It started with a slow kiss, Eileen''s mouth tasted sweetly of mint, which made the kiss even more refreshing. Their tongues began to move restlessly, Eileen''s heat continued to rise, so she began to remove the top of her thine clothes, revealing her beautiful breasts. "Hmm~~ My King, we can do half the ritual without affecting my strength So can I have the honor!?~" "If that is how it is then, You have my permission" "Thank you, My King~~" The two then moved towards the couch, where Reji sat down. Eileen then knelt down and started the ritual. [Time left until the demon n''s descent: 2 hours, 41 minutes, 19 seconds] -Demon King''s Pce. -Outer Pce. -Happy times are always fleeting. After leaving the king''s room, Eileen licked the corner of her mouth. Walking down the corridor, in front of many demon guards, Eileen once again resumed her noble and dignified demeanor as an apostle. Demons passing by had to immediately stop and bow their heads towards Eileen''s direction until she walked past before they could look up again and continue their tasks. Demons are different from humans. There is a strong hierarchy among demons, and naturally high-ranking demons like Subus have a transcendent status within demon society. Eileen''s humility and lowliness inside the bedroom were exclusive to the Demon King. And only Reji could see that side of her. In most cases, Eileen is like now, no, not just towards ordinary demons, even towards apostles of the same level, even as a new generation, Eileen did not mean to show respect to her seniors. After leaving the Demon King''s pce where Reji was, Eileen''s next destination was directly towards a huge cave in the southwest of the chaos rift. There, is where the Shadow Demons reside. Shadow Demons are somewhat simr to bats. Both prefer to dwell in dark, damp ces. The Subus descended from the air, retracting her wings. She didn''t choose tond directly but raised her hand, releasing a concealment spell, lowering her presence to the minimum. Then Eileen headed towards the entrance of the Shadow Demon cave. Shadow Demons are the scouts of the demon race. They are the eyes of the demon race. Unfortunately, in front of Eileen''s apostle power, the Shadow Demons hanging upside down above the cave did not detect this outsider. The Subus easily made her way to the depths of the cave without disturbing any Shadow Demons. There, a unique, cloaked Shadow Demon was present. Eileen had just taken a step forward when a nd voice came from the cloaked Shadow Demon opposite her. "Eileen, what brings you here?" *Tsk* The Subus pursed her lips. Somewhat displeased. But this was expected. Her disguise spell might fool other Shadow Demons but couldn''t deceive Sherman. From Sherman''s tone, which had no fluctuations, It''s very likely that from the moment she descended from the Skye, Sherman had already noticed her. Eileen didn''t respond to Sherman''s question. Or rather, she couldn''t say that. The Subus responded. Not with words, but with a thorn whip summoned from her hand through magic as her answer. "Eileen, I don''t understand." "What do you mean by this?" Sherman''s tone finally showed some fluctuation, with confusion, but the next response Sherman got was only the sound of the whip Eileen swung towards her. *Smack!* The rose-colored thorn whip harshly struck the ground where the Shadow Demon had just been. The force of this strike was so strong that it created a thunderous noise inside the cave. The solid rock floor was shattered, leaving a mark from the whip, showing the terrifying strength of the strike, with no mercy or holding back. "It means nothing." Eileen stood tall on a rock inside the Shadow Demon cave. Her cold gaze was directed at the Shadow Apostle who had dodged her whip attack and was now frowning at her. The Subus simply stated: "I just wanted to have a fight with you" Chapter 21: Am I Qualified Now? As her words fell, Eileen''s next strike appeared above the Shadow Demon,shing down fiercely. The Shadow Demon might still be digesting the Subus''s previous sentence. Caught somewhat off guard, she didn''t manage to dodge in time. Sherman took the blow from Eileen''s whip hard. Her body was instantly sent flying by the tremendous force of the whip, crashing into the cave wall with a loud boom, causing arge amount of dust to fly. Such a disturbance naturally rmed the other Shadow Demons in the cave. Thinking it was an enemy attack, they hurried over to check, but when they saw it was Eileen, they became confused and stood frozen in ce, not knowing what to do. ''Could there be a conflict among the Apostles?'' Such things had happened in the history of the demon race. Clearly, this was beyond their level of involvement. Thus, a clever Shadow Demon quickly prepared to go to the Demon King''s pce to report the incident and seek a solution. However, "Stop." Eileenshed her whip right in front of the Shadow Demon who was about to report. Nearly scaring the demon out of its wits. After all, the whip was only a few centimeters away from him. Had the strike truly hit him, seeing the rocks shattered by the whip nearby, the Shadow Demon could somewhat understand what would have happened to it. Just as this Shadow Demon was struggling, hesitating between the importance of his life and the importance of reporting, fortunately, another voice sounded. "You all, retreat." "Eileen is just sparring with me" Sherman emerged from the rubble. She stopped her own kin. Although the sight of Eileen''s whip sending her flying into the wall looked terrifying, from Sherman''s current appearance, there was no sign of injury. With their leader speaking, the Shadow Demons that hade hurriedly did not interfere further and quickly left, keeping their distance as if making room for the two high-ranking Apostles. Finally, the cave returned to a brief silence. Only Sherman and Eileen remained. "Am I to understand that you''re angry at me?" Sherman was the first to speak. Seeing that Eileen didn''t respond. Sherman thought the Subus hadn''t understood. Her expression was indeed unclear, so the Shadow Demon further borated: "Is it because the Demon King chose me and not y?" *Whoosh!* Sherman''s words hadn''t even finished when an even more fierce and surging whipshed towards her position. Clearly showing its owner''s rage. However, this time, Sherman didn''t dodge or take the hit. From under the Shadow Demon''s cloak, a vast expanse of shadows spread out instantly, quickly coalescing behind Sherman, forming a huge shadow hand. Sherman was not to be underestimated. The shadow hand met Eileen''sshing Thorn Whip head-on, and at the next moment, very precisely caught the trajectory of the whip in the fast-moving whip shadow, grabbing it and stopping the Subus''s attack abruptly. At the same time, Sherman''s ever indifferent voice echoed in the cave. "I''m sorry, Eileen." "But this is the Demon King''s decision." "If you have objections, you should take them up with his majesty, not me." Sherman''s "I''m sorry" did not ease the tension. On the contrary. Seeing her attack suppressed. Eileen increased her intensity. The Thorny Whip, now held by the shadow hand, suddenly surged with pink mes. The pink me devoured the shadow, and in a moment, itpletely burned and consumed the entire shadow hand, breaking free. The Thorny Whip, now enchanted with pink mes, was swung by Eileen again, attacking the Shadow Demon. Did Eileen not know Sherman''s suggestion? She had previously been asking Reji oblique questions. Unfortunately, Reji''s attitude was very firm. Eileen then gave up, only able to direct all her resentment for not being able to follow by her king''s side onto the Shadow Demon. This is the difference between demons and humans. Unhappy with you. No nonsense. Direct action. "His Majesty''s safety is above all else. If you do not have the power to protect the Demon king, I will start the council again to have his majesty change the n." Eileen found herself a legitimate reason. But it''s not to say that. This is indeed one of the main reasons she came to the Shadow Demon. To test whether Sherman is qualified to protect the demon king. And upon hearing Eileen say this, Sherman, who was originally indifferent as if humoring Eileen, changed instantly. Because the nature changed. The former could be seen as her, as a senior, taking care of Eileen, the new generation''s emotions, after all, she, and all other apostles, actually owe Eileen. But after the Subus''s words. *Buzz!* The entire cave''s shadows seemed to tremble, and the environment darkened a bit. Sherman''s aura began to rise rapidly, the shadows under her feet turned pitch ck like ink, spreading from the ground to the entire cave wall behind her, eventually condensing into a terrifying shadow giant behind her. Without a word, the guardian shadow giant, under Sherman''s control, rushed towards the location of the Subus with its huge gigantic body. The shadow giant seemed intangible, but every step it took echoed in the cave like muffled thunder, making the ground tremble. Its pitch-ck hand wasrger than Eileen herself, grabbing at Eileen like catching an ant. Eileen was not to be outdone. The Subus wings on her back instantly spread out, and even in the narrow terrain of the cave, she dodged the shadow giant''s palms with the agility of a butterfly. Dodging was not the goal. Eileen, seizing the opportunity during one of the shadow giant''s rigid attacks, the thorny whip burning with pink mes reappeared in her hand. Positioned behind the shadow giant, the Subus aimed at the giant''s neck, the long whip whistling out, wrapping tightly around the giant''s neck in an instant. "Ahhhh!!" The shadow giant immediately roared in anger, but with its neck tightly bound by the long whip, it could only rage impotently, attempting to tear off the whip from its neck. But it was toote. Under Eileen''s control, the thorny whip suddenly tightened, the burning pink mes on the whip incessantly scorching the shadow giant''s entire body. Finally, the whip tightened to its limit,pletely strangling the shadow giant to death, with the pink mespletely consuming the huge giant. The shadow giant created by Sherman could no longer hold up and copsed with a bang. ''Is this it?'' Eileen was just feeling proud, but the next moment, the smile on the Subus''s face froze. She looked down at her own ground, where her shadow... was gone. "You lost" With Sherman''s usual Emotionless voice sounding in her ear, Eileen found herselfpletely immobilized, unable to move at all. The Subus then realized that the shadow giant was just a diversion to shift her attention. Sherman''s real target was her shadow. The Shadow Demon, appearing behind Eileen at some point, moved to the front of the immobilized Subus, alongside Sherman, and also Eileen''s "captured" shadow. Once a high-ranking Shadow Demon touches the enemy''s actual shadow, the battle is undoubtedly over. The victor is decided. Sherman returns Eileen''s shadow. The Subus then regained control of her body. However, the unconvinced Eileen, like a rebellious girl throwing a tantrum, wanted to continue the fight. But it seemed Sherman had anticipated this. Before the Subus could react, several shadow hands shot out from behind Sherman, pressing Eileen firmly against the cave wall, rendering her struggles futile. Calmly watching, the Subus once again suppressed and unable to move. Sherman, with her usual emotionless voice said: "Eileen." "Now that you see my power with your own eyes. Am I qualified?" Chapter 22: Before Departure part 1 (Hail: Eileen''s Strange behavior will be cleared in the future chapters. ) ---- Easily subdued by Sherman twice in a row. Despite her stubbornness and anger, Eileen had to admit that indeed, as a new generation apostle, she had a significant gap in strengthpared to these older generation apostles. The Subus "hmphed" and turned her head away. Seeing this, Sherman took it as Eileen acknowledging her superiority. Thus, she released the shadows that pinned the Subus against the wall and thoughtfully used the shadows to gently help Eileennd, so she wouldn''t fall. Eileen was originally venting her anger, but instead of dispelling it, she ended up causing herself more trouble. Seeing the Subus''s frustrated demeanor, Sherman couldn''t help butfort her: "Eileen, as a new generation apostle, being able topete with me evenly in just a thousand years, you are already the most talented demon I have seen, even surpassing your mother." "I believe it won''t be long before you surpass all of us apostles." Although Sherman''s initial remark about peting evenly" was somewhat to spare Eileen''s feelings, thetter part about the Subus''s talent rating was not false, even predicting that Eileen would soon be the first among the apostles, not even the Great Demon Hector could catch up, was entirely serious. Demons are different from humans. The lifespan of demons is almost measured in tens of thousands of years. Just having been born a thousand years ago, Eileen, who has already lit up the "Quad Sculpture" life track, is extremely rare in the entire history of demons. You should know, these old-generation apostles who have lived for tens of thousands of years, only a few have reached the "Sept Sculpture" full circle of perfect life track, the rest of the apostles, including herself, are just stuck at "Hex Sculpture." Moreover, now that the summoning ceremony was sessful, the new Demon King has arrived. Following this, as a Subus, Eileen just needs to perform the unique ritual of the Subus tribe with the new king, and her strength can once again leap forward, saying surpassing the Great Demon Hector is truly just around the corner. However, Since the Subus ritual was mentioned. Sherman asked the Subus somewhat curiously: "Eileen, your power seems to be as strong as usual without any signs of weakening. You... didn''t you go through the ritual with the new demon king?" ording to tradition, on the day the Demon King is summoned, the Subus apostle should perform the ritual with the king at the first opportunity, after which the king''s power will be amplified, and the Subus apostle will enter a brief period of weakness. But looking at Eileen now, who could still angrilye to fight with her, where does she look even slightly weak? "No." Eileen, albeit reluctantly, had to admit. "His Majesty doesn''t like you?" Sherman asked with concern, after all, holding the ritual is not a private affair between the Demon King and the Subus but a major event for the entire demon race. And upon hearing the Shadow Demon''s blunt words, Eileen instantly became like a cat whose tail was stepped on, bristling with anger. "Younonsense!" "It''s because His Majesty cherishes me, not willing to take my power at this time, so he decided to postpone the ritual!" "Oh!" Sherman nodded as if she understood. After a few seconds, as if she couldn''t hold back, "If needed, I can help you contact Eris and Dian, they can make his majesty more interested in you." Sherman, speaking in a senior''s tone to impart experience, was immediately silenced by an angry re from Eileen. Seeing that the Shadow Demon obviously didn''t believe her. Eileen was also annoyed. To maintain her dignity as a Subus, Eileen rolled up her sleeve and showed Sherman a mark on her arm, faint but definitely there. The mark of the Subus. Sherman was immediately puzzled, her petite body under the cloak tilting her head. "Eileen, you said his majesty was unwilling." "Hmph, of course, I have my ways!" Eileen stood tall and proud. A demeanor of "don''t underestimate a Subus." Getting the essence of the king is not the only way. Although this method,pared to the normal ritual, is much inferior. Pulling back her dejected emotions. Eileen showing Sherman the mark of the Subus was not just to prove herself but also had a more important purpose, which was the second main reason she came to the Shadow Demon. "Sherman, give me your hand." Although Sherman found it strange, she did as asked. But afterwards. When her hand ovepped with Eileen''s, the ritual light of magic flickered from the Subus''s body, and Sherman recognized the magic as a transfer spell! "Eileen, what is this?" "Transferring the demonic mark to you" The Subus said simply. But the implications behind that statement were far from simple. If previously, the Wicked Demon offered a soul stone to apologize to the king, consuming arge amount of the Wicked Demon''s soul power, Now, the demonic mark that Eileen was giving her was essentially the essence of the Subus! Even more so, It symbolized the most important proof of the "bond" between the Subus and the Demon King! In the subsequent ritual, the Demon King will reciprocate power back to the Subus, and the Subus can ride the coattails of the Demon King''s power surge, all thanks to the "demonic mark" that establishes the connection. It can be said that the demonic mark is the most important thing for a Subus. But now Eileen had anticipated Sherman''s shock. While performing the transfer ritual, Eileen pretended to be nonchnt: "Don''t overthink it, because I didn''t perform the normal ritual with His Majesty, this demonic mark is only a half-finished product. Its main effect is to help the holder sense His Majesty''s current location and condition, nothing more." Hearing this, Sherman finally understood why Eileen did this. "Use it to protect His Majesty well." "Promise me, don''t let our demon race lose another king, okay, Sherman?" Eileen''s transfer ritual ended. The Subus was visibly weaker than before. Even a half-finished demonic mark is still a mark. Equivalent to Eileen willingly giving half of her essence power to Sherman. And the purpose?, merely to let Sherman better protect her king. Why say merely. Because from the battle just now, it''s clear that the Shadow Demon possesses powerfulbat capabilities, as well as strong reconnaissance and transfer abilities. If a great danger were to ur. The Shadow Demon is definitely the apostle who could detect it first and evacuate safely. Perhaps, this is also why the king chose to bring Sherman. But. Even if Sherman is 90% sure she can protect the king well, Eileen is still willing to add even just an extra 10%, 5%, or even less, with all her effort. Sherman fell silent. After a long time, the apostle of shadow finally spoke. "Eileen, you and Diane... are really simr." Diane, the name of the previous Subus apostle. Also, the only apostle who died in battle during the war between humans and demons a thousand years ago, falling alongside the Demon King to the Son Of Desteny(Chosen One). To this, Eileen replied: "But I don''t want you, and you all, to end up like you did a thousand years ago." After the Subus spoke, there was a moment of silence. However, this time the silence was short. "I promise you, Eileen." "I will protect His Majesty" "With my true body" Apostles usually invade through projections, hiding their true bodies in safe ces. This is why, a thousand years ago, although the Demon King died in battle, the other eight apostles survived. In a sense, although the Demon King is their Leader, he is more like a tool that the demon race can specifically produce at certain times. Hence the saying, "Demon Kingse and go, but apostles remain unchanged" except for the Subus apostle. Forcing Sherman toe in her true form to protect the demon king, to advance and retreat together with the king, was Eileen''s ultimate goal. And. Sherman actually got it wrong. Eileen and her mother wouldn''t be the same. Chapter 23: Before Departure part 2 Her mother, between the king and the demon race, ultimately chose the demon race and did not force other apostles to make ast stand with the demon king. She is different. If, Eileen said if, there reallyes a day when the new demon king, her king, faces a life-threatening danger. Then Eileen is sure, at that time, she would not hesitate to choose thetter between the demon race and the demon king. The countless Subus apostles before her were all too naive, including her mother. In a moment unnoticed by Sherman, a dark shadow flickered in Eileen''s eyes, a morbid emptiness. ''If the king no longer exists'' ''Then the demon race, would have no reason to exist either'' Eileen''s eyes quickly returned to normal. Such taboo and rebellious thoughts, of course, she would not openly express, just deeply buried at the very bottom of her heart. Having achieved her purpose with Sherman, the Subus prepared to leave. But before leaving. Eileen seemed to think of something, hesitated, and although she felt it was probably not possible, just to be safe, Eileen still needed to issue a serious warning to Sherman. "Sherman, if Ie back and find any changes to the demonic mark on you, then" The only way for the demonic mark to change is if its holder also underwent the ritual with the Demon King, ''establishing a rtionship''. "You''re dead." The Subus stared at Sherman hidden in the shadows of the cloak, word by word. It''s not hard to see, Eileen''s attitude towards her elders is very straightforward, never beating around the bush. Sherman didn''t react much on her part. She understands. After all, this is the Subus''s prerogative. Sherman resumed her usual indifferent tone: "You worry too much." "I am a Shadow Demon, not a Subus." "We are professionally trained" Seeing Sherman''s indifferent demeanor and remembering that the Shadow Apostle is always hidden in her cloak, Eileen forgot when was thest time she saw Sherman''s true form. Definitely not very attractive. ''Moreover, being ten thousands of years old, His Majesty definitely wouldn''t have the appetite. If he were to choose, it would be the young girl who''s just over a thousand years old like me'' Eileenpletely reassured, left satisfied. [Time left until the demon race''s arrival: 1 hour 17 minutes 01 second] At the void passage of the Chaos Rift, the door through which the demon race is about to leave this ce and return to the world. Sorcery Demon Dian is personally working on reinforcing the "door" to ensure stability during the transit. Then, footsteps came from behind. "How''s the situation with the passage?" The Wisdom Demon Leo came for the final inspection. Dian didn''t speak, but gentlemanly gestured for Leo to proceed. Leo stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the void passage below, seeing that after Sorcery Demon''s stabilization, the space energy, if previously was a rapid torrent, now is a tranquil stream,pletely tamed and remodeled. "You Worked Hard" "It''s my duty, but if Mr. Leon could get me more essences from the Wicked Demon as a constion, I wouldn''t mind" Dian expressed his regret, indicating that the essence of the Wicked Demon was indeed a very good material for casting spells, but unfortunately, it was quickly consumed and in short supply. Leon ignored Dian''s obsession with sorcery. He still looked down at the void passage. The reinforced passage, with clearer imagesing from the other side, allowed Leon to clearly see the world of humans on the other side, a beautiful world of blue skies and white clouds. "Dian, do you remember what that world looked like at the end of the human-demon war a thousand years ago?" "Of course, dark skies, scarrednds, the entire continent burned by war, everywhere was wreckage and ruins, perhaps not much better than our current Chaos Rift, right?" Leon nodded. The ferocity of the war a thousand years ago nearly destroyed the entire world. But the Wisdom Demon sighed. "Yet now, a thousand years have passed, and in the hands of humans, that war-torn world has regained vitality, and evenpared to before... it''s more beautiful." Dian spoke after a moment of silence: "So, what is Mr. Leon trying to say?" "I think, maybe we demons should also learn, beyond destruction and plunder, something else, like the creativity of humans." "Hmm, undeniable, it''s a very constructive suggestion, Mr. Leon." "However, I personally suggest that Mr. Leon better not mention this in front of other apostles, especially Eileen." Leon knew Dian was right. Learning from humans is hard for many in the demon race to ept, especially some who despise and hate humans. The atmosphere seemed a bit stiff. With some time left before the official arrival, Leon changed the subject. "Dian, what do you think of the new demon king?" "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie, Mr. Leon?" The Wisdom Demon nced at Dian''s crow mask. Seeing this, the Sorcery Demon shrugged his shoulders. "Just joking, if you ask me to evaluate, although I''ve had limited contact with his majesty, it''s hard to make a systematic assessment, but so far, I''d say, our king this time is... very human-like, in many senses." "Additionally." Dian paused, then said to the Wisdom Demon: "Just now, Mr. Leon, you also gave me that impression." ''Like... humans?'' Normally, this statement would be considered an insult among demons. But Leon knew Dian meant no offense. After all, the Sorcery Demon is one of the few apostles who once had an "appreciation" for humans. "So do you think this is good or bad?" "In my view, nothing is absolutely good or bad, just like sorcery magic. Even the most basic and simple low-level spell, if used at the right time and ce, can have a huge impact. Conversely, even the most luxurious and powerful high-level spell, if used in the wrong direction, is just a waste, counterproductive." "Like the Soul Binding Curse you cast with all the power of the Sorcery Demons on the human Chosen One a thousand years ago?" "I don''t deny it." The Soul Binding Curse. A seventh-tier high-level spell. It required the sacrifice of several high-ranking Sorcery Demons to cast. Once hit, there''s no way to remove or dispel it, and the target would continuously lose vitality for a week until death. Everyone thought the Chosen One hit by the Soul Binding Curse was doomed. But the human''s Great Guardian gave the demon race another answer. *Transfer magic* A first-tier low-level spell. It was mastered to perfection by the Great Guardian within a week, with the purpose of transferring the curse on the Chosen One to himself. Clearly, the Great Guardian seeded. A weekter, he died from the Soul Binding Curse, taking the ce of the Chosen One. Chapter 24: History Lesson part 1 At that time, this was undoubtedly a greater surprise for the demon race. After all, the Son of destiny had not yet matured. He was just beginning to show his potential and could hardly be called a savior. Meanwhile, the Great Guardian was capable of rivaling Dian, being a pir of strength among humans, and the prime enemy of the demons at that time. Every demon believed this was a hugely profitable strategy. However, the final fact proved "That battle of magic, I lost." "I respect that Great Guardian; he truly is the top professor of the human magical academy, and he gave me a lesson I still vividly remember." Dian''s gaze towards the distance retracted, and the Sorcery Demon shook his head at this memory from a thousand years ago. Speaking of these "old friends" of humanity, "Leo, aren''t you the same? Initially, you used treasures to lure the Chosen One. When he made a breakthrough after seizing the treasure, you led the long-ambushed demon army to surround the Chosen One''s city. But in the end." Following the Sorcery Demon''s words, Leo also reminisced about that period from a thousand years ago. It could be said, that was probably the closest they ever came to killing the Chosen One. The Chosen One couldn''t resist the temptation and chose to break through using the treasure. At that time, he waspletely unguarded. If the demon army could reach him, they would surely cause his downfall. Even if they couldn''t kill him, the Chosen One being forcefully interrupted during his breakthrough would have beenpletely crippled, with no possibility of progressing further. But, "If I remember correctly, the human femalemander apanying the Chosen One at that time, with merely fifty thousand soldiers, held off our two hundred thousand demon siege for three days and nights. Even in the end, when there was only one soldier left, the femalemander did not choose to flee but used herself as a shield to buy the Chosen One half a day." The history beyond that, the Sorcery Demon did not continue. After sessfully breaking through, the Chosen One alone pushed back, no, rather chased down their three hundred thousand demon army for five days and nights, almost reaching their main camp. Only after ying the Wisdom Demon who was themander at that time did he finally retreat. It was after that battle, having lost the Wisdom Demon, that humanity officially sounded the counterattack. Under the leadership of the Chosen One who had already revealed his sharpness, they gradually drove the demon race towards defeat. "Mr. Leo specifically chose this time toe, it must not just be to reminisce with me, right?" The Sorcery Demon, who had long lived in seclusion to deeply study magic, Compared to most of the demon race, Dian was actually more like a schr. Thus, he quickly sensed the intention behind the Wisdom Demon''s visit at this departing moment. Seeing this, Leo stopped beating around the bush. The Wisdom Demon straightforwardly said, "Yes, I hope that for our descent a thousand yearster, you, me, and the other apostles, can all be in our true forms." True forms In their projected states, the apostles could only exert 70% of their strength. After a projection is destroyed, although the true form would also be severely damaged, it could recover with time and rest. And if they were to descend in their true forms, they could indeed exert all their power, but the price is just like the previous generation''s Subus Apostle: once killed, it truly means death. Exchanging a mere thirty percent increase in power for the huge risk of death, "Leo, it seems you really do like our new king" Dian couldn''t help but sigh. And the Wisdom Demon did not deny it. Leo''s snake-like eyes remained calm, stating the facts: "Do you remember which king was thest to actively call for a Demon King conference?" The Sorcery Demon knew the answer. Part of his job was to record history. Although it''s called a Demon King conference, in reality, all were initiated and led by the Wisdom Demon. The king was only there to nod in agreement symbolically. The demon race''s strong military force never needed such conferences. The king would descend with arge army, sweeping away everything with overwhelming force, which is almost the portrayal of all the worlds previously conquered by the demon race. Take the most recent examples: In the year 176 of the Demon Lord calendar, the Infernal Legion descended on the insect world, taking 19 years from invasion toplete conquest. In the year 896 of the Demon Lord calendar, the ck Beast Legion descended on the elf world, taking 31 years from invasion toplete conquest. In the year 24 of the Demon Lord calendar, the Evil Spirit Legion descended on the dragon world, taking 57 years from invasion toplete conquest. In the year 318 of the Demon Lord calendar, the Shadow Legion descended on the orc world, taking 8 years from invasion toplete conquest. The Demon Lord calendar resets every thousand years, and with each new Demon King, the names of the demon legions also change. It''s not hard to see, even the powerful dragon race could only hold out for 57 years against the demon legion. So, it''s no wonder that the kings of the past all perfunctorily dealt with conferences. Dian could very well understand why the Wisdom Demon liked their new king so much this time. After all, this new king was the first in history to actively call for a Demon King conference so quickly, and even at the conference, it was the king who led, while the Wisdom Demon became the one to trante the king''s thoughts and strategies into actions. Although Reji was a transmigrated Demon King, those human thoughts and habits deep inside him were hard to change. For instance, in Reji''s view, it was very normal to convene a meeting with subordinates before undertaking significant actions. But not in the eyes of the demon race. This is also why Dian gave Reji the "like a human" evaluation earlier. "So, Mr. Leo, did Eileen send you to persuade me?" The Sorcery Demon didn''t directly agree or refuse; he remained as ever, gentle in demeanor. Sensing the movementing from the Shadow Demon''s cavern, the sensitive Sorcery Demon had already noticed, guessing why Eileen went to find the Shadow Demon, hence his question to the Wisdom Demon. However, what he received was Leo shaking his head. "No, this is my own decision." "Let''s leave it at that. I still need to do some preparations for my king''s descent, to ensure his majesty''s safety." "As for you Dian, you don''t need to reply to me now. There''s still some time before we traverse. You... think it over." After saying this, the Wisdom Demon turned and left. Chapter 25: History Lesson part 2 Watching Leo''s departing back, Dian said, "Mr. Leo, it seems that the failure a thousand years ago truly changed you a lot." The Wisdom Demon didn''t turn back. He paused his steps, slightly inclined his head, perhaps adding, "It also changed the demon race a lot." Finally, as Leo''s figurepletely disappeared into the distance, The Void Passage area was once again left with only the Sorcery Demon. Under the crow mask, Dian was deep in thought. Firstly, he would definitely not descend in his true form just to protect the king. That much was certain. No matter how Leo tried to persuade him, citing examples of how humans protected the key to their victory against the demon race, the Chosen One of destiny, it was futile. After all, in the Sorcery Demon''s view, the Demon King was his superior, and that was all. His service to the Demon King was merely to ensure a continuous flow of resources for his magical research as the demon race conquered one world after another, supporting the enormous consumption required for his studies. If there was anything that could make him sacrifice his life, it would only be some profound and iprehensible magic form. Or something that would fill him with fanatic curiosity, something unknown and fresh that would excite him to the point of trembling uncontrobly, with a strong desire to explore and research. Thinking this, Dian looked down at his own hands, trembling uncontrobly. If he were to take off the crow mask, Dian believed that his expression would undoubtedly be twisted and filled with pleasure. After all, A Demon King like a human. Was there any topic that could fill him with more desire to explore and research? Therefore, for this reason, He would descend in his true form alongside the king, advancing and retreating together with him. However, the foundation of all magic forms is equivalent exchange. Since he had given the king his greatest sincerity, Then The Sorcery Demon took out a green crystal from his bosom, the essence of a Wicked Demon. At the time, he had deceived the Wisdom Demon, actually not using these essences given by the Wicked Demon to reinforce the Void Passage. But now, Dian elegantly raised the green crystal high. Under the powerful magic of the Sorcery Demon, the essence of the Wicked Demon was crushed into powder and scattered into the Void Passage below. Experiments need variables. Just as he was doing now. [Time remaining until the demon race''s descent: 0 hours 57 minutes 10 seconds] In the Wicked Demon''s tent, "Lord Lordan, it''s utterly foolish of the king to choose the Sorcery Demon over you!" A high-ranking Wicked Demon was venting in the dark tent to their leader, angrily criticizing Reji. Criticizing alone wasn''t enough. The high-ranking Wicked Demon angrily continued: "Everyone knows our Wicked Demon race understands humans the best. Lord Lordan you are the greatest support to the king. When we learned the council''s decision, many Wicked Demons were so furious, they wanted to confront the Demon King, to request a review for Lord Lordan!" Pleasing and ttering superiors, Has always been the habit of the Wicked Demons. Lordan coldly nced at his confidant and said, "Then you go." When it got serious, the high-ranking Wicked Demon, who was just filled with righteous indignation, immediately softened. The idea of actually going to see the king... he, he wouldn''t dare. Lordan obviously knew what his subordinates were like. After telling his confidant to stop spouting nonsense, Lordan pondered for a moment and then asked, "How is the investigation I asked you to conduct going?" Speaking of this, the high-ranking Wicked Demon''s face showed a puzzled expression. "Lord Lordan, I gathered five high-ranking Wicked Demons, ten mid-ranking Wicked Demons, and even found a low-ranking Wicked Demon. Aside from the low-ranking one, it seems the rest of the Wicked Demons vaguely felt that they could trigger the king''s talent." The talent of the Wicked Demons is the perception of weakness. No wonder the high-ranking Wicked Demon was puzzled and bewildered. After all, they had all witnessed the king, upon his descent, effortlessly overpower the two strongest pinnacle forces of the demon race, the Sword Demon and the Great Demon, in a one against two battle. But why... Lordan didn''t speak. His deep green eyes shimmered with thoughtful light. Soon, Lordan changed the topic. "Where''s the Heart-Eroding Mirror you were supposed to bring?" "Here, Lord Lordan." The high-ranking Wicked Demon quickly pulled out a mirror with a sickly green sheen, filled with an evil aura, from his bosom. After receiving the mirror, a sly smile appeared on Lordan''s somber face. The words of his confidant confirmed his suspicions were correct. There was definitely something wrong with the demon king. But what exactly was wrong, Lordan still needed to investigate. However, because he had already be fearful before, Lordan changed his strategy. On the surface, he continued to tter and support the king while conducting his investigation to unveil the king''s true nature in private. Simply put, Lordan was looking for a pawn to do his bidding, to test the king for him. A pawn that, even if exposed, wouldn''t matter and wouldn''t be traced back to him. Exactly, It was the humans. Sealed in the Chaos Rift for a thousand years, especially after opening a new Void Passage, Lordan had not been idle. Although he couldn''t leave, he could influence and reach into the human world. All thanks to this Heart-Eroding Mirror. The treasure of the Wicked Demon race. And now, It was time to reap the results. He had pretended to make a big sacrifice at the council, offering those essences to strengthen the passage, but it wasn''t that simple. As Lordan manipted it, the sickly green mirror shone even brighter, and what reflected from its surface was the clear image of the human world. It was, a senior professor at a human academy. "Students, please turn to page 104 of your textbook. Today, we will review the knowledge points rted to ''The Great Guardian Malvin'' that will appear in the final exam." "In the year 162 of the Glorious Calendar, Malvin was born in the Darran Empire, also known as thend of magic. As an orphan, Malvin shocked his teachers by proposing the theory of magical rtivity and, with the support of the orphanage director, went on to further his studies at the Darran Intermediate School of Magic." "In the year 176 of the Glorious Calendar, Malvin graduated from the Darran Intermediate School of Magic with top marks in all subjects, was rmended for admission to the Arcane Academy, and was taken as an apprentice by the then-famous Professor Kais." "In the year 180 of the Glorious Calendar, Malvin won the Arcane Contest championship. At only 18 years old, Malvin had already lit up four Arcane Star Orbits. By the year 193 of the Glorious Calendar, Malvin had invented over 128 low-level spells, 63 intermediate spells, and 7 high-level spells, officially bing a leader in the field of magic." "In the year 200 of the Glorious Calendar, during the demon invasion, Malvin served as the Great Guardian. In the year 203, Malvin''s high-level spell, Lightning Storm, annihted fifty thousand demon troops in Greywind Gorge, sessfully covering the retreat of the Lionheart King. In the year 209, Malvin founded the Arcane Guerri Squad, training arge number of excellent mages to fight against the demon race for humanity." "In the year 214, during the Mare Empire battle, Malvin defeated the Sword Demon Apostle Pierre. In the year 219, during the Naran River battle, Malvin alone dyed a hundred thousand demon troops, protecting the crucial canal for transporting supplies. In the year 243, Malvin eliminated one of the Great Demonmanders, Senaoli. In the year 257, Malvin." "" "....." "In the year 271, the Great Guardian, who dedicated his life to humanity, died at the hands of a demonic traitor, his beloved disciple. The Great Guardian, exploited by others, was ultimately tortured to death by the Soul-Seeking Curse of the Sorcery Demon n." On the podium, the thin professor was seriously giving a history lesson, word by word. However, in the nearly empty ssroom below, there were only about eight or nine students. Among them, five students were sleeping on their desks, three were doing homework for other subjects, and only one girl with sses and some freckles on her face was listening attentively and taking notes. Actually, this wasn''t too surprising. After all, a male student who was lying down sleeping yawned. He nced at the professor seriously teaching on the podium and the only other student taking notes next to him. The male student shook his head. Who would actually sign up for such a boring and dull ancient history ss if not for extra credits? Why listen to these long and tedious histories? He also admired the professor for teaching so earnestly. What era was it, and still talking about demons. Other professors were thinking about how to get promoted and earn a higher sry, aiming for higher positions, while this professor was still researching these ancient relics from a thousand years ago, a race that had long been extinct. Couldn''t understand it, really couldn''t. But, Well, It couldn''t be said that way. Luckily this professor was old-fashioned and honest, not like other professors. He wouldn''t mind them sleeping in ss, and the exams were very easy, casually passing them. That''s precisely why he signed up for this ss. After clicking his tongue a few times, the male student shifted to a morefortable position and continued to sleep soundly on the desk. Chapter 26: 0:0:0 part 1 *Ding, ding* As the ss-ending bell rang, Professor Yeno gathered his lecture notes, wiped the ckboard clean of ancient history, and prepared to leave the ssroom without paying heed to the students who were still fast asleep on their desks, even after ss had ended. However, the sound of hurried footsteps from behind made Yeno stop. "Professor! Professor!" The one who chased out of the ssroom was the little girl with freckles. Yeno adjusted his sses and recognized the student, after all, she was the only one who listened during his lectures. The girl asked Professor Yeno about some knowledge points. All about ancient history, about the Demon Race. Professor Yeno answered patiently, one by one, very detailed and clear. It was evident that he had a thorough understanding of ancient history, especially his research on the Demon Race. Because of this, "Professor Yeno, do you really think the Demon Race is as lowly and inferior as written in the textbooks? I have read many history books, and there are few records of the human-demon war a thousand years ago. Even if there are, almost all of them end with a great victory for humans, as if the Demon Race was really easy to defeat. This, this seems a bit different from what you taught us" Hearing the freckled girl student say this, Professor Yeno adjusted his sses. He shook his head and smiled, saying, "My Child, history books are only written by the victors." "Professor Yeno, I don''t quite understand. Then, do you think the Demon Race has really been exterminated?" "It depends on how you understand it, just like for a person who covers their ears to steal a bell, to him, the bell does not exist." The freckled girl student clearly couldn''t keep up. She waspletely puzzled. "I''m sorry, I have to go home now. If you still have any knowledge points that you don''t understand, you cane to my office tomorrow." "Or..." Professor Yeno paused. He then handed a card with a simple magical form to the freckled girl. "Take good care of this." "Professor, what is this...?" "This is an invitation to a gathering." "It''s a meeting founded by those who haven''t covered their ears and can hear the bell sound. After activating the card with your magic, you will get the location and time of the next meeting. Perhaps there, you can learn more about what you wish to know about ancient studies, about the Demon Race, about... the truth." Professor Yeno left. He was slender and had a limp. Teachers and students avoided this "weird" professor in the corridor since he was typically silent and did not take part in any school-rted events. And the freckled girl stood there. She carefully clipped the meeting invitation, which was printed with strange purple and ck patterns, into her notebook. Leaving the Royal Academy of the capital city. Yeno took a carriage back to his residence in themoner district. Upon entering the house, his virtuous wife and two lovely daughters had been waiting for him for a long time. "Dear, dinner is ready." "Daddy! I want to hear a story! The story of Commander Anna you told mest time!" the seven or eight-year-old daughter whined to Yeno. Ha, the other daughter, who was more mature and graceful than her sister eximed, "Nana! Let Dad get the rest he deserves; he''s been exhausted all day." "No, no! Nana just wants to listen! Daddy~!" Professor Yeno''s wrinkled face broke into a smile. He picked up his younger daughter and sat at the dining table, then cheerfully asked, "Alright, alright, where did I leave offst time?" "You were telling about how Commander Anna was lured by a traitor and was surrounded by the demon race alone. Dad, please tell me, what happened to Commander Anna in the end? She must have sessfully broken through the demon ranks, right?" "Unfortunately my sweet heart, Commander Anna and her soldiers were surrounded by the demon army and held out for three days and nights but ultimately could not wait for reinforcements and lost their lives to the demon forces." "Ah! How could this happen..." The little girl, upon hearing the continuation of the story, showed a face full of disappointment and loss. She quickly became angry, clenching her little fists. "Damn it! If it wasn''t for that human traitor, how could Commander Anna have been surrounded! Wahh! Dad, I like Big sister Anna, and I want to be like her when I grow up, a hero who fights against the demon race and protects humanity!" "There, there! Let''s eat now, even heroes need to eat well!" Yeno''s wife rubbed their indignant little daughter''s back, feeling somewhat helpless. In fact, she would rather guide her daughter to be a mage, a doctor, or a civil servant serving the empire like herself, rather than amander. To fight against a demon race that doesn''t exist. But after all, this was her husband''s profession. Even if ancient history was an unpopr subject, he was still a professor at the Royal Academy, and that was the reason they could afford to live in themoner area. Thankfully, their older daughter was more promising. Thinking this, Yeno''s wife gave Ha an encouraging look. Ha hesitated for a moment but still mustered the courage at the dining table to say to Yeno, "Father, tomorrow is mying-of-age ceremony at the Swordsmanship Academy. Could... could you find the time to attend the ceremony?" Yeno was not a social person. Ha originally did not want to force her father, but her mother felt that it was better for both parents to bless her on such an important asion. At this moment, Yeno''s wife chimed in from the side, "Dear, Ha''s swordsmanship instructor came to see me yesterday. Ha''s grades and talent are among the top in the academy. In the future, she has a good chance of being incorporated and bing a high-ranking Swordmaster of the empire." Hearing how excellent his daughter was, Yeno showed a relieved smile and patted his older daughter''s head. "Of course." "I will be there on time." The wife and older daughter both breathed a sigh of relief, while the clueless younger daughter kept her head down and ate, as if venting for Commander Anna. The family, warm and modest at the dinner table, was not wealthy but at least happy. However, All of this was shattered with a "snap." Chapter 27: 0:0:0 part 2 The bowl Professor Yeno was holding seemed to slip from his grasp and crashed to the floor. The food inside scattered all over. The red juice from the tomatoes stained the carpet. Before his wife and children could ask what was wrong, The professor, as if struck by some great stimulusan exhrating stimuluslost his usual reticent and reserved demeanor. Instead, he disyed an expression his wife and daughters had never seen before. It was Excitement. As if... Something that existed only in history and legends had truly appeared before him. Yeno disregarded everything else. He rudely pushed the chair away and rushed out of the dining room at top speed, sprinting towards his study. The wife and daughters left behind were confused and puzzled. But the reason was known only to Yeno himself. Upon entering his study in excitement, he forgot to lock the door and immediately reached into his chest with his trembling hands. There, he had a green emerald pendant that Professor Yeno always carried with him. For the most part, no, it should be said, since Yeno had obtained this green emerald pendant, it seemed to be nothing more than an ornament. But now, Now, when Professor Yeno ced the green emerald pendant in his palm, the pendant''s ghastly green glow enveloped the entire study. Covered Yeno''s entire face. "Master" "Is it you, master... Master!?" Yeno shook his head frantically, looking towards the walls of the study, the ceiling, or perhaps some farther depth. The voice of this ancient history professor trembled as much as his body. "The time... hase" From the ghastly green ne in Professor Yeno''s palm, a demonic voice emerged, a voice that only he could hear. "Master! The time? What time? Are you implying... implying!!!" "That''s right. It''s time to prove yourself. Prove your ancient history studies prove that what you have devotedly researched is not just... rubbish in the eyes of those ignorant fools." "The Demon Race will return to the world, and you will enjoy our new world as a new human." Lordan''s voice was seductively persuasive. Yeno''s inner darkness and the frustration he had always borne were infinitely magnified. The "weird" ancient history professor now had a crazed smile on his face. "Master, I, we have waited too long for this day. What do you need us to do, we" Yeno''s fervent speech was cut off. "Anchor point." "For our arrival. In the human world. Establish a coordinate anchor point. Next, I will give you power. Let us break through... the tunnel together." Lordan cultivated such a force in the human world. Next, he wanted to test the Demon King and verify his suspicions about Reji through these humans. Therefore, Lordan needed to bring the Demon King to the area within his power. That''s why he intentionally offered his essence to the Sorcery Demon to stabilize the portal, so that, in coboration with the human side, he could somewhat secretly control the teleportation location. So far, everything was still proceeding smoothly as nned. The evil ghastly green energy flowed into Professor Yeno''s body through the green emerald pendant. Until *Snap!* Another sound of a bowl breaking. Nana, the little daughter who came to bring food to her father, stood at the doorway of the study, petrified, watching her father absorbing the demonic power inside the room. "Get out!" Yeno''s eyes were also emitting a miserable green light, and with his ferocious and angry expression, he looked like a monster. He angrily ordered his little daughter to leave, but at that moment, the dissatisfied voice of the demon sounded. "Kill her" "Kill... her? No! Master, she''s just a child, she doesn''t understand anything, she won''t affect us." "Kill her!" The demonic voice intensified its tone, leaving no room for doubt, while also increasing the transmission of power, engulfing Professor Yeno with evil desire. The struggle and hesitation on his face vanished in an instant, and Yeno became aplete puppet of the demon, his skin turning a ghastly green. The half-human, half-demon Yeno reached out his ws towards his little daughter, who was crying at the doorway. "My dear, what''s wrong, why is Nana... Ah!!" Yeno''s wife was also drawn by the noise, but what she saw was a heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scene. "Monster, monster!!" "Run, Ha, run fast..." With a scream, the wife fell in a pool of blood, and Yeno, now corrupted by the ghastly green demonic power, sought his little daughter in the room, only to find a trace of a teleportation spell. It was thest of her strength that his wife used to release Ha. One got away. *Ahhhh!* The demonized Yeno, emitting a beast-like roar of rage, was about to storm out, clearly having lost his reason. "Come back." Still, it was the demonic voice from the green emerald pendant that stopped Yeno. "This is... a hasty transfer spell she... has likely been torn apart by the spatial turbulence. Do not chase." "The coordinate anchor. This is... what''s most important." Yeno regained some semnce of reason. Some things, like Pandora''s box, once opened, there''s no turning back. The professor''s cold gaze fell upon the dining room that was warm just minutes ago, now turned into a blood-red scene. He stepped over the bodies of his wife and daughter, returning to his study. "As youmand, my lord." With Yeno''s assistance in the human world, it didn''t take long for Lordan to secure the anchor point he desired. "Master, what more can we do for you?" Of course. Beneath Yeno''s feet, the pool of blood, under the power of the demon, began to move swiftly, eventually forming a human portrait in front of the professor. The portrait of a human Boy Reji. "Find him and kill him," the demonic voice echoed in Yeno''s mind. A whisper of temptation like falling into an abyss. "Uponpleting this task... you will shed the human shell... be one of our kind." "I will not disappoint you, master!" With Yeno''s final vow, the satisfied demon ended the connection. The ghastly green glow on the pendant disappeared, and Professor Yeno returned to his normal state, as if nothing had happened if one could ignore the blood-stained carpet and the two bodies in the pool of blood. But. What of it? Wasn''t the "Chosen One" of those years the same? Indeed. He is on the right path. He is not betraying humanity. He is saving it, this now rotten and irredeemable human world! He. Yeno-Gwen Will be the new savior of humanity, a thousand years from today! .... [Time until the arrival of the Demon Race, 0 hours 05 minutes 27 seconds] The Chaotic Rift. Although Reji only brought three apostles for the descent, the remaining six Demon Race apostles still respectfully lined up as if to see Reji off. What surprised Reji even more was that not only the Wisdom Demon, but also Shadow Demon Sherman and Sorcery Demon Dian had chosen to descend with him, not as projections, but in their "true forms." The void passage was fully prepared. Reji looked towards the human world disyed across the passage, filled with anticipation in his heart. Although the first cycle of Magic Chronicles was just a game, Reji had invested a lot of emotion into it. A thousand yearster, humanity, with the legacy left by the powerful protagonist of the game, should have advanced civilization to a higher level, right? Thosepanions who had fought side by side with him a thousand years ago, were their descendants still around? How were they faring? And most importantly to Reji, the Radiant Church, with which he had the ''closest rtionship''. With such an eager heart, Reji, along with the three apostles, entered the passage amidst the deafening roars of the demons, symbolizing a new chapter for the Demon Race since their sealing a thousand years ago. The imperial capital. The remote forest. Five or six "humans" with pointed ears surrounded a well, the dim moonlight shining on the well''s surface, reflecting a series ofplex characters that were constantly shifting. That was the Elven script. The text inside the scipt have the following disy:[Time until the arrival of the Demon Race, 0 hours 00 minutes 03 seconds]" As the countdown continued to decrease, the "humans" around the well held their breath, their expressions serious and tense. Finally, the moment the countdown reached zero. *Buzz!* A huge ripple appeared on the surface of the well, and a blurry image quickly reflected inside it. That was the Demon Race. The demons, sealed within the Chaotic Rift for a thousand years, had once again opened the void passage, ready to bring disaster and destruction to the world. "Elder! The prophecy... the prophecy is true, the Demon Race, the Demon Race..." several of the younger "humans" panicked. Only the leading old woman remained calm. "What? Are you afraid? Have you forgotten why we came here?" "No, Elder! We have never forgotten the shame of the Elven blood. The homnd destroyed by the Demon Race is a hatred etched in the bones of every Elf!" Revenge overcame fear. This was also why these elf refugees, whose homes had been destroyed, were willing to expose themselves and take action. Their homes and world had been destroyed by the Demon Race. For revenge, and to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, they followed the prophecy to warn humanity, to awaken this world that had once defeated the Demon Race but had nowpletely fallen. "The princess has already gone ahead to study at the human academy in the royal city. Go quickly and join the princess, report to her the confirmation of the prophecy. Humanity has defeated the Demon Race once before. With the assistance of us Elves, we mustpletely eradicate the Demon Race this time! *Drive them out, leave none behind*!" "Understood, Great Elder, we will *Drive them out, leave none behind*!!" Under the moonlight, in the forest, were the resolute vows of the Elves, their brave faces shining. Chapter 28: Arriving (Hail: A small change Radiant Holy Maiden has been simplified to Radiant Saintess) -Ilinor Royal City. -Suburbs. The night sky, dense with darkness, twinkles with stars, presenting a peaceful and beautiful scenery, no different from any other day. Until a few birds flew across this night sky. They couldn''t even make a sound, as if swallowed by an invisible ck hole. The moment they entered this airspace, their bodies were instantly crushed and obliterated. Sixth-Tier Advanced MagicHell Realm When the magic is activated, it instantly deals massive damage to all non-ally units within range and, during the subsequent maintenance time of the spell, inflicts a death verdict damage on any unit that steps into the domain. For units below level 50, it''s basically an instant kill. "Your Majesty, it seems we are in luck" came Leo''s voice from the side. Following the Wisdom Demon''s words, Reji also looked down at a human city not far beneath their feet. At this moment, under the enhancement of "Fifth-Tier MagicSky Control," they were above the ground at a height of a hundred meters. Yet, even so, the massive city below, sprawling and endless at a nce, was still brightly lit under the deep night, resembling a twinkling night pearl from their high vantage point. Clearly, such a bustling extent was at least that of a first-tier city, and possibly even directly that of a kingdom''s royal city or imperial capital. And for them, this was undoubtedly good news. After all,pared tonding in some deste wilderness, appearing directly near the core of a human nation, whether for gathering intelligence or any further ns, was much more efficient. "Dian, any response from the anti-reconnaissance magic?" Reji quickly turned his head to ask another apostle traveling with them. Under the crow mask, Dian''s hands moved through the air like a pianist''s, tracing oneplex and profound high-tier magic after another. In response to Reji''s question, the Sorcery Demon shook his head: "Your Majesty, I have not sensed any magical fluctuations from humans." From the outside, the airspace where Reji and his three apostles were now, just like the opening scene, was an empty, ordinary night sky, with both their figures and conversation concealed by "Sixth-Tier MagicAbsolute Stealth." Just "Hell Realm," "Sky Control Magic," and "Absolute Stealth" didn''t seem enough for Reji. To be cautious, he had the Sorcery Demon activate the sixth-tier "Master-Level Anti-Reconnaissance" at the moment of their arrival. After all, in Reji''s memory, even in the first round of the game, even the lowest level human frontier towns would have a mage tower for reconnaissance, maintaining around the clock the "Radiance" reconnaissance magic specifically against demons, which he and Malvin, the great guardian, had invented together. Now. No magical fluctuations at all? Reji''s expression didn''t change much, but he was somewhat frowning and puzzled inside. After all, given the scale of the royal-city-level size seen from not far away, if it were a thousand years ago, in his game, humans would have at least more than fifty magic towers, each overseen by a mage of level 40 or above, specifically for this purpose. Such an array of fifty magic towers, the Radiance Array, could cover dozens of kilometers around the royal city, quickly alerting to any slight disturbances. But now, they were just a few kilometers away from the royal city in the sky. Yet, the Sorcery Demon didn''t sense even a bit of human magical fluctuation. ''This could only mean...'' "Your Majesty, it seems that humans live a very happy life a thousand yearster." Dian''s speech was always refined. In simpler way, this means that humans, a thousand yearster seem to have little sense of vignce, have forgotten about wars, have forgotten... about the demon race. "Dian, this is good news for our race" came the voice of the Wisdom Demon from the side. "Of course, Mr. Leo" After having the Sorcery Demon retract the "Absolute Stealth" and "Hell Realm," Reji, along with three apostles, descended into the city. Although human vignce had significantly rxed over a thousand years, in terms of prosperity and civilization, it seems that humans after a thousand years of peaceful living, have developed to amendable height. At least there was no longer a curfew deep into the night. After midnight, the main streets of the royal city still saw many pedestrians, and more than half of the surrounding shops and stores were still lit with warm lights. Speaking of this light. Reji''s gaze swept towards a streetmp nearby. [Nightlight Magic] [A first-tier magic that can maintain stable illumination for a long time at night with low consumption] Although it was a minor magic, it finally gave Reji a sense of closeness and familiarity. The origin of Nightlight Magic was a small magic invented by the Radiant Saintess to allow human armies to operate at night. And at that time, as a militarymander, there was an option for a dialogue with the Saintess in the story, which Reji remembered very clearly. -"Such a good magic should not only be used in wars."- -"After we win this war, let''s improve it together, so that humans in the future can also enjoy the beauty of the night."- There were many such flirtatious dialogues in the game. Even after the Radiant Saintess''s affection was maxed out, Reji still chose them every time. Not for anything else, but because he liked to see the Saintess blush after being flirted with, still trying to maintain her purity and pretend to be aloof in front of him, the smooth-talking chosen one. His thoughts wandered a bit. Reji pulled his attention back. Seeing that the small easter egg from the original game was truly realized a thousand yearster filled Reji with both satisfaction and regret, as if there were "patent rights" in this world, then he would probably be the richest person in all of humanity by now. Nightlight Magic was just a very insignificant magic. If you really think about it, his game character, along with the partners he had "bonded" with and trained, must have left behind many, many precious legacies for humanity a thousand yearster, covering various fields. Reji, along with other apostles who hadpleted their "humanization" using disguise rings, walked into a prop shop. Since he was exploring the changes in the world a thousand yearster, Reji naturally started with the field he was most familiar with. And as a yer, props were undoubtedly the most sensitive area. This prop shop named "Lanqi" is quiterge, spanning three floors, and even at this hour, it''s bustling with many customers. Among them, many are adventurers Reji is familiar andfortable with, donning the ssic trio of leather jacket, leather pants, and leather boots, some with a bow bag or a sword strapped on. With the store being sorge and crowded, plus the addition of the Sorcery Demon''s "Third-Tier MagicForget as You See" enchantment, the entrance of Reji and hispanions did not attract any attention from the other people in the store. One of the main reasons humans were able to defeat the demon race in the war a thousand years ago was the variety of props avable to humans that could be replenished in battle. Reji being able to solo the Demon King, continuously "popping potions" yed an undeniable role, after all, a small red potion could instantly restore 15% of maximum health, and arge red potion could fully restore health. So now, Reji was curious about how far humans havee in terms of props a thousand yearster. It doesn''t need to be anythingplicated. Reji approached the shelf with the most customers around it, also the mostmonly used prop "Healing Potion" But right away, Reji frowned again. Because ''why does the color of this potion not look right?'' In the game, whether it was a small or arge red, by implication, the healing potion should be ruby red like agate. But now. Reji looked at a row of brown... coffee-colored? potions on the shelf, a bit puzzled. ''Could it be that humans have gone through another potion revolution a thousand yearster, even changing the color?'' And when Reji actually took a potion in his hand, the system immediately popped up a corresponding interface prompt. [Shameful Healing Potion] [Quality: Inferior] [Effect: Continuously restores 10% of the user''s maximum health over fifteen minutes (up to a maximum of 200)] Reji: "" He looked closer, and thebel on the shelf indeed read "Premium" Even abel stating "Produced by the Empire''s Number One Alchemist Sineva" was added, as if to highlight its prestigious attribute. Reji then looked at the magical potions nearby. This time he chose the most expensive, highest grade, even with only a few bottles for sale, disyed in avish cab showcase, corresponding to the game, it should be arge blue potion that could instantly restore full mana. But when Reji got his hands on it, what was presented on the item interface was as follows. [Rough Healing Magic Potion] [Quality: Ordinary] [Effect: Continuously restores 25% of the user''s maximum mana over ten minutes (up to a maximum of 500)] At this moment, a group of five or six adventurers approached. They were also here to buy potions. "Captain, let''s... let''s just forget it, everything in this store is outrageously expensive." "We have to endure it, after all, ''Lanqi'' is one of the top prop shops in the entire royal city, using forms from the empire''s number one alchemist Sineva. Although the items here are expensive, they''re costly for a reason. Look at the quality of these potions, they''re much nicer than what we get in our town." The captain handed the brown potion from the shelf to the team members, many of whom were wide-eyed, very rare and amazed, even reluctant to put it back, and the captain felt the same. Chapter 29: The Grand Finale, Third-Tier Magic "Endure it, we''ve taken on a big job this time, going to serve the Count and Countess. We at least need to put up a good front. As long as we can satisfy the Count and Countess, this bit of money and the reward afterpleting the task are trivial inparison!" "Understood, Captain!" "Alright, hurry up. The auction is about to start. Even though we can''t afford anything there, since we''ve decided to venture out from the town, it''s good to see more of the world." "Roger that, Captain!" The young adventurers, after purchasing several potions with money pooled together and paying with gritted teeth, quickly made their way excitedly to the second floor of the prop shop. That''s where the auction they mentioned was supposed to be. At the entrance to the upstairs corridor, a number of adventurers simr to themselves had already gathered, with several staff members conducting checks. Entry was allowed only after identity verification, very official. No wonder the store still had so many customers thiste. It seems most adventurerse not primarily to shop but for the auction. Naturally, Reji would not miss such an opportunity. They didn''t queue up. Of course, Reji and the apostles simply walked straight through the crowd and up the stairs, unnoticed by either the staff or the queued adventurers, as if they didn''t exist. This is the effect of the Third-Tier Magic "Forget as You See." The second floor of the prop shop was visually almost twice asrge as the first floor, with carpets, walls, various paintings, and hangingmps decoration, all significantly more luxurious. Half of the area was designed as a huge convention hall. The bustling crowd was now staring intently at the center of the exhibition hall, where a well-dressed male host was passionately presenting one auction item after another to the audience. "Mane-tail dragon''s teeth and bones! A popr material for forging ''expert-level'' weapons, limited quantity, a total of five pieces, with a starting bid of 80 silver for each tooth!" "Special healing potion, the top choice for every adventure master! Can revive you in your most desperate moments, rapidly recovering thirty percent of your health, and is personally concocted by Master Sineva''s disciple, the senior alchemist Konrad! Starting bid at 10 silver per bottle!" Intermediate Magic Tome "Astral Combat Technique" Fragment! Rumored to originate from the ruins of the Star n a century ago, it allows the cultivation of powerful astral destinies, with a starting bid of 15 gold! "Green-tailed Demon Lizard Spine." The order of the auction items goes from low to high, and as the auction progresses, the atmosphere bes increasingly heated. Often, as soon as many auction items are brought out, they elicit gasps of amazement. For example, the "Astral Combat Technique" fragment that was finally auctioned off for 25 gold. Many adventurers, especially mages who follow the "Wit and Humor" destiny, were red-eyed with desire, as if it were some kind of unparalleled secret tome. In the end, it was won by a brawny man with broad shoulders and a bear-like back, decked out in fine equipment. From the envious and fearful looks and whispered discussions of the people around, it was known that this brawny man was apparently a very famous mercenary leader in the Adventurers'' Association. As for Reji, If he remembers correctly, this so-called "Astral Combat Technique" in the game was an early magic tome that he couldn''t be bothered to look at after reaching level 20, directly forgetting it to avoid upying his skill slot. Moreover, this "Astral Combat Technique" is only a fragment. From the potions before to the Astral Combat Technique now, a bad feeling in Reji''s heart is getting stronger. What truly silenced Reji was the final auction item introduced by the host as the grand finale of the auction. A slim and beautiful etiquettedy. An exquisite and luxurious carrying case. The climax of the auction''s atmosphere. And the host, whose face turned red with excitement as well. All these led up to a magic scroll. It allows the user to temporarily cast the spell contained within the scroll. As for this spell... The auction hall was filled with waves of gasps and dense discussions as the scroll was unveiled, instantly filling the entire auction with excitement. "This is a Third-Tier Magic!" "By the gods of Wit and Humor, they weren''t bluffing, they actually brought out a Third-Tier Magic scroll!" "Third-Tier Magic... This must be something that only a grand mage of at least vice-chancellor level at the Royal Magic Academy could cast, right?" "It''s a pity, though, that the spell in this scroll is a support-type ''Levitation Spell,'' and it can only be used three times." "Even if it''s a support-type, it''s still Third-Tier Magic! And it can be used three times! Do you know how difficult it is to hire a grand mage? Not just us, even those noble lords have to be very respectful towards grand mages!" "Exactly! Moreover, ''Levitation Spell'' isn''t useless at all, right? It''s one of those auxiliary magic types with wide applicability! It can levitate up to ten meters andsts for a quarter of an hour, very effective in both exploration andbat!" "Ah! Wonder who will end up with this Third-Tier scroll, tsk tsk, the starting bid is 50 gold, I probably couldn''t save up that much money in a lifetime, sigh." "Pfft, what''s the big deal! No, it''s nothing special! With all the hype earlier, I thought it was something, if they were really capable, they would bring out a Fourth-Tier ''Floatation Spell''!" An adventurer, possibly havinge over from another prop shop just to y the cynic, made a mockingment. What he got in return was a unanimous look of disdain and derision from the others around him. "Are you brain-damaged? Thest time a Fourth-Tier ''Floatation Spell'' appeared, it was performed by the Grand Commander of the Gryphon Knights Army of the Greyhawk Kingdom as an imperial congrattory gift, right? That was a once-in-a-century genius in human history!" "You''re asking our Royal Magic Academy''s Dean, Lord Dachi, who couldn''t cast it either, do you know how many years of a magister''s effort it takes to research and actually cast a Fourth-Tier magic? If they had to choose, they would definitely study Fourth-Tier attack spells, who would research auxiliary ones." "Seriouslyughable, here''s a suggestion for you, next time don''t mention ''Floatation Spell,'' directly ask why they don''t bring out a Fifth-Tier ''Sky Control Spell'' that would be so impressive, so shocking, after all, it''s a legendary spell." "Tsk tsk, but if it were really a Fifth-Tier ''Sky Control Spell,'' then not to mention our Ilinor Kingdom, even looking across the strongest empires, you couldn''t find a single person capable of mastering it, right?" Amid the surrounding jeers and taunts, this poser, likely a mole from another store, quickly slunk away in defeat. If possible. Reji too wished he could give this fool a piece of his mind. Because beside him, his two apostles. The Wisdom Demon Leo''s serpentine eyes were also fixed on the stage, watching the Third-Tier magic scroll being fiercely auctioned by the major powers, as if deep in thought. Sorcery Demon Dian''s slender fingers tapped rhythmically on his thigh, as if observing the futile efforts of ants. And Reji. He was indescribably emotional. ''This human world a thousand yearster seemed to differ a bit more than I had imagined'' Chapter 30: 3 Possibilities part 1 The third-tier spell Ascension was finally sold for 970 gold to a noble youngdy in a third-floor private room at the auction. The atmosphere inside the auction was still heated, but Reji had already left with his two apostles. Back on the main street, it was now deep into the night, and most of the "Nightlight Magic" spells in the streetmps had been extinguished. The dense night air meant few people were visible around. Walking in the lonely surroundings, Reji was still pondering the scenes from the auction. In the game, humanity at the beginning of the millennium was indeed much inferior to the demon race, but this much gap was like that between high school and university. Taking fourth and fifth-tier magic as an example. For humans a thousand years ago, it was also difficult, but not to the extent of being an insurmountable gap. Smaller nations might have hundreds of magicians at levels 30 to 40, whilerger kingdoms or empires could have up to a thousand. As the demon invasion progressed, humans, though plunged into war with heavy casualties, also significantly unleashed their potential. During the hundred years of the human-demon war, magicians exploded in numbers like springs, and under the frenzy and encouragement of Reji, the "Son of Destiny", many geniuses reached the "Magician" level at levels 40 to 50, sparkling brightly. Not to mention, humans a thousand years ago had a figure more bizarre than Reji as a "yer", the absolute legend in the magical world, the Great Guardian Malvin. This legendary figure, as one of his mentors in the game, created countless fourth and fifth-tier spells in his lifetime,ying a solid foundation for the human magical world. His own level and power were such that he could evenpete with Sorcery Demon Dian, who was over level 80. By the end of the human-demon war, Reji could say without exaggeration that the human mage corps had nearly caught up to, or even surpassed, the demons. However, a thousand years after the victory in the war, Reji imagined that without him, the "Son of Destiny," to continuously push forward, humans might not progress further, but relying on the legacy from him and from the Great Guardian, they shouldn''t have regressed too much, right? The result? A spell like "Ascension" which was considered a basic entry-level technique for the mage corps a thousand years ago, is now treated as a rare treasure and was the highlight of the auction. A fourth-tier spell has be a rarity that can only be passed on by word of mouth, and a fifth-tier spell is now seen as something legendary? This is not just regression. It''s like going from university, all the way back to middle school, no, even elementary school. ''Why has this happened?'' Reji urgently needs an analysis report from a professional. Fortunately, he has one right beside him. Reji did not show his inner confusion. Instead, as if casually chatting during a night walk, Reji slightly turned his head to the Wisdom Demon following silently beside him and said, "Leo, what do you think?" The Wisdom Demon, of course, knew what Reji was referring to. Rather than saying he was waiting, it would be more urate to state that he had been expecting Reji to speak up all along. The king had been silent on purpose, walking quietly, likely giving them time to think and prepare their responses. And now, it was his time to demonstrate his worth before the king. Leo would not let down the reputation of a Wisdom Demon. "Your majesty, it seems that the majority of humans, a thousand yearster, have indeed regressed to an unfathomable extent," Leo began, affirming his conclusion. "It appears we canunch an attack directly." This was an interjection from a nearby Sorcery Demon. Reji did not respond. The Sorcery Demon was quickly silenced by Leo with a shake of his head. "Dian, do not oversimplify matters." "Before we understand why humans have be like this, I would not rmend the demon race to reveal themselves in any form." "So, Mr. Leo, what do you think caused this?" asked the Sorcery Demon, whose thirst for knowledge and exploration was among the strongest in the demon race. This was one of the reasons why Reji had brought Dian along. He wanted to exploit the Wisdom Demon''s knowledge while maintaining his image as a demon king, necessitating someone else to question the Wisdom Demon on his behalf, just like Dian was doing now. "With our current limited information, I can hypothesize three possible directions," Leo said, not directly answering but instead posing a question to the Sorcery Demon: "Dian, if you were a human ruler, would you prefer most humans to be stronger or weaker?" "Mr. Leo, I don''t think that''s a question. Of course, the stronger, the better." "You are mistaken. This is where our demon race differs in mindset due to our different ways of survival from humans." "Our race, due to constant warfare and the need to move to a new world after depleting the resources of one, must ensure the strength of every member of our race. We need the entire group to be stronger." "However, humans are different. They have their own rich world, unparalleled creativity, and continuous development power. For them, peace and stability are the primary factors for their survival." "If I were a human ruler, then I would keep all the core power in my own hands, and for those under my rule, I would wish them to always remain within a weak range that does not exceed my control." Listening to the Wisdom Demon''s analysis, Reji couldn''t help but nod. ''Indeed, After all, there are real examples on Earth, where, in a technological civilization, firearms are equivalent to spells'' ''During times of war, everyone has guns, and if one is a higher military rank, they could upgrade to rifles, machine guns, or even individual rocketunchers'' ''But once the war ends and peace prevails, these lethal weapons all but disappear, "at least for the civilians" '' ''And those rulers who chose to arm their civilians with deadly weapons... To put it bluntly, they either end up with a hole in their forehead or, more directly, their chest blown open by a shotgun'' After all, Reji is a human, living in a purely human society, so he understands quickly. But the Sorcery Demon sees things differently. Dian was still frowning, seemingly struggling to fully grasp Leo''s analysis. "Surely not all human rulers are that selfish?" he questioned, interpreting it as rulers forsaking the interests of their people to maintain their own power. That is indeed one aspect, but not the whole story. Chapter 31: 3 Possibilities part 2 "You are mistaken," Leo reiterated with a shake of his head, his slit-pupiled snake eyes flickering with memories. "During the thousand years we were sealed, I took the opportunity to read many of human history books. Before our race appeared, if I were to summarize human history in four words, it would be ''self-annihtion'' " "This leads me to the second possible direction I wanted to discuss. The transmission of human power, at some point in thest thousand years, experienced a cataclysmic break. The most likely cause of this disruption would be war, stemming from conflicts between human nations." "The severity of these wars led to the destruction of human civilization, with all its traditions lost. The victors of these wars, the new human rulers, in order to prevent such a scenario from happening again, chose to seal away knowledge and powerful legacies." "It''s like, a dispute between two ordinary humans might result in injury or death for one of them. A conflict between two mages might destroy a shop. But if two grand mages were to fight, this street might no longer exist. And if two archmages were to..." Leo didn''t continue with more examples. An archmage''s limit corresponds to seventh-tier magic, which, at its least, could level mountains, and at most, could cause natural disasters like thunderstorms and earthquakes within its scope. Not to mention higher tiers, up to the eighth and ninth, and even "transcendent rituals" that could, with a mere gesture, bring about the destruction of nations. Consider this: a discontinuity in the transmission of civilization. Indeed, this makes sense, and Reji nods again. Though he hadn''t experienced it firsthand, many games, movies, and novels have explored this theme. A ssic statement from the inte echoes Leo''s analysis: "We don''t know what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will surely be fought with sticks and stones." With Leo''s analysis, Reji felt enlightened, understanding much more clearly now. The Sorcery Demon, too, seemed contemtive, moving from confusion to a semnce of understanding. After discussing two possibilities, Reji, while agreeing with and admiring Leo for his thorough and swift analysisworthy of a Wisdom Demon''s reputationfelt that, based on these, the demon race should have less to worry about and could march forth without hesitation. However, Leo''s initial stance wasn''t quite so. Therefore, the answer must lie in the third possibility that Leo has yet to mention. Reji''s guess was correct. While Leo discussed the first two possibilities with a lighter tone, aiming to educate the Sorcery Demon, his demeanor changed as he approached thest and most critical possibility. Taking a deep breath, his serpentine eyes revealed a hint of seriousness and tension. "Third, and what worries me the most, is that humans have not forgotten us. To be precise, the rulers of humanity have not forgotten us. Everything we see now may be a trap set by those rulers, a trap for our demon race." "They cannot be sure whether our race has truly perished, so they created this illusion. They know that if our race still exists, we would inevitably return to avenge our defeat from a thousand years ago, which is indeed the case." "When we discover that humans have be so weak, no longer as strong as they were a thousand years ago, Dian, your initial reaction is exactly what the human rulers hoped for." "By immediately initiating war, our race would lose its greatest advantage of stealth, returning to the arrogance of a thousand years ago. And if, at that moment, the ruler reveals some hidden, powerful force unknown to us, our demon race, exposed andpletely reactive, would truly face an inescapable death trap." ''Interesting'' ''This third possibility is something I had not considered at all'' At first nce, it does seem absurd and far-fetched. Isn''t this equivalent to harming oneself more to hurt the enemy less? But upon closer reflection, it seems to hold some merit, especially considering an "oracle" matter only Reji knows about. That is the survey question he answered as "Very Easy," which likely greatly strengthened the Radiant Saintess. A thousand years ago, the first-cycle Radiant Saintess in the game was merely a character whom Reji could boost with gold coins. The destined pure and innocent female protagonist. ''Could it be...'' ''The strengthened Saintess of this cycle, not only in terms of power but also in ruthless intellect? From an innocent to a darker character? Willing to pay any price to exterminate the demon race?'' ''Even more rationally speaking'' ''For a ruler, exterminating the demon race is far more than just a "thousand" weight on the scale, and sealing the upward mobility of the lower sses doesn''t even reach an "eight hundred" weight. Perhaps... it''s not even considered a loss?'' The more Reji thinks, the more he feels that this is not just an overcaution on the part of the Wisdom Demon. ''The world a thousand yearster... might really be far moreplex than I had imagined'' As for the Sorcery Demon. If this were before, Dian might have argued that humans couldn''t possibly have such strong hidden forces. But the brutal history is right there before them. If they were to hide another human monstrosity like the "Son of Destiny" from a thousand years ago, then their demon race would truly be finished. This fear lingers in the heart of every demon, a deep-seated dread merely recalling it. Seeing Dian''s realization. The Wisdom Demon then turns his gaze back to Reji. Although Leo was expressing his opinions, he was also secretly observing Reji, their demon king''s stance. Unbeknownst to Reji, his nods of agreement are great encouragement and affirmation for Leo. It also indirectly confirms Leo''s spections. Indeed. ''The analysis that I hade up with, the demon king had already considered. Otherwise, the bizarre and perplexing reaction of Sorcery Demon Dian would have been the normal one'' ''The only reason my king might have intentionally asked me, then, could only be one'' ''His majesty was testing me'' The king, like him, was deeply concerned for the demon race, particrly about the third possibility. After all, if that were true, their venture would be akin to dancing on the edge of a knife, with a terrifying human mastermind lurking in the shadows. A single misstep could doom the entire demon race. Therefore, the demon king wanted to test him, to see if he, as a Wisdom Demon, was qualified to be the king''s right-hand man, capable of infiltrating the human world to gather intelligence and secure a victory for the demon race. He hoped he hadn''t disappointed the king. Seeing that Reji remained silent, the initially confident andposed Leo began to panic. Given the gravity of the situation, what if the king sent him away? Unable to contain his anxiety, Leo took the initiative to ask Reji: "My King, have I passed your test?" Reji was taken aback. ''Eh!!!? What test?'' ''Hadn''t I been silently following and learning from Leo''s analysis all this time? When did I tested the Wisdom Demon? Bro wtf you say'' But he managed his expression well. To the outside, Reji appeared calm and, after staring at Leo for a few seconds, simply said, "Not bad." Leo finally breathed a sigh of relief. "It is my greatest honor to receive the king''s approval!" he eximed. "Furthermore, please rest assured, my king. I will also take it upon myself to teach and urge Dian to study harder, so that he may soon reach a level that satisfies you. Please, grant Sorcery Demon another chance to be assessed in the future!" ''Well, that''s entirely unnecessary!'' ''If Leo really did teach Dian as well, then who would help me by asking questions next time?'' Despite his internalints, Reji outwardly nodded in affirmation. Especially since Dian, criticized by Leo, seemed entirely receptive, standing straight as if bracing for correction and requesting another chance. The situation was bing increasingly bizarre and off-track. Reji quickly changed the subject, moving on with his two apostles to the next step of his n. No matter the state of the human world, Reji remained unphased by its many changes. The demon race was the force he could control at the moment. Relying on the demon race, doing his utmost to develop his own intelligencework, and understanding the true shape of the world were Reji''s main goals. And all of this, obviously, required... money. So, whates next is simple. Gathering development funds for the demon race, for his two apostles. This task could actually be done by the Wisdom Demon and Sorcery Demon themselves. But Reji felt that, as the demon king, he ought to do something for his subordinates. And while he might not surpass Leo in other aspects, when ites to acquiring money quickly in the human world, Reji, as the former "Son of Destiny," was all too familiar and adept. The notorious achievements of his radiant past were not obtained for nothing. Chapter 32: Strange Demon part 1 Lunari Trade Group. The night-shift front desk staff, not one dared to doze off as they usually might, striving to sit up straight and look diligently at work, fearing to provoke their currently furious boss. "Damn it! Those people from Lanqi Artifacts actually managed to get a third-tier spell scroll. Where the hell did they get it from??" "Lord Azno, I, I''ve heard rumors that amoner genius emerged from the Royal Academy, discovered by Lanqi''s people. That third-tier spell scroll was provided by thatmoner student to Lanqi Artifacts." "Genius? Amoner!? How did those people stumble upon such dumb luck!" Azno, the leader of the trade group, had a strong frown on his face, which conveyed intimidation. Their trade group had recently acquired a batch of decent merchandise and was nning to do business in the royal city. Now, Lanqi''s auction tonight had stolen all their thunder. When the quality of everyone''s goods is more or less the same, apetitor unveiling an attention-grabbing gimmick means subsequent market share and sales will inevitably suppress theirs. As Azno was stewing in frustration, the chime of a bell rang from the entrance of the trade group''s store as a trio entered, walking into the shop. The front desk staff, fearing reprimand from the boss, hurriedly approached to greet them. "Good evening, sir. Wee to the House of Lunari. How may I assist you today?" "I have some items I''d like to pawn for cash" Reji stated bluntly. "No problem sir. Please hand over the pawn items along with any rted documents for identification, and our professional appraisers from Lunari Trade Group will evaluate them. You''ll need to return to the House of Lunari about a dayter for our valuation and to discuss final payment. If you''re dissatisfied with our evaluation, you can also apply..." Thud. Before the staff could finish, Reji ced a crystal-clear amber gem on the counter, one of the many items prepared for him by Eileen during the rift chaos. "No documents, on-the-spot assessment, on-the-spot transaction," Reji cut to the chase. "Sir, this, this is against our policy, we..." As the staff member was flustered, Azno emerged from the back of the shop. He waved his hand, signaling the other employees to step back and took it upon himself to handle Reji''s case. "What is your name, sir?" Reji did not respond. Seeing Reji''s silence, Azno, as if ustomed to such situations, chuckled and did not press further. He carefully examined the amber gem Reji had ced on the counter, continuing, "If you''re unwilling to reveal your name or provide documents, then I must assume this gem is illicit goods. But rest assured, our Lunari Trade Group always wees rare treasures, no matter their origin. We can pawn it for you, but the price... will have to be based on the market for illicit goods." After giving Reji a heads-up, Azno didn''t wait for the appraisal toe through. As the boss of the trade group, he had a keen eye for value, which is why the more he examined the amber gemstone, the more astonished he felt deep inside. Because of its color, texture, and the almost imperceptible level of impurities, the essence of this amber gemstone was unparalleled. The older an amber gemstone, the better its luster and texture, and the more stable its structure. Azno had once acquired a three-hundred-year-old amber gemstone, which he sold at auction for a staggering few hundred thousand gold coins. After all, ancient amber gemstones are not just for decoration; they are precious materials for magic as well. And now, the piece of amber in his hands, just by touching it, Azno could feel warm currents as if seeping into his body through his fingertips, nourishing his internal magic power. The impable quality was unprecedented, surely even older than the three-hundred-year piece he once had. ''I must get this gemstone!'' Azno suppressed the surprise and excitement in his heart, maintaining aposed exterior while attempting to gauge Reji''s intentions. Unexpectedly, Reji, as if finding the process tedious, took out three or four more pieces of jade and crystal and ced them on the counter. At this sight, even the seasoned Azno couldn''t maintain hisposure. His eyes widened at the sight of these invaluable treasures, and the instant greed and desire in his gaze became impossible to conceal. "Sir, your transaction volume is quiterge, but rest assured, our Lunari Trade Group can handle it. However, please wait a moment while I go to prepare and consult in the back." "You all, hurry up, prepare our best tea for the gentlemen!" About ten minutester, Azno hurried back, apologizing to Reji for the wait, then bowed and respectfully led Reji and his twopanions away from the storefront to a secluded, high-end VIP room in the back for negotiations. Reji said nothing, merely following Azno. They exited through the back door of the shop, winding through a few turns, until they reached a quiet, deserted alley. Suddenly, Azno''s figure shed and disappeared around a corner. Then, from all directions in the alley, about a dozen armed thugs quickly surrounded Reji and hispanions. Once Reji and the others werepletely encircled and escape seemed impossible, Azno reappeared from a distance, this time apanied by a young man dressed in a robe emzoned with a sunflower pattern with a face full of arrogance. "Lord Bru, look, this is it!" Azno, in a sycophantic manner, presented the amber gemstone that Reji had brought for appraisal to the young mage. Initially, Bru seemed annoyed by thete-night disturbance, yawning and displeased. But upon seeing the clear amber gemstone, the young mage''s demeanor changed instantly, mirroring Azno''s initial surprise and greed. "How about it, Lord Bru? I didn''t lie to you, did I? And such treasures, these people have many more on them! I suspect they must be hiding even more, otherwise, they wouldn''t have brought them out so readily and casually!" Hearing Azno''s words, Bru''s eyes burned with even greater fervor. He hummed lightly, his arrogant face finally turning towards Reji, and then, in a tone ustomed to unquestioned superiority, he gave Reji and hispanions two options with a five-second time limit for consideration: "First, disclose everything you know about these gemstones. Second, die." If there''s one thing that hasn''t changed over a millennium, it''s human nature. This scenario was all too familiar. Reji''s judgment was that the password was correct. So, as a reward for correctness, " Sherman, have you secured our surroundings?" ''Sherman?'' ''Who was he talking to?'' ''Did he really think such a bluff would deceive me?'' Not just the young mage, but the surrounding thugs seemed almost amused by Reji''s words. Unfortunately, theirughter didn''tst a second. To their horror, they discovered that the smiles they wore froze on their faces, their twitching muscles turned to stone, their bodies seized by a peculiar stiffness, leaving only their eyes, wide with terror, darting about in panic. That''s when they observed that the alley had bepletely covered with dark shadows. Beneath their feet, behind them, pools of shadow as ifing to life, began to rapidly converge towards the center, eventually taking the form of a cloaked figure, kneeling before the young leader. Reji had brought three apostles with him. Though it seemed he was only apanied by the Wisdom Demon and Sorcery Demon from the beginning, the Shadow Demon Sherman was also always there, merely hidden within the shadows, serving as his secret guard. Sherman nodded to Reji, indicating that the surroundings were secure. With that confirmation, Reji wasted no more words. "Proceed" The moment themand was issued, from behind the thugs and the mage named Bru, their own shadows transformed into sharp spikes that, in the next instant, thrust directly towards their hearts. *Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!* The quiet alley was simultaneously filled with the sounds of flesh being pierced, followed by the bodies, impaled from behind by shadow spikes, thudding to the ground. A few thugs below level ten and a mage at level fifteen indeed couldn''t even make a "battle scene" happen. Chapter 33: Strange Demon part 2 Reji''s guiding philosophy has always been to refrain from using violence. This stance is unrted to whether he belongs to the human race or the demon race. Had the boss of the Lunari Trade Group chosen to trade with him honestly, Reji would have had no reason to harm him. Unfortunately, the other party chose a different path. Reji didn''t mind then, adding a bit more to his "infamously wicked" reputation. This stance also has nothing to do with being human or demon. In a blink, only Azno, the boss of the Lunari Trade Group, remained standing. Reji decided not to kill him yet, after all, he was still waiting for him to "generate gold coins" for himter. Seeing Azno now terrified and pale, the subsequent cooperation should be smooth and pleasant. If it ended here, it would be a straightforward operation. However, Reji had a habit, shared by most yers: [looting]. Of course, not by physically touching the corpses. Reji directed a "check" towards the young mage lying dead on the ground, both to see if there were any valuable loot on him and to confirm his death status, to avoid any oversight in finishing him off. However, when the information panel returned to Reji''s view, he furrowed his brows. Firstly, the young mage had no items on him. It was clear he hade in haste and looked down on them, hardly prepared for anything. But that wasn''t the main point. What truly puzzled Reji was: [Bru (Deceased) (Demon Egg Parasitized) ] The state of death was expected. But what was this Demon Egg Parasite? "Sherman, check his body," Reji immediatelymanded. Sherman, thinking Reji meant to search the body, extended shadowy hands from behind and quickly stripped the deceased young mage of any coverings, revealing nothing noteworthy. This was consistent with what Reji''s detection spell had shown. "Open his body," Reji ordered again. Upon hearing this, Azno, the already trembling boss of the Lunari Trade Group, nearly lost control of his dder, sitting down hard on the ground with lips turning pale. In his eyes, Reji had be some sort of crazy killer. Sorcery Demon Dian also cast a surprised look at Reji, not expecting the king to take an interest in corpses. Only the Wisdom Demon Leo, sensed something amiss. Being the apostle who understood Reji best, he didn''t just watch but stepped forward, approaching Bru''s body alongside Sherman. Following the new order, Sherman reshaped the shadowy hand into a scythe, targeting Bru''s chest with the precision of a skilled surgeon, following Reji''s instructions to perform the "opening" procedure. Initially, there was nothing unusual. Just a bit of bloodshed and the sight of various organs, slightly grisly but nothing out of the ordinary. However, as Sherman''s shadow scythe reached a spot just below Bru''s chest and slightly upwards towards his abdomen, the smoothly moving shadow scythe hesitated. Then, Sherman, as if finding something, elerated the scythe''s movement. In just a few breaths, within Bru''s dissected body, Reji saw an...Egg. A dark purple egg. The egg, about the size of a palm, had ayer of tiny tentacles on its surface, deeply embedded into Bru''s flesh and internal tissues, merging as if glued together, pulsating and absorbing Bru''s blood as its nourishment. Seemingly sensing the change in its external environment, The egg began to move. It seemed to consciously shift through those tiny tentacles buried in the flesh, attempting to hide deeper within Bru''s body, seeking more concealed blood and organs. Unfortunately for the egg, Sherman''s shadow scythe quickly blocked its path, and perhaps the egg, finally realizing that its host Bru was dead and the body was no longer viable, ceased its movements and instead rapidly expanded. With a "pop" like an exploding balloon, it burst, spewing a mix of filthy blood and flesh as cover for its escape. In the midst of the egg''s explosion, a shadow shot out from within, clearly aiming to dash towards Azno, the only other living human nearby. Unfortunately, "Aghaaa!!" A sound akin to a baby''s cry but far more piercing and sharper echoed through the air. The parasite, having barely made it half a second, was abruptly seized by another powerful hand, gripped tightly like in a vise, renderedpletely immobile. Wisdom Demon Leo furrowed his brows, examining the creature that had emerged from the human body, hatched from an egg. It was smooth all over, hairless. Its body was covered in slime, with rotten patches visible all over its skin, its face ugly, resembling a young Decay Demon. Its lower half sported several wriggling tentacles, simr to those of a young Breeding Demon. Its upper body had two arms, sharp as des, remarkably akin to those of a young Sword Demon. It had multiple eyes, resembling those of a young Wicked Demon. From its back, one could almost see the traces of undeveloped wings. This parasite''s appearance was like a bizarre amalgamation of young demon types, presented in a grotesquely incongruous form. Leo was certain. There was no such strange juvenile form within the demon race. Even considering mutants. However, after double-checking, even looking towards Sorcery Demon Dian for confirmation, Dian shook his head, indicating he too did not sense any demonic essence from this parasite. On the other hand, it was evident from the "incongruous" parasite''s fierce resistance that it saw Leo as an enemy and an alien. In the demon race, apostles and the Demon King share a strong lineage bond with all demons, especially during their youth, who would naturally show a strong affinity towards them. Just as Leo was about to observe further, unexpectedly, the parasite began to rapidly shrink and dehydrate, perhaps due to being separated from its host. By the time Leo reacted, within a few breaths, what had been a bizarre and incongruous parasite transformed into a shriveled husk in his hand. *Silence* Everyone presents including the three apostles and Reji, had only one thought. ''What is this?'' A millenniumter, within the bodies of humans, exists... an egg of a creature resembling demons? It''s too bizarre and absurd. The question needed to be traced back to its source. Reji''s gaze returned to the "egg''s" host, the young human mage Bru. No. Perhaps a more precise identity than "mage" was warranted. After all, only one force used the "sun" as a motif on their robes a thousand years ago. And even after a millennium, Reji believed there wouldn''t be a second. That force, known to Reji, demons, and humans alike, among the many faiths and sects, with the most followers and thergest scale. Like the dawn breaking the darkness, like the radiance of the sun shining bright the Radiant Church. Chapter 34: The Disappearance of Five Hundred Years ''So, the current situation is that a parasite monster, simr to the demonic race, was born from the belly of a mage of the Radiant Church?'' Reji was somewhat overwhelmed. ''Howe before the demonic invasion of the world could take ce, humans have managed to pull off such a stunt?'' Now, Reji wanted to rify two points. First, why the creature inside the egg is highly simr to the demonic race. Second, why such an egg was inside Bru. Starting with the first point. As a savior who has fought against the demonic race in the game for a hundred years, Reji''s understanding of the demonic race is no less than the demons themselves. So, he was certain, there is no such thing as a "Demon Egg" within the demonic race. If there had to be something simr, it might be the "Breeding Room" of the Breeding Apostle la. The mission of breeding is to cultivate new members of the demonic race. When the demon race faces a significant crisis, or the war effort is strained, and there is a high demand for demons on the front lines, la would activate the "Breeding Room." The Breeding Room can absorb the corpses of other races, turning the corpses into nutrients, thereby greatly catalyzing the growth speed of the new demons inside, achieving the effect of "rapid troop reinforcement" for the demonic race in a short time. A thousand years ago, in the war between humans and demons, the demonic race had used the "Breeding Room" ability several times. At that time, arge number of humans who died on the front lines were collected by the demons and transported to the Breeding Rooms, continuously producing more demonic soldiers. At first nce, it seems somewhat simr to the current Demon Eggs. But in fact, they are fundamentally different. First, the Breeding Room requires constant care and supervision by the breeder, which is rted to the breeder''s "domain skill" and requires a great deal of mental energy from the breeder. Thus, this "rapid troop reinforcement" cannot be conducted indefinitely. And the demons have been sealed in the Chaos Rift for a thousand years, so where would Bru get any breeder from? Second, and most importantly, the Breeding Room uses corpses, and it must only use corpses, which cannot contain too much poison. Therefore, in the first cycle, once humans discovered the "Breeding Room" ability of the breeding apostles,manders would prepare a squad in every war, win or lose, specifically to cremate the corpses of their fallenrades on the battlefield, so as not to leave them for the demons. At the same time, humans vigorously developed the Radiant Church, encouraging soldiers, civilians, and even young children to learn the principles of radiance, so that a fraction of the power of radiance could be nurtured within their bodies. And for the demonic race, the power of radiance is the most detestable and disgusting toxin. The rise of the Radiant Church, even bing the foremost mainstream religion, actually started from this. In a way, it was thanks to the demonic race. As a mage of the Radiant Church, Bru, by this fact alone, directly vites the principles of the "Breeding Room." Moreover, the egg inside Bru has obviously been with him for a while, parasitizing within a living body. When Bru died and became a corpse, the egg seemed to want to escape, seeking a new living host, which is even more contrary to the "Breeding Room." So, Reji could almost confirm that this "egg" is something humans themselves concocted a thousand yearster, and it absolutely has nothing to do with the demonic race. ''Wait a minute!'' A terrifying thought suddenly shed through Reji''s mind. ''Could it be...'' ''Not just Bru. But all of humanity in this era...Has such a bizarre demon egg inside their bodies? Like the dantian in cultivation stories!?'' Reji was startled by his own thought. This was like transforming the world from its original swords and magic into some twisted, horrific style in an instant. Reji immediately cast a detection spell on the bodies of the other thugs, tossing out checks one after another. Fortunately, the results relieved Reji. These seemed to be ordinary thugs belonging to the Lunari Trade Group, with no status of [Demon Egg Parasitism]. Just to be safe. Reji had Sherman carefully dissect these bodies as well, and indeed, they found no purple-ck eggs like the one inside Bru. ''So, Does this type of "egg" only exist within members of the "Radiant Church"?'' ''Or is this egg merely Bru''s individual anomaly, and he just happens to be a member of the "Radiant Church"?'' Reji turned his gaze to Azno. The trade group boss he had kept. "Tell me everything about this Radiant Church mage." Asked by Reji, Azno finally snapped back to reality. The events that urred in less than half an hour hadpletely overturned all his understanding, leaving him from panic to terror, to now being utterly dumbfounded. "Sir...no, no, my lord, Bru is a newly appointed deacon of the Radiant Holy Church. He, he came from the lower ss before, and I had helped him, so I got involved in this matter, and then, then...I really don''t know anything else, I''m not close to him at all, since he became a deacon, we, our contact has been very limited, I don''t know, really don''t know" Azno was almost crying, but Sherman showed no intention of letting him go. The hand of shadow gripped his neck as if to twist it off the next moment if he didn''t say something more. Under the threat of death, the boss of the Lunari Trade Group, spurred by desperation, racked his brains, and suddenly seemed to remember something, hurriedly started to speak: "My lord! I remember now, Bru once fell ill and asked me if I had any recovery potions, because it''s very rare for a powerful mage like him to get sick, so I remember it very clearly. Moreover, it was right after the day of his deacon promotion ceremony!" ''Finally, some useful information'' Reji quickly asked, "What did he do on the day of the promotion ceremony?" "Nothing much, it wasn''t just Bru, there were three or four other believers who were promoted. They were just granted honors by the bishop, received the baptism of holy light, and then drank from the holy chalice, no different from a normal promotion ceremony." It was evident that Azno was trying very hard to recall everything in order to save his life. "Did any of the other deacons feel unwell the next day?" Reji asked. "My lord, I really don''t know about that. The deacons of the Radiant Church are of noble status and powerful. If it weren''t for my past association with Bru, I wouldn''t have been able to interact with such people!" After saying this, Azno realized that the deacons of the Radiant Church, whom he considered unapproachable and powerful, didn''tst even a moment against the man in the cloak opposite him. How strong were they??? Azno dared not ask, nor did he want to know the answer. "When did the Radiant Church start this kind of promotion ceremony?" In the first cycle of Reji''s game the Radiant Church didn''t have a tradition of conducting a ceremony for promotions, which is why he asked. But to Azno, this question was a bit baffling. "Ah? My lord, hasn''t the Radiant Church always done it this way since its establishment? At least, it''s been like this for five or six hundred years, right?" "What about more than five or six hundred years ago?" "Before that...? My lord, you''re not referring to ancient history, those myths and legends, are you? I''m just a businessman, how would I know about that! But, but my lord! I know there''s a professor of ancient history at the Royal Academy, he should know more! About the origins of magic, the development of church, and also" "Ah! Right! And the legendary demonic race! The wars between humans and demons! That professor is most familiar with these mythological stories! My lord, I can help you contact him!" Azno had no reason to lie to himself. Moreover, such information could easily be verified outside. Reji fell into a deep thought. ''It seems that the discontinuity in human heritage that the Demon of Wisdom spected about might indeed exist'' Looking at Azno now, it seems his understanding of history stops at five hundred years ago, and anything older, especially from a thousand years ago, ispletely unknown to him. Even the fierce battles of a thousand years ago, victories won with the blood and lives of countless humans and other races, which should have been forever remembered in human history, have now be myths and legends ording to Azno? Has it be something that seems nonexistent, a... Disappeared Five Hundred Years? Chapter 35: Assignment of Missions, Apostles Part Ways There seems to be nothing more to ask from Azno. ''Regarding the five hundred years of human history that was lost... Could it have been the covert operations of an apostle from the demonic race?'' Reji first thought of this possibility but quickly dismissed it. After all, the new void passage discovered by the Shadow Demon was found only three hundred years ago. So even if there were some restless elements within the demonic race secretly using the passage tomunicate with the human world, the timing does not match. Moreover, Reji did not believe that any apostle possessed the power to influence human historical heritage in such a way. The same goes for the demon eggs. The existence of the demon eggs, unnoticed even by the Wisdom Demon, Sorcery Demon, and even the most sensitive Shadow Demon, was discovered by chance through his own system, further proving the uniqueness of the demon eggs. They were very likely created by a higher level of unknown power. With the current information, that''s about as far as the analysis goes. Although the demon eggs are mysterious and undoubtedly hide some secrets, they are not an immediate concern and can be investigatedter. Reji decides to put aside the matter of the demon eggs for now. ''One step at a time'' "Lead the way to your trade group''s warehouse." Reji intends to first expand the demonic race''s financial resources and establish an intelligencework before discussing further steps. However, this time, Azno does notply with Reji''s request. It''s not exactly that. It''s more that Azno realizes that he is about to exhaust hisst bit of value, and what awaits him then is clear even without thinking. Azno immediately starts begging for mercy, kowtowing frantically. "My lord! Please, don''t kill me, I''m still useful! I have connections in the Royal City through the Lunari Trade Group, and I have deep rtionships with many nobles! Whatever you want, I can provide for you, let me serve you!" Seeing Azno like this, Reji almost wants tough. He gestures to stop Sherman from snuffing out Azno''s life with a shadowy hand and then asks, "Let''s hear it, what can you offer me?" Seeing a glimmer of hope, Azno racks his brain, spilling everything he can think of, all the privileges he enjoys on a daily basis, to Reji. "My lord, money! I can earn money for you continuously. Our Lunari Trade Group specializes in pawn business for foreigners without identification. They can only trade with us, and we can acquire various treasures at extremely low prices! Even... even with just a little help from you, my lord, we can easily take any goods from those foreigners without paying!" Azno gets increasingly excited as he speaks but soon realizes that Reji and hispanions seem to be foreigners as well. He hurriedly adds, "My lord, I can also provide you with women! Whatever type you like, students, housewives, even college teachers, I, I can find them for you. Bru, the Radiant Church deacon just now, he especially loves little girls. I was able to maintain a rtionship with him because I could always provide him with a steady supply." "" "Kill him" Reji, expressionless, interrupts Azno''s self-presentation. However, before Sherman''s shadow scythe could fall, the Wisdom Demon Leo surprisingly spoke up to plead for Azno''s life. "My King, is it possible to spare this human?" "Why?" Reji was curious, as it was the first time the Wisdom Demon had a differing opinion from him. "Your Majesty, I wish to send him, along with the rest of these human corpses, to the Chaos Rift. Eris has been waiting for them for a thousand years. With them, perhaps Eris can provide us with more information from another perspective" ''Hmm'' ''So, it''s about sending them to the Decay Demon for research?'' ''Isn''t that a bit too cruel?'' Reji imagines Eris, with her bulging tumorous belly, the several hundred kilograms of adorable Decay Demon, with a face patched and rotted, smiling radiantly. Perhaps a few maggots might even identally fall out of her grinning mouth. Before Reji could say anything, Azno, the trade group boss himself, saw the Wisdom Demon as a savior, kowtowing frantically to Leo as if he was some great benefactor. After all, from Azno''s perspective, although he didn''t understand what the Chaos Rift was, he generally grasped that the other party wanted to send him to someone named "Eris." The name Eris sounded like a female''s name, giving off a delicate and lovely impression. Compared to the current group of terrifyingly powerful psychopaths, Azno naturally preferred thetter. Seeing Azno react this way, Reji had no choice but to respect his choice. "Let it be then" "I thank my king on behalf of Eris for this gift." Seeing the king''s consent, the Wisdom Demon breathed a sigh of relief and quickly expressed his gratitude. Truth be told, it took a lot of courage and internal struggle for him to go against the king''s wishes. And Azno, seeing this, was overjoyed, feeling as if he had walked out of the gates of hell, and began to thank Reji frantically, mimicking the Wisdom Demon''s actions. "Thank you, thank you my lord for sparing my life! Thank you! Thank you to all the lords here!" Subsequently, with Azno''s cooperation, Reji sessfully took over all the assets of the Lunari Trade Group. They indeed caught a big fish tonight. After the Wisdom Demon''s calction, this directlyted them millions of gold coins. To put that into perspective, At the time, a Tier 3 spell scroll, the highlight of an auction, was sold for a sky-high price of only a thousand gold coins. Indeed, taking from the rich to redistribute wealth was the fastest way to make money. Regarding this huge sum, Reji divided it into seven parts. Two parts were given to Dian, four parts to Leo, and he kept only one part for himself. The reason for this distribution was, "Dian, Leo, you will now operate independently." This was part of Reji''s n. He couldn''t always carry these two apostles with him. Reji also needed time to develop on his own. Of course, he wasn''t just trying to get rid of the Sorcery Demon and Wisdom Demon. Reji had missions for them. "Dian, this fund is to assist you in purchasing and collecting magical materials in the human world. Afterward, I need you to establish a stable, enduring channel that connects the Chaos Rift with the human world as quickly as possible." "Understood, my king. I will do my utmost, and within three days, our race shall move freely." Reji nodded in satisfaction. Then he gave instructions to the Wisdom Demon: "Leo, with the two portions of funds, first, I need you to procure food for our race. Having been sealed in the barren Chaos Rift for a millennium, I promised Eileen that from now on, our race shall never suffer from hunger again. Once Dian has established the portal, transfer all the food at the first opportunity." "By yourmand, my king!" The Wisdom Demon''s voice was excited, his body trembling slightly. Why? No demon king before had such thoughtful consideration, always resorting to violence and destruction. But their new king wasprehensive, keenly aware of the demon eggs while also considering the welfare of the million demons behind them. This was the Ideal demon king; the one Leo was willing to serve and follow with all his heart. Speaking of demon eggs, "Leo, the second portion of funds, and your second task, is to investigate human society, to rify the reasons behind the gaps in human history and heritage, and to search thoroughly for any information rted to that strange egg." "By yourmand, my king. I will not fail your trust!" After assigning their tasks, The Sorcery Demon and Wisdom Demon bid their farewells, disappearing into the night of the kingdom''s streets in different directions. Finally, only Reji was left standing there. "Sherman" With a soft call from Reji, the shadows around him trembled slightly, and soon, the Shadow Demon apostle, hidden under a cloak of shadow, appeared beside him. "My King?" Sherman thought Reji had some instructions or tasks for her too. But, "From now on, when it''s just the two of us, you don''t have to hide in the shadows. Just stay by my side." "My King, why?" The petite figure under the cloak tilted her head. "I''m afraid of being alone" "I understand, my king." Unlike with the other apostles, Reji felt much more at ease in front of the Shadow Demon, no longer needing to maintain the facade of a demon king''s dignity and authority. He knew Sherman well; among the nine apostles, the Shadow Demon was the most innocent and naive, a positivity quite unlike the description often associated with the Decay Demon Eris. As the best proof, Hearing Reji express his loneliness, Sherman, usually silent and reticent, began to initiate conversation with Reji, seemingly to alleviate her king''s solitude. "My King, where shall we go next?" "To the hotel" Chapter 36: My King Will No Longer Be Lonely Reji admitted his mistake. He had misspoken, almost leading Shermen to think he meant a funeral home, nearly directing him towards a graveyard. It should have been called a hotel in this world. After finding a nearby hotel and checking into a room, Reji, dragging his weary body,y on the bed and sighed deeply, finally able to rest properly. Currently, he was just an ordinary human with all attributes at one. He didn''t have the demonic race''s abnormal stamina. Since crossing over, he had been on constant alert, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, waves of sleepiness surged over him. Reji wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right then and there. But before that, there was one issue he needed to address. "Shermen." "Could youe down from the ceiling?" Lying on the bed, Reji only had to nce up to see Shermen, who was in a corner above, hanging from the ceiling in an angle that defied physics, yet somehow managing to keep her cloak from falling. Although theparison might be a bit unkind, To Reji, it felt like there was a giant bat in the room, making it hard for him to fall asleep. Thankfully, Shermen''s cloak was ck. Had it been white, It would have felt like a giant moth had entered the room. "Sorry, did I disturb my king''s rest?" Shermen immediately descended from the wall, finding a new way to keep watch over Reji for the night. Silently standing by the side of Reji''s bed. Staring straight at Reji. After Reji closed his eyes for a few seconds, he couldn''t help but open them again and eventually sat up in bed. "Come, Shermen, sit here." Reji patted the space next to him on the bed. The old routine. "Shermen, you don''t have to do this. Sleeping on the other bed is fine." Reji gently persuaded, pointing to the bed not far from his side. Reji didn''t book two rooms. Such considerations are only human concerns; they don''t exist among the demonic race. Moreover, Reji indeed needed Shermen''s close protection, just in case. A double room, each sleeping on their own bed, how nice. But Shermen shook her head. The Shadow Demon was nothing if not sincere. "My King, I''m not ustomed to it, nor do I need it." ''Alright then'' ''After all, living habits differ'' For a Shadow Demon ustomed to dwelling in caves and crevices, the ceiling was as good as a bed, and a bed, in Shermen''s view, might indeed seem like a strange way to sleep. "My King, please allow me to return to the shadows; that way, I won''t disturb my king''s rest." Shermen must have noticed she was making Reji ufortable and immediately requested to do so. However, Reji shook his head right away. He wasn''t deceiving Shermen when he mentioned feeling lonely. After all, hispanions from the game were from a millennium ago, and even the past where he was hailed as the savior and the Son of Destiny seemed to have been forgotten by the world. The anticipation he had for the human world seemed to vanish suddenly, turning from familiarity to strangeness. Ironically, the ones who most vividly remember him as the "Son of Destiny," constantly mentioning it, were the demons in the game that he had sealed away, nearly leading to their extinction. Even now, those who care about him the most, considering him of utmost importancethe Wisdom Demon Leo, the Subus Eileen, and Shermen before himare all demons. Reji shook his head. He actually had a rtively high affinity for this Apostle. Shermen retreating into the shadows was one thing; her constant expenditure of power without rest was another, although, for Shermen, such consumption might not be significant. But Reji didn''t want that. Unable to find a better solution for the moment, Reji decided to endure it and let Shermen stay at the head of the bed, watching over him. However, Looking at the petite Shadow Demon sitting beside him, Reji suddenly had a mischievous thought. It was something he had always, always wanted to do in the game. "Shermen,e a bit closer." Rejimanded immediately. As the obedient Shadow Demon moved closer, only a few centimeters away from him, Reji, feeling a rush of excitement, reached for Shermen''s cloak. "May I take it off?" Reji held back his curiosity and chose to get Shermen''s approval first. "My king can do anything he want" Shermen''s tone sounded indifferent. Seeing this, Reji no longer held back, lifting Shermen''s cloak. He had been curious about this for a long time. It could be ranked among the top of Reji''s list of "The Ten Unsolved Mysteries of Magic Chronicles." Always cloaked, always hidden in shadows, what did the true form of the Shadow Demon apostle look like? As the cloak was lifted, the shadows enveloping Shermen''s entire body also dissipated under the moonlight streaming through the window. What was revealed was a... Little loli. To be precise, a purple-haired little loli with a horn on her head, ck pupils, and only as tall as Reji''s chest. Perhaps due to years without exposure to sunlight, Shermen''s skin was exceptionally pale. Her eyshes were long, like velvet snow, sweeping across with a gaze that conveyed a strong sense of aloofness, as if she were distancing herself from everything. Simrly, although Shermen had the youthful face of a loli, the sparse expression on her face seemed as though she had lived for tens of thousands of years. Well, Not seeminglyording to the lore, Shadow Demon apostles indeed have lived for over ten thousand years. A ten-thousand-year-old loli. Having satisfied his curiosity, Reji was about to put Shermen''s cloak back on her when a nce at something unexpected halted his actionsa tattoo that shouldn''t have been on Shermen. A tattoo. On the inside of Shermen''s arm was a light pink, enchanting flower pattern resembling a peach heart. Reji recognized the pattern instantly. ''That... Wasn''t that the Subus''s seductive demon mark?! Why is it now on Shermen?!'' Noticing Reji''s gaze, A rare flutter of panic appeared on Shermen''s usually impassive face. She seemed to remember something all of a sudden and quietly turned her arm, trying to cover the mark as if nothing had happened. But obviously, it was impossible to ignore. "Shermen, exin" Under Reji''s questioning, Shermen could no longer avoid his gaze and honestly answered: "My King, this was given to me by Eileen before we departed." "She hoped that with this, I could better protect my king." In the silent roomte at night, after hearing Shermen''s words, Reji fell silent. He was well aware of the significance of the demon mark for a Subusit was almost like giving half of her origin power to Shermen. Due to the influence of his first life cycle, Reji''s subconscious still regarded the demonic race as evil, always on guard. But in just one day, from the perspective of a Demon King interacting with the demonic race, Reji could feel his inner attitude continually changing. "Thank you, and also thank Eileen for me. I''ve epted your intentions." "No, My king, it''s our duty." "Alright, rest now. We have important matters tomorrow." Reji gently draped Shermen''s cloak back over her. This time, he didn''t impose any restrictions on how Shermen should stay; she could do as she pleased. He closed his eyes, and perhaps because his mood had shifted, Reji quickly fell asleep in bed. For the first few minutes, Shermen, as before, silently stood by the side of Reji''s bed, watching over and guarding the sleeping king. But soon, a hint of hesitation appeared on Shermen''s face under the cloak. After a slight struggle, For the first time, she actively took off her cloak, and then, very quietly, making absolutely no noise to not disturb Reji, she climbed onto Reji''s bed. Afterward, Shermen didn''t do anything else. The petite body of the Shadow loliy quietly beside Reji. ''In this way, my king wouldn''t feel so lonely anymore, right?'' Shermen thought silently to herself. Chapter 37 Lonely, So Lonely. In the Demon King''s chamber within the Chaotic Rift, Eileen, who guards the empty room alone, lies on the great bed that belongs to the Demon King. The Subus stares at therge empty space on the bed, a strong sense of loneliness filling her heart. Although she has been sealed in the Chaotic Rift for over a thousand years. She should have been ustomed to it. But why. The king has only left for less than half a day, and now she hates the Chaotic Rift so much that she can hardly stay here for even half a day; she wishes she could leave now... return to her king''s side. "Sigh" Eileen looks out at the gloomy sky of the Chaotic Rift through the window, sighing in her heart. She knows this is impossible. The task the king gave her was to guard the rear. All she can do is to execute her king''s orders well, supervise the other apostles, and then, miss and bless the king, wishing everything goes well. ''So'' "What is my king doing now?" ''Has he encountered any danger in the human world?'' ''Is that old witch, Shermen, protecting my king properly?'' ''No, Shermen must protect him well!'' ''After all, I gave the "Demon Pattern" to Shermen!'' Even in sleep, Shermen has to stay by the king''s side, not leaving an inch! Eileen suddenly imagines this scenario. In the middle of the night in the room, the Shadow Demon hangs upside down above the demon king''s head. Although it''s indeed a bit strange. Indeed, it''s hard on the demon king. But this is what Eileen wants. ''Otherwise, what?'' ''Shermen strips naked and lies next to the king?'' ''Hahaha Nice joke'' ''That position can only belong to me, the Subus Apostle Eileen, and I she will not allow other demons to touch him!'' However "Hmph!" Eileen understands Shermen, so she is very sure that even if Shermen, that block of ice, were given ten thousand chances, she could not do such a thing. Not to mention, the Shadow Demon doesn''t have the habit of sleeping in a bed at all. Just the thought of that old hag actively taking off her cloak is impossible, after all, Shermen hasn''t been seen taking it off much in tens of thousands of years, so why would she take it off this time? What if the demon king''s request? That''s even more impossible. Initially, facing herself, a delicate Subus who had just passed a thousand years old and was in her prime, the king didn''t ask her to strip naked, so how could he possibly ask an old witch of tens of thousands of years to strip? "Impossible" "Absolutely impossible!" It is with such confidence that she was willing to give the Demon Pattern to the Shadow Demon. Although she is relieved at the bottom of her heart. But this unbearable feeling of loneliness has not eased. "Ahhhh" Eileen on the bed can only clutch Reji''s used pillow tighter to her chest, bury her head into the mattress Reji had once sat on, and take a deep breath. "My King" The increasingly uncontroble Subus begins to fantasize about the pillow in her arms as Reji, her slender legs starting to squirm, clutching the pillow tighter, and starting to rub it unintentionally as her tail started to move to her private area. Just when her emotions were intense, a sudden knock on the door interrupted Eileen. Initially annoyed, the Subus''s mood shifts upon hearing the demon servant''s report outside the door, saying that Lord Leo, the Wisdom Demon, has returned. Eileen immediately perks up, quickly tidies up her disheveled clothes, and dashes out of the room. Spreading her wings, she flies towards the void passage and spots Leo and a human following the Wisdom Demon. Eileen, who was initially pleased, suddenly changes her expression. With a stern face and a gaze filled with disgust and hatred, the Subus coldly nces at the human and immediately questions the Wisdom Demon, "Leo, what is the meaning of this human? Who allowed you to bring a human here?" "Give me an exnation immediately." "Otherwise." Eileen raises her hand, and a thorny whip is summoned, ready tosh the terrified human into a pulp. "Calm down, Eileen." "This was approved by the demon king." Hearing that it was Reji''s decision, Eileen, though puzzled and frowning, quickly retracts her whip. Leo then quickly exins everything that happened, including the third-tier scroll at the auction, the inferior healing potion, and the egg discovered inside a priest of the Radiant Church. Initially, Eileen, upon hearing how weak humans had be and that the millennium-long legacy had been broken, is filled with joy and, like the Sorcery Demon before, is eager to attack. However, as Leo continues, mentioning the "egg" and the bizarre demonic creatures born from it, Eileen''s brows furrow once again. There''s no reason for Leo to lie about such matters. "Eileen, I know your hatred towards humans is the greatest among us, but regarding the world a thousand yearster, we''re still in the unknown, and we first need to figure out who our real enemy is." ''The real enemy. Who is it?'' "What do you mean, Leo?" the Subus asks, puzzled. The Wisdom Demon shakes his head, holding the dried skin of the "egg" in his hand, thoughtfully saying, "We''ve all fallen into a misconception. Who decreed that the world''s masters a thousand yearster... still belong to humans?" Seeing Eileen silent, Leo quickly smiles, somewhat easing the serious atmosphere. He voluntarily reports the matter of utmost concern to Eileen. "Don''t worry Eileen, no matter what the world bes, his majesty is very safe. Shermen is always with him, and we have all witnessed his majesty''s own strength. And above all that, his majesty''s insight is also beyond our reach. Without his instructions, we wouldn''t even have noticed this parasitic egg within a human''s body." Towards the end, the Wisdom Demon even seems a bit emotional. "Our new demon king is like an endless treasure, the more we explore, the more surprises we find." "As for you, Eileen" "Why did the king, with his deep and far-sighted ns, not bring you along for the descent, merely asking you to watch the rear?" "Reflect on that yourself." "If you remaincent and refuse to change, then sooner orter, you will be left far behind by his majesty, unable to catch up with his advancing steps." After giving his advice to the Subus, Leo left with Azno, leaving Eileen behind with pursed lips and aplex expression. The Wisdom Demon''sst words struck a great blow to the Subus. She understood the hint from Leo. Her hatred and disgust for humans, her inability to control her emotions, wanting to kill at the sight of humans and engaging in rampant ughter, were her greatest ws, causing much trouble for the king. ''Change? Change!'' Eileen clenched her fists. .. After leaving the Subus''s side, Leo headed towards the marsnd where the Decay Demons reside. And Azno by his side... The owner of the Lunari Trade Group was already dumbfounded. ''Where is this?'' ''Why do all these "people" look so strange? Why do so many "people" along the way drool at me as if they want to eat me alive?'' ''No... No, no, no! These are not people.'' ''The... They are'' ''Demons!'' ''The demons from ancient history and myths a thousand years ago!??'' "Mr. Azno, as the first human toe to the Chaotic Rift, what are your thoughts?" Observing humans was Leo''s objective. Leo didn''t mind having a chat with Azno. "Sir... you guys, I... you guys" Seeing that Azno was stuttering so much he couldn''t even speak, Leo shook his head regretfully. "Mr. Azno, don''t be nervous. Among our demon apostles, Eris is rtively more approachable, and her attitude towards humans is much better than Eileen''s just now. You don''t need to be too scared." Eileen''s murderous aura indeed scared Azno quite a bit, but Leo''s reassurance somewhat revived him. ''Right!'' ''Demons are not, not scary! In mythological stories, weren''t demons easily defeated by humans? And there are many in the demon race who look simr to humans.'' Like the previous Miss Eileen, although fierce, was indeed very beautiful, even from a human perspective. So, the next Eris... Seemingly reading Azno''s thoughts, Leo''s voice sounded from beside. "Miss Eris is as beautiful as Eileen." Hearing Leo''s words, Azno immediately imagined a blonde-haired, blue-eyed bear-like beauty of a demon in his mind. ''What, what the heck!'' ''Surrendering to the demons is not, not possible! In the legends from a thousand years ago, wasn''t there also such a "traitor"?'' Azno keptforting himself. Even transitioning from fear to a bit of excitement. Until "Heeheehee~, did Brother Leoe to see Eris?" "Heh~ and you brought a small gift as well." "Eris can smell it, nee nee. The scent of Eris''s favorite gift, it has been so long hehehe~~" Chapter 38: Eris Listening to the voice, it seemed quite cute. Like a little girl who had just learned to speak. But as this little girl, twisting her hundreds of kilograms of bloated body, with a big belly, walked out of the mud filled with the smell of rotting corpses, Azno was stunned. "Human. A living human heehee~ Brother Leo is so nice" Facing the Decay Demon drooling, wiping the worms leaking out of her grinning mouth with her hand, Leo said indifferently, "Eris, you should also thank his majesty for granting the humans to you." "Eris knows. Eris Thank the demon king. Eris. likes the king the most heehee~" "There are a few human corpses here. These are not toys. His majesty needs your ability to analyze these corpses, as well as this." The Wisdom Demon then took out the corpses of the trade group''s thugs and Mage Bru from the spatial ring, threw them to the excited Decay Demon, and told Eris about the "egg" matter. "Leave it to Eris~, Eris is best at dealing with corpses heehee~" As Eris spoke, arge amount of sludge was spit out from her mouth. If one look closely, it wasn''t mud but a group of rapidly wriggling worms. They rushed towards the corpses thrown by the Wisdom Demon, burrowed into them quickly, and within a few breaths, the wounds of these long-dead and rotten corpses miraculously healed, as if the dissected parts that were cut open and gutted were also stitched up by the worms. The corpses then stood up one by one, as if they had be Eris''s puppets. Seeing Eris dancing with joy, as if she had gotten several dolls, the Wisdom Demon couldn''t help but remind her, "It doesn''t matter about the corpses, but be careful with this living human. Don''t let him die. He is a rare specimen. If he dies, who knows when we will get another." "No worries~ Eris will cherish him very much~" Seeing this, Leo nodded and turned to leave. The terrified Azno, left behind, then began to scream desperately, calling for Leo, pleading with the Wisdom Demon to take him away. He ran as fast as he could, desperately trying to escape from this butcher-like, terrifying, and disgustingly ugly monster woman. Unfortunately, at some point, many worms started emerging from the hem of his trousers and sleeves, crawling into his body through his nose, ears, and screaming mouth. Azno began to feel his vision blurring, with worms crawling in front of his eyes. He waved his arms, trying to drive away the worms in his vision, but no matter how much he shook his arms, those worms seemed inescapable. Later, Azno realized that these worms were not outside but crawling inside his cornea, inside his eyes. Screaming with all he could and frantically scratching his eyes, trying to grab the worms out, but soon he couldn''t even scream because as soon as he opened his mouth, new worms poured out of his throat. "Umm uhfsa!" Eventually, Azno, who fell to the ground, was gently and softly wrapped up by Eris''s several meters long, blood-red tongue covered with barbs, and gently dragged back into the mud filled with the stench of decay. As the most "precious" toy, it naturally has to be ced in the best box. Eris, with her asymmetrical arms, onerge and one small, ced on either side of her stomach, tore forcefully, and her belly split open from the middle, revealing a terrifying abyss inside, like some wriggling flesh tunnel. "Waghghgh!!" In Azno''s horrified wide-open eyes, Eris stuffed him into her stomach. This trade group boss, struggling in vain, could only watch as Eris''s stomach slowly closed, thest light disappeared, and hepletely fell into the bloody abyss. "Come and y with Eris, hehe~" With her big belly, hopping and skipping, Eris looked like a little girl loaded with spoils, happily returning to the depths of the corpse tales. . .. The early morning sun poured into the room. The chirping of little sparrows on the treetops woke Reji from his slumber. Reji, slightly regaining consciousness, first realized that he seemed to be holding something. Drowsily, Reji touched and squeezed it unconsciously. It was very cool to the touch. And very soft. In short, it was veryfortable, making one somewhat reluctant to let go. ''What is this?'' ''A pillow?'' When Reji opened his eyes and his vision cleared, he saw the "cool pillow" he was holding and rubbing, and this "cool pillow" was also looking at him. Just like that, Reji and Shermen, who had taken off her cloak, locked eyes. The time in the room seemed to freeze at this moment. After a few seconds. "Cough!" Reji coughed violently, easing and covering up his nervous mood. From the moment he saw the Shadow Demon in his arms, Reji was instantly wide awake,pletely alert. Although he pretended to be calm on the surface. He easily let go of Shermen, got up from the bed, as if nothing had happened. But in reality, Reji was very panicked. ''What''s going on?'' ''This situation would be normal with Eileen, which is why he was afraid to bring a Subus Demon, but with Shermen, a Shadow Demon, supposed to be a big ice queen, how could... "My King, do you feel better now?" In the midst of Reji''s chaotic thoughts, Shermen was the first to speak. ''Feel better?'' Seeing Reji a bit puzzled, Shermen quickly added: "Has Shermen made his majesty feel less lonely?" With that, Reji suddenly understood. ''So that''s how it is'' ''I had misunderstood Shermen'' Reji was touched by many feelings from the bottom of his heart. He just casually mentioned it, but Shermen took it so seriously, even going as far as changing her habits, to apany him in bed together. ''She really is a kind demon'' Reji touched Shermen''s head. "Of course, with Shermen here, I don''t feel lonely at all." The Shadow Demon seemed to enjoy Reji''s touch. She gently lowered her head. With her already petite body, she looked more like a little kitten. "Shermen understands" The Shadow Demon nodded seriously. Looking like from now on, she would climb into Reji''s bed every night, bing the king''s "loneliness alleviation princess." Reji: "" "One question, Shermen, why did you take off all your clothes?" "Don''t the king like it this way?" Shermen tilted her head and counter-asked. As if saying, when Reji lifted her cloak before, she took it as Reji not liking her being wrapped up so tightly, preferring this "stripped" style. Reji: "..." "Next time, the cloak can be taken off, but not the inside!" "Understood, my king." "And, don''t tell Eileen about this when we get back," Reji seriously added. "Don''t tell the other apostles either!" After the little interlude, having packed up, and after spending a beautiful night holding Shermen, now Reji, full of energy, enthusiastically stepped out with the Shadow Demon. "My King, where are we going next?" "To the Adventurer''s Association." Chapter 39: Five Flowers Alliance Leaving the inn, Reji easily bought a city guide map from a nearby stall. The guide map was very clear, not only providing an overview of the city but also detailed different functional areas and blocks, even including simple exnations and notes on several key areas andndmark buildings. Such aprehensive and useful guide map clearly indicated that there must be many foreigners entering the city every day like them. Unfolding the guide map, Reji and Shermen walked down the streets, looking around. First, their guess was correct; thisrge and bustling city was indeed the royal city of a country - the IlinorKingdom. On the map, the royal city was divided into several parts, seemingly to facilitate understanding for the culturally uneducated foreigners, hence the simple representation using administrative districts, queen''s districts, academy districts, scenic garden districts, and so on. Among them, the Adventurer''s Association, which Reji was looking for, was a key building and seemed to be very popr among foreigners, so it had extra markings on the map, saving Reji a lot of trouble. The association was not far from them, just straight along the main road of the royal city, located in the central za area on the map. Arriving at this huge oval za, the hustle and bustle around them increased by several notches. The diverse crowds bustling about, the incessanting and going of carriages, and the noisy hawkers from various shops. The so-called central za area was actually the royal city''srgemercial circle, which is always the most vibrant and lively ce. Reji could feel that, under this scene, Shermen''s body tensed up a lot. Well that was normal. The demon race had been sealed in the barren chaos rift for a thousand years, in contrast, humans were living in such prosperous and wealthy conditions, and even the poption size had doubledpared to a thousand years ago. Back then, a human city with a poption of several hundred thousand was considered top-notch and very rare. Now, Reji estimated the poption of this royal city to be at least in the millions. Thinking of this, Reji took Shermen''s hand. The body of the Shadow Demon paused for a moment. But after seeing theforting look from Reji, Shermen quickly adjusted her emotions, no longer as tense due to the surrounding humans, but still focused, maintaining a vignt, protective stance, without any less diligence. Even in the bustling central za, the building of the Adventurer''s Association was very conspicuous, somewhat of andmark. After all, in the world of swords and magic, having no Adventurer''s Association was like having no Tifa in the 3D district. Even a thousand yearster, the Adventurer''s Association''s emblem of "Sword and Stars" remained unchanged, giving Reji a sense of familiarity. The Adventurer''s Association was the first faction he joined in his first cycle, and it could be said to be the starting point of all "Children of Destiny" stories. With such nostalgic feelings, Reji entered the association''s lobby. Compared to a thousand years ago, the association has clearly undergone multiple changes and renovations, evolving from what might have been a small wooden hut to now having a spacious lobby that can amodate hundreds of people, with threeyers inside and three outside, and various guidance efforts being very well implemented. As soon as one enters, there is a prominent sign for a registration area specifically for neers. After Reji follows the passage and turns in, two more signs appear. [Royal City Household Registration/Other Identity Proofs] [Non-Royal City Household Registration] ''Well, that''s something'' Reji was somewhat taken aback. ''It seems that regardless of the type of human civilization, they all eventually converge to a familiar point, developing to a certain stage where one can see shadows of familiarity among each other'' ''Actually, if you think about it, there are various types of adventurers on earth as well, just with different names, like delivery personnel, courier staff, repair workers, ypanions, and so on'' Reji entered the registration channel for "foreigners", but the scene that followed was a bit different from what he had imagined. "What! The registration fee is actually 5 silver? It''s just a dozen coppers in Yonesser City, why is it so expensive here!" "Sorry sir, the association''s registration fee is adjusted based on the location and fluctuation is normal." "Okay, then you tell me, why can they register for free over there!?" The angry middle-aged man speaking pointed towards the [Non-Royal City Household Registration] area where Reji was. Exactly. To Reji''s surprise, the treatment for these foreigners was actually better than for the city''s residents. At least that''s the case for the current registration process. As soon as Reji approached, a staff member in a neat uniform came up to greet him. After confirming that Reji had never registered anywhere before, they first handed him a magic stone, which, as per tradition from a thousand years ago, would sh with light corresponding to the user''s power level upon cement. By rights, this testing process should have a fee, but the staff showed no intention of charging. It wasn''t just Reji; the registration area for all foreigners seemed to bepletely free, not a single one charged, whereas those with Royal City or other major city household registrations had to pay a registration fee of 5 silver. The earlier middle-aged man''s dissatisfaction was precisely with this point. As for the reason, the staff in front of Reji smiled and said: "Sir, all the fees required for your registration will be covered by the Five Flowers Alliance" "The Five Flowers Alliance has a long history of over a hundred years in the Kingdom of Ilinor. The alliance was initially founded by the kingdom''s Grand Duchess Volkova, along with three other countesses, including Countess Pello, with the original intention of resisting the kingdom''s household registration system and dedicating efforts to help those living in remote mountainous areas on the borders of the kingdom." "The Five Flowers Alliance hopes that within Ilinor Kingdom, there will no longer be discrimination based on region, no division of people into different sses based on household registration status, and that everyone can receive equal and fair development opportunities." The staff not only exined this to Reji but to all the neers registering at the association, providing them with exnations. Many adventurers from outside the city, who could be identified by their somewhat rustic and poor appearance, started apuding in agreement upon hearing this. Even a part of them began to share with others around: "The Five Flowers Alliance. I think I''ve heard of it! People from the alliance came to our vige once and gave us a lot of food! They even took my sister and many other girls from the vige away to study in the big city for free! I recognize them! It''s this symbol!" "You know, I think I also have some impression. A few years ago, there was an article in the newspaper where the Five Flowers Alliance publicly criticized the Grand Princess, and it received support and calls from many cities within the kingdom!" Mentioning the Grand Princess, Reji noticed that the mood among the crowd became more intense. From their faces, one could see a lot of resentment and dissatisfaction towards this "Grand Princess." "Criticism well deserved! This is the kind of nobility we want! Someone who can speak up for us the lower ss! Since that Princess took part in governance, look at what she has implemented? Mandatory household registration system, forced increase of multiple city entry checkpoints, deliberately preventing us from entering the city, and even ordering a limit on the number of positions for people from outside areas in each ce!" "Exactly, don''t mention it anymore! My sister was originally favored by a big business group in the city, and everything was settled, but then because it vited the new constitution of this princess, the business group''s quota for people from outside was full, and the city guard army forcibly repatriated my sister. My sister can only stay in our small, broken vige now, it''s too outrageous!" "If you ask me, if things keep going like this, our Kingdom will sooner orter be ruined by that Princess!" "Shh! Be careful, this is the royal city. Speaking ill of the Princess can get you arrested!" "Let''s not talk about it anymore. At least, in our Kingdom, we still have nobles like the Five Flowers Alliance, who are kind-hearted and considerate towards us, right?" "Thank you, Five Flowers Alliance! Thank you, noble lords!" Chapter 40: "..." (Hail: You may wonder why sometimes I use Child of destiny and other times son of destiny, Well, when it is in Reji''s pov, in the game he could pick a male or female model, But in this world Pov, It was the son of destiny, As Reji cleared it with a male character) -------- Reji ced his hand on the magic stone, and Shermen standing beside him immediately tensed up. The Shadow Demon was clearly prepared for the worst-case scenario: if their king was exposed by the human''s detection, she would protect the king and retreat with all her might. As the magic stone emitted a faint white light, symbolizing the lowest level, Shermen finally let go of the tension, her admiration for Reji growing even more. Humans had magic stones a thousand years ago, so Shermen was well aware that even they the Shadow Demons couldn''t guarantee a 100% concealment against such stones. Yet, the demon king was not only powerful and insightful but even in hiding his presence, he far exceeded the Shadow Demons! Easily deceiving humans, despite possessing top-tier power, he could still disguise such a low-level illusion on the magic stone. ''Although I can also deceive the magic stone, there would always be a tiny bit of aura leaking out'' And even just a tiny bit, once detected by the magic stone, would likely cause the stone to light up brightly. If it were a lower-grade magic stone, it might even explode due to being unable to withstand the energy. During the human-demon war a thousand years ago, that cunning Son of Destiny had used this to his advantage. Intentionally using the lowest-grade magic stones to inspect the human elites, he easily identified many spies that the demon race had painstakingly infiltrated, causing them heavy losses. Reminiscing, Shermen pursed her lips. Even with her indifferent personality, she harbored deep shadows and fears regarding the Chosen One of humanity from a thousand years ago. This is also why, despite sensing that the humans around her were incredibly weak, all of them ants she could crush with half a finger, she remained extremely cautious and dared not let her guard down. On the other hand, ''Indeed, as the Wisdom Demon said, the new demon king our race weed after a thousand years was like an endless treasure. The more we interacted with his majesty, the more we discovered surprises at every turn'' The gloom that once hung over them under the Child of Destiny seemed to gradually dissipate as she followed the new king, and the confidence of her and the demon race, once shattered by the Child of Destiny, was being slowly picked up again. On the other side. Reji could feel Shermen''s respectful gaze. But in reality. The bitterness inside Reji, he knew best himself. His attributes were all "1", where was the need for any concealment? It was a natural performance, purely natural. This further solidified Reji''s resolve to quickly improve himself. There''s no need to look any further. Once Rejipleted the registration and acquired the adventurer identity, by casually taking on fourmissions to fulfill daily tasks, with the rewards given by the system under the hundredfold enhancement of the Demon King''s trajectory, he could undergo aplete transformation today, rising at least twenty to thirty levels! Seeing the result from Reji''s magic stone, the staff didn''t discriminate against him for it. Rather, this was the current situation for the majority of neers from outside areas. Initially, the staff saw that Reji had apanion with him and wanted to test Shermen as well, but Reji stopped them, indicating it wasn''t necessary. Afterward, all procedures went smoothly, and it wasn''t long before a badge symbolizing the "ck Iron Level" was added to Reji''s chest. "Sir, this is themission list provided by the association based on your rating. You haveplete autonomy in choosing." "However, please note that once you ept amission, any breach, cancetion, failure, etc., will be recorded and affect your credibility rating. If your credibility score is too low, we will forcibly revoke your certification within the association, and you will not be able to apply for qualifications from the association for a certain period." As the staff spoke, they handed Reji a tablet. The tablet was enchanted with a simple spell, and text magically appeared in front of Reji, listing about a dozenmissions. Being the lowest ck Iron level, themissions were very simple, mostly involving tasks like delivering messages, parcels, carrying goods, going to the lowest-level wild forests to gather herbal materials, etc. Thesemissions were simple, but the rewards were indeed very low, basically just a dozen copper coins per trip, not even making a silver after a day''s work. However, this didn''t matter to Reji, as he wasn''t relying on the employer''s reward; the main key was the system''s generous rewards. "What do these red markings mean?" Reji pointed to the first five or sixmissions at the front of themission board. Not only were their colors different, but their rewards were also somewhat higher than those behind. "Sir, these aremissions issued by the Five Flowers Alliance. As an adventurer who has epted sponsorship from the Five Flowers Alliance, the association, ording to regtions, will prioritize assigning youmissions rted to the Five Flowers Alliance." ''I see'' Reji looked around at the adventurers who joined with him, noticing that the majority of these neers from outside areas had chosen to take on the red-markedmissions, serving the Five Flowers Alliance. This was normal, especially after just receiving benefits from the Five Flowers Alliance; naturally, they would lean towards serving the alliance. Moreover, since the Five Flowers Alliance offered higher rewards than others, there was even less reason not to choose them. This clear strategy of winning people''s hearts didn''t prompt muchment from Reji; after all, they indeed provided tangible benefits. However, since Reji wasn''t motivated by the rewards, he didn''t n to take onmissions from the Five Flowers Alliance; he was just looking for the simplest, quickestmissions toplete. But at this moment, Reji noticed that Shermen seemed to change her gaze, and it was fixed on a particrmission for a long time without moving. It was one of the Five Flowers Alliancemissions at the very beginning, marked in eye-catching red. [Search and Rescue the Lost Bululu!] The picture below themission was of a very cute, snow-white fur ragdoll cat, clearly indicating that Bululu was this little cat''s name. When Reji moved his finger towards othermissions, Shermen''s gaze dimmed a bit, but when his finger returned to this one, her gaze brightened up again. ''Alright then'' Reji hadn''t expected to inadvertently discover Shermen''s affinity for cats. ''In that case, this one it is'' Reji directly epted themission to search and rescue the kitty, recorded by the staff, making thismission disappear from other adventurers during Reji''s mission period. Apart from satisfying Shermen, the special nature of thismission was also a reason; it disyed as a "four-star" mission from Reji''s system perspective. A total of four stars for daily tasks, one could take on four one-starmissions or one four-starmission to receive full rewards. The only difference was, although thetter saves effort, the actual difficulty would also be rtively higher. A search and rescue mission for a little cat reaching four stars could only mean that the cat''s owner was probably no ordinary person. After epting themission, Reji received the following detailed information. ording to the employer, Bululu was lost in the queen''s district, a ce not frequented bymoners, akin to a backyard for the nobles within the royal city, further confirming Reji''s earlier guess. Although the employer provided a specific range for the lost cat, hard searching would probably take up half a day, but for Shermen... not to mention for an apostle, for a Shadow Demon, something like searching for a lost item was too simple. Arriving at the ce where the little cat was lost, Shermen activated her ability, turning any shadow into her eyes. In just a few seconds, Shermen nodded at Reji and quickly headed towards a big tree. Just under the shade of the tree, the "meow meow" sound was heard. Shermen, with a light tap of her toe, easily leaped to the treetop, where a white ragdoll cat was meowing non-stop, exactly the cat from themission. Shermen reached out to the little cat, unusually using a very gentle method to gently embrace the cat into her arms, even stroking the cat''s head back and forth, not at all like a terrifying apostle of the demon race. After jumping down from the tree with the cat, it seemed only then did Shermen realize herpse, looking somewhat embarrassedly at Reji, as if she had exposed some shameful hobby in front of her king. Reji, on the other hand, didn''t mind and was actually quite happy. ''The demon race is not just a race filled with destruction and killing; they also have their own side'' Thinking this, Reji prepared to return to the association with Shermen and the little cat to deliver themission. However. Next, Shermen suddenly frowned, the affectionate and gentle expression she had while holding the little cat vanished entirely. "My King, there''s something wrong with this little cat." Shermen seemed to sense something, changing her approach and abruptly gripping the little cat''s neck tightly with her hand. The cat, which had been meowing, now seemed frightened, frantically iling its limbs. ''Something wrong?'' ''What does that mean?'' ''Wait, could it be...'' Reji quickly guessed, the only thing that could make Shermen change her expression like that, he directly cast a [Check]on the little cat, and what made Reji''s expression be serious was... The Check spell actually Returned a result. And to know, in the game, [Check]could only be sessfully used on... corpses. Seeing the [Check]return on the screen, Reji fully understood why Shermen was so tense and on high alert now. [Bululu (Deceased) (Demon Egg Parasite)] ----------------- [Name: Reji] [Lvl: 29] [Fate Track: Demon King] [Current Number of Lit Stars Sculpt: 1] [Star Sculpt I King''s Birth](Activated) [Activation Condition: Complete the summoning ritual, sessfully descend into the world] [Activation Effect: Demon King, born to plunderAll basic rewards you receive are increased by 10000%] [Star Sculpt II - King''s Rise ](Not Activated) [Activation Condition: Possess a "Stronghold-level" demon territory and obtain at least one apostle''s "Utmost Loyalty" favorability] [Territory: NoneNot Achieved] [Current Number of Apostles with "Utmost Loyalty" Favorability: (2/1)Achieved] [Activation Effect: Demon King standing above allYou ignore any "skill/item" learning/usage requirements] [Star Sculpt IIIKing''s Momentum](Not Activated) [Activation Condition: Possess a "Castle-level" demon territory and obtain at least three apostles'' "Utmost Loyalty" favorability] [Current Number of Apostles with "Utmost Loyalty" Favorability: (2/3)Not Achieved] [Activation Effect: Demon King, unstoppableYour personal attribute values increase by 100%, your spell effects'' uracy increases by 100%, your attacks will always critically hit, you will ignore any control effects, any "instant death" spells or attacks will not work on you] [Star Sculpt IV???] [Star Sculpt V???] [Star...] Chapter 41: Chapter 41: The Counts Daughter "Eh? Mr. Reji?" At the Adventurer''s Association, in themission hall, the staff member who had previously attended to Reji was surprised to see Reji return so quickly. It hadn''t even been half an hour, filled with astonishment. Reji ced a carry case on the counter, and the staff member looked inside to see a little stuffed cat continuously "meowing," identical to the photo in themission. "Lucky, we just arrived at the missing location and heard a kitten meowing on the tree. And surprisingly, it was the very one from themission." After Reji briefly exined, the staff member first verified the details, then turned to the back to proceed withmission confirmation and payment procedures for Reji. However, in no time, the staff member quickly returned and said to Reji: "Mr. Reji, could you please wait here for a moment? We have just contacted the employer of themission, and she is on her way here, hoping to thank you in person." ''Hmm?'' ''Coming to meet in person?'' Reji was a bit surprised but found it saved him some trouble. "No problem" Reji would naturally not refuse and then sat down on a sofa in the tea break room, led by the staff member. It didn''t take long for Reji to wait. In about ten minutes or so, the entrance hall of the Adventurer''s Association was filled with amotion. "Look at that carriage, am I mistaken, or does this horse seem bigger than others? Look at the eyes of the horse! They are heterochromatic!?" "Ignorant aren''t you? This kind of horse is imported and only raised in the Empire. That heterochromia is a sign of magical power; this horse can release simple first-tier wind spells, it is really impressive! But, I heard it eats several gold coins'' worth of feed a day!" "Who could afford such a horse?" "Are you from out of town? See the clover emblem on the carriage? That''s something everyone in the Royal City knows, it belongs to the Vedler Count''s family!" "Vedler Count, huh! Isn''t that one of the nobles who formed the Five Flowers Alliance? Why would such a distinguished noblee to our association?" The luxurious noble carriage pulled by a heterochromatic steed stopped at the entrance of the Adventurer''s Association, immediately drawing the attention of many adventurers inside. And then, the person assisted down from the carriage by a butler was a youngdy wearing exquisite dark green dress and brown leather shoes, topped with a beautiful wide-brimmed sun hat. Although the brim was long, the young and pretty cute face under the hat asionally peeked out, making passersby stop in their tracks, drawn by her charming aura. "It''s the Count Vedler''sdaughter! Miss Ariel!" "So beautiful." "Of course! Miss Ariel is the second-ce winner of our Ilinor Royal City''s beauty contest!" "What? Only second ce? Who''s the first?" "Hmph, who else could it be, if not Princess Yuffie." "No wonder." "I really want to be Miss Ariel''s dog guard!" "Wait, look at the youngdy''s demeanor, does it seem like she''s here in our association to find someone?" The excited adventurers discussing among themselves were not wrong. The beautiful youngdy, not carrying much of an aristocratic poise, didn''t wait for her old butler and directly ran into the Adventurer''s Association Hall with small doll. Her bright eyes quickly scanned the hall, and soon she locked onto Reji and another sitting on the sofa in the tea break room. The youngdy happily waving her hand and lifting her dark green dress, ran up to Reji. "Hello! You''re the ones who helped Ariel find Bululu, right?" Then, a staff member of the association hurried over to exin and introduce to Reji: "Mr. Reji, this is your client, Miss Ariel from the Count Vedler''s family, the employer of themission. Miss Ariel, here is your lost pet, we have checked and it''s all fine" The staff member said as he handed the carry case to Ariel, who eagerly opened it and hugged the stuffed cat inside, rubbing it affectionately against her face, her joy of being reunited with her pet clearly overflowing. "Wuaaah, thank you so much. Bululu is my best partner; I''ve always treated her as family. Bululu, I finally found you! Thank you, I''m so grateful to both of you!" "No problem, d we could help Miss Ariel." Perhaps it was because of Reji''s calm demeanor, not as excited or thrilled as the other adventurers around them towards the youngdy, or maybe Ariel was genuinely grateful to Reji. Anyway, the youngdy shook her head immediately, putting on a very serious expression: "No, no! Ariel must properly thank you both. Let me think, hmm! Okay I Decided! Ariel wants to invite you both to my home for a visit! My dad and mom said when you meet good people, you must invite them for a meal! Ariel wants to treat you to a big meal!" "Miss, this... this might not be appropriate, even though theypleted themission, but their identity hasn''t been," the btedly arriving old butler interjected from the side, trying to dissuade her. But to no effect. "I don''t care, I don''t care! Today Ariel wants to invite them to our home as guests!" The youngdy, hands on her hips, showed a stubborn and puffed-up demeanor, leaving the old butler no choice but to shake his head and sigh. "My apologies for our young miss''s slight rudeness, would you be willing to be our gusts? Of course, if you have other arrangementster, I will persuade the young miss." The butler ultimately left the decision in Reji''s hands. And though Ariel looked a bit pouty and displeased, she didn''t say anything. Instead, she just used those innocent and beautiful big eyes to look expectantly at Reji. Under this scene, inside the hall, countless adventurers cast envious nces at Reji, regretting why they hadn''t been lucky enough to receive such amission. Especially the male adventurers from other ces, to them, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity seemed too good to hesitate. They wished they could immediately agree on Reji''s behalf to have dinner with Miss Ariel. Even some appeared to be lost in a blissful fantasy, probably imagining a beautiful love story between a poor boy and a rich girl, even thinking up names for their future children. However, among the majority of adventurers filled with envy and jealousy, a small group cast a sympathetic and regretful nce towards Reji. If Reji had seen them, he would have noticed that this group of clearly experienced and agile adventurers'' leaders were the same ones who had bought the "Star Combat Technique" at the "Lanqi" auction in the tool shopst night, led by a fierce-faced big man. "Sit back down!" The leader pressed down a girl who seemed unable to resist the urge to "remind" Reji. "But leader, are we just supposed to watch as nothing is happening" The fierce-looking big man showed a hint of helplessness, shaking his head, "You can help this one, but what about the next? And the one after that? Can you help them all? "Our Eagle Mercenary Group has grown to a certain size, butpared to a count,pared to the Five Flowers Alliance, we''re still too weak." The female adventurer fell silent, gripping her staff tightly, her head bowed in frustration. Seeing this, the big man leader seemed heartbroken andforted her: "Alright Luna, I promise you, the day we truly have enough power, I''ll be the first to lead you all to join Princess Yuffie. We''ll together punish those bastards, change this... rotten country!" "Hmm" Eventually, the adventurer named "Luna" nodded, giving up, and could only watch as Reji and another "foreign" adventurer readily epted the invitation and went with Ariel onto the carriage. Under this scene, she seemed to touch upon some painful memories of the past. The female adventurer''s fingers tightened around her staff, her knuckles turning white, her eyes filled with sorrow and hatred. Chapter 42: Chapter 42: The Last Dinner part 1 The noble carriage was very spacious,fortably amodating three people. Reji and Shermen sat side by side on one side, with the lively and curious Miss Ariel, having taken off her sun hat, sitting opposite them. "So... Mr. Reji, where are you from?" "A small vige on the eastern side of the Royal City." "I see." Seeing that Reji did not intend to borate, Ariel did not pursue further questions but instead turned her inquisitive gaze towards Shermen. "And what about the person next to Mr. Reji? Are you childhood friends? Master and servant? Or... lovers!!" The noble miss appeared very keen on gossip, especially at thest part, her eyes shining brightly, seemingly looking forward to hearing some love story. Unfortunately, Reji shook his head. "Just a fellow viger." "Oh..." Ariel nodded, clearly a bit disappointed, but she quickly perked up, showing a hopeful and coquettish attitude, this time addressing Shermen: "Sister, why are you always wearing a cloak? Can Ariel see Sister''s face?" Shermen remained silent. More urately, shepletely ignored, not even ncing at the miss. This was often how the Shadow Demon Apostle behaved. Not just with humans, even among the apostles, Shermen was mostly the most silent. The way she acted around Reji was exclusively "Demon King limited". Seeing this mysterious "cloak-wearing female adventurer"pletely disregarding her, Ariel felt somewhat awkward. The smile on her cute face stiffened a bit, evidently encountering this situation for the first time. Fortunately, Reji quickly spoke up, easing the atmosphere in the carriage. "Sorry, Miss Ariel, mypanion, she''s just like this, a bit shy, which is why she''s always draped in a cloak." "Oh, I see, it''s okay, it''s okay, it''s all Ariel''s fault. Lawrence always tells me off for not understanding people''s boundaries, always assuming too much, and in the end, causing trouble for others" Lawrence is the old butler driving the carriage. Ariel waved her hands in a dismissing gesture, indicating she didn''t mind, but in reality, she keenly observed an interesting detail. Just now, when Reji stepped in to defuse the awkward atmosphere, Ariel noticed that this seemingly cold and mysterious female adventurer clearly showed some emotion. Although it was very slight, she still caught it. And how to describe this emotion? It was as if... She was angry at her? Ariel wasn''t wrong; Shermen indeed felt anger towards her, for a simple reason, daring to make her king say "sorry." If Shermen weren''t worried about disrupting her king''s n, she would have taken action long ago. But Ariel was unaware of these details. Instead, it was as if she had discovered something fun and interesting, and the excitement she felt when the topic of "love" came up resurfaced. The next moment, the miss with a slight smile on her lips, suddenly left her seat and moved to sit next to Reji on the other side. Now, instead of Reji and Shermen sitting side by side with Ariel opposite them, Reji was seated with Shermen on his left and Ariel on his right. Shermen immediately clenched her fists tighter. Her body tensed even more. And these subtle movements, observed in secret by Ariel, were all noted, making her feel as if she had confirmed something. The noble miss''s smile grew a bit wider. "Brother Reji... Ah! Sorry!~ Ariel did it again, being too familiar. But..." "Brother Reji, can, can I call you that?" While saying this, Ariel moved a bit closer to Reji. Her slender hands, covered in whitece gloves, even rested directly on Reji''s leg. The faint scent of jasmine perfume from the noble miss was now drifting to Reji''s nose. The girl disyed a pitiful look, blinking her watery eyes, looking very hopeful at Reji. Any adventurer from outside, no, not just those from outside, even those gold or tinum level adventurers, under her intentionally close, coquettish attitude, would all sumb. Ariel''s tactic was tried and true. Bringing her countless moments of enjoyment left to be desired. She was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of "jealous" expression that pretentiously aloof, drama-loving female adventurer would make after Reji agreed. ''This felling of conquest Ah~'' Ariel involuntarily tightened her legs. The heat in her lower abdomen seemed to stir up a warm current at just the thought of that scene, stimting her nerves and making her cheeks even redder, utterly adorable. Until "Thank you for your affection, Miss Ariel." "But I must refuse" Reji, with a smile, gracefully refused the noble miss. And all of Ariel''s recent actions, the flushed cheeks, the excited body, the tightened legs, seemed toe to an abrupt halt. Turning into a somewhat revealing, ''incredulous, how could you refuse'' "Ahhhh?" Realizing her voice had cracked. That "ah" was harsh and piercing, and Ariel quickly came to her senses. She hurriedly adjusted, reverting to her previous cute tone of voice, stammering to Reji, "Yes, yes, I''m sorry, Mr. Reji, Ariel was rude." After speaking, the noble miss lowered her head slightly, her hair covering part of her face, making it hard to see her expression under the shadow of her hair strands. However, Ariel silently moved away from Reji''s side and returned to her original seat opposite him. Afterward, the atmosphere inside the carriage becamepletely frozen. It was silent. Ariel was no longer as actively engaging, no longer lively and curious. And on Reji''s part, he naturally wouldn''t initiate conversation. After all, he wasn''t following Ariel for a chat. Now that the noble miss had quieted down, it gave Reji some peace. In this way, the journey continued without words for about a quarter of an hour until the carriage gradually slowed down and eventually stopped in front of a manor estate. The old butler stepped down from the horse, walked around to the back, and opened the carriage for them. Seeing the silent atmosphere inside the carriage, the old butler seemed somewhat surprised. It was a first for him to escort the miss and a foreign adventurer like this "many times." Ariel didn''t say much, taking the lead in getting out of the carriage, with Reji and Shermen following behind. However, they hadn''t even entered the manor''s gate when they were stopped again. "Stop!" "Take off your cloak and submit to inspection." A straightforward young guard drew his sword, pointing the de directly at Shermen. Ariel remained silent, and it was the old butler who first intervened to stop the guard, "Do not be rude; these are Miss Ariel''s guests." Yet, the young guard seemed stubborn and did not give an inch. "I serve Lord Vedler. My duty is to ensure the safety of the estate, especially during the lord''s absence. Every guest must undergo a security check before entering." Seeing this, the old butler cast a helpless and apologetic nce at Reji. And Ariel, the miss who had been "protecting" Reji all this while, remained silent at this moment, not saying a word. "It''s okay, as guests, it''s expected. Shermen, take it off." Reji nodded in understanding. With Reji''smand, Shermen didn''t hesitate much longer, quickly reaching up to the hood of her cloak and pulling it back. As the hood fell back, Shermen revealed her appearance. A head of eye-catching, rare purple short hair, a coldly beautiful loli face, andstly, skin as white and delicate as the first snow, that seemed almost translucent. For a moment, everyone around, including the young guard, was stunned. As if everyone was amazed by Shermen, the beautiful little girl with a strong "exotic charm," including Ariel. The noble miss stared intensely at Shermen''s purple hair, at her skin which was even whiter and more delicate than hers, her gaze like that of a beast ready to devour its prey. But in the next moment, Ariel seemed to revert back to the innocent, lively, unassuming noble miss she was when she first met Reji. "Alright, alright! That should do, right? Such a beautiful sister, how could she possibly be a bad person? I''ll exin to Daddytter,Mr. Reji, and... and this beautiful sister, let''s go inside, Ariel is starving!" Just like that, it was as if all the awkwardness and displeasure in the carriage had never happened. Chapter 43: Chapter 43: The Last Dinner part 2 Finally, all the chapters are finished. Few... The privilege must have been activated next month; I don''t know how the system closed it this month.... Anyway, sorry for the dy, From today on, it will be two daily chapters. With powerstone bonuses next month. -------- Ariel chatted away with Reji again, this time including Shermen in the conversation even more. Regardless of whether Shermen paid her no attention, Ariel didn''t care at all, as if she waspletely captivated and subdued by Shermen''s beauty. Including the old butler, a group of five people gradually made their way deeper into the estate. The young guard left behind finally snapped back to reality. Looking at Reji and especially Shermen, the young, stunningly exotic little girl, the guard ultimately sighed and showed a look of regret. "Mr. Reji, try this, it''s Ariel''s favorite cold mixed Sayagrass!" The maid pushed the dining cart, setting up a series of exquisite silverware for Reji and Shermen. As the silver covers were lifted, the table was filled with a variety of rich, delicious dishes, including the one Ariel strongly rmended to Reji, resembling a vegetable sd cold dish. "Mr. Reji, did you know? This Sayagrass alles from a region in the eastern part of the kingdom called Ober. Originally, it was very barren, and the vigers often went hungry. It was after the big brothers and sisters of the Five Flowers Alliance arrived, they taught the local vigers various knowledge, helping them develop new crops. Sayagrass is one of them, and since then, the region has developed more and more, and the local vigers have been able to live a life of warmth and fullness!" Ariel introduced the Five Flowers Alliance to Reji with a face full of longing and happiness, mentioning her parents. The maids and butler Lawrence present in the restaurant remained silent, showing little expression, as if they had heard these stories many times before. And Reji... He seemed very willing to try, taking some Sayagrass sd onto his te. Although it was turned into a dish and smeared with sd dressing. At first nce, it looked no different from ordinary vegetables. But Reji was well aware, pretending to fiddle with it, a quick nce at the leaves revealed a distinctive thinyer of fat underneath the Sayagrass, and beneath the fat, ayer of fine spore powder hidden at the edges of the leaves. Sayagrass, a millennium ago, was one of the materials Reji was familiar with. The primary material for making [Hallucinogens]. As a "Perfect achievement" yer with "Master-Level Expertise in Materials" Reji didn''t need the system to recall information rted to "Sayagrass" from his own memory. In short, using organs as soil, watered with fresh blood. It often grows in battlefields, bone-burial grounds, and chaotic grave mounds, where only three flowers can be harvested at a time, making it rare. Of course, a thousand years have passed, and it''s possible that such nts have been improved and mutated. As the safest and most proof-positive method, Reji lightly ran his finger across the dish, and at that moment, the Crown Ring that Eileen had prepared for him, which he had always worn, flickered imperceptibly. The Crown Ring can resist all negative effects, and simrly, it would react and provide a prompt to anything that produces negative effects. "Eh?" "Mr. Reji, do you not like sd? Hmm. Ah! I got it! This, this, Mr. Reji, you''ll definitely like this!" Under Ariel''s direction, the maid immediately came forward, bringing another dish towards Reji. Upon lifting the lid, it was a dish resembling a pomegranate. However, unlike regr pomegranates, from the cut surface, one could see that the pulp inside each was crystal clear, like beautiful red crystals, seemingly juicy and tempting enough to make one want to take a bite. "Brother Reji, and beautiful big sister, this is Crystal Red Pomegranate, sweet and refreshing! It also has a strong skin-care and beautifying effect, it''s my mom''s favorite. She eats one every morning and evening. sister, you should try it, it''s delicious! Especially for someone as beautiful as you, you must take good care of yourself!" Simr to the previous scene. Ariel enthusiastically introduced the dishes to Reji and Shermen. Whether it was the Crystal Red Pomegranate or the Sayagrass, both were extremely rare and unusual, so Ariel was very confident, not to mention outsiders, even the most seasoned adventurers might not recognize these. And introducing these foods to unknowing foreign adventurers was an essential part of her "dinner", her "pleasure". But Ariel couldn''t have imagined. The person sitting across from her was indeed a "foreign" adventurer, only this "foreign" doesn''te from a distance but from a "thousand years ago" span of time, an old timer. Crystal Red Pomegranate. Reji doesn''t recall a material called this from a thousand years ago. But there was something with a simr characteristic. Called Bloody Pomegranate. By having pregnant women consume its seeds, the Blood Pomegranate would grow alongside the fetus inside the mother''s body. After several months of pregnancy, upon the mother giving birth, the mature Bloody Pomegranate, along with the child that had been nourished and drained of vitality, would be born together. "Miss Ariel, is the ingredient for this dish also from some rural area supported by the Five Flowers Alliance?" Reji asked the beautiful miss seated at the head of the dining table. And Ariel, blinking her cute eyes, seemed pleased that Reji initiated conversation with her. The hospitable miss immediately replied: "Um, not this one, this was specially brought from the countryside by a pregnant woman whom mom had helped before, as a local specialty thank you gift to my mom!" "Oh? Does Miss Ariel''s family also help pregnant women?" "Of course Brother Reji, you should know, in the countryside and remote areas, conditions are very poor, and there are seldom any doctors. Things like difficult childbirths, miscarriages happen often. Especially since the introduction of the Grand Princess''s constitution, it has be even harder for vigers to seek medical treatment in cities, leaving them unable to receive proper medical care, having to watch helplessly as they miscarry their babies." Ariel''s voice trailed off as she spoke, her head bowed. Her face was full of dejection, full of sympathy and pity for the suffering people. Even just thinking of that scene, pearls seemed about to drop from the miss''s eyes. However, Ariel''s expression quickly changed, happily saying: "Fortunately, the Five Flowers Alliance helped them!" "We regrly conduct check-ups for pregnant women in every vige, provide medical care, ensuring that even those far from cities, in remote countryside, can have healthy, safe childbirths!" "This was the initial intention of mom and the other aunties establishing the Five Flowers Alliance. As nobles, with more capabilities, we should bear more responsibility!" "But, that Grand Princess..." Ariel''s voice faltered here, her gaze slightly dropping, hiding the sh of disgust in her eyes. But quickly, the beautiful noble miss lifted her head again, with her cute and lively voice, clenched her little fists, waved them in the air, very inspiringly saying: "Ariel will also learn from mom, from everyone in the Five Flowers Alliance in the future! Ariel wants to make every person in the kingdom of Ilinor live happier!" "Mr. Reji... will help me with this right~?" Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Why Won鈥檛 You Drink! "Of course, Miss" "You and the members of the Five Flowers Alliance are all kind-hearted good people" Reji nodded. Simrly, "of course," he did not touch the dish either. Blood pomegranate grows alongside the fetus in a pregnant woman, absorbing the life force of the fetus. Most children born after consuming blood pomegranate end up with low intelligence, disabilities, and various diseases, rarely living to adulthood. And indeed, humans consuming blood pomegranate rich in life force can indeed beautify and resist aging. But shortly after consumption, it not only induces strong hypnotic effects but also slows down the blood flow throughout the body. This wouldn''t be an issue under normal circumstances, but inbat, it would lead to severe blood deficiency, causing dizziness and instability, which is extremely deadly. On the other side. Seeing that after her long exnation, Reji just listened and still had no intention of eating, Ariel''s smile had be somewhat forced and stiff. Especially seeing that Shermen also hadn''t touched any of these "delicious dishes" at all. "Are you not hungry? Then how about this, let''s start with some appetizer soup. Please promise Ariel, you must drink this time, okay? This is a dinner Ariel prepared specially to thank you both. If you don''t eat at all, Ariel will be very upset! My parents will definitely scold Ariel too!" Thedy''s tone was now a bit off. This time, under Ariel''s eye signal, the maid immediately served a pot of richly aromatic soup, seemingly made from some high-quality bone broth, to Reji and Shermen, each serving them a bowl. But this time, Reji didn''t even bother to ask again. He just shook his head directly at Ariel. "What do you mean?" "Do you not like Ariel, or do you not like thesevish dishes? What else do you want? What does Ariel need to do before you''ll eat!!" The noble miss at the head of the table, seeing Reji''s shake of the head, finally exploded. She no longer had her previous cute and lively demeanor. Her pretty face was now overtaken by twisted and furious expressions. Ariel''s dark, menacing gaze fixated on Reji and Shermen, like a hunter who had run out of patience after watching her prey evade her traps repeatedly. "Why... There was no need for this... Just leave it to Ariel... Everything should have been ording to Ariel''s wishes, it was a dinner Ariel had been looking forward to for so long, why... why... why!!!" "Drink!" "Drink it now! Why won''t you drink!!" The youngdy, with a ferocious expression, let out a heart-wrenching scream of rage. Across the dining table, seeing this, Reji sighed. "Miss Ariel, you still have one chance to cooperate with the questioning, a simple way out." Reji came to Ariel''s ce, initially, just to investigate the "demon egg" clue found on the little cat. He really hoped that the noble miss was innocent, unaware of it. But the reality was truly cruel. The beast-hearted Ariel at the dining table, such a "mischievous"dy, had already been condemned to death in Reji''s heart. Reji gave her onest chance. A simple way to die. The other option Reji didn''t mention was to treat her, like the previous owner of the Lunari Trade Group, as a little gift for the Decay Demon Eris. And now, Ariel had entirely chosen thetter. "What are you waiting for!" "Take action!!" "Everyone, take action!! Capture these two despicable, filthy mother F!@** foreigners!!" Whether it was because the facade waspletely torn or indeed infuriated by Reji and Shermen, Ariel directly spewed out foulnguage. Correspondingly, those maids who were serving Reji, bringing him water and dishes, instantly changed roles, swiftly pulling out daggers from under their skirts. The gleaming daggers in the candlelight of the dining room, with a hint of eerie green on the de, were probably enhanced with poison. Six maids wielding poisoned daggers, divided into two groups, four attacked in Reji''s direction, and two towards Shermen. Such clear division ofbor and skilled actions were obviously not their first time. Unfortunately, this time they had provoked the wrong person. The two maids attacking Shermen only saw a blur before the small adventurer girl with purple short hair disappeared from her seat. Before they could react, the screams of theirpanions on the other side had already reached them. Shermen, of course, prioritized Reji as the core. The other four maids attacking Reji hadn''t even covered five meters before Shermen''s petite body had already intercepted them all. Since Reji had forbidden the use of spells, Shermen relied solely on physical techniques and bodily strength here. Even so, the fight waspletely one-sided. In Shermen''s eyes, the four assassin maids seemed as if they were moving in slow motion. Dashing to the forefront maid, Shermen showed no mercy as she punched towards her abdomen. The struck maid immediately bent over violently, like being hit by a speeding carriage, and under Shermen''s precise calction, perfectly crashed into anotherpanion behind her. Both spewed blood and flew back, crashing into the wall, their bodies copsing like mud, evidently having all their internal organs shattered by the powerful impact, left only to await death. With another spin, Shermen raised her leg high and whipped it towards the heads of the other two maid assassins. This was more brutal, showing Shermen had no intention of showing mercy or sparing their beauty, the maid''s once pretty face burst into a mist of blood in the air. Two headless maids, whose blood gushed like fountains after their heads were blown off, thudded down at Shermen''s feet. And the entire process, from the perspective of bystanders, seemed like just a moment of distraction. The four maid assassins had already beenpletely annihted, truly "instantly killed" on the spot. There was no helping it. Shermen was just too fast. The remaining two maids, who were originally tasked with the "weaker" Shermen, turned back only to find theirpanions'' gruesome deaths and the huge gap between them, which had already terrified them. They looked at Shermen as if she were a monster, starting to back away in fear. Puchi! Puchi! A huge mouth bit down from above directly towards the two maids attempting to flee, splitting the unresponsive maids in half alive, their entire upper bodies being torn and chewed. This was not an attack from Shermen. After all, Reji had requested, Shermen was not allowed to use spells, even her physical strength had to be controlled to about twenty to thirty percent. The owner of this giant mouth now, appearing beside Ariel, was a six or seven meters tall, nearly reaching the dining room''s ceiling, a Cat-shaped monster. Although it is said to be cat-shaped, the monster''s body is in a state of decay. It has four pairs of eyes, its cat tail mutated into sharp barbs, its gaping maw revealing rows of serrated sharp teeth, still chewing on the previously bitten-to-death, two maids'' blurred upper bodies. After devouring the flesh and blood of the two maids, the monster secreted more saliva from its salivary nds. Its even redder, hunger-thirsty eyes fiercely fixed on Reji and Shermen. "Waste... A bunch of useless waste!!" "Bululu, it still has to be my most beloved, my favorite Bululu to take action!" Beside the monster, the noble miss, cupping her cheeks, showing a sickly affectionate look, seemingly indifferent to the fact that her family''s maid assassin squad had been wiped out. Ariel was affectionately stroking back and forth the giant zombie cat beside her. The girl''s cute and pretty appearance, now paired with the madness and the bloody monster beside her, formed a bizarre contrast. And then Ariel screamed. Her expression changed, her ruthless gaze directed at Reji and Shermen. "Ariel hates you! I don''t want you as my toys anymore!" "I want... you to die!" "Go! Bululu! Eat them! If you do, I''ll ask mommy and daddy for more ''cat food ''for you, help you evolve! Make you truly be a part of our family, be like us... a true demon!" Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Take It Outtt! Thank you for reading. Starting today, two chapters will be published daily at 23:00 UTC-9 / 10:00 UTC-5. If you notice any mistakes or misspellings, please let me know, and I will correct them as soon as possible. ----------- The monster may not have understood any of Ariel''s other words, but it did react to the word "cat food". Immediately irritated, it went into a hunting stance as it circled around Shermen. As if it had found an opportunity, its huge body turned into a shadow and lunged at Reji and Shermen. *Bang!* Shermen''s head-on punch collided with the monster''s covered ws, unexpectedly, the monster was not actually sent flying, but blocked with its ws, Shermen then added a second punch before sending the monster flying and crashing into the wall of the restaurant. Shermen frowned slightly at the scene, her eyes fixed on the monster''s ws. It turned out that at the moment of contact with Shermen, its forelimbs had turned into sharp des. Such specialization of transforming hands into weapons is a very characteristic trait of a specific race among the demons. Sword Demon. Shermen didn''t rx due to the strength gap; she pursued the victory, attacking the sted monster aggressively. Without using any magic, she simply swung her fists, furiously bombarding the monster''s head with a barrage. From Reji''s perspective, Shermen''s punchesnded solidly, using her disproportionately small body to beat the six to seven-meter monster bloody and screaming in agony. However, Reji also noticed that even though the monster waspletely suppressed by Shermen and couldn''t fight back at all, its vitality was so tenacious that it was a little outrageous. Although the current Shermen did not use the technique, and only used less than 15% of her power, but the fact that the monster still had the energy to struggle after so many punches was a testament to its horror. The ces on the monster''s body where Shermen had beaten it bloody were healing rapidly over time. The flesh at the wounds wriggled, and some flesh and worm-like products were frantically repairing the monster''s damage. This was why it could still hold on under Shermen''s attacks. This scene was somewhat familiar to Reji. Strong self-healing powers are characteristics of two races among demons, the Breeding Demon and the Decay Demon. The former reproduces infinitely like fungi spores, while thetter relies on a type of worm that coexists with flesh and blood. And now, Reji was seeing these traits, which should belong to demons, on this monster. Reji watched for a while, but unfortunately the monster didn''t reveal any new information behind it, so without much dy, Reji ordered the Shadow Demon Apostle directly: "Shermen, I give you permission to use magic to end this fight." The profession of the Shadow Demon was that of a scout. In terms of one-on-onebat power, it was actually at the bottom of the list among the nine major races of demons. The Shadow Demons won in functionality and flexibility. Reji previously refrained Shermen from using her spells in was actually tantamount to weakening Shermen''s power by 90%, and now, after receiving Reji''s order to break the blockade, Shermen immediately stopped holding back. Immediately, arge area of shadows merged from behind Shermen''s back, transforming into a Shadow Palm that was simply more gigantic than the monster. The next thing the shadow palm did was to p the monster in the face. With just that p. The battle was instantly over. By the time Shermen''s shadow palm was raised again, the zombie cat that had just been there had turned into a pile of meat paste on the ground. No matter how sharp its ws were. No matter how terrifying its self-healing ability was. Under absolute power, all were insignificant. On the other side. When Ariel saw her beloved Bululu being ttened into a piece of meat paste by a single blow, she was neither shocked nor saddened, on the contrary, this youngdy now seemed to be attracted to Shermen with all her attention. No, to be precise, she was attracted to the shadowy palm that Shermen had summoned behind her back. The noble Missy stared intently at the shadow hand. Then she asked Shermen in an incredulous voice: "Are you also a demon?!" It was obvious. Ariel recognized Shermen''s shadow hand. But she seemed to know little about it. The youngdy shook her head quickly, as if in some kind of brain confusion, and muttered, "No, that''s not right! It can''t be! Daddy also cultivates spells from the Shadow n, the Shadow Hand that Daddy summoned is only half a meter at most, but you, the one you just had". Shermen''s Shadow Hand had just been able to crush a gigantic zombie cat into a meat cake, and the surface of the palm alone was ten meters wide. Therefore, the current Ariel, who was filled with disbelief, holding her head and shaking it in an uneptable manner, didn''t even run away, but took the initiative to rush towards Shermen''s position as if she was having a seizure. "Tell me! Tell me quickly! You, how the hell did you do that? Who the hell are you? You must be from the Empire, right?" "How far have you swallowed your demon seed? Refined your demon energy? Forged a demonic body? No. My father has already forged a demonic body, so you, you." As if Ariel had finally got her veins in order, she rounded her eyes and said exuberantly, with a wild look in Shermen''s direction, I got it! Ariel knows now, you have already condensed a demonic core, right? No wonder. No wonder!!" "Damn it! Ariel should have thought of it! Only a fellow demon could have such skin, such a temperament, yes, this is what Ariel wants, to be an immortal! An undying! Quick, let Ariel see your demonic core!" Shermen ignored Ariel, who had rushed up to her. She had nothing to show this human. On the contrary. Several Shadow Hands were summoned from behind Shermen''s back and they grabbed Ariel, who had thrown herself into the, and in the next moment. "Ahhhh-!!!" "Bastard! It hurts!!! Ooohhhhhh! It hurts so much aaaaaaahhhh!" A piercing scream erupted as Ariel''s delicate stomach was mercilessly slit open by Shermen''s shadow de. The nobledy, who had always been well-behaved, had obviously never experienced this before and the sharp pain of tearing flesh and blood made her scream and yell madly. But Shermen showed no mercy. Even to prevent Ariel''s screams from disturbing her king, Shermen separated a separate hand of shadow and reached directly into the youngdy''s mouth, pouring it down her throat andpletely blocking her voice. After that, Shermen''s remaining shadow hand began to search and feel around Ariel''s shaved abdomen, and not a momentter, Shermen seemed to have found a target and yanked it violently out. *Swish!* Just like the original Illuminati magician, another purple-ck demonic egg was separated from Ariel''s body by Shermen. However, this '' demon egg '' was obviously much darker andrger in color depth, and size than the one inside the previous mage, Bru. Now, even after being briefly separated from its host, it didn''t change much and seemed to be able to hold on. And the next thing that surprised Reji even more was. "Hahh!?. What!?" "What is this!!!" "What are you doing? Take it away! Get it off me!!!" Obviously it had been taken out of Ariel''s body, and Ariel had been talking about the "demon race" earlier. But when Ariel saw the Demon Egg in Shermen''s hand, it was as if she was seeing it for the first time, and even the severe pain of her stomach being torn apart was overshadowed, and she showed an extremely frightened and disgusted expression while struggling madly. Seeing this, Reji became thoughtful. "Put it back first." After a moment''s thought, Reji allowed Shermen to retrieve it first for the sake of the sample, as there had been a previous example of a demon egg dying quickly when it left its host. "You will not die a good death! Devils! Devils!!" "Take it out! Get the damn thing out of me!!!" Amidst Ariel''s struggling screams, Shermen put the demon egg back into her stomach. As soon as it came into contact with Ariel''s flesh and blood, the demon egg didn''t even need Shermen to do anything, it began to burrow into Ariel''s body automatically. When Ariel saw that the egg, which made her nauseous and physiologically ufortable, had actually entered her body, the youngdy''s eyes actually ckened, as if she had been severely mentally stimted, and she immediately fainted. ''Hmm. This trip really was full of gains'' Reji had originally nned to let Shermen go and contact the Wisdom Demon to share thetest information, and then they would meet to discuss the secret behind the ''Demon Egg''. ''But what he didn''t expect, Was an even bigger "surprise" waiting for him'' "My King, I''ve just sent the Shadow Messengers to inspect this human mansion." "There is one ce, that I think my king needs to see." Shadow messenger was the ability of the Shadow Demon to use shadows to scout the environment, and as long as there were shadows, they could not escape the eyes of the Shadow Demon. Then, led by Shermen, Reji quickly arrived at a secret basement in the count''s mansion. As Reji pushed open the door to the dark basement, the next scene presented him with an image that immediately made him understand the reason why Shermen attached such importance to this ce. Inside the basement, there were many people who had been brutally abused and mistreated, and the cruelty of their methods made it difficult for Reji to even look at them directly. However, Shermen obviously had no feelings for them, and the "important discovery" she referred to was certainly not these tortured humans. Instead In this group of imprisoned and tortured humans, there is a group of people with pointed ears, wheat-gold hair and dark green pupils. So iconic that it could only exist in one race. Reji could recognise them at a nce. They were Elves. Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Elves To be honest, Reji was not surprised by the scene in the basement. From the moment on the carriage, Ariel''s "green tea" behavior had already given Reji a rough idea. And now, it was just more confirmed that this seemingly kind-hearted nobledy was actually a malicious psychopath with extremely twisted special hobbies behind the scenes. The humans imprisoned in the basement, judging from their attire, were clearly mostly like him, adventurers from abroad who had registered for free with the Five Flowers Alliance. Most of them had encountered the same experience as himself, being "graciously" invited by Ariel to visit her home. Unlike him, they werepletely unguarded, ate the dinner "carefully prepared" by Ariel, lost their ability to resist after being drugged, and fell into the hands of this nobledy. Reji only nced a few times at the foreign adventurers who were yed and had their limbs cut off to make human sticks, some were on theirst breath with bodies full of whip marks, and some even... Reji forced himself not to look anymore. He still wanted to spare Ariel''s life for the time being. His thoughts returned to the key point. "My king, There''s no mistake, they are elves." Shermen was the first to approach those prisoner in the cells, imprisoned in chains, with "pointy ears" and "green pupils." After a brief inspection, Shermen confirmed this conclusion. This made Reji fall into deep thought. Elves A thousand years ago, in the human world, Reji was certain that this race did not exist. The only record of "elves" in the game was his master, the Great Guardian Malvin, who, when the demons first invaded, attempted to detach his mental power from the world to peer into the mysteries of the universe in search of a way to fight against the demons. And the result back then, naturally, was that he returned without sess, and even more despairing. Malvin had originally wanted to seek help from other worlds, but after peering into the universe, he discovered that outside, there were already countless worlds that had been invaded by demons and had all been destroyed. The native beings, after the demons set foot, all suffered the tragedy of extinction, extremely miserable. And among these worlds that Malvin had peered into, there was once a world of "elves." Reji, as Malvin''s disciple, learned about this history from perusing the Great Guardian''s notebooks, and this is also why he can recognize elves now. And this is also why, afterwards, the Great Guardian was so determined, even willing to sacrifice himself, to defeat the demons. Because the bloody examples from so many worlds proved that if they failed, what awaited was not a lingering existence but only destruction. His thoughts drifted a bit again. Reji refocused on the "elves." Elves, as a highly intelligent race, excel in the study and achievement of magic far beyond humans, even more so than demons. So, in Malvin''s notebooks, Reji remembered, the Great Guardian had observed that although the world of elves was destroyed by the demons'' "ck Beast Legion" at that time, a small part of the elven remnants sessfully escaped. Later, it seems the Great Guardian even made contact with these elven remnants and learned a lot of magical knowledge from them. Malvin''s strength increased in theter phases, enabling him to engage in back-and-forthbat with the Sorcerer Demons. Reji surmises that Malvin is unable to be isted from the assistance of the remaining elves in the unknown outside of the. ''So. Could it be that the elven remnants from a thousand years ago, after discovering that humans had defeated the demons, chose to seek refuge with humans? Settling in this world? Are there actually many elf species in the world a thousand yearster?'' ''No,That''s not right''. Reji quickly denied this guess. First, the elf race is mostly incredibly proud, even if humans had defeated the demons, they probably wouldn''t juste over to tter humans and ask humans to take them in. Secondly, if the elf race was widespread in this world...the average strength level of humans would definitely not be what it is now, where even a third-tier magic spell is considered a rare treasure. Based on the above deductions, Reji came to two possible conclusions. Either, after the war a thousand years ago, the elves really did "flee as refugees" here, but have always been in hiding, not contacting humans, not letting humans discover them, which with the elves'' strong magical capabilities, is not a difficult thing. Or, these elves have "recently" just arrived in the world. And whichever conclusion it is, it cannot be separated from a doubt. That is. Why, at this point in time? Obviously. There must have been some major change that made the elf race decide to no longer hide or observe from the sidelines, but muste forward and contact humans themselves. If one continues to think along this line of thought The answer is already emerging Demon King Summoning The seal is broken A thousand yearster, the demons...reappear in the world! Reji could not think of a greater cmity than the "reappearance of the demons." Reji already had a rough spection in his heart, but he could not rashlye to a conclusion; he needed evidence. With this thought, Reji''s gaze returned to the elves that Ariel had captured and imprisoned. Like the other foreign adventurers in the basement, they too suffered extremely cruel torture. A part of them, especially the female elves, obviously showed signs of being drugged. Fixed in an unspeakable posture on the "wooden horse." Stripped naked and locked in the "iron maiden". Reji could not describe what came after. The entire basement waspletely filled with Ariel''s evil and twisted fetishes. Now, these elves were in aatose state, unconscious. To confirm his previous conclusions, Reji needed to find an antidote to wake them up first. Reji gave Shermen a look. Shermen immediately understood, conjured a shadow de, and then stabbed it into the thigh of the unconscious Ariel. *Puchi!* "Kyahhhhhhhhhh!!!?" The pain of being stabbed instantly woke theatose nobledy. When Ariel realized she was in the basement of the manor and that all her secrets had been discovered by Reji and Shermen, the twisteddy had nothing left to pretend. "Where is the antidote?" Reji asked emotionlessly. "Hahaha! What joke are you making, antidote? You wouldn''t still want to save these mud breeds, would you? Hahaha, this kills me. These lowly inferiors, they deserve to have an antidote prepared by me?" "Their entire existence is to serve Ariel, to serve us nobles! They are just for our amusement! These disposable trash, there''s as many as you want throughout the kingdom, antidote? Hahaha! Would you pick up trash and put it back in the bin?" Arielughed out loud, her beautiful face showing disdain and nobility, seemingly unable to understand Reji''s act of searching for an antidote for the "mud breeds," finding it absurd and ridiculous. But soon, the nobledy''s smile turned into a twisted and fierce expression. Her fierce gaze turned to those female elves she had tortured, jealousy burning in Ariel''s eyes. "But damn it! Even though they''re mud breeds from foreignnds, why do they have green pupils! Why do they have golden hair! Why...why is their skin...why is it better than Ariel''s, who ate so many crystal red pomegranates! Why why why!" "So hehe...hahaha! So, I fed them a lot of drugs, watching their skin ulcerate, watching their golden hair fall out, making them lose the most precious thing in front of theirpanions, haha! You don''t know the expressions of those green-eyed male vigers at that time hahaha! That was simply the most delicious dinner Ariel ever tasted!" Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Critical Intelligence Regarding a World Crisis Reji raised his hand, and Shermen once again plunged the dagger fiercely into Ariel''s thigh flesh. "AhIt hurts! You Bastard stop!!" "Ahaaaaah!" This nobledy, who seemed to be showing off something, reminiscing something, instantly could no longer speak, her cute face now twisted in severe pain, leaving only screams. Perhaps Ariel''s frantic screams were too loud. Or perhaps, driven by a belief and humiliation, one of the male elf actually faintly regained consciousness, recovering some awareness. The male elves in the basement had not been drugged much by Ariel. They were mostly restrained and whipped. After all, Ariel needed them to be awake, serving as "audience" to watch the process of their female elfpanions being tortured, thereby gaining excitement from it. Seeing that an elf had actually woken up, Reji immediately went forward, unlocked the shackles of this elf race member, trying to help him lie down to rest. But, the elf shook his head at Reji. Lamush knew the condition of his body. It was impossible for him to survive. Being able to wake up now was partly a resurgence of vitality and partly because he still had a "mission" toplete. Thinking of this. Thinking of the "mission," Lamush''s dim green pupils filled with guilt and regret. He was following the elders'' instructions to report the prophecy of the "Demon Race''s Descent" to the princess who had entered the human Royal City ahead of them for reconnaissance. However, living in the outskirts forests and unfamiliar with human cities, they werepletely disoriented upon entering the Royal City. Originally, this was not a problem, as the elders gave them the Forest Flute, which had a special spell that could allow the princess to sense them. They just needed to wait for the princess on the spot, but. But then a "kind-hearted" human noble appeared, seemingly noticing that they were from out of town, lost in the Royal City, and "kindly" offered to help them. At that moment, as the leader, he hesitated. But then he was bewitched, attracted and deceived by the appearance and sweetness of that human noble girl, abandoning the use of the Forest Flute, and brought hispanions into this human noble''s manor, this. demon''s residence! ''It''s all my fault, if it wasn''t for me, how could everyone. everyone.!!'' Lamush''s endurance up to this point. Was all supported by this breath of regret. He absolutely could not fall. And now. By the grace of the God of Nature! Although Lamush had one eye gouged out, his blurred vision could still make out some. That human girl, that noble youngdy who was even more malicious than the demon race, her current state was no better than theirs, tortured miserably and painfully by another human with purple short hair, her belly torn open, her thighs covered in blood. Before, Lamush might have stood on a moral high ground, embodying the kindness andpassion that a high-ranking elf should have, to criticize this human with purple short hair. Even if the other party hadmitted a crime, they should not be subjected to such vigntism; they should be handed over to the public and the grand judge for a vote and judgment. But now. The only thing Lamush desired and was furious about was that he couldn''t personally take revenge on this human girl, to reciprocate the torture and retaliate against this malicious noble miss. However, Lamush quickly pulled his consciousness back. His breath was getting weaker. With hisst breath, Lamush weakly said to Reji, who had rescued him and punished Ariel: "Human." "Please, Go quickly. Find the Princess at the Academy." "Important intelligence. The prophecy confirms the demon race''s return. The new sealing method must be finished quickly. quickly. handed over to the human kingdom''s king." In fact, Lamush had already lost faith in humanity. He even hated humans as much as he hated the demon race. He thought, if he could send out the intelligence to the outside world, then the descent of the demon race would be secondary; he must tell the princess to run away! To tell the other elven refugees to run away, humans are not worth it, they are also a bunch of devils!! A bit darker in his private thoughts, Lamush even hoped that the descent of the demon race could ughter these damned humans for him and avenge him and hispanions! This shows how much Ariel''s perverted torture of this group of elves, both mentally and physically, devastated them. But the arrival of Reji made Lamush once again believe in humanity at the bottom of his heart. He believed that abnormal noble girls like Ariel must be a very small minority among humans. And humans like Reji, who are just and brave, represent the majority of humanity! This also conforms to the will of humanity that could defeat even the terrifying demon race a thousand years ago! So, in the end, Lamush chose to tell Reji the intelligence, to the person who helped him achieve his revenge. The elf''s intermittent voice finally fell silent. The string that supported Lamush to live on alsopletely snapped. The elder elf, Lamush, fell into Reji''s arms, losing thest bit of life breath. He didn''t want to live on anymore. Having betrayed hispanions, for an elf''s pride, living was a greater torture; Lamush yearned for death. However, the expression on the elf''s face before dying was still one of relief, as if a burden had been lifted. Because he was not blinded by "hatred." He still overcame his personal desires. He still maintained the noble qualities "belonging to the elves". In the end, he at least seeded in sending out the important intelligence regarding a world crisis entrusted by the elder. Lamush''s final wish was to pray to the Nature God that He would protect this human and sessfully find their princess. . Apart from Lamush, Reji checked the other elves. The female elves, needless to say, had their mindspletely destroyed by drugs, beyond recovery. Even if they were alive, they were nothing but walking corpses. Among the male elves, aside from Lamush, unfortunately, Reji couldn''t find a second elf who was still breathing. The clues about the "elves" in the basement thus came to an abrupt end. Reji could only focus all his thoughts on Lamush''sst words. Although the elf spoke in a dying breath, there was not a single unnecessary word, all focused on the key points, and Reji could easily extract a few keywords from them. Prophecy Academy, Princess. And the method of sealing The "prophecy" fully confirmed Reji''s earlier spection. Indeed, the elf race had predicted, through some means, the arrival of himself as the Demon King, and the demon race''s return. The next parts, "Academy" and "Princess," werepletely unexpected intelligence. From the elf''s words, it seemed that besides this group, even the princess of the elf race had personally entered the fray? But they had split into two groups, sending the princess to some academy in the Royal City ahead of time. To study? To further her education? Of course, what made Reji frown the most now was thest part. ''The method of sealing?'' ''Combining the context, it could almost certainly refer to the mysterious magic capable of resealing the demon race back into the chaos rift!?'' If this had been right after Reji had crossed over, he might have hesitated. ''Sorry'' After silently apologizing in his heart to the elf race member who trusted him. In the dimly lit basement, Reji slightly turned his head and issued a direct order to Shermen, who was acting as a guard beside him. "Contact Dian and Leo, let them drop everything they are doing. Ande to see me, immediately." "At yourmand, my king." Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Punishment v1 Sorry for not posting the past three days, I did some modifications so it took some time to rewrite some events. ------ Shermen momentarily diverted her attention to contact the Sorcery Demon and the Wisdom Demon using the secret methods of the demon race. As a result, Ariel, the deranged noble youngdy, seemingly more venomous than the demons themselves, immediately got energized again, especially after she fully heard the elf''s dying message to Reji. Ariel clearly did not recognize the elf race. But from the conversation just now, she could mostly guess that these blond green-eyed individuals were not some mud race foreigners, but very likely another type of nobility. However, none of that mattered now. Ariel''s expression was incredibly agitated, giving Reji a look as if to say "you''re dead". The reason was very simple. "What did Ariel hear? Demons! He just mentioned demons! The demons areing back to the earth, Ariel''s true kin are returning!! Hahaha!!" "It''s useless, no matter how many people you call, it''s useless! Useless! Hahaha!" Ariel naturally assumed that Reji was scared, panicking, and in a hurry to call more humans over, to report the intelligence that the demon race might reappear to the higher-ups, to discuss countermeasures. This "Demon Egg" carrier, who recognized the "demon race," obviously knew much more about the "historical" truth of a thousand years ago than other ordinary humans. Therefore, Ariel was so excited when she heard "the reappearance of the demon race." "A thousand years ago, you hypocritical followers of the Radiant Church, ndered the demons cultivator who worshipped ''Immortality'' as aliens, expelled them from humanity, vilified our kin as horrifying monsters, using terms like ''monstrosities'' and ''demons'' to refer to us, attempting to prevent humans from pursuing eternal life." "And what happened? The ignorant sages of a thousand years ago seeded, but what about a thousand yearster? Hahaha! The people who stopped the demons back then have all turned into skeletons, into dirt. What''s left after a thousand years are just masses and masses of inferior, lowly mud races! Only the followers of ''Immortality'', only we demons, remain eternal and indestructible!" "To be called the same race as these mud races is simply a disgrace to Ariel! Since you all call us demons, then we are demons!" "You can''t stop us, no one can! With even a fourth-tier spell lost to you, what do you have to stop us. Hahaha! Hahahaha!" Actually, Reji didn''t mind letting Ariel rant a bit longer. Because people tend to reveal more truths when they are emotionally charged. Unfortunately. *Buzz!* Suddenly, from beneath their feet, a spell seal emitting a deep blue light began to flicker, quickly forming in the blink of an eye. With the emergence of the blue light seal, a powerful force of sorcery immediately swept through the entire basement. This is Seventh-tier Sorcery[Silent Domain] Reji recognized this skill immediately. It was one of the Sorcery Demon''s abilities. The effect of the sorcery was that all non-ally units within the domain would be forcibly applied with an indispeble "Seal" status, unable to use any sorcery, special abilities, and all passive talents would also be forcefully nullified. And in practical way, Just as Ariel, who had been ranting and raving, suddenly seemed to be struck by a powerful electric current, her whole body convulsed, waves of piercing pain surged like tides, as if all the meridians in her body were being tightened and oppressed. This was normal. The [Silent Domain]effect is stronger on sorcerers who primarily use "magic power." The domain suppresses the flow of magic throughout the body, those meridians that store magic power, being sealed and blocked, even shriveled up, would present Ariel in the state she was now. ''It seems Dian has arrived'' Let the Sorcery Demone if he must. But why make such a big scene. Reji thought that this seventh-tier sorcery was the end, but it turned out to be just the beginning. Just as the blue light seal symbolizing [Silent Domain]ended, the next sorcery''s barrier pattern lit up beneath Reji and their feet. This time the entire basement, no, the range of the seventh-tier sorcery couldn''t be this small. Although Reji couldn''t see it, the ground of the entire Count''s manor was already covered by a crimson ritual light. This time it was a Seventh-tier Sorcery[Blood Surge] Also one of the Sorcery Demon''s skills. The effect of the sorcery, simr to the previous [Silent Domain], but from the name, it can be seen that this time it targets the physical body. It applies "Stiffness," "Bleeding," and other abnormal states to all non-ally units, unable to use anybat skills, significantly reducing mobility, any action will deduct health points, the more actions taken, the more severe the deduction. And now. *Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!* Just after experiencing intense pain due to the shrinkage of her body''s magic power, the next moment, all the blood vessels on the surface of Ariel''s skin bulged out. With even a slight movement from Ariel, these bulging blood vessels, like fragile pieces of paper, directly shattered, with blood gushing out violently. Following [Silent Domain]and [Blood Surge], it still wasn''t over. The next to flicker into existence was the third, a deep and dark sorcery barrier. This time Ariel could finally catch her breath. Because this sorcery was of the summoning type. From the ground around the basement, one void rift after another was torn open, and immediately after, a pair of pale bone fingers were the first to extend from the rifts. The bone fingers grasped the ground firmly, and with a forceful pull, the monster lurking beneath the void riftpletely climbed out. It was a skeletal undead standing four to five meters tall, its entire body made up of bones. Its hollow eye sockets burned with vigorousher mes, and its seemingly pale skeleton actually contained immense strength. Just standing there, it emitted a terrifying aura that made Ariel shiver uncontrobly, trembling all over. The most terrifying aspect was that these towering undead, which Ariel had never seen before, were not just one or two, but five, ten, twenty... The void rifts kept tearing open space, and the high-ranking undead crawling out from them seemed endless. This was not a seventh-tier sorcery. It was an eighth-tier ritual[Army of the Undead] The best proof of this was that these undead were differentiated into various ranks, some wielding giant bone shields, others carrying serrated bone swords, some dual-wielding bone spikes, and some clutching bone staves. Of course, no matter how diverse, fierce, or powerful these undead professions were, they shared onemonality that remained unchanged. That was. They all began to swarm towards Reji''s position. Shield-bearing undead stood in front of Reji, bone sword-wielding undead followed closely on both sides, like the most loyal guards. Assassin undead remained vignt around, while mage undead began to wave their bone staves, castingyer uponyer of protective barriers on Reji. The basement, which had been quite spacious just a moment ago, was instantly filled with undead. And at the very center, Reji, who was surrounded by high-ranking undead in an imprable formation. Reji: "." Fortunately. After three consecutive barriers flickered beneath his feet, there was finally not a fourth one. Actually, there was. But this one was a camouge barrier. From the outside, one would notice a huge dark domepletely enveloping the airspace above the Count''s manor, concealing and hiding the entire manor''s aura in the dead of night. After all this. Right next to Reji, a rift portal was constructed, and soon after, the figure of Sorcery Demon Dian could be seen rapidly materializing within. Because the Sorcery Demon''s own strength was so formidable, the teleportation magic required more time. And those sorceries before were probably because the Sorcery Demon was in a hurry; before his body arrived, he cast a few seventh-tier magics from afar to assist himself, or, to resolve the dilemma? Reji guessed correctly. As soon as Dianpleted the teleportation, his body arrived, and the Sorcery Demon immediately rushed over to Reji, vigntly sensing his surroundings. Though wearing a crow mask, one could still clearly feel Dian''s utmost seriousness and dedication. Another strong piece of evidence was that the Sorcery Demon even took out his crow staff. At the level of a Sorcery Demon, needing to use the "crow staff" for assistance would only be for ninth-tier, tenth-tier, or even "transcendent" ritual sorceries. Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Punishment v2 "My King, where is the enemy?" Reji: "." Seeing the Sorcery Demon now, as if ready to perform a transcendent ritual at a moment''s notice, Reji felt a twitch inside but maintained hisposure outwardly, calmly responding to the Sorcery Demon: "Dian, there are no enemies here, no need to be tense." Then Reji immediately turned his head and asked Shermen, who had a simrly calm expression on her face, with an interrogative look: "Shermen, I only asked you to notify them toe over, right?" Reji thought Shermen might have exaggerated the message. But Shermen looked innocent. "My King, I indeed ryed your words in full, without omission." Reji understood the Shadow Demon''s meaning. That is, not a word less, but also not a word more of exnation. ''Alright. That''s very Shermen'' It was probably because Shermen''s message was so sinct, and because he added an emphasis on "immediately" at the end, that led the Sorcery Demon and Wisdom Demon to misunderstand. Especially the Wisdom Demon Leo! Thinking of this, Reji immediately asked, "Dian, where is Leo?" Before the Sorcery Demon could answer, knocking sounds came from outside the basement. Following that, the Wisdom Demon Leo, dressed in formal attire as if he had just rushed over from some banquet, holding a bell, appeared in front of Reji. And closely following behind Leo, as Reji nced over, were hundreds of people from the entire Count''s manor, including maids, servants, and guards. These people seemed to have their consciousnesses seized and controlled by the silver bell in Leo''s hand, forming neat rows and following behind Leo with utmost respect. "I apologize for my tardiness, my king". the Wisdom Demon immediately apologized to Reji upon his arrival. "It''s fine." Reji signaled for Leo to stand up. He then took another look at the hundreds of Count''s servants behind Leo and then at the legendary item in Leo''s hand, the Soul Bell, capable of exerting powerful "mind control" and stripping control from units below level 40. Now it was used on these servants, probably none of whom were above level 10. ''WellLet it be'' The [Army of the Undead] summoned by his side from the Sorcery Demon consisted of a skeleton legion, each averaging level 60. Reji doubted whether there was even a single human in the entire Ilinor Royal City who could be level 50, let alone within Vedler''s Count''s manor. Of course. Reji had no intention of ming Leo or Dian for anything. Instead, this further showed how truly loyal and supportive the Wisdom Demon and Sorcery Demon were towards him as their Demon King. Merely the word "immediately" had made them so anxious, fearing for his safety, to put up such a grand disy. In any case, Reji first asked Dian to retract those seventh and eighth-tier barrier sorceries. The Army of the Undead crawled back into the rifts, and the effects of the two abnormal states also disappeared with the barrier. Before Reji could speak further, another person in the basement had the most significant reaction. That was Ariel. As Dian withdrew the barrier, Ariel''s body gradually recovered. The noble youngdy finally managed to speak, and the scenes that had just unfolded clearly shattered her worldview, leaving herpletely crazed and stupefied. "You, you all, who the hell are you...!?" "Monsters, monsters, ahhhh!" "What was that? Fourth tier? Or fifth tier? Those undead, that''s the stuff of legends, summoning rituals, how could there be so many, impossible... The undead skeletons are at most one and a half meters tall, those... what in the world were those monsters, undead, you... it''s all fake, all fake!!" "Answer me, answer... uh uh uh!?" Unlike Shermen. When Ariel once again became hysterical in front of Reji, Leo immediately frowned, and without indulging her, directly uttered several obscure demonic curses at the human girl. Under the effect of the demonic curse, Ariel remained mentally lucid, Her brain was active, but her body waspletely out of her control. The curse uttered by the Wisdom Demon roughly meant: "Crawl" And so, the deranged youngdy immediately spread her hands forward towards Reji, ced them on the ground for support, andid her head between her hands, her face touching the ground. Meanwhile, her legs tightened together behind her, her buttocks raised high. A very standard prostration and kneeling posture. Described in human terms, it was like a dog trying to please its master. Before the king, this is more like it. ''What a mess, this ant was just now barking randomly Infront of his majesty!'' Thinking this, the Wisdom Demon immediately turned his dissatisfied gaze towards Shermen. Leo spoke in a very stern tone of reproach: "Shermen, is this how you serve as his Majesty''s guard?" Obviously. Leo had a significantint against Shermen. In the eyes of the Wisdom Demon, allowing a human to be so arrogant and hysterical in front of the demon king was utterly a dereliction of duty on Shermen''s part. ''My king might not care'' ''Just like an anthill in front of the courtyard, the master directly ignores it, toozy to bother.'' ''But how could Shermen, as an apostle, do the same!?'' ''Sweeping away the ants, maintaining a clean andfortable environment for master, is our duty as apostles!'' "I''m sorry" Reprimanded by the Wisdom Demon, Shermen rarely admitted fault. "Sorry is not enough! You''ve disappointed me greatly, Shermen! I now seriously doubt yourpetence as His Majesty''s guard!" "I..." Shermen ultimately didn''t retort to anything, as the Wisdom Demon was indeed correct, it was her fault. She was used to acting alone, so when it came to caring for others, especially for the demon king, she indeed thought too little and too poorly. "I requests that your Majesty discipline Shermen, to prevent such incidents from happening again. This can also serve as a warning to the other apostles." After scolding Shermen, Leo immediately turned around and suggested to Reji. If the Demon King is the head of a household, and the nine apostles are the servants, then the Wisdom Demon''s role is akin to that of a steward among the servants. Before Reji could say anything, Shermen, seemingly filled with guilt, began to punish herself voluntarily. Seeing Shermen mimic Ariel''s posture, also crawling towards Reji, kneeling and prostrating with her buttocks raised, adopting the same position as Ariel, the human, seemed to be a way for her to remember this lesson. If she watched a human ranting beforeher king without doing anything, then her punishment should be the same as this human''s, even though she is a powerful apostle. Noticing that Reji seemed about to tell Shermen to rise, intending to "exempt" her, Leo immediately stepped forward, addressing both Shermen and Reji: "My King, your uing council cannot proceed without a seat." Indeed. There wasn''t a single stool in the basement, only the torture devices that were part of Ariel''s perverse hobbies. But what did Leo mean by that? Change locations? Reji was initially puzzled, but then Shermen quickly understood, without showing any shame. She crawled over to Reji and, in front of him, arched her petite body into the shape of a chair. Reji suddenly felt that being a king really could spoil one with the indulgence of subordinates. ''Sigh This is exhausting...'' Reji wouldn''t actually punish Shermen. He definitely needed to protect Shermen, after all, this matter wasn''t really rted to her. It was all about him wanting to keep Ariel around to extract some information from the deranged youngdy. "Enough." "Let''s put an end to this meaningless quarrel, Shermen, rise. As for the punishment Leo mentioned, let''s have Shermen recount the entire incident to Leo and Dian." Of course, Reji wasn''t that perverse. Using a female subordinate as a chair or something, he couldn''t do that! But whether it was Reji''s misconception or not. After Reji "reduced" Shermen''s sentence, did a trace of disappointment sh across the usually aloof and cold face of the Shadow Demon, as if her expectations were dashed? ''It must have been my imagination'' Following this, Shermen detailed everything that happened to Ariel. After listening quietly, Leo adjusted his sses, showing an expression that said, "Just as I thought" Then he immediately said to Reji: "My King, based on the intelligence from your side, I''m even more certain of a spection of mine." "After analyzing in the Chaos Rift, Eris has made a preliminary judgment about the ''egg.'' Just like the elves that shouldn''t exist in the human world, Eris has also detected from the ''egg''." "The shadow of the Insect race." Chapter 50: Chapter 50: The Insect Race You may not understand this chapter fully, but It will be clear in the future. ------------- ''Eh?'' ''The Insect Race'' This touches a bit on Reji''s blind spots in knowledge. Previously, he had some understanding of elves, thanks to the notes of the Great Guardian from his first ythrough, with Malvin havingmunicated and connected with Elvis''s world. But for the other worlds observed by the remaining Great Guardians, which were invaded and destroyed by the demon races, such as the dragons, the orcs, and now the mentioned insect race, these were merely glossed over in the notes, rarely mentioned by Malvin. Moreover, even after the Great Guardian passed away, leaving behind a legacy for him as the "Son of Destiny", the unique "Method of Observation" that transcends worlds was not included. So, when Reji took over the position and became the new Great Guardian of the human world in the game, he couldn''t observe other worlds like Malvin did. Reji rememberedining in the game at that time, feeling it was probably because the developers werezy, and the scriptwriters didn''tplete the settings of the other worlds, so they just muddled through. What else could it be? It couldn''t possibly be that the developers were ying a bigger game, deliberately keeping the yers in suspense for a sequel or new DLC (Downloadable Content), right? "" Reji suddenly felt like he had more red gs on his back. Not understanding the Insect Race is okay. After all, the Wisdom Demon before him has lived for tens of thousands of years. The history that humans need to record with notes and books from predecessors, for the demon race, an apostle is enough. "My King, the Insect Race should have been eradicated by us over a thousand years ago. The most distinctive trait of this race is their belief in the same ''flesh and blood'' life trajectory as Eris. Besides this, there is no second life trajectory. So, although the Insect Race has a singr ability, in terms of mastering flesh and blood abilities, even Eris has to learn from the Insect Race." "This egg we found on a human is based on the Insect Race''s flesh and blood art as its core foundation. Currently, Eris has analyzed the state of the egg, dividing it into three types." "The first state, which is also the state of the egg inside that human mage, is parasitic. In this state, the magic or fighting energy(QI) cultivated by humans will be redirected and transferred, no longer stored in the host''s blood vessels but all transferred to the egg, which stores it on their behalf." "When the host needs to use magic or fighting energy, the egg will also provide power ordingly, even purer and without impurities than usual, making the host feel an increase in strength without detecting the presence of the egg." The mage profession corresponds to magic, and the warrior profession corresponds to fighting energy(QI). The more Reji listened to the Wisdom Demon''s analysis report on the egg, the more he felt it was exactly like the "dantian" he had thought of initially. And with Leo''s report on the "second type" of state, Reji discovered that the "egg" was even more powerful than the effect of the "dantian." "When the egg absorbs and nourishes from the host''s power for a while, it will actively make the host aware of its presence, entering the second state, symbiosis. The host can read the flesh and blood inheritance branded inside the egg, thereby aligning their own life form with the flesh and blood within the egg. When facing a strong enemy or a life crisis, the body can also be handed over to the egg for control." Symbiosis. ''So, the egg is not only a dantian but also a library, containing specific cultivation methods? It can transform the life form of a person? It even has the effect of a "genie in a bottle," forcibly fighting on behalf of the host?'' ''if the appearance of the "egg" was changed, wouldn''t this be the external aid or golden finger everyone dreams of?'' ''However, From Ariel''s reaction before, she should be in the second state of the egg, as Leo described'' ''Being aware of the egg''s presence, mistaking it for some kind of "magic pill," but actually, after Shermen removed the egg, Ariel''s reaction showed she clearly had never seen the appearance of the egg before'' Even so, Reji felt, upon hearing this, that being parasitized by the egg wasn''t bad at all, and was even beneficial. But obviously, There''s no such thing as a free lunch. "My King, if there''s no external interference, then the egg will continue in the second state forever, coexisting with the host." "But once the egg senses the presence of the ''Queen,'' it will immediately abandon the original host, and all the magic and fighting energy, all the power gained from cultivation, will be stripped away to feed and nourish the ''Queen.''" Following this, Leo exined the key term to Reji[Queen]. The Queen of the Insect Race is the core of the entire race, to which all members of the insect race must unconditionally obey. This is a brand carved into their flesh, and when necessary, all of themselves must be assimted into part of the Queen''s flesh and blood. And the "egg" based on the insect race''s flesh and blood technique also inherited this trait. ''So now the question is'' As if understanding his King''s intention, the Demon of Wisdom nodded towards Reji. Leo said with a grave expression: "A thousand yearster, humanity has declined so much that there are hardly any strong individuals openly, My King, I suspect it''s rted to the ''Queen''. In the human world, there''s such a ''Queen'' continuously turning humans into her pasture, devouring human strength." Leo gestured to the Sorcery Demon, and then Dian immediately used projection magic to disy a world map in front of Reji. "My King, after we separated, I preliminarily investigated human history and the current global situation. Please look" Reji followed Leo finger to look at the map. The map was divided in two by a huge gorge, A wall, At the top of the map, in the northern position, was a vast power that upied nearly a third of the world''s territory. "My King, this is the Empire, the Nox Empire. Compared to other human forces, it has absolute hegemony and a overwhelming lead, the strongest nation among humans to the extent that no other human country dares to call itself an ''Empire''." "As far as I searched, the Empire is absolutely autocratically ruled by the ''Emperor''. Except for the seventh change, the rest of the Emperor''s sessions have not shaken the Empire, nor have there ever been upheavals. On the contrary, each Emperor has had unparalleled strong governance over the Empire, making it more prosperous, until it became the behemoth among all human forces it is now." "So you mean" Reji stared at the Nox Empire on the map, he understood the implied meaning of the Demon of Wisdom. "Yes, My King, I suspect the ''Emperor'' is the ''Queen'' behind all eggs, in terms of both status and power, also fitting my expectations for the ''Queen''." "However, due to limited intelligence, I do not yet know how the ''Queen'' specifically tempts humans to ept the eggs, nor do I understand why the flesh and blood inheritance stored in the eggses from our demon race." For this confusion of Wisdom Demon, Reji actually had an answer in his heart early on. It should be said that the bystander sees the clearest. Reji: "Immortality." "Immortality?" Leo repeated, not quite understanding Reji''s meaning. "Our race, having the longest lifespans, takes ''immortality'' for granted, while in reality, this is precisely what humans most desire. Leo, among humans, the obsession with ''eternal youth'' far exceeds your imagination." After Reji exined from a human perspective, the Demon of Wisdom appeared enlightened, as if awakened. Leo quickly nodded, his respect for Reji deepening in his serpentine eyes. "My understanding of humans is far inferior to yours, my King. I will make it my endeavor to learn more." "Indeed, if as you say, humans pursue immortality, and so does the egg, then it''s very likely that the sessive emperors are the same person, no, the same being. Considering the empire has been recorded in human history for five hundred years, if during this period, the ''Queen'' has always been the same entity." Leo didn''t continue further. The apostles present understood Leo''s implication, their expressions turning grave. The Insect Race, believers in the ''flesh and blood'' life trajectory, holds the strongest authority in life form assimtion and evolution within this trajectory. Previously, the demon race eradicated the Insect Race swiftly and cleanly, so they hardly had time to speak, let alone analyze the demon race''s flesh and blood to evolve their own. However, on the human side, they faced a crushing defeat. The great human-demon war a thousand years ago produced countless corpses from both sides. Looking back now, indeed, isn''t this the best breeding ground for the Insect Race? Creating a "human farm" by the Queen is terrifying. And if the Queen who has managed this farm for five hundred years has always been the same entity, then ''terrifying'' is an understatement to describe her. "Alright, these are all theoretical spections. Don''t forget, humans also possess the ''Radiance'' life trajectory. The Saintess among humans, the Son of Destiny from the past, have you all forgotten? I don''t believe humans would be so easily dominated by the Insect Race." "Don''t lose yourposure. No matter what the Queen does, no matter what humans do, they cannot stop our race. I will reim everything the demon race lost in these silent millennia." Seeing the atmosphere turn somewhat stiff, Reji, as the Demon King, rightfully stepped in to motivate and reassure. His words had a significant effect, especially on the Wisdom Demon, who seemed to boil with enthusiasm, his serpentine eyes filled with excitement. Leo''s strategies and schemes are always directed at other races. In front of the Demon King, the Demon of Wisdom might seem more like an innocent child. Reji quickly changed the subject, asking, "Leo, you mentioned that only the seventh imperial session faced an anomaly?" "Yes, but we can''t know the specifics of this history from the existing superficial data. The most detailed record I found merely describes it as a ''rebellion against the empire'' war, instigated by ''underground forces'' spread across the world." "The war was not long,sting only three years, and this rebellion was quickly quelled by the empire in alliance with other countries." "And now, the kingdom of Ilinor, where we are, was one of the countries that assisted the empire in exterminating the rebels during that rebellion war." Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Five-Star Companions ording to the world history reported by Leo earlier, the Empire has been the world''s strongest force since 500 years ago. And yet, this "underground force" opposing the Empire was able to pressure it to the extent that it had to join forces with other countries to be eradicated, even though it onlysted three years, which is enough to show its strength. Or perhaps, They had discovered some weakness of the "Emperor." Either way, For Reji, it is essential to explore the world''s true nature over the millennium. "Well done, Leo." Reji first affirmed the intelligence summary provided by the Wisdom Demon. He then said in a deep voice: "As one of the participants in the ''rebellion war,'' Ilinor Kingdom, whether towards the Empire or the rebels, must have deeper and more detailed records." "Our race''s conquest of the world will inevitably lead to a battle with the Empire. In order to collect information rted to the Empire and to further investigate the clues about the ''egg,'' I will need you to..." Reji paused, his gaze sweeping over the three apostles before him, and slowly continued: "Bring the Ilinor Kingdom entirely under our control." The human world of a thousandter has already changed drastically from the first ythrough. Reji''s previous feelings for the world were based on the world he once protected and was familiar with. But if, a thousand yearster, the world haspletely changed, even being taken over by "others," then Reji would not hesitate to use the demon race''s sharpest spear in his hand, to shake the world a little. "As you wish, My King." The three apostles present immediately knelt before Reji, epting the order. The Sorcery Demon even directly asked Reji: "My King, the void passage connecting to the Chaos Rift is ready. We can summon our race''s army to the kingdom and start the war at any time. Do you wish to initiate it now?" But this time, it was Leo who refuted the Sorcery Demon before Reji could. "Dian, do you not understand? His Majesty speaks of control,plete control, and war only brings destruction." "Moreover, without a clear understanding of the ''Queen'' and other potential threats, I still stand by my initial opinion. There''s no necessity for our race to expose itself. Secretly controlling the Ilinor Kingdom, making it our race''s public representative, using it as our shield and disguise, is the real strategic core of our Demon King!" After educating the Sorcery Demon, Leo shook his head, seemingly thinking the other demons were somewhat slow, and conversing with Reji, the demon king with grand visions, was the most reassuring and his favorite. The Wisdom Demon then eagerly volunteered to Reji: "My King, I earnestly request that you continue to entrust me with this heavy responsibility. I am confident that within three months, without any war, I canpletely bring the Ilinor Kingdom, the entire royal family, under the dominion of our race, submissive to your rule." Leo truly understands himself. This is also what Reji wanted. "Good, I believe you won''t disappoint me, Leo." The Wisdom Demon ced his hand over his chest and bowed deeply to Reji, to express his gratitude for the King''s trust in him and his absolute confidence in taking control of the Ilinor Kingdom. Three months was actually Leo being cautious, leaving a lot of leeway. In reality, the Wisdom Demon believed one and a half months would be entirely sufficient. The discussion about the "egg" temporarily came to a close. Next, it was time to turn to another equally important topic. "My King, about the elves." Leo felt a bit troubled. He thought there was only the Insect Race to investigate before the Demon King summoned him, but now, the elves have also appeared. It''s as if It seems that a thousand yearster, it''s not only their demon race that has made aeback. Seeing Leo a bit overwhelmed, Reji easily resolved this. "Leo, you continue to focus on controlling the kingdom. As for the elves, leave them to me." If it were any other apostle saying this, the Wisdom Demon would not agree. After all, although the elves were also one of the many races they had conquered, precisely because of this, Leo was very aware of the elves'' formidable strength. The Insect Race specialized in flesh, while the elves have powerful magical abilities that even the "Sorcery Demons" must learn from. So, the sealing method mentioned by the elves, Leo took it very seriously, not as a joke. And this is different from the "Queen." This is extremely urgent, elevating the situation to the level of the "existence of the demon race." For such a significant matter, Leo actually wanted to take it upon himself. The Wisdom Demon trusts no one with it. Except for one person. That is the Demon King. "I''m very sorry, my King. I will do my utmost to handle the Ilinor royal family as soon as possible, to assist you early. Should you have any needs, pleasemand us without hesitation. All apostles are at the disposal of your Majesty." "Rest assured, when needed, I will not be stingy." Reji''s words were not just for show. He immediately turned to the Sorcery Demon and said, "Dian, since the void passage is already constructed, let''s not waste it. Notify Eileen and tell her. It''s time." "My King, you mean..." Reji scanned the surroundings with his gaze. Count Vedler''s estate, alreadypletely taken over due to themotion caused by the arrival of the Sorcery Demon and the Wisdom Demon, why not make this ce the first stronghold for the demon race? After conveying this idea, the Wisdom Demon also nodded in agreement. The n was finalized. Leo took his leave from Reji, and the Wisdom Demon hurried to continue his task of infiltrating and controlling the kingdom. Meanwhile, the Sorcery Demon stayed with Reji, starting to reconfirm the coordinates of Count Vedler''s manor, establishing a portal to the Chaos Rift, preparing for the arrival of their kin. During this interim, Reji finally had the chance to open his system panel. Indeed. The reason Reji was so confident in telling the Wisdom Demon to let him handle the elves was because Reji was absolutely certain he could directly locate the Elf Princess. The principle is simple. Reji looked at his [Completed] [Daily Commissions] section. Even though the employer, Ariel, is now akin to a crawling dog on the ground. But that''s irrelevant to the mission. Completing themission earns the corresponding reward. And this reward is exactly as he initially envisioned, under the "Star Sculpt I" blessing of the Demon King''s fate trajectory, it increased a hundredfold! Normally, the daily tasks in the game grant 420 experience points and 50 Starlight uponpletion. But now, [Current Remaining Assignable Experience Points: 42,000] [Starlight: 5,000] Reji was very clear about his experience point curve. From levels 1-20, each level requires experience points in the "hundreds," from 20-30 in the "thousands," from 30-40 in the "tens of thousands," and so on, until it caps at "ten million." Thus, it''s evident that daily tasks significantly aid early-level yer growth. However, after level 30, they be less effective, and yers mainly need to level up by grinding. However, due to the hundredfold bonus (10000% exp), Reji can extend his profit curve, with forty thousand experience points credited daily, ensuring rocket-like advancement until he reaches level 40. But now, Reji''s focus isn''t primarily on experience points. The [Starlight] from the daily rewards is what Reji values most. Previously, the game''s "Child of Destiny" [Companion] system was introduced. In [Random Bonding], one bonding attempt costs 60 Starlight, ten attempts cost 500 Starlight, precisely equal to saving ten days of Starlight rewards for ten pulls. Now, with a hundredfold increase, he effectively has a hundred pulls in one day! Think about how many times he cursed the game designers in the game, wondering why a single-yer game was so stingy. And even the anniversary was more stingy,st one he remembered was only 3 additional wishes(Random Bonding), making themunity on fire bombarding the rating on all the tform Now, it''s like he''s got the cracked version! ''Then What am I waiting for !!'' ''Start pulling!'' Although the Companion system''s [Random Bonding] is termed random, as a veteran yer, Reji has long discovered hidden patterns. By using some rted medium, he could significantly increase the chances of drawing thepanion he wanted. After using the elves'' relics from Ariel''s secret chamber as a medium, Reji activated the Starlight. A blurry map of the Royal City, visible only to Reji, floated in front of him with the [Bonding] system. Following the expenditure of Starlight by Reji, specks of starlight sprinkled onto the blurry map of the Royal City, illuminating it and making dots of light flicker one after another on the map that was originally obscured by fog. As Reji''s fingers slid across the map, these dots of light, upon touching his hand, immediately reflected corresponding colors, with the majority being white, green, blue, and asionally, purple dots could be seen. Each dot of light corresponded to a potentialpanion that Reji could "bond" with. The location of the dots on the map was precisely where these "characters" were currently located. After about seventy pulls, Reji''s spirits lifted when, finally, on the map, a location resembling some sort of assembly hall lit up with an orange-yellow glow under his finger, symbolizing a "five-starpanion." The dot of light was picked up by Reji, instantly transforming into a golden card, with information rted to the character appearing before Reji. [Vielsia] [Race: Elf] [Life Trajectory: Nature] [Potential Rating: (7.5/10)] [Current Identity: Ilinor Royal Academy, First-Year Transfer Student (Auditing)] [Likes: History, Lilies, sses, Spices, Pantyhose] [Dislikes: Dogs, Demon Race, Roses, Knots, Eyepatches, Sticks] [Personality Tendency: Lawful Good (86%), Lawful Evil (14%)] [Character Intimacy: 0%] [???] [(More "Attribute Information" will be unlocked after sessful bonding) ] Reji finally looked at the character''s card face. It wasn''t the golden-haired, blue-eyed beautiful elf princess he had imagined. Instead, it was a girl with some freckles on her face, wearing bulky sses, with an ordinary appearance, the kind ofmon female student who wouldn''t leave too much of an impression at first nce. ----------------- Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Vielsias part 1 A court banquet with mingling toasts. This was a grand fundraising event organized by the "Five Flowers Alliance." The theme of the banquet was voluntary donations to solve the difficulties of life for children in the kingdom''s poor mountainous and backward areas by providing clothes and food. Such a good deed attracted the attendance of almost all the celebrities within the royal city. One after another, people dressed in bright and elegant attire gracefully approached the banquet stage, dropping their gold flowers into the wishing well and smiling generously at the "photo machine" aimed at them from below. The wishing well serves as the donation box. The exquisitely beautiful fountain, spewing pure and untainted water, sparkled beautifully under the dazzling lights of the pce ceiling,plementing the luxurious and splendid hall. The gold flowers dropped into the wishing well represent the amount of the donation, with each flower equivalent to one hundred gold coins. Vielsia looked at the wishing well now. The banquet was only halfway through, yet the wishing well was already nearly full of gold flowers, much faster than she had anticipated. ''Is this... humanity?'' ''The attendees, mostly nobles and upper-ss individuals of human society, showed such kindness. Despite their high positions, they still thought of the weaker individuals below them, willing to forsake their own interests for the betterment of others'' "Sigh" Vielsia sighed internally. ''No wonder humans were able to defeat the demon race a thousand years ago'' Such mutual support, solidarity, and collective consciousness to uplift the weak were something her elf race could notpare with. Thinking of her own race, Vielsia sighed deeply again. She reached for her chest, where hidden inside her cor was a small dark green whistle pendant. Vielsia quietly clenched it a bit tighter with her hand. It was given to her by the elders, a tool formunication among the elves. ording to the n, the result of their race''s "prophecy" should have been clear byst night, and the elders would send the remaining members of their race to meet her in the royal city. But... It''s already the evening of the next day. Not to mention an elfing to find her, the green whistle at Vielsia''s chest never reacted at all. ''Did they get lost in the royal city?'' ''That shouldn''t be the case. Even if they were lost, they could use the whistle, and I would be able to sense them and proactively find them'' ''Or is it that they were dyed by something?'' ''Or'' ''Did they encounter danger!?'' Upon thinking this, Vielsia immediately felt a knot form in her heart. She quickly shook her head, telling herself not to be a harbinger of doom. ''I must be overthinking it'' After all, Vielsia had been in the royal city for a while now and had a fair understanding of the human level of strength, which was far below what they, the elves, had imagined. The simplest example was the third-tier magic scroll "Levitation Spell" she created as part of her daily practice, which was treated as a treasure by humans. It reportedly sold for a very high price at an auction in a magic shop, something Vielsia had not anticipated at all. It was for this reason that Vielsia wasn''t worried about her people encountering any idents. Although the elves had declined, their level was at least around the third tier, and even the team leader, who often protected her, her brother Lamush, was a fourth-tier warrior. ''In such a city where humans were generally weak, how could my people possibly encounter any mishaps?'' After reassuring herself, Vielsia''s anxious heart eased somewhat. But soon, The elf princess sighed deeply in her heart for the third time. The reason was precisely what she had "reassured" herself with earlier. Humans were too weak. Vielsia had originally hoped to find a human with magical genius, like the "Great Guardian" from a thousand years ago, who was worth learning from for their elf race. Because only then would it be possible to decipher and use the secret method of sealing the demon race, a technique that was painstakingly researched and passed down by her elf ancestors. But the result... Seeing howckluster humans were today, Vielsia felt lost. She didn''t know what to do. In this generation of elves, she was the most outstanding magical genius, but even she could only master up to fifth-tier magic at most, while her ancestors'' sealing method required at least seventh-tier and above. This meant that although she held in her hands a method to seal the demon race and save the world, she couldn''t find anyone capable of using it. ''Perhaps I should go to the Empire'' ''In that strongest nation of humans, I might find a genius magician '' Just as the elf princess was racking her brain, Suddenly, footsteps approached from the side, followed by the voice of Vielsia''s instructor at the academy. "Vielsia! Hurry, hurry, why are you sitting in the corner? Come here, let me introduce you, this is our Ilinor Kingdom''s Princess Yuffie!" Vielsia''s attendance at this banquet was entirely due to her instructor dragging her along. Now, the instructor from the Ilinor Royal Academy, with a face full of excitement and flushed with enthusiasm, was very excited because, walking towards Vielsia with her, was another person. That was a beautiful woman with red hair. And it''s known within the Ilinor Kingdom that "red hair" is a symbol of the royal family. "Miss Vielsia, nice to meet you. I''m d to know you," Yuffie, as a princess, had no nobility airs about her and even took the initiative to greet Vielsia, amoner student. This prompted Vielsia to quickly stand up and also hurriedly move forward to perform social courtesies to the human princess. "Your Highness, it''s my honor to meet you." "I''ve heard from the academy''s instructor that Miss Vielsia, although a transfer student from another ce, has achieved excellent grades in all subjects at the academy, not falling behind those local students from the royal city at all." Being praised by Princess Yuffie like this, Vielsia quickly shook her head and waved her hands: "No, no, I''m not that great. I''m just... just trying hard." "Miss Vielsia, you don''t have to be modest. The Royal Academy of the royal city represents the highest academic level within the entire Ilinor Kingdom. Being among the top there must mean you have extraordinary talent." "Speaking of which, I''ve been revising a policy regarding the academy''s treatment of students from other areas recently. Miss Vielsia, being an outstanding and academically excellent student from another area, I was hoping to take some time out to meet with you and hear your opinions, which I''m sure would be of great help to the revision. I just don''t know if Miss Vielsia..." Princess Yuffie, with admiration, extended an invitation to Vielsia. Seeing this, the elf princess, of course, would not refuse and immediately agreed: "No problem. If the princess needs me, just contact the instructor to notify me, I... I''m usually at the academy." "Good, then it''s settled~" Afterwards, Princess Yuffie chatted briefly with Vielsia, making the elf princess feel even more that, as a princess of her race, the human princess seemed to have hardly any arrogant airs around her, giving her a very approachable and easygoing feeling, making their interaction veryfortable. ''This might be the reason why humans are strong'' ''Those of high status never exhibit arrogance or conceit. As a princess, I must learn from Princess Yuffie!'' While Vielsia was silently resolving to strive harder, another set of footsteps approached, another group heading towards their location "Howe Princess Yuffie, the highlight of the banquet, is staying in such a corner? You made us look hard for you!" The neers were a noble couple. The man appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, with a portly figure, his belt distorting the shape of his upscale suit. In contrast, his wife was much more attractive, with a voluptuous figure and striking makeup. "Count Vedler really know how to joke. You and the other members of the Five Flowers Alliance are the stars of the banquet. I suppose after tonight''s charity fundraiser, the Five Flowers Alliance''s reputation among the domestic popce will reach a new height!" "Haha, reputation is secondary. Our primary intention with the Five Flowers Alliance has always been to contribute more to the kingdom and provide more support and help to themon people." "Of course" Princess Yuffie continued to smile as ever. After a brief exchange, Count Vedler quickly shifted his gaze to Vielsia. He squinted, giving Vielsia an up-and-down look. Freckled face, thick sses, ordinary appearance, her legs were quite long, but surprisingly not showing any skin, covered in in-looking tights instead. Her attire was very conservative, almost entirely wrapped up tightly, the only thing that caught his attention was Vielsia''s big chest beneath the bulging uniform. Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Vielsias part 2 But he had encountered many female students with good figures before, and Count Vedler quickly lost some of his interest in Vielsia. However, just to be safe, he still made a show of asking: "Anyone who personallyes over with Princess Yuffie must be no ordinary person. Miss, may I have the honor of getting to know you?" "No, I''m just an ordinary foreign student at the Royal Academy, my name is Vielsia. It''s an honor to meet you, Count Vedler. I hold you and your Five Flowers Alliance in high regard." Vielsia was actually not lying. Although she found the appearance of this fat noble somewhat unlikable, she knew better than to judge a book by its cover. The deeds of these nobles and their kindness had indeed made a good impression on Vielsia. "Oh, I see! So you''re a top student from the Royal Academy, haha, what a coincidence!" Count Vedler pped his thigh, but due to his portliness and short arms, he ended up hitting his stomach instead. But that didn''t matter. The count, smiling warmly at Vielsia, said: "My good-for-nothing daughter is about your age and also attends the Royal Academy. You might even be ssmates. Miss Vielsia, if you have time, you must visit our estate. I''ll introduce you to Ariel; I''m sure you''ll get along well." The countess, with her striking makeup, immediately chimed in: "Yes, Ariel loves making friends from people outside the Kingdome! In this respect, she''s quite famous throughout the Five Flowers Alliance." ''Liking to make friends with outsiders?'' ''Perhaps I could use this opportunity to establish more connections with humans and even lead the elves to interact with excellent human forces like the Five Flowers Alliance?'' Vielsia analyzed silently, about to nod in agreement when the princess, who had been quiet until then, suddenly spoke up. "Sorry, you all continue chatting. I have another appointmenting up, so I''ll take my leave now." After saying this, Princess Yuffie gestured to everyone briefly and headed towards the exit of the venue. With the princess gone, Vedler seemed to lose interest in chatting with Vielsia. After a few perfunctory words, he also left. Finally alone again, Vielsia sighed deeply in the corner of the banquet. ''It always feels...So stressful to interact with humans'' Vielsia couldn''t help but miss the days of her childhood when the elders and her people took care of everything for her. All she needed to do was focus on her training and study of magic. ''I... really liked being taken care of.'' ''But I had grown up'' ''I will not act willfully or be spoiled anymore'' ''As a princess, I bore the responsibility of the elves and the mission of the entire world to fight against the demon race. I needed to be independent and strong, not always thinking about relying on others!'' This was why she had proactively requested the elders to allow her toe to the human royal city first. This was her way of challenging herself. ''You can do it, Vielsia!'' ''Defeat the demon race!'' ''Revitalize the elves!'' Under the disguise spell, the elf princess clenched her fists and quietly waved them in front of her chest, cheering herself on. The charity fundraising dinner ended smoothly. Various factions and upper-ss individuals from the kingdom left in their carriages. Except for the nobles under the Five Flowers Alliance. As the organizer, Count Vedler saw off thest guest, and the smile on his face quickly faded. He turned to one of his subordinates, who had been waiting behind for a long time, and asked: "Did you follow them? Who is the guest Princess Yuffie went to see?" "Sir, it has been rified, it was someone from the Eagle Mercenary Group." Hearing this name, Count Vedler scoffed, showing a ''just as I thought'' expression, and crushed the cigarette in his hand under his foot. "It seems our esteemed princess is really being pushed into a corner, even trying to enlist the help of these riffraff from the Adventurer''s Association." "My Lord, we must not be careless. Although most adventurers are insignificant, the Eagle Mercenary Group... I''ve heard of their many deeds. They have sessfullypleted numerous ''lord-level'' monster hunts. Their captain, ''Sea Tiger,'' is rumored to have reached the fourth-tier warrior level, and he has several second-tier magicians under hismand, making them very famous and respected within the entire Adventurer''s Association." A fourth-tier warrior is considered among the elite in the Ilinor Kingdom, definitely not to be underestimated, capable of leading the royal elite knight squadron. And second-tier magicians... Since magicians are inherently considered a ss above warriors and more noble, even a second-tier magician is not much inferior to a third-tier warrior, and in some situations, even more useful. On paper, the Eagle Mercenary Group indeed appears strong. If Princess Yuffie really convinces them, it would indeed be a significant concern for them, which exins the subordinate''s worry. But. "A few days ago, I indeed would have been concerned, but now... hehe, do you know why our Five Flowers Alliance dares to openly hold this fundraising event now?" "My Lord, you mean..." "The empire''s envoy is about to visit Ilinor for a diplomatic mission soon. Thest time the envoy visited, he expressed his fondness for our Princess Yuffie, unfortunately, she turned him down. But this time, the envoy contacted us first." ''The empire''s envoy contacted the Five Flowers Alliance?'' ''Could it be!'' The subordinate immediately realized something as he got excited. ''In this world, the term "Empire" is only allowed for one absolute hegemonic vast nation'' Nox Empire. "Hmph, right, what does it matter if Yuffie is the grand princess? In front of the empire''s envoy, she''s just a ything. The envoy, due to concerns about face, finds it inconvenient to act personally, so he handed this responsibility to us." Count Vedler''s eyes were filled with disdain,as he smirked. "Come, I''ll take you to see the summoning scroll granted to our Five Flowers Alliance by the envoy. Let you all have a look and see the strength of the Empire, witness what is called... the undead!" ''The... undead!?'' ''Aren''t those the undying beings that exist only in legends?'' The undead are not a race but more like a branch of summoning magic, simr to elemental beings. Though summoned by magic, they possess extremely high magic resistance; low-level spells are almost ineffective against the undead, making them the bane of all magicians. Moreover, they have an even more perverse "undying body" trait. As long as the core of the undead is not destroyed, they can endlessly resurrect and stand up again, making them perfect soldiers. Furthermore, it is said that high-level undead can even have "ss" distinctions. But that would probably require fifth-tier, or even sixth-tier magic to summon, beyond what the subordinate could even dare to imagine, too far-fetched. But regardless, ''Listening to the count, does that mean the Five Flowers Alliance truly possess the magic to summon the undead?'' Even the lowest-tier undead soldiers, merely with the trait of undying bodies, would be enough to make them invincible in a "coup" battle! The Five Flowers Alliance has been preparing for so many years. The awaited day finally came. To seize control of the long-coveted Ilinor Kingdom and take itpletely into their hands! Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Altar of Blood Sacrifice, Warrior of the Dead 1/4 The rmaining three chapters will be published after 3-4h ---------------- The logic of the rising tide lifting all boats, this baron''s subordinate still understands. He had already begun to fantasize about controlling the kingdompletely, as a member of the Five Flowers Alliance, and living a life of glory and wealth. The subordinate followed closely behind the Excited Vedler and his wife , and they soon arrived at the Five Flowers Alliance''s base in the Royal City. Upon entering the secret base through a special passage, the subordinate was stunned. He saw that the central location of this secret base had been transformed into a huge altar,pletely constructed of bones. A scroll emitting a sinister purple light floated above the altar, and beneath it were groups of people, likely numbering in the hundreds, all with their limbs broken and bound. Most of these people appeared to be vigers from othernds, and a small number were neers from the Adventurer''s Association, who had received the "grace" of the Five Flowers Alliance. If Reji were here, he would probably recognize a small number of them. They were the group of adventurers he had met at the Lanqi Artifacts store, who seemed to have taken arge order and were gathering money to buy potions. At that time, these new adventurers who had just arrived in the Royal City were full of aspirations and longing for the future, but now, with their tendons severed and trapped in the "blood pool" of the altar, their faces were filled with fear and regret. "Vedler, how is the fundraising going?" A noblewoman walked slowly from behind a curtain, holding a ss of red wine. She took a small sip of the red liquid in the ss and soon showed an expression of intoxication and enjoyment. "Lady Lisa, please rest assured, the fundraising is going more smoothly than expected, and it has already far exceeded our initial estimate of 5 million gold coins." "Hmph, not bad, you don''t need me to teach you how to use this money, do you?" "Of course, the money will be returned in full to the nobles and celebrities who support our Five Flowers Alliance, and the money donated by ordinary people, the Adventurer''s Association, the Royal Academy, and other institutions and organizations will be divided 30-70. My Lady, the seven shares that belong to you have already been sent to your mansion by my men." Upon hearing Vedler''s understanding, the noblewomanughed. Feeling good, she handed her wine ss to the side, and suddenly a servant walked out from the shadows behind her, taking it with his pale bone hand. That''s right, a pale bone hand. At this sight, Vedler''s subordinate stared wide-eyed at the human servant beside the noblewoman. No, it couldn''t be called a "human" servant. Because it was a skeleton,pletely built of bones without any flesh. After the skeleton took the noblewoman''s wine ss, it went to a table nearby where a pregnant woman was tied up and unconscious. With one hand holding the wine ss and the other holding a knife, the skeleton cut open the pregnant woman''s stomach. The pregnant woman was woken up by the pain, but her hands and feet were bound and her mouth was gagged, so she could only make strange cries, watching as the skeleton cut open her belly and took out a blood-red pomegranate. This was the same Crystal Red Pomegranate that had appeared in Ariel''s dinner before. The skeleton ced the pomegranate in its palm and squeezed it with its bony hand, causing the fruit to burst open and the juice to flow down its hand. The skeleton then used the other hand to hold the wine ss and catch the juice. These actions were notplicated, but the skeleton was still a bit stiff, and when it finally handed the wine ss back to thedy, the juice had spilled all over the ce. However, thedy didn''t mind and was even happy, saying, "Thank you, my little sweetheart." Vedler couldn''t help but admire and praise, "It seems that Lady Lisa is already quite skilled in using the Necromancer''s [Scroll of the Dead]." "I do like these little sweethearts, but unfortunately, they consume too much. To summon a single undead soldier like this, at least 50 people are needed," the noblewoman said regretfully, shaking her head and letting the skeleton servant retreat. From the shadows behind her, it could be seen that there were at least 20 such skeletons in the Five Flowers Alliance. Each one was her little sweetheart. " My Lady, there is one more thing, as you guessed, after receiving the Empire''s diplomatic notice, the Eldest Princess couldn''t sit still. She probably guessed the intention of the notice and has been trying to win over other forces in the Royal Citytely." "My subordinate has just received news that the Eagle Mercenary Group has reached an agreement with the Eldest Princess and has the protection of a tinum-level adventurer. I think we should use that ceremony." "I see, then we really have no choice. Since the Eldest Princess has an additional fourth-stage power, we cannot fall behind. Otherwise, we will mess things up, and we won''t be able to exin it to the envoy." The noblewoman sighed pretentiously and then walked up to the altar. Looking at the people struggling and begging for mercy in the blood pool of the altar, the noblewoman clicked her tongue in pity and said in a seductive voice, "Oh, you all heard it, right? This is not our Five Flowers Alliance''s fault. It''s the Eldest Princess who forced us. If you want to hate someone, go hate Princess Yuffie." As the noblewoman''s voice fell, her eyes shed with a strange purple light. The purple light resonated with the scroll floating above the altar, and theplex and cryptic spells in the scroll immediately appeared and acted on the entire altar. Under the influence of the scroll''s spells, the bloody pool of the altar also lit up, and the adventurers and vigers in the pool began to convulse violently, as if suffering from severe pain, and struggled frantically in the blood pool. But it was to no use. Their life force was quickly taken away from these "sacrifices," their blood and flesh consumed and turned into energy by the altar, and their souls extracted and refined into bone fire. In just a few breaths, more than three to four hundred people in the huge altar were brutally killed. And the bone fire condensed from them as sacrifices was unprecedentedly powerful. Under the spell of the scroll, their bones began to assemble. Eventually, in exchange for hundreds of lives, a giant skeleton appeared in the center of the altar, several timesrger than the previous skeleton servant, standing at four or five meters tall, wearing a full set of undead armor, and wielding a heavy sword. This was a Death Knight. A fourth-stage undead! Immune to all third-stage and lower magical attacks, it possessed magic resistance, strong poison resistance, fire resistance, and many other effect resistances. It could also use the powerful fourth-stagebat skill "Death de"! It could be said that this Death Knight alone could sweep away the elite knights of the entire kingdom without being excessive! Lisa was extremely excited as the summoner of the Death Knight. She gazed at the giant skeleton in the center of the altar with a loving look, as if she were looking at her husband. The tall and straight figure, the hard bones, the thick skull, and especially the powerful aura emitted by the fourth-stage being made Lisa breathless and hot all over. ''Ah~ , just looking at it made my breath quicken and my body hot~'' Lisa couldn''t wait and twisted her voluptuous body to approach the Death Knight. However, unexpectedly, the Death Knight didn''t seem to appreciate its summoner and might still be unstable after being summoned. The Death Knight directly pped Lisa, who was infatuated and approaching it, and knocked her down. The other members of the Five Flowers Alliance present were shocked and wanted to help, but they were also afraid and scared of the terrifying Death Knight. However, Lady Lisa, who was the victim, crawled up from the ground and not only was she not angry, but her infatuated gaze became even more intense. Even though she was pped and knocked down by her summoned creature, it seemed to stimte Lisa, and her already wet legs were nowpletely soaked. Because she was already lowly and despicable in front of such a powerful undead creature. But it didn''t matter; Lisa was confident that she could tame it and make this "big guy"pletely obey hermands. "You few, go down." "Wha-what?" The subordinate brought by Vedler was stunned, and Lady Lisa actually wanted him to go up? To the front of the terrifying Death Knight? Before he could react, he was directly pushed down to the altar by his own master. Simrly, there were also some ordinary members of the Five Flowers Alliance. The members struggled and screamed, but the Death Knight showed no mercy this time and began to ughter them as if it had found its prey. In the midst of the killing and screaming, blood and flesh sttered, and after paying the price of more than a dozen lives, the Death Knight roared to the sky, seemingly satisfied. This time, when Lisa approached, the Death Knight still ignored her, but at least it was no longer hostile towards her. And that was enough. "Good, my baby, that''s right." "Remember, in the future, you listen to Mommy, and Mommy will satisfy whatever you want." "Yes, that''s it, this is Mommy''s most beloved and cherished baby!" Beside her, Vedler felt disgusted, but he couldn''t hide the envy and admiration in his eyes. If he also had such a Death Knight, he probably wouldn''t perform any better than Lisa is now. No! He must also seize this opportunity and strive to let the Empire''s envoy take a fancy to his daughter, let Ariel go to seduce and please the envoy. If the envoy is happy, he might also bestow powerful treasures like the [Scroll of the Dead] from the Empire, allowing him to also have a terrifying Death Knight. Thinking of this, Count Vedler''s heart was burning with desire. Chapter 55: Chapter 55: The Lich Maid and the Skeleton Dragon This week''s Pw bonuses will be: Every 50+ Powerstones + 1 chapter ----------- *Bang!* A muffled sound echoed from the "Demon King''s Manor", formerly known as the Count Vedler Estate. Immediately after, a skeleton with a height of seven to eight meters and an "inky ck" body was seen flying out of the inner courtyard in a parabolic trajectory, as if it had been kicked out. In the Ilinor Kingdom, red hair is a symbol of the royal family. Simrly, among skeletal undead, ck bones are an extremely rare representation, typically found only on "Skeleton Kings." However, the current Skeleton King did not possess even the slightest bit of a king''s aura. After being kicked out and falling onto thewn in the outer courtyard, it dared not linger and quickly propped itself up with its arms, afraid of crushing the grass beneath the manor. In reality, the manor''s grounds were already ruined after being struck by the Skeleton King, which weighed several tons. Many flowers and nts had turned into mud. This made the Skeleton King anxious. The bonefire in its deep eye sockets seemed to tremble with fear. It quickly crouched down and attempted to use its massive bony hands to lift the ttened flowers and nts, but this was impossible. Not only did this fail to appease Eileen, but it also further angered the Subus, who was the dy of the Demon King''s Manor." "Dian, are you nning to use such garbage as the guard for our Demon race''s stronghold!?" Eileen couldn''t hold back her anger and sternly questioned the Sorcerer Demon next to her, who had a helpless expression on his face. After Reji decided to transform the Count Estate into the first stronghold for the Demon race, he would definitely need to continue summoning Demons from the Chaos Rift. So, after the Wisdom Demon, Sorcerer Demon, and Shadow Demon, Reji had the Subus and Decay Demone through Dian''s portal as well. Transforming a human manor into a Demon stronghold was not as simple as it sounded; it requiredrge-scale reconstruction. Among the Apostles, the only ones skilled in "leadership" and mand" aside from the Wisdom Demon were the Subus, who served as Reji''s "secretary." As for why the Decay Demon Eris was also summoned, Reji considered the research on the "Egg," which only a Decay Demon proficient in "flesh and blood" could conduct. To facilitate the investigation, Eris was brought directly to Reji''s side instead of remaining in the rear. Returning to the opening scene, every female has a strong sense of territory and ces great importance on her "home." Upon finally being allowed by Reji toe to the human world, Eileen was extremely excited. She treated the Count''s Estate as if it were her and Reji''s love nest. Because of this, Eileen had very strict requirements. Now, there was a serious dispute between her and the Sorcerer Demon Dian, regarding the issues of "guards" and "servants." Dian thought that since he had previously misunderstood Reji''s message and cast the eighth-tier spell [Army of the Undead] to protect him, he had only temporarily recalled the undead. Now that Reji wanted to establish a base, Dian believed it would be the perfect opportunity to bring back the [Army of the Undead] he had summoned to serve as defensive forces for the base. In anticipation of Eileen''s dissatisfaction with these undead guards, Dian had even speciallybined and summoned a portion of the undead to create a seventh-tier "Skeleton King," thinking it should be sufficient. However, upon seeing Eileen''s expression of disdain for the "Skeleton King," Dian couldn''t help but sigh and shake his head. "So, what do you want to do, Eileen?" "Of course, we should also summon high-ranking Greater Demons and Sword Demons!" the Subus replied without hesitation. In Eileen''s opinion, "high-ranking" referred to Demons level 80 and above. Although the "Skeleton King," as a seventh-tier high-level undead, was around level 70, it seemed that there was only a 10-level differencepared to level 80, which didn''t seem like much. However, in reality, the level suppression became harder and wider as levels increased, with even a single level difference creating a significant gap in power. Furthermore, level was only a partial consideration of strength. In terms of fate, Star Sculpt, skills, talents, passives, and more, the Skeleton King was far inferior to Greater Demons and Sword Demons, which were the elite forces of the Demon race. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that a seventh-tier Skeleton King would likely lose to a sixth-tier Greater Demon. It was no wonder Eileen was so dissatisfied. Dian was unable to suppress Eileen. The Sorcerer Demon had no control over the Subus. This matter required Reji to personally intervene. "Ahem! Eileen, there''s no need for that. You should understand Dian''s situation. He has already consumed a lot of magical power by bringing you and Eris here. Besides, this manor is only our temporary small base; there''s no need to make such a big fuss." "Our race''s true territory wouldn''t be just a small estate that humans have used before, right? Once wepletely control the Ilinor Kingdom, it will be time to bring over our main forces and build a true demonic stronghold. For now, this ce is just a temporary base." Eileen, being a Subus, needed to be handled ordingly. She had initially cherished and valued the estate, but after hearing Reji''s words, she suddenly realized that it was unbefitting for the Demon race to use a "second-hand" human mansion or estate. Seeing that the Subus was wavering, Reji, who was frugal and thrifty, quickly added, "However, what you said is also correct. Even if this is just a temporary base, it represents our race''s prestige. Using a low-ranking undead like the Skeleton King is indeed inappropriate." The Skeleton King felt aggrieved. First, Eileen had scolded it, and now Reji had referred to it as a "low-ranking undead." Was it really low-ranking? Or was it not? The hierarchy of undead, from lowest to highest, was as follows: Undead Soldiers (levels 1-20), Undead Warriors (levels 20-30), Undead Heroes (levels 30-40), Undead Professionals (levels 40-50), Undead Lords (levels 50-60), and finally, the Skeleton King 70-80. If even the Skeleton King was considered "low-ranking," what did that make its subordinates? In the estate, the Skeleton King wasn''t the only one being punished and scolded. There were also many other undead standing on thewn behind it. As an eighth-tier spell, the [Army of the Undead] epassed all levels of undead, each of which had been summoned. The Skeleton King could only vent its frustration on its subordinates, striking the Undead Lords behind it with its ck bony hand, as if telling them to stand up straight and not disgrace themselves further. The Undead Lords, unable to resist the Skeleton King, immediately followed suit and struck their own subordinatesseveral Undead Mages, Undead Assassins, and others. These ''professional undead'' also mimicked the behavior, striking the Undead Heroes behind them. The Undead Heroes were a bit pitiful. They had no one left to strike, as they were the weakest undead in the army. In reality, there should have been many Undead Warriors and Soldiers behind them, but the Sorcerer Demon had optimized them all, fusing them together to summon the current Skeleton King. Upon seeing the foolish appearance of these undead, Reji shook his head and, after some thought, proposed apromise. "Very well, Dian. For the servants and guards inside the estate, we can continue using the original human staff. They are familiar with the ce and have the necessary skills and experience. With Leo''s Soul Bell controlling them, there''s no need to worry about loyalty issues. As for these undead..." "Combine them to summon a Lich Specter." "Yes, my king." At the pinnacle of the undead hierarchy, there were two entities, one of which was the Lich Specter, the ultimate form of the undead. The Sorcerer Demon raised his raven staff, and a vast amount of magical power rapidly gathered. Aplex and profound magical array appeared beneath the skeletons on the estate''swn. After shes of light, half of the original undead army disappeared, reced by a female skeleton with silver-gray bones. Her toes barely touched the ground, and she hovered slightly in the air. Deep, mysteriousherfire flickered in her eye sockets, and her slender bone fingers exuded an elegant beauty. She crossed her long leg bones gracefully, holding her skull high as if she were supreme. Surges of death energy gathered in her palms, as if she could annihte her enemies with a single breath. However, this aura of grandeur didn''tst long. Once the Lich Specter regained her senses and understood her surroundings, she quickly stopped hovering and knelt before Reji. It was apparent that, as the pinnacle of undead life forms, the Lich Specter was significantly more intelligent and had a body that appealed to Reji''s aesthetic sensibilities. However, even so... "Eileen, let her temporarily serve as a maid to assist you for now." Reji didn''t dare give the Lich Specter a higher position, fearing that the Subus would still find fault with her. Topletely silence Eileen and disy the prestige of the Demon race, Reji instructed the Sorcerer Demon to use the remaining half of the undead army after summoning the Lich Specter to fuse and summon another high-level undead. The only one that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Lich Specter... A Skeleton Dragon. The Skeleton Dragon, with its massive, terrifying wingsposed entirely of jet-ck bones, roared with its skull dragon head raised toward the sky. Its eye sockets flickered with a unique crimsonherfire, and its sharp bone spikes and dragon teeth gleamed with eerie light. With a single jet of dragon breath, it released a dense death energy, and its entire body exuded both power and beauty. However, in the next moment, it transformed into something resembling a yful puppy, shaking its bony dragon tail in an attempt to ingratiate itself with the Apostles and Reji, who now served as the Demon King. Due to the "Dark Curtain," the noise within the estate was not a concern. However, the Skeleton Dragon was too conspicuous. It was indeed magnificent, but finding a suitable ce to amodate it was necessary. Reji quickly came up with an idea. There was an empty spot at the entrance of the estate, perfect for cing a grand sculpture stand. Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Star Sculpt II Part 1 1/8 Sorry for the dy, the remaining 5 chapters will be posted today. ---------- Reji is currently focusing on renovating the Count Manor, not only to establish a demon stronghold, but also to fulfill the "Star Sculpt" condition of his Demon King career path. From the previous example of the "Skeleton King," it can be seen that level is not everything. The Lich and the Skeleton Dragon are actually the same as the Skeleton King, both are seventh-tier, and both belong to the "Undead" career path. However, it is clear that in terms of strength and intelligence, the former are much stronger than thetter. This is the difference brought about by "Star Sculpt." To put it simply, the Skeleton King is like a nk te, while the Lich and Skeleton Dragon with multiple "Star Sculpt" are endowed with various talents and blessings. It is obvious that a super soldier or hero fighting alone would have no suspense. Speaking of Reji himself, he has been in the Chaos Rift for only a day and a half since being summoned by the demon race, and he has already jumped from level 1 to level 29, just a little bit away from level 30. In the game "Magic Chronicles" even as a yer, this is impossible, as if a modifier has been opened. This is the huge difference brought about by Reji''s Demon King career path. Even just lighting up the effect of "Star Sculpt I" which multiplies all basic rewards by a hundred, has such benefits. Reji wants to improve quickly, so he must light up the remaining "Star Sculpt" as soon as possible. For example, now: [Star Sculpt II - King''s Rise (Can be activated)] [Activation Condition: Own a "stronghold level" demon territory and gain at least one disciple''s "deadly loyalty"] [Territory: Ilinor - Royal City - Queen''s District - Vedler Count Manor - Completed] [Current number of disciples with "deadly loyalty": (2/1) - Completed] [Activation Effect: Demon King, standing above all - you ignore all "skill/item" "learning/use" conditions] There are Lich maids and Skeleton Dragon sculptures. All human servants in the manor are controlled by the Soul Bell. From the current "career path" panel, this Count Manor already meets the criteria for a "demon stronghold," so Reji haspleted the conditions. Reji immediately click [activate]. In an instant, his consciousness seemed to leave his body, and his soul came to the vast and boundless universe. The universe is not filled with starlight, but is pitch ck, like a deep forest at night. There are even many chaotic currents mixed in. This is like every living being, at the moment of birth, is in a state of chaos and confusion. In order not to be lost in the darkness, one must firmly establish a path and build one''s own destiny. This is the origin of the "career path." Now, there are many fragments under Reji''s feet, and each fragment reflects the demons, whether it is the invasion war, the prosperity of the tribe, or the history of the past. This is the career path of the "Demon King." Bearing the past, present, and future of the demon race. At the starting point of this destiny, a star has been lit and is rotating around Reji, helping him dispel the darkness and resist the chaotic currents. Under the protection of this star, Reji leaves the starting point and continues to move forward on the career path. There, the second star that was originally shrouded in darkness and dim, is now emitting a dazzling light, as if waiting for and weing Reji''s arrival. As Reji approaches, this star immediately turns into a stream of light and, like the first one, surrounds Reji, illuminating the way forward and clearing all obstacles on the road, allowing Reji to continue on this "career path." With each step Reji takes, the demon race fragments under his feet surge into his body. These fragments contain the ancient "spell" knowledge that the demon race has passed down for countless tens of thousands of years and the experience and knowledge of previous Demon Kings regarding various "rare items." Now, they are all being absorbed and digested by Reji, bingpletely his own memory. This feeling is like the original Reji, as a "yer," may only know the names of "skills" and "items" and their effects. But now, he is like being enlightened, and he clearly understands the principles, operation, and even the deeperposition of these "skills" and "items," as if he has be a master of spells and items who knows everything. This is the effect of "Star Sculpt II" - ignoring any "skills/items" "learning/using" conditions. It should be noted that this is not given by the "system" to Reji. The function of the system is actually equivalent to a trantor, assisting Reji in understanding more simply and intuitively the demon heritage he has received and how to obtain more heritage. This wonderful feeling made Reji forget to return and drove him to continue exploring until he encountered darkness and chaotic currents in front of him, and he came to his senses and realized that he had reached the limit of "Star Sculpt II." In order to continue advancing on the career path, he would have to wait until he lit up "Star Sculpt III." Although Reji was a little regretful, he did not linger too much. He believed that these were all just a matter of time, and he quickly exited the sea of consciousness. After sessfully activating the "Star Sculpt II," when Reji closed his eyes and recalled the previous Lich and Skeleton Dragon, it waspletely different. It was as if he could see the macro from the micro, and based on the memory of the sorcerer''s summoning at that time, Reji felt that he had analyzed these two powerful undead and mastered their summoning methods. Correspondingly, an eighth-tier purple spell appeared in his character panel''s skill column. [Lich Dragon Spell] [Basic Consumption: 4600 Mana] [Advance Consumption: 60231-? Mana/Equivalent Mana Value of Undead] [Effect: ording to the consumed Mana value, summon a Skeleton Dragon and a Lich at the same time. The quality of the Skeleton Dragon/Lich is determined by the Mana consumption.] ''Heh Not bad'' An eighth-tier spell usually requires at least level 70 to learn in the game, but now he, a level 29 newbie, has a purple spell directly added to his skill column. This is too unreasonable. This ispletely a cheat. Reji was excited and had mastered the skill, but when he excitedly tried to use it, he got the prompt [Insufficient Mana] Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Star Sculpt II Part 2 2/8 ''Okay'' It was as if he was the opposite of the "Skeleton King." The software was up, but the hardware couldn''t keep up, and there was still a big gap. Reji estimated that in order to truly cast an eighth-tier spell, he would need to reach level forty or fifty. At that time, his Mana limit should be around five thousand. Unless he was under the [Malice Blooms Domain] given to him by Hektor. In any case, after organizing his gains, Reji calcted the time, left his room, and headed to the secret underground chamber of Count''s Manor. Previously, this ce was used by Ariel, this perverted nobledy, to torture those outsiders to satisfy her evil hobby. And now, whether it should be said or not, it was karma. As soon as Reji came down, he heard some strange noisesing from the depths. The blood and flesh moss covered the underground chamber, and the walls were also enveloped in ayer of blood and flesh membrane. The entire underground chamber seemed to have been transformed into a blood and flesh woven cave. Seemingly sensing Reji''s arrival, the blood and flesh moss under his feet moved to both sides, as if weing him, and cleared a clean path for Reji. Following this path, Reji soon saw Ariel. At this time, this nobledy was being bound by several blood and flesh tentacles in mid-air, forming a big T shape. Her head, including the part above her nose, was being held by a "face-hugging worm," giving Reji the impression that she was being forced to wear a virtual reality login helmet, but it was not a technological version, but a blood and flesh version. As for the "virtual reality" that Ariel was currently in, from her body that was constantly convulsing, Reji could imagine that she was experiencing a "spiritual illusion" that was very painful. "Hehe~. Did his Majesty came to see Eris?" As soon as Reji finished looking at the current Ariel, a very ssic voice, like a little girl who had just learned to speak, sounded. Among the Apostles, only one spoke like this. The fourth Apostle, Decay Demon Eris. However, this time it was different from when they were in the Chaos Rift. Reji looked in the direction of the voice and saw that this time, it was not a bloated, corpulent Eris covered in maggots and rotting flesh. But a real little girl. Eris emerged from the shadows in the depths of the blood and flesh underground chamber. As one of the second batch of Apostles allowed to descend by Reji, Eris''s descent was different from the direct "true form" descent of the Subus. For the Decay Demon, Reji strongly requested that Eris descend in "projection form". The official reason was that the appearance of the Decay Demon''s true form was too "attractive". Privately, as a human who had lived for more than twenty years, Reji really couldn''t appreciate the appearance of the Decay Demon''s true form. But the "projection descent" was different. Reji saw a little girl form of Eris, with pink hair like the Subus, but slightly darker, leaning towards purple. She was not fat. On the contrary, Eris was very thin and weak, with thin arms and legs, giving people a "sickly" feeling at first nce. The Decay Demon wore a doll-like dress, with purple fis stockings on her legs, a cute butterfly knot at her cor, and high Martin boots on her feet. A cute Gothic-style loli. Of course, this was premised on ignoring the bloody butcher knife in the little girl''s hand. Ignoring the "teeth"-shaped strange patterns on the little girl''s dress, stockings, butterfly knot, cor, and Martin boots, wherever they touched the "mouth." Ignoring the fact that if one looked closely, one would find that there were assembly joints at each joint of the little girl, as if each limb was sewn together like a doll. If all of these were ignored, Eris was indeed quite cute. "Does his majesty like Eris''s new body?" "Eris specially learned from Eileen''s appearance and put it together, hehe~" "" Reji understood why Eris was all in purple. "Yes, Eris is Very beautiful" "Eris was praised by the king, happy~, happy~." "Eris, is the analysis of the human egg inside this female''s body done?" Reji returned to the main topic, and the Decay Demon also became serious, walking to the bottom of Ariel, who was entangled by the tentacles, and exining to Reji in detail. "The parasitic egg in this human''s body is consistent in structure with the previous human mage, but the degree of evolution is higher." Consistent in structure. Reji breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. This means that the previous Light Church priestess having eggs had nothing to do with the Light Church, and the source of the fall was not the Light Church, but that the insect race had infiltrated too many humans and was too powerful. "Eris will continue to research this egg and observe the subsequent new developments. Eris will report to his majesty immediately." The previous egg died immediately when the host died. The reason why Ariel is being "cared for" by the Decay Demon like this now is that thisdy is being used as a cultivation vessel. But the way these tentacle moving around her body. How to say it. Cough! Although Reji had also appreciated some works with tentacle themes, it was limited to a small amount of enjoyment, and that was enough. "Good job, Eris." Overall, the Decay Demon was still very conscientious, and the series of information about the egg was also very helpful to him, so Reji should give his approval. And when praised by the demon king in person, Eris was overjoyed. Just like a spoiled little girl. In order to express her happiness, she said, "Hmm~ Your Majesty Eris want a hug~" If it were the true form of the Decay Demon, Reji would have to go through a strong mental struggle. But now, Reji could ept it, and it could also be considered a reward for Eris. So Reji nodded without hesitation, showing a "of course" expression, and actively opened his arms to the Decay Demon. Seeing this, Eris''s eyes seemed to light up immediately, and she rushed over, burying her weak and thin body in Reji''s arms and rubbing her face affectionately against Reji''s chest. "The king has never hugged Eris before." "It turns out that hugging feels like this, Eris is happy, so happy~" "Don''t want to let go~" "Eris likes the demon king the most~" The appearance of the Decay Demon was not only ugly by human standards, but it should also be the ugliest and least attractive type in the demon race,pletely opposite to the Subus. So it''s very normal that the previous demon kings wouldn''t like the Decay Demon. Reji didn''t expect that he would be the first demon king to willingly hug Eris. Since that was the case, Reji not only hugged her but also reached out his hand to stroke Eris''s head, gently touching the little girl''s purple hair. '' Now I am probably the first demon king to "pat her head to death." '' yers were like this. Reji satisfied his "achievement collection habit." As for Eris in his arms, the Decay Demon was full of new sensations and kept making coquettish noises to Reji, saying "More~, more~" Unfortunately. *Snap!* A pink thorned whip shot urately from the door of the underground chamber, and in the blink of an eye, it wrapped around the ankles of Eris, who was still enjoying Reji''s embrace and head-patting. Immediately afterward, the whip pulled back with the force of lightning, taking Eris, who was enjoying Reji''s embrace and head-patting just a second ago, and flew away, instantly leaving Reji''s embrace. Afterward, there was a muffled loud noise. It could be seen that the owner of the whip had no mercy, directly smashing Eris against the wall beside her, with such force that even the entire underground chamber shook several times. Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Punishment for the Naughty Student part 1 3/8 ''Sigh'' Eileen took a deep breath. The Subus, dressed in a ck and white maid outfit, her ample chest heaving under the thin silk fabric. But no matter how deep she breathed, she couldn''t suppress the anger in her heart. A few minutes ago, she had carefully prepared dinner and was going to find her king to express her excitement about finally being able to return to her king''s side. Eileen had even put some thought into it, and the human maid outfit she was wearing now, which she had taken from the mansion, was specially prepared for Reji. ''But.'' ''But!!'' ''Nobody understand me!'' When Eileen delivered herself to the demon king''s room with a smile, she found that the room was empty. At that moment, she triggered the subus''s sixth sense and suspected that the king had gone to be intimate with another apostle. She first went angrily to the Shadow Demon''s room, but Shermen was still hanging upside down from the ceiling, and there was no sign that her king had been there. Eileen let out a sigh of relief, but also felt puzzled. Where else could her king have gone? ''The Decay Demon''s basement?'' ''That must be it.'' Eileen was touched again. Her king was still so dedicated to his work! But when she pushed open the door to the basement, the next scene she saw was Eris lying in the king''s arms in the middle of the basement with a look of enjoyment on her face! What''s more. What''s more, this Eris, who was even bigger than Shermen and should be a grandmother, was pretending to be cute and letting her king touch her head over and over again!? ''This'' ''This!!...'' ''This was treatment that even I, Eileen, had never enjoyed!'' ''Why!'' ''Whether it was falling in love with my king or being embraced by my king, I was the first one to do it!'' On the other side. Eris came out from the basement wall that had been smashed into a pit. The fake nose that the Decay Demon had made was knocked off, and Eris picked up the nose and put it back on after several attempts. After that, Eris couldn''t help but say weakly to the Subus, "Eileen is scary. Eris is scared." Well, It was better not to say anything. Because When she spoke, Eileen became even angrier. "Shut up!" The subus ced her hands on her hips and her furry tail stood tall. She red viciously at the decay demon, who had imitated her and changed her appearance, causing Eris to shrink her neck and show a weak and helpless expression. "My King, dinner is ready~" said Eileen, ignoring the decay demon and getting straight to the point. It was normal for the apostles to fight among themselves. But as the Demon King, Reji had to favor the weaker side and maintain peace and stability among the apostles. So, Reji turned his gaze to Eris, who was trembling under Eileen''s seductive re. It didn''t matter if he didn''t look. But when he did, Eris lowered her head and whispered, "Your Majesty, Eris won''t go. Eris will eat the leftovers. Your majesty doesn''t need to worry about Eris. Eris will eat garbage if she''s hungry." *Hiss* Eileen almost choked again. ''How could she be so fake?'' But the decay demon was telling the truth. During the time when the Demon Race was sealed in the Chaos Rift by the Son of Destiny, the scarce resources could not support the needs of the vast Demon Race. In order to survive, the Decay Demon n did not share food with other ns, but ate only the leftover garbage. Eileen was both angry and sympathetic when Eris mentioned this, as it touched on a sore spot for her. The ability of the Demon Race to survive in the Chaos Rift for a thousand years was due to the sacrifice and contribution of many ns. As an apostle, Eileen had witnessed all of this and felt a deep hatred for humans, wishing she could chop the Son of Destiny from a thousand years ago into pieces. Now, under the leadership of the new demon king, the Demon Race had finally broken the seal of the Son of Destiny, escaped from the Chaos Rift, and returned to the rich world. Eileen wanted to make up for the debt owed to these ns. So, even without Reji, Eileen had originally prepared a portion for Eris at dinner. And because of Eris''s special status as a decay demon, Eileen had personally cooked for her, using special ingredients such as dead fish eyes, rotten tomatoes, stinky oyster sauce, seaweed from the sea of corpses, and squid juice to make a delicious seafood soup. Of course. That''s what the Subus Demon was thinking, but of course, she couldn''t say it like that. "Eris, don''t you understand what our king means? When the demon king tells you toe over, just listen obediently! If you don''te, I''ll pour out the seafood soup prepared for you!" "???!" Upon hearing that there was "seafood soup" to drink, Eris immediately lifted her head that had just been lowered, her eyes shining brightly. The decay demon wiped the saliva flowing out of her mouth. "I like seafood soup! Eileen also likes it! I like Eileen the most!" "Hug! Hug!" After being hugged by Reji once, Eris seemed to have fallen in love with this way of expressing "like". She took small steps, spread her arms and wanted to jump into the arms of her subus "older sister". Unfortunately. *Bang!* Eileen kicked the decay demon, who was flying towards her, far away with a high kick. After kicking her, the subus showed no expression on her face, as if nothing had happened. She straightened out her maid uniform and then walked up to Reji''s side, naturally holding his arm. "My King, let''s go first. Eris will follow uster." Eileen''s words and actions showed the elegance andposure of the demon king''s "legitimate wife". But then. The subus whispered in Reji''s ear: "My King, don''t have too much physical contact with the decay demons next time. They have a lot of worms on them. It''s not just that they''ll dirty your clothes, but what if they crawl onto you! They don''t have the habit of washing, they''re very dirty!" "If my king really wants to hug someone..." "Then, then just hug Eileen, okay? Eileen has all her time for your majesty, anytime, anywhere! Your majesty can do whatever he wants!" . There were a total of four "family" members at dinner. Reji was seated at the head of the table, with Eileen sitting close beside him. Next to her, with a space in between, was the sorcery demon Dian, then the shadow demon Shermen, and finally the decay demon Eris, who was seated the farthest away from Reji. This was not because Eileen was picking on the decay demon, but mainly because that big pot of "seafood soup" was too "unique" in appearance and taste, and only Eris could enjoy it with relish. "I n to go to the Human Academy in the Royal City tomorrow," Leo, the Demon of Wisdom, was not present as he had already left to work hard for the Demon Race and for Reji. The dinner became a simple meeting for the Demons. Leo had already handed over the basic information to Eileen before leaving, and now the Subus was very concerned about the Elf Princess''s issue. Reji did not hide anything and directly revealed his n. Seeing the confusion of his subordinates, Reji exined, "If the Elves really possess the secret spell that can seal our race, I believe they would have used it at the first opportunity. However, the fact that there has been no movement from the Elves so far leads me to suspect that they probably cannot activate the seal on their own." "I agree with Your Majesty. The Elves were almost exterminated a thousand years ago, and the current Elves are likely to be the small group of survivors who escaped at that time. Their decline is even more severe than ours," The Sorcery Demon confirmed. Eileen also understood and looked at Reji with a sudden realization. "So, My King believes that the Elves came to the Royal City to seek help from the humans? They hope that the humans can assist them inpleting the seal? And the only ce in the Royal City where they can obtain this knowledge of the spell is the Academy." After logically analyzing the situation, the mysterious Elf Princess became clear. All three of the remaining Demons looked at Reji with admiration, except for Eris, who was still eating. The Demon King''s wisdom was indeed as the Demon of Wisdom, Leo had said once that the new Demon King was probably the most far-sighted of all the previous Demon Kings, even the Wisdom Demon had to learn from him. Reji''s expression remained unchanged, as if all of this was just basic knowledge and not surprising. But in fact. This was Reji thick-skinnedly epting praise. To be honest, all this logic and reasoning was an "open-book test" for Reji. It was precisely because of this. "My King, after we find the Elf Princess, how do you n to deal with her?" Eileen asked this crucial question. To this, Reji said: "The worst oue is to kill her. Apromise would be to have Eileen seduce and transform her into a Subus. But I believe that the most beneficial and optimal strategy for our race is to let her join us as an Elf," Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Punishment for the Naughty Student part 2 4/8 Killing the Elf Princess is an option that doesn''t need to be said. It''s the most helpless move when there''s really no other choice, because it only eliminates the threat but doesn''t bring any benefits to them, and even wastes his 70+ draws. What Reji hopes for the most is that, after knowing all the information about the Elf Princess Vielsia, he can easily "take an open-book test" and raise her favorability, making her willingly join his side. Reji is slightly confident in this, after all, he still has another trump card - Reji had Eris preserve the bodies of those elves who were tortured, and they have not been burned or destroyed. Of course, if the Elf Princess is really very determined and unshakable, then having Eileen corrupt her into a Subus is also barely eptable to Reji. However, corrupting a Subus is equivalent to formatting the Elf Princess, and she will only inherit her original attributes and level, and the "Elf Princess" title and innate talents will all be gone. "My King, if this is your n, then I may be able to help you. I just happened to make friends with a vice-principal at the Royal Academy in the Royal City yesterday. No matter what identity you want to use to enter the academy, it should not be a problem." ''Oh?'' This news from Dian was unexpectedly pleasing to Reji. They had only been apart for a day, and the Sorcery Demon had already infiltrated the humans to such a high position. However, with the current level of human magic, if Dian casually shows his powers, he will likely be regarded as a miracle by the human principals and professors. As for arranging his own identity... "Just a temporary professor." The previous Reji might have been somewhat uncertain, but now, after lighting up "Star Sculpt II", with the vast game experience from the first round of the game, coupled with the demon race''s ''inheritance'', Reji felt that calling himself second in theory would be something even the Sorcery Demon wouldn''t dare to im first. Approaching the Elf Princess as a "teacher" is indeed very convenient, whether it''s to induce her to join the Demon race or to increase her favorability. "Good, then I will arrange it for Your Majesty. If you are in a hurry, in fact..." The Sorcery Demon had only said half of it when he was red at by Eileen. Dian immediately showed an apologetic look and quickly changed his words: "Nothing, My King, please have a good rest tonight, and leave the arrangement of the academy identity to me." After dinner, Dian left to carry out his orders. Reji returned to his room to rest. After all, he is still human and cannot go without sleep. And Eileen... The Subus pulled the Shadow Demon into her room. . "Shermen, you heard the n his majesty mentioned at dinner, right?" "Yes, what''s wrong?" "There are many things to do in the Demon Race''s base, and I can''t stay by his majesty''s side, so you must continue to protect the demon king''s safety. But this time, you must also pay attention to another point." Eileen said very seriously to the Shadow Demon, "You must keep a close eye on his majesty and not let him be deceived by the Elf princess, especially, absolutely, absolutely do not let the princess have the opportunity to share a room at night with him, do you understand?" "Eileen, you are worrying too much? Besides, isn''t this a good thing? In the past, when we were at the ck Corps, our demon king also..." Before Shermen could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the furious Eileen. "No way!" "That''s different!" "I don''t care what happens afterwards, but his majesty''s first time... must be mine!" For the Subus, the Demon King was her territory, and there was no way her own territory would be taken by someone else first! For this reason, Eileen was even willing to endure the pain and sacrifice, and said to Shermen, "Remember, Shermen, no matter what his majesty says, you must stay in the same room with him at night in the name of protection, do you understand!" Imagining the scene of a bat-like Shadow Demon hanging from the ceiling and ruining the atmosphere, there was no possibility of any rtionship developing between the king and the Elf princess! To this, Shermen nodded matter-of-factly. "Good, don''t worry, Eileen, I will sleep with his majesty and absolutely will not give the Elf princess any opportunity." "Good" With this, the Subus was relieved. After a few more simple reminders, Eileen left Shermen''s room satisfied. But she did not go to her own room. Eileen first went to the storage room and changed into a "student uniform" from the Royal Academy of Humans, recing her maid outfit. She then headed towards Reji''s room. Having only Shermen as insurance was not enough. Eileen still wanted to take action herself to ensure that nothing went wrong. In the inheritance of the Subus, there was a secret spell specifically designed to prevent the Demon King from falling in love and being taken away by others of the opposite sex. In short, as long as she took the initiative and drained the Demon King first, no matter how enchanting the other women were, they would be useless. Wearing a student uniform, Eileen knocked on Reji''s door. "Eileen?" "My King, Eileen is worried that you will be unfamiliar with being a teacher for the first time, so I wants to help you practice tonight." Eileen, who had changed into a new outfit and appearance as a "female student," stood charmingly at Reji''s door, deliberately leaning her body forward to reveal the snow-white skin under the deep V-neck of her uniform, twisting her ultra-short skirt that outlined her curvy buttocks, and presenting herself as a pure and innocent human female student. "Eileen, the academy will not allow you to dress so revealingly." "Then, will teacher punish Eileen?" -------- Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Punishment *[R18] 5/8 In response to the Subus, Reji pulled her into the room and closed the door. "Since Eileen came to my room at night like this, as a teacher, I can''t let her go unpunished." ... Reji''s Pov After I whispered these words in her sensitive ear. The Subus''s face suddenly flushed. Without further ado, I pulled her and pressed her upper body onto the desk with her back facing me. "Ah!" she yelped in surprise. I leaned behind her, while my hands moved to take off her mini skirt and panties. "My King!" Her tail moved in my way but I caught it and licked it. "Ahh ~!" An erotic moan escaped her mouth as my tongue licked the tip of her heart-shaped tail and sucked it hard. My other hand moved between her legs and rubbed her entrance with my thumb. "Ahnn~..." She bit her lips, holding back the pleasure that I gave her. Her tail weakened as I teased her and her face flushed with every second. "If - if your majesty want to punish me in this way, I don''t mind ~" A ''plop'' sound could be heard as I pulled out her tail from my mouth. "Heh~ You don''t mind you say~?" I teased her. "Ah, Imean... Punish me, My King ... Punish me until you''re satisfied~" she challenged in a spoiled tone. My hand rubbed and squeezed her butt. Without warning, I threw a hard p on her butt. - akk !! "Ahh!" she yelped. Even though I controlled my strength, but it left a faint red mark on her skin. A seductive smile bloomed on her lips. "So ... My King want to y rough~" A short chuckle came out of my mouth. "Yes. I don''t want to be a gentleman today." Even though I looked like I was seducing her, but I''m pretty sure this punishment will make her beg me. Without further ado, I plugged two of my fingers into her heat. "Ahh~!" she twitched in surprise. My fingers moved skillfully, yed and explored her inside, tickling her warm inner wall. My other hand opened her mouth forcefully, slipping my fingers in and moved it inside her mouth. "Do you like being vited by a your teacher? " I said sarcastically. Wet saliva dripped out of her mouth and covered my palm. "Ah ... haah~ ..." She could only respond with a muffled voice since my fingers were still in her mouth. She gasped as I touched her sweet spot. "Ahhhn ~ Ang ... ~ Ang ..." At my touch, prickly goosebumps erupted on her skin. Her body was getting hotter by every second. Her face flushed red and her breathing grew heavier. "Does it feel good?" I whispered. I could feel her heat loosened and her liquid dripping down to my fingers even started to wet her entrance. "Ahhh ~ ahnn ... yes ... It''s fewl ho gwod ..." she replied in a ragged breath. I pulled my fingers out of her heat and mouth. Then threw another p on her butt again. "Let''s continue to the main course." An evil smirk adorned my face as Eileen looked impatient waiting for my punishment. My hands pulled down my zipper and jeans before I turned her over andid her on the desk. I leaned forward, pulled both of her hands over her head and held it against the desk with one of my hands. I rubbed my half-awake cock to her entrance, moistening it with her lubricant. "Do you want it?" I teased her again. Every friction made my cock even harder as my mating desire grew stronger. "Yes ..." She bit her lip impatiently, her eyes fixed on me filled with lust. "Ah ... My King ..." Feeling her gaze, I smirked and pushed my cock inside her. "Aggghhh ~!" she moaned loudly as I prated her heat in one push. My hot flesh filled her entire pussy, while her inner wall mped and covered my cock perfectly. I didn''t move, giving her time to adapt, while I watched her expression. Her eyes were half-lidded, and her face was flushed. Sweat dripped down her chin and her hair stuck to her face. "Ahh ... ahh ... It''s so deep ..." She bit her lip tightly, her inner walls clenched, and her legs trembled as a red stream of blood dripped out from her heat. Just after I saw her expression get better, I moved back and forth, hammering and thrusting her. The sound of loud banging flesh mixed with heavy breathing and loud moans filled the room. "Yes-- ahhhh ... My King --- Oh ~ My King ... Ahh ... Hahhh ... more ... more --- aaanghhh~! " she begged with a seductive expression. I knew she was already in high pleasure just like me. After a while, I could feel she was close to reaching her peak climax. When I felt her getting closer, I pulled out my cock and climbed up onto the desk as I spread my legs, locking her upper body with my weight, cing her head between my thighs. "My King?" She seemed confused by what I was doing. One of my hands pulled the back of her head closer to my hard rock cock. While my other hand shook it in front of her face. "Ahh --- ahhh !! My KingPlease give it to me~!!" she begged as she began to understand what I was going to do. Her excitement was clearly visible on her face. I responded with a devious smile on my face as my eyes fixed on her. My hand shook my cock faster. "Ughhhh!" A moan out of my mouth as my head bent in the mid-air. My semen soaked all over her face, dripping down to her hair, neck and desk. I looked at her nearly satisfied face and gave her a devious smile once again. I pulled out my cock before she cum, of course, she wasn''t fully satisfied. I brought my face closer to hers, my hands restrained her hands on the desk once more. Before she fully recover, I used one of my charm skill on her which I learned from the inertance of the demon race. ''Charm.'' A sweet erotic fragrance wafted. Her face was getting redder, her eyes looked at me in extraordinary thirst. "My King --- ahh ... Ahh ... Please, Eileen want more... Please give Eileen your divine seed" she begged as she struggled. And her heart shaped tail moved quickly, clinging to my neck and body, trying to pull me closer but I didn''t budge. I responded to her with a slight evil chuckle. "Didn''t I say I would discipline you?" I replied in an indifferent tone. I believed she was tormented. Moreover, my charm skill made things worse. "My King ... Please ..." she pleaded once again. Her body slithered slowly like a snake, trying to hold back a wave of desire within her. I remained silent as I enjoyed her expression. I shifted her hands over her head and held it with one of mine. While my other hand crept down and rubbed her entrance which was already wet once again. I could feel her heat throbbing hard as if begging me to thrust her "Ahh ... Hahh ... Ah ... My King ..." she begged again. Another evil chuckle came out of my mouth. "Say it that you are a bad girl." This time I will strip down all of her pride. "Ah ... I''m a bad girl," she said in a low voice. "Louder," I demanded. "I''m a bad girl!" she said in a louder voice. "Louder!" "I''M A BAD GIRL!" she shouted. "Good ..." I shifted my hand from her pussy to her face. Without prompting, her head raised up slightly and licked my fingers passionately, recing her lubricant that covered my fingers with her saliva. "My King ... Please ... I can''t take it anymore," she pleaded again, her eyes looked at me with tears. "I will let you go if you admit your mistake." "I was wrong! I''m sorry, I''m realy sorry" she said quickly. "Fine." I released her and she just looked relieved that her suffering was over but I turned her around and pulled a paper and pen near the disk. "I want you to write your apology now." "My King ... I promise I''ll do itter. Please insert it to me me first ..." Her liquid that dripped from her heat was getting more and more. I knew she had reached her limit. I approached behind her ear and whispered. "Obey me ... Or I won''t touch you anymore," I threatened. She paused for a moment as she swallowed her pride before she put her hand on the pen and paper and started writing. My gaze shifted to her, making sure she write every single word correctly. While my fingers continued to y at her entrance. "Nggghh~ ..." A soft moan came out of her mouth as she endured the burning desire in her body. But despite her condition, she still obeyed and her hand where moving the pen. -Tak! She dropped the pen, signalling that she had finished. "My King ... I''ve finished it ..." she said in a ragged breath. "Good girl." My hand stroked the side of her face slowly as my tongue licked the other side of her face. She smiled sweetly at mypliment. "Now I''ll give your reward." Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Vielsias Curiosity *[R18] 6/8 The sound of our loud banging flesh echoed throughout the room. The chair where I sat now shook violently as Eileen sat on myp, shaking her waist up and down, pushing my cock deeper into her heat, warming her inner wall and my cock with every rough friction she made. Her arms were wrapped around my neck, her ripe breasts shook up and down in front of me. Drops of sweat dripped down her neck down her breast and dripped off her pink tip. Her face flushed, her eyes tightly closed, her head tilted slightly backwards enjoying my big cock stimting her inner wall. "Ahh --- ahh --- ahh --- hahh," moan after moan escaped her mouth as she continued to move her body. While I sat leisurely, my back was leaning against the back of the chair and my hands resting on the armrests, a smirk adorned my lips. Not a single piece of clothes covered my body. "Harder," I demanded. Obediently, she rocked her waist even harder. "Agh ... Ahhh ... Ah ..." her moans grew louder. "More!" She shook her waist even harder than before, banging our flesh even rougher. "Ah --- ahh --- ahh ... My King ... I can''t take it anymore," she said in a ragged breath. "Not yet, I still want more." She bit her lower lip, holding back the extraordinary pleasure that was drowning her mind and body. Her body continued to move up and down without resting. My smirk widened when I saw her expression desperately holding back the pleasure within her. "My King - ah - hahh - ah ... I really can''t - ah - hold it anymore ..." she begged. "Cum with me." My hands gripped her waist tightly and pulled her body down, pushing my cock deeper into her heat. "Ohhhh !!!" she moaned loudly. Her head bent in mid-air, her hands scratched my neck to my back as we cum together. "Nggghhh!" I grunted. My hands hugged her hips tightly, making sure she could not move from her position before all my hot liquid came out in hers. *Ting* [You have gained EXP!] Her body was wet with sweat. One of my hands pulled her closer to my bare chest. She leaned to me without resistance, cing her head on my shoulder. "My King, you cum so much. Do you like it?" she asked in a soft voice. Her breath was panting after that hard exercise. Her hand moved gently down from my neck to my chest. I grabbed her chin and raised it, making her face me. "Yes, you did well," Iplimented her. She smiled shyly at mypliment. "Then can you Kiss me," she asked. "I didn''t know you were such a spoiled girl," I teased. "My King ~" she sulked in a spoiled tone, her brows furrowed. I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her at me. Our lips crashed into each other as well as our tongues. A long passionate kiss followed. .... -Ilinor Royal Academy. During the early morning ss, most of the students were still drowsy and walkedzily to their respective ssrooms while yawning. Among the crowd, there was a girl with thick sses and freckles who looked very different from the others. Although she had an ordinary appearance and dressed inly, her spirit was excellent. She carried arge pile of textbooks for ss, and while others were dozing off on their way, she was already reviewing her materials bright and early. Upon entering the ssroom, Vielsia found a secluded corner in the back row and sat down. As expected, the students around her were all lying on their desks, continuing to catch up on sleep before the professor arrived. Sometimes, Vielsia envied these humans who lived such carefree lives, unlike her, who bore the heavy responsibility of sealing away the demon race and restoring the elven race. Thinking of this, Vielsia became more focused and neatly arranged the textbooks she would need for the next ss on her desk. Then, she opened her notes and reviewed the knowledge points that the professor had taught in the previous ss. Before the elders sent other elves to contact her, Vielsia had to study human knowledge diligently, maintain excellent academic performance in the academy, and obtain the support of being an "outstanding student." Her mentor told her that there would be more opportunities for advancement in the future. This was not just empty talk. The charity banquetst night was the best example. She was brought there by her mentor, not only experiencing the human world but also meeting human nobles such as Princess Yuffie and Count Vedler. It could be said that this was a significant step towardsying the foundation for the future great restoration of the elves! Therefore, maintaining good grades and preserving her fake identity as a human "outstanding student" was Vielsia''s current priority. This was not difficult for her. As a princess of the elven royal family, Vielsia was naturally a self-disciplined elf. However... ''Sigh'' The elf princess sighed in her heart. Vielsia looked at the notes in front of her, filled with knowledge about first and second-tier magic spells. These were basic theories of magic that she had already learned since she was a child, yet they were being taught in the highest academy of humans. To Vielsia, it felt like she was being taught addition and subtraction, with multiplication and division being the most advanced level. It was truly dull and uninteresting. Vielsia enjoyed other human courses, such as flower arrangement, etiquette, history, and sociology. However, the course she disliked the most and found it hard to stay awake even as a good student was the uing magic spell course. *Ding ding* The school bell brought many students back from their naps. The students who were lying on their desks stood up one after another, and even if they were pretending, they had to take out their textbooks and materials to look like they were ready for ss. After all, this was the royal city of Ilinor and the Royal Academy, the highest institution of learning. The professors who taught here were all highly respected in society, and the students dared not disrespect them. These students also noticed Vielsia, who had already prepared her stationery and textbooks and was now sitting up straight, ready for ss. This girl from the countryside, who was both a bookworm and a top student, was somewhat famous among the students. After all, it was rare to see such a diligent student nowadays. After the bell stopped ringing, the professor entered the ssroom shortly. The students were stunned at first and rubbed their eyes in confusion as they looked at the young man walking in with a very vintage-style wooden-framed sses. ''What?'' ''Did the professor change?'' "Professor Feilo has something to do, so I will be teaching the ss temporarily. You can call me Reji" After Reji''s simple exnation, the students in the ssroom quickly returned to normal, showing no other expressions. After all, it was quitemon for professors to substitute for each other in the academy. However, many female students who were still drowsy from the early ss suddenly became energetic and sat up straight, their eyes shining brightly. For them, it was the first time they had seen such a young and handsome professor. Especially those brown wooden-framed sses, after seeing so many old professors who liked metal-framed sses, they looked very unique. They had a schrly aura without losing a sense of calm and stability, and also had a sense of elegance like a ssical noble. As a female student, Vielsia was also looking at Reji. In the eyes of humans, this kind of handsomeness was just average for elves, but her first impression of this young new professor was indeed not bad. Vielsia adjusted her own wooden-framed sses on the bridge of her nose. [Current Favorability with Vielsia: 7%] Chapter 62: Chapter 62: .... 7/8 On the stage, Reji looked at the rising favorability bar of the Elf Princess and secretly nodded. As expected, the "open-book exam" was simple. He then began to teach normally. The content was a magic course, which was specially chosen by Reji. Using the magic inheritance of "Star Sculpt II", he taught these magic theories below the third tier, which was as simple as child''s y. Reji spoke eloquently on the stage, exining every detail and knowledge point clearly and thoroughly. The students below responded well, and although they initially had a strange attitude towards Reji, this new professor, as his exnation continued, more and more students became increasingly attentive, consciously took notes, and began to write frantically. However, Reji did not care about the other students and mainly focused on Vielsia, who was sitting in thest row. From the favorability bar, he could see that the Elf Princess was still increasing her favorability towards him, indicating that she recognized his teaching. However, what made Reji unhappy was that the increase was too slow. He had almost finished two-thirds of his lecture, but Vielsia''s favorability had only just reached 17%. ''Hmm'' As the Demon King, Reji had many things waiting for him, and he could not possiblye to the academy to act as a teacher. Being a teacher was just a means to an end. He had to find a way to attract Vielsia''s attention as quickly as possible and get this elf princess on the hook. There was a way. Reji had anticipated the current situation and had already prepared a second n. "Teacher, can you exin the key points of the Lightning Chain spell again?" Below the podium, a female student wearing a hat with some purple hair showing from her temples raised her hand and asked a question. Asking questions in ss was normal. However, many students were now shaking their heads at this female student. The reason was simple. The teacher on the stage had just been talking about the Lightning Spell, but she asked about Lightning Chain, obviously not listening carefully. There was no such spell as "Lightning Chain." On the other side, seeing the expressions of her ssmates, Vielsia also shook her head. But she was shaking her head for the humans. The Lightning Chain spell did exist, butpared to the Lightning Spell, adding one character "Chain" to it, made a huge difference in the level of the spell. The former was an ordinary first-tier spell, while thetter was a fourth-tier spell. This female student had probably misspoken, but this also reflected that ordinary humans werepletely unfamiliar with fourth-tier spells. ''Sigh'' Since disguising herself and entering the human academy, the elf princess couldn''t count how many times she had sighed like this. Vielsia couldn''t help but doubt the prophecy of her ancestors. Why did they guide their elf tribe here? Was there really an opportunity here to seal the demons and allow the elves to "rise" again? However, this sigh of worry stopped abruptly as the voice of the teacher on the podium resounded again. "Lightning Chain is a fourth-tier spell with arge area damage. It also imposes an ''electrified'' state on the target, causing damage to increase with each subsequent Lightning Chain. "When releasing it, be sure to pay attention to the external environment. I personally do not rmend releasing it in a wet scene. Although it can increase the power of the spell, it may also cause the spell to go out of control and identally hurt oneself, which requires the caster to have good control over the Mana" The students in the ssroom were all stunned. That include Vielsia too. Then, the young male teacher on the stage continued as if he had started an extracurricr expansion: "I know that the student just now probably misspoke, but this is a good opportunity for us to discuss the higher-level spells based on the Lightning Spell, such as the Lightning Storm." ''Lightning Storm!!!'' Vielsia unconsciously sat up straight. She had only heard of this spell, and it was said that a thousand years ago, the great human guardian Malvin had used it. However, there were few details about it in the elven records. ''Could it be that this professor also...'' "The Lightning Storm is an advanced ritual based on the Lightning Chain. The caster must be in a physically high position, and most of the chanting time requires more than fifteen minutes. After that, arge number of thunderclouds will be summoned." "The effect of this ritual has two aspects. On the surface, it can cause arge amount of lightning damage to enemies within a radius of several kilometers. The additional use in the dark is to establish a thunder prison at the same time,pletely isting the area from the outside world." "If you are interested in the legend a thousand years ago, the human guardian Malvin once used the second feature of the Lightning Storm to dy time for the army and protect the human king who was deeply surrounded by the enemy." Vielsia: "..." "??????" Now, it was not only the elf princess who was confused in the ssroom. More human students also had a confused look on their faces. However, soon, if it was the female students who had shining eyes for Reji, this young and handsome professor, now the male students also had shining eyes. "Lightning Storm? A seven-tier ritual! Can we learn this?" "I remember that the strongest archmage in the empire is only at the sixth-tier spell, right?" "What are you thinking? The spells that the professor is talking about are definitely deduced from myths and legends and do not actually exist in reality." "But...it sounds so cool and awesome!" Many male students nodded in agreement, and as they listened to Reji''s description, they seemed to imagine the scene of standing on the mountain peak, raising the magic staff, and controlling the thunder and lightning to defeat millions of enemies with one move. This feeling was just like when reading a fantasy and cultivating novel. Although they knew it was all fake, they couldn''t help but like to imagine themselves in it and enjoy the fantasy. Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Vielsia Wants to Learn More 8/8 "Teacher, tell us more about advanced magic!" "Yes, yes, Teacher, tell us more!" "Teacher, I heard that there is a kind of magic called ''Spirit Behind'' in some myths and legends. Is it true?" The ssroom atmosphere suddenly became lively. The previous dull and depressing atmosphere where the professor was teaching and the students were taking notes was broken. No matter which world, human nature is the same. Students prefer these "off-topic" discussions to dry knowledge. On the stage, Reji shrugged and showed a smile that didn''t seem to mind. He continued to talk about the "Spirit Behind" magic that a student had excitedly asked about: "Of course." "''Spirit Behind'' is amon name, and we more formally call it ''Substitute Magic Figure.'' This is a significant branch in the magic field. This type of magic usually summons another powerful elemental creature or a pure magic giant to attack on behalf of the caster. Because this type of magic consumes a lot mana, the magic figure appears at least in the sixth tier or above." "For example, in the branch of Substitute Magic Figure, I think the most violent and powerful magic is ''Twilight.'' This magic is different from other high-level magic. It does not requireplicated chanting and can be activated instantly in just a few seconds. It summons the Spirit of Inferno behind the caster. The Inferno Spirit not only has a wide range of attack capabilities but also carries high magic pration. Even the most solid armor cannot withstand a hit from ''Twilight.''" "Of course, as the cost of short chanting and massive power, the duration of ''Twilight'' is greatly lowerpared to other magic of the same tier, and it will cause bacsh to the caster after the magic ends, making them unable to use magic for a long time. It can be said to be a double-edged sword. If any of you have the opportunity to master this magic in the future, remember to grasp the timing and not use it randomly." Under Reji''s description, the students had already imagined the scene of "Twilight" in their minds. The red fire giant floating behind them, wearing ck armor, and releasing surging hellfire with every strike, bringing doom to the enemy. The scene was very stimting, even just in their imagination. As for what Reji said afterward about seizing the opportunity to master it, controlling the timing, and not using it randomly, almost all the students in the ssroom took it as a joke from this young teacher. Except for one female student. Vielsia''s small mouth was unconsciously slightly open, forming a cute "O" shape. Other humans might have just taken it as a mythical story. But Vielsia was different. She had the inheritance of the elves, who were once the highest-talented race in magic. Therefore, Vielsia had also studied the ssic spell "Twilight." Because of this, she was more shocked than any human student in the ssroom, no, she was astonished. ''What this teacher said was exactly the same as the "Twilight" recorded in the elven inheritance!?'' ''No.'' ''It was even more detailed!?'' ''This...'' ''What is going on?'' If the two high-level spells "Lightning Storm" and "Twilight" were not enough, Reji showed no sign of stopping and began to talk about even deeper and more mysterious realms that even Vielsia waspletely unfamiliar with. Among them was Reji''s favorite "God" substitute magic figure, which used low-level pre-spells to iterate and then expand into the final high-level ritual. There was also thebination of bat" and "magic," drawing out an elemental de from within the body, the "Mind sh" spell. Reji even expanded to the evolution theory of rituals under the "Void"mand line, where, by achieving certain conditions, low-tier spells could evolve into high-tier ones with extra effects. As Vielsia''s attitude towards Reji changed from a good first impression to admiration, and then to being captivated by his words, she became just like the human students around her, with rosy cheeks and an excited expression, wishing she could reveal her pointed ears to listen carefully to every word Reji said. The only difference was that the human students were fantasizing about using the mythical spells that Reji mentioned to impress others and gain wealth and status. On the other hand, Vielsia imagined herself mastering these spells and bing the most outstanding princess of the elven race, crushing the demon race and their minions, and ascending to the throne of the Demon King. Using the "God" ritual that Reji mentioned, she would y the Demon King and dere the elves'' revenge and return to the world, restoring their former glory! Although Vielsia disguised herself as a in and studious girl among humans, she was also a motivated and obedient princess among the elves. In fact, due to the heavy burden on her shoulders, Vielsia''s true inner self was quite repressed. So, whenever she had the chance, she would quietly indulge in these fantasies as a way to release her stress. Before she knew it, the ss was over. The ringing of the school bell interrupted the lively atmosphere in the ssroom, bringing many entranced students back to reality. Every student had a "What? ss is over already?" expression on their face. Vielsia was no exception. This was probably the first time she disliked the sound of the school bell so much. After ss, many students rushed towards Reji''s position, eager to learn more about this interesting new teacher and sign up for his courses. Vielsia was no different. However, when Reji made it clear that he was only a temporary substitute teacher and did not have any courses of his own in the academy, many students were disappointed but had no choice but to leave. After rejecting these ordinary human students, Reji, like any other normal teacher, didn''t even look at Vielsia, who was hiding in the crowd. He simply packed up his teaching materials and left the ssroom. Unlike the human students, Vielsia had a different motivation. While the humans were studying for credits and graduation, Vielsia was doing it for the elven race and for the world! As Vielsia came to her senses after ss, she realized that the young new teacher was full of mystery. ''Why did this human know so much about advanced magic?'' ''Why did he seem to have a deep understanding of ancient history?'' ''What was this human''s identity?'' ''What kind of power did he have behind him?'' Vielsia became more and more curious, and it was as if there were cat ws scratching at her heart. ''No!'' ''I must catch up with this professor!'' She didn''t want credits or courses, but rather the professor''s magical knowledge and the mystery surrounding him. She wanted to learn more about this human! Thinking about it, Vielsia no longer hesitated. Her intuition told her not to miss this opportunity, or she would regret it forever. And she always trusted her intuition. So, for the first time, Vielsia, the "excellent student," ignored the end of ss and even skipped ss to chase after Reji''s figure, no longer hesitant, running and calling out. "Teacher!" "Teacher Reji, please wait!" Meanwhile, Reji. He stopped just in time at a corner of the stairs where no one was around. In the shadow of the sunlight outside the window, behind the pursuing Vielsia, was a slight curve on the corner of Reji''s mouth. It seemed that the first step of the n was sessfullypleted. Next was the second step. Named by Reji as "The Excellent Student After ss" Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Rejis Three-Step Dance part 1 After turning around, Reji had already changed his expression. He looked a bit strange and adjusted his sses, saying, "You are?" "I-I am Vielsia, I was your student in thest substitute ss!" After the elf princess quickly introduced herself, she suddenly didn''t know how to continue. She was only thinking about stopping Teacher Reji. But when she really faced Reji, she became tongue-tied. She couldn''t just directly ask a human how they knew so many advanced spells, right? Seeing Vielsia''s awkwardness and her inability to say anything after hesitating for a long time, Reji shook his head inwardly. ''It seemed that this elf princess was quite different from what I had imagined, and she didn''t seem to be very smart.'' To continue, Reji took the initiative to speak. "So, miss, did youe to ask me about the course? I''m sorry, I am a temporary teacher at the academy, and I don''t have any personal courses." "No, no, no, Teacher Reji, I am... right, I have some knowledge points from your ss that I still don''t understand very well. Can... can you spare some time to guide me again?" Vielsia calmed her nervous mood and found a suitable reason to continue. But Reji''s next sentence almost made the elf panic again. "Of course, but..." Reji pretended to look at his watch. "If I''m not mistaken, it should be ss time now, don''t you have your next ss" "Ah! I-I don''t have ss next period, it''s fine! Teacher, please rest assured, I-I absolutely did not skip ss!" Vielsia gestured repeatedly. Reji: "..." Looking at Vielsia, who now had her eyes rolling around and a slight blush on her face, as if she was telling a lie for the first time, Reji couldn''t help but suspect, ''Is this really the elf princess? Can she really be this pure?'' "Good, then in that case, it just so happens that I don''t have any work to do next,e with me, let''s find a room." "Mm-hmm." Vielsia nodded, and when she realized that she was going to be taken to a room alone by her Teacher, not only did she have no guard or tension, but she was also secretly delighted. ''Great!'' ''I just happened to catch teacher when he had free time!'' Although the elf princess didn''t say it out loud, Reji could basically see it written all over her face with a nce. This made Reji even have the impulse to directly kidnap this stupid elf and take her to the demon race''s headquarters. However, just in case and to be safe, he still respected the elf princess''s noble identity in case she had any hidden tricks. Reji still followed his n step by step. Soon, under Reji''s guidance, they arrived at a quiet small house in a secluded location in the academy. The house was next to arge piece of greenery in the academy. Looking out the window, one could see the green tree shade, and after Reji entered the house and opened the window, the gentle wind in the forest blew past, bringing with it the fragrance of flowers and nts, filling the room. Following Reji into the house, Vielsia couldn''t help but take a deep breath. This ce was full of the earthy fragrance she loved, fresh and sweet. "I''m sorry, since I''m not a regr teacher at the academy, I can''t get a spacious office in the teaching building, and I can only be in this secluded little corner. I hope you don''t mind." When Vielsia heard Reji''s exnation of the ce, she immediately shook her head like a rattle. "Not at all, Teacher, I-I really like it here! It feels veryfortable, and I think it''s much better than those rooms in the teaching building, cough cough!" Vielsia almost blurted out what she said because she liked it here so much. This wasn''t ttery, it was all true. Compared to the human''s steel and concrete, elves naturally preferred the current quiet room, close to the forest and close to nature. Moreover... While Reji was pouring tea, Vielsia looked around the room, and her gaze was immediately drawn to the desk in the room. In the room, there was a porcin vase on the desk, with three or four elegant and upright lilies in it. The nts stood tall, with leaves like green bamboo, and the pure white, wless flowers were elegant and serene, as if just looking at them could make one feel pure and beautiful. ''This...'' ''This is my favorite flower!'' From the beautiful bloom of the lilies, Vielsia could imagine that their owner must have taken good care of them, carefully nurturing them and watering them every day. From the flowers, one could see the owner''s gentleness and attention to detail. Vielsia never expected that before she even got to know this young human teacher deeply, there would be surprises everywhere, as if there was a mysterious connection between them! This was not some simple room in a remote corner. This was simply her favorite room since she came to the human academy! If there was a disy now, this elf princess''s head would definitely be showing her affection for Reji constantly increasing. ''Heh'' [Vielsia''s Current Affection: 32% 39%] Seeing the sudden increase of 7% in affection, Reji, who was pouring tea for Vielsia, couldn''t help but smile again. Coincidence? There is no coincidence! This was the room that Reji had carefully prepared ording to Vielsia''s various preferences in the card. ''It seemed that my efforts were not in vain, and the effect was indeed significant.'' The first impression I designed for Vielsia was almost aplete sess. But I can''t rx. ''40% affection was probably a bottleneck, the limit for a "stranger," and to break through and further advance the rtionship, I need to rely on the flirtatious teaching that would follow!'' "Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Vielsia. As today is my first day, I just have some simple tea." Following the usual process of entertaining guests, as the host, Reji politely handed the tea to Vielsia. As the elf princess thanked him, she stood up and took the tea, drinking arge mouthful in front of Reji, as if to express that she didn''t mind at all and was very satisfied with the tea. ''Aren''t you afraid that there might be something in the tea?'' Reji felt that if he were some young teacher from a small town, this elf student who was as pure as a nk piece of paper in front of him, would have been "r@ped and corrupted" countless times already. ''Forget it'' Reji suddenly felt that he had gotten used to it. After Vielsia sat down, Reji, who was sitting by the desk, smiled and said, "So, Miss Vielsia, I guess you want to ask about those fifth, sixth, and seventh-tier advanced spells, right?" "Yes, Teacher, I''m very interested!" "I see. Before that, may I ask Miss Vielsia a question?" "Please go ahead, Teacher!" Reji leaned back against the desk, took a small sip of tea, and looked at the white mist that slowly rose from the teacup, as if his gaze had also reached a distant ce, his eyes filled with a nostalgic color. "Miss Vielsia, do you think that these ''legendary'' spells are really just legends?" Vielsia took Reji''s question seriously. During ss, although all the human students were very interested in the teacher''s advanced spells, Vielsia could clearly see that they all listened to them as if they were fantasy stories, like listening to a novel, which was why they found it so enjoyable. As for whether it was not a legend, but the truth, apart from her, there was probably no other student who thought so. And as Vielsia looked at Reji''s current appearance, under the bright noon sunlight, although the teacher was still gentle and kind, the loneliness that asionally shed in the depths of his eyes, which were unintentionally lowered, gave Vielsia a feeling of loneliness. Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Rejis Three-Step Dance part 2 It was as if the teacher seemed to be out of step with the times and the crowd, unable to be understood by most of his own people, and could only hide everything deep within himself. ''Wait Could it be that'' Combined with the question Reji had just asked her, Vielsia naturally came up with a bold guess in her heart. The elf princess hesitated for a moment, but soon clenched her hand tightly. Perhaps it was because of the good impression that Reji had given her earlier, or maybe it was because of the "loneliness" that resonated with her, but Vielsia decided to take a risk. "No, Teacher, I have always believed that these advanced spells are not just legends, they really exist." After saying that, Vielsia felt that it wasn''t enough, so she added, "Whether it''s these spells or those who once used and invented these great spells, they are not legends. They are facts, and they have left their traces in this world!" Reji looked at Vielsia''s serious expression and smiled lightly, shaking his head as if he was feeling sentimental. "Thank you, Miss Vielsia. You are the first person I''ve met who is willing to believe in legends and firmly support myths. Thank you." Reji said two thank-you in a row. However, Vielsia''s focus was on... ''Ah!?'' ''I...I am the first one?'' Being thanked warmly by Reji and looking into the clear eyes of the young human, even Vielsia herself didn''t know why, but she suddenly felt some unusual emotions, and her heartbeat elerated. Why? Reji, of course, knew why. ''Scum *cough*...step one to capturing apanion - tell her she''s special.'' She is the "first" in your heart. Everyone likes to be different from others. Everyone likes to be "first." This effect is even more pronounced for girls who are already self-conscious,ck self-confidence, and are under pressure. They will even unconsciously try to maintain this "special feeling" and continue to be the "first" in your heart by actively amodating and doing more. Step two to making friends with apanion - deepen this special feeling and establish a bond that belongs only to the two of you. The best way to do this is...share a "secret" with her. It doesn''t have to be a real secret. Just let her think it''s a "secret." For example... "Speaking of which, Miss Vielsia, would you like to hear another story from me? I hope you won''tugh at the end." "I''d love to! Teacher, I''d love to!" "Thank you." Reji nodded and looked up at the ceiling, his expression turned nostalgic as he murmured: "Once upon a time, there was a very fortunate little boy who was born into a happy and prosperous noble family. He lived a carefree life, had loving parents, and even had a marriage arranged with the daughter of a count through his father''s connections. It was a life that anyone would envy." "But fate seemed to y a trick on him. One day, a group of powerful bandits attacked their territory. The boy''s parents fought with all their might, and with the help of their loyal guards who sacrificed themselves, they allowed the boy to escape. The boy could only run for his life, trying to find the count to seek help for his parents and territory." "However, after several days, when the exhausted boy finally arrived at the count''s mansion, he received the news that his territory had been destroyed, and his parents had died. Although the count sent troops to wipe out the bandits, it was useless. The boy had lost everything, and even his previous engagement was torn up and discarded by the count''s daughter with disdain." Reji''s story was simple and uplicated. But Vielsia listened with rapt attention, her expression growing increasingly tense as the story progressed, as if she were truly immersed in the story and had taken on the identity of the unfortunate little boy. Indeed. Because it was as if... As the elf princess, she too had once lived a carefree life, with powerful parents and doting nsmen. But all of this was destroyed by the "bandits," the invading demon race, turning everything into bubbles. Even the count and the lord in the story reminded Vielsia of the humans and elves, and the great protector of the humans who had once made many promises to the elves. But in the end? The humans defeated the demon race, just as the count sent troops to wipe out the bandits. After the event, the count''s daughter turned her back and denied any responsibility. After all, when the boy had lost everything and had nothing left, ''wasn''t it the same for the humans?'' The great protector had once said that even if he died in the war, his disciple, the Son of Destiny, would help the elves regain their prosperity and rebuild their homes after the victory. But they waited and waited, and after the victory, the Son of Destiny seemed to disappear without a trace. And the pride of the elves did not allow them to actively seek help from the humans, so they could only watch as their tribe gradually declined until today. "What happened next?" "Teacher Reji, what happened to the little boy after that?" Vielsia couldn''t help but ask. She wasn''t just curious about the story. Rather, it was as if their experiences were simr, and she was very confused about where her future pathy, so Vielsia was so eager to know what choices the boy in the story, who was simr to her, had made. She longed to hear how the boy had turned his situation around. But Reji disappointed her. Well, for now. "The dejected boy eventually went to a cliff and jumped off." "Hah!?" "How could...why would he..." Vielsia''s heart tightened. For a moment, the elf''s face showed despair and gloom. Vielsia lowered her head. ''So that''s how it is'' ''After losing everything and not receiving any help, our fate as elves might ultimately be the same as the boy''s'' Step Three Finale - Create emotional ups and downs. Looking at Vielsia, who was clutching her skirt with darkened eyes and a depressed expression, Reji smiled slightly, and his tone suddenly changed as he continued: "However, fate yed another joke on the little boy. When he fell into the cliff, not only did he not die, but he identally entered a sealed ancient array. And in the depths of the array under the cliff, the boy obtained a light orb that changed his life" "In the light orb, the little boy seemed to have traveled through time and space, going back a thousand years into the past, seeing the figures of human heroes, witnessing powerful spells that moved mountains and filled seas, seeing wars, and even seeing many other races besides humans." "After the boy woke up, the light orb disappeared, turning into many magical knowledge and vague memories of myths that appeared out of thin air in his mind" "From then on, the boy took a different path. He used this knowledge to study and research diligently, believing that the legends and myths regarded as fiction by the world were real, and that the heroes who fought for humanity should not be forgotten. To prove this to the world, the boy arrived at the royal city and became a teacher at the Royal Academy" "Perhaps it was because the boy had gone through too many trials. This time, he was lucky. In his first day on the job, he met someone who understood him, believed in him, and..." Reji paused and turned his gaze back to Vielsia, meeting the elf''s eyes, and said softly: "He met a kinddy who was willing to listen to his story and open her heart to him." Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Invitation from the Wicked Demon 1/2 Vielsia was stunned for a full three seconds. At this moment, her brain couldn''t process what was happening. Was the kinddy talking about her? This princess, who had always been wandering outside and only thought about how to revive the elven race, had never seen such a way of speaking. When she came to her senses, she felt her face was burning. She had received praise in the elven race before, but most of it was like -"Princess, you are as white as the moon!"-, -"Your Highness''s beauty is like the most blooming flower!"-. "Sorry, it was a bit abrupt. I just wanted to express my thanks to Miss Vielsia, that''s all." "No, no, no, it''s nothing, Teacher, your story was very exciting, wasn''t it! I''m sorry, I mean, I''m also very grateful that you told me so much. Your experiences have benefited me greatly, really. Thank you very much!!" Vielsia lowered her head, not daring to look at Reji, afraid that her current flustered expression was too shameful. She clenched her clothes tightly with both hands, and saying this was already her limit. "So, Miss Vielsia, can I understand that you believe in the light cube that the little boy got in the story? After all, this should be the premise for us to further discuss." "Of course! Of course, Teacher! I believe you!" Vielsia nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. In fact, in her heart, when Reji described the function of the light cube, she basically knew what Reji had gotten. That''s right. This human Teacher probably didn''t know, but she knew the true name of that light cube - it was called the Orb of Wisdom, a legendary artifact. The Orb of Wisdom had nobat use. Its only effect was that it could store the user''s memories, knowledge, and experiences, backing them up and sealing them in the orb to be passed down to future generations. And this human Teacher, who had fallen off a cliff and fortunately found it, Vielsia, based on Reji''s description, could cross a thousand years of time and space and contained various magical knowledge and images. It was very likely that it was the Orb of Wisdom of the Great Guardian a thousand years ago! ''So... Idiot!'' ''I am such an idiot!'' When Vielsia thought back to the shock and loss she felt when she heard about the little boy''s suicide, she felt so stupid and foolish. From the beginning, hadn''t she already guessed that the little boy in the story was the Teacher himself? And if the little boy had really fallen off the cliff and died, then where did the Teacher in front of here from? How could she still be listening to this story? She hadn''t even realized such a simple logical deduction. ''What''s going on?'' ''When had my brain be so slow? It was as if I had been cast with a "spell of intelligence reduction"!'' After calming down a bit and clearing her mind, Vielsia now felt that many of the mysteries surrounding the young Teacher had been solved. ''No wonder...'' ''No wonder Teacher knew so many high-level spells.'' ''He was also quite knowledgeable about ancient history, and his lectures even gave me the feeling that he had personally experienced everything'' ''Now everything made sense'' The Orb of Wisdom was a treasure of inheritance, not only imparting knowledge but also granting wisdom, making one feel as if they were truly there, experiencing it for themselves. Furthermore, this was the Orb of Wisdom of the Great Guardian, and even though a thousand years had passed, the inheritance it contained... just thinking about it made Vielsia excited! There was no mistake about it! If before, Vielsia had only vaguely sensed it and relied on her intuition, then now, this elven princess was absolutely certain that the young human in front of her, Teacher Reji, was the opportunity mentioned in the prophecies of her elven ancestors! He was the human she had been looking for, the one who could help the elves and assist her inpleting the sealing ceremony against the demon race! Vielsia now felt as if she, like the little boy in the story who had fallen off the cliff, had found a treasure. The little boy had found the Orb of Wisdom. And the treasure she had found was none other than Teacher Reji! After confirming this point, Vielsia quickly became anxious again. After all, the significance of Reji to her had changed. In an instant, he had gone from being a mysterious Teacher she was curious about and wanted to learn more about, to now being the humanpanion who would bring about the rise of the elves, as mentioned in the prophecy! It was because of this that Vielsia was now particrly concerned about one thing. In Teacher Reji''s previous story, he mentioned that he had seen multiple races in the light sphere. Vielsia couldn''t help but wonder if, among these races, there were... "Teacher Reji, you mentioned that you saw multiple races? Could it be that, apart from us humans, there are other races in this world?" Vielsia pretended to be curious and asked Reji. She hoped to hear the word "elves" from Reji''s mouth. Of course, Reji would not disappoint Vielsia''s expectations. He vaguely hinted that the "Orb of Wisdom" inheritance identity he had arranged for himself seemed to have been filled in by Vielsia. "Races, hmm... If we''re talking about the ones that left the deepest impression, there might be two races. One of them has golden hair like wheat, amber-green eyes, and a pair of slightly longer and pointed earspared to humans. Aside from their enchanting beauty, they also have an extremely high aptitude for magic." "In the illusory images of the light cube, many high-level spells of humans even originated from the teachings of this race. And they... I remember that the name of this race seems to be..." Reji deliberately created suspense and still didn''t say it, as if he had forgotten and was trying hard to remember. This made Vielsia, who was beside him, incredibly anxious. When Vielsia heard Reji describe the elves in this way, she was overjoyed, as if she had eaten a honey pot. The elves had not misjudged this human, and the Great Guardian had not let them down by giving the most beautiful image of the elves to future generations of humans. But now, as Reji deliberately didn''t say it and seemed to have forgotten, Vielsia''s previous happiness turned into anxiety. In the end, she couldn''t hold it in any longer and, in her excitement, spoke up before Reji could. "Elves!" "They''re called elves!" "Right! That''s the name. But, huh? How do you know, Miss Vielsia?" Reji was originally nning to tease this somewhat silly and sweet elf. But unexpectedly, Vielsia''s next words made him furrow his brow. "I, I heard it in the ancient history ss! Teacher Yeno told us a lot about the past from a thousand years ago. Not only elves but also... the demon race was mentioned in ss." Perhaps afraid of revealing her identity, Vielsia hastily exined and even worried that Reji wouldn''t believe her. As proof, she took out a dark purple invitation from her pocket. "Teacher Yeno is also very interested in and has done extensive research on ancient history and the myths and legends from a thousand years ago, just like you. He even specifically organized an off-campus gathering for this purpose. Look!" As soon as Vielsia took out the invitation, a shadow behind Reji moved slightly. And after Reji epted the invitation, as if confirming something, the shadow crept up to his ear along his back. Shermen''s voice sounded. -"Your Majesty, there is the aura of a Wicked Demon on this invitation."- Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Black Mountain Goat 2/2 The invitation had a private spell seal on it. Only specific people could open it. But for Reji, this was a mere formality. Under the effect of "Star Sculpture II," he ignored the usage conditions of any item. Reji slightly focused his attention, and the content hidden under the seal immediately appeared. [Meeting Address: Purple Orchid District, Kolora Street, No. 59] [Date: 23rd, 7 PM] [Wear a mask upon entry (neers exempted)] [Show this invitation upon entry] [Strictly forbid any information leakage] The content of the invitation was very simple, and aside from the address, there was no additional information. It was clear that they were being very cautious. Reji quickly returned the invitation to Vielsia. "I''m sorry, Teacher, but since this is a private gathering that Teacher Yeno invited me to, I can''t tell you the details..." "It''s fine." Elves were orderly and kind, so even if Vielsia had a good impression of Reji, she wouldn''t reveal others'' secrets. Reji didn''t mind her apology and shook his head. Instead, he showed an interested expression and asked, "Can you tell me more about this Teacher Yeno? I''ve only recently started working here, and I''m not very familiar with the academy. I didn''t expect there to be schrs of ancient history here as well?" When Yeno was mentioned, Vielsia''s eyes also brightened, indicating that the elf was also very interested in this human Teacher. "I''m actually a transfer student and haven''t been at the academy for long. However, Teacher Yeno is a great schr who specializes in ancient history. He knows the details of many myths and legends from a thousand years ago, and he can even organize the timeline of dates and years for us!" "However, Teacher Yeno is usually quite taciturn and low-key, and his sses are only about history. So, he''s not very well-known in the academy, and there are very few students who attend his sses. Most of them are asleep. I''m the only one who listens attentively." "It might be because of this that Teacher Yeno gave me this invitation. He told me that those who attend this gathering are all people who don''t cover their ears," Vielsia said. "Don''t cover their ears?" Reji was curious about this description. "Yes, I don''t quite understand it either. At that time, I asked Teacher Yeno about historical myths and whether they truly existed. Teacher Yeno told me that for someone who covers their ears, the bell does not exist," Vielsia recounted Teacher Yeno''s words, still looking confused. The elf thought that if the "bell" referred to history, then who were the people covering their ears, and what were they trying to express? Vielsia didn''t understand, but Reji seemed to be deep in thought. He quickly said, "Vielsia, if you have the chance, could you introduce me to this Teacher Yeno? I would very much like to meet such a schr." "Sure, sure! No problem. I have a history ss tomorrow, so I''ll take you with me then! Teacher Yeno will definitely be happy to know that there''s someone else who shares his interests!" After this little interlude, Reji returned to his original n and began chatting with the elf again. With the knowledge boost from "Star Sculpture II," and as a yer who had spent tens of thousands of hours in the first ythrough, Reji was able to speak endlessly to the elf about the past from a thousand years ago, including spells, artifacts, items, and more. At first, Vielsia still interjected a few words, butter, she waspletely engrossed, listening intently to Reji with her chin in her hand. This scene was also familiar to Vielsia. When she was younger, she would listen to her parents'' stories without any worries or overthinking, feelingpletely rxed. In Vielsia''s eyes, the erudite human Teacher in front of her seemed to ovep with the image of her father from the past, evoking her respect and admiration. Time flew by, and before they knew it, they had been talking since noon, and it was now almost sunset. When Vielsia came to her senses, she was startled by how quickly time had passed. No matter how reluctant she was, she had to leave. Otherwise, the student dormitory would be locked, and she couldn''t keep staying with Reji without leaving "Then, then I''lle to find you tomorrow, Teacher!" "Mm, see you then." "Goodbye, Teacher!" Vielsia knew that she couldn''t dy any longer. She wanted to win over Reji, to pull this Teacher who had inherited the Orb of Wisdom into the elven camp. She needed to proceed gradually, step by step, slowly gaining Reji''s favor. Vielsia was confident that she could win over this Teacher. Don''t underestimate the enthusiasm of the Elven Princess! On the other hand, after Vielsia left, the shadow behind Reji flickered, and the Shadow Demon Shermen appeared from within. She was more concerned about another matter. "Your Majesty, should I summon Lordan for you?" The invitation that the Elven Princess had possessed actually had the aura of the Wicked Demon. Unlike the egg from before, which had no aura of the Demon Race, this time, Shermen was certain. This could only prove that the Wicked Demon was taking action in human society. So, Shermen asked Reji if he wanted to summon Lordan for questioning. But Reji... "No need." "Don''t mention this matter to any other Apostles besides you." "Understood, Your Majesty." One of the main reasons Reji kept Shermen as his personal Apostle was the nature of Shadow Demonsthey didn''t speak much and only silently obeyed orders. As for why Reji wanted to keep it a secret... Indeed, summoning the Wicked Demon for questioning would be the fastest and simplest solution. However, Reji simply didn''t trust Lordan and would rather investigate himself. He trusted the other Demon Race Apostles, but Lordan was the exception. This was admittedly due to his prejudice and hatred toward the Wicked Demon. But all of this stemmed from the game''s plot during the first ythrough. This time, without mentioning the Wicked Demon''s treatment of humans, when the Demon Race''s power was already waning, and the son of destiny was unstoppable, the first of the nine Apostles to "surrender" was none other than the Wicked Demon. Even Reji remembered the BOSS battle scene with the Wicked Demon. The Wicked Demon had expressed willingness to serve him, abandon the darkness, and assist him in defeating the Demon King. In exchange, Lordan would be the new Demon King who serves him and serves humanity. At that time, Reji didn''t consider this option at all, seeing it as the Wicked Demon''s scheme. So, he killed the Wicked Demon without hesitation, even though it was just a projection. Later, when he was summoned as the Demon King, those who did not participate in the "Demon King Summoning Ceremony" included the Wicked Demon Lordan. That''s why Reji had put Lordan in the cold pce and never used him. Now, the invitation with the Wicked Demon''s aura appeared, further proving his suspicion. The Wicked Demon had been secretly acting behind his back in the human world without informing him. Reji even suspected that the Wicked Demon had started this long ago and never told any other Demon Race Apostles. ''If this was continued to be spected...'' ''Those eggs with "Demon Race" blood and flesh genes, could they also be...'' ... Chaos Rift. The Demon Race''s main base. Of the original nine Apostles, five had been summoned away by the Demon King. Among the remaining four Apostles, the Breeding Demon la was responsible for the Demon Race''s reproduction and had always been stationed in the rear. The Great Demon Hektor and the Sword Demon were in charge of the Demon King''s army. Now, the Demon Race army was also waiting in the Chaos Rift, and it was normal for themanders to stay with the army. Looking at this... One Apostle seemed particrly awkward. The Wicked Demon, Lordan. Although the Wicked Demon n wanted to leave the Chaos Rift to enjoy the human world, their Apostle had been alienated by the Demon King due to previous suspicions. They were no longer trusted and not being reused. The Wicked Demons could only ept their fate, even if theyined. Now, Lordan''s mood was also not very good. However, it was not because Reji did not allow him to descend into the world. Instead, Lordan was now in the deepest part of his Wicked Demon stronghold, having cleared out all his trusted Wicked Demons, leaving only himself. Previously, Lordan didn''t dare, but now, with the Wisdom Demon and Subus Demon gone, and the Shadow Demon sent away, Lordan set up severalyers of spell formations to hide his aura. Using the "Muddy Heart Mirror," he initiated amunication ritual with the human world. Unlike the mirror that bewitched the human Teacher before, this mirror reflected a blood-red light, quickly condensing into a "ck Goat" symbol. If there were any humans here, they would immediately recognize that this g represented an absolutely supreme existence in the world. The Empire, Nox. The ck goat on the crimson background finally transformed into a tall, blurry figure. The Wicked Demon Lordan''s dull green eyes stared intently at this figure in the mirror. His face, wrapped in bandages, first showed anger as if he had been deceived. Soon after, it turned into strong dissatisfaction and questioning of the tall figure in the mirror. "What''s going on?" "I need an exnation." "This isn''t what we agreed upon a thousand years ago!" Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Even After a Thousand Years The tall silhouette in the mirror did not change in response to the dissatisfaction and questioning of the Wicked Demon. On the contrary. With a voice clearly modified by sorcery, making it impossible to discern whether it was male or female, it said in a very calm tone, "Don''t be nervous, it''s just an additional small experiment." "A small experiment!?" Upon hearing this, Lordan''s eyebrows furrowed even more. Although the Wicked Demon was not summoned by Reji, as one of the apostles, Lordan was still able to obtain information about the internal affairs of the demon race, such as Eris''s report on the analysis of the eggs. It was no surprise to Lordan that the eggs would contain the bloodline inheritance of the demon race. However, the fact that the eggs were not just simr in appearance to the insect race, but had truly inherited the core of the insect race, and were even constructed based on the insect race''s blood and flesh ritual, was the root cause of Lordan''s current dissatisfaction and feeling of being deceived. The Wicked Demon quickly became angry and said, "I provided you with the blood and flesh of the demon race for your promised ''Demon-Human'' project, but your so-called small experiment has turned the entire project into your own private pasture!" ording to the Decay Demon''s report, these eggs usually did not cause any harm when they parasitized their hosts, and even elerated the hosts'' strength. However, once they came into contact with the "Queen," all the nutrients and power would be absorbed by the "Queen." Lordan had high expectations for the "Demon-Humans," as they would be the key force for him to lead the demon race in returning to the world and defeating humanity. But now, everything had be someone else''s ''wedding dress''. It was no wonder that the Wicked Demon was so angry now. "Rest assured, Lordan, they will still be of use to you, helping you wash away the humiliation of the demon race a thousand years ago, gaining prestige among the demon race, earning the submission of other apostles, and helping you be the Demon King." "And I, with the help of you demons, will eliminate the remaining human forces in the world that resist me." "You will obtain the throne of the Demon King, rule the demon race, leave to continue plundering other worlds, and I will obtain the throne of the Emperor, ruling over humans in my world." "Isn''t this our agreement from a thousand years ago?" "However, the current ''Emperor'' is much stronger than I imagined. This small experiment of mine is just in case, so that when you truly descend, I can also let you have the highest authority to absorb the power of the ''Eggs.''" Upon hearing the tall shadow say that he too could absorb the power of the "Eggs" and possess the authority of the "Queen," Lordan''s dissatisfaction and questioning subsided somewhat. Now it was the tall shadow''s turn to question Lordan, as if retaliating. The shadowy person expressed dissatisfaction and questioned Lordan, "Don''t just talk about me, Lordan. What about you? I remember that the most important item in our agreement a thousand years ago was to interfere with your demon race''s new Demon King summoning ceremony, right?" "But the information I received is that the new Demon King has already been born and has not only been sessfully summoned but has also be the strongest one in the history of your race?" Lordan''s expression was not good when this was brought up. The Wicked Demon was secretly shocked that the other side already knew about their demon race''s internal information after just a few days. Meanwhile, Lordan was also troubled and confused about the "Demon King Summoning." "You know that the birth of the new Demon King is of no benefit to me." The shadow said, "Of course, so I trust you, Lordan, but trust and disappointment are two different things." Lordan was silent for a while, as if hesitating. But in the end, he chose to tell the tall shadow on the other side more about what had happened. "I did indeed interfere with the summoning ceremony. Among the nine apostles, including myself, five did not attend the ceremony, ounting for more than half. But I don''t know why the ceremony was still sessful, and even..." The Wicked Demon recounted the events of that day to the other side. Reji, in front of the entire demon race, defeated the strongest Great Demon and Sword Demon single-handedly, establishing his prestige with just one battle. The unprecedented strength of the new Demon King had already taken root in the hearts of the demon race, and it would be difficult to shake it in the short term. The tall shadow on the other side of the mirror didn''t interrupt and listened quietly. After listening to the Wicked Demon''s description of the terrifying sea of flowers formed under Hektor''s "Malice Blooms" domain at that time, the blurry expression of the tall shadow seemed to show some contemtion. Soon after the Wicked Demon finished recounting these events, the shadow quickly asked, "The summoning ceremony should have been presided over by the Wisdom Demon, right? Did you give the ''Wicked Demon''s Soul'' to Leo?" It was clear that the tall shadow was very knowledgeable about the demon race. Not only did the shadow know the name of the Wisdom Demon Leo, but the shadow also knew the steps of the Demon King''s summoning ceremony and even the ''Wicked Demon''s Soul.'' A normal Demon King summoning would require all nine apostles to be present and for the essence of the nine major races of the demon race to be offered at the altar, increasing the Demon King''s power in the corresponding aspects. For example, Hektor''s ''Blood of the Great Demon'' could grant the Demon King a powerful physique, Leo''s ''Wisdom of the Wisdom Demon'' could grant the Demon King wisdom, Eileen''s ''Subus Demon''s Charm'' could grant the Demon King innate power over the opposite sex, and so on. Lordan''s ''Wicked Demon''s Soul'' was to provide the Demon King with spiritual support, granting the Demon King wickedness, helping the Demon King to have no mercy or sympathy for any other races, and aiding in the cruel conquest and plunder of various worlds under the Demon King''s rule. In theory, these nine offerings were indispensable. However, "I did not, of course." Lordan did not lie. He refused to provide the offering on the grounds of physical difort, so there were only eight offerings in this Demon King summoning. Apart from the Subus Demon, the other apostles didn''t say anything about this, as they didn''t have high expectations for this Demon King summoning. Lordan even imagined that without his ''Wicked Demon''s Soul,'' the ceremony would not seed and would end in failure. But... Who could have imagined... "Perhaps the Demon King himself is already evil enough, so there was no need for your Wicked Demon''s Soul, and the summoning could still seed." Regarding the conclusion drawn by the tall shadow in the mirror, Lordan also nodded in agreement. Considering Hektor''s domain effect, this must be the only reason. "Tsk, it seems that my little experiment was indeed far-sighted. You have an additional new Demon King to deal with, and I have an ''Emperor'' to worry about. This powerful force brought by the ''Eggs'' is exactly what we need, isn''t it?" Although it was all negative information, for some reason, the voice of the tall shadow seemed much lighter, as if it contained a strange emotion, like excitement? Joy? Or something else. "I still need some time to prepare, and you, Lordan, my old friend, don''t worry. Rx a bit. No matter what kind of Demon King, the final oue under our cooperation will still be the same, won''t it?" "It was so a thousand years ago, and a thousand yearster." "It will still be so." Chapter 69: Chapter 69:The World That Killed Everything He Was Familiar With 2 in 1 chapter. ------ -Ilinor Royal Academy. Reji was not resting in the middle of the night. He was sitting at his desk, browsing through one spell book after another. Reji entered the academy as a teacher not only to get closer to the Elf Princess but also to study the spell resources in the academy, which was one of his objectives. He couldn''t let his powerful learning ability from "Star Sculpt II" go to waste and needed to seize the time to transform it into his actual strength. As for why Reji did not choose to go to the Sorcerer Demon, first, it was to maintain his "powerful" Demon King identity, and second, as shown in the previous "Witch Dragon Spell," the spells that the Sorcerer Demon possessed were too advanced. With his current magic power level, he might not be able to use them even if he exhausted all his resources. However, looking at the human academy side, although they were all simple spells like "me Strike" "Ice Arrow," and "Magic Barrier," which were first or second-tier low-level spells, they were all practical and could immediately improve hisbat power. Reji did not reject these basic skills. Moreover, unlike in the game, his current self could learn all the "system" basic skills. This operability and expandability werepletely different. For example, Reji couldbine two spells, such as [Vine Bind] and [me Strike] both of which were first-tier spells. When cast together, they could produce a [burning] spell effect, greatly enhancing continuous damage. Simrly, there was the [Freeze] spell and the [ze] spell. When released simultaneously, they produced a "melting" spell effect, exponentially increasing their power. The summoning system''s "Treant Servant"bined with the warrior system''s battle skill "Brave Roar" could make the Treant, which was originally a first-tier creature, have the strength of a third-tier Treant Guard.(*1) It could be seen that the bo] effect formed by these low-tier spells could even exert stronger functionality than third or fourth-tier spells. Reji was not sure if the Demon King in the first round of the game also had the same "Star Sculpt" effect as him. If that''s the case, Reji could only say that the Demon King was too bad at ying the game. Cross-system spellbinations like these would have increasingly terrifying effects as the game progressed. If the original Demon King had tried to explore this aspect, even if he couldn''t win against the yer, who was the "Child of Destiny", he wouldn''t have lost so miserably and been single-handedly defeated by the yer. Bringing his thoughts back, Reji put down the spell book in his hand. Since Vielsia left, he had been sitting here reading for at least five or six hours. As a reward, his character''s skill column now had a dense array of new skills. It was a bit cluttered, but it didn''t matter. After learning the fourth-tier spell [Spell Collection]ter, these basic skills would be packaged together into a separate category. Although Reji''s spirit was still eager to continue learning more basic skills, his body couldn''t take it anymore. He needed to rx a bit and clear his mind. Thinking this, Reji picked up another stack of books from his deskor rather, notebooks. To investigate the actions that the Wicked Demon had secretly taken in the human world before he was summoned, Professor Yeno from Vielsia''s side was undoubtedly an excellent starting point. Before the elf princess left, he asked Vielsia to bring him the her notes on "ancient history" sses. Reji opened the notebook, which had rows and rows of careful notes written by her, all of which were key points from Professor Yeno''s lectures. At first, Reji was just trying to find some clues. However, after reading just a few lines, he sat up straight in his chair, his expression bing much more serious. Because: *Year 162 of the Radiant Calendar, Malvin was born in the Darran Empire* *Year 176 of the Radiant Calendar, Malvin graduated from the Darran Intermediate Magic Academy with perfect scores in all subjects* *Year 180 of the Radiant Calendar, Malvin won the championship in the Arcane Competition* *Year 200 of the Radiant Calendar, the demon race invaded, and Malvin served as the Great Guardian* The notes on historical events from a thousand years ago were urate down to the year, and most of this information was correct, as Reji recalled from the game''s first storyline. It seemed that there were still some humans who had not forgotten ancient history and had been recording it all along? And was this why they were bewitched by the Wicked Demon? ''No'' With Reji''s understanding of the Wicked Demon, he definitely wouldn''t be doing something so simple. As his gaze continued down the page... When he saw thest line recorded in the elf''s notes about "Malvin''s" ending, Reji stopped. *Year 271 of the Radiant Calendar, the Great Guardian who devoted his life to humanity died at the hands of his beloved disciple, a traitor who had been corrupted by magic. The exploited Great Guardian was ultimately tortured to death by the Soul Seizing Spell of the Sorcerer Demon n* The Soul Seizing Spell was a high-level spell that the Sorcerer Demon n used all their strength to develop in order to kill Reji, the Son of Destiny. Reji remembered the scene clearly. Malvin had ced his bet on himself and told Reji that he was the hope of humanity. In the end, Malvin took Reji''s ce and bore the Soul Seizing Spell. Reji: "..." He continued to read and soon came across another familiar character name. At that time, themander of the human alliance army was Anna. And this brave princess, who had killed countless demons on the battlefield, was recorded here as having been lured into a trap by a "traitor" and dying after a desperate defense. However, Reji knew that the true story was that the Wisdom Demonunched a surprise attack while he was breaking through, and Anna, as the closest human armymander at the time, heard the news and did not wait for reinforcements. She went deep into enemy territory alone to save him and buy time for his breakthrough. This was one of Reji''s greatest regrets in the gamehe couldn''t save Anna, one of his most beloved character. After he sessfully broke through, he went on a rampage, killing demons all the way to their main camp, and killed the Wisdom Demon''s projection before returning. These historical events were just told differently, but the oue remained the same. However, the core had beenpletely reversed, bing entirely different. No wonder... Reji had never seen the words "Son of Destiny" or "Child of Destiny" in the entire "Ancient History" notebook. Now it seemed that the existence of the Child of Destiny had been erased from history. Recing it was only one thing... A "human traitor"? Not only that. Reading through the entire ancient history, the human race''s thousands of hardships and sacrifices that Reji had experienced in his first ythrough, which finally enabled them to repel the demon race under the leadership of the Son of Destiny, had be this: *The demon race was weak and powerless, easily defeated. Only because there was a "traitor" in the human race who had been colluding with the demon race did the demon race have any fighting power. Of course, in the end, they were sessfully eliminated by the human race* Angry? Of course. Reji was undoubtedly angry. The source of his anger was secondary to the fact that his reputation as the "Son of Destiny" had been tarnished. Those NPCs in the game, like Malvin, Anna, and the countless human heroes who had sacrificed themselves, these characters that he respected and admired, had been recklessly altered, their glory erased. This was what made Reji the most furious. But... Despite his anger, Reji was surprisingly calm. He quickly realized that such a rewriting of history could not have been done by the Wicked Demon alone, who was trapped in the "Chaos Rift." It was as if a prisoner in jail couldmunicate with the outside world, but there had to be someone on the outside who could help him do things. Reji quickly looked through some other "ancient history" books, and their records were exactly the same as Vielsia''s notes, which proved that this perception had be a consensus in human society. Such influence was undoubtedly... There must be people in the human race assisting the Wicked Demon in rewriting history. No... Reji even suspected that the Wicked Demon was the one ying the "assistant" role. To think of changing history on such arge scale, to forget history, Lordan did not have this ability. This kind of brainwashing reform must have started from within the human race. Moreover... Reji was also sure of one thing: as he progressed through the game andpleted the first round, his character must have disappeared as well. Only this possibility would allow subsequent human rulers to harbor evil thoughts, to weaken the influence of the heroes of the past for the sake of their political power, and to force the world to "forget" the past. But Reji still had many questions. ''What about the Radiant Saintess?'' Although he had alwaysined in the game that the Radiant Saintess was weak, that was only inparison to himself, a "cheat" yer. In the context of the entire human world at that time, the Radiant Saintess was definitely one of the top figures. ''But why did it seem like she had done nothing?'' ''Even if we don''t mention the Radiant Saintess, I had still maxed out the affection of more than fortypanions in the game'' ''Why didn''t thesepanions, whom I did not bring with me in the final battle, prevent the rewriting of history?'' "My King, what''s wrong?" Seeing Reji frowning and deep in thought, Shermen couldn''t help but ask with concern. Her voice brought Reji back to reality. "Nothing." Reji shook his head and did not reveal his inner emotions, but even as he tried to hide them, Shermen could still sense something. She approached and tried tofort him in the best way she knew. Shermen''s petite figure moved closer to Reji, who was sitting at the desk, and hugged him. "My King, Shermen doesn''t know what you''re troubled about, but please believe that no matter what, Shermen will always be by your side. You are not alone." It seemed that his casual mention of loneliness in the past had been remembered by the Shadow Demon until now. In a sense, Reji should perhaps thank the Wicked Demon and that "behind-the-scenes" human. Because of their existence, he had untied a knot in his heart. Reji had always been influenced by his past gaming experiences, and the shadow of the "Son of Destiny," the savior, still lingered in his heart. He still wanted to protect this "world of his own." But now... The familiar people were gone, the familiar things had all disappeared, and even the history of his own existence was being erased and modified by future generations. To describe it as "his own" world... Well. That was really stupid. So, for an "alternate world"... It was still an "alternate world" that had "killed" everything he was familiar with. Reji would no longer have any reservations. He was beginning to understand the significance of the "Ten Evils Unforgiven" achievement in the first round. ---------- 1* [(Treant is a monster In dota 2)] Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Teacher Rejis Secret to Winning Favor 1/4 The next day, Vielsia, who had been distracted throughout the morning ss, was the first to rush out of the ssroom as soon as the bell rang. She slowed down her steps only when she was about to reach Reji''s "private office." She straightened her clothes, adjusted her sleeves and cor, pushed up her sses, and took a deep breath before knocking on Reji''s door. Knock. Knock knock. Reji opened the door and saw the elf princess standing outside, who had arrived at the exact time they had agreed upon yesterday. He invited Vielsia in. Vielsia sat in her usual spot, but the meticulous Reji soon noticed some subtle changes in the elf''s appearancepared to yesterday. For example, her hair, which was previously left loose without any particr style, was now tied into a beautiful chrysanthemum braid. Her uniform had been changed to another set with a "skirt series." Furthermore, the stockings on Vielsia''s legs, which used to be as thick as autumn pants, were now much thinner and more figure-ttering gray long socks. It''s quite normal for a girl to change her daily outfit. However, if she keeps stealing nces at you with a "wanting to be noticed" feeling, that''s not very normal. "Miss Vielsia, your new hairstyle today is really lovely." Reji, of course, did not hesitate to praise her. The elf girl, who had been a little nervous and anxious earlier, immediately rxed and showed a happy and satisfied smile upon hearing Reji''spliment. "Thank you, Teacher!" "Teacher, you also. also. uh..." Vielsia originally wanted to return thepliment to Reji. For example, she wanted to praise his mental state. However, the sharp-eyed elf girl could now sense that the human in front of her seemed to have not slept very wellst night? It was as if he hadn''t rested at all and had instead engaged in some intense ''physical activity''. "Cough, nothing''s wrong. I was too excited after having a pleasant conversation with Miss Vielsia yesterday, and I couldn''t sleep well because I had to meet Teacher Yeno today. So, I ended up reading books about ''ancient history'' all night and stayed upte." Reji coughed lightly and pointed to the thick pile of books on his desk as evidence. Vielsia immediately nodded, looking very understanding. As a book lover herself, she could rte to the feeling of being unable to stop once she encountered something she liked and staying up all night to finish it. Afterward, Reji started discussing "ancient history" with Vielsia. Time flew by. Soon it was noon, and Reji nced at the system interface showing Vielsia''s favorability stuck at 49% without any further increase. He actively interrupted the elf girl who was still listening attentively. "Let''s end it here for today, Miss Vielsia. I see it''s almost time for Teacher Yeno''s ss to end." "Ah, right! I''m sorry, I''m sorry, I almost forgot about it!" Vielsia apologized repeatedly for being too engrossed in listening. She had promised yesterday not only toe to Reji for further study but also to help establish a connection and introduce Reji to Teacher Yeno. After analyzing the situationst night, Reji concluded that Teacher Yeno would be a crucial source of information for him. However, using Teacher Yeno like this would be a waste. Reji wanted to kill two birds with one stone and make better use of the situation. There was a high probability that Teacher Yeno did not know Vielsia''s true identity and regarded her as an ordinary female student interested in ancient history. The purpose of Teacher Yeno''s invitation to Vielsia was self-evident. He wanted to pull her into the organization and brainwash her into bing one of their people. And what did this mean in Reji''s eyes? It was an opportunity. An excellent opportunity to increase favorability. As a yer with the title of "Unforgiven", Reji doesn''t like to take things slow when ites to favorability. He prefers to speedrun it. Let''s take a simple example. There is an item in the game called "Favorability Cake." As the name suggests, feeding it to apanion will significantly increase their favorability. However, the game has a limit on this, which is thepanion''s fullness value, restricting the number of times a yer can feed them "cake" per day. So, what did I do? I also creates another item called "Emetic." When thepanion reaches their fullness limit, I use the emetic on them and then feeds them cake, induces vomiting, feeds them again, and repeats until the favorability reaches the cake''s limit. Another example is that each time apanion participates in a battle, gets knocked down, and is "revived" by the yer, it generates a lot of favorability. So, every time I gets a newpanion, I didn''t rush to level them up. Instead, I used a group of level 1panions to fight monsters that are tens of levels higher, letting thepanions get knocked down repeatedly, and then repeatedly reviving them to quickly increase favorability. As for the rest, such as putting low-favorabilitypanions in the "homnd," kicking them out as soon as they reach full favorability, and not mentioning the basic operations, let''s not discuss them. In short, this gathering is undoubtedly a heaven-sent opportunity for Reji to speedrun Vielsia''s favorability. Creating a crisis and then selflessly helping as her hero, it is an old trick, but it''s genuinely useful. The only thing that slightly worries Reji is that Vielsia is an elf princess and a five-star character, so her strength is definitely not low. Even if the elves have declined thousands of yearster, she should still be around level 30 or 40. Whether the human Professor Yeno and others can create a sense of crisis for Vielsia is unknown. However, it doesn''t matter. Reji still has a backup n. In the *second week of the game*, hecked many things, but one thing he had no shortage of was powerful demons who could bring a sense of crisis. "Let''s go, Miss Vielsia." Everyone spends one dull and ordinary day after another. But sometimes, They encounter the most beautiful and fortunate day of their lives. At this moment, Professor Yeno felt that he was experiencing such a day. "So, Teacher Yeno, Teacher Reji is also very interested in ancient history. Eh if it is possible, can you also let Teacher Reji..." Vielsia was currently doing her best to introduce Reji to Professor Yeno. The elf girl knew that Professor Yeno had a somewhat reclusive personality and didn''t like making friends or interacting with strangers. So, she was actually quite worried. However, in reality, all of Vielsia''s concerns were unnecessary. Professor Yeno didn''t even listen to what the elf girl was saying. His eyes behind his sses were fixed on Reji. Staring at this human, who looked exactly like the portrait that his "Master" had once given him! ''It''s him!'' ''The task that the Master gave me!'' ''Killing this young man!'' ''If I kill him, I will be a new human and achieve great aplishments in the uing new world, just like the "Chosen One" of the past!'' Teacher Yeno tried to control his body, which was shaking intensely due to excitement. He forced a smile on his face that he believed was friendly and approachable. "Of course." "I should say that our gathering iscking members like Teacher Reji." "So, I propose that we don''t wait until the day after tomorrow. Let''s move the gathering to tonight instead. I believe everyone is eagerly looking forward to weing our new member~" Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Bring a Gift for the Birth of the King! 2/4 Professor Yeno took half a day off and canceled all his afternoon sses, saying he needed to prepare for the gathering. He left the academy in a hurry and did not notice the slight trembling in his shadow. Time quickly passed, and by six or seven in the evening, Professor Yeno appeared punctually at the academy''s entrance. He even specially hired a horse carriage to pick up Reji and Vielsia and take them to the location of the uing "gathering." "Does Mr. Yeno have a family?" Reji asked casually in the carriage. The thin professor''s body twitched at first, but he quickly returned to normal. He showed a happy smile and said to Reji, "Of course, I have a very virtuous and gentle wife and two very cute daughters." "What about you, Teacher Reji?" "Me? I don''t have such ns for the time being. A family seems too distant for me. I''ve been alone since I was very young, so, Mr. Yeno, I envy you. Will your wife and children attend the gathering this time?" Yeno shook his head calmly and said, "No, they... they went on a trip." "I see, that''s a pity." On the other side, the elf girl listened to the casual conversation between the two humans in the carriage and didn''t know how to join in. She could only sit quietly. Moreover, she felt that Professor Reji seemed to be implying something in his words, and Professor Yeno also... seemed a bit strange. It must be my imagination. The gathering was not far from the academy. After a short while, the carriage slowly reduced its speed and eventually stopped on a somewhat deste street. "Mr. Reji, Miss Vielsia, the gathering''s location is in the basement on the other side of the street. Please watch your step and follow me closely." "The Kolora district is one of the oldest areas in the royal city. Thest renovation was decades ago. The lighting facilities here are poor, and I''m very sorry. Due to limited funds, we could only choose to rent a ce in this kind of location." Professor Yeno lit the oilmp he had prepared earlier. The sky was already dark at six or seven o''clock, and as Professor Yeno said, most of the streetlights here had broken down. Only a few scattered weak lights, flickering asionally. Professor Yeno led the way with the oilmp, followed closely by Reji and Vielsia. The three of them remained silent during the journey. After walking for about a few minutes, they arrived at what appeared to be a closed-down shop. Professor Yeno opened the iron door with a roller shutter and stopped at the entrance, gesturing for Reji and Vielsia to enter. Vielsia looked into the shop and saw a staircase leading to the basement. Fire torches were lit on both sides of the staircase, but their mes did not give Vielsia a sense of security. Instead, they seemed... strange. "Sorry, Miss Vielsia, the light stones enchanted with ''Lighting Spell'' are too expensive for us, so we can only use oilmps and torches as substitutes." "No, no problem, Professor." Vielsia quickly shook her head and then hesitated no more, following the stairs step by step into the depths of the basement. Although the elf said she didn''t mind, Reji could clearly feel that Vielsia unconsciously moved closer to him, shortening the distance between them. In fact, Vielsia''s heart also felt uneasy. She was fortunate to have met Reji, and now with Professor Reji apanying her, otherwise, if she had toe to such a ce alone for the gathering... In short, Vielsia felt very ufortable about this ce. And soon, This difort intensified as she reached the end of the stairs and entered the basement corridor. Because there were many sculptures in the corridor. Under the light of the wall-mounted torches, the outlines and shapes of these ck sculptures were very clear. For example, the sculpture closest to Vielsia. This sculpture was shaped like a giant octopus, with seemingly endless tentacles covered in suction cups. Just a nce made Vielsia''s heart shiver with cold. This is not ustrophobia, although Vielsia also has it. But what truly made her frown was... "What''s wrong, Miss Vielsia? Are you interested in this sculpture? Let me introduce it to you. This is the first apostle of the Demon n that I mentioned in ss before, the Breeding Demon la, who holds the power of proliferation." Professor Yeno was thest one toe down the stairs. Apanied by the heavy sound of the door closing at the entrance. For Reji and Vielsia, who were already in the basement corridor, Professor Yeno''s demeanor seemed to have changed. He became more talkative, less silent, and... excited. He took the lead again, like a museum curator, and without regard for Vielsia''s ufortable expression, he began to introduce the nine sculptures on both sides of the corridor to the elf girl and Reji. "Look, these snake eyes and scales are the symbol of the Wisdom Demons in the Demon n. The leader of the Wisdom Demons Leo, serves as the brain of the Demon n, possessing wisdom and strategy, and holds the position of the second apostle." "Miss Vielsia, look, and see this one. Such beautiful wings and tail, and those antelope-like horns on the head, perfectly embodying beauty and charm. Yes, this is the Subus Demon, the third apostle, Eileen." "Hmm? Miss Vielsia, you don''t look well. Are you ufortable? Then I must rmend this sculpture to you. Oh, don''t mind her appearance. Although the Decay Demon in the Demon n is ugly, with insects and blood aspanions, the Decay Demon is also an excellent pharmacist. Any disease or pain will vanish under the hands of the fourth apostle, Eris." As Professor Yeno spoke, he became more and more frenzied. It was as if these sculptures, like faith and deities, were the greatest existences in history, and he was a devout believer, singing the glory of the "Lords". Even the foolish Vielsia noticed that something was amiss when she arrived here. But she still had a shred of innocent hope. "Professor Yeno, didn''t you teach us in ancient history ss that the Demon race were invaders? Why do you have so many sculptures of invaders ced here? Why do I feel from your tone that you seem to admire them instead?" "Admire? Oh, my child, don''t say that. It''s the greatest insult to me." Professor Yeno''s words had just made the elf princess let out a sigh of relief, but the next moment, Vielsia''s whole body tensed up. She saw Professor Yeno walk to the sculpture of the sixth Demon n apostle, spread his arms, and reveal the excitement and agitation that had been hidden on his face all this time. He twisted into a crazedugh, his ferocious expression turning into a pious demeanor, and worshipped the apostle sculpture in front of him, who held a skull and had bandages wrapped all over his body. "How can you use the word ''admire'' for these great Lords? We should revere the nine supreme beings. Their existence is supreme, and you, I, and all humans are but ants, using the foolish dreams of fools as arguments and the mediocrity of a group of ants as monuments!" "Only by offering everything to the Lords, listening to the Lord''s whispers, and following the Lord''s guidance can we obtain salvation and escape our lowliness." "Feel honored! Today, you all will be the offerings I present to the Lords, to the nine supreme beings." "So..." "Don''t make that face, Miss Vielsia." "Let us, together, offer our gifts for the return of the Demon Race, FOR THE BIRTH OF THE NEW KING !" Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Bang! 3/4 With Professor Yeno''s loud shout, more than a dozen figures suddenly appeared from all directions around Reji and Vielsia. They were all wearing gray robes, with masks painted with strange patterns on their faces,pletely blocking their escape routes. Among these followers, there were mages holding staffs, and under the torches, there were sword and axe-wielders with terrifying light shining on their des. Without a doubt, this was a well-nned ambush. At this moment, Vielsia was more puzzled than shocked by Professor Yeno''s identity as a traitor to the Demon Race. In Professor Yeno''s crazed speech just now, he described them as the best sacrifices, even as a gift to the "king." Reji was introduced to Professor Yeno by her today. So this "gift" could only refer to her. An ordinary-looking, ordinary-born, and transfer student from another ce who is only interested in ancient history, could she be described as the "king''s gift" by Yeno, this fanatical human traitors to the Demon Race? Obviously not. There was only one possibility left. This was what made Vielsia''s heart sink. Her identity had been exposed. Yeno had discovered her identity as an "elf." That was why he gave her that so-called invitation to the gathering! Everything that was happening now was a trap specifically designed for her, this "elf princess"! ''Damn it!'' At this moment, Vielsia felt anger towards being deceived and schemed against, but more than that, she felt regret and guilt towards Reji. It was her. She had implicated Reji. She had also put this young human in danger. Taking a deep breath, Vielsia forced herself to calm down. Now was not the time to think about these things. She quickly looked around. Among the human traitors to the Demon Race, the sword and axe-wielders had already raised their cold and shining des, and under Yeno''smand, they were quickly closing in on the two of them. While the mages began to chant, the magical power fluctuations quickly gathered, and in a few seconds, they would be hit by a storm of spells. What to do? What to do? Hurry! Think about how the elders taught you to fight! What should be used now? Forest Barrier? Emerald Longbow? Treant Guard? At this moment, when Vielsia was feeling nervous and her mind was nk, she suddenly felt the rapid gathering of magical power from beside her. Immediately after, [Silence] [Wind Speech] Reji did not need a staff, his fingers moved in the air as he casted the spells. These two first-tier low-level spells were released in an instant and shot towards the mages in the distance. As a first-Tier spell, [Silence] could only interrupt one mage. However, whenbined with the first-Tier [Wind Speech] it created an expansion effect. A gust of wind carrying the [silence] spell roared towards them, and several mages nearby were forced to raise their hands to resist. Their chants were naturally interrupted. Before Vielsia could react, Reji chanted two more spells. [Flying Sand and Rock] [Water Bullet] The second-Tier earth attribute spell, Flying Sand and Rock, summoned arge patch of sand, mainly to interfere with the enemy''s line of sight. But whenbined with the first-Tier water attribute spell, Water Bullet, the sand was soaked by the water bullets, andrge patches of mud were formed on the ground. The approaching swordsmen and axe-wielders were stuck in the mud, greatly slowing down their movements. Hah?... Vielsia turned to look at Reji beside her. Previously, Reji''s image in this elf princess''s heart was always that of a gentleman, a schr who had inherited the Wisdom Orb, knowledgeable, and had great pull. But now... The magical power fluctuations lifted Reji''s clothes, and the wind speech spell blew his hair. The image of the mage who remained calm in the face of danger, who could create a powerful control field in a very short time through the delicatebination of spells, even using low-level spells, deeply shocked Vielsia. As for what Reji said next, "Miss Vielsia, please stand behind me." Reji didn''t hesitate to stand in front of Vielsia, as if he would step forward to protect his student in any danger, whether as a teacher or as Vielsia''s mentor. Looking at Reji''s back in front of her, Vielsia felt a kind of emotion she had never felt before. The elf princess didn''t know what this emotion was. But Vielsia knew one thing: No one could hurt her teacher in front of her, not even a bit! Thick Mana quickly gathered on the elf''s body. Many green light spots appeared in the air of the basement. A heavy life aura bloomed under Vielsia''s feet, and thick green vines broke through the ground and grew crazily, even overturning the floor tiles. Mysterious chants from the elvennguage was chanted from Vielsia''s mouth. The trantion of the elvennguage meant roughly: [Strangle] Swish! Swish! Swish! The vines turned into ropes and bound towards these human traitors. And because of Reji''s perfect control field before, the mages were silenced and couldn''t use spells, while the swordsmen and axe-wielders were stuck in the mud. The vines faced almost no resistance and sessfully coiled around these followers like pythons. "Ugh. Ugh." The feeling ofpression, suffocation, and the cruel thick vines were just as ruthless as the caster Vielsia towards these heretics who had been brainwashed by the Demon Race and surrendered to them. Their necks were tightened by the vines, and their limbs were twisted and deformed under the enormous binding force. In the end, they couldn''t even scream in pain and werepletely strangled to death by the vines. On the other side, Compared to the death of his followers, Professor Yeno''s eyes widened even more, and he stared at Vielsia in shock. "Wha-what." "This spell is impossible! This magic power fluctuation is third-Tier? No, no! It''s a fourth-Tier spell! How is this possible!!" Professor Yeno shouted in disbelief. His main target was Reji that Lordan had ordered him to assassinate. When Reji cast those obstructive first and second-Tier spells, Professor Yeno frowned, but it was within his expectations. After all, if Reji were not skilled, how could he have been ordered by his "Master" to be assassinated? But now, Looking at the basement meeting room that seemed to have turned into a wild jungle cave in the blink of an eye, covered with crazy vines, Professor Yeno was shocked. What''s going on? What kind of monster is that speckled female student! Vielsia should be just an ordinary transfer student, right!? How did this happen? Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Her True Power 4/4 The appearance of the fourth-tier spell had already announced the huge gap in strength between the two sides. Professor Yeno was unwilling to ept this and struggled as if he were on the brink of death. He activated the "Demonic Power" that the Wicked Demon Lordan had bestowed upon him. His skin began to dry and wrinkle rapidly, and the evil green demonic power began to swell his body. However, Vielsia was indeed a little panicked before. But Reji''s calmness andposure pulled Vielsia back and made her no longer nervous. In a real battle, no one would stupidly wait for the enemy to enter the "second stage" of transformation. A longbow made of pure natural green mana appeared in Vielsia''s hands at some point. Fourth-Tier special ceremony - weapon summoning - Forest Spirit Bow Vielsia stood up straight, feet apart, hands holding the bow open on both sides, and her emerald green eyes shining brightly. The elf aimed at Professor Yeno, with a cold and stern expression on her face that waspletely different from her innocent and naive one, and shot out a terrifying magic arrow in the blink of an eye. Swish! The green magic arrow was like a meteor, giving Yeno no time to react, and in an instant, it pierced through Yeno''s "demonized" ordinary body on the spot. "No, no." Professor Yeno''s eyes were filled with unwillingness, as if he was about to enter the "second stage" but was interrupted, or rather, killed instantly like a boss. *Thud* Yeno fell softly to the ground. He didn''t die directly. Vielsia had deliberately not aimed at a fatal spot and left him with a thread of life. Until now, seeing that Yeno had no more power to resist, Vielsia let out a long breath and lowered the Forest Spirit Bow in her hand. Fortunately. The power of humans a thousand yearster had weakened a lot. And Yeno, Seemed to have underestimated her strength. Apart from being a little panicked at the beginning, this ambush was a piece of cake for her. Vielsia was still a bit confused. However, the elf didn''t think too deeply about it because she had something more important to do now. "Teacher Reji!" During the battle, Vielsia''s cold and ruthless expression towards the traitors disappeared in an instant. Instead, she was now full of concern and hurriedly ran towards Reji to ask about his condition and whether he was injured. As for Reji, He sighed and shook his head inwardly. It seemed that he had overestimated Professor Yeno. He didn''t give Vielsia any pressure at all and was killed by the elf girl with just one arrow. ''This wouldn''t do'' ''To increase her Affection and Trust in battle, one must let theirpanion fall into a predicament'' ''Vielsia was indeed worthy of being a "five-star" level orangepanion'' ''The release of the fourth-Tier spell was as easy as eating and drinking'' ''I even suspected that Vielsia''s upper limit might still have some unreleased fifth-Tier spell or something like that'' Forget about the current human traitors. Those ordinary level 40 or 50 demons probably couldn''t give Vielsia much pressure. Since Reji wanted to speed up the Affection, He needed a bigger one. He needed to give this elf princess a sense of "despair." If this was a game instance, Then it was time to enter the "third stage." -''Shermen''- Reji moved his lips slightly and whispered in a voice only he could hear to the shadow behind him. The shadow, having received themand, no longer concealed herself and silently appeared on the ground. The next moment, it appeared behind Professor Yeno and, like a ck hole, swallowed him. Vielsia noticed the abnormality behind her. She immediately stopped and switched to abat stance, raising the green longbow in her hand again, turning around, and staring intently at the shadow ck hole that had swallowed Yeno. Vielsia thought that Yeno still had some tricks up his sleeve. But then, "Hah!!?" This time, it was Vielsia''s turn to exim in surprise. She saw that in the next moment, the person who walked out of this deep shadow ck hole was a figure wearing a cloak, with a small body, shrouded in darkness. No! Vielsia could feel the dense mana emanating from the other party, carrying an invasive and destructive aura. This was what the elders had taught her the most: whenever such an aura appeared, it could only be the demon race. ''A demon!'' ''This is a real demon!'' Vielsia gasped, Although she knew about demons and had heard countless stories about them, this was her first time seeing a real demon, a living demon in reality. ''Calm down'' ''I must stay calm!'' Vielsia forced herself to concentrate and stop her body from trembling instinctively. Her brain quickly turned, and she began to judge the other party''s race based on the appearance of this demon. Cloak, shadow, slender figure. There was no mistake. ''This was a Shadow Demon!'' ''A scout species among the demons!'' Vielsia felt a little relieved in her heart. ording to the knowledge she had learned from the elders, the Shadow Demon was one of the nine major demon species, withbat power in the lower middle range, not particrly strong. Its greatest ability was still stealth and concealment, and it was used for reconnaissance and intelligence. ''I can do it!'' ''I am the princess of the elf race! I am the hope of our race and everyone! I still have to avenge and repay the sins and blood debtsmitted by the ck Beast Corps against the elves in those years!'' ''This was just a scout, just a Shadow Demon, nothing to be afraid of!'' ''Kill it!'' Vielsia overcame her subconscious fear and conquered the shadow of the demons that had lingered in her heart for a thousand years. She felt the protection and blessings of her mother, her father, the elders, and all the elves. Suddenly, a brilliant light bloomed on the elf''s body. The disguise of "Vielsia," the ordinary speckled girl student, disappeared. Vielsia, with her real power revealed, showed her true form. Her long, golden hair was like a waterfall, shining brightly. Her beautiful and touching emerald-green eyes, her moist skin like the morning dew after the rain, her pointed and cute ears, peeking out from the ends of her hair. A crown woven from flowers and vines, symbolizing the royal family, gave Vielsia a magical boost. The moonlit robe draped over her, outlining Vielsia''s wonderful curves, pure and unblemished like the moonlight, gave her more focused spell-casting power. Vielsia''s expression became firm, and the surging magical power in her body eventually turned into a magic arrow that was several meters long. Her high-heeled boots shone with a natural barrier at the same time, and countless small green spirts flew around Vielsia, giving her their power. Whether it was the momentum or the appearance, the power of this arrow far exceeded the previous one shot at Professor Yeno. It could even be said that such a strong magical wave and giant magic arrow hadpletely surpassed the fourth tier. "In the name of the forest!" Vielsia shot her strongest arrow, which contained her determination, her hatred for the demons, her anger at her destroyed homnd, and all her courage and perseverance. ''This arrow would surely...'' ''Would...'' *Bang!* A clear sound rang out. Vielsiaunched a powerful magical arrow with her full strength, like a green light beam. But in the next second, The small-framed Shadow Demon in front of her stretched out a hand from her cloak. With a flick of her hand, as if swatting a mosquito, She flicked the arrow away. Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Light in the Darkness Vielsia stood frozen in ce. She seemed to be in disbelief due to the immense shock. Her self-transcending, powerful Forest Magic Arrow,parable to a fifth-tier spell, was effortlessly destroyed with a single p? The girl werepletely in a dazed state. She was at a loss. But Shermen wouldn''t wait for Vielsia. The order she received from the king was to give this elf despair. So, Like a tidal wave, the darkness began to rapidly spread from beneath Shermen''s cloak, engulfing every trace of light with a viscous shadow. In the blink of an eye, the entire underground chamber plunged into absolute darkness. The shadow, in which one couldn''t see their own fingers, seemed to weave a tight spider web in this ce. And at the very center of this "Shadow Net," a helpless prey Vielsia was trapped with no means of escape. Shermen activated her domain skill. ''If I remembered correctly, it should be called Shadow World'' Significantly reducing the enemy''s hit rate, all targeted single-skill effects in the Shadow World were practically invalid, greatly lowering the enemy''s speed and action turns. Reji recalled that during his battle with the Shadow Apostle''s BOSS, after Shermen opened the "Shadow World," she could easily circle around his character in just one turn. Various skill evasions also caused Reji endless headaches. Later, Reji carefully analyzed and researched, relying on various "Entrench" skills to increase his own attribute values, engaging in a defensive counterattack battle, not actively attacking Shermen in the Shadow World, specifically waiting for her to attack him first, then triggering counterattack skills, and barely surviving with his sturdy defense, eventually managing to defeat Shermen. Snapping back from the memories of his previous life. In this darkness, Reji could see everything clearly, as if he had gained night vision. This was due to Shermen sharing her senses with him. So, the current Reji could clearly see Vielsia, who hadpletely lost her formation in the center of the "Shadow World." The darkness had blinded the elf princess, and the shadows had sealed off all of Vielsia''s perceptions. ''Hhe, she seemed tock realbat experience'' In her panic and confusion, Vielsia hastily cast spells, wildly throwing them into the surrounding darkness. However, Reji could clearly see that all of Vielsia''s spells hit nothing but air, wasting her Mana. Using an area-of-effect spell could have been an option. But the prerequisite would be that the range of this area-of-effect spell must berge enough to cover the entire Shadow World domain. However, it was evident that the current Vielsia did not possess this ability. "Ugh...ha..." After casting several nature spells, Vielsia panted heavily, kneeling on one knee. Her mana was depleted, and she felt exhausted. As the prey struggled, exhausted its strength, and grew weary, it was time to "close the." A shadowy hand condensed from the darkness beside Vielsia. Her innate talent warned her, but her depleted mana left her unable to resist. The shadowy hand easily seized the elf girl, clenching her like a pair of pliers in its palm. If this were a real battle, Vielsia''s fate would already be sealed. She would be directly crushed to death by the shadowy hand. However, Reji ordered Shermen to give the elf princess despair, not to kill her. So, in this situation, Shermen controlled the shadowy hand, tossing the elf aside once more. *Bang!* Vielsia crashed to the ground, and pain immediately spread throughout her body. Butpared to the pain, the elf princess felt even more fear. Vielsia struck so hard, regained her senses. She realized that this dark shadow surrounding her was likely the legendary domain skill. What a concept. Among all the elves, only the "Great Elder" could barely unleash a domain skill. Although it was a sixth-tier spell, its difficulty was no less than that of a seventh, or even an eighth or ninth-tier spell. This was because domain skills were unique and required extremely high proficiency and insight in a specific domain toprehend and master the exclusive secret technique. Even a thousand years ago, when the elves were still prosperous, elves who couldprehend domain skills were extremely rare and were all considered the pride of the elf race. But... ''The current range and strength of this domain skill...'' ''This was not an ordinary shadow demon.'' ''At least, it was a "Lord-level" shadow demon among the demon race.'' ''Or even...'' ''An Apostle of the Demon King!'' *p!* A giant palm formed from the shadows attacked Vielsia once more. This time, the elf had learned her lesson and didn''t randomly cast attack spells. Instead, she created a dark green defensive shield around herself. However, the shield was as fragile as paper under the giant shadow palm, shattering upon impact. Vielsia was once again sent flying by the giant palm, following a parabolic trajectory before crashing into the wall and falling softly to the ground. Gritting her silver teeth, Vielsia climbed up from the ground. But her previous determination to fight the demon race and her desire for revenge hadpletely vanished after realizing she might be facing a legendary "Apostle Shadow Demon." All that remained of the elf was her trembling body, beyond her control. All that remained was the chilling cold. All that remained... Were her once bright amber eyes, now filled with the despair of dead ash. Indeed. The mere two word Demon Apostle had alreadye to symbolize despair for countless worlds conquered by the demon race. ''It is hopeless...'' ''It is Impossible to defeat this monster...'' Even the Great Elder at the peak of his power would struggle to contend with an Apostle. What could Vielsia, a young elf of just over a hundred years, use to fight? After being struck and sent flying like a toy by Shermen''s shadow hand once more, Vielsia, lying on the ground, gave uppletely. It was as if she were a drowning person, surrendering to the ck tide that engulfed her. ''I''m sorry... I''m sorry, Great Elder'' ''I''m sorry, everyone in the Elven race.'' ''I''m sorry, Mother.'' ''I''m sorry... Teacher Reji.'' ''It''s over'' ''Is this how my life end?'' Vielsia had just closed her eyes, epting her fate of being consumed by the Shadow World. But unexpectedly, in the next moment, a ray of light shot out from the darkness. This was not a metaphor; there was genuinely a dazzling light blossoming within the Shadow World. "Mana Combustion." "Illumination." The bewildered Vielsia opened her eyes and saw a figure approaching her, stepping through the darkness. Reji''s entire body was burning with magical power, which in turn produced a brilliant light that dispelled the shadows. As Reji drew closer, the darkness retreated inch by inch, the light returned, and Vielsia''s lost senses came back. The bone-chilling cold rapidly dissipated. Vielsia watched as Reji continued forward without stopping. This young teacher walked past her, confronting the darkness of the Shadow World and the shadow demon that had instilled both fear and despair in her. The human young man was not strong, far weaker than hers. But her teacher never showed an ounce of cowardice or hesitation. It was as if this determination also affected the spell, and the power of light was infinitely amplified, illuminating the entire underground chamber. Bang! The Shadow World shattered. The underground chamber returned to its original state, with only the ck hole near Professor Yeno''s corpse serving as a reminder that everything that had just happened was not an illusion. "Now! Hurry, Vielsia!" Reji''s urgent voice brought the stunned elf back to her senses. Vielsia quickly understood Reji''s meaning. She could feel that the terrifying shadow demon had retreated into the ck hole to avoid the light. And now, with Reji''s Illumination spell ending, the horrifying presence in the ck hole was about to emerge once more. The elf made a swift decision, gathering everyst bit of her mana and shooting another arrow towards the ck hole with all her might. Fortunately, this arrow did not disappoint her. The green magical arrow sessfully pierced the ck hole, and the powerful shadow demon that had made her tremble with fear seemed to have lost its "portal" and could no longer appear. It had vanishedpletely. ''Did'' ''Did we seed?'' Feeling as if she had walked through the gates of hell and escaped death, the exhrated Vielsia wanted to find Reji and run towards her savior, her most incredible teacher and mentor. But Reji... *Bam* Reji copsed. "Oh no TEACHER" Vielsia, whose face had turned pale, rushed over and sessfully caught her "unconscious" professor in her arms. Chapter 75: Chapter 75: The Second Fate Track Unlocked! "Teacher!" " Teacher!!" Vielsia could feel the very weak human breath in her arms, apanied by severe magical exhaustion, as if it were a candle in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment. When she thought about what Reji had done earlier, the elf immediately understood the situation. Magical Burnout Professor Reji had overdrawn his body, not only burning his magic but also his life force to resolve the crisis! Yes! The Night Illumination Spell, although a spell of the Radiant Church, has a strong restraining power against demons, especially shadow demons who fear light. However, as a second-tier spell, it normally wouldn''t be able to dispel the territory of that terrifying shadow demon. The only reason Professor Reji was able to do so was by sacrificing his life force to enhance the spell''s effect. ''What to do?'' ''What should I do now!'' Vielsia, who had always followed the guidance and teachings of the elders for a hundred years, was used to being the "listener" of others. In just one night, she might have made more decisions than all the ones beforebined. In such a crisis, decisions are often not made by reason. They are made by instinct. By the most genuine voice in one''s heart. And Vielsia''s heart was telling her... ''He can''t die!'' ''I absolutely can''t let Teacher Reji die!'' Whether it was Professor Yeno''s ambush with the demonkeys or the truly summoned terrifying shadow demon that appeared to be an apostle, all of this should have been aimed at her. Yet, in the end, she, the source of all this, remained unharmed, while Reji, who was dragged into this, lost his life? ''I, Vielsia, am I supposed to watch others die in my ce!?'' ''No!'' ''Absolutely not! Then I would be no different from those evil demons!'' ''But...'' ''Professor Reji''s life force was exhausted, and this wasn''t something that could be saved with a few healing spells. Even if it could, I am in no better shape, having been drained of my magic, unable to cast any spells.'' At this moment, the only way for her to save Reji, to save her teacher, was to do something she hesitated about. But the hesitation in Vielsia''s eyes quickly disappeared. ''Without Professor Reji, I would have died at the hands of that terrifying shadow demon'' ''So...'' ''Even if it meant giving up my most precious, once-in-a-lifetime treasure as the "Elf Princess" to teacher, I am willing.'' She believed that the elders would not me her afterward. With a resolute expression, Vielsia made up her mind. She took a deep breath, quickly knelt down, and gently ced Reji''s head on her smooth, soft thighs. Although Reji still had his eyes tightly closed. His consciousness was very clear. His current "life force exhaustion" was just a "Weakness Spell" he secretly cast on himself while the elf wasn''t paying attention. It seemed that Vielsia, in her anxious state, hadn''t noticed. ''So... What would you do next?'' Reji was curious. His original intention was to speed up the elf''s favorability, but the next scene that Vielsia performed was an action that Reji never expected. Vielsia lowered her head towards Reji, brushing aside the hair falling by her ear. After taking a deep breath, she leaned in and kissed him. The soft touch of the elf''s lips felt like cotton candy, and Vielsia''s inexperienced yet innocent actions were like the sweetness of cotton candy melting in one''s mouth. Elven kisses are different from human ones. Apart from expressing love, they also serve a ceremonial purpose. The green forest barrier lit up beneath Vielsia once more, enveloping Reji within it this time. Symbols of new life sprouted around them, vibrant butterflies fluttered on both sides, and vines wove an unbreakable bond between them, as the moonlight intertwined their fates together. [Vielsia has activated the "Princess Bond" ceremony on you, and you have received the highest protection from the elven race] [All your abnormal statuses have been forcibly removed.] [Your HP and MP have been restored to their maximum limits.] [You have unlocked the equippable sub-Fate TrackNature.] [Under the "Princess Bond," your "Nature" Fate Track will share the "Star Sculpting" effect with Vielsia. Currently, you have unlocked 3 Star Sculpts in the sub-fate track] Reji: "..." Various notifications from the panel frantically sounded in his mind, like a joyful symphony. It felt as if he had just scored an A in a quest, and then Vielsia handed him the ultimate skill. In the the game, although there was no "Princess Bond" skill, the fact that it could directly open up a second Fate Track for himspecifically the "Nature" Fate Trackand even synchronize the "Star Sculpting" effects, was undoubtedly conveying its absurdity to Reji. Keep in mind that, as a yer, it was as if he had cheats enabled. After clearing the game and defeating the Demon King, he still possessed the "Radiance," "Judgment," and "Defense" Fate Tracks. Apart from the main Radiance Fate Track, which he had from the beginning, the remaining two Fate Tracks were unlocked only after Reji went through great lengthsfinding inheritance items, seeking mentors, andpleting a series ofplex and tedious Fate Track tasks. In the game''s setting, Fate Tracks were different from professions. It wasn''t just about learning the knowledge; Fate Tracks represented a philosophy and belief that required both learning and practice. For example, in the Judgment Fate Track''s tasks, he had to act as aw enforcer and apprehend a sufficient number of heinous criminals to gain the "Judgment" recognition. Another example, in the "Defense" Fate Track''s tasks, he had to protect a sufficient number of civilians, y the role of a firefighter in various natural disasters, and so on. And if he wanted to obtain the "Nature" Fate Track following this process, he would have to nt tens of thousands of trees and act as a forest ranger for several years, at the very least. But now... ''Dam'' ''It was... it was that simple?'' ''Well Not realy'' Reji knew that he thought it was simple because he wasn''t the one making the sacrifice. The Elf Princess, his female student Vielsia, was the one who had sacrificed everything. The feeling was as if Vielsia, as the Elf Princess and the beloved daughter of the natural Fate Track, had brought him straight home, transforming raw rice into cooked rice. The natural Fate Track couldn''t refuse to ept him even if it wanted to. What could be done when the daughter had brought the man home? ept him, of course. That was the subtle feeling Reji sensed from the "Nature" Fate Track that had appeared in his spiritual world. After the long kiss, seeing that Reji''s life force had finally returned to normal and was even more vibrant, Vielsia breathed a sigh of relief. A happy smile appeared on her pure, white elf face. However, she found it a bit strange that her teacher should have woken up by now. ''Never mind'' ''We should leave this ce first and discuss itter.'' Afterward, Vielsia carried the still "unconscious" Reji and quickly retreated, heading towards her dormitory at the Royal Academy. And Reji... Before, he was pretending to have his eyes closed, but now he was hesitant to open them. This hesitation was due to facing his own conscience. Questioning his inner devil. Then understanding his inner devil. After resolving his "inner conflict," he returned to his original intentions as a yer. So now, his main Fate Track was Demon King, and his sub-Fate Track was Nature? The effects of Star Sculpt I and III in the Nature Fate Track were secondary. The effect of Star Sculpt II, which reduced the power of natural spells by 95%, was what caught Reji''s attention. This concept was almost equivalent to him being immune to all natural spell attacks. And the elf race was most proficient and powerful in natural spells. Under the influence of this "Star Sculpt II," as long as he faced the elf race or any natural attribute user, such as Druid races, he would basically be invincible. This was the powerful privilege of Vielsia as the "Elven Princess." And then... Vielsia, in order to "save" him, gave this precious privilege to him, the theoretical greatest enemy of the elvesthe Demon King. ''Hahaha, this is outrageous!'' ''Too outrageous!'' Reji was referring to this absurd Fate Trackbination. Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Idiot (Part 1) Ilinor Royal Academy. Girls'' Dormitory. On the bed of a certain elven princess. "Cough, cough, cough." After a bout of coughing, Reji slowly opened his eyes on the bed. He looked around dazedly, at the slightly simple room. Reji rubbed his temples, pretending to be someone who had just awakened from aa, trying to sort out his memories and understand the situation. "Teacher!" "Thank goodness! Thank goodness! You''re finally awake!" Vielsia, who had been standing guard beside Reji, immediately eximed with joy. Her face was full of concern. "Teacher, how are you feeling? Do you feel anything strange in your body?" "I?" Reji pretended to close his eyes and sense his condition. He soon shook his head, looking somewhat confused as he said to the elf, "Miss Vielsia, I''m fine, but I remember, I shouldn''t be..." Hearing that Reji was physically fine, the elf princess finally let out a sigh of relief. As for Reji''s confusion about how he was "fine". "I, I gave you some healing potion, and then, then you were fine!" Vielsia''s eyes were somewhat evasive as she answered, stuttering. She chose not to directly tell Reji about her kiss and the Princess Bond. Instead, she found an excuse to hide the truth. This didn''t mean that Vielsia regretted her actions. The calm elf princess didn''t regret her decision to save Reji. As for why the current Vielsia didn''t tell Reji, it was because... "Teacher Reji, I am extremely sorry for involving you in a crisis! I''m sorry! It''s all my fault!" After confirming that Reji was unharmed, Vielsia immediately stood in front of him and sincerely bowed her head in apology. And after apologizing, Vielsia clenched her fists nervously and asked Reji tentatively: "So, Teacher Reji, you... you saw everything, right? Those demons, that powerful shadow demon, and..." "And... me." What Vielsia meant by "me" here was self-evident. From the moment she instantly killed Professor Yeno, Vielsia had revealed her true elven form. Later, when she confronted the shadow demonor more urately, when she was being toyed with by that terrifying shadow demonshe was also in her true form. If Reji wasn''t blind, he must have seen it. So... She couldn''t hide it any longer. Vielsia didn''t n to hide it any further. In fact, she had always felt guilty about deceiving Reji, and she didn''t want to face him under the false identity of a "human female student" anymore. Lying was wrong. Now, Vielsia was nervous and anxious because she wanted to know Reji''s attitude toward this "big liar" and deceiver, and toward her as a non-human and an elf, after he discovered the truth and her deception. If Reji couldn''t ept it, or if he was disappointed in her and unwilling to stand by the elves, Vielsia wouldn''t force him. She would quietly leave and let her teacher return to his peaceful life, even if it was only temporary peace, as the demons had already arrived and the world''s turmoil could be foreseen. As for the "Princess Bond," which she could only use once in her life as the Elf Princess, she would consider it her farewell gift to Reji and a memory between them. She would keep this secret hidden in her heart and not burden Reji with it. As for the pressure from the elders on the elf side... She would bear it alone. This was Vielsia''s worst-case n. And what the Elf Princess hoped for, anticipated, and longed for as the best oue was... "Of course." Reji nodded. Afterward, Reji''s tone remained unchanged, just like any other day. He even asked Vielsia curiously, "So, was that really a demon? Judging from their abilities, it should be a shadow demon, right?" Vielsia didn''t directly answer Reji''s question. The elf girl was more surprised. "Teacher Reji, you... you don''t feel anything about my identity, nothing at all..." "Should I feel something? Excited? Shocked? Or should I bow to you? I remember that elves are usually quite proud and emphasize etiquette. If you request it, Miss Vielsia, I actually don''t mind~" Reji teased Vielsia on purpose. As expected, the elf girl frantically shook her head and anxiously said, "No! No, no, no! You''re my teacher. There''s no way a teacher should bow to their student!" Vielsia didn''t refute Reji''s description of elves as proud, as this was indeed a stereotype with some truth to it. Many of her elf kin did have this w, and Vielsia didn''t deny it. "Although it''s quite embarrassing for a student''s spell level to surpass their teacher''s, Miss Vielsia..." Reji changed his tone. "During the previous battle, you wasted a lot of your mana unnecessarily, and your spell casting was too careless. It''s clear that youck realbat experience. When faced with a situation beyond your control, you seem to go nk, forgetting everything and recklessly casting spells. This won''t do." If Reji had previously be a teacher to get closer to Vielsia, now that the elf girl had given him precious gifts, opened her heart to him, acknowledged him as her teacher, and considered herself his student, Reji sincerely wanted to teach her properly. His tens of thousands of hours of battle experience from the game made him proficient in variousbat methods and strategies. The "Star Sculpt II" effect from the Demon King Fate Track furtherplemented this. Now, Reji was more than capable of guiding not only Vielsia but also his eight subordinate apostles with ease. In fact, Reji did have ns to do so, as he was most familiar with the weaknesses and ws of these apostles, having once been his "enemy." With targeted training, Reji was confident he could bring their powers to a new level. But that was a story for another time. Over the next hour and a half, Reji carefully reviewed the entire situation with Vielsia, pointing out her various shorings in decision-making andbat since she had been ambushed. He exined which spells she should and shouldn''t use in simr situations in the future. It felt like... He was giving a beginner''s guide. Reji was quite familiar with this, as he had been a well-known expert in the game''s strategy section. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been invited by "Magic Chronicles" to participate in their closed beta test. As for Vielsia, of course, she listened particrly seriously. She had never underestimated Reji. After all, the exquisitebination of low-level spells by Reji before looked simple, but the prerequisite was that the caster needed a vast reservoir of spells. Like Reji, who released spells from four or even five different element in just one battle, it could almost be called a miracle. Vielsia admired Reji, but it was not surprising that Reji could achieve this. After all, the previous Reji had already created a setting for himself that inherited the "Wisdom Orb." So in Vielsia''s view, it was quite normal for her teacher to be so powerful and have such a profound understanding of magic, considering the inheritance from the great guardian, who could be considered the ancestor of magic throughout human history a thousand years ago. Because of this, "Teacher, I have something very important to tell you and beg for your help." "Is it about the demon race?" "Yes." Vielsia nodded. "In our elven race, there was a prophecy from our ancestors that the demon race, a thousand years ago, would return and plunge the world into destruction and strife again. And as you have seen tonight, what we experienced undoubtedly proved the truth of the prophecy; the demon race has reappeared." "I don''t know why the demon race hasn''tunched an attack yet, perhaps because they''re not fully ready to descend yet. The shadow demon we encountered is just a projection, but the real demon race is much more powerful than that shadow demon. With just our elves and the human world, I don''t think we have any chance of winning." "So, for the sake of the world, for the elves, and also for humans, Teacher Reji, I urgently need your help. In my hands, I have a sealing technique that our ancestors have researched specifically for this day, which canpletely banish the demon race." At this point, Vielsia had nothing to hide anymore and disclosed all her secrets to Reji, her trusted Teacher. Reji still maintained the calm and steady expression that a teacher should have on his face. He nodded calmly and said, "Of course, I will do my utmost." "So, could Miss Vielsia please tell me all the specific details of the sealing technique?" "The more detailed, the better." Reji added lightly Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Idiot (Part 2) Vielsia closed her eyes, and with her hands crossed and ced on her chest, a green glow emanated, and a scroll began to float slowly out of the elf''s body, spinning gently. Reji looked at the scroll, and instead ofplex and cryptic symbols or incantations, he saw a series of images simr to andscape painting. As Vielsia continued her gestures, the scroll unfurled before Reji like a 3D projection, and the mountains, rivers, andnd depicted on the scroll transformed into a lifelike miniature world. Then, with another wave of Vielsia''s hand, the scroll began to roll up again, and the projected world above it seemed to be rolled up as well, disappearing one by one. Vielsia''s demonstration was over. This was the sealing technique that the elves had painstakingly researched to seal the Demon Race. "It''s like a two-way mirror, isn''t it?" Vielsia looked confused. "What are you saying, Teacher Reji?" "Nothing, I just understand the principle of your sealing technique now. It''s like sealing the Demon Race into your painting, right?" Seeing the elf girl nod, Reji felt a chill run down his spine. ''Heh'' ''That''s harsh.'' ''It''s likepressing the Demon Race from a three-dimensional world into a two-dimensional one'' "ording to our n, we will take advantage of the moment when the Demon Race is preparing to descend but has not yetpletely broken through the Chaos Rift. Using the passage of the Chaos Rift, we will cast the scroll''s seal into it, thus capturing all the demons in one fell swoop." After listening to Vielsia''s exnation, Reji nodded. The Chaos Rift was an independent ck box outside the world. Whether the Demon Race wanted to escape or the elves outside wanted to seal the Demon Race, they would have to wait for a gap in this ck box. No wonder Vielsia and the others chose this moment. "Earlier, you mentioned that you wanted my help. Does that mean that with the elves'' current strength, you still can''t use this sealing scroll?" At Reji''s question, Vielsia looked dejected and lowered her head. "Yes, Teacher Reji, the roots of the spell ritual on this scroll do not originate from our elven n. Instead, they were discovered by our ancestors through studying the Son of Destiny from a thousand years ago, and it is a spatial spell." "Discovered... Son of Destiny? Spatial spell?" This information from Vielsia surprised Reji. As the Son of Destiny from a thousand years ago, how could he not remember having such a powerful "two-way mirror"? ''Wait!? Hold on!'' Reji suddenly realized that he had fallen into a cognitive trap. The elves'' research was not necessarily about his abilities. It could be... Game system functions!? And when he thought of a function simr to a "two-way mirror"bined with the keyword "spatial spell," Reji immediately thought of a game function. Home Realm! The Home Realm system was an external function, so Reji did not inherit it when he crossed over, which he found quite a pity when he checked the system. Simply put, the Home Realm was a function simr to a "mini-world in a pocket." Its physical form could be a scroll, a gourd, a handbag, etc., and its appearance was up to the yer''s preference and did not matter. In the game, Reji had shaped the appearance of his Home Realm into something like a Pok Ball. This was a bit twisted. Because the main purpose of the Home Realm was to storepanions. As mentioned earlier when building rtionships, cing new characters in the Home Realm and not visiting them would still slowly increase their affection over time. (Hail: Think of it like Genshin tea pot) This was quitemon in many games, and many yers who were enthusiastic about their Home Realms would make the interiors incredibly beautiful with variousndscapes. But Reji was the kind of person who casually ced all sorts of luxurious furniture in his Home Realm without much thought. Bringing his thoughts back, if the sealing scroll in front of Vielsia was indeed modeled after his Home Realm system from a thousand years ago, then he had misunderstood. This was not a two-way mirror but more like a... Spatial folding spell'' The living beings inside could still live well, to put it simply, it was like moving into a big house. To verify, Reji quickly asked, "I see mountains, rivers, and other such things in the scroll. What are their purposes?" "They are all real, used to provide for the survival of the demons sealed inside." "Huh?" Reji waspletely caught off guard. "Provide for the demons'' survival?" "Yes, although we seek revenge against the Demon Race, the lives of demons are also lives, and they are also living beings. Unlike the Demon Race, after we seal them, we will have absolute control, and at that time, we will eliminate all sources of evil, the nine apostles and the Demon King. As for the remaining low-level demons, we will leave them and let them live in this scroll forever." Reji: "..." "I see." It could only be said that the elven race had high moral values. Actions like not exterminating the enemypletely and leaving their descendants behind were something Reji felt humans would never do. Humans were always selfish. That was why. "Vielsia, can you give me the scroll?" Reji extended his hand to the elf princess. He was asking for the scroll. Vielsia hesitated subconsciously, recalling the warnings of the Great Elder, who had repeatedly instructed her never to hand the scroll over to any outsider. But after a brief pause, Vielsia also extended her hand. "Here, Teacher Reji." Reji, who had formed a "Princess bond" with her, was no longer an outsider. Her teacher who had repelled the terrifying Shadow Demon was undoubtedly on the same side as the elves in the fight against the Demon Race. Therefore, Vielsia trusted Reji greatly. Otherwise... Could it be that everything they had experienced together was fake? Deliberately orchestrated? Vielsia had considered this possibility. After all, if she could use a false identity, others could too. But the battle with the Shadow Demon hadpletely dispelled her doubts. ''It could be said that Teacher was acting before, but what about that terrifying Shadow Demon? Was it also invited by Teacher Reji to act?'' ''What kind of status would Teacher Reji have in the Demon Race?'' ''A leader?'' ''An apostle?'' ''Or the Demon King?'' ''Assuming that all of the above is true, it would be self-contradictory because if Teacher Reji were truly an apostle or even the Demon King, it would be easy to manipte me. So why go to such great lengths to put on an act?'' ''To obtain the sealing scroll? The prerequisite for sealing is that the Demon King and the apostles are still trapped in the Chaos Rift. Now that the Demon King has emerged, what is there to fear from the sealing?'' To obtain her body or the secrets she hides? The Demon Race''s method would be to capture her like the ck Beast Legion did in the past generation and have the Wicked Demon Apostle brainwash and transform her. She would then be the Demon n''s most loyal servant, willingly revealing all secrets. What else could they be after? Vielsia couldn''t think of anything else. Unless... they wanted to win her heart? This was something that the Wicked Demon''s brainwashing could never achieve. But... in the end, Vielsia found herself thinking absurd andughable thoughts. Laughing at how stupid this Demon King was. After giving the scroll to Reji, nothing happened. From Vielsia''s perspective, Reji carefully examined the scroll for a while before returning it to her. ''See? If Teacher Reji had any ill intentions, would he have returned it? He would just steal it and kill me'' After Reji obtained the scroll, an item panel appeared, disying: [Sealing Scroll (Replica)] ''Hmm. As I expected'' ''It seemed that the Great Elder of the Elven race was well aware of the princess''s nature and had left a backup n.'' ''In that case...'' "How is it, Teacher Reji? Do you have any clues?" Vielsia asked eagerly. "I have some, but I need time to study it carefully. If I could have some more elvese to assist, it would probably be faster." "Ah! Really!!" Hearing that Reji had some clues and might be able to use the sealing scroll, Vielsia was incredibly excited. The current situation was that the Demon Race was showing signs of descending, and they needed to act quickly. So, to speed up Reji''s research... "No problem!" "I''ll write to the Great Elders right away! Teacher, rest assured, the Great Elders are just outside the Royal City in the church area, they''ll be here very soon!" Reji nodded. ''So, they were just outside the Royal City? That would save me some trouble'' "Thank you, Vielsia." Reji expressed his heartfelt gratitude. Soon, under the princessmunication magic, the letter turned into a small bird, which Vielsia released from the window, flying into the dark night sky. This small bird, filled with the hopes ofVielsia''s expectations, soared in the night sky and flew out of the Royal City. The small bird arrived at a forest in the suburbs, reaching a very secretive area that seemed perfectly ordinary from the outside. As it descended, it saw the barrier of the Elven race. If it entered the barrier, the small bird would havepleted its mission, but... *Swish!* Unfortunately. A shadow w appeared from the void, grasping the small bird. Despite its struggles, it could not reach the barrier. Shermen''s petite figure floated in the air, moonlight shining on her Shadow Demon cloak, revealing a few cold, expressionless features on her face beneath the shadow. She activated amunication ritual. "My King, I''ve confirmed the location of the other elves." -Inside the Arcane Academy in Ilinor. Reji bid farewell to Vielsia, assuring her that he was fine and politely declining the elf''s offer to take care of him further. He walked out. Afterpletely leaving Vielsia''s line of sight, Reji stopped. He took a deep breath, raised his head, and looked at the full moon above. After pausing for a few seconds, Reji no longer hesitated. He turned and entered the shadow, arriving at Shermen''s side through the shadow tunnel she left for him. He arrived at... the headquarters where the other elves were hiding, above the forest barrier. "Send a message to Dian, Eileen, and Eris. Tell the three apostles to drop everything they''re doing and gather here in one minute. Surround this cepletely." "As you wish, My King." Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Blood and Flesh Realm, Elfs Fall 2 in 1 chapter ------- Luther is a patrol member of the Elf tribe. At only seventy years old, he will soon reach the third stage and be an "elite member." His idol and goal is his brother, Ramush, who has reached the fourth stage as a warrior. And the one he admires, Of course, it is the beautiful and wise Princess Vielsia, who has just celebrated her hundredth birthday and is in the most youthful period of an elf''s life. In fact, which young male elf would not admire Princess Vielsia? However, their admiration is purely a preference. Just being able to catch a glimpse of Princess Vielsia''s face is already extremely satisfying. If he could be encouraged by Princess Vielsia and speak to her, it would make him unable to sleep for a whole month. ''So, Come on, Luther! I must quickly improve my strength!'' ''Only then can I, like my brother, support Princess Vielsia in the human''s city, instead of being like this, staying in the rear and patrolling monotonously'' ''Sigh.'' Luther sighed at the thought. ''Even though we have this unbreakable barrier, it is absolutely safe, and there will not be any enemies, why must we keep patrolling'' ''I also want to be dispatched'' ''I also want to fight against the Demon race!'' ''I want to avenge the Elf tribe!'' While Luther was immersed in his fantasy during his patrol, suddenly, there was a noise from the woods beside him. Although the noise was very faint, As a favorite race of nature, elves are extremely sensitive to the movement of wind and grass. Luther immediately became alert and focused all his attention on the abnormal bush. "Who!" "Who is there,e out!" After Luther shouted, the person hiding in the bush seemed to realize it was exposed and no longer pretended. it jumped out of the bush and pounced on Luther. Under the moonlight, Luther clearly saw the appearance of the ck figure attacking him. The opponent''s four limbs were all des, emitting an invasive and destructive magical aura. That ugly and dirty appearance ''A Demon!?'' ''Isn''t that a Sword Demon!?'' Luther was greatly frightened and fear spread through his heart, but his body''s instinct still made a resistance move. He drew his sword from his waist and stabbed at the magic shadow that was attacking him. *Pufff* The magic sword pierced through the demon. Luther had always been taught and warned about the once powerful and destructive demon race that had destroyed their elf homnd, but now... ''Is that all?'' Luther looked at the corpse of the sword demon that he had killed in a panic on the ground and was a little confused. He stabbed it again to make sure it waspletely dead, and his mind was filled with questions. ''What... what is this?'' Before Luther could think clearly, there was more movement in the surrounding bushes. This time, it was arge and terrifying demon with huge ws. And then... The result was the same. It was easily killed by Luther with just one sword strike. Next were shadow demons, wicked demons, decay demons, subus demons... These demon soldiers that seemed to be attacking the camp were easily defeated by Luther''s sword, as if they could not withstand a single blow. And Luther, who was once afraid of the demon race, became suspicious, and now, seemed to have a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. "Come on!" "Come on! Don''t run! Today is the day of your doom, trash of the demon race!" Luther was no longer satisfied with just defending. Like a god descending from the heavens, he chose to take the initiative to attack. The demon race on the way was like cutting vegetables and fruits, making Luther''s heart more and more crazy, satisfying his desire for revenge, and even making him feel like he was a savior. In the pleasure of killing demons, Lutherpletely ignored why there were so many demons here, why the other elves on patrol had not appeared yet, and what he should do was to turn back and report the message to the Elder. Luther seemed to bepletely immersed in the killing. Until... "My Children, wake up!" ''Wake up?'' ''Who''s speaking?'' ''It seems to be... the Elder''s voice?'' In a daze, Luther regained his senses and found that the bodies of the demon race that he had hacked to death all around him had turned into insects, even on his own body, there were insects crawling. "What is this!?" Luther was shocked and subconsciously took a step back. Suddenly, a feeling of dizziness and weightlessness enveloped him, making him unable to stand and kneel on the ground. His limbs were as heavy as lead, and the magic power in his body warned of severe exhaustion. Luther''s condition was not an isted case. Almost all of the elves were like this. They all lost theirbat power. Fell to the ground and couldn''t get up. And the insects that were killed by the elves, who had consumed a lot of physical strength and mana, finally all flew into the sky and into the body of a little girl who looked kinda sick. "Eris Hate this. Everyone was having fun ying with Eris" "WHY.DO.YOU.WANT.TO.STOP.OUR.FUN?" Blood and Flesh Realm. The realm skill of the Decay Demon Apostle. When activated, it will make all targets immerse in blood and flesh killing, using insects to create the illusion of enemies. For example, if the elves'' enemy is the demon race, they will have the illusion of killing demons crazily. But in reality, they are all wasting their physical strength and mana in vain. These powers are all absorbed by the insects and converted to Eris. And now, Eris is unhappy because... In the center of the elf camp, a green barrier was flickering with light. In the center of the barrier, an elder elf was floating in the air, using the power of nature to awaken the other elves and drive away the insects in Eris'' domain. Seeing her beloved insects all being driven away, Eris, who was holding a "doll," became angry and wanted to increase the power of the domain, revealing her true form as a decay demon. The insects that returned, crawled into Eris'' skirt, rapidly expanding her body from a few dozen pounds of weakness to several hundred pounds of butcher fat. The doll in her hand also twisted and deformed, turning into a terrifying fleshy maggot. The insects that were just dispersed by the elven elder''s barrier are nowing back in droves, as if they have been strengthened. Like arge ck piece of locusts, they use their sharp mouthparts to constantly tear and eat at the natural barrier. The range of the barrier began to shrink rapidly, and the elven elder in the center wrinkled her brow and had to kneel on one knee to support it with difficulty. Those elves who had lost their protection were quickly invaded by insects again and screamed in pain. "Hehe~, this is right. Eris will turn everyone into her toys. Then we can y together forever, hehe." The thick neck, the fat brain, and the long tongue covered with mucus, Eris, who had revealed half of her "Decay Demon true form," had turned into a huge monster and was excitedly shaking her head at the elves below. But the next moment, "Ouch~!" Eris cried out in pain. Dian, floating in the sky, wearing a brown robe and a mysterious and elegant raven mask, used his raven staff to hit Eris''s head. "Wuu, Dian hit Eris. It hurts~!" "Stop it Eris. His Majesty''s orders are to let these elves surrender and lose their resistance, not to kill them, let alone turn them into your toys." Faced with Dian''s persuasion, the decay demon was still reluctant, and Eris licked her tongue, looking greedily at the elves'' flesh and blood. Seeing this, the sorcerer demon said coldly, "What? Do you want His Majesty to hate you?" This sentence seemed to make Eris suddenlye to her senses. Her monstrous body, which had been swelling, quickly shrank, and her fat, rotten bellypletely dissolved into insects and hid in her skirt again. In the blink of an eye, Eris turned back into a thin and frail-looking little loli with slender limbs and a sickly face. And the bloody maggot next to her. It seemed to have not reacted yet, but was kicked by Eris with a small leather shoe and quickly shrank its body back into Eris'' hand as the "doll" it was at first. "I don''t want" "Eris is the king''s important family member... Eris... don''t want to be hated by... family member." After letting Eris retract her true form and find her reason, the decay demon''s task had beenpleted, and there was no need for Eris for the next part of the n. Dian turned to look at the few elves who were still able to stand in Eris''s domain. There were about 200 elves in total in the camp. After Eris'' Blood and Flesh domain, only a dozen or so elves were left standing. These remaining elves were all huddled together with the barrier as their core. Although they appeared to have drawn their weapons and were ready to fight, it was not difficult to see from their trembling legs and shaking hands that they were terrified and timid. The only reason they were still holding on and not running away or surrendering was because of the elder in the center. Although the decay demon''s Blood and Flesh Domain was a weakened version with limited power, the elf elder was able to maintain her rity and even awaken her tribe members, allowing them to maintain a few points ofbat intent. This elder of the elf tribe was indeed somewhat capable. Dian nodded in appreciation. "Madam, can you tell me your name?" Dian had always been fond of excellent magicians. However, to the elder Nazha, the sorcerer''s question was no different from asking a wolf for a New Year''s greeting. She immediately replied coldly: "If I tell you, will you let us go?" "Sorry, whether or not to let you go, only his Majesty can decide. I have no authority to interfere, but at least from his Majesty orders, you don''t need to worry about your safety." Although Dian was trying to persuade her to surrender, Nazha clearly did not believe the demon race''s lies at all. She was already prepared to fight to death. Thorns spread from Nazha''s feet, and the nts began to grow wildly. The ancient trees in the forest bent and moved towards Nazha''s position. In just a few breaths, a huge tree man formed by the power of nature, like the most loyal guard, standing in front of the elves. ''Ancient Tree Giant'' ''Sixth-tier high level summon.'' ''With the double enhancement of her own domain and the forest terrain it was summoned without fail?'' ''Indeed, not bad'' Dian gave the evaluation of "not bad." Then, The sorcerer demon stretched out his raven staff and lightly pointed it at the ancient tree giant, which was about eight or nine meters high. A small me that seemed insignificant ignited from the staff, floated gently towards the roaring ancient tree giant. The huge ancient tree giant and the small me formed a stark visual contrast. However, the moment the me touched the ancient tree giant''s body, it became a raging fire in an instant. In just two or three second, the fire swallowed the giant tree, who was struggling in vain. Chapter 79: Chapter 79: The Fire Elemental Lord and the Bone Dragon Rider 2in 1 chapter. The battle tonight, led by the demon king, was their first formal battle, and the Sorcerer Demon had to do his best, to be the most elegant. Suddenly, the Ancient Giant Tree fell amidst the raging mes. The trees seemed to have turned into fuel for the fire, burning fiercely. But the next moment, not an Ancient Giant Tree, but a new, more powerful giant stood up. This giant was entirelyposed of towering mes, emitting a dense aura of fire element. It roared angrily, and the surging waves of heat rolled towards the remaining elves, leaving them pale and devoid of any will to fight. The Fire Elemental Lord, a seventh-tier legendary summoned creature, was effortlessly summoned by Dian. Not only that, but it had also consumed the Ancient Giant Tree , which the elders had summoned with all their might, and transformed it into the Fire Elemental Lord right before their eyes. The elves stared in terror at the raven-masked demon floating in the night sky. That was... a minion of the Demon King! In the historical records of the elves, they had constructed the world barrier known as Maria Wall with the strength of their entire race. It was an incredibly sturdy magical barrier with a "transposition ceremony" level, representing the pinnacle of elven achievement. It enveloped their world, allowing them to sleep soundly, without fear of any external invasion. However, their nightmare began when this "holy wall" copsed, shattered by a series of transposition magic attacks by the raven-masked demon. With the copse of Maria Wall, the world barrier failed, and countless demons swarmed in, thus beginning the elven race''s disaster. Now, this terrifying Sorcerer Demon from history has returned, but the elves are no longer as strong as they once were. Even their most powerful elder was only at the sixth stage. "Stand up!" Nazha scolded the elves who had lost their will to fight, trying to rekindle their spirit. "Have you all forgotten the oath we swore before the burning World Tree.." Before she finishes her sentence. "Lady, do not struggle in vain any longer. Let me guess, the reason you are fighting so desperately now is to buy time for those young elves to escape through the back door of the barrier, right?" the raven-masked demon said mockingly. As soon as the Sorcerer Demon spoke, Nazha who had shown no fear when facing the Fire Elemental Lord and the legendary minion of the Demon King, changed her expression for the first time, turning a few shades paler. Indeed, there were no young elves among the elves present. Dian slightly bowed, as if apologizing, "Everything you have is already under the control of the demon king. Give up." As soon as the Sorcerer Demon finished speaking, a disturbance came from the sky. In the distance, a huge shadow seemed to be rapidly approaching in the dark night sky. As the shadow swooped overhead, Nazha and the other elves looked up and saw that it was a... Skeleton Dragon. The terrifying monster at the pinnacle of the undead race. Next, Nazha''s pupils contracted, and her almond-shaped eyes widened as she saw that after the Skeleton Dragon slowly descended, several young elven children were captured and huddled together, trembling on the dragon''s back. And beside these twenty or thirty elven children was a young man. The young man held a newborn elven baby in his arms. It was Lofu! Only a few months old! She was a new member of the elven race, born with great difficulty. Just a few hours ago, she was adorably calling Nazha "grandma." But now, she had fallen into the hands of the demons. An unparalleled anger burned in the heart of this elven elder. Damn it! Bastard! "Let her go! You fu** filthy demons, take your filthy hands off Lofu!!!" Seeing that herst hope was gone, Nazha''s sanity also despaired. The future of the elven race, their children, had also been captured. She dared not imagine what terrible atrocities the elven children would suffer at the hands of the demons. All these emotions turned into rage, and she threw everything to the back of her mind and was about to kill the young man on the back of the Skeleton Dragon. As for the result, naturally... *p!* Before she could get within twenty meters of Reji, a purple whip came flying at her, sending Nazha flying. The owner of the whip was another minion of the Demon King, wearing a deep purple suit of armor. She spread her wings and stood guard on either side of Reji, coldly watching the elder struggle to get up from the ground. This woman was the Subus Apostle, Eileen. Like the Sorcery Apostle Dian, Eileen also attaches great importance to this battle, her first battle in front of her king. So, she even put on her full set of Subus armor. Unfortunately, it seems... Completely unnecessary. Another minion of the Demon King! A single Sorcery Demon minion was enough to crush them. But now, three have appeared at once. The elves were utterly despairing, even the elder Nazha gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with helpless despair. On the back of the Skeleton Dragon, those young elven girls, although they didn''t understand the situation due to their young age, saw that the adults of their tribe were all like this and became even more afraid, hugging each other tightly and trembling in fear. Except... Except for the baby in Reji''s arms, the few months old Lofu. Babies don''t know right from wrong. They rely on instinct for everything. "Wah, wah! Boo-hoo! Wah!" The baby in Reji''s arms started crying. But unlike the other elves, the object of her fear was the elder Nazha, who had just rushed at her, or rather, at Reji, who was holding her, this stern and not very amiable "grandma." And when the baby is afraid, she will seek out the person she subconsciously considers the most reliable, the one who makes her feel the safest and closest. So... "Wahhhhhh!!!" The crying baby struggled to snuggle deeper into Reji''s arms. Her chubby little hands gripped Reji''s cor tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, she would have no one to rely on. Not to mention... Elves are indeed among the most beautiful races, and even as babies, they are exceptionally cute, like porcin dolls, with their delicate little noses. Reji couldn''t help but tease her with his fingers. "Be good, don''t be afraid, it''s okay." Reji''s gentle words,bined with the dense aura of the natural Fate Track emanating from him, made little Lofu feel especially at ease, making the baby feel incredibly reliable, as if he were a family member, much better than the stern and scary elder Nazha. Especially on Reji, she could still smell the scent of her favorite sister, Vielsia. So, under Reji''s gentlefort, she really miraculously stopped crying. The baby was also very smart, seemingly sensing that the brother holding her was on the stronger side. So, she quickly changed from being afraid to being curious. This little elf baby still had her body curled up in Reji''s arms, but she stretched out her neck, poked out her little head, and began to curiously and excitedly inspect the scene with her clear big eyes. "What have you done to Lofu?!" Seeing the baby snuggle up to Reji and not even recognize her, her grandmother, Nazha was heartbroken. The elven elder could only understand that Lofu had been brainwashed by the demons and turned into their ve. Not even sparing a baby who was just learning to speak and walk, and using dark magic to torture her, was something Nazha, as the elven elder, hated more than seeing her own people killed in front of her. "You...you demons!" "Disgusting fu*kingdemons, go to hell!!" Nazha exploded with anger and, regardless of the consequences, wanted to snatch the baby from Reji''s "demonic ws," or at least kill Lofu to prevent her from suffering further at the hands of the demons. Reji knew how it felt to have arade brainwashed and turned into someone else''s ve, as he had experienced the same anger from the elven elder in his first ythrough. At that time, the human camp would rather die than be brainwashed by the dark magic. And there was another unspoken rule: once someone was discovered to have been brainwashed, no matter how close their rtionship had been, even if they were blood rtives, they had to do everything in their power to kill them. Death was the best release for those who had been brainwashed and transformed by dark magic. Nazha attacked Reji in an attempt to find release for the baby, but as expected, she failed. This time, Eileen put more force into her whip, and her expression under her Subus mask was not good. If it weren''t for Reji''s orders to capture the elves alive, Eileen would have killed Nazha for speaking out against the demon king , regardless of her status. Under the enormous power gap, Nazha was knocked down twice by Eileen but still got up. What was supporting the elven elder now was not the mana in her body, but her hatred for the demons and for Reji''s crimes. Many of the other elves, who had been paralyzed with fear by the "Three Apostles" and had lost their will to fight, were moved by Nazha''s strong and tenacious will. Seeing their elder, Nazha, and their young tribal members, even children only a few years old and babies only a few months old, not spared by the demons, their courage seemed to be awakened. One by one, they gritted their teeth and stood up, their eyes red, as if they were ready to bite into a piece of demon flesh before dying. This scene is also familiar to Reji. From fear and terror to despair, silence, and finally to self-sacrifice, the tribal will that had been disintegrating is consolidated and explodes with unprecedented new power. This was the evolutionary process of the human race after being invaded by the demon race in the first ythrough. And it is very simr to the current situation of the elven race. It''s like a miniature version. Why did it turn out this way? Although the elves in front had given up and were in fear, with only Nazha still struggling, now they all wanted to fight to death without fear. The answer is obvious. It is because of the elven children behind them, and the baby in his arms, who the elves think has been "brainwashed." Every race has its bottom line. Once this line is crossed, they will be forced to unleash their deepest will and potential, bing even more terrifying enemies. This is also why Reji will never use a shred of the Wicked Demon''s power. Apart from the fact that he believes Lordan is a fool. Everything the Wicked Demon does, seemingly for the good of the demon race, is actually pushing the demon race to cross its bottom line. Or to put it another way. They are using the power of the demon race to satisfy their own desires as members of the Wicked Demon race. This is nothing special. It''s normal. The other Apostles are more or less the same. The Great Demon for the satisfaction of battle, the Sorcery Demon for the satisfaction of the unknown, the Decay Demon for the satisfaction of corpse obsession, the Wisdom Demon for the satisfaction of the desire to decide, etc. Even Reji, the Demon King, admits that he, too, needs the power of the demon race to pursue the truth of this pletely different" world a thousand yearster. That''s why some of the Apostles'' desires are not allowed. Like the Wicked Demon, for example. Chapter 80: Chapter 80 : Nature Domain Hey there, I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the support and powerstones you''ve given us! It''s amazing that we''ve managed to collect almost 500 powerstones, and we couldn''t have done it without you. As a way of saying thanks and as part of our Weekly Bonuses, we''re super excited to announce that we''ll be publishing 5 chapters tomorrow! (+daily chapters)That''s right, 5 whole chapters! Thanks again for being such an awesomemunity, and we hope you enjoy the new chapters. -------- This is nothing special. It''s normal. The other apostles are more or less the same. The Great Demon for the satisfaction of battle, the Sorcery Demon for the satisfaction of the unknown, the Decay Demon for the satisfaction of corpse obsession, the Wisdom Demon for the satisfaction of the desire to decide, etc. Even Reji, as the Demon King, admits that he, too, needs the power of the demon race to pursue the truth of this pletely different" world a thousand yearster. That''s why some of the Apostles'' desires are not allowed. Like the Wicked Demon, for example. The demon race is being led down the wrong path by the Wicked Demon. That''s why, after conquering a world, they bepletely hostile to that race, to the point of ughtering and exterminating them. In Reji''s view, this way of thinking ispletely wrong. Any yer who has yed a strategy game knows that the purpose of attacking cities, conquering other countries, and even invading others and worlds, especially in the development stage, is to gain resources. And among these, poption and productivity are the most valuable renewable resources. If, after conquering a world, one leaves behind only devastation and destruction and is forced to move on to the next one, that''s not called conquest. That''s called a locust. Reji raised his hand, signaling Eileen not to guard him anymore. At the same time, Reji handed the elven baby in his hands to the Subus. "Take care of her" Reji said calmly. Perhaps because she loves her home, the baby was not afraid when Reji handed her over to someone else. Instead, she looked curiously at the new "sister" who had taken her. The new "sister" had her eyebrows twitching under her mask. Especially when the elven baby even used her hand to tug at her chest armor, as if ying with the sharp angles out of curiosity. Normally, Eileen would have thrown her out right away. But now... "As youmand, My King." Eileen believed that the demon king must have had a reason for doing this. So, after taking a deep breath, the Subus obediently let the elven baby move around curiously in her arms and held her quietly. After handing Lofu over to Eileen, "Shermen, you stay here, too." Reji said softly to the shadow behind him. "Your Majesty?" Reji shook his head. Seeing her king''s determined attitude, Shermen emerged from the shadows, revealing her true form as the Shadow Demon Apostle, and silently retreated as well. It was only then that the elves realized that there was another Apostle hiding among them. Four whole Apostles! And they were even more shocked by who Reji was, that he couldmand four Apostles, and even have one of them, the Shadow Demon Apostle, merge with the shadows to protect him? And what exactly did Reji want to do now?! Not only were the elves confused, but the Apostles were also puzzled. Finally, the lightly dressed Reji took a step forward and approached the elf''s elder, Nazha. Minor matters could be left to subordinates. But the core issue still had to be handled by him, the Demon King, personally. "I don''t like meaningless casualties." "Surrender, give up resistance, and I can promise you and your tribe''s safety," Reji said to Nazha as he walked. But obviously, it had no effect. Instead, it made her spit on the ground, seemingly expressing her contempt. "Guarantee... safety? Hah! Just with your word? It seems that the crushing defeat a thousand years ago really dealt a heavy blow to you demons, and a thousand yearster, you''ve started using such low-level tricks." Nazha replied sarcastically to Reji. Reji sighed at this. It didn''t matter. This was expected. If the problem could be solved with words alone, it would be too simple. Reji didn''t say anything more. His footsteps didn''t stop either. At this scene, the Sorcery Demon Dian, who was watching from the sidelines, slightly furrowed his brow. Because if the demon king continued to walk forward, he would enter the elven barrier, the "Natural Domain" opened by that woman. Although Nazha had been suppressed by the Sorcery Demon all along, even Dian would not easily enter someone else''s domain. It was a very dangerous act. The reason why domain techniques were so rare and powerful was that anything was possible within the domain realm. Even if there was a huge difference in power between the two sides, there was still a possibility of an upset under the rules of the domain. So, the correct approach was to use a more powerful domain, like the Sorcery Demon was doing now, to envelop the opponent''s domain and gradually erode it until the energy of the opponent''s domain was exhausted. But now, Reji... After slightly furrowing his brow, Dian''s eyes under the raven mask quickly changed to reveal more and more anticipation. As soon as Reji stepped into Nazha''s Forest domain without stopping, Dian felt a rare excitement in his heart. ''Is his majesty...'' ''Going to take the domain personally again?'' ''And was he choosing to make the battlefield in someone else''s domain, just like before?'' ''Did his majesty enjoy letting the enemy go "all out" before crushing them?'' Dian loved research. Not just magic. Anything unknown and mysterious was what Dian pursued and explored. Like... Their new demon king. This was also why the Sorcery Demon chose to appear in his "true form" at that time. So that he could better observe the new demon king. There was no doubt about the demon king''s power, as he was able to crush both the Great Demon and the Sword Demon single-handedly. But on the other hand, the Wicked Demon would question the demon king, and with Lordan''s personality, he wouldn''t let his guard downpletely. At the very least, he had noticed that something was not quite right about the new demon king. So, what was the true extent of the demon king''s power? Dian believed that he would get the answer soon. After all, the Great Demon and the Sword Demon might have held back against the demon king, or there might have been bloodline suppression, or even an element of acting to help the demon king against his kin. But the elven elder in front of them was the real deal. From Nazha''s hatred for them, it was clear that she would fight with all her might and show no mercy. So, unlike before, this time it was a true fight to death. Just as Dian had imagined. Nazha stared fixedly at Reji, and when she saw him walk straight into her forest domain, a hint of pleasure appeared on her face for the first time. ''Arrogant! Conceited! Proud!'' Nazha thought she understood Reji. This demon just looked down on her. He thought that even with the boost from the domain, she was no threat. But Nazha would show this damned demon how wrong he was and make him pay for underestimating her and for not even sparing the babies with his evil! A spiritual song echoed within the boundaries of the Forest Domain. Gusts of wind blew through the forest, swirling up the fallen leaves. Nazha''s body quickly floated up, and leaves danced and spun around her. The poem of the flower song brought the blessings and favor of the natural Fate Track. Buds grew on the elder''s skin, her eyes turned to amber, and her hair turned into willow branches. The elves were the first to react to this scene. They looked at their elder, who was rapidly "transforming" in the center of the barrier, with sad and mournful expressions. They knew exactly what Nazha was doing. It was the elven race''s forbidden secret art. Sacrificing one''s own flesh and blood. In exchange for the favor of the ''Nature Fate Track''. Transforming oneself into a pure energy body, a pure natural element, bing a... Spirit of Nature. In this state, Nazha was like one with the forest. The forest was her, and she was the forest. Six-stage, seven-stage, mid-seven-stage, peak seven-stage, eight-stage! Chapter 81: Chapter 81: In the Name of the Demon King 1/6 Within her domain, Nazha, who had transformed into the "Spirit of Nature," finally increased her power by two stages, surging directly to the eighth stage. Although this eighth stage was somewhat weak, as if Nazha had "borrowed" it from the entire outskirts of the forest, the terrifying aura still forced several Demon Apostles to take her seriously. If they were still within Nazha''s Natural Domain, Dian would find the current Elven Elder to be a thorny opponent. There was no doubt that Nazha had long nned for a day like this, and this ultimate move had been prepared long ago in order to counter the Demon Apostles and face them head-on. "My King!" Eileen was the first to be anxious. As a guard, the Shadow Demon Shermen also couldn''t sit still. The Decay Demon Eris, who was originally happy to assist Reji, now had to transform into her monstrous form and enter Nazha''s domain to help Reji. Although Dian shook his head slightly with some reluctance, he also raised his Raven Staff. He wanted to witness the Demon King''s battle, but the current situation seemed to be getting out of control. Ensuring the Demon King''s safety was the top priority. However, in the next moment, the Sorcery Demon lowered his staff, which he had just raised halfway. If Dian''s raven mask was removed, one would see an expression of surprise on the Sorcery Demon''s face, which was rare even after a hundred years. The reason was simple. By the time the four apostles reacted to the abnormality and rushed to support Reji, it was already toote. Nazha, in her Spirit of Nature state, had alreadyunched an attack. "Go!" Vines and branches burst from the ground, entwining and condensing, instantly forming a dark green wooden spear that hovered above the Elder Nazha''s head. In the next moment, with the terrifying power of an eighth-stage spell, it shot towards Reji. If hit by this spear, even with the Great Demon''s strong physique, without using his domain, it would at least leave a big hole. Indeed, the Spirit of Nature form + personal domain enhancement brought extremely high pration and critical hit rates to the spell. To put it in gaming terms, it was as if all kinds of beneficial BUFFs were maxed out. However, there was a restraining rtionship in the game that all yers understood. That was, "mechanics" were always superior to "numbers." Just like now. Reji admitted that the speed of the wooden spear was very fast, so fast that he couldn''t see it clearly, but what did it matter? In the presence of his own "Nature" Fate Track, any spell belonging to the natural attribute would have its power suddenly decreased by 95% at the time of settlement, regardless of how many amplifications or buffs were added. In the game, one might still suffer 5% damage, but in reality, the dark green spear began to slow down when it was still tens of meters away from Reji, and by the time it was five meters away, it had be as slow as a turtle. Finally, with a single outstretched hand from Reji, the eighth-stage wooden spear came to aplete stop and did not move again. From another perspective, it was as if Reji had extended a finger, tapped it, and that was it. The wooden spear, which had gathered the power of the forest into a single point, was stopped in its tracks! "Whatt!, impossible!!" Nazha reacted the most violently. She stared in disbelief, not expecting this strike to kill Reji outright, but at least to cause some injury. Instead, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Unable to ept it, Nazha continued to burn her flesh and blood, maintaining her elemental state as the Spirit of Nature. This time, she plunged both hands into the ground, turning them into thorns that shot towards Reji. In an instant, the rapidly growing thorns enveloped Reji, forming a thorny prison. The next step was to lock the prison tightly and let the sharp thorns pierce the enemy inside. However, Nazha suddenly lost control of the thorny prison. The thorns then parted to the sides, as if the prison was not a prison at all, but her own home, and a door had been opened. Reji then casually walked out from inside. "What...what did you do!?" "Damn it! Damn it! Why...why won''t it attack him!?" The helpless and enraged Nazha turned the fallen leaves around her into des, forming a storm that shot towards Reji. But the result was the same: all the leaf des fell powerlessly to the ground within ten meters of Reji. This time, Nazha sensed that Reji was not using any powerful force to obstruct her leaf des, but rather that these leaf des were resisting, refusing to attack Reji. "Waa, waa, woo, woo, woo." A baby''s crying suddenly rang out in Nazha''s domain. It came from the Subus Apostle Eileen, who had rushed into the domain out of concern for Reji. Eileen was indeed responsible and still held the Elven baby, not viting the task given to her by Reji. The reason for the baby''s crying was Nazha. Although the baby preferred Reji over the strict and rigid Nazha, she could sense that Nazha''s life force was rapidly fading, and she was stepping into death. That was why the baby was crying so loudly. "Waa, woo, woo, Nana, woo, woo, woo. Nana!" The baby couldn''t speak, but she had learned the word "Nana." And that was enough. Nazha''s expression instantly showed shock that was many times greater than before. The baby was crying and calling out for her, worried about her, which undoubtedly meant that she still recognized her. ''But how could this be possible?'' ''Wasn''t the baby brainwashed by those damned demons? Shouldn''t she have be a ve of the demon race? But how could she still recognize me now?'' Nazha waspletely confused, and while she was in this state of bewilderment, Reji''s voice sounded. "Little one, don''t worry." "Your Nana will be fine." Reji had already walked up to Nazha. He extended a hand, and the music belonging to the Poem of Flowers was transferred from Nazha to Reji. The power belonging to the Nature Fate Track also retreated rapidly from Nazha''s body, and the buds and moss growing on her skin began to recede. Her hair, which had turned into willow branches, returned to its original form, and her sacrifice of burning flesh and blood was halted. Her spiritual transformation was forcibly interrupted. *Thud* Nazha, who had regained her original appearance and left her elemental form, fell from the sky. Although she felt weak all over, as if she had beenpletely drained, this was normal, after all, since she had used the elves'' forbidden secret technique. In fact, it would be more urate to say that in the history of the elves, there had never been a case of anyone surviving after using the forbidden secret technique of "Spirit of Nature." All elves'' final fate was to have their flesh and blood burned to death. No... That wasn''t right! Nazha''s pupils suddenly contracted. She remembered that there was indeed one exception. And that was the creator of the "Spirit of Nature" forbidden secret technique, the most outstanding elf in their history, and the one who was forever remembered... The First Elf Queen! Using a higher Nature Fate Track to suppress it was the only way to lift the "Spirit of Nature." But now... All the emotions in Nazha''s heart eventually turned into her biting her teeth, crawling up, and staring straight at Reji with a question. "Who..." "Who are you!" Reji''s answer was very simple. "Surrender, give up resistance, and I will give you a promise to ensure your safety and that of your tribe." He repeated what he had said at the beginning. However, this time, at the end, Reji paused for a moment before adding another sentence, which could be considered an answer to this elven elder''s question. "In the name of the Demon King." ----------- I sincerely apologize for the dy in the publication process. In an effort to expedite matters, I ammitted to releasing all remaining chapters in one consolidated effort. However, this endeavor necessitates a certain amount of time, as I awaitprehensive feedback from my editor. Once the chapters have undergone thorough review and revisions, they will promptly be returned to me for finalization and subsequent publication. Despite any inconvenience caused by the dy, I assure you that the culmination of our collective efforts will result in the publication of the chapters today, ensuring that the wait is not in vain. Your patience and understanding during this process are greatly appreciated. Chapter 82: Chapter 82: The Relic to Save the World 2/6 Nazha surrendered. The elves one after anotherpletely gave up their resistance. No matter which race or civilization, survival is the first element. In fact, in the history of the elves, there is nock of precedent for surrendering to the demons. But the result was very tragic. The elves who surrendered were all sent to the camp of the Wicked Demons the night they surrendered. When they came out again, although they were still in the shape and body of elves, their souls and wills had long since disappeared, and there was no difference from the walking dead. They were not elves, but magical ve with the appearance of elves. The bloody historical lesson warned the elves that even if they died in battle, they must not surrender to the demon race, otherwise, the only thing waiting for them was to be brainwashed. So, Nazha did indeed lead the elves to surrender now. But the object of her surrender was not the demon race. It was Reji. This elf elder felt a higher level of "Nature" fate protection from Reji. This can be proved by the fact that little Lofu was so close to Reji. Infant elves are particrly sensitive to this aspect and will not be wrong. Although Nazha was bewildered by this, it might be a kind of prophecy and hint. The elves have always believed in such enlightenment. Of course, the natural fate is only one aspect. Reji''s actions towards the elves during the entire campaign also convinced Nazha and shook her. First of all, although most of the elves have lost theirbat power, their actual damage was not much. In fact, the vast majority of elves were only drained of their power by Eris''s "Blood and Flesh Domain", and did not suffer any substantial injury. This also applies to those elf children who were caught and brought back on the back of the skeleton dragon. The children were extremely frightened, but there were no traces of injury on their bodies. Especially, Nazha did not see the brainwashing of the Wicked Demons that she deeply hated and despised, which is secondary. As for thest thing... Nazha took a deep breath. "Why did you save me?" The surrendered woman asked Reji. This Demon King in front of her forcibly helped her withdraw from the sacrificial state of "Spirit of Nature" in the end, which made absolutely no sense. If the Demon King''s purpose was to control the elf tribe... The elder Nazha, who had the most prestige among the elves, died in her own forbidden secret magic, which was undoubtedly the best choice for the Demon King. But Reji did not do that. ''Why?'' Seeing Nazha standing upright now, even if she had surrendered, she still had to stand up to surrender and maintain the noble posture of an elf with one hand covering her chest, Rejiughed. He looked up and down and carefully examined the woman Infront of him. Reji didn''t know how old Nazha was. But to be called an elder, she must not be young. However, the characteristic of the elves was that unless it was thest few years of their lives, their bodies would not age rapidly. Otherwise, before this, the elves'' faces would not have many signs of aging. At least from Reji''s human aesthetic and perspective, Nazha still looked very graceful, and time had not left wrinkles and old age on the elder, but rather like a vintage wine, umting more and more fullness, like a ripe peach. Rejipared Nazha and Vielsia in his mind. The elf princess was called a fresh and young girl, which was indeed true, at least from the aspect of physical development. So. Reji finally stopped his gaze on Nazha''s chest. The elder immediately showed a mocking expression. As if to say. ''Is that it?'' She still thought that this new Demon King would be different. ''But in the end, aren''t all Demon Kings the same?'' Many years have passed. And just like in the days of the ck Beast Corps, it was all low-level, vulgar, and cheap foolish desires. The stern-looking Nazha was more and more excited in her heart. The more the Demon King humiliated her, the more she did some expedient things, the more it proved that the Demon King was all the same. ''A Demon King?'' ''He is just a horny orangutan'' ''We did not lose'' ''We won!'' Nazha almost wrote all her thoughts on her face, immersing herself in the spiritual victory. And the elves seemed to have no feeling about this, but from an outsider''s perspective, Reji tranted Nazha''s expression at this moment as e at me." There might even be an additional "disgust" filter with a sense of contrast. ''Very well'' Reji understood a little why the disgrace of the ck Beast Corpse had happened in those days. "Dian, take out the thing inside her," Rejimanded, pulling Nazha back from her "the elves didn''t lose" spiritual world. At first, she was stunned, but she quickly reacted, thinking that they wouldn''t even give her the chance to resist. Without giving Nazha a chance to resist, a beam of magical power shot out from the Sorcerer''s raven staff and surged into the body of the Elven Elder. Nazha could only clench her teeth and watch as a scroll was stripped from her body, with one corner floating in front of her chest. Reji walked over and grabbed the corner of the scroll, pulling itpletely out of Nazha''s chest. Holding theplete scroll in his hand, Reji quickly shifted his attention away from Nazha, who was panting roughly, her chest heaving due to the magical fluctuations, and her chest were fully exposed. He didn''t even give her a second nce. Holding the scroll in his hand, this time it was no longer a counterfeit. [Saving Relic(Part Three)] [A legacy left by the Son of Destiny a thousand years ago, possessing unimaginable power] The scroll emitted a crystal-clear light in Reji''s hand. Nazha didn''t even have time to think about how Reji knew the location of the sealed scroll, and she was now even more shocked by the scroll''s reaction to Reji. As soon as the scroll came into contact with Reji, it slowly opened, emitting an even more dazzling light and constantly flying around and spinning, as if expressing excitement and joy. Nazha''s mind went nk, and she waspletely stunned. It should be noted that this scroll was something that the elves had collected with great difficulty, a relic for saving the world. They had spent hundreds of years studying it and finally managed to repair the damaged relic and figure out its purpose. However, during this time, the relic had never produced any light for them, even when they used all their magical power to nurture it. The biggest reaction from the scroll was that it could barely merge into their bodies, making it easier to carry and hide. But now... The scroll seemed to be getting impatient as Reji didn''t react and took the initiative to stick to his palm, bringing itself closer to Reji''s hand. [Home System Unlocked] [Do you want to activate it now?] The prompt in Reji''s mind repeated. Only then did Rejie back to his senses. [Activate] Reji''s fingertips rubbed the page of the scroll, and dazzling light immediately burst from the scroll, enveloping a range of several dozen meters around Reji in an instant. Upon activation of the scroll, even the four Apostles, including the Sorcerer Dian, were unable to react in time. It was only when they appeared in a strange space the next moment that they came to their senses. Seeing the extremely anxious four Apostles, Reji raised his hand and gestured for them to rx. As for the elves who were also brought into this space, they were also very panicked, thinking that the Demon race was going to regret and unleash some evil spell. Only Nazha was different. Although she was not acknowledged by the ''Saving Relic'' and became its user, she was still its guardian. As soon as she entered this space, she recognized it. This was the space inside the relic! ording to the prophecies of their ancestors, the elves came to the Kingdom of Ilinor to find a human who could be acknowledged by the scroll and be the user of the ''Saving Relict'' to seal the Demon race. And the result... The prophecy dide true. They really found, or rather, the user of the scroll found them and sessfully activated the ''Saving Relic''. ''But why...'' ''Why is the person who activate it.. the Demon King!?'' However, Nazha soon realized that she was wrong. The young Demon King in front of her was not so much a user of the Saving Relic, but more like its master. [You have sessfully activated the "Home" system] [Current Home Level: LV1] [Vitality Rating: F-] [Resource Output Efficiency: F-] [Affinity Efficiency: F-] [Maximum number of "Companions" that can be ced: 1] [Maximum number of "Land Module" that can be ced: 50] [Owned Companions: Vielsia (5)] [Companion "Vielsia" has an affinity of over 60%, unlocking the "Legacy Theme" - Elf (consuming 1000 Starlight)] [(*Legacy Theme - When the affinity of a Companion meets certain conditions, they will receive a special set of "Building" blueprints ording to their race. After sessfully cing a certain number of special buildings, this area can be upgraded to a "Themed Home" of that race)] [(*Special Buildings - Provide higher Home level bonuses and can synthesize and manufacture exclusive equipment or weapons belonging to that race. cing the corresponding Companion in the special building will receive different bonus effects)] [(*Themed Home - When Companions of the same race as the "Theme" are ced in it, they will receive additional affinity, experience value, and skill proficiency bonuses. There is also an extremely low probability of upgrading the Companion''s potential value)] [Owned ordinarynd modules: 20] [Owned special buildings: 0] [Owned "Themed Homes" quantity: 0] [Owned...] [...] [Please name your Home: (awaiting input)] Chapter 83: Chapter 83: The Great Land of Revival 3/6 With a wave of Reji''s hand, countless sand, soil, and stones spread out in the void, turning intond. With another lift of his hand, a peak tens of meters high rose from the ground and settled in ce. Then, Reji''s gaze swept to the side, and clear spring water gushed out from the veins of the earth, forming several clear and winding streams. The streams followed Reji''s line of sight and gathered at the foot of the peak, forming a beautiful greenke. After that, there were small paths, forests, flower beds, grasnds, caves, and stone caves. Reji tried many things. These were all "ordinarynd modules" in the ''home''. He was just cing thend blocks. But in the eyes of the four apostles and the crowd of elves, it was as if Reji was the master of this space, like a god of creation, able to change everything at will, creating and destroying everything with a wave of his hand. Reji quickly took back all thend blocks he had just ced. For no other reason. They were too ugly. If it were just a game, it would be fine. But in reality, that is just a big no. Reji still had to maintain the perfect image of the Demon King. He couldn''t show weakness. ''But in any case'' ''This feeling'' ''Hmm, it is kinda amazing'' The unexpected unlocking of the Home system was a huge surprise and help for Reji. In many games, the home not only had the purpose of increasing the affection ofpanions but also produced resources and materials for the yer 24 hours a day, which was very important. The same was true for "Magic Chronicles." It was not obvious in the early stages, butter, when yers upgraded from the fourth stage onward, especially when they improved their star sculptor, they needed a lot of advanced materials in addition to experience points. Besides killing monsters, synthesizing in the home was also a major source. However. This convenience was a bit redundant for Reji at the moment because the upgrade conditions for the "Demon King" fate track did not require the submission of materials but rather leading the demon race toplete special race tasks. However, the fact that Reji couldn''t use it himself didn''t mean he couldn''t give it to others. He now had an entire demon race to take care of. No. Now there was an additional elf race. When Reji looked towards her, Nazha, as the elder of the elves, had to ensure the interests of her tribe and negotiate conditions with Reji. "Don''t even think about it!" "We elves will never ept being locked up here!" Nazha was trembling with anger now. It was bad enough that they couldn''t seal the demon inside. And now, it seemed that Reji wanted to keep them here. Nazha''s stubbornness and determination not to yield did not bother Reji. He didn''t even bother to say more. He directly acted. [Do you confirm to buy''Legacy Theme Elf'' for 1000 Starlight?] ''Confirm'' For normal yers, 1000 Starlight was a lot, after all, a daily quest only gave 50 Starlight, which was equivalent to spending 20 turns in the game. This was on the premise of not using Starlight to "draw cards" to findpanions. But for Reji now, it was a small amount. Reji once again marveled at the power of the Demon King fate track, and the hundredfold reward brought by Star sculptor I. He could stably get 5,000 Starlight from daily quests every day. Last time he drew Vielsia and used 3,500, and now he still had more than 1,000 Starlight left, which he used immediately. Starlight gathered, and it seemed that the legacy of the Elf was engraved and recorded from the distant past, corresponding to Reji, and a new home panel appeared. [Legacy Theme - Elf] [Legacy Level: LV1 (Improve by upgrading the core building)] [Core Building Blueprint - World Tree (Obtained)] [Secondary Buildings: Moon Well - Slightly increase resource output rate (Requires 1 *little elves*) Wisdom Ancient Tree - Gain extra experience bonus when apanion is ced inside (Requires 2 *little elves*) Ranger''s Hall - Can specify apanion''s skill for "specialization" learning when apanion is ced inside (Requires 4 *little elves*) Guardian Tree Elder Altar War Ancient Tree More secondary buildings, please upgrade the legacy level] After unlocking the elf''s legacy theme, in addition to a new panel avable for Reji to control, five balls of light also appeared in front of him in this space. These five balls of light, the *little elves* initially did not dare to believe, rubbing their eyes, and looking carefully, one by one with their mouths wide open. This also included Nazha. ''*little elves*'' ''Is these the *little elves* that we had long lost!?'' From the home panel, it could be seen that the buildings of the elves, although called buildings, were mostly trees! Various trees. Wisdom Ancient Tree, Guardian Tree, War Ancient Tree These "trees" could not be built by workers. They had to bepleted by "*little elves*." To put it simply, the elves can be understood as a ''universal seed''. Without seeds, trees cannot be grown. However, ever since the invasion of the Demon race into the Elf World thousands of years ago, when they burned the World Tree to ashes, the *little elves* lost their source and disappearedpletely. These ''little elves'' seed can only be produced by the "World Tree." Without the World Tree, there would be no little elves, and without little elves, those advanced buildings and legacies would be lost. This is why the elven race has not been able to develop again for so many years, and instead, has be more and more decadent, leaving only Nazha as the only elder. Even the five ''little elves'' initially given in the Home Legacy made Nazha breathe rapidly, and she couldn''t wait to rush over. The next moment, Reji waved his hand, and one of the little elves floated over to the designated spot, turned into a seed, and buried itself in the ground. After a while, a tender bud sprouted from the ground, and a small tree grew vigorously in the eyes of all the elves. It branched out and spread its leaves, eventually bing arge umbre-shaped tree about six or seven meters tall. A thick life aura emanated from the tree, and every branch and leaf seemed to contain endless mysteries. Ancient patterns spiraled around the trunk, and a bright, crystal-clear green light shimmered from the treetop. Just being next to this tree, all the elves felt as if they were basking in the warm spring breeze, immersed in the thick and sweet natural aura, as if they had returned to the warmth of home. There was no doubt about it. This was the World Tree! Their Elf Race''s origin! The World Tree, which had been extinct for thousands of years, had been reborn! The significance of the World Tree to the elves, aside from historical inheritance, was that only the World Tree could produce *little elves*, the seeds of all things. With the World Tree, it was as if the Elven Race had regained the foundation of everything. Nazha stared at the lush green tree in a daze, as if she could already see the beautiful vision of the elves rising again, regaining their glory, and returning to their noble position in the reflection of the World Tree''s light and leaves. Nazha wiped her mouth. It wasn''t until the voice of that damn Demon King sounded again, interrupting Nazha''s happy fantasies. "I don''t like to force people, since your kin is unwilling..." "We are willing!" Nazha''s sharp voice interrupted Reji. Looking at the angry expression of the woman now, it was as if she was saying, ''How could you drive us out!'' ''This was heaven!'' ''This was...'' ''The greatnd of revival belonging to the Elf Race!'' Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Sky City, Demon Kings Tower "What do you think, Dian? Is it difficult to transfer the Demons here?" Using the ''Home'' to amodate the elves was only a small part of Reji''s n. What he was looking forward to even more was moving the entire Demon race to his ''Home''. The "sealing crisis" of the elves had been resolved, but it also sounded an rm for Reji. Leaving the main force of the Demon race in the Chaos Rift all the time was not a solution. If there were any other behind-the-scenes forces that wanted to target the Demons, it would be too passive. Moreover, the barren Chaos Rift waspletely an obstacle to the development of the Demon race. Reji urgently needed to find another ce that was safer, more reliable, and more fertile to amodate the main force of the Demon race. Originally, Reji''s n was to control the Kingdom of Ilinor and use this human kingdom as a shield on the surface. Then, he would divide the area for the Demon race. However, now... The appearance of the Home system gave him another and better solution. "My King, in theory, the transfer is not difficult to achieve. What I am more concerned about is that this space may not berge enough to amodate our race." The Sorcerer demon carefully studied this anomalous space. Since being transferred here, Dian''s mood had significantly improved, and even the tone of his voice was slightly higher than usual, filled with a strong desire to explore and curiosity. That was the Sorcerer demon. A very pure schr. Therefore, Reji did not mind sharing some of the authority of the Home system with Dian. To achieve the transfer of the Demon race, the knowledge and ability of the Sorcerer demon were indispensable. Hearing Dian''s affirmation of his idea, Reji nodded inwardly. ''As expected, it was just as I thought'' In the game, the Home system could only amodate "Companions." So even in thete game, there were at most 42 characters in Reji''s highest-level Home space. But now, whether it was the four Demon Apostles or the more than 200 elves, from the panel, they were not his Companions and far exceeded the number that the Home space should be able to bear. Therefore, Reji spected that this might be the difference between the game and reality and was not constrained by the "Companion" framework. Now Dian had clearly stated that transferring the Demon race here was not a problem. The only concern was that there was not enough space here. But for Reji, this was not that big of a problem. Dian was still in the exploratory stage of understanding ''Home'', and his knowledge was limited. However, Reji was very clear that as the level of ''Home'' increased, the space here would expand geometrically. Even if it reached the maximum level, in the game, one could use a fixed 100 starlight points to exchange for an increase in the nd block" limit. The more blocks, the greater the capacity of the Home. However, this function was very useless in the game because it would not increase the resource output of the Home, but only expand the area. Reji certainly would not use precious starlight points to do this. He was not interested in things like Home cultivation or setting up various beautiful buildings and vis. But now it was different. If the ''Home'' space could really amodate the Demon race, even if it was only a small part, such as the eight Apostles and their core ns, that would absolutely solve one of Reji''s worries and give the Demon race peace of mind. Moreover, in terms of his private thoughts, he had absolute control over the Home, and the characters ced in the Home would also subtly increase their affection for him. Once this was sessfully achieved, he would no longer have to worry about the control and loyalty of the Demon race army in the future. "I will figure out the space expansion, and the rest of the transfer work...Dian, I''m entrusting this task to you. Also, I want to change the appearance of this space." "Do you mean to transform the shape of that scroll?" "Yes, the spacepression technique here is indeed powerful, but as we expand its interior, the scroll''s shape will definitely not be able to contain it. Moreover, for our people, it is a loss of face. So I want to change the shape of the space into a...warship." "Warship?" Dian was obviously a bit unfamiliar with this term. Reji exined, "You can understand it as a fortress that can fly in the sky." Dian nodded. "I understand ,My King. You want to rebuild a magical tower that floats high in the sky based on the space expansion andpression techniques of this scroll, right?" "You can out it that way." Compared to building the base on the ground or underground, Reji preferred to build something like a sky city. It felt more domineering and impressive. Later, he could spiral-build the Demon King''s Tower inyers, letting each Apostle and their n guard ayer. How to put it? Yes, just like a high-difficulty dungeon. Those who wanted toe and attack this "Demon King" would have to go through a lot of hardships, first ascending to the sky city, and then climbing the toweryer byyer, passing through the guardian Apostle bosses on eachyer, and finally reaching the Demon King''s room at the top of the tower. Reji felt more and more like a viin after thinking of this. After exining this rough construction n, Dian immediately nodded and promised to do his best. "Leave it to me, My King. I will do my utmost." "I am also very grateful to My King for giving me this opportunity. This legacy left by the Son of Destiny has a great attraction to me." "So..." After a pause, the Sorcerer demon sincerely said, "I beg My King to allow me to continue researching this ce after the task ispleted." "No problem, this is your due reward." Even if Dian didn''t take the initiative to ask, Reji would still have many questions about the Home in the future and would need Dian''s help. Therefore, he directly agreed. After instructing Dian, Reji turned his head to the Subus. "Eileen, as you can see, everything here is almost empty." "I have also given you the authority to use this ce. I hope that you can assist Dian in building the Demon King''s Tower. I hope this ce can be the most solid and reliable rear area for our kin." Eileen immediately bowed and said, "I cannot refuse your majesty." "Thank you, Eileen." Reji was not as formal with Eileen as he was with Dian. He even held Eileen''s hand tofort her. "By the way, regarding the matters of the elven race and the n for the Demon King''s Tower, you can summarize them and send a copy to Leoter. Don''t disturb him too much. Let Leo know that everything is going well on our side so that he doesn''t have to worry." Reji did not call upon the Wisdom Demon this time. On the one hand, he thought that with four Apostles and himself, the immunity to the natural magic Demon King, they basically had the upper hand. On the other hand, as he had emphasized, Reji did not want to disturb the Wisdom Demon. After all, Leo''s task was also very important. Even with the unexpected surprise of the Home space, Reji still had to have his way with the Ilinor Kingdom, and this was his next action goal. After arranging everything here, Reji left with Shermen and quickly returned to the Royal City. The Demon King had left. The Sorcerer apostle, who was about to go to work, saw the Subus Apostle still standing there with her head down after Reji left. He couldn''t help but shake his head. Dian could more or less understand the reason for Eileen''s discouraged expression. "Eileen, you must understand that his majesty is currently busy working for the revival of our race and is not deliberately ignoring you," Dian said. Of course, Eileen knew what Dian was saying. That was precisely why she had acted obediently in front of Reji just now, not showing any abnormality and not causing trouble for her king. But in fact... After Reji left, Eileen sighed deeply, and her beautiful face was full of irritation. The reason was just as the Sorcerer demon had said. "She..." She had spent too little time with him! She thought that after being allowed by the demon King to descend and leave the Chaos Rift, she could finally stick to his side. She could finally kick that old woman Shermen away from the demon King''s side and be the one to protect him. But In the end, it was still Shermen who stayed with him, while she remained in the rear, and she might not see her king even once a day. How could Eileen not feel lost and discouraged? But thinking about it carefully, what could she do? Among the Demon Apostles, only Leo, who possessed leadership abilities, had been sent away, leaving only her to manage the rear for the demon King. Otherwise, who could they rely on? Eris? At the thought of this, Eileen nced at Eris, who was stupidly spewing mud not far away, trying to build a "Corruption Pool" in this new space. Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Eileen Wants to Become a Wife "Eris! Stop it! Clean up your mud and wait until I assign you a space before you build your nest!" The Subus''s voice thundered, scaring Eris who was happily ying with the mud. Eris immediately shrank her neck and whispered, "Eileen is out of favor...always picking on Eris...wuuu...mating season...so scary." Eileen: "." She took a deep breath and gathered her strength. Seeing that Eileen was about to fight with Eris like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Dian came over to mediate and quickly persuaded the Subus to calm down. "Come on, Eileen, don''t take Eris''s words to your heart. In my opinion, his majesty has already given you a great favor. Haven''t you noticed?" "What do you mean? Do you mean building the Demon King''s Castle with you?" The King trusted her so much that he had given her the power to decorate the home, and of course, Eileen was happy about it. However, what Eileen wanted more was exclusive favor, preferably of a "private" nature, rather than on such a macro level concerning the Demon race. But Dian''s next words left Eileen stunned. "Do you remember when we were about to recover that elven woman, his majesty handed over that Elf infant to you?" Eileen: ".?" Seeing Eileen''s confused expression, Dian couldn''t help but shake his head, "Can''t you understand his majesty''s obvious hint?" "Eileen, think carefully. Why did his majesty care so much about an Elf infant and even hold her in his arms?" "And, think about it. At that time, there were still Shermen, me, and Eris by his majesty''s side, so why did his majesty hand over the infant to you?" In fact, at that time, Eileen was a little puzzled by the first half of what Dian said. That infant was like any other Elf child and could have been left on the back of the skeleton dragon. Why did his majesty have to hold her, and why did she receive such favor? Soter, when Reji handed the infant over to Eileen, she was actually quite annoyed by the infant, but she endured it to obey her king. Now, however, Dian was telling her that this was his majesty''s favor to her? ''Favor? What favor?'' "You still didn''t get it yet? Have you forgotten how you came into being?" Dian had to give her another hint. Eileen rolled her eyes. ''Such a stupid question...'' ''Did he think I was an idiot?'' ''Of course, I was born from the Queen Mother and the previous Demon King'' ''Born...'' ''Ah!'' ''Wait a minute!'' "Dian, you don''t mean that his majesty wants to have a child with me, do you?!" Eileen was skeptical, but just saying it made her heart beat faster, and her ears and face turned red. As for Dian... Dian shook his head and then nodded. He continued to analyze for Eileen: "I think his majesty has this intention to some extent, but more importantly, he wants to test and train you, to prepare you for having a child." "Prepare, prepare me?" "Yes, as a new generation of Subus, youck experience. Even if his majesty really had a child with you, would you be confident in taking care of his majesty''s child? Do you know how to take care of an infant?" "I I..." Eileen, who was usually glib, was now stuttering and unable to refute. She was only a little over a thousand years old. Forget about having a child, she was a virgin Subus not long ago. However, Eileen quickly changed her expression and asked excitedly and nervously, "So, Dian, are you saying that the reason why his majesty values this Elf infant is that his majesty himself has the intention of having a child?" "And the reason why his majesty gave the child to me is that he is testing me, hinting at me, wanting me to practice how to take care of a child, using the Elf''s child to practice, and preparing for our offspring!!" The Subus spoke faster and faster. In the end, her mouth almost reached the sky. However, Eileen soon calmed down and pretended to cough a few times, beginning to suspect Dian. "Dian, is it possible that after spending some time with Leo, you have also be smarter?" Eileen almost overlooked the hint from his majesty. Howe Dian, a bookworm who only knew how to research magic, was able to discover it? In response to this, Dian''s exnation was: "Leo did teach me a lot, especially how to understand his majesty''s intentions." "Leo once said to me, and now I pass it on to you: often, many of his majesty''s seemingly simple and ordinary actions hide deeper meanings. We must think more, ponder more, and learn more when we are with his majesty." Eileen was speechless. Even at the very beginning of the Demon King''s meeting, Leo was the one who understood his majesty the most. In terms of understanding andprehending his majesty''s intentions, Leo was indeed far superior to them. "Hmph" Eileen snorted disdainfully and turned to leave. ''Sooner orter, I would be able to do it like Leo'' ''No!'' ''I would do even better than the Wisdom Demon. I would be able to adjust to any position with just a pat on the butt from his majesty!'' ''To achieve this goal, I needed to take action now'' Eileen looked around for the Elf infant, and finally, she found her in the mouth of the skeleton dragon. This Elf infant named "Lofu" seemed to be especially lively and bold. Other Elven children, no, even adult Elves, trembled in fear of the Demon n and wished they could stay as far away as possible. But this little infant... "Waa waa! Uh waa!" Seeing Lofu actively crawling into the mouth of the skeleton dragon, she was now using one of the dragon''s teeth as a slide, ying with great delight. And the skeleton dragon... This magnificent undead creature could only endure silently, not even daring to close its mouth, keeping it open for the infant Elf to y inside as if it were an amusement park. You ask why? Although it was a skeleton dragon, it was not blind or stupid. This was the infant girl who had been held in the arms of the Demon King! For the skeleton dragon, Lofu was like an ancestor! Seeing the Subus Apostle Eileening especially for this Elf infant, the skeleton dragon felt even more wise about its previous decision. The skeleton dragon quickly opened its mouth even wider for Lofu to y, and its tail behind it now wagged like a dog''s, as if trying to curry favor. "Waa waa!" Seeing the familiar big sistering, little Lofu reacted excitedly. She seemed to have grown tired of the skeleton dragon''s teeth and reached out her little arms towards Eileen, waving her hands and calling out to her, clearly asking Eileen to hold her. Eileen took a deep breath and picked up little Lofu this time of her own volition. Looking at the infant in her arms, Eileen couldn''t help but daydream, imagining that the Elven infant she was holding was her own child with the demon king. With this filter added, Eileen suddenly felt that this Elven infant was...quite cute? Of course, she still had a cold expression on her face. "What do you want to do next?" Eileen was here to gain experience, so she asked directly. Lofu didn''t mind the Subus''s somewhat stiff tone. She made a few "waa" sounds and pitifully covered her dry little belly, looking at Eileen with wide, pleading eyes. Her innocent little face was full of one word. Hungry. Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Struggle for Power and Influence In the night of Ilinor capital, everyone had their own matters to attend to. In the underground headquarters of the Five Flowers Alliance, the core members who founded the "Five Flowers Alliance" gathered together, with the Duchess, Madam Lisa, at the head, and the remaining four counts sitting on both sides of the round table. A n that wouldpletely overturn the Ilinor Kingdom and bring great turmoil was unfolding here. "Next, let me confirm our actions with you all once again," said Lisa, who was sitting in the main seat, wearing a white dress and a ck wide-brimmed hat. She was nearly two meters tall, with extremely broad shoulders and a sturdy pelvis. Even sitting on the widest chair, she looked very crowded. Her exaggeratedly voluptuous figure did not give people a sense of beauty, but rather a sense of horror. The firelight in the underground room reflected her pale skin, and the bright red lipstick on her lips made her look even more bizarre. No one dared to disobey this Duchess. It was not only because of the pressure from her appearance and status, but also because of the terrifying monster hidden in the shadows behind Lisa. Lisa said slowly, "The envoy from the Empire will arrive in the city three dayster, on Saturday." "At that time, the city will hold a grand banquet to wee and receive the envoy. All members of the royal family of Ilinor, even our old king, will attend the banquet and dare not neglect the envoy." "The opportunity to gather the whole royal family like this may note again in a hundred years. We, the Five Flowers Alliance, have been preparing for so many years for this moment. There is no better opportunity than this banquet to wipe out the entire royal family." "I havemunicated with the envoy, and the envoy has given us the support. In return, we will capture the eldest princess, our beloved Princess Yuffie, during the operation and send her to the envoy''s room for his enjoyment." "Therefore, our first objective is to ughter all members of the Ilinor royal family, except for the eldest princess, andpletely eliminate them from the city, leaving not a single one behind." "Our second objective is to capture the eldest princess and not let Yuffie escape. This is as important as the first objective, because it involves whether we can continue to receive the support of the Empire''s envoy in the future." The three nobles below all nodded in agreement with Lisa''s summary. It was not difficult to see that the whole n seemed to be secondary to "coup d''etat." How to please and satisfy the "Empire''s envoy" was also highly regarded by them. Why? The exmations of the three nobles below provided the answer. "The old king is foolish. He should have surrendered to the Empire earlier. Now, it hase to this disgraceful end." "After we control the royal city, we will immediately apply to the envoy for political protection and request the Empire to build a military camp and permanently station troops in our Ilinor kingdom. This way, even if there are other forces in the kingdom who want to resist us, they will have no choice but to surrender." This Count''s suggestion immediately received the agreement of the other two members present, who eagerly echoed: "Hmph, otherwise, are we going to rely on the army of Ilinor topete with the Empire? It''s asughable as throwing eggs at a stone." "If our old were like the other neighboring kingdoms, epted the Empire''s garrison, was willing to exempt the Empire''s merchants and goods from tariffs, and was willing to give preferential policies to the Empire''s people, it would not have ended up like this." "Yes, so after our Five Flowers Alliance takes over Ilinor, we must learn from our lessons, strive to please the Empire, deepen our exchanges with the Empire, and I have already established a rtionship with a private academy in the Empire. I n to send my son to study in the Empireter." The second nobleman saidst, looking smug, as if showing off his connections in the Empire. And this did indeed attract envious looks from the other nobles. "That''s great! I heard that even the air in the Empire is fresher, the magic density is higher, and the moon is rounder. It''s a pity that I don''t have a child to send over." "Speaking of which, Vedler, don''t you have a daughter? How about it? Send Ariel with my son to the Empire. Your daughter is so beautiful. If she marries an aristocrat in the Empire, who knows, your family might even get an Empire''s ''resident permit''!" It was the Count who had previously said he would send his son to study in the Empire, who now turned his gaze to the other Count at the edge of the round table. Unlike the other three, Vedler had been silent and taciturn since the meeting began, as if he were just an observer. Count Vedler saw that the topic had turned to him. He smiled and shook his head. "Everyone, why don''t we discuss more about the operation n three dayster? Are you not worried that the royal family may have hidden forces? And what countermeasures have you prepared for this?" Vedler''s words seemed to have a magical power. The few Counts of the Five Flowers Alliance who were just enthusiastically dreaming about the future suddenly made a 180-degree turn and were pulled back to the topic of the operation. "Strength? It''s just the Royal Knights, oh right, and Vedler, you told us before that the eldest princess has recruited an A-level mercenary group, called something like the Eagle Mercenaries?" "But none of this matters. The monster behind Madam Lisa is our biggest trump card. With it, whether it''s the Royal Knights or an A-level adventurer, they stand no chance against it, hahaha!" The few Counts of the Five Flowers Alliance were very confident. As the leader, Duchess Lisa was the same. As if to demonstrate, Lisa hooked her finger towards the back, and the terrifying monster walked out of the shadows. It had a forest of white bones, and its hollow eye sockets flickered with dim ghostly mes. It held arge chopping knife, it... It was a Death Knight. A stage 3 undead. "Is this your...only trump card?" "Vedler! Watch your tone. I''ve felt something off about you since the beginning. What''s wrong with you?" Count Vedler did not answer. He just sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, I seem to have overestimated you all." "Thank you for exining the action n to me today. Your intelligence has been very helpful. So, please continue to execute this n." The members of the Five Flowers Alliance who had just questioned Count Vedler looked confused under his words. Then, they quickly nodded like puppets, as if they had forgotten the unpleasantness just now. "Thank you for your cooperation." "Well, I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I''ll leave first." "Please keep working hard." Vedler stood up from his seat, along with his two followers behind him. Although the meeting had not ended, and even the leader, Lisa, had not said they could leave, they left very calmly. But no one found this strange. It was as if everything was very natural. After leaving the inside of the Five Flowers Alliance, Count Vedler''s appearance began to blur, and dark green snake scales crawled up his skin. His deep brown vertical pupils, snake eyes, reflected a deep and mysterious glow in the moonlight. It was not only Count Vedler. His two followers behind him were also like this, but their transformation was even greater, and their bodies swelled, turning into snake people. This was a very obvious racial characteristic in the Demon Race. Wisdom Demons. Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Chess Pieces "Lord Leon, it''s a message from Lord Dian. It seems that His Majesty has already eliminated the threat from the Elven race." A high-ranking Wisdom Demon respectfully handed a magic crystal ball to Leon. After Leon ced his hand on it, the recorded images in the crystal ball appeared instantly. It was a simple summary of this operation by the Sorcery Demon, ording to Reji''s instructions, to report the victory to the Wisdom Demon side. After watching itpletely, Leon''s two subordinate Wisdom Demons were the first to express their admiration. "As expected of His Majesty, it has only been less than two days, and he has already sessfully discovered the location of the Elf''s main base and wiped out the Elves in one fell swoop. Such efficiency is simply beyond our reach." "Not only that, the millennium-old relic that His Majesty obtained from the Elves is also of great help to our race. His Majesty not only broke the Elves''s seal n but also turned this once-fated relic into a power for our race, achieving two goals at once." "However..." This high-ranking Wisdom Demon, who was full of admiration for Reji, paused and said with some confusion: "But His Majesty divided such a precious extra-dimensional space and gave a part to the Elves, isn''t that a bit..." In Reji''s Demon King Tower n, it also included ayer for the Elves. That''s why these two Wisdom Demons felt a bit ufortable, as if there were outsiders in their home, who were still so small. However, very quickly... "A bit what? Do you think it''s a waste? Your thoughts are so low sighted." Upon hearing Leon speak up and reprimand them, the two high-ranking Wisdom Demons quickly lowered their heads and dared not speak further. "Do you still remember what I warned you about? There must be a deeper meaning behind every move His Majesty makes. With this as a premise, think carefully about why His Majesty would do this." Leon did not directly rify the doubts of his two subordinate Wisdom Demons. Because he knew that giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish. Following Leon''s line of thought, the brains of the two high-ranking Wisdom Demons spun rapidly, and one of them seemed to have realized something, immediately showing an enlightened expression. "Lord Leon, could it be that this relic can exhibit different effects depending on the race within it? The World Tree in the relic''s space is just a beginning, and more of the Elven race''s heritage can be developedter?" The other high-ranking Wisdom Demon immediately understood as well. He excitedly said, "I see! His Majesty is using these Elves to strengthen the relic! So His Majesty''s true goal is not these weak and declining Elves, but to use them as a starting point to restore the entire civilization heritage behind the Elven race!" After being guided by Leon, the two high-ranking Wisdom Demons were in awe for a long time, and their admiration for Reji, for their new demon king, increased greatly. After all, they only saw the surface, saw those weak Elves unworthy of being in the Demon King''s Tower, but His Majesty was more macroscopic, aiming to obtain a civilization for the Demon race! "Pass this message down, and inform all Wisdom Demons that our n''s direction has changed with His Majesty''s. Besides searching for information on humans, insects, we should also include other races such as dragons, beastmen and other races." "Lord Leon, do you mean..." "Indeed. His Majesty has likely noticed this as well. The fall of that human Son Of Destiny is like a massive treasure trove for other races. Each relic has infinite allure, so I suspect that the number of races descending upon this world is greater than we imagine." "Our previous focus on seeking revenge against humans was too narrow-minded. His Majesty has now shown us another path. Our Demon King''s intention is clear: we should seize this opportunity to collect all other races and create an as of exotic creatures to present to His Majesty. This is what our Wisdom Demon n should do to share His Majesty''s burdens." "Understood, Lord Leo!" The two high-ranking Wisdom Demons were incredibly excited, and their blood boiled when they thought of the demon king''s grand vision. How powerful would the Demon race be when fused with multiple civilizations? Under the new Demon King''s leadership, the Demon race would undoubtedly reach a new pinnacle! Of course. Collecting a pendium of all races" for the demon king is a very distant grand goal. For now, their primary objective is to control the Ilinor kingdom first. Leon did not choose to kill or use spells to control the Five Flowers Alliance directly. Just like fishing requires bait, allowing humans to weaken each other first and then intervening as a third party to support a new puppet is obviously a more rxed approach than taking direct action. Moreover, Leon was concerned about the imperial envoy. If he acted first and the envoy discovered any abnormalities in the royal city, the envoy might choose to flee midway, which Leon did not want to see. Rather than taking risks, it was better to wait patiently. Although everything was basically prepared, and this human power struggle in the royal city would be the veil for their Demon race three dayster, Leon still thought carefully and issued amand: "Tomorrow, summon a Shadow Demon to infiltrate and monitor the human eldest princess." With this, both the Five Flowers Alliance and the royal family would be under his surveince. As an Apostle, this was Leon''s first battle. To avoid leaving any stains on himself in the demon king''s heart, Leon absolutely did not allow any errors to ur. ---- ------- ''Home'' ''Elven territory'' ''World Tree'' Besides therge, umbre-like green tree in the center, there were several small saplings nearby. Although still young, Nazha knew that these were the seeds of civilization, the ancient trees of wisdom that brought infinite "spell methods," the ancient trees of war that granted powerful "skills," and the essence of the Elven civilization, their once-lost heritage. ''They''re back!'' ''Everything we lost. are slowlying back!'' If this weren''t the Demon race''s territory, if it weren''t for the Demon King''s hand, Nazha would have been overjoyed, seeing this as the blessing of their ancestors and the protection of the God of Nature. But now... ''No!'' ''We had not fallen!'' ''We are now epting the Demon King''s favor, relying on the Demon King''s territory, but... but it wasn''t wrong! We are just hiding!'' ''We still have a major trump card and a backup n that this foolish Demon King had not discovered'' ''Vielsia, the princess we are most proud of'' She is also the most excellent Elf taught personally by Nazha, the Grand Elder. Nazha believed that after Vielsia noticed the abnormalities on their side, she would surely hide herself and seek help from humans in other countries. Meanwhile, the Elves had to endure and pretend to submit to the Demon race while secretly amassing power. When the day came for Vielsia to lead a great army to counterattack the Demon race, they would rise up and join forces with their princess Vielsia, dealing a crushing blow to the Demon race. Previously, Nazha felt some guilt about submitting to the Demon race, but after thinking it through, she no longer felt any psychological burden. In fact, she was even nning to go to the Demon King''s room one night when he returned, to negotiate better conditions, such as expanding the space for the Elves. For the Elves, for Vielsia, Nazha was willing to make sacrifices. .. -Royal City. -Lanqi Artifacts Shop. The bespectacled girl in the academy uniform arrived herete at night, bringing with her the remainder of her small fortune. "Huh? Miss Vielsia?" The moment she pushed the door open, the shopkeeper immediately recognized Vielsia. The reason was simple. Recently, the third-tier spell scroll that had attracted much attention at the auction and brought great reputation to the Lanqi Artifacts Shop was the work of this ordinary female student. Incidentally, Vielsia''s current "small fortune" was also the profit from selling that third-tier scroll. The thrifty Elven princess originally nned to save this money as a fund for the Elven revival, and she couldn''t bear to spend it even on her own food, clothing, and shelter. However, now she had taken out all of it. Her purpose... "I want, I want to buy some healing potions, the best ones!" Vielsia looked at the healing potions on the shelves, especially the high-end, expensive ones. Although it hurt her heart to spend so much money, she gritted her teeth and bought them. After sending off Professor Reji, Vielsia felt inexplicably restless and couldn''t sleep. Elves had always trusted their intuition. Vielsia was worried that Reji might have some hidden illness, or that his previous injury hadn''t healed, so she went out to buy medicine for him. She wanted to make sure he took it tomorrow, so she could feel at ease. As for spending all the revival funds, it''s fine! ''Elder Nazha definitely won''t me me'' ''Teacher Reji is our Elven race''s best revival resource!'' ''This is an investment.'' ''Yes!'' ''An investment!'' After Vielsia left with several bottles of high-grade healing potions, the shopkeeper who had just entertained her went to a dark room at the back of the artifact store. There was amunication magic spell in the room. After operating it, the shopkeeper reported to the other side: "Yes, Your Highness, Vielsia just came by, that''s themoner female spellcaster you wanted to recruit." -"Did shee to sell new spell scrolls again?"- The voice from the other side of themunication image said in an indifferent tone. The shopkeeper shook his head. "No, Lady Yuffie, thatmoner girl came to... buy medicine and healing potions." "Oh?" The Princess''s voice was no longer indifferent. She quickly asked, "Is it for herself?" "Doesn''t seem so." The shopkeeper recalled Vielsia''s uninjured appearance and shook his head. Inside the pce. The Princess parted the window curtains and looked down at the seemingly peaceful royal city in the night, lost in thought. -"Lady Yuffie, do you want us to send someone to follow her?"- the shopkeeper suggested. However, it was quickly rejected. "No need." "Don''t take any action against her. I will investigate this matter personally." -"Yes, Your Highness."- After ending themunication, Yuffie sat back down at her desk. On the desk was a chessboard. It looked like a game of Go, and the position Yuffie was now staring at had the white army surrounded by the ck army, as if they would be swallowed up in the next move. However. When the Princess shifted her gaze and raised her viewpoint a bit, she realized that these white pieces were just "sacrifices" used as bait. The ck army seemed to have captured arge chunk of the white army. But in reality, they had already been surrounded by the white army in arger area. However, the current Yuffie reached out, took one of the white pieces used as "bait," and ced it to the side. As an uncertain factor. And she Hates uncertainty. Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Princess visit The next day, anxious and tense knocking sounds came from the door. After Reji opened the door, the person who was knocking anxiously outside was Vielsia. "Teacher, something happened." Reji first let Vielsiae in and sit down, and poured a ss of water for her. Only then did he ask in a soothing manner, "Don''t panic, take it slow, what happened? Is it rted to your people?" "Yes, I should have received a reply from the Elder this morning, but, but..." Vielsia clenched her hand holding the ss tightly, restless and speaking hurriedly. Yesterday, after Reji and Vielsia exchanged secrets and were honest with each other, she wrote a letter to Elder Nazha in order to get support from her tribe to allow her teacher to study the mysteries of the "Saving Relic" and master the sealing method as soon as possible. However, "Teacher, it''s already nine o''clock now, and I, I still haven''t received any news." "Is it possible that your Elder is busy with something else? Why don''t we wait a little longer?" "No, Teacher, you don''t understand. Ourmunication spell, once opened between each other, we can know even if the other party hasn''t replied." Vielsia hesitated, and also told Reji another piece of information. "And actually, ording to our agreement, the Elder should have sent another group to meet me, but I still haven''t been able to contact them." Vielsia bit her lip. If the previous disappearance of her people was still a coincidence, then now, even her messages were unanswered, it could only prove one thing. -Something happened- It was highly likely that her people had encountered something unforeseen. "I see, wait for me, I''ll go back with you." When there was trouble at home, the first thought was to rush back. Seeing Reji''s decisive appearance, as if it was not the home of the elves, but also his home too, Vielsia felt a warm in her heart, and even her anxious mood calmed down a little. Vielsia quickly shook her head and stopped Reji. "No, Teacher, in such an unexpected situation, Elder Nazha taught me never to go back. With Elder Nazha in charge, if they all lost contact, we...even if we go back, it''s useless, and instead, we''ll fall into the trap." Vielsia''s decision surprised Reji a little. His original n was to follow the panicked Vielsia and "investigate" the elves together. Let this young princess discover the fact that the elves had "disappeared" overnight. Reji had also left some clues, such as the buds of the world tree, the fragments of the elves'' aura, etc. This way, Vielsia should be able to feel a little more at ease and think that the elves did not necessarily encounter something unforeseen, and there might be new opportunities and transformations. Thus, the temporary separation between Vielsia and the elves would bepleted, leaving only Reji as the "only one of her people" beside her. At the same time, it would also shift Vielsia''s attention, changing the "main task" of the elf princess from sealing the demons to searching for her missing people. This was the least harmful way Reji could think of for both sides. But now it seemed that, "Teacher, the situation may not be as bad as you think, look at this." Vielsia evenforted Reji instead. She took out a jade pendant. "This is the Elder''s life stone. Now the life stone has not broken, which proves that at least the Elder is not in danger and is safe." Reji was naturally happy to see Vielsia calm down first. As for how to guide her into his trap, he also had backup ns. "That''s good news, but we can''t just sit here and do nothing. "Investigating the situation of the elves is now the top priority, and you said that a group of your kin should havee to the royal city to meet you, but they also disappeared without a trace, right? Since we are already in the royal city, why not start our investigation here." Along this road, Reji could very naturally bring up the Five Flowers Alliance. Although it was a bit cruel to Vielsia. Reji was prepared to let Vielsia see the elf corpses that were tortured by Ariel, that perverted nobledy. The purer the white paper, the cker it would be once stained with ink. What surprised Reji again was, "Yes, that''s right, I must do something, investigate in the royal city. With teacher''s help! I might try to contact the princess of the royal city, Princess Yuffie! She should be able to help us!" Reji: "?.?" "Are you talking about Princess Yuffie? The eldest princess?" "Yes, ah! It was like this I participated in a fundraising event organized by the Five Flowers Alliance at my mentor''s invitation. It was at that banquet that I met Princess Yuffie. She is currently revising the external recruitment policy of the academy and has invited me to go over and hear my opinion." Vielsia''s disguised identity on the surface was that of an outstanding transfer student, simr to a basic-level visit, which seemed quite reasonable and nothing special. However, Reji did not think so. He believed that behind many "idents" there must be inevitability. ording to the principle of assumption, if the eldest princess had discovered Vielsia''s identity or had noticed Vielsia''s difference from others, she would want to deliberately approach her. The key evidence to maintain this logic chain was: ''where had Vielsia revealed her identity?'' And the answer to this question was quickly solved by the elf princess as she took out several bottles of high-grade healing potions from her backpack. These were bought by Vielsiast night, as she was worried that Reji was still injured from the previous battle. However, Reji''s attention was entirely focused on these products. "These are from... Lanqi Artifacts?" "Mhm." "These potions are all quite expensive, Vielsia, where did you get so much money?" In fact, when Reji asked this question, he already had a guess in his heart. ''The auction!'' ''That third-tier "Levitation Spell" scroll!'' ''I should have thought of it earlier!'' With the current level of human beings, a magician who could produce a third-tier spell scroll would not need to go to an auction, and it could only be possible that it came from a foreign, newly arrived high-level magician, and one who was rtively foolish, to choose to go to an auction. Vielsia''s hesitant expression had already exined everything. Thus, Reji was almost able to restore the whole event. This elven princess, who had absolutely no social experience, attracted attention as soon as she handed over the third-tier scroll to Lanqi Artifacts, and the shop was very likely backed by the eldest princess. Vielsia, as a civilian elite student, was able to attend the Five Flowers Alliance''s high-level fundraising event, which must also have been arranged by the eldest princess. ''Heh...'' ''It seemed that I was not the only one who had an eyes on Vielsia'' ''However, what was the purpose of the eldest princess? If she only wanted to attract Vielsia, why did she have to involve the Five Flowers Alliance?'' After sorting out thisyer of rtionship, Reji was not in a hurry. ''If my previous guess was correct, then the information about Vielsia buying healing potions in the middle of the night would definitely have been sent to the eldest princess by Lanqi Artifacts'' ''If I was Princess Yuffie, what would I do now?'' *Knock knock* Just then, there was a knock on the door of the office. After Vielsia went over to open it, the elf''s cry of surprise was heard. "Princess Yuffie!?" Chapter 89: Chapter 89: As if we have been erased from history "Sorry, did I disturb you?" The woman outside the door wore a windbreaker and a very thick hat, hiding most of her long hair under the hat. However, from both temples, a few red strands of hair could still be seen. In the Ilinor Kingdom, red hair was a symbol of the royal family. "No, no, not at all. Wait! Your Highness Yuffie, why are you here?" Vielsia was still in a state of confusion. She had just mentioned to Reji that she wanted to seek help from the eldest princess, and the next moment, Yuffie knocked on the door? "I just happened to be handling some matters in the academy, so I thought I''d alsoe to see Miss Vielsia. But it seems that I''m being a bit rude and abrupt. If you''re busy, let''s do it another day." The princess in casual clothes exined to Vielsia, then turned her gaze to the other person in the room behind her, Reji. Yuffie appeared very polite and respectful, and even though she was the eldest princess, she still showed an apologetic expression to Reji, as if apologizing for interrupting his ss. Then, the casually dressed eldest princess was about to turn and leave, but Reji spoke up immediately. "Vielsia, don''t stand at the door like that, quickly invite Her Highness in." "Right! Your Highness, pleasee in, we have something we want to ask for your help!" "You have something to ask of me? Alright..." Yuffie nodded and also entered Reji''s office. As for the two inclothes guards she brought with her, the princess left them at the doorknob and did not follow. "Miss Vielsia, tell me about your situation first. You seem to be in a hurry. What happened? How can I help you?" "Uh..." Vielsia stammered, thinking only of how to keep Yuffie behind, but she had no idea how to exin the situation to the princess. She couldn''t just mention the elves directly, could she? At this point, it was Reji who spoke up. "Your Highness, it''s like this. You know that Miss Vielsia is a transfer student, and shees from a small vige near the royal city. A few days ago, she made an appointment to meet her fellow vigers in the royal city, wanting to let them also experience the prosperity and grandeur of the royal city. But..." Reji shook his head and said, "But it''s been several days, and her fellow vigers should have arrived long ago, but there''s still no news. Miss Vielsia is worried that they got lost in the forest outside the city and were attacked by magical beasts, so she asked me to go explore with her, but not only did we not find anything, we also suffered some minor injuries." Reji sighed and intentionally drew the eldest princess''s gaze to the high-level healing potions on the table that he had taken out from Vielsia''s package while the princess was outside the door. After listening to the whole story, Princess Yuffie clenched her fist on the table and muttered, "I didn''t expect that group of people to be so unscrupulous." Reji asked, "Your Highness, who are you referring to?" Yuffie sighed and looked self-reproachful and guilty. "I have collected many cases like yours recently. This is a group that has been entrenched in the royal city for many years, and they specialize in deceiving and harming outsiders to make a profit. Some members of this group even use this to cultivate evil magic and spread heresy." Upon hearing that the princess really had clues and that it was not an isted case, Vielsia became very anxious and wanted to hear more. Princess Yuffie seemed to have grasped Vielsia''s emotions and continued, "Our kingdom has made up its mind to eliminate this organization, but we need more power. If Miss Vielsia is willing, there will be a special operation meeting tomorrow night to attack this evil organization." "We''ll participate!" Vielsia hastily agreed at the first opportunity, but soon realized that she should have sought Reji''s opinion first. She quickly turned to look at Reji, letting him make the final decision. This expression was noticed by Princess Yuffie. "Of course, the purpose of the Royal Academy is to build the kingdom and protect its safety. As one of its teacher, I will also participate," "Thank you. Having a teacher like you is an honor for us," said Yuffie, who did not stay long and left soon. As Reji watched the princess''s back, or rather, the shadow demon hiding in her shadow, he knew that this was a real demon. From the moment the princess entered the room, Shermen had noticed and informed Reji. This was a low-ranking shadow demon that Leo had transferred from the shadow demon n. It seemed that the wise demons on the other side was also making a move and targeting Yuffie. This was also why Reji agreed so readily to the princess''s request. At that time, he had noticed the conflict and contradiction between the Five Flowers Alliance and the princess, and it seemed that both sides would soone to a head. Leo might also have seen this opportunity. As the Demon King, he would wait for the right moment to act and participate as an extra backup. After leaving the academy, Princess Yuffie returned to her bedroom in the pce. This time, Yuffie seemed to be in a good mood. She went to her usual desk and ced the white piece that she had taken out as "bait"st night back into the "ck army''s" encirclement. After thinking for a moment, Yuffie added another new white piece. However, it was at this moment that a hoarse, low voice came from the dark corner of the princess''s room. "Your Highness is in high spirits." A man dressed in a tattered gray cloak with holes of various sizes, like some filthy vagrant, slowly walked out. Princess Yuffie nced at him without surprise and remained seated at her desk, saying indifferently, "If I''m not mistaken, our agreement states that you cannot appear without my permission." The princess''s cold warning did not deter the man in the gray cloak. Instead, he seemed to find it amusing and sneered, "Is that so? In that case, my dear princess, you can continue to be monitored by others." Finally, Princess Yuffie furrowed her brow and asked, "What do you mean? Monitored?" The man in the gray cloak did not exin further. He reached out from under his cloak with a hand that was rotting and covered in burns. However, in this ugly hand, a holy light shone brightly. Under this light, Princess Yuffie''s shadow seemed to be stimted and began to move, startling the princess. After a few seconds of illumination, the shadow seemed to have nowhere to hide, and a ck shadowy monster jumped out, trying to escape. However, the man in the gray cloak seemed to have been prepared. With one swift move, he pierced the heart of the shadowy monster with his sword, as if he had done this countless times before. "What is this?" Princess Yuffie was briefly confused but soon regained herposure, staring in bewilderment at the dead shadow monster on the ground. "Shadow demon," the man in the gray cloak said with disgust and hatred in his voice. "A scout for the demon race," he continued. "The demon race? Are you joking? The demon race in the history?" Princess Yuffie asked twice in a row, revealing her disbelief. This seemed to provoke the man in the gray cloak, making him somewhat crazy, and his creepy and hoarseughter echoed in the room again. This was not his original voice, but rather the result of damage to his throat and vocal cords, making it sound like a monster. However, if one listened carefully, one could hear not only mockery but also sorrow, unwillingness, and revenge hidden deep within theughter. "That''s right, Your Highness. You, of course, do not recognize it, after all, the demon race has been erased from history by you" "Just like..." The man in the gray cloak removed his hood. Half of his body was hidden in the shadows, and the sunlight from outside only faintly illuminated half of his face. One of his eyes had been gouged out, his ear seemed to have been pierced by a sharp object, and his face was covered in ugly scars and scabs from severe burns. He might have been a handsome warrior once, but now he looked like a monster, just like his voice. "You don''t recognize me either, do you? Just like those of us who have been erased from history?" Chapter 90: Chapter 90: The Homeless Ghost Princess Yuffie became silent. This gray-cloaked person was bought by her from a ve market during a visit to a foreign country. She was attracted by the strong magical power and mana of this person and secretly brought him back to Ilinor Kingdome. As for the gray-cloaked person who was sometimes clear-minded and sometimes crazy, and kept talking about "the forty-two elders," "a thousand years ago," "the demon race," "the traitor," Yuffiepletely regarded it as nonsense. But now, the princess looked closely at the shadow monster killed by the gray-cloaked person. She was very sure that in the human history record of the past five hundred years, there was no such magical creature. Yuffie couldn''t believe those ancient historical myths, but when such a monster, exactly the same as the one in the legend, appeared and could hide in the shadows, even she couldn''t detect it. Her worldview was greatly overturned. Not only because the demon race truly existed. But also because this proved the previous nonsense of the gray-cloaked person. "So, what you said before, was it all... true?" The beautiful eyebrows of the princess were tightly locked at this moment. "Ha Ha ha ha!" The gray-cloaked person suddenly burst intoughter, his distorted expression made his face, which was already ugly with burn scars, even more ferocious. "My dear princess, what are you referring to? Are you referring to the chaos rift that tore open the sky a thousand years ago, and the countless powerful demon races that invaded the world?" "Or are you referring to the hundred-year war between humans and demons?" "Or are you referring to the hundreds of millions of warriors who died to protect this world?" "Or are you referring to the hero who defeated the Demon King and saved the world, and those forty-two elders?" "Or are you referring to..." "That person who, after the war, used our trust to kill the forty-two elders, that selfish and self-serving person, that person who altered history, that person who betrayed us all, WHO SIZED OUR WORLD!!" The gray-cloaked person shouted out thest sentence. His whole body was trembling with anger, and every scar, whip mark, and torture mark on his body seemed to be telling the endless hatred in his heart. He smashed things in the study room, hugging his head, as if just recalling certain scenes from the past made him suffer, and he couldn''t ept it. Princess Yuffie did not stop him. She let the gray-cloaked person vent his emotions. This madnesssted for nearly a few minutes, and the gray-cloaked person gradually calmed down. He sat there in a daze, his facial expression changed from frenzy to numbness, and he seemed to realize that he was just venting his anger in vain, leaving only a hollow look in his eyes. "Well, I believe you, but I want to know, how did you... survive until now from a thousand years ago?" "Survive until now?" Every word of Princess Yuffie seemed very funny in the ears of the gray-cloaked person. "If you have to endure the pain of a knife cutting, the tearing of your heart, and the pain of your flesh being eaten by ants at night, then indeed, you can say that we have lived until now." "This is the path we have chosen for ourselves, because we cannot die yet. We still carry the deep grudge of the forty-two elders, so we swallowed the fire seed and became ghosts in history. We firmly believe that one day, the traitor will be punished. Until we see the traitor''s miserable end, I cannot die, I absolutely cannot die." The gray-cloaked man muttered to himself, and what supported his decaying body was not only the "Fire Seed" spell but also the will of hatred. "So, who exactly is the ''traitor'' you speak of?" asked Princess Yuffie, the crucial question. "No, I can''t say it, I can''t mention it. It will be discovered, it will be discovered!! That name is forbidden, and we have all been cursed. If we say it out loud, I, along with everything here, your pce, the royal city, and even the entire Ilinor, will suffer a catastrophic disaster! I can''t say it, I must not say it. We cannot make the same mistake again, we absolutely cannot!!" The gray-cloaked man seemed to have fallen into a desperate and painful memory again. It was as if "they" had suffered an irreparable tragedy because of this mistake in the past. He covered his mouth tightly with his ten fingers, and his fingernails were deeply embedded in his flesh, as if he wanted to tear his mouth apart to prevent that forbidden "name" from being spoken. Seeing this, Princess Yuffie immediately changed the topic. "Alright, then let me ask another question. Is the current appearance of the demon race rted to that traitor?" "Rted? No, no, no, only we from a thousand years ago know the horror of the demon race. The traitor is also aware of this, and that person is extremely afraid of the demon race. Therefore, that person has been searching for the Chaos Rift that was sealed by the hero in the first ce, in an attempt topletely destroy the demon race, because it is the only existence that can threaten that person. But now it seems..." "Haha! Hahaha! That person has failed! It turns out that there are things that even that traitor cannot do! This is retribution, this is retribution!" A thousand years ago, he, who fought against the demon race on the battlefield, never thought that one day he would be longing for the demon race arrival like this. The gray-cloaked man hoped that the army of the demon race would march on thend, spread the mes of war, and destroy the so-called "human" world, just as it did a thousand years ago. But in his heart, he was clear. It was impossible. Even the demon race could not stand up to that traitor. That person had almostpletely taken over the power of the "Chosen One" hero and reached a more terrifying level than the Savior of a thousand years ago. Moreover, the ws and fangs of the traitor, those "Great Sages," had also been allocated by that person, once the hero''s relics to save the world. Each ''Saving Relic'' has unparalleled power, and many have absorbed and learned from the experience of the human-demon war, and have been improved by that person to specifically attack "demons." The more fearful, the more precautions are taken. So, it seems that the current human world has been weakened a lotpared to a thousand years ago. But in fact, the gray-cloaked man was well aware that this was just a distorted world created by the traitor, a world of ves. As ves, they did not need power, as long as they continuously produced value for their "master." If they really becamecent because of this, a hundred years ago, they gathered their underground forces and evenmunicated with a certain extradimensional race to resist together, thinking they could avenge the traitor. But the oue had already paid a painful lesson in blood and tears, and they exchanged this information. As for the arrogance of the demons, the gray-cloaked man saw almost no hope. He couldn''t think of what kind of demon king could stand up to the traitor who held the power of the "hero." However, this was still an opportunity for them. The gray-cloaked man quickly regained some rationality and rity. He must inform the other "ghosts" of this information as soon as possible. The future attack of the demons would definitely attract most of the traitor''s attention, and this would be a good opportunity for them to develop and gather their strength again. The demons could not kill the hero. This was a "predetermined" fate. Therefore, the hero could only be killed by them, the humans. Just as the "traitor" did in the first ce. For this reason, the gray-cloaked man finally turned his gaze back to Yuffie, the princess of the Kingdom of Ilinor, who was deeply embroiled in a "predicament." "Your Highness, do not be nervous. The demons are probably still in the preparation stage. The shadow demon on you is likely to be wandering around and scouting without distinction. The high-level people of every human kingdom may be imnted, and even if the demons really attack, the sky will fall on the empire, and the pressure of the demons will be fully ced on the empire, right?" "In my opinion, Your Highness, this is an excellent opportunity. I know that you have always wanted Ilinor to be independent and free from the control of the empire. It is because of your ambition that you have sheltered me and nned to eliminate the Five Flower Alliance and the imperial envoy three dayster. Am I right?" "I will take action and be Your Highness''s sword, clearing all obstacles for you. I believe you can trust a seventh-stage grand magus from a thousand years ago. But after that, I hope you can fulfill your promise and allow Ilinor to..." "Shelter us homeless ghosts." Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Forty-Two Companions The next morning, Princess Yuffie sent a servant to deliver the admission ticket to Reji. Tonight''s meeting, held to n the operation to eradicate the Five Flowers Alliance, was being held in the pce, the safest ce, to prevent leaks. It was disguised as a private gathering of the princess. Before leaving, Reji handed a cloak to Vielsia. "Wear this when you go out in the future." "In case you need to use your elven power, it can slightly conceal it and prevent others from discovering it." Reji now had two identities, one as a "teacher" and the other as an "adventurer." Because of Ariel, the count''s daughter, he had attracted a lot of attention in the Adventurer''s Association. Reji guessed that among the people the princess was gathering, there would also be adventurers, so to be prepared, he asked Vielsia to wear a cloak to rece Shermen''s position. Vielsia had no doubts about Reji''s suggestion and immediately put it on, looking very pleased. However, the shadow behind Reji trembled slightly, seemingly expressing "dissatisfaction." ''Did his majesty... reced me?'' Reji immediately whispered to her, ''I will always love Shermen, this is for the n'' "Huh? Teacher, did you say something?" "I said that Miss Vielsia looks especially cute in the cloak." Reji smoothly continued with a smile. "Ah? Heeeh! Teacher, don''t say such things." Vielsia blushed and quickly pulled down the hood of her cloak, looking embarrassed. Reji was adept at handling such situations, having sessfully raised the affection level of all forty-twopanions in the game. In the game, among his forty-twopanions, there were both men and women. The men were simple and pure, and there were noplications; they just fought together, and that was it. Femalepanions, on the other hand, could unlock the "Romance" bonus affection level. However, since he was the son of destiny, the hero and protagonist of the game, he couldn''t have multiple rtionships. When he frequently raised the affection level of a certainpanion of the opposite sex, the "Romance" level of the otherpanions of the opposite sex would decrease ordingly. This mechanism was probably designed to prevent yers from having multiple romantic partners, or in simpler term, a harem. But Reji found a loophole. Whenpanions are executing "dispatch" tasks, their status bars are locked, meaning they remain the same when they leave and when they return. There is also a mechanism where the higher thepanion''s affection level, the greater the rewards upon their return from the dispatch, and the higher the probability of obtaining additional rare items. So when Reji was raising the "Romance" level of a new femalepanion, he would dispatch all the others who already had high "Romance" levels, locking their status bars. This way, he could maximize the efficiency of the dispatches and easily achieve full "Romance" affection levels with all the femalepanions. In the game, Reji was proud of his cleverness. But now, looking back... ''Wasn''t this equivalent to keeping the current partner and sending all the exes away?'' ''Cough!'' Reji wasn''t interested in thepanions'' CG illustrations; he just wanted to unlock the "special stories." When a femalepanion reaches full "Romance," she will have a separate adventure with the hero, a serious one that enriches thepanion''s background and establishes bonds. For example, there was a fire spiritpanion who made a deep impression on Reji. When he first met the fire spirit, she was the viinous BOSS who had cursed an entire vige with fire. As the hero, Reji had to eliminate the source of the curse, the fire spirit. However, after her defeat, the fire spirit, who could transform into human form and had a beautiful illustration, became apanion. Later, in the full affection "special story" expansion, Reji learned that the vigers had actually died from a gue long ago. The fire spirit had given them a ritual called "Fire Seed," allowing them to live until now. The "Fire Seed" came from the fire spirit''s source power. Each "Fire Seed" given was equivalent to the fire spirit using her source life force to maintain the vigers. This also exined why the fire spirit''s growth was so low. Reji was moved by this and greatly increased his investment in her, helping her progress from "Fire Spirit" to "me Spirit" to "Fire me Leader" and finally bing the peak eighth-stage me Queen. As a yer, the hero''spanions'' power and rank improvements were like cheat codes. In short, Reji loved the stories behind thesepanions and never skipped the plots. He experienced and enjoyed each one, even if it made him seem a bit scummy. But his feelings for thepanions were genuine, and in the end, he helped them all reach their maximum levels. Unfortunately, even the most powerful forces are helpless against the passage of time. A thousand yearster, the forty-twopanions are likely all gone. In the words of the game, the old generation of characters has retired, like supporting characters who can''t stay with the yer forever. But Reji will not give up trying to find them. And he will not let go of the one who "altered" history and "erased" their existence. The topic seems a bit heavy. Reji looked at the elven princess next to him, happily wearing a cloak and following him. She certainly wasn''t the first. For the newpanions a thousand yearster, Reji still had to reflect deeply. Since he had reallye to this world, and everything had be reality, he could no longer act without principles and do things that deserved divine punishment. So. From now on, everyone would be consideredpanions. There was no such thing as exes or current partners. ''Hmm'' When Reji arrived at the private hall of the pce, as he expected, in addition to the core members of the princess''s royal knights, there was a group of people dressed in various outfits, looking like a "motley crew." The gold and silver badges on their chests were the best symbols of their identity. Adventurers. However, most of them were silent, either awkward or anxious, and the atmosphere was somewhat heavy. Until another group of adventurers entered from the side door. "Look, it''s Eagle! The only A-level mercenary group in the royal city!" "They''re really here too! Great! We''re sure to win now!" "To be honest, I was pretty nervous before, after all, we''re up against the Five Flowers people, but now that I see Lord Eagle, I feel much more at ease." "The princess is amazing, she even managed to persuade the Eagle group." "I heard that they were at Lanqi Artifacts before, and they spent a lot of money to buy a third-tier spell scroll. At the time, everyone was wondering why the Eagle Mercenary Group was going to hunt some A-level demon. Now it turns out it was to prepare for this battle!" As the seven or eight members of the Eagle Mercenary Group entered, the previously gloomy atmosphere instantly vanished. This must be the power of poprity. Many adventurers were excited as if they had seen their idols, their faces full of excitement. The burly leader of the Eagle Mercenary Group, Sea Tiger, nodded to the excited adventurers in the meeting room, after all, they would berades-in-armster. At this time, a girl from the Eagle Mercenary Group suddenly poked Sea Tiger and directed his gaze to another ce. There were Reji and Vielsia. The leader of the Eagle Mercenary Group paused for a moment, seeming to recall something, and quickly showed a surprised expression. He then quickly walked toward Reji. Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Teasing fixed. "Hey brother, I remember you," Sea Tiger''s rough voice sounded, and the burly man came up to Reji and looked him over carefully before seeming to confirm his identity. Especially since there was a cloaked Vielsia next to him. Such abination was notmon among adventurers. And the girl from the Eagle Mercenary Group who had just noticed Reji and actively reminded Sea Tiger seemed to have been holding it in for a long time. Now that she was in front of Reji, she immediately spoke up. "Hmph, that''s right, it''s the fool who was slightly favored by the nobles and became dizzy." This female adventurer was petite. From the staff she held in her arms, it was easy to judge her profession. "Hahaha, brother, don''t take it to heart. Luna is like that, sharp-tongued but soft-hearted." "When we first saw you going with Ariel to the count''s mansion, Luna was the most worried about you. If I hadn''t stopped her, she was even prepared to rush over and pull you guys back." "S, Stop... stop talking nonsense!" The petite female mage named Luna seemed a little embarrassed at being exposed and turned her head, no longer speaking. "So brother, what happened afterward? Did you leave in the middle, or..." "Did you escape?" Sea Tiger''sst words were grave, his expression serious, because, in his understanding, Reji, the ignorant adventurer who had been deceived, was most likely hopeless. But now, not only had hee out alive, but he was also a member of the princess''s tactical team, participating in this meeting, which was very strange. "This is thanks to mypanion, who noticed something wrong with the food at dinner in time. We didn''t eat much and barely managed to escape." "But I don''t want to stop there. I was shocked by the darkness of these nobles. As a teacher of Ilinor, I want to contribute to this country, so I epted the princess''s invitation and joined the team." "Oh? brother, you''re a teacher too? Where?" "The Royal Academy, Department of Spells." When Reji said this, Sea Tiger''s face immediately showed surprise. Even Luna, who had turned her head away and was actually eavesdropping, now turned her head back, looking very surprised. "The Royal Academy? That''s not simple! It''s the highest academic institution in our Ilinor, brother, you must be from out of town, right? A teacher from outside, heh, brother''s spell skills must be impressive. No wonder you were able to escape safely from Ariel''s ce." "Hahaha, it looks like that nobledy missed the mark this time and kicked a stone." "And who is thispanion of yours?" "She is my student, also from out of the capital." At this moment, footsteps sounded from behind a few people. The protagonist of tonight''s meeting, Princess Yuffie, also entered the room. She must have also heard the conversation between Reji and Sea Tiger, and as she walked over, she added: "Indeed, Miss Vielsia is an excellent student of our Royal Academy, with top grades in all subjects. And Sea Tiger, the third-tier scroll at your auction, it was created by her." "What!?" Now, it was not only the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group who were shocked, but the other adventurers who hade for the operation were also amazed and looked at Vielsia and Reji with many admiring nces. After all, "Being able to draw a third-tier scroll means that Miss Vielsia is at least a third-tier mage, right? Amazing! Truly amazing!" Sea Tiger eximed and gave Vielsia a thumbs-up. The female adventurer mage, Luna, also opened her eyes wide. As a mage herself, she had just reached the threshold of the third tier, but the person in front of her, who looked even younger than her, was already at the third tier? Princess Yuffie deliberately revealed this information, and the purpose was simple: the atmosphere in the room immediately rose several notches. Not only was there the Eagle Mercenary Group, but there was also an additional third-tier mage. This time, even the Five Flowers Alliance would not be able to cause any trouble! Everyone was clearly more confident about tomorrow night''s operation. And soon, everyone reacted again. ''Wait a moment!'' '' Wait a moment !'' ''If the student was already at the third tier, then what about her mentor, Teacher Reji?'' Behind Princess Yuffie, there was another girl. From her red hair and simr appearance, it was clear that they were rted by blood:Sophia, the little princess of Ilinor, and Yuffie''s sister. From her red hair and simr appearance, it was clear that they were rted by blood: Sophia , the little princess of Ilinor, and Yuffie''s sister. The younger princess was also particrly interested in Reji, stepping out from behind her sister with a curious look in her clear eyes. On the other hand, Sea Tiger became more cautious as Reji''s identity changed. Although the burly man appeared rough, as the leader of an A-rank mercenary group, he was not without subtle thoughts. Sea Tigerughed heartily and joked, "Brother, if you have the chance,e and visit our Eagle Mercenary. Our little Luna has been paying close attention to you, and now it''s perfect. You happen to be a great teacher. Would you consider taking on another student?" "To be honest, Luna has been following us wild guys, and I''ve wanted to find her a teacher for a long time to give her some professional and systematic magical education. But every time I mention it, she thinks she''s too good for those academy professors. Oh, just look at her!" Luna, teased by Sea Tiger, was now blushing, her cheeks puffed up in anger, looking like she wanted to hit him with her staff. Many of the adventurers in the Eagle Mercenary Groupughed heartily. But despite her anger, Luna was indeed secretly looking at Reji. The fact that Reji had a third-tier female student was enough to show his skills, and Luna was truly moved. It was easy to see that although these adventurers in the Eagle Mercenary Group looked fierce and evil, their leader looked like a typical thug, but in fact, they were very united and harmonious internally, and they were kind. The simple chat ended here. After Princess Yuffie took the stage, everyone quieted down, and each person listened seriously to Yuffie''s arrangements for the battle n. These adventurers gathered by Yuffie all had some hatred for the Five Flowers Alliance. Some had friends or family killed by the Five Flowers Alliance, and some even had entire viges used and deeply involved by the Five Flowers Alliance. It was not until now that Vielsia realized how dark, ugly, and filthy the Five Flowers Alliance really was. When she thought back to the Five Flowers Alliance''s fundraiser, it was undoubtedly a great shock and stimulus for this pure-as-white-paper elven princess, and Vielsia''s mentality was undergoing a silent change. However. In fact, it was not only the elven girl who was a little ufortable now. Shermen, hidden in the shadow behind Reji, also felt the same. She didn''t understand why the demon king was wasting so much time on these human misfits and even chatting with them. In Shermen''s eyes, these people were basically no different from corpses. Because the shadow demon behind Princess Yuffie had disappeared. This meant that Leo had probably finished his reconnaissance and had been recalled. He found no use in these people; they were all sacrifices, doomed to die. But now it seemed that the demon king intended to help these human misfits as part of the princess''s faction? Wouldn''t that conflict with the Wisdom Demon''s n? ''I don''t understand...'' But although Shermen didn''t understand, she hadn''t forgotten that the Wisdom Demon had warned her that there was a deeper meaning behind the demon king''s actions. If she couldn''t see it, it wasn''t his majesty''s problem, but her own stupidity. Based on this premise, Shermen thought hard again. Suddenly, she remembered something. During the thousand years of the Wisdom Demon''s seal, there was a period when he might have had nothing to do and wanted to improve the intelligence level of the demons. He had indeed given them lessons and mentioned a strategy called "ying against the opponent." It seemed to be a deliberate fight between both sides. As for more details, such as what this strategy was for, Shermen didn''t know. It wasn''t that she had forgotten; she simply hadn''t listened. She had probably been sleeping at that time. Still, she didn''t understand. Shermen shook her head and stopped thinking about it. After all, the demons had clear divisions ofbor. It was better to leave this kind of brainwork to the Wisdom Demon. ''If it were Leo, he would surely be able to figure out his majesty''s intentions and cooperate well with him'' ''And as a shadow demon, as a guard, I only needed to protect his majesty well'' Chapter 93: Chapter 93: The Most Outstanding Queen "Teacher Reji, please wait!" After the war council meeting ended, the eldest princess in the royal pce prepared rooms for each adventurer, so there was no need to go back. Tonight, they would rest and prepare for the annihtion of the Five Flowers Alliance tomorrow night. As Reji was leaving with Vielsia, they were stopped by an unexpected figure. From the moonlight and shadows emerged a red-haired girl. At first nce, Reji thought it was Yuffie, but when the person came closer, he realized that her appearance was more youthful. It was the younger princess who had followed Yuffie before, Sophia. "Does Miss Sophia have something to say?" "Nothing, nothing. I just wanted to cheer on Teacher Reji and thank you for supporting my sister''s actions." "I know this is very adventurous, and even this operation, my sister is hiding it from many nobles, and is acting alone. Yet you are still willing to help my sister and join the battle. My sister is fortunate to have supporters like you!" Sophia''s face was full of sincerity, and her weak and soft appearance made people feel pity. With her grateful words, any adventurer would be confused and see her as a weak younger sister who cares about her sister. Reji saw Vielsia waving her hand next to him, indicating that they would do their best. It seemed that the elf girl did not notice the hidden meaning in Sophia''s words. -Very adventurous, hiding from the nobles, acting alone- These words hidden in her speech were actually a kind of subtle hint. Although she seemed to be grateful for their support in a difficult situation, in fact, for those who were hesitant, it would make them feel hesitant and regretful. ''Sigh'' ''It seemed that Ilinor not only had great disputes between the royal family and the nobles, but there were also huge cracks within the royal family itself.'' Reji was now very curious. How did the eldest princess n to deal with such a big mess? "Teacher Reji, in fact, I have collected some items as collectibles that may be helpful for tomorrow night''s battle. Could you pleasee and give me some pointers?" As expected, the younger princess extended an invitation to Reji. Reji could guess that after he was introduced by Yuffie, she discovered his value and wanted to win him over. Or, it could be something even worse. "I''m sorry, Miss Sophia. The matter of battle equipment is too important. I think it would be better to discuss it with Princess Yuffie first." Of course, Reji rejected directly. Regardless of whether he was ming Sophia or if she had ulterior motives, Reji was not interested and did not want to interfere too much with the current situation. If he disrupted Leo''s n, that would not be good. He quietly made a backup n for Leo, and for now, he would remain an outside observer. After Reji rejected Sophia, he quickly turned and left. The little princess watched Reji''s departing back, and her previously innocent expression gradually turned into anger. ''A mere Teacher, being invited by the noble royal family like myself, was a great honor, but he actually dared to reject me, how insulting!'' Sophia stood still and gnashed her teeth. She not only hated Reji for rejecting her but was also jealous and resentful. ''Why could my sister win him over? In what way was Yuffie better than me? The only difference was that Yuffie was born a few years earlier'' However, soon, the little princess'' jealousy turned into coldness. She coldly said towards the direction Reji left, "Since you don''t want the chance to live, then go to hell with sister and the others!" The little princess turned and left, and after turning several corners in the pce, she arrived at a hidden room. In this room, the main target of the attack tomorrow night, the leader of the Five Flowers Alliance, Lady Lisa, was leisurely drinking tea. "How is it?" Seeing Sophia return, the Duchess asked lightly. "Hmph, not much different, just a new third-tier mage and a royal Teacher in addition to what we already knew," Sophia replied. "A third-tier mage shouldn''t be able to cause much trouble for your undead army, but this Teacher..." Sophia hesitated, showing a questioning expression as if he might be a potential threat. However, Lisa was very calm. "I have already investigated. He registered his identity in the association, the lowest level adventurer, and passed the magic stone test. He probably doesn''t have much power himself, but his theoretical knowledge is quite good." When Sophia heard Lisa''s words, she became even angrier. She had just seen Reji acting so arrogantly and rejecting her, thinking he was a powerful sorcerer, but it turned out he was just a trash bronze-level adventurer with no power detected by the magic stone. "Trash! Junk! Son of a b**ch!" The quiet and obedient little princess revealed apletely different violent and foul-mouthed impatient side in the room. She even reflected on Reji on arger scale. "These men in Ilinor are simply all cut from the same mold. I really can''t understand where these ordinary men get their strange confidence, as if they are so great. They are just disgusting! They are not even worthy of licking the feet of the men of the empire!" It is not difficult to see that Sophia, as a princess, was extremely disappointed in her own country and has great admiration and worship for the empire. Reji was just a catalyst, and these thoughts have probably been weighing on Sophia''s mind for a long time. After cursing Reji and the people of Ilinor, Sophia seemed to have vented her emotions and returned to the main topic with Duchess Lisa. "Is the drug I asked you to prepare ready?" "Of course." Duchess Lisa took out a small bottle from her bosom and shook it lightly in front of the little princess. Immediately, the pink liquid emitted a dreamy and beautiful light. "This drug can help Princess Sophia and the imperial envoy spend a wonderful night together. You will obtain the essence of the envoy and be pregnant, carrying the bloodline of the envoy." Under the pink light of the drug, Sophia''s face showed a sexually excited expression. She looked at the drug with infatuation, as if she could see her future happy and fulfilling self from this dreamy light. For the drug masters of Ilinor, it would be a lifetime pursuit to produce such high-level drugs from the empire. Just like how with their lowly bloodline of Ilinor, they could never stand out and could only be a mediocre kingdom in the world. ''Such a simple truth, why couldn''t my father the king, understand it?'' ''When the envoy first visited, he showed interest in sister Yuffie, my damn sister, and wanted to marry her. Such a great opportunity that we had been dreaming of, yet they actually rejected it? Rejected the envoy?'' The young Sophia at that time now finds this scene absurd andughable. Even moreughable is that her father actually made Yuffie, who rejected the envoy and is such a fool, the next heir to the throne of Ilinor!? ''Hopeless!'' ''But, it doesn''t matter'' ''After tonight, everything will be over'' ''I, Sophia, will be the new queen of Ilinor Kingdome and bring change to this foolish country!'' ''After I marry the imperial envoy, I will give birth to a prince with the noble bloodline of the empire!'' ''This will be a great step for Ilinor in history!'' ''I will take this opportunity to be the pivot of the rtionship with the empire, open the country''s gates, and use better policies to attract arge number of excellent men from the empire. This will allow more women of Ilinor to escape the local trash and obtain the excellent bloodline of the empire''s men!'' ''In this way, Ilinor willplete a blood transfusion under my hand!'' ''At that time, therge number of people with the blood of the empire will give back to Ilinor and bring Ilinor to a new height!'' ''And I, Sophia, will be remembered by the history of Ilinor Kingdome!'' ''As the most outstanding queen!'' ------------------ "Apologies for the dy. I am currently in the midst of midterms, and tomorrow''s exam is quite challenging, so I''ll only be able to manage one chapter today. I will post the remaining chapter after I return from the exam tomorrow." Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Nirvana The crown princess Yuffie walked down the quiet corridor. This was the path to the king''s room. Upon entering, she saw the old king sitting in a chair by a window that looked out over the royal city. Even at thiste hour, he was still awake. The old king seemed to have anticipated Yuffie''s arrival. He showed no surprise at the sound of footsteps behind him. Yuffie was the first to speak, "Father, I will inform the other nobles and ministers that you have suddenly fallen ill and will not be able to attend the banquet tomorrow before the arrival of the envoy." "Is this your final act of kindness?" The old king shook his head. He then turned around, his slightly cloudy eyes from old age gazing upon Yuffie, his eldest daughter. "Yuffie, I am your family, and your younger sister Sophia is as well. Not to mention your cousins and the rest of the royal family in Ilinor, we all share the same blood. Do you really have to do this?" As the old king spoke these words, it seemed as though he was not trying to persuade Yuffie, but rather, muttering to himself. For he knew his eldest daughter well. Once Yuffie made a decision, no one could change it. This could be seen in her unwavering, cold and ruthless gaze. However, perhaps Yuffie still held some sentiment for her family. She still respected her father greatly. Yuffie walked to the old king''s desk and read out loud the suggestions for national policies that were piled on top, sent by the ministers and royal family members. "Reduce tariffs on the empire, increase the import of excellent products from the empire, and improve the living standards of the people of Ilinor." "Join the Kingdom Alliance led by the empire and sign the ''Prohibition of High-Level Magic use'' - in the future, no academy in the kingdom will be allowed to offer courses above third-level magic." "The Five Flowers Alliance is deeply loved by the people and should receive more rewards and honors, lest the hardworking nobles be disheartened." "Establish an exchange academy with the empire and attract imperial students with more subsidies to keep high-achieving students in their homnd." "Abolish the military system of the kingdom and introduce the more advanced self-defense force concept from the empire." "Suggest that tomorrow be set as a public holiday in the Kingdom of Ilinor, and distribute imperial gs to the citizens of the royal city to show the importance attached to the arrival of the imperial envoy and to express the joy and wee of the people of Ilinor to the envoy." "An independent Ilinor is doomed to failure." Yuffie did not continue reading. There were many more such proposals for reform. Of course, they didn''t write it so bluntly, Yuffie had simplified the core content. If only a few people had made such "reform" proposals, it would have been fine. But in reality, Yuffie knew that among the nobles, even the royal family, the majority were rulers like this. So, "Father, as a member of the royal family, with the blood of our ancestors flowing through our veins, I do not consider these people to be my kin. Their existence is a disgrace to me and to the ancestors of the royal family." "Disgrace should be eliminated, not tolerated in the hope of redemption." There was not the slightest hesitation in Princess Yuffie''s voice. The old king sighed. As if making a final plea, he asked, "What about your sister, Sophia?" "Yes." The crown princess added expressionlessly, "I have given her many opportunities, but every time, she has chosen a different path." The old king fell silent. As if he had aged many years, after a few seconds, he smiled bitterly, as if giving up, and said slowly, "I will attend the banquet tomorrow night. If the king does note in the middle, that envoy and the other nobles will be suspicious, which is not good for your n." "Let this failed king do onest thing for you." The Five Flowers Alliance wanted to take the opportunity of the envoy''s arrival to eliminate the royal family and seize power. But Yuffie was not the only one with a n. This crown princess wanted not only to eliminate the Five Flowers Alliance but also to use them to get rid of these disappointing worms of the royal family of Ilinor. "Yuffie, be careful of the envoy. The envoy from the Empire is not as simple as you imagine.... Can you tell me what kind of trump card gave you such great confidence to make such a risky move?" Obviously, The old king believed in his daughter, who was not just an adventurer on the surface. With his knowledge of Yuffie, there must be some invincible deeper power. Regarding this, Yuffie hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said, "Please rest assured Father, I have mastered the power from a thousand years ago." Yuffie did not finish her sentence. This was the limit of what she could reveal. However, even so, it was enough to shock the old king. He even stood up from his chair and stared at his grown-up daughter with disbelieving eyes. "No wonder." The old king repeated twice with a tremble. He seemed to havepletely set his mind at ease and sat back down in his chair. He was ready to act as bait for his eldest daughter Yuffie, and to fulfill hisst bit of worth as an old man to bring hope to Ilinor. However. Yuffie''s purpose foring this time was not only to talk to her father. She also wanted to get the truth, a secret from her father. About the secret from a hundred years ago. "Father, during the period when the Empire changed its emperor for the seventh time, a rebellion broke out in the world. Those anti-Empire forces from underground once made the Empire in a desperate situation." "Subsequently, the Empire joined forces with many other kingdoms to suppress this rebellion, and at that time, our Ilinor was also one of them." Yuffie recounted this history lightly. She used to not care about it. Butter, after the "Gray Cloak Man" told her the truth and she saw more history, she discovered the intricacies and wanted to ask, to ask her old king father who had experienced the rebellion war. "Father, what exactly was the rebellion war that year? What were those anti-Empire rebellion forces?" To his eldest daughter''s question, the old king shook his head. "Yuffie, don''t you already have the answer in your heart?" "That is not a level we can reach. I can only tell you that it is a terrifying power that only exists in ''ancient history,'' or as you say, it is the power from a thousand years ago." "But even so, they could not resist that emperor, and even the final fate of those rebel armies, those extremely powerful ancient heroes in my eyes, was to be thrown into the dungeon by that emperor and be prisoners in the basement." The old king''s eyes showed a color of reminiscence, as if one could still see the fear and aversion from those years. After seeing that invincible emperor, hepletely lost his fighting spirit and became dispirited. He chose to let Ilinor join the ranks of the imperial army in the "Rebellion War" of that year and stand with the empire. It was because of this that Ilinor is now like this. But also because of this, the Kingdome of Ilinor still exists. And those countries that had helped the "Rebellion Army" in the beginning, their royalty, nobles, ministers, and even their people have all be ves who can never rise again, to be sent to other countries in the world for y. The old king''s original intention was to remind Yuffie and warn her not to go too far. The oue of resisting the empire was only one. But Yuffie''s focus was entirely on, "Father, are you saying that those ancient heroes from that year, the leaders of the Rebellion Army, did not die? But were imprisoned in the Empire''s dungeon?" "Dungeon is just a term. I''m not clear on how the emperor dealt with them specifically, but I can confirm that the emperor on the battlefield at that time did not kill them. He only captured them. But to the outside world, it was dered that the rebel leaders had all been beheaded to glorify the empire''s victory. That''s why the historical records say so." "I understand. Thank you Father, for telling me this." After the crown princess got the information she wanted, she prepared to turn around and leave. She still had a lot to prepare for tomorrow night. As the old king watched his daughter''s departing back, he moved his lips and gave his final warning as a father. "Yuffie, some powers are not under your control. What you''re doing will only... set yourself on fire." The crown princess paused. Thest sentence after leaving the room echoed in the deste room of the old king. "In ancient history, there is another name for self-immtion." "Nirvana." Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Reward Sorry for not posting the past few days.. my midterm has almost ended as today is a holiday, so i prepared some chapters in advance until ie back to the normal 2-3 chapters daily. Next week, i''ll try to post all the bonuses and the golden ticket bonuses together .. so for now, enjoy the chapters * ^ -------------------- "Lord Envoy, that was marvelous!" "Much stronger than that useless old thing." In a small country not far from Ilinor. A tall, handsome man with blond hair came out of the queen''s chamber, looking very pleased. Following him were two women who looked simr to each other. "Is Lord Envoy leaving already? Can''t you stay a few more days with us?" "Yeah please~ don''t go, we, we want more of your manly seed." The mother and daughter, one on each side, clung to the blond man, cooing and attempting to persuade him to stay. The Envoyughed heartily and squeezed their butt and breasts a few times more before shaking his head and said politely, "I can''t, I have to leave tonight. There''s an important mission waiting for me in Ilinor for the empire." Hearing there was an important mission, the small country''s queen and her daughter dared not persist further. However, they were still reluctant and tentatively asked again: "Then, Lord Envoy, about our noble status in the empire, when can it be approved?" "That, well, I''ve already reported it. As you know, although my uncle is the minister of energy, the empire''sws are strict, and its system is rigorous, especially regarding the issue of status. I''ve already asked someone to work on it, just give it a little more time, darling." "Mhm~, Lord Envoy is the best." Hearing the Envoy''s assurance, the mother and daughter smiled joyfully, as if their queen and princess status were insignificant before the empire''s nobility. In fact, it was indeed the case. The royalty of a small country might not evenpare to a rural gentry of the empire, let alone the empire''s nobility. Their servitude to the Envoy was also aimed at the resources he controlled, having such a significant rtion in the empire, holding considerable power in the Department of Energy. "Alright, if I stay any longer, your king might be unhappy." "Him? Hmph, how dare such a useless thing confront Lord Envoy. If it weren''t for my lord liking this kind of things, we would have gotten rid of that old useless thing long ago." The words of the queen and her daughter seemed to amuse the Envoy. The blond manughed heartily, approvingly pinched the two women''s nipples again, and then left the bedroom under their longing gazes. Outside the door, the envoy''s butler had been waiting for a while and handed over some high-quality incense used to remove odors. The blond man skillfully took it and sprayed it on himself. For Kasm, this was something he had done countless times. After all, he was a man with a strong sense of cleanliness. It was fine to y with women of lower status, but he couldn''t stand their scent on him. Taking advantage of this moment, the butler asked again: "Lord Kasm, do you need us to process empire credentials for them?" The butler had heard the promises made by the envoy to the queen and her daughter outside the door, which is why he asked. The question made the blond man turn around and give the butler a look as if to say, "Are you joking?" ''''''As if saying, I have favored them, do I still need to take responsibility for them? Seeing this, the butler didn''t ask further, understandingly nodding his head. For Kasm, processing imperial identities was actually just a matter of saying a word, a half-day''s work. Many foreigners also think that having an imperial identity means they truly be imperial citizens, enjoying all the glory and wealth of the empire. But in reality, only those who are truly imperial citizens know that the emperor''s philosophy is the survival of the fittest, and one''s own strength is everything in the empire. Those weaklings who are desperate to get in will only face a more brutal and miserable fate in the empire. So in a sense, the Envoy was indeed being kind to the queen and her daughter. And for him to survive in the fiercelypetitive empire, he must firmly grasp the opportunity to serve his master. Thinking of this, the butler asked again: "Lord Kasm, are we really setting off like this, without bringing more guards?" For this trip to Ilinor, besides his trusted butler and a few attendants for menial tasks, the envoy only brought four or five symbolic guards, without any otherbat strength. Therefore, the butler expressed his concerns. He quickly added: "With Lord Kasm''s capabilities, especially as an envoy, you could request the protection of ''Hunters'' from the empire. If you dislike Hunters, summoning a few magicians to apany us should also be no problem. Otherwise, we should" The butler was interrupted before he could finish. "Rx, we''re just going to Ilinor, an utterly ordinary small country, not some ancient battlefield. With their level of magic, haha, it''d be good if they could trim my nails." "If we really brought a ''Hunter'' like you suggested, I reckon the folks in Ilinor would be scared silly, unable to speak properly. I don''t want to frighten them. After all, we''re there for friendly exchanges, aren''t we? Tsk, you know, I''m actually quite looking forward to seeing that red haired Princess of Ilinor again." Desire appeared on the blond man''s face. People are like that, indifferent towards things easily obtained, but more excited about those that resist and are hard to get. "Summoning guards would take too much time. Better we go lightly equipped, the faster to Ilinor the better. If something unexpected happens, I have my own contingency ns. Don''t worry." Kasm reassured his butler. He was indeed not lying. As the butler went to prepare the vehicle, the blond man''s wrist turned, revealing an item emitting a faint blue glow, graduallying into view. As the light faded, it was revealed to be a book. More precisely, an as. The envoy flipped through the as, most of which was nk, with only a few magical creatures listed, especially under the "Undead Race" category, ranging from undead skeleton to undead mages to undead warriors. If the members of the Five Flowers Alliance were here, they would recognize that the various entries recorded in the as were the same ones the envoy had given them, enabling them to sessfully summon the undead race, which was supposed to be lost, only existing in ancient times. This was a relic of salvation or the old name in the game [Saving Relic]. Its function was that whenever the user encountered a new magical creature, race, or item, even if only partial fossils or remains, it could fully analyze, reverse-engineer, and include them, presenting detailed information about them in this booklet. And the user, through this as capable of analyzing everything, can sessfully reproduce extinct powerful or precious entities! Kasm showed a greedy and longing look towards this booklet. This relic of salvation did not belong to him. Even though he was an envoy and had considerable connections in the empire, he still was far from the level of owning a "relic of salvation." The booklet was actually given to him by one of the five "Great Sages." He was merely granted the ability to "temporarily borrow" the power of this relic of salvation. As for the purpose, Kasm recalled the night the Great Sage mysteriously approached him, assigning him the task. "Take this relic to Ilinor." "There will be someone I''ve arranged to meet you there." "When the timees, this relic will record another powerful race. Afterwards, until Ie to retrieve it, you can continue using this relic as, well, consider it a reward for you." Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Rivers of Blood (Part 1) The banquet was brimming with a lively atmosphere, with toasts and greetings exchanged freely. The golden and splendid pce witnessed its most bustling and grandiose day in recent years. Numerous nobles and royal family members were all in attendance, filling Ilinor''srgest pce, which served as the venue for weing the imperial envoy. Ordinarily, the delicacies that themon folk might save up for weeks before affording to indulge in just once were now served as if costless, dish after dish brought to the long tables by attendants. Not to mention, the luxurious and shiny clothes on the royals and nobles, the sparkling, dazzling variety of gold and silver jewelry, and the gemstone rings. Usually, they might hide these to avoid suspicion. After all, there are always those, the sightless lower sses, who might question and envy their wealth. They could understand this. They sit in their rooms, spending a good hour or two every day diligently reviewing and signing various documents, a toil unseen and inessible to the lower sses, and thus beyond theirprehension. They can''t understand the great contributions they have made to the country. Such superiority is rightfully theirs. However. For now, these are no longer issues. The purpose of high-end clubs is to keep those envious, red-eyed lower sses from disturbing their refinement, keeping them out. On this special day. Everyone around is of the same noble and royal stature, gathering almost all of Ilinor''s upper echelons, all understanding the contributions each has made to the country. People of the same ss need not hide anymore. Emeralds, diamonds, jade bracelets, priceless magical beast furs, alchemical ornaments from imperial masters, beautiful crystal shoes, elegant dress sets. Every noble in the hall was presenting their most beautiful and best side, like a group of peacocks vying for attention, all for that significant figure. The imperial Envoy. Being able to greet the Envoy would be a topic of conversation for days toe, and having a few words with him would be the envy of others. Not to mention, if one were to be noticed and chosen by the Envoy, it could very well be a carp leaping over the dragon gate, transforming from a sparrow to a phoenix. Those noble families with daughters, even the young girls of thirteen or fourteen, were dressed up beautifully by their parents and brought to attend the banquet. Unfortunately, Their eager waiting did not bring the envoy. Instead, "What''s going on, has the envoy not arrived yet?" "Could there have been some issue on the way? Are the royal city''s reception team idiots? How did they host the envoy?" "Speaking of which, have you noticed that Lady Lisa seems to be absent too." "Ah? Now that you mention it, where is the Duchess? With such a significant event as the envoy''s visit, Lady Lisa, as the leader of the Five Flowers Alliance, should definitely be present." Just when the royals and nobles were feeling puzzled, some with keener ears sensed something amiss. --"Ahhh.hhhhhhh hlp~~~" "Am I hallucinating, or does it sound like there are people shouting outside?" "Huh? You must have heard wrong. This time, the pce should be the most guarded, how could there be, huh? It does seem like there are people shouting something outside?" "It''s strange, the noise is getting louder." "Is someone causing trouble? What are the knights doing? If the envoy sees this, it would be a total loss of face for Ilinor." "We''ve maintained the knight order for so long, how can they not even perform basic guard duties, a bunch of useless eaters, I''ll go out and see what''s happening!" This furious noble had just opened the banquet hall door, not even stepping out yet, when he was greeted by a sharp bone de. *Thwack!* The skeletal soldier did not recognize the noble''s luxurious clothes and the precious jewelry symbolizing status. It only knew to stab with its bone de, then withdraw. The still confused noble fell into a pool of blood like mud, softly copsing, as blood quickly stained the carpet red, spreading from the doorway into the hall. For a moment. All the nobles and royals who were still chatting and toasting silently stopped, stunned. They froze for a few seconds, as if their brains had not yet caught up. Until the skeletal soldiers at the door, with the ghostly fire in their hollow eye sockets, turned towards them. More and more skeletal figures emerged at the door, all covered in bloodstains on their white bones, causing the nobles in the hall to finally snap to their senses, their faces instantly crawling with shock and fear. "What is that? What is that!!" "Monsters, monsters ahhhhh!!" "People are being killed! Murdered! That''s blood, Baron Kozuma is dead, he is f@king dead!!" "Someone! Anyone! Where is the knight order? Where are the guards? Protect us, quick Ahhhhh!!" "Don''te any closer, Aghhh." "You can''t kill me, my father is uh..." Money and fame cannot bribe the undead. Just like the beautiful luxurious clothes on these nobles, unable to block the sharp bone des for them, those expensive jewels became a burden in their escape. Oh, and theyers of fat and grease umted from their rich and luxurious diet of meat and fish. The Five Flowers Alliance''s thugs, along with the skeletal soldiers, swarmed into the royal pce''s hall. Like sharks entering a school of fish. The royals and nobles, unarmed and utterly devoid of any fighting capability, could only flee amidst screams. A bloody massacre became the new theme of the banquet. Of course, a few royals were exceptions. Like the little princess who was still enjoying the scene, Sophia''s eyes sparkled with excitement. ''Faster fasterrr!~'' ''Kill more~!'' ''Hahahahah~!'' In Sophia''s eyes, every rtive of the royal family who died meant one more vacancy for her to fill with her confidants once she ascended. She was engrossed in this coup. The blood scent rapidly spreading in the air was far sweeter than the smell of food she had grown tired of and nearly vomited earlier. There was one more! A person she absolutely could not let go of! Sophia was a vengeful princess. Now, her gaze was fiercely fixed on a teacher in her elder sister, the Crown Princess''s camp, Reji. ''That disgusting man who rejected mest night.'' "Hey! You, quickly, kill that man for me!" Sophia grabbed a member of the Five Flowers Alliance who rushed in,manding him from her high position to direct the skeletal soldiers to kill Reji. But. *Bang!* The member of the Five Flowers Alliance kicked Sophia down, and while the little princess was still dazed, the thug stomped hard on Sophia''s stomach with a sinister smile on his face. "Aghhh!" The little princess immediately screamed in pain. She, who had been pampered since childhood, had never endured such treatment. "Bastard! Are you blind? Can''t you recognize who I am!!!" "Who are you? Of course~, we recognize your highness, Princess Sophia. We''ve had our eyes on you for a long time, been wanting to see what a princess body tastes like~"ughed the Five Flowers Alliance thug heartily. "Where is Lady Lisa! I want to see her! You bastard! You''re f@king dead! Let me go! Do you not know that without my support, your actions would be nothing but... ahhhh!" Before the little princess could finish her sentence, the thug stomped on her again, her once beautiful face now covered in tears and snot. "You really think you''re special, huh? Apart from the Crown Princess who is to be spared for the Envoy, you? You''re just like the rest of the royals, meant to be eliminated. If you serve me well, maybe I''ll keep you around a bit longer, hahaha." Hearing the thug''s wild talk andbining it with the fact that Lisa was nowhere to be found, Sophia realized at that moment that she had been deceived. She had be a clown; the Five Flowers Alliance was simply using her. "Help! Help me!! Big Sister!" "You people! Save me! Help!!! I''m here! Sea Tiger! The Knight Order! Teacher Reji!" Finally grasping the situation, Princess Sophia fell into deep fear. Her mind went nk, and she began desperately calling for help, naming anyone she could think of, even Reji, whom she had despised and found disgusting, as someone to cry out to for rescue. Though her voice, in the entirety of the hall already filled with chaos, various screams, and other cries for help, was indeed insignificant and quickly drowned out. But this did remind the Five Flowers Alliance thug. Now was not the time to enjoy the little princess body. It wasn''t toote to y with her after eliminating the threats. Leaving a few people to watch over the captured Sophia, the group of thugs, following the direction from which the little princess had just screamed for help, shifted their attention to Reji. This teacher was also on the elimination list, and there was a bounty on him. Every person in the Crown Princess''s camp had one, more or less. Killing him would be a big win for them. No one wanted to miss this opportunity. Especially when they had such powerful assistance as "skeletal warriors." With several skeletal soldiers, the thugs from the Five Flowers Alliance charged towards Reji with sinister smiles, as ifpeting for the moving bounty head. Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Rivers of Blood (Part 2) "Teacher Reji, what... what should we do!" Vielsia, thrown into disarray, instinctively sought help from Reji beside her. The current state of the elf girl mirrored the situation of all adventurers present. A few minutes ago, when the skeletal soldiers appeared in the hall, it wasn''t just the royals and nobles who were shocked but also the adventurers who had infiltrated the venue in in clothes, following the Crown Princess''s battle n. ording to the n Princess Yuffie had told them, they were to reveal their true identities and catch the rebels from the Five Flowers Alliance off guard as soon as they rushed in. Afterwards, the knight-ordered troops, lying in ambush by the Crown Princess, would also appear, striking from both sides to quell the long-nned coup thoroughly, while also taking the opportunity to eliminate the corrupt nobles of the Five Flowers Alliance. However, many adventurers, from their initial bewilderment at the skeletal soldiers to their current fear of these unknown monsters, found themselves in a state of panic. "What''s going on, this... this isn''t what Princess Yuffie promised!?" "What are these skeletons!!" "They''re with the Five Flowers Alliance! F@ck! how can they control such monsters!!" "Where''s the knight order? The knight order that''s supposed to coordinate with us from inside and out!!" "Idiots, didn''t you see the blood on those skeletons? They''re dead, all dead already!" "How does the Five Flowers Alliance have such an ace up their sleeve, damn it! It''s impossible to win, those monsters can''t be killed, they simply can''t be killed!!" Now, the grand hall was filled with the fluctuations of spells and martial skills. Finally, there were signs of resistance andbat. These came from the adventurers of the Crown Princess''s camp, but their level was not high. Facing the skeletal warriors and the thugs of the Five Flowers Alliance, they were almost in constant retreat, suffering heavy casualties. This made Vielsia, who still hadn''t grasped the situation and was somewhat confused, very anxious. Her anxious question to Reji at the beginning was just to express one thought. "Vielsia, you want to save them, right?" Reji asked calmly. Reji''s "them" referred not only to the adventurers. But also to those royals and nobles. And the elven princess did not hesitate. "Teacher? What are you talking about, of course! These are all lives! How can we not save them when they''re in danger!" Vielsia had yet to act, mainly because she was worried about Reji. With Reji''s strength, one or two skeletal soldiers definitely wouldn''t be a problem, but looking around, there were at least thirty to forty skeletal soldiers. Moreover, from the wide-open entrance of the hall, more undead creatures were continuously pouring in. This was the reason for Vielsia''s extreme anxiety. At this rate, everyone would die. "All of us here will die." "If you want to save them, go ahead. Don''t worry about me; I''ll take care of myself." Reji shook his head. He didn''t stop Vielsia. Instead, it seemed like he was even supporting her. Under normal circumstances, Vielsia would have noticed something was off with Reji. Even now, she could vaguely feel that Reji had be a stranger. But with her urgent desire to save lives, unable to bear seeing the massacre, she didn''t dwell on it. After instructing Reji to be careful, she directlyunched her magic and charged into the area with the most skeletal soldiers, to rescue the royals and nobles. Reji sighed slightly at this scene. But it was also expected. Elves often have a bit of a saviorplex. This was evident from before when they sealed the demons but chose to preserve them. Reji couldn''t control other elves. But as Vielsia was hispanion and nominally his student, Reji hoped she could grow. Previously, he had wanted to change her gradually, but now, taking advantage of this opportunity, Reji changed his mind.Perhaps this could be a good chance to change Vielsia. But as Vielsia was hispanion and nominally his student, Reji hoped she could grow. Previously, he had wanted to change her gradually, but now, taking advantage of this opportunity, Reji changed his mind. Perhaps this could be a good chance to change Vielsia. Of course, he had another reason for purposely sending Vielsia away. Now, a skeleton that had wanted to approach Reji for a long time but had been hindered by the elf''s presence finally managed to hurriedly make its way to Reji. Actually, describing her as a "skeleton" wasn''t quite urate. Although she was a skeletal frame, as a female skeleton dressed in a ck and white maid''s uniform, if you didn''t look directly at her face, at first nce, anyone would think she was just an ordinary maid at the venue. But in reality, anyone with a bit of understanding of the undead would flee for their lives upon seeing a female skeleton, not daring to take a second look. Because there''s only one female skeleton. At the very top of the undead hierarchya Lich. This was the Lich that had been summoned at the Count''s manor before, and Reji remembered her. The maid''s uniform she wore was something he had picked out on a whim for theLich. This was the Lich that had been summoned at the Count''s manor before, and Reji remembered her. The maid''s uniform she wore was something he had picked out on a whim for the Lich . The appearance of the Lich meant that Leo''s side had also entered the fray. Looking at the Lich''s terrified and cautious demeanor, she probably didn''t expect to find herself here. So, upon realizing this, she likely set aside Leo''s orders and hurried over to see Reji at the first opportunity. Reji waved his hand. He signaled the Lich to rise, indicating she didn''t need to bow to him and that she should continue executing Leo''s n without worrying about him. After understanding Reji''s clear intentions, the Lich maid seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. With a somewhat human gesture, she sped her hands in front of her and deeply bowed to Reji again, preparing to leave and not disturb the king when... "Kill them!" A somewhat abrupt and dramatic shout for attack rose. Both Reji and the Lich looked toward the source of the sound, which was none other than the thugs from the Five Flowers Alliance who had been eager to kill Reji for the "bounty." Reji didn''t even need to do anything. Angryher mes ignited in the eye sockets of the Lich maid instantly. She raised a hand, her slender bone fingers shimmering with terrifying necromantic power. A skull scepter was summoned, and the pitiful wails of tortured souls formed a psychic assault that swept over the Five Flowers Alliance thugs charging at Reji in an instant. The Lich maid, who had been so careful and fearful of making any mistake in front of Reji, now seemed like the most terrifying monster in the world to those thugs. Their flesh was nearly instantly drained by necromantic magic, and they hadn''t even stopped running before they turned into skeletons mid-stride. [Life Conversion] [Fifth-tier necromancy spell.] [Inflicts certain damage to enemy units, and if it kills the target, turns the target into a skeleton.] It seemed the Lich intended to use this newly summoned group of skeletons to protect herself. But Reji shook his head. There was no need. The Lich then backed off and shifted her attention entirely. She opened her mouth, emitting an inaudible ultrasonic wave that rapidly spread. Subsequently, the skeletal soldiers who had been following the orders of the Five Flowers Alliance thugs and fighting alongside them paused in their movements. Before the thugs could react with surprise, the next moment, what were once rades" in the skeletal soldiers, theirher fires in their eye sockets flickering rapidly, turned their bone des without hesitation and stabbed towards these thugs. "Sh Ah!" "Damn it! What are you doing? Have you gone mad? The enemy is them, not me. Ahhhh!" "They''ve lost control! They''ve lost control!!" "Wait, wait, don''t... aghaaa." "Forget about the royals! Quick! Kill these damned skeletons!" "What''s happening? The number of skeletons isn''t right! How... how can there be so many!" The situation, which had been one-sided just a moment ago, under the influence of the Lich, instantly turned into an even more gruesome ughter. It was then that the thugs from the Five Flowers Alliance realized something was amiss. Lady Lisa could only summon up to thirty or so skeletons through blood sacrifice at most. But looking at the situation now, there were at least fifty to sixty, and more kept joining. Indeed, under the Lich''s [Life Conversion], the corpses of the dead became new skeletal soldiers. When the skeletons were on their side, they killed with gusto, not noticing the increase. It was only when the skeletons "lost control" that they realized something was wrong. In a way, they were lucky. Had the Lich not been dyed by discovering Reji, she would have taken control of all of the Five Flowers Alliance''s skeletons right from the start, conducting indiscriminate ughter. This was the task Leo had given her. When the skeletal soldiers began to view the Five Flowers Alliance as targets as well, the adventurers breathed a sigh of relief, and another person coincidentally benefited. "Don''t kill me, I''m under Lady Lisa, I''m your master!" The thugs previously watching over Sophia, now had no time to care about the little princess as they fled and fought against the skeletons attacking them. Taking advantage of this chaos, Sophia actually managed to break free from the clutches of the Five Flowers Alliance thugs. The terrified Sophia had only one thought now. Forget being a princess. Forget the coup. Forget having children with the Imperial Envoy. Survive! I must survive! Thus, in the midst of the chaotic venue, the frantically fleeing Sophia was once again favored by "Lady Luck," noticing a spot that seemed extremely safe,pletely devoid of the undead. Quick! Head there! Sophia ran helter-skelter, not minding the food and soup that sshed onto her beautiful dress as she knocked over banquet tables and chairs. The little princess used all her strength, sprinting towards that "safe spot." And there... Was Reji, sitting quietly in the corner. Chapter 98: Chapter 98: The Savior "Teacher! Save me! Please!!" People always manage to tap into their potential in dangerous situations, just like now, with the little princess who actually managed to run to Reji''s side sessfully. Sophia seemed to have finally seen her savior. "Teacher, you must have some way to keep these skeleton monsters from approaching, right?" "Let''s run, quickly! Hurry Teacher! There are more and more skeletons! If we don''t run now, it''ll be toote!!" "Teacher, I''m talking to you. Do you hear me? You hear me, right? Run!!" Seeing the little princess''s nervousness, Reji was quite surprised. He hadn''t expected the first one to notice him and know toe to him for help would be Sophia. "Miss Sophia, you can run by yourself, don''t worry about me." Reji shook his head. The little princess had once invited him over, probably wanting to set some sort of trap for him. But after all, she hadn''t done anything substantial to harm him, so Reji''s attitude towards Sophia was coldly neutral. Suggesting Sophia to leave quickly. To die far away. Just phrased more politely. Unexpectedly, once again, to Reji''s surprise, upon hearing that he wasn''t nning to run, she didn''t foolishly run off by herself. Instead, as if clinging to him, she also decided to stay. "Miss Sophia?" "No! I won''t go! Teacher must have some way, I know it! You, you''re very smart, you must understand these skeleton monsters! Please, Teacher, save me... save me, and I''ll give you a lot, whatever you want, I can give it to you!" Maybe it was the kick from the Five Flowers Alliance thug, or being treated so roughly by them, that actually managed to kick the once arrogance and nobility out of the little princess. Even possibly kicked her brain back into ce. Now, Sophia was desperately pleading with Reji, determinedly not leaving his side, refusing to run off by herself even though new skeletons were continuously entering the venue every moment. She seemed to have realized that Reji didn''t like her, so she merely pleaded without trying to hug or cling to him. Sophia just braved her fear, shrinking into a corner slightly behind Reji, trembling. What will happen next to her... Well, he didn''t care. The bloodshed in the venue now had entered an intense phase, the thugs of the Five Flowers Alliance, who were the hunters before, became prey just like the royalty and nobles. Even they could not withstand it; the skeleton soldiers, with their resistance to magic and almost no sense of pain, began to suffer heavy casualties. Most people had already lost the will to fight and wanted to escape. But those who panicked and tried to flee ended up being surrounded by the skeleton soldiers without realizing it and were chopped to death in the chaos. Now, the ones who could survive were those who grouped together in sevens or eights, backing each other up in formation. Only in this way could they barely resist the skeleton soldiers. Of course, there were exceptions. Like the dazzling Vielsia. Among all the people in the venue who had managed to hold on until now, Vielsia was undoubtedly the most deserving of credit. It could be said that nearly half of the skeleton soldiers'' attention was attracted by her, as spell after spell of the third tier wasunched from Vielsia''s hands to resist the skeletons. She was like an army of one. To her left and right, hundreds of nobles and royals who had fled to her side treated Vielsia as their savior. It was not hard to see that more and more nobles, upon discovering such a "hero," were desperately trying to run to Vielsia''s side. As a result, naturally, more and more skeleton soldiers were drawn over. Although Vielsia was still managing easily for now, it''s uncertain what would happenter. "Miss Sophia, how about going to my student''s side? She is so powerful; she will definitely be able to escort you safely out." Reji, who had been paying attention to Vielsia, was like a whispering demon, persuading the little princess once again. However, Sophia hesitated for a moment before shaking her head frantically. Even though it seemed indeed safer over at Vielsia''s side. But wasn''t it safe here as well? Even though they were in a corner and indeed inconspicuous, so far, not a single skeleton hade close. Moreover, Sophia, whose attention was incredibly focused on surviving, discovered that it seemed every skeleton that had intended toe this way, upon reaching a certain critical range, would suddenly seem to realize something and change direction. ''That''s right,'' ''There can''t be a mistake!'' ''Although this teacher''s strength iscking, he is after all capable of being the tutor to that third-tier mage; there must be something outstanding and powerful about him, perhaps in researching these strange and bizarre creatures!'' ''If I wanted to survive, I must follow him!!'' ''Sigh'' Reji sighed. It wasn''t that he had no way to deal with Sophia, who had fixed her choice on him. It was more of a feeling that even this little princess could grow up and be smarter, so why was his own idiot student, Vielsia, still such a fool? Growthes from pain. Just like how the demons, after being tormented by the hero, learned pain and became exceedingly cautious and careful. Just like how Sophia, after being brutally kicked by thugs and crying out in agony, came to realize the reality that she was nothing but worthless. The elf girl should be the same. ''However, pain does not necessarily have to be physical'' ''It can also be mental~'' Reji, observing another group of adventurers who had also noticed him and were heading his way, already had an idea in mind. "Quick, keep up! Luna! me Strike, towards six o''clock!" With his robust body, Sea Tiger wielded a great sword, flipping over a skeleton blocking the way, while behind him, a searing me, after a brief buildup, hit precisely a skeleton in the blind spot of Sea Tiger''s vision, behind him. With such tacit cooperation and many more like it, if there was one group among the adventurers that was still entirely alive, without any casualties, it would probably be the A-rank mercenary group the Eagle. They truly lived up to their A-rank status, with each member remaining calm in the face of danger and working together under the lead of Sea Tiger and with the support of the mage Luna, they even managed to gain the upper hand against the skeleton soldiers for a time. But it definitely wouldn''tst in the long run. Sea Tiger was urgently looking for a breakthrough. He naturally noticed Vielsia''s location, but after seeing therge group of nobles protected by Vielsia, Sea Tiger frowned deeply. Sea Tiger shifted his gaze, looking for another person, and soon, his eyes lit up when he spotted Reji in the corner. At this moment, Reji gave Sea Tiger the impression of being simply an observer. An outsider in this bloody and murderous feast. Years of experience as an adventurer and honed intuition sharply told Sea Tiger that if he wanted to survive, he had to go to that Teacher! "Hurry! Follow me!!" Gritting his teeth, Sea Tiger led the Eagle Mercenary Group not to break out but to fight their way back in, towards Reji''s location. It was very difficult at first. But as they got closer to Reji, whether it was Sea Tiger''s illusion or not, it became easier, and the skeleton soldiers became fewer and fewer. Until finally, when theypletely reached Reji''s side, Sea Tiger was ready to quickly defend and counterattack and apologize to Reji for bringing the skeletons over when, in fact, the adventurers of the Eagle Mercenary Group were stunned. ''Where are the skeletons?'' ''Why did they all turned back?'' Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Teachers side, it belongs only to me! The scene with the Eagle Mercenary Group further convinced Sophia, who was the first to reach Reji''s side, of her earlier conjecture. This Teacher Must have some way to stop monsters! Sea Tiger quickly realized this as well. Just as he was still brainstorming on how tomunicate and negotiate with Reji, Reji took the initiative to speak. "I''m very grateful that Captain Tiger is willing to help me." "This is not a ce to stay for long. Let''s go." Reji stood up and was the first to walk outside, seemingly indifferent to the terrifying skeleton monsters in the chaotic venue. He walked straight towards the back door of the hall without any guard, as if he was delivering himself to the skeletons. In any case, if it were up to Sea Tiger, he would never choose such an overly conspicuous escape route. But, Sea Tiger hesitated for a moment there. Sophia, however, reacted very quickly. The little princess seemed to havepletely lost her mind over Reji. She followed him closely, no matter what, even if it meant facing those monsters. Seeing this, Sea Tiger finally made up his mind. "Let''s go! Let''s follow the Teacher!" And what followed proved that his decision was incredibly right. With Reji leading the way in front, he did nothing but walk slowly. Yet, it seemed as if a halo enveloped them, making them invisible. The fierce skeleton soldiers seemed to have gone blind, not one attacking them. Even more exaggerated was that some skeletons on their inevitable path even actively made way for them, as if giving them passage. A skeleton, because it was facing away from Reji and did not notice him, was even kicked fiercely by another skeleton, as if to say,"Get out of the way." Even more exaggerated was that some skeletons on their inevitable path even actively made way for them, as if giving them passage. A skeleton, because it was facing away from Reji and did not notice him, was even kicked fiercely by another skeleton, as if to say, "Get out of the way." This surprised Sea Tiger and all the adventurers of the Eagle Mercenary Group. Until they were about to reach the back door without any harm or battle as if in a dream, Sea Tiger seemed toe back to his senses and hurriedly asked Reji, more like a reminder: "Teacher Reji, your, your student is still" Sea Tiger was of course referring to Vielsia. Reji shook his head. "Don''t worry about her, I believe she will catch up." Reji didn''t even nce in Vielsia''s direction. He continued walking towards the back door. Seeing this, Sea Tiger and the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group had nothing to say and silently followed. On the contrary, it was Sophia. Now that she didn''t have to worry about her life being in danger and felt slightly relieved, she was very concerned about the direction in which Vielsia was. How should I put it? It was as if I had suddenly found a strong reliance and didn''t want to let go, much less share it with anyone else. So, Sophia watched Vielsia, who was still in battle. Especially those royals and nobles who were saved by Vielsia and were being protected by her. Fool Idiot! Idiot ! It would be best if you just died here, don''t follow us! Sophia, despite reaching her intellectual limit. But her inner nature wouldn''t change. The little princess cursed Vielsia viciously. She indeed hoped that Vielsia would die. Just like she would assist the Five Flowers Alliance in this massacre and coup. A spot for each. If this foolish girl died, would I have a chance to rece this foolish, seemingly righteous country girl? Be the new student by Teacher Reji''s side? And from what can be seen now, even if Teacher Reji isn''t very powerful, he certainly possesses vast knowledge and is a great talent. Vielsia bing a third-tier sorcerer, it might not be her effort but Teacher Reji''s influence. In that case. If I could also be taken as a disciple by Teacher Reji in the future, or even, cling to Teacher Reji, this great tree, can I also be a powerful, enviable third-tier sorcerer like Vielsia!? Thinking of this, Sophia''s gaze towards Reji in front became even more fervent. The look she gave Vielsia became even more repulsive and jealous. Sophia thought she hid all these feelings very well. But in reality, Swish! Vielsia shot another arrow, piercing through several attacking skeleton soldiers. Taking advantage of this briefbat break to catch her breath, she immediately turned her head, looking towards Reji and others heading towards the back door. To be honest, seeing Reji and the Eagle Mercenary Group retreating, Vielsia felt very unpleasant inside. Teacher!? Why!? Teacher clearly has the ability, why didn''t he save everyone? Why did he just watch indifferently? And Why, when Teacher was retreating, didn''t he even say a word to me! It''s like... like He forgot about me? A strong sense of being abandoned swept over Vielsia, even overpowering her sense of justice inside. Vielsia felt like she was losing something very important. That thing was far more important than her current sense of justice, more than these people she was protecting those with panicked expressions, corpulent figures, heavily made up, who she actually didn''t recognize at all, each of them strangers to her. "Quick! What are you doing!" "The skeletons areing again! You fool, don''t just stand there! Shoot your arrows!" "Hey! We''re talking to you! Did you hear us, Imand you in my capacity as the Minister of Finance, quick! Protect us ahhh!" "Damn! Are you deaf? You must be a student of the Royal Academy, right? Who is your mentor? If you let us get hurt, we will have you, no, your whole family thrown into prison tomorrow!!" "They''reing. They''re killing their way up here. Help ahh!!" Seeing Vielsia stop, those nobles who were frantic and relying on the elf became anxious, screaming, and even now, perhaps out of habit from being pampered, were still giving orders to Vielsia in amanding tone. But these were secondary to Vielsia now. What truly made Vielsia''s heart ache, as if her heart skipped a beat, was... -Jealousy- It was still the jealousy from Sophia by Reji''s side, thinking she was being discreet, but in the perception of Vielsia, it was all too clear. The small princess''s jealousy towards her, herpetition, her... wishing she would just hurry up and die. No. Don''t I don''t want anyone to take my ce by Teacher''s side! That ce Belongs to me! and ME ALONE!! In an instant, all the conflicting emotions inside Vielsia erupted. Sophia''s envious gaze acted like a catalyst, like thest straw that broke the camel''s back. It made the elf princess understand her feelings inside. Could that be called liking? Vielsia didn''t know. But what she did know was that, just thinking about someone else taking her ce as Reji''s new student, just the thought of that scene made Vielsia''s heart -Ach''e- ''What is this pain....'' "What are you doing!! Can''t you see we are all injured!!" At this moment, a nobleman adorned with gold nes around his neck finally squeezed through to Vielsia''s side. His greasy hand actually grabbed the corner of the elf''s cloak, urging Vielsia toe back quickly, even trying to embrace the body of Vielsia, their great savior. "FUCK Of!" Vielsia made a breakthrough. The moment that vulgar and filthy word came out of the mouth of the elf princess had alreadypleted a certain change. With a p, she sent the nobleman, who wanted to embrace her, flying. The screaming noble fell into a pile of skeleton warriors and, within seconds, was stabbed into a sieve. For some reason. Although it felt sinful. A sense of pleasure emerged in the depths of Vielsia''s heart. I had fallen. I must have fallen. Vielsia was very clear about this. But. Seeing that the figures of Reji and the others were about to disappear through the back door, about topletely retreat, Vielsia didn''t hesitate for a moment. The elf girl turned around, transformed into a streak of light, and crazily chased after Reji''s position. Left behind. Were only the stunned nobles, desperately pleading, loudly shouting for the elf girl not to leave. Without Vielsia''s intervention and protection, the skeletons, now utterly unleashed in their ughter, began a new round of bloodshed. Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Vielsia Wants to Declare Sovereignty part 1 Apologies for the dy. I''d like to inform you that we''ll be doing a mass release today and tomorrow, as my midterm has ended today. Thank you for your patience and understanding. ----- As the leader of the fleeing group, Reji actually did not "retreat" quickly. The Eagle Mercenary Group and Princess Sophia, who followed behind him were anxious and wished they could have started running earlier, unlike Reji, who seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll. But none of them dared to speak out, let alone suggest leaving Reji behind and running away on their own, even though they had already exited the venue. The venue was not the only ce engulfed in turmoil; the entire royal pce was aze with fire. What was supposed to be a peaceful night was now filled with the sounds of fighting and screams. This indicated that the massacre at the grand hall was just the tip of the iceberg. The royal pce of Ilinor was now a river of blood everywhere. No one dared to bet on whether skeletal soldiers or some other more terrifying creatures, might suddenly emerge from the shadows. Indeed, Princess Sophia knew this best. The skeletal soldiers were not the Five Flowers Alliance''s only trump card. In Madam Lisa''s hands, there was an even more terrifying killing machinean undead warrior. Now that she knew the Five Flowers Alliance was merely using her as a hunting target, Sophia was terrified. The only source of security for her now was Teacher Reji in front of her. However. This sense of security for the young princess was now facing a significant crisis. It wasn''t because a new creature had appeared. But rather Whizz! Whizz ! A whooshing sound came from the path they had taken, and a streak of green light rapidly approached. The figure from the night skynded, and it was Vielsia. The elven girl had already changed her outfit, putting on the cloak given to her by Reji once more. Vielsianded in silence. For a moment, she even didn''t know how to start talking to Reji. What should I say? Asking Teacher Reji why he left me behind, why he didn''t call me when retreating? At this moment, it was Sea Tiger who broke the slightly silent atmosphere first. "Miss Vielsia, it''s great! Teacher Reji has been leading us very slowly, just waiting for you!" As the captain capable of leading an A-rank adventurer team, Sea Tiger naturally understands the rtionships betweenpanions well and takes good care of everyone''s emotions. He immediately noticed something off in the atmosphere between Reji and Vielsia, the Teacher and student duo, and stepped forward to speak on Reji''s behalf, soothing Vielsia in the process. Indeed. Upon hearing Sea Tiger''s words, Vielsia''s previously dimmed eyes immediately brightened. She was like a loyal dog abandoned by its master, sad and silent, tail drooping. Yet, the moment she sensed her master still had memories of her, her spirits lifted, and she began wagging her tail again. So, Teacher was still paying attention to me! Maybe he didn''t call for me just because the situation was too urgent! Indeed, with the normal speed of retreat, they should have gone much further. So, Sea Tiger wasn''t lying Teacher was indeed slowing down and was indeed waiting for me! I am really relieved. Vielsia felt a surge of joy. Her previous small bout of moodiness towards Reji vanished. In fact, she believed thatReji must have thought there was an understanding between them that needed no words, which is why he didn''t bother about her. And she... she not only failed to grasp herTeacher''s hint but also doubted him. I... I am really a bad student! Comforting herself with these thoughts and convincing herself that she had never been "abandoned" by Reji, Vielsia''s sense of justice seemed to return as well. The elf girl immediately said to Sea Tiger, "Mr. Sea Tiger, let''s split into two groups! Let the injured retreat first, and those of us who can still fight should go back now; we might make it in time!" "I just saw that there are still many adventurers holding out against the skeletal monsters. Let''s go back and help them now! It''s not toote!" Vielsia was thinking of going back to save people. This time, the ones she wanted to save were not the royal family or nobles, but the adventurers who were with them. How should I put it?... Maybe she needs another push... In Reji''s view, it was a progression, at least, but not enough. However, to everyone else, Sea Tiger first frowned, then quickly shook his head at Vielsia. "I''m sorry, Miss Vielsia, but for me, the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group are the most important. The first thing I must ensure is our own safety. Unfortunately, we really can''t afford to assist Miss Vielsia." "I" The elf girl was at a loss for words for a moment, having naively thought that everyone wanted to save others just like she did. But she soon realized that wasn''t the case. Vielsia then looked towards Reji. Sea Tiger and the rest of the Eagle Mercenary Group did the same. Everyone knew that Reji''s opinion was the most important here. If Reji said to go back, Sea Tiger would probably follow, albeit reluctantly. But, Faced with Vielsia''s hopeful gaze, Reji shook his head and calmly asked: "Vielsia, what is important to you?" "What is important...?" The elf girl repeated, confusion and perplexity written all over her face. Reji continued, "For me, Vielsia, you are my student. Your safety is above everything else. You are the most important, iparable to anyone else. If I could exchange the lives of strangers for your safety, I would do it without hesitation." After saying this, Reji no longer paid attention to Vielsia. He turned around and continued walking forward. The members of the Eagle Mercenary Group were silent, especiallyit''s leader Sea Tiger. If before, he merely respected Reji as an intellectual and a formidable Teacher, now, Sea Tiger felt a sense of identification with Reji, elevating his esteem for him by several notches. Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Vielsia Wants to Declare Sovereignty part 2 Sea Tiger asked himself, If he had to make a choice between strangers and the Eagle Mercenary Group, he would also choose thetter, even at the sacrifice of the former. Vielsia stood still for several seconds before finally catching up, she followed at the end of the group. Yes, just at the end. The elf girl now hung her head low, her facial expression unclear, but Vielsia''s tightly clenched her fists revealed the internal struggle she was facing. Undoubtedly, Reji''s previous words had a significant impact on her. This was different from the "elf race education" she had always received. What truly made Vielsia waver was, If she had to rece the subject of Reji''s words, One day, when she was forced to choose between "justice" and "Reji," which side would she pick? The most important thing... to me, what is truly the most important... As Vielsia was still caught in this shift of thought, going through the most challenging period, another figure quietly approached and came to the elf''s side. Indeed. It was Sophia. "Miss Vielsia, don''t be sad. I think you are right!" The little princess reverted to her soft and fragile demeanor, like a little sister. She was cheering up Vielsia, who was feeling down and disheartened. "Since I was young, I''ve always admired those great heroes, the knights who are willing to help others! Miss Vielsia, please continue to uphold this spirit of kindness and justice! Ilinor has suffered greatly now, and what the country needs most in the future are people like Miss Vielsia!" Towards the end, the little princess seemed to shyly lower her head, her fingers interlocked, and then she looked up bravely, her eyes sparkling with admiration as she continued, "I will take Miss Vielsia as my role model!" "So, I also want to follow Teacher Reji, to be a student of him. When I have the strength in the future, I will be apanion by Sister Vielsia''s side! Together, we can contribute to Ilinor and help those who are suffering!" This was what Sophia was best at. Beneath her seemingly innocent words, she subtly spread deeper implications to achieve her goal. Under the guise of her concerned face for Vielsia, her heart was filled with disgust and deep jealousy. Damn it! Why did this woman catch up? Wouldn''t it be better to continue being your justice warrior? And that Teacher Reji too. Saying what? This silly country girl with broken sses and freckles on her face is the most important. Is he blind? Here I am, a princess throwing myself at him, the hint couldn''t be more obvious, and yet, why is he still obsessed with this female student? Wouldn''t being a Teacher and mentor to me, a princess, be infinitely better? That''s how people are. Once they feel slightly safe, their true nature begins to show, and the bit of intelligence and brains they''ve managed to gather starts to disappear again. However, What Sophia didn''t expect was that she thought her speech could confuse Vielsia, making her do more things that Teacher Reji would dislike, lowering his affection for her, and thus, paving the way for her own ascension. But unexpectedly, "I see... Thank you, Miss Sophia." Vielsia first politely replied to the young princess. Then, she paused for a moment, her expression changing, and she coldly said, "However, Teacher has no ns of taking on more disciples at the moment. Having me, a bad student, is enough trouble for him already. So, I''m sorry Miss Sophia, but it seems your wish might note true." After saying this, Vielsia, watching the princess''s shocked, incredulous, and even angry expression, felt for the first time how satisfying it was to talk back. So she continued, "Furthermore, Miss Sophia, please keep your distance from my teacher. I wouldn''t want someone as dirty as you are now toe into contact with him." "If you were to dirty my Teacher''s clothes, I''d have to wash them when we return tonight. If you truly want to help me, please don''t add to my workload with my Teacher tonight." After saying this, Vielsia nced at the once elegant and beautiful dress of the little princess, which was now stained withrge patches of wine, vegetable juice, and grease stains from the earlier escape, shook her head, and made a disgusted face. Then, without giving Sophia a chance to respond, she quickly walked away, jogging towards Reji, leaving the princess behind,ing back to her senses, furious and impotent. Hearing the footstepsing from behind, Reji smiled. Of course, he had heard the interchange between Vielsia and the little princess. ''So my naive elf wasn''t so foolish after all; she actually had a knack for talking back'' Or was it, perhaps, an instinct triggered between females? As a jest, Reji purposefully asked the elf girl following him, "Vielsia, how did you know I had no ns of taking on more disciples?" Vielsia, no longer timid and seemingly having grown, actually asked back. "Does Teacher really have no such ns?" "No, not until I have taught this bad student a thing or two, at least." Hearing this, the elven girl''s face transitioned from being slightly sullen to a sweet smile as if she had tasted honey. Of course, this smile quickly turned into panic and shyness. Because Reji followed up with, "But more than that, I''m interested in Miss Vielsia''s mention of the workload with me at night. Could you borate on that?" Fortunately, the awkward moment Vielsia had, wishing for a crack in the ground to swallow her up for her impulsive words, did notst long. Because, as everyone continued to "flee" a few steps forward, a group of figures emerged from the darkness. They were also monsters. But not skeletons. Instead, it was a bizarre species with limbs that seemed to transform into des, sharp leg des maintaining a strange bnce on the ground, something even Sea Tiger, who considered himself well-traveled, had never seen before. Chapter 102: Chapter 102: They Heard My Words Fortunately, the awkward moment Vielsia had, wishing for a crack in the ground to swallow her up for her impulsive words, did notst long. Because, as everyone continued to "flee" a few steps forward, a group of figures emerged from the darkness. They were also monsters. But not skeletons. Instead, it was a bizarre species with limbs that seemed to transform into des, sharp leg des maintaining a strange bnce on the ground, something even Sea Tiger, who considered himself well-traveled, had never seen before. "What, what is that?" Luna of the Eagle Mercenary Group clenched her staff tightly, the cold light reflected from the sharp limbs of the monsters under the moonlight causing her to shiver all over. Sorcerers have always been particrly sensitive to assassins. And the Sword Demons, as the "assassin" ss within the demon race, brought a suffocating pressure to Luna. Even though they were still more than ten meters apart, Luna felt a chill around her neck, as if it could be easily slit open at any moment, gushing blood. Every cell in the female sorcerer''s body was emitting a strong warning, The feeling of being targeted, as if her life no longer belonged to her, made Luna extremely ufortable. Indeed. The mere killing intent emitted by the Sword Demons, and the souls of countless strong beings that had fallen to them, were a source of fear for the sorcerers and adventurers of the Eagle Mercenary Group. Luna trembled, her fingers unconsciously clenching the staff so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her breathing became more rapid, and the Sword Demons standing in the distance like scarecrows seemed to be closing in, their ded hands and feet appearing as though they would pierce through her body in the next moment. "No, no." The fluctuations of magic began to gather around Luna, an instinctual response. In extreme panic, she would cast whatever spell she could. "Luna, stop!" Fortunately, Sea Tiger noticed Luna''s distress in time and woke her with a sharp tug, admonishing her in a low voice. It was Sea Tiger''s voice that brought Luna back to reality, and only then did she see that the ded monsters were still standing still, a dozen meters away, not having moved at all. What she had imagined were just hallucinations. No. That was not a hallucination. Luna''s forehead and palms were covered in cold sweat. She realized then that it was the killing intent emanating from the monsters. Killing intent so tangible it felt solid. Was it deliberate? No, no, no. These ded monsters hadn''t even given me a proper look. So, was that killing intent just... unintentionally emitted by them? Realizing this, Luna was filled with even greater fear. How many people had these monsters killed to umte such a terrifying killing intent? "Sea Tiger! Quick! Run! Get away from them! These monsters are not like the skeletons, they¡ªthey!" Luna was in utter panic. She now only wanted to turn around and run wildly. She would rather face the skeletal soldiers in the venue than be within a hundred meters of these de-tipped monsters. Luna relied on her sorcerer''s intuition. And another member of the team, feeling simr to Luna, was also shivering, with an even stronger sense of fear in her heart. That was Vielsia. "Teacher, is that... a Sword Demon?" Sword Demon? Sea Tiger was unfamiliar with the name. But from Luna''s horror and from Vielsia''s trembling voice, it was not hard to understand that this name likely referred to another kind of monster, far more powerful than the skeletal soldiers they had encountered before. "That''s not a monster, that''s a demon... a demon race." Vielsia''s words made Sea Tiger pause. Demon race? I had heard of this term, but wasn''t it something that existed only in mythical legends from ancient history? And weren''t the demons in those myths an inferior race easily defeated by humans? But now, it seemed... history waspletely wrong. "Miss Vielsia, what do we do now? Is there any way to deal with the demon race? We can''t really turn back, can we?" To continue on their way, this was the only path. With this thought, it was not surprising that these Sword Demons would appear here. They were arranged to prevent anyone from escaping, to intercept them, the ones who slipped through the! Realizing this, Vielsia felt somewhat desperate. Because this meant two things. One, this group of Sword Demons would not let them go. Two, the demon race was also involved in this coup, and it might even be said that the coup itself was orchestrated by the demon race. Why! Why is this happening? In history, weren''t the demons known for directly descending inrge numbers, using millions from their armies to sweep through openly? Since when did the demon race also start using strategies? Although Vielsia knew that within the demon race, there indeed existed a kind known as "Wisdom Demons." But historically, the Wisdom Demons were mainly known for their tactics and formations, rarely for engaging in schemes. So, following this line of thought. A madman filled with violence was terrifying enough. But if this madman also learned to be rational, to hide, even to disguise... Hiss. Vielsia gasped in a breath of cold air. "Don''t mind them, just keep moving forward. As long as you don''t attack them first, they won''t harm you." Reji''s words rose in such a tense and fearful atmosphere, sounding out of ce. This time, even Vielsia, who always trusted her teacher the most, stopped Reji. "Teacher! Those are demons, Sword Demons! What, what are you talking about? How could they just... just let us pass!!" Reji did not heed the elf girl''s anxious intervention and, this time, did not wait for the others. He continued forward alone, towards the Sword Demons standing quietly like scarecrows in the night. Sea Tiger, leading the Eagle Mercenary Group, stayed put, not daring to follow. Vielsia, anxious for Reji, was the first to catch up, and seeing this, Sophia, biting her lip, also hurried forward. Ten meters, five meters, three meters... As the distance closed, Vielsia could even clearly see the purple-ck demonic patterns on the skin of the Sword Demons, the des that had be part of their limbs, a nightmare for many high-ranking beings in history. There were a dozen Sword Demons, and among them, one appeared slightly slimmer but distinct in the color of its des and the age shown in its demonic patterns, different from the others. Vielsia felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave with just a nce from the corner of her eye at that particr one. She quickly diverted her gaze, not looking any deeper, and gradually, the suffocating feeling eased. The elf girl could hear her own heart pounding, especially when the distance between them was less than a meter. If it weren''t for Reji leading the way, Vielsia would definitely not have been able to resist the instinct to turn around and run. But fortunately, Just as her teacher had said earlier, nothing happened; the Sword Demons really didn''t attack them. Even more so, whether it was Vielsia''s misconception or not, she felt somewhat relieved in the middle of the pass. It was as if those Sword Demons had intentionally or unintentionally restrained their aura, reducing the oppressive feeling they gave off. Vielsia and Sophia made it through safely, and seeing this, the following Eagle Mercenary Group did likewise. In the middle, Luna, due to her overwhelming fear, clutched her mouth tightly and shut her eyes. Unaware, her body brushed slightly against one of the Sword Demons, scaring the sorceress so much that her legs gave way, nearly causing her to copse to the ground. It was Sea Tiger, calm and quick-witted, who grabbed Luna and quickened their pace, no longer caring to proceed gently and slowly. He urged the mercenary group to speed up because he remembered what Reji had said: as long as they did not attack, these creatures called "Sword Demons" would not harm them. Finally, everyone in the group made it safely past the Sword Demons. Several people were really unable to stand steadily and had to kneel or sit on the ground, gasping for breath for a while, as if only then could they begin to recover. "Teacher... Why? Do Sword Demons have such a trait? They, they won''t attack on their own?" Humans might not be familiar with Sword Demons, but as a princess with elven heritage, to Vielsia, Reji''s approach was utterly baffling. Not attacking demons, and the demons won''t harm them? How could that be! Were all those worlds destroyed by demons just a lie? But on the other hand, the fact was right in front of my eyes. The Sword Demons really didn''t move, even when that female adventurer brushed against a Sword Demon, having physical contact with these historically terrifying creatures, they did not bare their fangs. Reji shook his head, "Sword Demons have never had such a characteristic." "Then, how could we possibly..." "Because they heard my words." Chapter 103: Chapter 103: My King, All Enemies Have Been Eliminated Reji answered very naturally and calmly, but Vielsia who listened, couldn''t wrap her head around it, perhaps because she had never thought in that direction before. The Sword Demons understood the teacher''s words? What, what does that mean? As if to demonstrate to Vielsia once again and to make her recognize a certain truth, Reji looked towards the direction from which they had juste. There, closely following them, was a small group also escaping from the venue. Although most of the nobles were nothing more than gluttons, a few were capable. Among those who had sessfully survived the encirclement of skeletal soldiers were a few individuals Reji recognized¡ªfour counts from the Five Flowers Alliance and their rebellious underlings. They looked somewhat disheveled but bore few injuries, which Reji expected since the higher-ups of the Five Flowers Alliance usually harbored "Insect seeds" within their bodies. These individuals, astute, noticed something special about Reji and the Eagle Mercenary Group and followed them, knowing that the path they took was safe. Until now, "Go, don''t be afraid! Just like that teacher and his group, keep quiet, don''t attack these monsters, and we''ll get through!" One of the counts from the Five Flowers Alliance, imitating Reji,manded his rebellious underlings. Though the rebels were scared, seeing the example set by the Eagle Mercenary Group and that those adventurers had safely passed, they believed they could too. So, under the watchful eyes of Vielsia and the Eagle Mercenary Group, these members of the Five Flowers Alliance, one by one, slowed their pace, tiptoed, and quietly began to pass through the Sword Demons. Ten meters, five meters, three meters... Also intimidated by the killing intent unconsciously emitted by the Sword Demons, the count now breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling at ease because these de-tipped monsters, just like before, remained still as scarecrows, not moving or attacking them. Indeed. As long as they followed the teacher and mimicked his actions, they could survive this bloody turmoil that had far exceeded their ns. Just a little more effort, they were almost there, just needed to reach that ce... What shattered the count''s survival fantasy was the teacher''s voiceing from across the darkness. "Kill them." Reji spoke, and Vielsia could hear it, the Eagle Mercenary Group, the nearby members of the Five Flowers Alliance, and the Sword Demons could hear it too. The next moment. The monster, standing opposite the count like a scarecrow with its arms outstretched, suddenly crossed its arms at an incredible speed, so fast that the count himself didn''t even have time to react. Hm? What happened? Did the de-tipped monster opposite me just move? Why does my neck feel itchy? The count instinctively reached to touch it, which was fine in itself, just a bit of blood on his hand. But as he lowered his head to see where the blood from his hand hade from... Thud. The line of blood on his neck could no longer hold, and as the count lowered his head, his head also fell. This was like the prelude to a waltz. Under the shocked and fearful gaze of the Eagle Mercenary Group and Vielsia in the distance, these de-tipped monsters, these Sword Demons, truly began to move. Their ded arms became the most merciless killing machines. The horrified members of the Five Flowers Alliance attempted to resist, but what they met was a desperate rout. The panicking sorcerers of the Five Flowers, like Luna from the Eagle Mercenary Group before, began to recklessly cast spells, among them even a third-tier sorcerer who conjured a huge, fiercely burning fireball. The Fireball Spell, a third-tier spell with potent destructive power. But as this fireball was shot at the Sword Demons, the de-tipped monsters in their eyes merely lifted a hand casually, and the fireball was sliced in half, split into two. Did they...sliced... sliced my spell!? The third-tier sorcerer, encountering this for the first time, widened his eyes, but unfortunately, he had no chance to be shocked any further, as in the next moment, his body was also cut in half. "Damn it! Why... We did nothing wrong, why... why are they attacking us!!" A warrior from the Five Flowers Alliance raised his shield and shouted indignantly. That shield, made of the most solid steel, had blocked countless skeletal soldiers'' bone des in the previous venue, helping them escape. But now, before the Sword Demons, the steel shield was as simple to cut through as tofu, directly slicing the shield-bearing warrior and his shield in half together. Obviously, there was no suspense in this battle. One of the Sword Demons'' traits is to cause extreme wear, not only to the characters but also to the weapons they carry. Reji from the first ythrough in the game had a profound experience of this. After crossing over, seeing the battle scenes of the Sword Demons in reality made one understand even more the might of this demon race. When your attack hasn''t even reached the Sword Demon and it''s already been sliced to pieces by the opponent, the oue of the battle is predetermined. The demoralized Five Flowers rebels felt this way, and the Eagle Mercenary Group observing from a distance felt it even more so. If the moment when the Sword Demons sliced through spells was something most of the non-sorcerer adventurers of the Eagle couldn''tprehend, Now, witnessing this scene, they gained a profound understanding of the terror of these de-tipped monsters. Sea Tiger subconsciously wiped his arm shield, an oldpanion that had blocked countless des for him, which now could not bring him any sense of security. The killing came quickly and ended just as swiftly. In less than three minutes, That elite squadposed of the higher echelons of the Five Flowers Alliance waspletely annihted. The four counts didn''t even have a chance to unleash their "Insect seeds" before they died at the hands of the Sword Demons. As assassins, if they can''t make quick work of their targets, allowing them to use their abilities, is too embarrassing in front of their demon king. The blood-stained Sword Demons now collectively turned and walked towards Reji''s position, their inherently pervasive aura of killing intent, now coupled with the bloodiness from the recent ughter, made the adventurers of the Eagle Mercenary Group not even have the courage to stand up and run. Fortunately, the Sword Demons just came close. To be precise, They came to report back to one among them. The terrifying creatures that had just been engaged in ughter were now all silent again, quietly, just like at the beginning, like scarecrows, with their leg des closed and arm spikes spread, as if waiting formands. And that one, which made Vielsia feel suffocated, blood frozen, bringing deep fear with just one nce, the special Sword Demon, now moved towards Reji''s position. As if among this group of monsters, only he was qualified tomunicate with Reji. Under Vielsia''s shocked gaze, The special Sword Demon finally stopped half a meter in front of Reji, then knelt on one knee, bowing his head deeply, and issued a deep, resonant voice. "My King, all enemies have been confirmed eliminated." The fifth demon apostle, Sword Demon Pierre, thus spoke. Chapter 104: Chapter 104 Seeds After nodding to Pierre, Reji turned his head and looked towards Vielsia''s position. As expected, the elf girl took a half-step back from him. Hmm. Well well... it''s quite unexpected. Just half a step? "Teacher, you... these... guys," Vielsia''s mind was in chaos, unable to form aplete sentence, but Reji could understand the gist of it. Vielsia was hoping he could provide an exnation. Why demons would listen to him. Why Sword Demons would obey him. And why... the apostle would call him, My King. Obviously, there was nothing to exin. "Everything is as you see, Vielsia." "No, no, no, you, you told me before, that you would fight the demons with me, to protect the world, and also, also..." Vielsia struggled to recall every little detail with Reji. As if unable to ept reality. "Yes! You also said, you would help me, help the elves to revive, are all these... all these lies?" "No, all of this is true." Towards the elf girl who was screaming heartbreakingly, Reji shook his head; everything he had promised Vielsia, he was fulfilling. Whether it was helping the elves to revive. Or fighting the demons with Vielsia. Or rather, because of the second reason, that''s why he now chooses to tell the truth to the elf girl. "Teacher... quickly!e back to my side, you must have been brainwashed by the Wicked Demon,e, I, I''ll take you out! I''lle to save you now, I will take you out!" Like an elf who had lost her mind and gone crazy, she began to approach Reji, quickly closing the distance between them. At first nce, Vielsia looked entirely like a girl who, after a significant shock, was still immersed in her delusions. But in reality. Reji knew Vielsia well. After all, she was his student. Just when the elf girl was about half a meter away from Reji, all those crying, pleading, and begging expressions on Vielsia''s face, asking Reji toe back, utterly disappeared. What reced them was a kind of determination, a murderous intent to "stab" Reji. A green emerald de had already been condensed in Vielsia''s palm under the guise of being "shocked", and now she was gripping the dagger tightly, aiming straight for Reji''s heart. Unfortunately, Vielsia''s assassination attempt obviously had no chance of sess. Not to mention Sword Demon Apostle Pierre was present. Another Apostle, Shadow Demon Shermen, was hiding in Reji''s shadow the whole time. Shermen, who had long been suppressing her dissatisfaction with the elf girl who had "reced" her, did not hesitate to act. The shadow turned into a giant hand and, like swatting a mosquito, sent the attacking elf girl flying. For Vielsia, the severe pain of being flung away was secondary. With the appearance of Shermen, the Shadow Demon Apostle, everything about Reji''s identity, about everything "Teacher" stood for, was conclusively ended. It was her. Of course, Vielsia recognized Shermen. It was the Shadow Demon that had attacked her, the one she and Reji had "repelled" together. Vielsia had hoped that what she said was right. Even if Reji had been brainwashed by the Wicked Demon, that would have been better. But how could she not know that those brainwashed by Wicked Demons be demon servants, and demon servants are ves in the demon race, with no demon ever bowing down to a servant? And tomand demons, to have apostles personally protect and willingly be dispatched, in the entire demon race, there''s only one who could. Not a demon servant. But. A Demon King. Vielsia, gritting her teeth, used the force of Shermen''s blow to roll in the air, change direction, and then, using all her magic power, transformed into a dark green stream of light, running away into the distance. Run. This was Vielsia''s only option at the moment. And the premise of this option was that the two apostles behind her did not pursue her. Otherwise, no matter how hard she tried to escape on her own, it would be utterly futile. Shermen and Pierre, seeing the elf girl fleeing, indeed intended to chase immediately, but Reji raised his hand, stopping the two apostlespletely. "No need to chase." "Another apostle will find her for us." Just as he said this. Reji asked Pierre: "Hektor hase too, right?" "Yes, Your Majesty, Leo, to ensure the n is foolproof, had all five of us apostles, including myself, participate in tonight''s action." That''s why Pierre and Shermen were now curious. Who is the "another apostle" that Reji mentioned, who will pursue Vielsia? Of the apostles remaining in their demon n, there are only three left. And among them, la is a Breeding Demon, definitely immobile, and Sorcery Demon Dian is busy constructing the Demon King Tower, leaving only Wicked Demon Lordan? It seems to be the only possibility. Thinking about it this way, it seems there is no problem, as the Wicked Demon is indeed the best at training and brainwashing those of other races who resist the demon n. However, what surprised Pierre and Shermen a bit was, has his majesty finally decided to forgive Lordan, no longer neglecting the Wicked Demon? Reji did not exin further to the two apostles. He took a few steps forward, and there on the groundy the emerald de that Vielsia had intended to use to assassinate him, now fallen due to being swatted away by Shermen. When Reji bent down to pick up the "Emerald de" and applied a slight force, the dagger, which seemed powerful and was infused with strong natural magic, shattered into fragments and disappeared into thin air. In the eyes of the demons, this might be seen as a symbol of Reji''s strength, the terrifying power to destroy weapons with just his hand, simr to the Sword Demon. However, Reji himself knew the truth. He hadn''t used any force at all. The so-called "Emerald de" was nothing more than a fake illusion created by Vielsia with insignificant magic power. From beginning to end, the elf girl had been trying to assassinate him with this "dagger" that would shatter upon touch. After confirming this, Reji felt even more confident about the new n he hade up with after seeing the Sword Demon appear. Imagine this. If he were a traitor, knowing that all the main forces were dispatched and that whatever he did wouldn''t be discovered by others, Reji believed that the Wicked Demon would definitely be restless. Given Lordan''s personality, he is not one to sit back and stay behind. Lordan would definitely try every means to "rify" himself. This point was discovered from Professor Yeno, whom he had captured. Initially, Reji thought that Professor Yeno had set up such a grand arrangement for Vielsia, but after capturing the professor, he learned it was actually for him. Since there was a first time, there would be a second time. But the Wicked Demon would definitely not dare to use the demon race''s power. He would surely look for a third party, someone with a strong hatred and hostile intent towards him. Preferably someone with potential, not like Professor Yeno, who was easily dealt with by him. Lordan would hope for someone who could be a significant threat to him in the future. That''s why Reji said another apostle would find the elf girl and bring her back. Vielsia, as hispanion. No matter where she went, he could easily find her again and could even ess the elf''s panel at any time to check Vielsia''s status. As long as Lordan approached Vielsia, Reji would be able to detect it immediately. From the moment Reji decided to act against this unfamiliar world with the demon race, he had also been looking for an opportunity to eliminate the Wicked Demon. And now. I have nted the seed of opportunity. It remains to be seen whether this seed can sprout sessfully. Of course, Reji''s expectations for the seed are not just to germinate. He hopes more that the seed can break through the soil, rece the old and withered branches, and bloom into a new, truly independent and strong flower. That''s a bit far off. Reji gathered his thoughts. For now, he has decided to take care of some immediate matters. Like dealing with the group of adventurers from the Eagle Mercenary Group, who were trembling in fear of him. And princess Sophia, who, unlike the others, did not seem afraid of him but instead looked at him with shining eyes, filled with an indescribable emotion. Chapter 105: Chapter 105 - The Pass Sorry for the dy, I will post all the bonuses tomorrow. "Rx. You and your Eagle Mercenaries will be safe. The previous journey has also benefited my naive student, thanks to yourpany. As a token of appreciation, you are free to leave," Reji has no mercy for those who are part of his ns, such as the thugs from the Five Flowers Alliance and those nobles who hindered his control over Ilinor and are indeed rotten to the core. However, for those unrted, Reji still tries to resolve things in a "peaceful" manner. Like now. Hearing Reji''s promise, the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group finally felt their hearts, which had been in their throats, settle down. Several adventurers were even on the verge of kneeling to thank Reji for his mercy. Especially since the previous scene, where the elite of the Five Flowers Alliance were neatly ughtered by those de-tipped demons following behind Reji, was still vividly in their minds. When those bloodthirsty Sword Demons submitted to Reji, the impact of that image on the Eagle adventurers was no less shocking than what Vielsia felt. Especially since they had previously seen Reji as a savior, a hero of their own camp. But then, this sudden reversal, from a savior to a behind-the-scenes mastermind. Bing the leader of the demons? In the eyes of the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group, Reji was nowpletely unfathomable, and many adventurers even suspected that Reji was some kind of monster, just wearing human skin. Thinking about this, they felt even more horrified. "Teacher, Eagle Mercinary will always remember your kindness. Regarding tonight''s events, we will not reveal anything. We just happened to escape, and we know nothing else, saw nothing else." Other members of Eagle might be scared or nervous, but Sea Tiger as their leader, couldn''t afford to be. Despite his fear and nervousness, he had to step forward and speak with Reji as their representative. Sea Tiger knew the vast difference in power between their two groups, so he refrained from saying things like, "If you need help in the future, Eagle mercinary will fully support you." Instead, Sea Tiger was very clever and tactful. He understood the sensitivity of Reji''s identity. From the previous conversation between Reji and Vielsia, even that female student was kept in the dark, showing that Reji had no intention of unting his identity as the demon leader. Sea Tiger understood the principle of being guilty by possessing a treasure. Now that they knew Reji''s identity, this secret was too hot to handle, capable of dragging them into an abyss from which they could never recover. Sea Tiger initially thought that they were done for and that the other party would not let them go. But Reji did let them go. Sea Tiger immediately made his stance clear, and he waspletely sincere. Even if Reji did not pursue them, should any member dare to betray them in the future, Sea Tiger would be the first to eliminate the betrayer. Knowing that this was not a ce to stay for long, perhaps fearing that Reji would change his mind, he immediately called his adventurers to leave quickly. But they hadn''t gone far when, "Oh, right, wait a moment." Reji called them to stop. Just this sentence made all the adventurers panic again, including Sea Tiger. Fortunately, what Reji did next relieved them and even brought surprise. Reji took out a copper badge from his chest pocket and then handed it to a Sword Demon nearby, asking the Sword Demon to deliver it. The Sword Demon crossed its arms because it had no hands, so it used the intersection of its de edges to respectfully hold the "copper badge," then followed Reji''smand to approach Sea Tiger. "Th-thank you." Sea Tiger''s throat moved slightly as he swallowed hard. He tried to keep his hands steady as he took the "copper badge" from the sharp des of the Sword Demon. After Sea Tiger took it, the Sword Demon turned around, and Sea Tiger finally breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize that such a small action had already soaked his back with cold sweat. But after the tension, there was a kind of excitement from the adventurer. Did i really just havea "conversation" with that terrifying monster!? My hands, did they actually touch the Sword Demon? That touch, it was even better than the sharpest de I had ever touched by a million times! Calming his emotions, Sea Tiger now looked at the copper badge Reji had given him. Is this his adventurer badge? Sea Tiger recognized it immediately, there was no mistake, it was issued by the Adventurer''s Association, they had one too, but as an A-level adventurer, his badge was tinum, while this copper badge was the lowest, mostmon level. So. what did Teacher Reji mean by giving me this? "There''s still a distance to the outskirts of the royal pce. Take this with you; it might help you." This sentence instantly enlightened the group. Indeed. They had only been thinking about how fortunate they were to be spared by Reji, the "Demon Teacher," without considering what they would do for thetter half of their escape route without Reji''s support. If they encountered another one of those de-tipped demons, or any other kind of demon, even just one, it would be enough to annihte the entire Eagle group. If they had simply left just like that, wouldn''t it have been no different from marching to their deaths? But now things are different. With the copper badge given by Reji, no one would underestimate them for having the lowest level of adventurer''s badge. On the contrary, in the eyes of all the adventurers of Eagle, this was like the highest level of pass, the most reliable and strongest amulet they could have. "Thank you, Lord Reji!" "Your grace, Eagle Mercinary will never forget your kindness in our lifetime!" The title changed from teacher to lord directly. "This badge...." "Keep it as a memento," Reji said nonchntly with a wave of his hand. After taking control of Ilinor kingdome, the local Adventurer''s Association became his own. The identity of an adventurer no longer held much meaning for him. The state of Ilinor after tonight will definitely be tumultuous, and Reji still wished to restore peace as soon as possible. Therefore, maintaining the ecological position of the kingdom as much as possible, like this A-level adventure group, was preferable. By giving them this badge, Reji was not only granting them a "death exemption" token but from the moment they epted it, they were also destined to be a vassal force under the demons. Although, regarding this, they were still blissfully unaware. Moreover, "Hmm!, Why isn''t Miss Sophia going? If you follow Sea Tiger, you should be able to retreat safely as well." Reji looked at the little princess by his side who showed no intention of moving. Hearing this, the people of Eagle mercinary also stopped, as if waiting for the little princess to join them. But then, "No! Teacher, I, I want to stay by your side!" Sophia made up her mind on the spot, shaking her head incessantly, and even red at the group of adventurers not far away with her eyes, as if to urge these adventurers to hurry up and leave, not to hinder her opportunity. The little princess''s demeanor made it clear to everyone that she saw this as an adventure, a chance to show her loyalty to Reji, even giving him affectionate nces, as if offering herself to him. Indeed, whether it was her previous plot with the Five Flowers Alliance to stage a coup, or her desire to marry the imperial envoy and bear the bloodline of the empire, it was all because she didn''t want to work hard herself and wanted to rely on a stronger person to gain a higher status. Now, with Reji revealing his identity as the "Demon King," Sophia, although not knowing what demons are, views them simrly to the undead summoned by the Five Flowers Alliance in her eyes. Thus, she automatically sees Reji as a prince of some powerful country, exactly the kind of high-ranking individual she has always dreamed of. What a stroke of luck! Especially after that naive and foolish country girl chose to run away. Sophia could hardly contain herughter. If I had been in Vielsia''s shoes and learned that my teacher was the mastermind behind everything, even if he was the leader of an evil force, I would have been overjoyed. Evil? So what? I could be evil too. Compared to the power and authority that came with it, righteousness and evil were unimportant! Seeing that the little princess insisted on following him, Reji didn''t say anything more. He had always respected other people''s choices and destinies. In fact, if he were the righteous protagonist of the order and goodness, someone like Sophia, who clung to the protagonist''s leg no matter what, would be quite clever and wise. It was like in novels, where the protagonist''s team members never ended up too badly. ''Unfortunately... I don''t like her personality...'' Reji shook his head. "Pierre, how is the situation in the pce?" he asked the Sword Demon Apostle. "Your majesty, the situation in the pce has been taken care of by Eileen. The human king of Ilinor has been controlled, and ording to Leo''s n, we have kept about thirty percent of the nobles as prisoners." "Good, let''s go back and see that king." Reji didn''t like bloodshed, which was one of the reasons he had temporarily left the pce. He would go back to take stock of his gains after everything was over. "As youmand, Your majesty." Seeing Reji in action, Sophia followed closely behind him. Now, she was excited at the thought of seeing her father and the captured nobles. She clearly considered herself a member of Reji''s team, which was why she had this winner''s attitude. Except for... Eileen? It sounded like a woman''s name. Apetitor. Sophia made a mental note to investigate her thoroughlyter and figure out how to squeeze her out of Reji''s side, just like she had done with Vielsia! Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Princess? 2 in one chapter. -------- The grand hall was still resplendent with its golden and jade decorations. The chaotic banquet had been cleaned up, and the bloodstains on the floor and walls had all disappeared. For Eileen, this was not a difficult task. A simplebination of a fourth-tier wind and water spell was enough to aplish it. As the king''s lover, the mistress of the demon race. Eileen was not fond of killing and bloodshed. Such violence was too low-ss andcked elegance. Preparing a clean and tidy environment for the king was her duty as a Subus Apostle. Now, the aged King Ilinor sat with closed eyes on the chair at the center of the hall, while the remaining nobles who had been spared did not fare as well. They were all thrown into a corner fountain by Eileen, crowded together in the pool, each still in a state of shock, feeling fearful and uneasy about their fate. Soon, new footsteps could be heard approaching from outside the grand hall. It was Reji and his group. Themotion immediately drew the attention of the anxious nobles in the water pool, who all turned to look. Though they did not recognize Reji, they knew Sophia, who was standing behind him. Many of the nobles'' eyes lit up in an instant, as if they had glimpsed a glimmer of hope for survival. They frantically waved their arms, trying to attract the attention of Sophia, the young princess. Some even shouted out, believing they had a good rtionship with the little princess. "Your Highness! Oh my goodness! Was it all you who did this?" "Your Highness! Please let me out! I am willing to follow you!" "Your Highness, do you remember me? I am your third uncle! I even carried you when you were a child! My dear Sophia!!" "Sob...Please, Your Highness, let me out. I am so scared. I was wrong. It''s all my fault. It was Princess Yuffie who pressured me during the royal selection, she manipted me to vote for her!" "Yes, yes, yes! I actually wanted to vote for Your Highness! You are the true princess of Ilinor, the real highness. Yuffie is nothingpared to you!" "Sophia! Auntie was wrong. In all future dealings of the Vini Consortium, everything will be centered around you, Your Highness Sophia. Please...please spare us." Listening to the cries and pleas of these usually haughty nobles directed towards her, Sophia''s heart remained unmoved. Watching those ministers and officials of Ilinor who used to look down on her just because she was the "young princess," Sophia was now extremely pleased. Her inner joy had never been as strong as it was now. Obviously. These noble and royal families, seeing her walking behind Reji with demons following around, naturally assumed she was the mastermind behind it all. As a result, their attitude towards her took a drastic turn, and they began fervently begging her. Hehehe~ This was what I wanted for a long time! Even my sister could not aplish what I had done¡ªmaking this group of once supremely arrogant nobles all submit. And now, I had achieved it! Who said I was inferior to sister? Who said I am not as good as Yuffie? Here I am standing, unscathed, enjoying everything in the kingdom, while my idiot sister, that wretched bitch.... Wait where is that harlot Yuffie? Sophia now had an intense desire to show off her power once more. To tread on those nobles with her feet, enjoying the sight of them groveling before her. But the young princess was not foolish enough to go that far. She knew that for now, she could only be overbearing in appearance, so she mustn''t get too carried away. She understood that she would have to wait until she truly gained the favor of Reji, this "prince" of the demon n, before she could revel in it all and truly attain the rights and position that belonged to her. With this in mind, Sophia couldn''t help but quicken her pace, drawing closer to Reji. In the eyes of the young princess, Reji had be abination of power and royal authority. If possible, she would even want to roll in the sheets with him tonight, using her body to secure these gains. With such thoughts in mind, she encountered another figure. "Your Majesty." Eileen, resembling the most intimate secretary, weed Reji''s arrival. The subus nced at the young princess following behind Reji, but did not show much reaction. Even though, as a subus, she was most sensitive to desire, and although Sophia appeared gentle and innocent on the surface, internally, her desire for Reji, for power, was clearly evident to Eileen. From this moment on, Sophia was unaware that she had already be a walking corpse. And every move she made after this would only further contribute to this inevitable oue. Reji nodded at the subus. He actually quite liked Eileen''s obedient type. The subus would never immediately act against Sophia, as that would be too low-level. It would make her seem jealous. Remaining calm and indifferent would showcase her elegance as the mistress of the house and demonstrate her greatest confidence. Reji approached the aged King of Ilinor. "Your Majesty, you don''t seem surprised by our presence at all?" The old king remained indifferent throughout. Unlike the noble and royal families who were panicking, even when faced with these demons, the old man remained calm, as if he had seen it all before. Reji''s guess was correct. The old king shook his head, staring at Reji, the mastermind behind the scenes, and slowly said, "From what Yuffie told me about her control of the power from a thousand years ago, I have already foreseen the current oue." Upon hearing the old king''s words, the one with the strongest reaction was not Reji. It was Sophia. The young princess couldn''t contain herself, furious and jumping with rage. "You old fool! Giving everything to Yuffie! All to my sister! You deserve this! And so does my sister! You all deserve to die! This is the retribution for your favoritism!!" "Teacher, quickly! Kill this old fool! After that, I will take his ce and be the new king of Ilinor. I will lead all of Ilinor to submit to you, to your demon race, I promise! If you don''t believe me, tonight, I can give you my most precious possession!" Ultimately, Sophia couldn''t hold back. From her demeanor, it seemed as if she wished she could take Reji''s ce and quickly kill her father. As for the aged king, he did not me Sophia. Instead, with a sorrowful and self-reproachful expression, he looked at Sophia, his young princess. "I know what you all want." "In Yuffie''s hands, you can obtain everything. The power from a thousand years ago belongs to Yuffie. She has always been independent, even I, her father, only learned about itst night." "I understand your purpose. It is the empire. Yuffie also desires this. She will be willing to assist you, to truly be your ally." For Reji, the old king''s words carried significant information. Power from a thousand years ago? And why was this old man so sure that our goal was the empire? Before Reji could speak, the old king continued on his own. Leaving behind what should be considered his final words. "The people who are truly in charge in Ilinor do not have the qualifications to attend tonight''s banquet, so this is myst request to you. Please clean up all the scum in Ilinor. This is for Yuffie''s sake, and for yours." After saying this, the old king spat out ck blood from the corner of his mouth. He had hidden poison in his teeth andmitted suicide. However, there was no pain on his face, only relief. For him, who had allowed Ilinor to reach this state, death was the best form of apology. And using his death to ensure Yuffie''s ascension and bring new hope to Ilinor was his redemption. Clearly, the old king understood that after his death, Reji, in order to keep the secret and to find a new king for appearances'' sake, would not harm Yuffie. He had traded his life for Yuffie''s safety. As for Sophia... Clearly, she was not even considered by the old king. Reji admitted that the old king had indeed seeded in piquing his interest in Yuffie and ced great importance on the so-called "power from a thousand years ago" behind Yuffie. "Teacher, wait for me!" Seeing Reji about to leave again, Sophia hurriedly caught up. After the death of the old king, she became even more excited and agitated. With the royal family around gone, she was the only one left. Although there were some unexpected events along the way, the final oue remained the same - she would still be the greatest woman in Ilinor. Huh? Sophia looked down and saw the thorned whip tied around her waist. Afterward, the whip started pulling, not using full force intentionally, but slowly dragging Sophia on the ground. "What is this! Let go of me, let go!!" "Teacher! Teacher!!! Help! Help me!" "I am on teacher''s side! You can''t treat me like this, you can''t, wait for me, don''t leave, don''t leave, teacher... ugh!" The young princess struggled desperately, crawling and twisting on the ground, trying to resist the dragging of the whip behind her. No matter how she struggled, how she cried for help, Reji''s back that never turned back only kept getting further away, while she was gradually dragged into the abyss of despair. This time, Sophia finally began to regret why she didn''t leave with the eagle mercenary in the first ce. why did I followed that f@cking man!? Demons! They are all demons! Sophia realized this toote. Taking out the trash at home is also one of the duties of a hostess. Looking at the human young princess being dragged over, Eileen, who had always harbored a deep hatred for humans, finally let out the malice she had been suppressing in front of Reji. Do I Kill her? No... From that human''s previous words, it was clear that these remaining nobles were no longer necessary. Since they were all trash, why not dispose of them together?~ A pink mist began to envelop the nobles in the water, causing their expressions to distort, and their breathing to quicken, turning them into puppets of desire. It seemed that at this moment, even if a sow were thrown in, they would all rush towards it. Eileen nodded in satisfaction. After the young princess frantically begged for mercy by shaking her head, Eileen smiled, flicked the whip, and sent Sophia, who was tied to it, flying,nding among the nobles who had fallen under her spell. The nobles would drain all life force from Sophia in their frenzy. And this human princess would eventually fulfill her wish and be a puff pastry. The only regret Eileen had was that the elf girl who had been with the king was not present here, considering that the elf girl was fortunate. Sooner orter... Envy shed in the subus''s eyes. I will turn that damned elf, who dared to approach my king behind my back, into a puff pastry elf like this trash princess. This will be the fate of anyone who dared to get close to my king behind my back! Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Demons part 1 Mrs. Lisa wrapped her coat tighter around herself. For some reason, she suddenly felt a chill, the first since she had begun practicing demonic arts. "Madam, what''s the matter?" Beside thedy, who stood nearly two meters tall with an exaggeratedly voluptuous figure, was another individual who appeared much more ordinary, with a muscr build and handsome, blond features. The "Goat Head " emblem on the man''s arm clearly indicated his status. In this world, there was only one force that used the "ck goat" as its g. The Empire, Nox. "It''s nothing, Lord Envoy. Please, rest assured, the Five Flowers Alliance has prepared for this n for a long time. It will not fail. The eldest Princess will soon be driven to our side, just as nned." "When the timees, Lord Envoy, you will be able to thoroughly enjoy your ''dinner''." Previously, as the main character who should have been in the grand hall, the noble and royal families eagerly awaited the Imperial Envoy. Now, he was with Mrs. Lisa at a checkpoint outside the royal pce. As the "hidden hands," they naturally needed to stay "behind the scenes." Especially the Lord Envoy, who had a penchant for ying with his prey, hoping to enjoy the thrill of a cat chasing a mouse. That''s why the two of them were here. ording to the n, once the bloody movement started in the grand hall, with the eldest Princess''s capabilities, she should be able to escape with some knights and adventurers. In this way, the followers of the Five Flowers Alliance would chase the Princess, making the proud Princess Yuffie show her desperation. Just when the Princess was about to reach the exit and seemed likely to seed, they would then slowly make their entrance, giving Yuffie the final blow of despair. This was the script Mrs. Lisa had arranged for the Imperial Envoy. From the look of eager anticipation on Kasm''s face, it was clear that they had sessfully won the Envoy''s favor. However, Mrs. Lisa nced quietly at her watch. It had been over ten minutes past the scheduled time. By now, the eldest Princess should have arrived. But now, Moreover, themotion from the grand hall seemed to have quieted down too quickly. Why were the sounds of chaos not carrying over as they did before?'' The sudden return to silence in the quiet night made Mrs. Lisa''s heart vaguely filled with a bad premonition. But fortunately, As a series of hurried footsteps approached, several flickering figures could be seen in the nearby darkness. As the distance drew closer, under the moonlight, Mrs. Lisa let out a sigh of relief. The person leading them was Sea Tiger, the leader of the Eagle Mercenary Group and the grand princess''s biggest trump card in this operation. The appearance of the Eagle Mercenaries meant that the n was still sessful. Next should be the eldest princess, Yuffie, right?'' Mrs. Lisa had just let out a sigh of relief, but then she furrowed her brow. First, why were there no signs of battle on these Eagle Mercenaries? They lookedpletely different from the desperate state she had imagined, and most of them seemed unscathed? And most importantly, where was the eldest princess? Where was Yuffie? They had been waiting here for so long to see the eldest princess''s disgrace, but now the Eagle Mercenaries were here, and Yuffie was nowhere to be seen. What was going on? The envoy next to her also noticed and began to frown. Mrs. Lisa quickly took action, leaping high into the air with her tall figure and blocking the path of the Eagle Mercenaries. Bang! Mrs. Lisa''s towering figure, like a mutant, was terrifying in the dark night. When she suddenlynded from above, the already highly focused Eagle Mercenaries were startled. However, in Mrs. Lisa''s imagination, these adventurers should have been terrified, fearful, and afraid of her, the "ck hand" behind the scenes. But... Sea Tiger and the other Eagle Mercenaries did indeed react this way at first, but when they regained their senses and saw that it was Mrs. Lisa, the leader of the Five Flowers Alliance, Mrs. Lisa suspected that her eyes were ying tricks on her. Because she seemed to see a look of relief on these adventurers'' faces, as if they were saying, "Thank goodness, thank goodness." Thank goodness for what? Thank goodness it was me? What else could it be? Who else could they be afraid of? What could be more terrifying than her in tonight''s bloody turmoil? Mrs. Lisa didn''t understand. And she was getting a little angry. After all, the envoy was still watching behind her. The disappearance of the eldest princess was already enough to make her anxious, and now these adventurers were "underestimating" her, which made Mrs. Lisa even angrier. "Where is Princess Yuffie? Answer me, and you might still have a chance to live." "We don''t know. From the moment the chaos started in the grand hall, Princess Yuffie got separated from us. After that, we didn''t know anything. Mrs. Lisa, with the time you''re spending stopping us, I advise you... it would be better to worry more about yourself." Sea Tiger could tell at a nce that Mrs. Lisa was probably still in the dark, thinking the n was perfect, which is why he deliberately did not mention Reji and the demon race. Not only because he had promised Reji to keep it a secret, but Sea Tiger himself also hated the Five Flowers Alliance. Many of his members had suffered persecution by the Five Flowers, so he was more than happy to see Mrs. Lisa attacked by those monsters. "Forget her, let''s go." Sea Tiger continued to lead the Eagle Mercenary Group to retreat, unwilling to entangle further with Mrs. Lisa, only wanting to quickly leave the pce that hid terrifying monsters. But. Bang! From behind Mrs. Lisa, a skeleton taller than thedy herself, about three to four meters high, slowly walked out. It held a giant axe, was d in bone armor, and theher fire in its eye sockets flickered with violence and bloodlust. That was a Skeleton Warrior. A fourth-tier undead. It was the Five Flowers Alliance''s trump card, also given to them by the Imperial Envoy as the strongest force tonight to guard against any eventuality. This Skeleton Warrior was originally intended for Princess Yuffie, but seeing how these Eagle Mercenary adventurerspletely disregarded her, with a disdainful look, Mrs. Lisa decided to use them to start, unwilling to be embarrassed in front of the Lord Envoy. Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Demons part 2 Meanwhile, Kasm, who was in a high position, enjoying this small country''s rebellion, also became somewhat interested. To him, no matter how much blood Ilinor a country like this shed or how many people died he couldn''t care less; it was like watching a game. He enjoyed the feeling of being the puppet master behind the scenes as well as watching the efforts of the ants as they struggled. Consider it an appetizer. The battle below had already started, and unexpectedly, this group of adventurers, upon seeing the fourth-tier undead, upon seeing the giant skeleton, did not turn and run. They were only slightly panicked at first but quickly calmed down. It seems this mercenary group has good mental fortitude. While Kasm was merely watching the show, Mrs. Lisa was not pleased. What Is going on? What had gotten into the Eagle Mercenary? If Sea Tiger was not afraid of the Death Knight, that was one thing, but his adventurers seemed to... Not panic at the sight of my Death Knight? Had they not seen its massive body? Had they not noticed the terrifying, sharp battle axe? Why are they not trembling at the sight of such a horrifying monster? ''Roar! The Death Knight seemed angry too. It roared into the night sky, pounding its chest with one skeletal hand while the other gripped the battle axe, creating a howling wind as it shed down towards Sea Tiger, the leader. Bang! The Death Knight''s axe could split a century-old tree into a deep crater. For Sea Tiger, even if he used a shield to block, it was futile. He was knocked away like a kite with its string cut by the immense force. Seeing this, the female sorcerer, Luna, who was the second inmand of the Eagle Mercenary Group, angrily chanted, raising her staff. A third-tier spell, Ice Arrow, formed in front of her, sending a sharp frost de shooting towards the Death Knight. However, the undead possess extremely high resistance to magic. A third-tier Ice Arrow merely slowed it down for a moment. It shifted its target, ignoring Sea Tiger, who was spitting blood on the ground far away, and started charging towards Luna. "Run! Avoid it!" Even Sea Tiger, as a warrior, couldn''t withstand a hit from the Death Knight, let alone Luna with her smaller stature. The members of the Eagle Mercenary Group were loyal. A nearby member pushed Luna aside, taking the blow from the Death Knight''s giant axe. Blood spurted as the axe mercilessly tore through the adventurer. This seemed to stimte the Death Knight even further. It continued its frenzied roar, like a wolf entering a flock of sheep. In less than half a minute, it had killed and injured most of the Eagle Mercenary adventurers with swings of its giant axe. From his high vantage point, Kasm was very pleased with the Death Knight''s performance. It was a worthy saving relic bestowed by the great sage, capable of being summoned back to life from thependium of recorded races. Truly formidable. The Death Knight was nothing special to him, but thependium also listed undead mages, even undead lords. If I can also bring those to life... Just thinking about it made Kasm excited. One can only say, the "Saving Relic" from a thousand years ago truly possesses terrifying strength. "Darling, that''s enough." Seeing that the Eagle Mercenary Group was on the verge of being annihted, Mrs. Lisa, now satisfied, finally called the Death Knight to stop. Although dissatisfied, the Death Knight, in front of Luna and Sea Tiger, stomped another adventurer, who was barely alive, to death before retracting its axe and standing aside. "Little girl, I remember you. When the Five Flowers Alliance went to your vige for poverty alleviation, everyone was happy, except you ran away." "Spit!* Mongrel! Not worthy of being called a human being! To speak so high and mighty about causing the deaths of so many vigers, I will send you to hell sooner orter!" Facing Luna''s spitting fury, Mrs. Lisa walked over, grabbed the young sorceress''s neck with her palm, and lifted her up like a chicken. Watching Luna gasping in pain, kicking frantically, Mrs. Lisa chuckled. She bent down to Luna''s ear, whispering in a vengeful tone, "You know~, your sister was yed to death in the same way. The noble who bought her from us likes this kind of suffocation game. While enjoying it, he strangled your sister to death, Ahh~ until now I can remember her beautiful dying face~" "You... mongrel!" Luna was choked, unable to make a sound, but her eyes still burned with anger and hatred. "Alright, Sea Tiger, I''m asking you onest time. Where is the princess? If you keep hiding something from me, hehe, this little girl of your Eagle Mercenary Group might really follow her sister." Mrs. Lisa used Luna to pressure and threaten Sea Tiger. This time, she finally saw the fear and horror on Sea Tiger''s face, but why did his gaze seem not to be on her, but rather above her head? With such confusion, Mrs. Lisa also raised her head to look at the night sky, and with that look... the moon dimmed. Not extinguished. It was covered by a massive shadow. The shadow soaring in the night sky, with wings made up of hundreds of thousands, perhaps even more bones, a terrifying skeletal dragon head resembling an undead ruler, its eye sockets flickering with crimson mes, exuding immense pressure. Is that a dragon? A... Skeleton Dragon? Mrs. Lisa was stunned, and the imperial envoy, who was enjoying the show, was also stunned. The only one not frozen in ce was the Death Knight. Previously arrogant and wreaking havoc among the Eagles mercenary, it was the first to have its legs give out, copsing to the ground with a loud sound, dropping its beloved giant axe, trembling and prostrating itself on the ground, wishing it could smash its own head into the ground. Skeleton Dragon. Seventh-tier Undead. The pinnacle of the undead pyramid. Just the gusts of air stirred up by the descent of its over ten-meter-long wings made Lisa unable to open her eyes, forcing her to release Luna and use her arms to shield herself from the air currents. With a thunderous "boom" uponnding, when she finally focused her gaze, there was no longer the Undead Warrior, only shattered bones beneath the ws of the Skeleton Dragon. Of course. That was not the most shocking part. What left Lisa in a state of panic, filled with extreme fear, was the fact that as the Skeleton Dragonnded and lowered its head, there was actually a person on the back of this powerful undead creature!? What kind of person could use a Skeleton Dragon as a mount!? No. That is not a person. With blood-red skin all over, muscles bulging with patterns flowing like moltenva, exuding absolute strength. Horns on its head fiercer than a bull''s, devilish in appearance, sharp angr features as if forged from hell, armor weighing a thousand pounds, sending chills down the spine. Enormous jet-ck ws that could easily crush boulders, red and ck tattered wings on its back, slightly damaged with holes, but this seemed to indicate even more so that its master had fought countless battles, experienced war, emanating an aura of endless destruction. That, that thing is not human. The word "demon" automatically sprang to Lisa''s mind. "A Demon!" Chapter 109: Chapter 109: The Tip of the Iceberg Having descended from the skeletal dragon, Hektor confirmed that the panicked Lisa opposite him was indeed his target. For tonight''s operation, the four apostles were each assigned their tasks by the Wisdom Demon. Leo specifically chose thisdy, whose appearance was the easiest to identify and most unique, for the Great Demon. He even lent the skeletal dragon to Hektor, fearing that Hektor might not find his target. However, Hektor circled in the air for a long time without noticing her, until Lisa, in an attempt to attack the Eagle Mercenary Group, released the undead warriors, causing such amotion that he finally spotted her and immediately rushed over. Such negligence. Hektor shook his head at himself inwardly. On the other side. "Who are you? The Empire? The Lord''s guards?" In Lisa''s understanding, such terrifying monsters could only possiblye from the most mysterious and powerful empire in this world. As she tried to buy time with her words, she quietly retreated. Regardless of the identity of her opponents, the fact that her most beloved treasure, the undead warrior she summoned with all her effort, was now reduced to a pile of bones on the ground proved that the other party had no good intentions. Seeing that the robust demon with red skin and giant ws in front of her did not answer,Lisa seized the opportunity to activate her power, attempting to flee into the distance. Unfortunately, before she could take half a step, the skeletal dragon beside Hektor, with a flick of its tail¡ª which to humans was like a steel bar¡ªviciously struck Lisa, sending her flying back with several rolls. It took Lisa a good three or four seconds to barely climb up from the ground. By then, Lisa had no more illusions. She immediately unleashed all her power, perhaps sensing the "host''s" danger. The "insect" inside her no longer merely dwelled within her but started to control the host, causing Lisa''s body to wriggle and change. In just a few breaths, the previously nearly two-meter-tall, full-bodieddy had transformed into a blood-flesh worm, resembling a rge pping moth." Her mouth turned into an oval-shaped mouthpart, which she violently opened to spray out a stream of filthy toxins. Then, attempting to use the toxin to buy time, Lisa spread her slime-coated fluffy wings and was about to flee into the sky. It was evident that even when controlled by the "insect" within, there was no desire to fight; the only thought was to have the host flee quickly. But the next moment, Lisa''s ankle was seized by a giant w, and no matter how much she struggled, the w below felt like the most solid iron pincer. Following that, Hektor forcefully swung, pulling down the "moth" that had just risen less than half a meter into the air, then violently smashed it towards the ground. Bang! It was like pping a blood-filled mosquito to the ground; the "insect form" of Lisa looked extremely pitiful. The Great Demon''s smash directly caused her abdomen to burst open on the ground, sttering arge amount of insect juice onto the surface. These "insect juices" were the precious essence obtained by Lisa through the constant trafficking of people via the Five Flowers Alliance, relying on blood sacrifices. It was her valuable asset for future breakthroughs. Now that everything was destroyed, and knowing survival was hopeless, Lisa being a fierce character herself, no longer attempted to flee. Instead, she opened her sharp mouthparts to the fullest and lunged at Hektor, seemingly determined to bite the Great Demon before dying. Regrettably, due to the burst insect abdomen and the loss of insect juice, which caused her size to shrink, Lisa could now be easily held in the air by the Great Demon with just one w. As the "moth" fluttered its wings, struggling up and down, Hektor slightly tightened his grip. "Uh ah... Let... let go." Bang! This time, not only the insect''s abdomen, but Lisa''s entire body was crushed under the Great Demon''s w, with overflowing blood trailing down the w. The scarlet flesh and blood chunks were flung by Hektor, scattering like blood rain on the ground. This was nothing to the Great Demon. Having experienced countless battles across several worlds, he had long been ustomed to such sights. However, to others, the bloody and terrifying scene of Lisa being crushed to death was unimaginable to the members of the Eagle Mercenary Group on-site. The female sorcerer Luna was the first to involuntarily start retching, but she quickly covered her mouth, frantically trying to keep quiet for fear of attracting the Great Demon''s attention. But how could that be possible? When Hektor descended, he had, of course, already noticed the other humans besides his target, the adventurers of the Eagle Mercenary. Having eliminated the primary target and sessfullypleted his mission, Hektor then turned around and lowered his head, using his crimson demon eyes to stare at the remaining members. Soon, Hektor extended his w towards the leader of the group, Sea Tiger himself. "No, please!" "Please spare him! Leader! No!" Luna, seeing that Sea Tiger was about to be captured and associating it with the previous scene where Lisa was crushed to death by those red ws, the female sorcerer wept and screamed, her face full of pleas. Of course, Hektor would not heed the humans'' pleas for mercy. Rather, he had heard too many simr pleas on the battlefield. But when the Great Demon grabbed Sea Tiger, he indeed only held onto the other''s clothes without any intention to harm. Then, with another w, very carefully and delicately, he extended his sharp w tip towards Sea Tiger''s neck, and afterward... A copper medal ne was hooked out by the Great Demon with the tip of his w. This scene, viewed from the outside, was somewhatical. The Great Demon, who was so violent and bloodthirsty just moments before, now seemed to be doing needlework, with actions incredibly gentle and meticulous, all for that... copper medal. Luna, who was a bit stunned at first, came to her senses. Yes, that''s right! That medal! The copper medal that Teacher Reji had given us! After receiving it, Sea Tiger immediately reced his own, which symbolized an A-level adventurer, the "tinum" medal, with Reji''s copper medal on the ne. "You may go now." The Great Demon put down Sea Tiger, handling him gently as he did at the start, and also returned Reji''s copper medal to Sea Tiger. The Great Demon''s "You may go now" was, without a doubt, the most beautiful sound all the members of the Eagle Mercenary had ever heard. Apart from feeling fortunate for "surviving," they were also shocked that the Great Demon had spared them after seeing the medal, indicating that this Great Demon was also one of Reji''s subordinates. And a member of the force known as the "Demon Race." Compared to Sword Demon Pierre, the Great Demon Hektor, whether in terms of size or the level of violence inbat, brought much more shock and awe. To Sea Tiger and his members, the current Reji and the Demon race seemed like just the tip of the iceberg, with each revealed "tip" shocking and awe-inspiring them, making them wonder about the true enormity of the actual "iceberg." The Great Demon, along with the previously mentioned de-tipped demon, amounted to two terrifying beings. But Sea Tiger himself suspected that there might still be more, perhaps a third or even a fourth party. So after thinking deeply... "Sir, we no longer have the strength to leave. Could we humbly ask you, humbly ask the demon race to give us shelter?" Sea Tiger said this sentence knowing that they had no turning back, and the Eagle Mercenaries were destined to join the monsters'' side and could no longer return to human society. But so what? Luna looked around at the members ughtered by the death knight, thought of the families and vigers killed by the Five Flowers Alliance, and realized that if they wanted revenge, if they wanted to make Ilinor a better ce, if they wanted to fight against those who were like the real demons, they would have to be demons themselves. "I understand." Hektor nodded without refusal. Being given a token by the king indicated that these humans were of value to be cultivated. Therefore, they were the property of the demon race, and he, as an apostle, should rightfully protect them. Seeing the Great Demon''s agreement, the adventurers felt a relief they hadn''t experienced since the start of the night. They were truly,pletely free from the tension of danger, truly and thoroughly at ease. While they felt secure, A person in the distance felt the exact opposite. The Imperial Envoy, originally a handsome blond man named Kasm, had witnessed the entire process. It wasn''t what he wanted to see; from Lisa''s resistance to her being crushed by the Great Demon, it all happened in less than half a minute, and he was justing back to his senses from the shock. Run! I must run now! That demon gave him a feeling a thousand times more terrifying than the Empire''s "Hunters." For someone from Ilinor, still seen as "the countryside" andcking in broader understanding, as an Imperial Envoy with a wider perspective, he naturally had a better grasp of Hektor''s strength. Not just the Great Demon. The skeletal dragon alone was unprecedented, and if it were to appear in the entire Empire, it would undoubtedly cause a tremendous shock. I must take this message back! As Kasm was about to activate the magic power in his body and use the wind magic to escape, a certain existence that had been hiding in the dark seemed to finally lose patience. "Idiot." Lordan cursed and then raised a dark green magic array under Kasm''s feet. The next moment, the magic array shed, and Kasm disappeared before he could react. At the same time, the Great Demon looked toward the distant high ce where the imperial envoy had been hiding, but he did not find anything and soon turned his head back. Chapter 110: Chapter 110: The Confused Wicked Demon Kasm, still unsettled, looked around in panic. He had been transported to a secluded alleyway of a pce, but evidently, Kasm himself hadn''t yet grasped what had just happened. Intent on running away from this eerie ce, he had just taken a step when, the next moment, a pair of hands wrapped in bandages impatiently and roughly pulled him back by his tie, dragging the imperial envoy back. "Who''s there!" Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind, causing the already terrified Kasm to tense uppletely, his nerves on edge. He made a show of drawing the sword at his waist, but the trembling of the sword tip made it clear he couldn''t even hold it steady, let alone protect himself. "How could they send such a useless person for the handover?" The shadow in the darkness stepped forward, casting a spell on himself so Kasm couldn''t make out Lordan''s appearance, but he could still hear the Wicked Demon''s words. ''Handover!?'' Catching the keyword, Kasm''s originally terrified gaze quickly smoothed over into surprise, and he stuttered to Lordan: "Are, are you the one who met with the Sage?" "Sage?" Lordan chuckled, seemingly finding it somewhat ironic and amusing that his "partner" had acquired the title of "Sage" among humans. "It''s me. Bring out the item." Lordan''s mysterious demeanor, along with the realization that he had been instantly transported here, likely with Lordan''s assistance to escape the terrifying Great Demon, left no doubt in Kasm''s mind about Lordan''s identity. He hurriedly took out the "Saving Relic," the secret mission given to him by the Great Sage, from his bosom and respectfully handed it to Lordan. The expression on the Wicked Demon''s face finally warmed a bit, as per the agreement, the other party was to share the control of the "Insect Race" with him, granting him supreme power. Holding such beautiful aspirations, Lordan, upon receiving Kasm''s "Saving Relic," watched as ghastly green demonic power began to crawl over the relic. The floating "As" began to rapidly flip pages under Lordan''s control. However, soon after, the expression on the Wicked Demon''s face changed. At first, he was puzzled. Then, he increased the input of his demonic power, but no matter how he manipted it, the chapter on the Insect Race in this "As" remained a nk page. If Reji were here, he would recognize at a nce that this so-called "Saving Relic" was actually the "Catalog" system from his game time. Every enemy encountered by yers, every item used, weapons, and so on, would be recorded in the Catalog, essentially apendium that grows and umtes as the yer adventures. For Lordan, what he wanted was the part about the Insect Race, but realizing he might have been deceived, an angry Lordan, with his bandage-wrapped, mummy-like hands, grabbed the still hopeful, foolishly smiling envoy by the neck. "Great...great lord?" Kasm''s eyes widened in confusion, bewildered and scared. Lordan couldn''t be bothered to waste words and directly used Soul Siphon. Ghastly green magic power spread through Kasm''s orifices into his brain, allowing the Wicked Demon to steal some of Kasm''s memories. After searching through the memories, Lordan snorted coldly and dropped Kasm down, paying no mind to the imperial envoy who was terrified of him. Lordan''s mind was also in a mess now. Lordan initially thought that the human who delivered the relic had hidden something. After searching through the memories, he found that the other party had not tampered with the relic at all but had been taking good care of it. That made it all the more strange. Could it be that my "partner" was deceiving me, ying me for a fool? No. If they wanted to deceive me, why bother sending the real Saving Relic? Indeed, Lordan was certain that this book, the As, was genuine, a real and authentic relic of the Son of Destiny. The real relic was delivered, but itpletelycked what he wanted. The content originally in the As seemed to have been erased or sealed. Either way, it was utterly unusable to him, essentially a nk te. Lordan''s face now was terribly grim. To meet with this envoy, he had taken a great risk, even secretly helping to mask his presence to avoid detection by the brute Hektor. Luckily, it was the Great Demon responsible for this area, whose scouting ability was weaker. If it were another apostle, it would have been much more difficult. Regardless, Lordan first secured the relic. Just as he was hesitating whether to execute this human envoy or not. Buzz! Under the dark night sky, at the center of the entire pce, suddenly rose a beam of light shooting straight into the sky. The beam of light quickly transformed into the shape of a "Holy Sword," and then aimed its tip towards the ground, plunging straight down. As the "Holy Sword" descended, an oval barrier instantaneously enveloped the entire pce, so swiftly that even Lordan didn''t have time to react. When the Wicked Demon finally came to his senses, his face showed an expression of shock. Beyond the shock, there was a deep-seated, inextinguishable fear. This barrier... Lordan looked towards the ground. Within the barrier, he could faintly see sacred andplex runes shing. Touching it with his hand, he immediately felt a burning sensation on his fingertips. There was no mistake. Is this the Radiant Sword!? No. The barrier unfolded by the true Hero''s Holy Sword wouldn''t merely cause a slight burning sensation. Touching it, he supposed his fingers would be severed by the immense force of fate contained within. It is a counterfeit. Though Lordan breathed a sigh of relief, his tension did not ease. He no longer cared about the human envoy beside him and immediately set off towards the top of the pce, the core area where the Holy Sword was located. .... Meanwhile, elsewhere. Under the guise of "Shadow Demon Wings," Reji too hovered high in the sky. Of course, he also saw the dazzling Holy Sword. In fact, every part of the royal city should be able to see the Holy Sword''s barrier now. A Holy Sword barrier? Reji shook his head. Having heard about the "power from a thousand years ago" from the old king, he had some expectations. Reji lightly touched the barrier that shrouded the pce. Unlike the Wicked Demon Lordan, and indeed unlike all demons, the barrier gave Reji a sensation of warmth, of closeness, like cing his hand into clear spring water. Each sacred rune within it seemed like a joyful fish, swirling around his hand. Of course, this sensation was invisible to others, perceived only by Reji himself. It seems tonight''s harvest is indeed much more than I had anticipated. Reji hesitated no longer. He was ready to face whatever came his way. With the Shadow Wings fluttering behind him, Reji''s figure turned into a streak of light, heading towards the core of the barrier, where the Holy Sword hadnded. ----- The King''s Tower. The tallest building in the entire royal city. From a bird''s eye view, one could see most of the royal pce. At the top of this towering structure, Konstantin held his magic staff high, a sacred aura cleansing this spirit summoned by him. The Holy Sword, floating before him, shone with a brilliance that seemed to elevate his tattered cloak and cape to greatness in this moment. Konstantin. Under themand of General Anna, Captain of the Fifth Column of the Third Mage Division of the Ninth Group of the Human Alliance Army, a Seventh Tier Grand Mage. All these titles and honors were things of the past. Now, even if he could replicate the glory of his past and cast Seventh tier spells, the cost was his already fragile life, rapidly dwindling away. Compared to his insignificant life, Konstantin could only offer a bitter smile. "Your Highness, I fear I must break my word." This "ghost" from a thousand years ago spoke with a tone filled with bitterness. From the moment he unfolded the barrier, it was as if he had set up a giant radar across the entire pce. For this reason, Konstantin could instantly discern the situation within the pce. He saw within his barrier, one after another, the scarlet orbs shing continuously. The Holy Sword Barrier. A hero''s power from a thousand years ago,ter modified by the "traitor," resulted in this lower-grade, simplified barrier. Yet, it still possesses strong lethality and specificity against demons. Once the barrier was unfolded, it first provided reconnaissance capabilities. Every demon would be marked with a red dot on the barrier''s formation map. The deeper the red, therger the light spot, indicating the stronger the demon''s power. Pale red, orange-red, crimson, scarlet, and finally, dark red. How should one put it? Perhaps he should be relieved, at least there are only seven scarlet light spots here, without the appearance of that... the highest level of dark red? Konstantin shook his head. The eldest princess on the other side remained calm in the face of changes. Although she could mostly infer how bad the situation was from Konstantin''s expression, Yuffie calmly asked, "Have the demons intervened?" "Your Highness, ''intervened'' is not the right word. To be precise, it''s more like they havee out in full force." If one apostle appeared, Konstantin would feel nervous and urgent. If two apostles appeared, Konstantin would consider fleeing directly. But with three, four...seven apostles, Konstantin now felt rtively at ease, even in the mood to make a not-so-funny joke with the princess by his side. Chapter 111: Chapter 111: And So, the Demon King Drew the Holy Sword If a single apostle had shown up, Konstantin''s nerves would have been on edge, his mind racing with strategies for an immediate response. Had there been two, he would have already been calcting the quickest escape routes, ready to grab Yuffie and dash at a moment''s notice. But facing three, four, or even all seven apostles simultaneously, Konstantin found himself surprisingly calm, even indulging in an attempt at humor with Princess Yuffie by his side. The gravity of their situation somehow seemed less dire with the full assembly of his adversaries before him, perhaps because the predictability of their presence provided a strangefort. Yuffie spoke up, recalling their conversation from the previous evening. "I remember what you saidst night, that the demons wouldn''t trouble themselves over a ce as inconsequential as Ilinor. You said that, should they choose to strike, it would be the Empire facing their wrath." "Indeed, Your Highness. Hence, unless the holy sword remains unresponsive to you, I am inclined to entertain the possibility that you might indeed be the chosen one for this era." "The chosen one?" "Yes. A thousand years ago, such a person was also called a Hero. Your Highness, you must understand, they are the demons'' arch-nemesis, the ones they would go to any lengths to eliminate." Yuffie could tell what Konstantin was hinting at, and she frowned and asked, "So how many demons are there now?" "Seven." "Seven?" Noticing the Princess''s puzzled look, as if she couldn''t quite grasp the significance of the number, Konstantin quickly rified, "Indeed, it''s not arge number. But¡­ Each of them could probably obliterate about a dozen countries like Ilinor." Konstantin paused before adding, "It''s not that they can only destroy a dozen, but that after destroying that many, they would probably get bored." "How were such demons defeated a thousand years ago?" Yuffie asked, her curiosity piqued. "Because the Hero of that time destroyed and sealed them all away¡ªthe seven, including the other two, and even the Demon King." As Konstantin stared at the radiant holy sword, his cloudy eyes seemed to recall the proud days of the past. Konstantin added, "And it was done by the Hero alone." Yuffie nodded, beginning to understand. If she were the Demon King, she would also mobilize all her forces to crush such a threat in its infancy. Yuffie then walked up to Konstantin and ced her hand on the hilt of the holy sword. However, before she could even get close, a powerful repulsive force pushed against her, almost throwing her off her feet. "Your Highness, I advise you not to do that. If this is a genuine holy sword, the repulsive force alone could crush you." "Could it be that I haven''t yet awakened the power of destiny within me, and that''s why I''m unable to wield the holy sword?" Yuffie pondered, trying to make sense of the demons'' borate plot. "If this is Your Highness''s way of lightening the mood, you''ve seeded admirably. I know you have many questions, and so do I. Why don''t we just ask him directly?" Konstantin shook his head as he looked at the scarlet light cluster on the barrier disy, which was almost ovepping with their location in the King''s Tower. "Your Highness and this old friend from the past are indeed exceptionally talented. Your calmness and lightheartedness in the face of danger are truly admirable." The figure of the Wisdom Demon slowly materialized at the staircase of the tower. Leon was dressed in a very formal outfit, looking quite refined and even wearing sses. Leon was pping, seemingly full of appreciation. "Your Highness, there''s no reason for nervousness. Your strategy was impable, and we''ve ironed out all potential ws. The nobility in the grand hall has been dealt with, effectively dissolving the Five Flowers Alliance. Should you wish, you could ascend as the Queen of Ilinor and align with the Demons as early as tonight." "In regards to this old acquaintance from a millennium past, we would be more than open to exchanging insights with you. The Demons are always looking for new allies." "What I''ve just said is the greatest sincerity I can offer as an apostle, and what I believe to be the best oue for both of us. I trust and look forward to you both making the right choice and not letting this turn into an unpleasant situation for either of us." Upon hearing the Wisdom Demon''s pitch, Konstantin couldn''t help butugh, his curiosity piqued more than any fear he might have felt. "The Demons, embracing tolerance now? Is this about turning us into pawns and handing us over to the Wicked Demon? Frankly, Leon, I was under the impression all six apostles had convened for a goal far more significant than Ilinor. To think it was all for such a trivial aim." "Has the Demon Race really stooped so low over the past thousand years?" Leon, far from being provoked by Konstantin''s scorn, simply nodded in agreement. "It''s true, our arrogance was our downfall a millennium ago. Under the leadership of our new demon king, we aim to avoid past mistakes." "Also, rest assured that, at least for now, his majesty has no intention of using the power of the Wicked Demons. If you sincerely wish to cooperate with us, his majesty will grant you the autonomy you deserve." "Ah, you might manage to deceive this young princess, but as for me, even if my memories from a thousand years back are a bit blurred, my deep-seated instincts remain intact. I''m fond of the hero''s philosophy from back then¡ª''kill without mercy.''" Seeing that Konstantin remained unfazed, Leon sighed. ''So, it''s not going to work, is it?'' He made onest attempt. "You should know that the holy sword barrier you''ve cast is fake, and moreover, you can''t even pick up that fake holy sword, right? This barrier holds no threat to me, and your resistance is futile." "I''ll echo the hero''s words from back then¡ª How would you know if you don''t try?." Konstantin''s invocation of the Hero''s legacy, even after a millennium, underscored the enduring respect and admiration held by every member of the Human Union''s forces, from the highest to the lowest ranks. The Hero''s sayings were collected and revered, serving as both motivation and a battle hymn for the troops. -''How would you know if you don''t try?''- A thousand years ago, in humanity''s darkest hour, the hero had used those very words to rally countless kings and people, reigniting their will to resist. Even now, on the verge of death, Konstantin was determined to carry on the hero''s will! He wouldn''t let the victors of a thousand years ago be tarnished by his actions! With this resolve, Konstantin stopped talking and focused all his mental energy on manipting the holy sword barrier. And it seemed that the barrier was moved by his determination and will. But¡­ Suddenly the barrier¡ª Buzz! The countless sacred incantations within the barrier stirred collectively, spinning at high speed and radiating an even stronger radiant power, causing the entire barrier to shine brilliantly. But that wasn''t all. What surprised Konstantin the most was that the holy sword, which served as the eye of the barrier and was embedded in the ground, began to buzz and vibrate, as if trying to free itself from the crack in the floor. ''What is this?'' ''Is the holy sword trembling?'' As the caster, Konstantin could sense the emotion emanating from the sword¡ªit was excitement, as if it was finally going to be returned to its rightful owner. ''Could it be that the hero''s spirit in heaven was truly responding to me?!'' Konstantin, filled with excitement, reached out to grasp the holy sword. But a burst of light erupted from the sword, sending him flying. Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! The holy sword''s vibrations increased in frequency, as if it was cheering, trying to shake itself free to wee someone, to get their attention quickly and be drawn from the ground by them. ''Could it be that this princess is truly the chosen one of this era?!'' ''Did she awakened her powers at this critical juncture?'' Constant couldn''t think of any other humans present besides the two of them. At some point, a figure appeared on the top floor of the tower. No, it would be more urate to say that it was because of this figure''s arrival that the holy sword and the barrier had reacted so strangely. It was because of this that Leon had intended to immediately attack Konstantin and disrupt the bizarre holy sword barrier. But as he made out the figure''s appearance, the Wisdom Demon froze in his tracks, forcibly stopping himself. And so, Reji arrived at the holy sword unimpeded. Although it wasn''t the true holy sword that he had forged using countless "enhancement stones" to create a "+20" weapon. But nheless, Reji reached out and grasped the hilt of this "Radiance Sword," a sword that symbolized the end of the night and the arrival of light. It may not have been the strongest among his collection of "holy swords," but it was undoubtedly the most significant. With barely any effort, Reji lifted the sword lightly. At the peak of the King''s Tower, bathed in the night''s shadows, a dazzling light of radiant shone forth, and in this moment, the sacred radiance illuminated the entire royal city. Chapter 112: Chapter 112: The Holy Sword Slays Evil (Part One) [Your title "Ten Evils Unforgiven" has sessfully passed the judgment] [You have obtained the exclusive right to use the "Radiance Sword (Fake)"] [You have obtained the exclusive control of the "Holy Sword Barrier"] [Your noble morality has been recognized by the Holy Sword, and yourpatibility with the Holy Sword has increased to 100% (Max)] [You have obtained the following temporary new skills: [Hero''s Power (Passive) - When the enemy unit is of the "Demon Race", gain a bonus to all basic attributes. The increase is 211 (depending on the Holy Sword''s base attributes) * 5.0 (depending on the fit, the upper limit coefficient is 5)] [Demon-yer Sword (Passive) - When the enemy unit is of the "Demon Race", your attack pration rate increases to 100%, you will ignore the opponent''s damage reduction defense capabilities, your critical hit chance increases by 50% every time you attack, and critical hit damage increases by 100%] [Old Buddy (Passive) - In the past, you fought side by side, and now, although you are unfamiliar with each other''s appearances, it does not prevent your unspoken understanding. All Holy Sword skill levels are increased to LV10 (Max)] [Ghostly Vigil (Passive) - Your partners in the underworld are blessing you, and the bond that time has not severed bes your strongest support. 90% of the damage you take will be transferred, and when your health points are below 30%, instantly recover all health points and purify all negative effects (no Cooldown)] As Reji pulled the Holy Sword out of the barrier, his mind was flooded with crazy beeps. At the same time, a warm current of power from the Holy Sword surged into his body, making Reji feel a swelling power that jumped and climbed endlessly within him. This should be the passive "Hero''s Power." Like in the game, the Holy Sword is different from ordinary weapons and is more like a "plot item" in the game, specifically designed for a "plot kill." In normal battles, the advantage of the Holy Sword is not that great, it''s just barely an epic-level weapon, iparable to a legendary one. But once the opponent is a demon, it''s like an official gold finger. ''System Info'' [Reji] [Race: Human] [Level: 29] [EXP: 48,000/51,237] [Fate Track: Demon King] [Sub-Fate Track: Nature] --- [Strength: 29+ (211*5) ->1084+] [Physique: 29+ (211*5) ->1084+] [Mental Power: 29+ (211*5) ->1084+] [Skill Proficiency: 29+ (211*5) ->1084+] [Magic Power: 29+ (211*5) ->1084+] [Luck: 29] ---- [Sin Value: 103,692,498] ---- [Current Title: Ten Evils Unforgiven] [Ten Evils Unforgiven] [Quality: Exquisite] [Title Equipment Effect: Sin value increases proportionally ording to the yer''s past actions] ---- [Fate Track: Demon King] [Star Sculpt I ¡ª King''s Birth](Activated) *-> [Activation Condition: Complete the summoning ritual, sessfully descend into the world] [Activation Effect: Demon King, born to plunder¡ªAll basic rewards you receive are increased by 10000%] <-* [Star Sculpt II - King''s Rise (Activated)] *-> [Activation Condition: Own a "stronghold level" demon territory and gain at least one disciple''s "deadly loyalty"] [Territory: Ilinor - Royal City - Queen''s District - Vedler Count Manor ] [Activation Effect: Demon King, standing above all - you ignore all "skill/item" "learning/use" conditions] <-* ---- [Sub-Fate Track: Nature] [Star Sculpt I¡ªForest Maiden: When you are in natural terrain, all attributes +150%, MP recovery efficiency +200%, and all natural spells'' consumption -50%.] [Star Sculpt II¡ªPrincess: You ignore any learning requirements for natural spells, and all damage from natural spells against you is reduced by 95%. Furthermore, all magical creatures under the nature system will have a base affinity towards you, which will be increased to "friendly."] [Star Sculpt III¡ªHeart of Nature: All your natural spells gain +200% spell power, +50% spell pration, +20% critical rate, and have a certain chance of triggering double casting effects.] ---- New* [Radiance Sword (Fake) Equipped ] New* [Hero''s Power (Passive) - When the enemy unit is of the "Demon Race", gain a bonus to all basic attributes. The increase is 211 (depending on the Holy Sword''s base attributes) * 5.0 (depending on the fit, the upper limit coefficient is 5)] New* [Demon-yer Sword (Passive) - When the enemy unit is of the "Demon Race", your attack pration rate increases to 100%, you will ignore the opponent''s damage reduction defense capabilities, your critical hit chance increases by 50% every time you attack, and critical hit damage increases by 100%] New* [Old Buddy (Passive) - In the past, you fought side by side, and now, although you are unfamiliar with each other''s appearances, it does not prevent your unspoken understanding. All Holy Sword skill levels are increased to LV10 (Max)] New* [Ghostly Vigil (Passive) - Your partners in the underworld are blessing you, and the bond that time has not severed bes your strongest support. 90% of the damage you take will be transferred, and when your health points are below 30%, instantly recover all health points and purify all negative effects (no CD)] Skills: New* [Twilight LV10 - Deals a certain amount of damage to a single enemy, umting oneyer of "Sword Momentum"]. New* [Night Silence LV10 - Enters a defensive stance, gaining damage reduction, causing the next skill to gain two additionalyers of "Sword Momentum"]. New* [Dawn LV10 - Deals arge amount of damage to a single enemy, umting fiveyers of "Sword Momentum"]. New*[Radiance Sword (Ultimate Move) - Converts all umted "Sword Momentum" into "Sword Intent", eachyer of Sword Momentum provides an additional 15% attack power, and the Sword Momentum can be superimposed up to 20yers, disappearing after one attack is released]. ---- (Hail: I will put this pannel in a chapteralone, so next time only wrote the important info or the new added one.) Reji looked at his panel at this time. With the boost of "Hero''s Power," his original base panel, which had only increased by a few dozen points after upgrading to level 29, had now directly soared to all attributes +1055, which meant that just one passive had increased his attributes by thousands. ''This is kinda crazy for a fake one¡­'' As aparison, the attribute values of a level 90 Demon Apostle are roughly in the range of 700-1000. Although the Holy Sword''s bonus is still not as good as the Great Demon Hektor''s "Malice Blooms" domain, when all his attributes were close to 3000. However, if he were to fight hand-to-hand with the Hektor of that time, who was empowered by "Malice Blooms", Reji believed that he would still be more powerful now. The reason is simple. Although the Great Demon''s domain bonus is high, they are all pure attributes, very dry, equivalent to a nk te. If the enemy has damage reduction or other passive abilities, the three thousand attributes are not that big of a deal. But Reji is different now. The Demon-yer Sword allows him to inflict true damage whenever he attacks a demon, and each jump in damage is the most noble white critical hit in the game. And the effect of "Old Buddy" is reflected in the following weapon skills. As Reji''s first Holy Sword, the Radiance Sword''s skills are actually quite simplepared to those of theter Holy Swords, with a total of just four extra skill. ¡­. As the radiance from pulling out the Holy Sword gradually subsided, Reji, holding the sword on the top floor of the tower, was still enveloped in its glow, even in the middle of the night. Princess Yuffie could still clearly see Reji''s face. ''Is it...him?'' ''Vielsia''s Teacher?'' Yuffie had actually long been aware of the unusual nature of Vielsia, and naturally, Reji, who was her teacher, must have been hiding something too. But it didn''t matter to the Princess, because in her opinion, with her Ghost as thest trump card, these variables were insignificant. But... "Konstantin, didn''t you say before that only the Chosen or the real hero can respond to the Holy Sword?" "Yes!!!!" This ancient ghost from a thousand years ago now wore an expression of madness once more, his burning gaze fixed on the young figure holding the Holy Sword. "Is there any other way? Did he use some kind of ancient way?" Yuffie asked again. But this time, Konstantin''s reaction was immense. As if he had been insulted. "Impossible! Even if you can forcibly pick up the Holy Sword, like that "traitor", the sword won''t respond, it''s just an ordinary weapon. Mydy, didn''t you see that shing radiance? That is the true power of the hero, the power that those damn demons fear the most!" Chapter 113: Chapter 113: The Holy Sword Slays Evil (Part Two) The more Konstantin spoke, the more excited he became. His emotions were not just directed at Reji, but also towards those things that had been lost and forgotten a thousand years ago, now slowly awakening and returning, giving him a sense of familiarity in this strange and cold world. "So, can I understand that we are safe?" Princess Yuffie asked again, but this time Konstantin did not answer. Instead, he shifted his gaze, believing that the new hero, who had just drawn the Holy Sword, would give the Princess the best answer. Indeed. Where the Holy Sword is drawn, a demon will fall. This is an unchangingw of fate from a thousand years ago. Reji had prepared himself for this from the moment he chose to draw the sword. Now, he raised the Holy Sword, and the bright and hazy sword tip was aimed at the only demon present, the Wisdom Demon Apostle, Leo. It was not difficult to tell from the previous conversation that Leo had long discovered, or at least sensed, the power from a thousand years ago that was hidden behind Yuffie. But the Wisdom Demon had not reported it to him and had chosen to conceal it. Reji''s expressionless face swung the Holy Sword, shing out a "Twilight" attack towards Leo. Leo was also extremely serious. The Apostle''s armor appeared on his body,yer byyer of snake scales crawling onto Leo''s skin, no longer disguising himself but revealing his true demonic form. The Wisdom Demon was urately abination of a snake and a spider. In addition to the snake scale armor, numerous silken threads appeared between Leo''s ten fingers, each thread extremely fine. However, their resilience was enough to form a-like defense, directly blocking Reji''s attack. The next moment, instead of retreating, Leo took a step forward and shot out threads of silk towards Reji, the thin lines bing the sharpest des as they aimed to entangle and slice Reji into pieces. But Reji countered by holding the Holy Sword in front of him, the giant sword splitting into countless miniature flying swords. Each flying sword precisely shed towards the threads of silk that Leo had attacked with. The Wisdom Demon shot out a hundred threads, and the Holy Sword in front of Reji split into a hundred flying swords, swirling and encircling him in an imprable sword formation defense. Not a single thread could prate the sword formation, let alone touch Reji or cut his flesh. After blocking Leo''s attack, the Holy Sword returned to its original form, all the miniature flying swords condensing and gathering once more into a radiant light before Reji, reforming into theplete and radiant greatsword, which Reji lifted once more. The next moment, Reji exerted force beneath his feet, his figure leaping into the air. Leo also seemed to know that long-range attacks would be useless, so he chose to set up his silk threads in the air and leaped up to engage Reji in a fierce battle. Their figures shed at high speed, and even Yuffie, no, even Konstantin, the former seventh-tier mage, could not see their movements clearly. All they could see were the constant collisions between the radiance of the Holy Sword and the threads of the Wisdom Demon, erupting with waves of powerful magical vibrations. However, the overall situation could still be discerned. The spider web of silk threads in the sky was gradually diminishing, retreating inch by inch, while the radiance of the Holy Sword grew stronger with each sh, pressing forward step by step. Finally, as if breaking through a bamboo joint, the Holy Sword shed through the silk threads that Leo had used for defense, and the final strike, filled with dazzling radiance,nded directly on the Wisdom Demon. *Shua!* The oue was decided. In Konstantin''s eyes, the powerful Wisdom Apostle was now like a kite with its string cut, thrown out from the sky and falling towards the distant night, his body bearing the marks of the Holy Sword''s damage, especially a terrifying gash on his abdomen that bled profusely. He was either severely wounded or dead, and he plummeted towards the ground far away, seemingly having lost all ability to fight. And the figure holding the Holy Sword stood victorious, still shining brightly in the air. Indeed. The defeated Leo was "thrown" several kilometers away, falling to the outskirts of the Royal City. ¡­ However, just beforending, the wounds all over Leo''s body disappeared, and therge gash on his abdomen quickly healed. With a light flip, hended steadily. There, several high-ranking Wisdom Demons who had received the message earlier rushed forward to support him. "Lord Leo, are you alright!" Leo waved his hand, but soon turned his head and looked towards the King''s Tower in the distance. Some of the Wisdom Demons who couldn''t hold back asked, "Lord Leo, why...why did his majesty draw the Holy Sword and attack you! You were so loyal to him..." "Fools!" Leo angrily rebuked his subordinates before they could finish. "Haven''t you realized his majesty''s intentions yet?" "Heh!!?" ''his majesty''s intentions?'' The high-ranking Wisdom Demon was confused, unable to understand the situation. ''Didn''t his majesty stand with the humans and turn against Lord Leo, even injuring him badly? Hmm? Wait a minute.'' ''What about Lord Leo''s injuries?'' Even if that Holy Sword isa fake one, it still had some power of the former hero, and for demons, wounds inflicted by the Holy Sword were harder to recover from than other injuries, requiring a long period of recuperation. But now, Leo ignored his subordinates and shook his head, gazing at Reji''s figure in the distance with a sigh. " his majesty''s move was indeed brilliant. This way, that old ghost will likely ce his full trust in his majesty and be willing to confide any secrets to him." "For his majesty, there is indeed no need for a Wicked Demon. Any secret can be revealed to his majesty, and if his majesty desires, he can always make others willingly divulge their secrets. But as for me..." Leo sighed deeply, having tried to persuade Konstantin earlier, but the result was clear. ''In fact, for the ancient ghost, confiding in a demon was a false proposition, it was impossible.'' ''But...'' ''His majesty had achieved it¡­'' It was only at this point that some of the high-ranking Wisdom Demons beside Leo seemed to realize that the wholemotion between the Demon King and Leo was fake! It was all an act put on for the benefit of those humans! To gain the trust of that ghost from a thousand years ago! So that was it! ''No wonder Lord Leo''s injuries healed so quickly, as his majesty had never truly attacked him. And Lord Leo was also remarkable; without muchmunication between them, he was able to instantly understand the Demon King''s intentions and skillfully cooperate.'' ''Was this the bond between the Apostle and the King?'' The high-ranking Wisdom Demons felt ashamed and inferior, and were touched by their previous suspicions and doubts about their king. ''No wonder Lord Leo called us fools; we truly were.'' ''From now on, wemust learn from Lord Leo and deepen their understanding of his majesty to keep up with his thoughts and actions!'' ''However, Lord Leo, who had been behind the scenes, had now been defeated, but why hadn''t the King sheathed the Holy Sword? Why did it seem like he was still in abat state, or even...'' Not only did the high-ranking Wisdom Demons feel this way, but Leo himself felt it even more. ''During our "pretend" fight, aside from acting, his majesty had also seemed to be...'' ''Warming up with him'' ''Hmmm maybe¡­'' ''The fact that his majesty hadn''t sheathed the Holy Sword proved my guess, but what came next was strange. Who was his majesty warming up for? Or rather, in the Demon King''s eyes, was there another opponent, one who was...'' ''A true enemy?'' The Wisdom Demons continued to specte about Reji''s intentions. In fact, they were quite right. Reji was warming up, or more urately, he was umtingyers of "Sword Momentum" with Leo. With the power of the Hero boosting his originally weak foundation, he needed more than that to ensure a one-hit kill, leaving his opponent no time to react. So he needed to umte the full 20yers of Sword Momentum. -The Holy Sword, once drawn, will bring the fall of a demon- Reji did not want to break this "Hero''s Quote" that he had once spoken. So tonight, he intended to use the Holy Sword to strike down a demon. Of course, it wouldn''t be Leo. Reji looked towards the crimson light group that had drawn closer during the reconnaissance of the barrier but had not shown itself, intending to hide and observe. ''There was no need to guess'' Reji already knew who this was. One of the "seven" Apostles in the royal pce had already been exposed when Reji discovered the presence of Apostles within the barrier. There were nine Apostles, including la and Dian. Who else could the extra one be, other than the one who was supposed to be in the Chaos Rift? ''Wicked Demon, Lordan'' Chapter 114: Chapter 114: The Holy Sword Slays Evil (Part 3) "Come out." Reji''s calm voice echoed on the top floor of the King''s Tower. Since Reji pulled out the Holy Sword, Konstantin lost control over the barrier, including the maniption rights. He was somewhat puzzled until Lordan emerged from the shadows, and then he understood the situation. Konstantin''s expression quickly transformed into one of intense hatred and fury. Before, he might have been able to exchange a few words with the Wisdom Demon. It was a form of respect between enemies, despite their opposition. But for the Wicked Demon, Konstantin''s current hatred was no less than his hatred for that "traitors." A thousand years ago, he served under General Anna. After General Anna''s defeat, she became Lordan''s puppet. The Wicked demon did not spare her body, refining it into a flesh puppet. The fake General Anna was then used to deceive other human armies, desecrating the body of Lady Anna. Denying the deceased their peace and subjecting General Anna to such humiliation, countless human generals of that time wished nothing more than to y and skin the Wicked Demon alive. But this apostle was the quickest to surrender back then, retracting his projection and leading the demon race to hide in the chaos rift. Completely different from the Subus Apostle who fought to thest of her kind. So, while the human race also held hatred towards the Subus n, at least they mutually fought each other, allowing their hatred to be avenged. But towards the Wicked Demon, this hatred has persisted until now. So now, with Lordan reappearing, the deep-seated blood feud from the past has made Konstantin''s breath quicken and his eyes turn bloodshot. He clenched his fists tightly. If he hadn''t already be a "ghost," losing his past strength, he would have been determined to use a transcendent spell to strike this Wicked Demon fiercely, even if it meant sacrificing his life. It was precisely because of this. Konstantin shifted his eager gaze to Reji, cing all his hopes, his past shame and hatred, on this "new" child of destiny. ... Reji continued to gaze at Lordan with the same calmness. Although the Wicked Demon felt somewhat awkward, Lordan did not think it was inappropriate. ''After all, the radiance of the Holy Sword was so evident, and it possessed the power of the Hero, the archenemy of our demon race from a thousand years ago. While I was not granted permission by the King to descend, given the urgent situation, my deep concern and worry for the Kingpelled him toe and provide support. That shouldn''t be unreasonable, right?'' Lordan had long prepared a set of exnations for himself. Although he found it strange, Lordan would definitely investigate immediately why Reji could wield the Holy Sword. Compared to the Wisdom Demon, Lordan was even more concerned about this, especially because it seemed to confirm a certain spection in his mind. But for now, Lordan knew he had to endure and keep his thoughts hidden. I had to cooperate with the Demon King. Just like the Wisdom Demon before. Seeing Reji now, Lordan also gazed at the Holy Sword that was aimed at him, without much panic or fear. It was because he had the example of Leo before him. The Wicked Demon quickly understood that Reji was acting with him, trying to gain the trust of that human from a thousand years ago, who held a secret. No problem, I will make the show better with my action skills. Lordan believed his perception was also strong. Therefore, he discreetly cast a nce at Reji that said, Your Majesty, I understand. Following Leo''s example, the Wicked Demon summoned his apostle armor without changing anything, holding the demon skull as a weapon. On this skeletal head, an evil, pale green glow emanated. Of course. The Wicked Demon''s current appearance, ready to strike, was all a facade. In fact, he hadn''t used any of his true power. To please Reji and avoid the Demon King''s suspicion, unlike Leo, he deliberately rxed his defenses. The purpose was to continue the act that would follow, to make himself appear even more severely defeated by Reji, highlighting the demon king''s might and power. Reji didn''t expose the Wicked Demon. There was no need to. Lordan''s appearance actually amused Reji a little. Then he closed his eyes. The umted sword momentum from his previous battles with Leo began to transform, to gather within Reji''s body, undergoing a sharp change. It transformed into a true and substantial sword intent. The next strike should be as silent as possible to prevent Lordan from discovering in advance that I wasn''t acting but truly engaging. However, Reji chose to create amotion, and not only that, he wanted to make it as big as possible. Because this strike was not only for himself, to eliminate the traitor in the demon race. It was also for the human armies tortured and humiliated by the wicked demons a thousand years ago till now. And even more so, for his female student who was still in the royal city, not having left but rather hiding in some corner, likely lost and in tears. His foolish elf student. When Reji opened his eyes again, the immense sword intent umted behind him suddenly expanded. It grew from three meters to five meters, then to ten meters, until it finally transformed into a towering figure, hovering high above the top of the King''s Tower. It was a radiant Sword Spirit, bathed in holy light andposed entirely of pure sword intent. It took on a solid and resplendent golden form. In this scene, Lordan was a little dumbfounded. This... This couldn''t be right, could it? The towering Sword Spirit behind Reji, nearly bing the backdrop of the night sky, emitted such a powerful sword intent that Lordan felt a piercing pain throughout his body, as if being torn apart by countless swords. If that kind of sword intent were to truly strike me... I will... Die! Lordan''s instinct sent out a strong warning. Wait, Wait! Wait! Wait! Lordan only realized at this moment that something was amiss. Could it be... that his majesty wasn''t acting with him at all? Was he serious? Why is his majesty serious!??? By the time Lordan was overwhelmed with shock and wanted to shout at Reji, it was already toote. Down below, Reji swung his sword toward Lordan''s location. And behind him, as the embodiment of his spiritual backer, the Sword Spirit of the holy sword, a colossal and awe-inspiring entity that filled the night sky, followed his movements. The massive Radiant Sword, like a divine punishment descended upon the wicked demon below, who appeared minuscule inparison. sh! Lordan didn''t even have a chance to scream in agony. His body was instantly obliterated within the ocean of holy light. Every inch of his skin was severed and crushed by the sword''s intent. The radiant golden light of the holy sword consumed Lordan. This scene was witnessed by the excited ghost, Konstantin. The other apostles in the royal city also saw it. Leo, on the distant outskirts of the forest, saw it as well. And... Near the garbage heap in the alley, the elven princess, Vielsia, curled up with her hands on her knees, also saw it. Her expression was nk. Tears streaked her tear-stained face. But now, Vielsia couldn''t worry about all that anymore. She stumbled to her feet from the ground. She stared fixedly at the Sword Spirit in the sky, the towering spiritual presence behind Reji. In Vielsia''s mind, she subconsciously recalled her first encounter with her teacher Reji. It was in the ssroom. The witty and humorous teacher had introduced them to powerful high-level spells. In ss, Reji had specifically mentioned a spell that, through continuous umtion, could ultimately summon a formidable spiritual presence to deliver a lethal blow to the enemy. "Teacher..." "It''s teacher! There''s no mistake. Teacher Renji! That''s him!" Vielsia could not only see the Sword Spirit but also sense the ripple of fall emitted by one of the apostles being crushed. So he...raised the holy sword!? He... Killed, killed a demon apostle? Excitement overwhelmed Vielsia as if she had seen a glimmer of hope. But in the next moment, reason pulled her back, and the harsh reality doused her with a bucket of cold water. No, no, no. The true identity of teacher is... It was clear that everything about him was a disguise, a deception, and mere maniption of her. But... But what is the meaning of this? Why? Which side of teacher is the real Reji, the true one? And I... What should I do? Vielsia took off a ne from her neck. It was a symbol of her status as an elven princess and also a relic left by her mother. Clutching the ne tightly, as if it was her sole anchor, Vielsia leaned against the wall, her body sliding down weakly. Her bewildered and painful sobs echoed in the alley. "Mother, I... don''t know, really don''t know what to do." Chapter 115: Chapter 115: The End of a Song 2/2 To avoid confusion, I will add the number of chapters that will be published to the title from now on. And all the characters have been posted in Chapter 01 including Eris. ------ Unlike the elven girl struggling in pain and confusion, the Imperial Envoy Kasm could clearly distinguish what was happening. The sword spirit on top of the King''s Tower, who looked like a "divine statue", had just in the very person he had "met" with a few minutes ago. Although this Imperial Envoy did not recognize the Wicked Demon Lordan, it was not hard to imagine the identity and status of someone who could make a deal with the "Sage". Moreover, the fact that Lordan had previously saved him from the hands of the Great Demon was enough to show his unfathomable strength. As a result, even such a "big shot" could not escape death. Kasm now realized that he had probably been sold out by the "Sage", used as a pawn and drawn into a vortex of events far beyond his level. Run! Get away from this haunted ce as soon as possible! He now deeply regretted not listening to his butler''s advice to bring more guards, even a few "Hunters" would have been better. At least he wouldn''t be in such a miserable and dangerous situation now. But this time, it seemed that the goddess of luck was on his side. Kasm had only run a short distance under the cover of night when he discovered several familiar figures ahead, seemingly waiting for him for a long time, just to meet up with him. Wait... aren''t they my butler and my guards? Great! Thinking he had escaped with his life, Kasm was overjoyed and did not notice that his guards and butler all had a dazed expression, a bit absent-minded, and staggering as if they could not stand steadily. If it were daytime, perhaps one could see the tiny insects crawling on these people. But the darkness of the night concealed many details. Kasm ran to the carriage, and just as he was about to order the butler to drive away and leave Ilinor immediately... Ah! Kasm nearly jumped in fright as he lifted the carriage curtain, because he saw that there was actually another person inside the carriage. A... little girl he didn''t know... "Big brother... I''ve been waiting for you for a long time," Eris, hugging a doll, said with some grievance in the carriage. "Who, who are you!" "If big brother asks my name... then next you''ll have to... y with Eris. Hehe~" Kasm did indeed quite like little girls. After all, as an envoy, he had yed with too many mature women like princesses, queens, and nobledies. Seeing Eris''s fair skin and pretty face, plus her weak and sickly appearance, it really struck a chord with Kasm. The envoy forcibly suppressed the urgency in his heart. His instincts told him that the little girl in front of him was very dangerous, so Kasm tried hard to squeeze out a smile on his face and said in a gentle big brother voice, as if coaxing a child: "Little, littledy, youe down first. Big brother has something urgent to do. I''ll y with youter, okay?" "No,No,No, if I let you go, the King will be unhappy. Eris doesn''t want to be disliked by the King, so big brother shoulde and y with Eris..." If Kasm still couldn''t see the problem with Eris at this point, he shouldn''t be an envoy anymore. The terrified Kasm turned his head to run, but before he knew it, the butler and guards had already staggered and surrounded the carriage. "You, you guys!" Under the moonlight, Kasm only now discovered that his servants'' eyeballs had turned white, and from their gaping mouths, they kept spitting out silt. The filthy smell made him dizzy, and he even saw some bugs starting to crawl up his clothes. "Get lost!" "GET AWAY FROM ME!" These strange scenes almost drove Kasm crazy, but soon he wouldn''t have to worry about so much anymore. Because... In the envoy''s eyes, the sickly little girl''s body was now rapidly expanding. Large chunks of rotten flesh began to fill Eris''s belly, and her cute face was distorted into a butcher, oozing with pus, full of knife scars and stitching traces. And the doll she was holding had now turned into a centipede, its wriggling limbs wrapping around him, its bloody mouth dripping with mucus, as if it was going to swallow him in one bite. "Ugly monster... Ugly monster!! Get lost, get lost! Monster... AHHH SO UGLY, help, SOMEONE FUCKING HELPPPPPP..." "AHHHHhhh..." Eris ignored the screaming and struggling Kasm. Her seemingly ferocious face actually had a bit of grievance. She patted her centipede pet with the butcher knife in her hand, indicating that this one couldn''t be eaten, at least not for now. Afterward, she tore open her belly with onerge and one small arm, stuffed the envoy inside like an object, and when she took him out again, he seemed to have been processed, bing an extremely miserable human cocoon. Inside the rotten flesh cocoon, Kasm was wrapped and bound so tightly that he couldn''t even move a finger, and could only stare with terrified eyes. After doing all this, Eris''s body quickly shrank, and those bloated rotten flesh also shriveled up like a sponge. In the blink of an eye, she turned back into the sickly and cute little loli from the beginning. Of course, the aggrieved and frustrated expression on her face was still there. "Why did you call... Eris... an ugly monster..." "Eris is not ugly... The King said... Eris is the cutest..." No longer paying attention to Kasm in the flesh cocoon, Eris hopped and skipped like a little girl returning from mushroom picking, ready to go back to Eileen''s side and reunite with everyone. ... At the same time, on the other side... -King''s Tower. The radiant light ended. In Konstantin''s eyes, the ovepping figures of Reji and the former child of destiny also gradually separated with the disappearance of the holy sword, the fading of the barrier, and the dimming of the radiance. The miracle he had hoped for did not happen. Without the halo of the holy sword, the young man descending from the sky no longer had anything inmon with the "Hero" of that year. This had nothing to do with appearance. After all, they had been cursed, not only with the indescribable "traitor", but all appearances rted to the child of destiny had also been eroded and blurred beyond recognition. But while the "traitor" could erase their memories, he could not erase their perceptions. If it were truly the Hero he was familiar with a thousand years ago, Konstantin believed that he would never forget the aura belonging to the great child of destiny, even after ten thousand years. But now, the young man in front of him only gave him a sense of unfamiliarity. It was not the impossible miracle he was familiar with and had hoped for. Sigh... Konstantin shook his head. As a "ghost" from a thousand years ago, he should have understood long ago that the glory of the past was ultimately just a fleeting moment. Just like departed friends who would nevere back. The top floor of the King''s Tower was once again shrouded in the night, as if hinting to Konstantin that the night was still long, and the true "dawn" he longed for was still very far away. But in any case... Konstantin''s low spirits rose again, and new mes ignited in his dim eyes. After all... A new hero... was born! Chapter 116: Chapter 116: The Ghosts Will There is no doubt that it was the resurgent demon race that forcibly turned the "stuck" gear of fate. Although Konstantin was very reluctant to say this, feeling that he had let down his past self from a thousand years ago and the countless fighting human armies. But at this moment, he was indeed immensely grateful to the demon race. It was the demon race that brought a turning point for the humans who were already dominated by that "traitor", and brought hope to this world that was being "alienated" by the traitor! So, using thest bit of his life force. Konstantin left guidance from a "predecessor" to Reji, this "new" hero. "Child, remember that the demon race is not your enemy, at least so far..." Among the thousands of words he wanted to say, Konstantin put this sentence first. What he feared most was that Reji, this new generation hero, would really foolishly continue to follow fate and fight the demon race head-on, which would instead make the new hero beyond redemption. For today''s humans and today''s world, the demon race has long ceased to be the biggest threat. On the contrary, it is still a force that can be used for "checks and bnces". Moreover, the savior from a thousand years ago has already proven with a bloody example that unteral dedication and sacrifice do not bring peace and victory, but the backstabbing and theft of the cunning. "Syndicate" "Go there and gather loyal followers... They will... be your force" A hero must have his own force. A huge organization, a powerful intelligencework, a war machine that can deter other peepers at any time. And not just forty-twopanions like in the past. This was also a lesson Konstantin had learned from a thousand years ago. It was also what these "ghosts" like him had been quietly working on. He pointed out the general direction for Reji. He also told Reji where the "ghosts" like him were, so that Reji could quickly grow and expand. Finally. Ihave to say thisis the most difficultpath, but it''s the only wayI can sessfullytake revengeon that "traitor". "You must... gather all... the Saving Relics" After the three sentences, Konstantin seemed to havepletely let go of his worries. The "Holy Sword Barrier" that Reji had used before was actually always supported and maintained by his magic power... no, by the power of the "ember". Now the ember has been exhausted, or rather, it has been sessfully handed over to the new torch bearer. My mission has beenpleted. In order to live until now, I had endured torture and dragged my broken body day and night. Finally, I can find rest. Death had long ceased to be something cruel to me, but more like a kind of liberation. His body dissipated in front of Reji, turning into purple soul illusion butterflies, flying towards the full moon in the night sky. Reji had already recognized the ember before, which was the ability of the "Fire Elf", while the current soul illusion butterflies were also the ability of the "Underworld" among the 42panions. The former maintained the physical body, while thetter pieced together the soul. The ghost from the old days, Konstantin, still moved his lips at Reji beforepletely disappearing. Although Reji couldn''t hear what Konstantin was saying, he could probably judge from the lip movements that it was a name. It was a name that appeared frequently in the game. Almost regarded as the game''s officially designated "heroine" - the Radiant Saint. From Konstantin''s appearance as a ghost, it could be concluded for Reji''s long-held spection that the ending a thousand years ago was not a happy one, and there was a traitor among them. So...Did Konstantin mean that the betrayer was her? The Saintess? Reji didn''t forget that in the three options at the end of the first ythrough, thest one was also filled with "Very Easy" for the Radiant Saintess. ording to the rules, her power would be greatly enhanced. With the absolute trust of the people second only to him, the "Hero", providing easy conditions for backstabbing, and with the strong power to subdue the resisters, it seemed that all the clues of the "traitor" pointed to the Saintess no matter how you looked at it. But the more obvious it was, the more Reji''s intuition told him that it wouldn''t be so simple. There were too many doubts about this. Why did Konstantin put such important information at the end, and even didn''t make a sound, only expressing a name with his lip movements? Don''t forget, from Konstantin''s perspective, he should still be a new hero, which means that Konstantin thought he wouldn''t know the meaning of that name, not even knowing who the person was, just a simple name. And if this name was taboo, speaking it out would be sensed. There was a simr setting in the game, but not for people, but for "Him", the protagonist of the game. Each "Fate Track" corresponding to a super-tier magic had to call upon "His" name. For example, for the elves'' Nature Fate Track, He was the Earth Mother Goddess, and through this, they obtained "His" blessing and power. But in that case, Konstantin had even less reason to tell him this name. How could he be sure that he wouldn''t say it out of curiosity or subconsciously? Wouldn''t that be equivalent to purely harming him? Therefore, what Konstantin most likely wanted to convey was that time was limited and he didn''t have time to exin the story behind this name to him, the new hero. So he could only use this method to make his future self curious about this name and pay extra attention to it. In any case, to get closer to the answer, my next destination was already very clear. Syndicate. "Syndicate is located to the north of Ilinor. If marching quickly, traveling day and night, it would take about a week or so." As if guessing what Reji was thinking. A female voice came from behind. The eldest princess Yuffie continued to educate Reji: "Syndicate is a desert on the world map, but due to its special geographical location, it happens to be at the junction of the Radiant Church Nation, the Court of Judgment, and the Magic Nation, so it has gathered arge number of refugees, disced people, and criminals from the three nations." "Over time, these people established their own tribes and city-states in the desert, and Syndicate was born. The mix of people from all sides made the forces of Syndicateplex, so Syndicate is also known as the Chaos Valley, constantly in chaos and war, with no official organizations. It is also one of the few independent regions that even the Empire cannot intervene in and is unwilling to get involved." "Thank you princess Yuffie, this info is very helpful." Reji turned to the princess, who had a simr appearance to Sophia, also with red hair, she was not wearing a ceremonial dress, but a set of refined armor, with a royal rapier at her waist, and expressed his gratitude. Afterwards, he quickly added, "And... as expected of the Princess, it seems that the eldest princess'' eyes cannot be deceived after all." Chapter 117: Chapter 117: I came here for only three things Yuffie can now exin things to herself, proving one thing. Even people who haven''t been to school have heard of the famous area of Syndicate, just like everyone knows about the empire. The crown princess obviously thinks that hees from "outside" and doesn''t understand their world, which is why she spoke up. In other words, "Teacher Reji appeared at the most appropriate time and ce. Besides being a demon, I can''t think of a second possibility." "But I killed a demon just now," Reji asked with interest. Yuffie shook her head: "For the sake of bing the queen of Ilinor, all the royal family members, including my father became my sacrifices tonight. Inparison, I think Teacher Reji has been very merciful." After saying all this, the crown princess sighed, shaking her head somewhat regretfully and muttering to herself: "I forgot to ask Konstantin earlier, what if the Son of Destiny is a demon, what should be done?" As if to prove Yuffie''s guess, terrifying figures began to appear one after another in the night sky above the King''s Tower. They were the disciples who had discovered that the holy sword had gone out and the ghosts had disappeared. Yuffie looked around and saw behind Reji a demon with des for limbs, a demon with giant ws and blood-red body, the snake-eyed sorcerer who seemed to have been seriously injured and fled earlier, and Shermen, who slowly appeared from Reji''s shadow and hid in the darkness. Of course, there was also a female demon with a cold gaze and ram horns on her head, and a little girl-like figure dragging something simr to a "cocoon" behind her. The crown princess looked again, and the person wrapped in the cocoon, who could only roll his eyes in terror, was none other than the imperial envoy. So this is the demon race? "So, Teacher Reji, what do you want the small Ilinor to do for the demon race?" Yuffie asked proactively. For her, there was no difference, it was just a matter of being dominated by the empire or by the demon race. But Reji''s next words made the crown princess pause for the first time. "I only want Ilinor to do three things." "Fairness." "Fairness." "And fairness." Yuffie was speechless, and even doubted her own ears. She originally thought that what Reji would emphasize first was to make Ilinor bleed heavily, provide all resources to the demon race, or use her as a puppet to seize power. But how could she have imagined that the man in front of her would only say "fairness"? Yuffie was puzzled and shocked, and the Apostles behind Reji also did not understand. Hektor, the great demon, couldn''t help but poked the wise demon next to him, as if asking him to exin the king''s meaning. The other Apostles also turned their eyes to the wisdom demon Leo, after all, he was the one who could best "understand" the king here. Leo shook his head. It was not that he didn''t understand, he immediately understood the demon king''s meaning. Leo was just anxious about the stupidity of the other Apostles. "For humans, ss contradictions are greater than racial contradictions. Moreover, after a thousand years, the image of the demon race has long been forgotten and faded by humans. With this move by his majesty, he can easily gain the loyalty of countless humans to us without drawing a de. His majesty wants the demon race to be the object of the people''s hearts and the focus of their aspirations." The wisdom demon sighed again. Compared with the brainwashing of the wicked demon, the demon king''s method of turning enemies into friends was so elegant andfortable for the demons. This was wisdom, not simple and crude brainwashing. The other Apostles finally understood. Although they didn''t fully understand, they got the general idea. The demon king not only wanted to enve humans, but also wanted humans to willingly be enved. As expected of his majesty, so malicious. But on the other side, the subus Eileen curled her lips. She seemed a little dissatisfied with Leo''s stealing the limelight. As the demon king''s woman, how could she lose to the wisdom demon. "Eris, don''t listen to him. In fact, the king''s true meaning is that all beings are equal under the demon race." "What does ''all beings equal'' mean, Eris doesn''t understand." "It means you can eat seafood congee, and others can too." Eileen exined simply. "Wahhh~, Eris likes this kind of world. Everyonee and drink seafood soup and share food fairly, hehe~." ... How to deal with Ilinor was actually a small matter for the demon race. Now, they still had a big issue to resolve within their own ranks. After a demon servant took Yuffie away, only the demon king and the apostles remained. Regarding the matter of Reji killing the wicked demon, Eileen came forward first. "My King, I just found this on Lordan''s body." A book emitting a halo floated in Eileen''s hand. The power and mysterious aura contained within, in this world, only one kind of artifact possesses it. The Saving Relic. Indeed, Reji had already sensed it, and it was also one of the reasons why he was able to kill the Wicked Demon without hesitation. The next question then became, why was this relic was on the Wicked Demon''s body. "Eris has...discovered!" The Decay Demon released the imperial envoy from the cocoon. In the presence of all these evil people, no, all these demons, Kasm no longer dared to hide anything and revealed everything he knew, such as the dealings between the Grand Sage and the Wicked Demon. The Grand Sage is the w of the empire, simr to a national teacher, and there are a total of five. Unfortunately, regarding which of the five "Grand Sages" was in contact with the Wicked Demon, Kasm waspletely ignorant. It was clear that he was just a pawn and had no more information. However, no matter what, the fact that the Wicked Demon had been in contact with humans and the empire behind their backs had been proven. "Your Majesty, the Wicked Demon n has beenpletely controlled, but..." The Wisdom Demon was now half-kneeling on the ground, filled with regret for his failure to do his job. As the Wisdom Demon, he had not discovered the traitors within the demon race, and instead, it was the demon king who had to clean up. This was simply the greatest shame. "Lordan escaped from the Chaos Rift, didn''t he?" "Yes, but Your Majesty has destroyed his projection, and Lordan has suffered heavy injuries. It is difficult for him to use magic again, and it is impossible for him to run far. My King, I beg you to entrust the task of capturing the Wicked Demon to me." The Wisdom Demon took the initiative to ask for punishment. Indeed, the old and cowardly Wicked Demon had descended in the form of a projection, so what Reji had killed was also a projection, not the real body. The real body of the Wicked Demon''s Apostles, Lordan, although his power was weak among the Apostles, was not something that Reji could kill alone at present. However, there is no need to worry. When Reji first descended, he did not have enough prestige, so he dyed, but now, no matter which Apostles, they all had no objection to his decision to remove the Wicked Demon. As long as he wanted, Lordan could die now, and he could not escape the pursuit of the six Apostles, let alone the fact that his projection had been destroyed, his spirit was severely injured, and he was in a state of "magic silence" as a demon. However, Reji still shook his head. He signaled to Leo not to rush. They knew that Lordan was more aware of his certain death, but given the Wicked Demon''s personality, he must still want to struggle and find that thin line of life that might hold him back. As for this "bait," Reji had already deliberately thrown it out. It remained to be seen whether Lordan would take the bait. Under the known enemy forces in the dark, the power of the demon race could not be reduced. Since an Apostle had been reduced, the "Sixth Apostles" position that was vacated Naturally, it had to be filled by a neer. Chapter 118: Chapter 118 Fairness part 1 "Hey, did you all hear? Something big happened at the pcest night!" "I have some inside information. Apparently, a gang of thugs from the ''Syndicate'' attacked the pce and killed the visiting imperial envoy." "Oh my! That''s not all. My uncle is in the knight''s order. Let me tell you, the pce was a bloody messst night. The imperial envoy was nothing. Almost all the nobles and royals from top to bottom in our Ilinor who attended were massacred by those thugs! Even the old king died! That day... tsk tsk, ording to my uncle, it was truly a river of blood!" "Now that you mention it, when I got up in the middle of the night yesterday, I seemed to see some light in the sky near the King''s Tower. I, I thought I was still half-asleep and hallucinating." "Then, then what do we do? Is Ilinor finished? Are those Syndicate thugs going to kill us next?" A resident who seemed to be from out of town was now trembling with fear. But the informant in front shook his head and continued with a hint of excitement: "You''re overthinking it. Apparently, those Syndicate bandits specialize in killing nobles and bigndlords. Not only will they not harm usmoners, they''ll actually benefit us!" "Huh? B-Benefit us?" More and more people gathered in the early morning. In fact, they weren''t very concerned about the dramatic changes in the pce, because it was too far removed from them. Moreover, that night''s bloodshed, under the dual control of Reji and the crown Princess, was limited to the pce and did not affect any other areas. For the masses in the royal city, if the Crown Princess hadn''t deliberately released the news, even the bottom-levelmoners would not have noticed and would bepletely unaware of the changes. Of course, it''s different now. Everyone was originally concerned about how they would "benefit", but the first sentence from this "informant" greatly disappointed many people. "The Syndicate thugs said that from now on in Ilinor, nobles are not allowed! If there is one, they will kill them!" It was clear that this "informant" was an educatedmoner, so he spoke very excitedly. He had long despised this noble system where people''s lives were branded from birth. Now he was enthusiastically announcing this good news to everyone. However, to the ears of the people... "F-From now on there will be no nobles? Then who will give us work, who will give usnd? Where are the benefits? We won''t even be able to afford to eat. Damn it! Those hateful Syndicate people!" "That''s right. I still owe that noble several months of rent. Now that the he is gone, who should I pay back? Will I be thrown in jail as a deadbeat?" "It''s over! My little daughter finally managed to squeeze her way into a noble lord''s mansion, but hadn''t even sat as a servant for a day. Now she''ll have toe back. What can we do? Without noble lords, who will support her?" Mostmoners still seemed unaware, which was understandable. The aristocratic system hadsted for hundreds of years, and under such a system, very few had the opportunity to attend school and acquire knowledge. So the "informant" hastily added more exnation: "Everyone, don''t worry. The Syndicate also said they will fairly distribute the aristocrats'' property andnd to everyone! Each household will get a share based on the number of people!" "And you, yes, the one who just mentioned rent - you don''t have to pay it back! You can apply to the new officials and that house can directly be yours!" "You, you, right, the one who said you can''t afford to raise your daughter. Now that Ilinor''s Crown Princess is in power, she will soon give us money, and also provide many jobs. By then, your daughter won''t need you, she''ll be able to support herself!" Many people still didn''t believe it. Changing mindsets is not that simple. Everyone even longed for the aristocrats toe back and "save" them again. It wasn''t until the following days, when the benefits truly materialized, that people started toe to their senses. To put it simply, the vige really started handing out gold bars. Only then did everyone begin to realize that the aristocrats were not the masters who saved them. On the contrary, they were the bloodsucking vampires who had been exploiting and depriving them of the fruits of theirbor. 70% of Ilinor''s wealth was concentrated in the hands of the aristocrats and royals. Following Reji''s principle of ''fairness'', the Crown Princess began to return these resources and money to society on arge scale, distributing them to the grassroots people. This includednd, houses, as well as food, education, healthcare and more. Of course, Yuffie made her own changes and policies. Whether it wasnd or housing, they were not given away for free, but rented to themoners at extremely low prices. The difference between this and giving it away was that these resources remained under the unified regime of Yuffie''s royal power. It was equivalent to the royal power always regting the "fair" social distribution, preventing another form of "aristocracy" from emerging. However, the drawbacks of this policy were also very obvious. Once the ministers and officials under the Crown Princess started to be corrupt and harbored evil intentions, the entire system would quickly copse. Unless there was an extremely powerful eye that could monitor the officials at all times. ¡­. At a certain minister''s mansion. It didn''t take long, only three days, for someone to start having crooked thoughts. The minister was nominally implementing the Crown Princess''s fair distribution, but in reality, themoners being allocated now were all forcibly having a portion of their money deducted under the name of "kickbacks", which went into his own pockets. Of course, he didn''t dare to be too greedy. He only took thirty percent from eachmoner and continued to distribute the remaining seventy percent to them. No one would discover such small tricks. However... In the middle of the night at the mansion, a group of mercenary adventurers came looking. Luna, her face filled with disgust, used sorcery to strangle this maggot-like minister to death. She then followed Eagle team leader to continue on to the next official''s location. Beneath the minister''s corpse, which died with eyes wide open, a shadow flickered. The Shadow Demon slowly departed to go monitor the next high-ranking human. Of course, Reji''s control over Ilinor would not be based on just words alone. Reji also had to selectively employ the tactics the demon race should have used back then, such as using the Shadow Demon n to be the demon race''s eyes among the humans. Apart from Yuffie, no one knew of the demon race''s existence. Fear stems from the unknown. When one official after another who harbored ill intentions died in session, even the greediest of people could clearly distinguish which was more important - their lives or money. Eventer on, countless ministers and officials took the initiative to request charitable donations to Yuffie, the new queen of Ilinor. They wanted to dedicate their wealth to respond to Yuffie''s policies and contribute to society. Chapter 119: Chapter 119 Fairness part 2 It couldn''t be ruled out that there were indeed some kind-hearted people among them, but more so,pared to donating money, they wanted to sleep soundly at night. No one wanted to wake up the next day and find that the "thugs" from the Syndicate hadbeled them as aristocrats andndlords, only to discover their heads had been relocated. Several dayster, when Vielsia, wearing a cloak, walked on the main streets again, the streets of the royal city were much livelier than before. More and more people had money and new jobs, their faces brimming with smiles of "happiness" and "joy". Why... This was not a city ruled by the demon race in history, in the history books. ces invaded by the demon race should have been in ruins, filled with suffering, with only destruction left behind. But Ilinor was not like that. Even... Without realizing it, Vielsia returned to the Royal Academy, the starting point of all her "dreams". This was where she first came into contact with human society, and also where she first met Reji. As the intellectuals of the royal city, everyone in the Royal Academy was elite. The professors andf teachers were actually very resistant to the Crown Princess, believing that distributing wealth and resources to the ignorant lower ss was a waste and squander. Large-scale money distribution would also cause serious damage to Ilinor''s economic system and trigger intion. It wasn''t until the Crown Princess subsequently introduced a new policy called pulsory education". From then on, all Ilinor nationals, regardless of region or household registration, would be able to enjoy education. Everyone would be eligible to learn magic. Some simple spells were actually notplicated, but could greatly help productivity, such as the zero-tier Water Dew Spell for irrigation in farming, and the Ember Spell for smelting and forging. Robbing the rich and distributingnd was only a temporary celebration. What could truly allow Ilinor''smoners to live a good life and make Ilinor a strong nation was not unlimited money distribution, but rather increasing productivity. What was needed was... a magic revolution. In fact, many countries knew this, so why did they still not implement it? Because it vited the "Non-Proliferation of Magic" treaty issued by the Empire, which clearly stated thatmoners, other than nobles, were not allowed to widely learn magic. Queen Yuffie had clearly expressed that Ilinor also wanted to follow in the Empire''s footsteps. But s, the evil bandits of the Syndicate were too rampant and terrifying. Not only did they murder the Imperial Envoy, but they also massacred all of Ilinor''s nobles and royals. The severely wounded Ilinor had no choice but to use this method to recover its vitality. Everything was just for self-defense. No one would doubt this story. The notorious Syndicate, the desert region filled with war and chaos, if there was anyone in the world who did not fear the Empire, it was probably these desperados. But while this rhetoric could fool others, Vielsia knew the truth in her heart. There were no evil bandits from the Syndicate. It was clearly the demon race. So, it was Reji who was backing Crown Princess Yuffie. Vielsia even had a strong intuition that the series of new policies in Ilinor were not solely Yuffie''s doing, but also had the shadow of Reji behind them. Could it be... Could it be that I was the one who was wrong? Vielsia recalled that at the conference, she had still tried to protect those nobles and royals, but now it seemed that the death of these people was indeed the best help for Ilinor. No... No matter what, lives should not be so easily taken. They should have been handed over for a fair trial. ... Now, Vielsia arrived at a dark alley. Not far ahead of her, a mother and daughter were now retreating in fear, surrounded by a group ofmoners. From the mother''s appearance, although her clothes had be simple, her tender skin showed that she was once from a wealthy family, with the upkeep of a noble. "It''s them! The rtives of Count William! They exploited us so much back then!" "What Count, the nobles are long gone. Hmph, that bastard William died a good death, but it''s a pity about his beautiful wife and daughter." "How can you call it a pity? Don''t they have us? Madam, you and your daughter can pay off your noble husband''s debts!" As they spoke, several leeringmoners were about to pounce and bully this mother and daughter who had lost their husband, fallen from grace overnight, and lost all their wealth. Until a verdant magic arrow shot over, startling them. Seeing that Vielsia was a mage who could use magic, they cursed under their breath and quickly ran away. "Thank you... thank you, my lord, thank you, thank you, woo hoo..." The mother and daughter, who kept thanking Vielsia, finally left in confusion and helplessness, trembling and sobbing to each other. And Vielsia could only clench her fists on the spot, unable to do anything. If she had been able to help Reji more in this regard back then, if she had been able to sessfully persuade her teacher to use gentler methods, perhaps more people could have had a rtively better ending. Vielsia had already seen that perhaps her teacher was leading the demon race down another path, but this path was too different from the demon race of the past. Vielsia could well imagine the obstacles Reji would face in the future. I... want to help teacher...! The hatred between elves and demons did not necessarily have to end in ughter. If the demon race could be reformed and educated, wouldn''t that be another, greater victory for us elves? But... Vielsia, who had been dreaming of such a future, finally lowered her head in disappointment, like an abandoned puppy, clutching the cor of her former master - the only thing Reji had given her, that cloak. Without power, everything was nonsense. I can only watch as teacher gets further and further away from me... Just then, at the entrance of the alley in front of Vielsia, a figure suddenly appeared. "Dear Miss Vielsia, your noble sense of justice as an elf makes me admire you. I think now we both need each other. If that''s the case, why don''t we..." "Have a cooperation?" A low voice, ghastly green eyes, and a pair of bony hands wrapped in bandages reaching out to her. Vielsia''s pupils immediately constricted, her whole body tensing up. With such iconic features, how could an elf not recognize this figure? The Sixth Apostle of the Demon Race. The Wicked Demon, Lordan. Chapter 120: Chapter 120 Flowers Apostle (Part 1) "Oh, my dear little one, don''t be nervous." Lordan spread his arms, shworing that Vielsia didn''t need to be so wary of him. He had no hostility. "You and I have both suffered betrayal from the same person. Miss Vielsia, don''t you yearn for revenge?" The Wicked Demon persuaded her patiently. Ever since his projection was in by Reji, Lordan immediately understood the Demon King''s determination to eliminate him, especially since he "happened" to be carrying the Saving Relic from the Empire''s Sage, which he had taken from the human envoy. Now even if he made excuses, he couldn''t exin it clearly. So the Wicked Demon didn''t hesitate at all and immediately dragged his seriously injured real body to escape from the Chaos Rift. As for the Wicked Demon n, it didn''t matter. As long as he could live, that was enough. As long as Lordan existed, using other races to recreate as many Wicked Demons as he wanted was an easy matter. Because his "projection" was shed by the Holy Sword, although Lordan''s life was still intact, his strength couldn''t even reach 30% of his usual level. In his panicked escape, he didn''t have time to bring along some other items either. It wasn''t that Lordan didn''t want to, but those items had been with him for too long and were stained with a strong Apostle aura, which was simply the best coordinate for the Demon King and other Apostles. So Lordan brought nothing and didn''t dare to use a shred of magic power, for fear that his Apostle aura would leak out. That''s how he had been hiding until now. Logically, he should have been desperately fleeing outward, but Lordan did the opposite. He was betting on a chance to hide in in sight. The Wicked Demon had been lurking in the royal city and indeed hadn''t been discovered by the Demon King and the other pursuing Apostles. But hiding like this forever was not a solution. Lordan knew that if he wanted to escape, he had to find another bait to rece him and attract the attention of the Demon King and the other Apostles. In other words... Let someone else share the Apostle aura on him. Be a fake "Sixth Apostle" to cover for him. This "fake" was not easy to find. It wasn''t a matter of just pulling a random human from the street. Even if Lordan was willing to endure the pain and split half of his "Apostle Core" to the other party as bait, the other party had to be able to withstand the powerful force of his "Core". With the current frail humans, it was simply impossible. But perhaps there was no dead end for him. In the royal city, there was indeed someone who was a perfect fit for Lordan toplete his n of "shedding the cicada''s shell". That''s right. It was the elven princess in front of him, who had been yed with and then abandoned by the Demon King. "Poor little one, it seems you still have dream about that person. Let me reveal the whole truth to you." Lordan originally thought that after he proposed revenge, coupled with the bewitchment of his Wicked Demon''s voice, the elf princess should have quickly sumbed. But seeing Vielsia''s appearance, she was not shaken at all and instead had even greater hostility towards him. The Wicked Demon was a little annoyed, but fortunately, he also had a backup n. Lordan crooked a finger at another shadowy corner, and a human girl slowly walked out. When Vielsia saw her appearance, her expression immediately changed. "M-Miss Ha!?" Vielsia recognized this youngdy. It was none other than Professor Yeno''s eldest daughter. Now Ha lowered her head and spoke to Vielsia in a hateful voice: "It''s Reji, everything is that damned teacher doing. Father, he was forced! He was forced by that person! Reji killed our whole family, brainwashed my father, my mother, and my sister, all of them, wooaah..." At the end, Ha was sobbing uncontrobly. Using strong emotions to infect the elf girl opposite her. At this time, Lordan continued to cooperate and said, "Little one, do you still not understand now? From beginning to end, you have always been just that man''s toy. Everything of yours was designed by him. To that man, you are like a mouse under a cat''s paw. He is enjoying the feeling of hunting." "Little one, look again at this picture. The elves on it should be your kin, right?" Lordan waved his hand and used faint, ghastly green magic power to sketch a few scenes on the ground. On it were the corpses of those elves who had been tortured and devastated by Ariel. Among them, some had their teeth pulled out, some had their skin burned. They had all suffered unspeakable abuse. Vielsia''s breathing suddenly became rapid. She stared intently at her kin in the picture and of course recognized them. They were the group that was supposed to meet up with her in the royal city but had lost contact. "How tragic." The Wicked Demon tsk-tsked. "I feel sorry for them. your dear teacher tortured them for three days and three nights, yet they still kept your secret for you and never revealed it. Later, your teacher used evil spells to extract their souls, not letting them off, and only then did he obtain all the information." "This is also how the Demon King was able to find you, why he was able to find your elven race." The corners of Lordan''s mouth curled into a smile. Once he brought up the elven race, sure enough, Vielsia''s emotions began to spiral out of control, hovering on the verge of copse. "That''s right little one. Your elven race is also gone. That night, the Demon King led as many as five Apostles and surrounded your people in the outskirts. All your kin, even those little elven children, even a baby just a few years old, the Demon King spared no one." "They were all mercilessly ughtered. Your revered Great Elder was even forcibly vited by him, all your family has been reduced to a toy and pet for the demons to y as se# ves." Chapter 121: Chapter 121 Flowers Apostle (Part 2) The Wicked Demon''s words inherently had the characteristic of brainwashing. When Vielsia began to empathize, began to recall the once brutal history of the elven race along with Lordan''s words, the once deep hatred of the entire elven race towards the demon race, this was exactly what the Wicked Demon wanted. Lordan was delighted in his heart. But on the surface, he still had to continue. He knew he was about to seed. This foolish elven princess, as nk as a sheet of paper, was about to sumb and be sessfully brainwashed by him. "Come to my side little one. I can hear the indignant cry in your heart, and I can see the mes of revenge burning in your eyes. I can give you strength, give you the strength to fight for your kin, only..." "You just need to pay a tiny little price." Lordan reached towards his own heart. The Wicked Demon steeled himself and forcibly removed a mysterious item resembling a ck chess piece from his chest. In the ckness, ayer of ghastly green light flowed. That was his Apostle Core. "Yes, my child,e over, a little closer, a little more." As if controlled, Vielsia let down her guard against the Wicked Demon. The elven princess, like a puppet on strings, was step by step following Lordan''s instructions, approaching the Wicked Demon. The expression on Lordan''s face grew more and more excited. He issued his finalmand. "Absorb it, my child. This is power, this is the power of revenge. With it, the deep blood feud of the elven race can be avenged by your hand, blood for blood." Once he got Vielsia to sessfully absorb the Apostle Core, he could immediately activate a spell to possess her. At that time, this elven princess would be his new puppet body, helping him attract the Demon King''s attention and escape in the opposite direction. Hmph. Hatred also flickered in Lordan''s eyes. Once he sessfully ran to the Empire, he would make the Reji, that false Demon King, pay the price, for sure! Everything was proceeding smoothly ording to the Wicked Demon''s n. However, when Vielsia was less than half a meter away from him, from the Apostle Core, the elf''s figure suddenly sped up. The previous puppet-like appearance of being bewitched andpletely fallen waspletely gone. Hahg!? What!? Lordan was shocked. Vielsia, raising her head again, still had clear eyes. There was no trace of the hypnotized and brainwashed look from just now. Rather, it was all an act put on by the elf before. She had used this move on Reji before. But... The verdant dagger, now gripped tightly by Vielsia, after pretending to approach the Wicked Demon, Vielsia who suddenly rose up viciously stabbed the dagger in her hand towards the core that the Wicked Demon had voluntarily exposed, that dark green chess piece. "Bitch! Stop!" Lordan''s face changed drastically. He even screamed in horror, trying to stop Vielsia. Unfortunately, he was now dragging his severely injured body. Moreover, Lordan had never imagined that Vielsia was actually pretending. Everything happened too suddenly. By the time Lordan reacted, it was already toote. The emerald green dagger viciously stabbed into the Wicked Demon''s apostle''s core. And this time, the dagger was no longer an illusion. It was real. The elven''s supreme treasure, the first generation Elf Queen''s dagger, the Emerald de, actually seeded in damaging the core. One could see that on the dark green chess piece, a crack immediately appeared. Although the crack made by the dagger was notrge, very small in fact, it was enough to make Lordan feel like he was pierced by a thousand arrows, his whole body wracked with tearing pain. The Wicked Demon staggered back several steps, blood gushing out, making Lordan''s already severely injured body even worse off. Under normal circumstances, even given ten thousand chances, Vielsia would not be able to harm the Wicked Demon in the slightest. But now with the core exposed, it was equivalent to cing the heart right in front of the elf girl. Vielsia''s strike absolutely deeply wounded Lordan again. "YOU FUKING BITCH!!" Lordan wished he could y this girl alive. He didn''t understand, how and when exactly did Vielsia wake up. Or perhaps... From the determined look on Vielsia''s face, Lordan finally realized that perhaps Vielsia had never been deceived by him from the start. And what maintained her firm resolve was actually, actually still the Demon King? Lordan saw it. It was because this abandoned princess, this stray dog, was still reluctant to part with the Demon King, still believing in Reji. That''s why she resisted his bewitchment and isted his false information from her heart. At this moment, Lordan suddenly felt that As the Wicked Demon Apostle, he failed in his best field. The Demon King was the one who was truly good at brainwashing. Even though Lordan wanted to y this elf "brainwashed" by the Demon King alive, his reason still pulled him back. Run, I must leave immediately. He couldn''t get too entangled with this little foolish girl. He had to hurry back and hide, had to repair his apostle core properly or else The enraged Lordan was just about to put away the "cracked" apostle core. But the next moment. Whoosh! A bramble whip whistled over, rolling away the core in his hand. The frosty-faced Subus Eileen, holding the seized sixth apostle core,nded opposite the Wicked Demon. Before Lordan could react, spider web-like thin threads bound his entire body, making him unable to move. Opposite the threads, slowly walking out from another direction, was the Wisedome Demon Leon. Next, in the Wicked Demon''s screams, the sharp de severed his legs, making Lordan immediately fall to his knees. The Sword Demon Apostle Pierre flicked the blood off his de. The hulking body of the Great Demon Hektor, who had also been waiting for a long time, came up to the still-struggling Lordan. With a p, he smashed the Wicked Demon''s head into the ground, making him unable to raise his head at all. The Decay Demon Eris also wanted to "show off" a little. But was stopped by Reji. She could only obediently follow behind Reji like a sickly little sister, with Shermen on the other side. Vielsia looked around. The Sword Demon Apostle, Great Demon Apostle, Subus Apostle, Wisdom Demon Apostle, Decay Demon Apostle, Shadow Demon Apostle¡ªthe simultaneous appearance of six Apostles was an unprecedented show of force for any generation of elves. Of course. There was also The Demon King. Vielsia turned her gaze toward him, surrounded by the apostles, who was both familiar and unfamiliar to her. Then Reji walked up to Eileen and took the sixth apostle core that belonged to Lordan from Eileen''s hand. Next, under the silent gaze of the apostles and Vielsia''splex look, Reji came up to Vielsia. Reaching out his hand toward her. Chapter 122: Chapter 122 The Flower Apostle (Part 3) Reji remained silent. In such a situation, any words would be superfluous. Wordlessmunication was already enough. The apostle core, emanating a strong magical power, spun in Reji''s palm. On the dark green chess piece, a jade green crack could still be seen - the very spot that had been attacked by Vielsia earlier. The apostle core could not be exposed for too long. Especially when it was already damaged. It urgently needed to return to the body of its master. Whether it was the old master. Or a new master. Vielsia, who hade here, couldn''t possibly misunderstand Reji''s intention. The girl''s amber-like eyes stared intently at her teacher. And from Reji''s eyes, Vielsia read that sentence, the greatest promise her teacher had once given her. He would fight the demons together with her. He would help herplete her revenge against the demons. Now, the opportunity was right in front of her. Vielsia finally shifted her gaze. cing her eyes on the apostle core in Reji''s hand. Actually, in Vielsia''s heart, she agreed with what Lordan had said earlier - power requires a price to be paid. Perhaps she should also advance and grow. She no longer wanted to be powerless again and again, feeling the pain ofcking strength in her heart. Even if it meant bing what she loathed and hated. No. Vielsia firmly believed that power had no right or wrong, good or evil, only the wielder of power did. If this was the "graduation exam" teacher was giving her. Vielsia no longer wanted to be a bad student. This time. She wanted to be an honors student. So, Vielsia reached out her hand, and picked up the apostle core. The moment she touched this ink-green chess piece, the will of the wicked demon began to frantically erode her, constantly screaming and roaring in her mind, uttering maddening delirious words, distorting her soul, as if wanting to assimte her. Even if she became the new apostle, she had to be the "Wicked Demon Vielsia" to follow the demon race''s tradition. But, In the ocean of the wicked demon''s will, Vielsia gritted her teeth and resisted with all her might. She was well aware that once she truly gave up and let the core merge with her, the dark evil wouldpletely devour her mind. However, for Vielsia, a new generation elf, to try to resist the demon race''s heritage was like an ant trying to shake a tree. She was like a precarious little boat on the verge of being overturned by the wicked demon''s will at any moment, on the brink of copse and falling. Once she fell into the ocean of the wicked demon''s will, even if she merged with the core, it would be the core controlling her, not her controlling the core. The demon race would still have a wicked demon. However, the name was changed from "Lordan" to "Vielsia". In fact, this was also tacitly epted by the other apostles around, no one ever thought that this elf princess could resist the will of the demon race''s heritage. Being assimted was Vielsia''s destined ending. Until... an invisible thin thread, just as Vielsia was about to copse, the little boat belonging to the elf girl was about to be devoured by the evil sea, connected her to another existence. Another existence that could instantly calm the raging demonic sea, and make the restless demon race heritage that was trying to transform Vielsia suddenly fizzle out. Among the demon race, there was only one who had such powerful oppressive force and unquestionable dominance. The Demon King. The thin thread was pulled to Vielsia''s wrist, and the other end was connected to Reji. The thin thread turned into vines, willow branches woven into Vielsia''s new boat, flowers blooming at herfeet, and the rich power of nature began to fight back against the demonic sea. The awakened Vielsia stared nkly at the thin thread that had saved her. That was... Elf Princess Bond! It was the bond she had given to Reji as a princess, once in a lifetime, in order to "save" him. Who would have thought. She never imagined that this Bond would provide her with such tremendous help at this moment. Indeed, Reji gained the elf''s natural fate track through the Princess Bond. And how could Vielsia not be able to resist the apostle core by relying on this current connection with him as the "Demon King", and truly use her own will to write a new chapter for the demon race''s heritage. Under the double blessing of the "Nature" fate track and the "Demon King" fate track, the flowers blooming in Vielsia''s sea of consciousness became more and more. The filthy sea belonging to the will of the wicked demons was now retreating step by step, and began to be devoured by Vielsia instead. Bloom. Bloom to the fullest. The sea of flowers belonging to Vielsia, she bloomed in the spiritual world, constantly filling the apostle core. Correspondingly. The originally dark green core chess piece symbolizing the wicked demon also began to change on the outside, bing crystal clear, its shape transforming, and finally condensing into a brand new, blooming flower belonging to Vielsia. This appearance surprised even the other apostles immensely. This was an ending they had never imagined. So In the next moment, as this flower-shaped apostle core waspletely absorbed by Vielsia and integrated into her body, she closed her eyes tightly, and a powerful, magnificent aura began to rise within her bit by bit. Fourth tier, fifth tier, sixth tier, seventh tier, eighth tier, peak of the eighth tier! On Reji''s panel, Vielsia finally stopped at "Level 89" before her strength finally ceased its rapid advancement. And Vielsia''s portrait, which was her current appearance, also changed after she absorbed the core. The once iconic golden hair and green eyes of the elves were gone. Reced by a head of silver moon-like, silver waterfall long hair. Inherited from the demon race, but not scarlet, more like a rosy red amber eyes. The "grown woman" Vielsia, who had shed her immaturity, as if truly transforming from a princess to a queen, bing more resolute and decisive. After everything ended, no, it wasn''t over yet, there was still onest step. When Vielsia opened her eyes again, she flipped her wrist, and a flower magic sword appeared in her hand. Her bare feet stepped on the ground, and the flower wreath anklet swayed with each step of the elf. Facing Lordan, who had already been restrained by the other apostles, had no resistance, and couldn''t move, under Vielsia''s cold and ruthless red eyes, the wicked demon was filled with unwillingness, watching this elf woman who had inherited his position raise the flower magic sword and sh down at his head. Swish! With the beheading of Lordan and theplete end of the wicked demon, it also meant the birth of a new sixth apostle. At this moment, every tree in the royal city of Ilinor seemed to be swaying its branches and leaves, expressing celebration. Every flower was blooming to its fullest, offering blessings for the birth of their queen. In the suburbs, the forest was even more lively, with hundreds of birds taking flight, circling high above the royal city, causing countless citizens of Ilinor to look up at the sky in amazement at this strange sight. Simrly, the Sorcery Demon Dian, who had built the "Demon King Tower" for Reji and the demon race on the spot, and who was also the "historian" of the demon race, sensed something. The Sorcery Demon temporarily put down the matter at hand. He opened a book in his bosom. It was the Book of Sorcery Demon Apostles. As a schr, only when a major event urred in the demon race was he qualified to present it and record it. Dian held a quill pen. After pondering for a short while. He erased the words "Wicked Demon" for the sixth apostle on this book of demon race history. Then, very gentlemanly, he wrote down another more elegant and poetic new name. Sixth Apostle - The Flower Apostle --------- Vielsia''s new illustration will be posted tomorrow. Chapter 123: Chapter 123: World-Class Instance part 1 "Vielsia, when Lordan said those things to you back then, did you really not have any doubts?" In fact, Reji had already discovered it when the Wicked Demon made contact with Vielsia. So when Lordan was bewitching Vielsia, Reji and the apostles were all watching the whole process behind the scenes. To be honest. When he saw Vielsia really walking towards the Wicked Demon, and was about to submit, Reji was a bit flustered, thinking that there was a problem with the character panel and favorability. Fortunately, the next moment, Vielsia, who was close to Lordan, directly took out the jade dagger and stabbed, everything was just a pretense, and Reji waspletely relieved. And this scene actually also made Vielsia gain a lot of recognition from the apostles, especially the Wisdom Demon, Leo. In Leo''s view, the power of the apostles was secondary, and trusting the Demon King at all times was the most important quality for the apostles. That''s right, among the nine apostles at the beginning, the two apostles who reached the "loyalty" favorability to him, one was the Subus Eileen, and the second was a bit unexpected, but seemed to make sense - the Wisdom Demon, Leo. That''s why Reji was so reassured to hand over many things to the Wisdom Demon to take full responsibility. And now, two more have been added to the "loyal" state of the apostles. One of them is of course the Shadow Demon Shermen, who has been with him the longest and protects him even when he sleeps. The other is... "Teacher won''t lie to me." Vielsia shook her head. Lordan thought he was smearing Reji, but in fact, when the Wicked Demon said that Reji went to ughter the elves and even yed with the Great Elder, it actuallypletely helped Vielsia see through the lies. The silver threads hanging from her ears seemed to remind Vielsia at all times that she was no longer a pure elf. Now I am ... A demon apostle. However, Vielsia still pursed her lips, somewhat hesitant to speak to Reji. The disappearance of Vielsia race is a fact. So where is everyone now? How are they doing? Of course, Reji read Vielsia''s thoughts. He calcted the time and checked the home system, then nodded: "Well, it seems just right. The Demon King''s Tower should be almost ready." "Come on, follow me Vielsia, your people who moved in early have been missing you." To defend against the outside, one must first stabilize the inside. After removing the Wicked Demon Lordan, Reji sessfully pulled out the thorn in his heart. And transferring all the demons out of the Chaos Rift and establishing his own core rear, this item is now basicallypleted. Reji didn''t idle at all during these days waiting for Lordan to "take the bait". He was all busy with the construction of the "home system", busy creating a... world-ss instance. Next, Reji, with the seven apostles behind him, came to the Sorcery Demon''s side. Dian had been waiting for a long time. The Sorcery Demon was very gentlemanly. After first saluting Reji, he quickly continued to pat his chest and made a friendly gesture to Vielsia, the newly appointed sixth apostle and the first "silver-haired red-eyed" elf in the history of the elven race. "I sincerely feel happy for Miss Vielsia. You have made the right choice." "I also believe that the ''Flower Apostle'' created by the King will open a brand new chapter for the demon race. I am very much looking forward to working with Miss Vielsia in the future." After a simple statement, Dian stepped aside, revealing the flickering light of the teleportation array behind him. "My King, I have not failed my mission. The Demon King''s Tower has been initially constructed. Next, please allow me to introduce our new home to everyone." After the Sorcery Demon activated the teleportation, the next moment, Reji and the apostles disappeared from the spot. They came to the top of the clouds. Yes, the Sorcery Demonpletely followed Reji''s original idea and transformed the appearance of the "home system" into a supreme magic tower suspended in the sky. When Vielsia came back to her senses and looked down, the originally huge Ilinor royal city now seemed so small. "My King, currently the magic tower is divided into seven floors, up and down. In the future, it can continue to increase ording to new needs." The Sorcery Demon''s exnatory voice continued to ring out. At this moment, Dian was like an architect, leading Reji and the apostles into the interior of the Demon King''s Tower, using a tone that seemed to praise a great work of art, detailing the various details and floor divisions inside the tower. "Now we are on the first floor of the magic tower." "The main area here is the Breeding Demon''s Nest, and the key building type is the arena." The first floor of the magic tower was like a huge circr arena, which was further subdivided into one area after another. One could see the figures of countless demon soldiers fighting each other inside. The original million demon army in the Chaos Rift had now all been transferred here. Of course, it could be seen that the number had been significantly reduced by a lot. "In the past, we were eager for revenge and counterattack. Coupled with the barren resources of the Chaos Rift, although our race''s army maintained a million in number, the quality was uneven, with more than half being inferior demons." "Aftermunicating with My King and the Demons of Wisdom, the first floor of the tower will now be used to continuously upgrade our race''s army. Every ten demon soldiers will form a group and fight to the death, with the winners continuing to the next round of deadlypetition. This process will be repeated, ultimately refining our race''s truly elite warriors." After the first round, the million-strong demon army was reduced to a hundred thousand, then to ten thousand, and finally to a thousand. And these thousand soldiers who survived to the end from the "million demons", trampling over countless corpses, were the ones the demon race truly needed. This process on the first floor of the magic tower was incredibly cruel to Vielsia, something Vielsia found hard to believe. But when Vielsia looked at the other apostles, their facial expressions seemed unchanged, as if it was a very ordinary matter. It was here that Vielsia realized why the demon race could destroy so many worlds, and why their power could be so immense. Every demon soldier who could step onto the battlefield had been tempered through such deadly selection. In contrast, look at the warriors of Vielsia race... Although they also trained hard, the intensity was worlds apartpared to the demons. Of course, Vielsia here wouldn''t say anything to stop it. Vielsia of course also knew that this was a racial difference. For example, for elves, producing a new generation was very difficult and a big deal, but for the demon race... "!" "~ ~" A strange cry came, and from the tone, one could hear happiness. Vielsia turned to look and found that it was a milky white... giant octopus crawling towards them happily. This was The first apostle of the demon race, the Breeding Demon, la. Chapter 124: Chapter 124: World-Class Instance part 2 Dont open yet. la seemed to like Vielsia very much and was very close to Vielsia who also had the "breath of life". la''s fair tentacles actively reached out to Vielsia, rubbing affectionately against Vielsia''s cheeks like feelers, as if expressing wee. She also seemed to have prepared gifts for everyone. It could be seen that la deliberately wanted to give them a surprise. She hid her tentacles behind her back, and only when she got close did she suddenly take them out. And what was wrapped in the tentacles was... Skewers. To be precise, squid skewers. They were very well grilled, and one could see that a lot of care had been put into them. The dipping sauce was even thoughtfully brushed on top, giving a tempting and appetizing feeling. The only w was the source of the "ingredients" on these skewers... "U! LA! LA!" Eileen was the first one who couldn''t hold back. Because they were home and surrounded by their own people, the Subus was quite blunt. She immediately got angry and started educating the pitiful-looking octopus woman in front of her. "How many times have I told you! We don''t need your flesh anymore! Stop cutting off your own tentacles! Do you hear me, la!" "Wuu wuu" The Subus had always been the leader of the female apostles, the housekeeper. After being scolded by Eileen, la the giant octopus curled up, as if shrinking her neck, to show fear. Seeing la looking so pitiful, Eileen''s anger also subsided a bit: "Let it go this time, just consider it a gift for our new apostle, to let Miss Vielsia also understand how our demon race survived in the Chaos Rift." It couldn''t be said that Eileen had hostility towards Vielsia, but she definitely wasn''t close to her. Vielsia also knew this. She knew what the Demon King meant to the Subus apostle, so Vielsia didn''t mind Eileen''s attitude. On the contrary, she was more concerned about the second half of what the Subus said. The way the demon race survived in the Chaos Rift... Indeed. The barren Chaos Rift shouldn''t have had food, right? Even if they could adapt to the environmentter, how did the demons get through the early stages? This was actually something Vielsia was also very puzzled about. Until... When Vielsia looked at the "grilled squid skewers" in her hand this time, she realized that these small meat skewers might have extraordinary significance to the demon race. No wonder Eileen was so angry that la still brought out the meat skewers. It seemed that the Subus was scolding la and disliked the meat skewers, but in fact, what Eileen was really trying to convey was probably to let the Breeding Demon stop hurting herself. "Thank you, Miss la." Vielsia expressed her gratitude to the octopus. After joining the demon race, she also saw another side of the demons. The demon race also had emotions. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that teacher would lead the demons on another path and have new possibilities for the future. "! la~!" The Breeding Demon, who received Vielsia''s thanks, became even happier. She used her tentacles to wrap around Vielsia''s body and lifted her high into the air, as if ying. Although la was an octopus, a tentacle monster, her silly and cute appearance, coupled with her whole body being milky white, instead gave a very pure and wless feeling. Indeed. Vielsia, who was now lifted up by la, could also feel la''s heart which was like a nk sheet of paper, with a lively vitality simr to "nature". Breeding Demon. The production soldier among the demon race. After a simple wee, la, as the main manager of the first floor of the magic tower and the floor BOSS, led Reji and the apostles to anotherrge cave nest beside the oval-shaped grand arena. Unlike the arena filled with the aura of death and ughter. This was the demon race''s birthing room. The rich vitality that Vielsia felt before came from here. In the nest, one could see many more white giant octopuses like la, busily moving among the spores, some responsible for delivering nutrients to the spores, some inspecting the spores, and so on... Each spore nurtured a new demon. It was the powerful "rapid spawning" force brought by the Breeding Demon Apostle that could continuously provide fresh blood for the demon race, supporting the terrifying demon consumption in the arena. Reji estimated that this current breeding room had only activated less than 30% of its power. In the first ythrough of the game, when the breeding room was operating at full capacity, it was not a problem to produce tens of thousands of demons a day. So, looking at it together, the first floor of the magic tower was the Breeding Demon''s Nest, continuously producing new demon soldiers. Some of these demon soldiers were used as standby reserves and also served as the simplest guards at the bottom of the magic tower. The other part was refined into elite warriors through the arena. And these demon elites, one in a hundred, one in ten thousand, selected from the arena, would no longer stay on the first floor, but were all sent to the higher floor of the magic tower. The floor BOSS there, that is, the second-floor manager, was the Great Demon Hektor and the Sword Demon Pierre. These two apostles'' original duties were to control the army. So the second floor of the Demon King Tower was essentially a training ground. Of course, as the name of the Demon King Tower, how could it be so simple? Just like the first floor was called the Breeding Demon''s Nest, Reji felt that his viin''sir, a world-ss instance, should at least have a bit of a cool name, so as not to let down his aesthetics as a former yer. For example... Dian quickly led the other apostles to the second floor of the Demon King Tower - Purgatory. ..... Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Purgatory Training Ground, Hall of the Sorcery Demons Apologies for the dy. I had to attend a wedding and didn''t have a chance to update as nned. I''ll be back with the remaining chapters as soon as I''ve had a good rest -------- Purgatory.(Refining Hell) As the name suggests, the second floor of the Demon Tower was filled with scorching hotva, searing volcanic rocks, and even the air seemed grayish,den with dust and powder. Here, many high-ranking demons had been waiting for a long time. They split into two sides, respectfully weing Reji, the Demon King, and the apostles behind him. The main demon n on the second floor were the Great Demons and Sword Demons. These two strongestbat forces among the demon races would serve as instructors to train the elite demons promoted from the Breeding Demon''s Nest on the first floor. Incidentally, demon races were not limited to the nine major ns. It''s just that these nine ns were the most outstanding, which is why they became the apostle ns. In fact, there were many other demon ns. For example, me Demons, Blood Demons, Canine Demons, Hawk-faced Demons, and so on. There were too many to list. These demon ns, due to their low upper limits or the fact that they had never given birth to powerful individuals, basically fell into the ranks of the "Demon Army". They were only used for war and did not participate in the internal affairs of the demon races. In the purgatory of the second floor, their opponents changed from fighting each other to sparring and training with the Great Demons and Sword Demons, these two noble ns. The term used here was sparring, not fighting to the death, because due to their bloodline, as lower-level demon ns, even against the weakest Great Demons and Sword Demons, they had almost no chance of winning. It waspletely a one-sided ughter. Of course, even though it was sparring, if their strength was too weak, they would still be ruthlessly eliminated, and the mortality rate on the second floor remained high. But, as they say, excellent weapons require repeated forging and tempering. It''s not hard to see that Reji''s n for the second floor of the Demon Tower was actually modeled after the environment of the "Chaos Rift" from before, even making it more brutal. And in such a harsh "purgatory" environment, with the Great Demons and Sword Demons as the most difficult instructors, those demon ns that could survive this tempering and sessfully "graduate" were no longer just soldiers, but truly became the backbone force. For these elite among the elite demons, Reji no longer needed them to undergo further tempering and testing. Generally, at this point, the demons would be around level 40-50. During battles, they basically served as the leaders and chiefs of various demon troops. And in peacetime when there were no wars, they would be assigned to other floors as patrollers and guards of the Demon King Tower, protecting the tower''s safety and eliminating all invaders. Moving on. The Demon Tower had a total of seven floors. Upon reaching the third floor, the oppressive atmosphere of being in purgatory and that grayish scorching world from before disappeared. In its ce was a gigantic library. Rows of bookshelves that required one to raise their head to see, possibly several stories high, were arranged inside, and each bookshelf was filled to the brim with all kinds of books and records. Some of these books recorded the history of the demon race, the worlds they had conquered along the way, the magic, knowledge, and structures of those races, and so on. There were also books from human society, covering a wide range of fields and industries, and even including poetry, fairy tales, and more. Unlike the simple brutality and violence that filled the first two floors of the Demon Tower, what greeted them here was an atmosphere of schrly knowledge, making one feel as if they could immediately calm down and immerse themselves in the study of knowledge. No mistake. With this kind of ambiance and environment, there was no need for introductions. Vielsia also knew who the manager of this floor was. "The third floor of the Demon Tower, the Hall of Sorcery Demons." "I am very grateful for his majesty''s grace in being willing to set aside a floor for the Sorcery Demons and for collecting arge number of human books and records from Ilinor to fill the library. I will strive to make this ce the museum of the demon race, used to record the glory of our race and store all the items and equipment that will aid our race." "Of course, the Sorcery Demon n will also not disappoint his majesty''s expectations. We will do our best for the Demon King and the entire demon race to research more spells, to give the most excellent magical suppression to potential enemies in the future." Dian, as the manager and floor boss finished speaking, many Sorcery Demons in this huge library also stopped what they were doing and bowed one by one in Reji''s direction to express their gratitude and loyalty. Fighting a war can''t be done foolishly. Artifacts and scrolls are very important for warfare. As an Easterner, Reji also inherited the "fear of insufficient firepower" tradition. So, to put it bluntly, the reason he gave the Sorcery Demons so much power and space was to vigorously engage in scientific research. The goal was to make the demon race self-sufficient in terms of artifacts. Now, the Sorcery Demons were given daily KPIs set by Reji, requiring them to draw a certain number of spell scrolls and concoct various potions and artifacts as reserves, so that when facing different environments, they could immediately take out the corresponding items. But the Sorcery Demons had noints about this. Not only because Reji was the Demon King, but more importantly, such a "library" was simply heaven for them!. No previous generation of Demon Kings had ever treated the Sorcery Demons like this, giving them such a quiet and independentrge space, allowing them to be free from the disturbance of those other crude demon ns and immerse themselves in their respective research. Drawing scrolls and making artifacts were their duties and research directions to begin with. Now, all the Sorcery Demons could think about was working harder, striving toplete Reji''s KPIs (task targets), cherishing such a hard-won good Demon King, and treasuring this era, which was simply the best era for the Sorcery Demons! Inside the Demon Tower, it wasn''t just the Sorcery Demon race that held this idea of the "best era". When continuing upward and reaching the fourth floor, the first thing that caught the eye was a vast expanse of lush green forests. Luxuriant vegetation crisscrossed, with moist soil and blooming flowers. The breath of nature that greeted them made Vielsia feel as if she had suddenly returned home. No. This ce seemed to be her home, her new home? Actually, Vielsia, who had learned about the "Demon Tower" before, already had a hunch in her heart. And now, after reaching the fourth floor, she finally understood what Reji had meant by her people that had "moved in" earlier. That''s right. The fourth floor of the Demon Tower was also arge floor that Reji had specially designated - the Emerald Forest. The apostles who had originally been by Reji''s side on the first three floors had also returned to their respective positions and did not continue to go up. So now that they had reached the fourth floor, the only apostles left by Reji''s side were Eris, Shermen, Eileen, and Leo. Further up, the fifth floor was the Wisdom Demon''s Court. In simple terms, it was the administrative management floor. The major resolutions of the demon race, or regr meetings, were all held in the "Grand Hall" on the fifth floor. Now, Leo took the initiative to step forward, using the pretext of "discussing" what improvements could be made to the first three floors he had just inspected, and took the other three apostles beside Reji to the next floor. Leaving only Reji and Vielsia. Leo was indeed the one who understood Reji the best. The Wisdom Demon also knew that the current Demon King needed to get along with the new apostle, so he was very good at observing the situation and left the next period of time for the Demon King and Vielsia, and even more so for the elf race. Reji didn''t say anything about this. Leo had indeed done him a favor. Now it could be considered that he had fulfilled his promise to this silly elf princess. Reji took the lead and brought Vielsia to see the rejuvenated elf race. Reji''s original intention was to show the progress of the elf race and tell Vielsia, -"See, I didn''t lie to you. I said I would make the elves rise, and they did."- However... After only walking a few steps into the forest, Reji was stunned. Because there were two patrolling elves there. When they discovered Reji, they didn''t even notice, or ratherpletely ignored, the "silver-haired" girl beside him. The two elves'' eyes instantly lit up, and they rushed over in a sh. One of them, even more excitedly and happily said, "Demon King! You''re finally here!" "Elder Nazha has been waiting for you for a long time. She said that if you didn''te again, she would personallye to your door to find you tonight!" Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Demon King? Elf King! The elves enthusiastically crowded around Reji. Judging by their behavior, it seemed they were determined to make the Demon King stay and lure him back to the elf tribe today. The two patrolling elves were just short of grabbing Reji''s legs, one on each side. In contrast, the elf princess Vielsia, who should have received a "wee home" or "long time no see", was now left out in the cold, appearing a bit superfluous. This was certainly due to the fact that Vielsia''s appearance had changed a bit after bing an apostle. But at the root of it all, the elves'' attention was too focused on Reji. There was no helping it. The Grand Elder had given them a do-or-die order: if they saw the Demon King, they had to detain him no matter what, even if they had to be thick-skinned about it. Every elf remembered Nazha''s teachings. For the elves, this was indeed the worst of times, but also the best of times. Reji: "..." "Alright, alright, don''t worry. We''re just here to find Elder Nazha this time. By the way, this person beside me..." Reji felt a bit awkward. First, he rified his intentions to calm the elves down so they wouldn''t be so excited. Then, just as he was about to draw the elves'' attention to Vielsia, the real protagonist of this visit beside him, Vielsia directly put on her hood, concealing her face. She was already not very eye-catching beside the Demon King, and now that she had put her cloak back on, Vielsia''s presence was even lower. The two patrolling elves only nced at Vielsia again, failing to recognize her. They simply assumed she was some kind of attendant or bodyguard beside the Demon King. Oh well. Seeing Vielsia like this, Reji didn''t reveal her identity either. Actually, putting himself in Vielsia''s shoes, Reji could understand her action. As the elf princess, she had been fighting desperately outside, struggling with inner pain and getting involved in all sorts of time vortexes. Now, she had finally returned, only to find her tribesmen living in peace and tranquility here, even getting along well with the demon race ahead of her. Vielsia did have some pent-up emotions in her heart. Although she had ovee the will of the Wicked Demon, it still had some influence on her to a greater or lesser extent. Her personality was no longer as infinitely "tolerant" and "understanding" of others as before. But very soon... As they truly entered the fourth floor of the Demon Tower, as the full view of the "Emerald Forest" gradually unfolded before Vielsia''s eyes with their entry, she suddenly began to understand why her tribesmen had be like this. The first thing that greatly surprised Vielsia was that after just a few steps, she saw another group of patrolling guards in the forest. But these were not elves. They were a bunch of... Treants. Summoning treants was a third-tier nature magic spell. With her previous abilities, she could also do it. If she exerted all her strength, she could probably summon six or seven of them and maintain them for about half an hour. But the treants before her eyes were not only taller and more robust in stature, but also had a high degree of intelligence. Upon seeing them, they actually took the initiative to approach. Following that, through the conversation between the two tribesmen and Reji, Vielsia learned... "Demon King, these are Kaisa''s treants! Kaisa just learned how to make them from the Wisdom Ancient Tree yesterday!" One of the elf forest patrollers introduced to Reji proudly, like a student handing in homework, eyes filled with a certain expectation for Reji. Reji naturally wouldn''t disappoint. He reached out and patted the head of this young elfdy, smiling, "Mm, Kaisa, well done. With you guarding the fourth floor of the Demon Tower, I feel very reassured." Having received the Demon King''s praise as hoped, and even an extra reward of having her head patted by Reji, the elf girl named "Kaisa" was as if she had eaten from a honey pot, her face instantly flushed red with excitement. At this moment, the other elf forest patroller, a young boy, seemed a bit jealous. He immediately said to Reji, "Demon King, Jeremy has also learned a new ability [Activate] from the Wisdom Ancient Tree! Now Jeremy can cast fourth-tier spells!" [Activate] could grant elves additional mana values and spell insights, allowing them to temporarily "cross tiers" and cast higher-level spells. Seeing that this young elf boy was about to demonstrate his [Activate] ability on the spot and cast a fourth-tier spell, Reji stopped him and gave appropriate praise, "You''re also very impressive, Jeremy. I believe that with your efforts, the future of the fourth floor of the Demon Tower will have infinite possibilities and boundless prospects." After praising Jeremy, Reji treated them equally and also patted the young boy''s head. With this, the two elf forest patrollers were both satisfied, determined to be the pirs of the fourth floor for the elves, the demon race, and especially for Reji. At this scene, Vielsia''s inner emotions were indescribable. The fact that her tribesmen were so close to Reji was secondary. I... I didn''t hear them wrong... right!? The treants were actually summoned by Kaisa!? The elf tribe was small to begin with, so Vielsia recognized these twopletely. She knew very well that Kaisa was previously an apprentice mage, an apprentice. But now, in the blink of an eye, she had summoned treantsparable to Vielsia''s previous ones as a princess!? And Jeremy, an elf whom Vielsia remembered to have only second-tier strength, could now even cast fourth-tier spells!? He even learned [Activate]!? Ancient, powerful natural spells like [Activate], [Wild Growth], and [Nourish] that allowed for "cross-tier power-ups" had all been lost, even she as the princess didn''t know them. Where... where did they learn them from? I had only been away from the tribe for less than a month, Not a year, not ten years, let alone a hundred years. Wait. Didn''t they mention a term in their previous conversation? Wisdom Ancient Tree!? This was a very ssic inheritance building of the elf tribe, but the problem was, without the World Tree and the "little elves", where did they get the ability to build a Wisdom Ancient Tree? Vielsia''s chaotic mind wasn''t done yet. As they left the outskirts of the Emerald Forest and officially entered the elven camp area, this former elf princess beside Reji now widened her eyes, her rosy little mouth forming an O shape. First were the Moon Wells. Rows and rows of Moon Wells. Moon Wells were an important basic structure within the elf tribe. Every evening, they could absorb the surrounding mana and condense it into spring water rich in natural magic. This spring water was of great benefit to the elves, an indispensable daily resource for them to practice spells and improve their strength. Vielsia remembered clearly that in the past, their entire tribe had only a measly three Moon Wells. Each distribution had to be meticulously calcted, with each tribesman only getting a small mouthful of well water to train with. Even as the princess, her weekly share of "Moon Well" spring water was no more than a bowl. Many times, she felt very guilty, thinking she had let her people down by upying so much spring water alone. But... But now... Vielsia rubbed her eyes. Vielsia watched in disbelief as her tribesmen in the current camp took baskets woven from fresh flowers and green vines and began to draw water from the wells, basket after basket. Yes, they were not scooping carefully, but drawing water. Moreover, after the tribesmen drew the spring water from the Moon Wells, it was not for cultivation or training, not for drinking, but actually for washing, for cleansing!.... Vielsia watched with her own eyes as a tribesman washed his face with the Moon Well spring water, which she considered precious in every drop, letting the used water fall to the ground and seep into the earth. This was just the beginning. Vielsia turned her head to look in another direction. There, dozens of elves were all sitting cross-legged under an ancient tree. The entire tree was an orange-red color like autumn maple leaves, like a learned and knowledgeable old man inte autumn. The elves under the tree all had their eyes closed, emanating fluctuations of spellcraft, as if their minds were immersed in the world of this ancient tree, rapidly absorbing the various knowledge conveyed by it. There was no mistake. This was the Wisdom Ancient Tree! And it was even the highest-grade Wisdom Ancient Tree!? Vielsia remembered that throughout the entire history of the elf tribe, yes, including before they were destroyed by the demon race, there had never been more than ten Wisdom Ancient Trees with the color of "maple leaves". Ordinary Wisdom Ancient Trees should have been emerald green. Only after a long umtion and precipitation, and through the careful cultivation of their elf tribe, could they mature and be the current autumn harvest-like maple leaf color. This wasn''t over yet. It seemed that Reji and Vielsia, these two unfamiliar visitors, had been sensed. Suddenly, there was movement from the small hills on both sides of the forest. When Vielsia looked over, she saw that the "hill" actually uprooted itself and stood up like a "person". Sentinel Trees. Although called trees, this was a habitual term. In fact, they wereposed of sand, boulders, and wood. These few giant guardians emanated a powerful seventh-tier fluctuation. In the history of the elf race, they were all revered as "Door Lords", defensive structures that only the royal areas of high elves were entitled to have one or two of. And it was these door lords that now, facing Reji''s position, slowly bowed with their huge bodies before moving again, returning to their previous positions and sitting down again with a "rumble", once more bing the shape of those "hills". Vielsia: "..." She now fully understood why her tribesmen were so close to her Demon King Teacher. Rather... Themotion caused by the Sentinel Trees naturally attracted the attention of nearby elves. More and more elves discovered Reji and began to swarm over quickly like sparrows, each chirping and moring to talk to him. Looking at that stance, it was as if her teacher wasn''t a Demon King at all. More like another term. Elf King. Chapter 127: Chapter 127: The Granddaughter Makes Good! P1 Another chapter after 15m. ------------ The Sun Disc. Also known as the High Elf Council Hall. The majestic sun hung high, its solemn and weighty aura hitting one in the face. It was said to be designed by an ancient elf king who revered the "sun" as a sacred object, filled with a sense of divine ceremony. In such a meticulously designed and symbolic council hall, naturally, only matters concerning the "elf tribe" of great importance were worthy of discussion here. The Grand Elder Nazha presided over the meeting, along with six other newly promoted elf elders, all seated around a round table. "What''s going on outside?" Each elder here was a respected senior, and one of them frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with the sudden rise of noise outside. Another more easy-going elder shook her head and said, "It must be some young person who has obtained a high-level natural spell from the Wisdom Ancient Tree." Such disturbances outside had actually been happening from time to time over the past few days. After all, their elf tribe was now rising at an incredible speed, revitalizing what was once stagnant water, filling it with vitality. For this reason... "Silence!" Beneath the Sun Disc, the Grand Elder Nazha spoke up. Such a high council hall was no ce for idle chatter. She brought the elders'' attention back to the issue they had been discussing. "For the sake of our kin, for the development of our tribe, and for the safety of our tribe, we must find a way to continue obtaining more resources from the Demon King." The buildings in their homnd did not arise out of nowhere; they were all created by Reji using "Starlight". However, due to the "hundredfold reward" mechanism of the Demon King, Reji''s speed was just a bit faster, so in the eyes of the elves, especially these elders, Reji definitely still had reserves. The elves, who had long been parched for rain, were like insatiable fledglings, still needing to ask their ''Demon King father'' for more. Not enough! More, and more! Of course, as noble elves, such actions were not considered begging but a lofty strategy. "I concur, the atrocities of the demon race in the past destroyed our civilization, and now it''s only right for the Demon King to atone!" "I concur, we are not submitting to the Demon King, we just want to improve the lives of our kin." "I concur, we must be vignt and aware of potential dangers. No one can guarantee that the Demon King won''t change his temperament one day and strike at us again." The Grand Elder Nazha very much agreed with thest statement. The "Demon Tower" now had seven floors, and not every apostle race could upy one floor on their own. Yet now, the elves were the sole masters of the fourth floor, for the time being. Some things, once obtained, one does not wish to lose again. Nazha wanted to firmly hold onto this treasure, to ensure that the fourth floor of the Demon Tower would always belong to the elves. But the problem was... Although the elves had thin skins and could im moral victories, they were not foolish. To continue receiving things from the Demon King, they must also make corresponding contributions to the Demon King. Especially since the other apostles, the reason they are called "apostle", is that each has an apostle watching over them. But the elves had nothing. Perhaps one day, they would be squeezed out and oppressed by other demon ns, and they wouldn''t even have the chance to make their voices heard. This was what Grand Elder Nazha was anxious about. They had no one above them. Therefore, to put it bluntly, the current topic of discussion in the Sun Disc was how to please the Demon King. "The food supply has always been a problem for the demon race. With the assistance of our fourth-floor elves, we can greatly alleviate their food pressure," one of the elders suggested opportunistically. The elves, being close to nature, were second to none in the cultivation of crops. Hmm. Nazha nodded; it was a good proposal. But it wasn''t enough. They needed to make the demon race feel that the elves were irreceable, that kind of importance. But the problem was... What could we offer now? What else did we have? The answer was obvious. The ck Beast Legion of the demon race had already proven that there was indeed something "irreceable by anyone but elves." After all, there had been no such fervor from the demon race for any other conquered worlds, whether it be orcs, insectoids, etc. This alone was enough to show the status of the elves. "Grand Elder, let me go. If it''s for the sake of the entire tribe, I am willing to enter into a marriage alliance with the Demon King, even if it means serving him," One of the elf elders spoke up. It was the same one who thought that Reji should naturally give more to the elves, that the demon race was "atoning" for past atrocities. This tragic statement immediately elicited sympathy from the other female elders. The high ranks of the elf tribe were all female, structured like a matriarchal society. Because female elves,pared to males, were purer and more innocent, naturally closer to the "Nature" fate track they worshiped, the Earth Mother Goddess. Therefore, the strong among the elves were also mostly female. The other female elders spoke up one after another: "No, Mana, you are our tribe''s chief disciplinary officer. Your chastity is more important than anything. No one can let you do this, let me go instead." "No, no, no, Anyabelle, you underestimate the Demon King too much. With your strength at only fifth-tier, you can''t handle him. Let me go. I''ve just been promoted to sixth-tier, and in terms of physical strength, I am better than everyone else." "Fiona, you are too naive. In this matter, strength is not the focus. You allck experience and won''t be able to withstand him. Let me do it." Chapter 128: Chapter 128: The Granddaughter Makes Good! P2 "Fiona, you are too naive. In this matter, strength is not the focus. You allck experience and won''t be able to withstand him. Let me do it." A widowed female elder, who had lost her husband, put an end to thepetition. Her face was full of determination and dedication, as if she had long been prepared to descend into hell. Such a radiant character, in the ceremonial hall of the Sun Disc, further highlighted the pride and nobility belonging to the elves. "Enough!" It was the presiding Grand Elder Nazha who interrupted the others. Nazha shook her head. "You are all young and have a future. Such matters... let me handle them." "Grand Elder..." The female elders began to speak, wanting to dissuade her. But they were stopped by a gesture from Nazha. "There''s no need for further discussion. From the moment I submitted to the Demon King and surrendered the elf tribe to the demon race, I became a sinner for all eternity. Since that is the case, let me continue to bear it all." "However..." The only thing that Grand Elder Nazha still cared about deep down was Vielsia, the most proud princess of the elf tribe and the student she regarded as her own granddaughter. After she submitted to the Demon King, such an ugly state would make her unable to face Vielsia anymore. They once thought of enduring and waiting to join forces with Vielsia from the inside and outside to break the demon race. But now, after fully understanding the terror and strength of the demon race and having received such rapid development of their legacy, what Nazha hoped for instead was for Vielsia to return. With Vielsia''s talent,bined with the legacy here, perhaps the elf tribe could really produce another existence as powerful as the ninth-tier of the first Elven Queen. But... Other elves might submit. But Grand Elder Nazha was certain that Vielsia would not. The steadfast quality of her own student, who seemed fragile but had a strong heart, would not be shaken by anything. Having watched Vielsia grow up from a young age, no one understood Vielsia better than she did. So... "After I offer myself to the Demon King, I will negotiate with him for the opportunity for our elf tribe to venture out. At that time, you must hurry to find Vielsia. That child is too naive, too stubborn. With her character, even if the Demon King wants to capture her and bring her back, she would rather die than submit. Therefore, we must find Vielsia first." "Only in this way, by persuading Vielsia ourselves, can we make that child ept all this. Then, we will quietly move Vielsia in, making sure to hide her princess identity well. We must not let the Demon King discover it. Any of us can be defiled, but that child cannot. We must protect her! We absolutely cannot let her fall into the hands of the Demon King!" Nazha knew that the demon race, especially for elves like queens and princesses, was particrly interested. Plundering those of high status was their instinct. That''s why Nazha was willing to sacrifice herself. As the Grand Elder, she was nominally the highest leader of the elves. By satisfying the Demon King herself, she could also provide cover for Vielsia. Finally. "These matters can only be handled by you. I am no longer worthy to be Vielsia''s elder. If Vielsia asks, just me everything on me. The sin of the traitor, let me bear it alone." Hearing this, a figure outside the Sun Disc could no longer hold back. ... Vielsia, who rushed into the council hall, saw her most familiar and closest Grand Elder Nazha sitting in the main seat, the grandmother who loved her like her own. Even at this moment, she was still considering Vielsia''s well-being. Vielsia threw herself into Nazha''s arms. "Is that you, Vielsia!?" At first, Nazha was taken aback, not immediately recognizing her. Unlike other elves, even if Vielsia hadn''t taken off her cloak''s hood, just by seeing the eyes of an elf, even if they had changed color, Nazha recognized her immediately. "Vielsia, how are you here... Wait! Your hair!?" If the red eyes weren''t obvious before, then next, as Vielsia''s hood fell off, revealing her waterfall-like silver hair, Nazha and the other elders were shocked. Silver... silver hair? The purer the bloodline of an elf, the more it should be golden, especially for a princess like Vielsia, but now... "Demon King! What have you done to Vielsia!!" Nazha, deeply concerned for her beloved granddaughter, immediately became furious. Of course, she also saw Reji, who had followed Vielsia into the hall. Her worst fears hade true; the Demon King had indeed acted against Vielsia. "No, Grand Elder, it''s not the teacher''s fault, this was my own choice." Seeing how concerned her grandmother Nazha was, Vielsia was even more moved and quickly shook her head. T... Teacher!!!!?? Is she referring to the Demon King? Looking at Vielsia and then at Reji, Nazha seemed to finally understand something. The Demon King must have brainwashed Vielsia using wicked demon. My Vielsia had already beenpletely transformed. With her heart filled with humiliation, Nazha could only endure all this, tears of apology welling up in her eyes as she hugged Vielsia tightly. "It''s good you''re back... it''s good as long as you are safe... safety is what matters." At that moment, Nazha seemed to have aged many years. Until... "Grandmother Nazha, you''re mistaken, it''s not like that, actually, I, I..." Vielsia clenched her teeth. She still had to face what wasing. Rather, listening to the elders'' council earlier had somewhat rxed Vielsia, giving her the courage to say the next line. "Grand Elder, I... am now an apostle of the demon race." Nazha: "." Heh!?!? "Yes, grandmother, everyone, you don''t have to sacrifice anything anymore. I will take over grandmother''s burden and support the entire tribe." "As the Sixth Demon Apostle" "I swear as the Flower Apostle!" It might have been Vielsia''s illusion. But after her statement, besides the initial shock, it seemed that her grandmother Nazha suddenly looked radiant, as if the notion that "the granddaughter has made good" had made her appear many years younger. Chapter 129: Chapter 129: That Night, the Princess Defeated the Demon King On the fifth floor of the Demon Tower. The Court of the Wisdom Demon. As the Wisdom Demon, aside from external strategizing, Leo also had to take care of internal affairs, especially eliminating potential factors for the demon king and stabilizing harmony among the apostles. Thinking of this, Leo looked at the pouting Subus sitting across from him. "Eileen, the birth of the Flower Apostle is a good thing for our race. Do you want our future race to have only eight apostles?" Of course, Eileen also understood the Wisdom Demon''s words. After the death of the Wicked Demon, someone new must take the position, but... "Why her? There are stronger ones than that elf in our demon race. His majesty clearly could have..." "Silence!" "Eileen, are you questioning his majesty?!" The Wisdom Demon immediately reprimanded. At this, the Subus could only lower her head and say softly, "No, I just... I just feel that suddenly having an outsidere in..." Seeing Eileen''s dejected appearance, Leo also slightly eased his attitude. He could understand the Subus'' current feelings. That''s why he had to properly exin to Eileen the reason why the King chose Vielsia, an outsider as an apostle. "Eileen, do you still remember his majesty''s strategy towards humans in Ilinor before?" Eileen certainly hadn''t forgotten. It was equivalent to killing the mind while sparing the body, cleverly using the ss contradictions of humans to resolve racial conflicts, making humans willingly be vassals of the demon race. Seeing this, Leo continued, "Eileen, have you ever thought that this strategy, we can not only use it on humans but on all other races as well? Gathering all races, collecting them into aplete as of foreign races, that is his majesty''s ultimate goal." "But you should know, even without me saying, how other races view our race''s external image. If we really want to gather them, why would they believe us? If you were another race, would you believe a demon''s promise?" Eileen shook her head. It was like a robber telling the person inside the door, open up, I''m justing in as a guest. "Therefore, in order to realize this great vision, his majesty must have a new spokesperson for our demon race. Eileen, try to imagine again, if the words of joining the demon race were not spoken by you or me, but by elves, by this most noble and pure race, what would other races think?" Following Leo''s words, Eileen gradually realized that, indeed, if the elves stepped forward as a guarantee, even if other races didn''t trust us, they would trust the elves. The reputations of elves and demons could be said to be two extremes. No one would refuse a holy elf. No one believed that elves would lie. "Leo, so you mean..." "That''s right. His Majesty chose Vielsia as the sixth apostle, regardless of emotions. Don''t think His Majesty is like you subi, with minds full of romantic feelings between men and women. How could the Demon King, with such grand ambitions, have such low-level interests? Every step His Majesty takes is to arrange the pieces, to prepare for the next step and the step after that." Speaking of this, the Wisdom Demon couldn''t help but spread his arms. He truly sighed with emotion. Reji''s every move was so exquisite and unparalleled. At the same time, he also felt sorry for the King. With such heroic talent and strategy, nning every step, yet Eileen, this love-brained Subus, was still jealous. Shermen, who was also present and quietly listening, expressed her agreement at this time. "Exactly, Eileen, you don''t need to worry. I am the most clear about His Majesty''s feelings for you. His Majesty has mentioned you to me many times. You will always be the first in His Majesty''s heart." "Really?! You''re not lying to me, Shermen?! His Majesty has really been mentioning me all along?" The Subus'' eyes instantly lit up. After all, Shermen had been by Reji''s side the longest, so her words must be credible. "Of course!" The petite purple-haired Shadow Demon nodded vigorously. It wasn''t really perfunctory. Shermen had concrete evidence. If the King really didn''t value Eileen, how could he let her fight every night as a "shadow clone"? How could he often let her, a Shadow Demon, y the role of a Subus? Sometimes, he would even deliberately call her by the name "Eileen". Isn''t this frequently mentioning the Subus? Of course, Reji also gave her an exnation for this. He hoped to train her, wanting her to be experienced. Everything now was to give Eileen the best enjoyment. Shermen remembered very clearly that she was moved by the King at that time. Which generation''s king could surpass the current king''s deep affection? She was determined to work hard to cooperate with the King and help the King train at night. Aren''t these all manifestations of His Majesty''s love for Eileen? If it weren''t for the King repeatedly emphasizing that she must never say these things, saying that he wanted to "silently work hard and then make a stunning disy", she really wanted to use these concrete examples tofort the Subus. Eileen knew Shermen''s personality. Although the Shadow Demon Apostle often had poormon sense due to living in caves for many years, and her mind sometimes couldn''t keep up, this was actually an excellent quality for scouts and intelligence officers. The most feared thing was that when transmitting messages, overthinking would distort the original intelligence. So whoever would lie, Eileen didn''t believe Shermen would lie to her. Shermen never told lies. So... It turns out, it turns out my King valued me so much~?! Eileen now felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey. Exactly. How could a mere elf make me feel a sense of crisis? What a joke. So what if she became an apostle? What''s so great about that? Eileen, even humming a little tune, left satisfied. After everyone had left, the Wisdom Demon still didn''t leave and was pondering. He felt it wasn''t quite secure enough. What Eileen said actually made sense too. The elves were ultimately an external race. Although it seemed that her loyalty to the Demon King was indeed very high, Leo needed a foolproof insurance method. It didn''t matter if they were an external race. Then just turn her into an internal race. It just so happened that ording to demon tradition, the apostles should also have aplete authorization ceremony from the Demon King. Now the situation was special, so the authorization ceremony didn''t need to be so high-profile, but it definitely had to happen. So... "Come here." Leo summoned a high-ranking Wisdom Demon. After whispering a few simple instructions to this Wisdom Demon, the Wisdom Demon immediately epted the order and withdrew. Only then did Leo nod in satisfaction. .... -At Night. As an apostle, Vielsia definitely had her own independent room. However, she was new here and unfamiliar with the ce, so she still had to be led by the Wisdom Demon who served as the steward. Now, a high-ranking Wisdom Demon led Vielsia to a room, bowed to the apostle, and quietly withdrew. Feeling exhausted all over after experiencing so much, Vielsia didn''t think too much and directly pushed the door open. She had just taken off her coat, revealing her fair shoulders, when the next moment Vielsia froze. Because... "Te-Teacher!?" The flustered elf only now discovered Reji, who was also looking at hering in with a bit of confusion. Especially since Vielsia, without thinking much, had just taken off half of her cor. For a moment, the scene was a bit awkward. "Sorry! Sorry! I went to the wrong room. I-I''ll leave right away!" To be honest, this was the first time Vielsia had been in the same room with a male. Her immediate thought was to flee in a panic. Reji didn''t stop her. Although seeing the elf woman''s new mature and graceful figure under her half-removed clothes did give him some impure thoughts, as a gentleman, Reji wouldn''t do such a thing. Until... Vielsia, who had reached the door''s edge, had actuallye back to her senses from her initial panic. She looked down at the door handle of the Demon King''s room. In Vielsia''s mind shed the conversation she had heard from the Great Elders during the day. As an external race, we elves had received such grace from teacher, so what could we give back to him? What did we elves have that we could offer? W...we couldn''t really do as Grandma Nazha said and let the Great Elders... No! Absolutely not! Thinking of this, Vielsia seemed to havepletely firmed her resolve. In her rose-colored eyes, there was no longer any fear or hesitation. Until now, I had always been protected by my people and Grandma Nazha. And now... It is my turn to protect everyone! Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Chimera Beast, Elven Raging Soldiers part 1 The budding lily flower, with its elegant posture and lush green leaves, was pleasing to the eye, but could only be admired from afar and not yed with frivolously. When the night was deep and quiet, under the bright moonlight, the lily flower that quietly bloomed revealed its tender white petals. The flesh of the flower was sweet and delicious, and its faint fragrance was intoxicating. After a night of stormy rain, although the raindrops had dampened the petals, they had also nourished the flower, making it more tender and full of vitality. Like a lily that still bloomed in the rain. This night might have great significance in the entire history of the elven race. Because their great princess aplished something that many ancestors before her could not do, as if telling all the elves that no matter how powerful the demon race was, there would alwayse a day when they could be ridden by the elves. [Companion "Vielsia"''s favorability reached 100%] [Home system updated. You have unlocked morepanion race-specific buildings that can be ced: Elven Pool, Moon Altar, Hurricane Ancient Tree, Hunter''s Hall... Chimera Perch] [After evaluation, yourpanion has reached 100% favorability. Your "As" has been updated. All neutral/friendly/monster unit information for the new race "Elf" has been fully unlocked] When Reji woke up the next day and checked the updates to the home system, it was as expected. This also existed in the game and was considered a "milestone"memoration, representing that the yer had be one in flesh and soul with this race. Instead, it was the "As" that he had unexpectedly seized from Lordan that gave Reji some surprises with its special prompts. When Reji opened the as, the elven race section, which was originally nk, now had a technology tree. Each branch of the tree diagram corresponded to an elven soldier type or monster. [Lv1: Elven Archer (Level 10-20) - Requires Hunter''s Hall building, Lv1 World Tree, Archery Specialization (Technology), Starlight*10] [Lv2: Female Hunter (Level 25-27) - Requires Wisdom Ancient Tree building, Lv1 World Tree, Hunting Mastery (Technology), Starlight*15] [Lv3: Elven Blood Mage (Level 30-35) - Requires Wisdom Ancient Tree building, Lv3 World Tree, Natural Magic Mastery (Technology), Starlight*25] The original home system was only used to cepanions and enhance their abilities, but now that it hadbined with his as, it seemed to have produced some subtle chemical reactions. Reji had a sudden idea. Now that he had these buildings that met the conditions for producing soldiers, and he had the as as a recipe, could he directly use the home system as a military factory? Feeling a bit excited, Reji immediately began experimenting. But... Unfortunately. When Reji tried to produce soldiers using the lowest level Lv1 soldier type "Elven Archer" as the target, going to the Hunter''s Hall and relying on operating the as, the building did not respond to him. Later, after thinking carefully... So that is why it failed... After all, this is the real world now, not a game. If I could really produce an elven archer so easily, wouldn''t that be equivalent to me being able to create elves out of thin air? Hmm!... Wait. I can''t produce elves with independent intelligent consciousness out of thin air, but just like how the Sorcery Demon could summon skeleton dragons and liches before, can I perhaps do the same for units that belonged to the "monster" category in the game... Reji immediately continued experimenting. He flipped through the as, skipped past the elven soldier types, and arrived at the nature-rted "monsters" associated with the elven race. Reji selected an empty space in the Emerald Forest, used starlight to ce the special building "Elven Pool", and then ordered a little elf toe and enter the pool water. Then, in the elven pool water, under the effect of the as, a reaction actually urred. The body of the little elf in the pool began to rapidly transform, changing from its original light orb into a "silkworm"-like appearance in the water. After a few more seconds, there was a crack in the silkworm. As if reborn, a w reached out from the crack andpletely broke free of its restraints. When this new "little elf" fully revealed its appearance, it had a beautiful and dreamy body like a butterfly. When Rejipared the monster imagebeled "Elf Dragon" on the "As" in his hand, the two couldn''t be said to be exactly the same, but they were indistinguishable. Sess! [Elf Dragon - A Lv5 monster with an average level fluctuating around 30-37. The key elements required were an Elven Pool, a little elf, and some starlight.] Actually, quite a few elves were quietly watching Reji''s movements. After a few days of close contact with Reji, the Demon King, the elves'' stereotypes of the Demon King being terrifying, brutal, and bloodthirsty had all disappeared. To them, Reji was more like a close elder. This was certainly due to the subtle increase in favorability brought by the "Home System", but no less important were Reji''s head pats that killed them time and time again, as well as the miracles he created that seemed incredible in the eyes of the elves. Just like now. At first, the elves didn''t understand, but when the dreamy and beautiful Elf Dragon elegantly walked out of the pool water, the emotions of the elven people instantly turned into great shock. "Is that... a dragon?" "No, no, no, I clearly saw the Demon King let a little elf go in just now. How could it be..." "Wait, do you remember the legend the elders mentioned? Little elves can also cultivate and transcend their limits in the spring water, leaping to be dragons!" "I remember! In the story, it seemed to be a sign of good fortune. Whenever such an Elf Dragon appeared, it meant a hundred years of smooth sailing and stability for our race!" "Could it be that even those legends are true, or can the Demon King even create the ''natural spirits'' from the legends..." "Quick! We must go and tell the Great Elder about such a big event!" Although Elf Dragons had the word "dragon" in their name, they had nothing to do with real dragons. From the surrounding elves'' words, Reji could roughly understand that Elf Dragons were a bit like "koi fish" in human society to them. Since there were "koi fish", there must also be heterodox fierce beasts. The sess of the Elf Dragon was just a beginning for Reji. Next, he instructed four or five little elves to enter another cave called the "Raptor''s Nest". Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Chimera Beast, Elven Raging Soldiers part 2 The few little elves in the nest began to fuse with each other, forming an egg with patterns on top. Under the nourishment of the starlight Reji invested, the egg hatched very quickly and soon began to shake. Along with spider web cracks, a deer hoof stretched out. Indeed, what was newly formed was a small deer, or more precisely, a demi-human with a human head and deer body. Its whole body was cyan in color. Perhaps because it couldn''t stand steadily at first after being born, once it adapted a little, it could immediately hop and jump, moving its limbs just like the Elf Dragon before, and came to Reji''s side. However, unlike the Elf Dragon, the elves were very afraid of this little deer. "Forest Demon... It''s a Forest Demon!" "Legend has it that this kind of monster is highly poisonous. Once attacked by it, there''s almost no way to cure it." "Quick, look at the spear in the Forest Demon''s hand. That''s it, it''s said to be her magic staff that can cast charm spells. Every midnight, the fairy will sing in the forest, luring the elves attracted by the singing!" "..." [Forest Demon, a Lv6 monster soldier type] Just as the elves described, it possessed the two major abilities of [Deadly Poison] and [Charm], belonged to long-range attacks, and had high magic resistance and extremely high mobility. The Raptor''s Nest not only had Forest Demons, but soon, under Reji''s experimentation, another high-level Lv7 monster from the as was sessfully produced. Just like the "Lich" corresponding to the undead race, the pinnacle of the nature system was called - Druid. This was a powerful creature on the boundary between elves and monsters. In human form, it could release powerful natural spells of various elements and possessed priestly power. In beast form, they would transform into the fiercest giant bears, standing up to a height of five or six meters. As a test, Reji experimented with the Great Demon race, which represented strength among the demon races. In bear form, the w Druid pped the Great Demon with its bear paw, forcing the Great Demon to retreat several steps, showing how terrifyingly powerful it was. Of course, if they were to fullypete in strengthter, the Great Demon could still easily suppress the w Druid. The level of the w Druid was around 53-57. Such a monster was already very terrifying, but it wasn''t enough for Reji. He looked at the pinnacle of the monster series in the as, the top creature that existed like a totem. There was only one Lv9 monster, the Chimera. A huge totem, like a ancient tree, rose from the ground. Various bird patterns were drawn on the totem, and at the very top, like a tree crown, there was a huge nest. This time, Reji mobilized more than a dozen little elves and used as much as 3,500 starlight. Soon, the totem in front reacted. This time, even the sky on the fourth floor of the Demon Tower seemed to be affected. Layers of thick dark clouds and thunder floated over and began to sh and rumble above the totem. Such an anomaly made many elves tremble with fear, especially as a fierce and evil aura rapidly gathered in the thunder and lightning, as if some incredibly terrifying monster was being born in the thunderstorm at the top of the totem. At this point, it was beyond the knowledge of ordinary elves, but the Great Elder who had already arrived and Vielsia who was following beside her had noticed. "Great Elder, could that be..." "That''s right, it''s the evil beast recorded in history that once destroyed nearly half of the 37th generation Elven Dynasty, forcing the queen at that time to take action to kill it. Whenever this beast appears, it''s a catastrophe for the elves. It''s the Chimera." "Is teacher going to..." Hearing about the Chimera''s ferocity, Vielsia couldn''t help but clench her fists a little, but Nazha, as the Great Elder, was much calmer. She shook her head and instead looked forward to watching with some eagerness. Finally, the thunderstorm in the sky subsided, and after the dark clouds dispersed, a huge figure also appeared on the towering totem perch. It had three heads, two at the front and one at the tail. Its body was blue-purple in color. After soaring into the sky, it let out a sky-shaking roar. Raging mes spewed from the first head, piercing cold wind blew from the second, and the third seemed to summon lightning. Threepletely different abnormal powers appeared simultaneously on this ferocious giant bird''s body. The strong oppressive feeling it gave the elves below seemed to be that as long as the figure in the sky wanted, destroying everything of theirs now would be easy. Circling in the air with a wingspan of dozens of meters, the Chimera also seemed to enjoy the fear and fright from the elves below. After all, it was the world-destroying fierce beast in elven history... Before the Chimera could show off for long, a calm voice made it shudder. "Come down." Reji was a bit dissatisfied. Howe the other monsters were all honest and obedient, knowing toe to him, but when it came to the Chimera, it was acting up? Although this voice wasn''t loud, it was deafening to the Chimera. It quickly pped its wings and rapidly descended. After arriving beside Reji, it folded its wings, and all three heads drooped. From the previously spirited three-headed world-destroying beast, it turned into a head-shrinking ostrich. Indeed, from their rtionship, Reji was its master. As for the elves, they also breathed a sigh of relief. Only now did they realize that no matter how fierce a monster was, could it be fiercer than the demon king? In front of the Demon King, wasn''t it just like a baby bird? This feeling of exhration was not only for the different elves but also for Great Elder Nazha. "Ahem!" The Great Elder quickly approached Reji with Vielsia at this time, deliberately coughing a few times, and then stared at the Chimera beside Reji with fiery, eager eyes. The meaning of her actions was already very obvious. -Since you''ve already eaten our princess, you should at least give some more gifts, right? For example, giving this Chimera to our elven race, that''s not too much, right?- Indeed, it wasn''t too much. It was even too little. Everything before was just Reji''s experiment. It made sense that he, as the Demon King, could only produce "monster" troops in the Demon King''s Tower. Then next... A Chimera required 3,500 starlight. In the game, this would definitely be an astronomical sum. You should know that [Starlight] was a precious summoning currency that could only be obtained through [Daily Quests]. Normally, you could only get 50 starlight per day, equivalent to spending 70 days in the game to get a Chimera. This didn''t even include the expenses for the buildings that served as "prerequisites". Just this "Chimera Perch" alone cost a whopping 5,000 starlight. It''s just... Reji took another look at his "Starlight" bnce. [Starlight: 65480] There was no way around it. As the biggest viin BOSS, a Demon King who could earn 5,000 starlight a day under a hundredfold reward, it was also very reasonable to be a little willful. Let''s start with ten for now. With a wave of Reji''s big hand, the Chimera''s perch totem began to sh wildly. In the thunder and lightning, one after another, epic-level creatures up to level 70, the Chimeras, began to descend with a bang, emerging from the thunderclouds in session. Just the main course wasn''t enough. The other monster troops also needed to be included. Forest Demons, let''s have about 50. w Druids, let''s have about 100. In addition, creatures like Gryphons, Mountain Giants, Centaur Sentinels, etc., let''s have twenty or thirty of each. Elf Dragons, although their level was a bit low, since they symbolized good luck, let''s also have a dozen or so. So in less than an hour, the Emerald Forest, which had seemed a bit empty before, was now densely packed with monster legions, neatly arrayed in front of Great Elder Nazha. Reji had delegated the secondary management rights of these monster troops to Nazha. It could be considered a kind of reinforcement for the elven race. After all, Vielsia was now an apostle. So the status of the elves had also risen with the tide, recing the Wicked Demon as the sixth apostle n of the demon race. If relying solely on the elves themselves, it would probably take a very, very long time of development to catch up with the other apostle ns. Now, with Reji''s eleration, at least the elven race also hadbat power they could show off. It''s just that in the eyes of Great Elder Nazha on the opposite side, these were... "Ah ha... Ha...ha .........." Nazha had changed now. Not only did she look at Reji with passionate eyes, but she also looked at Vielsia with eager eyes. It seemed as if she was saying, Vielsia, the future of the elven race all depends on you now. Why don''t you work harder again tonight? It is not like I am selling out my junior... It''s just that the Demon King gave too much, too much of a dowry! Chapter 132: Chapter 132: How to Lose? Final chapter for power stone bonuses. -------- While Reji was managing the Demon King''s Tower and supporting the elven race, the outside world was also rapidly changing. The death of the Imperial Envoy was no small matter. It was impossible to only listen to Ilinor''s one-sided statement. Although the Empire didn''t directly send troops over, they did dispatch quite a few personnel to investigate. .... As for the results of the investigation... -Empire. -Imperial Capital. -Residence of the Seventh Prince. The investigators who had returned from Ilinor were now reporting to a brown-haired man who was embracing beauties on both sides, sitting on a main seat with a "lion head" carving. "So, those royals and nobles of Ilinor are really all dead and gone?" The Seventh Prince asked with interest, tapping his fingers on the gilded armrest. "Yes, Your Highness, even the old king''s funeral was held on the same day." Tsk tsk. After smacking his lips, the Seventh Prince rose from his lion king throne. With a wave of his hand, he signaled the beautiful dancing girls beside him to leave. After pacing around the room for a bit, he asked again: "So, Ilinor wasn''t lying. That unlucky envoy was really killed by the passing Syndicate thugs?" "Based on the current conclusion, it indeed seems to be the case. After all..." The intelligence officer who was investigating wanted to say more but stopped. However, the Seventh Prince understood what he meant. The eldest princess Yuffie, who could ughter a whole family, including her own father and sister, shouldn''t be acting. Or rather. If it was really an act, just how ruthless and scheming would this Princess Yuffie have to be to do such a thing? The Seventh Prince didn''t believe that a mere princess from a small country like Ilinor could have such means and boldness. Moreover, those chosen to be Imperial Envoys were no pushovers. With the strength of those low-level countries, let alone killing them, it was unknown if they could even injure their Imperial people. So, it was obvious. Thetter exnation of being invaded by Syndicate thugs was more believable. Although the Seventh Prince had always firmly believed in the supreme power of the Imperial people. In the desert region that was constantly in turmoil and filled with evil, it couldn''t be denied that there were indeed quite a few formidable fellows in the Syndicate, some of whom even gave him, an Imperial Prince, a headache. It wasn''t strange that they could kill an envoy. And casually massacring the innocent royal family and aristocrats of a small country did indeed fit his impression of the Syndicate people''s brutality and bloodthirst. However... The corners of the Seventh Prince''s mouth curled into a smile. This unexpected incident in the Empire was like being hit by a golden egg for him. His keen sense of smell immediately realized the opportunity behind this matter. The Empire had a dead envoy, so it was impossible to let the matter rest. They must take action and retaliate, otherwise where would their Imperial prestige be? Therefore, the Empire would definitely organize an army to go to the Syndicate. Following this logic, the opportunity was hidden within. "I have already applied to the Great Sage. This time, the punitive army will be personally led by me, Olba Flor, to the Syndicate to capture the murderer and give a deterrent." Hearing this, the subordinate in front of him was a bit surprised and said, "Your Highness, why do you still have to personally do this kind of thing..." "Heh, fool, do you think I''m really just going to avenge the envoy and find the murderer? What a joke, a mere envoy is worthy of that?" The Seventh Prince was full of disdain. He quickly changed his tone and said, "My real goal is the magic oil mines in the Syndicate." "Magic oil mines!?" The subordinate muttered to himself, seeming to understand something. He immediately widened his eyes and said, "Your Highness, could it be that the rumor is true?" The Syndicate had always been a desert, so other major powers tried to avoid this ghostly ce if they could. It was hard work and thankless, and there was no need to fight with the barefooted. However, just recently, there had been rumors that in fact, hidden beneath the sands of the Syndicate were vast, vast magic oil mines that could bring enormous energy. These oil mines, rich in abundant magic power, were simply the best catalyst for spellcasting, with unparalleled promoting effects. They could be used in many asions, bringing incalcble huge benefits. If they could really be mined... "This information was personally told to me by that ''Great Sage''. It can''t be fake. I also assured the Great Sage that I would hand over half of the oil field''s revenue in the future. Even so, this is still an excellent opportunity for me to fight for the throne. Understand?" "Understood, Your Highness! Once we really find the magic oil mines and take them for ourselves, with such wealth, we will definitely be able to gain a superior advantage in yourpetition with the other princes!" The subordinate nodded with extreme excitement. For those underlings who had already chosen their side, naturally, the more promising their master''s future was, the more they could rise with the tide. No wonder. No wonder His Highness said this was an opportunity. Taking advantage of the envoy''s death, His Highness could not only justifiably requisition the Empire''s public army for his own use but also keep it from the suspicion of other princes under the pretext of punishing the evildoers. Brilliant! His Highness'' move was simply too ingenious. The Seventh Prince greatly enjoyed the current admiring gaze of his subordinates. However, he wouldn''t be careless because of this. This action was of great importance, and he must make full preparations. Although Olba didn''t believe that the mere Syndicate could resist under the iron cavalry of the Imperial army, it was still better to be safe than sorry. Being more cautious was always the right choice. "Come out, G." The Seventh Prince said indifferently to the inner room behind him. G? Could it be that person? To the surprise of the subordinate, a female figure slowly emerged from behind the Seventh Prince''s curtain. She had a beautiful appearance and was dressed revealingly, with various small ornaments hanging all over her body, such as skulls, venomous fangs, voodoo dolls... This femme fatale sat on the Seventh Prince''sp, wrapped her arms around his neck, and stared at the trembling subordinate who didn''t dare to look directly at her, smiling. After all... That was the Empire''s ranked hunter! Ranked 73rd on the hunter list, Voodoo - G! It was said that this hunter was familiar with various poisonous nts in nature and was especially proficient in poison techniques. She once single-handedly caused a gue in a small city of a neighboring country, resulting in countless deaths and injuries among tens of thousands of residents. With this hunter assisting the Seventh Prince, we would definitely... Before the subordinate''s excitement was over, the Seventh Prince pped his hands again, and three more figures walked out one after another. "Poison hag, I advise you to stay away from our prince. If the poison on your body harms the prince, who will settle our remuneration?" "The Syndicate, huh? Hehehe, what a nostalgic homnd. I wonder how those old friends are doing now, hehehe." The first one with a rough voice and a burly figure was Tedino, ranked 71st on the hunter list, the King of Beasts! It was said that this hunter couldmunicate with fierce birds, and even the most ferocious beasts were like kittens in front of him, able to fight for him. At the same time, Tedino himself could also summon the power of the wild and be immensely strong. The second one with a hoarse voice, making a "hehehe" dryughter, the Seventh Prince''s subordinate also recognized. Despite his poor appearance and skinny frame, he was actually ranked 63rd on the Empire''s hunter list! Bone King - Pastor It was said that he was the top necromancer. He was once sent by the Empire to punish a disobedient small country. As a result, this hunter directly used the entire royal city of that small country as a blood sacrifice material and summoned a sixth-tier undead lord! Not one hunter. But three, three hunters in the top 100!? Now the subordinate, just by being in the same room as them, was already sweating profusely, his legs weak and unable to stand steadily. It seemed that the Seventh Prince had really gone all out this time. With such a luxurious lineup, coupled with the invincible 50,000-strong iron cavalry army allocated by the Empire, even the notorious Syndicate would have to obediently lie down. How could we lose? There was no way to lose! Giving his subordinates the confidence of certain victory was what a superior should do. The Seventh Prince was very satisfied with his subordinates'' current appearance. He finally ordered: "Go, do a final check on the preparations. Tomorrow morning, we will..." "Set out immediately!" Finally, the Seventh Prince returned to his lion-hearted throne and silently touched the hilt of a sword beside the throne. It seemed inconspicuous and dusty, but in fact, this was his greatest hidden card that he hadn''t told anyone about. Given to him by that "Great Sage" to ensure the sess of this action... The Holy Sword! Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Syndicate 1/2 In Ilinor, at the royal pce, Queen Yuffie organized several intelligence reports on her desk and turned her head to consult the seemingly empty space behind her. The shadows there flickered momentarily. Every high-ranking human in Ilinor was assigned a Shadow Demon for inspection, and the Queen was no exception. However, as Yuffie was a key human cultivated by the Demon King, the Shadow Demon''s primary role was to facilitate the exchange of information between Yuffie and the demon race. After five or six seconds, a teleportation array shed in the study. And Eileen was the first to step out. As the secretary, the Subus used a prepared scroll to summon a Demon King''s throne in the Queen''s study before respectfully inviting Reji, who emerged from the teleportation, to take a seat. During the construction of the Demon Tower and the support of the Elf race, Reji had given additional tasks to the new Ilinor Queen, who was supported by the demon race in the real world. Yuffie handed a stack of documents to Eileen, who then passed them to Reji on the throne. These documents contained recent intelligence about the "Syndicate" that Yuffie had collected using Ilinor''s national resources. The Syndicate was a difficult ce to gather intelligence due to its mixture of criminals and refugees, as well as its location in a desert region that was periodically covered by sandstormssting from a few days to several weeks,pletely isting it from the outside world. The information Reji now held was obtained by Yuffie through channels from a group of merchants who had recently returned from doing business in the Syndicate. Reji read through the reports carefully. From the reports, it seemed that the merchants were not optimistic about the Syndicate. The vast desert of the Syndicate was able to develop thanks to the oases that provided shelter for the people there. Therefore, the characteristic forces of the Syndicate, the various tribes and gangs, were organized around the oases, and the battles between them were all for the purpose of gaining more oasis territory. However, in recent years, the internal strife within the Syndicate had intensified, and the degree of chaos had worsened year by year. The fundamental reason was that... The oases in the desert were disappearing. Oases were not ordinary resources, but the root of survival for the people of the Syndicate. The shrinking of the oases was tantamount to shaking the foundation of the entire Syndicate. It was no wonder that the merchants in the report took a pessimistic view of the Syndicate''s future and no longer nned to take this trade route. Even the local people of the Syndicate seemed to have a tendency to flee. Before Ilinor, there had been simr reports of surrounding small countries being attacked by thugs and bandits from the Syndicate. The reduction of survival resources led to more intense and cruelpetition. The small gangs and tribes that had originally been hiding in remote corners were now forced to join the ranks of big fish eating small fish. What caught Reji''s attention the most was... "Teacher, there is indeed a tribe in the Syndicate called Ghost." In human society, Reji still allowed others to maintain the original "Teacher" to address him. Reji''s spirit was lifted by Yuffie''s current intelligence. His fundamental purpose in going to the Syndicate was for the Ghosts, thepanions or descendants from a thousand years ago in the first round, as well as clues to the truth of the world. Reji didn''t expect it to be so simple to find them. Yuffie continued, "The Ghosts are considered a medium-sized tribe, and it is said that most of their members are natives of the Syndicate." "Natives?" "Yes, the Syndicate is famous for the constant influx of refugees and criminals from the other three major countries, but before that, there were also primitive natives on this desert, the earliest generation of local people." "Because of this, the Ghost tribe,posed entirely of local vigers, may have a poption of tens of thousands, but their overall strength is probably not stronger than a gang of over a thousand people. So they try to avoid all wars and do not participate in any fights, stubbornly guarding their small oasis and making a living by digging for minerals and harvesting desert nts." Hearing this, Eileen frowned beside her. The previous Ghosts in Ilinor, although his strength had also regressed, was at least able to summon a powerful technique like the Holy Sword Barrier. If they hadn''t encountered their demon race, they should have been at the top of the pyramid in the human world. As a result, such Ghosts could only rely on low-level means of livelihood such as mining and herb gathering? Yuffie shook her head and said, "Not only that, before those merchants left, a force called the ''Bloody Hand Gang'' had already issued an ultimatum to the Ghost tribe to hand over their oasis and merge their poption, that is, to annex them." "The Bloody Hand Gang is one of the several big local snake forces in the Syndicate, controlling multiple oasis cities with a poption of hundreds of thousands, several times that of the Ghost tribe. Moreover, its leader is said to be an extremely wicked criminal who escaped from the ''Court of Judgment'', with unfathomable strength. From any perspective, the Ghost tribe has no chance of winning and can only be annexed." "Hmm, I see. Anything else?" "The Empire''s prosecutor has left and did not discover our disguise. With the Empire''s temperament, it shouldn''t take long for them to also send troops to the Syndicate. Teacher needs to pay attention to this point," Yuffie added after some thought. .... After hearing Yuffie''s report, Reji returned to the Great Hall on the fifth floor of the Demon Tower and gathered all the Apostles to make a unified n for the next action. First of all, regardless of whether the Ghost tribe in the intelligence was the one he wanted to find, the key figures of this tribe had to be saved first in order to carry out subsequent investigations. But the merchants'' intelligence was from a few days ago, and it was very likely that the Ghost tribe had already been attacked. Ilinor was at least a week''s journey away from the Syndicate, so it was impossible to immediately dispatch arge army, so... Reji turned his gaze to Shermen. "Shermen, as the vanguard of our race, set out immediately and be the first to go to the Syndicate. Try to find this human and preserve her life as much as possible." The Shadow Demons were the fastest moving among the demon race. They could jump back and forth in the shadows. If Shermen, as the Shadow Demon Apostle, were to rush at full speed, she should be able to reach the Syndicate in just half a day. "As you wish, My king" Shermen immediately epted the order and took the intelligence report handed over by Reji, which had a portrait of a woman in her early twenties, the leader of the Ghost tribe. After all, this was a solo mission, so Reji couldn''t help but give an extra reminder, "Also, remember, no matter what happens along the way, your own safety is always the top priority. Anything beyond the n, wait until we arrive to discuss." "Yes, my King." Next, Reji turned to the Wisdom Demon. "Leo, you are responsible for the follow-up investigation and monitoring the movements of the Imperial Army. If possible, the Syndicate would be a good ce for a funeral." Reji had no intention of letting go of the fish that was sent to him like this. At least he had to actively try, after all, the previous Envoy had dropped a life-saving relic like the As. Maybe this time the Imperial Army could also drop some gold coins. However, this mission had a high risk factor, so Reji handed it over to the most capable Apostle to handle. "As youmand, my King." Leo stood up to ept the order. It was not possible to only focus on the Syndicate. Ilinor, which belonged to his own base, also needed to have Apostles left behind. After much thought, it had to be... When Reji''s gaze fell on her, Eileen already understood. As a Subus, her role was to manage internal affairs for the Demon King. "My King, please rest assured. I Eileen will guard Ilinor and ensure that Your Majesty''s policy of enving humans is strictly implemented." After Reji nodded, he seemed to know what to say next. This time, it was another Apostle, the neer Vielsia, who took the initiative to speak. "My King, for this mission in the Syndicate, Vielsia begs Your Majesty to give the main force position to the Elf race. We have received Your Majesty''s grace and wish to offer our strength. The Elves will not disappoint you." The other Apostles, including Eileen, acquiesced to Vielsia''s words and did not say much. The Elves indeed needed solid battle achievements to demonstrate their value and loyalty. Reji naturally knew this and nodded, approving Vielsia. As for the remaining Apostles, there was no need for arge-scale mobilization. Pierre and Hektor continued to train troops in the Demon Tower, Eris was responsible for handling the garbage transformation of the Demon Tower, and Sorcery Demon Dian controlled the Demon Tower to fly towards the Syndicate. Shermen had already set out first. Reji and Vielsia, unable to wait for the speed of the Demon Tower, led a small portion of the Elves and arge number of monster troops as the second batch, stepping onto the backs of the Chimeras. The blue-purple three-headed giant birds pped their wings and soared high, rushing into the clouds, carrying the Elf army on their backs, bringing bursts of whistling sounds as they flew straight towards the distant desert region - the Syndicate. Chapter 134: Chapter 134: How Many? In the Syndicate, at the Candice Oasis Region, in the Ghost Town. Shermen, the Shadow Demon Apostle, was in her sgadow element in the dark night. When She arrived at the Syndicate after infiltrating along the shadows and found the location on the intelligence map, the hovering Shermen looked down at this human small town. The small town was now filled with screams and cries. Large areas of burning houses had already indicated the town''s perilous situation. Under the firelight, human militia wearing simple linen shirts and wielding basic knives, spears, and sticks were now fighting against another group of humans who were much better equipped, with iron knee and wrist guards, armor protection on key parts, and more well-trained. In fact, it couldn''t be called a fight. These two forces were basically iparable. Thetter group of humans, with faces full of scars and the smell of blood, were wantonly ughtering the town''s militia. The militia''s defense line barely held on for a few rounds before quickly copsing. These invaders, who seemed to be the "Bloody Hand Gang" mentioned in Yuffie intelligence, sessively broke into the town. They began to burn, kill, and loot from house to house, dragging out the hiding vigers one by one. For those male vigers who still tried to resist, the members of the Bloody Hand Gang ruthlessly chopped down with axes, leaving headless viger corpses spurting blood, softly falling to the ground. This bloody scene triggered horrified screams from the other vigers. As for most of the female vigers, they were taken away in batches as resources. A small number of pretty-looking ones might be subjected to having sex on the spot. They didn''t seem to care that it was in full view of everyone. Judging from the expressions of these Bloody Hand Gang humans, they actually quite enjoyed this feeling of public y. Shermen coldly watched this scene of humans below. Indeed, as Leo said, what humans were best at was killing each other. She had no intention of intervening at all. Shermen was most faithfully carrying out the task Reji had given her. Under the night, the Shadow Demon activated her ability, and the entire small town was instantly under Shermen''s perception. When she opened her eyes again, she had found the target. "Miss Lisa, I don''t think we need to make things so unpleasant between us, do you?" The most elite militia of Ghost Town were here, forming a circle to protect the girl inside. Directly opposite them, the one who had just made the frivolous remark, was a man with a purple armband. Now the elite militia had the advantage in numbers, but they were extremely nervous. Some were even barely standing with trembling legs. This pressure obviously all came from that purple-armband man. In the Bloody Hand Gang, armbands were used to indicate rank, and purple was second only to red, undoubtedly indicating the other party''s identity as one of the vice leaders of the Bloody Hand Gang. "I''ve already said it! We really don''t know anything about magic oil mines! There are no such mineral veins under this desert at all! Even if you ask me ten thousand more times, the answer will still be the same!" "Haha, Miss Lisa, you''re joking. Everyone in the Syndicate knows that your Ghost Tribe is the most knowledgeable about this desert and the most skilled in mining. I''ll just say it straight. As long as Miss Lisa is willing to cooperate with us and work with the Bloody Hand Gang to mine the magic oil, when the Imperial Army arrives soon, I can rmend you to the Empire. How about that? Sincere enough, right?" "There! Are! No! Magic oil mines here at all!" Seeing Lisa screaming like this, the purple-armband man shook his head regretfully. He moved his fingers, and instantly, six or seven elite members of the Bloody Hand Gang with blue armbands appeared from behind. They stepped towards Lisa one by one. Those militia guards immediately stepped forward to block them, but unfortunately, they didn''t evenst one round before being miserably killed by the Bloody Hand Gang. "Uncle Di! You, you all!" Seeing the deaths of the guards one by one, the indignant Lisa also wanted to join the battle. It could be seen that Lisa probably had experience as an adventurer, with strongerbat power than the other vigers. But this bit of strength was still far from enough. After just a few rounds, Lisa, the leader of Ghost Town, was fiercely pressed to the ground by three to five blue-armband elite members of the Bloody Hand Gang, unable to move at all. Among them, a few even reached out with wicked smiles to touch the fiercely resisting female leader, full of humiliating intent. However, in the next moment... St! St! St! The sound of flesh being pierced rang out several times. Before the purple-armband vice leader could react, those elite Bloody Hand Gang members pressing down on Lisa fell back one by one with holes in their chests, their faces full of confusion as they looked down at the gaping wounds, finally copsing powerlessly. WH.. What! This sudden change startled the Bloody Hand Gang vice leader. He immediately retreated several steps because everything had happened too suddenly. There was no one else around, so it could only be Lisa. "Well, well, well, it seems I really underestimated you. But remember, Miss Lisa, tonight is just a warning. No matter what tricks you have up your sleeve, the main force of the Bloody Hand Gang will arrive tomorrow. At that time, it won''t be as simple as being raided for the Ghost Tribe." "I advise you to think carefully, Miss Lisa." To be able to rise to a high position in a chaotic ce like the Syndicate, the first basic requirement was to have a keen sense of danger. Right now, this purple-armband man felt a chill down his spine, as if in the darkness and shadows, there seemed to be a terrifying monster staring at him, emitting a strong sense of crisis from his entire body. So after leaving these harsh words, this Bloody Hand Gang vice leader really decisively retreated immediately with the remaining Bloody Hand Gang members. And it was a rapid retreat, as far away as possible. Finally, Lisa, who had copsed on the ground, struggled to get up in a daze. She didn''t know what had happened, but at least they should be safe, temporarily. "Who''s there? Can youe out?" Lisa looked around the dark night. In fact, she was just asking tentatively. As a result, when Lisa turned around, she was instantly startled. At some unknown time, a cloaked... girl? was standing behind her, seemingly staring straight at her. "Were you the one who saved me? Thank you! Thank you so much!" "But, can I know who you are...?" "You don''t look like you''re from the Syndicate. Are you... from the outside?" Lisa asked several questions in a row, but the cold Shermen, of course, did not reply to this human with a single word. At this moment, another figure running over from a distance broke the deadlock. "Sister!" "You''re okay, that''s great, that''s great! Those Bloody Hand Gang people all suddenly left. Did, did you sessfully negotiate with them on this side, sister?" The boy who suddenly ran over had some resemnce to Lisa and was about fifteen or sixteen years old. His face showed some excitement and anticipation, but when he discovered the dead bodies of the elite Bloody Hand Gang members on the ground, his smile gradually faded and turned into a frown. "Sister, what did happned here!?..." "Let''s go back to the town first and gather everyone." Lisa shook her head. Seeing that this mysterious person ignored her, Lisa couldn''t force it and could only give up. Her sense of crisis had not been lifted at all. Her mind was still filled with the words left by the Bloody Hand Gang vice leader just now. Tomorrow would be the official attack. Right now, Lisa hurriedly summoned the few surviving core members of the Ghost Tribe who had just escaped the raid. She didn''t let them bother with counting the losses. The most important thing now was... "We have to go! We must leave!" The only thing that could save their Ghost Tribe now was to run. Even if it meant abandoning their ancestral oasis that had been passed down for many generations, they had to evacuate for the sake of survival. Many tribe members had gloomy and unwilling expressions, full of humiliation, but indeed, what else could they do? They had no other choice. However, Lisa''s younger brother seemed a bit anxious when he heard that his sister wanted to relocate the tribe overnight. He seemed to be trying hard to find some reason to dissuade her. But at this moment, a cold voice that no one expected suddenly sounded in the room. "Don''t leave." "Ghost, Konstantin, Ilinor reinforcements, arriving tomorrow." It wasn''t until Shermen spoke that many tribe members were surprised to discover Shermen''s existence. However,pared to this extra stranger, they were more concerned about what Shermen had just said. "Ilinor reinforcements!?" What was that!? Could it be that we still had reinforcements!? Lisa, as the leader, was also confused. She roughly understood Shermen''s meaning. It seemed that a member of the Ghost Tribe named Konstantin had sought reinforcements for them from Ilinor, and they would arrive tomorrow? But the problem was... Konstantin? Who was Konstantin? I don''t remember there being such a person in the Ghost Tribe. But just as Lisa was about to speak, her clever younger brother beside her tugged at her, stopping her. Then the younger brother immediately said to Shermen, "Konstantin! Oh my god! He actually seeded! So you are from Ilinor! No wonder! No matter how vicious those Bloody Hand Gang viins are, they wouldn''t dare provoke a kingdom like Ilinor!" "So, mydy, can you reveal how many reinforcements Ilinor has sent?" Although Lisa felt that her younger brother was doing something very wrong. He shouldn''t lie to people. But after all, this concerned the entire Ghost Tribe, the heritage of her many ancestors. Lisa also didn''t want it to fall apart in her hands, so she pursed her lips and didn''t say anything. As for the other tribe vigers, they all looked at Shermen with iparable expectation and full of joy. Although Ilinor was not a big kingdom, they had also heard that it should at least send tens of thousands of troops, right? Even if it was a bit lower, a few thousand knights would be enough! Until... Shermen silently calcted in her mind. This time the main force was the Elves. Vielsia had mobilized as many as 80 w Druids, 40 Centaur Sentinels, ten Mountain Giants, as well as Hippogriffs, Elven Archers and Huntresses, and eight Chimeras... "200." Shermen finally uttered this number. And with this, the other members of the Ghost Tribe, who had just been overjoyed thinking they were finally saved, had their expressions instantly freeze in ce. "How, how many reinforcements?" They suspected that their ears had a problem and anxiously asked again. But unfortunately, the result still left them in despair. "200." Chapter 135: Chapter 135: Desert People 2 in 1 chapter. -------- The number of reinforcements they learned from Shermen shattered the dream of the Ghost Tribe members. Even Lisa''s brother seemed to want to ask Shermen, "Are there two hundred of what?" After all, there was still a significant difference between two hundred infantry and two hundred cavalry. But before her brother could ask, Lisa stopped him. "That''s enough." The female leader of the tribe shook her head. They should have realized long ago that for the Syndicate, there was never any help from the outside world. The outside world only brought chaos to the Syndicate. "Notify everyone to pack up immediately. Leave everything here except for essential supplies and give it to them. Evacuate this oasis as quickly as possible and then... leave the Syndicate." Lisa clenched her fists a little tighter at the end. The other older members of the tribe did the same, especially at Lisa''sst sentence about leaving the Syndicate. Back in the day, although the Syndicate was geographically located at the central intersection of the Radiant Church, the Court of Judgment, and the Mage Nation, the three super kingdoms second only to the Empire in the world. But because it was all desert, vast seas of sand, and year-round sandstorms, none of the major nations were interested in the Syndicate. Because of this, at that time, the Syndicate only had the purest desert people, those true desert-loving ancestors of theirs. In the eyes of outsiders, the barren and deste desert had nurtured them for hundreds of years. It was their ancestralnd, helping them iste from the world and providing shelter from external turmoil. Every desert dweller had a deep affection for this ce. Even if they were forced again and again by outsiders, they were reluctant to leave the sand sea, even if it meant living in a small oasis and surviving in the cracks. Thinking of this, a tribe member''s eyes turned red with anger, and he mmed his fist on the table. "A bunch of bastards!" "Why did we have to take in those dogs in the first ce? We should have let them die in the desert, eaten by sandworms!" The older member''s words made Lisa lower her head. She apologized, "I''m sorry." "No, no, Lady Lisa, this has nothing to do with you. We didn''t mean it that way." Seeing Lisa''s appearance, several desert people immediately reacted and hurriedly exined. But Lisa shook her head. Even if others didn''t think so, she knew that the Syndicate had be what it was today, and they, as desert people, were forced to leave their homes, all because of her and her ancestors. Just as the previous tribal member said. Around 500 years ago, the number of criminals and refugees from the three major countries suddenly increased several times, which led to those who always wanted to try their luck, or had nowhere to go, choosing to flee to the desert. But obviously, they knew nothing about the sand sea. In the Syndicate, they struggled to move and fell on the sand sea on the verge of death in just a few weeks. At that time, as the leader of the desert people, her many generations of great-grandfathers ultimately could not bear to see this. They pulled these outsiders out of the sand sea, gave them aid, food, and water. These outsiders, brought back from the brink of death, then begged her ancestors to take them in, these homeless people. At that time, her kind ancestors did not think much and generously epted them. Not only did they ept them, but they also actively taught them how to be desert people, how to find oases, how to nt crops in oases, how to identify directions in the desert, how to resist sandstorms, and how to fight sand beasts. The first generation of outsiders thus absorbed the inherited knowledge of their ancestors and began to expand rapidly in the Syndicate, attracting the next batch, the next next batch, more and more criminals and refugees from the outside world, who saw the Syndicate as their new world and flocked to it. By the time her ancestors came to their senses, it was toote. Their greatest advantage, familiarity with and knowledge of the sand sea, had vanished. And the outsiders, these refugees and criminals, had armed forces from the three major countries, various advanced spells, scrolls, and artifacts. These vicious thugs finally stopped hiding their true colors and began endless strife in the Syndicate. As the leader of the desert people, her ancestral grandfathers had tried to regain order. But that was also the most devastating loss for their desert people. Countless tribesmen were ughtered. In the face of the fierce refugees and the most heinous thugs, they were no match at all. In the end, in order to survive, they had no choice but to hide their identities. They used the name "Ghost" to constantly warn their tribesmen not to participate in the struggles of those outsiders in the Syndicate. They gave uprge swaths of oases, bing an invisible ghost, curling up in the corner to survive. However, with the sudden deterioration of the Syndicate''s environment in recent years, the sand sea began to devour oases one after another for unknown reasons. The living space of the outsiders was also seriously threatened, so they could no longer even be this small ghost. Lisa had long considered such an ending, and she was also prepared for it. The mistakes made by her ancestors back then, she would now repay everyone for them. "Evacuation alone is not enough. The Bloody Hand Gang is ruthless to other tribes. Even if they get our oasis, they will most likely still catch up, so at that time, I will stay behind to cover the rear and buy time for everyone." "No! Lisa! You are still young! This kind of thing should be said to be our responsibility..." As soon as Lisa said this, a middle-aged desert person became anxious and spoke up to refute. Many other members in the room also echoed. It could be seen that although the leader was young, she still had a lot of trust and status in everyone''s hearts. The desert people actually never hated Lisa''s ancestors. They only hated those ungrateful outsiders. Shaking her head, Lisa had actually considered it. She exined, "The Bloody Hand Gang seems to be certain that there arerge magic oil mines avable for mining under the desert. I will provide them with information about the magic oil mines at that time. They will inevitably be distracted and give up the pursuit and killing." As soon as the sister said this, the younger brother''s eyes immediately lit up. He hurriedly asked, "So sister, could it be, could it be that the rumors of magic oil mines are true!?" "Bob, what are you thinking? Those outsiders are foolish and can''t distinguish rumors. As desert people, don''t we know that there is nothing under this sand sea, and there are no magic oil mines at all!" Lisa was a little angry. This was the first time she had such a big temper with her younger brother. Not only was the younger brother so concerned about the rumors, but more importantly... "Bob! In the future, you are to rece my position and continue to guide everyone. With you like this, how can you let me rest assured to hand over the tribe to you!" "Miss Lisa, it''s okay. Bob is still young." "Yes, we will also support Bob. With us around, Bob will be an excellent leader." The dissuasion from the other desert people, coupled with her younger brother lowering his head deeply after being scolded by her, quickly softened Lisa''s anger, especially since they would part ways after tonight and might never see each other again in their lifetime. "Bob, here, take this." Finally, Lisa handed a piece of stone tablet to her younger brother. The fragment was in and ordinary, and it looked weathered with some blurry traces on it, like a map, but it had long been severely weathered and worn out, making it impossible to see anything clearly. It was said to trace back to the origin of the desert people a thousand years ago. In the boundless sand sea, the first generation of desert people knew nothing and needed to cross the river by feeling the stones. Just when they were running out of food and could barely hold on, a mysterious stone tablet that fell from the sky gave them guidance. The desert people discovered the first oasis ording to the marked location on the stone tablet, which gave rise to the subsequent civilization and heritage. But of course, such a distant past from a thousand years ago was basically regarded as a legend and anecdote now. Moreover, the stone tablet had already crumbled on its own, as if it was severely aged, during the time of Lisa''s unknown number of great-great-grandfathers, so even fewer people believed that it was a divine object like in the stories. In the hearts of the desert people, it was more of a symbolic meaning and a sense of ritual. So now, many desert people in the room became extremely solemn at this scene. When Lisa handed the stone tablet fragment symbolizing their origin to Bob, it also meant that she was passing the position of the tribal leader to her younger brother. From this moment on, Bob would rece his sister and be their new leader, guiding them to continue moving forward. Feeling the trusting gazes from everyone and the expectant and hopeful eyes of his sister, Bob nodded seriously and carefully put the stone tablet fragment into his bosom, as if to show everyone that he would take on this heavy responsibility well. It is worth mentioning that in the end, Lisa also apologized to Shermen on behalf of her brother, telling Shermen that she might have found the wrong person. She didn''t know Konstantin at all, and the Ghost Tribe had never said they sought help from Ilinor. If there were really reinforcements, let them return quickly. The lives of two hundred people were also lives, and there was no need to send them to their deaths. After that, the people in the room left one after another to prepare for the evacuation and escape. As for Bob... He did not go to help other desert people like his sister but found an excuse to leave temporarily. With a turn, he merged into the shadows of the night. A few minutester, when Bob reappeared, he had already arrived at a secret camp of the Bloody Hand Gang not far from their Ghost Tribe. The Bloody Hand Gang members here seemed to have known Bob for a long time. Seeing himing, they showed little reaction and let him pass. Bob went all the way to the room of the vice leader in purple sleeves, who had previously thrown people to raid the Ghost Town and killed many desert people. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 136: Chapter 136: What Are You Waiting For? part 1 "Brother Bob, I hope you''re bringing me good news this time. You know, I suffered heavy losses just to cooperate with your damn n of pressuring your sister to reveal the truth." "Five! Five eliteof my brothers of our Gang were taken out by your stubborn bi*ch of a sister." It was clear that the vice-leader of the Bloody Hand Gang was in a very bad mood. As soon as Bob pushed the door open and entered, he was met with a fierce re and a barrage of foulnguage from the vice-leader. "Those five men weren''t killed by my sister. I know Lisa well; she doesn''t have any hidden tricks up her sleeve." "Then who was it? Did they die for no reason!?" "It was a mage from Ilinor." Upon hearing Bob''s words, the vice-leader immediately sat up straight, furrowing his brows. "Wait, what did you say? Ilinor? How does this involve another country!?" "It''s like this..." Bob then briefly recounted Shermen''s story to the vice-leader. After listening, the vice-leader finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down. "Your sister is really lucky to have encountered such a thing. But you''re sure that even if Ilinor''s reinforcementse by mistake, it will only be around two hundred people, right?" "Yeah, and my sister was even foolish enough to make it clear to that mage, telling him the truth. So don''t worry, those reinforcements won''te." "Hahaha, even if they doe, it doesn''t matter. It''s just killing a couple hundred more weaklings from a small country. It might even add to the excitement." Initially, the vice-leader was startled, thinking that Ilinor would send several tens of thousands of regr troops, which the Bloody Hand Gang couldn''t afford to provoke at all and would have to flee immediately. If thousands of troops came, depending on their type, if they were all ordinary infantry and the like, they could fight, but they would likely suffer heavy losses and be severely weakened. They would have to reconsider. But if it was a team of two hundred people... Wasn''t this just sending them to their deaths? Not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth. How could these pampered kingdom soldierspare to them, the Syndicate people who fought every day, without relying on numerical advantage? And they had the nerve to call this reinforcements? If these two hundred people were all "Hunters" from the Empire, then he would think it was more reasonable. "Alright, let''s get to the point, Bob. Did your sister tell you where the magic oil mine is?" Bob shook his head and asked in return, "Brien, are you really sure there is a magic oil mine? I''ve tried to probe my sister many times, but without results. Lisa doesn''t seem to be lying." "Hmph, your sister is the leader. Even if you''re siblings, she must still be hiding things from you." "No, just now, my sister passed the location to me. Now do you believe it?" Bob took out the "stone tablet fragment" he had been holding and ced it in front of the vice-leader of the Bloody Hand Gang. Brien also recognized the stone tablet fragment. After all, although the desert people had declined, their culture still influenced these outsiders, including the stone tablet fragments. Of course, these stone tablet fragments had long been scattered during the war, usually collected by ck market merchants or other sentimental gang leaders as souvenirs. Only the desert people were still so obsessed with them, and it was said that they even used this as part of the ceremony for transferring leadership. Bob sighed at this. In fact, he also disliked this crude custom. After some thought, he finally didn''t throw away this broken piece of stone and put it away again. After all, he was going to be the leaderter. Seeing that Bob had been passed the leadership by his sister, Brien was also a little puzzled, but he quickly shook his head and said firmly, "The magic oil mine definitely exists. If you don''t believe me, do you not believe the Empire?" "To tell you the truth, this informationes from the Great Sage of the Empire. Do I need to tell you what kind of existence the Great Sage is?" Since the influx of outsiders into the Syndicate, these desert people naturally learned about the outside world, so Bob was certainly aware of the "Great Sage". The five Great Sages were not only high-ranking and important in the Empire, second only to the "Emperor", but they were all renowned and powerful mages who could even cast the legendary seventh-tier spells. If that wasn''t enough... The vice-leader''s next sentence shocked Bob. "The reason I''m in such a hurry is that the Seventh Prince of the Empire, His Highness Olba, has personally set out on an expedition and is on his way to our Syndicate. If he''s fast, he might arrive this week." "At that time, if we can directly present the magic oil mine to the prince, from now on, you and I will be able to join the Empire and be followers of the Seventh Prince! Then we won''t have to stay in this godforsaken ce like the Syndicate anymore. We won''t have to breathe in a mouthful of sand, but instead embrace the fresh air of the Empire and enjoy the most abundant resources in the world. Can you understand that!!" Following the vice-leader''s words, Bob''s eyes also became a little fiery, and his breathing quickened. Such a beautiful future should be what everyone in the world dreams of. That''s right, what''s so good about the desert? The love for the desert is all bullshit! Since you''re so enthusiastic about the desert and like the Syndicate... Bob''s eyes gradually turned cold. "It doesn''t matter. Even if my sister really doesn''t know the location, these desert people from the Ghost Tribe are all high-quality resources that His Highness the Seventh Prince needs." Chapter 137: Chapter 137: What Are You Waiting For? part 2 "It doesn''t matter. Even if my sister really doesn''t know the location, these desert people from the Ghost Tribe are all high-quality resources that His Highness the Seventh Prince needs." "When the Seventh Prince finds the magic oil mine, he will definitely need arge number of workers for mining. Those desert people may not be good at anything else, but mining is their specialty. Plus, they are familiar with the environment and their bodies are adapted to working in the desert. They will be the prince''s bestborers." "Tsk tsk, not bad, Brother Bob. This is what I admire about you. You''re someone who can do great things." Upon hearing this, the vice-leader nodded frequently. Indeed, it could be used as an alternative. Providing arge number of high-qualityborers could also be a bargaining chip for them to curry favor with the prince. "Don''t dy any longer. My sister is preparing to let those desert people escape tonight. You guys make some preparations and surround Ghost Town in half an hour." "Hehe, your sister is quite ruthless too, willing to give up the oasis. I understand. No need for half an hour. You go back now. Stall for a while longer, and the Bloody Hand Gang will arrive at Ghost Town in fifteen minutes." ¡­ The desert people in Ghost Town, the young children and the elderly, were the first batch to retreat under Lisa''s arrangement. Even though they were reluctant to leave their homnd, they could only stagger away with their luggage in the middle of the night. However, even thisst right, the right to live, was now to be taken away. Bundles of torches, as if they had been waiting for a long time, quickly lit up on the outskirts of Ghost Town, followed by fierce-looking members of the Bloody Hand Gang. Before Lisa and the other desert people in Ghost Town could react, the elderly and children who had just left were already being attacked by the members of the Bloody Hand Gang, wielding weapons. This was not a battle at all. It was apletely bloody massacre. The elderly had no power to resist and fell one by one in pools of blood. The cruel thugs, who were originally criminals from the Bloody Hand Gang, did not even spare the children. After all, the boss had said... They couldn''t kill too many ordinary desert people, as they were allbor force for the future. Killing them would be a waste of their wealth. So naturally, this murderous desire could only be satisfied on these elderly and young who couldn''t be counted asbor force. "No, no!" "Come back! Come back quickly!!" Lisa, under this scene, was heartbroken. She wanted to lead the other equally grief-stricken desert people out to save these children, but by the time they arrived, the group of hundreds of elderly and young people was now lifeless. At this point, no more words were of use. All the desert people wanted to do now was to take revenge and kill these beasts from the Bloody Hand Gang. Strong spell fluctuations emanated from Lisa''s body. The sand grains around her seemed to tremble with Lisa''s emotions and began to swirl around her. The fate track believed by the desert people of the Syndicate was, as their name suggested, the "Sand Sea". Therefore, their powers were all rted to "sand". Unfortunately, the decline of the desert people was actually inseparable from the decline of the "Sand Sea" fate track. In other words, the Sand Sea had not responded to them for a long time. However, at this moment, perhaps it was the sight of the people being ughtered, or perhaps it was Lisa''s furious emotions that truly touched something. At this moment, the "Sand Sea" fate track on Lisa''s body truly flickered again, and the power of Star Sculpt began to raise Lisa''s strength bit by bit. In just a moment, Lisa was surging with the power of the third tier. If the home field advantage was taken into ount, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that her strength wasparable to the fourth tier. This immediately attracted special attention from the Bloody Hand Gang. Especially Brien, the vice-leader, who immediately gave someone a look. Then... "Ah!!" A scream suddenly rang out from beside Lisa. Her brother, Bob, now had arge wound on his abdomen. He was blown away several meters and was spitting out blood. And the source of the attack was none other than... Shermen. ''Hah!?'' This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present. Just as Lisa thought that Shermen was an undercover agent of the Bloody Hand Gang and was about to turn her anger on Shermen... Because Bob was blown away, the poisoned dagger hidden in her brother''s hand also flew out and fell to the ground. "What is... this!?" Lisa''s mind was nowpletely nk. She was dazed until Bob, whom she regarded as her sessor, called out to the Bloody Hand Gang for help after recovering a little. Only then did Lisa understand and realize everything. On the other side, Brien frowned even more. Just now, he didn''t even see Shermen''s move clearly, and Bob, whom he had hinted to sneak attack his sister, was blown away. ''Damn it!'' ''Why were there always unexpected events!'' "Go, these unrepentant desert people and that stupid mage from Ilinor, kill them all. There''s no need to keep them anymore!" ''Even if Lisa had an awakening on the battlefield, even if that cloaked female mage seemed to want to help the desert people, so what?'' ''You can beat one, but can you beat ten? A hundred? A thousand?'' This time, he had brought a full three thousand men. This was already his limit as the vice-leader. Today, even if a fifth-tier mage came, they would have to obediently lie down for Brien! The premise of a battle of attrition was... There had to be real consumption. Chapter 138: Chapter 138: What Are You Waiting For? part 3 --------- This was indeed effective for Lisa. She could still manipte the sand to force back the first few elites of the Bloody Hand Gang, but when five or six more cameter, Lisa was overwhelmed and started panting. But... ''Squish! Squish! Squish! Squish!'' There was a game called popping bubbles. It could roughly describe Shermen''s current battle situation. Those murderous members of the Bloody Hand Gang, with vicious smiles on their faces, hadn''t even approached within five meters of Shermen before their bodies were pierced one by one by shadow thorns. It couldn''t be simpler. This caused theter members of the Bloody Hand Gang to be stunned. No one had ever seen such a bizarre "spell". But what made them relieved was that Shermen didn''t seem to actively attack them. As long as they didn''t attack or approach him and Lisa, Shermen remained motionless and silent. Seeing that many elite members of the Bloody Hand Gang were having thoughts of retreating, Vice-Leader Brien became anxious. He was very smart and definitely wouldn''t go up himself. He loudly shouted at the other retreating members: "Don''t be afraid! All of you fucking charge forward! Think carefully! If that mage really had such great abilities, she would havee to kill us long ago. Why would she still be defending there? What is she waiting for!?" Upon hearing the vice-leader''s words... Many members of the Bloody Hand Gang became restless again. Yeah... If she was really a powerful one, why would she still be defending? And had to wait for us to attack before retaliating? There must be a problem in between! But to be on the safe side, they would wait a little longer. In their view, Shermen wasn''t running away or actively attacking anyway. In that time, it would be even better for them to call in more of their main force. Even with the stalemate, more and more members of the Bloody Hand Gang quickly filled in,pletely surrounding Shermen and Lisa, leaving no gaps. The vice-leader in the distance breathed a sigh of relief at this point and looked at Shermen inside the encirclement with an expression as if looking at an idiot. Still waiting there? He was waiting for his thousands of Bloody Hand Gang''s main force to fully gather. What are you waiting for? Why not take the opportunity to break through while we were caught off guard earlier? Now? Trying to break through was simply a pipe dream. After waiting for a long time, he thought there would be some trick up the sleeve. Now it seemed... Waiting for death? Compared to the arrogant and confident vice-leader of the Bloody Hand Gang, Lisa beside Shermen was actually more anxious. She also didn''t know what this very powerful mage was waiting for. Shermen was indeed waiting. Because she kept in mind Reji''s instructions to her. In case of unexpected situations, she must wait until they arrived before making a move. Now this was obviously an unexpected situation. So Shermen''s first priority was to protect the target mission, and the second was to protect herself, not to be too high-profile, and wait for the king''s arrival for everything. If these thousands of Bloody Hand Gang members really swarmed in, it would be a simple matter for Shermen to eliminate these humans. But ording to the Demon king''s intention, Shermen was more inclined to leave with Lisa. This was indeed something Reji had told each apostle - to minimize the use of demon force as much as possible. In the face of unknown enemies, hiding was the best protection. But there was actually a loophole in this. Minimize the use of "demon" force. Then elves were naturally an exception. ... In the distant night sky, there seemed to be a faint rumbling of thunder. That was not an illusion. Daylight lightning that seemed to illuminate the night sky began to sh frequently from the distant horizon. The thunder in the ears was getting louder and louder. As if it was approaching. That destructive, tearing lightning was like a shing night light, like the rapidly shing ceiling light in a dark old building corridor at night in a horror movie, step by step from far to near. "What... what the hell!?" If it were people from other regions, they might not have made such a fuss. But the Syndicate was different. This was a barren desert, a sand sea! The Syndicate people were very sure that there was no storm or thunder and lightning here at all. Finally. When the thunder and lightning finally reached the sky above the people on the ground, the Bloody Hand Gang members, feeling strange and fearful, looked up and finally saw clearly. Under the lightning in the night sky overhead, they saw a huge, two-headed, tailless bird with another head, a three-headed blue-purple giant bird that shed by. The sky full of thunderclouds and lightning seemed to be summoned by the tail head of this monster. Wait. Did the other two heads also have some special abilities? The Bloody Hand Gang members suddenly had this thought in their minds for some reason. And as a reward for the correct answer. In the sky, the blue-purple giant bird that covered the sky shed a blue and a red light from its two heads. After a brief gathering and charging... Boooooooooom! A bone-chilling, extremely cold magical breath swept over the Bloody Hand Gang members below. And immediately after. That zing red fireball, carrying rolling heat waves, like a falling sun, rapidly erged in the eyes of the vice-leader of the Bloody Hand Gang, who had his mouth wide open in horror. At this moment. Especially when he saw the cold magical breath and the falling sun fireball seemingly grow eyes, avoiding Ghost Town and even avoiding Shermen and Lisa who were very close to them. At this moment, Brien seemed to finally understand what that female mage, Shermen, was waiting for. Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Im Responsible for Sending Them to Meet Him part 1 The ice and fire breath could be considered the regr attacks of the Chimera. In an instant, the frigid cold wave turned several hundred members of the Bloody Hand Gang into ice sculptures, their faces still frozen in expressions of terror, and their postures still desperately trying to run away. But there was no need to worry. In the next moment, after the huge fireball from the zing breath crashed to the ground, the surging sea of mes instantly devoured everything. The ice sculptures directly sublimated into gas under the scorching heat wave. As for the other members of the Bloody Hand Gang who were lucky enough to escape the ice breath, they suffered a more miserable fate. Their entire skin spontaneouslybusted, and the intense burning sensation made them scream in agony. The vast majority of them couldn''t even withstand the heat wave when the fireball approached, and only a very few, such as the powerful vice-leader, could enjoy the true baptism of fire and be reduced to ashes in the sea of mes. Just this one strike from Vielsia controlling the Chimera was enough to annihte more than a thousand members of the Bloody Hand Gang, directly reducing their numbers by more than a third, from the densely packed crowd that had previously surrounded the Ghost Town. This surprised Reji, who was also on the back of the Chimera, beside the elf. He had thought that Vielsia would hold back a little, after all, elves had always been the most righteous and merciful, but now it seemed that his previous concern about the elves not being able to adapt to thebat style of the demon race was a bit excessive. As could be seen, the Chimera''s regr attack was already more than enough to scare the remaining two thousand or so members of the Bloody Hand Gang out of their wits. Not to mention their fighting spirit, they didn''t even have the courage to run away. They directly threw down all their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy from the blue-purple giant raven in the thunderstorm in the sky, as if it were some mythical beast. Seeing that the members of the Bloody Hand Gang had all given up resistance and surrendered their weapons, Vielsia indeed made the Chimera stop, and she controlled it to descend. Many members of the Bloody Hand Gang were overjoyed at this scene, kowtowing even more vigorously to the Chimera, regarding it as a deity and thanking the deity for its mercy in not killing them. But soon, the expressions of relief on their faces began to quickly transform, once again turning into fear and horror. Because as the Chimera descended, the people of the Bloody Hand Gang could finally see clearly that there were many flickering figures on the back of this huge avian creature. Among them were strange creatures with the beautiful faces of human females but the lower bodies of deer, terrifying giant bears that wererger than two stacked horse-drawn carriages, with gray-brown fur all over their bodies, and ck-striped leopards with fangs as sharp as sword teeth. These... these are!? Beasts? No, no, no! Monsters? It doesn''t seem like that either... Before the people of the Bloody Hand Gang could react, the Chimera carrying this group of magical beasts, this deity beast in their eyes, actually lowered its head, allowing them to see a female figure standing on the Chimera''s skull, coldly looking down at them. She had moon-like silver-gray long hair, enchanting ruby-red eyes, and beneath her stunning face, she seemed like a goddess-like existence. Unfortunately, themand that came out of the silver-haired goddess''s mouth next pulled them back to reality. "Leave none alive." Vielsia had personally witnessed how this group of Bloody Hand Gang had massacred the elderly and young children. If it were her from before, she might have suppressed her anger and wanted to first tie them up and hand them over to a fair judge to give them the punishment they deserved. But now... Upon receiving Vielsia''smand, the bright elven beast army immediately took action. The forest nymph deer raised the long spears in their hands and aimed at the members of the Bloody Hand Gang, throwing with precision. Although the forest nymphs'' arms looked slender, the long spears in their hands were like arrows leaving the bowstring, whistling through the air with a piercing sound, skewering four or five members of the Bloody Hand Gang into human kebabs before gradually disappearing and reconstituting in the forest nymphs'' hands. At the same time, along the trajectory of the long spears, a dark green miasma began to spread. Any member of the Bloody Hand Gang who came into contact with it had purple lips within a few breaths, their entire body paralyzed by the deadly poison, and after two or three seconds, theypletely turned into stiff corpses. If the lethality of the forest nymph deer was not enough, then the w Druids, the brown giant bears that leaped from the back of the Chimera into the crowd, were definitely the most violent meat grinders. The druids stood up, as tall as a banyan tree, and with a sweep of their heavy paws, they directly turned the fan-shaped area within a few meters in front of them into a vacuum. The members of the Bloody Hand Gang there became minced meat paste under the druids'' ws. Looking at the battle below that had no suspense, it was not an exaggeration to call it a bloody massacre. Reji deliberately asked the girl beside him, "Vielsia, do you really not need to hand them over to the judge?" "Teacher, I am sending them to meet the judge," the silver-haired elf replied very cleanly and efficiently. "Oh?" "For the most evil ones, I believe only She, the Mother Earth, can judge them. So... Teacher, I am sending them to meet the judge." Vielsia nodded to Reji with certainty. Although the elf now had red eyes, they still maintained the rity and righteousness from before, showing that she indeed never felt that she had vited her principles. Reji was extremely gratified. "Not bad, it seems you have indeed learned a lot." "No, it''s all thanks to teacher''s good teaching." The three thousand members of the Bloody Hand Gang were not even enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of the elven beast army. In less than a few minutes, they werepletely annihted. The beast army very loyally executed their queen''s order to "leave none alive". At this point, it seemed that the crisis in Ghost Town had been resolved. Many desert people, including Lisa, although trembling in fear of the terrifying beast army, could at least discern that these monsters hade to help them. But at this moment, Shermen beside Lisa actually frowned slightly and manipted the Shadow Hand to form a protective shield, enveloping Lisa. "My lord, you...?" Lisa was still confused when many desert people at the edges had already cried out in rm. "Quick, look over there..." "The yellow sand is rising, it''s... it''s a sandstorm! A sandstorm ising!" "How is this possible! It''s been less than a week since thest sandstorm, why... why has it appeared again!" "The size of this sandstorm... it''s over, it''s... it''s hurricane-level!?" Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Im Responsible for Sending Them to Meet Him part 2 This is yesterday''s chapters; the new chapters will be posted after 3h. ------- Following the panicked gazes of the desert people, a huge vortex could be seen forming in the sky just a few kilometers away from Ghost Town, stirring up countless yellow sands from below, forming a sandstorm. With each rotation of the vortex, more and more yellow sand was sucked up and entrained, and what might have been a small tornado a dozen meters wide one moment could be arge sandstorm vortex several dozen meters wide the next, still expanding. This scene of world-destroying devastation was no less impressive than the previous arrival of the Chimera, and perhaps even more so. This made many of the desert people of Ghost Townpletely despair, no longer harboring any dream, and some even began to repent because of it. "Thest time a hurricane-level dust storm appeared was hundreds of years ago, this... this is divine punishment, divine punishment..." "His... His wrath has descended, the Syndicate is over, He will devour the oasis, take back all blessings, retribution, it''s all retribution." "From the moment those outsiders trampled on the sand sea and wantonly polluted the oasis, everything was destined..." On the back of the Chimera, Reji also looked into the distance at the hurricane sandstorm that was growingrger andrger, getting closer and closer to them. Even the Chimera now seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, its three heads shaking uneasily. So that''s how it is, the source of the shrinking oases in the Syndicate is the frequent sandstorms? From the sandstorm, Reji could indeed sense a hint of unusual power, which was definitely not an ordinary natural phenomenon. Natural phenomena alone could never reach this level. If Reji had to describe the mysterious power in the sandstorm, it might be simr to what he felt when his consciousness entered the "Fate Track" to activate Star Sculpt, the power of the chaotic outer universe world belonging to the "Fate Track", or perhaps belonging to "His" world? In fact, Vielsia should have noticed it as soon as the sandstorm started. This should also be why she suddenly made the Chimra stop and descend, switching to the beast army to annihte the Bloody Hand Gang. Now that such a huge sandstorm had appeared, it seemed to be due to the Chimera''s breath, either because its magic fluctuations had triggered some reaction in the sand sea, or because of some other quality of the Chimera? The hurricane sandstorm had already taken shape and could not be stopped, and of course, they had no problem moving now. With the Chimera''s flying speed, even ten sandstorms couldn''t catch up, but the Ghost Town oasis below couldn''t move. If they wanted to protect these residents as well... Reji thought for a moment. If he had any of the other apostles by his side, it seemed that there really wasn''t a good solution. Only the Sorcerer Demon might be able to temporarily construct arge-scale teleportation array, but whether the vigers could withstand it was still an unknown. This also reflected that the demon race was indeed somewhat extreme, with all their power points invested in "offense", and quite weak in "deffense". If there had been a guardian-type apostle, the Demon King in the first ythrough should not have been so easily killed by him. So, in the second ythrough... "Teacher, take everyone to the town first." "Do you not need me to assist with anything?" Faced with Reji''s concern, Vielsia smiled. She stared at the distant sandstorm as she gradually floated into the air, leaving only her back and a confident tone to Reji. "The forest is the most feared natural enemy of sand and dust." A verdant green glow flickered on Vielsia''s body, and the rich vitality condensed in her hands. Having absorbed the apostle''s core and epted this power, Vielsia was no longer the little fourth-tier princess she once was. When she used the Flower Sword to y the Wicked Demon, she even surpassed herself andprehended her own powerful domain skill¡ªFlower''s Poem. Reji, who had Vielsia''s panel, knew about her domain too. Vielsia''s domain skill could be said to be unique among all the other apostles, as it was the only one focused on protection and restoration. (Wee to my wooooooooorld~.....) The singing voice in the Elvennguage echoed from the sky, not just a sound, but more like conveying to the soul, making people feel as if their whole body was rejuvenated, bathed in the fresh air of nature, surrounded by the fragrant and sweet scent of flowers. And in the reality of Ghost Town, this small oasis in the desert, not only the humans but also the nts heard Vielsia''s song, and they began to move, growing wildly. Even the desert could not stop the spread of nts. Sprouts turned into tender branches, tender branches grew into saplings, and finally formed one sturdy towering tree after another. Thick vines entwined the trees, and then the treetops continued to rise into the sky. In no time, the entire oasis of Ghost Town was enveloped and shrouded by the forest, and those crisscrossing vines entangled in the air, not only connecting the forest as a whole but also forming an oval-shaped natural barrier thatpletely enclosed the entire oasis town. And the many desert people inside were all dumbfounded by this scene. Vegetation was an extremely scarce resource for the desert and oases. They might not have seen much vegetation in their entire lives, let alone being in a sky-blocking, sun-shieldingrge forest canopy like now. The townspeople, who had originally thought they were doomed and had despaired at the sandstorm, now regained some confidence and waited nervously for the arrival of the sandstorm, praying that the forest canopy could hold out for a while longer. But they closed their eyes and prayed, prayed for a long time, and there was no movement. When they opened their eyes in confusion, they found that their oasis had been restored to its original appearance, and those crazyrge patches of vegetation had also disappeared. The night sky under the surrounding sand sea was peaceful and tranquil. It seemed that there were some grains of sand that had been blocked by the forest after the sandstorm swept through, and some stragglers had umted on the eaves and roofs, which was the only evidence of the sandstorm''s passage. Just... just like that, it''s over? When Vielsia, who had retracted her domain, came down again, before she could return to Reji''s side, she was startled. It turned out that those desert people had spontaneously begun to regard her as the Daughter of the Desert and started to kneel and bow to Vielsia, calling it a miracle. ---------- Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Demon Kings Underground Castle part 1 1/2 --------- "Alright, thank you for your cooperation, Miss Lisa. Apart from this, are there no more desert people''s histories?" In the leader''s hall of Ghost Town, Lisa handed over all the materials she could collect to Reji, the divine envoy. Yes, in the eyes of the desert people, Reji, Vielsia, and the others, with their terrifying magical beasts and their ability to easily withstand hurricane sandstorms, must be the messengers of Him of the Sand Sea, the salvation He granted to these desert people. Reji couldn''t be bothered to correct their way of addressing him, and moreover, it indeed greatly helped him quickly gain the trust of the desert people. His purpose ining to Ghost Town was not the desert people, but the ghosts. When Reji initially heard from Shermen''s intelligence that these ghost tribe people seemed to only have a name ovep and knew nothing about the "ghosts", he didn''t give up and thought of many possibilities. After all, the true "ghosts" that he wanted to find were eitherpanions from a thousand years ago or their descendants, and simrly, they were also the remnants that the "traitor" had always wanted to find and eliminate. So, if he really found them so easily, Reji would instead not believe it. One of the possibilities Reji thought of was that Lisa and these desert people were just an external front, and only truepanions could see through the hidden information behind it. Therefore, Rejiter asked Lisa many things in detail and also probed for something, but unfortunately, it was all to no avail, and there were no clues rted to hispanions from a thousand years ago. Even when he browsed through the collected books of Ghost Town about the past of the desert people, there seemed to be no useful information. Except... In the end, the only thing Reji could find that had a connection to "a thousand years ago" was... "Miss Lisa, can you show me your leader''s token?" The stone tablet. ording to the legend of the desert people, the stone tablet descended from the sky a thousand years ago and guided their ancestors to find the first oasis. It was also something that the desert people never forgot, even after their decline, and even regarded it as a token for the session of leaders. Lisa did not hesitate and quickly handed the ne with the stone tablet fragment to Reji from her chest. However, during the process, Lisa still had a gloomy expression, not because of Reji, but because there were still some bloodstains visible on the stone tablet fragment, which came from her younger brother. So, if Reji wanted this piece of the stone tablet fragment now, Lisa would not be reluctant to give it uppletely, because for her, it was more like Reji was helping her get rid of a painful memory. Lisa''s guess was not wrong. Reji indeed had no intention of returning the stone tablet. It couldn''t be called returning if the item originally belonged to him. When the stone tablet fragment approached Reji, it didn''t actually have a very obvious reaction like the "Home System" scroll from before. It wasn''t until Reji touched the fragment that it finally flickered with a faint glow, alternating between dim and bright. Lisa was not surprised by this. She had already regarded Reji as a divine envoy, and the fragment''s reaction to Reji only further proved it. But on Reji''s side... [Earth''s Engraving (Fragment)] [Collect all fragments to activate the "Map" function] [Currently required: 5/104] The prompt that appeared in front of him confirmed Reji''s spection. Indeed, it was another Saving Relic. And the category was not an item like the Holy Sword, but a "system". Reji felt like his game character from the first round had been robbed of all his coins, with the systems scattered all over the ce. It was like this with the previous "Home System". Now the "Map" function looked even worse,pletely shattered into fragments. The piece in his hand was only five out of one hundred and four of the stone tablet... Anyway, my arduous journey to the Syndicate was not in vain. The map function was verymon in almost all games. In "Magic Chronicles,"Reji thought about it a little more. Aside from the most basic and simple "pathfinding" ability, the map system should also bring him two major conveniences. The first was teleportation anchors. In the game, yers could run all over the world, relying on the sub-function of the map system, teleportation anchors. With this, yers could achieve instant teleportation without any aftercast or chanting. Of course, some special scenes and areas with restrictions were exceptions, but these were basically very few. Most of the time, it was not an exaggeration to say that teleportation anchors were the system ability Reji used most frequently. In particr, in addition to official anchors in the game, yers could also consume "Starlight" to create their own teleportation anchors, but it was a bit expensive. In the case of a shortage of Starlight in the game, Reji didn''t bother to do it. But now it was different. If he could insert his own anchors all over the world, would he still need to fly on a Chimera for a day to go to the Syndicate like he did now for his transfer ability? Apart from teleportation anchors, the second thing Reji valued was the "exploration disy" ability of the map. As the name suggests. Many games also had this, marking on the map where there might be treasure chests, ruins, dungeon caves, special areas, and so on. Although it was the real world now, there shouldn''t be treasure chests everywhere, but Reji felt that searching for ruins and caves was still worth looking forward to, and it could very likely be his bestpass. In any case, the stone tablet fragments must be collected! After confirming the goal, the next step was how to implement it. This was no small challenge. Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Demon Kings Underground Castle part 2 "Miss Lisa, since when did the stone tablet break like this?" "At least three or four hundred years ago." "So in these three or four hundred years, the stone tablet fragments have been circting among your various tribes and gangs?" "Yes, some ck market merchants use them as currency, and some tribal leaders I know use them as collectibles. Many fragments may have already... been scattered around, lost and abandoned in corners." Lisa''s words made even Vielsia, who was listening, frown. She could see that this stone tablet was probably also an item that was extremely helpful to the professor. But now... It was equivalent to the stone tablet fragments being scattered and distributed throughout the Syndicate, and they had been lost for several hundred years. They were not held by a few major forces, and ordinary people might also pick them up. If they really wanted to go and find them one by one, such a workload would probably require the mobilization of most of the Shadow Demon Tribe''s power. But the sandy sea environment and the highly exposed sunlight were the most unpleasant environment for the Shadow Demons, further reducing efficiency. Moreover, the Shadow Demons also had to take care of Ilinor. If they were really diverted to the Syndicate, what would happen to Ilinor? After letting Lisa withdraw, Reji sat alone at the table, deep in thought, ying with the stone tablet fragment in his hand. Indeed. If they wanted to act in a concealed and low-key manner, the only option was to choose the path of the Shadow Demons. But the efficiency was too low. And there was a risk of losing one thing while attending to another. Ilinor had only recently been controlled by them, and the Shadow Demons could not be mobilized at this time. After rejecting the Shadow Demon n, the remaining option was to invade the Syndicate on arge scale, conquer the entire Syndicate, subdue every tribe and gang, and then mobilize them to help find the stone fragments and hand them over. This method was feasible. But it was truly the worst strategy. The Syndicate was surrounded by the three major nations second only to the Empire: the Radiant Holy Nation, the Court of Judgment, and the Mage Nation, corresponding to the Fate Tracks in the game, which were the three major factions on the protagonist''s side, absolutely "righteous and upright"¡ªRadiance, Judgment, and Wisdom. These three major nations were different from Ilinor. Reji had to put a question mark on their national strength now, and the Syndicate was located at the junction. The three major nations previously didn''t manage the Syndicate, not only because the Syndicate was a barren sand sea but also because the Syndicate itself was chaotic and disorderly. But if a new powerful force suddenly emerged in the Syndicate and integrated all the tribes and gangs with a sweeping momentum, Reji didn''t believe that the three major nations would sit back and do nothing. At that time, he might instead lose more than he gained and lose his greatest advantage of being in the dark. Looking at it this way.... It indeed seemed a bit tricky. Was there really no method that could take into ount both concealment and high efficiency, killing two birds with one stone? Of course, there was. Reji stopped spinning and ying with the stone tablet fragment in his hand. He let out a long sigh. The furrowed brows from before were long gone, reced by a kind of eager anticipation. Seeing Reji like this, Vielsia knew that he must have a solution. The elf woman curiously asked, "Teacher, so you n to..." "Vielsia, have you ever yed a dungeon or an underground castle? The kind where you call up your friends to work hard to conquer it, operate it step by step, try repeatedly, refer to strategy guides, and finally ovee hardships to defeat the boss and obtain the treasure chest and treasures inside the dungeon." Faced with Reji''s counter-question, a big question mark rose above the elf''s head. Seeing this, Reji couldn''t help but shake his head. "What a pity, Vielsia. Also,e to think of it, the demon race is the same. In other games, there would always be a dungeon-like instance, using enticing treasures to attract and deceive adventurers and heroes to enter, filled with various slimes, goblins, tentacle monsters, and so on. Then kill all the males, as for the females..." Reji muttered in a low voice. In the first ythrough of "Magic Chronicles,"although there were demon races, the focus was entirely on the war between humans and demons, and the most ssic dungeon gamey was actually missing. I have to make up for this in this world. Coincidentally, the sixth floor of the Demon Tower was still empty. I will treat it as an experiment as well. Demon Tower safety assessment. It wouldn''t be too much to ask for a small entrance fee for kindly inviting all the tribes and gangs of the Syndicate to experience such a ssic game content, right? One stone tablet fragment to enter once, which was absolutely a bargainpared to the endless treasures inside. Vielsia could more or less understand Reji''s meaning. It was probably to use the Demon Tower to create an area simr to ruins to attract the Syndicate people, requiring stone tablets to enter. In this way, there would be no need for them to search. The Syndicate people would instead actively rush to deliver the stone tablets in order to obtain more treasures inside, and they would spontaneously help them find the stone tablets on arge scale. With the demon race''s umtion, it should not be a problem to tempt humans. Just the various spell items, scrolls, and weapons made by the Sorcerer Demons on the third floor made even the elves tempted, let alone the Syndicate humans here. Amazing! As expected of teacher! But Vielsia had another question... "But teacher, letting them enter the Demon Tower, isn''t it a bit... what if they go out and leak our intelligence..." For the simple-minded elf woman''s question, Reji shook his head. As a yer, there were two kinds of people he hated most in games. One was the person who designed disgusting dungeons to disgust him. The other was the person who wouldn''t let him design disgusting dungeons to disgust other yers. Wanting toe out alive from the Demon King''s dungeon instance? Who are you looking down on! Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Instance Dungeon Construction Sorry for the dy. To not make the chapter longer, i updated Reji''s Status in chapter 02. ------ Wanting toe out alive from the Demon King''s dungeon instance? Who are you looking down on! Although Reji said that, the initial instance dungeon definitely wouldn''t be too difficult right from the start. That would be too discouraging. If all the adventurers from the Syndicate died in there, who would help spread his fame and boost his reputation? Who would dare enter his dungeon again? It''s like when a casino wants to fleece its customers. They have to let the customers "get lucky" and win a few rounds first, giving them the feeling of "Hey, I''m pretty good at this too." Then, once the customers get carried away and filled with greed, the casino reveals its true fangs. In order to create a "newbie level" instance dungeon for the Syndicate''s tribes and gangs, and to lower the difficulty, Reji didn''t n to deploy demon soldiers inside. He had to find some monsters with lower strength, higher production, and most importantly, ones that he wouldn''t feel heartache over even if they were given away for free to those adventurers to be killed. After much thought, Reji realized that the most suitable monster candidates were still the undead. Undead Skeleton ! The undead had already proven their obedience and practicality in the previous chaos at Ilinor''s royal pce. Moreover, another major feature of skeletons was their strict hierarchy. There were corresponding undead for each level. For example, the lowest-level "Undead Soldiers" were around level 10-20, which should be just the rightfort zone for the Syndicate''s gangs. Not too easy to ughter, but not impossible to kill either. And when they leveled up to the next tier, the "Undead Warriors" with an average level of around 20 could serve as elites, requiring five or six people to surround and defeat them. Now that he had the small fries and elites, as for the boss at the end... Hmm. It''s decided, it will be the Undead Champion. Although the Undead Champion was an old friend, in Reji''s eyes, its aura had drastically dropped and it was just a weakling. But don''t forget, for outsiders, take the fourth-tier Undead Champion from the Five Flowers Alliance as an example. It single-handedly ughtered the A-rank Eagle Mercenary Group. Reji still believed that since the Syndicate was all made up of desperate criminals and ouws, all from unorthodox backgrounds, unlike the greenhouse-grown Ilinor, theirbat power shouldn''t be so weak as to be wiped out by an Undead Champion. At least if they couldn''t beat it, they should still be able to run away. With the monster types decided, Reji took action immediately. Another major advantage of the undead was that their production was very simple. As long as one mastered the corresponding necromancy magic, noplex or tedious materials were needed. As long as there were "corpses," it was enough. It could be considered as recycling garbage. Coincidentally, the corpses of the more than 3,000 Bloody Hand Gang members that were wiped out hadn''t even gone cold yet. Using them to summon undead creatures should be more than enough. For this small matter, Reji didn''t n to bother the Sorcerer Demons again. He wanted to experience it himself. Now that he had transmigrated over for more than half a month, relying on the time spent recuperating in Ilinor, Reji had umted arge amount of experience points through daily quests. Although in fact, he had only done a daily quest once, which was the time he found the cat for that perverted youngdy. Reji had taken down Ilinor, so naturally, the local Adventurer''s Association was also his now. With his expanded vision, he made some slight adjustments. For example, he issued quests to himself, exploiting this small bug to basically turn it into a passive ie where he could "lie down and collect the rewards." Otherwise, as a Demon King with so many things to attend to every day, how would he have the time to actually do daily quests? Thest time he was at the top of the tower in the Demon King''s Tower, wielding his lightsaber, he was still at level 29. But now, after more than ten days, with a daily experience ie of 42,000, Reji had umted a whopping 500,000 experience points, directly soaring from level 29 to level 41 before stopping. (Reji''s Information has been updated in chapter 02 to not make the chapter so long) At this point, with the perfect learning ability from "Star Sculpt II," the many skills he had mastered finally had enough mana to be cast. For example... [Fifth-tier Necromancy Spell - [Grand Tomb] ] Without the need for chanting, Reji walked outside and raised his right hand. A green, ghostly skull phantom condensed in his palm. The next moment, the ground began to tremble, as if a huge vortex was swallowing all the corpses of the Bloody Hand Gang members. After collecting arge number of corpses, a deep, dark tomb was built underground. With a single thought from Reji, ghostly mes surged from the entrance of the grand tomb. Then, just as he had nned, rows and rows of skeleton soldiers, the most numerous, crawled out of the tomb first. Immediately after, the elite undead warriors, wielding bone des, pierced through the soil and stood upright. Finally, the Undead Champion, shouldering the responsibility of the final boss, was sculpted by Reji into a towering figure of three to four meters, wielding a heavy hammer and leading all the skeletons. Hmm... It still felt a bitcking. Indeed, even though it was a newbie level and the intention was to give it away. Reji felt that the monster types shouldn''t be too monotonous. Having more variety would bring a better gaming experience to the "yers." [Grand Tomb] could summon many more types of undead, not just skeleton undead. For example... With another wave of Reji''s hand, another new w immediately broke through the sand on top of the grand tomb. This time, it wasn''t pure skeleton, but had a bit of flesh that hadn''tpletely decayed. It crawled on all fours, resembling a dog-like monster with a human face - a [ghoul]. These undead little dogs, the ghouls, had a strength of around level 25, between the skeleton soldiers and warriors. Ghouls actually had subdivisions as well. There were poison-enhanced, sickly green Poison Burst Ghouls, and strength-enhanced, all-red Berserk Ghouls. Reji temporarily created these two types as the elite monsters of the Ghoul series to give adventurers a fresh experience. As for the boss creature of this series, the Ghoul King, Reji thought about it but decided not to include it. After all, its strength was close to the fifth tier, requiring several hundred corpses to be consumed. If it was really released, arge portion of the newbie level would probably die. As a kind-hearted nner, Reji definitely wouldn''t discourage the "yers" like this. Now that the monsters were ready, the venue was also simple. The Demon King''s Tower that had floated over from Ilinor was now suspended high above Ghost Town. Reji took a portion of the empty space on the sixth floor of the still-vacant magic tower and made some simple arrangements, transforming it into a maze. For a hardcore RPG yer like Reji, this was too easy. In his mind, there were countless sample maps of maze dungeons. Of course, in order not to discourage the "yers," Reji was very soft-hearted. He didn''t set up any traps, random teleportation points, hidden boss rooms, plot-driven deaths, or even erotic H-CG rooms. It was just a pure maze, slightly winding, that''s all. These "exciting contents" had to be saved forter. After the dungeon construction, there was still onest element missing: rewards. Reji immediately set off for the third floor of the magic tower, the Sorcerer Demons'' Hall. The Sorcerer Demons here had already prepared arge number of second and third-tier items and scrolls ording to Reji''s requirements. These were actually byproducts or even discarded items from the Sorcerer Demons'' experiments. However, what was considered trash in the eyes of the Sorcerer Demons could be seen as valuable when ced on the human side. From the previous "Lanqi Item Shop" in Ilinor, it was clear that even the most inferior recovery potions could be regarded as gold-tier items, and a single third-tier scroll could be the highlight of an auction, attracting numerous nobles and adventurers topete for it. Moreover... Reji picked up a weapon from the Sorcerer Demons'' workbench. It appeared to be the most ordinary low-level iron sword, but as Reji swung it, spell runes flickered on the hilt. Reji instantly felt as if the iron sword had be lighter, and his strength was amplified, unleashing more powerful attacks. He then turned to pick up another bow and arrow. Without any arrows, Reji simply pulled the bowstring, and spell fluctuations appeared on the bow. Suddenly, an arrow infused with the chilling element of ice was automatically generated. There were many simr items, such as a shield imbued with the earth element, a zing war hammer that could deal fire damage, boots of swift movement enhanced by the wind element, and so on. These were all the result of the Sorcerer Demons'' research on the holy sword from that night in Ilinor, which led to the mastery of weapon "enchantment" techniques. Now, thisrge batch of newly crafted spell weapons needed performance testing, so Reji also included them as "top prizes" in the treasure chests. After all,pared to the weapons they were currently using, these enchanted spell weapons were like a leap from the Stone Age to the Gunpowder Age. Reji believed that they would definitely drive the Syndicate peoplepletely crazy. Everything was ready. Now, all that was missing was the first batch of adventurers. ... Reji returned to Ghost Town once again and found Lisa. He asked this native resident for detailed information about thetest power distribution in the Syndicate to help him decide which force would be suitable to choose as the first guinea pigs. "Lord Reji, theposition of the Syndicate''s forces is actually closely rted to the three major nations. People who have fled from the same country or region are more likely to form tribes and gangs," Lisa exined. "Just like the previous Bloody Hand Gang, most of them were prisoners from the Court of Judgment and had close ties with the Court of Judgment." "Correspondingly, the Shadow Tribe, formed by refugees from the Radiant Church Nation, is also a top-notch group in the Syndicate." "Finally, there are the ''Death Heralds'' established by the ck sorcerers who were expelled from the Mage Nation." Lisa enumerated the threergest power organizations in the Syndicate to Reji. However, in the end, she hesitated for a moment and mentioned another name. "Originally, the Bloody Hand Gang, Shadow Tribe, and Death Heralds had been dominating the Syndicate for a long time. But just recently, another new force from the outside has joined. They call themselves..." "The Animal Gang." Chapter 144: Chapter 144: The Animal Gang Animal Gang? What a strange name. Lisa''s subsequent words seemed to further illustrate the uniqueness of the Animal Gang. "No one knows where the people of the Animal Gange from. They don''t seem to originate from the three major nations. Although the Animal Gang doesn''t have many members, only a few hundred, each one of them, even the children, possesses innate monstrous strength." "Monstrous strength?" "Yes, children of the Animal Gang, only a few years old, can already lift stone blocks weighing thirty to forty kilograms. At first, I thought it was just a rumor, until one time when I visited them, I witnessed with my own eyes the children of the Animal Gang helping to move stone blocks for building houses. Only then did I believe it." Lisa''s eyes reflected her memories, as if she still found it unbelievable even now. "With their immense strength, this monstrous power, the Animal Gang quickly became the fourth major force in the Syndicate in just a month or two. However, instead of stopping to expand their gang''s numbers, they continued to actively engage in fights. That''s why some people in the Syndicate call them the Crazy Gang, saying they''re not right in the head." "When other tribes and gangs fight, it''s for resources, for oases, or for poption. But when the Animal Gang fights, they don''t want any of that. They seem to fight just for the sake of fighting." "Moreover, they have a principle of only targeting the prominent ones. Whichever gang or tribe is currently the most prosperous in the Syndicate, they specifically choose to fight against them, even if there''s no grudge between the two sides. As for the weak and powerless ones, the Animal Gang never attacks them. Sometimes, they even do the opposite and help them resist invasions from other powerful tribes." From Lisa''s demeanor, it wasn''t hard to see that the Animal Gang had likely helped their Ghost Town before. This also exined why Lisa mentioned earlier that she had the fortune to visit the Animal Gang, probably to express gratitude. "Hmm. Thank you for the info." After dismissing Lisa, Reji''s eyes flickered with an interested expression. This Animal Gang... Quite intriguing. From Lisa''s description, he could summarize these key points: Mysterious origins, not belonging to the three major nations. Everyone possesses innate monstrous strength. Not keen on expanding. Only thinking about fighting all the time. Additionally, whether it was due to their martial ethics or personal preferences, they specifically sought out the strong to fight. Reji''s initial impression of the Animal Gang was that they were muscle-brained hotheads. This was great! I love hotheads the most. They were second only to the naive and innocent, the second easiest to deceive. Vielsia: "..." Ignoring the slightly resentful gaze of the elf girl, Reji immediately set off with Vielsia toward the location where the Animal Gang was stationed, as told by Lisa. After leaving the oasis of Ghost Town, they were met with a vast expanse of sand sea. However, this was no challenge for Vielsia, the Flowers Apostle. In no time, a sand boat woven from nts appeared beneath the bare feet of the silver-haired elf, carrying the two of them, speeding through the sand sea. Before long, ording to the map''s location, they arrived at the oasis where the Animal Gang was stationed - the Tribe Oasis. Yes, they simply and bluntly named the oasis as "Tribe." At the entrance of the oasis, tworge totems could be seen from afar, standing upright. On the totems, various animals were depicted: wolves, lions, tigers, bulls, scorpions, crocodiles, and so on. Of course, there were also gentler ones. Reji also saw cats, rabbits, foxes, and others on the totems. From this, it was evident that the totems were not only used to symbolize strength with powerful beasts but also that the people here seemed to revere and purely adore these creatures. No wonder they were called the Animal Gang. As soon as Reji and Vielsia approached the entrance, a group of Animal Gang members suddenly surrounded them from all directions. The leading man among them had an exaggerated hooked nose and was staring at them with sharp eyes. The hook-nosed man gave his subordinates a look, and immediately, another member of the Animal Gang, with apletely ck body and a face resembling a gori, stepped forward and questioned them. "You two, what are you here for?" Reji looked at the ck gori-like man interrogating him, then at the hook-nosed man from before, and surveyed the surrounding Animal Gang members encircling them... Well, it seemed that the name "Animal Gang" had another meaning. These members indeed... Some had faces like pig heads and were still "grunting," some had nervous dog-like faces, and some even had nose rings like bulls. The most exaggerated one had incredibly thick hair, even sporting a golden afro hairstyle. At first nce, it looked exactly like a lion''s mane. The members of the Animal Gang not only had different skin colors but also varied hair colors. No wonder no one could discern where they came from. Their onlymon feature seemed to be... Each one of them looked somewhat human, yet not quite human. One could always find the corresponding characteristics of "certain" animals on their bodies. And... On their necks, they all had a ck iron ring. "I have important information I want to convey to your boss," Reji said concisely. Although these Animal Gang members were unsightly, their hearts seemed to be very pure and simple. Upon hearing Reji''s words, they didn''t even ask further questions. The leading hook-nosed man immediately waved his hand and said to Reji, "Then you''vee at the wrong time. Our big sister went out to fight. Come back another day." "Fight? Who is it this time?" "Hmph, of course it''s those bastards from the Bloody Hand Gang. Big sister said she can''t stand them bullying the weak. The Ghost Tribe was minding their own business and did nothing wrong, yet they want to annex them. Big sis has already rushed to the rescue." Rescue? Hearing that the big sister of the Animal Gang had gone to cause trouble for the Bloody Hand Gang, Reji was quite surprised. But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Lisa had mentioned before that the Animal Gang targeted the prominent and powerful forces. The news of the Bloody Hand Gang annexing Ghost Town must have been a big deal in the Syndicate. But then, as Reji listened further, he found it strange. He didn''t see any rescue from the Animal Gang in Ghost Town. "Did your big sister go to Ghost Town?" "Ghost Town? Hehe, you underestimate the wisdom of our Big Sister Kitsune. She said that this time, she will surround, surround..." The hook-nosed man seemed to be at a loss for words after holding back for a while. He hurriedly nudged another femalepanion beside him, who had whiskers like a cat, as if asking what they were surrounding. "It''s surrounding the blood to save the ghosts," the cat-whiskered female member added. "Right! Surrounding the blood to save the ghosts. The meaning of this phrase is that Boss Kitsune is going to surround and attack the headquarters of the Bloody Hand Gang, forcing those Bloody Hand Gang members who went to bully Ghost Town to return and defend their base. This way, the crisis in Ghost Town will be resolved in an iparably ingenious manner!" The hook-nosed man held his head high, though it was unclear whether he was proud of his "Boss Kitsune''s " strategy or showing off his own level of education. However, by the time he came back to his senses, Reji and Vielsia had long disappeared, already on their way to the Bloody Hand Gang''sir. Reji now discovered another thing: the people of the Animal Gang indeed didn''t seem to be very smart. ... The area upied by the Bloody Hand Gang was vast, but even at the entrance, obvious signs of intense battles could be seen. Many Bloody Hand Gang members were curled up on the ground, wailing in pain. Their bodies were hunched over, as if each of them had suffered some heavy impact. Reji and Vielsia entered the Bloody Hand Gang''s stronghold without any obstruction, following the trail of battle traces along the way. Soon, the chaotic sounds ahead grew louder and louder. Vielsia summoned a giant nt to lift the two of them into the air. Reji looked down and finally spotted the few dozen Animal Gang members who had already prated deep into their, surrounded by countless Bloody Hand Gang members. However, even though they had entered the heart of the Bloody Hand Gang''s territory and were besieged from all sides, these Animal Gang members seemedpletely unafraid. Instead, they fought more and more bravely, one by one. Especially the white-haired woman leading them, who was ughtering the Bloody Hand Gang members left and right. Unlike the elf''s silver hair beside her, it was truly snow-white short hair, like fresh snow. However, upon closer inspection, at the tips of her white hair, one could see a few touches of vermilion. Just from her appearance, one could instantly recognize her identity: Kitsune. .... (Kitsune mean fox in japanese) Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Heresy 1/4 "Damn it! This bunch of mad dogs from the Animal Gang!" The Bloody Hand Gang had three deputy leaders in total. Excluding the one who was on a mission in Ghost Town, the remaining two were now sweating profusely, grinding their teeth as they red furiously at the white-haired woman who seemed to move through their headquarters as if it were unguarded territory. Most members of the Bloody Hand Gang hailed from one of the three major nations of the Court of Judgment, a rare global entity that eschewed the pursuit of sorcery in favor of physical strength and conditioning. Thus, the Bloody Hand Gang had always excelled in Syndicate closebat, using various fighting and martial techniques as their forte. But now, their strength in hand-to-handbat was being mercilessly crushed. One after another, members of the Bloody Hand Gang were flung away like sandbags by the incredibly strong white-haired woman. Other members of the Animal Gang followed closely on either side of the white-haired woman, pushing forward like bulldozers, continuously advancing deeper into the territory of the Bloody Hand Gang, unstoppable by any number of opponents. One of the deputy leaders finally couldn''t hold back his anger and shouted, "What exactly do you mad dogs want? Are you nning to start an all-out war with us?" The white-haired woman responded immediately, "When your people pull back from Ghost Town, we''ll leave too!" "Damn it! What does Ghost Town have to do with you!" Hearing that this was the reason the white-haired woman hade knocking, the deputy leader was so agitated he nearly passed out. "It has nothing to do with us, but I just can''t stand your methods. What''s the matter, can''t handle it? If you disagree,e down here and fight, what''s the point of just talking from up there?" The white-haired woman looked up disdainfully at the deputy leader, who, despite being frantic, still cowered on the high tform, unwilling toe down. Seeing this, the two deputy leaders, though furious to the point of bursting, indeed dared not go down themselves, as the image of a third-tier warrior who had been directly crushed underfoot by the white-haired woman was still vivid in their minds. However, the standoff didn''tst long as steady footsteps approached from behind. The two deputy leaders quickly turned around to face a man in a ck robe approaching them. His gaze was icy, his face lined with age, not making him seem old but rather adding a dignified and imposing air. Most striking, however, was the blood-red glow emanating from his right arm, partially visible beneath his robe. "Lord Bloody Hand!" Upon seeing the man, the deputy leaders immediately bowed deeply with great respect. As his name suggested, the Bloody Hand Gang was founded by him and even named after him. The appearance of Bloody Hand finally put pressure on the white-haired woman below. Kitsune, after tossing aside a gang member who had been squawking miserably in her grip like a chicken, looked up at Bloody Hand with a serious expression, her fighting spirit surging even more. "Old man, after getting beaten to your doorstep, you finally show yourself, not hiding anymore, huh? Pfft, I see you''re no different from your two cowardly subordinates." "Now you have two choices: eithere down and fight me¡ªI see you''re pretty old, but I can still spare your bones from breaking. But if I have toe up there and find you, then, well..." Bloody Hand ignored Kitsune''s provocative shouts from below. The members of the Animal Gang were all incredibly strong, but not particrly bright, and their temperaments were childlike¡ªa fact universally acknowledged by the major powers of Syndicate. Engaging them seriously was a sure way to lose. Moreover, Bloody Hand had shed with Kitsune before. Although she was slightly less powerful than him, and he could defeat her,pletely subduing and eliminating her was beyond his capabilities. If the white-haired woman truly wanted to escape, he couldn''t stop her. This was the infuriating aspect of the Animal Gang¡ªthey would kick up trouble in others'' territories and always manage to escape unscathed. However, a cold glint shed in Bloody Hand''s eyes. Under normal circumstances, he might have endured it, but this time, it concerned the future of the Bloody Hand Gang. After their decline in Syndicate, this was a crucial operation to rely on the support of the Empire. He could not tolerate any mishaps. For this reason, Bloody Hand took out a dark greenntern he had prepared earlier. The light seemed to contain many suppressed evil spirits. Waving thentern gently towards the members of the Animal Gang below, the situation on the battlefield immediately reversed. Many members of the Animal Gang seemed to react to the green light, as if the ck cors around their necks began to tighten, causing them pain and rendering them unable to exert their strength. The stronger the individual, the tighter the ck cor constricted. The formidable white-haired woman, who had been so imposing just moments ago, now clenched her teeth and was forced to stand still, struggling against and trying to suppress the cor around her neck. A look of "just as I thought" appeared on Bloody Hand''s face. He then leaped down from the high tform, his blood-red arm transforming into a w that reached for Kitsune''s neck. The white-haired woman tried to dodge and resist, but the ck cor around her neck suppressed her strength significantly. She barely avoided Bloody Hand''s w but was then sent flying by his next punch. Many members of the Bloody Hand Gang cheered. It took their leader''s intervention to handle these suppressed members of the Animal Gang. Bloody Hand prepared to return, leaving the rest to his subordinates with strict instructions not to kill but to capture them alive. Seeing that the Bloody Hand Gang was about to regroup and close in, Vielsia, who was hidden not far away, immediately sought instructions from Reji. "Teacher, shall we..." "Let''s save them." After issuing themand, Reji continued to watch the members of the Animal Gang, specifically the ck cors around their necks with a thoughtful eyes. Initially, Reji had thought that these iron cors were merely a type of gang decoration for the Animal Gang and didn''t think much of it. But now... Reji recognized the greenntern that Bloody Hand had taken out. That was the "Warden''s Lantern," a ssic item from the "Judgment nation" in the game, symbolizing order and rules within human society. Any heretic would face judgment. In the game, if a yermitted many evils, they would attract the pursuit of the Radiant Saintess, and those assisting the Saintess were the enforcers of "Judgment." If a yer was defeated, they would be thrown into the "Judgment''s" Stillwater Prison. There, as a prisoner, they would undergo correctionalbor until their sin value was cleared, after which they would be released. Since Reji had never been defeated by the Saintess, hecked this part of the game experience, which is why he didn''t initially react to the iron cors of the Animal Gang. It was only now, when Bloody Hand brought out the "Soul Suppressor Lantern," that Reji pieced it together. It seemed that in Stillwater Prison, "Judgment" controlled those extremely vicious and wicked prisoners in the same way, using the ck cors around their necks to suppress them. ''So... Heresy, huh?'' Combining this with the strange behaviors and suspicious appearances of the members of the Animal Gang, Reji couldn''t help but form a bold hypothesis. Chapter 146: Chapter 146: The Fox Shows Her Tail part 1 2/4 The members of the Bloody Hand Gang, now reversing roles, seemed to finally be able to vent their frustrations on the Animal Gang members suppressed by the ck cors, eager to reim the dignity they had lost earlier. Although the leader of the Bloody Hand Gang had ordered them captured alive without killing, some retaliatory actions driven by grudges were inevitable. Armed with des, they shed towards the members of the Animal Gang, intent on drawing blood, especially from the arrogant white-haired woman who had vexed them so. Despite her immense strength, the white-haired woman did not have the bulky, rough appearance typical of other Animal Gang members. Instead, she was slender, with delicate skin, and her "animal characteristics" included long, snow-like eyshes and short, snow-white hair. This not only made her look less like a heretic but also added a unique beauty to her appearance. Of course, the members of the Bloody Hand Gang, now seizing the opportunity to retaliate, were particrly keen on shing the beautiful face of the white-haired woman, hoping to alleviate the resentment they had harbored against her. The other members of the Animal Gang, despite being painfully suppressed by the ck cors and unable to exert their strength, still desperately protected the white-haired woman at their center, as if to say she must not be harmed at any cost. Especially the two generals by the white-haired woman''s side. "Doggy, Crocy, take everyone and go. Don''t... don''t worry about me. I can handle this. I have hidden powers I haven''t used yet. I need you to go, get out of here, don''t hinder me!" Kitsune, despite the suppression from the ck cor, tried to make the others break through first, using herself as bait to attract the attention of the Bloody Hand Gang members. This, however, provoked angry rebuttals from herpanions. "Boss! Every time you lie, your tail won''t stop moving. You don''t have any hidden powers! We''ll leave together; we will never abandon you!" The man called Doggy, true to his name, was like a loyal yellow dog protecting his master. Kitsune felt warmed by their loyalty but was also very frustrated. "Nonsense! Where do I have a tail now? I''m not lying to you, I''m about to unleash a big move. Please go, I... I''m afraid I might lose control and hurt you!" "Even if you don''t have a tail, it''s true about the ears! Boss, your ears moved too, it''s all the same! Anyway, we''re not leaving! Even if we get hurt by you, we''d be happy. Besides, when have we ever minded being hurt by you?" "Doggy is right, we will always fight shoulder to shoulder with boss," said another general, his head shaped like a crocodile''s. "You guys..." Seeing that none of the Animal Gang members were suggesting they run first, Kitsune finally stopped deceiving them and no longer thought about sacrificing herself to cover their retreat. "Hahahah, Alright! When I led you out, I said we were going to restore our glory, not just to revive but to make us the number one in the world! To be the strongest, how can we fall here!" A fiery belief ignited in Kitsune''s eyes, as if her passionate words could stir emotions and garner more strength. For a moment, it seemed as if some dormant powers within her were awakening, helping her to ovee the ck cor around her neck, almost breaking through. However, just at that moment, before Kitsune could unleash her potential, Vielsia''s support arrived first on the battlefield. Boom! A loud noise was heard, and the ground suddenly trembled, startling the Bloody Hand Gang who thought they had the situation under control. Many of their members couldn''t even stand steady, swaying on their feet. What the¡ª!? Before anyone could react, cracks split the trembling ground, and countless green nts burst forth. Thick vines grew wildly, transforming in the blink of an eye into whipping tendrilsshing towards the Bloody Hand Gang''s position. "nts!?" "The willow trees are hitting people, what the heck, wait a minute!" "Get out of the way! Clear these bushes, I can''t see anything!" "Fire, light a fire to burn these crazy mutant nts!" "Are you out of your mind? Remember this is our base! Do you want to burn down our home too?" Vielsia, having summoned a massive amount of vegetation, sessfully plunged the Bloody Hand Gang into chaos. They werepletely unable to attend to the Animal Gang, and the equally stunned Animal Gang, after a brief moment of shock, reacted quickly. "Boss, you really do have hidden powers!" eximed the man previously referred to as the big yellow dog, with aagape mouth. "It''s rare for boss... not to lie," said the man with the crocodile head naively. But Kitsune herself was confused; she had been lying earlier¡ªshe had no hidden powers. Yet, these nts clearly aiding them were... Meh! never mind! Time to run! "Let''s go!" The encirclement of the Bloody Hand Gang had been breached by the rampant vegetation, and Kitsune led the Animal Gang to break through easily, quickly fleeing into the distance. After seeing Kitsune and her group escape, Vielsia stopped her nature spells, ending the nts'' wild growth, and together with Reji, they followed in the direction of the Animal Gang. "Phew! That was close! That human actually managed to bring out the ''Court of Judgment''s''ntern, damn it! He almost seeded." "But boss is amazing, she can evenmunicate with nts! tell us, what was that move? Did you break through the ck cor''s restriction and regain your shamanic powers!?" Faced with her subordinates'' admiration and questions, Kitsune scratched her head, also a bit puzzled, and honestly shook her head: "No, that wasn''t my power. You all know about the ck cors around our necks; they''re not so easily broken. Besides, when Mother taught me shamanic abilities, I... I didn''t learn anything, I''ve forgotten it all hehe~!" "Boss''s ears didn''t move, she''s telling the truth!" "But then how..." The big yellow dog man and the crocodile-headed man were confused, and Kitsune was also perplexed. After thinking hard, she suddenly showed an expression of sudden excitement. "I''ve got it!" "It must be Little Green, Little Green''s way of repaying us!" Looking at the excited white-haired woman, Doggy and Crocy were puzzled and couldn''t help asking: "Little Green... who is that? Is there such a person in the Animal Gang?" Chapter 147: Chapter 147: The Fox Shows Her Tail part 2 3/3 "Also, you two idiots! You need to look beyond the surface and see the essence of things. I wanted to educate you with this matter. In the future, you must be like me and do more good deeds! That way, when you encounter difficulties, you will be blessed with good fortune! Do you understand?" Kitsune angrily lectured her two subordinates, pointing at their noses. But lecturing alone was not enough. After all, the principle of their tribe was that actions speak louder than words. She looked around and suddenly her eyes lit up. "You two, you need to cultivate the habit of doing good deeds right now. Look, see those two people in the distance? They look like they need help. Go over and ask what they need, what troubles they have." "Good people receive good rewards; this is the lesson my mother taught me. If I''m not around someday, you need to do more good deeds so that others will help you in times of crisis. Go now!" The white-haired woman said, directly kicking her two slightly reluctant subordinates, urging them to go and carry out their practice of doing good deeds. There was no choice. After all, Kitsune was their boss and female chieftain. So just like that, Doggy and Crocy, along with arge group of the Animal Gang, quickly surrounded the two somewhat conspicuous figures in the desert. Those who didn''t know might think they were some kind of murderous desert bandits. In fact, it seemed to be true. "You two, stop right there! Don''t move! Hmph, today is your unlucky day, running into us. Hand over all your wishes and needs! Tell us!" The male yellow dog said fiercely to Reji and Vielsia. The crocodile head who rushed over also echoed, "That''s right, you can''t leave until you tell us your wishes!" Reji and Vielsia: "..." This was an unexpected turn of events. Seeing the two humans remain silent, Doggy and Crocy became a bit anxious. After all, it was a practice task assigned by their boss. In fact, they were quite looking forward to it, in case there really was a rewardter. So the two raised their voices and repeated to Reji and the elf woman, "Don''t tell us you don''t have any wishes or needs on you. Do you take us for three-year-old children?" "That''s right, boss said you two look like people who need help." Fortunately, the appearance of Doggy and Crocy seemed to make even Kitsune, who originally had no intention of intervening, unable to stand by and watch. She squeezed in helplessly, punched each of them, and then scolded, "Are you two idiots? Who asks people like that! How can you get anything out of them like this!" After saying that, as if to demonstrate and give an example to her two subordinates, this time the white-haired woman came to Reji and indeed her words were much more concise. "Boya, either leave your troubles and wishes, or leave your life. Choose one." Reji: "..." This kind of abnormal thinking made Reji even more certain of a guess. For reckless people and simple minded like the one he is facing, Reji couldn''t use normal human logic. He abandoned all the inducement strategies he had thought of before and also spoke concisely. "After the sandstorm, the east side of Ghost Town seems to have changed itsndscape due to the storm, revealing an ancient underground city that had been hidden. I want to hire you to help me explore it." But the three Animal Gang leaders opposite him looked confused. Kitsune: "Underground city? What''s an underground city?" "It''s a ruin filled with treasures," Reji patiently exined. As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the three Animal Gang leaders instantly lit up. They might not have understood what a "ruin" was. But they definitely knew about "treasures," very well. "There''s such a great ce, take us there quickly!" "Treasures, Treasures!" "Ahem!" As the boss, Kitsune punched each of her two subordinates, making their heads smoke. "I wanted you to do good deeds, not go robbing!" After educating them, Kitsune turned to Reji and Vielsia and said, "Alright, the fact that we can meet here today is fate. Leave this matter to us, the Animal Gang. And since we said we would help with your needs and difficulties, we won''t ask for any reward. We won''t take a single bit of all the treasures in that what''s-it-called, underground city of yours!" "Ah!? Boss, but..." Doggy, who was unwilling, had just spoken up when he saw the white-haired woman raise her fist. He immediately shrank his neck and shut up. Reji didn''t really care about this, it didn''t matter to him. The treasures were originally prepared for these foreign adventurers to take out and help promote and build momentum. Reji believed that while this white-haired woman could maintain herposure now, when she truly saw those spell scrolls, items, and especially enchanted weapons, she definitely wouldn''t be so calm. Also, Reji stared at the iron cors on their necks again. He chose the Animal Gang, not expecting there would be a pleasant surprise. Perhaps next, he could observe these people carefully through actualbat in the underground city. However, Reji soon discovered that actualbat wasn''t even necessary. When he brought the Animal Gang members back to the underground city instance entrance he had carefully prepared near Ghost Town, these Animal Gang members were indeed truly carefree. Without even a hint of suspicion, they really followed Reji''s words and disappeared into the teleportation gate. And after being teleported, when all the Animal Gang members arrived on the sixth floor inside the "Demon King Tower"... "B-B-B-Bosssss!!" The male yellow dog was the first to speak up. He stared at Kitsune, the first one to be teleported, with a face full of surprise, even stammering. In fact, all the Animal Gang members had some reaction. From the moment they entered this underground city space, the ck cors on their necks seemed to have loosened a bit, making them feel refreshed all over. And as the strongest among them, the white-haired woman naturally had the strongest reaction to the changes in the ck cor. It''s just that Kitsune herself hadn''t realized this reaction yet, and was very puzzled why her subordinates were all looking at her with shocked expressions. Until... "B¡­Boss... your tail, your tail is showing!" Tail? What tail? Having been sealed by the ck cor for too long, Kitsune herself didn''t even react for a moment and was very puzzled. But as her strange emotions stirred, her butt also swayed a little, which finally made Kitsune see that fluffy, bright and beautiful, elegantly shaped tail that made people want to give it a good rub just by looking at it, gently swaying behind her. Kitsune: "..." "!!?" -- - Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Beastmen Never Slaves part1 1/2 There was no doubt about it. Humans don''t grow fluffy white tails. When characteristics belonging to beasts appear on humans, these creatures usually have another exclusive name - beastmen. No wonder, from the strange name "Animal Gang", to Lisa''s description of their monstrous strength from an outsider''s perspective, and finally their disys of not being very smart - when these elements were put together, Reji actually had a vague feeling early on. And now, with the white-haired woman "revealing her tail", it undoubtedly put the final nail in the coffin for this conclusion. So after elves, the next new race to "descend" upon this world was...beastmen? In the first ythrough of the game, there were only two races in the world - humans and demons. Now in the "second ythrough" a thousand yearster, good heavens, it''s been less than two months since Iarrived, and already two foreign races have appeared. Moreover, it''s not right to say that beastmen are the next after elves. Rather, it seemed the appearance of beastmen should have actually preceded the "descent" of elves. Reji now quietly observed the white-haired woman''s reaction again. Upon realizing her tail had appeared, she initially showed surprise, then quickly a look of joy as if she had regained something precious. However, soon, the white-haired woman became serious and slightly anxious, looking towards Reji and Vielsia, the two "humans" present. Many members of the Animal Gang inside the dungeon also came to their senses and immediately did the same. On their rugged, somewhat barbaric faces, there was now vignce, caution, and even deeper, a few traces of lingering fear. This fear, of course, was not directed at the two of them now. After all, in the eyes of the Animal Gang members, they were just passersby in need of help. Thinking about it this way, what these beastmen feared should be the fear of their identities being "exposed". Reji also considered the original ck iron cors on the necks of each Animal Gang member, and the oppressive power the "Warden''s Lantern" brought out by the Bloody Hand Gang had over them. He seemed to be able to make some new spections. Reji was observing from the perspective of someone in a high position, but Kitsune was anxious to death and not so rxed. Because Kitsune knew. Every one of the Animal Gang orcs also knew. After losing the war five hundred years ago, their race wasbeled as "heretics" and imprisoned in the deepest underground of the Court of Judgment, in the sunless Stillwater Prison. For the death row inmates of Stillwater Prison, the Court of Judgment would not kill them directly. Instead, whenever the time of death arrived, all the condemned would be gathered to participate in the Red Moon Judgment - a massacre where they ughtered each other. In the Red Moon Judgment, only one death row inmate could ultimately win and receive the "suspended death sentence" reward to return to Stillwater Prison and wait to continue participating in the next round of Red Moon Judgment, over and over again. Her mother held the highest winning streak record in the Red Moon Judgment. For 42 sessions in a row, she became the final survivor, and thus was also the longest-living death row inmate in Stillwater Prison. With such a long time, her mother sessfully found the weakness in Stillwater Prison. During the 43 Red Moon Judgment three months ago, she sacrificed herself in exchange for their beastman race to sessfully escape from Stillwater Prison, aplishing this impossible miracle. As for her, Kitsune, the only daughter of her mother and thest hope of the beastmen race, the chieftain who had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the tribe, in order to avoid possible pursuit by the Court of Judgment, she chose toe to a chaotic ce like the Syndicate to hide from prying eyes and focus on development. It was also thanks to the ck cors from Stillwater Prison on their necks. Although it suppressed their beastmen''s savage power, it also helped them by suppressing the "beastification" on their bodies, making them no different from humans in appearance. But now... What to do! If these two humans spread the word and the Court of Judgment discovered the heretics, we would immediately dispatch the "Sinners". Once we were caught and taken back, the efforts of mother and other beastmen ancestors would all be in vain. Quick! I need to think of a way! The white-haired woman''s mind raced, trying hard to think of how to exin to Reji, how to conceal her identity. But when it came to her lips... "That, this tail is... that..." Seeing the stammering white-haired woman, Reji also withdrew his spective thoughts, a little surprised. He could see that the beastman identity seemed to be a taboo for these people, really important and could not be exposed. Yet, despite the importance of this matter, the white-haired woman was only thinking about exining and trying to fabricate lies. Rejipletely did not see any intention in Kitsune''s eyes to "kill to silence him." Reji didn''t make it difficult for Kitsune either. He said very naturally, "Miss Kitsune, your tail, could it be a curse from the dungeon?" "Ah? A dungeon curse?" Reji nodded earnestly, "Yes, actually, I am also a dedicated dungeon schr. The more powerful the dungeon, the more curses it imposes on the adventurers who enter it, and the effects of the curses might even intensify as one explores deeper levels." "I once had the honor of studying an dungeon called ''Abyss''. On the first floor of that underground city, you would feel dizzy. On the second floor, you would feel nauseous and vomit. Further on, there would be auditory and visual hallucinations. It''s even said that the powerful curses in the deeper parts could transform the physical body." "So I''m thinking, could the abnormality on Miss Kitsune''s body now also be..." Reji threw out this stepping stone and even gave examples as proof. For the beastmen of the Animal Gang, they might not have understood Reji''s exnation very well, but Reji spoke in a pompous manner and said a lot of words, so they just listened to him. "Right! That''s right! It must be that, uh right! Curse! Damn it! I was still careless!" "Then Miss Kitsune, why don''t we hurry up and retreat..." Reji pretended to mention it slightly, and sure enough, it immediately drew the white-haired woman to wave her hands repeatedly. With the wonderful excuse of the dungeon curse to disguise her beastman identity, Kitsune and the people of the Animal Gangpletely rxed and were no longer nervous. The joy and happiness that had been suppressed before immediately surged up. Kitsune waved her hand, and the snow-white fox tail behind her butt wagged excitedly. She patted her impressive big chest at Reji, with a don''t-worry look, and said, "No worries! This little curse is no problem for me. Since we said we''d help you, let us handle this whatever dungeon next!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Beastmen Never Slaves part 2 2/2 Kitsune didn''t understand why the curse of the dungeon could help her get rid of the suppression from the ck cor on her neck. That was something to considerter. Right now, she was like a patient who had been bedridden with broken legs for a long time and suddenly recovered. Kitsune just wanted to run freely. In the current scenario, it meant going all out, desperately wanting to fight and brawl. Crack crack At that moment, the sound of bones grinding against each other echoed at the entrance of the Dungeon''s maze. The monsters arranged by Reji, one after another skeleton soldier, crawled out of the damp maze room and began to roar and attack the group of adventurers from the Animal Gang. Why were there undead creatures here? The white-haired woman, whose spirits were high and battle-ready, seemed to directly ignore this question. She crouched slightly, bending her knees, and in the next moment, she shot out like an arrow released from a bow, directly charging at the three or four gatekeeper skeletons designed by Reji. Judging from the white-haired woman''s appearance, she should be of the fox n. But now, when Reji watched Kitsune''s fighting style, directly punching one skeleton after another, there was no trace of a delicate little fox. After unleashing her beastman bloodline, Kitsune''s strength was even more ferocious than in the previous battle with the Bloody Hand Gang. The low-level skeletons couldn''t withstand her punches at all, shattering like ss with a single touch from Kitsune. The entire process took less than ten seconds. The group of skeletons at the entrance of the maze had all turned into bone frames scattered on the ground. After the monsters were eliminated, there naturally had to be a corresponding treasure chest. Giving timely feedback rewards like this was the only way to attract adventurers to continue exploring step by step. As the dungeon designer, Reji of course also followed tradition. The ground shimmered with light, and a slightly crude wooden box appeared at the location of the monsters'' corpses. Kitsune, who was still not satisfied, curiously opened it and found a bottle of red water inside. Awesome. Having something to drink after a fight was really nice. Without much thought, Kitsune directly opened it and gulped down the entire bottle. Afterwards, she even licked the corners of her mouth, seeming to enjoy it very much, clearly not treating it as a treasure that should have been handed over to Reji. "¡­" Reji had specifically chosen to ce the truly high-concentration,pletely "red" [Healing Potion] at the beginning, thinking of giving the Syndicate people a little shock. After all, a thousand yearster, the [Healing Potions]monly avable on the market had all turned green, with a concentration possibly not even reaching 10%, inferior to the point of no return. As a result... Forget it, they are beastmen after all, understandable. Although Kitsune didn''t discover the preciousness of the red water, it didn''t hinder her passion for further exploration. Many people from the Animal Gang were also eager to give it a try, rubbing their fists and palms. Although they didn''t change as much as Kitsune, the suppression of the ck cors had weakened more or less for all of them. They all showed some signs of reverting back to their beastman forms. Kitsune took the lead and charged into the depths of the dungeon. Behind her, the beastmen of the Animal Gang followed their boss and began to conquer the dungeon floor by floor in an almost brutally forceful manner. The simplest skeleton soldiers couldn''t put any pressure on them. Without Kitsune''s intervention, an ordinary Animal Gang member, a single beastman, could easily take down four or five skeletons without any problem. The Animal Gang advanced with high spirits, and even when they entered the Ghoul area, their pace didn''t slow down in the slightest. Ghouls, as mid-level undead around level twenty, already had strengthparable to third-tier human warriors. However, at this moment, their ws and fangs seemed to have lost their effect, unable to even break through the rough skin of the beastmen. In front, Kitsune''s right-hand men, probably the second and third inmand of the Animal Gang, the dog-faced man and the crocodile head, were now fighting more fiercely than the ghouls. They directly grabbed the ghoul''s legs with their big hands and used the ghoul, which weighed as much as a lion, as a sandbag, tossing it around. Under the beastmen''s hands, the ghouls were repeatedly mmed heavily on the ground, making them dizzy and disoriented, as if they were all dazed. Later, their heads were even chopped to pieces by an axe, dying in an extremely miserable and violent manner. Reji, who had been quietly observing, nodded his head. The strength of these beastmen seemed to be quite a bit stronger than the elves beforeing to the demon tower. The ck cors on their necks hadn''t beenpletely removed yet, but they already disyed a level of at least thirty or forty. As a continued test, Reji slightly manipted behind the scenes and prematurely released the "Berserk Ghoul" as an elite monster. When this all-red ghoul appeared, initially, the beastmen of the Animal Gang didn''t notice its specialty and still wanted to violently solve it ording to their previous fighting style. However, this time, the Berserk Ghoul''s w, without any fear of the beastmen, directly pped back, immediately sending several beastmen flying. The Berserk Ghoul, taking advantage of its victory, its entire body turning an even more intense crimson red, as a strength-specialized creature, its corpse muscles bulged. It leaped high into the air and fiercely pounced towards the beastmen it had sent flying, ready to tear into their bodies. At this moment, another white figure rushed in from another direction, kicking the ghoul in mid-air and saving several beastmen. Afterwards, the beastmen finally realized that this slightlyrger, all-red ghoul was not to be trifled with, but they were not afraid. Instead, they spontaneously began to form an encirclement, taking on a hunting formation. Beastmen were not brainless. On the contrary, they had invested all their points intobat, possessing extremely strongprehension and insight talents in battle. Even without the intervention of their leader Kitsune, these few beastmen, after probing the Berserk Ghoul a few times, keenly noticed its weakness. After the opponent activated its "Berserk" skill, there would be a brief window of opportunity before the next "Berserk". Therefore, the beastmen immediately divided their roles clearly. Some acted as bait, some secretly gathered strength, and some calcted the timing. After sessfully luring out the ghoul''s Berserk skill, taking advantage of the window of opportunity, the beastmen swarmed up the next moment and quickly dismembered the elite monster. This performance made Reji''s evaluation of them rise quite a bit. Simrly, from the surprised expression on Vielsia''s face beside Reji, it was evident that even the elves couldn''t help but be amazed by the beastmen''sbat talent. After all, the Berserk Ghoul was a level 35-36 monster, and a specialized one at that. If released, Reji estimated that it could even ughter Ilinor''s Royal Knight Regiment without any chance of retaliation. Vielsia also imagined in her heart that if their elven guards, without the intervention of the Grand Elder, relying solely on ordinary elven warriors, wanted to subdue this Berserk Ghoul, they would probably have to pay a considerable price to kill it. But now, just with the exquisite cooperation between three to five beastmen, they easily killed such a high-level ghoul... Thinking of this, Vielsia looked at Reji beside her. From Reji''s current appreciative expression, Vielsia had already understood what he was thinking. Indeed, Since he had discovered such a usefulbat force, there was no reason not to bring them under hismand. Now, both the demon race and the elf race had the same problem. The strength was concentrated at the top, with a cliff-like gap in the middle and lower levels. Reji''s use of the "As" to create nature-based monsters was a slight fill for this aspect, but monsters were ultimately monsters. He still needed to have a batch of formalbat units to rece the "dark side" of the demon race and carry out various military activities. Previously, Reji had thought of creating a group of his own elite legion forces among humans. But now¡­ Wasn''t there a ready-made one right in front of me? The valiant andbat-skilled beastmen were undoubtedly the most suitable for this position. Considering further into the futureyout. If that traitor had indeed been guarding against the demon race all along. Stealing the various authorities and weapons he had as the "Hero", each of them was highly targeted against the demon race. The most recent example was the "Holy Sword". As long as the target was the demon race, it had a special bonus. So from that moment, when he wielded the Holy Sword on the Old King''s Tower, Reji had this idea. Targeting the demon race? The demon race was naturally suppressed when facing the "Hero"? No problem. Could the "Hero" simultaneously target other races as well? Elves, beastmen, and if there were other races in the future, I want them all! The demon race conquering the world. Why did it have to be the demon race? With this thought of "all-race as" firmly in mind, when Reji now looked at Kitsune, this beastman chieftain leader, the white-haired and white-tailed woman, and the rest of the Animal Gang, his gaze changed. Vielsia beside him recognized this gaze of her teacher. It was exactly the same as when he had taken her away back then. Could it be that teacher was going to fabricate an identity again, then approach, and then... No, no, no. "¡­" Reji shook his head at Vielsia instead. After all, beastmen were not as fussy and troublesome as elves. "Vielsia, do you know, there has always been a very ssic saying about beastmen." "Beastmen never be ves, unless they are provided with food and shelter." Reji lightly gestured towards the dark part of the dungeon, and the Sorcerer Demons in charge of assisting in the management of the dungeon immediately understood. Soon, on the corpse of the Berserk Ghoul, a dazzling golden light appeared, instantly attracting the attention of the Animal Gang beastmen. When the light dissipated, there was a glittering, extremely luxurious golden treasure chest,pletely different from the previous wooden and copper chests. It hadplex and profound patterns, shining beautifully like gold. Just looking at this golden chest, it seemed to have an endless attraction. The slightly half-open gap of the chest emitted a rich magical fluctuation. Through the gap, one could vaguely see the traces of a weapon. Those gorgeous halos seemed to emanate from this powerful weapon. I will not only lure them with food and shelter. If I also took out an epic-level weapon, how would you respond, miss foxy~ Chapter 150: Chapter 150: Did you hear what he said? part 1 1/4 Beastmen might drink [Healing Potions] like water. It''s also possible that they couldn''t recognize those rare spell scrolls and exquisite artifacts, treating them as useless trinkets and dismissing them. However, "weapons" are different. For those who are keen on fighting, with battle running in their veins, weapons might be more important than their wives. They might not cuddle with their wives every night, but they will definitely embrace their favorite weapons daily. In fact, each beastman tribe has ancestral weapons passed down from their ancestors, which have been honed and battled countless times. These are regarded as the lifeblood and family heirlooms of each respective tribe. Some tribes even select their next chief based on the recognition of the weapons. This shows the status of weapon culture in the beastmen''s heritage. Unfortunately, since their defeat 500 years ago, when they were thrown into the Stillwater Prison, the ancestral weapons of each tribe were naturally confiscated. Later, in order topletely cut off their thoughts and crush the prisoners'' spirits, the Grand Sage Judges of the Court of Judgment, in front of the beastmen, threw those extremely meaningful ancestral weapons, one by one, into the infernal furnace and destroyed them all. This method proved very sessful. It was no different from breaking the beastmen''s backbone. Since then, the beastmen havepletely lost their momentum and fallen into depression. Even though many generations have passed and the lingering shadows of that year have gradually faded away, the lost heritage can never be regained once it''s gone. Now, apart from being suppressed and restrained by the ck rings on their necks, theck of weapons is also a key factor in the beastmen''s weakness. After all, with the human society they can currently ess, the forged weapons can''t evenpare to those ancestral weapons of the tribe level, let alone find a handy one. Beastmen put all their talent points into strength, so their requirements for weapons are also particrly high. The axes, rusty swords, iron hammers, etc. in the hands of the Animal Gang members may notst long before they are damaged beyond recognition and need to be reced. Even the second and third inmand of the Animal Gang, the dog-faced man and the crocodile-headed man, are currently using some junk. There''s no choice. The stronger the beastmen, the less ordinary weapons can withstand their usage. So in the end, if there are no suitable weapons, it''s better to directly use their own fists, just like their boss Kitsune. But now... Gulp! Many beastmen of the Animal Gang involuntarily made a sound of swallowing saliva. Their fiery gazes all unanimously focused on that incredibly gorgeous golden chest, or more precisely, through the cracks of the chest, on the weapon lying inside. Several of them couldn''t wait to secretly stretch their necks, trying their best to steal a nce inside, wanting to know what exactly it was. They looked like a group of hungry single men who were fortunate enough to run into a beautying out of the bath, scrambling to catch a glimpse of her beauty. Kitsune, as the boss, had the strongest willpower. She heavily coughed twice, then red fiercely at her group of spineless underlings with her eyes, indicating them to restrain their appearance. Although they were poor, they couldn''t lose their backbone! They couldn''t be looked down upon by others! Back then, Kitsune had already said that for this dungeon exploration, they wouldn''t ask for even half of the treasures obtained, and everything would belong to that human. They were only doing it for the sake of doing good and umting virtue, just for the sake of doing good! However, although the weapon in the chest was to be returned to Reji, it should still be fine for them to open it and take a look. In fact, Kitsune herself was also feeling a bit itchy inside. If they couldn''t eat the pork, at least they could see the pig running and relieve their cravings. Just, just take a peek! Hmm! With this mindset, the white-haired woman quickly came to the front of the chest. As a result, before she even used any force, the chest seemed to sense her presence, and the lid actually lifted up on its own. At the same time, the glow inside the chest grew brighter, startling Kitsune. By the time the beastmen came back to their senses, they saw a weapon, shimmering with flowing light, floating and hovering above the chest. Now all the beastmens could see it. It was a weapon simr to an "axe-staff." It had a long handle like a scepter, but at the tip, it resembled an axe head with a sharp de. Arcane runes, filled with magical aura, surrounded the tip of the axe, symbolizing its uniqueness. It was a very rare enchanted weapon, and each strike of the axe could gain arcane amplification, greatly enhancing its attack power. On the handle of the scepter, carvings of pyramid emblems, seemingly rted to a desert theme, were engraved. Just by holding the scepter, it felt as if one was standing atop a golden pyramid in the yellow sands, with a dominating power bestowed upon them. Gulp!! If earlier, when this absolutely epic-level axe-staff weapon was still half-hidden in the chest, the beastmens were only swallowing saliva... Now, when the true form of the axe was revealed, not only was it an enchanted weapon, but it was also clearly crafted from extremely high-grade metal. Its simple and unadorned heaviness made the beastmen drool uncontrobly, unable to stop their saliva from flowing. Especially for the second-inmand, the dog-faced man. For some reason... The moment heid eyes on this axe, he felt a certain kind of soul resonance in the depths of his being, as if it was tailor-made for him. If it weren''t for Kitsune''s presence, restraining them, doggy would have already pounced forward and hugged this axe refusing to let go even if it meant death. "Ahem, ahem, ahem!" Kitsune also came back to her senses from her amazement. She still had a stronger willpower. Although she was reluctant to part with it, although she was facing the deep, longing gazes of her Animal Gang underlings, her own tribesmen, especially Doggy''s, Kitsune had to keep her word and hand this axe-staff over to Reji. After all, Kitsune hadn''t forgotten what her mother said: Beastmen stand tall and upright, once a word is given, even four horses can''t chase it back! However... "Miss Kitsune, this weapon is of no use to me now. I think it''s better to directly give it to the heroes of the Animal Gang to use." "After all, Miss Kitsune, you''ve also seen that as we delve deeper into the dungeon, the strength of the monsters here seems to be getting stronger and stronger. In this case, having one more useful weapon also ensures the safety of all of us and increases our chances of sessfully clearing the dungeon, doesn''t it?" As soon as Reji said these words, before Kitsune could say anything, the second-inmand of the Animal Gang, Doggy, immediately echoed Reji for the first time, "Yes, yes, yes, Boss! I think this human, cough, this teacher is right!" Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Did you hear what he said? part 2 2/4 "Those corpse hounds are definitely stronger than the normal skeleton, especially the red ones. If we''re not careful, we could really get hurt by them. Now that we have more weapons, we can better protect them!" The corpse hounds that Doggy mentioned referred to the ghouls, and the red ones were the elite mini-boss, the Berserk Ghoul. Kitsune hesitated for a moment, thinking that what Reji said indeed made sense. If there were even stronger monsters ahead, it would always be good for them to increase their strength. Even if there weren''t, it could still speed up the exploration. "Alright then..." "Give it to this good fellow. I think this weapon is particrly suitable for him." Seeing Kitsune looking towards him, it was obvious that she was letting him decide on the allocation of the weapon. Reji smiled slightly and gave the axe to the dog-faced man, as it was originally prepared for him anyway. " Truly a teacher! You have a great eye. I, Doggy, reallyyy like you!" Upon seeing Reji actually giving him the axe, Doggy couldn''t be happier. He almost wanted to hug Reji''s face and give him a kiss. His previous attitude towards Reji was actually not very enthusiastic, quite indifferent. But now, he immediately did a 180-degree turn and started calling him teacher. Beastmen were just that simple, without manyplicated thoughts. Reji quite liked that. So perhaps it was because he was in a good mood, seeing the dog-faced man hugging the axe with delight as if he had obtained a treasure, Reji deliberately sighed and said: "Indeed, with a weapon, the temperament is different. Looking at this hero''s appearance now, he quite resembles the legendary ''Desert Reaper.''" "De-Desert Reaper?" "That''s right. Ites from an ancient book, telling the story of a region called ''Shurima.'' It was also full of deserts. ording to legend, there was a dog-headed deity who could reap souls, like a grim reaper, hence the title of Desert Reaper. It is said that his weapon was also an axe-staff." Deity! Reaping souls! Grim Reaper! Doggy was already extremely excited after getting the epic weapon, and now hearing this, he became even more thrilled. He puffed out his chest, trying his best to make a majestic pose, then skillfully twirled the axe in the air, and finally made a heavy chopping and smashing motion forward. Afterwards, he eagerly turned his head and asked Reji with great anticipation: "Teacher, teacher, how is it? Do I have the look of that, of that Desert Reaper?!" "Exactly the same!" Reji immediately nodded in affirmation. "Hahaha, did you hear that? Don''t call me Doggy anymore. From now on, I''ll be called the Desert Reaper! This name is great! It sounds so good! As expected of teacher, being educated makes a difference!" The simpler-minded one was, the more they actually valued titles and the like, and the more they liked those that sounded domineering and heroic. And very obviously... For this second-inmand of the Animal Gang, the name "Doggy" given to him by Kitsune was clearly not even worth a hairpared to Reji''s "Desert Reaper." Hmph! The white-haired woman was a bit displeased. Kitsune pouted her lips. Although she couldn''t say much, she snorted to express her unhappiness. Now that he had obtained a great weapon and a shy new name, Doggy, a bit carried away, quicklyposed himself. "Doggy, don''t forget that this weapon is only temporarily lent to you. After we leave the dungeon, you still have to return it to him. These treasures all belong to the teacher. We are not allowed to take a single one, you hear me?!" "I... I understand, Boss." "If you understand, then what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and lead the way! Since you got the weapon, do more work!" "Yes! Boss!" The dog-faced man, holding the axe, took the lead and directly rushed to the very front of the team. At this moment, he was obviously surging with fighting spirit, eager to test his new weapon on the monsters of the dungeon. When more than a dozen ghouls in front were attracted by Doggy''s movement and immediately surrounded and attacked him, Doggy did not retreat but advanced. With one hand holding the axe in front of his chest, he smashed and chopped at them as soon as they met. Bang! The first ghoul that came into contact with the end of the axe-staff was directly smashed into minced meat under the enormous force. Previously, although Doggy also had monstrous strength, it hadn''t reached this level. It was very obvious that the arcane runes and spell patterns on the axe had enhanced Doggy''s attack, allowing his power to be amplified. With such a sharp weapon, Doggy let out a loud roar, like a war god descending to the mortal world. He forcefully swung the axe, directly sending seven or eight ghouls flying, and with another heavy axe smash, he instantly killed more than half of the ghoul group in one strike. Doggy''s hugemotion seemed to have attracted an even greater threat. At this moment, from the darkness, a crimson ghoul that seemed to have been lurking for a long time found an opening in Doggy''s defense and suddenly pounced from the rock wall on the ceiling. Caught a bit off guard, Doggy had nowhere to retreat. He could only use the axe as a shield, cing the staff''s handle horizontally above his head to block the Berserk Ghoul''s bite. Crack! The Berserk Ghoul''s sharp teeth immediately bit into the axe''s handle. However, even such sharp teeth couldn''t leave the slightest mark on the axe. With the enchantment''s reinforcement, the indestructible axe was like the most solid divine weapon, leaving the Berserk Ghoul helpless. Seeing this, Doggy became even more excited and thrilled. He exerted force with both arms, pushing the Berserk Ghoul away, then rotated the axe to the axe de position and chopped down at the Berserk Ghoul''s body with a backhand. St! Even the Berserk Ghoul''s tough skin seemed to be fragile in front of the axe, immediately suffering a horrific wound, not even giving the ghoul a chance to catch its breath. Seizing the opportunity, Doggy delivered another axe strike, directly chopping the Berserk Ghoul''s head into a pulp, thoroughly killing it. After just two or three rounds of engagement, the Berserk Ghoul was in by Doggy, causing the other beastmen of the Animal Gang, who had originally wanted to provide support, to be amazed. They were, of course, clear about the ferocity of that kind of red ghoul. For Doggy to kill it so easily, that axe weapon definitely yed a crucial role. When Doggy returned with extreme pride, looking at the axe in his hand, although it was stained with a lot of ghouls blood, the axe de remained sharp as ever, without the slightest trace of wear and tear. Envy! Jealousy! Craving! Craving to death! This was probably the mental state of all the beastmen in the Animal Gang. Especially for the third-inmand, the crocodile-head. His strength was actually simr to Doggy''s. Now, seeing Doggy disying his prowess and looking so imposing, even if the two of them were good brothers and from the same tribe, he was still sour with jealousy. I... I also want to have such a powerful weapon! Chapter 152: Chapter 152: The Second-in-Command part 1 3/4 It seemed that he had heard their inner thoughts. On the corpse of the berserk ghoul that Doggy had just in, a golden light quickly flickered, and a treasure chest began to appear. Whoosh! The experienced beastmens of the Animal Gang were only stunned for a moment before reacting. They ran over at a speed that was like the cafeteria opening for a meal. The beastmens were breathing heavily as they faced the treasure chest, wondering if, ording to the previous pattern, this chest would also contain a Axe weapon! Open it quickly! Open it quickly! Almost every tribe member had these three words written on their faces. Kitsune''s heart was also a bit feverish, especially after seeing Doggy''s battle power soar like he had be a different person after just getting a weapon. This made Kitsune, who had always aimed to be the best in the world, eager to try it out. However, Kitsune didn''t like Axes; they were too ugly. She secretly hoped that there would be a weapon in the treasure chest that suited her aesthetic. At that time, uh... well, it would be nice to let her borrow it temporarily and satisfy her craving! It was the same as before. When Kitsune approached, the treasure chest automatically burst into light and opened on its own. After the glow faded, sure enough, another weapon emitting a flowing light was suspended above the chest. As the beastmen''s fiery gazes looked over, they found that it was a... War de. Like a crescent moon, it was a semi-arc shaped de. It was neither a saber nor a sword, and definitely not the previous Axe. This war de was more like a bow that had been modified, with both ends of the bow reced by sharp de edges. The user would then grip the middle position and use the two semi-arc shaped de edges at both ends to attack. The de was dark red in color. It seemed to flow with a bloodthirsty glow, like a ughtering tool, with the blood runes on it craving battle after battle and ughter. "Teacher, this..." Although the weapon was good, it was obviously not Kitsune''s style. She still handed it over to Reji to distribute. In fact, there wasn''t much to distribute. Seeing the crocodile-headed third-inmand''s eyes turning red with urgency, Reji smiled slightly and indicated that the crocodile-head was the best user. "Thank you... Teacher," Crocy was obviously not as eloquent as the Doggy before. He was more honest and clumsy with words, only able to thank Reji in this way. But from his sincere eyes, it could be seen that he almost regarded Reji as his own brother. After obtaining this dark red war de, Crocy didn''t immediately go to eagerly try out the de like the Doggy before. Instead, he stood in front of Reji, scratching his head, and continued to look at Reji with anticipation. Huh? What is he doing? Reji didn''t understand at first. Later, when Crocy saw that Reji remained silent for a long time, he became a bit anxious. He took the initiative to ask Reji, "Teacher, is there any... any legend or story?" Legend? Oh! Haha¡­ I see¡­ Now Reji understood. It turned out that Crocy was also waiting for him to give him a title simr to "Desert Reaper." Okay. This is simple. "Sorry, there are no simr legendary stories, but... I think it is indeed necessary to give such a powerful weapon and hero a corresponding name. Let me think... hmm..." Reji pretended to ponder for a few seconds before saying, "I think, why not call it the Wastnd Butcher?" Wastnd Butcher! Although it didn''t sound as domineering as his good brother Doggy''s Desert Reaper, it was undoubtedly better than the Crocy given by his boss Kitsune. Crocy, holding the war de, immediately gave Reji an honest smile and lowered his head to show respect. He repeatedly thanked, "Good name. I like it. Teacher... cultured, powerful! I admires!" Crocy was happy. But someone was even more unhappy. Kitsune''s little mouth was now pouting low. It could be seen that she was very upset. What do you mean! Do you dislike the names I gave so much! Doggy, Crocy, what''s wrong with that? Are they really that bad? Those were important bonds between us beastmen! How could they be changed just like that! Agh I feel angry! Really angry! The puffed-up white-furred girl chose to throw a tantrum, but in fact, with the two great generals "Desert Reaper" and "Wastnd Butcher" now, whether Kitsune took action or not was no longer important. Crocy with the dark red war de could easily kill seven out of seven ghouls in the group. As the crescent-shaped de spun around his body, countless ghouls were shredded into minced meat. The "novice level dungeon" designed by Reji was obviously way to easy for the Animal Gang. Even the final boss, the Undead Champion, could onlyst less than ten minutes under the joint attack of the Desert Reaper and the Wastnd Butcher beforepletely falling apart and crashing to the ground. This also showed how terrifying the power of the beastmen could be once they had excellent equipment. They were simply a race born for battle. After the Undead Champion fell, as the boss guarding this level of the dungeon, it naturally had to drop an evenrger additional treasure chest. The beastmens still didn''t care about the potions, scrolls, rare materials, items, and such, as usual. They were all looking forward to the golden chest that could "open" weapons. And this time... Buzz! The chest was actually colorful, as if it were of a higher grade, and it indeed was. What floated out of the chest was a mysterious, iridescent, and glowing jade orb. No girl could resist shiny things. The beastmen race were no exception. Kitsune''s gaze was immediately deeply attracted by this seven-colored orb. Her mouth even opened wide, and her eyes were full of adoration. The orb also seemed to like Kitsune as its owner. Chapter 153: Chapter 153: The Second-in-Command part 2 4/4 It actually took the initiative to float over andnd in Kitsune''s hand, quietly spinning. Theyer uponyer of dreamy, overflowing brilliance seemed to drape Kitsune in a colorful veil. Combined with Kitsune''s white hair and white tail, it was as if she instantly gained several points of fairy spirit. Needless to say, Kitsune immediately took temporary possession of this weapon. As the boss, no beastman dared to say anything. Of course, due to Kitsune''sbat style, she didn''t use the orb for spellcasting. Instead, she treated it more like a ball with magical power, forcefully throwing it at the enemy. And the orb, after being thrown by Kitsune to attack the enemy, could even intelligently return quickly, like a boomerang, which made Kitsune even more overjoyed and reluctant to let go. In addition. Simrly. Kitsune, who had obtained a new weapon, also came to Reji. This time, without the white-furred girl needing to say much shyly, Reji, who had already understood their simple mind, immediately gave Kitsune a new title. "In our homnd, there is a legend about an extremely beautiful fox. Every hundred years of cultivation, it can grow a tail. After nine hundred years, it can be a powerful existence like a peacock spreading its tail, able to overturn the heavens and earth, and pluck the sun and moon with its hands. Miss Kitsune''s current appearance reminds me of this legend, so why not call Miss Kitsune the Nine-Tailed Fox from now on?" "Nine-Tailed Fox... Good, good, good! I like this one! Teacher, next time when there''s a chance, tell me more about the story of the nine-tailed fox from your homnd!" "Of course." Reji nodded to the delighted Kitsune. ording to the process, Kitsune had obtained her new weapon and had a new title. Next, she should have happily and excitedly gone to try it out. However... The fall of the Undead Champion, the final boss of this floor, symbolized the end of this dungeon instance. When the eager Kitsune wanted to continue, they were blocked by an "air wall" constructed by a spell, unable to advance any further. At the same time, every adventurer who reached this point would hear a system window designed by Reji, saying something like "Time limit exhausted, Try another time." The beastmens were upset. Although they didn''t get such good weapons, the simple weapons in the treasure chests were still many times better than what they usually used. And those who truly obtained good items, the Doggy and the Crocy, must have felt even more upset. Because if the dungeon was gone, wouldn''t it mean that after they left... As for the "Nine-Tailed Fox," she was the most upset of all. The two great generals in front of her had at least enjoyed using their weapons, but for her, she had just gotten it and hadn''t even had the chance to enjoy it before it was gone. "It''s alright. The Animal Gang has already helped me explore the dungeon and allowed me to gain a lot. These treasures can be considered my thanks to you. I have no use for them, so it''s better to give them to more suitable people. I think these weapons also hope to have appropriate users rather than collecting dust in a warehouse." Every word Reji said sounded so reasonable to the Animal Gang, simply too right! What is a true Teacher! This is a true Teacher! Although the beastmens of the Animal Gang wished they could revere Reji, their boss and leader was still Kitsune. If Kitsune didn''t agree, they would have to honestly return the weapons no matter how reluctant they were. As for Kitsune... No! One thing at a time! We couldn''t go back on our word! Mother said that beastmen value contracts the most. Once we promise something to someone, we can''t go back on it! But... But... I really like the orb in my hand. Simrly, she could also feel the reluctance of her tribesmen towards these weapons and treasures. These could indeed significantly improve their beastman race and help her fulfill her mother''sst wish, bringing the beastmen closer to the goal of bing the "strongest in the world." What to do! What should we do! Kitsune was struggling and hesitating. The second-inmand and third-inmand, Doggy and Crocy, were no exception. The two nced at each other and actually thought of a solution. How about... Making that human Teacher the hostage husband! This way, wouldn''t Teacher be one of our own in the Animal Gang! Then, wouldn''t Teacher''s weapons also be our weapons! This wouldn''t count as breaking the promise, right! This was really a good idea! However, Crocy still shook his head. Teacher was a good person and even gave us a nice name. We couldn''t harm him. With Teacher''s small human physique, if he really became boss mate, wouldn''t hebe exhausted to death by boss in just one night? No, no, this won''t do¡­ Doggy recalled the miserable state Kitsune''s father when he sacrificed his life to repay kindness back then. He almost shuddered and also shook his head. Yes, we can''t harm Teacher. Since this is the case, there is only one way left. We will also give it our all and demote ourself, no longer being the second and third-inmand. We would give the positions to Teacher. Kitsune had obviously thought of this point as well. "Teacher! Our Animal Gang never owes anyone anything. Since we''ve taken Teacher''s benefits, we must also pay it back!" "Alright, it''s decided. From now on, Teacher, you will be our Animal Gang''s... new second-inmand!" Kitsune pped her hands, and the power decision of the Animal Gang was that simple. "From now on, Teacher, your matters are our matters! Whoever dares to provoke you is going against us, against me, the Desert Reaper!" Doggy immediately stood up to agree. Crocy was not to be outdone. He waved the dark red war de and revealed a ferocious expression, saying, "And me, the Wastnd Butcher. Teacher''s enemies... are my fish on the chopping board!" Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Shadow Nun and Death Heralds part 1 1/3 The Animal Gang, returning fully loaded from the "Ruins", became a catfish that Reji released into the Syndicate. There was no need for him, as the "Second-in-Command", to guide them. After reaping a bountiful harvest and experiencing a surge in strength, the members of the Animal Gang had no intention of resting and recuperating. Instead, they quickly set out to make a fortune. The very next day, they immediately mobilized to fight the Bloody Hand Gang again, with Kitsune seeking to reim her previous position. Previously, even when the beastmen were equipped with a bunch of scrap metal, they were able to fight their way to the enemy''sir. This time, armed with brand new and high-quality equipment, the beastmen easily shattered the Bloody Hand Gang, who couldn''t withstand a single blow. Especially the two beastmen generals, the Desert Reaper and the Wastnd Butcher, wielding enchanted weapons, were like two soul reaper, terrifying the Bloody Hand Gang members. They couldn''t figure out what had happened and how these Animal Gang members had suddenly be so terrifyingly powerful, and where all those shining high-grade equipment in their hands came from. Even when their leader, the greatly rmed "Bloody Hand", wanted to use the Warden''s Lantern, an artifact from the "Stillwater Prison", to suppress the Animal Gang, Kitsune, having learned from past mistakes, immediately distanced herself from thentern''s range and mustered her strength to throw the Orb in her hand. The soul-suppressingntern, which could amplify the "ck Cor", was instantly shattered by the Orb in Kitsune''s hand. There was also a hierarchy among weapons, and it was evident that the Orb in Kitsune''s hand was of much higher quality than the Warden''s Lantern. There''s not much more to say about the subsequent battles. The Bloody Hand Gang fled in disarray, with their leader Bloody Hand directly escaping in a wretched state, abandoning all his subordinates. Thus, in just one night, the Bloody Hand Gang, a long-standing major force in the Syndicate, waspletely annihted by the beastmen and directly removed from the Syndicate. After this battle, the entire Syndicate was shocked. The various forces that had been fighting over territories due to the continuous disappearance of oases all stopped. The attention of all Syndicate members turned to the Animal Gang. What''s going on? How did these brainless barbarians suddenly power up? They wiped out the Bloody Hand Gang overnight!? Investigate! In an instant, countless people began frantically gathering intelligence. Moreover, the beastmen of the Animal Gang had no intention of hiding anything, and Reji deliberately spread some information. Soon, within a few hours, various rumors were flying all over the civilian areas of the Syndicate. "Hey, did you hear? The Animal Gang annihted the Bloody Hand Gang with less than three hundred people." "Not only that, my brother and the others happened to be at the scene. That second-inmand of the Animal Gang, wielding the ''Holy Divider'', was ughtering the Bloody Hand Gang left and right. I heard that when one of the Bloody Hand Gang''s vice leaders tried to stop him, he immediately turned around and smashed his head like a watermelon with a single strike of his axe-staff." "Holy Divider, what''s that?" "You don''t even know this? It''s all the rage in the Syndicate now. It''s one of the divine weapons the Animal Gang brought back from the ''Ruins''!" "D-Divine weapon!?" "What else could it be? What do you think the Animal Gang relied on to wipe out the Bloody Hand Gang? Let me tell you, there''s more than just this one divine weapon. Apparently, in addition to the ''Holy Divider'' axe wielded by Lord Doggy, the Animal Gang''s Third-in-Command, Corcy, also has a crescent-shaped de called ''Aesirnos''!" "Shh! What Doggy and Crocy? Do you have a death wish? They''ve changed their titles now. From now on, call them the Desert Reaper and the Wastnd Butcher! Otherwise, if the Animal Gang members hear you, who knows if they''lle after you!" "Right, right, right. We''ll have to be careful from now on." "How strange. I remember the Animal Gang members weren''t very smart. Where did they get all theseplicated names, and what about those ruins and weapons? Where did they alle from?" "I do have some intel on this. Apparently, the Animal Gang recruited a professor from outside who is extremely knowledgeable and well-versed in various ancient histories. It seems that even the Animal Gang''s ability to find the ruins was thanks to that professor." "Enough with envying others. Instead of wasting time, it''s better to investigate the ruins more. I heard there are still many good things in that Dungeon. I saw some people from small tribes go in to try their luck before, and they actually brought out several scrolls. I think there were even third-tier ones among them!" "What! Third-tier scrolls!? Those could sell for several hundred gold coins in those big countries! This, this isn''t just ruins, it''s clearly a gold mine!" "Quick, quick, let''s organize manpower too. We can''t let others snatch all the good stuff from the ruins!" Ruins. Dungeon. Divine artifacts. Treasures. These words quickly swept through the Syndicate. Everyone knew that the source of the Animal Gang''s sudden surge in strength came from a mysterious ruins Dungeon that suddenly appeared within the Syndicate. The Syndicate was originally a ce for exiles. Those who came here were either criminals or desperadoes. In their eyes, the ruins Dungeon was undoubtedly thergest oasis, a gold rushnd full of opportunities and chances to get rich quick. Group after group of small and medium-sized forces took action, swarming towards the location of the ruins Dungeon. Everyone wanted to get a share of the soup from the ruins and obtain priceless treasures. Some even said they wanted to be the next Animal Gang. Of course. Compared to the mindless bandwagoning and fanaticism of these small and medium-sized forces, the remaining two major forces in the Syndicate were much more cautious. Chapter 155: Chapter 155: Shadow Nun and Death Heralds part 2 -Sand Dune Temple. This was originally the default ce for the three major forces of the Syndicate to negotiate with each other. Before the Animal Gang arrived, the Bloody Hand Gang, Shadow Tribe, and Death Heralds formed a tripartite confrontation. Basically, various matters and interest distribution in the Syndicate were decided by the three parties here. Of course, now there were only two parties left. One of them, the members who came to the meeting, were all wearing gray-brown robes and holding staffs that seemed to be made of various dead and decayed wood. They were none other than the Death Heralds. The Death Heralds originated from the mages of the Mage Nation, one of the remaining strongest "Three Great Nations" under the Empire. Because they practiced ck magic, they were exiled and expelled, eventually gathering in the Syndicate and bing the "Death Heralds" organization. They used their superior magic techniques to be one of the three major forces in the Syndicate. Sitting across from the Death Heralds was naturally the Shadow Tribe. Almost all of these members were female. As for the reason, it could be seen from the uniform nun outfits they were wearing now. The Shadow Tribe originated from the Radiant Church Nation, one of the "Three Great Nations". Their original identity was the nuns of the Radiant Church. But they imed to have been betrayed and abandoned by the Holy Light. So they voluntarily left the Church Nation. No longer believing in the Radiance. Instead, they embraced the "Shadow". This could be seen from theirpletely ck nun outfits now. Each Shadow Nun also had a ck ribbon over their eyes, symbolizing that their eyes no longer yearned for light, and all they saw was shadow. Now the two major forces gathered here for no other reason than to exchange intelligence on the mysterious ruins Dungeon that had stirred up the entire Syndicate. The leader of the Death Heralds, a skinny old man with wrinkled skin all over his body, looking very creepy, spoke first. "We have preliminarily investigated the reason for the formation of the ruins. It most likely originated from a sandstorm." "Earlier, in the direction of the Ghost Town, we detected a strong surge of magical power. The peak value of the magical power was so high that even I had never heard of it before, not even during my studies in the Mage Nation. It was most likely a destructive sandstorm, much stronger than a hurricane-level one." "I specte that it was precisely because of this powerful sandstorm that it triggered some chain reactions, causing the Dungeon ruins that were originally hidden beneath the desert of the Syndicate to be revealed." The unprecedented strong magical power fluctuations observed by the Death Heralds were actually from the Chimera that Reji was riding at the time. However, they did not believe that such magical power could be emitted by a person or a certain monster, so they attributed it to natural phenomena. And in the Syndicate, the only natural phenomenon that could cause such fluctuations was a sandstorm. After hearing the intelligence from the Death Heralds, the Shadow Nun leader, with a cross hanging between her ample bosom, nodded in agreement. They also did not believe that the Dungeon ruins would appear out of thin air. There must be a reason, and the Death Heralds'' observations undoubtedly proved this point, making them feel more at ease. Afterwards, as an exchange, the female Bishop also spoke up and shared the information they had explored about the ruins. "The ruins are more like a separate space. People who enter the ruins cannot be found from the outside world. They can only return to reality by exiting through the teleportation points in the ruins." "Moreover, after our detection, the separate space inside the ruins is filled with an evil aura. I''m afraid the predecessor of this Dungeon was not a normal area, but most likely something like a burial ground with concentrated corpse energy, or a pce of a destroyed nation that was massacred." Upon hearing these words from the leader of the Shadow nun''s, the leader of the Death Heralds became unhappy. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the veiled bishop across from him. The corners of his mouth, which revealed iplete yellow teeth, curled up in dissatisfaction as he said: "Miss Natalie, even a fool could see what you''re saying. Our people are not blind. How could there be undead creatures in normal ruins? Even the legendary ghouls have appeared." "We Death Heralds came with full sincerity to seek cooperation, but it seems that you Shadow Tribe are just trying to fool us with this?" Many Shadow Nuns immediately became dissatisfied with the old man''s words and frowned. It was still the elder nun, as the bishop, who raised her hand to stop the other nuns. After pondering for a while, she probably felt that the previous intelligence was indeed insufficient. So she added one more piece of information. "The ruins have a hidden condition simr to ''first kill''. Like the divine artifacts obtained by the Animal Gang, only the first explorer who kills the elite monsters in the Dungeon can obtain them. Subsequent explorers, even if they kill the same monsters again, cannot obtain the divine artifacts." Divine artifacts! The leader of the Death Heralds immediately perked up. This piece of information was indeed important to them. First kill to obtain divine artifacts!? No wonder! The Death Heralds had also secretly sent people to participate in the exploration of the Dungeon ruins several times. They had obtained many treasures, but they didn''t get a single one of the truly big prizes, the enchanted weapons. So that''s where the problem lies? Although the old man inwardly agreed with this statement, and he could mostly guess it vaguely, he was curious about how these nuns discovered it. In response to the old man''s questioning look, the female Bishop of the Shadow Tribe, sped her hands together, showing a pious praying posture. She said indifferently: "The shadow always guides us." Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Shadow Nun and Death Heralds part 3 Hmph. The old man curled his lips. Seeing this scene, many subordinate Death Heralds also showed a look of disdain. What an act. As if they were really like some dignified and pure nuns. But in fact. The disdain in the eyes of the Death Heralds quickly turned into lust. They unabashedly fixed their gazes on the exaggerated figures of those Shadow Nuns across from them. Yes, these Shadow Nuns, wrapped in ck nun outfits, had voluptuous and curvy figures. Each of them had an extremely sexy and hot body that made people feel thirsty just by looking at them. Such figures were obviously notpatible with being a nun. Moreover, the Death Heralds were well aware of how these nuns obtained their smooth skin, fairplexion, and voluptuous figures. They specialized in hunting married women, believing that all love was the temptation of "carnal sins" and the origin of depravity. How many originally loving young couples and happy families had fallen victim to their hands. Those women who had lost their "virginity" were all killed by them in the name of purification, absorbing their life force, thus giving these Shadow Nuns their current eternal youth and beauty. Sooner orter, they would have to fiercely press these hypocritical nuns under their bodies! This was actually the dream of many people in the Syndicate. The old man restrained the heat in his body and returned to the main topic. These Shadow Nuns were still indispensable teammates for the Death Heralds at the moment. "Miss Natalie, since there is a ''first kill'' rule in the Dungeon, we can no longer just stand by and watch." "When the next new Dungeon area opens, I hope the Death Heralds can join hands with the nuns of the Shadow Tribe to seize the divine artifacts of the next area before the Animal Gang does." The Shadow Nuns deeply despised men. Under normal circumstances, they would never join hands with these Death Heralds, whom they equally despised and loathed. But now. The bloody example of the Bloody Hand Gang was still fresh in their minds. The power of the divine artifacts was immense. If they let the Animal Gang obtain a few more pieces, this snowball would only grow bigger and bigger. By then, even their Shadow Tribe might not be able to protect themselves. "Alright, just this once, I will personally take action. At that time, I hope... Evan, as the ''Demon King'', you can also go to the ruins with us." The "Demon King" mentioned by the Grand Bishop referred to the old man in front of her, the leader of the Death Heralds. Don''t be fooled by this short and unimpressive-looking old man who seemed to be advanced in years. He was a genuine fourth-tier mage, and there were even rumors that he had already touched the threshold of the fifth tier, the legendary "Archmage". It was precisely because of this that he could be the leader of this group of ck mages, the Death Heralds, and even had the powerful title of the King of Magic Power, abbreviated as the "Demon King". The old man chuckled, sped his hands behind his back, and naturally agreed. When it came to divine artifacts, he didn''t trust anyone else''s subordinates. He had to personally take action. Moreover, he had already made full preparations for this. The monsters in the ruins, as far as they could see, were all undead creatures, and the field they specialized in as ck mages just so happened to include necromancy. So in Evan''s view, this Dungeon ruins was simply a big gift specifically for the Death Heralds, no different from being handed to them for free. Evan considered himself to be unrivaled in necromancy throughout the entire Mage Nation. As the Demon King who had long ago mastered this field, for him, this Dungeon ruins filled with undead was no different from going home. The reason why he was still putting on an act now, pretending toe and form an alliance with these nuns of the Shadow Tribe, was firstly to guard against those damn lucky dogs from the Animal Gang who had taken the lead in obtaining the divine artifacts. The second reason, of course, was¡­ Evan watched those ck-robed nuns leave, his eyes flickering with coldness. Cooperation? Equally dividing the divine artifacts? What a joke! Now that the Bloody Hand Gang was gone. As long as we wiped out the Shadow Tribe, only the Death Heralds would be left to dominate the Syndicate. As for the Animal Gang. They are just a bunch of brainless hotheads. No matter how much power they were given, there was no need to fear them. And¡­ that dangerous body... Evan had to admit that he had indeed been coveting the bodies of those nuns for a long time. Those damn surging curves were hard for any man to resist. The next time a new area of the ruins opened, it would be the time for my Death Heralds to rise. Of course. It would also be the time to let these nuns have a good taste of depravity! Just as Evan and many others in the Syndicate were eagerly anticipating the new area of the ruins, Reji, as the mastermind behind the scenes, naturally couldn''t let the "yers" down. Seeing that the Dungeon ruins had already attracted enough attention and interest in the Syndicate, Reji felt that it was time to slightly lower the main course. The novice level floor seemed to be a bit too easy indeed. For the official Dungeon areas that would require "stone tablet fragments" as payment, Reji decided that in addition to adding things like random teleportation rooms, pit traps, treasure chest monsters, and poisonous miasma, he needed to add some extra monsters as well. Just in time. Bying into contact with the beastmen race and sessfully gaining their goodwill and trust, Reji had unlocked new buildings and monster troops in the "As system" and "Home system". Among them, there were two beastmen-exclusive "monster" buildings that sessfully caught Reji''s attention. They were, Goblin Burrow. And, Slime Breeding Ground. Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Goblins And Slimes part 1 1/2 Goblins, a green-skinned, imp-like monster. They also existed in the original human world, belonging to themon monster category. Reji remembered killing some of them in the early stages of the game, but because this type of monster was too weak, only at single-digit levels, and gave pitifully little experience, they were quickly forgottenter on. However, goblins from different worlds seemed to have great differences. Reji looked at the goblin burrow built in the home system ording to the beastman race tree. The cave entrance was more than ten meters in diameter, surrounded by sharp bone spikes, as if they had hunted manyrge beasts and used their sharpest bones to make them. At the entrance of the burrow, one could also see decorations that looked like tribal totems, made of teeth from some giant monster strung together. Just from the appearance of the burrow building, it seemed to show that the goblins in the beastman world were not like the scrawny and weak green-skinned cannon fodder in the human world. Monster production relied on investing starlight. After Reji''s operation, there was an immediate reaction inside the burrow. One after another, dark green spores bulged from the depths of the burrow. The outline of embryos could be seen through the translucent spore sacs. After about ten seconds, the embryos rapidly developed into mature humanoid forms, bursting out of the spore sacs. From the ruptured juice, green-skinned creatures with pointed heads, thin cheeks, and ugly faces stood up. [Savage Goblin] [Level: 23] Judging from their height, these goblins were simr to those in the human world, much shorter than adults, about the size of children. But the difference was that the goblins in the beastman world seemed to have inherited the beastlybat bloodline. Their entire bodies were covered in bulging sturdy muscles. Although their limbs were short, they were well-developed and robust. Their arms could easily lift boulders, and their legs had amazing jumping power, making it difficult for their targeted prey to escape. Just one such goblin, if it were a one-on-one fight, Reji felt that let alone ordinary human soldiers, even those elven warriors might be in trouble if they were careless. Moreover, goblins were a gregarious species. Although they belonged to the monster category, they werepletely considered half-intelligent creatures. As soon as the ten goblins produced by Reji from the "burrow" walked out, they began sniffing the air with their noses. Their narrow eyes immediately surveyed their surroundings, as if quickly familiarizing themselves with the environment. Soon, the attention of this group of goblins was entirely focused on the elven race, who were also on the fourth floor of the magic tower, not far away, and considered neighbors. The beauty of the elves, especially the females, was undoubtedly the most tempting attraction to the goblins. They began to make restless, squeaky noises. The goblin race, no matter which world they were in, did not have females. Their reproduction could only rely on mating with other races, borrowing their reproductive abilities. Therefore, in the eyes of goblins, females of other races were natural mates, and the higher-level the females, the more they were no different from golden treasures. However, the goblins'' restlessness didn''tst for a few seconds before a thick, huge vine burst out from the ground beneath their feet, knocking several goblins flying and leaving them dizzy on the ground. Many goblins were shocked and terrified. After Vielsia, with a face as cold as frost, retracted the vine, this group of goblins who had been taught a lesson all became honest and well-behaved. They were extremely respectful and submissive to Vielsia, and even more so to Reji, who they saw as having conquered this terrifying female elf. Goblins were a type of monster that was born into the chaotic evil alignment. Just looking at their appearance made people dislike them, and their personalities were simr to those of demons, typically bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Rejiter tried to produce some other varieties of goblins, such as goblin shamans wielding bone staffs and wearing animal skins, equivalent to the little chieftains among the goblin tribes. Their levels were around 50, proficient in fourth-tier spells, and could also provide an inspiring aura that greatly increased thebat power of other goblins. For example, goblin heroes wielding dual axes were born only once in every hundred goblins. Although they were also around level 50, they had the temte of a mini-boss, reaching B- in both strength and agility, and could probably solo undead champions without a problem. Further on, there were golden goblins, goblin kings, and so on, but they weren''t very necessary. The higher-level the goblins, the more they seemed to like to jump around, obviously having more ulterior motives. Reji just tried it out and then waved his hand to wipe them out. In the home system, he had absolute control. The troops produced by starlight could return some starlight after being wiped out. Those low-level goblins, like the shamans, were scared to death by Reji''s actions. They all prostrated on the ground, trembling and even breathing cautiously. The bad nature of the goblin race determined that they would not be chosen by Reji as members of the demon army, but they could still serve as cannon fodder. Now Reji was just using this batch of goblins to test and see how much of a role they could y when the adventurers from the Syndicate entered, and how much the adventurers'' pass rate could be maintained. In addition to goblins, the other slime breeding ground looked much more pleasant. It was a veryrge pond. Slimes were generally a type of mucus-shaped monster,posed of pure magical power. Their attack method was mostly to devour, wrapping the enemy in the slime''s mucus. In their normal state, slimes were like the jelly curled up in Reji''s hand, with a very good feel and great sticity. Hmm. These little one have some useful futures. Slimes ate everything, naturally including garbage. Reji released this batch of produced slimes into the Dungeonbyrinth, which could just solve the various wastes generated by the influx of arge number of adventurers. Exclusive content from m,v lemp,yr Hmm not bad Reji didn''t know if it was because he had be a demon king, but he seemed to be more and more interested in researching monsters now. This experience was indeed fresh. Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Goblins And Slimes part 2 2/2 After all, in the game, as the protagonist, he was always killing monsters and clearing dungeons. Now that it was his turn to be the boss, Reji was looking forward to the people of the Syndicate bringing him more experience data on how to continue building the dungeon. The news of the opening of a new area in the Dungeon ruins spread throughout the Syndicate within a few hours. The "air wall" that had previously blocked the exploration of the deep Dungeon by the major forces had disappeared. Instead, there was another new teleportation array. This time, the deep-level area teleportation array blocked many excited adventurers from entering. People only then discovered that entering the next level of space was no longer a casual matter, but required a ticket. And the ticket that could activate the teleportation array was naturally the stone tablet fragments. At this point, many Syndicate forces shifted their attention to the stone tablet fragments. Most of them only knew that these stone tablet fragments were the sacred objects worshipped by the earliest batch of natives in the Syndicate a long, long time ago. But as time passed, the stone tablet fragments were scattered everywhere. In addition, the original Syndicate natives had long been driven away and squeezed out by these outsiders, so no one paid attention to or cared about the stone tablet fragments, at most treating them as antique collectibles. As a result, the current Dungeon ruins actually required these stone tablet fragments, which added more mystery and a sense of antiquity to the Dungeon. Many Syndicate people spected that the history of the Dungeon might be even more ancient than they had imagined, most likely dating back thousands of years. It was possible that, like the mythical legends passed down in ancient history, there were various epic treasures here. Whoever could explore more of this ce would obtain the power from those myths thousands of years ago. At this moment, the people of the Syndicate began to frantically search for stone tablet fragments. Some fragments that were originally seen by chance due to luck were all being hyped up to sky-high prices in the ck market. After all, overnight, the stone tablet fragments had transformed from antique ornaments into precious Dungeon tickets. Everyone began to scramble to find new fragments, eager for the opportunity to get rich. This was exactly what Reji wanted. He needed to collect 104 units of stone tablet fragments, which did not refer to 104 pieces, as each piece provided a different amount of units depending on its volume and share. Rather than collecting fragments, it was more like collecting the energy within the fragments. Once the target was reached, the map system could be unlocked. However, in just half a day since the opening of the new area, Reji checked the progress bar and found that it had already reached 53/104 collection, almost half. So Reji spected that the stone tablet fragments scattered in the Syndicate might be far more than just 104 units. There were probably many, many more, but he only needed this much energy to unlock it, without needing to collect them all. At this rate, it should have ended quickly. But on the second day, Reji discovered that his stone tablet fragment collection progress had stopped increasing. Upon further investigation, he found that the entrance to his Dungeon ruins had been blocked by someone else. Many small and medium-sized forces were not allowed to enter, and even the stone tablet fragments in their hands were snatched away and plundered, forcing them not to enter the deeper areas. Only the two remaining major forces in the Syndicate could carry out such a domineering act of "dungeon snatching". "Do not be tempted by evil any longer. The shadow protects you and me. Return now." The nuns of the Shadow Tribe ced their hands at the entrance. Whenever adventurers from other forces tried to enter the next level with stone tablet fragments, they would be stopped by the nuns for admonishment. If simply turning around and leaving wasn''t enough. The Shadow Nuns would still stop them. Only after handing over the stone tablet fragments would the nuns let them leave. And if they were unwilling and tried to resist. The nuns now had chains in their hands, like leashes for pet dogs. On the other end of the ropes were those who had tried to resist the nuns and were eventually captured, bing the "Shadow Disciples" in the nuns'' hands. These were basically all men, stripped of their clothes. The surface of their naked skin was crawling with shackle curses corroded by the nuns'' shadow energy. Although they were called Shadow Disciples, they were actually treated as ves, ordered around by the nuns as they pleased. Of course, the nuns didn''t think so. Men were the embodiment of impurity. They did this without any psychological burden, just to purify them, make them atone for their sins, and be Shadow Disciples who could break free from "carnal sins". As allies, the Death Heralds clicked their tongues in amazement at this scene. These nuns really knew how to y. Find your next read at m v lemp-yr They could even make enving sound so noble, calling them disciples. However, they didn''t stop it either. After all, this was the nuns'' way of fighting. The more "Shadow Disciples" they had in their hands, the more help they would have when exploring the deep ruinster. And indeed, they collected so many stone tablet fragments not only to monopolize the Dungeon and ensure they could seize the divine artifacts brought by the first kill, but also to bring as many people in as possible. After all, the entrance teleportation charged stone tablet fragments based on the number of people. When they had collected enough shares of stone tablet fragments, as many as thirty or more pieces, and invested them into the teleportation array, sure enough, the light of the teleportation array expanded a lot, bing incrediblyrge. In this way, one hundred and fifty Death Heralds, seventy nuns from the Shadow Tribe, and finally the two to three hundred male ves captured by these nuns could all step into the teleportation array. The two major forces united, forming an exploration team of several hundred people, which was an imposing sight. Just this lineup and momentumpletely crushed the other forces. With such numbers, it undoubtedly gave the nuns and Death Herald members full confidence that they would definitely reap a bountiful harvest. With this impatient anticipation, their figures were gradually swallowed by the light of the teleportation array, sessfully entering the new area deep within the Dungeon. Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Run! Run! Run! Part1 On the mottled stone walls, there were patterns they couldn''t understand. In the winding and gloomy corridors, every few meters, there was some kind of unknown, strange luminous body, flickering with a faint glow, providing a pitiful amount of light. From the darkness of the ceiling, the sound of "drip, drip" could be heard from time to time. Cold water droplets fell from the cracks onto the necks and backs of the people below, making them shiver all over. On the uneven and pitted maze floor, one could asionally see traces of undried blood, remains of bones, and fragments of weapons, seemingly telling the new intruders about the fierce battles that had taken ce here before. This scene inside the dungeon was actually somewhat familiar to the Shadow Nuns and Death Heralds who had just teleported in. The Death Heralds immediately chanted fire magic, and in an instant,nterns dispelled the darkness of the passage, bringing arge area of light. Of course, the light of the mes seemed to only extend about five meters before being blocked by some kind of rule power, unable to advance any further. Further away, there was still a piece of darkness, and in the darkness, one could vaguely hear the roars of monsters, the squirming of bones, and the piercing sound of some kind of ws rubbing against the walls. The newly opened deep area of the dungeon had expanded considerably in both the area of the passages and the range of the monster zonespared to the shallowyers. Just like the current passage, if walking side by side, it could easily amodate more than forty people at the same time. This information all came from the adventurers on the first day. It was precisely because of this that the two major forces chose the human wave tactic and pulled together a team of three hundred people at once. The team, illuminated by torches, was advancing in an orderly manner. Soon they arrived at the first fan-shapedrge za. In the fan-shaped area directly ahead, many, many bones seemed to sense their arrival and immediately started moving, forming skeletons one by one, crawling up from the ground. Undead monsters! This point was also the same as the information provided by the adventurers on the first day. The types of monsters in the deep areas had not changed. It''s just that the number had increased somewhat. There were more than twenty undead in front of them, starting to hold bone des and killing the team of intruders. Facing the monsters, the Shadow Nuns made the first move. They didn''t go up themselves but threw out the chains in their hands. The moment the nuns loosened the locks, the shadow patterns on the bodies of the male ves who had been forced to join the Shadow Tribe immediately began to burn, making them let out painful howls. But correspondingly, the bodies of these male ves began to swell, and their strength surged, bing frenzied, like a bunch of crazy people who didn''t care about their lives, also howling and rushing towards the skeletons. Under the shadow enhancement of the nuns, these males, one by one, hadbat power not much inferior to the skeleton soldiers. More importantly, some male ves, even if their abdomens were pierced by bone des, seemed to have no pain at all and instead continued to attack in a frenzy. No matter how many wounds they had on their bodies, it would not slow down their movements, just like another kind of monster. More than ten minutester, the battle ended. The more than twenty skeleton soldiers were all down now, while the nuns'' side had paid the price of more than ten male ves. In their eyes, this kind of casualty ratio was undoubtedly very cost-effective. The male ves who remained, after the battle ended, only then regained their senses. The pain from the injuries they had suffered before all came rushing in, leaving them sweating profusely and in agony. But in the eyes of the nuns, this was just a part of their penance and cultivation. Or rather, these male ves were brought in by the nuns in the first ce to be used as consumables for their trial and error. After the monsters were eliminated, the treasure chests appeared. The nuns were not in a hurry to open them but continued tomand their subordinate disciples, forcing the male ves to go and check. No matter how reluctant and angry they were, because they were shackled with shadow curse fetters, they could not resist and could only carry out the orders of their nun masters. One of the Shadow Disciples, as he approached the treasure chest, suddenly felt weightless underfoot. The ground actually caved in, causing him to fall directly with a load cry. In the next moment, a "squish" sound was heard. When they went to check again, all that remained was the corpse of the male ve who had triggered the ground spike trap, his body drenched in blood on the spikes. A trap! The deep area had many more strange traps than the shallow area. A moment of carelessness could lead to death. Many Death Heralds in the same team were terrified by this scene, and at the same time, they also sighed that bringing along this group of nuns from the Shadow Tribe was indeed of great help. After all, the most formidable thing about traps was that they were difficult to detect and could suddenly ambush someone. But these nuns brought so many ves down with them, each one the best scapegoat to easily scout out the way ahead for them. If there was a trap, just let the ves step on it. Human lives became the cheapest consumables here. In this way, with the Shadow Disciples scouting the way, the team was indeed much more at ease and easily reached the farthest point that the adventurers from small and medium-sized factions could reach on the first day. Beyond that, there was no more intelligence. It was apletely new and unknown area. But now, neither the nuns nor the Death Heralds had any intention of turning back. Instead, they were eager to continue exploring. There was no other reason. Just the treasures in the deep were the best stimnt for them. The crimson healing potion had a concentration they had never seen before. The nuns only needed to drink a mouthful to feel as if their whole body was ascending, with every cell rejoicing. And the ocean-blue mana potion was an even better stimnt for them, even showing signs of loosening their restrained bottleneck. Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Run! Run! Run! Part 2 Just as mice cannot resist the temptation of cheese, humans are the same. Soon, the exploration team arrived at a very special area. Here, strange new structures appeared. Were those burrows in the maze? Logically speaking, even if there were monsters in the burrows, they should have immediatelye out to attack them when they approached, just like those skeletons or ghouls. But now, they were already very close to the burrows, yet there was still no movementing from the pitch-ck holes. What was going on? They hade for the treasure, so they definitely had to go down and investigate such burrows. Who knows, there might be some good treasures hidden inside. However, out of caution, the nuns still used their old method and first dispatched their subordinate Shadow Disciples, driving the ves to enter the burrows first. The ves, forced to obey the orders of their nun masters, could only step into the burrow one by one, no matter how terrified and afraid they were. And just as their figures had barely disappeared into the burrow... Wha!!!!!? Many Shadow Disciples'' hearts nearly skipped a beat because they saw that, from the outside, one couldn''t tell at all, but inside the burrow, a bunch of green monsters, which were goblins, were all ambushed at the entrance, like hunters waiting for their prey toe to them. Moreover, what made the male ves even more terrified was that these goblins inside the burrows seemed to be much stronger, much more robust, and much more intelligent than they had known. The goblins seemed to have realized that these male ves were not the main force at all, but were here to probe. They didn''t attack them, but instead stared at them fiercely with vicious eyes, as if warning them not to make a sound to alert the others. Make no sound to alert? Hehe. The goblins'' intelligence was still not quite good. All these male ves, the so-called Shadow Disciples, hated the nuns so much that they wished those vicious women could die miserably, preferably tortured to death. The Shadow Disciples looked at each other and immediately realized that this was a perfect opportunity for revenge. So they didn''t make a sound and walked out, pretending to be calm. As if there was indeed no danger in the burrow. The nuns, under this scene, did not suspect anything. After all, in their view, if there were really monsters, it would be impossible for the male ves to hide it. The monsters would definitely attack them first. Just like that, one by one, the nuns began to walk with ease. Under the leadership of the High Bishop Natalie, they got closer and closer to the burrow, ready to go inside and investigate. It wasn''t until they were two or three meters away from the entrance of the burrow that Natalie seemed to notice something. The expression under her ck eye patch changed, and she frowned slightly. Just as she was about to speak up and remind them of something, it was toote. The first batch of nuns had already entered the burrow, and as soon as they went in, they were greeted by the goblins who had been lying in ambush for a long time, with several sharp des. Squish! The knives easily stabbed into the nuns'' abdomens. This was not a vital point and would not cause death, but it would immediately make them unable to fight. Arge number of unsuspecting nuns were immediately hit. But before they could scream, the goblins'' big hands pped over the nuns'' mouths. "Mmm! Mmph!" The sharp pain in their abdomens quickly drained their strength, and when they wanted to cry out to alert theirpanions and call for help outside the burrow, they were all muffled by the goblins and could only whimper. Afterwards, the goblins inside the burrow, like ants, began to quickly carry these nuns who had lost theirbat ability after being ambushed. Under their struggling and terrified expressions, they started to transport them to the deeper parts of the burrow. The ignorant nuns outside, seeing that theirpanions had gone down and made no movement, also wanted to check. More than half of them were also hit. No matter how powerful their magical abilities were and how they could manipte shadows, being ambushed by goblins at such close range, they had no way out and became captives. However, among the second batch of nuns, there were still a few who managed to break free. They ran frantically out of the burrow, not caring that their nun''s robes were torn and tattered by the goblins. Although they didn''t understand why the goblins here were so powerful, they were very clear about what would happen if they were dragged into the depths of the burrow, given the goblins'' habits. Seeing that they had been exposed, the goblins no longer sneak attacked or hid. Arge number of green-skinned monsters began to pour out of the burrow like a tidal wave. "Defilers, the shadow will bring down divine punishment!" As the Bishop, Natalie was furious when she saw so many of her sisterpanions in such a miserable state. She was indeed worthy of being the Bishop. The shadow energy all over her body surged rapidly, transforming into dark arrows that shot towards the goblins rushing out of the burrow. Their impression of goblins still remained as those weak monsters that were easily defeated on human territory. But it was these weak monsters that, after taking the Bishop''s shadow arrows head-on, seemed to have only had their skin slightly scratched. They fell down but then stood up again, swaying, and instead seemed to be provoked, charging forward with even more piercing screams. "Demon King! I need the support of you Death Heralds, you...?!" Seeing this scene, Natalie finally panicked too. She looked towards the position of her allies, but when she looked, it made her even more furious. She saw that this group of Death Heralds had actually directly abandoned them and immediately ran away. Especially the leader of the Death Heralds, Evan, the Archmage at the peak of the fourth tier, this old man who was titled as the Demon King, now actually had a look of terror on his face, as if he had seen some extremely terrifying existence. And Indeed. There was a reason why Evan was now so neatly betraying his teammates and running faster than a rabbit. At this moment, he was extremely terrified in his heart. Because as a mage with a powerful sense of perception, Evan saw from afar that among the goblin monsters in the burrow, following behind them from the depths of the burrow, was another strange goblin. It was a goblin shaman. Wearing an animal bone mask and holding a priestly staff. When Evan secretly cast a "Mana Sense" spell on this goblin shaman, he almost jumped in fright. Just from this shaman''s body, the mana fluctuations emanating were like a vast ocean. That kind of terrifying mana sea, Evan had seen only a handful of times even in the Mage Nation, each one a very big shot. Compared to that, he was simply like a small stream. Demon King? That monster goblin with the vast mana was more deserving of this title than me! But¡­ What, what kind of monster was that?! Evan, who was running for his life with the Death Heralds away from the goblin burrow area, was filled with endless questions in his old heart. A goblin... that know magic?! That should...! That absolutely, absolutely must be the master of this dungeon! It was the ultimate boss here. Evan quickly came to a conclusion. It turned out that this dungeon was the nest of goblins, a kind of mutated, terrifying goblin. That kind of monster, with his strength... No, even if the mages of the Syndicate were added together, they might not be able to defeat it. We need to fu!king Run! Run as fast as we can! Chapter 161: Chapter 161: There are still experts? part 1 Sorry for the dy, 1/3 Uncover more tales at m,vl em pyr As the supervisor of the dungeon maze appointed by Reji, the Sorcery Demon was now calmly watching the images transmitted from the magic spell. That female human with quite good strength, probably a fourth-tier Shadow High Priestess, was still able to lead the remaining nuns to continue holding out under the siege of the goblins. The highly corrosive shadow energy formed a barrier, making it impossible for the goblins to break through for a while. This move was also used by the Radiant Church a thousand years ago, called the Radiant Shield. But the Radiant Shield burned one''s own spell mana, while the current Shadow Barrier was obviously drawing from the life force of the male ves under those nuns, as could be seen from the painful expressions on the ves'' faces. This was clearly contrary to the doctrine of "Radiance." Afterwards, Dian continued to observe. The Sorcery Demon could see the shadow of Radiant spells in each of the spells used by this group of Shadow Nuns, with almost identical effects, except for the change in the color of mana. It could be seen that the "Shadow" believed in by this group of nuns did not seem to be apletely new Fate Track. It was more like... A mutation of "Radiance"? Dian pondered. Under the leadership of the Bishop Natalie, the nuns who had been struggling in the maze finally met their end with the intervention of that goblin priest. Seeing that the barrier could not be broken through for a long time, the goblin priest seemed to be a little angry. After letting out a sharp cry, it raised the bone staff in its hand, and the fire elements in the air began to rapidly condense, forming the shape of a zing spear. At this moment, Natalie immediately showed a look of horror. In her eyes under the dark purple eye shadow, she could no longer pretend to be calm, and was already filled with panic. me Spear?! A fifth-tier fire spell?! That goblin with animal bone mask was actually a fifth-tier mage, an Archmage?! At this point, Natalie finally understood why the Death Heralds had betrayed them and ran away so cleanly. That Demon King Evan had obviously discovered that there was such a terrifying leader among the goblins, so he directly sold them out, with no intention to fight. The scorching me Spear, with overwhelming force, directly pierced through Natalie''s Shadow Barrier. In the face of a fifth-tier spell, her barrier was like thin paper. The barrier was forcibly shattered, and as the caster, Natalie''s body also shook instantly. She could no longer levitate, and she fell from mid-air in the maze. The blood overflowing from the corner of her mouth stained her pure ck veil nun''s robe red. And the nuns who had lost the protection of her barrier were now alsopletely exposed to the goblins. The goblins, who had been frustrated and irritated by the barrier, now pounced on the nuns like wolves entering a flock of sheep with their red eyes. "O Lord..." Seeing that it was already toote to turn the tide, and her subordinate nuns were being dragged away by the goblins as spoils of war amidst screams, Natalie, as the Bishop, could not ept ending up like that herself. She steeled her heart, took out a dagger, and after making a praying gesture, she was about to stab it at her neck, preferring tomit suicide rather than be humiliated by monsters. But Natalie never expected that what stopped her was not the goblins, but those ves she had enved. Now that Natalie was seriously injured and her control over these ves had weakened, the ves finally erupted too. They snatched away the dagger Natalie wanted to use to kill herself and tried to pin Natalie''s body down. These ves had long been tortured by the Shadow Nuns to the point of wishing for death. Now, they were no longer afraid of the goblin monsters. They gave up on escaping, and the only thing they wanted was for Natalie, the culprit and the vicious leader of the nuns, to suffer an even more tragic fate. They couldn''t let Natalie die so easily. Throwing this woman alive into the den of those ugly and obscene green-skinned monsters was their most desired revenge. Tsk... Regarding this scene in the video, the Sorcery Demon shook his head. It could be seen that no matter how much Natalie struggled, her limbs were tightly held and restrained by the ves. She could only watch helplessly as those excited goblins, drooling over her voluptuous body, quickly approached. Some impatient goblins, as soon as they got close, couldn''t wait to brutally tear apart the nun''s robe and bite down on her fair skin. Her carefully maintained and nurtured skin had now be the most delicious feast for the goblins. Seeing that if this continued, she would really be ruined by the goblins, Dian''s figure shed and disappeared from his original spot. When he reappeared, he was already above the goblin burrow. With the descent of the Sorcery Demon, the originally chaotic scene seemed to have been paused in an instant. Those goblins who had been overly excited about the nuns, as if doused with ice water, all put down everything in their hands and prostrated on the ground, trembling, not daring to make any more moves in the face of the Sorcery Demon''s figure floating above their heads. At this time, although the nuns did not recognize the Sorcery Demon, they could all see that the figure in the air was the source of the goblins'' fear, someone who could make these terrifying monsters afraid. So, driven by the desire to survive, they crawled and ran with all their might towards Dian''s position. Unfortunately, Dian was not their hero to rescue them. The Sorcery Demon appeared only to take away Natalie. As for the other begging and crying human nuns, Dian didn''t spare them a nce, faithfully executing Reji''s n that no one could leave the Demon Tower alive. After Dian left, the goblins waited for a while longer before bing restless again, continuing to pounce on the screaming nuns. The fate of these dungeon explorers still did not change. Chapter 162: Chapter 162: There are still experts? part 2 2/3 Natalie, who was taken away by the Sorcery Demon and flying in the air, originally thought she had been rescued from the demon''s den. But soon, Dian brought this Bishop to the edge of a pond. Just as Natalie was about to ask something, Dian had no intention of talking to her. There was no need to say much to a specimen. The Sorcery Demon directly threw her into the blue pond below. Ssh! As soon as Natalie entered the pond, she instinctively wanted to struggle, but she found that the "pond water" here seemed a bit different. It wasn''t like water, but more like a kind of moving, viscous, and even... conscious water!? The water in the pond immediately reacted to her thrown in by Dian. From a bird''s eye view, clusters of squirming liquid were rapidly approaching Natalie''s direction. These flowing entities initially repaired Natalie''s flesh wounds bitten by the goblins, wrapping them with mucus, making Natalie feel a bit itchy and seemingly veryfortable, with a sense of warmth. But soon the nun realized something was wrong. After repairing her injuries, these viscous liquids actually continued to wrap around her, as if wanting to encapste her like a gtin capsule. Natalie instinctively sent out a danger warning. She began to struggle desperately in the pond water, but the slimes did not give her a chance. The nun''s skin in contact with the slimes was crazily devoured of the mana inside her body. The more Natalie struggled, the faster the devouring speed became. In just over ten seconds, this Shadow Bishop had no strength left in her entire body and could only let the slimes begin to inject a kind of preservative liquid into her body. She was wrapped into a spherical shape by the slimes, and finally... She became a specimen with consciousness still existing, but only her eyes could move, constantly maintaining the "freshness" of her body, sealed in the slimes'' "amber." The slimes had preservation and sealing functions. After being developed by Reji, the Sorcery Demon immediately applied for permission from Reji to seal some valuable humans in this way for research. Speaking of which... In addition to this woman, there should have been another high-level human. Dian was referring to the leader of the Death Heralds who had escaped. However, after sensing a little more, the Sorcery Demon immediately shook his head helplessly. Switching to the magic spell image, when Dian tracked the location of the group of Death Heralds in the maze, he found that the leader of the Death Heralds, the old human he wanted to make into a specimen, now had his head being kicked like a ball by Eris. When Dian teleported over, a group of Death Heralds were trembling and panicking to the point of breathing irregrly in front of Eris in her little girl form, as if they had been scared silly. There was no way around it. Their boss''s head, with eyes not yet closed in death, was being tossed back and forth under this little girl''s feet. "Eeyah~, Brother Dian... Quick, look at the new toy Eris found!" Seeing the Sorcery Demoning over, Eris immediately seemed very happy and showed off Evan''s head under her feet to the Sorcery Demon. Dian, who didn''t understand what had happened at first, sighed a little and said, "Eris, didn''t His Majesty instruct that apart from me as the supervisor, there''s no need for other apostles to take action? Moreover, with the value of this human, it''s too wasteful to let him die." Hearing the Sorcery Demon''s words, Eris pouted, looking very aggrieved. "Eris didn''t want to kill him. Originally wanted to y nicely with... everyone together, wanted to make friends... exchange names with everyone. But he..." With Eris''s voice, it seemed to pull the group of Death Heralds below back into the terrifying memories from a few minutes ago. At that time, they had just escaped from the goblin burrow. After walking a few steps in the maze, they encountered a little girl who looked sickly and weak. Join us at m,v le mpyr With this kind of bizarre scene, anyone with a brain would know that this girl was definitely not as simple as she appeared on the surface. She might even be some kind of monster. So they didn''t dare to make a sound. Their leader Evan, was even more cautious and cooperative with the little girl''s moring to y games. As a result, before the game even started, the other party had just reported her name, Eris, and asked Evan to say his name too. Evan had just opened his mouth and said the word "Demon King" when the little girl''s expression suddenly changed. The scene that followed was something this group of Death Heralds would never forget in their lives. With movements too fast to see clearly, that sickly little girl suddenly reached out a hand. With a "crack" sound, by the time they came back to their senses, Evan''s head had already been twisted off by the little girl. Now, Evan''s head still had a confused expression on his face at the moment of death, clearly not understanding what had happened even as he died. Demon King... After hearing Eris''s exnation, the Sorcery Demon nodded and took the initiative to apologize to Eris. Indeed, a human who dared to use these two words as a title no longer had the qualifications to even be a specimen. No matter which apostle it was, they would have handled it the same way as Eris. Since that was the case, Dian could only settle for the next best thing and package up the remaining Death Heralds, throwing them all into the previous slime pool to be second-rate specimens. The reason why Dian attached such importance to making them into specimens was because the Sorcery Demon had a vague feeling in his heart. Next, he would have a high probability of being able to research and uncover a secret he already suspected from these humans of the Syndicate who had been "expelled and exiled." It was a secret rted to a more macro level. A secret about "Fate Tracks." However,pared to the Sorcery Demon''s research and exploration at a higher level, the Decay Demon Eris was more mundane. She tugged on Dian''s clothes and said with puzzled big eyes, "Brother Dian, where''s the King... Eris... wants to cuddle and hug the King." Chapter 162 There are still experts? part 2 2/3 Natalie, who was taken away by the Sorcery Demon and flying in the air, originally thought she had been rescued from the demon''s den. But soon, Dian brought this Bishop to the edge of a pond. Just as Natalie was about to ask something, Dian had no intention of talking to her. There was no need to say much to a specimen. The Sorcery Demon directly threw her into the blue pond below. Ssh! As soon as Natalie entered the pond, she instinctively wanted to struggle, but she found that the "pond water" here seemed a bit different. It wasn''t like water, but more like a kind of moving, viscous, and even... conscious water!? The water in the pond immediately reacted to her thrown in by Dian. From a bird''s eye view, clusters of squirming liquid were rapidly approaching Natalie''s direction. These flowing entities initially repaired Natalie''s flesh wounds bitten by the goblins, wrapping them with mucus, making Natalie feel a bit itchy and seemingly veryfortable, with a sense of warmth. But soon the nun realized something was wrong. After repairing her injuries, these viscous liquids actually continued to wrap around her, as if wanting to encapste her like a gtin capsule. Natalie instinctively sent out a danger warning. She began to struggle desperately in the pond water, but the slimes did not give her a chance. The nun''s skin in contact with the slimes was crazily devoured of the mana inside her body. The more Natalie struggled, the faster the devouring speed became. In just over ten seconds, this Shadow Bishop had no strength left in her entire body and could only let the slimes begin to inject a kind of preservative liquid into her body. She was wrapped into a spherical shape by the slimes, and finally... She became a specimen with consciousness still existing, but only her eyes could move, constantly maintaining the "freshness" of her body, sealed in the slimes'' "amber." The slimes had preservation and sealing functions. After being developed by Reji, the Sorcery Demon immediately applied for permission from Reji to seal some valuable humans in this way for research. Speaking of which... In addition to this woman, there should have been another high-level human. Dian was referring to the leader of the Death Heralds who had escaped. However, after sensing a little more, the Sorcery Demon immediately shook his head helplessly. Switching to the magic spell image, when Dian tracked the location of the group of Death Heralds in the maze, he found that the leader of the Death Heralds, the old human he wanted to make into a specimen, now had his head being kicked like a ball by Eris. When Dian teleported over, a group of Death Heralds were trembling and panicking to the point of breathing irregrly in front of Eris in her little girl form, as if they had been scared silly. There was no way around it. Their boss''s head, with eyes not yet closed in death, was being tossed back and forth under this little girl''s feet. "Eeyah~, Brother Dian... Quick, look at the new toy Eris found!" Seeing the Sorcery Demoning over, Eris immediately seemed very happy and showed off Evan''s head under her feet to the Sorcery Demon. Dian, who didn''t understand what had happened at first, sighed a little and said, "Eris, didn''t His Majesty instruct that apart from me as the supervisor, there''s no need for other apostles to take action? Moreover, with the value of this human, it''s too wasteful to let him die." Hearing the Sorcery Demon''s words, Eris pouted, looking very aggrieved. "Eris didn''t want to kill him. Originally wanted to y nicely with... everyone together, wanted to make friends... exchange names with everyone. But he..." With Eris''s voice, it seemed to pull the group of Death Heralds below back into the terrifying memories from a few minutes ago. At that time, they had just escaped from the goblin burrow. After walking a few steps in the maze, they encountered a little girl who looked sickly and weak. Join us at m,v le mpyr With this kind of bizarre scene, anyone with a brain would know that this girl was definitely not as simple as she appeared on the surface. She might even be some kind of monster. So they didn''t dare to make a sound. Their leader Evan, was even more cautious and cooperative with the little girl''s moring to y games. As a result, before the game even started, the other party had just reported her name, Eris, and asked Evan to say his name too. Evan had just opened his mouth and said the word "Demon King" when the little girl''s expression suddenly changed. The scene that followed was something this group of Death Heralds would never forget in their lives. With movements too fast to see clearly, that sickly little girl suddenly reached out a hand. With a "crack" sound, by the time they came back to their senses, Evan''s head had already been twisted off by the little girl. Now, Evan''s head still had a confused expression on his face at the moment of death, clearly not understanding what had happened even as he died. Demon King... After hearing Eris''s exnation, the Sorcery Demon nodded and took the initiative to apologize to Eris. Indeed, a human who dared to use these two words as a title no longer had the qualifications to even be a specimen. No matter which apostle it was, they would have handled it the same way as Eris. Since that was the case, Dian could only settle for the next best thing and package up the remaining Death Heralds, throwing them all into the previous slime pool to be second-rate specimens. The reason why Dian attached such importance to making them into specimens was because the Sorcery Demon had a vague feeling in his heart. Next, he would have a high probability of being able to research and uncover a secret he already suspected from these humans of the Syndicate who had been "expelled and exiled." It was a secret rted to a more macro level. A secret about "Fate Tracks." However,pared to the Sorcery Demon''s research and exploration at a higher level, the Decay Demon Eris was more mundane. She tugged on Dian''s clothes and said with puzzled big eyes, "Brother Dian, where''s the King... Eris... wants to cuddle and hug the King." Chapter 163 There are still experts? part 3 3/3 I will post the remaining chapter with tomorrow''s daily ones. -------- The Sorcery Demon estimated the time and exined to Eris, "A message came from Leo''s side. His Majesty should have gone to deal with the matters of the Imperial Army now." At that time, Reji divided the demon race troops into three routes. Eileen guarded Ilinor, while the other apostles and himself went to the Syndicate, and Leo was responsible for tracking and investigating the Imperial Army that might also be heading to the Syndicate. After thinking for a moment, Eris quickly blinked her expectant big eyes. "Imperial Army! Imperial Army! Hehe~..." She indeed loved the Demon King the most. Eris hoped that the new friends her King brought this time would allow her to y with them for a while longer. ¡­. -Outside the Syndicate. A gust of yellow sand rolled up from the distance. Only when it got closer could one see that it was not a sandstorm, but a vast army. Fifty thousand vast iron cavalry galloped, raising dust. A g was raised high in the center of the army, with the emblem of a ck Goat on it, disying their unparalleled noble status to the outside world. Any country that saw this ck Goat g had to immediately make way and open all passages. When necessary, no matter how high the nobility in their own country, they had to submit and kneel under this ck Goat g and obey all orders and arrangements. There was no other reason. Simply because it symbolized the Empire, Nox, the only superpower that upied nearly one-third of the world''s territory, that was enough. And in the center of the Empire''s iron cavalry, surrounded and supported, was a luxurious war chariot. The g there changed from a ck Goat to a scarlet color, symbolizing the Empire''s royal bloodline. Sitting in the war chariot was His Highness Olba, the Seventh Prince of the Empire, who hade to punish the viins of the Syndicate. The space inside the luxurious war chariot was huge. It couldpletely serve as a small room. And now, His Highness Olba was holding an urgent temporary meeting inside. "So you mean that a few days ago, a mysterious ruin with endless treasures appeared in the Syndicate?" Kneeling in front of the Seventh Prince was the leader of the Bloody Hand Gang who had been wiped out earlier. This escaped leader finally managed to wait for the Seventh Prince to arrive. At the first opportunity, he hurried over to report the intelligence, hoping to receive rewards and support from the Seventh Prince. "That''s right Your Highness! Our entire Bloody Hand Gang has been loyally investigating the matter of the magic oil mine for Your Highness. We believe that the magic oil mine Your Highness wants may be inside the ruins. So we thought that before Your Highness arrived, we would explore the ruins more and gather more intelligence for Your Highness. But, but who could have imagined..." Hatred shed in Bloody Hand''s eyes. Using clever rhetoric, he portrayed the Animal Gang in front of the Seventh Prince as a hostile force that obstructed their exploration of intelligence and hindered the Empire''s great cause. The Seventh Prince didn''t care about the Bloody Hand Gang being wiped out. After all, in his eyes, they were all just pawns. What he was more interested in were still those artifacts that could bring powerful strength. Especially when Bloody Hand, in order to prove it, took out a few bottles of [Healing Potion] brought out from the ruins and presented them to the Seventh Prince. The purity of this pure red potion was indeed so high that it surprised even Olba. It seemed that the direction for what was toe had been set. Dungeon Ruins. Seeing the prince so interested, Bloody Hand was naturally happy in his heart. However, he hesitated for a moment and still had to remind the Seventh Prince. "Your Highness, I always feel that this ruin exudes strangeness. You must be careful. The legendary undead have already appeared inside. I suggest that you stillmunicate with the Empire." Indeed, Bloody Hand''s suggestion was the safest. Sending the intelligence about the ruins back to the Empire, calling for more powerful force, or directly mobilizing the army to surround the ruins first would ensure that it couldn''t escape and would be a sure catch. But... The Seventh Princeughed disdainfully. The Empire had not paid attention to the Syndicate for too long. As a result, it seemed that these Syndicate people still couldn''t recognize their identity? Could the Syndicate''s trash bepared to the Empire? Not to mention the Syndicate. Under the strict transcendent lockdown implemented by the Emperor on the entire world except for the Empire, everyone below the Empire was an ant, a group of trash who couldn''t even touch the fifth tier, their lifelong pursuit. And they were worried about him? Bloody Hand''s well-intentioned advice, unexpectedly, became a kind of humiliation to him when it reached the Seventh Prince''s ears. It was like an idiot worrying that he, a top student, would fail the exam. "Thank you for your intelligence. You may leave." After saying that, the Seventh Prince didn''t wait for Bloody Hand to react. He raised his hand and swung his sword. Then, the leader of the Bloody Hand Gang, a big shot in the Syndicate, a fourth-tier warrior, didn''t even have time to react before being directly killed on the spot by the Seventh Prince. It seemed that this was illustrating the gap between the two sides. The biggest leader of the Syndicate? In front of the Empire, he was just a small insect that could be crushed at will. Also in the war chariot, the few hunters who served as the Seventh Prince''s staff were actually a bit surprised in their hearts. They didn''t expect this prince to be so strong. If it were them, although it would be very easy to kill Bloody Hand, such a swift and fatal strike... might still be a bit difficult. Olba''s move was tantamount to a show of strength, making many hunters start to specte about his strength, suddenly bing unfathomable. But in fact, only Olba himself knew the truth. The key to his strength just now was not in him, but in this seemingly ordinary longsword in his hand. The Seventh Prince took out a handkerchief and very elegantly, as if he had a cleanliness obsession, carefully wiped the treasure in his hand. This sword, which looked inconspicuous on the surface, was actually his biggest trump card and confidence... A holy sword! With such an artifact in hand, it was Olba''s greatest confidence. No matter how many monsters there were in the ruins of the dungeon, his holy sword just so happened to specialize in killing magical creatures. Moreover, In addition to the holy sword, he also had another big surprise that he unintentionally obtained on the way to the Syndicate. Thinking of this, Olba slightly restrained his arrogant expression, and even his aura as the Seventh Prince was consciously suppressed, seemingly bing a few points more humble. As for the reason for this posture... Next, he was going to invite someone. A hidden expert he met on the road, absolutelyparable to a Great Sage. The Seventh Prince waved his hand and finally instructed an attendant, "Go and see what Teacher Leo is doing now." "If Teacher Leo is free, please invite him over and say that there is an urgent matter that requires Teacher''s help to decide. If Teacher is busy or meditating..." Olba''s expression was solemn, and the prince especially emphasized, "Remember, never disturb Teacher, understand?!" Chapter 164: Chapter 164 Skeleton King? A Traitor! part 1 1/3 While waiting for his attendants to return, the Seventh Prince couldn''t help but reminisce about his new teacher, Leon. It was during their expedition from the empire to the Syndicate. Read more tales on NovelFire-l-em,py-r As they passed through a small country, a gue had broken out there. Initially, he didn''t think much of it. He and the imperial army had all received the "Radiance" blessing. The gues that were most difficult and painful for civilians and other countries were mostly immune to them. So at that time, he did not order the army to bypass the country, but continued to advance along the nned route. As a result, unexpectedly, after only half a day, he began to feel unwell. The other imperial soldiers even experienced severe vomiting, and some fell unconscious with brown spots all over their bodies. This frightened Olba at the time. What a terrifying gue this was, that it could prate the "blessing" on their bodies and infect them with the disease. Olba immediately stopped the advance and set up camp. The magic oil mines of the Syndicate were important, but his own health and safety were obviously more crucial. Afterwards, the Seventh Prince summoned the army physicians and priests, trying various means to cure the gue. However, no matter how hard they tried, it was to no avail, and their bodies became weaker. Olba became anxious. Just as the Seventh Prince was gritting his teeth, preparing to shamefully return directly to the empire to treat this damn strange gue, they happened to hear that in this small country, there was a physician who had been doing good deeds and curing the gue. So the Seventh Prince, with a try-it-and-see attitude, immediately sent someone to find this physician. That''s right, it was his current teacher, Leon. This physician Leon, with his superb medical skills, solved the gue that had troubled them for days in just two or three hours, allowing the entire imperial army to recover and regain their health. The Seventh Prince was certain at that time that Leon was no ordinary man. Later, when he tentativelymunicated more with Leon, he discovered that this man was not just a physician, but a man of great learning, seemingly proficient in all fields. Just from chatting for a few sentences, Olba felt he had benefited greatly. Some difficult bottlenecks in his techniques seemed to show signs of sudden enlightenment and loosening. So he immediately extended an olive branch to Leon, andter even directly revealed his noble identity as the Seventh Prince of the empire. However, Leon still refused him, unwilling to get involved in the conflicts. Olba was not angry with Leon because of this. Instead, he was even more attracted and moved by Leon''s indifference to fame and fortune. After all, he had seen too many people desperately wanting to join the empire. Many so-called eminent figures, upon hearing his princely identity, wished they could immediately turn into tail-wagging dogs. But he found none of this in Leon. This was not something that could be faked. Olba was very confident in his ability to judge people. He became more and more convinced of Leon''s identity as a hidden sage. To a true sage, Olba immediately chose to put aside his status. Even disregarding the dissuasion of other attendants, he decided to continue stationing the army and visit Leon''s "thatched cottage" again and again, just to invite the sage toe out of seclusion, hoping Leon would join his team. After visiting three times like this, Leon finally seemed to be moved by his persistence and sincerity, and agreed to be his teacher to help him on his future conquests. The sound of approaching hoofbeats from outside the war chariot pulled Olba''s thoughts back. The Seventh Prince tidied up his appearance slightly. Then, the chariot door was pushed open, and in walked a well-dressed man with a very refined demeanor. "Teacher Leon, I apologize for disturbing you." Olba immediately got up from his seat and went to receive Leon as he entered the war chariot, showing the respect this prince had for Leon. After inviting Leon to take a seat, Olba personally told Leon about the information the Bloody Hand had mentioned earlier regarding the "ruins" and "dungeons" that had appeared in the Syndicate, and then looked at him inquiringly. "Teacher Leon, what do you think of these ruins? Could they be the magic oil mines we''re looking for?" Instead of answering directly, Leon paused for a few moments, then reached out to the side and probed the air. The space there instantly distorted slightly, forming a dimensional pocket for storage. Leon took out a map from it and spread it out in front of the Seventh Prince. Before Leon even said anything, just this one move of using spatial magic had already secretly shocked Olba and the three imperial hunters inside the war chariot. Spatial magic was extremely rare, and in the empire, those who could use it were probably few and far between. "Prince, from the looks of the map, although the Syndicate is all desert, there are still many possibilities in the underground spaces. We may have always overlooked further excavation and exploration of the Syndicate''s depths because of the yellow sand on its surface." "Recently, the oases in the Syndicate have been disappearing one after another. Perhaps it''s because geological changes are urring, and the movement of thend has caused some things that were originally deep underground to surface. I think this principle should apply to both the ruins and dungeons, as well as the magic oil mines you''re looking for." After hearing Leon''s exnation, the Seventh Prince nodded repeatedly. It indeed made sense and was well-reasoned. This way, everything could be exined. As expected of a sage, just based on a map and some bits of information, he could immediately get to the essence of the matter. Since that was the case, I have nothing to hesitate about. Olba immediately ordered the troops to change direction and advance at full speed towards the location of the ruins. Chapter 165: Chapter 165 Skeleton King? A Traitor! part 2 The swiftly moving imperial army arrived at the entrance of the ruins in less than half a day. When the Shadow Tribe and Death Herald members who were guarding outside, waiting for their leader toe out of the ruins, saw the imperial g from afar, they didn''t hesitate at all and immediately made way for the entrance, thinking of retreating to the second line and waiting for their leader. But what Olba wanted was obviously not this. The 50,000 imperial iron cavalry directly began to expel everyone, intending topletely seal off the ruins. Whether it was the big gangs or the small and medium-sized Syndicate tribes who wanted to drink some soup, they were all driven several kilometers away. Even the natives who originally lived nearby and all the towns, everyone had to make way for the empire immediately. Here, the Seventh Prince actually still took into ount leaving a good impression in front of the sage teacher Leon. Otherwise, ording to the empire''s usual style, there was no need to bother with "expulsion". "Cleansing" would be simpler. However, while people could be spared, the benefits they gained from the ruins had to be coughed up. "Give it back to me! That''s ours, what right do you have..." "Are you crazy? That''s the empire! Sorry, sorry, this, this is all of it. Let''s go, hurry!" "There''s no more, really no more! No, those weren''t brought out from the ruins. Let go, let go!" Under the plundering and looting of the imperial cavalry, the treasures that the adventurers, tribes, and gangs had risked their lives to bring out from the ruins were now confiscated and pocketed by Olba, gathered in arge warehouse. The imperial army was also ustomed to taking some extra loot for themselves as their reward. When the Seventh Prince arrived at the warehouse and saw the numerous treasures inside, he truly realized the preciousness of the dungeon ruins. Even the perfect-grade red healing potions that were difficult for the empire''s top alchemists to concoct seemed to bemonce in those ruins. High-level spell scrolls that even he had to use sparingly, using one meant having one less, were actually found inrge quantities here. Fireball, Ice Arrow, Earth Spike, and even the fifth-tier "me Lance" mage scrolls, which amazed the Seventh Prince. Now, even if they hadn''t found the magic oil mines, the value of these ruins was enough to make his trip worthwhile. "What are you waiting for?" "Immediately set out to plunder the dungeon!" The Seventh Prince, with a fiery heart, quickly gathered a group of elites, plus the three powerful hunters. With such a luxurious lineup, in Olba''s mind, any treasure in the ruins was within easy reach. However, before they even entered the ruins, they were stopped at the first hurdle. To enter the deep ruins, "stone tablet fragments" were needed as tickets. The previous stone tablet fragments had already been almostpletely scavenged by the major gangs, and as outsiders, they had no fragments in their hands. As a result, the imposing army was stuck at the entrance of the dungeon right from the start. "Let me try, Prince." With the imperial army at a loss, it was up to Leon to step out. His hands danced with magic power, andplex hand seals began to draw in the void. Next, the sealed radiance on the teleportation array, which many imperial mages in the army could not understand, began to flicker and operate again without using any stone tablet fragments. At this sight, the Seventh Prince once again sighed at how wise his decision had been. Even if it had dyed their journey, being able to have such a great sage assist them undoubtedly saved them even greater effort. After sessfully entering the dungeon, consistent with the intelligence they had previously gathered from the Syndicate people, this was a huge ruins maze, filled with arge number of undead creatures. At this moment, Pastor, one of the three hunters under the Seventh Prince''smand, took the initiative to step forward. Facing the skeletal undead that had discovered them and started to "tter" as they stood up from the ground in the maze, Pastor volunteered to take the lead. "Your Highness Olba, leave these monsters to me." The Seventh Prince nodded. As the 63rd rank on the Imperial Hunting List, Pastor was a top necromancer. Any undead creatures were like toys in front of Pastor. It was precisely because of this that Pastor''s hunting name was - the Skeleton King. King of the Bones. Pastor concentrated. This was a good opportunity for him to perform well in front of the Seventh Prince. Because of Leon''s arrival, the hunters felt anxious, especially seeing how Leon could y a powerful role everywhere. As fellow staff members of the Seventh Prince, they immediately felt a sense of crisis. Pastor calmed himself, his body surging with magical power. He raised his withered fingers, his chanting starting as a low murmur and gradually bing louder and more resonant, the incantations bing increasingly obscure and mysterious, as if filled with arcane secrets. As Pastor chanted, gray-green necromantic power began to swirl around him. At this moment, he indeed became incredibly mysterious and imposing in everyone''s eyes. The necromantic power at his feet condensed into piles of bones. Pastor stood atop the bone piles, as if he truly was, just like his hunting title, the king of all undead. "Obey!" Finally, atop the bone piles, Pastor''s momentum reached its peak. He suddenly opened his eyes, spreading his arms wide, the surging necromantic power umted from his chanting amplifying his voice infinitely, transforming into amand spell. Using sound waves, it began to propagateyer byyer, sweeping through the vast maze ahead at an extremely rapid speed. This move was quite loud, and naturally, the effect was also very significant. It seemed that originally, there might have only been a dozen or so skeletons in the maze that had discovered them and were attacking. But after Pastor''s wave of chanting, wanting to disy his authority as the "Skeleton King" in front of the Seventh Prince, easily making these low-level skeleton monsters "obey" him... ck! ck! ck ck ck! The sound of bones assembling came from every corner of the maze, as if awakened by Pastor''s sound waves. Then, just a few secondster, a dense sea of skeletons began to surge out from all directions of the maze, from every entrance and exit. And the target of all these skeletons was locked onto Pastor and the imperial army behind this "Skeleton King". The Seventh Prince was initially a bit surprised in his heart. He felt that the Skeleton King really had some skills, actually being able to summon so many skeletons in the maze to be their troops. However, only Pastor himself, standing on the bone piles, did know the truth¡­ Where is the connection? Why there is no response? Howe these skeletons hadn''t established a necromantic contract with me yet? Even though I had issued themand to obey, they arepletely ignoring me? The Skeleton King began to sweat on his forehead. Pastor hurriedly gathered necromantic power again, shouting incantations in an attempt to control them, but the result was that even more skeletons were attracted, killing in their direction. It was only at this point that the Seventh Prince also realized something was wrong. These skeletons, where were theying to submit to them? The flickering ghostfire in their deep eye sockets clearly held nothing but killing intent towards them. "Stop that damn spell of yours, Pastor!" Olba was a bit furious. But he had no time to reprimand this hunter anymore. He quickly ordered the remaining imperial soldiers to immediately form a formation, preparing to face this bone-chilling sea of skeletons. After a grueling battle of blood and gore. "Huff huff..." The remaining gasping elite imperial soldiers, looking at the skeletal remains all over the ground, could finally breathe a sigh of relief. They directly plopped down on the cold floor, panting heavily. They had endured for a full half hour, killing probably over a hundred skeletons, before barely ending it, finallying to a pause. Chapter 166: Chapter 166 Holy Sword part 1 3/4 Although the sea of skeletons had ended, they had also paid a heavy price. Nearly half of the forty-two elite imperial soldier Olba had brought were now dead. In fact, if they had progressed through the maze at a normal pace, thebat power of the elite imperial warriors was indeed much stronger than any Syndicate adventurer. With a reasonablebatyout, it was possible to achieve zero casualties against the skeletons in the maze. Unfortunately, due to the hunter "Skeleton King''s" move, all the skeletons in the maze were "mob pulled" over. Suddenly facing hundreds of skeletons at once led to the current tragedy. "Useless!" The Seventh Prince, who cherished these elites very much, immediately ordered someone to seize Pastor. This Skeleton King now looked like a spy or traitor. As for the bound Pastor, rather than feeling wronged, he was actually filled with confusion and bewilderment in his heart. Why? I am a high-level necromancer. Why wouldn''t these low-level skeletons listen to me? Pastor had never encountered this situation before. But ording to the rules of necromancy, unless... Could it be that here, there is also an undead creature far surpassing my level and even more powerful!? This was the only possibility that could allow low-level skeletons to be immune to his necromantic control. But the problem was, Pastor''s most glorious achievement was summoning a sixth-tier "Undead Overlord". What undead was stronger than an "Undead Overlord"? Wait, could it be... Pastor''s eyes widened as he realized that above the Undead Overlord, there was indeed an absolute ruler, an existence he considered impossible. The Skeleton King. "Mmph! Mmmmph!" Pastor struggled frantically, wanting to send out this information. After all, if there really was a Skeleton King in this maze, they must leave immediately. Even the Seventh Prince had absolutely no chance of surviving under the legendary Skeleton King. Unfortunately, the current "Skeleton King" was already regarded as a traitor by the imperial army. The Seventh Prince strictly ordered the soldiers to seal Pastor''s mouth, not allowing him to make a sound, lest he attract another wave of skeleton sea that they truly couldn''t handle. Moreover, at this moment, Leon nced in Pastor''s direction, intentionally or unintentionally. This "Skeleton King" immediately felt like he had fallen into a deep abyss. He stared with horror-filled eyes, as if seeing the most terrifying monster in the world. The next moment, he directly bled from his seven orifices and lost consciousness, fainting. The Seventh Prince, who had been a bit attracted by Pastor''smotion, just nced at the unconscious Pastor and ignored him, leading the troops to continue advancing. It had to be said, although they encountered the skeleton sea, it also elerated their exploration of the maze. The monsters were basically wiped out in one wave, and the road ahead seemed unobstructed, with only a few scattered ghouls. Soon, they arrived at the location of the next teleportation point. After stepping in, everyone''s figures quickly disappeared from the spot. When they opened their eyes again, all the imperial soldiers in the maze were stunned. Because now, they were no longer in the gloomy and winding maze from before. Instead, it was... Sunlight, fresh air, a vast blue sky, and an endless... "A forest!?" ... Reji and Dian were now observing this imperial army troop that was stepping into the spider''s web, step by step, through a projection. After receiving the message from Leon, Reji''s side immediately cooperated with the Wisdom Demon to prepare to devour this fat sheep that had delivered itself to their doorstep. Luring the imperial army into the dungeon ruins was the first step. Originally, the Wisdom Demon''s idea was to directly teleport them to the Inferno on the second floor of the Demon Tower, where the most powerfulbat forces of the demon race were. Under the simultaneous siege of the Sword Demon and the Great Demon, it would undoubtedly be the most foolproof. However, Reji still modified the Wisdom Demon''s proposal. Now, letting the imperial armye to the elven homnd on the fourth floor was Reji''s idea. Reji did this as a precaution. If the empire obtained many of his former authorities as the hero, most of them would be extremely effective against the demon race. Even without the user being very powerful, just borrowing those hero''s relic powers could unleash enormous destructive power. That''s why Reji chose to set the battlefield on the fourth floor''s Emerald Forest. Even if that Seventh Prince really brought out something, when facing non-demon units, its effect would definitely be greatly reduced. But what happened next, the images transmitted from the projection, surprised Reji a bit. ¡­ "A forest!?" The imperial army was now looking around, instinctively starting to huddle together, filled with confusion and bewilderment about this unknown space. What''s going on? The interior of this ruin was actually this big!? This was no longer some dungeon maze. This, this was simply like a small world!? Even Olba himself was flustered, let alone the rest of the imperial army. They had never seen such a scene before. Fortunately, there was still a calm sage in their team. At this time, Leon came forward to exin the principle of the dungeon''s space to everyone. For some powerful dungeons, it was indeed possible for the interior to havepressed space. Gradually, the emotions of the imperial army were calmed down. The Seventh Prince once again sighed at what true assistance was. Leon''sposure was simply iparable to even the hunters. However, now that they were in a forest environment, another hunter took the initiative to volunteer. "Let me lead the way for Your Highness." A rough voice came. The speaker was a burly man with a tiger''s back and a bear''s waist. His ranking on the imperial hunting list was one lower than the previous Skeleton King Pastor, only 71. But the field he specialized in happened to be perfectlypatible with the current "forest" environment. Tedino, the King of Beasts. Able tomunicate with birds of prey, even the fiercest beasts were like kittens in front of him. The forest environment was simply like a fish in water for him. Chapter 167: Chapter 167 Holy Sword part 2 4/4 And additional update. ------ Tedino very professionally immediately half-squatted down, used his hand to touch the soil and sniffed it a few times, then observed the bark contours, and meditated in the woods with his eyes closed, as if bing one with nature. Soon, Tedino''s eyes lit up, showing a happy expression. "Your Highness, this way! Nature has already guided us on the path ahead!" Because of the previous example of the Skeleton King. This time, the Seventh Prince was also a bit skeptical of this hunter Tedino. But there was no choice. The forest was so vast, that they couldn''t be headless flies. The imperial army could only follow this King of Beasts, Tedino. And next, as Tedino led the way in front, the thorns and vines that originally blocked the way seemed to sense Tedino''s arrival and voluntarily avoided to both sides. This made Tedino very proud. This undoubtedly demonstrated his closeness to the forest as a child of nature, gaining the shelter of the forest. The originally dense trees made way for Tedino one after another, truly opening up a very easy-to-walk forest trail for the imperial army. This time, no more monsters surged out. The Seventh Prince finally put his mind at ease and no longer doubted anything. However... Olba''s heart had just breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long. Soon, his blood pressure quickly rose to the maximum and he immediately became tense again. They had indeed been unimpeded and encountered no monsters as they prated deep into the forest along this path. But the problem was, the end point of this secluded forest path... It was a particrly strange open field in the woods. As soon as the Seventh Prince entered, he immediately felt an ominous feeling in his heart. After all, such t ground appearing in the forest was too abrupt. It was simply like... Something that was used especially for encirclement and ambush. Before the Seventh Prince could finish his thought, a roar came from behind them. Then, an elite imperial soldier responsible for the rear was sent flying out amidst a scream of agony. Everyone was shocked and turned their heads. The path they hade from, those thorns and vines, had all been restored. A huge beast asrge as an owl bear crawled out from the shadows of the trees. The fresh blood on its ws undoubtedly indicated its hostility. An owl bear? No. Soon, the expressions on the faces of the imperial army changed. From the four sides of their clearing, those monsters seemed to have been specially hidden in the shadows of the forest, just waiting for them toe and throw themselves into the. In addition to the previous w owl bear, there were centaur deer demons, purple spidersrger than wolves, ck leopards with fangs as sharp as saber teeth, and even a stone giant with a body made of rock-like flesh that caused the ground to tremble as it looked down at them with cold, merciless stone eyes. Thi...This was not guiding us to an exit. This was fu@king... Leading us into a monster''s den! Olba was now simply burning with anger. He had brought a total of three hunters. When the gue happened before, the voodoo hunter was useless. Then, when they entered the maze, first that damn "Skeleton King" directly brought them arge number of skeleton seas, and now, this damn "King of Beasts" had forced them into a dangerous situation. Wasn''t this clearly a trap! "No! Your Highness, no, this is not me, no no no, why, nature clearly responded to me, it shouldn''t be, it shouldn''t be like this, wait Your Highness, don''t!" Olba did not hesitate. He directly raised his holy sword and shed this hunter. A traitor! F@king traitors! Damn it! Those brothers and sisters of mine had nted traitors by my side, and I hadn''t even noticed. There was no time to think about the traitors anymore. Now, Olba had to concentrate on resolving the current predicament. However, although the Seventh Prince was very angry, in fact, he was not very afraid in his heart. Olba''s confidence and courage were based on the sword in his hand. Indeed, In fact, earlier, Olba had always felt the agitationing from the holy sword. This feeling was something he had never had since obtaining the holy sword. He could feel the desire emanating from the holy sword. And now, he could sh and kill Tedino, a fifth-tier hunter, in one strike, which was inseparable from the holy sword that was now shining brightly. Wave after wave of power began to surge from the holy sword and flow into his body. It could be said that Olba had never felt as powerful as he did now. Ahahaha, The greater sage didn''t lie to me. This holy sword was just as the great sage had told me back then. When facing monsters, the true power of the holy sword could be unleashed. The five holy swords of the hero from a thousand years ago each had their own duties. And the "Sword of Oath" in his hand was said to be the one among the holy swords that had the strongest ability to assist the hero, directly granting the user a hidden profession - Pdin. In addition to the unified special lethality against the demon race, different holy swords also had different additional functions. And the additional effect of this Sword of Oath in his hand was to have a deep hatred for "monsters". As long as he made an oath to the holy sword in his heart to y all the monsters before him, with such determination, the holy sword would respond to him, granting him the iparable swelling power he had now, and instantlyprehending many secret holy skills. Therefore, even if Olba lost a few hunters and was surrounded by monsters, he was still unafraid. No matter how powerful the master of the maze was, as long as it was a monster, he was invincible in front of this holy sword! Chapter 168 True Damage part 1 Not all holy swords are as close to their wielder as the previous "Radiant Sword" was to Reji. Holy swords also have their own personalities. If Reji were to personify and evaluate the one currently held by Prince Olba, it would be the most impartial and unbiased among the five holy swords. In the game, the Sword of Oath does not care who its user is. It only cares about whether its Oath Pact can be carried out thoroughly. As long as it faces monsters, punishes evil and promotes good, and fights for humanity, then regardless of whether the wielder is a hero or a vagrant, they can raise it high and promote the way of the Pdin. The holy sword currently shing with dazzling light in the Seventh Prince''s hand is the best proof of this. This does not mean that the holy sword has responded to Olba. Rather, the various monsters that Reji summoned to surround the Seventh Prince, such as the w Druids, Treants, Shadow Leopards, Mountain Giants, etc., have stimted the Sword of Oath. The holy sword assessed the current environment and thus actively unleashed its power. After rifying this point, Reji was not in a hurry to reim the holy sword. Different holy swords have different methods of retrieval. For ones like the Radiant Sword that have been with him the longest and have the deepest bond, he can directly grab and pull it out. But for ones like the Sword of Oath, he needs to change his approach slightly. Reji took over direct control of the scene. Facing the Seventh Prince who was empowered by the holy sword, Reji stillmanded the monsters to charge forward and attack. Of course, the monsters here were not the ones from the elven side before. Instead, they were... "Eeyah! Wah!!" Groups of green-skinned humanoid monsters rushed out from the woods on both sides, loudly shouting slogans. The goblins now had flushed faces and were very excited. After attacking the nuns in the dungeon earlier, it was clear that these green-skinned monsters had gotten a taste of sess and realized that the humans here all seemed very weak. Like the wicked demons, they bullied the weak and feared the strong. Now seeing the Seventh Prince''s troops and discovering they were humans again, that familiar feeling arose and they were overjoyed. Besides being interested in females, the goblins were also very interested in the various exquisite ornaments shing on the Seventh Prince''s body and the excellent equipment of the imperial troops. So under Reji''smand, without any hesitation, they raised the clubs and iron swords in their hands and pounced towards the Seventh Prince''s position. As for the holy sword shing in Olba''s hand, the goblins didn''t pay it much mind. Previously, quite a few humans had made a big show but their actual power was negligible. In particr, the goblins did not feel any threat from the holy sword at all. Except for its especially dazzling light effects, it was nothing special. So they naturally categorized the Seventh Prince''s holy sword under "human tricks" as well. However... Olba took a deep breath and tried his best tomunicate his mental will with the holy sword, emptying his mind to try to conform with it. When the Seventh Prince opened his eyes again, they had turned golden, as if shing with holy light. At this moment, the Seventh Prince''s mind waspletely filled with the oaths of the holy sword. [First oath: Protect the people.] The few goblins at the front had already leapt high into the air, revealing sinister grins on their ugly, crafty faces. They mustered all their strength to raise the clubs in their hands above their heads, then fiercely smashed them down towards the Seventh Prince''s skull. Using this move in the dungeon earlier, they had already bashed countless humans to death. Not a single one could withstand it. They could almost envision this extravagantly dressed human of seemingly high status ending up like the others in the next moment, his head turned into a watermelon. But what answered them was Olba''s unbelievably swift movements. Before the few airborne goblins could even react, the holy sword in the Seventh Prince''s hand had already moved on its own ord. In the blink of an eye, it shed out several des of sword energy, forming a sword that pierced through the bodies of these goblins. Holy light shed at the joints of the goblins'' limbs - it was the lingering sword radiance. The next instant, their bodies actually disintegrated directly in midair, bing chunks of corpses falling down. "Yikes!?" This scene gave many goblins a shudder. Some who were about to charge right up to the Seventh Prince screeched to a halt. Wh-what''s going on? That "light sword" in the human''s hand isn''t a trick!? It insta-killed five or six of our tribesmen in one strike!?? The goblins were frightened, but it was toote to turn back now. The Sword in Olba''s hand seemed to have not carried out its oath so refreshingly in a very, very long time. So next, it was as if the Sword began actively controlling the Seventh Prince, making Olba''s body move and ughter towards this group of green-skinned monsters threatening humans. [Second oath: Towards monsters, loathe evil like an enemy, pursue and kill to thest one!] The Seventh Prince leapt into the goblin horde, bringing about a dazzling sword dance. The holy sword, like a meat grinder, began ruthlessly massacring these green-skinned monsters. These goblins were actually not weak. Each one was over level 20. A small portion who had advanced to goblin elites after the earlier dungeon battle were even heading past level 30. However, under the Seventh Prince, or more precisely, under the Sword of Oath, they still had no room for resistance at all. They really were being ughtered all the way from front to back like chopping melons and vegetables. Until finally, the goblins who could no longer hold formation screamed in terror as they ran towards their main camp where the Great Priest was at the very rear. The Goblin Shaman. That''s right, the powerful existence who had directly scared off the "Demon King", that leader of the Death Heralds, thinking it was the dungeon''s master. A 5th-tier Archmage Goblin. The current Goblin Shaman had long since lost his earlier imposing manner and confidence. Seeing that Sword killing its way over, he too panicked. He hurriedly used his most powerful defense, summoning the power of frost before him to formyers of ice crystal barriers. Any physical attack would be greatly weakened. It was just a pity that the Oath Swordsweeping over in the Seventh Prince''s hand directly treated theyers of frost barriers before the Goblin Shaman as nothing. That radiant sh stillnded fully on the priest''s head. The holy sword energy that had in those goblins earlier was actually all of the same type, bestowed by the Oath Sword- its most powerful ability: [Holy Smite!] It had heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing killing power against monster-type creatures. If one was still on the side of "justice", that power would rise another level. The Oath Sword let out an excited sword hum. The power of Holy Smite cleaved the mighty 5th-tier Goblin Shaman in two, defying reason and insta-killing him as well. Within just a few short minutes, the goblins had beenpletely ughtered by the Seventh Prince. Chapter 169 True Damage part 2 Within just a few short minutes, the goblins had beenpletely ughtered by the Seventh Prince. But this did not make Olba feel fatigued. On the contrary, it was as if his whole body was filled with new strength again. He even gained many new insights, feeling like he was about to break through his limits. Intoxicated by this thrill, Olba immediately turned the holy sword''s edge towards those Druids, Treants, and even the massive giants that looked even more powerful. He did not cower and dared to battle them. At this scene, the many demon apostles who had been observing the Seventh Prince from the rear now had their expressions turn a little serious. "Eris hates that sword," the Decay Demon mumbled, hugging the doll in her arms tightly. The Great Demon Hektor and Sword Demon Pierre, the two demonmanders who had also arrived here, now had equally serious expressions. "I didn''t expect the Hero''s relics to still preserve such power even after a thousand years." "The power of the holy swords has always been a mystery. I suggest we continue observing and collecting data. And to be safe, I think we can keep deploying monsters until the human''s stamina is exhausted before making a move." Dian was more cautious. It could be seen that even he was filled with wariness towards that Oath Sword , adopting the most conservative strategy of avoiding its edge. Let the Seventh Prince kill - anyway, there were plenty of monsters. Wait until the wielder had no strength left, and no matter how formidable the holy sword was, it would be useless. But in that case, the casualties would probably be a massive number. The holy sword was clearly able to replenish the wielder''s stamina while killing enemies¡­ The demon apostles were also unclear about the specific operating principles of the holy sword. So to prevent this from being a bottomless pit, Hektor, as the strongestbat power, immediately requested of Reji. "Your Majesty, leave that human to me." At this time, another projection, precisely the Wisdom Demon Leo, also spoke up. The Wisdom Demon''s main body was lurking below as a backup. His projection came over here to discuss tactics. Leo had obviously long anticipated the current situation. He still said very calmly: "Eris, Pierre, Hektor, when the timees, after I detonate the gue toxins inside the Seventh Prince''s body, you three make a move together to attract attention from the front. Shermen and I will find an opportunity toplete the assassination from behind." Leo''s previous lurking by the Seventh Prince''s side was not for nothing. He had even arranged things like poison, and even mobilized the Shadow Demon. Reji looked at the apostles seeming a bit like facing a great enemy, with sneak attacks, group assaults, poisons, backstabs and all. He felt a bit emotional inside. It seemed my first ythrough self had indeed left a very deep shadow on the demon race. They had a bit of PTSD from just one holy sword. He still had to personally raise a hand and have all the apostles sit properly. There was no need to go to such trouble. "I will go." With just three short words, Reji shed away. The next moment, he appeared right in front of the Seventh Prince. As long as it was within the territory''s range, he had the ability to teleport instantly. Reji''s appearance made Olba, currently in his prime wielding the holy sword and having just swept through the goblins, pause in surprise. "Who¡­ " Very quickly, the Seventh Prince''s confusion was resolved. It was not that Reji opened his mouth to answer. That would be too embarrassing. As the surrounding owlbears immediately prostrated their bear bodies upon Reji''s appearance, those half-deer forest spirits also bent their hooves all at once, kneeling towards Reji''s direction. If these were not intuitive enough, then with a "boom" and a loud crash, the massive mountain giants also knelt on one knee, deeply lowering their big heads towards Reji. If Olba still did not understand Reji''s identity at this scene, then he could go get his brain checked. Was there even a need to ask? The boss of this dungeon! Hah!? I thought it would be some more demonic monster. Turned out that the boss is pretty average. Heavily influenced by the Oath Sword, what Olba had in mind now was just to kill monsters. And the exhration from the earlier goblin ughter also made him brimming with confidence and incredibly inted. So what if he was the monster king!? It was still a monster. As long as it was a monster, no matter how strong, it was just a matter of one sword strike before this sword in my hand and he will be dead. The rich power of radiance surfaced again. The familiar starting pose was precisely that Oath Sword ''s most simple and unadorned mighty ability. Holy Smite! sh! Olba took the initiative to attack. Carrying the radiant momentum of a pdin, the dazzling brilliance of Holy Smite had already killed its way to Reji''s front in an instant. Why did the goblins from before not feel the oppressive might of the holy sword? Because "Holy Smite" was actually a very special attack. It would have an attack pre-judgment. If the judgment seeded, then it would indeed be like those goblins from before, suffering devastating fatal damage. But if the judgment failed... It was when the Seventh Prince shed at Reji that a prompt also sounded in Reji''s mind at the same time. [You suffered Holy Smite from Olba] [Attack hit judgment in progress] [Concluded¡­ you are immune to Holy Smite, reason: Holy Smite cannot be released on humans] [Oath breaking judgment in progress] [Concluded¡­ Olba suffered "oath breaking" bacsh, reason: Trespassing private residence, ughtering servants,unching an attack on the residence owner] [Bacsh damage judgment in progress...¡­.] [Concluded, Olba suffered 10,928,632 points of true damage, reason: Your noble morality grants bonus to oath breaking bacsh] What was the concept of 10,928,632 points of true damage? The concept was, Olba''s body directly exploded into a mist of blood in midair. Not even flesh and blood, but directly turned into a blood mist. It was as if every part of his body was instantly annihted. ng~. All that was left was the Oath Sword, which immediately dimmed as it lost its wielder, falling from midair and eventually inserting into the ground at an angle. The entire process happened very quickly. It could be said that it was just a matter of a few short seconds. The apostles who were originally watching with utmost anxiety in the projection, about to rush over to support the Demon King, including Leo, all had dumbfounded expressions. Those expressions seemed to say: Huh? What happened? How did that human just die? How did the holy sword suddenly extinguish? What exactly did the Demon King do? What in the world happened??? Chapter 170 Renji鈥檚 Plan Actually, it wasn''t just the apostles who were a bit dazed. Reji himself was also a bit surprised. Especially by the terrifying damage of over ten million from the oath breaking bacsh that the Seventh Prince suffered, as shown in the battle record. Oath breaking was easy to understand. It meant going against the Oath Sword ''s ts. Reji had said before that among his five holy swords, this sword was the most "impartial and unbiased". It absolutely did not give any leeway. When it was fierce, it was truly fierce, but sometimes, it was also truly infuriating with its many restrictions. This included that as a holy sword that "fights for humans", the targets of Holy Smite could not be humans. If Holy Smite was just used to attack humans, it actually wouldn''t lead to "oath breaking". But if this attack was also done from an evil standpoint, then that would be different. This forest was the fourth floor of the Demon Tower. And he was the owner of the Demon Tower. From the moment the Seventh Prince intruded here, it already contained the dangerous "oath breaking" act of "trespassing on private property". And the reason why Reji still had the goblins go over for Olba to kill afterwards, letting this Seventh Prince vent happily for a while, seemed like sending people to their deaths, but it was indeed to send people to their deaths for Olba. Reji felt that just trespassing wasn''t enough, not secure enough. If not only trespassing, but also killing the guards protecting someone''s residence, then this would be another level of crime, simply an atrocity. So the moment the Seventh Prince attacked him, the oue was set. He would inevitably "break his oath". Reji had already suffered losses andined countless times about this lesson when using the "Oath Sword " in the game. However, what truly surprised Reji was that in the judgment afterwards, his own "noble morality" actually amplified the oath breaking damage. The Oath Swordin the game indeed had this punishment mechanism. The more virtuous and respected the target the yer attacked with this sword, the stronger the bacsh effect. But the problem was... [Evil Value: 103,693,807] Reji stared at his status screen, at that nine-digit evil value, and fell into deep thought. He remembered that back then on the tower top in Ilinor, when he drew the "Radiant Sword", there was a simr prompt. The holy sword expressedpatibility with his noble morality, directly maxing out proficiency. At that time, Reji thought it was the Radiant Sword, his old partner, giving him a backdoor. Could it be that in the eyes of these holy swords, I really have noble morality? Extremes must reverse, right? Evil to the extreme bes saintly? I don''t quite understand. I still need to pay more attention to this aspect in the future. Reji withdrew his thoughts and looked at the Oath Sword inserted in the ground ahead. After the Seventh Prince''s death, it lost its luster and became an ownerless sword again. He walked up and pulled it out with one hand. At the same time, various crazy prompt windows also popped up before Reji''s eyes. [The Oath Sword is conducting an "Owner Recognition" judgment on you] [Your title "Ten Evils Unforgiven" sessfully passed the judgment] [Judgment result... Great Sess!] [You have be the "unique" owner of the "Oath Sword". During this period, anyone other than you who touches the weapon will suffer a strong repulsion from the Sword. You cannot trade or transfer this weapon in any way.] [Your noble morality has gained the absolute approval of the "Oath Sword ". Yourpatibility with the holy sword has increased to 100% (Max)] [When equipping the "Oath Sword", you gain the following temporary abilities:¡­] [Oath of Devotion (Passive) - Your every action cannot go against your heart. With the purpose of protecting humans and firm devotion, you are immune to all negative effects] [Oath of Vengeance (Passive) - You loathe evil like an enemy towards monsters, pursuing and killing to the end. When necessary, you can use any means. The mes of vengeance make you deal 300% extra damage when facing "monster" type enemies] [Oath Breaking (Passive) - When your actions vite your oath, you will receive "oath breaking" punishment. The punishment coefficient will be determined based on your evil deeds] "¡­" Reji felt that he had been pped in the face a bit earlier. Bro, what happened to you being the most "impartial and unbiased" sword that "doesn''t recognize an owner"? How have you changed too after a thousand years? Reji felt a bit speechless at the first condition of "unique owner". This was even more ridiculous than the previous owner restriction of the "Radiant Sword". From the looks of it, he couldn''t even hand over this sword. As long as someone else touched it, the sword would strongly resist. Was it the Sword of Chastity? The reason Reji wasining was actually because he originally had a new idea in his mind. Indeed, he was inspired by the Seventh Prince directly receiving millions in oath breaking damage earlier. Was there a possibility that he could deliberately find a way to give the Oath Swordto those troublesome enemies he would face in the future, then induce the enemy to use this sword to attack him, thereby triggering the "oath breaking" judgment and directly killing them? After all, this damage of over ten million was even stronger than "instant death". Instant death could still be avoided, but millions in true damage was real and solid, killing people the moment they met. In the end, his evil n hadn''t even begun before it fell through. The Oath Sword forcibly bound him and couldn''t be handed over at all. Reji could only give up the idea. It didn''t matter. Reji continued reading. With the powerful skills bestowed by the Oath Sword, there was no need to bother with those fancy tricks anymore. Although the skills of the holy sword had indeed been greatly reduced after a thousand years of wear and tear, with only a few left, each one still had a kind of simple and unadorned power. --- [Pdin Lv10 - After activating this state, you will gain an additional temporary new fate track "Pdin". All your damage types against "monster" type enemies will be converted to unavoidable true damage. At the same time, "monster" type enemies killed in this state will provide you with an additional 300% experience] [Holy Smite Lv10 - Your attack will undergo a judgment. If the judgment seeds, you will deal damage based on a percentage of the enemy''s maximum health. The damage coefficient is (50% fixed value + judgment coefficient + good and evil values of both sides). If the judgment seeds, this value cannot be lower than 50%] [Oath of Enmity LV10 - Select a unit and make a judgment on that unit. If that unit''s evil value is greater than 150, then in this battle, any of your subsequent actions against that unit will not be considered as "oath breaking". At the same time, based on that unit''s evil value, your own base attributes will increase proportionally. The higher the unit''s evil value, the higher the increase coefficient, up to a maximum of 500%] --- The Oath Swordhad the most restrictions among the five holy swords and even had bacsh. But in exchange, it also had skills with explosively high power. Pdin, converting all damage to true damage against monsters, was simple and crude. What Reji valued even more was the additional triple experience gained after killing monsters! It was indeed in line with this sword''s positioning. In the mid-game, it was simply a divine artifact, specifically used for him as the hero to level up like crazy. As for Holy Smite, there was no need to say more. Percentage of maximum health was already perverted, not relying on the user''s own base attributes at all. Ifbined with the passive of "Pdin", it would directly transform, simple and unadorned in its power. As for thest one... In the first ythrough of the game, Reji actually relied on its "Pdin" to level up with this sword. The thrill of triple experience, only those who used it would know. However, in thete game, Reji threw this sword into the warehouse to gather dust because equipping this sword required constant vignce against "oath breaking", which was too troublesome and restricted his flexible moral y as a yer. Although there was "Oath of Enmity" which seemed to grant immunity to oath breaking, it could only target a single enemy and the restriction was really too high. What was the concept of 150 evil value? That was basically a top-notch criminal with a five-star wanted level. Ordinary murderers and robbers only had twenty or thirty evil value, so it was very difficult to encounter one. As for the power increase based on the unit''s evil value, it looked very nice. Maxing it out could increase attributes by a full five times. But in reality, Reji had tested it. Even against the Great Demon back then, the unit with the highest evil value that could be encountered in the game, it only increased by about 270%. And this increase was actually simr to the effect of Hektor''s "Malice Blooms" domain expansion. It could be seen that the design concept of this holy sword in the game was actually equivalent to helping the yer fight against this strongest apostle of the demon race and assisting the yer to clear the game. As for wanting to max out that 500% effect, it was basically impossible in the game and was just for show. But now... Reji carefully studied the "Oath of Enmity" skill again, and a bold idea suddenly arose in his head Chapter 171 : 171: Everyone is a demon, part 1 1/4 Reji carefully studied the Oath of Enmity again, and a bold idea suddenly arose in his head To maximize the effect of Oath of Enmity, he had to find someone with the highest Sin Value possible, and it was best if this person could always be by his side, so he could use it whenever he wanted. There was indeed someone who could satisfy both conditions at the same time. Wasn''t that himself? Reji immediately tried. He closed his eyes, gripped the Oath Swordin his hand, and activated the guidance of Oath of Enmity. The surrounding scene was instantly shrouded in ck fog, followed by shing red dots. Those red dots came from the other demons and monsters around him. The size of the dots varied ording to the sin value of the target. The monsters generally only emitted a faint red, while the few demon apostles had red condensed into orbs of light, with the Great Demon Hektor''s orb being the deepest in color, bing a brownish red. Obviously, Oath of Enmity was letting him select a target from these, but Reji only swept his mind over without any action. He continued to concentrate his mental power, this time not on others around him, but entirely on himself. The Oath of Enmity guided by the holy sword clearly paused, as if a bit dazed. But under Reji''s mental control, the skill still forcibly included Reji himself as a selectable target. And it didn''t matter if he was included or not. Once Reji also became a target, those red dots and red orbs of light from other monsters or demons detected by the holy sword earlier instantly paled inparison. A sky-piercing beam of light shot up from the ground, its scarlet color even dyeing the entire ck fog world red, condensing into a blood moon in the sky that seemed to envelop the earth. That was Reji himself. Afterwards, Reji did not hesitate to continue focusing all his attention on his own scarlet light pir, that blood moon in the sky. And the oaths on the holy sword were also very supportive, not saying that they feared that terrifying sin value at all. Instead, it was as if stimted, determined to eradicate such "sin" and seal the blood moon in the sky. In the eyes of the demon apostles waiting outside, it was the Demon King closing his eyes, as if battling with the will inside the holy sword. Immediately after, they saw endless oaths suddenly gushing out from the holy sword. These oaths shed with dazzling radiance, then actually all began to frantically revolve around the Demon King, as if desperately marking the Demon King''s overwhelming sins. Afterwards, these oaths returned to the holy sword. The moment they returned, the holy sword rose with a divine radiance that was even more brilliant and towering than when the Seventh Prince was holding it earlier. This exuberant holy light, as bright as day, made the demon apostles'' skin ache faintly just from being illuminated by it. If they forcibly looked at it, there would be an intense burning sensation. They had no choice but to retreat slightly and force themselves to look away. Of course, the anomaly of the holy sword did notst long. The radiance quickly dissipated. But the next scene actually shocked and surprised the demon apostles even more. Because they saw that the previous radiance had not actually dissipated, but... enveloped their Demon King!? Now Reji''s body was covered by ayer of holy light. That crystal clear radiance contained iparably rich divine power, making Reji seem hazy, like a sage. Heh... Reji''s mood was also quiteplicated now. The good news was that Oath of Enmity had seeded. He could really use himself as the target, and looking at the bonus on the attribute panel now, it had directly maxed out the 500% effect. The bad news was that Reji didn''t expect this thing to have such a big impact on his appearance after maxing out the effect, it directly bathed him in holy light, like a child of light, especially in front of his subordinate demon apostles. Just when Reji was still a bit troubled about how to exin the situation to the apostles... It didn''t matter. Leo would take care of it. Among the apostles who were shocked, puzzled, surprised, and even suspected that the Demon King might have been possessed and controlled by the holy sword and wanted to attack and destroy the holy sword to save the Demon King, the Wisdom Demon was the quickest toe back to his senses. When Leo was selected by the holy sword as a potential target for Oath of Enmity earlier, he had a premonition in his heart. In fact, all the apostles more or less felt a palpitation when scanned by the holy sword. So Leo quickly made a guess and judgment. This should be some ability of the holy sword. After all, it was a holy sword from the human side, how could it submit to the demon race? It must want to use them as attack targets and assault them. And the reason why the feeling of being targeted by the holy sword on them disappearedter was because the Demon King forcibly pulled the holy sword back, making it not hostile to them. The Demon King even sacrificed himself to protect them, stepping forward and letting the holy sword select the Demon King himself as the target. So Leo absolutely did not believe that the Demon King, who had such will, would be possessed and controlled by the holy sword. But now, the holy light all over Reji''s body was real, so how to exin it? With Leo''s wisdom, he immediately thought of another possibility. The Oath Sword, this holy sword, was different from other holy swords. It was the most impartial one, which even he as a demon was clear about. Chapter 172 : 172: Everyone is a demon, part 2 2/4 So as long as the wielder used it to kill demons and monsters, it didn''t care about the identity of the wielder, whether it was a hero or... a Demon King! The Demon King should have keenly noticed this loophole in the holy sword, and used it to master the holy sword, bing the new owner of the holy sword with the identity of a demon, achieving this impossible miracle. And the demon that the Demon King and the holy sword''s oath vowed to y was none other than the Demon King himself! In this way, because the King was the head of the demon race, he could perfectly attract all the hatred of the holy sword onto himself, not letting the holy sword harm other demonpatriots. Moreover, under this oath, as long as the Demon King was alive for a day, the purification mission of the holy sword would not disappear for a day, and the King could forever be the owner of this holy sword. No other human could use this sword again! The more Leo analyzed, the more excited he became. This way, not only was it equivalent to disabling a hugely threatening weapon from the human side, it even added a powerfulbat force to their own side. Not only Leo, but many other Wisdom Demons who rushed over looked at Reji, now bathed in holy light, with trembling hands and feet. The color of worship for Reji as the Demon King in their eyes had reached an extreme. After all, this was a path that the demon race had never thought of for a thousand years. It was enough to make them, as Wisdom Demons, feel ashamed and embarrassed. If they could have thought of such a brilliant n a thousand years ago, the oue of that human-demon war might have been different. Leo would not allow the Demon King''s great strategy to be half-understood by other demons, unable toprehend the King''s wisdom. He would not allow the King''s sacrifice to be misunderstood by other apostles. After this analysis by the Wisdom Demon, the other apostles all sighed in relief. So this was what happened? As expected of the demon king! After the sudden realization, apostles like Hektor and Pierre, who were warrior types, showed an even stronger respect on their faces towards Reji, who was now bathed in holy light. The reason was simple. After Leo''s exnation, they understood the King''s approach. It indeed created a miracle, but at what cost? It was their demon king bearing it all alone. Every moment, he had to endure the torment of the holy sword. This also exined why the King was now full of holy light. That was not some blessing from the holy sword, quite the opposite. The King was both the user of the holy sword and its mortal enemy. As long as the King held the holy sword, the holy sword would continue to release this holy light, trying to purify and kill the Demon King. And they had all tasted the power of this holy light just now. Just looking at it made their eyes sting. Slightly touching a bit of the holy light made their skin feel a strong burning sensation. This was the might of the holy sword, their nemesis. So now the Great Demon and Sword Demon, as well as the other apostles, found it hard to imagine what kind of pain the demon king, wrapped in holy light, was enduring. Facing such pain that might be like being yed all over, the current King could still remain unfazed and even look at ease. Such strong willpower made them sincerely convinced. The Great Demon Hektor, as a warrior, immediately dragged his fierce demon body and half-knelt towards Reji. The towering demon horns on his head now drooped down, as if showing respect to Reji as a warrior. "His Majesty''s will, I... am far from it." The Sword Demon Pierre also immediately inserted his double des into the ground and said to Reji in admiration, "Even the sharpest sword will pale inparison to His Majesty." "I will do my utmost to find a way to alleviate the holy light for His Majesty!" The somewhat fanatical Leo and the other Wisdom Demons directly regarded alleviating Reji''s pain as the top priority for the demon race. As the King''s guard, Shermen didn''t speak, only taking off the hood of his cloak. The petite Shermen stared at Reji with her firm eyes, not moving in the slightest. Even directly looking at the holy light had made her eyes sting and her whole body ufortable, but Shermen still did not shift her gaze from Reji for a moment. It seemed she was using this method to convey to Reji that she didn''t want the King to bear it alone and wanted to help him endure this pain together. Even if the King was enveloped in holy light, she, Shermen, as the Demon King''s guard, would never retreat half a step and would not leave. As proof, she still wanted to share a bed with the Demon King at night, letting the King hold her. Even if necessary, even if the holy light entered her body, Shermen firmly believed that she was not afraid at all! Finally, the Decay Demon Eris, whose not good at speaking. She could only express her concern for Reji through the pained expression on her face, while also volunteering, "Eris will... make... seafood soup for brother King tonight! The King... will not be hurt after drinking the soup! Eris will put the most treasured ingredients in the soup... very nourishing!" Saying that, Eris gritted her teeth and threw the doll she was holding to the ground. The doll immediately turned into the giant centipede from before, but now this giant centipede was a bit scared because Eris''s other hand had already raised the butcher knife. It looked like she was going to endure the pain of parting with a beloved item and chop up this thousand-legged giant centipede, made from various corpses, to throw into her seafood soup as an ingredient to nourish Reji. Chapter 171 Everyone is a demon, part 1 1/4 Reji carefully studied the Oath of Enmity again, and a bold idea suddenly arose in his head To maximize the effect of Oath of Enmity, he had to find someone with the highest Sin Value possible, and it was best if this person could always be by his side, so he could use it whenever he wanted. There was indeed someone who could satisfy both conditions at the same time. Wasn''t that himself? Reji immediately tried. He closed his eyes, gripped the Oath Swordin his hand, and activated the guidance of Oath of Enmity. The surrounding scene was instantly shrouded in ck fog, followed by shing red dots. Those red dots came from the other demons and monsters around him. The size of the dots varied ording to the sin value of the target. The monsters generally only emitted a faint red, while the few demon apostles had red condensed into orbs of light, with the Great Demon Hektor''s orb being the deepest in color, bing a brownish red. Obviously, Oath of Enmity was letting him select a target from these, but Reji only swept his mind over without any action. He continued to concentrate his mental power, this time not on others around him, but entirely on himself. The Oath of Enmity guided by the holy sword clearly paused, as if a bit dazed. But under Reji''s mental control, the skill still forcibly included Reji himself as a selectable target. And it didn''t matter if he was included or not. Once Reji also became a target, those red dots and red orbs of light from other monsters or demons detected by the holy sword earlier instantly paled inparison. A sky-piercing beam of light shot up from the ground, its scarlet color even dyeing the entire ck fog world red, condensing into a blood moon in the sky that seemed to envelop the earth. That was Reji himself. Afterwards, Reji did not hesitate to continue focusing all his attention on his own scarlet light pir, that blood moon in the sky. And the oaths on the holy sword were also very supportive, not saying that they feared that terrifying sin value at all. Instead, it was as if stimted, determined to eradicate such "sin" and seal the blood moon in the sky. In the eyes of the demon apostles waiting outside, it was the Demon King closing his eyes, as if battling with the will inside the holy sword. Immediately after, they saw endless oaths suddenly gushing out from the holy sword. These oaths shed with dazzling radiance, then actually all began to frantically revolve around the Demon King, as if desperately marking the Demon King''s overwhelming sins. Afterwards, these oaths returned to the holy sword. The moment they returned, the holy sword rose with a divine radiance that was even more brilliant and towering than when the Seventh Prince was holding it earlier. This exuberant holy light, as bright as day, made the demon apostles'' skin ache faintly just from being illuminated by it. If they forcibly looked at it, there would be an intense burning sensation. They had no choice but to retreat slightly and force themselves to look away. Of course, the anomaly of the holy sword did notst long. The radiance quickly dissipated. But the next scene actually shocked and surprised the demon apostles even more. Because they saw that the previous radiance had not actually dissipated, but... enveloped their Demon King!? Now Reji''s body was covered by ayer of holy light. That crystal clear radiance contained iparably rich divine power, making Reji seem hazy, like a sage. Heh... Reji''s mood was also quiteplicated now. The good news was that Oath of Enmity had seeded. He could really use himself as the target, and looking at the bonus on the attribute panel now, it had directly maxed out the 500% effect. The bad news was that Reji didn''t expect this thing to have such a big impact on his appearance after maxing out the effect, it directly bathed him in holy light, like a child of light, especially in front of his subordinate demon apostles. Just when Reji was still a bit troubled about how to exin the situation to the apostles... It didn''t matter. Leo would take care of it. Among the apostles who were shocked, puzzled, surprised, and even suspected that the Demon King might have been possessed and controlled by the holy sword and wanted to attack and destroy the holy sword to save the Demon King, the Wisdom Demon was the quickest toe back to his senses. When Leo was selected by the holy sword as a potential target for Oath of Enmity earlier, he had a premonition in his heart. In fact, all the apostles more or less felt a palpitation when scanned by the holy sword. So Leo quickly made a guess and judgment. This should be some ability of the holy sword. After all, it was a holy sword from the human side, how could it submit to the demon race? It must want to use them as attack targets and assault them. And the reason why the feeling of being targeted by the holy sword on them disappearedter was because the Demon King forcibly pulled the holy sword back, making it not hostile to them. The Demon King even sacrificed himself to protect them, stepping forward and letting the holy sword select the Demon King himself as the target. So Leo absolutely did not believe that the Demon King, who had such will, would be possessed and controlled by the holy sword. But now, the holy light all over Reji''s body was real, so how to exin it? With Leo''s wisdom, he immediately thought of another possibility. Readtest chapter on m_vl_em_p_yr The Oath Sword, this holy sword, was different from other holy swords. It was the most impartial one, which even he as a demon was clear about. Chapter 172 Everyone is a demon, part 2 2/4 So as long as the wielder used it to kill demons and monsters, it didn''t care about the identity of the wielder, whether it was a hero or... a Demon King! The Demon King should have keenly noticed this loophole in the holy sword, and used it to master the holy sword, bing the new owner of the holy sword with the identity of a demon, achieving this impossible miracle. And the demon that the Demon King and the holy sword''s oath vowed to y was none other than the Demon King himself! In this way, because the King was the head of the demon race, he could perfectly attract all the hatred of the holy sword onto himself, not letting the holy sword harm other demonpatriots. Moreover, under this oath, as long as the Demon King was alive for a day, the purification mission of the holy sword would not disappear for a day, and the King could forever be the owner of this holy sword. No other human could use this sword again! The more Leo analyzed, the more excited he became. This way, not only was it equivalent to disabling a hugely threatening weapon from the human side, it even added a powerfulbat force to their own side. Not only Leo, but many other Wisdom Demons who rushed over looked at Reji, now bathed in holy light, with trembling hands and feet. The color of worship for Reji as the Demon King in their eyes had reached an extreme. After all, this was a path that the demon race had never thought of for a thousand years. It was enough to make them, as Wisdom Demons, feel ashamed and embarrassed. If they could have thought of such a brilliant n a thousand years ago, the oue of that human-demon war might have been different. Leo would not allow the Demon King''s great strategy to be half-understood by other demons, unable toprehend the King''s wisdom. He would not allow the King''s sacrifice to be misunderstood by other apostles. After this analysis by the Wisdom Demon, the other apostles all sighed in relief. So this was what happened? As expected of the demon king! After the sudden realization, apostles like Hektor and Pierre, who were warrior types, showed an even stronger respect on their faces towards Reji, who was now bathed in holy light. The reason was simple. After Leo''s exnation, they understood the King''s approach. It indeed created a miracle, but at what cost? It was their demon king bearing it all alone. Every moment, he had to endure the torment of the holy sword. This also exined why the King was now full of holy light. That was not some blessing from the holy sword, quite the opposite. The King was both the user of the holy sword and its mortal enemy. As long as the King held the holy sword, the holy sword would continue to release this holy light, trying to purify and kill the Demon King. And they had all tasted the power of this holy light just now. Just looking at it made their eyes sting. Slightly touching a bit of the holy light made their skin feel a strong burning sensation. This was the might of the holy sword, their nemesis. So now the Great Demon and Sword Demon, as well as the other apostles, found it hard to imagine what kind of pain the demon king, wrapped in holy light, was enduring. Facing such pain that might be like being yed all over, the current King could still remain unfazed and even look at ease. Such strong willpower made them sincerely convinced. The Great Demon Hektor, as a warrior, immediately dragged his fierce demon body and half-knelt towards Reji. The towering demon horns on his head now drooped down, as if showing respect to Reji as a warrior. "His Majesty''s will, I... am far from it." Read new tales at m-vl-em,pyr The Sword Demon Pierre also immediately inserted his double des into the ground and said to Reji in admiration, "Even the sharpest sword will pale inparison to His Majesty." "I will do my utmost to find a way to alleviate the holy light for His Majesty!" The somewhat fanatical Leo and the other Wisdom Demons directly regarded alleviating Reji''s pain as the top priority for the demon race. As the King''s guard, Shermen didn''t speak, only taking off the hood of his cloak. The petite Shermen stared at Reji with her firm eyes, not moving in the slightest. Even directly looking at the holy light had made her eyes sting and her whole body ufortable, but Shermen still did not shift her gaze from Reji for a moment. It seemed she was using this method to convey to Reji that she didn''t want the King to bear it alone and wanted to help him endure this pain together. Even if the King was enveloped in holy light, she, Shermen, as the Demon King''s guard, would never retreat half a step and would not leave. As proof, she still wanted to share a bed with the Demon King at night, letting the King hold her. Even if necessary, even if the holy light entered her body, Shermen firmly believed that she was not afraid at all! Finally, the Decay Demon Eris, whose not good at speaking. She could only express her concern for Reji through the pained expression on her face, while also volunteering, "Eris will... make... seafood soup for brother King tonight! The King... will not be hurt after drinking the soup! Eris will put the most treasured ingredients in the soup... very nourishing!" Saying that, Eris gritted her teeth and threw the doll she was holding to the ground. The doll immediately turned into the giant centipede from before, but now this giant centipede was a bit scared because Eris''s other hand had already raised the butcher knife. It looked like she was going to endure the pain of parting with a beloved item and chop up this thousand-legged giant centipede, made from various corpses, to throw into her seafood soup as an ingredient to nourish Reji. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 173 Insect Demon 3/4 In addition, Eris also took out, as if showing off military supplies... no, ingredients, like a magic trick, things like a bloody big eyeball from an Eye Demon that was over a thousand years old, stinking rotten seaweed from the deep sea, fish roe sauce that had been aged for who knows how many days until it was bubbling like pus, squirming purple-ck octopus tentacles densely covered in suckers... From the reluctant look in Eris''s eyes, it could be seen that this series of dark ingredients were definitely the Decay Demon''s treasures, delicacies that even Eris herself couldn''t bear to eat. Now steeling her heart, she wanted to take them all out to nourish the Demon King. Seeing this, Reji... hurried to stop her! After a good round of constion, he finally got Eris to give up the idea of emptying her own reserves to make seafood soup to nourish him. As for Shermen''s... That''s another story. In any case, Reji immediately exined to the apostles that actually, this bit of holy light had no effect on him and they didn''t need to worry so much. In fact... It couldn''t be said to have no effect, but rather, Reji himself didn''t feel the slightest pain. The reason was also very simple. Holy light was indeed poison to evil-aligned races. But the problem was... He wasn''t a demon. He was human. Not only did Reji not feel any stinging or burning, he actually felt warm andfortable all over, as if every meridian was being nourished by the holy light. After reassuring the apostles, Reji first tested the effects of Oath of Enmity. The first was the oath breaking issue that Reji was most worried about, and also the biggest reason he gave up the Oath Sword weapon in the game. When he brought the holy sword to the few remaining imperial hunters from the Seventh Prince''s troops, these imperial hunters had long been scared out of their wits. They knelt one by one begging for mercy. The female hunter even immediately offered her body, praying for Reji to spare her. If it were in the game, if the yer still killed the enemies from the human side begging for mercy, there would be a chance of causing oath breaking effect, because the oath had a stiption of mercy, as if to only go as far as necessary. Now when Reji had the intent to kill these few hunters, the Oath Swordin his hand indeed transmitted a faint prompt. Although the prompt fluctuation wasn''t big, it represented that this action was still not within its approved scope. Then... Reji directly used another minor spell he learned from Leo, amand spell. [Command ¨C Attack] After imposing themand skill to attack him on these three hunters, even if the three hunters resisted, they could only raise their respective weapons in terror, making a posture as if to assault him. And it was also in this instant that the previous difort transmitted from the Oath Sworddisappeared. Reji immediately swung his sword, unleashing an ordinary strike, and with the five times attribute boost, even without using Holy Smite, the three 5th-tier hunters were instantly killed. And after ying the three, there was not the slightest sign of oath breaking on Reji, everything remained normal. With this, Reji nodded in satisfaction, having figured out the rules. The Oath of Enmity released on himself could notpletely ignore all oath breaking rules as described in the skill description, but it could greatly lower the threshold for oath breaking. As long as it was nominally "justice", it was enough. For example, just now the priority of Reji''s legitimate self-defense was raised and no longer considered oath breaking. It was a bit like, previously the Oath Swordwould punish a good person for doing one bad thing. But now, you were already a wicked viin who hadmitted unforgivable sins, so as long as you did one normal, ordinary thing, it should be encouraged, how could it be punished? A great sword indeed. Reji really liked this flexible moral bottom line. The only slightly regrettable thing was... These three hunters were all humans, not monsters, so he couldn''t get that most powerful assistance function of the Oath Sword, triple experience for killing monsters. And although his own territory could produce monsters, they were all friendly units. Although they could also be killed, it would drop the territory''s favorability, so unless absolutely necessary, Reji didn''t want to do that. So now the question was... In this world where the empire restricted the supernatural, almost regressing to "low magic", where could he find so many monsters to farm and help him level up? The answer was given to Reji from the corpses of those few hunters he had just killed. It could be seen that the flesh of these dead hunters began to squirm, and then, strange insects crawled out from their flesh. They were insect eggs! These few insects seemed to be different from other parasites. After the death of their host, they did not hurry to find the next host, but instead seemed to be liberated. They did not have sharp limbs or strange bodies, but rather looked very simple, like erged maggot tadpoles. After crawling out, these tadpole insects stood upright on the corpses and seemed to nce in Reji''s direction. Immediately after, they opened their mouths wide, pointing their heads towards the sky, as if shouting and emitting a unique sound wave that Reji and other normal creatures couldn''t hear at all. Issuing this sound wavemand seemed to drain all the life force of these tadpole insects. Their fleshy shell-like bodies immediately shriveled, drying up into insect skins in just a few seconds. But correspondingly... "Ugh ahhhh..." "What''s happening to my body..." "There''s something in my brain... no... wait..." "*Ahhhhhhhhhhhh*" It could be seen that these imperial elites that Olba brought into the dungeon, these soldiers, under the sound waves of those few special insects just now, suddenly began to convulse all over, their faces showing painful expressions, as if something was about toe out from inside their bodies. And that was indeed the case. Bang! Bang! Bang! In the next blink of an eye, the still wailing imperial soldiers'' bodies exploded into blood mist, as if all the blood vessels in their bodies had ruptured. Their bodies began to rapidly mutate and transform. Some turned into rotting corpse insect people simr to the Decay Demon, with decaying skin and tumorous lumps growing wildly. Some turned into giant insects like the Great Demon, with hands turning into ws, insect wings growing from their backs. Some had hands turning into mantis-like des, obviously imitating the Sword Demon. Some grewpound insect eyes, abination of the Wicked Demon and insects. Although their appearances varied, without exception, half of a parasite''s body crawled out from their scalp. The entire person waspletely eaten up by the insect, their brain taken over, bing... [Insect Demon] [Race Judgment: Insect Race (Monster), Demon Race] Chapter 174 Level Up Insect Demons The insects on the bodies of the three Hunters earlier seemed to be the leaders of the swarm, capable of directly activating the parasitic eggs inside these imperial soldiers, causing them to mutate into their current half-insect, half-demon form. The imperial soldiers in this form hadpletely departed from the realm of humanity. It was evident from their status screens that the human attribute had vanished entirely. Even demon races struggled to achieve such a thorough transformation of life forms. Only insect races possessed the inherent ability to assimte and mutate their hosts to this extent. From the previous investigation in Ilinor, Reji and the demons were aware of the widespread parasitic phenomenon in the human world. However, this was the first time Reji had witnessed Insect Demons that hadpletely taken control of their hosts with such a high degree of perfection. Moreover, the mutation process was extremely sudden, rapid, and simple. Just a few cries from the insects were enough to trigger the transformation. So, was this the Seventh Prince''s contingency n? Hmm I don''t think so. New intelligence quickly made Reji realize that it wasn''t that simple. The imperial soldiers who had undergone Insect Demonization were not limited to the small group Olba had brought into the ruins. The Shadow Demons, who were tasked with monitoring the true imperial army left outside the ruins by the Seventh Prince, reported simr mutation phenomena urring among all the human troops. Indeed, a staggering army of 50,000 was rapidly undergoing Insect Demonization. Apparently, the cries of the strange insects on the Hunters earlier were able to prate the barrier of the Sanctuary and affect the outside. When Reji arrived outside, he could see that the imperial army, which had previously surrounded and "cleared" the ruins, had nowpletely transformed. The ground was littered with either insect shells that had squeezed out the armor or discarded iron swords. As for the imperial ck Goat g, once regarded as an emblem of honor, it nowy trampled and tattered like a rag by the Insect Demon soldiers. It was evident that the Insect Demonscked organization. They were merely following their instincts. They targeted their former warhorses as their first prey. Around each bloody horse carcass, swarms of Insect Demons gathered, devouring the flesh in a frenzy. After consuming their own warhorses, the Insect Demons began to wander aimlessly. Fortunately, the imperial army''s earlier clearing had kept other humans away from the ruins. Otherwise, judging by the behavior of these Insect Demons, they would likely view all other living beings as food, much like zombies or locusts. But this bnce was visibly about to be shattered. Some Insect Demons on the periphery had already caught the scent of the adventurers, residents, and gang tribes in the outer regions of the Syndicate. The 50,000-strong Insect Demon army, transformed from the imperial soldiers, began to regroup and gather, showing signs of movement. If left unchecked, this swarm of Insect Demons could potentially wipe out the entire Syndicate within a few days. Thebat prowess of the soldiers after their Insect Demonization was significantly higher than that of ordinary imperial soldiers. This sudden Mutation Disaster caused even Leo to frown. His ns werepletely disrupted. Should we intervene? How should we intervene? And... Could this be a trap? What was the Seventh Prince''s purpose in leaving this contingency n, or was there more to it? Leo''s contemtion mirrored Reji''s current hesitation. However, there was another aspect that the Demon of Wisdom failed to consider. For Reji himself, although this incident was unexpected, it wasn''t an unexpected trouble but rather... a pleasant surprise? He had just obtained the holy sword from the Seventh Prince, which could provide triple experience points for monster hunting, and now, Olba''s imperial army had all been transformed into monsters. It felt like someone had handed him a pillow just as he was about to doze off. Come to think of it, hadn''t something simr happened before? That''s right. As he was contemting how to eliminate the Wicked Demon at that time in Ilinor, an envoy from the Empire actively sought out the Wicked Demon, presenting an opportunity for Reji to seize. Not only did he sessfully eradicate Lordan in one fell swoop, but he also acquired the As relic. Once could be a coincidence, but two consecutive times made Reji highly certain that within the Empire, the high-ranking official who had previously been in contact with the Wicked Demon seemed to be intentionally assisting him. I think they even have a deep understanding of me and the past Hero. Even the demons were unaware that the Oath Sword could grant high amounts of experience points for killing monsters and increase strength. That person seemed to be well-informed; otherwise, they wouldn''t have transformed 50,000 soldiers into Insect Demons. This also exined how those strange insects were able to prate the Sanctuary''s barrier and affect the outside world with their sound waves. It indicated that the person who cultivated these insects must have had knowledge of the Sanctuary and might have even personally stayed inside it. Following this line of thought, Reji continued to ponder... Previously, the demons, including the Leo, had analyzed these parasitic eggs with a negative perspective, worrying that the human world would be a breeding ground to endlessly supply a hidden "Queen" existence. At that time, Reji had also been led astray by this train of thought. But now... Reji could feel the overwhelming excitement emanating from the Oath Sword in his hand. Especially when facing the swarm of Insect Demons below, resembling a locust gue, the sword''s de vibrated with an uncontroble sword cry, as if urging Reji to annihte these monsterspletely. Not only that. With a flip of his other hand, Reji summoned the spirit of another holy sword¡ªthe Radiant Sword he had obtained from the Ghost in the Old King''s Tower. The Radiant Sword floated in the air. At this moment, the Radiant Sword also had a strong reaction to the Insect Demon army below. As long as the target was a demon race, this sword could directly grant Reji a fixed bonus of thousands of base attribute points. When Reji grasped both holy swords simultaneously, it instantly produced a special effect, akin to stepping on one''s own foot, as if exploiting a bug. The radiant sword spirit not only benefited from the five-fold attribute bonus of the "Oath of Enmity" but also converted all attacks into true damage since the Insect Demons satisfied the criteria of being "monsters." With both holy swords in hand, when facing Insect Demons as enemies, Reji could perfectly benefit from all the buffs. Reji''s status bar was now filled to the brim with various holy sword enhancements. It was as if these monsters were specifically designed for the "Hero." There was no need for other demon races to intervene. In Reji eyes, who now wielded dual holy swords, such a Mutation Disaster was merely a matter of a single move. The sword spirit of the Oath Sword, amplified by the "true damage" bonus, now truly resembled a divine statue, towering behind Reji. As Reji raised the holy sword high, the dazzling radiance from the sword directly transformed into a sky-piercing pir of light. The scorching light pir seemed capable of splitting the heavens and earth. Apanied by Reji''s downward swing, the terrifying radiant power, like a cascading waterfall from the heavens, swept across the entire Insect Demon horde. This holy light torrent covered a radius of several kilometers, leaving deep sword marks spanning thousands of meters on the ground with a single strike. As for the original army of 50,000 Insect Demons at the center of the sword mark, they had long been annihted under the holy light. Thebination of the radiant sword spirit and the Holy Smite skill was utterly devastating to units that simultaneously satisfied the criteria of being demons and monsters, instantly reducing them to ashes. At the same time. Reji''s mind was also filled with frenzied notification sounds. [Your attack "Holy Smite" has eliminated an Insect Demon, granting you 106 experience points. The weapon passive "Pdin" has been sessfully triggered, granting you an additional 106*300% experience points.] [Your attack "Radiant Sword" has eliminated 17 Insect Demons, granting you 7,268 experience points.] [Your... has eliminated 164 Insect Demons, granting you 81,016 experience points.] [Your... has eliminated 9,273 Insect Demons, granting you 5,278,195 experience points.] [Your..... granting you 15,900,000 experience points] [Your level has increased from Lv33 to Lv71.] [---Character Info---] [Name: Reji] [Race: Human] [Level: 41->71] [EXP: 71,421/75,907-> 90,039 / 449,771 XP ] [Fate Track: Demon King] [Sub-Fate Track: Nature] --- [Strength: 71*300%+ (211*5) -> 1268+] [Physique: 71*300%+ (211*5) -> 1268+] [Mental Power: 71*300%+ (211*5) -> 1268+] [Skill Proficiency: 71*300%+ (211*5) -> 1268+] [Magic Power: 71*300%+ (211*5) -> 1268+] [Luck: 71] ---- [Radiance Sword (Fake) Equipped ] [Hero''s Power (Passive) - When the enemy unit is of the "Demon Race", gain a bonus to all basic attributes. The increase is 211 (depending on the Holy Sword''s base attributes) * 5.0 (depending on the fit, the upper limit coefficient is 5)] [Demon-yer Sword (Passive) - When the enemy unit is of the "Demon Race", your attack pration rate increases to 100%, you will ignore the opponent''s damage reduction defense capabilities, your critical hit chance increases by 50% every time you attack, and critical hit damage increases by 100%] [Old Buddy (Passive) - In the past, you fought side by side, and now, although you are unfamiliar with each other''s appearances, it does not prevent your unspoken understanding. All Holy Sword skill levels are increased to LV10 (Max)] [Ghostly Vigil (Passive) - Your partners in the underworld are blessing you, and the bond that time has not severed bes your strongest support. 90% of the damage you take will be transferred, and when your health points are below 30%, instantly recover all health points and purify all negative effects (no CD)] ¡­. .. . --- [Oath Sword] [When equipping the "Oath Sword", you gain the following temporary abilities:¡­] [Oath of Devotion (Passive) - Your every action cannot go against your heart. With the purpose of protecting humans and firm devotion, you are immune to all negative effects] [Oath of Vengeance (Passive) - You loathe evil like an enemy towards monsters, pursuing and killing to the end. When necessary, you can use any means. The mes of vengeance make you deal 300% extra damage when facing "monster" type enemies] [Oath Breaking (Passive) - When your actions vite your oath, you will receive "oath breaking" punishment. The punishment coefficient will be determined based on your evil deeds] ¡­ ¡­ . Chapter 175 The Great Sage 1/2 In an antique room. Smoke swirled and lingered. A man dressed in in clothes sat cross-legged on a cushion with his eyes closed. If one were to ignore the fleshy insects crawling on his legs, the scene would have been quite poetic. Knock, knock. A cautious knocking sound came from outside. The originally tranquil room seemed to be disturbed, and the smoke permeating the room suddenly paused. It was only then that one realized these "white mists" were not gases at all, but another type of even smaller insects. Their dense numbers created the illusion of smoke. Now, these insects began to stir, causing the "smoke" to rapidly gather towards the door. Fortunately, the man sitting on the cushion in the center opened his eyes. He whispered softly, and the insects in the room immediately quieted down, returning to the initial state of lingering smoke. The fleshy insect that had been sitting on the man''s leg straightened its body and leaped. Despite its seemingly clumsy body, it possessed an astonishing jumping ability. It easily covered the distance of several meters to the doorknob in a few leaps. Finally, its plump insect body opened up like a suction cup, enveloping the doorknob as if unlocking the door. The female attendant who pushed the door open and entered seemed ustomed to the scenes in the room. She quickly approached the in-clothed man in the center and respectfully reported: "Your Highness Danye, the Seventh Prince''s Twin Demon Insects have been confirmed dead." As she spoke, the female attendant handed over an ancientntern. Thentern flickered with a subtle glow, and inside thempshade, the silhouette of an insect could be seen. However, the insect inside had long lost its vitality, reduced to a shriveled insect skin. After receiving thentern and nodding, the in-clothed man murmured a few words towards it. Immediately, there was movement at the wick of thentern. It turned out that the wick was not maintained by any me, but by a group of self-illuminating insects resembling fireflies. Now, these fireflies inside thentern, upon receiving themand from the in-clothed man, began to flutter within thentern. Using their light and shadows, they recreated theplete death process of the Twin Demon Insect inside thentern for the man. The process was simple. The originally crouching Twin Demon Insect suddenly stood up, indicating that the host was facing a crisis. Next, the Twin Demon Insect began to move about excitedly, expressing that the host was engaged in battle but still very confident. Everything was still normal up to this point. But in the next moment. Bang! The Twin Demon Insect suddenly burst into a mist of blood, without any warning. All its flesh and blood seemed to be annihted in an instant, eventually turning into the shriveled insect skin that remained now. Seeing this, Danye''s expression finally showed a surprise. He knew the strength of his younger brother. Especially considering that his brother also possessed that holy sword. Yet still... "He was crushed by the enemy in an instant..." Danye shook his head with regret. The Twin Demon Insect could only monitor the state of the host on the other end at most. Demonstrating the cause of death like this was already its limit; no more information could be obtained from this insect alone. However, the female attendant beside him seemed a bit excited. She happily said to the in-clothed man: "Your Highness Danye, the Great Sage''s insect techniques are truly formidable! Just by imnting strange insects into those three Hunters, they gained the power to eliminate the Seventh Prince. With this, Your Highness, you have one lesspetitor for the throne! How wonderful!" The female attendant looked young and had a rather simple way of thinking. However, Danye, the Second Prince of the Empire, didn''t seem to mind. He affirmed with a smile, "Of course, the Great Sage Kazaar is the founder of the insect eggs. It was he who introduced the insect race from the outer realms into our world andbined them with the remnants of the ancient demon race. This gave rise to the insect demon technology that now serves as the foundation of our empire." This piece of history was evidently a well-kept secret known to few. The female attendant''s eyes widened in surprise. From the Second Prince''s words, she gained a new understanding of the Great Sage''s prowess. To be able to integrate two foreign races from different realms, just how terrifying must such an existence be? Was he still human? Seeing the bewildered expression on his female attendant''s face, Danye seemed to like her and didn''t mind sharing more about the past history. "Do you remember the world-shattering human-demon war I told you about a thousand years ago?" "I remember! The sacred artifacts bestowed upon Your Highness Danye and the other by the Emperor are relics from the Hero of a thousand years ago!" The female attendant''s eyes sparkled with stars, a longing for the ancients. The shining heroes of a thousand years ago represented the pinnacle of human power. Unfortunately, in the present day, they had lost the legacy of those heroes and could only rely on the remnants of their relics. Until the Second Prince''s next sentence. "The Great Sage Kazaar hails from a thousand years ago. He was apanion of the Hero and also... the Hero''s senior brother." What!? The Hero''spanion? An ancient, a hero from a thousand years ago!? And... Senior brother!? The female attendant remembered that although the Hero had many teachers, the one His Highness referred to here must be the pioneer of human magic, the most outstanding and unsurpassed figure to this day¡ªMalvin, the Great Guardian. Wait, wait. No. The female attendant quickly realized something and showed a confused expression. The Second Prince had mentioned that the Hero was the strongest human, so why was it that the Hero couldn''t survive, but Kazaar could live until now? Moreover, what about the Hero''s otherpanions? Furthermore, if the Great Sage Kazaar was truly a hero, he should have harbored an immense hatred for the demon race. However, this contradicted what His Highness had just said about the Great Sage actively incorporating the demon bloodline into the insect egg techniques. This waspletely self-contradictory. Regarding the series of doubts that arose in the female attendant''s mind, Danye shook his head this time. He simply patted the female attendant''s head and didn''t exin further. Or rather, he changed his method of exnation. He suddenly shifted the topic. "Lana, actually, there was one thing you said earlier that was wrong. Olba wasn''t eliminated by those three Hunters with strange insects. They didn''t have the capability. Moreover, the holy sword in my brother''s hand has a special effect against the insect race." "Then who exactly..." "It was the Great Sage''s friend, or at least a former friend. However, ording to our empire''s terminology, they should be called, hmm, the remnants of the old days, right?" Remnants of the old days!? The female attendant had a vague impression of this term. These people seemed to be the traitors who betrayed humanity and pledged allegiance to the demon race a thousand years ago. Even though the demon race was annihted, they still lurked in the shadows, attempting to contact other foreign races and bring destruction to the world. They were the greatest threat to the empire. Even during the Seventh Imperial Session, they suddenly organized resistance forces around the world and nearly seeded in overthrowing the empire. But now... To the bewildered female attendant, the in-clothed Second Prince patted her head again and rose from the cushion. "The Great Sage has done us such a great favor. We should fulfill our agreement." "Lana, please help me change my clothes. It wouldn''t be appropriate to meet our future allies wearing these casual clothes." Allies? Could His Highness Danye be referring to... The Second Prince had a habitual smile on his face as he softly said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn''t that so?" Chapter 176 A Thousand-Year Chess Game 2/2 The chaos at the Syndicate ruins finally came to an end with Reji''s Light Pir Sword spanning a thousand meters. The leap in levels was an unexpected delight. For him to reach level 71 in the game would have taken months, yet now he had achieved it in less than two short months. It could be said that the Seventh Prince had truly sent him a big gift, not only delivering a genuine holy sword but also providing a vast amount of experience from the 50,000 Insect Demon-Monster. However, for Reji, equipment and experience were secondary. He believed that the greatest gain was... There was definitely someone in the distant Empire secretly helping him. Reji had no doubt about this. Moreover, judging from the insect eggs, this person had likely been making arrangements for a very long time, ying a grand chess game. Previously, Reji and the demons were quite puzzled as to why there were genes belonging to the demon race within the insect eggs. At that time, the Wisdom Demon spected that the insect race might have been scavenging. After all, following the ancient human-demon war, countless demon corpses were left behind. The insect race had risen again by absorbing these corpses, which was why they had acquired some of the demon race''s bloodline. But now it seemed... Reji was more inclined to believe that this was not a coincidence of the insect race. It was more like... Being "artificially" guided. This "Insect Demon" incident was the best example, as if the other party was conveying a message to him. As long as he wanted, all the humans who had been parasitized by the "insect eggs," these creatures that simultaneously satisfied the dual criteria of monster and demon race, would be the best food for his rapid growth as the Hero. In the eyes of outsiders, the human world that seemed to be infiltrated by the insect race was the pasture of that Queen. However, in reality, wasn''t it also his own super experience pool? This was like an open secret. Reji could see from the expressions of the other apostles that they werepletely unaware of this point. Even the Wisdom Demon, Leo, believed that the previous Insect Demon Army was most likely the Seventh Prince''s means of going down with the ship. It was just that the Seventh Prince was instantly killed, so the Insect Demons lost control. And he, as the Demon King, had ordered the other apostles not to intervene and single-handedly used the power of the holy sword to annihte the Insect Demon army in order to avoid exposing the demon race. After all, only thepanions who were closest to him and had apanied him as the Hero throughout his growth would know about the ability of experience points. The improvement of the Hero''s strength was only a small part of secluded cultivation. Constantly fighting, especially obtaining a certain soul energy from the enemies he personally killed, was the main reason for the Hero''s rapid progress. This tacit understanding was the best encryption method. However, this also increased many doubts in Reji''s heart. Since this panion" had the ability to contact the Wicked Demon back then, why didn''t they contact him directly? Why did they have to help him in such a covert manner? The only reason Reji could think of was the same as why that Ghost old man couldn''t tell him the name of the traitor back then. An unspeakable curse. As a sensitive individual, even mentioning a topic rted to them would be detected. So contact with him was forbidden? Following this constraint, Reji tried to put himself in the shoes of that "secret ally." If he were them, what should he do now? The answer quickly surfaced. Since talking was not an option, leaving clues and hints was undoubtedly the best method. Leaving... Clues that only the Hero could understand. And were there such clues within the current Syndicate? Of course. Reji brought up the system panel that had popped up earlier. [Earth''s Engraving (Fragment)] [Collect all fragments to activate the "Map" function] [Currently collected (Can be activated) : 137/104] The initial goal of creating the Dungeon was to collect the stone tablet fragments scattered throughout the Syndicate. In fact, the stone tablet fragments submitted by the Shadow Tribe and the Death Heralds when they entered the ruins were already sufficient. However, at that time, his attention was drawn to the news of the Seventh Prince transmitted by Leo, so he temporarily put this matter aside. Now... Reji stretched out his hand. The numerous fragments he had collected were now floating above his palm, enveloped by mysterious energy and constantly rotating. Under Reji''s intention tobine them, the spinning and dancing stone tablet fragments began to collide with each other rapidly. Smaller fragments were continuously devoured byrger ones, while therger ones collided with each other, bing intertwined and merging together. This process was quick. After just ten or so seconds, the stone tablet fragments of various sizes and scattered divisions had formed a neat,plete, and intactrge earth stone tablet in front of Reji. The stone tablet emanated an ancient and timeworn aura, as if it had recorded countless years. When Reji touched it, the patterns on the surface of the stone tablet immediately changed, eventually transforming into a vast world map before him. The various functions of the world map were exactly the same as in the game, still familiar to Reji. The map first presented him with a generalyout of the world. Firstly, the world seemed to be divided in the middle. There was a long, huge gorge. This gorge divided the world into two parts: North and South. Located in the north, at the top of the map, was the ck Goat g, upying nearly one-third of the world''s area. That was the Nox Empire. The Empire alone upied the upper half of the gorge. Looking at it this way, this gorge indeed surrounded and protected the Empire very well, giving Reji a sense of a Great Wall? Then, below the Great Wall Gorge were the other countries in the world. Among them, thergest in area, leading the way, were the three great nations mentioned in the Syndicate investigation, below the Empire. The Radiant Holy Nation. The Court of Judgment. And the Mage Nation. These three great nations divided nearly seventy percent of the remaining two-thirds of the world''s area. As for the remaining pitiful thirty percent, they were small countries like Ilinor, surviving in the cracks. After surveying the world''syout. When Reji wanted to zoom in on the map to take a closer look at each country or region, just like in the game, arge area of "fog of war" would envelop it. Areas he had not yet reached or explored were all obscured by the "fog of war." Among the vast ck fog, only three ces were lit up. One was the Chaos Rift, a separate region divided from the world map. The second was Ilinor. Thest and third was the Syndicate, located at the intersection of the three great nations, where he was currently. Because the Syndicate was not considered a country. It was a region. Moreover, these stone tablet fragments themselves were scattered throughout the Syndicate, so when Reji zoomed in on the map and ced it over the Syndicate, the entire region''s fog was illuminated. Reji could clearly see the full picture of the Syndicate. It was precisely because of this that Reji was able to immediately discover the true secret of the Syndicate. It was shown on the map, a huge hollowed-out area beneath the desert where he stood. There, one could see densely packed... Crystals. If one were to click on the prompt icon on the map, a panel like this would pop up. [Star Spirit Crystals] Chapter 177 Star Spirits 1/3 Following the marked location on the map, Reji immediately gathered the apostles and headed towards the underground of the Syndicate. Although Reji''s level had skyrocketed to 71, his principle of being cautious and careful remained unchanged. For this kind of unknown area, calling the apostles together was absolutely the safest choice. The Sorcery Demon drew the magic formation, and under the effect of the "Earth Excavation Technique," arge area of the desert automatically parted to both sides, revealing a passage leading deep down for Reji and the others. However, after going hundreds of meters underground, the Earth Excavation Technique stopped working, its effect bing weaker and weaker. The reason was that in the deep soilyer ahead, a faint crystal-clear light permeated, seemingly blocking the spell. There was no other way. If the spell didn''t work and the effect deteriorated, they could only rely on brute force. The Great Demon Hektor immediately took on the role of a demonic flesh excavator. The strongestbat power of the demon race was not just for show. Under the Hektor''s immense strength, a new passage was quickly opened up, assisting Reji to continue downward. Just like that, they might have gone down a full kilometer or more. The crystal-clear light permeating the soil became brighter and brighter, symbolizing that they were very close to their destination. The dense magical fluctuations made it a bit difficult for the few apostles to adapt at first. Finally, with Hektor''sst w, he broke through the tunnel, and below the tunnel was the hollow space beneath the desert that Reji had seen on the map. This space, as far as the eye could see, was filled with the same radiance that had permeated the sand and soil earlier. The source of the radiance was those dream-like, glowing crystals that had condensed in the underground cave like stone stctites. It was these translucent crystals that made the magic power here iparably pure, as if it contained no impurities at all. It was precisely because of the concentration of magic power here, which was so viscous and free of any impurities, that it formed a blockingwork, making it difficult to release the Earth Excavation Technique earlier. Actually, the Sorcery Demon and the Wisdom Demon had vaguely guessed about such crystals before. And now, when the true form of the crystals was revealed, both of their faces showed an iparable look of pleasant surprise. The fact that it could make the apostles lose theirposure was enough to show how precious these crystals were. When Reji touched the crystal ore, an introductory description popped up on the panel. [Star Spirit Crystal] [Crystal ore that has been nurtured by the Star Spirit''s breath for a long time, producing the same pure magical power as the Star Spirits. It can be used in any situation requiring a magical field and is the most perfect resource product.] Star Spirits. It was another new race. Reji couldn''te into contact with them in the game, it was a blind spot. But because he had inherited the Demon King''s fate track and absorbed the demon race''s heritage, many images rted to the Star Spirits immediately surfaced in his mind. Apparently, the Star Spirits were also one of the races that had been conquered by the demon race. Unlike the elves and beastmens, to put it simply, the Star Spirits were a kind of creature whose entire body was almost entirelyposed of magical power, simr to elemental lifeforms. In the Star Spirits'' nativenguage, this kind of pure magical power without the slightest impurity was called psionic energy. They hardly used any spells. Their pure magical power, psionic energy, was the best weapon. Of course, the Star Spirits were also simr to the elves in the past, iming to be the most powerful race. The Star Spirits were even more arrogant, calling themselves the "Divine Race" for a very long time. But the oue was not much different. After the arrival of the demon race, they were utterly defeated and were beaten until only a few starships were left to flee in panic. After absorbing the information rted to the Star Spirits from the demon race''s heritage memories, Reji came back to his senses and focused his attention on reality. In fact, Reji had gotten used to it. He wasn''t surprised by the appearance of yet another new race. After all, if one think about it, it was understandable. The demon race had previously defeated so many worlds and races. They were simply a bit like the cancer of the universe. No, the demon race didn''t farm and expand, and their self-reproduction was only for the purpose of preparing for war to plunder the next world. So if the universe was reallypared to a body, the demon race was more like white blood cells. In any case, the demon race that had now destroyed countless worlds ended up being overturned in the human world and was defeated in turn. When the races of other worlds learned of this news, if Reji put himself in their shoes, he would definitely want to get closer to the human world. So Reji felt it was quite normal for so many new foreign races to appear in this "second ythrough." And now, after understanding the Star Spirits, Reji also understood the reason for the Sorcery Demon and Wisdom Demon''s wild joy. [Star Spirit Crystal] These were the dreamy crystals in the cave in front of Reji, beneath the desert of the Syndicate. They were the most perfect of all the resources the demon race had ever seen, even after conquering countless worlds, bar none. Just one crystal could support the cultivation of a high-level Great Demon, or seven high-level other demon races, or dozens of mid-level demon soldiers in the demon race''s breeding chamber. And now, in the eyes of the Wisdom Demon, the thousands and tens of thousands of shimmering crystals in this mine cave were not just crystals, but the embryonic form of a demon army! After mining all these [Star Spirit Crystals] and transporting them to the demon race''s breeding chambers, with the help of la, it wouldn''t take long for the demon race''s military strength to soar several levels in half a year, three months, or even shorter. It was even possible to surpass the peak military strength of the demon race during the human-demon war. With such prospects, how could the Wisdom Demon not be excited? Until... A burst of strong light suddenly erupted from these Star Spirit Crystals. Perhaps sensing the arrival of Reji and the other demons, or perhaps it was some existence that had been waiting for a long time and was gradually awakening, forming a psionic phantom floating in the air. It was already noted in the previous introduction of the Star Spirit Crystals. The crystals were formed by being permeated with the Star Spirit''s breath. And for a Star Spirit to be able to condense such a huge crystal mine, it was conceivable that its rank among the Star Spirit race was definitely not low. Only the highest-ranking ones could achieve this. However, this high-ranking Star Spirit that appeared did not show any hostility towards the demon race that had once been invaders and destroyed their home. It rotated its psionic body, scanning the demon apostles present with its gaze, and finally fixed its eyes on Reji. As if it had determined something. After that, this Star Spirit shifted its gaze and spoke to the demon apostles present in the unique, intermittent, ethereal voice of the Star Spirits: "No amount of troops can help you cross that wall." That wall? What did it mean? This question was answered in the next moment as psionic energy surged from this high-ranking Star Spirit''s body. It established a mental link with Reji and the apostles present, allowing them to share certain mental images, which was a specialty of the Star Spirit race. Through the mental link, a huge canyon appeared in Reji''s field of vision. This was exactly the canyon he had seen on the map before, the one he described as protecting the empire like the "Great Wall." But as the image zoomed in, with the help of the Star Spirit''s consciousness, Reji discovered that this "canyon" was just a disguise. Its internal structure was actually a psionic wall formed by the condensation of magical power. Psionic Wall. The denser an object, the harder it is to destroy, and a psionic wall made of pure magical power could be said to be the most indestructible wall in this world. The Wisdom Demon Leo frowned. He sensed something was off. This wall was too long. You should know that the empire upied one-third of the world''s area. The amount of psionic energy required for a psionic wall that could serve as a border wall for such a vast empire was simply an astronomical figure. Even the original Star Spirit world itself couldn''t do this. The Star Spirits could at most only surround their royal city, not like the current empire, which had built a wall for the entire nation. But the Star Spirit that followed gave the answer. "...Star Spiritsbined with relics." "...Countless humans... connected to... the wall." Relics? Connected? The other apostles were still confused, but Reji immediately grasped something. Based on these keywords, he quickly thought of another system in his game. The squad system. Chapter 178 Psionic Wall Part 1 To better convey the information, the Star Spirit that followed directly projected a certain scene into their minds through telepathy. A gbining a magic staff and a book. This was the symbol of the "Mage Nation." From the Star Spirit''s perspective, Reji and the apostles could see countless flickering spots of light densely packed within the vast territory of the Mage Nation. Zooming in further, these spots of light were the people living in the Mage Nation. Among them were hawking merchants, travel-worn adventurers, tailors weaving cloth, bakers baking bread, guards holding iron swords, evenvishly dressed nobles, and mage councilors wearing magic robes. The size of each person''s spot of light was different. For merchants, tailors, servants, or chefs, the spots of light were rtively faint, about the size of a grain of rice, while for adventurers, guards, and nobles, the spots of light wererger. And the brightest, with thergest and brightest spots of light, were the mages of the Mage Nation. From this, it was not difficult to see that these spots of light represented the respective magical power levels within these humans. Although the size and brightness of the spots of light varied, what was the same for almost everyone in the Mage Nation was that at the ends of these spots of light, they were all drawn and connected by a faint, barely visible thin thread. And the other end of the thin threads all converged to a unified source and endpoint. The Psionic Wall. It seemed that this wall was woven from these hundreds of millions of thin threads, creating such an indestructible, magnificent wall that covered the entire empire''s territory. This was just the beginning. Under the Star Spirit''s intention, demon race members began to appear on the other side of this Psionic Wall in the illusory scene. In the blink of an eye, an army of over a million demons had already arrived at the foot of the city. And the nine demon apostles leading them were floating in the air. The sixth apostle here was still the Wicked Demon Lordan, not Vielsia. And the Subus Apostle was not Eileen, but another one that Reji did not recognize. Obviously, the high-ranking Star Spirit here had conjured these demons based on its previous memories of the demon race. Vielsia definitely did not exist at that time. As for the Subus... Every time the demon race invaded a new world, they needed to summon a new Demon King. Correspondingly, the old Subus Apostle would perish along with the old Demon King. And the new Subus born from their union would inherit the apostle''s seat to assist the next new Demon King, repeating this cycle over and over. These were all things that yers could not understand in the first ythrough of the game. Now that Reji had inherited the Demon King''s legacy, he became familiar with more of the internal workings of the demon race. In the next scene, the Star Spirit directly let the Sorcery Demon Dian begin chanting. Immensely powerful magic, capable of destroying heaven and earth, was rapidly gathering on the Sorcery Demon''s scepter, and even the sky changed color, covered by ayer of crimson shadow. Immediately after, the crimson sky was torn apart, and countless meteors burning with raging mes began to fall to the earth, smashing towards that Psionic Wall. Super-tier Magic - Meteor Swarm. Each scorching, burning meteor was equivalent to the impact of a 7th-tier spell. Just the scattering of the meteor fragments could create deep craters where theynded, showing how great their impact was. Finally, the two sides collided, and a strong magical fluctuation erupted on the Psionic Wall. The entire wall trembled immensely under the super-tier magic, and the towering mes instantly engulfed and covered the entire wall surface. However... As the effect of the super-tier magic gradually faded and the light of the mes dissipated, what was revealed was still that Psionic Wall, unscathed, without even half a trace of damage on the wall surface. Everythinges at a price. When Reji turned the scene back and shifted his gaze from the Psionic Wall back to the Mage Nation side, he could see that in a small portion of therge area of flickering spots of light in the Mage Nation, there was a noticeable dimming. Those thin threads connected to the wall broke one after another, and on the other end, the spots of light within the residents'' bodies, as if they had finished supplying magical power to the Psionic Wall, werepletely drained. These people who had lost their "spots of light" began to deteriorate rapidly. Although magical power could not be utilized and turned into spells for ordinary people, it was still a kind of life force, a necessity for sustaining life. Now, although there were no visible injuries on the outside, their internal flesh and blood withered and lost vitality due to the loss of magical power. In less than half an hour, they went from being a healthy person to a vegetative walking corpse. The Sorcery Demon''s single super-tier spell just now had directly turned about three towns into dead towns, with no living people left at all. But in return, the current Psionic Wall remained crystal clear, continuing to protect the empire behind it, keeping all the demon armies at bay. In fact, if one looks at it purely from the rate of return, it was undoubtedly very profitable. After all, let alone a super-tier spell, it would not be a problem to destroy a city, but now, relying on the connection and unification of these "thin threads," concentrating their power together, it only cost three towns to cancel out the super-tier spell. No wonder the Star Spirit earlier told the demon apostles that it was absolutely impossible to break through the Psionic Wall. Seeing that the super-tier spell had no effect, the demon army on the simted battlefield chose tounch a strong attack. Countless demons began to use various means to damage the Psionic Wall. Chapter 178 : 178: Psionic Wall Part 1 To better convey the information, the Star Spirit that followed directly projected a certain scene into their minds through telepathy. A gbining a magic staff and a book. This was the symbol of the "Mage Nation." From the Star Spirit''s perspective, Reji and the apostles could see countless flickering spots of light densely packed within the vast territory of the Mage Nation. Zooming in further, these spots of light were the people living in the Mage Nation. Among them were hawking merchants, travel-worn adventurers, tailors weaving cloth, bakers baking bread, guards holding iron swords, evenvishly dressed nobles, and mage councilors wearing magic robes. The size of each person''s spot of light was different. For merchants, tailors, servants, or chefs, the spots of light were rtively faint, about the size of a grain of rice, while for adventurers, guards, and nobles, the spots of light wererger. And the brightest, with thergest and brightest spots of light, were the mages of the Mage Nation. From this, it was not difficult to see that these spots of light represented the respective magical power levels within these humans. Although the size and brightness of the spots of light varied, what was the same for almost everyone in the Mage Nation was that at the ends of these spots of light, they were all drawn and connected by a faint, barely visible thin thread. And the other end of the thin threads all converged to a unified source and endpoint. The Psionic Wall. It seemed that this wall was woven from these hundreds of millions of thin threads, creating such an indestructible, magnificent wall that covered the entire empire''s territory. This was just the beginning. Under the Star Spirit''s intention, demon race members began to appear on the other side of this Psionic Wall in the illusory scene. In the blink of an eye, an army of over a million demons had already arrived at the foot of the city. And the nine demon apostles leading them were floating in the air. The sixth apostle here was still the Wicked Demon Lordan, not Vielsia. And the Subus Apostle was not Eileen, but another one that Reji did not recognize. Obviously, the high-ranking Star Spirit here had conjured these demons based on its previous memories of the demon race. Vielsia definitely did not exist at that time. As for the Subus... Every time the demon race invaded a new world, they needed to summon a new Demon King. Correspondingly, the old Subus Apostle would perish along with the old Demon King. And the new Subus born from their union would inherit the apostle''s seat to assist the next new Demon King, repeating this cycle over and over. These were all things that yers could not understand in the first ythrough of the game. Now that Reji had inherited the Demon King''s legacy, he became familiar with more of the internal workings of the demon race. In the next scene, the Star Spirit directly let the Sorcery Demon Dian begin chanting. Immensely powerful magic, capable of destroying heaven and earth, was rapidly gathering on the Sorcery Demon''s scepter, and even the sky changed color, covered by ayer of crimson shadow. Immediately after, the crimson sky was torn apart, and countless meteors burning with raging mes began to fall to the earth, smashing towards that Psionic Wall. Super-tier Magic - Meteor Swarm. Each scorching, burning meteor was equivalent to the impact of a 7th-tier spell. Just the scattering of the meteor fragments could create deep craters where theynded, showing how great their impact was. Finally, the two sides collided, and a strong magical fluctuation erupted on the Psionic Wall. The entire wall trembled immensely under the super-tier magic, and the towering mes instantly engulfed and covered the entire wall surface. However... As the effect of the super-tier magic gradually faded and the light of the mes dissipated, what was revealed was still that Psionic Wall, unscathed, without even half a trace of damage on the wall surface. Everythinges at a price. When Reji turned the scene back and shifted his gaze from the Psionic Wall back to the Mage Nation side, he could see that in a small portion of therge area of flickering spots of light in the Mage Nation, there was a noticeable dimming. Those thin threads connected to the wall broke one after another, and on the other end, the spots of light within the residents'' bodies, as if they had finished supplying magical power to the Psionic Wall, werepletely drained. These people who had lost their "spots of light" began to deteriorate rapidly. Although magical power could not be utilized and turned into spells for ordinary people, it was still a kind of life force, a necessity for sustaining life. Now, although there were no visible injuries on the outside, their internal flesh and blood withered and lost vitality due to the loss of magical power. In less than half an hour, they went from being a healthy person to a vegetative walking corpse. The Sorcery Demon''s single super-tier spell just now had directly turned about three towns into dead towns, with no living people left at all. But in return, the current Psionic Wall remained crystal clear, continuing to protect the empire behind it, keeping all the demon armies at bay. In fact, if one looks at it purely from the rate of return, it was undoubtedly very profitable. After all, let alone a super-tier spell, it would not be a problem to destroy a city, but now, relying on the connection and unification of these "thin threads," concentrating their power together, it only cost three towns to cancel out the super-tier spell. No wonder the Star Spirit earlier told the demon apostles that it was absolutely impossible to break through the Psionic Wall. Seeing that the super-tier spell had no effect, the demon army on the simted battlefield chose tounch a strong attack. Countless demons began to use various means to damage the Psionic Wall. Chapter 179 Psionic Wall Part 2 Among them were the fierce smashing of the Great Demons, various corrosive fluids from the Decay Demons, thew-breaking des of the Sword Demons, and the biting and wing of many other lower-level demons. However, no matter how much the demon army wanted to destroy the Psionic Wall, this wall still stood unshakable, not even a single gap could be broken. The reason was still those millions of thin threads, which turned the wall into a whole, with no weak points. Every attack on the wall was spread out to the entire wall. Moreover, with a constant supply of energy, the other end of the thin threads, the millions of people in the entire Mage Nation, were all the reserve magical power for the Psionic Wall. At first, it was the lower-ss people of the Mage Nation who began to experience arge-scale "vegetative" phenomenon. These were the civilians whose magical power had been drained and turned into walking corpses in order to resist the demons'' attacks on the wall. Next were those who had a slightly higher social status, whose bodies were better trained or maintained, such as adventurers, guards, soldiers, and so on. The magical power within their bodies also began to be requisitioned and drawn upon with each demon''s destruction of the Psionic Wall. And so it went, step by step,yer byyer. As long as the demons'' assault on the Psionic Wall did not stop, all the people of the Mage Nation, even the nobles and mage councilors, could not escape. They simply had a lower priority for requisition, but as the demons'' offensive grew fiercer and the Psionic Wall required more and more magical power, they would more or less be affected and face the risk of bing "vegetative." And when this catastrophe involved everyone, whether they were the privileged or themon people, they were all forced to work together in unity, trying everything possible to repel the demons and protect this Psionic Wall. Later on, one could see the psionic cannons mounted on the wall being transported out. Each psionic beam it fired consumed the magical power of tens of thousands of civilians, but in return, its power was extremely terrifying. A single cannon shot, even a high-level Great Demon could not withstand, being annihted in the beam. It seemed like a lot of sacrifices, but if you do a little conversion of the efficiency, you would know that this battle was definitely a huge disadvantage for the demon race. After all, let alone tens of thousands of civilians, even tens of thousands of well-equipped and well-trained imperial soldiers might not be able to destroy a high-level Great Demon, and there was still the risk of being counter-killed. This principle was like how a single chopstick was easy to break, but when ten, a hundred, or thousands of chopsticks were bundled together, the power of being integrated into "one" was demonstrated. Exining this principle to the demon race. Letting the demon race understand why the "Psionic Wall" could not be forcibly attacked. The scene of the simted war gradually disappeared, and what this high-ranking Star Spirit projected to the demon race next was the "...relic" it had mentioned at the beginning. The few demon apostles actually had this question too. What did the empire rely on to be able to "tie" an entire nation''s people to the wall? The answer was a g. One of the Hero''s Relics, called the Banner of Command by the empire. The Wisdom Demon was the first to grasp something. He carefully recalled the series of battles with the Hero a thousand years ago. Indeed, especially in the early and middle stages, the Hero''spanions were able to perfectly execute the Hero''s orders, even if sometimes it meant sacrificing themselves, they did so without hesitation. If it was just thepanions who were like this, it could still be understood, butter on, the soldiers under the Hero''smand were also like this. Each of them seemed to be extremely loyal to the Hero, and as long as they entered battle, they could execute the Hero''s orders without hesitation. Later, when the Hero led any number of troops, he seemed to be able to handle them with ease, as if the entire army was one entity. Leo''s description was actually very urate. Now, Reji hadpletely confirmed that the key relic mentioned by the Star Spirit that dominated the "Psionic Wall" was actually the squad system that yers often used in the game. To put it bluntly, by dragging the mouse to select, all the units within the selection box could be mobilized by the yer at will, executing unifiedmands, saving the yer the trouble of clicking on each one individually. In the game, Reji didn''t actually feel that this feature was anything special. But now, thinking about it carefully, if this feature was restored to reality, it would be even more terrifying than the Zerg Overmind. However, from the Star Spirit''s simted images, it could be seen that those "connected" humans of the Mage Nation also showed emotions of fear, resistance, struggle, and so on. This alone was enough to show that, like other relics, the empire could not unleash its full power, and perhaps only used a certain part of the relic''s functions. After all, if it was truly the ability to "form a squad," these humans'' wills should bepletely in unison with the controller, and there would definitely be no resistance. This also seemed to exin the role that the Star Spirit race yed here. "Demon race... cross the wall..." "...must destroy the relic to save the Queen..." The Star Spirit exited the state of telepathy. All the demon apostles and Reji emerged from the illusion, and the scene before their eyes returned to the underground cave filled with Star Spirit Crystals. In addition to possessing "psionic energy," the "telepathy" just now was also a characteristic of the Star Spirit race. Humans, demons, elves, and other races allmunicated throughnguage, but among Star Spirits, theymunicated through consciousness like just now, achieving the most perfect 100% information exchange rate. Star Spirits were ustomed tomunicating with consciousness, and the higher the level of the mind, the greater the flow of consciousness it could withstand. Therefore, as long as the Queen of the Star Spirit was used as the "relic" carrier, it could assist the relic in carrying such a number of humans, while at the same time restraining all the humans kidnapped by the relic. Even if their consciousness resisted, they still could not escape the relic. In gaming terms, it was forcing these units to be unable to be "red-named" hostile units, always being controble, "green" friendly units that could be formed into squads. Chapter 180 The Awaited One, Password Correct Star Spirits used consciousness tomunicate. So this race almost never lied, after all, if they lied duringmunication, the other party connected by consciousness could immediately sense it. Reji and the demon apostles, from the "telepathy" that the high-ranking Star Spirit had just actively connected, in addition to those exnatory images, also felt the emotions from this Star Spirit. It was towards humans, towards the empire, towards the Mage Nation... Anger. Hatred. Humiliation. Although Reji didn''t know what exactly had happened between the empire and the Star Spirits. But just looking at the results, their race''s leader had been turned into a power source for maintaining the Psionic Wall by the humans, turned into a tool for operating the relic. No wonder the Star Spirits could even put down their hatred for the demon race and instead help the demons. The demon race wanted to attack the empire, and they couldn''t avoid the Psionic Wall. And for him to save the enved leader, he also had to destroy the relic. Their goals were aligned. "...relic coordinates leader location separate..." Star Spirits didn''t use verbal speech much. So when he spoke, it was also intermittent. But the meaning conveyed was still very easy to understand. Next, he would tell the demon race where the humans had hidden the relic, which was also where their leader was imprisoned. As long as they reached there and destroyed it, the empire would no longer have protection, equivalent to being nakedly exposed to the demon army. However. This crucial "coordinate," he would not tell everyone like before. Someone had to step forward andmunicate with him alone. And who this person was. It went without saying. The luminous body of the Star Spirit had already fixed its azure gaze on Reji. Leo immediately frowned. The Wisdom Demon was about to say something but was interrupted by Reji raising his hand. Reji nodded to the Star Spirit, indicating that he epted a one-on-one, two-way telepathy. Afterwards, Reji reached out his hand to the Star Spirit, and the Star Spirit immediately ced its hand on Reji''s palm. The moment they made contact, the powerful telepathy immediately pulled Reji into another illusory space. In this space, only the consciousness of the Star Spirit and him belonged, and no one else could peek. The first thing the Star Spirit did when it pulled Reji in was to immediately sense Reji''s conscious emotions. It wanted to know one thing. Did Reji have a second way to break the "Psionic Wall" that it had just mentioned? That''s right. The Psionic Wall seemed indestructible, but in fact, besides the path of destroying the core of the relic, there was a second one. Destroy the power source. To put it more bluntly... As long as the Mage Nation waspletely ughtered from top to bottom, the Psionic Wall would naturally copse on its own, even with the relic, without the civilians as the "power source" to supply it. What the Star Spirit was checking now was whether Reji had this idea. The result was... Of course. The Star Spirit even found out by sensing Reji''s consciousness that he had directly thought of this as soon as it had just introduced the Psionic Wall. Moreover, this Demon King''s consciousness told it that he felt that ughtering one Mage Nation was not safe enough. To be on the safe side, he would also send troops to the other two nations and ughter the Radiant Holy Nation and the Court of Judgment together. And when ughtering, this Demon King had no intention of just watching from the rear, but wanted to personally take action, personally take the field, seemingly enjoying the pleasure of killing immensely, and also wanted to search every corner of these three nations, not missing any treasures and royal vaults. Wherever he went, he would take everything, and even for those good-looking members of the opposite sex, he wanted to collect some CGs? When the Star Spirit wanted to delve deeper and understand what "CG" meant... Buzz! Unfortunately, it was forcibly interrupted. Reji''s consciousness directly expelled this very rude visitor. But even so, such a terrifying evil thought was enough to make the Star Spirit shiver all over. There was no mistake! The Demon King in front of it was the terrifying existence that the human "Great Sage" had told it about a thousand years ago, the one who could repel the demon race! The Star Spirit was trembling all over, but at the same time, there was a feeling of "password correct" happiness in its heart. Indeed. For a cmity like the demon race, only a more evil and sinful cmity could destroy it, and only such a person could help them save their queen. At the same time. Because the Star Spirit''smunication was two-way, while the Star Spirit was exploring Reji''s conscious mind, Reji could also see the Star Spirit''s consciousness. Because of this, Reji finally saw the person he had been looking for, the one who had been helping him in the empire. The Great Sage. Kazal. A thousand years ago, his game character''s fellow disciple. One of the forty-twopanions. "Great Sage... promised... contract not to harm... queen..." The Star Spirit''s intermittent voice turned into the simplest thought under the sea of consciousness, conveying to Reji. The reason why it had been sleeping underground in the Syndicate was indeed as Reji had guessed, it had been arranged long ago,ing from the "Great Sage''s" chess piece. And back then, the Great Sage, after saving the remnants of the Star Spirits, had also promised them that in the future, someone would help themplete their racial revenge. To distinguish whether that person was the one it wanted to wait for was also very simple. Just probe the other party''s consciousness a little, and it would understand. Now, the Star Spirit indeed understood. After sensing Reji''s "evil thoughts," it definitely confirmed that Reji was the one the Great Sage said could help it. So in the end, the Star Spirit asked Reji to make a promise. It didn''t care if Reji ughtered humans, it only cared that Reji would rescue its queen and not harm the queen as well. "Alright, I promise you." "As long as your queen does not act to harm our interests, I promise you that I will not harm her." "This holy sword shall be the witness to the oath." Without the Star Spirit saying more, Reji took the initiative to take out the Sword of Oath and made the promise on the spot. When the Star Spirit saw the light rising from the holy sword, indicating that it had witnessed the oath, it finallypletely rxed. Back then, it had learned about this holy sword from the Great Sage, which was also one of the reasons why it agreed to the Great Sage''s request. With the Sword of Oath as a guarantee, it was not afraid of the other party going back on their word. Next, the Star Spirit forcibly separated a part of its consciousness and pointed it towards Reji. A ball of memory light merged into Reji''s body. Reji was not in a hurry to sort out this memory now, but he roughly knew that it was the location of the most core relic and the queen, hidden within the Mage Nation. Compared to this, what Reji was actually more concerned about was... "Give me your memories rted to the Great Sage as well." After Reji spoke, the Star Spirit shook its head. It then took the initiative to show Reji the deeper memory images of the "Great Sage," and then Reji could see that it was... A piece of chaos. As if it had been forcibly erased by something. "He left you... another... path..." "Let you meet another... human..." The Star Spirit told Reji that these memory nks were erased by the Great Sage himself, and thest item in the Great Sage''s agreement with it was that after it reached a contract with Reji, it was to help Reji meet with another person. Now, the Star Spirit began to consume its remaining little strength and used psionic energy to wrap around Reji, concealing Reji''s appearance and aura. Immediately after, it opened another telepathic door. And from the other side of the door, after some time, fluctuations came, and a new illusory figure walked out from the door. The Star Spirit''s consciousness informed Reji of the other party''s identity in advance. The empire''s second prince. Chapter 181 The Emperors Chosen "I apologize for only being able to meet with you in this manner, my friend from the old days," the well-dressed and refined man said with a smile as he entered the mental realm through the Star Spirit Gate. After greeting Reji politely and expressing his friendliness, he continued, "Since you opened the Great Sage''s box and summoned me, it means you have epted our cooperation. Although I know you were already aware of my identity when you opened the box, allow me to introduce myself again." "Second Prince of the Nox Empire, Danye Yi. I look forward to our future alliance." After reintroducing himself, the Second Prince extended his hand to Reji. However, Reji did not shake it, nor did he reciprocate with his own introduction. Instead, he expressed his curiosity. "Both your surnames and appearance seem quite different from your younger brother''s." The Seventh Prince, who was previously killed by the Sword of Oath, was named Olba Felo. Even if there were differences in appearance among the princes, shouldn''t their surnames at least be the same? The Second Prince withdrew his hand, not minding Reji''sck of cooperation. He continued to smile patiently as he answered Reji''s question. "This is amon misconception. You are correct. In fact, we, the Emperor''s children, do not have blood rtions with each other. We never grew up together, received different educations, came from different regions, and had never even met or known each other beforeing to the empire." "Rather than being called princes by outsiders, we prefer to call ourselves the Chosen." "It was the Emperor who selected us from millions of candidates across the empire, promoted us, and through our own efforts, we gained the Emperor''s recognition and had the honor of bing the Majesty''s children." "Therefore," the Second Prince paused, bowing slightly to Reji with one hand on his chest in a gesture of respect, "I hope you do not misunderstand. I deeply regret Olba''s death, regret not being able to witness my younger brother''s demise with my own eyes. At the same time, I am grateful to you for helping me eliminate a troublesomepetitor." "After all, there can be many chosen ones, but only one Emperor. What surrounds the throne is not flowers, but blood." "So, as a reward and our first cooperative transaction, I hope you can give me this ''spoil of war''. To avoid misunderstanding, let me exin further. Everything you obtained from Olba, such as that relic, still belongs to you. Of course, that is what you deserve. What I want as a spoil of war is for me to publicly im responsibility for Olba''s death, nothing more." At first nce, the Second Prince''s proposal seemed like he was simply giving Reji a generous gift. Indeed, after Olba''s death, unlike the previous "Envoy", this was an imperial prince. The Empire would not let the matter rest easily. It might attract the Empire''s great attention, prompting them to send arge number of troops and elites to investigate. By then, it would not be so simple for the Demon Race to remain hidden. It was highly likely that the second full-scale war between humans and demons would start prematurely. This was not what Reji wanted to see, especially after learning about the Empire''s "Psionic Wall". Thinking deeper, the Psionic Wall was just one aspect. Could there be more methods targeting the Demon Race brought about by other "relics"? Before thoroughly investigating the intelligence, directlyunching a war would be the worst strategy. Therefore, Reji was naturally pleased that the Second Prince wanted to take responsibility for Olba''s death. But he did not express any gratitude to the Second Prince. After all, if Olba died at the hands of these outsiders, it would be troublesome. However, if he died at the hands of a fellow imperial, even a fellow "prince" like Danye, that would be a different matter. From Danye''s earlier words, it seemed that for the Empire, the mutual ughter among princes of each generation had already be the norm, even an unspoken rule. The Second Prince''s ability to kill his own younger brother was undoubtedly a demonstration of his capability. He could even use this opportunity to directly annex Olba''s forces and resources. The benefits this would bring to the Second Prince would be far greater than a "holy sword" that, in their eyes, could not exert much power. However, after nodding in agreement to the Second Prince''s proposal, Reji still asked about thispetition method that seemed like raising silkworms, "Won''t the Emperor stop you?" Not designating an heir and allowing infighting among the princes would inevitably lead to the fragmentation of the Empire''s power. From a macro perspective, this was not conducive to the country''s development at all. Themon people at the bottom would definitely suffer as a result, just like when gods fight, mortals suffer. In response, Danye did not answer directly, only saying calmly, "The Emperor''s love will never be for the weak." Survival of the fittest. The Empire strictly followed thew of the jungle, and it was evident that the Emperor was no exception. The first round of pleasant cooperation seemed to satisfy the Second Prince. He wanted to use this momentum to continue making new proposals to Reji, "I know that the goal of you ''old days'' is to take revenge on the Empire, while I want to kill the otherpetitors. I think our areas of interest have arge ovep, don''t they?" "From that battle five hundred years ago, you should understand that with the Psionic Wall protecting the Empire, you don''t even have the opportunity to send troops into imperial territory. But now, I can help you." "The source of the Psionic Walles from the relic bestowed by the emperor to my elder brother, the Banner of Command. To maintain the relic, the Crown Prince must transport batches of ''energy'' from the outside to the core at regr intervals." "I have already obtained information about the transportation time and route of one of these ''energy'' batches. At that time, you only need to ambush along that route to destroy this batch of ''energy''. Using this opportunity, I can secretly help you open a temporary small gap in the Psionic Wall." "Although it is called a small gap, it is enough to help you smuggle tens of thousands of troops through the wall and sessfully infiltrate the imperial territory. By then, I don''t think we will need to have such conversations in the void anymore. I will prepare the most sumptuous feast and warmly invite you toe." "We can meet face to face and continue to discuss future strategies, such as how to kill the Crown Prince, remove the Psionic Wall, and allow your troops to fullyunch an all-out attack on the Empire, just like five hundred years ago." "Or, after I ascend to the throne, I can help you restore the truth from a thousand years ago and clear the name of the ''Hero'' you believe in from the smeared history. Isn''t this the revenge you have always wanted against the Empire? Isn''t this also the reason why the Great Sage would connect us?" From the previous history, it could be seen that Reji''s "Hero" character wasbeled as a traitor. The Empire had taken all the reputation and prestige for itself, gradually reaching its current position. But for the true high-level figures within the Empire, they were clearly aware of the truth back then. That was why the Second Prince proposed such a "tempting" reward. Afterwards, the Second Prince directly handed a scroll to Reji. When Reji opened it, he found that the magic on the scroll had transformed into encrypted text. The intelligence written on it was just as Danye had said, about the secret convoy transporting "energy" to the Psionic Wall from the outside. The intelligence contained detailed times, locations, and routes. With this information, sessfully ambushing the convoy would not be difficult. Reji first took the scroll without any hesitation. After a brief contemtion, he epted this cooperation and proposed an additional condition to the Second Prince, "Use the resources you annex from Olba to support the Syndicate." "No problem. From now on, the Syndicate will gain ess to the Empire''s trade routes. I will sellrge quantities of construction materials to the Syndicate at low prices to help this long-chaotic region develop again," the Second Prince readily agreed and even added, "No matter how many resources are needed, as long as it can be exchanged for the support of the ''old days'', it will be my honor." Chapter 182 Ripples of the Remnants 1/5 Sorry for the dy, yestrday and today''s chapters with 1+ bonuse will be posted as soon as the revewing process end. ------------ Exiting the spiritual sea, the Second Prince''s consciousness returned to his bedroom in the Empire. The female attendant beside him quickly closed a box, which was the item given by the Great Sage for mindmunicating. Although the female attendant did not join the conversation with Reji, she assisted the Second Prince by providing mental protection. Thus, she also heard the entire exchange. Unable to hold back, she asked the Second Prince, "Your Highness, do you really intend to fulfill all the promises you made to that remnant of the old days?" The female attendant was clearly referring to the truth from a thousand years ago. But Danyeughed. "Of course, why not?" "But if that''s the case, won''t the Empire..." The female attendant was very worried. After all, if it were announced, wouldn''t it be equivalent to the Empire bing the despicable one who stole the fruits of history? Until the Second Prince patted her head. "Lana, not everyone is like you, believing in legends and enjoying them." "People care immensely about the truth from ten years ago, and they will investigate the truth from a hundred years ago. But for a truth from a thousand years ago... Don''t you think it''s a beautiful fairy tale?" "The kind-hearted prince, facing the sins of history head-on, wielding the sword of justice together with his former enemies against the eternally inextinguishable evil Majesty on the throne. This will be the best propaganda for my rule over the Empire, and it will make me stand out among the numerous emperors in history." Following the grand blueprint depicted by the Second Prince, the female attendant also seemed enchanted. However, she still had some concerns and asked uneasily, "But Your Highness, will those old day''s people go back on their word? Will they really allow an imperial like you to continue being the Emperor? If their goal is not just fame but also power..." "Lana, do you know why remnants are called remnants? Because no matter how hard they try, in the end, they can only make some ripples." "And what we need to do is appreciate these beautiful ripples. I have a feeling that this cooperation will be very pleasant. They will definitely bring me and my elder brother the Crown Prince, quite a surprise." ¡­. -Syndicate. Reji''s consciousness returned to the underground crystal mine. The previous high-level Star Spirit had already dissipated on its own. This Star Spirit had long transformed all the power of its body into the surrounding Star Spirit crystals, which were rich in magical resources. The reason it had not dissipated yet was to wait for Reji, the destined one it had agreed upon with the Great Sage. Afterpleting its mission, the Star Spiritpletely vanished. This also exined why the oasis in the Syndicate was continuously disappearing and why this ce had turned into vast stretches of desert. The magical power of the earth had been absorbed by the high-level Star Spirit underground and transformed into a part of the crystal mine. Reji already had a general n for the Demon Race''s next steps. "Hektor, Pierre, I entrust the mining and defense of this crystal mine to you. I require all the Star Spirit crystals to be sent to the Demon Tower at the fastest speed and converted into the breeding energy for the Demon Race''s army expansion and eleration." "As youmand, my King." The current Demon Race''s military reserve was fifty thousand. Indeed, from the original million, it had been directly reduced to fifty thousand by Reji. However, most of the so-called million-strong demon army before were actually inferior pseudo-demons. But now, relying on the constant infighting and trials in the Demon Tower, the vast majority of the fifty thousand demon troops refined from the million were mid-tier demons around level sixty. But this was still far from the peak. However, it was fine. With these Star Spirit crystals, the Demon Race could now enter the "rapid army expansion" mode. Reji had a rough estimate that within three months, the number of the Demon Race''s army would return to a million. And this time, the million would be real, with a 2-5-3 distribution. 20% would be lord-level demons above level 80, 50% would be high-tier demons at level 70, and the remaining 30% would be various other mid-tier demons. As for the low-level pseudo-demons, they were not even counted. Such a military force was definitely stronger than the one during the human-demon war in the first ythrough of the game. Under normal circumstances, it should be enough to steamroll any world. But to be on the safe side... "Leo, gather the Wisdom Demons to analyze the human kingdoms on the map and find advantageous locations, strategic points, and various key fortresses that are favorable for our race''s all-out war." "Dian, within the next month, I need the Sorcerer Demons toplete the establishment of teleportation anchors at various strategic locations within the Radiant Holy Nation and the Court of Judgment, ording to the strategic coordinates provided by Leo. It is required to allow our race''s army to appear at any time in the strategic points of the two countries." ""As youmand, my King. The Wisdom/Sorcerer Demons will not fail the important task entrusted by your majesty."" Leo and Dian knelt simultaneously to receive the order. After unlocking the map function, teleportation anchors were also unlocked. This ability might only be convenient for travel for individuals. But for an army, it was equivalent to amplifying the advantage countless times. Imagine a demon army that could teleport at any time. In the first ythrough, if the Demon Race had this ability, forget about humans holding out for a hundred years, they probably would have been done for in less than a year. Only after truly using these Hero''s Relics did the apostles understand why they were defeated so badly. The Hero had these abnormal abilities, so their loss was indeed not unjustified. But fortunately, everything was in the past tense. Under the leadership of the new Demon King, they would, in turn, use the power that had once defeated them, make it their own, and then return anew! As the apostles left one by one with their new tasks, only Reji and Vielsia remained in the room. "Teacher, are you really going to..." Seeing Vielsia biting her lip, wanting to say something but stopping, Reji naturally knew what Vielsia wanted to say. Even bing a demon apostle did not change Vielsia''s stance as a firmwful good alignment. And once the Demon Race truly began an all-out war, regardless of victory or defeat, this world would definitely be in a state of turmoil and suffering. As a form of reassurance, Reji softly exined, "Vielsia, there are some things we can choose not to use, but we can''t be without." "If possible, I promise you that I will try to choose a milder approach." "Understood Teacher. I will also do my best to help the humans, to avoid the fate of destruction." Vielsia nodded vigorously, her pure and clear eyes shining with determination. Of course, the "help" for humans that she mentioned did not mean helping humans fight against the Demon Race. It meant killing all the humans who stood in Reji''s way. That way, her teacher could continue using the "mild" approach, and the human world could avoid being destroyed. Vielsia finally set her gaze on the intelligence about the transportation of the energy for the Psionic Wall that Reji had obtained from the Second Prince earlier. To protect the humans, she had to sessfully let the Psionic Wall copse. As long as the Psionic Wall existed, the demon army could not threaten the Empire. There were only two ways to dismantle the Psionic Wall. Either find the Crown Prince and the imprisoned Star Spirit Queen and destroy the core relic, or follow Reji''s backup n and carry out a massacre in the three major countries through the teleportation anchors nted in other countries. That way, the Psionic Wall, which used humans as batteries, would crumble on its own. Between the two, Vielsia would definitely choose the former. So the next destination was the Mage Nation. However... Vielsia actually had reservations about the Second Prince''s proposal. "Teacher, do you really want to cooperate with this human?" "Of course not." Reji''s final request to the Second Prince, to support the Syndicate and send resources, was actually just a smokescreen and could be considered a slightpensation for the Syndicate. "But the intelligence provided by Danye... Hmm, it''s a bit interesting. Perhaps we can try another approach." "Another approach?" Vielsia tilted her head. Could it be that instead of destroying the energy, they nned to seize it and then study it to try to crack the Psionic Wall? But Reji shook his head. Seizing it was not enough. Researching it was too troublesome. For this secret energy transportation team of the Psionic Wall, he thought of another, more advanced method. Chapter 183 Eating Barbecue and Singing Songs 2/5 On a shaded forest path, a caravan that looked like a merchant convoy was slowly moving forward. The well-equipped mercenaries on both sides had serious expressions, escorting and protecting what seemed to be extremely important goods. However, in contrast,ughter and joyous voices frequently emanated from the leading noble carriage. If one were to sniff, they could even smell the aroma of barbecued meat wafting from inside. Indeed, at this moment, the carriage was filled with a cheerful atmosphere. Many servants were smiling and ttering a spirited young man inside thepartment, constantlyplimenting him. "Young Master Trite, after a short distance ahead, we will reach the city of Stoneheim. Once you take office in the city, Young Master will be an executor above tens of thousands of people!" "Young Master bing an executor at such a young age is definitely outstanding in the entire Mage Nation! Your future is limitless!" "Not just that! This time, Young Master is working for His Highness the Crown Prince. Who knows, you might even gain the Crown Prince''s appreciation, which would be a meteoric rise!" "Do you know how to speak? What do you mean by ''who knows''? With Young Master''s talent and potential, even the Crown Prince would have to beg Young Master to join!" "Yes, yes, yes! Oh! Look at my stupid mouth! Even if it''s the Crown Prince, he would have to give way to our Young Master." Ahem, ahem. Although Trite enjoyed the ttery from these servants, thetter part was a bit outrageous. Other bootlicking was fine, but regarding the Crown Prince, these words could not be said. If it were to spread, he feared he would lose his head that very night. His new appointment was a joyous asion, and Trite did not want it to turn into a funeral. He coughed, then red at those servants who were running their mouths, and waved his hand, letting them do something proper and continue roasting meat for him. Trite himself raised his wine ss, turned his head, and toasted to another man in warrior attire inside thepartment. "Captain Alban, thank you for your escort along the way." "Haha, Young Master, you''re too kind. It is our Burning Hand Mercenary Group that will have to rely on Young Master Trite''s... oh no, Executor Trite''s generous care in the future!" "Of course. To be honest, when I heard that the neighboring Syndicate was in turmoil and many viins were running out, I almost canceled the trip. It was only because your Burning Hand epted the escortmission that I gained confidence. So, if I can take office as an executor this time, it''s definitely thanks to your mercenary group''s contribution." "These thugs from the Syndicate? Hehe, Young Master, don''t worry. Even if we encounter them, they''ll just be appetizers for our Burning Hand. They''re just a bunch of small fry. Young Master Trite doesn''t need to take them to heart at all." "Hahaha, Captain,e,e, try this champagne. I spent a lot of money to buy it, specifically for celebration. Tell the other brothers toe in and have a drink too. Everyone has worked hard escorting along the way." "No need for that. After all, there''s still a short distance left. We can''t let our guard down." "You''re right. You''re cautious Captain. Then let''s just have a few drinks, and we''ll treat the brothers once we''re in the city." "Alright, then let me congratte Young Master Trite again on taking office as an executor!" "Congrattions to you too!" The barbecue was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Taking a bite, the meat juices burst out. Drinking the champagne and gazing at the beautiful forest scenery from the carriage window, it was truly delightful. With delicious food, fine wine, and beautiful scenery, it was a pity that a beautiful woman was missing. But it is fine. Once I take office as an executor, I will have any beauty he wanted. Immersed in the beautiful fantasies of the future, listening to the joyous singing andughter of the servants inside thepartment, gradually, whether it was the effect of the alcohol or not, Trite''s vision began to blur, and his consciousness became dizzy. A heavy drowsiness surged up, and this young master quickly fell asleep inside thepartment. When he woke up again... In front of him, there really appeared a beauty! No, two beauties! One of them had silvery moon-like hair, amber-red eyes, and a pure and wless face, giving the impression of an elven fairy emerging from the forest. The other had short pink hair reaching her ears, and her appearance was like two extremespared to the first one. She was full of allure, especially her voluptuous body. Her entire body exuded a seductive charm, as if looking at her for a few more moments would make one sink into it, unable to extricate oneself. At this moment, Trite waspletely entranced, thinking he was still dreaming. It was only when Eileen, with a face full of disgust and disdain, lifted her foot and kicked this human''s face that Trite was startled awake. The burning pain from being stepped on spread from his face. As a young master, Trite had never suffered such torment. He was about to cry out, but he found that his mouth was covered with a seal. Coming back to his senses, Trite realized that not only was his mouth sealed, but his entire body was also tied up like a pretzel. His caravan had long been intercepted on the forest path, and those mercenaries from the Burning Hand, whom he had high hopes for, were now lying in pools of blood, lifeless. As for the mercenary captain Alban, who had just assured Trite of his safety in hisst memory, his head was now being kicked like a ball by a little girl beside the carriage. "Mmph! Mmm! Mmph!!!" The terrified and whimpering Trite soon saw a young man descend from his original carriage. Reji, holding an appointment certificate he had looted from thepartment, came up to Trite. "Trite?" "Mmph! Mmm!" In order not to be killed by the bandits, Trite was very cooperative with Reji and immediately nodded, indicating that the new executor on the appointment certificate was him. "What is your caravan for?" "Mmph, mmm!" Reji raised his hand, and the sealing spell on Trite''s mouth was lifted. Only then could he speak, and he quickly said, "Delivering, delivering supplies! Delivering supplies to the Nox Wall. The items are all in the crates over there!" The Nox Wall was the psionic wall surrounding the Empire. However, the crates Trite mentioned had already been opened by the demons under Reji''s orders. Although they looked tightly sealed, they actually contained items like pearls and agates. While they were valuable, they were clearly not what he was looking for. This caravan was the one from the intelligence provided by the Second Prince, the transportation team that would supply "energy" to the psionic wall. But now, the items in the crates had nothing to do with "energy". Without Reji saying much, the thorn whip in Eileen''s hand had already been summoned, ready tosh at Trite. Thispletely frightened Trite out of his wits, and he no longer dared to y any tricks. "My lord! It''s here! The real goods are all in my storage ring! But, but this ring was given to me by the Crown Prince''s administrative official. It has an absolute curse lock that can only be activated once we reach the city..." Before Trite could finish his desperate exnation, the sealing spell on this encrypted ring was shattered in an instant by the young man in front of him, as if it were a toy. Ignoring Trite''s shock, Reji explored the storage ring with his consciousness and quickly took out the items that looked like "tokens". They didn''t look like energy at all. Instead, they looked particrly simr to an item from a system Reji was familiar with. The Bonding System. Chapter 184 The Executor 3/5 "Is this what you call supplies?" "Yes my lord. With these, we can find the important energy needed to maintain the Nox Wall. I really didn''t lie to you. My mission as an executor is to use these relics to find the energy and then deliver it to the Crown Prince''s administrative official!" "Relics? You mean the Hero''s Relics?" Trite was shocked. He didn''t expect these bandits to know about the Hero''s Relics. He no longer dared to deceive and quickly said honestly, "Yes, these are all imitations of a certain Hero''s Relic made by the Crown Prince. They can find the energy suitable for the ''Nox Wall''. But my lord, I really didn''t lie to you before. These are useless to you because that energy can only be used by the ''Wall''. It''s of no help to you at all. If you want treasures, the goods in front are more valuable!" Trite felt a bit tearful. He really wasn''t lying. He thought Reji and the other viins were just robbing for wealth and goods. The items in this storage ring were indeed useless. Because... "People! The energy the Wall needs is actually people, children! The only purpose of these relic tokens is to find those children with magical talent!" Trite''s final exnation matched Reji''s own judgment. It seemed that although the traitor that uses the Bonding System couldn''t active it to it''s full power, they still tried to imitate and transform something simr. These tokens were equivalent to Reji''s own "card drawing" ability. Enjoy new tales froNovelBin However, upon closer inspection, Reji found that the "bonding" aura inside was actually very weak and a clumsy, iplete imitation. In terms of effect, it could only draw white and blue quality cards(2 and 3 start). Of course, this was just the terminology Reji was used to in games. In reality, when Reji picked up one of the tokens, it immediately turned into a stream of light, circling in front of him, and opened a virtual map, marking a blue light spot on it. This light spot was the location of the "child" with magical talent that Trite mentioned earlier. A human with a potential of about three stars. I should have thought of it earlier. If the psionic wall ran on "humans" as batteries, then the corresponding "energy" should also be humans. But what was the specific operation method? And why was it specially transformed to only search for children? The answers behind these questions obviously couldn''t be obtained by looting or destroying. Reji didn''t intend to say he would seize these from the beginning. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have kept Trite alive. "This appointment certificate says you are a fifth-tier mage?" Reji changed the subject. Seeing that Reji''s killing intent wasn''t that strong, Trite''s nervousness eased a bit. He smiled awkwardly and said, "My, my lord, actually this position, I got it through connections." "Bought through connections?" "Yes, my family recently encountered a benefactor. It was not easy to secure this opportunity. My lord, please, please spare me. I have elderly at home..." Reji nced at Trite, making him immediately shut up and not dare to say more. An official bought through connections, Reji guessed, was most likely the Second Prince''s doing. This Trite was actually just a pawn kept in the dark. This also exined how the Second Prince could provide such detailed intelligence about the transportation team. However, this also gave Reji an opportunity. "Do the people in the city who will be in contact with you have your information?" What? Trite was a bit confused and didn''t understand why Reji asked this, but he quickly said, "No, no, for those of us who go through connections, we rely on unterally presenting certificates. The people on the other side only need to see the certificate and..." At this point, Trite seemed to suddenly understand what Reji was going to do, his eyes widening. The next moment, he saw Reji''s wrist move, and the executor information on his "appointment certificate" was rewritten by new magical text. Now, the "executor" on the certificate was no longer Trite, but the young man in front of him¡ªReji. Trite was both shocked and frightened. He was shocked that this viin, what kind of background did he have to be able to arbitrarily modify and erase the magical certificate from the "Upper Senate"? The Upper Senate was the highest authority in the Mage Nation, controlled behind the scenes by the Crown Prince. And he was frightened because he had greatly underestimated this viin. The other party''s goal seemed to be far more than just robbing for wealth. From the current situation, not only did the other party want wealth, but they seemed to want power even more! "Do you understand what this means?" Reji ced the modified new "appointment" certificate in front of Trite. Trite was also very clever, especially in such a life-and-death situation. He demonstrated extraordinary understanding. "Understood! My Lord! I fully understand. From now on, you, you are the executor of Stoneheim City! I, I am your assistant! Apprentice!" Not bad. Reji nodded with satisfaction and then had someone untie Trite''s restraints. After the trembling Trite stood up, Reji patted his shoulder and said, "What are you waiting for? Let''s continue on the road and enter the city. Many of the uing procedures will still require Assistant Trite''s help." "Under¡­ understood, Lord Executor. Let''s go, we''ll set off now!" ¡­ The caravan was very close to Stoneheim City. In less than fifteen minutes, they could see the city gates from afar. Unlike a small country like Ilinor, although Stoneheim City was only a second-tier city in the Mage Nation, rows of soldiers were neatly lined up at the city gate. The magical beasts, a characteristic of the Mage Nation, were also lowering their heads under the control of the cavalry, as if weing their new executor who was about to arrive. When they saw Reji''s caravan approaching, a middle-aged man was the first to step out from the weing lineup at the city gate. It was the lord of Stoneheim City. Even as the city lord, he had no authority in front of the executor. Instead, he seemed to be ttering andplimenting, addressing him as Lord Executor every other sentence. This was thanks to the division of the system in the Mage Nation. The previously mentioned "Upper Senate" was the highest authority in the Mage Nation, and all its members wereposed of high ranking mages. However, most mages were engrossed in research and had no interest in trivial matters like governing the country. Therefore, the Lower Senate naturally emerged. The members of the Lower Senate were basically nobles and the like. Although their magical power were not high, they were good at management and could run the country. Now, the lord of Stoneheim City was bowing and scraping not only to Reji but even to Trite, who was Reji''s assistant. It could be seen that unlike the nobility supremacy in Ilinor, in the Mage Nation, the status of mages was above all else. Naturally, the new executor from the Upper Senate, although not officially higher in status than the city lord, had the actual power. No matter what Reji did, the city lord had to cooperate unconditionally. For example... "Lord Executor, I have already gathered a group of the most outstanding children in our city. Everyone has been eagerly awaiting your arrival for a long time. Do you want to go and see them now?" the city lord asked cautiously. Trite had also exined this to Reji on the way. Although they were here to capture children to use as energy for the psionic wall, they used the pretext of "divine selection". The children selected by them would be sent to the Upper Senate for training, taken as apprentices or even sessors by those powerful mages, taught magic, and learn magical knowledge, bing the upper ss in one leap. Therefore, what the city lord said now was not false. From the nobles to themoners in Stoneheim City, everyone was looking forward to the executor''s arrival. Everyone regarded this as a great opportunity, and everyone hoped that their children would be selected by the Executor. Chapter 185 : 185: They Should Thank Us 4/5 "Isha,e here quickly." Inside the selection hall, the lord of Stoneheim City called a little girl and brought her in front of Reji. At the city gate, Reji had refused the city lord''s invitation to a banquet to "freshen up" and directly got to the point. Now, in this hall, the descendants of various upper-ss families in Stoneheim City were gathered. As long as they were under the age of ten, almost every family would try to send them over, even if it was just to try their luck. After all, even if they weren''t selected by Reji, the executor from the Upper Senate, getting a blessing or recognition would still be of great benefit to them and would be a topic of conversation and a way to gild themselves in the future. For example, right now. As the city lord, taking advantage of his position, he definitely put his own little daughter as the first candidate. The graceful little girl stood in front of Reji. She was wearing a noble-style skirt, a butterfly tie, shiny little leather shoes under white stockings. She was obviously carefully dressed up. Just standing there, her well-behaved appearance could make people have a good impression at first nce. Eventer, under the city lord''s suggestive gaze, Isha called Reji "Lord Executor" in a sweet voice, and her eyes full of respect and admiration made it hard for Reji not to suspect that she had probably been trained in advance. "Lord Executor, this child has shown a special interest in magic since she was young. Other girls want dolls and stuffed bears as toys, but Isha is different. She buries her head in my study room all day. Her mother has called her to eat several times, but she wouldn''te out. It really worries us." The city lord pretended to be chatting andining to Reji, but he was actually implying his daughter''s talent in magic. Then, the city lord turned to his daughter and said, "Isha, didn''t you recently learn a new spell and kept saying there were parts you didn''t quite understand? Now that Lord Executor is here, why don''t you take the opportunity to demonstrate it?" The little girl immediately understood her father''s meaning and came to the "testing" area of the hall. There were many wooden stakes here, specifically used for demonstrating magic. Then, Isha closed her eyes and entered a state of meditation, as if gathering mental power. Immediately after, she quickly took out a magic wand, aimed it at one of the straw dummies, and chanted. "...IGNIS!" Instantly, a burning me rose from the girl''s magic wand and, following the girl''smand, flew towards the straw dummy not far away. Although the me was not very fierce, it seemed to be greatly enhanced the moment it touched the wooden stake, immediately igniting the entire straw dummy and starting a big fire. Regardless of how good this spell was, at least on the surface, it was done well, drawing exmations of surprise and envy from the surrounding nobles and children. And it was when everyone was attracted by the "me Arrow" that the city lord took the opportunity to approach Trite, who was Reji''s assistant. He secretly took out arge gold ingot from his sleeve and stuffed it towards Trite. Trite only nced at it, but he was also very experienced in business. He was very professional, made no sound, and quickly epted it. Afterwards, his facial expression didn''t change, as if nothing had happened. Seeing this, the city lord also seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and a happier smile bloomed on his face again. After all, there were indeed some rtively "strict" executors who did not ept bribes, but fortunately, judging from the behavior of this new executor''s subordinate, he had definitely taken a lot of money. me Arrow, the most ssic basic spell among the first-tier spells. But being able to cast it from the hands of a seven or eight-year-old girl was still a remarkable thing. If it was real, then this little girl''s magical talent definitely had the potential to be a mage in the future. However, unfortunately, Reji''s magical perception saw through this little trick at a nce. The me Arrow had nothing to do with the little girl at all. It relied entirely on the magic wand, which had been temporarily enchanted with the ritual runes of me Arrow. And on the side of the straw dummy, some mmable material had probably been added in advance, which was why it caught fire with a single touch, making the spell''s power seem greater. However, Reji didn''t expose it and handed over the subsequent process steps to Trite, the actual "rightful" executor. The Demon Race''s preparations for "all-out war" also required time. So Reji was not in a hurry for this main quest of "dismantling the psionic wall". Why not take advantage of this current identity as an executor to observe more and first understand the rtionship between the Mage Nation and the psionic wall? Trite first stood out and, in front of the many dignitaries of Stoneheim City, praised Isha,plimenting the little girl''s outstanding talent and saying that she would definitely achieve something in magic, and so on. Although the city lord was a bit disappointed that it wasn''t Reji, the executor himself, who personally stepped forward, and it was only his subordinate apprentice, he was actually already satisfied. His main purpose was this. This way, in the future, he could say that his daughter had been recognized by the executor from the Upper Senate, which would bring unlimited advantages to his daughter in the future. Next, Trite took out a token, which was the item that could search for children with true magical talent. He tested it on Isha, and needless to say, the token did not react. Isha and the city lord''s little trick could fool others, but the token, which was transformed based on a relic, definitely couldn''t be fooled. Of course, Trite had taken people''s money after all and wouldn''t expose it on the spot. For those who wanted to save face, he would say that they weren''t selected because they weren''t lucky enough, giving them a way out. After the biggest privilege of the city lord''s daughter, it was the nobles'' turn. Wave after wave of officials and dignitaries from all walks of life in Stoneheim City began to rush over and bring their children to Trite for testing. There were also many who, like the city lord, prepared some tricks for their children to deceive others, putting on a show of performing magic, and then taking the opportunity to stuff money to Trite. What they wanted was for Trite to praise their children in person, just like he did for the city lord''s daughter. As for Reji, they didn''t dare to approach him. After all, they saw that even the city lord''s daughter was only dealt with by this executor''s subordinate apprentice. They, who were of even lower status, definitely had no way to reach Reji. After a round, there were quite a few who could make the token react, a total of more than a dozen. But under Trite''s subtle maniption, only three of them were selected as the "chosen children" and given spots, while the rest of the children, even if the token reacted, were all rejected. Reji observed that the families of these three children basically did not belong to the top-tier nobility, and even in Stoneheim City, they belonged to the second or third-tier, barely able to squeeze into the middle-ss of the nobility. When everything was over, Trite, who had been surrounded by nobles and even the city lord in the selection hall earlier, quickly changed roles when he returned to Reji''s side in private. Trite hurriedly put away the infinitely glorious appearance he had in the hall earlier and even took the initiative to exin the ins and outs to Reji, this "recement", without Reji having to ask. Trite saw Reji''s doubts about the selection and exined this first. "My lord, you also know that these children we select are not going to the Upper Senate at all, but arepletely sent to the psionic wall to be used as energy, so basically they won''te back." "Even if they cane back, they will basically bepletely different people, so the higher-ups require us to try not to choose those with power and influence when selecting people. Otherwise, a few yearster, when they discover something wrong with their children, it will be troublesome if they make a fuss." "So you see, we just choose these middle-ss people who have just touched the edge of nobility. Although they have some achievements, their foundation and umtion are not good. They are all people who have struggled up from the bottom. To put it bluntly, they don''t have much power, so they are particrly eager to climb up and attach great importance to our selection." "So..." Trite obsequiously handed over all the bribes he had collected this time, various jewels, jewelry, precious metals, or the most straightforward checks, etc., to Reji. If converted, they had produced nearly hundreds of thousands of gold coins worth of benefits in just half a day. And almost a third of this came from the middle-ss parents of those three children. They were almost going to faint from happiness that their children were selected, all falling into ecstasy, and kept trying to give money to Trite, saying that they wanted Trite to take good care of their children no matter what. In Trite''s words... "My lord, did you see? They should even thank us." The nobility was the big source of earning benefits. The money Trite used to buy the "executor" position could basically be recouped a lot through this wave of harvesting. But although the money was earned, the task quota still had to bepleted. They had to find fifty children who could make the token react with "white light" and send them to the Crown Prince''s governor and then transport them to the core of the psionic wall. If there were children of "blue light" quality, the quota could be appropriately reduced. These children who were destined to be sacrificed had to be found among themoners. After all, it didn''t matter if the children frommoner families died or lost contact. Even if they noticed something was wrong, it would be very difficult for them to make any waves. And just like the nobles, thosemoner children with magical potential that Trite searched for with the token, their parents, when facing Trite, behaved even more exaggeratedly than the nobles. Chapter 186 : 186: The Chosen Children 5/5 Reji saw several parents directly kneeling in front of Trite and him at their doorstep, their faces full of excitement, shouting "Lord Executor", looking grateful as if they had won a five million lottery. And the surrounding neighbors also cast envious and jealous nces, several of them getting angry and sighing at their own children, wondering why they weren''t chosen. After all, if even the nobles attached great importance to this "selection", thesemoners were even more so. It could be considered one of the traditions of the Mage Nation. Although the magical talent of themoner children was obviously much lower than that of the nobles before, this was very normal. Except for a very few who truly had innate talent, the proportion of most "white" or "blue" talents wasrgely determined by acquired nutrition and education. But even if the proportion was low, the base number ofmoner children was far greater than that of nobles. It was not difficult to recruit fifty. Among them, there was room for maniption. Now, Reji and Trite were standing at the door of amoner family. The detection token emitted a white glow on a little girl, indicating that she met the minimum standard to became an "energy". The parents of this family were also stunned at first, then overjoyed. Even the mother burst into tears of joy. From their appearance, the father, a carpenter, was also extremely excited, his calloused hands trembling non-stop. But now, the faces of these parents showed a worried expression because Trite told them that although the little girl passed the test, if they wanted her to be selected... Pay money. Although the benefits frommoners could notpare to those from nobles, even a mosquito''s leg was still meat. Taking the opportunity to squeeze some value from thesemoners was also one of theponents of the "executor''s" benefits. This "bribe" money was obviously a huge amount for this already not wealthy family, as could be seen from the carpenter father''s tightly clenched fists. And the little daughter of this family also seemed to see her parents'' difficulty. She looked at Trite with some fear and then said softly to her mother, "Mom, I... I don''t want to go. I want to be with Dad and Mom..." Unexpectedly, the mother suddenly became extremely flustered. She first hurriedly nced in Reji''s direction. Seeing that the Executor seemed not to have heard, she breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly took her daughter to the inner room. Then... p! Although the door was closed, Reji could see with a little perception that the mother inside had pped her daughter, scolding her with an extremely angry expression for having such thoughts. -"Do you know how rare such an opportunity is?!"- -"If you dare to say such stupid things again, I''ll tear your mouth apart!"- -"When you go to the Upper Senate, you better obey the lords there and study hard. Strive to be a real senator, do you hear me?!"- Perhaps she was too harsh on her daughter. The mother softened a bit andforted, -"Nana, be good, don''t cry, and don''t me Mom for being harsh. This opportunity is really once in a thousand years. Nana has such potential. Mommy also hopes that Nana can be better. That way, in the future, we can live in a big house, eat cream bread every day, and have toys. Nana can buy whatever she wants. So be good and obedient."- -"Remember, when you go outter, you must never say what you just said in front of the Lord Executor again. Do you hear me?!"- Afterwards, the mother and daughter came out, and the father had also made a decision. They were going to sell this house in the city and exchange it for a small wooden house in the suburbs. This way, the money squeezed out could be given to Trite, so that their selected daughter could be taken away by Trite. As for the little girl who was obviously still aggrieved, had tear stains on her face, and was reluctant to part with her parents, Trite didn''t care and directly had his followers throw her into the carriage. It could be seen that in thisrge carriage, there were already more than a dozen children curled up in a ball. Some of them might be excited or curious, but in fact, the vast majority, after all, were young. Suddenly leaving their parents, most of them, like this Nana, were very unwilling, very scared, very terrified, and full of confusion. But Trite didn''t care. It didn''t matter if these children were willing or not. As long as their parents paid the money, it was fine. And when it was time to deliver the goods, it was obviously not important whether the goods were willing or not. Later, Trite even "educated" Reji. Parents like Nana''s just now, who sold their houses to send their daughters to them, were not few in number. When he took office as an executor before and inquired about his peers, he had seen the most desperate parents even go to the ck market to find organ traffickers and raise money by cutting flesh and bleeding, just to send their children in. "If thesemoners who are selling everything they have knew that their ''selected'' children are only being used to build a wall, I wonder what their expressions would be. Tsk tsk..." Trite seemed to be sighing, and also seemed to feel a little pity for them. However, while sighing, Trite was still secretly ncing at Reji. In fact, he had been secretly observing Reji, this viin who not only robbed him, but also wanted to upy his official position. As a result, he found that this viin did not enjoy fame and fortune, and did not seem to be very interested in the money and benefits they had collected. It was as if he waspletely detached, giving him a feeling of... a higher-level observer? Iprehensible. In fact, Trite felt that such people were the most terrifying, because you didn''t know what they really wanted. But ording tomon sense, what viins valued most should still be money. Perhaps it was just that the current amount of money had not yet caught the eye of this viin. Thinking of this, Trite still had to harden his scalp and softly exin to Reji in advance, just in case. "My lord, we can''t take all this money. We have to leave a portion and the goods to be delivered to the Crown Prince''s governor. Only then can we keep our official positions." "The governor also takes a cut?" "Yes my lord. I don''t even have the heart to take money from thosemoners, but there''s no choice. If we give too little to the governor, we''ll all suffer!" Trite still had to create a kind persona for himself. "So how much does the governor''s side take?" "A 30-70 split." Trite quickly said. "30%? That much?" Hearing Reji''s words, Trite was a bit sweaty. He hurriedly shrank his neck and said softly to Reji, this viin, "30% is ours, and 70% is the Lord Governor''s." Rejiughed when he heard this. "So after you went through so much trouble to buy this official position, it was just to help others collect money?" Although Trite was very dissatisfied, he still had to say in a conciliatory tone, "Yes, but my lord, you don''t know how many people are fighting toe to this position." Trite''s implication was obviously that 30% was not bad. Reji didn''te here for money. He didn''t say more to Trite. In the carriagepartment, in a ce Trite couldn''t see, a certain shadow moved. The Shadow Demon Reji had sent out earlier had brought back the intelligence. Previously, Reji had let Trite maintain the original state and continue the executor''s mission, going around to find children. This was actually to attract attention and release the news. And now, Shermen, who was monitoring the entire city of Stoneheim, had found the hidden teleportation array built in Stoneheim City. This array should be the way for the Crown Prince''s "governor" toe and collect the goods. It seemed that seeing Trite''s side collecting children and having collected enough, Shermen had just sent a message that there were fluctuations in the teleportation array. That governor was about to arrive. Reji looked up at the darkening sky as the sun set. Hmm, just in time. Chapter 187 The Sacred Relic Connects Us All part 1 1/2 Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin From Trite''s previous education to Reji, it could be seen that although executors were regarded as big shots by the nobles of the Lower Senate, they were actually equivalent to local workers in the higher power of the Upper Senate. The task of an executor was to collect qualified children from various ces and hand over the majority of the benefits they reaped. As for deeper secrets, they had no right to know. Even Trite was not clear about where to deliver the goods and how to find their superior "governor". Because ording to convention, it was only the governor who unterally contacted them. So for "governor" and "executor", the status of the two was vastly different. The secrets of the "Wall" that Reji wanted to get in touch with still had to be found from the governor. The hidden teleportation array found by the Shadow Demon sent out by Reji was located in a temple in Stoneheim City. Now Eileen had led a team and surrounded the ce with the Demon Race. Luxuries like temples could not be built in small countries or regions, so Reji rarely saw them before in Ilinor and the Syndicate. As one of the three major countries, the Mage Nation had many temples built for the "Wisdom" fate track they believed in. This was verymon in the three major countries. ording to different fate tracks, there were also Radiant Temples and Judgment Temples. In the hidden room of this temple, a Star Spirit crystal was inserted in the central teleportation array. However, from the color and texture of the crystal, it was much more rudimentary than those underground in the Syndicate desert. Of course, it was more than enough to maintain a teleportation array. Without letting Eileen wait too long, the crystal soon emitted light and then transformed into a door-like ck hole. After a few more seconds, several figures walked out of the ck hole. The leading one was particrly eye-catching. He was in full armor, even his face waspletely covered by a helmet. His appearance could not be seen from the outside, only a dark golden mask as a symbol of his identity as a "governor". In addition to the governor and the seven or eight subordinates he brought with him, there were also several iron cages that were teleported along. From the cages, it could be seen that several children were unconscious on the ground, wrapped in chains. It seemed that this governor had just "collected goods" from another city and was now continuing in Stoneheim City. From this, the basic operation of this system could be seen. Each executor was responsible for a single city, and a regionposed of several cities was coordinated and summarized by a governor. Finally, it was also the governor who sent all the goods from the region to the core of the psionic wall. Teleporting with the goods seemed to be a heavy burden for this governor. This was alsomon sense for teleportation magic. The greater the load, the more magical power was consumed. But now, the state of this governor seemed to be even worse. He was seen swaying a little, forced to lean against the wall with one hand. At this time, Shermen cast a questioning nce at Eileen. Now was undoubtedly the best opportunity for a sneak attack. But the subus shook her head, indicating that she was not in a hurry and continued to observe more. It could be seen that after several seconds of rest, the governor seemed to have barely recovered a little. Seeing this, the followers behind him couldn''t help bute forward and ask with concern, "Lord Governor, has the devouring power from the core host... intensified again?" The governor did not speak and made a gesture to the followers with his hand. The subordinates immediately understood and quickly handed a box they were personally guarding to the governor. The box was also dark gold in color. Eileen could also feel the fluctuations of Star Spirit crystals from it. From its material, it could be seen how precious this box was, making one wonder what kind of thing inside could be worthy of being contained in such a precious Star Spirit crystal. As the box opened, the governor carefully pinched his fingers and took out a... Earthworm from the golden silk and satin inside the box. Actually, it couldn''t be called an earthworm. Although it looked simr, this earthworm waspletely transparent, and there seemed to be psionic energy flowing from the Star Spirit inside, making its wriggling body emit a psionic glow. Although it was high-level psionic energy, it appeared on this ugly worm-like creature. Thebination of the two gave a very eerie feeling. After taking out this precious psionic earthworm, the governor moved quickly and swiftly came to the three iron cages he had teleported with earlier. Then the governor opened one of them. The sound of the cage door awakened a child who was unconscious inside. Seeing the governor, this child showed a frightened expression, especially when he saw the worm the governor was holding in his hand, he became even more terrified and desperately curled up in a corner. But this was to no avail. The governor rudely pulled him out, and then with the assistance of the servants, fixed the still struggling child. Then he took the previously wriggling psionic earthworm in his hand and ced it on the child''s eye socket. The earthworm then, as if finding soil, immediately drilled into the little boy''s eye. It did not break the eyeball, but used it as an entrance, the closest entrance to the brain. After the psionic earthworm crawled all the way into the little boy''s brain through the eye socket, the boy''s body began to convulse violently, his limbs twisting irregrly. After a few minutes, he quieted down. When the boy raised his head again at this time, although his appearance had not changed much, his eyes were already hollow. He was no longer afraid of the governor, like a puppet that had been connected to strings. Chapter 188 The Sacred Relic Connects Us All part 2 2/2 Through this step, it seemed that the little boy had beenpletely transformed from a human into energy. Thanks to the previous psionic earthworm, there was now a faint thread between the governor and the little boy. "He will remember your dedication. Under the great relic, we will all be of one mind, merging into one..." The governor seemed to be chanting a prayer. Then it could be seen that the little boy''s body began to wither rapidly like a nt, his flesh and blood transformed into a spirit. Half of this psionic energy was transferred to the governor, while the other half seemed to be intercepted and snatched away by another powerful existence somewhere far away. The governor did not care, or rather, this was the process. After absorbing his half of the little boy''s psionic energy, the governor''s previous weakness was mostly recovered, showing an expression of intoxication and enjoyment, and also some regret for the other half that was lost. He sighed and then said to the servants, "The appetite of the host has be bigger and bigger. If we don''t satisfy her, we will also be nourishment for the ''Wall'' next. After that, issue an order to the executors below. The amount of energy needs to be doubled from now on." "Yes, my lord." "Alright, let''s go get Stoneheim City''s share first." The governor was about to walk out of the temple with his entourage when suddenly, having recovered his body by absorbing the psionic energy earlier, the governor seemed to sense something. He frowned slightly and instinctively stopped his steps before going out, but the other followers who were with him had not yet reacted and continued to walk forward. As a result, in the next instant... St! St! St! These servants had just taken half a step out of the temple when several shadow spikes, disguised by the night, pierced towards their chests. The servants had not yet reacted, but a faint blue barrier shed around their bodies first. It was a psionic shield. Unfortunately, these passively triggered shields could not save them either. In the face of Shermen''s shadow spikes, the huge difference in power made the psionic shields as thin as paper, shattering upon contact. They didn''t even have time to scream before the shadow spikes pierced their heart chambers. Apanied by several thud thud sounds, they fell at Shermen''s feet. As for the governor who had escaped disaster earlier by relying on his senses, although his expression could not be seen clearly due to his mask, his tense backward steps still showed that he was now treating Shermen as a formidable enemy, shocked and terrified. Indeed, although the servants he brought were far inferior to him, they were all fourth-tier ascetics, known for their physical strength and reaction speed. Moreover, from the previous psionic shields, it could be seen that they had also epted the "worms" and were connected to the "host". These servants together could easily deal with a fifth-tier mage, but now, they were all instantly killed by this seemingly petite and mysterious cloaked figure in front of them? "Wh..." The governor hadn''t even finished saying thisst "who" when he found that the mysterious person in front of him had disappeared. His hair stood on end all over his body. He had just concentrated all his attention, but he still couldn''t capture the other party''s movements. By the time he realized he needed to defend himself, it was toote. Shermen had already appeared behind him, and a shadow scythe swung directly at his vital point, his neck, from the side. St! The shadow scythe directly ignored the governor''s exquisite armor. When touching the armor, the scythe was in a "shadow" state. After passing through the armor, it instantly transformed from a "shadow" into a solid state. This was Shermen''s shadow authority. Although the armor could not block the shadow scythe, the same psionic shield still burst out from the governor''s body. The governor''s psionic shield was obviously much stronger than that of the previous servants. It even slowed down Shermen''s full-strength attack by a full 0.35 seconds before prating the psionic shield and tearing the governor''s body apart. Shermen had no intention of leaving anyone alive. Because Reji''s order to them was to kill directly. Things like interrogation were unnecessary for Reji. He could directly bring the corpse over and use the "Dialogue with the Dead" of the Wicked Demon Race. After Reji reached the seventh tier by using the Seventh Prince as an "experience baby", many previously uncastable spells were unlocked, including the spells of the Wicked Demon Race. Explore more stories with m,v l''e-NovelBin Although the Wicked Demons were despicable, Reji had to admit that some of their spells were indeed useful. Other demon races could not learn them due to racial issues. For Reji, who had the Demon King fate track, let alone Wicked Demon spells, he could even learn Radiant spells without worrying about their influence at all. The governor was undoubtedly instantly killed by the piercing attack from the level 90 apostle. However... Just when Shermen thought the mission was over, the governor''s corpse in the pool of blood actually began to wriggle. On his dark golden mask, psionic fluctuations shed, and that faint thread began to send energy to the governor. The governor''s body''s injuries were rapidly healing, and his previouslypletely lost vitality was now quickly returning. Shermen frowned slightly. Of course, she would not just let it be. Without giving the governor a chance to revive, Shermen immediately followed up. This time, instead of using the scythe, she transformed the shadow into a giant palm and pped down on the governor below. Bang! This p was not like the previous shadow scythe, which only destroyed the vital point. Itpletely smashed the governor''s body into mud. Just when Shermen thought there should be no problem... Unexpectedly... "Hehe... It''s useless... You heretics can''t kill us..." Intermittent voices still came from the armor. If the little boy from before was a puppet on strings, then the governor now was the same. They were all connected by "strings". As long as the string was not broken... "We have already dedicated our souls to the relic. The sacred relic connects each and every one of us. We are a whole. The host will continuously send power to me. We have long merged into one. We are evesting!" Chapter 189 Ill Lead the Way! Although the physical body was destroyed, the governor''s main body was more like that dark golden mask and that set of armor. A temporary magical bodyposed of psionic energy regained control of the armor, and the spirit-state governor got up from the ground,ughing coldly at Shermen not far away. "Heretic, it''s not toote to choose to surrender now. Tell me everything about you, and I may beg the host for you..." Before the governor could finish his arrogant words, a whipshed over. His psionic body was directly shattered by this whip, turning into countless psionic dregs in the air. Immediately after, Eileen stepped on that "dark golden mask" that served as the main body. The subus'' heel exerted a little force, and spider web-like cracks began to appear on the mask. At this point, the governor''s soul consciousness finally panicked a bit. "Stop your foot! If you crush it, my consciousness will return to the host, and then everything about you will be known to the host. After tonight, the entire Mage Nation will be hunting you down!" The crumbling mask under Eileen''s foot screamed frantically, with a pleading tone in its voice. It seemed that the governor was not unkible after all. As long as this medium connecting him to the "host" was destroyed, it would be fine. However... Eileen hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she still did not choose to crush it. The governor''s threat was one thing, but the main reason was that Eileen sensed the kind of aura fluctuation she hated the most from the cracks in this mask. That''s right, it was the aura from the "relic" of the Hero a thousand years ago. This meant that the other party was not lying. This mask might really be connected to the distant relic, something like a sub-product. That "relic" should be the Hero''s "Banner of Command" mentioned by the previous high-level Star Spirit. It seemed that the Crown Prince not only used this relic to supply the psionic wall but also used it to link his subordinates and troops. This was not something they could handle. Eileen had Shermen wrap the mask with shadows and sent a spell message to Reji, informing him of the situation. Such matters still required the Demon King to make a decision. Just like that, wrapped in shadows andpletely dark, the governor was both angry and frightened, constantly trying to persuade or threaten Eileen and Shermen outside to let him out. Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait long. Very soon, the shadows dissipated, and when he regained his vision, the governor found that this time, a new young man appeared in front of him. "Are you the leader of this group of heretics?" The governor in the mask, looking at Reji, quickly recognized Reji''s identity from the respectful appearance of Eileen and Shermen behind him. Although he was surprised, he still had to pretend to be calm. And in fact, he was not as frightened as before. After all, judging from Eileen''s performance, he guessed that the other party was probably scared by his threat and did not dare to act rashly against him. Thinking of this, the governor became even more confident. He regained his previous superior attitude and negotiated with Reji, "Heretic, state your purpose. Perhaps we can talk." "Your subordinates should have told you, right? My soul is protected by the host. Even if you destroy this mask, you can''t kill me. You will only expose yourselves. If I were you, I wouldn''t do such a foolish and ridiculous thing." The governor tried to persuade with good intentions, but seeing that Reji did not speak and instead began to... y with his mask!? He was instantly quite angry. Feeling humiliated. "Bastard! Take your dirty hands off! The sacred relic does not allow a heretic like you to desecrate it. You... Mmm!?" This dark golden mask was bestowed upon them, the governors, by their great Crown Prince, the owner of the relic "Banner of Command". The Crown Prince had infused the power of the Banner of Command relic into the mask, so apart from the Crown Prince, even they could not control the mask. They were only temporary users. These masks only served the relic and the owner of the relic, their great Crown Prince. However... "What, what did you do!!!" Now the governor''s soul in the mask screamed directly. Because he found that under the "ying" of that heretic leader, the mask actually began to glow. This glow nourished his soul, making him feel extremelyfortable all of a sudden, which was why he let out that uncontroble "mmm" sound at the beginning. But after thefort, the governor suddenly became extremely frightened, immediately realizing, and then screamed even more terrified than when he encountered the two apostles, Shermen and Eileen. Why? Because the mask actually responded to someone else!? Someone other than the Crown Prince?? H-how is this possible!! What''s going on? Explore stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin Before the governor''s mind could wrap around it, he suddenly felt that in the mask container, there seemed to be another consciousness besides him. The governor waspletely stunned. He could ept the mask being forcibly cracked from the outside, but now Reji''s behavior was simply like opening a door lock and walking in as if it were his own home. The key to this lock should only be in the hands of the Crown Prince alone! Only the Crown Prince, who controlled the power of the relic, should have the right to decide the life and death of their souls. Wait, wait! While the governor was greatly shocked, he found that Reji, the leader of these heretics, had made a new move. His original soul belonged to the Crown Prince, to the Crown Prince''s relic "Banner". It could be said that as long as the Banner existed, he and the thousands of souls manded" by the Banner could absorb psionic energy from the Banner at any time. But now... A sense of separation began to rise from the bottom of the governor''s heart. This feeling was like he was being forcibly kicked out from this system of connection. His soul was being stripped from the mask. The sub-relic that originally belonged to him now... changed ownership!? Not only that, even his connection to the "Banner of Command", that absolutely indestructible thread, was also severed. "No, no! Let me go back! Let me go back! Nooo..." As the mask in Reji''s hand shook violently, the governor''s soul inside turned to ashes. Afterwards, Reji put the dark golden mask on his own face. In an instant... Buzz! Reji felt that he had reced the previous governor and became a member of the Crown Prince''s "Squad System". And the power of the relic from the Crown Prince''s side, the will of the "Banner of Command", immediately pressed over, as if to check the "abnormal" situation of this member in the Squad. However, this little banner that was aggressivelying to "reject" stopped abruptly in front of Reji. Then, as if a little doubtful, a little uncertain, a little confused, it began to carefully probe Reji, as if wanting to test him. Reji hadn''t done anything yet when another power came out first. It was one of the holy swords, the Radiant Sword. This holy sword had always been in spirit form, so it also followed Reji and could enter the soul space. Now, the Radiant Sword, like an older brother, immediately pped the little banner that seemed to want to test Reji with its hilt. The meaning was like saying, what are you looking at? The little banner, which was pped by the sword hilt, finally seemed toe to its senses, no, the relic came to its senses. Then this miniature little banner directly made a 180-degree turn, from its previous aggressive stance to now waving and shouting at Reji. The meaning was like saying... This way! I''ll lead the way! Chapter 190 Memory Images With the miniature little banner leading the way, Reji''s exploration in this soul space became much easier. Moreover, this little Banner did more than just lead the way. It seemed to want to make amends and passed on all the intelligence it knew to Reji in one go. After Reji summarized and absorbed it, a simple analogy would be... The relic''s main body currently in the hands of the Crown Prince, the Banner of Command with the ability of a "Squad System", was used by the Crown Prince as a huge server. All the subjects in the Mage Nation were formed together by the Crown Prince and made into a huge... Human-arrayputer. Ordinary people or nobles in the Lower Senate had no right to ess the internalwork of thisputer and could only serve as resources. Only the governors bestowed with a "mask" by the Crown Prince could have a small part of the right to use thisputer. The soul space he was in now was actually equivalent to the intr of theputer. And the "mask" was the login device. Wearing the "mask", he entered the soul space through the mask, which was equivalent to logging in with an unfamiliar IP. It immediately aroused the vignce of the relic and was regarded as a virus invading theputer. This was why the previous scene of the miniature little Banner aggressivelying to check on him yed out. The miniature little Banner in front of him was a differentiation of the relic''s main body. Of course, the result of the virus check was also clear at a nce. It directly defected, And handed over all the above "internal data" to Reji. Overall, it was simr to the intelligence provided to him by the previous high-level Star Spirit and the Second Prince. But there were still some ces worth Reji''s attention. Through the miniature little Banner, Reji could "browse" information and see some memory images rted to the Crown Prince and the "Banner of Command". Among them was the scene when the Emperor bestowed the relic upon the Crown Prince. In the majestic hall supported by twelve pirs with different patterns, the silhouette sitting high on the throne at the top of the steps was shrouded in shadows, but through the memory, Reji could feel the Crown Prince''s deep awe towards his "father". The Emperor exined to the Crown Prince in detail the function and usage of this "Banner of Command" relic, showing that he was extremely familiar with the Hero''s relics. Of course, the relic was not bestowed upon the Crown Prince for nothing. The purpose was to let the Crown Prince use the relic to maintain the "psionic wall". In the memory, the Crown Prince had asked the supreme existence on the throne about the purpose of the psionic wall and what exactly it was blocking. After all, the Empire at that time had already dominated the world. And the answer given by the Emperor was... "Our Nemesis". The Crown Prince in the memory was very confused. Although Reji also found the term "nemesis" a bit strange, it should refer to the Demon Race here. This also indirectly proved that his caution at the beginning was not wrong, and the Wisdom Demons'' vignce was not fighting against the air. The true higher-ups behind the humans, at least the sessive "Emperors", had never forgotten the Demon Race and even always regarded them as... nemesis? The psionic wall was just one of the means. The three major countries were each given "different" means by the Emperor. Unfortunately, Reji could only see the Crown Prince''s partial perspective from the memory provided by the current miniature banner. At first, the Crown Prince was indeed diligently executing the Emperor''s orders. He worked hard to use the power of the relic to maintain the psionic wall. However... As time went on, the Crown Prince''s mentality seemed to have also be problematic, or rather, the desires from his heart began to stir. Using such a powerful relic just to maintain a wall, to guard against a "non-existent" imaginary enemy? It was too wasteful. Therefore, from the memory images, Reji could see that gradually, the Crown Prince began to secretly use the relic and this puter" to conduct other research, hiding it from the Emperor and everyone else. Research on... Transcendent spells. This was also why the previous governor frequently felt unwell, fell into weakness, and mentioned that the "host''s" demand was getting bigger and bigger. With the powerfulputing power of this puter" that gathered all the subjects of the Mage Nation, the Crown Prince wanted to recreate and master those Transcendent spells that only existed in legends a thousand years ago. In the Crown Prince''s eyes, Transcendent spells were no different from nuclear weapons. Indeed. Reji recalled that in the first ythrough of the game, even in the peak battle between humans and the Demon Race a thousand years ago, Transcendent spells were definitely considered superweapons. In that era where mages were everywhere, there were only two existences in the entire world who could cast transcendent spells by relying on their own strength alone. One was Dian, the Sorcerer Demon apostle on the Demon Race''s side. The other was Reji''s master in the game, who was also the great guardian of the human camp, Melvin. In the Crown Prince''s view, as long as he could master transcendent spells, no other prince would be able to shake his position. Even... From this segment of crazy and greedy memory, Reji could sense that the ambitious Crown Prince, aftering into more contact with the relic and experiencing its power, did not even take the "Emperor" seriously anymore. Of course, such research could not be done by the Crown Prince alone, so he needed to rely on external forces to assist him in operating and controlling this huge relicputer. And this assistant was none other than... The Star Spirit Queen. The one that high-level Star Spirit in the Syndicate underground had asked him to rescue, their imprisoned... Queen. With the miniature little banner leading the way, Reji could move unimpeded in the soul space. Any checkpoint was a green light all the way. During the journey, Reji could see that it was really like awork, and each densely packed little light spot that made up this "soulwork" corresponded to a subject connected in the Mage Nation. And the final destination of all the light spots'' connections... The Star Spirit Queen. She could be considered the super AI of this puter". Her current appearance was not the kind of light spheremonly seen in Star Spirits. Instead, she still had a human-like form. However, she was magnified several times and looked like a small mountain in this soul space, and... Her appearance was quite miserable. Those thin lines connecting the subjects of the Mage Nation were plugged into the body of the magnified Star Spirit Queen like wires. Now, almost every part of the Queen''s body was filled withplex and numerous lines that could not be counted, like aputer host. If the Crown Prince wanted to use the relic before, he would have to bear the soul power of the millions of subjects connected in the relic. But now, with the Star Spirit Queen as a "concentrator", he only needed to give orders to the Queen alone, which was equivalent to the Queen bearing the pressure of the relic for him. In the soul space, the tall Star Spirit Queen in front of Reji had her eyes tightly closed with painful expression. As if in endless torment, wishing for death. At this moment, a faint voice came to Reji''s ears. "...Find me... from the material ne..." "Release... liberate..." "I will give you... a reward..." These intermittent whispers undoubtedly came from the Star Spirit Queen. Although she still had her eyes tightly closed, she should have sensed his arrival and thus sent out a call for help. However, this Star Spirit Queen seemed to have underestimated him a bit. If Reji wanted to, he could actually directly cut off the lines that bound and imprisoned the Star Spirit Queen in the soul space and sever her connection with the relic. But after thinking about it, Reji still did not do so. Chapter 191 Star Spirit Queen 1/1 --------- There were two reasons why Reji didn''t immediately take action. Firstly, although he had the highest authority over the relic in the spiritual space, just like a hacker who could treat someone else''sputer as his own, Reji''s main goal was not to paralyze the relic, but to take back the relic that originally belonged to him. For this, he still needed to physicallye into contact with the relic''s main body in reality. So for now, it was better to let the relic remain as it was. As for the second reason, to be honest, Reji didn''t have a very good feeling about this Star Spirit Queen. It wasn''t because of her somewhat condescending tone despite asking for help. More importantly, judging from the miniature bannerapanying him, it was clear that the little banner was emitting a strong sense of wariness towards the Star Spirit Queen. This was especially evident from what happened next. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelBin Seeing that Reji was not responding, the Star Spirit Queen probably thought that Reji needed more enticement. So with a slight movement of her eyelids, as if reluctantly sparing some of her power for Reji, one of the star spirit worms that Reji had seen before crawled out from under the eyelids of the gigantic queen. It then swam towards Reji and finally stopped in front of him. "Human¡­use it." "You will¡­gain the power I bestow... to ess part of the relic." "Use it¡­find me¡­kill the humans imprisoning me." "I will satisfy¡­ your every desire." As thest words fell, the space began to tremble. It was as if in the physical ne of reality, the Crown Prince had sensed something unusual about the Star Spirit Queen and was about to inspect the relic. The "woman plugged with wires" in front of Reji quickly disappeared, and everything returned to tranquility. No, not quite. Except for the star spirit worm left behind by the queen, still floating in front of him. This worm looked even more plump and lively than the one the Governor had taken out before, seemingly eager to burrow into Reji''s head. When Reji touched it with his palm, the star spirit worm couldn''t wait any longer. Without even waiting for Reji to make a move, it began to crawl along his palm, trying to make its way towards his eye socket. The miniature banner beside Reji changed from its previous wariness to emitting a strong sense of hostility. However, neither the worm nor the Star Spirit Queen seemed to be able to sense the existence of this miniature banner. Poof! Of course, Reji would not ept such a disgusting thing. He flung the worm to the ground with a flick of his hand and stomped on it, turning the star spirit worm into star spirit mush. Seeing this, the miniature bannerbeside Reji seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. It then cheered for Reji, happily circling around him, looking very pleased. If it weren''t for the other Radiant Sword watching intently nearby, the miniature banner would have probably rubbed affectionately against Reji a few times to express its joy. There must be a reason why the little bannerwas so averse to the star spirit worm. It seemed that the rtionship between the relic, the Crown Prince, and the Star Spirit Queen was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Reji reminded himself to keep this in mind, then exited this spiritual space. Taking off the dark gold mask and returning to the physical ne of reality, Reji''s next goal was very clear. From the miniature banner, he already knew the coordinates of where the relic was located. He could then directly reach it through the teleportation array in the great hall used by the Governor. But a frontal assault was not Reji''s style. Moreover, Reji had not forgotten that there was still the Second Prince lead. From the Crown Prince''s previous memory images, it could be learned that each prince had a relic and was entrusted with a task by the Emperor. The more important the prince, the more so this was the case. Reji was very curious about which relic the Second Prince was given and what his task of guarding against the demons'' contingency n was. So... Perhaps he could make use of Trite again. ying with the mask in his hands, Reji quickly had an idea and was about to leave to make preparations. But just then, there was another small unexpected thing. It originated from those three iron cages containing children that the Governor had teleported over along with them. As for how to deal with these children who were captured to be used as "energy", Reji did not directly issue an order but handed it over to Vielsia. As a good andwful elf, she naturally chose to release them all. However, after all, she had be a demon apostle. Plus, with Eileen watching beside her, Vielsia had also grown quite a bit. Before releasing the children, she cast a memory-erasing spell on each of them in front of the subus. This way, even if they were released, they would not pose a threat to the demons or leak any information. Eileen frowned, clearly dissatisfied, but in the end, she didn''t say anything. After all, in the subus'' view, killing them all to silence them would have been the cleanest and most straightforward method. But it was when Vielsia was casting the memory-erasing spell on thest child that something unexpected happened. Unlike the other terrified, panicked, and frightened children, this little girl appeared very calm. She even stood up straight in the iron cage and took the initiative to say to Vielsia, "Sister, can I... join you?" The little girl''s words attracted a lot of attention. Even Reji looked over with interest. He sized up the girl who, although small in stature, stood with a straight back in the iron cage. Although the girl was dirty all over, as if she had been covered in a lot of dirt during transport, it could not conceal her cute appearance. Just this face alone seemed to be enough to make certain fetishists restless. If one looked more closely, Reji could see many scars on the little girl''s exposed skin outside her tattered clothes. There were bloody marks from whipping and bruises from beatings. These injuries were not recent. Many of them had formed over a long period of time and had even be scars on the skin, undoubtedly from frequent abuse. After taking in these details, Reji took the initiative toe to the front of the iron cage and talk to the little girl. "What''s your name?" "Lulu." "You want to join us? Why? If you''re afraid of having nowhere to go and being unable to survive after losing your memory, then you''re probably overthinking it." "This kind sister beside you will most likely go find you secretly afterwards and send you to an orphanage. She might even slip the dean arge sum of money and urge them to take good care of you." Vielsia, who was beside Reji, lowered her head like an ostrich after hearing this. Obviously, all her little schemes had beenpletely seen through by Reji. However, the little girl in the iron cage shook her head. "It''s no use. I''ve tried many times, and the ending is always the same." As Lulu spoke, she looked at the scars on her body. Reji then vaguely understood what the little girl meant. Indeed, a beautiful appearance is a lucky blessing for a wealthy youngdy, but for a refugee, it is nightmare... The whip marks, beatings, and various tortures on the girl''s body had already exined everything. And this had also made the girl grow up. She now had a mental capacity far beyond her peers. "I have value to you. I can be your goods and help you infiltrate their headquarters. This way, you won''t need to bring any other children." If Reji were not tounch a frontal assault but to go to the relic''s main body through normal means, he would have to do so under the pretext of "transporting goods". And these goods would naturally have to be children with magical talent. Some of these children would inevitably be sacrificed. Reji had no intention of doing that, so he had originally nned to find a few inferior demons to disguise themselves. But now it seemed... As if to prove to Reji that she alone had the qualifications to be the goods, Lulu, inside the iron cage, pointed to a token not far away among the Governor''s luggage. It was a counterfeit of the "Bonding System" that could detect a target''s potential. When Reji took it and pointed the token at Lulu, it burst out with a strong purple light. Purple light represented the target''s four-star potential quality. "The executor who found me at that time didn''t close his eyes for the entire night," Lulu added. Purple? No. Looking at the lightpletely overflowing from the token, Reji tossed it aside. This counterfeit could only produce purple light at most. Then, when Reji used the real "Bonding System" to cast a quality detection on the little girl in the iron cage in front of him, the light that appeared was a dazzling orange. Reji: "What do you want to obtain from us?" Lulu: "Power." Looking at Lulu, who answered without hesitation, Reji smiled. He personally opened the iron cage and extended his hand to the little girl. "As you wish." Chapter 192 Mind Control!? 1/2 Although he had exited the relic''s consciousness space, the miniature banner from before still remained. With the miniature banner''s ability, even without wearing the Governor''s mask, as long as Reji concentrated, he could sense the inner thoughts of the Mage Nation''s people connected to the relic. In other words, as long as he was within the Mage Nation''s territory, he basically possessed the ability of "mind reading". Just like now... [What on earth is that viin up to?] [His subordinates also seem to have left. This... might be an opportunity?] [Should I take this chance to escape?] When Reji returned to Trite''s side, this young former executor whom he had intercepted was sitting restlessly, his face full of conflict and hesitation. Reji was in no hurry to show himself. He also took the opportunity to familiarize himself with his new ability. He strengthened his perception, and instantly, more of the young man''s mental activities were exposed clearly before Reji. [No, no way.] [Without figuring out that viin''s background, what if he has some hidden tricks? Escaping now is too risky!] [Then what should I do? I can''t be controlled by this viin forever. I must find a way to run.] [I can only wait until the next delivery. That''s the only chance. When the timees, I''ll directly expose the viin to the Governor. With the Governor there, no matter how powerful the viin is, can he be more powerful than the Governor?] [Yes, that''s what I''ll do! I need to endure for now!] Trite''s thinking was quite clear. He could endure his fear of Reji, fully cooperate with him, and then take advantage of Reji''sxity to betray him in front of the Governor, relying on the Governor''s power to break free from Reji. It was very normal for Trite to keep thinking about running away. After all, he had been intercepted by Reji. However, Reji still needed himter, so he had to keep this guy with him for a while. Since that was the case, Reji had to find a way to correct Trite''s habit of "wanting to run". Previously, this might have been a bit difficult. To achieve it quickly, one could only use something like the demon race''s brainwashing techniques. But now... Reji closed his eyes and connected his perception with the miniature banner. He immediately returned to the consciousness space from before. Here, he saw the light spot representing "Trite" among the myriad of lights. Since Trite was a person of the Mage Nation, he was influenced by the relic. Now that Reji, like a hacker, had ess to the relic, it was extremely easy to intimidate Trite. Trite, who was still in the room nning his future escape, suddenly felt his mind sink. Then, as if his spirit was swept away by something, he directly lost consciousness and copsed onto the table. Trite''s soul consciousness was directly extracted by Reji and brought into the relic space. Here, another illusion constructed by Reji had been waiting for a long time. "Sir Go-Governor!?" Trite, who was suddenly dragged into a different space, was still a bit shaken and very confused. However, when he saw a tall man wearing armor and a dark gold mask in the space, he instantly lost his nervousness and became overjoyed. "It''s you! You''re here! That''s great! Sir Governor, I have already collected all the goods in Stoneheim City, but you must be careful. There is a heretic targeting us. I... I have been monitoring him for you. For the safety of the goods, I implore you to take action and eliminate this heretic..." Trite had previously thought of seeking help from the Governor. Now that the Governor hade directly, Trite grabbed onto this lifeline and quickly exposed Reji to let the Governor deal with him. However, before Trite could finish speaking, the Governor in front of him raised his hand, as if not listening at all. Then, under Trite''s confused gaze, he took out a box from his bosom. "Governor, what... what is this?" "Your reward. You will truly join us and be one with us." The Governor illusion created by Reji in the spiritual spacepletely imitated the real Governor from before. Hearing these words, although Trite found it a bit strange, he was still mostly overjoyed. What did this mean? Could it be that the viin was some important wanted criminal, and I had made a meritorious contribution by reporting the information? And what did the Governor mean by reward? Truly join us? Could it be that I... I can also be promoted to Governor!? Trite''s beautiful fantasy quickly shattered as the Governor opened the box. When Trite couldn''t resist and looked into the box with great anticipation, what he saw was a squirming spiritual worm inside. "What... what is this, Governor?" Looking at the worm, with its mouthparts filled with dense, tiny saw-like teeth and its maggot-like skin covered in wrinkles and bumps, Trite, who already had some fear of insects, instantly felt his hair stand on end and was overwhelmed with disgust. He tried to remain calm and tentatively asked, but unexpectedly, the Governor coldly said, "Let it enter your body. From now on, we will be forever connected under mother''s body." "Wait, wait a minute, Governor. What are you saying!? No, no, no, no. There must be some mistake. Take it away! Take this disgusting worm away!!" Hearing the Governor say to let the worm enter his body, Trite waspletely stunned. Then, he felt his stomach churning with nausea. He retreated in fear, wanting to turn around and run away. But at this moment, a huge force pulled him back. Then, in front of him, the Governor, whom he had admired and looked up to, actually had worms crawling out from under his mask, as if telling him that only by epting the worm could they fulfill their destiny. "No, no! Help! Help! Let me go! Let go!! No!!!" The frantically struggling and shouting Trite was still pulled in front of the Governor, now unable to move. He was forced to open his eyes wide, helplessly watching as the Governor ced the worm, which seemed to be excitedly squirming in the air, into his eye socket. "Ahhhhhhh!" In the room in reality, Trite, who had been lying on the table, suddenly woke up and jumped up from the chair. He then lost his bnce and fell on his buttocks. But now, dominated by despair and fear, Trite couldn''t care less about these things. He sat on the ground, looking at the familiar surroundings, and only then realized that it had all been a dream, a nightmare, an incredibly real nightmare. Even so, it still took him a good while to shakily get up from the ground. Trite''s legs were weak. He hurriedly went to the mirror, pulled open his eyelids, and only after seeing that there were no invasion wounds like in the dream did he finally breathe a sigh of relief. But the Governor and the worm from before had already left a deep shadow on him. Find your next read at m_v l|e-NovelBin Was that a dream? Trite believed it was a revtion, a warning from the god of Wisdom to him. Yes, that''s right! The heretic... The Governor was the real viin! No, no, no, wait. If that was the case, wouldn''t the entire Upper Senate, the entire Mage Nation be... After discovering the secret of the worms, Trite thought a little more and was enveloped by an even deeper fear. Run! I need to run away quickly! Trite indeed still wanted to escape, but this time, it was not to run away from Reji, but from the Governor, from the Mage Nation. [Quick, quick, contact that viin. Run, let him take me with him. If I don''t run now, it will be toote!] [I absolutely don''t want to be controlled by that disgusting worm!] [Damn it! Why hasn''t that bastarde back yet? Come back quickly! No, I can''t dy any longer. I can''t escape alone. I must get that viin to help me. Yes, I have to take the initiative to find him. If I wait any longer, when the Governores, it will be toote!] When Reji read Trite''s mind again, his thoughts hadpletely changed. This was different from brainwashing. Reji did not forcibly impose any will, but simply presented the true events in the consciousness space, allowing the other party to change their attitude on their own. Reji even expanded his thoughts a little. Once he got his hands on the relic''s main body, not only Trite but he could directly use this mental ability on all the people of the Mage Nation. Perhaps in an instant, he could make most of the Mage Nation''s people defect. Chapter 193 Who Are You!? Reji pulled back his distant thoughts and approached the house. Before he could push the door open, Trite, who was anxious as if he had heard footsteps, rushed out directly. Seeing Reji return, Trite no longer looked at him like a viin, but rather as if he had seen his own father. "Lord Reji! Quick! Let''s run away!" "Run? What''s wrong? Aren''t we waiting for the Governor toe? We still have to deliver the goods." Reji pretended to be unaware and teased Trite a little. Hearing this, Trite was sweating crazily. "My lord! Big brother! Brother! Forget about the Governor! They''re all monsters! They''re all heretics! Forget about the goods, let''s go, let''s leave now! If we don''t leave now, it will be toote!!" It could be seen that Trite was really deeply affected by the nightmare Reji had given him. He was so anxious that he changed his way of addressing Reji several times. "That won''t do. If we just leave like this, won''t my trip here be in vain?" Seeing Reji still shaking his head with a smile, Trite was about to cry. If he didn''t want to cling to Reji''s leg, he would have run away alone long ago. Just as Trite was about to tell Reji about the worms in his dream to make him realize the seriousness of the situation, Reji, seeing this, stopped teasing Trite and directly took something out from his bosom and ced it in front of Trite. ng! The Governor''s dark gold mask collided with the tabletop, making a dull sound. At first, Trite didn''t pay much attention. What was more important than running away? But just a nce from the corner of his eye made Trite''s eyes widen. "This... this mask!?" How could he not recognize the Governor''s mask? On the contrary, after experiencing the nightmare, he had an even deeper impression of it. Trite, of course, also knew that the mask was a symbol of identity for the Governor. Even when sleeping, he had to wear it. But now, how could it... Trite''s first reaction was, could it be that Reji''s true identity was actually the Governor!? No, that''s not right. Impossible. Moreover, the Governor would not take off his mask, let alone throw it on the table so casually. So, could it be... After realizing that possibility, Trite''s eyes widened even more. He opened his mouth, but was so shocked that he couldn''t make a sound for a moment. Could it be that this man had gone out just now to... to deal with the Governor? "How about it? Is this goods valuable or not?" "What exactly do you want..." Trite asked cautiously, holding his breath. Reji picked up the mask and yed with it, casually saying, "As my subordinate, follow me to the Upper Senate. We''re going to do something big." Hearing Reji''s words, Trite almost fainted. Only then did he realize how much he had underestimated the viin in front of him. Readtest chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin It turned out that robbing me was just a detour, a stepping stone. What this viin really wanted to rob was... the Upper Senate!? "No, no, my lord, it''s not enough. We need goods, real goods. Otherwise, even if you wear the mask, you won''t be able to pass the inspection. I think we should just..." Before Trite could finish speaking, Reji waved his hand behind him. Then Trite saw a little girl walk up to them. Who was this? Seeing Trite''s confused look, Lulu, without Reji''s saying anything, opened her still immature hands and quickly chanted a spell at Trite. Surging magical power burst out from the girl''s body. Lulu''s eyes shed with arcane light. The next moment, Trite felt covered by a powerful gravitational force, unable to move an inch. Human Paralysis Spell! Fourth-tier spell!??? Trite was dumbfounded. He had lived for more than twenty years and had not even touched the threshold of fourth-tier spells. Yet this girl, who was probably only about ten years old, could chant at lightning speed and paralyze him? A ten-year-old archmage!? At this moment, Reji got up, came to Trite''s side, and patted him on the shoulder. "How about it? With this and this... is it enough to do something big in the Upper Senate?" The Governor''s mask provided the location coordinates, allowing them to infiltrate from the inside. And this ten-year-old archmage girl, as a hidden trump card, could pretend to be their goods, but in reality, she was a bomb sent into the interior. "Enough! More than enough!" Trite said, trembling. Now he only had one question left. "My lord, wh... who exactly are..." Killing a Governor like it was nothing, and being able to cultivate such a terrifyingly abnormal little girl as a subordinate, Trite now really wanted to know who Reji was. And why was he so obsessed with the Upper Senate? Actually, Reji didn''t need to answer him. But after thinking about it, Reji suddenly discovered something interesting. He smiled, then patted Trite on the shoulder again and said two simple words: "Demon King." Demon... Demon King!? Trite was stunned at first, then immediately gasped. He searched his memory and indeed found something. In the Upper Senate of the Mage Nation, there seemed to be a traitor who had once issued a wanted order to capture an escaped criminal. And that criminal, along with a group of other ck sorcerers, had escaped to the Syndicate and became a tyrant there. Those people called themselves... The Death Heralds! And the leader of these ck sorcerers who had defected from the Upper Senate, if Trite remembered correctly, was the one who called himself the Demon King! The Demon King of Mages! No wonder! Everything suddenly made sense to Trite. This... this was the Demon Kinging back for revenge! It''s just that the image of this Demon King seemed a bit different from the short and ugly old man depicted on the wanted poster back then. But Trite didn''t mind. After all, it wasmon for the picture on the wanted poster to be vastly different from reality. After learning Reji''s true identity, Trite suddenly lost his fear and felt a bit enlightened. First, from the previous nightmare''s revtion, he knew that the people in the Upper Senate were actually all heretics. Since the Demon King had defected from them, did that mean the Demon King was actually the good guy? So now that he was following the Demon King to take revenge, weren''t they on the side of justice? The script they were holding was not that of viins, but clearly the plot of a hero''s return! If they seeded, wouldn''t he be equivalent to a founding hero of the nation!? Even if he wasn''t a hero, at least he would be a named figure who could be recorded in books! This showed the importance of having a "righteous cause". Now, although Trite was still afraid, he was more filled with excitement. He was going to follow the righteous Demon King to defeat the evil Upper Senate and bring a bright future to the Mage Nation! Thinking of this, Trite''s hands were trembling with excitement. He now had onest confusion left. That was... Why choose him? Reji didn''t answer this. He took Trite, who was ready to follow the "Demon King" and devote himself to the revolutionary cause, to make the final preparations for teleportation. As the light of the star spirit crystal engulfed them, their figures disappeared from Stoneheim City. ¡­ At the same time, on the other side... The Court of Judgment. One of the three great nations. It was also the nation that Second Prince Danye was responsible for. Now, Danye, who had lost his usual elegance and demeanor, sat on the cushion in his room, staring at the location of the Mage Nation on the map, his brows tightly furrowed. However, soon, the sound of urgent knocking came. His female attendant Lana hurriedly ran over and brought thetest news to the Second Prince. "Prince Danye! There''s new information. This is intelligence from the Upper Senate!" The Mage Nation was under the jurisdiction of his elder brother, the Crown Prince. But Danye had still nted many informants. He opened the encrypted spell message and quickly browsed through it. His already tightly furrowed brows, instead of rxing, seemed to deepen even more, like twisted hemp ropes. The intelligence in the letter was simple. Trite had been brought into the Upper Senate by the Governor as an attendant. At first nce, this seemed unremarkable. Governors would all cultivate some of their own trusted executor subordinates. But the problem was... This Trite was a pawn he had manipted. Trite''s executor position was also something he had secretly sold. This person could not possibly be a confidant of any Governor. Moreover, ording to his agreement with the remnant leader of the Old Day''s people, Trite should have been killed along with the goods. But why not only was he not dead, but he even seemed to have been promoted? The Second Prince fell into deep thought. What exactly had happened in the middle of all this? He believed that such an anomaly must be inseparable from the Old Day''s leader. But the question was, how did the other party do it? And... What exactly did that Old Day''s leader want to do? ------ The Old Day''s leader is Renji. As you may remember in the previous chapters, the Great Sage said to the Second Prince that Reji is the leader of the Old Day''s organization. Chapter 194 Hall of Heroes? Hall of the Evil God! Part 1 1/2 Vielsia''s Apostle illustration has been posted in Chapter 01. New illustrations will be posted for the other characters next week. -------- [Governor No. 578, wee back to the Hall of Heroes] After Reji used the star spirit crystal of the previous Governor,bined with the coordinates, to initiate the teleportation, this Upper Senate located at the absolute core of the Mage Nation was very different from what Reji had imagined. Rather than the Upper Senate, it was more like a research institute, aboratory in a magical world. Because everyone was connected together through the relic. It was equivalent to being in the same local areawork. After Reji and the others teleported over, although they didn''t have worms in their brains, they were automatically connected to the relic server of the Upper Senate with the help of the miniature banner. It was precisely because of this that there was a virtual voice transmitted in his mind at the beginning. Judging from the surprised look on Trite''s face beside him, who was looking around as if trying to find out who was talking, it was obvious that this was not directed at Reji or any specific person. It was more like a preset wee message that everyone who entered the Upper Senate would receive when connecting to the relic. It''s just that... Hall of Heroes? Was this the internal name used by the "Upper Senate" for themselves? Before Reji could think further, another voice soon appeared in his mind. This time, the voice was very weak and ethereal, far less clear than before, and intermittent. --"Very good, very good..."-- --"You''re here..."-- --"...Come closer... human, find me..."-- --"All rewards will be yours..."-- This was the voice of the Star Spirit Queen. Reji had heard it before. She seemed very satisfied that Reji hade so quickly. Through the power of the relic, she wasmunicating with Reji and sent him a new set of coordinates, even including the fastest and safest route. As long as Reji followed the Star Spirit Queen''s guidance, he could smoothly reach the core and the storage location of the relic. But Reji did not do so. Instead, he put it aside. When ying games, Reji was not the type of person who liked to rush the main storyline. Often, after arriving at a new map, he would put the main quest aside and explore various ces first, which was the norm. Manyter cases also proved that this was the right approach. Many details and truths were often hidden in various secluded corners. To unlock the "true" main storyline, various side quests were the key. In particr, he was very concerned about the name "Hall of Heroes" for this ce. The Star Spirit Queen, who had given Reji guidance, actually wanted to say something more, but as if subject to some restrictions, her voice quickly became weaker and weaker, and disappeared. From this, it was not difficult to see that at least the Queen''s state of being imprisoned and restrained was true. With the Crown Prince present, she could only secretly contact Reji for a bit before having to quickly cut off. Putting the Star Spirit Queen aside for now, Rejipletely yed the role of a real Governor, wanting to see how things would operate here next. Walking out of the teleportation array, there was only a corridor connecting to the next room. There were no inspection personnel that Reji had expected around, not even a single guard could be seen. There were only gray-brown marble walls, with smooth surfaces reflecting the figures of Reji and the others. Following the corridor, Reji quickly arrived at the next room. Just like at the beginning, when he entered the room, a preset voice connected through the relic and sounded in his mind. [Governor No. 578, please ce the hero candidates into the cultivation containers] After the voice, the marble wall in front of Reji slowly opened to both sides. When walking through, one could see in the room behind the wall, there were many open... cocoons. These "cocoons" were the cultivation containers mentioned by the voice. Judging from the squirming bloody openings of the cocoons, they were just the right size to ce a child of a few years old. It seemed that in order to continue the process, the "goods" had to be handed over first. Lulu was originally going to go over quietly to be the key for Reji to continue exploring. After all, this was what they had agreed upon. However, Reji raised his hand, indicating that Lulu didn''t need to. He closed his eyes and concentrated slightly on the miniature banner... Buzz! With the help of the miniature banner, Reji easily modified the perception. Although there was nothing on these "cocoons", they still closed one after another, as if the delivery waspleted. At the same time, the voice in his mind continued. [Governor No. 578, thank you for your contribution to all of humanity. You have collected sixty hero candidates this time. ording to your contribution, you may choose one of the following rewards] [A one-week vacation or one chance to absorb "Hero''s Power"] [Please continue to choose within thirty seconds, otherwise it will be considered as forfeited] Reji chose thetter. The wall in front of him instantly caved in with a small notch. Then, recing the notch was a small floating box. This box was not unfamiliar to Reji. It was the same one that the previous Governor had taken out. As for what was inside the box... Judging from the pale face of Trite behind Reji, who seemed to have been stimted, and his trembling lips, it was precisely that kind of star spirit worm. So internally, they called this... a chance to absorb the "Hero''s Power"? Reji recalled how the previous Governor had used the worm inside. He just put it into someone''s eyes, and then he seemed to be able to take the other person''s life force, magical power, and everything else for himself. Chapter 195 Killing Monsters... Gaining Experience Points? 2/2 Now Reji seemed to have a little understanding of what they were imitating. After receiving the "reward", the emotionless virtual voice continued to sound in Reji''s mind. [Governor No. 578, you havepleted a duty mission and obtained 12 hours ofpensatory time off. During this period, you can freely engage in activities. Do you wish to use it now?] "Use it." After Reji uploaded his thoughts in his mind, the "mother body" quickly gave a response. [Governor No. 578, you have entered yourpensatory time off. ording to your authority, you can choose to move to the following destinations:] [1. Private room; 2. Hero training room; 3. Spell meditation room; 4. Official business room] Heh¡­ Now Reji was increasingly understanding why this ce was called the "Hall of Heroes". The more he conversed with the "mother body" consciousness created by the Crown Prince, the more he felt a sense of familiarity. Wasn''t this just imitating the system in games? So in a nutshell, the entire Hall of Heroes was a study of various aspects of the "Hero" from a thousand years ago, which was¡­ me!? To continue in-depth exploration, Reji definitely chose option two. Hero training room. Soon, the room he was in remained the same. Another wall seemed to be controlled by the central "mother body" and slowly moved, opening a new corridor for Reji. No wonder I couldn''t see any guards or the like here. Everyone''s consciousness could be controlled by the "mother body". They had to interact with the "mother body" before they could act under the authorization of the "mother body". As for external intruders, they probably wouldn''t even be able to find the door to leave. Following the end of the corridor and arriving at a new teleportation array, the light of the star spirit crystal flickered, and Reji was teleported to a new venue. This ce was like a ssroom? Those children who were captured from outside were all sent here through the cocoons. For these children, the cocoons would conduct a secondary assessment. If their physical fitness and magical potential met the standards, they would not simply be used as "energy" but would be sent to the ssroom for training. This also exined why they had to have children, and they had to be under the age of thirteen. The younger the children, the more malleable they were and the easier they were to control. Now in the ssroom, just like an industrial assembly line, these children were being shown a segment of spell footage from a thousand years ago. The footage was a documentary about the great war between humans and demons. The brutality of the war left human corpses scattered everywhere, with countless casualties. The children might not understand war, but they could still be deeply impressed by the evil of the demon race. If it were just this, it might not be a big deal. What followed in the footage was something that even Reji had never expected. One familiar figure after another appeared. They were precisely the 42panions that Reji had cultivated in the game. Following that, the Radiant Saintess also appeared in the victory scene of humans after the war. Naturally, thest scene showed Reji''s game character, the Hero of the world. Flowers and praise songs were generously given to the Hero by the surviving humans after the war. Everyone began to work hard for the reconstruction of their homes. The Hero and the Saintess became the new rulers of humanity. This was consistent with the ending in the game, until... In the footage, perhaps to make it easier for the children to understand, the Hero''s 42panions began to demonize one by one. They struggled in pain, their bodies shrouded in shadows, seemingly fighting against something, but in the end, they all failed and transformed from humans into strange-looking monsters. The Radiant Saintess was forced to wield her sword and kill these formerrades-in-arms, now evil monsters, one by one. She was in great pain in her heart and vowed to find the source of this strangeness. The scene changed, and the Radiant Saintess finally found the reason why thepanions were all corrupted. The source of everything, the real mastermind behind the scenes, was the Heroughing in the shadows, as if his plot had seeded. It turned out that from beginning to end, the Hero was not human at all, but an evil god who used humans. Even the demon race was summoned by him. It was an evil n he had orchestrated and acted out himself. The evil god''s purpose was to absorb therge amount of malicious energy generated by the mutual ughter between humans and demons. Now the extremely powerful evil god was constantly releasing corruption. The 42panions from before were the first to suffer, turning into monsters after being corrupted by the evil god. Only now discovering the truth and realizing that she had been used all along, and moreover, because she was betrayed by her beloved, or perhaps, her beloved was always a lie, the Radiant Saintess, in grief and pain, wielded her sword against the evil god for the sake of humanity and also for revenge. But at this time, she was no match for the evil god at all. Just as she was about to be assimted by the evil god, a holy light suddenly descended from the sky, like a radiant goddess, bestowing blessings upon her. Greatly enhanced, the Radiant Saintess sessfully slew the evil god. But while she killed the physical body of the Hero who had be the evil god, she could not eliminate the evil god at its source. Given time, the evil god would still be reborn and return. Therefore, at the end of the footage, in order to dy the resurrection of the evil god, the Radiant Saintesspletely dismembered and disassembled the Hero''s body, sealing the parts and turning them into Hero''s relics. But this was still not safe enough. Because the evil god had long corrupted the 42panions and those former heroes, as well as the forces behind them, turning them all into potential evil god followers. To prevent these followers from summoning and resurrecting the evil god, the Radiant Saintess established the first empire and became the Emperor. She scattered the relics imbued with the evil god''s power throughout the world and entrusted them to different people for safekeeping. As long as the empire did not fall and the relics were not gathered together, the evil god would never be able to be reborn. But in other words... Once these relics were offered to the evil god by the evil god''s followers, that would be the true end of the world. The terrifying existence from the past would descend once again. At that time, all humans would be corrupted by the evil god. After instilling this concept in the children, they gained a sense of mission. The current psionic wall was the defense line of humanity. Every human should contribute to this. To prevent potential future disasters, they had to guard this ce and dedicate their lives to the wall, to humanity. For this, they did not hesitate to use special means. For example... The power of the former evil god. --------- Chapter 196 Power of the Evil God 1/2 The next stage of the training room was precisely to demonstrate what the "evil god''s" method was. Those children who previously did not have enough potential and talent were now all gathered here. They did not have the qualifications to leave the cocoons and had to serve as nourishment instead. As could be seen, these high-potential children walked to the side of the cocoons and reached their hands into them. The low-potential children inside the cocoons then began to have distorted faces and trembling bodies, as if suffering great pain, and their flesh started to wither. In just a few breaths, the low-potential child in the cocoon turned into a puddle of blood. In contrast, the high-potential child who seemed to have "absorbed" them instantly grew from their original seven or eight years old to the appearance of a twelve or thirteen-year-old. Of course, this process was also very painful for the high-potential children. It was like being forcibly pulled up to help them grow. They also curled up and convulsed on the ground for a good while before gradually adapting. In this way, these children relied on constantly merging with their own kind and absorbing them to evolve. Their strength began to soar. Third-tier, fourth-tier, fifth-tier... This scene simply stunned Trite beside them. After all, in his eyes, the fifth-tier from before was something he dreamed of and was far out of reach. But now, with such mass production, he couldn''t help but swallow his saliva. To be honest, if it weren''t for his extreme disgust towards those worms, Trite himself might not be able to resist. He might have been tempted and fallen by the evil god. The power of the evil god was indeed terrifying. Of course, the price of doing this was also very high. These children who had been forcibly pulled up to grow seemed to have lost their ability to think. Everything stopped at their previous stage. And the "footage" from before yed a role, making these children view it as the truth. It became their thought imprint, willingly letting themselves be a part of the "wall" and serving the Crown Prince, constantly expanding the power of the wall. "Using the power of the evil god to defeat the evil god, very interesting, isn''t it?" An unfamiliar voice came from above. The wall above the "assembly line" of the ssroom moved to both sides, and a tall, handsome blond man walked out. He looked down from above, smiling at Reji and the other two. Seeing this person''s appearance, Trite was instantly panic-stricken and retreated several steps, his face full of fear. Because that was none other than the ruler behind the Mage Nation and also the... Crown Prince of the empire. "Oh, don''t be nervous. You see, I discovered you long ago, but I didn''t attack. I even allowed you to visit my great factory. Doesn''t this show my goodwill towards you?" The Crown Prince, who was speaking, did not show any elegance or grace at all. Instead, he directly sniffed his nose in Reji''s direction. Afterwards, he seemed to have smelled some incredibly delicious fragrance. He took a deep breath, opened his arms in intoxication, and said. "The scent of relics, ah, how sweet. I can smell it. It''s on your body. One? Two? No, no, no, perhaps there are even more..." "You must be the follower of the evil god mentioned by the Star Spirit Queen. Tsk, I have to admit, you''re indeed very impressive to be able to collect so many relics. No wonder she would seek your help and choose to bet on you." "It''s just a pity. For followers of the evil god like you and me, collecting more relics is useless. We can only bring out a very small part of their power. Only the true evil god can unleash their full power." "But even with just this small part, it''s already incredibly intoxicating and enjoyable, isn''t it? You see, with this Banner, I can control the thoughts of every person. What I want them to do, they must do." Your next read is at m v|l-e''-NovelBin "Whether it''s serving me..." The Crown Prince crooked his finger at a child who had justpleted the training. The child immediately crawled on the ground like a puppy to the Crown Prince''s feet and started licking his shoes. "Or... depriving them of their lives." After the Crown Prince finished speaking, the child who was just licking his shoes seemed to have received a newmand. The next moment, without any hesitation, she released a Fireball spell at her own head. Bang! Her body turned into charcoal in the mes of her own spell. "Hahahahaha!" "Did you see that? This is the power of the evil god. How wonderful! Ever since I witnessed such power, I have already betrayed that damned Emperor!" "So now, hand over the relics in your possession to me. Let me study them. Let us unleash their power. Let us... resurrect the evil god together!!" The Crown Prince, who spoke until the end, raised the Hero''s Relic, the Evil God''s Relic, in his hand. It was the Banner of Command that could connect and control the minds of everyone. He wasughing madly, somewhat crazily. He ordered everyone to kneel and submit to him. He was enjoying the pleasure brought by the power of the evil god. Hmm? But verry soon, the Crown Prince, who wasughing halfway, couldn''tugh anymore. The smile on his face froze. Because... Those children who had been ordered by him toe and submit to him, as well as Reji and other followers of the evil god who had also connected to the relic under his secret permission using the Star Spirit Queen''s enticement, should have all obediently listened. But the result... These people were all unmoved. They seemed unaffected by his words. This instantly made his previous passionate and arrogantughter seem like a clown. "I AM ORDERING YOU! CAN''T YOU HEAR ME !!" The Crown Prince repeated it again. He even vigorously waved the Evil God''s Relic, the Banner of Command, in his hand. As a result, this wave was not a big deal, but it gave the Crown Prince a fright. Because, the child who had just been ordered by him to crawl over and lick his shoes, and then self-immte, the child he had used to give Reji a warning and demonstrate his evil god''s power, should have already been devoured by the mes. But now... She was alive? The child stood in front of him,pletely intact, as if nothing had ever happened. What... what was going on!? Only then did the Crown Prince realize a terrifying possibility. Could it be that what happened just now was only... An illusion? This was indeed also a part of the evil god''s power. He could also use the Banner of Command to influence the minds of others and make them experience illusions. But the problem was... He should be the master of the Banner of Command. Why was he also affected? Looking at the confused Crown Prince, Reji shook his head. "Sigh..." After a deep sigh, Reji was actually also very troubled right now. Especially after seeing his relics being used by the Crown Prince in such a way, and the truth that seemed to have appeared in the footage from a thousand years ago. In any case, all of this turned into Reji''spleteck of patience towards the Crown Prince. "Kill yourself." Reji uttered two simple words, and then the Crown Prince was horrified to find that his body began to move out of his control. His left hand quickly formed a seal, which was precisely the starting gesture of the Fireball spell. "You... wha!!!!... Stop, stop! F@cking STOPP!!" The Crown Prince was going crazy. He tried everything he could, but his body seemed to no longer belong to him. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn''t stop himself from releasing that Fireball spell. And the target of the Fireball spell was his own head. Death itself was not scary. What was scary was watching how one slowly stepped into death. That feeling of desperate and powerless struggle was the most terrifying. Just like the Crown Prince now. The heat of the Fireball spell was already burning his skin, and the rapidly expanding scorching heat wave made him scream in agony. Before his own head was blown off by the Fireball spell cast by his left hand, the Crown Prince had onest question of unwillingness. How? Could it be that this man before him used the relics to control him? Let''s not even mention why the young man Infront of him could take over the relics when he should be the master of the relics. The problem was... If the relics were to manipte him, they should have controlled his mind along with his body. But he clearly still had his own consciousness. Reji could understand what the Crown Prince was thinking at this moment through the relics. In response, Reji rolled his eyes. Out of kindness, Reji transmitted his thoughts to the Crown Prince through the relics to answer him. The general meaning was something like... -If I really let you die so simply, would it be worthy of the hat of "Evil God" that you put on my head?- Chapter 197 Star Spirit Queen 2/2 The headless corpse of the Crown Prince was incinerated under the mes of his own Fireball spell. Reji actually felt a bit of regret. Previously, he was mainly a bit emotionally stirred by that "truth" footage of the evil god from a thousand years ago. Now, thinking back calmly, he should have let the Crown Prince choose a different way to kill himself. Otherwise, with the corpse reduced to a pile of ashes, he couldn''t even use "Dialogue with the Dead". Fortunately, besides the Crown Prince, there was another existence here who should know a lot about the "past history". "Excellent, human. You did it. You sessfully killed that... tyrant." "Now...e, bring the relics to my side." "You will receive... the rewards that belongs to you." "I will fulfill your every... desire." Your adventure continues at m v|l-e''-NovelBin After the Crown Prince''s death, the one who reacted the most was not anyone else, but the Star Spirit Queen who had been secretly "contacting" Reji. The Crown Prince had said before that only the evil god could unleash the power of the relics. And for him, as a "mortal", to borrow a small portion of it, he could only rely on external assistance. That was why the Emperor had bestowed the Star Spirit Queen upon him to use as a power source. At this moment, the Star Spirit Queen''s voice sounded very excited and agitated, as if she had been imprisoned for a long time and finally had a chance to break free. Without the suppression of the Crown Prince, her voice seemed to have be much clearer. It was not difficult to hear that the Star Spirit Queen''s tone was urgent, as if urging Reji to quickly bring the relics to see her restrained main body. It seemed that only in this way could she bepletely freed. Reji didn''t find it troublesome either. After all, he had already promised that high-level star spirit from the underground of the Syndicate in front of the Sword of Oath to properly rescue their queen. The location of the Star Spirit Queen was in the deepest part of the Hall of Heroes. Reji went around several turns and descended floor after floor down the stairs before finally arriving at a ritual room that resembled an altar. Here, Reji could see at a nce that in the center of the altar, bound by several chains, a woman was forced to kneel. This Star Spirit Queen seemed to be very fond of human form. Now, her clothes were half-covered and half-exposed, looking very disheveled. Moreover, with her hands chained and raised on both sides, it formed a very humble and embarrassing posture. However, after the transformation of the high-level star spirit, her beautiful face, the elegant curves of her body under the golden ratio, and the starry skin exposed under her clothes, as if shining brilliantly, all highlighted her noble status. On one hand, she was destitute, and on the other hand, she was noble. Thebination of the two inevitably aroused pity and sympathy. Any hero would want to rush to rescue this troubled and suffering Star Spirit Queen. The Star Spirit Queen, who had her head lowered and eyes closed on the altar, seemed to have also sensed the arrival of Reji. Her long, beautiful eyshes began to tremble, and she finally opened her eyes. Those deep and brilliant star-like eyes looked at Reji with infinite expectation and encouragement. "ce the relic into my chest." "The seal can be... lifted." "...My child,e closer. All glory belongs to you~..." The star spirit''s voice was clear and pleasant. Seeing Reji holding the Banner of Command and walking towards her step by step, the body of the queen, who was half-kneeling on the altar, seemed to be trembling slightly, as if enduring some great pleasure. And as Reji finally stopped in front of her, only a few inches away, the Star Spirit Queen, sensing that unmistakable aura of the hero from the Crown Prince''s relic banner, seemed unable to hold back any longer. "Quickly, put it in... Put it in..." "Human... What are you waiting for... Give it to me, give it to me!!" The image of the imprisoned, pitiful, and delicate starry beauty disappeared in the blink of an eye. Instead, the chains that bound the queen were easily broken by her. The pitiful, weak appearance disappeared from the queen''s face. Now, what reced it was an incredibly distorted, crazy look, with her features crowded together on her originally beautiful and cold face. Faced with the queen, who had her hair down and had suddenly changed from a starry beauty to a crazy-looking woman, Reji was not very surprised, let alone resisting. He even took the initiative to throw out the banner, just like throwing a frisbee to a puppy. The Star Spirit Queen, who had originally risen to attack Reji, immediately changed direction and pounced towards the position of the relic Banner thrown by Reji like a hungry wolf. Only after truly getting the banner in her hands did the Star Spirit Queen''s hands tremble. She took several deep breaths of the relic, and then without hesitation, immediately inserted the banner into her chest. "Ugh, ahh, ugh..." After a brief painful moan, the Star Spirit Queen''s body devoured the banner. Her face became rosy red, and she was incredibly satisfied, as if she had been reborn. The expression on her face reached a new peak, full of intoxication, as if she had entered some kind of extreme paradise and had reached a spiritual high point. "Finally... Finally, I have obtained it... The hero''s relic... The hero''s power... This wonderful feeling of connection is so great... It is the key to Him. It can allow me to ascend to godhood and be a true... Star God!!" "Hehe... He... It''s been too long... I''ve waited too long for this day... Do you know how much torture I suffered from that damn human?" "But it doesn''t matter... Hehe, that foolish human never would have thought... When he was using me to control the relics... How could he not be helping me... Witness the power of the relics..." "So I used the relics to influence him... Subtly giving him constant suggestions. And the result, the result..." "Hahaha." "Hahahahaha!" The Star Spirit Queenughed out loud. She was like someone who had endured and held back for too long and now had to vent it out. She wanted others to know about her efforts. She needed an audience. "As a result, that foolish human really believed it to be true. He thought the hero was the evil god and even called himself a follower of the evil god. Haha, hahaha!" "I sessfully induced him to betray the Emperor. Watching him gradually lift the Emperor''s initial restrictions on me in order to use the relics, and even turn around to transmit magical power to me to help me grow, so that he could control more of the relics'' power." "But a lowly human like him, if it weren''t for that Emperor''s mark preventing me from truly harming him, he would have been tortured to death countless times by me long ago!" The queen gritted her teeth. It could be seen that in order to endure and seize this relic, she had really paid a lot of humiliation. After venting, the queen turned her gaze to Reji. She stared at this human with a smile, not as if looking at a person, but rather as if looking at food. She even licked her lips with her tongue. "Hero... Tsk, how tragic. You saved your kind from the hands of the demons and spared the world from disaster, but in the end, you were betrayed and even shouldered the eternal curse of being called the ''Evil God''. But it doesn''t matter. As a reward for you rescuing me, I said I would fulfill your every request." "I will help you take revenge on humans. I will help you pull the Emperor down from her throne. Of course, you only need to pay a small price. For example, join me and merge with me. The relics are His reward, and only you can use them most perfectly. Come, my child, let us connect with each other. Let us... ascend to Him together!" The Star Spirit Queen reached out her hand to Reji. She looked at Reji with a hungry and thirsty gaze. ------ The Him she mentions refers to the hero from 1000 years ago. Chapter 198 What Hero? He Is A Pervert Devil This chapter may be a bit confusing, but you will understand fully in the next chapter. 1/2 --- "So, you knew my identity from the very beginning, right?" Reji was quite calm, and actually even a little happy. At least from the Star Spirit Queen''s words, it seemed that the Evil God was just a nder by the Emperor, and she had deliberately deepened this influence in order to control the Crown Prince. This made Reji feel much better. He even started chatting with the queen. "Hehehe, of course. When that Great Sage of the Empire approached me, he told me everything. At first, I indeed agreed to his request. When the Hero was resurrected and helped me break free, I would make the Star Spirit race loyal to you." "But now..." The Star Spirit Queen revealed her fangs. Her expression became manic like a crazy woman on drugs. The corners of the queen''s mouth were almost stretched to the sky. Her fingernails began to grow longer and sharper. Her hair also developed in a twisted direction. Her entire body was like thepanions who were corrupted by the Evil God and turned into monsters, as Reji had seen in the footage before. The Star Spirit Queen said to Reji in a sinister tone, "After witnessing such power, no one can refuse. So sorry, Hero. Let me take over your unfinished mission!" In the end, the Star Spirit Queen like a demon, let out a piercing scream and pounced towards Reji. It was not a physical body. It was the Star Spirit Queen''s spiritual body that had been strengthened countless times after absorbing the relic. Her goal was to ce her spirit into Reji''s body, thus obtaining the authority of the "Hero" and truly inheriting those relics that belonged to Him. There was a reason why she was so arrogant now that she even dared to possess the Hero. In addition to getting her hands on the relic, the more crucial point was that she was clear that the current Hero was no longer the same as in the past. Otherwise, the Great Sage would not have made a deal with her and needed her to assist him. So in the eyes of the Star Spirit Queen, Reji in front of her was no different from a defenseless food. As for the Evil God... Did the Emperor really think she, the Star Spirit Queen, would believe in this trick she made up? Moreover, looking at the appearance of this human in front of her, where did he have even half a point of resemnce to the two words "Evil God"? Hmm!? The powerful spiritual body of the Star Spirit Queen directly rushed into Reji''s consciousness space without encountering any obstruction. The spiritual world of this Hero was like an open door, with no obstruction at all, which made the Star Spirit Queen quite surprised and even more convinced that the current Hero was no longer the same as in the past. However, when she was about to start devouring Reji, eroding Reji''s spirit, preparing to absorb Reji''s memories and begin possession... The first memory image of Reji that the Star Spirit Queen touched made her dumbfounded. In front of her eyes appeared a vast starry sea, an unfamiliar cosmic ce that she did not recognize. There were countlesss inside, and she seemed to be independent above all, a perspective of overlooking as if she were a supreme existence. This... this is the memory of the Hero? The Star Spirit Queen thought Reji''s memory would be somemon human behavior, but the current perspective had nothing to do with humans. It was more like Him. Soon, He in the memory moved, seeming to target a where countless alien races were trying to rebel against Him. As a result, with a single will of His, hundreds and thousands of strange pieces of steel emerged in the universe. Thergest of those steel battleships gathered destructive energy from the position of its cannon, and then... Buzz! With a single shot, the that had just rebelled against Him disintegrated. Countless alien races on it were buried in the sea of fire, screaming and wailing as they fell along with their mother. Despite such a cruel scene, the Star Spirit Queen felt... pleasure from Reji''s memory. Ecstasy. Using steel warships to destroys seemed to be not enough. He wanted to try something else. Later, the Star Spirit Queen saw in the memory that under His will,s were destroyed in various ways, including but not limited to various terms in this Hero''s memory that she did not understand: Buster, Neutron Annihtor, Angel of Mercy, Doomsday Judgment... After such a great ughter, He in the memory finally stopped, not because He was tired. The Star Spirit Queen could feel His emotions. It was because He was bored. So He changed his approach. Seeing others trembling in fear, He began crazy colonization, enving all alien races, and even using extremely cruel methods to make the aliens create value. For example, in another memory image that the Star Spirit Queen saw, He actually put the alien races into cans and made them generate bioenergy day and night. Ah! The Star Spirit Queen, having experienced it herself, broke out in a cold sweat and quickly withdrew. She was now starting to be a little shocked. The memory I just saw... what was it? How could the Hero have a memory... like Him? Something must have gone wrong. The Star Spirit Queen mustered up her courage and tremblingly tried to absorb another memory fragment of Reji that looked rtively weak. As a result, in this memory fragment, the Hero still had that perspective of Him. He imprisoned the heroes of a certain world in a canyon with three forks. He forced both sides to divide into camps, letting countless soldiers wear cloaks, cover their faces, and be puppets. ording to a set time, they would go to the battlefield and ughter each other, wave after wave. All the heroes became His controlled puppets, engaging in meaningless ughter in this canyon. And even if they died, it was not a true death. Their souls would be captured by Him, sent into the "Fountain of Evil", resurrected, and then thrown back into the ughter. Over and over again, as if there was no end. Wha... What a terrifying prison! The Star Spirit Queen imagined that if she were also captured and brought into this "canyon", and then began an endless cycle of fighting, either killing others or being killed by others again and again, she shuddered and felt a chill down her spine. No... No. How could this be? How could this be? He... Wasn''t he the Hero? Wasn''t he the human hero who defeated the demon race? Where were the righteous memories? Where were the bright images? The Star Spirit Queen refused to believe it. Actually, she had a vague guess, but she was unwilling to face it. She began to frantically search for Reji''s memories, but what she saw was all... Greed, cruelty. He seemed to not only enjoy the perspective of a god but also "got close to the grassroots". He once mentally controlled an architect, using all kinds of junk materials to build a bridge, enjoying the trepidation of the people there when they crossed the bridge. He once transformed into a tyrant, monopolizing all markets, giving no way out for anypetitors. All the people became machines that helped him create wealth. Tyranny, pickpocketing a merchant, and killing him in anger because he was discovered by the other party. Then, because the people around saw him kill the merchant, he was "forced" to kill the entire vige. He eventer used some strange "the game is tooggy" as if it were some kind of evil promation spell to massacre the entire city. Lust, controlling a vengeful witch to fight monsters, but deliberately limiting the witch''s power, letting the witch be humiliated by various monsters, and even actively stepping on some tentacle traps, enjoying the witch being subjected to various dangers, and even making some iprehensible evil sounds like "the CG is not bad"... Too much. Too much, too cruel! Ahhhh. When the Star Spirit Queen came back to her senses, she felt endless malice surging from all directions, like waves, wanting to devour and drown her. When she wanted to run again, it was already toote. Only then did the queen understand why it was so easy for her to enter. Because this ce was simply hell! It was a sea of evil! This ce weed every soul that delivered itself to the door and walked into the trap! She in Reji''s spiritual world was like a precarious little boat. When another wave hit, the Star Spirit Queen didn''t even have time to struggle before being devoured by the surging malice, as if falling into a bottomless abyss. The Star Spirit Queen, whose spiritual body was about to copse, seemed to sober up at this moment and let out a desperate murmur. "Liar... Liar!!" "Damn Great Sage... So youpanions of the Hero were really followers of the Evil God!!" "The Emperor, that Emperor was right..." "What Hero, where is the Hero... The Evil God, He... He is the Evil God!!" -------- Chapter 199 Kazaars Diary (Part 1) 2/2 Good news: the Star Spirit Queen''s death proves that my spiritual sea is incredibly powerful. Any soul that dares to intrude into my consciousness will be directly overwhelmed and devoured without me having to do anything. In the future I won''t need to worry about any form of spiritual attack. It''s like beingpletely immune in this regard. As for the bad news... Reji sighed. So this is what the "Evil God" means? It includes all the games I''ve yed in my career? Actually when Reji first descended and saw that over 100 million sin value he had already guessed. After all it''s impossible to achieve such a number with just the game Magic Chronicles alone. What the Star Spirit Queen saw in my memories was indeed all true. They were all my past actions in games. "¡­" Uh... anyway. Reji didn''t n to exin these things anymore. He admitted that as a yer he was indeed a bit evil. And in the eyes of the creatures in this ne... Judging from the horror fear and even theter madness and frenzy the Star Spirit Queen showed towards his memories they probably see him like this: Discover more stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin Each "He or Him" is a manifestation of the will of "Evil God Reji". As a supreme existence He wanders through countless worlds. Sometimes He controls everything from a god''s perspective; sometimes He enjoys descending to y roles indulging in the pleasure of toying with hearts trampling rules and destroying everything. The so-called Hero is nothing more than an insignificant one among His countless roles. So...Could it be that in the end a thousand years ago the Radiant Saintess chose to betray after seeing these memory images of the Hero through some means just like the current Star Spirit Queen? Or in other words... She went crazy? If that''s really the case Reji actually feels quite upset. It''s like he was clearly following the script of "raising the sword of revenge against the betrayer" but as he went along he found... In the end the betrayer turned out to be myself? No. Reji quickly shook his head. Things shouldn''t be that simple. There are still too many doubts in between. First the most contradictory point is that my spiritual sea should have the effect of being "unviewable". You cane in to look but once you''re in don''t even think about getting out. The vast stream of consciousness formed by over 100 million sin values will devour any soul that tries to peek. The fate of the Radiant Saintess who peeked at Evil God should have been the same as the Star Spirit Queen - being lost and annihted on the spot in my spiritual sea. Okay even if the Radiant Saintess obtained a super boost from the "questionnaire" I filled out and luckily escaped alive from the spiritual sea leading to everything that followed new puzzles still arise. The previous images mentioned that it was I who corrupted the other forty-twopanions turning them into monsters which made the Radiant Saintess discover the abnormality and start investigating me, the Hero. But the problem is it''s been several months since I descended to this world. I hasn''t seen myself release any corruption, right? The demon apostles following by my side haven''t transformed in the direction of "monsters" either right? Even Shermen and Vielsia who have had negative distance contact with me haven''t shown any signs of being "corrupted". At most they just turned white. Can that be considered corruption? Definitely not. Moreover at that time the game had already reached the grand ending. He had long taken his hands off the keyboard and didn''t operate anything else. So who is this "self"? Who is controlling his "Hero" character? Is it a consciousness born from the character itself? If so why could the Radiant Saintess still see memories belonging to Reji? If not where exactly does this consciousnesse from? Reji felt more and more confused the more he thought about it. And to be honest his current spections are all based on the premise that the images from a thousand years ago from the Saintess''s perspective are all "true". But... Are these necessarily true? Not necessarily. That''s just the Saintess''s one-sided story. He needs more intelligence. Coincidentally the Star Spirit Queen''s soul was devoured and annihted in his consciousness sea so naturally all her memories were left with him saving Reji the trouble. Reji quickly searched and filtered and indeed found some information he wanted. Regarding Intelligence from a thousand years ago. They were records of the Great Sage and the Star Spirit Queen. The Great Sage was one of his 42panions at the time considered a senior brother and also the ally who had been secretly "sending relics" to support him from the shadows. The Star Spirit Queen was also a pawn of the Great Sage used to assist him as the Hero. However just as the Star Spirit Queen herself said after seeing the power of the relics she gave birth to evil thoughts nning to betray and devour him. It was precisely because of this that she wanted to investigate him. The Queen had secretly used the relics to peek at some of the Great Sage''s memories. Among them, what left the deepest impression on was a diary entry of the Great Sage. ---- [Radiant Calendar Year 0001 September 15th the first day after the end of the Human-Demon War. The smell of blood in the air has beenrgely eliminated by the mages working through the night with strong wind spells andrge swaths of corpses have also been cleaned up. To be honest breathing air without the stench of demons I''m still a bit unustomed but I have to say it feels really good!] [Although there are still a lot of post-war work waiting for us I believe that humans all over the world will put all their worries behind them tonight and immerse themselves in the victory celebration. Even the stingiest "Flower Fairy" has brought out her fine wine. Heh usually she only deigns to give it to her dear Hero. Can we finally taste it now?] [Just kidding. Without the Hero we wouldn''t have today''s victory. I heard that the original "Flower Fairy" was just an inconspicuous grass spirit. It was the Hero who trained her all the way. Come to think of it how could I not be the same?] [Back then I even argued with Guardian Malvin about epting such an unreliable disciple. I even angrilyshed out at him when my teacher sacrificed himself to save him. Looking back now Teacher Malvin was right. With the foresight of the Great Guardian must have foreseen that he was our future the hope of humanity right?] [Hiss... howe the more I write the more it seems to turn into praising that brat again? Hmph there will definitely be many people inter generations praising him. I Kazaar can''t fall into the same cliche. Right what Hero? that "*******" will always be my junior brother. Why add so many honorifics in the diary? Anyway "*******" will never see this diary. Right I''ll just write some dark history about the Hero. Hehe where should I start? Hmm let''s start with this stinky bastard stepping on one two three four five six seven eight... Damn it! I can''t even count the number of woman this bastard has!] The other text in the memory was normal. Only this name"*******". It became a blur to Reji. Chapter 200 Kazaars Diary (Part 2)Bonus From the context it can be determined that this "name" is the character name he customized in the game. The events described in the diary match Reji''s impressions. Kazaar was the senior disciple of the Great Guardian Malvin in the game. He was once considered the sessor to the next Guardian in the hearts of humans at that time and Kazaar had always been proud of this. Until his appearance. As the "Child of Destiny" he was also epted as a disciple by Malvin. Basically in the eyes of the characters in the game he was hacking all the way with his strength skyrocketing like a rocket. In the early stages Kazaar''s attitude towards me was of course unfriendly seeing me as a rival. This unfriendly attitude reached its peak when Malvin died for me. As mentioned in the diary at that time Kazaar directly challenged me to a duel. That battle can be said to be fresh in Reji''s memory. At that time he repeatedly loaded saves and SL''d several times before finally beating it. Kazaar at that time was already a 7th-tier Great Archmage with terrifying strength.(Save and Load) Howeverter on because of themon enemy of the demon race plus fighting and bleeding together this senior brother gradually opened his heart to him. As said in the diary he gradually understood Malvin''s actions realizing the importance of the Hero in defeating the demons and saving humanity. From then on Kazaarpletely became hispanion. For a long time he was the main magic damage dealer in his team. Pulling his thoughts back from the past in the game Reji continued reading the diary. Actually the beginning was quite normal. No. It should be said that actually the normal part is only the beginning above. Looking further down... --- [The Hero couldn''te to tonight''s celebration. Damn it! You should be the protagonist tonight. We were all ready to drink all night and get you drunk but you just ran away like this... Bastard hurry up and get well!] [Do you know how much everyone misses you? Since you sealed the demons and threw them into the Chaos Rift we haven''t seen you again.] [Freya said your injuries were too severe and needed immediate treatment but it''s been a whole day. Why haven''t you woken up yet? This is not like you! In the past no matter how heavy your injuries weren''t you always up and about in the blink of an eye? What! Depressed after defeating the demons?] [Do you know without you at the celebration everyone is just forcing a smile? If you don''t get up tomorrow I will definitely drag you out of bed with the otherpanions!] --- The first page of the diary ends here. It seems to be describing the first night after the war when everyone was celebrating the victory of the Human-Demon War. Reji captured a few key pieces of information. The Hero didn''te to celebrate. It should be said that he hasn''t shown up in front of everyone since defeating the demons. The reason is severe injuries. Being taken care of by Freya alone. Freya is not just anyone. She is the destined female lead in the game the Radiant Saintess. The diaryes to the second page. From the date it can be seen that it is the next day. ---- [Radiant Calendar Year 0001 September 16th. The Flower Fairy and I brought some herbs to visit the Hero but were refused by Freya. The Saintess told us that the Hero is in a critical period of treatment and cannot be disturbed.] [We ended up handing all the herbs to Freya and left. Freya has the strongest healing ability in our team. Even Freya said this making us very worried. What exactly happened to the Hero?] [Sigh forget it. It should be fine with Freya taking care of him. Although the Flower Fairy is very worried I think it should be nothing. After all if something really bad happened to the Hero, Freya should be more panicked than all of us. Even a blind person can see the Saintess''s love for that brat. Hmph how strange. How does this brat have such great charm? When he wakes up I must ask him for advice.] --- The diaryes to the third page. From the date it is a weekter. --- [Radiant Calendar Year 0001 September 22nd. Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! This brat actually went on a honeymoon with the Saintess directly after his body recovered? Without even notifying us? Bastard!! And Freya too just leaving us a note and that''s it?] [No even if you are the Hero and Saintess, you can''t be so presumptuous. The Fire Elf Queen and Flower Fairy have already chased after them. I can''t just watch either. After packing my luggage I will also go and catch this runaway brat!] --- The diaryes to the third page. --- [Radiant Calendar Year 0001 September 25th. I can''t contact the Flower Fairy and Fire Elf Queen anymore but Freya is back. The Saintess told me that the Hero took them to continue traveling. The Hero wants to take this opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with each of uspanions. Freya told us not to be impatient. There is more important work at the moment.] [Although I felt the Saintess''s words were a bit strange I didn''t suspect much. Indeed after the Human-Demon War there is much to be rebuilt. Perhaps we should indeed focus more on reconstruction work. It''s just that...] [I secretly sent out a magic pet to continue secretly tracking the Flower Fairy and Fire Elf Queen. Even high-level elemental lifeforms like them can''t escape my spell tracking even if they hide their whereabouts. Hmph don''t underestimate an 8th-tier Demigod mage!] --- The diaryes to the fourth page. This time the span is veryrge. Time passes and it stilles to a few yearster. --- [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 March 17th. How long has it been since Ist wrote in my diary... Okay I admit the reconstruction work has been too busy. There are countless things to do every day. Thepanions back then either wandered the world or chose to establish countries. In the blink of an eye several years have passed. Time really flies.] [Let me see what I wrote in thest diary entry... Oh then I''ll continue writing and supplement it. At that time the Fire Elf Queen and Flower Fairy came back in two or three days. I remember their appearance was a bit strange. Hmph who knows what that perverted Hero did. I was so angry that I didn''t care anymore and immersed myself in work. Now that you remind me I actually sent a magic pet to find them.] [It''s a bit strange. They both came back but why didn''t my magic pete back? Is there some malfunction? Forget it I''ve been too busy recently. I won''t bother with it for now. Just let it continue staying outside.] [In these few years I heard that the Hero went on solo trips with manypanions. What? Me? I won''t be like the others and actively seek him out! I heard you even have to make an appointment and queue up with Freya. Has this brat be too arrogant putting on airs with us?] [I''m not disappointed at all. I''m not feeling hurt at all that with our rtionship he actually didn''t meet me for several years! I Kazaar a half-step God of Magic will put my words here. Unless that kid activelyes to find me I will never do something as stupid as making an appointment to meet!] --- Kazaar was indeed like this in the game a rather tsundere senior brother who says one thing but means another. Reji looked at the diary. Although the Hero here seemed to have appeared he had never truly shown up in Kazaar''s diary. And the text about the "magic pet" was also a bit strange... Reji continued reading. --- [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 April 21st. Freya captured S on the grounds of researching evil spells. Sigh how could S fall so low?] [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 July 3rd. Freya busted arge-scale human trafficking ring. Tracking it to the end the mastermind turned out to be ck Goose!? ck Goose was the one among us Heropanions who loved children the most back then. When I heard this news I simply couldn''t believe it. How could this happen...] [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 September 11th. Unbelievable! Simply unbelievable! What are Damien Arroyo and Abigail thinking!? Actually attempting to revive the demons?? Have their brains been eaten? Fortunately Freya discovered it in time and nipped it in the bud. The three of them were also sent to prison. How could this happen? How could everyone start... changing one by one?] [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 October 7th. Hecta imprisoned.] [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 October 17th. Milus imprisoned.] [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 October 24th. Annie imprisoned.] --- The Kazaar writing the diary seemed to have be numb in the end. He was pained by the "corruption" and fall of hispanions one by one. It seemed that only the Radiant Saintess Freya had always stayed true to her original intention sending all evil to the dungeons even in the face of formerpanions. This phenomenon continued until... --- [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 October 29th. My magic pet came back and told me a set of coordinates which puzzled me greatly. Didn''t the Fire Elf Queen and Flower Fairy return early a few years ago? Then what are these coordinates from it?] [Radiant Calendar Year 0005 October 30th. I secretly investigated these coordinates and obtained an unbelievable fact. The location of these coordinates is actually... in prison? That Stillwater Prison designed by Freya?] [Why is this? Could it be that the Fire Elf Queen and Flower Fairy were also captured and put in prison by Freya? Then who are those two people outside now? No there must be a problem in this.] [I''ve decided. Tonight I will control my magic clone to go to Freya''s prison and investigate. I must figure out what exactly happened in between...] Chapter 201 The Heros Prison Following the soul image of Kazaar in his memory, Reji felt his vision transform. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelBin At this moment, he was no longer simply reading the text in the diary but was also immersed in Kazaar''s perspective from a thousand years ago. The ce Kazaar wanted to investigate now was called Stillwater Prison. This term was not the first time Reji had heard it. Back in Syndicate when he encountered the beastmen of the Animal Gang, he had also heard the term Stillwater Prison from the beastman leader Kitsune. Now Kazaar''s memory supplemented the historical origins of this prison for Reji. Stillwater Prison. It was established by the Radiant Saintess Freya after the Human-Demon War. The original intention of establishing this prison ording to the Saintess''s words in Kazaar''s memory was to carry out post-war liquidation. To imprison those human traitors who had sided with the demon race during the Human-Demon War or those extremely evil people who took advantage of the chaos tomit crimes everywhere and profit from it awaiting judgment. This proposal was basically agreed upon by the 42 Heropanions at the time. They even provided arge amount of resources to help the Saintess. However no one could have imagined. In the future no¡­ Just a few short yearster this prison would be their own tomb. Kazaar sneaked all the way to the prison entrance using Advanced Invisibility Spell. The ce was heavily guarded with various detection spells everywhere. Many of the Saintess''s Radiant Soldiers patrolled continuously 24 hours a day. In terms of defensive strength it was even more stringent than a fortress. This was understandable after all those imprisoned here were all extremely vicious. Kazaar still didn''t think much of it when he arrived here and continued to infiltrate deeper using the Advanced Invisibility Spell. After all Kazaar was Malvin''s senior disciple. In terms of magical attainment he was actually even better than Reji as the Hero. After all Reji in theter stages took the warrior route with the strongest individualbat ability in order to solo the demon race. He easily deceived those detection magics and used Knock Spell to break open the heavily sealed and locked prison gate. Finally Kazaar sessfully infiltrated the interior of the prison but... The first scene he saw upon entering directly made Kazaar''s pupils tremble. Unlike the strict and orderly defense on the surface the interior of the prison was a mess. Not a single jailer could be seen because here in the dark and damp Stillwater Prison there were... Monsters roaming around. Yes that''s right monsters. A kind of monster Kazaar had never seen before. They were definitely not magical beasts. They wereposed of wriggling flesh. From the outline one could still vaguely see their human form from when they were alive. But the vast majority had already been distorted and mutated into grotesque bloody creatures that were horrifying just to look at. This scene alone was not enough to make Kazaar''s pupils tremble to that extent. After all he had experienced the brutal Human-Demon War. His psychological endurance was already very strong. What truly made Kazaar suddenly find it difficult to breathe was... "Ka" "Ka-zaar... ugh" "Zaa Ka-zaar..." Reji was now under Kazaar''s first-person perspective at the time. One of the roaming bloody monsters seemed to have noticed him. It turned its head and stared straight at him. Its nose which had already mutated into lumps of tumors sniffed in his direction. Then as if stimted by something it actually opened its mouth and called out his name in a hoarse voice!? What? It... recognized me? Reji could feel Kazaar''s surprised inner thoughts. And the next moment when the monster crawled towards him on all fours with a twisted gait due to the intense movement it exposed a pair of wings on its back that might not have been fully mutated yet... Not only were Kazaar''s pupils trembling but even Reji who was watching the memory now was the same. The wings on the bloody monster''s back were as crystal-clear and beautiful as a butterfly''s. Completely different from the ugly and bloated lumps of flesh now. The stark contrast formed a sharp difference. And Kazaar knew Reji was even clearer that pair of butterfly crystal wings was a symbol of identity. Only after flower and grass spirits evolved to the extreme could such a noble symbol be born. And there should only be one "lower Fairy in this world. Just in the time Kazaar was stunned the bloody monster had already crawled to the front. Although it was still calling out Kazaar''s name with its mouth it might be more like a residual instinct. When it got close it directly attacked Kazaar as if wanting to devour him and turn him into a part of the lumps of flesh on its body. Kazaar who hade back to his senses immediately fought back for self-preservation. But after this exchange he found that although the monster looked ugly its strength was incredibly powerful. Even he who was at the 8th tier was unable to capture it alive for a moment. Left with no choice Kazaar had to give up in order not to let the monster make a biggermotion. He was also reluctant to make a fatal move so he used Blink Step to sh to a distant shadow. The bloody monster having lost its target gradually returned to calmness seeming a bit confused again. Kazaar hiding in the dark could even feel a hint of sadness from the monster. Afterwards the monster dragging the lumps of flesh on its body continued to wander aimlessly in the prison like it did at the beginning. The only addition might be the asional murmurs of "Kazaar Kazaar". What exactly happened here? And what was going on with that monster? Kazaar was unwilling to face a certain possibility that came to his mind until he crossed the area of the bloody monsters and reached the deeperyers of Stillwater Prison. Here Kazaar finally saw human figures. They were prisoners bound and tied to iron cross stakes in cages. However these people were not at all the traitors from the Human-Demon War or some extremely evil thugs. On the contrary. Many of them Kazaar had heard of seen and even knew. Among them were schrs full of wisdom. There were masters in the field of magic. There were wise and outstanding kings as well as sect masters who pioneered martial arts... The more Kazaar explored the more shocked he became. Because the prisoners here without exception were all elites of human society. They were outstanding figures in almost every field. They were the former heroes. However it was precisely these people who should have been the most precious talents in rebuilding civilization after the great war who could lead human society to continue progressing. Now they were all bound by cold iron chains tied to crosses and imprisoned in this endless Stillwater Prison. To be able to capture talents all over the world even if Kazaar wanted to believe otherwise it was futile. Only one person could do this. It was also the creator of this prison. The Saintess Freya. Kazaar realizing this point recalled the frequent news of hispanions'' "fall" being arrested by the Saintess. Only then did he suddenly wake up with cold sweat on his back. Could it be could it be that everyone was actually framed? Freya could secretly arrest human elites but for the 42 former Heropanions because their prestige and influence were too great even the Saintess couldn''t do it quietly so she could only use this method? Wait... Then where was the Hero!? And why did Freya do this? Reji could feel the chaotic thoughts of Kazaar in the memory at this moment. And just then a faint call came from a nearby cell. "Is... is that you? Kazaar..." Chapter 202 We Were Wrong, We Were All Wrong Although the voice was weak, Kazaar recognized it immediately. He quickly ran over and with the help of a strange glowing nt growing in the prison, he saw the figure speaking in the dim light. "Annie, is that you Annie!?" Kazaar was answered by a series of rapid breaths. The shadow on the cross in the cell seemed to be trying hard to restrain something. After three or four seconds, it spoke again in a feeble voice: "...Freya, she... she betrayed us. She framed us, saying we were monsters. Quickly go out... warn the others... don''t believe anything the Saintess says... ugh..." Annie''s words verified Kazaar''s previous guess, and the next sentence was even more like a bolt from the blue. "From the beginning... Freya had been deceiving us... She killed the Hero with cruel means..." Killed the Hero? At this moment in the memory, Kazaar was as if he had just woken up from a dream. Everything seemed to make sense now. Why the Hero rarely appeared after the victory, why the Saintess wouldn''t let them visit the Hero before, and why the Hero wouldn''t stop Freya''s actions. It turned out, it turned out... "Demons? Could Freya be controlled by the remnants of the demons? Is it an evil demon? How could the Saintess be brainwashed? No, that''s impossible..." Kazaar gritted his teeth, his expression a mix of anger and disbelief. Kazaar could believe anyone being brainwashed by an evil demon. Except for Freya. She was the Radiant Saintess. The embodiment of all purity and goodness in the world. How could it be possible... Indeed, it was not so. "No, it''s something more terrifying. I can feel it. No one can resist it... It''s the collection of all evil. Freya has already... no... I... I''m also going to..." The shadow on the cross breathed even more intensely, and even the iron chains binding Annie seemed to be shaking violently. "The Great Guardian''s notes... Freya has been looking for that thing. Maybe it can... ugh, ahhh..." Before Annie could finish herst words, after a muffled roar, she suddenly fell silent. "Annie? Annie!?" Kazaar called out anxiously, but soon there was a response from the other side of the cell. This time, the response was no longer weak or intermittent, but the tone seemed a bit strange. "Kazaar, quickly let me out. Let''s go defeat Freya together, hurry." "Save me, Kazaar. Let''s escape together!" In his nervousness, Kazaar''s mind might have been muddled at this point. He didn''t notice anything unusual at all. He agreed repeatedly, wanting to quickly break open the cell door. But this time, his usually effective "Knock Spell" was blocked. The fence in front of him, although looking very fragile and made of ordinary materials, was harder than any stone. "Kazaar, what are you doing? Hurry! Open it quickly!" Annie urged impatiently from the shadows in the cell, her voice bing a few pitches higher. Kazaar, sweating profusely, even directly used high-level spells to bombard the cell, but still to no avail. He couldn''t even leave a mark on it. How could this be possible? A cell that an 8th-tier Demigod of Magic couldn''t open. Kazaar was already stunned,pletely uprehending. And seeing Kazaar like this, Annie, hidden in the shadows, seemed to be enraged as well. She roared and rushed out, her appearance startling Kazaar outside the cell. Because the original Annie had long since turned into the same kind of bloody monster as before. Her body was bloated, with proliferating lumps of flesh recing her limbs. The only thing remaining was her human skull, but this made it even more bizarre. "Useless! Useless! Damn Saintess! Damn Freya! She used the Hero''s relics to create this prison. She wants to enjoy the Hero''s body alone. Get out! Let me out quickly!!" "I don''t want to be a monster. No... get out, let me out!!" Annie''s words had bepletely chaotic, with no logic in between. Kazaar looked at the frenzied Annie in the cage and retreated several steps. He had received too much intelligence information in this prison. So much that he was already having difficulty processing it. His brain didn''t know what was true and what was false at all. Kazaar even felt a bit dizzy, as if some will like those wriggling lumps of flesh was infiltrating his soul. He broke out in a cold sweat and instantly sobered up. He knew that he absolutely could not stay in this prison any longer. I have to get out. Kazaar gritted his teeth, apologized to the manic Annie, and also said sorry to all thepanions who had been captured by Freya and seemed to be undergoing some kind of bizarre imprisonment in the prison. He could only escape, running out of Stillwater Prison with all his might. Fortunately. It all went smoothly. Freya didn''t seem to be here and didn''t discover him. When he breathed the air outside, Reji could feel the sense of having escaped death in Kazaar''s memory. But immediately following was a deep sense of confusion and loss. The Hero was the pinnacle of humanity. Even such a powerful figure died at the hands of the Saintess. If Freya were to capture him, he wouldn''t stand half a chance. What to do? What should I do now!? What''s the use of warning the otherpanions? Are we supposed to run for the rest of our lives? And if this continues, the human civilization we had worked so hard to reim from the demons would be destroyed again. Kazaar dared not imagine that with the elites in various fields of human wisdom constantly being subjected to the Saintess''s machinations, the entire human civilization, let alone progressing further, might even regress who knows how much. Freya was destroying the foundation of human progress. It seemed like she was rebuilding human civilization. But in reality, she was secretly... She was... She was making humans degenerate! Kazaar knew he had to stop it. Even if the Hero was gone. He had to inherit his will and continue to protect the world. Right! I am Malvin''s disciple. The sessor of the Great Guardian. I will not be defeated like this. Kazaar''s strong emotional upheaval from a thousand years ago was now being conveyed to Reji through the memory. Such a firm belief in saving the world seemed to also remind Kazaar of a point he had overlooked. "Teacher''s... notes, right! Annie mentioned this." Although Kazaar didn''t know what use the notes had. But since Freya was also looking for it, it meant that this item must be extremely important. Kazaar immediately confirmed his goal. The subsequent memory images began to be fragmented. The images in front of Reji''s eyes became more and more blurry. This was not to say that the record was iplete. Rather, Reji could feel that it was Kazaar''s own consciousness from a thousand years ago, his soul that seemed to have encountered some kind of problem, causing the memory to be blurred as well. Many scenes shed by in session. Reji tried his best to piece it together. It should be Kazaar going through great difficulties to finally find the other copy of Malvin''s notes that had hidden as a relic. And when the scene turned to the most crucial content in the notes, the memory fluctuated even more intensely, as if hinting at the emotions of the memory''s owner at the time, that feeling ofplete copse. Buzz! The memory image abruptly ended here. No matter how deep Reji delved, he couldn''t find anything. Your adventure continues at m v|l-e''-NovelBin But at the end, Reji caught a glimpse of a certain sentence in that notebook, which was also the most memorable one for Kazaar at the time, allowing the blurred memory to be preserved at the end. It was... [Wrong...] [We were all wrong.] [It turns out the demons are... salvation.] Chapter 203 Approaching the Truth 1/1 -------- Demons are salvation? In the game, the demons always brought only destruction. This was a consensus even within the demon race. In demon history, the number of worlds destroyed by demons was countless. A glimpse could be seen from the brutal Human-Demon War in the first ythrough. Reji remembered that this war, whichsted for a hundred years, nearly reduced the world''s poption by more than two-thirds. The reason why the "second ythrough" demons haven''t brought much destruction to the world is entirely because of him and also because they were defeated too badlyst time. That should have been the first time in history that the demons tasted the vor of failure. Experience new tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin Otherwise, it could be seen from the initial war council when he first descended. If he didn''t intervene, although the Wisdom Demon advocated caution, almost all the other apostles still mainly favored directly pressing on with arge army. Misery for living beings would have been inevitable. Now, through memory, his mentor in the game, who was also the Great Guardian of all humanity at the time, the transcendent mage at the pinnacle of the magic pyramid, Malvin, in the final notes, called them salvation? If it were the previous Reji, he would definitely be unable to understand, just like Kazaar. When he yed the game, he thought that demons were inherently brutal, pure representatives of evilssic viins. However, only after truly descending to the demon side did Reji discover that demons were not actually like that. Although it sounds a bit cliche, they indeed also had flesh and blood. They also had all kinds of emotions. And as Reji unlocked more of the Demon King''s fate track and gained a deeper understanding of the demon race, he realized that the fundamental reason driving the demons to constantly destroy worlds could be summed up in one sentence. They don''t know how to farm. They seemed to have never thought of "development and construction" in their bones. Even though they conquered the world, they didn''t think about developing it and didn''t know how to develop it. As a result, after "eating up" the old resources of this world, they could only go find the next one in order to survive. This also led to the demon race''s poption never being able to increase. Having a poption of several tens of millions or even hundreds of millions like humans was simply a pipe dream for the demons. Not knowing how to farm destined the demons to constantly plunder, and frequently going to war with various worlds also limited the demon race''s poption. No matter how powerful the Sorcery Demon was, it was impossible for him to allow millions of demons to freely travel between worlds. So under normal circumstances, the demons usually only retained the core Nine Apostle ns. As for the remaining demon poption, leaving a small portion was enough. After descending to the target world, the Breeding Demons would start rapid breeding and through plundering, let the demon poption skyrocket in a short period of time like an armory. After the war ended, in order to save resources, this excess poption would be actively reduced. Repeating this cycle over and over. As long as the demons maintained their overwhelmingbat power, this system could actually continue to operate. Unfortunately... In the human world, the demons hit a wall. A variable called the "Hero" appeared. However, in Reji''s view, this was indeed a huge blow to the demons. But it was more like freeing the demons from the "curse of power". Sealed in the Chaos Rift for a thousand years with nowhere to plunder, in order to survive, the demons finally unlocked the technology tree of "farming", which allowed them to survive in that barren rift. It was precisely because of this that the Wisdom Demon was the first to awaken and realize that destruction and plundering were not the only way out for the demons. Perhaps they should also learn from humans, the race most adept at development and construction. If it were the demons of the past, unstoppable, invincible, and making other races in the world tremble, would it be possible for them to awaken to these things? Obviously not, not in a million lifetimes. Ilinor could be said to be the first kingdom conquered by the demons. It was also the first ce in demon history that was conquered rather than destroyed. Although there was the influence of him in this. But being able to achieve this feat showed that the ideology of the demons was also quietly changing in the minds of the Nine Apostles. Oh right, I almost forgot. Killing the Wicked Demon was also definitely indispensable. Speaking of the Wicked Demon... Reji thought of a piece of intelligence that the Wisdom Demon had privately reported to him before. It was not long after the annihtion of Lordan. With the death of the apostle, the other Wicked Demons also shared in glory and loss. They immediately lost the status of the Nine Races and were directly captured and imprisoned. Originally, Leo''s idea was to imprison them and wait for Reji to decide how to deal with these Wicked Demons. As a result, before Leo could wait for Reji, the imprisoned Wicked Demons underwent a change. To put it simply, their bodies began to change on their own. On the first day of imprisonment, the Wicked Demons showed great agitation, not mentally, but physiologically. Some even began shaking the iron bars of the cell. On the second day of imprisonment, many Wicked Demons began curling up on the ground, much less active. ording to the description of the jailers who imprisoned the Wicked Demons at the time, it seemed that their bodies were also twitching. By the third day, when Leo went to see the Wicked Demons again, he found that strange lumps of flesh had grown on their bodies. These lumps of flesh began devouring their bodies like a gue. And by the fourth day, Leo originally wanted to observe more, but when he opened the door again, he found that the Wicked Demons had all died, and they died beyond recognition. From the corpses, one couldn''t tell what the Wicked Demons looked like when they were alive at all. There were only lumps of bloody flesh left. This was obviously too bizarre. Leo immediately suppressed this news and announced to the outside that he had only executed all the Wicked Demons. He only privately reported this anomaly to Reji. At that time, although Reji also found it strange, he didn''t pay much attention to it. He thought that it was probably just Lordan casting some evil spell on his subordinates, like if I die, the other Wicked Demons can''t live either? To consolidate his position. In Reji''s view, this was something the Wicked Demon could do, so after Lordan''s unexpected death, the entire Wicked Demon race was also finished. But now looking back and re-examining... The lumps of flesh growing on the Wicked Demons'' bodies were almost identical to thosepanions who mutated into monsters in Kazaar''s memory images. There must be a connection between the two. It was very likely from the same kind of "bizarre" power. Plus, the name of the Wicked Demons. "Wicked" Demons. Reji didn''t think this was a coincidence. All the clues seemed to point to a keyword: Evil God. A thousand years ago, Freya, the Radiant Saintess, called him, the "Hero", an Evil God who corrupted hispanions and turned them all into monsters. And from the perspective of hispanion Kazaar, Freya was the Evil God. The Saintess either framed thepanions with various crimes or directly captured them and put them in prison. Then in the prison, she "assimted" thesepanions one by one into fleshy monsters? This also exined why human civilization would regress so much a thousand yearster. Even 3rd-tier spells were extremely rare, and 4th-tier spells were regarded as treasures. The 5th-tier archmages who walked the earth a thousand years ago had now be the topbat power of nations. It seemed that the batch of human elites from a thousand years ago, the master-level figures in various fields, had all been captured by Freya in one fell swoop. This directly led to the severance of human inheritance. And from the Ilinor sideter on, Reji also learned that the empire had also introduced the "Prohibition of Magic Proliferation" treaty, which had been maintained for hundreds of years. Under this treaty, no human country was allowed to widely teach magic to civilians. Only a very small number of nobles were allowed to learn, and high-tier magic was almost entirely confiscated and destroyed by the empire. All these thingsbined resulted in the current extremely "low magic" human world. The seemingly chaotic information fragments, when organized and pieced together by Reji like this, seemed to form a chain of logic that could be understood. Known fact one, the demons constantly plundered high-level worlds. Yes, only high-level worlds. The demons disdained to invade low-level worlds and there was nothing worth invading. It was the same principle as only robbing the wealthy and not robbing the poor and refugees. The resources produced by low-level worlds were not even enough for the demons to make a trip. Then based on this known fact one, tracing back the actions of the Radiant Saintess a thousand years ago seemed to be exinable. Freya didn''t know whether there were other demons outside the world. So she chose to cripple herself and lower the world''s level to "protect" the world in this way? If it weren''t for the subsequent "known fact three", Reji might have thought so. But... Known fact three, on thest testament of Malvin''s notes, it was written that the demons were... salvation. It was very normal for the Radiant Saintess to not know about things outside the world. But Malvin was different. This Great Guardian was truly an existence who could detach his consciousness from the world and glimpse the universe. Back then, it was Malvin who discovered the elven world and took the initiative to contact them. Malvin should have also seen too many worlds destroyed by the demons. In the game''s plot, the Great Guardian chose to sacrifice himself to save him, the Hero, precisely because he had seen a lot and knew the terror of the demons who would only bring destruction. But now it seems... It should be that he was misled by the "game", or that this was all just a false appearance put on by Malvin? Malvin could see "destruction" as salvation. That could only mean... There was something even more terrifying than "destruction". ------ Chapter 204 Helping Them Be Dignified 1/2 Reji felt that he had grasped something. Very close to the truth. What hecked most now was evidence, more intelligence that could verify the key to his guess. One was Malvin''s secret notes. The second was... Stillwater Prison. For the former, Reji didn''t know if it still existed a thousand yearster and if it did, where it was. But thetter... Stillwater Prison had been preserved from a thousand years ago until now. It was located under the royal city of one of the three major countries, the Court of Judgment. There, personally revisiting this prison designed by Freya in Kazaar''s memory, he would definitely be able to obtain more of the truth. Now thest remaining question was... How should he go there? Thinking of this question, Rejiughed at himself. The fate track that the Court of Judgment believed in was... Judgment. The doctrine of Judgment was to examine evil and eliminate heresy. And as thergest and most core Stillwater Prison of the Court of Judgment, it really wasn''t a ce one could enter just because they wanted to. Only those who hadmitted heinous crimes, the most unforgivable viins, would be sent to this prison. In a sense, for the prisoners who could be imprisoned here, it was also a kind of recognition and honor, proving that they were big shots acknowledged by the Court of Judgment. And for him... Wasn''t this a coincidence? In terms of heresy, was there anyone more heretical than him, this "remnant of the old days"? In terms of being unforgivable... Judging from the fact that the Star Spirit Queen directly copsed just from peeking at his spiritual consciousness, he wasn''t just an evil person. With his over 100 million sin value, he should be "evil" itself. Thinking of this, Reji shook his head. There shouldn''t be anyone in this world more suitable for Stillwater Prison than him. Mm. It is decided then. My next destination will be the Court of Judgment''s Stillwater Prison. And this time, it wasn''t infiltration, it wasn''t a surprise attack, and it definitely wasn''t a forceful assault. Reji not only had to go. He also had to go in a high-profile and "dignified" manner. In short... He was preparing to turn himself in. With the self-surrendering criminal ready, now hecked a "righteous" officer to arrest him. After much thought, Reji felt that the Second Prince was more suitable. Of course, if he directly said, I''m turning myself in,e arrest me, that would be too fake. It would probably scare the Second Prince. So it needed to be packaged a bit. To make the Second Prince think it was a good opportunity and take the initiative to arrest him. The method was also very simple. Trite, whom Reji had been keeping, was for times like this. What fake intelligence should I make up? The remnant of the old days assassinated the Crown Prince, and both sides suffered heavy losses? In such a scene of a snipe and m fighting with the fisherman profiting, it was just a ruse. And Reji believed that the Second Prince would most likely take the bait. This was a dignified ending that would make everyone happy. As for if he didn''t take the bait... no problem, Reji would also help him be dignified. For this operation, because it involved secrets from a thousand years ago, just like how Reji didn''t bring anyone else when he went to face the Star Spirit Queen alone, Reji also didn''t n to bring the apostles. Previously, Reji had been bringing the apostles because his level hadn''t risen. Now with his strength boosted by multiple relics, self-preservation shouldn''t be a problem. Reji still preferred to act alone, just like in the game when he chose to solo each demon boss in the end. Since the Demon King said so, his subordinate naturally couldn''t refute. Moreover, they had been getting along with Reji for some time and were all clear that once Reji made a decision, it was very difficult for them to change it. However, while it indeed couldn''t be changed. Behind Reji''s back, Leo and Eileen still secretly gathered all the apostles again and held another private meeting. ¡­ Wisdom Demon: "Dian, how many teleportation anchors made using relics have been produced?" "Currently there are nine. If given another week, it can reach fifteen." Leo nodded, then turned his head to ask the Breeding Demon apostle. "la, if we supply you with three times the amount of star spirit crystals this week, how much can the efficiency of your breeding chambers reach per day?" The milky white giant octopus seemed to be counting on an abacus with her tentacles. After a while, it reported with a series of "U". Tranted, it roughly meant that it could produce 100,000 demons a day. Very good. Leo nodded in satisfaction and finally looked at the two apostles in charge of military affairs. "Hektor, Pierre, I''ll also give you three times the star spirit crystals. In this week, transform 700,000 newborn demons into an elite army of 100,000. Any difficulties?" "200,000." The Great Demon exhaled white gas and heat from his nose, the hellfire heart in his chest flickering as if expressing his confidence. The Sword Demon Pierre also nodded, indicating no problem. "Good. This army of 200,000, plus the 300,000 troops I''m transferring that were originally deployed elsewhere, invest all 500,000 troops into the Court of Judgment." "Shermen, go to the Court of Judgment immediately. Reconfirm the various strategic locations and coordinate with the Sorcery Demon to ensure that the anchor crystals are deployed within a week." "My requirement is that as soon as the order is given, our 500,000 troops can appear in an instant at these various checkpoints in the Court of Judgment and quickly take control of this ce." "Understood." Shermen in the shadows nodded. After making these arrangements, the Wisdom Demon''s serpentine eyes coldly looked at the location of the Court of Judgment on the map. He repeated to the apostles the purpose of their operation this time. "His Majesty said that for this operation, he is preparing to use a more dignified method." "Then we should also learn from His Majesty. Dignified, yes. If the Court of Judgment wants to be dignified, we''ll let them be dignified. If they don''t want to be dignified... we''ll help them be dignified." The mentally younger Eris didn''t quite understand. Pouting, she tugged dissatisfiedly at Eileen''s sleeve. "Leo... talking like a human... so wordy... what does dignified mean? Eris... doesn''t understand..." Eileen then tranted: "If someonees to y with you, would you be willing?" "Of course... Eris would be very happy... would give friends seafood soup and y the gut-scooping game with them..." "What if they don''t take the initiative toe y with you?" Eileen asked in return. "Eris would be very sad... but also wouldn''t force them... would only twist their heads off... and continue ying with me..." Eileen spread her hands: "You see, Eris, you actually understand very well what it means to be dignified." Eris had a sudden realization. The little loli hugged her doll and nodded with a vague understanding. However, Vielsia beside also had something to say. The Wisdom Demon assigned so many tasks, howe she and Eileen didn''t have any? How could there be none? Leo''s gaze sharpened. The task he was giving to the two of them next could be said to be of utmost importance. "Our preparations will take at least a week, but from His Majesty''s appearance, he might take action tomorrow. So your task is..." "To help us dy His Majesty for this week." "As for the method..." Leo didn''t say any further. The pure Vielsia was still a bit confused, but Eileen already had a smile on the corner of her mouth, looking fully confident. Chapter 205 Unraveling the Second Prince 2/2, --- Court of Judgment. "Your Highness! It''s really as you predicted. In the past few days, the magic fluctuations of the Psionic Wall have been very unstable. The mages in charge of detection are all extremely surprised. You''re amazing! How did you guess it? Also, what exactly happened with the Psionic Wall?" Only Lana could speak to the Second Prince in this tone. Almost everyone knew that Danye doted on this female attendant the most. Now Lana continued asking curiously: "Your Highness, could it be... those remnants of the old days?" The Second Prince smiled and didn''t directly reply. Instead, he turned his head to look at a board in his room. This board was covered with intelligence and information about the remnants of the old days that the Second Prince had collected andpiled. The first clue was Ilinor. This small country, which was usually inconspicuous, had a big event happen. At that time, it attracted a lot of attention. Enjoy new adventures from m-v l''e|-NovelBin Thugs from Syndicate took advantage of the opportunity when the imperial envoy was visiting for diplomacy and massacred the royal family and nobles of Ilinor who had gathered together. Even the imperial envoy wasn''t spared. It was precisely because of this lead that it led to the Seventh Prince leading troops to attack Syndicateter. And he was also able to take this opportunity to use the remnants of the old days there to sessfully eliminate the Seventh Prince. So now it seemed that it was very likely that the group of thugs in Ilinor back then were the same people as the remnants of the old days who eliminated the Seventh Prince. Thinking carefully, perhaps Ilinor was just bait, an advance arrangement by that group of remnants to lure the Crown Prince. And next, it was his turn. The Great Sage bestowed upon him a certain means of contact. With this, he sessfully contacted the leader of this group of remnants. The two sides agreed to cooperate. He would provide the other party with an opportunity to create a gap in the Psionic Wall. Danye''s gaze moved to look at a portrait. It was precisely Trite. Trite bought the position of "Governor" from the ck market under his control and was responsible for transporting energy to the Psionic Wall in Stoneheim City. This was the opportunity he created for those remnants of the old days. Up to this point, everything was within his n. But the subsequent development of the situation exceeded his control. Not only did this Governor Trite not die, the transport team also arrived safely in Stoneheim City. It seemed like the remnants of the old days stood him up and disappeared without any action at all. Then in less than a day, before he could investigate, new news came again. Trite had alreadypleted the handover with his superior "Governor" and was even chosen as a confidant to go to the Upper Senate together? The next clue was the current magic fluctuations of the Psionic Wall. It seemed that there was a problem on the maintenance side. These were all very puzzling when viewed individually. But whenbined together... The Second Prince''s brows gradually rxed, and a smile also appeared on the corner of his mouth. So that''s how it was... Danye understood where those "disappeared" remnants of the old days were in these clues. "It seems I underestimated the ambition of that leader." The Second Prince shook his head as if inmentation. "Ambition? Your Highness, what do you mean?" The female attendant didn''t understand. "I hoped that the leader of the remnant people would just destroy Trite''s transport team to cause trouble for the Crown Prince. But now it seems that not only did they not let us down, they actually gave us an even bigger surprise. They are going to directly face the Crown Prince, tsk..." Directly face the Crown Prince... Lana was still confused at first, but very quickly, her eyes widened, and she immediately said: "Your Highness, do you mean that group of remnants infiltrated Trite''s transport team?" "Mm, that''s why we saw the false appearance of Trite safely arriving in Stoneheim City. And as for why Trite was still able to enter the Upper Senate afterwards, I guess they probably took advantage of the opportunity when Trite was handing over to his superior, killed my brother''s Governor, and then reced him." "Killed the Governor!? And was able to impersonate him!?" The female attendant was extremely surprised. Following by the Second Prince''s side, she was also clear about many inside stories to some extent, so she understood how incredible this was. The Crown Prince possessed the relic Banner of Command. His followers were all connected to the main body, almost every one of them in an undying state. Even they felt headache-inducing, yet the leader of the remnant aplished it? "Not only that, their strength should be even greater than we imagined. From the beginning, they probably never intended to cooperate with me and only used my intelligence to get close to the Crown Prince." "Get close to the Crown Prince, for..." Lana understood halfway through her own words. She associated the abnormal situation of the Psionic Wall during this period that she reported at the beginning and couldn''t help taking a deep breath, even more shocked. "Could it be that they want to assassinate the Crown Prince?" "That''s why I said that leader''s ambition is very big. I underestimated him too much. They probably brought no small trouble to my brother. Otherwise, the Psionic Wall wouldn''t fluctuate so intensely." "Then Your Highness, what should we do now? Does that remnant leader still want to cooperate with us or not?" "Cooperate? Of course he still wants to cooperate with us, at least he wants to borrow our strength. Otherwise, that leader wouldn''t still be bringing Trite along. He''s actually hinting at us in this way." At this point, Danye already had a n. He immediately ordered Lana to gather the most elite warriors of the Court of Judgment. In a short while, twelve fully armed Judgment Knights were already standing by in front of the Second Prince. Each of them had the powerful strength of a 6th-tier warrior. "Lana, you personally lead the team and immediately go to the Upper Senate of the Mage Nation. Choose our next move ording to the situation of the battle there." "If in the battle between the Crown Prince and the remnants people, the Crown Prince has the upper hand, then you lead the Judgment Knights to assist my brother in clearing out these remnants." "If the remnants have the upper hand, then help them send my brother off properly." "If both sides are evenly matched, you provide cover from the side and tell the leader of the remnants not to linger in battle. Cover their retreat back to the Court of Judgment." "If they both suffer heavy losses..." The Second Prince''s calm eyes showed a few ripples. This option was actually the most unlikely, but if it really happened, it would simply be like a pie falling from the sky, an excellent opportunity for them. He wouldn''t let it slip away. "If that''s the case, capture them all in one fell swoop." "As youmand, Your Highness!" The twelve Judgment Knights, led by his carefully trained female attendant Lana, were ready to teleport after receiving their orders. Danye had paid a heavy price this time. The Judgment Knights were actually easy to deal with. The key was still Lana. This female attendant of his was his childhood sweetheart. Even when heter became an imperial candidate and was promoted to Second Prince, he never abandoned her and always kept Lana by his side. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that she was his closest family member. Danye had also considered whether this might be a trap, a false appearance jointly created by the Crown Prince and the remnants leader to target him. So to be safe, he didn''t personally take action. He still stayed in the safest rear. As for Lana... The Second Prince wasn''t worried about his childhood sweetheart. After all, the Emperor had bestowed upon the few princes one relic each, and the relic that belonged to him... was Lana. Just like this, Danye spent the night tossing and turning with a bit of nervousness and a bit of anticipation that he hadn''t felt in years. He found it difficult to fall asleep until the second day when it started to get light. Only then did he gradually begin to feel sleepy. As a result, before Danye could sleep for a few minutes, a series of hurried footsteps woke him up. "Your Highness! Your Highness! Lana is back!" What? So fast? The Second Prince was instantly wide awake and sat up from the bed. He was extremely surprised in his heart. How long had it been? She came back in just a day? And before the Second Prince could even get dressed, the next two pieces of news from his subordinates outside the door directly made Danye rush out in his pajamas. News one, the Crown Prince was confirmed dead. News two... Lana led the Judgment Knight Corps and captured the murderer who killed the Crown Prince, the thug from Syndicate who was also the biggest wanted criminal in the Mage Nation - the Demon King. Chapter 206 I Have Already Given the Demon King a Night of Education Part 1 (Note, The demon king in this chapter, when it is out of the second prince''s POV refers to the demon king Reni killed in the dungeon, not his real idenity.) --- The Second Prince, whose clothes were slightly disheveled, showing that he had hurried over, had now seen Lana and the Judgment Knight Corps who had returned from the Mage Nation. Of course, there was also another luxurious and spacious noble carriage at the back of the convoy. The first thing Danye did after rushing over without even dressing properly was to confirm the Demon King, the leader of the remnants of the old days, who had been captured by Lana. As a result, Danye looked around but didn''t seem to find any prison carriage. "Lana, where is the Demon King?" This former childhood sweetheart female attendant of Danye, now a valiant Judgment Knight Captain, immediately pointed with her hand. The position of her finger was precisely that noble carriage that Danye saw at the beginning. "Your Highness, the Demon King is being held by us in there." Lana seemed to understand her lord''s frowning confusion at this moment, so she hurriedly added an exnation: "I''m very sorry, Your Highness. Because your initial n didn''t include a contingency for capture, I could only purchase a mage''s carriage midway to escort the prisoner." "A mage''s carriage?" "Yes, Your Highness. The material of this carriage''spartment is all made from the highest-grade magic materials. It''s absolutely sturdy and can ensure that the prisoner can''t break out and escape. And inside, it''s also equipped with various spells, like a war chariot. If we encounter battle, we can also utilize it." The Second Prince carefully observed the expression on Lana''s face. No abnormality at all. Nothing in her tone of voice either. It seemed like everything was really just a decision made out of necessity for the sake of escorting - using a luxurious carriage to transport a felony criminal. Although after hearing Lana''s exnation, the Second Prince still had a strong sense of dissonance, feeling that something was off somewhere. Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelBin But thinking carefully, it seemed to indeed make sense. At this point, there was no need to pay attention to these details anymore. "What''s the Demon King''s current state?" Lan immediately answered: "He has beenpletely controlled by us. We have cast a magic seal. It''s very safe. Your Highness can interrogate him at any time." "Good, take me to see him." "Yes, Your Highness." Lana bowed slightly, then led the Second Prince into the carriage. As soon as he entered, Danye''s brows furrowed again. Because he saw that this person, who was clearly a captive caught by Lana, was sitting on the soft andfortable sofa in the carriagepartment. Not only was he not wearing leg shackles, he didn''t even have handcuffs. Indeed, Reji was currently drinking fruit juice. Seeing that female knight bring her master in, upon seeing the Second Prince, Reji felt that he should also respect the other party and his own identity. So he put the fruit juice back on the table and took the initiative to nod at the Second Prince, as a gesture of acknowledgment, and then said: "Don''t stand on ceremony, have a seat." The Second Prince didn''t speak. He turned his gaze towards Lana with a somewhat gloomy face. As if questioning Lana, what was going on here? This was how you pletely controlled" the prisoner? Howe it looked like this Demon King was still acting like nothing happened? Where did he look like a prisoner? More like he was here for a vacation. If Lana wasn''t his childhood sweetheart, his most trusted confidante female attendant. Otherwise, when Danye first came in and saw this scene, he almost thought he had walked into a trap set up by Lana and this Demon King together. But Lana''s next words made the Second Prince''s vignce rx a lot all of a sudden. Only to see... "Please rest assured, Your Highness. I have personally searched the Demon King''s entire body, checked him from top to bottom. Now the Demon King has no lethal weapons on him. Along with the two Hero''s relics, they have also been confiscated by me and are right here." As Lana spoke, she reached towards her waist. Only at this moment did the Second Prince notice that a sword had appeared at Lana''s hip. When it was taken out, although this sword looked like it had no luster and not much magic power, Danye still immediately recognized it from its unique patterns. It was the relic that belonged to the Seventh Prince, the Sword of Oath. And in addition to this holy sword, what Lan took out next from her personal package was a small g that made Danye''s breathing quicken a bit. This was the Banner of Command! It was the Crown Prince''s relic! Danye knew that his brother was simply obsessed with this g to the point of madness, extremely fanatical about the relic. Now that Lana was actually able to take out this powerful relic g, it could at least prove that the Crown Prince was really dead. Everything wasn''t fake. So, the Second Prince, whose attention was diverted, temporarily ignored his dissatisfaction with theck of shackles on Reji''s body just now. If Reji really wanted to harm him, then the relics couldn''t possibly be controlled by Lana. Heposed himself and sat across from Reji. "Although it''s very unfortunate that we meet again in this way, Demon King." The Second Prince was still so polite and courteous. Unlike the previous few princes, he seemed to be very respectful to the wise and condescending to prisoners. He still smiled and extended his hand to Reji. "Indeed, we meet again, Second Prince." This time, Reji also shook it out of friendliness. "I should have guessed your identity earlier, Demon King. No wonder you refused my initial proposal. You were once the Demon King of the Upper Senate, but you were betrayed by the Mage Nation. I suppose this time, your revenge against the Crown Prince has been nned for a long time. With such deep hatred, I can understand you." Chapter 206 : 206: I Have Already Given the Demon King a Night of Education Part 1 (Note, The demon king in this chapter, when it is out of the second prince''s POV refers to the demon king Reni killed in the dungeon, not his real idenity.) --- The Second Prince, whose clothes were slightly disheveled, showing that he had hurried over, had now seen Lana and the Judgment Knight Corps who had returned from the Mage Nation. Of course, there was also another luxurious and spacious noble carriage at the back of the convoy. The first thing Danye did after rushing over without even dressing properly was to confirm the Demon King, the leader of the remnants of the old days, who had been captured by Lana. As a result, Danye looked around but didn''t seem to find any prison carriage. "Lana, where is the Demon King?" This former childhood sweetheart female attendant of Danye, now a valiant Judgment Knight Captain, immediately pointed with her hand. The position of her finger was precisely that noble carriage that Danye saw at the beginning. "Your Highness, the Demon King is being held by us in there." Lana seemed to understand her lord''s frowning confusion at this moment, so she hurriedly added an exnation: "I''m very sorry, Your Highness. Because your initial n didn''t include a contingency for capture, I could only purchase a mage''s carriage midway to escort the prisoner." "A mage''s carriage?" "Yes, Your Highness. The material of this carriage''spartment is all made from the highest-grade magic materials. It''s absolutely sturdy and can ensure that the prisoner can''t break out and escape. And inside, it''s also equipped with various spells, like a war chariot. If we encounter battle, we can also utilize it." The Second Prince carefully observed the expression on Lana''s face. No abnormality at all. Nothing in her tone of voice either. It seemed like everything was really just a decision made out of necessity for the sake of escorting - using a luxurious carriage to transport a felony criminal. Although after hearing Lana''s exnation, the Second Prince still had a strong sense of dissonance, feeling that something was off somewhere. But thinking carefully, it seemed to indeed make sense. At this point, there was no need to pay attention to these details anymore. "What''s the Demon King''s current state?" Lan immediately answered: "He has beenpletely controlled by us. We have cast a magic seal. It''s very safe. Your Highness can interrogate him at any time." "Good, take me to see him." "Yes, Your Highness." Lana bowed slightly, then led the Second Prince into the carriage. As soon as he entered, Danye''s brows furrowed again. Because he saw that this person, who was clearly a captive caught by Lana, was sitting on the soft andfortable sofa in the carriagepartment. Not only was he not wearing leg shackles, he didn''t even have handcuffs. Indeed, Reji was currently drinking fruit juice. Seeing that female knight bring her master in, upon seeing the Second Prince, Reji felt that he should also respect the other party and his own identity. So he put the fruit juice back on the table and took the initiative to nod at the Second Prince, as a gesture of acknowledgment, and then said: "Don''t stand on ceremony, have a seat." The Second Prince didn''t speak. He turned his gaze towards Lana with a somewhat gloomy face. As if questioning Lana, what was going on here? This was how you pletely controlled" the prisoner? Howe it looked like this Demon King was still acting like nothing happened? Where did he look like a prisoner? More like he was here for a vacation. If Lana wasn''t his childhood sweetheart, his most trusted confidante female attendant. Otherwise, when Danye first came in and saw this scene, he almost thought he had walked into a trap set up by Lana and this Demon King together. But Lana''s next words made the Second Prince''s vignce rx a lot all of a sudden. Only to see... "Please rest assured, Your Highness. I have personally searched the Demon King''s entire body, checked him from top to bottom. Now the Demon King has no lethal weapons on him. Along with the two Hero''s relics, they have also been confiscated by me and are right here." As Lana spoke, she reached towards her waist. Only at this moment did the Second Prince notice that a sword had appeared at Lana''s hip. When it was taken out, although this sword looked like it had no luster and not much magic power, Danye still immediately recognized it from its unique patterns. It was the relic that belonged to the Seventh Prince, the Sword of Oath. And in addition to this holy sword, what Lan took out next from her personal package was a small g that made Danye''s breathing quicken a bit. This was the Banner of Command! It was the Crown Prince''s relic! Danye knew that his brother was simply obsessed with this g to the point of madness, extremely fanatical about the relic. Now that Lana was actually able to take out this powerful relic g, it could at least prove that the Crown Prince was really dead. Everything wasn''t fake. So, the Second Prince, whose attention was diverted, temporarily ignored his dissatisfaction with theck of shackles on Reji''s body just now. If Reji really wanted to harm him, then the relics couldn''t possibly be controlled by Lana. Heposed himself and sat across from Reji. "Although it''s very unfortunate that we meet again in this way, Demon King." The Second Prince was still so polite and courteous. Unlike the previous few princes, he seemed to be very respectful to the wise and condescending to prisoners. He still smiled and extended his hand to Reji. "Indeed, we meet again, Second Prince." This time, Reji also shook it out of friendliness. "I should have guessed your identity earlier, Demon King. No wonder you refused my initial proposal. You were once the Demon King of the Upper Senate, but you were betrayed by the Mage Nation. I suppose this time, your revenge against the Crown Prince has been nned for a long time. With such deep hatred, I can understand you." Chapter 207 I Have Already Given the Demon King a Night of Education Part 2 "I should have guessed your identity earlier, Demon King. No wonder you refused my initial proposal. You were once the Demon King of the Upper Senate, but you were betrayed by the Mage Nation. I suppose this time, your revenge against the Crown Prince has been nned for a long time. With such deep hatred, I can understand you." The Second Prince seemed to want to stir up emotions and get close, but Reji waved his hand, indicating that he was exaggerating: "Not to that extent, just a momentary impulse." Danye: "..." A momentary impulse, and then ughtered the Upper Senate of the Mage Nation, and even killed the Crown Prince who had the most hope of inheriting the position of Emperor in the future? "I''m very curious. My brother''s strength is unfathomable. Even I dare not say I can hurt him. And you, you killed him. How exactly did you do it?" Reji: "Not difficult, just use your younger brother''s sword." Younger brother''s... sword? The Sword of Oath? "This sword specializes in killing evildoers. When it sees those extremely wicked people, it will take the initiative to attack. When it saw the Crown Prince, this holy sword just flew out directly. Mm... it seems your brother must have done a lot of evil deeds." Seeing Reji across from him shake his head, seeming a bit sighing, the Second Prince was now making a quick judgment. So that''s how it was... Indeed, the only thing that could kill the Crown Prince was a Hero''s relic. It''s just that this Sword of Oath originally had this kind of hidden ability. I have to make a good record of itter. Reji: "Judging from yourplexion, could it be that you''re also worried about being hurt by the holy sword because you haven''t done few unscrupulous things usually?" "I''m different from them. I wholeheartedly serve the empire and the people. It''s you, Demon King. You have already been captured by Lana now, but from your appearance, you don''t seem that nervous?" "Yeah, I''ve figured it out. On the way here, Captain Lana gave me a night of ideological education. Now I have deeply reflected on my mistakes and will ept any uing arrangements. Right, Lana?" As he said this, Reji turned his gaze to the attendant and female knight captain beside the Second Prince. Lana immediately nodded solemnly and seriously assured Danye: "Please rest assured, Your Highness. Although the process was a bit difficult, after a night of effort, I have sessfully squeezed out the Demon King''s evil using the doctrine of ''Judgment'', forced out the Demon King''s inner original sin, and with this, also sealed all his magic power. Now the Demon King has already submitted to justice mentally and can be disposed of as we please." After hearing this, although the Second Prince always felt a bit ufortable, he seemed to be unable to find any problems. Judgment and Radiance were both fate tracks with inherent "cleansing" abilities. Cases of being forced to "turn over a new leaf" like this were not few. "You''ve worked hard, Lana." "It''s not hard work. It''s all His Highness''s task." The female knight straightened her back, the silver-gray Judgment armor on her chest shining under the candlelight in the carriage. The Second Prince didn''t think much of it. Afterwards, he left the carriage with Lana, intending to avoid Reji and have a private conversation. As soon as they came out, seeing that the Second Prince seemed to still be hesitating about how to deal with Reji, the female knight immediately suggested: "Your Highness, I think it''s better to let such a viin ept true ''Judgment'' as soon as possible." "You mean..." "Stillwater Prison, Red Moon Judgment." Lana lightly uttered these 5 words. This was the highest level of judgment in the Court of Judgment. Only for those extremely wicked viins. Every time it was held, it almost required gathering the various grand justices of the Court of Judgment. Under the witness of many associate justices, the Chief Justice would personally open the entrance to Stillwater Prison and throw the viin into the bottomless abyss of the prison in front of everyone, to warn all viins who went against the doctrine of Judgment. Originally, Danye was still hesitating, wanting to subdue Reji. But after hearing Lana''s suggestion like this, he pondered slightly and nodded. "You''re right. It''s better not to keep such a dangerous person around for long. Let''s do as you say. Time is of the essence. Immediately go notify the Chief Justice and the grand justices. We will carry out the sentence today." "As youmand, Your Highness." After Lana left, the Second Prince let out a long sigh. But very quickly, he still felt a vague unease in his heart, feeling that something had gone wrong there. At this moment, he suddenly recalled a detail. The fruit juice that the Demon King had ced on the table when he came in seemed to not be ordinary fruit juice. It was the kind that Lana often prepared for him? This kind of fruit juice couldn''t be bought on the market. Only his personally trained female attendant, his childhood sweetheart who understood him the most, knew the recipe. No, no, no. I must be overthinking or seeing wrong. In this world, no one understood Lana better than me. She is my childhood friend who could give everything for me. Betrayal simply didn''t exist. Moreover, if Lana really wanted to betray me, if she was being controlled, how could she still take the initiative to propose throwing that Demon King into Stillwater Prison? Since the establishment of that prison, almost anyone who went in had absolutely no chance ofing out alive. Shaking his head. Danye told himself not to think wildly anymore. It was better to hurry and go take care of proper business. After the Crown Prince''s death, although he no longer had anypetitors, just in case, he still needed a stage to showcase himself, an opportunity to transform the Crown Prince''s death into his own prestige. This was also why he would agree and quickly hold a Red Moon Judgment for Reji, this runaway criminal Demon King, and throw him into Stillwater Prison. This was an excellent opportunity. So this trial would be personally presided over by him. And although it was convened urgently, it still had to be done solemnly, had to be done grandly, had to be done in a way that would make people... remember it vividly. Chapter 208 Judging the Demon King? Part 1 -------- The Tower of Justice was the most famous building in the Court of Judgment. It was 927 meters tall, the shape of the tower resembling an inverted water droplet. Although it was over a hundred stories high, only the topmost spire of the tower was used as a "courtroom". The interiors of the remaining tower columns were all hollow. This design symbolized the supremacy of the court, above everything else. After felony criminals were judged here, if more than half of the judges voted in favor, the barrier under the prisoner''s feet would be directly opened. At that time, the prisoner would fall from the cloud-piercing tower top, along the internal passage of the tower, directly losing weight and falling all the way down to the bottom of the tower, into that legendary Stillwater Prison. Yes, the Tower of Justice was built directly above the most famous Stillwater Prison of the Court of Judgment. The entire process was like being cast from heaven into hell. So the Tower of Justice was also often called the Tower of Exile by the locals. Although ordinary citizens of the Court of Judgment couldn''t approach the Tower of Justice, let alone have the qualifications to attend the trial as jurors, they could still watch the entire process through the official magic projection. For the people of the Court of Judgment, they basically wouldn''t miss any judgment that could be held in the Tower of Justice. After all, those who could be judged here were definitely not small fry. Each and every one of them was an unforgivable viin who hadmitted various heinous crimes. Watching such thoroughly wicked human scum being thrown into Stillwater Prison. It was both a thrill and a ceremony that made them feel proud. And today. All the people of the Court of Judgment were very excited. Because not long ago, their Second Prince Danye, announced that through the efforts of the Judgment Knight Corps, their female knight captain Lana, had sessfully captured the Demon King, a felony criminal from the Mage Nation who had been on the run. And now, without dy, the cloud-piercing Tower of Justice began to sh with dazzling radiance. A grand and solemn trial was being carried out immediately. The light from the tall tower was visible to everyone and also made everyone''s faces change color. It was... A ring red glow. ording to the different degrees of evil of the prisoner, the light refracted by the tall tower would also be different. From bottom to top, it was white, gray, ck, and... red. This also exined why countless citizens of the Court of Judgment who were watching the magic projection, after being shocked, immediately turned into extreme anticipation and excitement. After all, the "red glow" symbolized the highest judgment of the Tower of Justice - the Blood Moon Judgment. And thest time the tall tower shed red was probably a hundred years ago. Just what kind of viin was it? Your next chapter is on m v|l-e''-NovelBin And what kind of sin did theymit to make the tall tower sh with a red glow unseen for a hundred years? The eyes of all the people of the Court of Judgment were focused on the magic projection. They were all concentrated on... A youth in the center of the courtroom at the top of the tower, in the position of the defendant prisoner. It was the first time the citizens of the Court of Judgment had seen such a young prisoner. Moreover, what puzzled them even more was that the youth wasn''t like those felony criminals who were escorted to the Tower of Justice before, with handcuffs, leg chains, and a ck cor around the neck to seal magic power. The youth had nothing on him. If they had to say, the citizens could see a kind of spider web-like thin thread surrounding the youth''s body, trapping and binding him in ce if they looked carefully. Regarding this, one of the jurors in the court, also the biggest contributor to capturing the Demon King, the female knight captain Lana, gave an exnation to the citizens. Only to see Lana hold up a g. That was precisely the Hero''s relic that belonged to the Crown Prince, the Banner of Command. Ordinary citizens of course didn''t recognize it. But after the exnation, they understood that those thin threads were emitted from this g. It was a spiritual thread more powerful than physical restraint. Now this Demon King had already submitted mentally. Every thought of the youth would be exposed through the thin threads. Any wicked ideas would have nowhere to hide. Once there was a thought of resistance, Lana, as the Judgment Knight Captain, would subdue him at the first moment. The citizens of the Court of Judgment sighed in admiration at the power of that g and the female knight captain, but at the same time, they were puzzled. How did the Crown Prince''s holy item appear with Lord Danye? And the subsequent trial cleared up the doubts of the citizens one by one. "Demon King." "Do you plead guilty?" A solemn and heavy voice resounded in the courtroom at the top of the tower. Only to see a grand justice wearing a ck robe and a tall hat, dressed neatly, sitting on a high-backed chair. He and the other eleven judges, as if in a round table meeting, formed a circle, looking down from above at the youth in the position of the "defendant" below. The grand justice opened a book of testimonies, which listed the various evidence of crimes belonging to this young Demon King. "You and your subordinates, taking advantage of the imperial envoy''s diplomatic visit to Ilinor, turned what should have been a national celebration banquet into a bloody massacre." "ording to statistics, a total of 793 innocent people attending the banquet, from the royal family and nobles of Ilinor to the king, were deprived of their lives by you and died tragically on the spot." Chapter 209 Judging the Demon King? Part 2 -- "You and your subordinates, taking advantage of the imperial envoy''s diplomatic visit to Ilinor, turned what should have been a national celebration banquet into a bloody massacre." "ording to statistics, a total of 793 innocent people attending the banquet, from the royal family and nobles of Ilinor to the king, were deprived of their lives by you and died tragically on the spot." "In the following days, you still carried out killings in secret. No less than a hundred high-ranking officials of Ilinor died from assassination for resisting your tyranny. The entire Ilinor no longer had a single nobleman. The inheritance and umtion of many families were destroyed by you in an instant." "And the people of Ilinor, having lost the leadership of the nobles, suffered unspeakably, wandering homeless. The country was in chaos from top to bottom." "The above are the various crimes youmitted against Ilinor." "Demon King, do you... admit it?" After the grand justice''s words, the citizens of the Court of Judgment who came to attend the trial through the magic projection suddenly burst into an uproar. What a cruel and brutal extreme evildoer! Killing civilians was one thing. How could he even kill the nobles? The nobles were so kind and righteous. They provided them with jobs, arranged amodation for them, and constantly maintained social stability, creating aw-abiding and peaceful living environment for them. How could this group of viins bring themselves to do it? At the same time, the citizens of the Court of Judgment also felt sympathy and pity for Ilinor. Although many people didn''t know about this small country. But it was easy to imagine with one''s feet. Without the leadership of the nobles, how could those civilians live? Where could they find jobs? It was simply a world of darkness. The civilians shook their heads, and the nobles of the Court of Judgment also changed their eyes when looking at the youth. Crows everywhere are just as ck. Nobles were the same regardless of country. The nobles from the Court of Judgment also had a sense of shared hatred at this moment and cast malicious gazes at Reji. "I admit it." The youth in the center of the tower top spoke. Reji didn''t deny the fact of the bloody massacre. But as for the rest... "However, those nobles and royals of Ilinor were corrupt and abused their power to do as they pleased. Compared to leaders, I think it''s more appropriate to describe them as maggots growing on the country. Simrly, I believe they deserved to die." "So after the bloody massacre, Ilinor, having lost the nobles, did not fall into chaos as you said. On the contrary." The magic image of the trial suddenly changed. As if intervened by some external force. It was no longer broadcasting the trial of that young Demon King on the tall tower, but turned into another scene from Ilinor. Only to see that the lives of the people here in Ilinor didn''t seem to have changed much. Those who should work still worked, and those who should farm still farmed. Explore stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin The only difference was that the wages for work might have increased. They received thebor value that should have belonged to them, without exploitation by a third party. In the magic academy, many children in in clothes appeared. These were obviouslymoners. In any country, they shouldn''t have appeared, becausemoners were not allowed to learn magic. But with the poprization of magic, farmers'' crops grew several times with the help of their children''s magic. Apprentices in foundries could also use various spells to assist production. People from all walks of life began to use magic to create more value. Such an Ilinor achieved a leap in productivity in a very short period of time. The whole country seemed to be thriving. The faces of the people on the streets were filled with smiles. A rich atmosphere of magic was generated among the people. There was nock ofmoner geniuses being born, starting to improve and refine magic. Ilinor''s national strength level could be seen leaping. As for the nobles... It seemed that in just a few short months, the nobles had beenpletely forgotten by the people of Ilinor, disappearing without a trace. Seeing these projections, the people of the Court of Judgment were a bit shocked for a moment. Especially for the ordinary citizens, it produced a very strong impact. They didn''t understand. Why did those civilians in Ilinor not only not starve to death after losing the leadership of the nobles, but instead lived better lives? When these people wanted to see more, the projection was directly cut off as if in a fit of rage. In the courtroom at the top of the tower, the Second Prince''s brows furrowed. "What''s going on?" "Sorry, Your Highness. It seems that the Crown Prince''s relic had an error and projected that Demon King''s mental consciousness. But please rest assured, Your Highness. I have repaired the loophole." Lana immediately exined to Danye. The Second Prince moved his lips. If it were anyone else, making such a big mistake, they would have been dragged out and executed on the spot. But after all, the one carrying out the task now was Lana, his most trusted friend. Danye didn''t say much, only: "This trial is very important. Don''t let any more idents happen." "Yes, Your Highness." "Tell the grand justice to continue." The brief anomaly was eliminated. The court regained its initial solemnity and killing intent. The grand justice''s heavy judgment voice continued to resound. "After the great massacre in Ilinor, you fled to Syndicate to escape the pursuit of the empire." "However, there, you plotted an even bigger conspiracy. You fabricated a set of ruins, which was actually a trap you set. After luring countless Syndicate people in, you used them as hostages to force the Seventh Prince Olba, who came to subjugate you." "The kind Seventh Prince, in order to save those people in the ruins, resolutely entered your trap alone and was ultimately murdered by you. Afterwards, you even used witchcraft and evil methods to turn the tens of thousands of cavalrymen of the Crown Prince, the brave soldiers of the empire, into bizarre monsters." "Demon King, the above are the various evil deeds youmitted in Syndicate. Do you... admit it?" Chapter 210 Wrong! Demon Kings Judgment! The citizens of the Court of Judgment, who had just had a bit of a change in attitude towards Reji due to the reversal in Ilinor, were now shocked again after hearing the grand justice''s words. They were filled with righteous indignation for the kind Seventh Prince. Even though Syndicate was full of viins, the Seventh Prince still valued them. In order to save the hostages, he jumped into the trap. What great righteousness. On the contrary, that young criminal who called himself the "Demon King" was simply too despicable and shameless, and extremely evil. Just what kind of evil magic could turn people into monsters? Was all this true? The eyes of the citizens of the Court of Judgment were on the youth in the center. "I admit it." Reji continued to nod. Of course, his words had a second half. "However, the ruins were not fabricated. Indeed, many adventurers obtained treasures from them. Only those who were greedy butcked the strength would be buried in the ruins due to their own greed, such as the kind Seventh Prince you mentioned." The image of the magic projection changed again. Like before, this time it was the interior of the underground city ruins in Syndicate. From the image, one could see that there were indeed many dangerous monsters roaming in the ruins. But beside these monsters, there were also glowing treasure chests, among which there was nock of precious magic scrolls, potions, items, and even priceless enchanted weapons. Under such light and shadow, even the Second Prince was stunned for a moment. Anything taken out of this underground city would probably be worth a fortune. And although the ordinary citizens didn''t understand magic, the golden treasure chests were the best visual impact. They all swallowed their saliva one by one. Immediately after, the kind and upright Seventh Prince appeared. Only to see that he didn''t go to rescue the so-called hostages in the ruins. On the contrary, because there were many traps in the underground city, the Seventh Prince even captured civilians and used these flesh and blood to help him scout the way and remove the traps. This ugly appearance and disregard for human life waspletely opposite to the propaganda, once again causing an uproar among the citizens of the Court of Judgment. "LANA!!" The Second Prince also came back to his senses and hurriedly returned from his yearning for the treasures in the ruins to reality. This time he was really angry, losing his temper at his female attendant for the first time. Not only because Reji exposed the truth about Syndicate. Read thetest on m_v-l''e|-NovelBin What Danye was more afraid of was thatter, if Reji also exposed the truth about the "mutation" of those imperial soldiers, it would be troublesome. After all, he was the one behind that matter. "Give me that g!" Danye hurriedly wanted to use the Banner of Command to cut off Reji''s mental influence, but found that this g didn''t listen to him at all. The Second Prince, who was both embarrassed and angry at the moment, had no choice but to hand the g back to Lana. "Hurry up! Cut it off!" Under the Second Prince''s impatient order, Lana fiddled with the g a few times, and finally the image disappeared. Although Danye really wanted to question Lana about this, didn''t she say she had control over the Demon King? How could she still let the other party take advantage of loopholes frequently? But he still endured it and didn''t choose to lose his temper here. One reason was that the current trial was still being projected to the entire Court of Judgment. It was a very important part of his personal image. He couldn''t lose hisposure. Secondly, now it seemed that the relic could indeed only be used by Lana. The Second Prince also understood this point. After all, Lana herself was a relic, or rather, she was "created" by him using a relic. With no time to reprimand Lana any further, the Second Prince hurriedly gave a signal with his eyes to the judges above, telling them not to read out the crimes anymore. Quickly speed up and directly exile that Demon King. Let that damn youth directly fall into Stillwater Prison! After receiving the Second Prince''s instructions, the grand justice hurriedly obeyed. It seemed that this "Tower of Justice" was not so just after all. "Demon King, in addition to this, there are also many other crimes such as robbing the Governor, bribing the nobles of Stoneheim City, killing the Prefect, rebelling against the Upper Senate, murdering the Crown Prince, etc." "Your crimes are unforgivable. The wronged souls who died at your hands are countless. I, on behalf of ''Judgment'', execute the highest punishment on you. You will be branded with the ''Blood Moon'' seal and sentenced to ''Stillwater''!" The climax of the entire trial had arrived. Although the citizens of the Court of Judgment felt that the process was a bit off, they quickly didn''t care anymore. Their attention was all attracted by the uing judgment. Only to see the red glow of the entire Tower of Justice suddenly erupted and reached its peak under the grand justice''s words. A phantom of a scarlet blood moon appeared on the barrier under Reji''s feet. As mentioned before, the Tower of Justice was built on top of Stillwater Prison. And Stillwater Prison held the most evil viins. So the Tower of Justice was actually also a kind of suppression. The so-called blood moon was actually the embodiment formed by the umted evil thoughts in Stillwater Prison. If one didn''t want the blood moon to erupt. They had to constantly offer sacrifices. That''s right. It was the most evil viins. So the previous mention of suppression wasn''t quite right. The current Tower of Justice was more like an altar, offering the most evil viins to the blood moon of Stillwater Prison in order to satisfy it. But in this way, it would only further deepen the intensity of the blood moon''s evil thoughts, forming a vicious cycle. However, fortunately, this kind of evil cycle was about to end. The grand justice forcefully struck a mechanism in front of him with the hammer symbolizing Judgment. This was the favorite part of the citizens of the Court of Judgment. Next, under the mechanism, the barrier would be opened, and the entrance to Stillwater Prison would also be opened at the same time. And the prisoner who was standing in the center before would instantly fall down, being exiled and falling into the eternally sunless and terrifying hell of Stillwater Prison amidst screams and wails. Everything was going ording to n. The barrier opened, and the malice of the blood moon immediately gushed out. It charged recklessly, disregarding everyone. Those so-called grand justices and believers of judgment were all like ants in its eyes, just people who offered sacrifices to it. Now it couldn''t wait to see what the sacrifice was this time, the quality of the tribute to be sent into Stillwater Prison. This phantom of the scarlet blood moon directly rushed into Reji''s body as usual. And then... And then there was nothing more. The phantom of the blood moon, at a speed several times faster than before, as if it had seen something extremely terrifying, if the phantom had a voice, it would probably be screaming at this moment. And in the eyes of the people of the Court of Judgment, they only saw the blood moon phantom suddenly run back from the opened barrier, straight towards itsir below, Stillwater Prison. It... it ran away? All the people of the Court of Judgment, the citizens, the Second Prince, and the grand justices were all dumbfounded, stunned on the spot. But it wasn''t over yet. Next, they saw the barrier that had just been opened, the passage that should have exiled the criminal into Stillwater Prison, was directly... Bam! It was directly closed. This was not their doing at all. It was like the action of that malicious condensed blood moon phantom from before. As if saying... Don''te over! Absolutely don''t let that guy in!! We don''t want to get involved!! In an instant, the huge circr courtroom was silent as a grave. Everyone fell silent. In confusion. This deathly stillness was only broken by a young man''s voice. "Since everyone has stopped talking, let me say a few words." "Don''t worry, just two sentences." Reji stretched his body. Those thin threads that seemed to be entangling and binding him all vanished into nothingness. Then he waved his hand, and the three Hero''s relics immediately revolved around his body. Yes, three. The Banner of Command, the Sword of Oath, and... Lana. This knight captain who was utilized and synthesized through the "human refinement" system. Immediately after, a red glow shed in Reji''s eyes. That kind of red glow, people had seen it before. It was precisely that blood moon just now. But before it was a phantom, but this time, it was condensed into substance. Reji spoke his two sentences. "You missed one evil deed in what you said." "The fall of the Court of Judgment." He did what he said. Just two sentences. With the end of thest sentence, the barrier that was originally connected to Stillwater Prison and closed reopened under the flourishing blood light in Reji''s eyes, and its scope began to continuously expand until it enveloped... The entire Tower of Justice. It enveloped the grand justices, the noble jury, the Second Prince, it enveloped... every high-ranking member of the Court of Judgment present. The pitch-ck abyss-like Stillwater Prison was right below the barrier. In other words, as long as anyone present dared to move slightly, what awaited them might be a fall. Falling into that terrifying hell with absolutely no possibility of survival, never to turn over, feared by everyone in the Court of Judgment and also making everyone tremble at the mention of it, Stillwater Prison. Thus, a new trial began. And this time, there was only one "grand justice". The Demon King. Chapter 211 The Origin of the Insect Eggs "Sergei." In the Blood Moon Judgment, Reji''s gaze turned to the first judge to ept "judgment". Because of their faith in the "Judgment" fate track, the appearance and temperament of every high-ranking member of the Court of Judgment were subtly influenced. Their faces were as sharp as knives, iron-faced without a hint of emotion, seemingly full of impartiality and uprightness. Just like now, although the court had changed abruptly and the prisoner had broken free, turning the tables, even being the first to be named by the Demon King, Judge Sergei still had an unchanged expression. He straightened his body, as if he would never submit to evil. "Are you guilty?" Reji gave Judge Sergei a chance to speak first. But obviously, the other party didn''t cooperate like he did before. Instead, he looked at Reji coldly and continued to reprimand Reji in a judge''s tone: "The court is a sacred ce that cannot be desecrated. Your evil today will surely receive His judgment!" "Is that so? I don''t think so. If He really still exists... you hypocritical believers should be the first to be liquidated by Him, right?" Reji''s words, through the magic projection of the Tower of Justice, fell into the ears of every citizen of the Court of Judgment who was observing this Blood Moon Judgment. The vast majority of people became angry. After all, these judges were the face of the Court of Judgment, the representatives of their self-proimed fairness and justice. Now they were actually called hypocritical believers by a prisoner. This was simply denying their entire Court of Judgment. But with the next moment''s new action of that young Demon King in the magic projection, the citizens of the Court of Judgment who were originally filled with righteous indignation suddenly stopped. The indignation on their faces quickly turned into confusion and bewilderment. Only to see Reji give a gesture. Afterwards, the Judgment Knight Captain Lana, who was also the biggest contributor to capturing the Demon King this time, holding the Oath Sword, came in front of this judge. "Lana, what are you doing! Quicklye to your senses! Don''t be controlled by evil!" Judge Sergei thought that Lana was being manipted by Reji and was trying to wake up hispanion. But Lan was not moved at all. This female attendant of the Second Prince, with an expressionless face, raised the Oath Sword in her hand towards the judge''s position. And the next moment, the Oath Sword seemed to be stimted by something. The originally ordinary sword body suddenly shed with surging holy radiance above the judge''s head. Its light was so dense that any citizen watching the projection could clearly see it. The holy sword... reacted to the judge? Previously, they had already learned about the origin of this holy sword through the charges against the Demon King. This was the holy item bestowed by the Emperor to the Seventh Prince. This holy item usually didn''t show itself. Only when encountering a vicious viin would it exert its power. In other words... The stronger the holy sword''s reaction to a certain object, the deeper the evil in that person. But now... What was going on? The judge!? In the ears of the confused and bewildered citizens of the Court of Judgment, the voice of the Demon King continued to resound. "Sergei, do you still not admit your guilt now?" "A boring trick. Don''t think that just because you manipted the holy item with evil magic, you can deceive others." It had to be said that the people of the Court of Judgment indeed had hearts like rocks. Even at this point, they could still maintain an unchanged expression, still wearing that hypocritical mask. Since that was the case, Reji had no choice but to use a simpler and more brutal method. The spiritual threads of Banner of Command, under Reji''s control, shot towards this Judge Sergei. The judge had no time to dodge at all. He was already connected. As he was forcibly "teamed up" by Reji, the judge''s mental memories were also exposed to Reji and in front of all the citizens of the Court of Judgment. The scene of the memory was in a magic academy. An exceptionally talented mentor and four or five students who were equally talented and interested in magic were researching and discussing together in theboratory. They seemed to have made great progress and researched a magic cultivation secret that was sealed by the empire. The mentor and students hugged each other excitedly. They regarded it as a great discovery across the ages. Once such a method of cultivating magic power was implemented, perhaps everyone in the Court of Judgment could be a magic apprentice. In the future, 3rd and 4th-tier magic would no longer be a dream. Even the legendary 6th and 7th-tier magic would no longer be out of reach. However, that very night, before their results could be published, the knights and judges of the Court of Judgment came to the door, led by this Sergei, and brutally killed the mentor and all five students. The students were killed in their sleep at night without any awareness due to their insufficient strength. But that mentor luckily noticed and escaped for a short while, but was eventually surrounded by the Judgment Knights. Before being stabbed to death by chaotic swords, the mentor let out a heart-wrenching question. Why? What crime did wemit? Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin Why are you doing this? And the answer Sergei gave was even colder. For that mentor, it was also more hurtful than the sharp swords. Because you... attempted to bring knowledge to the ignorant masses. The scene ended. Sergei, who had his memories extracted, was now sweating profusely, as if experiencing some kind of fear, panting heavily. His previous calmness and seriousness had all disappeared. What was left on that upright face was a kind of panic. And the citizens of the Court of Judgment who were watching the projection were not much better at this moment, especially the magic students. They also had an impression of this incident. The magic master and his students encountered viins from Syndicate, just to steal their research results. They were all ughtered by that cruel viin in one night. This extremely evil incident could be said to have caused a sensation in the Court of Judgment at that time. In the follow-up, arge amount of manpower and resources were dispatched. It took a week to sessfully capture the criminal. The next day, a trial was held in the Tower of Justice, throwing him into Stillwater Prison, bringing great satisfaction and avenging the hatred. But now... From Sergei''s memory images, it was obvious that there were no viins from Syndicate at all. All of this was clearly... directed and acted out by the Judgment Knight Corps? What made the citizens of the Court of Judgment feel a chill was Sergei''sst sentence. Attempting to bring knowledge... to the ignorant masses? The reason for the empire''s magic seal was that ordinary humans couldn''t bear too much magic power. Only a very few people had magic tolerance. And the further one cultivated, magic power not only brought strength but also brought some irreversible twists in temperament, making people go crazy, indulging in it and unable to extricate themselves. So even if the citizens of the three major countries admired the various magical effects of magic, under such propaganda, they were more likely to shy away from magic power and magic, and never had the intention of actively cultivating or secretly practicing. But from the mentor''s research and the judge''s conversation, it seemed that the truth was not like this at all? "Do you have anything else to say in your defense, Sergei?" "It''s you! You altered my memory!! This is all fake! It''s you! I want to... to kill you, you heretic!" After his mask was torn off, the judge, who seemed to have gonepletely crazy, with a ferocious expression, losing his mind, wanted to desperately kill Reji. Reji shook his head. For such an ugly state, the best destination was still... Crack! Before the judge could move a few times, the blood moon barrier under his feet showed spider web-like cracks andpletely shattered in the next second. And Judge Sergei, losing support, instantly fell, towards the abyss below, towards that Stillwater Prison below the tall tower. "No, no... ah..." The voice seemed to fall into a deep abyss, getting smaller and smaller until itpletely disappeared. The ck Stillwater Prison below swallowed up the judge''s figure. The first criminalpleted the exile. Then the next one... When Reji''s gaze turned to the new judge again, this person seemed to have learned from the previous one''s lesson. He immediately wanted to resist directly, thinking that he absolutely couldn''t fall into the Demon King''s evil magic. Unfortunately, he was still a step toote. The spiritual threads of the Banner of Command still connected him, and his memories were also made public. A new scene appeared. And this time, it made the citizens of the Court of Judgment even more shocked. It was thergest and most famous hospital clinic in the Court of Judgment. The most respected medical director with the title of Herb Sage was now using an extremely anxious and terrified expression, seeming to be exining something to this judge. In the director''s hand was a light purple reagent. The director''s previous nervousness all came from this reagent. "A scam! This is a scam by the empire! This medicine doesn''t have any disease resistance at all. It brings another more terrifying thing. It''s alive! Judge, do you understand? It''s alive! It''s... it''s eggs!" "I don''t know what the empire wants to do, but we absolutely can''t inject such a medicinal vine into the bodies of our people in the Court of Judgment. Judge, we... Ju-Judge?" The answer to this Herb Sage was a spike pierced into his chest. Chapter 212 Emperors Task The Herb Sage himself was also a 5th-tier priest and shouldn''t have been killed so easily. But from his shock and disbelief toter seeming to understand something, turning into a desperate gaze, it could be seen that he realized arger conspiracy behind this medicine that enveloped the world. The scene abruptly ended. But this was already enough. The death of the Herb Sage. This was also a very sensational vicious incident in the Court of Judgment. As a result, the truth was also that he was harmed by the Judgment Knights? And thatst word from the Herb Sage? Ordinary citizens, although they didn''t understand what eggs the Herb Sage was talking about, they recognized that reagent. It was the blessing potion. All newborns in the Court of Judgment, no, it should be said all newborns in the world, had to be injected with this potion. This potion could help them resist diseases and develop immunity to gues in their infancy. Under this potion, the world''s poption indeed began to rise steadily. The infant mortality rate dropped significantly. Everyone regarded it as a blessing. It was also precisely because of this that they had infinite reverence for the empire, which should be the leader of the world. But...What did it mean? The Herb Sage''s words? Could there also be a problem with the blessing potion? A huge conspiracy that had enveloped the world for over a thousand years, nned by the empire, seemed to be gradually unfolding with Reji''s judgment of these judges of the Court of Judgment. But... St! St! St! Before Reji could go judge the next judge. These judges suddenly bled from their seven orifices. ck blood flowed out from all over their bodies. A nauseating stench of rotting internal organs quickly came. They were as if they had taken poison and died on the spot. No, it should be said that someone had forced them to take poison. "Enough, Demon King." The Second Prince spoke. Danye seemed to have aged ten years. It was he who had triggered the insect eggs in the judges'' bodies, killing them all to prevent Reji from prying into their memories. Not only that. Abnormalities also appeared on the side of the citizens of the Court of Judgment who were originally "observing". Cries of surprise rang out from the citizens, mixed with what seemed to be the roars of monsters. Reji looked down and could see the Court of Judgment in chaos now. Only to see that the bodies of many citizens had abnormalities. They squatted on the ground and began to twitch and vomit blood. Immediately after, their bodies began to mutate. Insect demon-monsters simr to the Seventh Prince''s army before seemed to break out of their cocoons and began to ughter wantonly on the streets. The appearance of such monsters made the citizens of the Court of Judgment no longer have the heart to watch any projection and could only flee in chaos. The Second Prince used this method to stop Reji from leaking more information and cut off the projection. He seemed to have also figured out Reji''s true identity to some extent. Thinking carefully about the path of this remnant of the old days. And finally, those relics revolving around this "Demon King". If the holy sword and the Banner of Command could still be said to be controlled by the Demon King with evil magic, but Lana... The Second Prince looked at his female attendant. He clenched his fists, but then loosened them. He took a deep breath, and his way of addressing Reji changed. "I find it hard to imagine what the Emperor did back then to make a descendant of a Hero call himself the Demon King." "Descendant of the Hero, don''t you want to judge? Come, let the Oath Sword try me." After Danye''s words, Lana took the initiative to walk over. Seeing this, Reji didn''t stop her. The female attendant raised the holy sword towards her former master. And this time, even Reji was a bit surprised. The Oath Sword actually had no reaction to the Second Prince, proving that he was not an evil person, or... Reji directly pierced the spiritual threads into the Second Prince''s consciousness sea, and Danye didn''t resist, as if he had already given up, allowing Reji to watch his memories. His... painful memories. All the scenes were the most memorable for the person involved. And for the Second Prince, the memory that he could remember for a lifetime, the most indelible one, was naturally when he was chosen by the Emperor, going from a poormoner to a noble Second Prince. -- Danye and Lana appeared in the scene. They were still very young at this time. Their faces were youthful, and their clothes were also very simple and in. They had fought their way out ofyers of selection and finally came before the Emperor. Danye was extremely excited, and Lana, as his childhood sweetheart, was also overjoyed and crying with happiness that her soulmate could rise to fame and sess from now on. But... Each prince would be bestowed a relic by the Emperor, as well as a mission. The relic that Danye was given by the Emperor was precisely... Synthesis. This relic had no physical form and was more like an ability. Danye in the memory image was obviously very confused and didn''t understand what this "synthesis" meant. So...The Emperor stretched out a finger and pointed at Lana beside Danye. And when Danye turned his head again, he was directly stunned. He saw Lana''s arm, Lana''s torso, Lana''s leg, Lana''s ear, Lana''s... head. After a brief mental nk, Danye went crazy. Lana was the most important person in his life. The reason he participated in the Emperor''s selection was just to be able to live a better life with Lana, just to give Lana happiness. But now Lana had turned into piece after piece. The tall shadow sitting on the Emperor''s throne was still cold, as if an emotionless machine. Even dismembering the cherished person in front of Danye, the Emperor''s expression remained unchanged. The Emperor didn''t care about Danye''s anger and hatred. Instead, threw a bottle to the furious Danye. Inside the bottle was an ugly twistedrva. A powerful mental force suppressed Danye. ording to the description in Danye''s memory image, the Emperor''s oppression was like a boundless ck sea. Danye couldn''t control himself and could only put therva in the bottle on the corpse pieces of his childhood sweetheart. Then... he activated the ability of the relic "synthesis". Immediately after, a miracle happened. The life of the worm really began tobine with Lana''s corpse. Those flesh and blood that were cut apart by the Emperor actually began to reconnect and reassemble themselves under the powerful force of therva and "synthesis". In just a few breaths, Lana came back again. Shey on the ground, her chest rising and falling, seeming to indicate the return of life, but her breath was very weak, like a candle in the wind, as if it would be extinguished with a blow. The Emperor''s hollow voice continued to resound, telling Danye that therva synthesized with Lana was precisely the originalrva body of the Queen among the insect race. The originalrva needed the supply of offspring to grow. In other words, more child worms were needed to go into other people''s bodies in order to provide the originalrva with a constant source of theory for therva body to grow. And as therva body grew up, Lan''s body would also be repaired along with it. In this way, as long as therva body grew to a sufficient stage, Lana would naturally wake up like a normal person and even obtain more strength. So Danye afterwards, for Lana, could only walk on this path of no return. He began to constantly study the "synthesis" of "eggs" and humans. He began to parasitize more and more people with the "eggs" of the child worms. The Emperor indeed didn''t deceive him. When hepleted the parasitization of all the people in the Court of Judgment, Lana woke up and regained consciousness. When hepleted the parasitization of the three major countries, Lanapletely recovered her original memories and emotions. And when his parasitization expanded to the entire world, the current Lana became the Judgment Knight Captain with such powerful strength. Experience more content on m v|l e''-NovelBin The scene gradually blurred. Danye''s memory exined the origin of the insect demons. All of this was not led by the insect race. Instead, it seemed that the insect race was also a victim. The one behind the scenes was still that Emperor. The feeling of having one''s memories watched by others was not good, especially such painful memories. Danye was panting heavily. The Second Prince had long lost his original elegance. Everyone wore a hypocritical mask, and how could he be an exception? "Descendant of the Hero, can I ask you onest thing?" "Please¡­ Help me... free Lana." The Second Prince thought that Reji, as a descendant of the Hero, had the power to control relics, so Lana rebelled. The gap in strength also made Danye no longer struggle. But in fact, Reji shook his head at him. Danye was stunned at first, andter seemed to understand something. Lana was never controlled. All of this was Lana''s own consciousness. It was the female knight who once dreamed with him of changing the world, making the world a better ce, and hoping that more and more people could be happy. Lana didn''t say anything. She swung the holy sword and pierced it into the Second Prince''s chest. It was the location of the heart, but it was also the location where the worm that Danye had put into his own body was parasitizing. After doing all this, Lana didn''t leave. Instead, she hugged Danye, and their figures fell together into the abyss below. The darkness of Stillwater Prison swallowed them. In the end, only the Oath Sword returned to Reji''s side with two items. One was the Second Prince''s relic, the "synthesis" ability from his own Hero system. Now because of thebination with Lana, it had turned into the form of a soul fragment. And the other was a certain token that Danye gave him before his death, as if thanking him for the liberation and also as if for revenge. Simply put, it was the pass that the Emperor gave to the Second Prince. The pass to Stillwater Prison - a core like jade Chapter 213 Stillwater Prison The Oath Sword returned to Reji''s side with two items. One was the Second Prince''s relic, the "synthesis" ability from his own Hero system. Now because of thebination with Lana, it had turned into the form of a soul fragment. And the other was a certain token that Danye gave him before his death, as if thanking him for the liberation and also as if for revenge. Simply put, it was the pass that the Emperor gave to the Second Prince. The pass to Stillwater Prison¡ªa core like jade ... The area of Stillwater Prison was muchrger than Reji had imagined. Rather than calling it a prison, it was more like a small underground world. After walking out of the teleportation gate, perhaps because he took the "internal passage", Reji directly appeared on a rtively high cliff. There were no criminals here, nor the flesh monster described in Kazaar''s diary. Find more adventures on m-v|-NovelBin Everything was very quiet, extremely silent. Reji came to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Perhaps that was the real Stillwater Prison. It was a darknd shrouded in thick gloom. The gloom exuded an ominous aura. There seemed to be signs of something moving inside. If one looked more carefully, it seemed that the shadows of trees and vegetation could be seen. Unfortunately, because the distance was too far and the gloom blocked most of the view, Reji couldn''t obtain more information just by gazing. As for this cliff where he was currently located, the reason it wasn''t covered by the gloom was entirely due to an ancient lighthouse emitting a dark green light, located not far away, a hundred meters away on the cliff. The light at the top of the tower isted and dispelled all the gloom that wanted to spread over. This kind of dark green light was almost identical to the jade core of the Second Prince before. Very obviously, this lighthouse should also belong to the internal facilities of the empire. Reji withdrew his gaze from the cliff below and moved towards the inside of the lighthouse. The iron door at the entrance of the lighthouse was locked, withplex magic seals on it. It would probably take a lot of effort to forcefully open it. But fortunately, Reji quickly found a hidden embedded slot next to the iron door. The shape on the slot perfectly matched the jade core of the Second Prince in his hand. After putting the jade core in, apanied by the shing of a faint light, the entire lighthouse seemed to be awakened from its previous standby state. The dark green light at the top of the tower flourished and began to rotate rhythmically. Immediately after, all the seals on the door in front of him were also removed and opened to both sides on their own, as if weing Reji. The interior of the lighthouse was divided into three floors. The first floor was like the room where the Second Prince stayed most often. Many bookshelves were arranged here. On the shelves were books that Reji flipped through briefly. Most of them were Danye''s experiences and various forms when using "synthesis". In addition to the bookshelves, a notebook on the desk in the center of the room quickly attracted Reji''s attention. The Second Prince probably never thought that anyone else would be able toe here, so he didn''t take any confidentiality measures. The notebook was just left open on the desk. The notebook was like a memoir. Most of it was used by Danye to record the warm and happy bits and pieces he experienced with Lana when he was amoner before bing an imperial candidate, that is, the "Second Prince", although poor and ordinary. It could be seen that unlike other princes. Danye served the Emperor and used insect eggs to infect all humans in the world purely for the sake of his woman. Because of this, he didn''t have any fanaticism towards the Emperor. On the contrary, from Danye''s memoirs, Reji could see that the Second Prince''s suspicion of the Emperor actually started very early. The reason was the same as his own. Danye also didn''t understand why the Emperor did this, what the purpose of insect egg infection of humans was. But from the Emperor''s repeated requirements for the improvement of insect eggster on, Danye seemed to have figured out something. The insect eggs currently parasitizing in human bodies had gone through three versions. The first generation version, as seen in the memory image in the court before, the insect eggs only coexisted with humans. And the second generation version, mentioned in the notebook, was that the Emperor took the initiative to summon Danye and asked Danye to conduct experiments, using "synthesis" to continuously optimize the insect eggs until the insect eggs reached the level of being able to absorb the host''s magic power without causing death. It was also during this period that the empire''s efforts to promote the "Treaty on Prohibiting the Spread of Magic" reached its peak. Danye judged from this that it might be because the Emperor wanted to maintain the empire''s ruling position, so the emperor used this method to form a monopoly on magic talents, so that from then on, other countries would no longer be able to give birth to powerful individuals. The third versionter confirmed half of what Danye had guessed. This time, the Emperor summoned Danye and asked Danye to apply the "pheromone" ability of the insect race to humans through the method of synthesis. The so-called pheromone was actually equivalent to a monitoring device. The previous insect eggs could curb magic power, but they couldn''t curb human wisdom and desire for exploration. Especially after the insect egg parasitization brought an unprecedented poption explosion to humans. Originally, the human poption, which had been reduced by two-thirds after the human-demon war, not only recovered to its original state in a few years but also quickly achieved a reversal. Under an extremelyrge base number, there would always be a small number of people who could discover something or make breakthroughs in other fields and have new technologies. For example, the mentor who researched a new type of magic cultivation technique, or the Herb Sage who discovered the insect eggs, and so on, in the memories of those judges that Reji read before. The "pheromone" required by the Emperor was aimed at this type of person. Whenever there was a major breakthrough or an outstanding discovery in a certain field that might lead to revolutionary progress, the insect eggs in the bodies of these key individuals would release a special pheromone, thereby being captured by the main body. Afterwards, it was the action of the Court of Judgment. To hunt down these core talents worldwide. Seeing this, Reji finally understood why humans would regress so much a thousand yearster, with no progress in civilization at all. It was equivalent to precisely locating every genius, truly strangling geniuses in the cradle in the true sense. This was undoubtedly anti-human. And very wasteful. The Second Prince in the notebook, after thinking that he understood the Emperor''s intentions, had repeatedly proposed to the Emperor that there was no need to hunt down these talents. The talents could be absorbed into the empire. After all, hunting down talents was just to hinder the development of other countries or forces, thereby consolidating the empire''s supreme position. Then if these talents could be won over and made to serve the empire, wouldn''t it allow the empire to elerate its development and open up an unbridgeable gap with other countries? Eventer, the Second Prince took the initiative to propose to the Emperor that insect eggs that could control talents could be developed. In this way, the Emperor wouldn''t have to worry about the loyalty of these talents who had defected to the empire. However, this time, the answer given by the Emperor was no. And there was no room for negotiation at all. It seemed that in the Emperor''s eyes, those schrs and geniuses who could bring progress to human civilization were not elites, but tumors and scourges. Once such people appeared, they were to be killed without mercy. The Emperor was like this towards other countries and forces. Even within the empire... it was the same. At this point, the Second Prince in the notebook seemed to have just understood that in the Emperor''s eyes, even the empire didn''t matter. What the Emperor wanted was to be the "strongest". For this, the Emperor didn''t hesitate to use any means, even if it meant letting the entire human civilization stagnate, and no challengers who might threaten the position of the "strongest ". After seeing the Emperor''s true colors, the Second Prince quickly became terrified. If the Emperor was really such an authoritarian dictator, an extreme individualist, would the Emperor possibly give up the position to these "princes" who had no blood rtionship? Even more boldly specting, was it possible that the so-called "change of Emperor" had always been a lie from ancient times to the present, and every Emperor was actually the same person, that first generation Emperor? Chapter 214 The Tenth Apostle? 1/2 If the Emperor was really such an authoritarian dictator, an extreme individualist, would the Emperor possibly give up the position to these "princes" who had no blood rtionship? Even more boldly specting, was it possible that the so-called "change of Emperor" had always been a lie from ancient times to the present, and every Emperor was actually the same person, that first generation Emperor? The strongest proof was that no one had ever seen the Emperor take off the armor or remove mask he/she wears, never. Even in front of these candidate princes, the Emperor was always the same and had never once risen from the "throne". From then on, in the notebook, Danye, who already held a grudge against the Emperor because of Lana, immediately nned small moves in private. He still had to run for Emperor and kill otherpetitors. This was to build momentum for himself. But behind the scenes, he began to shelter and protect those human elites who should have been executed. As for the method, it was actually in the Blood Moon Judgment that Reji experienced in the previous scene. Originally, human elites were directly assassinated by the Court of Judgment. Butter, the Second Prince built a building like the Tower of Justice, made court projections, and made public trials. Going to such great lengths was not for anything else, but to save this part of human elites. Danye told the Emperor that if they kept assassinating, it would always arouse suspicion. It would be better to find a legitimate reason, frame these people with fabricated crimes, and then execute them legally and reasonably. But in fact, Danye had set up a sanctuary in Stillwater Prison. He would secretly tamper with the insect eggs in the bodies of those human elites who were useful to him. In this way, although they also fell into Stillwater Prison after the trial, they would soon be taken away by Danye''s "insider" in the prison and put these schrs in a safe ce. These human elites he saved were the forces that Danye umted to fight against the Emperor and also hisst trump card. However, in order not to be exposed and discovered by the Emperor, they could only live in the endless Stillwater Prison until the day of the final battle. Unfortunately... Reji shook his head and closed the notebook. Theter the recording time of the notebook, the longer the interval. Thest time was already half a year ago. It could be seen that the pressure the Emperor gave Danye was getting greater and greater. Danye didn''t dare to secretly go to Stillwater Prison anymore. As for why Danye handed this jade core to him before his death, the meaning was also very clear. If there was really someone in the world who could deal with the Emperor, then perhaps... he, this "descendant of the Hero", should be the most likely one. This lighthouse was Danye''s secret base in Stillwater Prison. Reji walked up the stairs to the second floor, which was a teleportation room. Arge map was hanging on the opposite wall. It was precisely the map of the entire Stillwater Prison drawn by the Second Prince. Through the map, Reji saw that Stillwater Prison was like a spirally descending cone. It was divided into four areas in total. The exile area, the gloom area, the forbidden area, and... the gray unknown area that even the Second Prince seemed to have never reached and had no textbels or terrain drawings. The higher the area, the safer it was. Now the Second Prince''s lighthouse base was located at the junction of the exile area and the gloom area. And on the map, there was also a small area specially marked in the position of the gloom area. Reji spected that this should be the sanctuary that Danye created for those human elites who were exiled here. It was also his next destination. Danye let these schrs carefully study the Emperor and prepare for future revenge. Reji really wanted to meet these surviving human schrs. He believed that he could definitely obtain more information from them. Through the teleportation array in the room, he could reach the entrances of the other three areas except for the deepest unknown area. But Reji was not in a hurry to leave. There was still one floor of the Second Prince''s lighthouse base that hadn''t been explored. For a mature yer, it would be very impolite not to visit every corner of someone else''s home. The space on the third floor of the lighthouse was very small. This ce was like Danye''s "alchemy synthesis" room. The shelves in the room were filled with various containers full of liquid. And in these containers, one could see various biological parts and organs being soaked. Among them were various human organs, the five viscera and six bowels. But this was only a very small part. Reji also found furry ears that were obviously one sizerger than humans, which were clearly from the beastman race. In addition, the white and pointed ears and wings soaking in the container next to it should be from the elf race. Various insect race limbs were not even mentioned. What surprised Reji the most was that every few intervals, he could see huge deformed horns, with the word Tieflingbeled at the bottom of the container. And organs that were obviously one size smaller than humans, with the word Dwarfbeled at the bottom of the container. There were also some that could be seen at a nce to be from other races without looking at the words, such as the gills of the fishmen, the noses of the goblins, the palms of the giants, the scaly tails of the naga mermaids... Reji even saw red dragon scales that were as hot as fire even when soaked in a jar. So... the "synthesis raw materials" that the Second Prince mentioned in the notebook as given to him by the Emperor referred to these? Sure enough, in addition to the elves, half-orcs, and star spirits I encountered, there were many other races that had alsoe to the human world. And the reason why the human world generally knew nothing about this, could it be because these other races had all... died? Or... Who said that Stillwater Prison could only hold humans? Reji looked at these "synthesis materials" in the containers. Many of them didn''t look like some ancient relics, but were very fresh. After carefully exploring the lighthouse base up and down and making sure there were no hidden rooms, Reji had collected enough information and returned to the teleportation array here. Stepping into the array, he still used that jade core to activate it. With a sh of light, Reji''s figure disappeared from the lighthouse. The next moment, he arrived at the entrance of the gloom area on the map. Here, the visibility immediately dropped to maybe only seven or eight meters. This was only the location of the entrance. The density of that strange gloom inside the real gloom area was much greater than the entrance. Reji continued to advance. This time, he had only taken a few steps when he discovered a sneaky and elusive figure at the edge of the entrance. Here, "sneaky" was not a metaphor. "Squeak, not bad, not bad. It seems that the neer exiled this time has quite some strength. Squeak, to be able to reach the gloom area so quickly, squeak." This figure also discovered Reji and immediately approached. When it got closer, its appearance could be seen more clearly. It was a rat-man about three meters tall, slightly hunched over, with two huge sharp fangs exposed, covered in fur all over its body, wearing a tattered cloak... The rat-man who came to Reji''s side kept sniffing at Reji with itsrge brown-ck nose full of sweat nds, seeming very satisfied with Reji''s scent. Its narrow eyes kept looking Reji up and down, as if restraining some kind of desire to eat. It swallowed, seeming to have sessfully endured it, and continued to say to Reji in a sinister tone: "Neer, no matter what crime youmitted outside, once you''re here, you have to follow the rules of Stillwater Prison." "If you don''t know, of course you don''t know, that''s why I''m here, specially responsible for teaching you neers. Believe me, you humans are only at the bottom of the food chain here. Those other races imprisoned in Stillwater Prison, their evil and power, far exceed your imagination and willpletely overturn your perception." "So... squeak, listen well. To survive here, the first step you need to do is to offer your tribute to me, the greatest rat-man, also the most loyal envoy of His Bloodiness, and the Tenth Apostle of the Demon Race who has destroyed countless worlds, the Rat Demon Apostle Skaven! Squeak!" Chapter 215 The Great Demon Race 2/2 The rat-man Skaven saw that Reji was unmoved by his words. If he had to say, at most Reji''s expression was a bit strange, looking at him with a weird gaze, so he was very dissatisfied. But this was also normal. After all, humans in this world were very ignorant and had never even seen other worlds outside. He estimated that just seeing his rat-man appearance had scared Reji, let alone listening to the carefully arranged background he had prepared. This wouldn''t do. Perhaps it was some kind of vanity at work, or maybe he simply wanted to exaggerate his powerful background to Reji in order to obtain more tributes from himter. Only to see Skaven using his incisors, trying hard to make a sharp sound simr to kekeke. This was one of the best ways he had researched to make humans feel fear. Then he stepped forward with his furry paws, taking another step closer to Reji. "What, you don''t believe my words, neer? Squeak squeak... Poor humans, deceived and blinded by your Emperor for over a thousand years, like frogs in a well, birds in a cage, always living in your world, squeak." "But don''t worry. As a reward for you being able to reach here and meet the Rat Apostle, Skaven will bring you enlightenment and truth." "Your human world is just a part of the material ne. There are many, many worlds like this, and the races born from them are countless. In addition to the greatest rat-men, there are orcs, nagas, dwarves, goblins, oh, and sweet elves." Skaven was giving Reji knowledge about "other races". The rat-man in tattered cloak spoke while pacing around Reji. "Among these races, there are high and low levels of civilization. There are crude and barbaric inferior creatures like orcs, fishmen, dwarves, and goblins, and there are also superior races like rat-men, dragons, and elves. There are even existences close to Master, like the legendary star spirit race." "As for you humans... squeak, you''re just mediocre. Among the many powerful races, you''re not worth mentioning." "However..." Skaven suddenly paused, and then raised his voice a lot. His pacing body also stopped, just in front of Reji. Next, a fanatical look appeared on the rat-man''s face. His narrow eyes were filled with awe. He opened his arms to Reji like a believer. "However, above all these races, there is one greatest existence, and that is... the Demon Race!" "In front of the Demon Race, all living beings are equal. There is no distinction between high and low, noble and humble among any race. Do you know why? Squeak squeak, because their fate is only one, and that is... destruction!" "Squeak, human, you simply can''t imagine such a scene. Wherever the Demon Race goes, one civilization after another turns to ashes. No matter how powerful the race, their world will meet its end." "For this material ne, the Demon Race is doomsday, and doomsday is the Demon Race." "Every time the Demon Race descends, the only thing the races of that world can do is kneel on the ground, prostrate and tremble, and meet their end." "Now... human, do you understand how noble I, Skaven, the Tenth Apostle of the Demon Race, am?" As he spoke, it seemed that Skaven was no longer exining to Reji. Instead, he was immersed in his imagination. Discover more content at mvl This rat-man''s voice became more and more excited, and his tone also became higher and higher. "I once fought on the battlefield with the Great Demon Hektor, witnessing those hellish mes devouring all resisters. I also nned invasions and wars with the Wisdom Demon Leo, watching one civilization after another being toyed with in our hands." "The Sorcery Demon Dian and I were each other''s teachers, exploring the mysteries of transcendent magic together. And my best friend, my bosom buddy, oh, squeak squeak! That of course is the Decay Demon Eris. After each conquest, we would share a delicious rotten feast together." Seeing that the rat-man in front of him had the intention to continue talking, Reji was not in a hurry to expose him. Instead, he found it quite interesting. After all, other races basically had deep hatred for the Demon Race. Now he suddenly encountered one who believed in the Demon Race and even fantasized that he himself was a member of the Demon Race. Reji was very curious. "You say you are a rat-man, and you also say you are a demon. Do you have a dual identity?" Being abruptly interrupted from his "fantasy time" by Reji, Skaven was a bit annoyed. What made him even angrier was that Reji had called his race wrong. "Rat Demon! It''s Rat Demon!" "After descending, the Demon Race will... will absorb valuable races! And I was precisely valued by the Demon King at that time. The Demon King personally cro... crowned me! Squeak! Promoted me to be the new Tenth Apostle, and the entire rat race was also elevated, bing the new Rat Demon race!" From Skaven''s words that suddenly became timid and stuttering, one could tell that this waspletely fabricated by him. In fact, Skaven also knew that in the history of the Demon Race, there had never been a precedent of "absorbing other races", but... hmph, anyway, humans were all country bumpkins. It was more than enough to deceive them. Reji searched the Demon King''s inheritance in his mind and indeed found the rat-man world. However, the Demon Race didn''t descend on this world at all. It belonged to the kind of world that was too low-level. When the Sorcery Demon discovered it, he just passed by with the Demon Race army. Now it seemed that just passing by that world seemed to have a huge impact on the rat-man world, and even generated faith because of it? "You say the Demon Race is the greatest and supreme existence, but from your description, the Demon Race only brings destruction. Is this also considered noble?" Hearing Reji dare to speak ill of the Demon Race made Skaven even angrier than calling him a rat-man just now. It was as if its tail had been stepped on. It almost jumped up and said fiercely to Reji: "What do you know, human! If there was no Demon Race, wouldn''t the various races in the entire material ne still wage war against each other? Wouldn''t they still destroy each other!" "It''s precisely because of the great Demon Race that all races in the material ne have stopped fighting, stopped expanding outward, and lived obediently and contentedly in their own worlds, forming a bnce." "What the Demon Race brings is not destruction, but order! What the Demon Race destroys are never those weak races, but those self-righteous, ignorant, arrogant races who dare to challenge the order and even call themselves ''Him'' to expand outward! The star spirits are the best example!" So that''s how it was. Reji nodded. He somewhat understood Skaven''s fanaticism towards the Demon Race. At that time in the inheritance records, the Demon Race passed by the rat-man world precisely to invade the star spirit world. And the star spirit race was unprecedentedly powerful at that time, just as this rat-man said, and had be a bit overinted, wanting to proim themselves as gods in the nar universe for a time. This could be seen from the previous Star Spirit Queen. As power expanded, ambition inevitably expanded along with it. And as a neighbor of the star spirit world, low, inferior, and filthy worlds like the rat-man world were to be swept away. So by a fluke, the Demon Race destroyed the star spirits, which saved the rat-man world. This also gave birth to the current... New philosophy towards the Demon Race, like Skaven''s? Reji couldn''t help but associate it with the words in the hidden notes of the Great Guardian Malvin: the Demon Race is salvation. Chapter 216 Help Me Escape and Ill Make You a Demon! 1/4 --- "Alright human, now that you understand Skaven''s greatness, go find me some offerings! I want Soul Lotus, ten of them!" After saying so much in front of Reji, the rat-man didn''t forget his main topic and urged impatiently, aside from satisfying his fantasy. This made Rejiugh. "Since you, the Tenth Apostle of the Demon Race, are so powerful, howe you''re still in a ce like this? Locked up in a human prison, bing a prisoner?" "What do you know! Your despicable Emperor used forbidden techniques tomunicate with evil beyond the material ne and murdered our Demon King! We demons had no choice but to temporarily endure and hide!" The rat-man gnashed his teeth, as if he were a real demon. His next words made Reji even more dumbfounded. "As for me, squeak! You think I''m really a prisoner? Squeak! Impossible! I am a key part of the great demon revival. I have a crucial mission bestowed upon me by the Demon King. I''m just pretending to be captured while actually infiltrating." "We are gathering strength, squeak! The demons will soon make aeback. When that timees, that hypocritical and filthy Emperor will meet the doom! And so will you humans!" "However, if you offer to me now, follow me, be my subordinate, and help us recover our strength, then when our demon army returns and tramples the humannds, I can plead to the King on your behalf, allowing you to be a demon servant and a member of our demon race!" At the end, Skaven straightened his back, even his originally hunched rat waist straightened a bit. He waved his rat w, truly having the meaning of amander, of course, if one could ignore his current tattered clothes and the dirt-filled mud on his ws due to the long time without cleaning. "So you mean, you are a demon apostle, trapped in the dungeon, and as long as I give you ten Soul Lotus flowers, you can recover your strength, bring the demons back to kill, and then give me rewards?" "Squeak! Human! Very good! You understand correctly!" Skaven didn''t pay much attention to that strange "give" syble. "How about fifty flowers?" "F-fifty!?" The rat-man was startled by Reji''s big request. Although he was very happy that Reji was so understanding, he still had to exin to Reji what this Soul Lotus was and what each flower meant. "Human, I Skaven has felt your devotion. If you can truly bring fifty, then I...I will apply to the King to promote you from a demon servant to a demonmander! Second only to our Ten Apostles!" "It''s just, do you really know what Soul Lotus is? Since you cane here, you must have seen it when passing through the Exile Area, those flowers glowing with a pale blue light, right? That is Soul Lotus." "Each Soul Lotus requires the life force of at least five death row inmates to bloom. It is extremely difficult to pick and will only be born in the Exile Area. We in the Gloom Area cannot intervene." "So you mean I have to go back and kill fifty human prisoners for you?" "Squeak! That''s right! Seeing your pious heart, I Skaven will make an exception and reveal more information to you. These offerings you give me will also benefit you! See the gloom on the opposite side?" The rat-man stepped aside and pointed to Reji. Across the dividing line, the thick gloom shrouded thend of Stillwater Prison. Just seeing this faint gray mist, one could feel the strong ominous aura emanating from it. "Without protection, the moment you step into the Gloom Area, the gloom will attach to you like a curse, eroding your flesh and twisting your mind every minute and second, eventually turning you into a writhing lump of flesh, bing like the gloom monsters in the deeper Forbidden Area!" "And as long as you offer me Soul Lotus, the Rat Demon King will temporarily grant you the supreme right to walk in the gloom, hmm!?" Skaven hadn''t finished speaking yet. He found that the human in front of him was gone. When he turned his head, the rat-man''s eyes widened, filled with disbelief. Because he saw that while he was exining to Reji how terrifying the gloom was, Reji had already crossed that dividing line long ago. And indeed, as he said, as soon as Reji entered, the surging gloom discovered its prey and began to pounce on Reji. But at this time, a jade core at Reji''s waist began to glow. The dark green fluorescence, like a protective shield, guarded Reji inside, isting any gloom that wanted to approach. "The Emperor''s Lantern!?" "How do you have this! You...who are you!?" After a brief daze, the rat-man really jumped up this time. He didn''t even care about the demon apostle image he had just created and directly used his hands and feet to chase after Reji''s position. After Skaven crossed the dividing line, the gloom also permeated and corroded his body, but the rat-man seemed to have long developed endurance. Plus, a pale blue petal in his arms began to glow, which was the Soul Lotus mentioned before, offsetting the influence of the gloom for him, allowing him to move. Butpared slightly to Reji''s jade core, one could tell the huge difference. One couldpletely iste the gloom, while the other could only slightly offset the gloom and would still have a small amount of harm to the body. Because of this, the rat-man was so shocked. "Wait, the Second Prince''s lighthouse flickered before, so you...you''re the Second Prince''s person, right!" Skaven''s mind turned quite fast. He guessed Reji''s identity in one go, at least part of it was correct. Reji deliberately didn''t walk fast. It was indeed not bad to find a local guide here. Seeing the rat-man''s appearance, he was also an old hand. Reji slowly said: "What? The Tenth Apostle of the Demon Race shouldn''t take a mere Second Prince seriously, right?" At this point, Skaven had no mood to pretend. After confirming Reji''s identity with a jade core, his attitude towards Reji took a 180-degree turn. "My lord! Do you have a mission? I Skaven is willing to serve you! I know the Gloom Area the best! You know, we rat-men are best at dark areas! With excellent dark vision, wherever you want to go, I can help you!" "Please, take...take poor me. Squeak, I''ve had enough of this ce. The gloom here is driving me crazy!" "I am willing to do anything for you, squeak! I beg you...you can say a few more words to the Second Prince, beg the Second Prince to release me from Stillwater Prison! No, no no, just let me live in the shelter!" The rat-man could be humble and arrogant, and indeed looked very knowledgeable. Reji also admired this point. One second ago he was still the Rat Demon Apostle, and the next second he could lie at his feet and act pitiful. "The shelter you mentioned refers to those humans protected by the Second Prince?" "Yes! That''s right! That ce! There are also Emperor''s Lanterns there. As long as you are in the shelter, you can be free from the torture of the gloom. Are you going there? Skaven will lead the way for you!" Readtest chapters on mvl The rat-man race was indeed knowledgeable, that was true. But another characteristic was also...cunning. Skaven said he would lead the way for Reji, showing great loyalty, but in fact, through the map, Reji could see clearly that under the rat-man''s guidance, he waspletely opposite to the location marked by the Second Prince in the previous lighthouse, with a huge deviation. Reji didn''t expose it and just continued walking silently. After a while, a dpidated vige-like ce appeared in front of him. And there, one after another, Skaven''s fellow rat-men appeared. Not only that, but there were also many other races of non-humans, nagas holding tridents, gray-brown-skinned goblin dwarves wearing faded red hats, grotesquely bloated fishmen, Tieflings with demonic horns, dark half-elves... These races, more or less bearing some mutations, from other worlds, formed an encirclement and quickly surrounded Reji in the center. Chapter 217 The Demon Army of Stillwater Prison 2/4 "Squeak! Foolish human! So easily tricked by the great Skaven! Squeak squeak! Skaven is the Tenth Apostle of the Demon Race. You really think I would be afraid of you, a running dog of the Second Prince? Ridiculous!" The rat-man who had been leading the way for Reji in a humble manner, seeing that Reji had sessfully fallen into the trap and all escape routes were locked, with the situation settled, immediately jumped out and changed his face. His narrow rat eyes were now looking at Reji with satisfaction, his arrogant tone fully disying his haughty attitude of being arrogant before and servile after. "So...this is your demon army?" Reji looked around. There were at least a dozen different races of non-humans that he could see. Combined with what he had discovered earlier in the Second Prince''s lighthouse base, containers filled with various non-human body parts, it seemed that the main function of Stillwater Prison was far more than just imprisoning humans. At the same time, on the opposite side, although Skaven was a bit dissatisfied with Reji''s current attitude, clearly trapped in an encirclement yet not very flustered and still had the time to chat with him. But it had to be said, as soon as he heard Reji mention the words "demon army", the rat-man was extremely excited and even put aside the matter of the siege. He held his head high, very proudly showing off to Reji: "Squeak! That''s right! I told you long ago, the mission bestowed upon me by the great Demon King is to lurk behind the humans and umte strength for our race''s counterattack!" "Under my persuasion, in this Stillwater Prison, twenty-eight races have already embraced our demon race! As long as I, the Tenth Apostle, give an order, each and every one of them can fight and die for the demon race, dedicating their lives to demons!" Just boasting to Reji verbally was not enough. The rat-man said and opened his arms, wanting to get a response from his "army" under hismand to prove it. Unfortunately, these non-human races surrounding Reji were not very cooperative. Some with violent tempers, such as dwarves and gnomes, even gnashed their teeth at the rat-man on the stone, as if very dissatisfied with Skaven''s words like "dedicating lives to demons". Being a bit dismantled, especially in front of Reji, made the rat-man very embarrassed and angry. He turned his head and scolded these non-human races. "Squeak! What are you doing! Have you forgotten what I said! I''m telling you! These past few days, I have already felt the summons of the great Demon King! The great Demon King has sent a message to me that the demons on the surface are already in action! The horn of the counterattack will soon sound!" "At that time...squeak squeak! When the great Demon Kinges down to rescue us, I will truthfully report your performance to the great Demon King! Your every move now will be the assessment criteria for whether you can sessfully join the demon race in the future!" After the rat-man''s bluff, the expressions of the non-human races finally became a bit more honest. Especially when they heard that Skaven had even received a message from the Demon King, their eyes revealed both fear and yearning. Hmm... Reji understood. These dozen or so non-human races who obeyed the rat-man''s orders did not really obey Skaven. Their obedience all came from their fear of the demon race, and Skaven had precisely grasped this point to sit in the position of the leader. Only after Skaven''s encouragement did the several dozen non-human warriors all raise their weapons and begin to respond to the rat-man, shouting in Skaven''s direction, wanting to show their loyalty so that Skaven would say more good things for them in the future when the demon army came, giving them the "demon race" identity. It seemed that they really believed Skaven was the Raspoti...I mean the demon apostle. At this moment, it really gave the rat-man a bit of the vor, if not of an apostle, at least of a demon race junior leader. Borrowing this momentum after the mobilization, Skaven went all out and waved his rat w at Reji,manding: "Squeak! Now, from this human, I can feel the aura of the Demon King''s mark. Yes, it''s him, no mistake. He must be the opportunity bestowed upon us by the great Demon King!" Skaven''s mouth didn''t need any draft to deceive. As soon as they heard that Reji had the Demon King''s mark on him and was a gift from the great Demon King to them, the non-human races immediately became envious. "Together! Kill him! Snatch the Emperor''s jade core on his body. This way, we will no longer fear the gloom and can move freely in Stillwater Prison. We can find the way out and join the demon army on the surface! Then trample the human world and eliminate the evil Emperor!" "Go!" "Ahhhhh!" Although Skaven shouted so fervently, in fact, the rat-man himself didn''t move at all and hid behind, letting the other non-human fight Reji. These non-human warriors who rushed over were indeed not to be underestimated. The lowest level was around level 50, and some powerful ones, such as the dragon-born warrior who roared the loudest with full-body scale armor, had a high level of 69, just one step away from the 7th tier. This was the normal level that a racial civilization should have. The powerful humans from a thousand years ago were also basically around the 6th and 7th tiers. But... What was a bit strange was that although these non-human races had very powerful physical strength, their attacks were all very clumsy, just the most primitive swinging and chopping with knives, not to mention spells, they didn''t even use any fighting techniques, like ordinary people. Although this was the case, Reji didn''t rx and be careless. He directly took out the Sword of Oath and shed a friendly Holy Smite at the red dragon-born who rushed over first. For non-humans, especially prisoners, it was the specialty of the Sword of Oath. The ordinary sword de immediately shone brightly. The radiance of Holy Smite even covered the gloom for a moment, turning into a glorious sh, fiercely chopping on the dragon''s chest. "Argh!" After a miserable cry, the more fiercely it had pounced over, the more miserable it was now being sent flying by Holy Smite. It could be seen that the thick dragon scales on the dragon''s chest had already shattered, revealing the deep sword mark and the bloody mess underneath. It was only because of its strong physique that it was barely hanging on to a breath of life. If it were other races, it would have probably died already. This strike from Reji was like a bucket of cold water, instantly stopping the other non-human races who still wanted to rush over, be loyal to the demon race, and show themselves. Their eyes looking at Reji were filled with fear secondarily, but mainly with shock and surprise, as if Reji had done something extremely unbelievable. Even the "Tenth Apostle" Skaven was startled when the light of Holy Smite shed. The rat-man''s fur was now all puffed up, looking at Reji with disbelief: "De-de...demon power!? Squeak! How is this possible! Demon power!? Why can you use demon power??" The rat-man rubbed his eyes, but the dragon-born lying not far away, groaning in pain, was the best proof. There were still remnants of Holy Smite''s radiant magic power at its wound. All of this was not an illusion. "No, no, no! This is impossible! In Stillwater Prison, all magic power should be sealed!" "How could this be? Why does the gloom have no reaction to you! No...even if you can iste the gloom, you, who can use magic power, should be instantly discovered by the Blood Moon. The evil power of the Blood Moon should rush into your body and tear you to shreds! Why..." The Blood Moon was the condensation of evil thoughts in Stillwater Prison. It was the existence that all prisoners feared the most. And for the Court of Judgment, the "Blood Moon Judgment" was also used to represent the highest verdict. In the rat-man''s previous self-proimed title, there was also Believer of the Blood Moon, which shows the status of the Blood Moon in the hearts of the prisoners. "Could it be the Emperor''s jade core? Yes, it must be! This is a higher-level jade core than the one the Second Prince has! Even the Blood Moon can be escaped? Such a treasure..." Skaven muttered to himself, and soon his eyes were filled with greed. "Quick! Don''t be afraid! All of you, go! Even if he can use magic power, it won''t be too much. Just consume him a bit and he''ll be helpless!" "At that time, those of you who seize the treasure, I...I...I will personally negotiate with Hektor and let the Great Demon General bestow medals upon the bravest warriors!" "As long as we can offer such a treasure to the Demon King, we can truly be demons! Be favored by the great Demon King!!" Chapter 218 "..." 3/4 Golden Ticket''s bonus. --- Skaven got a bit too excited and let something slip. It seemed that the rat-man''s greed was not about coveting treasures and wanting to keep them for himself but about offering them to the demon race so that he could truly have the hope of joining the demon race, not just deceiving. It was not hard to see that he really loved the demon race too much. Perhaps the highest level of deception was to deceive oneself as well. And beside him, the non-human warriors who were already a bit carried away didn''t notice the loophole in Skaven''s words. They gritted their teeth. It seemed that in order to be glorious demons, and even hearing that they could be awarded medals by the Great Demon, they became even more fervently excited. They were not even afraid of Holy Smite anymore and continued to pounce on Reji with renewed vigor, with the intention of risking their lives. Until... "Should have said so earlier." Reji shook his head. If he had known earlier that the gloom was like this, he wouldn''t have needed the jade core. Buzz! After a slight vibration sound, the dark green barrier that originally wrapped around and protected Reji''s body, recing him in blocking the gloom, suddenly disappeared. The reason was also very simple. Reji put away the jade core. This scene stunned all the non-human warriors again, making them all stop abruptly, including the rat-man Skaven. What did this feel like? It was simply like a hero holding a holy sword, but then with a snap, he threw away the holy sword. In the eyes of these non-human prisoners in Stillwater Prison, the jade core that could iste the gloom was almost the same as a holy sword, a supreme treasure, but now... What the hell? Did that human''s brain break? No, this was simply crazy, right? Sure enough, after the barrier of the jade core was gone, in the next moment, the surging gloom immediately swept towards Reji, forcing many non-humans to retreat as if fleeing. No one wanted to be tainted by the gloom. As for Reji, in their eyes, this foolish human was already done for. The rat-man Skaven was even stomping his feet in anger. Because after being excessively eroded by the gloom, the physical body would turn into a lump monster. That kind of monster was simply a disaster and would emit strong pollution. They could not even think about taking the jade core treasure on Reji''s body anymore. But soon, the rat-man was the first to notice something was wrong. Wasn''t the swarming gloom a bit too much? Only then did they see that with Reji as the center, in less than two or three seconds, a terrifying gloom storm had formed. First ten meters, then twenty meters, fifty meters, one hundred meters... In the blink of an eye, the rat-man and the non-humans were surprised to find that the prison air around them had actually be clean and clear. The gloom that was originally mixed in it had all disappeared without a trace. No, to be precise, it was all "sucked dry" and surged towards the human in the center. This was simply... It was simply not like the gloom was eroding the other party but like the other party was...absorbing the gloom... That''s right. When Reji heard that theposition of the gloom was a condensation of sinful thoughts, he didn''t bother anymore. After removing the jade core, those ominous glooms were submerged by another greater sinful and evil thought the moment they entered his body. Under the tens of millions of sin points, Reji''s body was like a bottomless abyss, a huge ck hole. Initially, the gloom followed its instinct and wanted to erode, but very quickly, the gloom wanted to run away. They found that Reji was not a normal living being at all but clearly arger condensation of evil thoughts, or rather, the Evil itself. But the previous Star Spirit Queen had already confirmed that in Reji''s body, it was a ce where one coulde and go as one pleased. Not only did the gloom fail to escape, it was even drawn into arger absorption vortex. Such a vortex grewrger andrger. Until finally, it covered the entire gloom area of Stillwater Prison, making this small world "rumble" and tremble. Those in the center, the rat-man and the non-humans, felt it most clearly. The rubble under their feet jumped crazily, and the trembling earth seemed to be wailing, making them sway from side to side, unable to stand steadily at all. Rumble! Rumble! Rumble¡ª¡ª The space of Stillwater Prison seemed to be torn apart, the sky and earth darkened, on the verge of copse, simply a scene of doomsday, scaring the rat-man to really scurry away with his head in his hands, hiding under a giant rock and trembling. Fortunately, this anomaly did notst too long. After about two or three minutes, it finally slowly returned to calm. The trembling prison ground stabilized. The space overhead also became gray and hazy again, no longer having those torn marks. The only difference was... Where was the gloom? Where was the gloom permeating the air? The most terrifying curse of Stillwater Prison that sealed magic power and eroded them at all times, that evil gloom, how did it disappear!? The rat-man Skaven''s mind was still the sharpest. He hurriedly looked towards Reji''s previous position. Soon Skaven captured Reji''s figure, and one action of Reji''s almost made the rat-man''s legs go weak. ¡­ [You have absorbed the "Evil God''s Curse" and gained 283 experience points.] [You have absorbed the "Evil God''s Curse" and gained 227 experience points.] [You...] [Your level has increased from Lv71 to Lv82.] [You have absorbed the Evil God''s Curse. Sin points have increased. Current: 105,439,302 (+5,783,921).] ¡­ The Evil God''s Curse referred to the gloom. This was the first time Reji had officially seen the words "Evil God" on the panel. Sure enough, such a concept really existed... And he himself could absorb the "curse" and turn it into strength. No...from the attitude of the gloom, it was always resisting, so his absorption was more like seizing. And another point that Reji was concerned about was that not only did his experience points increase, but his sin points also increased. Although it was not much, just 5 million, iparable to his 100 million, but could this also prove certain arguments, such as sin points being the most important attribute of the concept of "Evil God"? Withdrawing his thoughts for now, Reji turned his attention back to the present. Now Stillwater Prison waspletely devoid of gloom. Yes, the reason why the rat-man and those non-humans wanted to attack him earlier was for the jade core, and getting the jade core was just to avoid the gloom. But now...it was gone. Completely gone. The curse of the prison for hundreds of years had disappeared just like that, as if it were an illusion. This should have been the most exciting and happy day for all the non-human prisoners locked up inside. But obviously, at least the group of "demon army" under Skaven''smand could not be happy now. Reji took a step and walked towards the rat-man hiding behind the giant rock. And those non-humans on the way all trembled non-stop, lowering their heads one after another, not even daring to look at Reji for a moment longer. As for their "Apostle" who was supposed to protect them? Staying alive was the prerequisite for joining the demon race. They still understood this principle. Finally, Reji came to Skaven''s front. The rat-man was quite straightforward. Thump! He directly slid and knelt in front of Reji. "My lord! Actually, I was lying to you before. I...I am not a demon apostle at all. I...yes! Actually, I am loyal to the Emperor. I fight for humans. Everything I do is for the sake of...for the sake of...that''s right! It''s to infiltrate the demon race!" Reji: "Really?" Seeing a chance, Skaven hurriedly kowtowed excitedly. Although there was some struggle in his eyes, after all, this went against his beliefs, saying such words. But... Skaven believed that if the great Demon King''s spirit in heaven truly discovered this, he would definitely forgive him. These were allpromises! Temporary forbearance! To stay alive! Yes! Only by surviving and reaching the surface could he join the demon race! He was just pretending to deceive this human, but behind his back, he must escape and offer this earth-shattering intelligence to the great Demon King! The value of such intelligence was definitely not small. In this way, perhaps with such a great contribution, he could truly be a glorious member of the demon race!! Thinking of this, the rat-man here no longer hesitated and even became a bit excited, immediately saying, "Absolutely true!" In fact, through the mental connection of the "Banner of Command", Reji was well aware of the rat-man''s psychological activities. He didn''t expect that even at this time, what Skaven was thinking about was still how to use him to join the demon race, thinking of passing the intelligence of him, this "great enemy", to the demon race. "¡­" After thinking for a while, Reji deliberately said, "Is that so? But won''t you first confirm my identity before answering?" "Huh!?" Skaven didn''t quite understand and was a bit confused, not sure what the human in front of him meant. Wasn''t the other party the Second Prince, a person of the Emperor? But no matter what, he had to go along with it. So the rat-man hurriedly asked Reji cautiously, "Then who...who are you..." And the next five words from Rejipletely petrified the rat-man. "The Demon King." Chapter 219 There Is Hope! 4/4 Golden Ticket''s bonus. --- The rat-man''s reaction afterwards was quite special. After a brief daze, Skaven''s eyes suddenly lit up. He was not afraid of Reji, nor did he question Reji. Instead, he seemed to quickly ept Reji''s setting of "I am the Demon King". Yes, setting. Reji felt that the current rat-man was looking at him with the eyes of seeing a "fellow". It was as if I was a swindler. It turned out that after all this fuss... You are one too! We are all one family! The only difference was that he, as a small swindler, only dared to impersonate the "Tenth Apostle" of the demon race to have delusions and deceive other foreign races. But Reji dared to directly call himself the Demon King. This made Skaven immediately stand in awe. "Demon King! So you are the great Demon King!!" The rat-man took less than half a second to have tears in his eyes. He knelt down with a thud in front of Reji, as if he were a loyal old minister wandering outside. Afterwards, he quickly stood up, turned around, and shouted loudly to those non-human races who were still a bit dazed and didn''t understand the situation. "Did you hear that! Squeak! Did everyone hear that! He is the Demon King! Our King hase!!" "I told you long ago, squeak! The demon race has never perished! The defeat a thousand years ago was only temporary. The reason we have not received news of demon activities is the same as our lurking behind enemy lines, all to recuperate and conserve strength! To endure!" "Now, humans are indulging in pleasure,x and tired, while we demons have been working day and night for revenge. The well-trained million-strong demon army is ready and waiting, able to trample human cities at any time, and our Demon King has also arrived in front of his most loyal subordinates!" "The golden age of humans has ended. Now, it is time to open the glorious chapter of the demon race''s revival, squeak squeak!" The rat-man became more and more excited, his whole body trembling with agitation. As for the non-humans imprisoned in Stillwater Prison below, their emotions were also mobilized. Although from Reji''s appearance, he looked quite different from the fierce and evil Demon King they imagined, looking simr to a human. But the scene of Reji absorbing the gloom before, directly eliminating the most terrifying curse of Stillwater Prison with his own strength, was still vivid in their minds. Before, they couldn''t figure out how Reji did it. But after hearing that he was the Demon King... There was no need for Reji to exin anything further. Suddenly, it seemed to all make sense. In their eyes, the Demon King should have boundless magical power. The mere curse of the human Stillwater Prison was something the Demon King should be able to handle with ease. "Wahhhhhh!" "Hail The King!!" "Overthrow humans! Trample humans!" "Ooh ah wah (Fishmannguage)" "Ooh ooh ooh! (Bearmannguage)" In an instant, various cheers from different races sounded one after another. Although in Reji''s ears, it sounded almost like ghosts wailing and wolves howling. Reji also saw that even the dragon warrior from before, who was half-dead from being shed by his Holy Smite, was now fanatical and very admiring of him. He was still spitting blood but had to raise his weapon to show his loyalty, without any intention of resentment. This effect was even better than the deterrence of Reji absorbing the gloom of the entire Stillwater Prison before. If there was a favorability rating, Reji estimated that it might have directly maxed out for these non-human races, thanks to the persistent deception of the swindler rat-man towards these non-human races over the years. Reji: "..." Although it felt a bit strange. But at least from the results, it was simr to the purpose I wanted to achieve. These non-humans in Stillwater Prison, although they looked stupid as if they had been fooled, in fact, each of their strengths was not to be underestimated. Being able to survive under the corrosive gloom curse, one could imagine how much their bodies had been tempered. Since they were imprisoned by the Emperor, captured from other worlds, resented the Emperor, and even defected to the demon race because of this, willing to be loyal to the demon race, Reji was also happy to ept this force. Instead... Reji was a bit puzzled. From the previous beastmen to the Star Spirits to these non-human races, why did that Emperor, as the ruler of humans, frequently engage in such enemy-making behavior? Reji felt that if he were the Emperor, assuming it was to prevent the demon race, he would definitely unite with other races, not lure and capture non-human races like this. "Alright, first answer a few questions for me. Tell me, how did you get in here?" As soon as Reji brought this up, many non-human prisoners in the prison gnashed their teeth, their expressions filled with resentment towards humans. The more straightforward dragon warrior stepped forward and said to Reji: "Back then, after the humans defeated the demon race, that Radiant Saintess, the first Emperor, used spells to send the victory spoils to the entire nar universe and conveyed a message to us, saying that she hoped we could alle to the human world to form an alliance together to jointly prevent the evil demon race from reappearing." When Skaven heard this, what evil demon race!? He was about to re and scold that dragon-born for how he spoke, but Reji raised his hand to interrupt the rat-man. The rat-man could only swallow it back and continue listening quietly. Next, the elder of the dragon race revealed angry recollection in his turbid eyes, and his voice also became gnashing. "At that time, after receiving the humanmunication, our race''s king had no doubts at all and immediately brought our race''s top powerhouses, as well as many precious treasures, to the human world, wanting to show goodwill to humans and express congrattions and gratitude to humans for eliminating the demon race, but we never thought..." "What greeted us was not some so-called human alliance at all, but here! Stillwater Prison! After that Emperor tricked us in here, under the gloom curse, our magic power waspletely sealed. By the time we discovered it, it was toote. Without magic power, we were no match for that Woman at all!" "We could only watch helplessly as the Emperor killed our race''s king, extracted the king''s soul, and ughtered all the king''s guards and other powerhouses of our race. I was spared only because my strength was very low and was not valued by the Emperor, merely imprisoned here." Afterwards, the other non-human races also showed simr expressions one after another. Their experiences were basically the same as what the dragon race suffered, all being tricked by the Emperor toe under the pretext of alliance and then killed. The "essence" of these racial kings was all taken away by the Emperor. The essence here, Reji roughly understood as the fate track of that race, simr to the "Demon King". This meant that the race would never be able to give birth to powerhouses again in the future. No matter how hard they tried, it was fundamentally controlled and deprived by the Emperor. No wonder these non-human races hated humans so much, were angry at the Emperor, and even defected to the demon race. The demon race was clean and thorough in destruction. What the First Emperor did was more like castrating the race. The king died, and the racial soul was also gone. When mentioning the past misery, the non-human prisoners all clenched their fists, lowered their heads, maybe some even had tears in their eyes, feeling aggrieved and dejected. In an instant, the mood sank to the extreme. At this time, the rat-man couldn''t stand it anymore. Skaven immediately stood up and shouted loudly again: "So now everyone know who is our real enemy! Who is our reliance! To fight against humans and avenge our race, there is only the demon race!" "Squeak! We must turn grief into strength. Moreover, now we no longer need to be depressed! Because..." "The Demon King is here! Stillwater Prison can no longer trap us!" "The Demon King is here! We have hope of escaping!" Chapter 220 Louise: Let me see which weakling dares to call himself the Demon King? 1/2 Skaven, in the heat of the moment, shouted a couple of times, instantly inspiring the inferior races below. Each of them was filled with enthusiasm as if they had been injected with chicken blood. It was evident that Skaven had been putting on a one-man show before. But now, with the presence of Demon King, he was even more in his element, performing with greater passion. It really didn''t seem like he was acting. Seeing that everyone was loyal to the demon race and full of fighting spirit, Skaven raised his rat w, signaling the other inferior races to quiet down. Afterwards, he bent down, half-kneeling in front of Reji, disying the appearance of a subordinate Tenth Apostle, and requested instructions from Reji: "Your Majesty, please give us your orders!" The inferior race prisoners also imitated the rat-man''s actions, kneeling and bowing their heads in unison, waiting for Reji''s orders to serve the Demon King. "The Second Prince has a group of humans here, take me there." Actually, Skaven had already guessed Reji''s order, after all, when Reji first asked him to lead the way, it was to that ce. Perhaps to make up for his previous treachery against Reji, Skaven was exceptionally proactive. This time, he took the lead, guiding a vast army of over a hundred inferior race warriors, charging towards another gathering ce in Stillwater Prison. Without the Gloom, their marching speed was extremely fast. In less than ten minutes, they could see a small town in the distance. However, as they approached, Skaven still quietly came to Reji''s side and reminded: "Your Majesty, although the humans in this gathering ce are very weak, they are under the protection of the blood race. These blood race fellows have made a deal with the Second Prince. They provide security, and the Second Prince brings them fresh blood supplies from outside." "So these blood race members are in better condition than us, especially... especially their princess! Squeak!" At this point, Skaven''s narrow rat eyes revealed a look of resentment, indicating that he had suffered a lot at the hands of the blood race princess. "The blood race princess is said to have been at the eighth tier before, and although she has regressed a bit now, she cannot be underestimated. Your Majesty, I''m afraid that when the fight starts, our demon race warriors will be at a disadvantage against that princess." "As for me, although I am the Tenth Apostle, squeak! My strength has not fully recovered. I''m afraid that if I enter the battlefield, I will let down Your Majesty''s reputation. So, how about..." Reji nced at the rat-man who was rubbing his hands, looking a bit timid and embarrassed. Skaven had probably invested all his skill points in being a chatan and waspletely clueless aboutbat. Reji didn''t mind this. He hadn''t expected to rely on this "demon army" to push through Stillwater Prison anyway. "Tell your subordinates to just guard the perimeter when we get there. Those humans are useful to me, don''t ughter them indiscriminately. As for the blood race... Hmm, I''ll handle it." "As youmand, Your Majesty! Squeak, squeak!" Hearing this, Skaven was overjoyed that Reji was going to solo the entire blood race gathering ce without needing them to take action. He had no doubts about Reji''s strength. After all, he was a terrifying powerhouse who could even break curses. Now, even if Reji kicked him out, he didn''t want to leave. As the "Tenth Apostle", what hecked was a "Demon King" like Reji, with explosivebat power, to cooperate with his act! Thinking of this, Skaven couldn''t help but mutter in a low voice, correcting the mistake in Reji''s words just now: "Your Majesty, they are our subordinates, not mine! What''s mine is yours!" Afterwards, the rat-man ran out in a sh. After informing all the inferior race prisoners of Reji''s orders, with Reji as their backing, they were now even more confident. When they reached the front of the blood race gathering ce, Skaven left the inferior race warriors to stand by, and directly walked alone to the doorstep of the other party''s home. "You dogs of the Second Prince! You blood race scum! All of you,e out to Skaven the Great! Squeak! Your good days are over!" From the outside, the blood race gathering ce was obviously much better than the dpidated vige previously inhabited by the inferior race prisoners. There were neat wooden houses, grass sheds, and stoves for cooking, with various traces of human life. But now, the blood race gathering ce was actually quite chaotic. It wasn''t because of Skaven''s shouting. It was the Gloom. The Gloom had disappeared. Many blood race members in the gathering ce, as well as the humans protected by the Second Prince, had now walked outside. They all looked at the surrounding air that had be much purer after losing the Gloom, with a dazed and panicked expression. From the expressions of these prison residents, what Reji saw was not excitement and joy at the disappearance of the curse, but panic. Even a small portion of the blood race, on their already pale faces, revealed... Fear. If Reji concentrated and listened carefully, he could vaguely hear unease and nervousness from the anxious discussions of those human schrs. "How could... the Gloom? This is impossible!" "Without the protection of the Gloom, their magic power will start to increase again. Once it exceeds that threshold..." "Could it be that something happened to the Emperor? Quick, contact the Second Prince!" Experience new stories on mvl "I knew it. After losing the demon race, this day would eventuallye to the entire ne. None of us can escape. All beings will be flesh monsters, bing the offspring of the Evil God, haha, hahaha!" "No, I don''t want to be controlled. Right, I must kill myself before being transformed! Knife, where''s the knife! Give me a knife!" The Gloom, which was regarded as a "curse" by Skaven''s group of inferior race prisoners, seemed to be a blessing and an even more important protection in the blood race gathering ce. But now, the protection had disappeared. The entire blood race gathering ce was filled with desperate whispers and helpless madness. For a moment, theypletely ignored Skaven, who was shouting outside, and the pressing inferior race warriors. Finally, it was a red-haired girl who stood out from the chaotic gathering ce. She seemed to be the leader here. The girl bit her finger and let the blood from her fingertip drip towards the gathering ce that was permeated with a deste atmosphere after losing the Gloom. The blood transformed into a strange blood magic. A crimson formation appeared under the girl''s feet, and wisps of red mist floated out from her hand, permeating the entire gathering ce. After inhaling the red mist, the blood race members and human schrs, following a brief convulsion, slowly calmed down, and their emotions stabilized. Although many of them still had pessimistic expressions, at least they no longer mentioned the impulse tomit suicide. Having temporarily appeased the internal turmoil, Louise, who was actually very perplexed and confused, finally had the energy to deal with Skaven by floating to the entrance of the gathering ce. The method was also very simple. "Get lost." Louise spoke coldly. The girl''s crimson eyes from the high-ranking blood race just red at Skaven, and the rat-man felt his hair stand on end all over his body, his legs trembling non-stop, showing his fear. At any other time, he might have run away. But now... no way! At this moment, the rat-man seemed to be truly possessed by the "Tenth Apostle". Facing the blood race princess, he still had to straighten his back and continue shouting desperately in a rat voice: "How dare you! Squeak! Louise, don''t think that just because I let you humanckeys off the hook before, it means... means I''m afraid of you!" "Now our king is back!" "Squeak! The Demon King has a message for you! As long as you surrender, hand over those humans of the Second Prince, and submit to the demon race, the Demon King guarantees that your lives will be spared, and he can even take you out of here with him!" Louise was already extremely irritated. Now, hearing this inferior rat-man, who always waved the g of the "demon race",e up with new tricks, still not getting lost, and even bringing up some Demon King, the blood race princess immediately frowned deeply, unable to hold back any longer. "Demon King is it? Okay fine!" "Come, call him out. Let me see which weakling is even more shameless than you, this filthy stinking rat-man. Being an apostle is not enough, and he even dares to call himself... the Demon King?" Chapter 221 Offspring Transformation Louise, as the 7613th generation royal cousin of the blood race, may look like a young girl on the outside, but she can be truly terrifying when she bes fierce. When the Gloom curse still existed and magic power was sealed, the blood race dominated Stillwater Prison relying solely on their powerful physiques. Now that the Gloom had disappeared and spells were unsealed, the strength of this blood race princess had be even more formidable. At this moment, just by standing in front of Louise, Skaven already felt as if all the blood in his body was slowly coagting beyond his control, bing viscous, which made the rat-man extremely panicked. He wanted to run away, but his body wouldn''t listen, his hands and feet bing cold and numb. Fortunately, at this time, another strange clear stream from the outside pulled its body back from the stiffness. Skaven shuddered and finally came to his senses. After regaining control of his body, the rat-man quickly distanced himself from Louise. On the other side, seeing that Skaven had actually escaped her blood suppression, Louise raised her eyebrows, showing a surprised look, and her expression finally became a bit more serious. Louise was well aware of Skaven''s capabilities. This kind of trash couldn''t possibly escape the suppression independently. So this blood race princess immediately shifted her gaze further and quickly found her target. Indeed, a human stood out too much among so many inferior races. "Humph, so this is your Demon King?" When Louise spoke, the sharp fangs on both sides of her mouth were faintly visible. To distinguish the strength and pedigree of the blood race, one only needed to look at their fangs. The more animal-like, rough, and protruding the fangs were, the lower the bloodline level, and they could only be called vampires. But for Louise now, although she also had sharp teeth for sucking blood, they were very neat and delicate, like exquisite porcin. When she spoke, they even brought a sense of beauty and elegance, which was the true orthodox blood race. "I don''t know if you''re truly evil or truly stupid to y this kind of hehe, role-ying game of the demon race with trash like Skaven. Regardless, I''ll repeat my warning one more time. Take your people and leave our blood race''s territory, now!" "Also, considering that we''ve all been in this prison together for so many years, I''ll give you a piece of advice." "Don''t think that the disappearance of the Gloom is a good thing. I advise you, from now until the Gloom returns, to reduce all unnecessary activities, stay put in your own nests, and... strictly forbid the use of any magic power!" Louise was particrly serious when she said thest half sentence, even raising her voice a lot. From the previous chaos in the blood race gathering ce, Reji could also discover that the people here seemed to know more inside secrets, as if there was some connection between the Gloom, magic power, and monsters. "Thank you for the reminder, but can I know why?" "There''s no why. You can choose not to listen, but when the timees, all of you will just turn into those lumps of flesh monsters in the forbidden area..." Before Louise could finish her words, sudden screams came from the town below. Everyone''s attention was drawn over, only to see that a blood race elder there began to wail, kneeling on the ground, frantically scratching his own skin. The powerful magic power condensed and expanded in this blood race elder''s body, as if it was about to burst his blood vessels and tear his skin apart. He began to convulse, his mind became unclear, and started to rave deliriously. "Magic power... give me more, don''t, no... Aargh... I hear... It''s calling me... Yes... Read exclusive adventures at mvl give me more, I want more!!" The blood race elder''s body was like a balloon, and it seemed that some invisible force of will was constantly blowing air into this balloon, which was manifested as the surging magic power. Strangely, the magic power didn''t burst the balloon, but the balloon began to amodate the magic power. In the screams of the crowd, the flesh and blood on one of the blood race elder''s arms seemed to have gained its own consciousness and began to squirm, proliferating frantically. In just a few blinks of an eye, the arm had turned into the shape of a baby, growing its own monstrous face. However, before this monstrous baby arm could attack the others around it, a blood de flew over. It was Louise who had made her move. With a st sound, the blood de directly chopped it off from the blood race elder''s body. "Aargh!" After losing his arm, the blood race elder let out a roar, as if he didn''t even recognize Louise anymore. What was even more terrifying was that the severed monstrous baby arm, instead of perishing, just hopped a few times on the ground and continued to squirm, as if it had be a new individual. "Quick! Kill him!" "Offspring! It''s the Evil God''s offspring! The transformation has begun!" "Lawrence is beyond saving!" "It''s not just us... Without the Gloom''s protection, we''ll all be transformed, haha... hahaha!" The gathering ce, which Louise had just managed to appease with her blood essence, now seemed to have collectively rioted again due to the contamination from this mutated elder. Several more blood race elders exhibited simr situations to the first one. The magic power in their bodies surged at an abnormal rate, and their entire minds descended into chaotic madness. Seeing this, Louise gritted her teeth, unable to hesitate any longer. She had no choice but to summon blood des, this time directly aiming at the vital point of the first mutant, who was also her uncle. Swoosh! The blood de shed towards the head of the mutated elder, but the scene of flesh and blood exploding did not ur. A figure of a young man appeared beside her uncle at some point, and her blood de was blocked by the young man with one hand. Louise was instantly furious. Her subconscious reaction was to think that Reji hade to cause trouble amid the chaos. At this point, she couldn''t take it anymore. She rushed over and swung her leg, wanting to kick Reji away. Unfortunately, the next moment, she felt a tremendous force. Her swinging ankle was grasped by the young man''s hand like an iron mp. Louise couldn''t move an inch. Louise, restrained by Reji, seemed to have lost her rationality a bit. Indeed, from the moment she used the Blood de spell, a foreign emotion began to constantly influence her. This emotion seemed to seep through every crack, taking advantage of Louise''s current anxiety over the chaotic scene to infiltrate and pollute. For a moment, even this primordial princess lost herself. The magic power in her body rose higher and higher, beginning to rampage, showing signs of mutation. Fortunately... Buzz! A strange sense of connection surged into Louise''s mind. Not only this blood race princess but also all the members of the gathering ce experienced a simr feeling at this moment. Previously, they were like small boats in the ocean of magic power, about to be drowned into the abyss by the stormy winds and waves. It was precisely this sense of connection that pulled them back from sinking, making them instantly sober. The magic power rampage in their bodies also rapidly declined. When Louise came to her senses again, she found that she was already drenched in cold sweat, kneeling on the ground. This scene was the same for many other members of the blood race gathering ce. Lawrence... Uncle, how was uncle doing? When Louise hurriedly looked over, she found that the blood race elder from the beginning had actually returned to his original state, except for a severed arm and being rather weak. As for the chopped-off arm, it was no longer the squirming flesh with its own consciousness. It hadpletely turned into a puddle of blood, quickly seeping into the ground and disappearing. Seeing that everything had calmed down, Louise finally breathed a sigh of relief. In the end, she cast aplicated gaze towards the only young man still standing, who was also the source of that sense of connection they felt. This was precisely the effect of the Banner of Command. After Reji incorporated all the blood race members into his team, that mutated magic power didn''t disappear into thin air but was absorbed by him, just like the Gloom before, turning into Sin Points. Looking at the girl on the ground, Reji extended his hand and said earnestly, "Can we sit down and have a good talk now, Miss Louise?" Chapter 222 A Diseased Plane Reji, who had saved the blood race settlement, was no longer met with resistance and became an honored guest. Experience tales with mvl No. Perhaps it was more fitting to describe him as the "focus" of the entire blood race settlement. After cleaning up the aftermath, now almost all the blood race members and those human schrs of the Second Prince were whispering to each other, all discussing Reji''s previous actions. Some of them argued with flushed faces, some seemed to still not dare to believe it, and even more blood race members were extremely exaggerated, actually worshipping the conference room where Reji was located as if he were a deity. The root of all this was in the conference room. Louise, who was sitting upright, took a deep breath. She stared straight at the young man opposite her and solemnly asked: "Before answering your question, can you tell me one thing first?" Reji: "Go ahead." "Who are you?" "Demon King." Louise was clearly very serious, but after hearing the young man''s words, she almost fainted from anger on the spot. If Reji hadn''t saved their camp and disyed that kind of miraculous power, with her explosive temper, she would have... This young primordial took a few more deep breaths, but unfortunately, her t chest didn''t rise and fall much. Afterwards, she began to answer Reji''s initial question. What are the Evil God''s offspring? Why can''t magic power be used? What kind of transformation was that? Louise''s answer was: "This ne has already been contaminated." "Contaminated?" "Yes, if youpare the ne to a living being, then it is currently suffering from a serious illness." "What illness?" "It has lost its immunity." At this point, Louise''s tone suddenly changed, and she asked Reji in return: "You''re a new face, you shouldn''t be a local prisoner of Stillwater Prison, right? Do you know how those inferior races, including Skaven, got in here?" "They said it was the Emperor''s deception. In the name of an alliance to prevent the demon race, he killed the kings of all their tribes." "That''s right." Louise nodded. And what this young girl said next surprised Reji. "But do you know, we blood race are different from other races. We... entered voluntarily." "Voluntarily?" "A thousand years ago, the blood race fell into a long slumber and happened to miss the Emperor''s message. When they woke up, they had no intention of catering to the Emperor and humans anymore. That era was a time full of opportunities and development for all races because the demon race was gone. We no longer needed to hide around, and we didn''t have to fear anything anymore." "At that time, we even regarded humans as the second threat. So at the royal cousin meeting, they unanimously passed the resolution to expand the tribe. From then on, the blood race began a crazy invasion of the surrounding world." "The more worlds we upied, the more resources we obtained. Thanks to the innate abilities of our blood race, the strength of all members was rising at an extremely terrifying speed in just a dozen years." "Perhaps just saying it, you still can''t imagine the golden age of the blood race. Before the demon race was defeated, we blood race only had two ninth-tier primordials, nine eighth-tier royal cousins, and over a hundred seventh-tier elders. But after the ''Great Expansion''..." "The number of ninth-tier primordials reached eighteen, a full nine times more than before. The number of eighth-tier royal cousins was even more, at one hundred and thirty, more than ten times. As for the seventh-tier elders... at that time, they were already countless and couldn''t be ranked at all." "All the blood race members at that time were reveling in this unprecedented prosperity. Everyone began to be increasingly greedy. The pursuit of magic power and the growth of strength reached a morbid level. At first, no one paid attention to this disaster until the first ''Fallen One'' appeared." At this point, fear appeared in Louise''s eyes. Even after a thousand years, recalling the experience of that time was still a shadow for her. "That day should have been the most celebratory for the entire blood race. Our ninth-tier king was about to awaken from his slumber. At that time, the king would break through the ninth-tier level and reach the legendary position of ''Deity'', creating a brand new fate track for our entire blood race." "However, at the coffin-opening ceremony, violent sounds came from the king''s wooden coffin, as if something was constantly hitting the inner walls. Cracks spread inch by inch on the king''s wooden coffin, and the next moment, what burst out from the coffin was a... yes, a flesh monster." "The king''s entire body was bloated. The frantically proliferating lumps of flesh piled up and expanded into a meat mountainrger than the pce. And all the blood race members present, as long as they had seen such a meat mountain monster, would be instantly contaminated and corroded, undergoing the same mutation all over their bodies." "And this was far from over. Some blood race members who had narrowly escaped found that the magic power in their bodies began to go out of control. Even if they didn''t cultivate or feed, it would continue to grow. Their strength began to increase more and more, but in contrast, their minds became weaker and weaker, bing perplexed, confused, muttering until the final madness." "From that moment on, all blood race began to fear magic power and fear the progress of their own strength. They were thinking about how to weaken themselves and lose power, but everything was in vain. It was as if they had already been targeted, and the transformation had begun. All the struggles were nothing more than the difference between fast and slow." "And what finally saved us from the brink of copse and gave us redemption was... the Emperor, it was this Stillwater Prison." "Those inferior race prisoners fear the Gloom, thinking it is a curse that makes them lose their magic power. But only we who have personally experienced that horror know that it is precisely the power of this Gloom that has protected us and curbed the growth of magic power within us, thus preventing us from being transformed." After hearing Louise''s description of the blood race''s experience, Reji finally seemed to understand many of the Emperor''s previous actions. After pondering for a moment, he summarized to Louise: "So you mean, the stronger the power, the more one cultivates magic power, the closer one actually gets to falling? Losing oneself and eventually turning into that kind of flesh monster?" "Yes, I''m very certain. When I was ascending to the seventh tier, I could vaguely feel that the magic power in my body was mixed with some kind of strange foreign will. And by the eighth tier, this feeling became even stronger, as if it were a ma. The stronger my power, the easier it was to draw me into the abyss. Fortunately, I stopped in time and resisted the temptation, but the others..." Louise shook her head. This wasn''t just a matter of willpower or not. She had also mentioned before that even if other blood race members didn''t cultivate and even wanted to give up magic power, they couldn''t. The magic power would automatically continue to grow. "I specte that such contamination is definitely not a coincidence. Perhaps it has existed in the ne for a very, very long time. But due to the existence of the demon race, the development of all other races was greatly curbed. Even if there were powerful races, as soon as they were about to approach that contamination and mutation threshold, they would quickly be destroyed by the demon race." "However, after the disappearance of the demon race..." Louise didn''t need to say any further, it was very clear. "I think that human Emperor must have discovered this point, which is why he would use such extreme means to gather the kings of all races to carry out the ughter." "And also use such extreme means to... treat the humans." Chapter 223 And so, the Demon King Blew the Horn (Part 1) Louise had already used the tragedy of the entire Blood Race to illustrate the current state of "pollution" to Reji. From this princess, Reji could sense a deep feeling of powerlessness. All races in the dimensional universe were absorbing magic power and cultivating themselves to continuously strengthen their power and develop their civilizations. This step-by-step path had been the consensus "ascension" route for countless years. However, in the end, the pinnacle of cultivation was not ascending to godhood, but rather... Mutation? Magic pollution? Bing offspring monsters that lose their sense of self and are filled with evil. So what exactly were all the efforts and hardships they put in on this path of "evolution" for? What made Louise even more terrified was the possibility that in their eyes, the flesh and blood monsters were pollution, filled with evil, but could it be that the so-called "gods" were truly like this? Those beautiful, elegant, charming, and radiant images of gods were nothing more than their own imagination. A huge monster constantly umting and expanding from pieces of flesh and blood, that was the true appearance of gods, the pinnacle of biological evolution, the destination of everything? Just the thought of herself turning into that made Louise shudder with disgust. She quickly shook her head to drive such bizarre thoughts out of her mind. Because at the very least, there were two strong pieces of evidence, which could also be said to be hope, that could negate the above viewpoint of "flesh and blood gods". The first was the Demon Race. The nine apostles of the Demon Race, each with strength that could rival the kings of other races, were at the ninth tier. ording to the theory of "pollution", these apostles with immense magic power should have mutated long ago, but in reality, they hadn''t. On the contrary, they could freely utilize magic power, wage wars, and fight fanatically without any scruples. As for the Demon King, although Louise had never seen him, judging from the numerous worlds destroyed by the Demon Race, the Demon King''s strength was most likely at the legendary tenth tier, the endpoint of evolution, an ascended god. Therefore, the existence of the Demon King proved that gods could be normal creatures with independent self-consciousness. The only doubt was that the kings of the Demon Race did not seem to be eternal. On the contrary, it was theplete opposite. The Blood Race had done a lot of research to avoid the descent of the Demon Race, so Louise was also somewhat clear about the internal structure of the Demon Race. For example, the Demon King was not naturally "born" from within the Demon Race. The Demon Race followed a "summoning" system. After confirming the next world to descend upon, the first thing the Demon Race did beforeunching a war was to gather the power of the nine apostles and initiate the summoning of the Demon King. Louise suspected that it was by relying on this technique that the Demon Race allowed their kings to avoid the invasion of "pollution". But then a new question arose. Under this summoning system, where did the Demon Race''s previous "old king" go? Did he pass away? Or did he be the cornerstone for summoning the new king? Or something else? Louise didn''t know about such secrets regarding the session of the Demon King, which were probably confidential even within the Demon Race. If one really wanted to ask, perhaps only the Demon King himself would know. So Louise, who had thought of this, shook her head. Let''s not even mention how low the probability was that the Demon King would be willing to discuss this issue with her. She probably couldn''t even get a chance to have an "audience" with the Demon King. Although she was a princess in the Blood Race''s gathering ce, a trusted and admired ancestraldy, and a hegemon in Stillwater Prison. But in reality, Louise herself knew very well. Her power had just barely reached the eighth tier. If ced in the Demon Race, if she worked hard, she could probably mix in as a lowly maid beside the Demon King, the most humble kind that washed feet. So let alone seeing the Demon King, it would probably be difficult for her to even see the nine apostles. Moreover, the Demon Race was basically all single-minded, only knowing destruction. How could they patiently listen to her exin the crisis of the nes, the pollution of the universe, and whatnot? The moment she went to them, there was a 90% chance she would be directly captured by the demons for brainwashing and transformed into a ve. This was also why Louise despised the rat-man Skaven. Any outsider race that wished to join the Demon Race was extremely foolish. What awaited them was only the path of "brainwashing" by the demons. Without exception. Therefore, Louise could only pin her hopes on the second possibility - the Hero. Her thoughts reaching this point, refocused her attention on Reji, the human who had established a "connection" with them. Louise had a vague guess about the source of this connection. "If I''m not mistaken, you should have a Hero''s relic on you, right? And it should belong to the Crown Prince," the girl closed her eyes to sense more carefully, finally confirming. "Don''t be surprised." "During the time I was protecting those human schrs for the Second Prince, I also absorbed a lot of knowledge about you humans from them, including your social structure and history." Louise preemptively judged Reji, giving an exnation, while switching her leg over the other, although this superior sitting posture had a bit of a discordant contrast with her rather loli physique. Continue your saga on mvl But as the princess of the Blood Race and a girl with noble bloodline, she was long ustomed to this lofty attitude. Even though Reji had saved them and disyed impressive strength, it was obviously not enough for Louise to lower her stance towards him. Chapter 224 And so, the Demon King Blew the Horn (Part 2) Just like how she would admit that as the esteemed ancestress, if ced in the Demon Race, she would just be a foot-washing maid. In Louise''s eyes, giving this human the right to sit on equal terms and have an equal conversation with her was already her way of expressing the greatest friendliness. The young princess then continued to speak to Reji in a calm manner: "Throughout the entire history of the dimensional universe, there have only been two exceptions that could avoid pollution. The Demon Race is one, and the ''Hero'' who defeated the Demon Race a thousand years ago is the other." "Very simr to the Demon King''s apostles, the Hero from a thousand years ago also had manypanions. Although their strength was not as great as the apostles, each of them was at least at the eighth tier like me, or even higher." "But from what I''ve seen in history, these Heropanions never exhibited any pollution phenomena. Each of their minds was very stable, and their spirits and bodies never showed the slightest tendency to develop towards ''mutation''." "I don''t believe thosepanions could have achieved this on their own. Undoubtedly, there must have been some kind of power from the Hero that isted them from pollution and achieved a protective effect." Louise, who had been talking non-stop, suddenly sighed at this point, and a look of regret and disappointment appeared on the young ancestress'' face. "If I could have a conversation with that Hero from a thousand years ago, perhaps I could learn more, but that''s no longer possible." "In any case, the relic in your hand and everything that just happened prove that my guess is correct. Indeed, even if the Hero is no longer around, using his relic can still have a simr effect of resisting pollution." This loli princess seemed to be conversing with Reji, but in fact, her gaze was lowered, her hands crossed between her legs in a contemtive pose, constantly reasoning and analyzing, until finally, she raised her fair face again, those red eyes of the Blood Race staring straight at Reji. "The importance each prince ces on the Hero''s relics is greater than their own lives. In other words, the fact that this relic is in your hands means that the Crown Prince is already dead, right?" "That''s right." Reji nodded. Although she had a mental expectation, after getting a definite answer from Reji, Louise still furrowed her brows, her beautiful face now filled with chaotic worries and thoughts. "The Crown Prince is actually dead. He controlled the entire Mage Nation, how could someone like that possibly die? Could it be that in these years, the humans on the surface have reshuffled? Who did it? The Seventh Prince? No, since you can appear in Stillwater Prison, it means you''re the Second Prince''s person, so... Hehe, I really underestimated that fellow Danye." "So what is Danye''s purpose in sending you down here? Wait, could it be that the Second Prince had already anticipated the disappearance of the Gloom, so he sent you to help us?" Seeing Louise specting on her own, this time Reji shook his head. "Unfortunately, there was a riot in the Court of Judgment, and the Second Prince sacrificed himself in this upheaval. However, you were right, one of the purposes of mying to Stillwater Prison is to help you get out of your predicament, leave this ce, and return to the surface." After Reji''s words, before Louise could even be shocked, the other human schrs who had been eavesdropping outside couldn''t hold back anymore. Bang! The door to the conference room was pushed open, and many schrs who rushed in looked as if they had received a great shock, staring at Reji in disbelief. "You, what did you say! Prince Danye is dead! No, this can''t be true! How is that possible!" It wasn''t until Reji took out the jade core that the Second Prince had given him that many schrs, including Louise, recognized at a nce that this was a token unique to the Second Prince, and only then did they believe Reji''s words. The faces of many schrs immediately showed despair. It felt as if the sky had copsed all at once. "Why... Damn it! I had clearly developed a way to remove the insect eggs! Why did this happen! All the efforts were in vain! We... we can never get out again!!" This schr, who had deted and sat dejectedly in the corner of the wall, caught Reji''s attention, and he immediately asked, "Remove the insect eggs?" "This was the task the Second Prince gave me. If we want to resist the Emperor one day in the future, we must remove the insect eggs the Emperor nted in all humans. My experiments had seeded, and the insect eggs in us Stillwater prisoners had all been removed, but... Damn it! What''s the use of that now?" "Without the Second Prince''s protection, we are justmbs to the ughter after going out. The Emperor won''t let us off, the Empire won''t let us off. It''s over, it''s all over..." Other schrs were also assigned simr tasks by the Second Prince to varying degrees, such as writing the truth, exposing the Emperor''s atrocities, researching spells, retrieving the knowledge sealed by the Empire, and so on. Although these were not as significant as "eliminating the insect eggs", they were all methods to rebel and fight against the Emperor. Your journey continues at mvl It was also the Second Prince''s guarantee to unite these schrs and make them wholeheartedly work hard. Everything was for the sake of overthrowing the Empire''s rule and restoring human society. But now, without the Second Prince as their protective umbre, facing the Empire''s absolutely overwhelming power, they couldn''t think of any other force in this world that could contend with it and protect them. So now, this group of schrs was in such despair, shocked to the point of directly rushing in upon hearing of the Second Prince''s death. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 225 And So, the Demon King Blew the Horn (Part 3) Sorry for the dy, Golden Ticket''s bonuses will be posted tomorrow after the daily chapters. ---- Only Louise remained rtively calm. She quickly sensed that something was amiss. "Wait, the Crown Prince is dead, the Second Prince is also dead. The Emperor has a total of four heirs. The Fourth Princess has already chosen the position of the Radiant Saintess, so it''s impossible. Then, does this mean that the Seventh Prince emerged victorious in the struggle between the princes?" "How could it be Olba? No, it''s indeed possible. The Seventh Prince''s relic is the Holy Sword, the strongest inbat power among the many relics. If he truly found a way to unleash the power of that Holy Sword, it''s not impossible for him to kill the other princes." "But that fool only thinks about inheriting the throne, he''s aplete idiot. In terms of scheming, he can''tpare to the other two princes at all. Letting such a prince win, could this also be the Emperor''s calction?" Louise didn''t even realize that after her mind became a tangled mess, her previous demeanor as the Leader of the Blood Race waspletely gone. At this moment, the girl was biting her fingernails, her delicate eyebrows almost furrowed into a twist, as if she was rapidly specting about the course of events and the intricate power rtions behind this bizarre oue. Until¡­ Reji: "Olba is also dead." Silence. Silence. Silence. Louise was like a high-speed running machine that suddenly jammed in the middle. Her mind waspletely stunned. The girl ancestor actually jumped up from her seat with a whoosh, somewhat irritated, and questioned: "What did you say? The Seventh Prince is also dead? Well, well, well! All the princes are dead, right? Tell me, with only one heirs left, who else could have killed Olba? Don''t tell me hemitted suicide?" "In a sense, well, I guess so." Reji recalled the process of Olba''s death. The Seventh Prince indeed died due to the bacsh of breaking his oath when he attacked himself with the Holy Sword. He didn''t n to keep them in suspense any longer. In fact, Reji had been hesitating before, but after discovering the strategic value of these schrs, he made up his mind. Without saying much, Reji directly took out the Sword of Oath. This Holy Sword, shining with radiance in his hand, instantly attracted the attention of Louise and all the human schrs. The girl ancestor reacted the fastest. Louise''s round lips were now shaped into an O, her eyes wide open, as if she had just realized everything. "It''s, it''s you!?" "It''s me." "The one who killed the Crown Prince... was also you!?" "It''s me." "Then the riot in the Court of Judgment¡ª" "It''s me." Reji''s three consecutive "It''s me" petrified Louise. At any other time, she would never believe it even if she was killed. Who could kill three princes with Hero Relics in a row? But now, the three relics surrounding Reji''s hand were the best evidence, forcing Louise to believe. No. Indeed there was. "You, you are a descendant of the Hero!??" This was the only possibility Louise could think of. But soon, after the shock, she exploded again. Because she thought of another extremely terrifying consequence. "Wait, if all the princes are really dead, then that means no one is managing Stillwater Prison now!??" The girl looked anxious. The other human schrs seemed to be reminded at this moment, and they all came back to their senses, immediately understanding what Louise meant. "No wonder, no wonder the Gloom disappeared!" "It''s over! We can''t stay here! Let''s go! Those guys from the ''Forbidden Area'' areing out without a manager in Stillwater Prison!!" Just as Louise''s words fell. The next moment, the ground beneath the gathering ce began to tremble faintly. And from outside, there was also a burst ofmotion. Among them, there were terrified screams from "The Tenth Apostle" Skaven. "Great Demon King! Not good, squeak! Monsters! All monsters! From the direction of the Forbidden Area!" When Reji went out and looked from high up. The scene was indeed sanity-draining. Lumps of flesh and blood were squirming on the ground, forming various bizarre shapes. There were huge floating eyeballs, crawlers with seven arms like centipedes, obese and bloated giants like mountains of flesh, and headless wanderers... All the flesh monsters, like distorted locusts, began to sweep across the entire Stillwater Prison. Explore stories on §Þ?? "Those are the monsters that have umted in Stillwater Prison for a thousand years, all degenerated and mutated into the offspring of evil gods! They should have been sealed in the Forbidden Area and unable toe out, but now, damn it! It''s toote! It''s already toote!" Under such a monster tide, Louise was desperate and helpless. They moved very fast. In just a few breaths, there were less than five hundred meters left. She might be able to break through by herself, but what about the other Blood Race members? Even if she escaped, what then? Leaving her as the only kin of her race in the world, all alone? At this time, Louise could only ce her hopeful gaze on Reji, wondering if this "descendant of the Hero" could turn the tide and unleash some powerful force to block the monsters and buy time for their escape. What a pity. The descendant of the Hero obviously couldn''t do it. But¡ª "Miss Louise, are you willing to lead the Blood Race to submit to the rule of our Demon Race?" Reji suddenly asked out of the blue. Louise: "...?" Louise was puzzled. She couldn''t understand, at a time like this, how could Reji still be ying that Demon Race house game. "Miss Louise, if you''re a little slower, it will be toote. If you ept, then the Demon Race will give you and your Blood Race protection." "Submit! Don''t even mention ruling, I''ll even be your ve! Where is your Demon Race army? Bring it out please!" Louise was at her wit''s end. Seeing the flesh monsters that had already approached within a hundred meters, she almost screamed, transforming that desperate emotion into anger at Reji for still joking around at this time. Until¡ª "As you wish." In fact, Reji had already set up a teleportation anchor point on the map at the Blood Race gathering ce. As his words fell, a Star Spirit Crystal filled with psionic energy was taken out from his bosom and turned into a stream of light, floating to the sky above the camp. And then. The glittering Star Spirit Crystal burst into a dazzling glow. Crystalline teleportation anchors materialized from the void. One after another, phantoms surrounded the town. Among them were Great Demons with hideous horns, their entire bodies seeming to flow withva, walking out of purgatory. There were Sword Demons with specialized limbs, their entire bodies forged into weapons, the most ruthless killing machines. There were Shadow Demons shrouded in shadows, as if following like a shadow, omnipresent. There were also rows of Sorcery Demons wearing magic robes and crow masks, emanating strong magic fluctuations. There were big-bellied Decay Demons spewing highly corrosive mist, their appearance no less than monsters. There were also Wisdom Demons in charge ofmanding and nning the battle, countless enhancement halos enveloping the army, with human bodies and snake faces. Five seconds ago, what Louise feared were the flesh monsters rushing out from the Forbidden Area. And in just five short seconds. What Louise, the Blood Race members, all the human schrs, and even "The Tenth Apostle" Skaven and those other races feared was no longer the flesh monsters. Becausepared to the flesh monsters, another was the true source of terror. That was¡ª The Demon Race members who were continuously, increasingly, almost madly descending upon Stillwater Prison. That was, without a doubt¡­ The true Demons! Chapter 226 Unstoppable Force 1/2 Boom! Boom boom! The hooves of the demons trampled the earth, each step seeming to shake the soul. The Great Demon Legion, the first toplete the anchor teleportation, faced the forbidden monsters charging towards the Blood Race town not far away. Without any hesitation or cowardice, they let out a muffled roar and directly rushed to the front. Among the spawn monsters, the fastest sprinting and moving were those winding and twisting blood-flesh crawlers. Their appearance was like a human with the head chopped off, keeping only the torso, but with many extra arms and legs for crawling. With such a bizarre appearance, ordinary soldiers might tremble just from seeing them. In Louise''s Blood Race world, the most members died to the crawlers. These monsters were the most numerous, roaming the edges of the Forbidden Area all year round. Not only were they fast, but they also had extremely sharp mouthparts that could easily bite a sixth-tier Blood elites in half. However, in front of the towering and sturdy bodies of the Great Demons, several meters tall, these crawlers were like earthworms and loaches. Their high mobility seemed to have be a joke. The Great Demons, withva-like hot blood flowing in their bodies, didn''t care how scary or bizarre you looked. The Great Demons only needed to charge forward recklessly, and it was enough to trample those crawlers blocking the way into minced meat. Some crawlers began to nimbly dodge, changing their approach. Using their many arms to exert force, they leaped up like locusts, directly pouncing onto the Great Demons. Sharp teeth-filled mouthparts protruded from the crawlers'' abdomens. It was these mouthparts that had killed countless physically strong prisoners in Stillwater Prison. The crawlers used their most familiar method, fiercely biting the Great Demon''s body. But obviously, this time they had bitten off more than they could chew... The crawlers'' bite not only failed to injure the Great Demon, it didn''t even bite off ayer of skin, only leaving a very shallow mark. Instead, their own mouthparts were burned, scalded by the high-temperature skin on the Great Demon''s body. Before they could react, the next moment the Great Demon''s ws approached, urately grabbing the crawlers that had jumped onto its body. No matter how much they struggled and resisted, they couldn''t break free from the demon''s ws. Some were directly crushed into minced meat by the Great Demon''s ws, while others were thrown far away. They also instantly became a puddle of flesh. Seeing the failure of the crawler legion, another type of forbidden spawn among the flesh monsters immediately let out an angry roar, wanting to charge forward and sh head-on with the Great Demons. Unlike the crawlers, the new spawn rushing up this time were huge, somewhat simr to the Great Demons. They were also four to five meters tall, butpletelycked the explosive power and muscr sturdiness of the Great Demons. On the contrary, their entire bodies were bloated flesh, as if parasitized by fungi and spores. Dense clusters of fleshy fungi grew out from various parts of their bodies, like a corpulent mushroom giant. The appearance of the mushroom giants directly made many Blood Race and human schrs subconsciously recall the past shadows. Just one mushroom giant running out from the Forbidden Area had cost the entire settlement more than twenty lives before they managed to drive it away with great difficulty. Enjoy new tales from §Þ?? This giant-type evil god spawn not only possessed immense strength but also had extremely terrifying regenerative power, making it almost impossible to kill. Just as the native prisoners of Stillwater Prison were trembling at the mushroom giants, the Great Demons used actions to tell them it wasn''t that the monsters were strong, but that they were too weak. Taking advantage of several crawlers jumping onto a Great Demon to distract its attention, a mushroom giant, with its spore-covered arm resembling a swollen hammer, swung fiercely at the Great Demon''s back, stirring up a whistling sound. Relying on the sneak attack, this strike fullynded on the Great Demon''s back, making it stagger a few steps. It merely staggered a few steps. The Great Demon, ambushed from behind, seemed enraged. It didn''t even bother with the crawlers hanging on its body. It turned around, clenched its demon ws into a fist, and returned a punch to the mushroom giant. Bang! The Great Demon''s punch directly prated the mushroom giant, shattering the flesh of its head. The headless mushroom giant staggered and fell with a thud. But soon, at the neck of the mushroom giant, its bizarre recovery power manifested. In just a few breaths, a new clump of fleshy spores grew out to serve as its head. Seeing this, the Great Demon soldier didn''t wait for the newly headed mushroom giant to stand up again. It directly rushed over, its demon hoof stomping heavily on the giant''s chest. "Urgh... Aaargh..." The trampled mushroom giant let out painful wails. A closer look would reveal that the Great Demon wasn''t simply gradually increasing the force. mes also ignited on its hoof, the special effect of the Great Demon''s infernal ze, directly turning the surface of the mushroom giantpletely red, enveloped by scorching high temperature. Those mushroom spores, under the extreme high temperature, seemed unable to endure any longer and began to melt away one after another. The Great Demon soldier was still unsatisfied and started frantically waving its ws at the giant underfoot. In an instant, flesh and blood flew, and the mushroom giant''s huge body was almost torn to shreds by the Great Demon in the blink of an eye, bing minced meat. These shreds, mixed with blood, scattered across the battlefield, looking like they could no longer regenerate. Bathed in blood, the Great Demon seemed to be even more aroused in battle. With a roar, it turned around and continued to engage in other battlefields. Simr scenes urred in various parts of the battlefield. Such a sight directly made the refugees from other races hiding in the Blood Race town tremble in shock. The Demon Race had disappeared for a thousand years. So many other races had actually forgotten about the Demon Race a bit, and the fear was only from the past. But now, the ferocious fighting style and unparalleled mighty power of the Great Demons... Just this one legion alone seemed to have not only blocked the evil god spawn legion that had just been charging with overwhelming momentum, those flesh monsters, but also continuously forced them back, starting to push back the front line. This... This is the Demon Race? The evil god spawns they feared as "forbidden" seemed to be just toys in front of the Demon Race? Unlike many trembling refugees from other races. Among them, one person from another race, after the initial shock, could be said to be the only one extremely excited at the scene. That''s right. It was the self-proim "Tenth Apostle" Skaven. Because of taking refuge, the rat-men who were originally ordered by Reji to keep watch outside the small town now also came closer to Reji and the Blood Race. At this moment, Skaven''s rat face was flushed red. While other Blood Race members had their legs weakened by the Great Demon Legion, he... His legs were also trembling, a physiological reaction when facing a high-tier race, but this did not prevent Skaven from being mentally exhrated now. "Demon King! It''s the Great Demons! The strongest war troops among the Demon Race, squeak!" As a rat-man who had always revered the Demon Race, now seeing the real Demon Race, he had to find someone to share his feelings, and Reji, as a "fellow enthusiast", was undoubtedly the best target. "It''s said that when each Great Demon is born from the breeding chamber, they have at least seventh-tier strength! They have gone through the baptism of purgatory and the test of ughter. Their hearts and me furnaces inside their bodies can endlessly erupt with boundless power, squeak!" Reji was surprised, "You even know about the breeding chamber? You know quite a lot about the Demon Race." "Of course, squeak! The breeding chamber is the core of the Demon Race, the authority of the great Breeding Apostle la. This is my third favorite among the apostles I like, squeak! Wait! Not good, Demon King, what is that!" Before Skaven could continue sharing his love for the Demon Race with Reji, the rat-man suddenly eximed again. Reji looked in the direction of Skaven''s gaze and saw a new development on the side of the flesh monster legion. Several huge floating eyeballs joined the battlefield. These eyeballs did not actively attack, more like spellcasters. A strange light beam shot out from the eyeballs, and the flesh monsters scanned by it began to gather together. In just a few breaths, more than a dozen flesh monsters fused with each other under the maniption of the floating giant eyeballs, transforming into an extremely heavy meat mountain puppet. This meat mountain puppet was more than a dozen meters tall, requiring even the Great Demons to look up. This was also one of the reasons why the evil god spawns were terrifying. They couldbine at any time and share power. With the addition of these giant eyeballs, the situation on the battlefield suddenly became perilous. Although the meat mountain puppet in the center was a bit clumsy, relying on its huge size advantage, ordinary Great Demons couldn''t do much to it. For a moment, it seemed to have reached a stalemate. But soon. Another figure appeared on the battlefield, also a Great Demon, wielding a zing battle axe. The wings on his back transformed into ming meteors. After a chop of his axe, the meat mountain puppet that could remain unscathed even when besieged by several Great Demons was directly split in half from the middle, and then its entire body melted, bing a puddle of blood. One-hit kill. Skaven looked at the special Great Demon under the double wings, and the rat-man almost jumped up. "Hektor! It''s Hektor! The Great... Great Demon Apostle! Apostle! Apostle!!!" Chapter 227 Your Majesty, All Enemies Have Been Annihilated The rat-man was going crazy. It was like seeing a celebrity, no, more like a dream. He was so excited about Reji that he was incoherent, waving his hands wildly in the air,pletely unable to express his current mood. It didn''t end there. Just as Skaven''s words fell, from the shadows below those floating giant eyeballs, demon race members shrouded in darkness and blurred emerged from the shadows one by one. They used shadows as weapons, turning them into bays, directly stabbing at those giant eyeballs in the rear. The unpredictable appearance of the Shadow Demons caught the floating flesh eyespletely off guard. They were immediately pierced in the core of their eyeballs by the shadow des, swaying and falling from the sky. Among these Shadow Demons, a petite figure in a cloak was the most eye-catching because of the huge scythe in her hand, forming a stark contrast with her small stature. Needless to say, this giant shadow scythe was the best symbol of identity. Skaven''s eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, wait, could that be... Shermen! Could it be Lady Shermen!! The Ninth Apostle, the Apostle of Shadows! Shermen!!!" "Legend has it that she is the embodiment of shadows, the goddess of the night, the beloved daughter of darkness... Oh my god! Two apostles! I actually saw two apostles with my own eyes!!" With the addition of Hektor and Shermen to the battlefield, the oue of this battle was no longer in doubt. The Great Demon Legion charged at the front as berserkers, while the Shadow Demons were responsible for assassinating the rear. The Sword Demons, as harvesting machines, entered the battlefield second, working in tacit coordination with the Great Demons to reap the stragglers. As for the Sorcerer Demon Legion in the rear, they didn''t even have a chance to y their part. Before they could cast their spells, the so-called group of evil god spawns had already been routed by the demon army led by the two apostles. The overall situation was settled. Several footsteps sounded towards Reji''s direction. Soon, a little girl bouncing and holding a doll ran to Reji first and hugged him. "Demon King Oni-chan! Eris... missed you so much..." Huh? Skaven was a bit surprised to see this little girl. Were there children in a ce like Stillwater Prison? Moreover, for some reason, the rat-man always felt that the doll in the little girl''s hand seemed to be staring at him? Finally... Eris? Skaven was too familiar with that name. The Fourth Apostle, Decay Demon Eris, who held the authority over death and corpses. Her image was the most terrifying among the Demon Race. Therefore, Skaven didn''t associate the little girl currently nestling in Reji''s arms, enjoying Reji''s head pats, with that "Eris" at all. Until... With the footsteps, two other women appeared. They each had their own charm. The one on the left had silver moonlight-colored long hair with pointed ears, while the one on the right had short pink hair, full of allure. Enjoy new chapters from §Þ?? The simrity was that they both made Skaven''s eyes go straight. The rat-man was stunned, having never seen such beautiful females. But the subsequent conversation between the pink-haired woman and the little girl pulled Skaven back from the enchantment. "Eris!" The pink-haired woman seemed very angry. Staring at the little girl acting spoiled in Reji''s arms, her tone was very dissatisfied. "You should be on the battlefieldmanding the troops with Hektor and the others! Who allowed you to run around!" "I haven''t seen... His Majesty for so long... It''s fine, Hektor and Shermen are on the battlefield, no problem, hehe..." "Sigh.. I think you just want to ask His Majesty for the distribution rights of these other races. Tired of eating only human corpses, right? Seeing a different taste made you anxious and drooling!" Exposed on the spot by Eileen, Eris licked her lips a bit embarrassedly. The little girl''s seemingly innocent gaze now swept over the other races surrounding Reji, making Skaven and even the Blood Race princess Louise shiver all over. But soon, the little girl tried hard to swallow her saliva back and pitifully grabbed Reji''spel. "Demon King brother... Eileen... is too fierce... Eris doesn''t want to treat them as snacks... Eris just wants to y with everyone... these new friends... Can I?" Reji smiled. Of course, he wouldn''t refuse such a cute Eris. He pointed in Skaven''s direction. "I don''t know about the others, but he definitely likes ying games with you and especially wants to drink your seafood soup." "Really!? Really!?" Eris''s eyes lit up instantly upon hearing that. After all, this was the first time she heard someone actively wanting to drink seafood soup. Eris was so happy that she immediately decided to use the corpses of those evil god spawns this time as new ingredients to add to her Noxious Seafood Soup to treat her new friend. Only the rat was confused. What, what''s going on? Why did so many people suddenly appear to act with this young man? And speaking of which, why was there no movement on the battlefield? Indeed. It was fine if Skaven didn''t look back, but when he did, he was almost scared to death. The battle between the Demons and the flesh monsters had ended, and all the forbidden evil god spawns werepletely annihted. And the Great Demon Hektor and Shadow Demon Shermen he admired were now leading the demon army, still full of killing intent and battle spirit, quickly rushing towards their direction. Only at this moment did Skavene to his senses from his passion for the Demons, realizing that he was just a chatan. If the Demons found out that he had been impersonating an apostle... Skaven was instantly covered in cold sweat and immediately prepared to flee. He was still somewhat loyal, winking at Reji before running away, hinting that his fellow chatan shouldn''t pretend anymore and should quickly escape. Then... "Huh? You can''t leave... Demon King brother said you are Eris''s... guest... to share... seafood soup together, hehe..." Skaven, who hadn''t run a few meters, was horrified to find a thick, mucus-filled red tongue wrapping around his waist, instantly pulling him back. And the owner of this tongue was... the doll in the little girl''s hand just now. The seemingly harmless doll had now transformed into a terrifying zombie dog made of stitched stone. Its ferocious eyes stared at Skaven, the drool at the corner of its mouth indicating its fondness for this rat-man snack. It was only after the little girl patted the dog''s head that the corpse-stitched hound calmed down a bit. And it was also at this time that the demon army had surrounded the Blood town, and the two apostles, Hektor and Shermen, had also arrived beside Reji. The next scene was unforgettable for Skaven and, it could be said, for all the other race prisoners in the Blood town. The Great Demons bowed. The Shadow Demons prostrated in the shadows. The Sorcerer Demons lowered their staffs. The Sword Demons brought their limbs together. The various demons that had just been galloping on the battlefield and brutally ughtering now, like waves, knelt and saluted in turn towards the Blood town. The tens of thousands of demon troops were now silent as a crow, as if no one dared to make a noise in front of "that existence". The one who finally broke the silence was still Hektor, themander. The Great Demon Apostle, also kneeling in front of Reji, lowered his ferocious horns, retracted his demon wings behind his back, and reported to the young man in front of him in an extremely respectful voice: "Your Majesty, mission aplished, all enemies have been... annihted." Chapter 228 Reappearing in the World After the five apostles were teleported to Stillwater Prison this time, Reji nodded, indicating that they could stand up. He then asked the nearest subus: "What''s the situation on the surface?" The horn blown by Reji was not just for Stillwater Prison. It was a true deration of the return of the demon race. "My lord, the army on the surface is being deployed by Leo. Through the previously arranged teleportation anchors, our forces have sessfully upied key fortresses of the Court of Judgment and the Mage Nation. The resistance forces of the two countries are very weak, thanks to your preemptive destruction of their leadership, allowing our army to achieve victory with extremely low losses," the subus reported. Just as Eileen reported, the battlefield here at Stillwater Prison was only a small part. With three of the four imperial heirs already dead at Reji''s hands and their relics reimed, in Reji''s view, the previous strategy of having the demons lurk in the shadows was no longer necessary. The previous concealment was due to unfamiliarity with this world, to slow down the pace and allow himself to enhance his strength. But now, the Empire''s many hidden cards, like the Psionic Wall, the insect eggs, the holy sword, etc., had been mostly figured out and neutralized by Reji, and his own power had reached the 8th tier along the way. Although there were indeed still some regrets, such as not being able to undermine the Radiant Holy Nation, one of the three major nations under the Empire, in advance. But Reji felt that as long as the Emperor and that Radiant Saintess were not fools, the sessive deaths of the three princes were enough to make them realize that the demons had returned, even if they wanted to hide, it was no longer possible. So rather than that, it was better to take advantage of this final bit of preheating from the shadows to take the initiative to attack, fight a blitzkrieg, and smoothly take over the previous spoils of war. Eileen report on the war situation was roughly in line with Reji''s expectations. From the battle just now in Stillwater Prison, it was enough to see thebat power of the demon race. Even those blood and flesh monsters, regarded as nightmares and offspring of evil gods by the alien prisoners in Stillwater Prison, could be killed without any trouble. And on the surface, the vast majority of humans who had be feeble after a thousand years were far fromparable to these blood and flesh monsters, let alone the blood race... no, even the rat-man Skaven prisoners were far superior. The only threatening imperial princes and those relics had all been dealt with by Reji, so it should be said that it was only natural for the demon race to easily take over. Now what Reji was most worried about was another ce. "What about the Radiant Holy Nation?" "Reporting to his majesty, the battlefield of the Holy Nation is personally led by Pierre and Dian, strictly following the your majesty''s orders, adopting the opposite rhythm of attackpared to the other two nations, slowing down the offensive and advancing steadily. At present, the demon army is steadily advancing, gradually encroaching from the periphery of the Holy Nation. So far, no abnormal war reports have been received, and the humans of the Holy Nation have mostly fled the cities and shifted towards the Empire." "Mm, send a message to the two apostles that even if the resistance of the Holy Nation is weak, they must never be impatient for quick sess, and even more so, they must not take the initiative to attack the royal city of the Holy Nation. Just slowly apply pressure and surround it." Your next read is at §Þ?? "Wait for us in the rear topletely control the rest of the countries beforeunching the final general attack. Also, continue to have Dian use spells to release information that if the Radiant Saintess is willing, we can find a ce to sit down and negotiate." "As youmand, My King." Reji''s caution was not without reason. After all, ording to the rules, that Radiant Saintess princess should also have a hero''s relic in her hands. Reji was most clear about the things from his first ythrough, among which there were quite a few that could cause great damage to the demon race. Coupled with the "questionnaire" buff, Reji did not want it to evolve into a situation like the first ythrough, where both sides were in a bloodbath and the world was also left in ruins. It was precisely because of this that Reji even temporarily put aside the battlefield on the side of the Radiant Holy Nation and handed it over to the apostles. At present, he had more important things to do - limiting the scope of the war. And this was something that only he, as the Demon King, could do. Thinking of this, Reji turned around and looked at the prisoners gathered in the blood race town. As expected. The eyes of the blood race people looking at him now were filled with despair. Even though he had saved their lives before. The identity of the Demon King overshadowed everything. As the progenitor, Louise''s face was even more ashen. The girl gritted her teeth, and although her trembling body revealed her fear, Louise still stood alone, protecting all the blood people behind her. Now seeing Reji''s gaze looking over, Louise pursed her lips. Her previous noble demeanor was long gone. The girl had the posture of being willing to die to protect her people, as if Reji was about to exterminate their race. "Miss Louise, I have fulfilled the agreement and given you shelter. Now... isn''t it your turn?" "Dream on! No way! I will never let my people ept the brainwashing of you demons! We would rather die here than be that kind of demon ves!" Answering Reji was Louise''s angry refusal with a trembling voice showing that she had mustered great courage to defy the Demon King. The moment the girl said this, an extremely dark pressure immediately enveloped the entire blood race. Hector''s Great Demon Eyes swept over, and the blood race, with blood as their power, actually felt as if the blood in their bodies was being burned, scorched by purgatory. Shermen''s expression could not be seen under her cloak, but the shadows under the feet of the blood race people kept swaying, and many of them felt a chill on their necks, as if an invisible shadow scythe was already hovering in front of them, able to easily take their lives at any time. As for Eileen, it goes without saying. In her view, the Demon King had already been so merciful and given such generous treatment, yet this blood race progenitor still didn''t know what was good for her. She didn''t even give Louise a proper look, just a cold nce. As the leader of the blood race at the 8th tier, Louise immediately felt her soul being strongly impacted. Eileen''s eyes were like deep vortexes, directly causing her consciousness to be deeply trapped and unable to escape, almost getting lost in the pink mist. It was only when Reji raised his hand that the apostles retracted their oppressive aura. Louise, who had just regained her senses, found that she was already half-kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath, her fair cheeks now drenched in sweat. The gap. The gap was too big. If even she was like this, not to mention the nsmen behind Louise. They were all like they had taken a trip back from the ghost gate, and their eyes no longer held fear, only obedience remained. Louise''s reaction was also normal. ording to the original demon race, Reji would also rather die than submit. But... "You will not be brainwashed, and the demon race no longer has wicked demons." "From now on, the blood race and the other alien races here will only serve as peripheral vassals to the demon race. The demon race will not interfere with your internal affairs. On the contrary, when necessary, we will provide protection as before. But in return, whenever the demon race has any need of you, you must obey unconditionally." Chapter 229 Benevolence and Might 1/2 Upon hearing Reji''s words, Louise was stunned and doubting her ears. "The demon race... no longer has wicked demons?" It should be known that wicked demons were one of the apostle races of the demon race. Like her, many alien races hated the demon race and werepletely destroyed, half of which was thanks to the wicked demons. But now... Louise felt that the Demon King before her would not deceive her, and there was no need to. So now, only eight apostles remained in the demon race? "This is not the ce to talk. When we get to the surface, you and the other alien races, including humans, will all see a new era belonging to the demon race." After Reji finished speaking, he nodded to a silver-haired apostle. Following Reji''s gaze, Louise only then noticed Vielsia. Noticing those pointed ears, that beautiful and elegant appearance iconic of elves. Wait. An E-Elf!? And Apostle?? Two words that should never be associated were intertwined, causing a great impact on Louise. And the power disyed by Vielsia afterwards made Louise no longer doubt her identity. ¡­ Stillwater Prison was located deep underground. Reji not only wanted to bring the people here out, but since the monsters had been cleared, he would also bring the entire prison to the surface as "evidence" to let the truth be revealed. After receiving Reji''s authorization, Vielsia brought her ten fingers together, and emerald green magic power began to surround the area. Blooming flowers sprouted from under her feet. The authority of the Flower Apostle quickly filled Stillwater Prison, where not an inch of soil could grow, with nts. With Vielsia at the center, a seed was nted. First, tender shoots broke through the soil, then quickly turned into lush seedlings, and in the blink of an eye, grew into an ancient tree that continued to grow wildly. The roots of the ancient tree quickly took hold and spread in Stillwater Prison. Using the tree''s crown as a tray, it actually lifted the entire Stillwater Prison upwards, rising continuously. No matter how solid the rock, nts could still grow from it. Just like the ruins of Stillwater Prison that had been buried underground for a thousand years, under the support of the nts, it could still break through the soil along with that towering tree and reach the surface. Boom! A loud noise echoed in the Court of Judgment. The originally standing Tower of Justice copsed with a crash, and in its ce was an ancient tree that emerged from the ground. At the crown of this huge towering tree was a prison still emitting a cyan light - it was Stillwater Prison, reappearing in the world. The dazzling sunlight from the outside world shone in, causing many alien prisoners to feel ufortable. But more than that, upon breathing the fresh air from the surface, there was an iparable joy and sense of liberation. Only low-level vampires feared sunlight. The blood race had long been able to walk normally under the sun. Louise raised a hand, looking at the bright sunlight shining on it, still feeling that everything was a bit dreamlike. Of course, the most incredible thing was that the white-haired elf Vielsia, who had released such powerful natural magic and could summon a towering tree to lift the entire Stillwater Prison to the surface, walked up to Louise and extended her hand. At this moment, Louise finally stopped doubting andpletely let go of her prejudices. Using herself as a representative, she knelt on one knee to Vielsia and even more so to Reji as the Demon King, in the manner of the previous demon race soldiers, to show her submission. Seeing the various alien races now submitting so smoothly, even if Eileen still couldn''t stand the sight of Vielsia, she had to admit that this elf apostle indeed yed a key role. Just as the Demon of Wisdom had said before. The purpose of the Demon King choosing Vielsia as an apostle was to let the elves serve as a representative, so that other alien races would believe that the demon race was no longer the same as before. Now, with the various races submitting like this, it was probably something the Demon King had nned long ago, right? And she... At that time, she was actually jealous of the Demon King choosing an elf and even had a bit of a tantrum. Thinking of this, Eileen couldn''t help but feel even more guilty. Simrly, when the subus looked at those human schrs who also wanted to pledge allegiance to Reji, and now at the city below, the royal city of the Court of Judgment surrounded by the "Purgatory Sea of Fire", with human figures densely packed on the streets like tiny ck dots when viewed from above... Eileen secretly made a certain resolution. The Purgatory Sea of Fire was a 9th-tier spell scroll that Leo had requested from Dian. Now, the scorching fire walls, the raging mes, and the sinister magic power lurking in the fire walls, as if from hell itself, enveloped and shrouded the royal city of the Court of Judgment. The demon race''s blitzkrieg left many humans not even understanding what had happened. Moreover, Leo was well aware that Reji did not want too many casualties, not only for the demon race but also for the humans. So the Leo took another approach to make the humans understand their situation. The Purgatory Sea of Fire was one of them. The sea of fire did not harm the humans. What Leo wanted was just the grand spectacle of the 9th-tier spell. This was undoubtedly sessful, as could be seen from the terrified expressions on people''s faces now on the streets. The city, dyed a fiery red as if it were doomsday by the firelight, was enough to give humans a visual impact. Even from a distance, the scorching sensation that could be felt on the skin, the stinging feeling of being invisibly burned, could deepen the humans'' impression of the demon race, just like the fear of raging mes. Reji was also looking at the humans below. In fact, he had been thinking about how to make these humans, after the demon race''s full-scale attack and takeover of these human cities, if not coexist with the demon race, at least minimize resistance as much as possible. He wanted to make these humans a force for himself and the demon race, to be an aid rather than a burden in the final decisive battle with the Empire. Fortunately, he found the answer in Stillwater Prison. This was also one of the fundamental reasons why Reji finally made up his mind to no longer lurk in the shadows. All these imprisoned and ndered human elites and schrs would be the most powerful evidence for him to expose the truth about the Empire and make humans understand who the real enemy was. And the insect eggs that the Emperor had parasitized in the vast majority of humans would, in turn, be the most powerful help in uniting humans under his banner. Next, he would make Stillwater Prison known to all. He would tell all humans the secret of the insect eggs. And he would provide humans with a way to remove the insect eggs in their bodies. Of course, the price was to obey him, the Demon King. This was the benevolence that Reji nned to bestow upon humans. Of course, benevolence alone was definitely not enough. As long as it was war, there was bound to be a bloodbath, and there had to be such a ughter to trulyplete the conquest. Reji would not go soft on this either. But what he could choose was to ce the "might" of the bloodbath on whom, to focus the demon race''s ughter and thousand-year hatred on a "portion" of the human poption. For example... the privileged ss. Chapter 230 A Family in the Occupied Zone 2/2 "Dad, Mom, Anissa is back." At four o''clock in the afternoon, the little girl with a small backpack returned home from school. After knocking on the door, rapid footsteps quickly sounded from inside the house. A woman with a worried face opened the door. Seeing her daughter safe and sound at the door, the woman''s heart that had been hanging slightly rxed. She hurriedly let her daughter into the house and immediately locked the door. "Anissa, did you encounter any danger on the way? Did you listen to your mother and avoid those monsters on the road?" The woman''s nervousness was not without reason. Now, a week had passed since the demon race invasion. Except for the Empire and the Radiant Church Nation, the remaining three-fifths of human territory in the world had already fallen and be the demon race''s territory. Fortunately, the demons did not carry out a massacre against them. Apart from the many monster figures from the demon race on the streets, everything seemed to be no different from usual, at least for the civilians. Oh no. Almost forgot the most important point. Indeed, there was still a huge difference... they didn''t have to go to work. The demons took over and controlled the vast majority of human factories and facilities. Without new orders from the demon race, workers like her were staying at home. "Mom, don''t worry. I was very obedient! Never provoke those demon, always take detours. Also very attentive in ss. Mom, look, I even learned a zero-tier earth spell." The little girl said happily, opening her palm. Inside was a small lump of earth resembling sticine. As Anissa''s weak magic power gathered in her palm, the shape of the sticine began to change. Controlled by the girl, it quickly turned into the shape of a family of three y figurines. However, after the initial surprise, the woman did not praise her. Instead, she showed panic and subconsciously pped the sticine out of her daughter''s hand with a "pop". Because previously, learning spells was a privilege reserved for nobles. Ifmoners were found to use spells without authorization, it was a serious crime that could send the whole family to prison. But when the woman came back to her senses and saw the family y figurines shattered into pieces on the ground and her daughter''s aggrieved face, she realized that many rules had been broken due to the demon race''s invasion. Now, most schools not only openly provided spell materials tomoners but even set up special courses. Even children of Anissa''s age could receive spell enlightenment. "What are you doing! Anissa, don''t cry! Come,e to daddy. Look, what has daddy prepared for you!" Themotion in the living room made a mane out from the inner room. He happened to see the previous scene. He immediately walked over, picked up the little girl,forting her while taking out a brand new set of sticine from his bosom like a magic trick. "Ta-da! How about it! This is the super magic y daddy specially bought for my sweet girl. From now on, Anissa can use this to practice spells. In the future, you will definitely be the greatest earth element wizard in human history!" Under her father''s exaggerated tone, Anissa was also amused, giggling in the man''s arms. The mother on the other side, seeing this scene, didn''tin much, only muttering a few words. "What human history, we don''t even know what we will be under those monsters..." Hearing this, the man immediately refuted, "What monsters, they are called demons. Even our Anissa can say the name correctly. How can you still call them monsters, right Anissa?" "Mm-hmm~!" "Alright Anissa, you go back to your room first. Daddy still has some important things to discuss with mommy." "Okay! I am going to do my homework!" The little girl reluctantly left her daddy''s embrace, hugged her small backpack, and obediently went back to her room. After entering the room, Anissa took out a notebook from the drawer cab. She had the habit of writing a diary every day. Because in the past, she was almost always alone. [July 16, cloudy, daddy got drunk again. Anissa hid in the room, not daring to go out, because daddy would be very scary at this time. Anissa is very afraid of pain] [July 25, cloudy, Anissa got full marks in today''s midterm exam. Anissa wanted to show mommy, but mommyes back veryte every day. Mommy said only this way can she keep the job and support us. Why don''t those nobles want to hire more people? Anissa doesn''t understand, but Anissa knows mommy is great. Anissa also wants to learn from mommy] [August 1, cloudy, the beginning of the month is the day Anissa looks forward to the most, because it is the only day in a month that mommy can rest! Can apany Anissa, but... Anissa can''t be happy today. Mommy and daddy had a big fight. Mommy used daddy, saying if daddy didn''t lose all the money doing business, this wouldn''t have happened. But daddy said mommy doesn''t understand anything. Anissa also doesn''t understand. It''s a rare day off, why do daddy and mommy still have to fight. Anissa hopes daddy and mommy can make up soon] [August 10, cloudy, it''s the day to pay for meals every month again. Anissa always feels guilty asking mommy for money, because after going to school, half of it will be robbed by other children. Anissa also tried to ask the teacher for help, but the teacher said why don''t they rob other children, only rob Anissa''s, it must be Anissa''s own problem. Anissa doesn''t know either, and doesn''t dare to tell daddy and mommy] [August 15, cloudy, today the door of the house was smashed by someone. Mommy said they were debt collectors. Daddy was also injured by them. Mommy gave them all the money she saved before they let us go. Anissa hid in the room, very scared. Those debt collectors were wearing knight corps uniforms. But the teachers at the academy said the knight corps was formed by the noble lords to protect us and drive away bad people. So are we bad people? Anissa doesn''t understand...] [August 16, cloudy, daddy got drunk again. Mommy worked overtime untilte at night and hasn''te back. Anissa is very hungry] Almost the entire notebook was filled with such "cloudy" diary entries. Until... [August 25, sunny, today''s sky is red, unusually hot. There arerge fire walls surrounding the city. Many, many monsters appeared from the fire walls. The teachers at school said humanity is over, the end of the world ising. Anissa also doesn''t understand, are we going to die? But at least today daddy and mommy didn''t fight~. Mommy hugged Anissa tightly, daddy stood in front of us and the monsters] [August 26, sunny, mommy''s factory closed. Today mommy apanied Anissa for a whole day. Anissa is so happy~] [August 27, sunny, today daddy is very happy, because the arrival of the monsters made all of daddy''s debts cleared. Those knight corps people also didn''te to the house to collect debts. Daddy kept excitedly shouting about a new era. Anissa also doesn''t understand what it means, but seeing daddy so happy, Anissa is also very happy~. Oh right, almost forgot, daddy said those monsters also have a name, called demon] [August 28, sunny, today mommy went out and bought a lot of food, made a full table of sumptuous dinner for Anissa and daddy. Mommy said to at least eat something good before dying. Daddy criticized mommy for always being too pessimistic. Anissa also doesn''t understand, but Anissa wants to thank the demons for letting mommy make us a big meal!] [August 29, sunny, daddy hasn''t drunk for four days, studying the news in the newspaper every day. Anissa rarely sees daddy so energetic. And the end of the world mommy said seems to have note. Anissa also resumed normal school. Heard there are new magic teachers at school. Anissa is looking forward to it!] [August 30, sunny, eating a big meal] [August 31, sunny, ¡­.] Chapter 231 The True Colors of Nobility 1/2 Anissa looked at the increasingly perfunctory records at the end of the diary, her little cheeks slightly flushed, knowing that she had be a bit decadent. There was no way around it, she had been too happy recently. The girl patted her cheeks, rallying her spirits. This time she must write her diary properly. But where should I start? Got it! Let''s start from when I entered my house today. [September 1st, sunny. Anissa lied to her mother today. Mom always tells Anissa to avoid the demons on the street, but in fact, every time Anissa goes home from school, she deliberately chooses the streets with demons, because there, Anissa no longer has to worry about being bullied by bad guys. Everyone has be very civilized. Anissa likes it this way!] [Although the demons look different from us and appear scary, they have never attacked Anissa as Mom said. Instead, they are Anissa''s guardian angels! If anyone dares to bully Anissa in the future, Anissa will run to the demons and see if they still dare!] [Dad bought me a new toy today, and Mom didn''t criticize Dad for spending money recklessly (usually stingy Mom is actually spending money every day to buy us good food) (crossed out). Although Mom sighs every day, Anissa feels that Mom''s temper has improved a lot and she no longer looks so haggard. Mom doesn''t talk about work anymore, she just stays with Anissa every day. Anissa likes it this way!] [A new batch of noble ssmates came to the academy. It is said that their academy was cancelled. They have been saying bad things about the demons. Anissa doesn''t understand. After the demons came, Dad stopped drinking and became cheerful. Mom doesn''t have to work overtime untilte at night every day and can make delicious food for us every day. Anissa also learned magic and no longer has to worry about being bullied by those bad guys on the way to and from school. So Anissa likes the demons!] Writing so much in one go, Anissa was very satisfied. Today, the magic teacher at the academy assigned them the task of shaping a model out of y. The family of three that Anissa had pinched before was smashed by her mother. This time, with the new sticine given by her father, Anissa thought for a moment and had an inspiration. The magic power gathered in her hands and began to control the shape of the sticine. Soon, the sticine in her hands transformed into arge demon figure with two horns, a pair of wings, and a long tail at the back. This was the mostmon demon on the street, and also the monster that adults feared the most. But Anissa was not afraid. This was her guardian angel and also her goal. In the future, she also wanted to be like the Great Demon, standing tall, bing super powerful, protecting everyone, and defeating the bad guys! ¡­ At the same time, outside the house. Anissa''s parents were having a heated discussion about the demons. In fact, this was also a microcosm of every human in the upied zone. The woman''s heart was very resistant to the demons, full of fear, but the man argued forcefully, trying to change his wife''s point of view. "Yes, the demons are foreigners, and they look different from us, but our goals are the same. Haven''t you seen the ugly and dark dirty things of the empire that the Demon King exposed to us!" "Look at those schrs who came out of Stillwater Prison. Do you still remember how they got in? They were framed with a list of serious crimes. The empire did it to suppress our talents! They don''t want us to progress!" "Moreover, look at those nobles who rely on the empire. They have monopolized everything of ours. I went into business because I wanted to break through this and make our lives a little better. But what was the result? Those bureaucrats colluded, unreasonably, only knowing how to use the rtionships of the nobles. With a casual word, they took away the fruits of my hard work and instead burden me with debts that I can''t pay off in a lifetime." The more the man spoke, the more excited he became. He said resentfully, "As long as the decadent nobles exist for a day, you, me, Anissa, and the children after Anissa, we will always be workers for life! When the timees, after working hard for a lifetime, we may not even be able to afford a house!" "And the bugs! Yes! Those insect eggs parasitizing in our bodies! The empire has done this, and you still want to speak for the empire? The current demons are obviously helping us. Why should we reject them?" When the insect eggs were mentioned, the expression on Anissa''s mother''s face also wavered. She didn''t understand so much of the big picture and only cared about the present. And the insect eggs obviously touched her bottom line too. Thinking of the insects parasitizing in her body, the woman shuddered all over. "Are the bu-bugs real? Could it be that those mons... demons are deceiving us?" The husband shook his head. "Don''t worry. The people who should be anxious are not us, but those nobles. When the timees, we''ll know the truth of the matter by their reaction." The man was right. Now the most flustered about the demons were the nobles. ¡­ Earl Scott was the foreign minister of the Mage Nation. As one of the three great nations, the Mage Nation had countless small countries like Ilinor under its rule, so the benefits of the foreign minister''s position were imaginable. Every year, there were countless tributes. But now, everything was gone. With the fall of humans and the demons upying more than half of the world, their power was almost all stripped away. However,pared to property and wealth, what the earl cared more about now was another matter. In the secret room, in addition to Earl Scott, there were many court nobles of the Mage Nation. And they gathered here secretly to verify a certain matter. "Bring them up." After an order from the nobles, many blindfoldedmoners came to the center, trembling. And waiting for them were medical doctors with superb medical skills. They fixed themoners and then began to cut their flesh. Amidst the heart-wrenching screams, they began to search for the bugs inside their bodies as the demons said. After a while, traces of insect eggs were indeed found deep in the flesh and blood. Most of them were only the size of a soybean, very inconspicuous. If they were not deliberately searched for, they would not be discovered at all. This was because themoners did not train their magic, so the insect eggs were in a shriveled state. Later, the nobles caught a person who had learned magic and dissected him. This time, the insect eggs found were the size of a fist. However, the exposed insect eggs quickly died and turned into blood within a few seconds. This was also the reason why the empire was able to keep this secret for many years. "Damn it!" Seeing this, the expressions of several ministers and nobles changed. They gritted their teeth, knowing that they had been yed by the empire. In fact, they also believed from the bottom of their hearts that this was something the empire could do to control them. "Does anyone still have any objections now?" The president of the Upper Senate, who was in the lead, looked around at the noble ministers present. Everyone shook their heads. No matter what, they could only surrender. After all, life was the top priority. Only the demons could remove the insect eggs in their bodies. Based on this alone, there was no need to discuss this meeting. The attitude towards the demons could only be... surrender. But many nobles and ministers were still unwilling to do so. The expressions on their faces were very depressed and unsightly. They were not unwilling because humans were so weak and manipted by the demons. What they were unwilling and upset about was that their days of glory and wealth seemed to bepletely gone, especially the minister in charge of the manufacturing department. The many factories under his control were all taken away by the demons. And these damn demons even stopped the factories. Did they know how much loss it would cause to let those workers rest one more day! The president of the Upper Senate, the leading great noble, was moreposed. He looked at the dispirited crowd and gave reassurance. "Don''t worry. Although the situation is very bad, it''s not as bad as you imagine." "From the current point of view, these demons want to use us to fight against the empire, so they won''t kill us. And if the demons want to manage humans, who will they rely on? Heh, they still have to rely on us." "I have already jointly petitioned to that Demon King with ministers from other countries, and the Demon King has epted our application and will hold a meeting to jointly discuss the future development of humans and demons. At that time, whatever the demons want... hmph, we''ll give it to them." "Therge number of obedientmoners in our hands is our biggest bargaining chip. Only we know how to exploit them to the greatest extent and obtain the ultimate benefits, just like how we treated the empire in the past. It''s just changing a backer, that''s all. I also believe that the demons will not refuse this benefit." "So, instead of being unwilling here, you might as well hurry up and prepare some treasures, jade beads, beautiful women, antiques, or anything else you think can make that Demon King interested, that can please the demons at that time." "As long as we can please the demons, we can all keep our positions. The more we please them, the more leftover soup we can drink from the demons'' hands. Understand?" Chapter 232 The Negotiation Delegation 1/2 After a week of trepidation, suspicion, fear, and panic, as time entered the second week, seeing that the demons did not do anything to them, the humans in the upied zone gradually regained their activity. Now, the square was densely packed with possibly tens of thousands of residents. In the buildings on both sides, there were also many people stretching out their bodies and looking towards the center of the square. A grand speech was being held here. The middle-aged man in a suit and leather cor was resolute and passionate on the main stage, full of convincing trustworthiness. Every sentence he spoke could bring bursts of agreement from the ordinary citizens who came to listen in the square. "The cruelty and tyranny of the empire, the ipetence and mediocrity of that emperor, we have all seen it. The empire, up to now, has not mobilized a single soldier, because they have never regarded us as allies! If it weren''t for the appearance of the demons, revealing the truth, all of us, up to now, would still be kept in the dark by the hypocritical empire!" "The demons are indeed different from us, but they rescued us from the hands of the empire, gave us potions to purify the insect eggs in our bodies, so they are our friends! Not enemies! Only with the help of the demons can we defeat the empire together, drag that tyrannical emperor from the throne, and jointly usher in our victory!" "Of course, I also understand, yes, many of us have lost our jobs because of the demons, unemployed at home, and some people don''t even dare to leave their homes, afraid of those patrolling demon soldiers on the streets. I understand, I empathize, I also have a daughter who cries all night out of fear, suffering from insomnia." "Undoubtedly, this is the most difficult moment for us humans, but it is precisely because of this that you, me, and millions of others need to unite at this most important moment. As long as we are united as one, any difficulty can be ovee!" "As for the issue that everyone is most worried about..." The man in the suit paused, then straightened his back, turned up the amplification magic a little more, and then said forcefully: "Please rest assured, our negotiators are preparing materials day and night, many people have been working continuously for five or six days, staying up all night." "All our efforts are to be able to fullymunicate effectively with the demons. We will definitely ensure everyone''s safety! We will strive for the benefits that we humans deserve from the demons, so that everyone can return to their previous lives as soon as possible!" "Hereby, I, Shaquille, as the president of the Upper Senate of the Mage Nation, promise to all of you that as long as I am alive, I will never allow the demons to harm humans!" The cheers and apuse of the people surrounded Shaquille. Shaquille waved to the people below, indicating that at this time, as nobles, they shoulde out and speak for humans, this was their responsibility. However... With a turn of words, Shaquille, with a worried look and a sigh, expressed the current predicament. Even as nobles, they had few resources avable, and urgently needed everyone''s assistance, including but not limited to funds, manpower, intelligence, etc. Under Shaquille''s previous "unity", almost all the people who came to listen were hot-headed and didn''t think much before rushing to support. Those with money gave money, those without money had to contribute a little food from home, preferring to starve themselves so that those nobles fighting on the front line could eat their fill. This way, the negotiators could be energetic, not have to worry about food and drink, and could concentrate on preparing materials to fight for a better future for them in the subsequent negotiations with the demons. Of course, there were even more people who were attracted by Shaquille''s speech and shared the same ideals. They were willing to join the "Human Community" organization founded by Shaquille, work for the organization, and fight for humanity. Those with strong bodies would do all kinds of dirty and hard work without pay, while those with knowledge and culture would also actively participate in the negotiation team without pay, gathering the wisdom of the masses, trying to find the weaknesses of the demons as bargaining chips, etc. In no time, the Human Community quickly became thergest organization in the upied zone. Led by Shaquille, the president of the Upper Senate of the Mage Nation, along with many nobles from the Court of Judgment and elites from many other small countries. This group of negotiators, who were responsible for going to negotiate with the demons, gathered the hopes of countless civilians and set off towards the Demon King''s Tower amidst the expectations of the humans in the upied zone. Azi was a prominent civilian representative in this negotiation team. She was deeply attracted by President Shaquille''s speech and resolutely gave up the safety of the rear, choosing to join the nobles as a volunteer to fight for the future of humanity. Now, on Azi''s beautiful face, there was a hint of haggardness, which was the result of her high-intensity work in the past few days. But it didn''t matter. After drinking a few sips of coffee, Azi cheered herself up, then took a stack of sorted materials and boarded President Shaquille''s carriage. "You''re here, you''ve been working too hard recently, Azi." Shaquille received Azi very enthusiastically, without any airs of a noble, and personally brewed a cup of hot tea for this female representative. Azi shook her head, indicating that she was fine. The one who was truly working hard and under pressure was still Shaquille, who bore the burden and hope of millions of humans in the upied zone. Thinking of this, Azi stopped making any polite remarks, spread out the stack of materials in front of Shaquille, and began to report very attentively and seriously: "President, in the past few days, I visited many ancient studies professors and collected those mythological legends from a thousand years ago. Although a lot of information is fragmentary, iplete, and even erroneous, after my piecing together, I still restored a lot." "The demons are definitely not invading our human world for the first time. A thousand years ago, they ughtered many humans, triggering a brutal human-demon war, nearly destroying the entire world. I think this is their true face. What they are showing us now is a false appearance, to deceive and blind us, and more likely to deal with the empire!" "So President, although the demons are powerful, it can also be seen that they still have weaknesses. They are also afraid of something. From ancient history, I specte that what they fear is most likely the heroes! And those relics from a thousand years ago! If we can find these, it may be the hope of turning the tables!" "Also, President, look at this. It can also be found from the ancient historical data that the demons do not develop. Although they are powerful, they only know how to destroy. Therefore, I reasonably guess that another major reason why they are not killing us now is that they want to use us to learn the development capabilities of us humans. And this is also our bargaining chip! We can trade our development technology with the demons in exchange for their magic cultivation and various spell secrets." "This way, we can secretly umte strength, poprize these cultivation methods to all humans, so that one day, the strength of us humans will catch up with the demons, no longer bing so desperate, and even give birth to the legendary heroes, leading us, just like a thousand years ago, to defeat the demons and evenpletely eliminate them! Protect our world!" From Azi''s analysis, it was not difficult to see that this was a great n that wouldst for ten years, decades, or even hundreds of years. The current humans had to endure and hide, try their best to use their wisdom, use the chips in their hands to deal with the demons, try to absorb the knowledge of the demons and pass it on to themselves, thus umting strength and entrusting hope to future generations. The female representative was very excited at the end, her eyes shing with the light of courage and dedication. Undoubtedly, she was wholeheartedly for humans, a true elite talent that humans needed to rise up. But... Azi overlooked another most important point. Not every human hoped to "rise up". On the contrary, what they least wanted to see was... rising up. Chapter 233 Paying Respects to the Great Demon King! 2/2 "Not bad Azi, you said it well. ording to your proposal, with continuous improvement and refinement, perhaps one day we humans can really defeat the demons and be the masters of the world again." "But..." "Obviously, you and I won''t see that day, right?" President Shaquille slowly sipped his tea, stirring the exquisite and delicate teaspoon. He finally stood up. This human noble leader was still as resolute as ever, but he said something that made Azi shocked and in disbelief. "I''m sorry Azi, I can''t wait that long. What we want is now. I want to protect my property, factories, status and power, so... sorry." The female representative suddenly felt a little dizzy. She got up in horror, but found that her limbs were weak and powerless. Only then did she realize that there was a problem with that cup of tea. But it was toote. Shaquille, who was watching coldly, pped his hands, and several soldiers immediately came and tied up the limp Azi. During the whole process, Azi was still conscious, staring at that human traitor, that selfish and hypocritical little president, with extremely angry eyes. Shaquille didn''t mind. He just shook his head and said: "You, who have nothing, definitely can''t understand. If you were in my position, where a word can decide the life and death of tens of thousands of people, where countless people want to tter and please you every day, where you can eat any delicacy and y with anything you want at any time, you would understand that once you get a taste of some things... you simply can''t leave them." "No one cares about the future of humanity. I only care about whether I can continue to inherit my power from the demons. And you, you will be the best gift I send to that great Demon King." "You guys, be gentle, don''t hurt her. Afterwards, go and prepare a beautiful one. We don''t know the demons'' aesthetics. Let''s find some revealing clothes for her to wear, put on makeup, and make her look as good as possible." "A female representative of humans who is determined to fight against the demons, tsk... I believe the Demon King will definitely like her. Through you, and them, you will all be the best proof of my loyalty to that King." Azi, with a deathly pale face, widened her eyes again, because Shaquille said "you all", proving that it was not only her. Could it be that the others were also... "Oh, don''t look at me with those eyes. Isn''t this a matter of course? A beautiful speech has attracted all of you resistance people. In the future world ruled by demons, people like you are trouble for the Demon King, and of course, also trouble for us who are loyal to the demons. So, they have long been killed by me, their heads wrapped up and distributed to those nobles who follow me, as their gifts for their audience with that great King." "And you, do you really think that you can be a representative, standing out from the many civilians, relying on your talent and hard work? Don''t be ridiculous. I just saw that you had the best figure and the best looks among those people, so I deliberately promoted and packaged you. As for telling you these truths now, well, I hope you can cooperate a little. When you please the Demon King, I can get more status and power from the Demon King. Maybe, I can even save you. It''s a win-win for us, isn''t it?" Seeing Shaquille''s ugly face, the tied-up Azi struggled frantically, constantly making "hmm" sounds. That extremely angry expression looked as if she wished she could eat this traitor. Shaquille nodded with satisfaction and waved his hand to let his subordinates take Azi down. In the end, he actually lied to the female representative. He deliberately angered her. The more Azi hated, the more it could produce a sense of conquest and increase the value of the gift. After the farce ended, their negotiation team fleet was also about to arrive at the Demon King''s Tower. Shaquille tidied his clothes in front of the mirror in the carriage, took a deep breath, and was actually a little uneasy and nervous about the uing audience with the Demon King. As a sorcerer demon responsible for receiving them appeared in front, the fleet quickly stopped. Shaquille hurriedly got off the carriage in person. Regardless of his noble status on the human side, he was extremely respectful to a sorcerer demon who was only responsible for teleportation, trying to make friends. As for the other nobles who also got off the carriage one after another, their status was not as high as Shaquille''s, so they were even more humble to the sorcerer demon, bowing and scraping around, trying to please him. They had also done their homework in advance, knowing that sorcerer demons were in the ranks of "apostle species" among the demons, corresponding to the noble bloodline of humans. "Thank you, thank you, Great Sorcerer Demon!" "Such magic power, worthy of the Great Sorcerer Demon. Compared to you, those human archmages I have seen are like apprentices!" "What a beautiful teleportation array, such aplex spell is too powerful!" "Elegant, too elegant!" "I heard that the Great Sorcerer Demons likes books and knowledge. I specially collected some works in various fields of us humans. If the Great Sorcerer Demon is interested in any of them, I will offer them with all my heart!" Unfortunately, this sorcerer demon soldier did not pay attention to them. He just opened the teleportation array ording to the King''s intention, and was responsible for monitoring the humans to enter. He didn''t say half a word to those nobles who wanted toe and talk. Even so, many nobles didn''t dare to say much. After all the members entered the teleportation array, they were still thanking the sorcerer demon before leaving. Buzz! With the shing of therge teleportation array on the ground, all the representative teams of the Human Community disappeared on the spot. Such a spell that could teleport a team of nearly a thousand people, and over a super long distance, was simply unbelievable in human society. Just based on a teleportation, it was enough to deepen the impression of the demons'' strength in their minds. However... This was just the beginning. When the light of the teleportation spell dissipated and the vision of Shaquille and the other united nobles became clear again, the first thing they saw was a totem pole. The thick perch wood was engraved withplex and profound intricate patterns, like some kind of ancient ferocious beast. Immediately followed by lightning and thunder in the sky,yers of dark clouds covering. In the storm, the nobles looked up in horror and found a huge fierce bird rolling in the thunderclouds. The left side spewed out icy breath, the right head condensed fireballs, and the tail head controlled lightning. When the three-headed chimeranded on the ground, stirring up gusts of air, many nobles, including Shaquille, had long been dumbfounded. Where had they seen such a terrifying beast? Shaquille, the president, reacted the fastest. He suppressed the fear of the chimera in his heart, swallowed his saliva, calmed down, and was the first to kneel directly, shouting loudly at the three-headed purple bird in front of him: "Ohh~ Great Demon King!" The noble representative teams behind, seeing this, hurriedly followed suit and did the same. After all, with such a powerful aura, it must be the true body of the Demon King. Being able to control three kinds of elemental spells, summoning wind and rain, it was simply terrifying. They were afraid of neglecting him, so they all shouted "Great Demon King" one by one to show their loyalty. Chapter 234 The Bright Moon and the Firefly The chimera, which had just been imposing and fierce, almost stumbled. The three heads of the blue-purplerge bird simultaneously gasped in shock, and all the feathers on its body seemed to stand up as if frightened by something. The flustered and angry chimera immediately let out an extremely furious roar at those humans below who were still worshipping it and shouting "Great Demon King". It is said that humans are insidious and vicious. Now this chimera has witnessed it. It was just an ordinary little bird responsible for guarding the gate of the Demon Tower. Seeing these outsiders, it wanted to scare them a little, give them some deterrence, and make them behave after entering the tower. As a result, these humans actually called it the Demon King directly! And started worshipping. The chimera knew the fate of thest guy who was called the "Demon King". His head was kicked like a football by Eris for a week. And it had three heads. Wouldn''t it be kicked by Eris as a football, basketball and volleyball, one each, for three weeks? Just thinking about that scene a little, the huge body of the chimera, which was huge in the eyes of the nobles, shuddered all over. If it had sweat nds, it would probably be sweating profusely. It pped its wings violently, stirring up gusts of wind. Those nobles who were still worshipping were instantly blown several meters high and fell heavily in a parab. Afterwards, the chimera let out an angry roar with all three heads at Shaquille and his group, who were in a daze after falling to the ground. If these people were not the ones the Great Demon King wanted to see. It would have summoned lightning and struck these vicious humans who wanted to kill it. On the other side, Shaquille was confused and terrified. Now, this leader of the negotiation team had blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and his internal organs were all in pain. In fact, this was still considered good. Some unlucky noble representatives had their legs broken directly by this fall. Butpared to these, what the noble delegations were more puzzled about now was what they had done wrong to make that "Demon King" so angry. Could it be that before they could send out the gifts prepared to please the Demon King, they would be expelled first and their lives would be in danger? Fortunately, at this time, another demon arrived in time to save the lives of this group of nobles. "Stand down, Little Purple. The Great Demon King sent me to be in charge of these humans." Leon adjusted his sses on his snake pupils andforted the slightly nervous and irritable chimera, indicating that it was okay. As for Little Purple, it was the name Reji gave to this chimera. After the chimera flew away, Leon turned to look at the group of nobles who looked a little miserable now, first shaking his head to express his apologies for the poor reception. "Sorry for startling Mr. Shaquille, and the other envoy representatives who were also injured due to misunderstandings. This is my dereliction of duty. The Great Demon King''s request was to have you all arrive in front of him unharmed. Hmm, let''s do this." After thinking for a while, Leon raised his hand, and powerful magic surged at his fingertips, quickly gathering into a pattern of blessing runes, which was then shot by Leon towards the bodies of those human nobles. The speed of the magic runes was so fast that Shaquille and the other nobles couldn''t react, but soon the reaction of their bodies after absorbing the runes shocked them immensely. Take Shaquille himself as an example. He felt a warm current nourishing his whole body. In just a few short breaths, the injuries to his internal organs caused by the chimera''s throw were healed, and there was no more pain. Those other noble delegations who were originally wailing and crying in pain while holding their broken legs, waists, and arms, now also looked at their wounds in amazement, healing at an unbelievable speed. If it were just this, it would be fine. But next, the power of the blessing runes was not over yet. Shaquille felt an extra spring appear in his body out of nowhere, madly gushing out magic power. In less than a few seconds, his body was filled with magic power, and his power level began to soar. Third tier, fourth tier, fifth tier, sixth tier... Shaquille rose all the way to the sixth and a half tier before stopping. Of course, with his own knowledge, he didn''t understand the concept of "sixth tier" at all, but Shaquille could feel the power, the iparable power that was even more terrifying than the most powerful human powerhouse he had ever seen, the fifth- tier archmage. "This, this..." Shaquille, who stood up, looked at his own hands in a daze as if he was dreaming. Then he tried a spell, which was the most basic fire-starting technique. As a result, what should have been a small me, now under the blessing of his sixth-rank huge magic power, instantly turned into a raging fireball, and it seemed to be expanding more and more, full of a burning sensation. It wasn''t just Shaquille alone. Almost all the nobles present were the same, all trying their enhanced magic power in ecstasy. Although they were nobles, they mostly had low-grade talents in magic power and spells. But now, they suddenly obtained the power they had dreamed of and even far surpassed it. How could they not be overjoyed? After the extreme joy, Shaquille was still the one who could control his emotions the best. He suppressed his excitement and directly rubbed a fireball spell with his hands that were still trembling with excitement, aiming it at a certain noble and sting it away. Boom! The scorching fireball exploded, instantly burning that unsuspecting noble who was still rejoicing to ashes. Afterwards, Shaquille''s gaze swept around and he loudly reprimanded the other representative nobles. "Silence! Look at your appearance! Disgraceful! The great one of the demons is still here! How long are you going to be rude!" Only then did the noblese back to their senses. No one was dissatisfied with Shaquille''s ruthless killing just now. On the contrary, they were all grateful to Shaquille and hurriedly stopped focusing on their own strength, but offered worship to that Demon of Wisdom Leon who had been silently watching them. The nobles also understood why the chimera was so annoyed before. The reason was their ignorance. That giant bird, which in their eyes could be revered as a nation-destroying beast, actually had a status here that was merely... Little Purple. Just a guard of the Demon King''s Tower. As a result, they actually called it the Demon King. Shaquille realized that the anger of the beast before came from fear, from the immense reverence for the title of "Demon King". The demons had conquered cities and territories at such a fast speed. They might have only shown less than one-tenth of their strength to crush and upy three-fifths of the human world except for the Empire and the Radiant Church Nation. So Shaquille and the others only knew that the demons were very strong. But the specific concept of how strong they were was still a bit vague. However, after this time, just having entered the Demon King''s Tower and not even reaching the Demon King''s presence yet, Shaquille had already sumbed. If he might have had some hesitation and a bit of luck before, thinking that he shouldn''t go too far, what if the Empire defeated the demonster? Then now, this Human Community president, especially after Leon''s blessing just now, hadpletely submitted to the demons in his heart. He believed that the other nobles in the representative teams must be the same. After all, what was this concept? It might take humans a hundred years of umtion to give birth to a fifth-rank archmage, a powerhouse frantically sought after by various forces. But here at the Demon King''s Tower... Leon''s casual blessing spell could directly turn them, a group of humans with almost zero magic talent, into powerhouses surpassing archmages? This meant that in the eyes of the demons, archmages couldn''t even be considered cannon fodder. Was there any point in fighting this war? No. Absolutely impossible. Even the mighty Empire and that Emperor had no hope at all in front of the demons. In that case... Shaquille''s heart was burning. He secretly warned himself that he must seize this opportunity. Because he was most likely the first human to have an audience with the Demon King. This was his advantage. As long as he could grasp it, get along well with the Demon King, and gain the Demon King''s trust, or to put it more bluntly, sessfully be the Demon King''s dog, then his future achievements might be countless times higher than the president of the Upper Senate who used to obey the Empire''s orders! Chapter 235: Chapter 235 - Audience with the King "Mr. Shaquille, with the amplification from the Blessing Spell, you should now be able to move around inside the Demon Tower. If you still feel any difort, you can request for me to further increase the intensity of the magic power for you," Leon said. So this level of power was merely the threshold to enter and exit the Demon King''s Tower? Although Shaquille''s heart was stirred with immense greed at Leon''s mention of being able to "continue amplifying", his eyes shing with desire, he immediately restrained himself and hastily waved his hand. "No need, no need. Uh..." Leon noticed Shaquille''s awkwardness and took the initiative to introduce himself with a smile, "I am the King''s Second Apostle and also the leader of the Wisdom Demon''s n. Mr. Shaquille, you can just call me Leon." Upon hearing this, Shaquille finally felt a slight relief in his heart. So he was the Second Apostle. If any random demon could bestow such immense power upon them, Shaquille might truly have had a breakdown. "If there are no other questions, let us continue. His Majesty is just ahead." "As youmand, Lord Leon!" And so, with Leon leading the way, therge group of nobles from the negotiation delegation walked cautiously and curiously through the Demon Tower. They had originally thought this ce was located somewhere in the world. But theyter discovered they were wrong. The delegation of nobles was now on the ninth floor of the Demon Tower. This floor had been designed by the Subus Apostle Eileen to have a starry sky ceiling. After all, this was the Demon King''s Pce, and the implication of the starry sky was that the absolute ruler of the entire universe and nes was the absolute king. In the eyes of Shaquille and the other nobles from the human alliance, the vast starry sky overhead seemed to epass everything, as mysterious and unfathomable as the real universe. This was clearly not something that could be seen in the world and could only exist within an alternate dimension. They entered a pce, and not to mention the pce doors made from precious ores rich in magic power that they couldn''tprehend at all, just the majestic sculpture that greeted them as the doors opened attracted the gazes of many nobles. It was a sculpture of a skeleton dragon, possibly two to three stories tall even while crouching. The entire sculpture seemed to be made from real bones. But they were ck bones. From the luster of the bones, one could see that there was no oxidation at all. They had been meticulously cared for, and each piece was as translucent as ck jade, seemingly with faint gray airflow circting within. The joints and assembly of each bone were wless and extremely tight, without the slightest defect. The nobles didn''t understand the other profound spells and magical creatures inside the Demon King''s Tower, but when it came to works of art, especially sculptures, the nobles were quite knowledgeable. Among the delegation, there were quite a few nobles who were sculpture collectors, including Shaquille. Therefore, when he saw this lifelike dragon sculpture, his eyes lit up, and he finally found a topic of conversation. This sculpture was definitely the work of a master. He was just about to take the opportunity to praise the Demon King''s taste and the sculpture''s exquisite craftsmanship and majestic aura when... The skeleton dragon raised its fierce dragon head, and in its originally hollow eye sockets, scarlet ghostly mes instantly ignited. With just a nce at this group of humans who hade to have an audience, Shaquille and his entourage felt as if they had fallen into an icy abyss, not daring to even breathe. It was only after the skeleton dragon retracted its head andy down again that the nobles came back to their senses. So this wasn''t a sculpture at all, but a real... skeleton dragon!? Humans also had necromancy spells, and it was quite a significant branch. However, the most powerful among them were only at the level of "Undead Lord". They had no idea how advanced the necromancy spell had to be to create such a bone dragon. Andter, when a female skeleton wearing a maid outfit, exuding a cold and noble aura, came to continue guiding them, Shaquille''s assistant who had practiced necromancy nearly fainted. A lich!?? The goddess in the dreams of all necromancers, the legendary queen standing at the absolute pinnacle of undead creatures, turned out to be the Demon King''s maid? Shaquille had actually be numb. As they got closer to the Demon King, there were simply too many things along the way that subverted their worldviews. Originally, they hade with the attitude of the defeated going to meet the victor. But now, they felt like ants going to meet a deity. "I see the chairman is a bit nervous. There''s no need to worry. After all, His Majesty has high expectations for you," Leon said as he opened thestrge door to the audience hall. The massive audience hall, arranged in a stepped manner, appeared before the eyes of the noble delegation. The eight Demon Apostles were arranged in order ording to their respective apostle ranks at different positions on the steps. The first level wasn''t too bad. The white octopus la didn''t look ferocious, but rather a bit cute, curiously observing the humans who hade this time. The second level was a row of high-ranking Wisdom Demons with human bodies and snake faces. Leon, who had led them earlier, quickly walked over and slightly bowed his body in a respectful manner. On the fourth level was a little girl hugging a doll. If one ignored the butcher knife in her hand, she might still be considered very cute. Some nobles who might have been interested in young girls took a few more nces at Alice. As a result, when they saw Alice also looking over at them and smiling, it suddenly made many nobles feel a surge of warmth in their hearts, their hearts pounding rapidly. It turned out that not all demons were fierce and terrifying; there were also beautiful and lovely ones! On the subsequent levels were the Great Demon, Sword Demon, Sorcery Demon, and other demon ns. They were more or less familiar with them, as these were the ones who had appeared on the battlefield before and were mainly responsible for patrolling and maintaining order in the upied zones. Of course, at the very end, seated on the highest throne and wearing red and ck armor, they definitely wouldn''t mistake him this time. After all, all the apostles present were bowing their heads and kneeling towards the figure on the throne. That was the object of their audience on this trip and also the master of this Demon Tower. The Demon King. "Quick, present it." After Shaquille also knelt and paid his respects, he immediately signaled to his subordinates. The subordinates understood and promptly took out beautifully packaged boxes from the back and respectfully ced them in front of Reji. "What is this?" "Your Majesty, these are the ignorant humans who attempted to resist the demons and tried to stop Your Majesty from unifying the world under the rule of the demon race in the areas under demon control. Such clowns have beenpletely purged by your humble servant on Your Majesty''s behalf, and their heads are presented here!" After a demon servant opened the lid, indeed, inside were heads, with expressions of disbelief, anger at being betrayed, despair, unwillingness, and so on. "Very good." Reji nodded. Seeing the Demon King speak and even praise them, Shaquille finally felt relieved, and a fawning smile appeared on his face. He became more confident about the uing negotiations. Unfortunately, he didn''t hear the second half of Reji''s thought in his mind. [Very good, very much in line with the imagination of nobles.] This scene had also urred in the first ythrough. But the instigator was the Wicked Demon. However, this time... The Wicked Demon had already been killed by him. But... Reji slightly nodded his head, indicating that Shaquille and the other representatives of the "Human Collective" could continue speaking. He wanted to see which one, the nobles or the Wicked Demon, would ultimately prove superior. Chapter 236 The Hero Cannot Save Humanity "Your Majesty, I believe there is no need to preserve the many human kingdoms. All areas under demon rule can be unified into one nation, the Demon Realm," Shaquille proposed. "From now on, all ordinary humans will be ssified as ''dust citizens'', stripped of the right to have names and reced with numbered codes. Only those who submit to the demons and make great contributions will be ''upper citizens'', granted the privilege of having their own names and limited power to rule over the dust citizens beneath them." If humans were to serve the demons, their "noble" titles would certainly need to change. How dare they call themselves nobles in the presence of demons? Shaquille had long devised this system, even considering that human names might be troublesome and inconvenient for demons to manage, so he simply reced them with numbered codes. Thus,moners and nobles were essentially just changing skins, bing dust citizens and upper citizens. While Shaquille seemed to bepletely pandering to the demons, he also benefited from it. Before the demon invasion, he was the Chairman of the Upper Senate in the Mage Nation, second only to the Crown Prince and wielding peak power, but limited to the Mage Nation. However, if Shaquille''s proposal was approved and human nations ceased to exist, all bing the Demon Realm, it would undoubtedly be equivalent to expanding the cake. For example, as the President of the Upper Senate, the former could only govern the Mage Nation, while thetter would rule over all humans within the entire Demon Realm. Although the position remained unchanged, the real power expanded several times. Moreover, the formermoners could at least have their own names and solve basic food and clothing needs. But in the ruling strategy Shaquilleter presented to Reji, the dust citizens truly lived up to the word "dust". "Your Majesty, unlike the great demon race, the inferior bloodline of the human species dictates thatziness is the nature of most people. Therefore, we must never let those dust citizens livefortably and easily, as it will only breed inertia in them," Shaquille advised. "I believe Your Majesty can tackle this from two aspects." Shaquille gave a look to the noble negotiation team behind him, and one of the representatives immediately understood, stepping forward. Introducing himself as the Minister of Food in the "Consortium", he knelt before Reji''s throne and petitioned the Demon King: "Your Majesty, apart from the offerings to the demons, the remaining food produced by humans must not be fully distributed. We need to control it." "Let seventy percent of humans starve, with only thirty percent able to eat their fill. This way, the other seventy percent will work even harder for the demons, while the thirty percent will desperately maintain their positions to continue eating well, not daring to ck off and continuing to work hard for the demons." Shaquille secretly observed the Demon King on the throne, but unfortunately his face was covered by a helmet. However, although the Demon King was resting his chin on his hand, he showed no obvious signs of dissatisfaction, seemingly finding their proposals eptable. Then another negotiation representative hurriedly stepped forward, the Minister of Land. "Your Majesty, to improve the efficiency of humans serving the demons, food is only one part. Tackling it from thend will also be very effective. Among the dust citizens, the lower the number, the higher the status and the better housing they can be allocated. The lowest dust citizens have no right to housing and can be ced in unified concentration camps," he exined. "Your Majesty may not know, but humans ce great importance on the concept of home. Therefore, Your Majesty only needs to use a piece ofnd or a house to easily control an entire human family, even their next generation and the one after that." Rejiughed. He asked, "Didn''t you say earlier that the vast majority of people have no right to housing?" Hearing the Demon King actually speak and seemingly take interest in this topic, the Minister of Land immediately became excited and hastened to exin to Reji: "Yes, Your Majesty. So all ournd is temporarily leased to those humans, and we will use high interest rates to make them pay for generations to keep that piece ofnd." Reji nodded. Raising his hand, he signaled that this Minister of Land need not continue his enthusiastic "overall nning". "Anything else?" The Demon King''s cold, emotionless voice echoed through the hall, leaving Shaquille and the other nobles a bit at a loss, unable to fathom the Demon King''s intentions. To be on the safe side, Shaquille gave a look and another minister stepped forward. This was the Minister of Education and Culture. "Your Majesty, we implore the demon race to send Wisdom Demons to work with us in jointlypiling human-demon education curric," he requested. "We hope to spread the greatness of the demon race to all corners of the world, letting all humans admire the advanced civilization of the demons and recognize their own lowly status. Let the newly born children be the most loyal supporters of the demon race in the future." "Simrly, we will have songs, dances, and ys in various ces themed around the demon race, spreading demonic thought to every human, so that all humans can fight for Your Majesty." As he spoke, the many beautiful singers and dancers who had apanied this negotiation team, each graceful and in the prime of their youth, began to sing and dance at the nobles'' cue. If the demon race was also willing to engage with human society, then every demon, even the lowest demon servant, should have beautiful human dancers aspanions to demonstrate their status and deepen the interaction between the two races. At this point, Reji no longer cared what the nobles below were still saying. He now better understood the words of the guardian Malvin back then - the demon race was the true salvation. It was not only because of the mana mutation problem caused by the Evil God. The nobles who came to negotiate with him on behalf of humans had turned all their subjects into bargaining chips, just to please him and secure their own positions. And was this Shaquille''s fault? No. Even if it wasn''t Shaquille standing here today, there would still be the next noble. Nobility was not a person, but a disease that was bound to appear in the entire human group. To cure this disease, humans could not do it on their own. In other words. The hero could never save humanity. To truly bring salvation to humans. It had to be... The Demon King. "Kill them all," Reji issued themand, somewhat disheartened. Beside him, Eileen confirmed again, "All of them?" "All of them." This exchange was very quick, too fast for Shaquille and the noble delegation still talking non-stop below to react. A rose-colored thorn whipshed out, and with a "bang", the leader of this human consortium''s head split open like a watermelon. After a brief daze, the terrified nobles instinctively scattered and fled, but what awaited them was the merciless de of the Sword Demon. Their fragile bodies were like cotton, shredded into pieces under the Sword Demon''s edge. A small portion of the nobles in a desperate attempt thought of the only demon apostle who had smiled at them earlier, that little girl hugging a doll. They frantically ran towards Eris, begging for mercy. It turned out Eris indeed rejected none who came. Her small face, under the nobles'' horrified gaze, suddenly erged into an indescribable monster, grinning and continuing to "smile" at them. Then one by one, she swallowed all the approaching humans into her belly. In less than three minutes. All the human negotiation delegations who hade to have an audience with the Demon King met a gruesome end. In fact, if Eileen hadn''t seen Reji''s loathing for these humans and deliberately used such cruel segments to grant them death, the Sorcery Demon could have cleared the field with a random spell in two or three seconds. Chapter 237 The Eternal King The human-demon negotiation ended with this conclusion, drawing to a close. Reji had long departed. Leon, who was cleaning up the aftermath on site, intentionally sent the other apostles away, having them return to their respective posts, leaving only Eileen with him. Eileen naturally understood his intention. Rather, it could be said that the other demons were simple-minded, so they wouldn''t consider so much. But the two of them, as the decision-makers of the demon race, had an indisputable fact. From the perspective of the entire demon race, the King''s choice to ughter all the surrendering human nobles here undoubtedly did more harm than good. "If Lordan were still here, he would probably like these nobles very much," Leon spoke first, as if joking, but actually had a deeper meaning. From the human perspective, this group of nobles was undoubtedly traitorous, guilty of heinous crimes, selling out the entire human race. Even from theirter statements, such as not allowing humans to poprize magic, and carrying out various exploitations and oppressions to constantly tighten the reins on humans... If the Demon King truly agreed to rule the world ording to their n, the human race would certainly have no chance of turning the tables. The entire race would decline further and further until it perished. Of course, this was from the human perspective. But from the demon race''s point of view... Wasn''t this the revenge they hoped for? That''s why Leon now wanted to talk to Eileen alone. The Wisdom Demon believed that Eileen must have also seen it. The Demon King... Did not want to destroy humanity. On the contrary. Even from today''s massacre, Leon vaguely felt that the Demon King seemed to want to help humans, hoping that humans could be strong again. That''s why Leon had to keep Eileen behind to talk alone. The Wisdom Demon knew that Eileen hated humans the most. Because Eileen''s parents, the previous generation''s Demon King and Subus Apostle, died under the de of the human hero, and the entire Subus race was wiped out without exception, leaving only her as the sole survivor. After sensing the Demon King''s intention, would Eileen have a change of heart towards the King? Would there be cracks? Doubts? As the Wisdom Demon Apostle, as the brain of the demon race, he had to prevent such things that could lead to internal chaos in the demon race from happening. However. Just as Leon was about to try to analyze with Eileen, that the Demon King must have some deeper purpose for doing this, the one who took the initiative to speak this time was actually the Subus. "What? You thought I would be unhappy? Betray his majesty?" Eileen crossed her arms. Chapter Stay: Although she was the youngest Apostle, her aura as the mistress was innate. She snorted coldly, full of dissatisfaction with Leon''s concerns. "Listen well, Leon. If you have such thoughts again next time, don''t me me for getting rough. I''ll tell you onest time, I can betray everything for his majesty. The world? The demon race? Of course, that includes you." There was onest thing Eileen didn''t say, and that was herself. Leon shrugged, expressing his apology to the Subus for misunderstanding her thoughts, but he was also very curious. From Eileen''s appearance, it seemed she had also discovered something. The Subus rolled her eyes and continued, "Leon, don''t think that apart from you, all the other demons are idiots. I naturally understand his majesty''s profound meaning in doing this, and this is also why I..." Eileen took a deep breath. Her originally clenched fists finally loosened as she stared at Leon with her serpentine eyes, firmly saying word by word, "This is also why I will support his majesty. We absolutely cannot let humans be destroyed. We must support humans." "Because if there are no more humans, then..." "His majesty will also leave." Leon sighed. It seemed Eileen had indeed realized this point too. His current sigh was not because he felt it was difficult to handle, but because his mood was veryplicated. The Demon King and humans were inseparable. To be precise, every generation of Demon King was inseparable from the world and race the demons were going to conquer. Apart from Reji''s previous generation Demon King who died at the hands of the hero. The other previous Demon Kings, afterpleting the destruction, after thoroughly destroying the civilization of that race, would not continue to exist, but would disappear under the original summoning contract. The specific operating principles were unclear even to them apostles. After all, this was a mode of operation that had existed in the demon race for who knows how many tens of thousands of years. Discover the target, summon the Demon King, destroy the target, the Demon King disappears, find the next target, and repeat this cycle endlessly. And none of the previous Demon Kings had ever resisted disappearing. Never coveted to remain in the world. Or rather... Under the power of certain rules, they were not given the opportunity to "resist" and "covet". Because frankly speaking, the vast majority of previous Demon Kings... Leon carefully recalled that even if the Demon Kings had different styles, some may focus on ughter, some like wealth, some like beauty, and so on... But all Demon Kings had one thing inmon - they rarely spoke. Their words were as precious as gold. As for their interactions with the apostles, there were some, but extremely few. And usually after interacting with each apostle a few times, apart from daily work, they never came again. As for the Demon King''s daily work... In most cases, it was he, the Wisdom Demon, who first nned a goal or mission for the Demon King, a general direction of attack, and then the Demon King would go and concentrate the demon race''s power to carry out the conquest, battles, and so on. So when Reji, the new Demon King, was summoned... Seeing the new Demon King actually take the initiative to hold a meeting and actively assign them tasks, Leon was so surprised. It was also at that moment that he realized the new Demon King was different from all the previous ones. Later facts indeed proved this point. How many generations of Demon Kings had never made Eris like them so much that she was willing to appear as a little girl, as a Decay Demon? The same went for Shadow Demon Shermen. In Leon''s impression, Shermen was always an ice cube to many other Demon Kings, never speaking more than a few words, also a representative of silence. But in just a few days with the new Demon King, Shermen had already changed greatly. As for the Wicked Demon and the Flower Apostle... That goes without saying. Throughout the entire history of the demon race, the new Demon King was the first to be able to y apostles in his position and even re-establish a new apostle. Everything proved the uniqueness of the new Demon King. Because of this. In fact, Leon had long had a vague premonition of this day. The Wisdom Demon believed that if he could think of it, that special new Demon King must also be able to jump out of the rules and understand the price of being the Demon King. So now there were two choices before them apostles. Either destroy humans toplete the revenge, and under the power of the rules, the Demon King disappears, leaving them apostles to continue finding the next target and carry on the ancient, unchanging heritage of the demon race for thousands and thousands of years. Or... Leave the humans, and even protect the humans. Because as long as humans are not destroyed, then the current Demon King, this most special King, will be their eternal King. Chapter 238 Behind the Demon Kings Fate Track Which one to choose? Leon looked up at Eileen''s sharp gaze, like wheat awns, across from him. The Wisdom Demon shook his head helplessly. "Although I''m tens of thousands of years older than you, I''m not a stubborn old antique. The defeat a thousand years ago has already proven that the demon race''s old ways no longer work. The purpose of us summoning the Demon King for generations is to unite the entire demon race, but if we already have such a King, why bother?" "Moreover, Eileen, don''t be too optimistic about the situation. We haven''tpletely defeated the humans yet. The two biggest threats, the Empire and the Radiant Holy Nation, have not been eradicated. So my determination to protect his majesty is definitely not inferior to yours. That''s why I kept you behind to talk, isn''t it?" "Anyway, hearing that you don''t mind his majesty attitude towards humans, I''m relieved. And..." At this point, Leon paused, putting aside his previous chatting tone, his face bing serious and solemn. "You also reminded me. If I were that Emperor, wanting to assassinate the Demon King, I don''t necessarily have to truly kill the Demon King. Perhaps there is another way." "What do you mean? How is that possible!" Combining the previous conversation, Eileen immediately understood the Wisdom Demon''s meaning and found it utterly absurd. Indeed. If the Emperor also exploited this loophole of "summoning" and personally destroyed the human civilization in the world, then the Demon King would also be forced to disappear under the restriction of the "summoning contract". In a sense, it was no different from being "killed". But... Just as Eileen now found it very ridiculous. Wasn''t the Emperor''s purpose in killing the Demon King to defeat the demon race and protect humans? In the end, in order to kill his majesty, he destroyed his own race first. Unless that Emperor waspletely insane, how could he possibly do such a thing? Moreover, even if that Emperor really went crazy and decided to go down with the demon race... Even if he was the Emperor among humans, it was impossible to destroy human civilization overnight. They, the demon race, were not just for show. They would definitely not just watch and would step in to protect humans when necessary. Leon nodded. He also knew this was a very small probability, but they had to guard against it. As the Wisdom Demon, he had to be thorough and consider all risks. Leon had already decided to immediately leave some backup ns in secret. Of course, before the Wisdom Demon left, seeing the Subus who originally had nothing to worry about but now also felt a bit uneasy after this discussion, he still spoke tofort her: "Eileen, trust his majesty. The Demon King must have considered more than us. And to be honest, our spections about the ''summoning contract'' are just spections. The one who truly understands these rules... is still the Demon King himself." --- Demon King''s Bedchamber. Rejiy on arge bed, gazing at the ceiling. This ce was now iparably better than the simple bedroom he had when he first arrived in the barren Chaos Rift. In the few months as the Demon King, he had indeed steadily advanced step by step ording to n. Now, he was only two steps away from sess. Thinking of this, Reji opened a panel that he had put aside for a long time - the Demon King''s Fate Track. The Demon King''s Fate Track was his greatest help in the early stages. The first fate track, King''s Birth, gave him the heaven-defying effect of multiplying all rewards by a hundredfold, which could be said to be the first pot of gold that enabled him to sessfully start and rapidly level up. The conditions for unlocking the second and third fate tracks, apart from the apostles'' favorability, each corresponded to the demon race''s degree of conquest in this world. From [Possess a "stronghold-level" demon territory] to [Possess a "castle-level" demon territory]. The second fate track, King''s Rise, allowed him to ignore any item''s usage conditions and learn all skills without any threshold. The third fate track, King''s Might, gave him an increase in all attributes, as well as spell uracy, guaranteed critical hits, control negation, and the strongest immunity to instant death, many temtes that fit the identity of a "big BOSS". And when hepletely conquered and took down Ilinor, the fourth fate track would also be unlocked then. [King''s Destruction Fate Track] [Unlock Condition: Possess a "kingdom-level" demon territory, and the "destruction degree" of the world''s civilization (humans) reaches 20%] [Activation Effect: When your attack target is "human", all your damage will carry the "Demon de" effect, burning an additional 52% of the target''s mana equal to the damage dealt. If the target''s mana is zero, it will be changed to deal the same percentage of true damage.] Starting from the fourth one, it no longer required the apostles'' favorability condition like the previous ones. Instead, it turned to be more rted to "conquering the world". No. It should be said to be rted to "destruction". Chapter Enjoy: And now, with him no longer letting the demon race endure and nearly three-fifths of the world falling to the demon race overnight in a blitzkrieg, his Demon King''s Fate Track was even unlocked in session, to the point where he could even see the final seventh fate track. [The Fifth - King''s Break] [Unlock Condition: Possess five "kingdom-level" demon territories, and the "destruction degree" of the world''s civilization (humans) reaches 35%] [Activation Effect: When you kill a unit of the "human" race, you will randomly obtain one of the following permanent bonuses: +15 HP / +0.1 Spell Resistance / +0.26 Physical Resistance / +3% Attack Power / +1.5 Critical Trauma / +7% Skill Extreme Speed] [The Sixth Fate track - King''s Power] [Unlock Condition: Bring half of the world under the demon race''s rule, and the "destruction degree" of the world''s civilization (humans) reaches 60%] [Activation Effect: All your spells will "no longer consume" mana] [The Seventh Fate track - World Destruction] [Unlock Condition: The "destruction degree" of the world''s civilization (humans) reaches 95%] [Activation Effect: ¡­] Reji stared at this final seventh fate track. From its special name, it already implied that this fate track was the end of everything. Its effect was very simple and had no other extra exnations. Just three words. [Ascend to Godhood] This also exined to Reji where his many previous generations of Demon Kings had gone. Their disappearance was not a self-choice, but a result of the fate track. Indeed, the fate track had been giving him powerful strength, and theseter high-level fate tracks were each more terrifying than thest, all helping him toplete the final task of "world destruction". But now, Reji had already stopped at unlocking the fourth level. If he wanted, he could actually unlock the fifth and sixth at any time. The fifth level''s infinite stacking, and permanent attributes at that, with a total of six growable attributes, each of which could be said to be very crucial, definitely not some useless chicken ribs. ording to the current world poption, these few values would at least be multiplied by a unit of "hundred million". Chapter 239 Saintess Freya 1/4 Although it would be randomly distributed among the six attributes, this was even more of a powerful six-sided warrior. As for the sixth level, it goes without saying. Infinite mana. Coupled with the "skill extreme speed" attribute from the fifth level to reduce cooldowns, as long as he ughtered enough humans and stacked enoughyers, the future of infinite "transcendent spells" might not be a fantasy. Reji was no saint. If it were in a game, no yer could resist the temptation of such permanently stackable attributes. In fact, if it weren''t for the restrictions on theter fate track conditions, Reji even nned to kill half first, then raise the other half, specifically letting them reproduce, in order to continuously produce new poption to achieve his own sustainably regenerating infinite killing and stacking. But now... Everything was reality, and there were many other factors Reji needed to consider. Not to mention anything else, just this seventh fate track alone made Reji dismiss all thoughts. Reji never thought that bing a God was anything good. Nor did he want to be one himself. Chapter Find: Although he could now control whether to "activate" the fate track. But who knows about the future? The previous generations of Demon Kings, except for the one he killed himself, were all vivid examples. So not even talking about moral issues, just this one point alone had already made Reji determined to protect humans, and even support them when necessary. Only in this way could he avoid being forcibly triggered into the seventh fate track. So for the fifth and sixth fate tracks, although the effects were very abnormal, carefully thinking about it would reveal that this was undoubtedly Pandora''s box. The more power he absorbed... In fact, he was pushing himself towards the direction of the "seventh fate track". And this feeling of increasing power yet approaching the abyss made Reji immediately think of the intelligence he obtained while in Stillwater Prison. Mana mutation. Wicked Demon offspring. The more they cultivated mana and wanted to advance, the end point of evolution was self-destruction, being devoured by mana in turn, bing a creature of flesh and blood. This was also the guess that the Vampire Progenitor told him back then. Their ne... was sick. At this moment, Reji had a strong premonition. This might be the reason for the Saintess''s "betrayal" a thousand years ago, and even more so, the reason why he could "truly descend" here. Without a doubt. Now he was only one step away from his original intention at the beginning, the hero''s final truth at the end of the game a thousand years ago. To lift the veil, he could onlyunch the final assault. Only... To face that Emperor behind the scenes, face to face. Just then, amunication came in, making Reji immediately sit up from the bed, put away the panel, and take it very seriously. The content of the message was simple. The source of the message was from the war zone of the Radiant Holy Nation. For the sake of caution, Reji had always let the demon race adopt a step-by-step advancement strategy, while spreading rumors that he was willing to negotiate with the Saintess. And just now... The Great Demon officer on the front line sent intelligence that a human woman had voluntarily sought them out. Telling them that she wanted to see the Demon King. Through the Great Demon''s magic projection, Reji could clearly see this woman who hade alone to the demon race''s military camp. She had golden hair as brilliant as wheat. She wore a pure and wless yellow and white religious ceremonial dress. The sun emblem symbolizing "radiance" shimmered in front of her sped hands on her chest. Those ocean-blue eyes, even in the midst of the demon race''s encirclement, remained calm and undisturbed, as if not taking those 7th and 8th tier Great Demons seriously at all. As if sensing something... Under the Saintess''s hat, her wless white face lifted up, and those azure eyes seemed to pierce through countless demons, as if directly reaching the Great Demon quartermaster who wasmunicating with Reji. Then... Separated by a thousand miles, her gaze met Reji''s on the other end. "Stop the attack immediately. This is the basis of my negotiation." The Saintess easily bypassed the Great Demon and forcibly connected to themunication, speaking directly with Reji. This instantly made the demon race officer both shocked and angry. Being yed by a human like this in front of the Demon King was a shame for him. He let out a roar and was about to rush to attack the Saintess to take back control of themunication, but Reji on the other side of the projection raised his hand to stop him, making the Great Demon officer halt. "Of course, the demon race''s enemy is only the Empire and that Emperor. I don''t want the mes of war to spread to other humans. I think this is something the Saintess and I should have inmon, right?" The Saintess on the other side of the projection nodded, and then, as if to repay Reji''s cooperation, took the initiative to say, "Demon King Tower, I will go there to negotiate with you, alone. Is this enough to show my sincerity?" Demon King Tower... Hearing this, the front-line Great Demons on the Saintess''s side were all shocked, even the officer from earlier. For such top-level leader negotiations, they usually choose a neutral area that both sides consider safe. But now... They never imagined that the human woman in front of them would dare to go directly to the Demon King Tower. Did she not know what this meant? Reji was also a bit surprised. "Is the Saintess not afraid of walking into the tiger''s den?" The nun opposite did not answer directly. Instead, her eyes, which were as still as stagnant water, finally had some ripples. The corners of the Saintess''s mouth curled up, revealing a smile in her eyes, and she softly asked Reji in a low voice, "I''m not afraid, but what about you?" Heh¡­ It seemed this generation''s Saintess was very aggressive. Such a personality made Reji''s heart, which had been shaken by her "familiar" appearance, calm down a bit. He also put on a polite smile and said with a grin, "I will prepare a carriage for you and send two apostles to escort you to my tower. I look forward to the Saintess''s arrival. I also believe that a Saintess with such sincerity will surely allow both of us to obtain satisfactory results." The two sides reached an agreement. Seeing that the Saintess was about to cut off themunication and didn''t want to say more, Reji hesitated for a moment, but in the end couldn''t help it and suddenly called out to her again. "Can you tell me your name?" This time it was the Saintess''s turn to be surprised on the other side of the projection. She frowned slightly, seemingly not expecting the Demon King to care about a human''s name, just as she never cared about Reji''s name. Just knowing he was the Demon King was enough. But considering various aspects, the Saintess decided it was best not to make a fuss. Her goal had been achieved, so telling him her name was harmless. "Freya." With the utterance of her name, the Saintess''s appearance finallypletely ovepped with the first-generation Radiant Saintess who was the heroine in the game in Reji''s memory. Sure enough, Reji shook his head inwardly. He should have thought of it earlier. From the very beginning when he saw a Saintess with such a simr, no, exactly the same appearance as in the game, he had a premonition. It was just a pity that everything was so simr, except for the soul. Chapter 240 Anomaly 2/4 The Demon King Tower hovered high above the continent. At the time, Eileen had specifically requested the Sorcery Demon to transform the tower, using the mutual projection and refraction between spells to allow all humans in the world, no matter where they were, to see the faint phantom image of the Demon Tower in the sky, like the sun and moon, as long as they looked up. This was what the Subus believed to be the status the demon race should have. Towering high above the world. Now, Saintess Freya, apanied by the two apostles Dian and Pierre sent by Reji, quickly arrived at the base of this Demon Tower from the Radiant Holy Nation in less than a day. Freya, like many humans, couldn''t help but look up at this majestic Demon Tower. But in her eyes, there was no shock, admiration, or feeling of being stifled, despair, or helplessness at the power gap between humans and demons, like others. On the contrary. The Saintess seemed to have finally confirmed something. In her ocean-blue eyes, a hint of "relief" seemed to sh by. Of course, it disappeared very quickly. No one noticed. "Miss Freya, before formally entering the Demon Tower, I''m sorry, but I need to conduct a full-body search on you. To avoid unnecessary trouble, please cooperate with my mana guidance and do not resist." "If you have any items or weapons on you now, please take them out voluntarily and hand them over to us now. This is very important. If we discover themter, the nature of the two will be different. Miss Freya surely doesn''t want to see such a conflicting and unpleasant scene, right?" Seeing Dian blocking her way, Freya let out a lightugh. The Saintess voluntarily spread her arms, seemingly not minding the Sorcery Demon''s search at all. Seeing this, Dian didn''t say much more and immediately used a surveince spell to meticulously sense the mana fluctuations around Freya''s body from top to bottom, repeatedly confirming several times that there were no special items on this human Saintess before retracting the spell and nodding. "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss." However... Although from his perspective as the Sorcery Demon Apostle, there was no problem searching the Saintess, Dian still took out a pair of handcuffs for insurance. "Put these on, and Miss Saintess can formally enter the Demon Tower to meet his highness." The handcuffs not only restricted the hands but also carried an absolute mana seal. This was considered a double insurance,pletely eliminating any chance for the Radiant Saintess to harm the King. "Is your King that afraid of me?" Freya looked indifferently at the handcuffs handed over by the Sorcery Demon. She didn''t show any resistance, only sneering lightly. At this moment, another figure walked out from the side and answered the Saintess''s question. "The Saintess has misunderstood. Theseplicated procedures were all added by me privately. Unlike the great Demon King, we indeed still hold reverence for the Radiant Saintess." Wisdom Demon Leon walked out from the side and elegantly bowed slightly to Freya to show respect. A thousand years ago, the Radiant Saintess joining hands with the Hero was the biggest reason for the demon race''s defeat. Leon''s words were indeed not a lie to Freya. As the Wisdom Demon, he was always the most cautious and alert. "Hmph." After snorting, Freya ignored Leon and didn''t wait for other demons. She put on the handcuffs herself. Apanied by the "click" of the lock, Freya even deliberately raised her cuffed hands above her head, as if signaling to the numerous demons in front of the Demon Tower. Immediately after, the Saintess, not caring about the other apostles, directly took a step forward and continued into the Demon Tower alone, as if this was not at all some enemy headquarters fraught with danger. And behind her, although Leon frowned slightly, he always felt that this human Saintess''s attitude was very strange. But the problem was, they had already done what they should. If they stopped the Saintess from entering the Demon Tower now, it would be their demon race losing face. Leon could only secretly give a look to the other apostles. If they noticed anything amiss, they should not hesitate and immediately go all out. The Radiant Saint Boots stepped on the soft red carpet. With her hands cuffed, Freya''s expression remained unchanged. Under the gaze of the ferocious high-level demons lined up on both sides, she stepped into the audience hall step by step, until she finally reached the Demon King sitting high on the steps, and only then did Freya finally stop. Now, the Saintess''s expression was very rxed. Even more rxed than when Reji saw Freya in the previous projection. "Miss Freya is the first human to enter here as a guest. Can you tell me how you feel?" Reji was in no hurry to negotiate, but asked casually. The human Saintess below seemed to have the same intention. She looked around the great hall and saw the nine apostles gathered together, surrounding her, as well as the various high-level demon guards. Freya shook her head. "How do I feel? Let me think, everywhere is filled with the nauseating and disgusting aura of the demon race? Other than that, it''s not bad here." At this point. Freya focused her gaze on Vielsia. "You are... the new Wicked Demon Apostle?" Without Reji''s indication, the elf did not answer Freya. The Saintess only frowned slightly at this, but did not pursue further. Instead, she shifted her gaze back to Reji and changed the topic. "If I remember correctly, there should have been a group of humans entering the Demon Tower before me in the fallen areas, right? Why did the Demon King say I was the first? Or..." "I don''t consider those humans as guests." Hearing this, Freya immediately frowned and said very coldly, "You killed them all?" "Yes." Reji on the throne nodded calmly, with no intention of hiding it. "Is this what you by wanting to coexist peacefully with humans?" "I think Miss Freya has misunderstood. I never mentioned peaceful coexistence. Even humans cannot coexist peacefully among themselves, let alone humans and demons. But our interests are different. Right now, we both have the Empire as amon enemy. This is also the basis of our current negotiation, isn''t it?" "The Empire is the enemy of humans? Based on what? Based on the lie you demons are now spreading to all humans? Those insect eggs in human bodies?" The insect eggs were the most obvious irond evidence. Reji really didn''t expect that even at this point, Freya would stille to him and say such things. Until... "Heh, you''re wrong, Demon King. Many years ago, the Emperor had already bestowed blessings upon all humans, nting the Light Emblem in their bodies! It''s not insect eggs, but you! The demons! You turned these emblems that should have brought blessings into evil insect eggs!" At the end, Freya could no longer contain the hatred on her face. It was obvious that she had not the slightest preparation toe and negotiate with the demons. On the contrary, this human Saintess was a staunch supporter of the Empire and had deep faith in that Emperor. Then the reason why Freya still deliberately came to the Demon Tower at this moment... "Seize her!" Chapter Enjoy: Without Reji, Leon was the first to speak. The Wisdom Demon himself was the first to act, but not towards Freya, but towards Reji. Since the Saintess did note to negotiate. Then the most likely reason she still voluntarily came to the Demon King Tower was the Demon King. So what Leon thought was to protect Reji first. But... They were all wrong. The Great Demon guards who rushed up easily pierced Freya''s body with their des. The Saintess never resisted from beginning to end. She also could not resist. The shackles on her hands restricted her movements and sealed her mana. These were indeed effective. As for the Sorcery Demon''s previous inspection, there were no items or weapons on Freya, which was also correct. Freya''s purpose ining to the Demon Tower this time was not at all aggressive, nor was it for Reji. But... The Demon Tower location. Chapter 241 Relic - "Sweep" 3/4 Buzz! From the Saintess''s wounds, golden blood flowed. As she was pierced by the Great Demon guards, Freya''s human shell was like a punctured balloon. The light inside her could no longer be concealed and began to flicker. The light was not unfamiliar. It was unique to the Hero''s relics. But this time, the relic was different from all the others before. It had no physical form. It was more like a kind of... will. A will called "Sweep". At an extremely fast speed, phantom light wings grew out of Freya''s back, and along with them, the Saintess herself also became transparent, as if her flesh and blood had been sublimated into a spiritual body. Just like this, Freya directly pierced through the Demon Tower and arrived at the top floor. She overlooked the entire human-upied area below that had been taken over by the demon race and uttered a final soft murmur. "May the Hero''s will illuminate the path forward, may human glory be immortal..." By the time the demon apostles who rushed over also reached the top of the tower, it was all toote. Freya''s body shattered into pieces at the top of the tower, forming a dazzling light that enveloped the Demon Tower, causing the entire Demon Tower to flicker with a simr radiance at this moment. At the same time, due to the Demon Tower''s anomaly, the thousands and thousands of humans on the ground who looked up and witnessed that glorious light from the Demon Tower also underwent changes in their bodies. Holy light gushed from within them. So did blood. Regardless of the color of their pupils, whether ck, brown, emerald green, or any other color, at this moment, they were all dyed the same brilliant gold as Freya''s earlier. Immediately after, their bodies exploded, just like Freya''s before. But this was not destruction. It was more like a kind of rebirth. Or a process of "transformation". After the flesh and blood body perished, these humans'' bodies quickly reorganized under the radiance, turning into seemingly illusory spiritual bodies. A pair of sacred wings broke out of their cocoons from behind their backs. This scene did not happen to just one person. But to a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million humans. Even those who did not witness the radiance from the Demon Tower at the first moment seemed to be infected as the other humans around them mutated, immediately undergoing a simr transformation. The original humans disappeared. In their ce, in the cities, on the streets, in the viges, were one after another pping-winged, soaring... spiritual soldiers. They had no faces. Each one was a faceless person. They seemed to have lost human consciousness as well. Or rather, they only followed one consciousness. That was the consciousness of the Hero from a thousand years ago. ughter the demon race. It was a "sweep" of those "demon race levels" over and over again. Some demon race soldiers on the ground, after reacting, immediately wanted to kill these mutated faceless spiritual people. But this time, their undefeated battle experienced failure for the first time. This group of faceless people seemed to know their every move like the back of their hand. Whether it was Sword Demon soldiers, Great Demons, Sorcery Demons, Shadow Demons, or others, the faceless spiritual people could easily deal with them all, countering every move, as if they had fought these demons too many times before. The demon race sufferedrge-scale casualties for the first time. This group of faceless spiritual people not onlypletely crushed the demon race inbat techniques but also had... holy swords that were extremely lethal to the demon race under the illumination of radiance. Those were not real holy swords. But they had power simr to holy swords, the special power to y demons. Each of them was like a low-spec version of the Hero. Even a low-spec Hero, with the Hero''s power contained within each strike, could still deal massive damage to the demon race. The sharp de, coupled with the veteranbat techniques that were as wless as a machine, made even the strongest forces among the demon race, the Great Demons, retreat again and again under the onught of the faceless spiritual people. Of course, not all humans were transformed into faceless spiritual people. There were exceptions. Those were the humans who voluntarily drank the insect egg removal potion provided by the demon race. Like Anissa. Her parents, like the vast majority of ordinary humans, still wanted to wait and see, but Anissa, who believed that the demon race had brought a good life, secretly took the potion at school herself. Therefore, even now, even if Anissa was exposed to that kind of light, she was still fine. But... "Dad? Mom?" Anissa stared nkly at the two faceless spiritual people inside the house who had alreadypleted the transformation. Obviously, there was no longer a trace of her original parents in thesepletely identical spiritual warriors. Anissa didn''t understand at all. Just a moment ago, her parents were still sitting at the dining table with her, the family enthusiastically discussing various ns for the future. Dad was determined to start a new business, and Mom was also preparing to try learning magic at Dad''s persuasion. Anissa thought that just as everything was about to get better, a piercing light shone in from outside. When the little girl came back to her senses, her parents, her family, had disappeared. Before the confused Anissa could react, the two faceless spiritual people in the house, transformed from her parents, suddenly burst out as if sensing something. They pped the light wings behind their backs and directly broke through the window, the shattered ss shards like des, cutting several gashes on Anissa who wanted to chase after them. Anissa didn''t care about the pain and anxiously wanted to chase out, but when she reached the window, she found that the streets outside had already turned into a battlefield. Countless faceless spiritual people, just like her parents, rushed into the streets and fought in a tangled mess with the demon race soldiers. Because all the faceless people looked the same. Anissa couldn''t even tell which ones were her parents. The intense fluctuations from the battle between the two sides were not something a small residential building could withstand. The light de swung out from the faceless spiritual person''s holy sword struck a Great Demon''s body, directly sending the Great Demon flying, its body crashing into the building where Anissa was. The fragile bricks and tiles immediately crumbled. Anissa had no time to react at all. Just as she was about to be buried by the copsing rubble, that Great Demon who had been sent flying and was now lying on the verge of death beside the building seemed to recognize this little girl. He actually used thest bit of his strength to hold up the copsing building with his hand. It also temporarily spared all the remaining innocent humans inside the building from the horrified screams of the copse. Anissa also recognized this Great Demon soldier. He was the one she would specifically pass by every time she went home from school, the one who made sure there were no more thugs on the road, no more bullies, the one who made everyone very civilized, that guardian deity. But this time... St! The two faceless spiritual people who chased from behind mercilessly pierced the Great Demon''s heart with the light swords in their hands. The Great Demon could no longer support andpletely copsed. And along with it, losing the Great Demon''s support, the entire residential building, Anissa watched herself being devoured and buried by stones and rubble,pletely copsing with a "rumble". With her legs crushed, her sternum caved in by bricks and tiles, the little girl on the verge of death, with herst nce through the cracks between the stones, saw those two faceless spiritual people. But they didn''t care about anything at all, only pping their wings and flying towards the next demon target immediately after killing this Great Demon. Chapter 242 The Weakness of the Faceless People 4/4 "Leon, order all demons to withdraw from the human areas and gather near the Demon Tower. Pierre, assist from the side and n out the routes." "Eileen, Dian, I''m leaving the defense around the Tower to you." "la and Eris, go prepare to receive and treat the injured demons." "Hektor, Shermen, and Vielsia, follow me." The entire demon race was thrown into chaos due to the sudden change with Saintess Freya. They were full of unknowns about those faceless people spiritual warriors transformed from humans and were not clear about what exactly they were, so they were at a loss for a moment. At this time, it was still Reji who quickly spoke up, pulling back the apostles one by one, guiding the direction, assigning tasks, and letting them return to their proper posts. From the start of Freya''s "self-detonation", the entire process happened extremely quickly. Although Reji actually had mental preparations, he still didn''t expect that Emperor to go this far. The other demon apostles didn''t recognize them, but Reji was not unfamiliar with these "faceless people" spiritual warriors. He had already thought a lot before about which one of the Hero''s Relics in the Saintess''s hands belonged to him. And naturally, this included... Sweep. Sweep, as the name implies, was a verymon and ordinary function in games. As long as the yer perfectly cleared a certain instance, then when going back to repeatedly farm itter, there was no need for the yer to operate personally. Instead, they could sweep with one click and quicklyplete it. This function also existed in Magic Chronicles, and the animation presentation form of sweeping was precisely these faceless people spiritual bodies. In other words. The faceless people were actually a replica of the Hero, his game character from a thousand years ago. And as someone who had fullypleted all achievements, explored everything, and perfectly cleared the game, if the Sweep in the Saintess''s hands really inherited the Hero''sbat records from back then, then not only for ordinary demons but even for apostles, it might also be a problem... Now, Reji brought the three apostles beside him and arrived at the human city right below the Demon Tower. Originally, because this ce was closest to the Demon Tower, arge number of demon troops were stationed here, and it was almost transformed into a military camp, so very few humans lived here. But even so, the battle situation in this city now was also exceptionally fierce. In the past, one demon unit could always fight against five or six on the enemy side. But now, the situation was even reversed. Two or three Great Demons had to join hands to deal with one faceless spiritual person. Reji, who rushed to the battlefield, first let Hektor, the apostle with the strongestbat power in the demon race, join the battle. The 9th-tier Great Demon directly released his domain, and Hektor''s exclusive "Malice Blooms" immediately enveloped several faceless spiritual people. And the next scene confirmed Reji''s guess. It was seen that these faceless spiritual people, when facing the newly joined Hektor, raised their hands, and light flickered in their palms. Then, a strange spiritual fruit was generated from it. Afterwards, the faceless people swallowed the spiritual fruit in one gulp, and the effect of them being suppressed by Hektor''s "Malice Blooms" domain was greatly weakened. Reji was too familiar with this action. It was precisely the countermeasure he took when confronting Hektor in the game a thousand years ago. Because Malice Blooms judged based on the sin value of both sides. So back then, he found an item fruit that could temporarily increase the sin value as a means of "skipping ss". Now the faceless people were imitating his behavior from back then when dealing with Hektor. They could even replicate the items. However, from the effect, it should only be imitating about less than 30% of his thousand-year-old self. Back to the battle. It was seen that afterwards, the faceless people pped the light wings behind their backs and attacked Hektor in groups of four or five. And even as an apostle, Hektor''s every move was stillpletely known and grasped by those faceless spiritual people. Whenever Hektor made the starting move of a certain technique, they could quickly react and make a corresponding defense. Just like this, they fought fiercely for a full two or three minutes. These four or five faceless spiritual people were finally torn to pieces by Hektor and disappeared into light. Next, Reji let Hektor retreat and had Shermen go to battle. Unlike the straightforward and violent approach of the Great Demon, when the Shadow Demon''s shadow domain was activated, this group of faceless people indeed immediately changed theirbat style as well. They mainly usedrge-scale AoE spells, while strengthening their own defense, focusing on defensive counterattacks, perfectly restraining the Shadow Demon''s flexibility and unpredictable attack timing. And this happened to be the set of tactics Reji had summarized in the game to deal with the Shadow Demon. When Shermen also retreated, the two apostles now had extremely gloomy expressions, and even Hektor''s face showed a few traces of wariness. They also roughly saw that these faceless spiritual people were simply a replica of the Hero from a thousand years ago. Inheriting many of the Hero''sbat techniques. Although their individual strength was far inferior to the real Hero and posed no threat to them at the apostle level, they were definitely a huge threat to the lower-level demons. And what was even more fatal was the number of faceless people. It was many. Too many. Although the news from the front line had not yet arrived, from the current situation, it seemed that Freya''s self-detonation, using the Demon Tower to spread some kind of radiation, had transformed the vast majority of humans into such terrifying Hero-like products. If the Emperor had an army of faceless people on such a scale. With thousands and tens of thousands of pseudo-Hero soldiers. Then for their demon race next, it would definitely be a fierce battle, and even annhtion... Hektor was not confident that the demon race could win. Just as the Great Demon was frowning tightly and Shermen was also under great pressure, Reji was actually still fine because he was very clear that although the Sweep system was indeed powerful and could replicate the current Hero''s behavior, but... Simrly. It had a fatal w. That was, if something "did not exist" a thousand years ago, then the replication of "Sweep" would not exist. Now Reji understood why Freya paid special attention when she saw Vielsia at that time and even took the initiative to ask about Vielsia''s identity. Because among the Demon King''s apostles a thousand years ago, there was only the Wicked Demon Lordan, not... the Flower Apostle. "Vielsia, use the most basic Vine Bind to attack it." After Reji gave the order, although the elf did not understand why, she still immediately did as told. Verdant natural mana surged from the elf''s palm and turned into a spell. Then, at the feet of a faceless soldier, vertical vines broke through the ground and coiled around the faceless person''s legs. This move was actually very easy to dodge, especially since the faceless people had light wings on their backs and possessed flying ability. However, what surprised the three apostles, including Vielsia herself, next was that it was seen that just such a simple Vine Bind spell actually forcibly trapped the faceless spiritual person in ce, unable to move. The faceless spiritual person, who could originally exchange a few moves with the powerful apostles Hektor and Shermen, now seemed like a clumsy novice. It nkly looked at the vines tightly coiled around its legs, only struggling with brute force, and didn''t even know to use the light sword in its hand to cut the vines, a solution that even the lowest-level adventurer could think of. Chapter 243 The Worlds Civilization Destruction Degree: 63% "What!?..." The three apostles were both surprised and delighted. No wonder the Demon King could still remain so calm. It turned out he had long discovered the weakness of these faceless people. Hektor: "Your majesty So the weakness of these faceless people are nts?" "No, it has nothing to do with nts. They were injected with the knowledge of the Hero from a thousand years ago by that Emperor. At the cost of losing their sense of self, they gained the Hero''s techniques. But everything has another side. In other words, as long as we bring out new power, these faceless soldiers are no different from puppets." After hearing Reji''s exnation, the apostles finally realized. The previously wary and tense hearts could finally rx a little. After all, when it came to "new power" different from a thousand years ago... In fact, they still had quite a bit. After letting Vielsia test it just now, Reji had already sent orders to the Demon Tower. Calcting the time, it should be about right. Just as Reji was thinking, several "rumbling" thunderps came from afar. Thunder clouds began to fill the sky, and one after another purple giant birds soared from the mist at the top of the Demon Tower amidst the lightning and thunder. As a demon race apostle, Vielsia was not alone. The entire elf race was now an apostle race of the demon race. And this was something the demon race did not have a thousand years ago. Flocks of chimeras arrived at the battlefield from the air. Scorching fireballs, frigid breaths, and surging lightning condensed from their three heads and shot towards the faceless spiritual people below. One after another, the spiritual warriors under the chimeras'' air raid were like wooden targets. They had no idea how to defend at all. They all stood in ce in a daze, stupidly being devoured by mes, frozen into ice sculptures by cold currents, and shattered into pieces by thunderstorms. This was not the end. At the same time, the earth trembled. The ground troops from the elf race, one after another forest treants wielding long spears, roaring druids with sharp ws, and even mountain giants as tall as small hills carrying ancient giant trees, also surged from the direction of the Demon Tower to the battlefield to provide support. If one looked carefully, they could find quite a few beastmen figures mixed among them. The three beastmen at the forefront leading the charge were the most eye-catching. A white fox holding a seven-colored magic ball, a yellow dog raising a staff-like object, and a ferocious-looking crocodile wielding double des. They led the beastmen behind them and directly charged into the enemy formation. Those faceless spiritual people had absolutely no resistance at all because "beastmen", like elves, simply did not exist in their Hero records from a thousand years ago. There was nothing, so naturally, they would not know how to deal with them. This resulted in the beastmen''s current unstoppable momentum, crushing and sweeping away, directly scattering the faceless army. Although their numbers were not as many as the elves and they did not have an apostle like Vielsia, the beastmen race''s innate savagery and love for battle made them a natural bane to these faceless people who were like meat sandbags. Coupled with the resources from the Demon Tower to cultivate and strengthen them, the beastmen army''s strength was definitely not to be underestimated. Just like this, the faceless spiritual people, who previously exerted immense pressure and forced the Great Demons to retreat again and again, barely holding on, now, with the addition of several foreign race troops, directly copsed. And taking this opportunity, those previously injured Great Demon soldiers began to quickly retreat under the protection of the elves and beastmen on the front line. Many white octopuses and bloated decay demons had long gathered and prepared under Reji''s initial orders. They waited for a long time in the rear, just to receive these injured demons. Find adventures at M-V-L The breeding demons went without saying. These milky white octopuses had extremely strong recovery abilities, not only for themselves but also for other demons. As for the decay demons, although they looked ugly and unsightly, one would only know their worth when it came to situations with heavy injuries like bleeding, broken limbs, and disembowelment. The most recent example was a staggering, dying Great Demon soldier whose chest cavity was pierced by a faceless person''s light sword, leaving a huge hole. Under such severe injuries, it was the decay demon who arrived and stitched and pieced together this huge wound in emergency treatment, preserving the life of this Great Demon. After temporarily stabilizing the situation, Reji and the apostles returned to the Demon Tower. And here, another group of foreign races had already gathered under Reji''s orders. From the extremely excited rat-men and the cold little girl vampire from the blood reace among them, one could know their identities. That''s right, it was therge group of foreign races Reji had rescued from Stillwater Prison. The characteristics of the faceless army dictated that they could not be countered with the demon race army. On the contrary, even the weakest foreign race, as long as they did not appear a thousand years ago, could all greatly restrain the faceless people. Now, the backup Reji had left in Stillwater Prison hade into y. He had started consciously preparing in this direction very early on. Reji assigned them to the Wisdom Demon, letting Leonmand and subdivide this group of foreign race troops to help the demons scattered in various human nations retreat. Reji ordered the demons to retreat on all fronts, not only to protect the demons but also to protect those local humans who had not been transformed. Because only in this way could all those faceless spiritual people be attracted away by the retreating demons, moving the battlefield out of the cities. Otherwise, even though the faceless people only targeted the demon race, just the aftermath of the battle was enough to turn the cities into ruins and cause countless innocent people to lose their lives. Thinking of this, Reji clenched his fists a little tighter. He had thought of Sweep and thought that the Emperor would use this ability to create such a group of troops specifically to restrain the demon race. But he didn''t expect the Emperor to be so ruthless to this extent. It was not just a small team or a legion, but applying Sweep to all humans. Doing this was equivalent to instantly causing millions and millions of humans to directly lose their lives and be faceless puppets called Heroes. However¡­ Most of these faceless people were originally just ordinary people. Even if they were instilled with the Hero''sbat techniques, having techniques without power was useless. So there must be a huge power source in the distance supplying them, allowing them to be pseudo-Hero warriors that greatly restrained the demon race. And this energy source was obviously the only one left in the world. Reji took the projection image urgently sent by Dian. It was the anomaly of the Empire observed by the Sorcery Demon from afar. From the projection, one could see that the entire territory of the Empire was now enveloped in a dazzling light. This light was exactly the same as the one on those faceless people. In other words... That Emperor had used the entire Empire as fuel, burning everything of the Imperial citizens to supply these transformed faceless soldiers within the demon race now. Reji closed the projection. This was not some case of hurting the enemy by a thousand and losing eight hundred yourself. Reji opened another panel of his. The Demon King''s Fate Track. Previously, by relying on the blitzkrieg to quickly conquer three-fifths of the world, the human civilization, which he tried his best to protect, still only had a 25% [Destruction Degree]. Now the value had soared to... [The "Destruction Degree" of the world''s civilization (humans) has currently reached: 63%] Chapter 244 Thousand-Year Cycle At times like these, one must not lose theirposure. Reji carefully recalled and connected all the key clues - the insect eggs. When he first encountered the insect eggs, which was also when he first came into contact with the human world, he and Leon spected that the insect race might have taken advantage of the human-demon war, during the period when both sides were in a stalemate, and parasitized the human world. But in the subsequent investigation, it was discovered that the insect race was actually the victim. All the parasitism of humans was deliberately man-made,ing from the hands of that Emperor. The insect race was one of the many world races destroyed by the Emperor. At that time, Reji was very puzzled. Why did the Emperor do this? And why destroy other races? It was not until he reached Stillwater Prison that he learned the truth from the mouths of those foreign race remnants. This ne had always been in a morbid state. As long as a certain race continued to evolve unchecked, the end point would be something even more terrifying than self-destruction - being degenerated by their own mana into some kind of bizarre monster, called the "Evil God''s Offspring" by that vampire princess. The reason why the various races of the ne had been living in peace was because of the existence of the demon race, which greatly restrained the independent evolution of each world. Whenever there were signs of mutation and degeneration, they would be destroyed by the demon race and nipped in the bud. But this bnce was broken a thousand years ago. Humans defeated the demon race. The restraining force that prevented other races from "evolving" disappeared. If this continued unchecked, it wouldn''t be long before all races would reach the end point of degeneration in their mad evolution, bing the Evil God''s Offspring, just like the tragedy of the vampires. The Emperor undoubtedly noticed this. Because from the Great Sage''s notes, Reji saw some fragments of past images. The starting point of this "Degeneration Disaster" was none other than his own Heropanions. So the first-generation Radiant Saintess, Freya, who was also the first Emperor, took action. She chose to rece the role of the demon race. And did it even more decisively and thoroughly than the demon race. The vampire princess Louise in Stillwater Prison told him about that past. A thousand years ago, the Emperor spread an alliance initiative to other races in the ne, luring the leaders of other races to the human world. Because humans had defeated the evil demon race, almost no foreign race leaders would refuse the Emperor, so they all came. But what awaited them was a massacre. The Emperor, through this one false alliance, eliminated the vast majority of foreign race powerhouses, seemingly using some secret technique to seal the corresponding fate tracks of their races with the souls of those leaders, thus cutting off the path for all races to evolve again. However, this was not only for foreign races. Even internally, for the Emperor''s own human race, it was the same. Reji recalled the notes of the Second Prince. The Emperor chose to use insect eggs to control and monitor humans. As long as a sage, schr, elite, genius, etc. who might lead human progress was born among humans, the insect eggs in their bodies would release some kind of pheromone. In this way, the Emperor could truly eliminate those who might be the "protagonists" among humans before they could grow up and leave the starting vige, thus restraining human civilization. This resulted in the declining appearance of humans a thousand yearster that he saw when he first descended. Up to this point, this was the truth and the full picture of what happened a thousand years ago that Reji had previously thought. But now it seems... It was wrong. The Emperor was far more than that. Even the Second Prince was probably kept in the dark all along. Perhaps... what the Radiant Saintess who came to him pretending to negotiate said was correct. The insect eggs were just a disguise put on the table to deceive him, the Demon King. The Emperor''s true purpose was still to use the insect eggs to nt a deeperyer of "radiance" in all humans. And what she was waiting for might be this very moment. Only by using the demon race to activate the "Sweep" program could all humans be sessfully transformed into faceless spiritual people. In other words... The true purpose of that Emperor was the same as what she had done to those other world''s foreign races before. She was not only using the faceless people, these spiritual soldiers instilled with the knowledge of his former Hero self, to destroy the demon race. She also wanted to... Destroy all of humanity. "Your Majesty, we must stop that mad emperor! This is more important than anything else now!" When Reji finished his contemtion with closed eyes and opened them, he exchanged nces with Leon below. From the Wisdom Demon''s eyes, the two sides understood everything without needing to say much. Leon had alsopletely figured it out. The Wisdom Demon was very clear that if they let the Emperor be and were held back by the faceless people, trapped in such a quagmire of war, the number of humans in this world would only decrease. Once the quantity and quality of the human race fell below a certain threshold, the Demon King would be forced to disappear by the power of the summoning contract. At that time, without the Demon King, could they still face a human race with only one Emperor left? Leon believed they definitely could not. Just like a thousand years ago, humans simrly had only one Hero, yet wiped out the Demon King and nine apostles, causing their crushing defeat. Leon had a very strong premonition. The current human Emperor,pared to the Hero a thousand years ago, could only be stronger, not weaker. So... "Your Majesty, rest assured and leave the Demon Tower and the rear to us." "In the name of the Wisdom Apostle ''Leon'', I will definitely do my utmost to minimize the losses and buy time for Your Majesty!" "We are the same, Your Majesty!" Following Leon''s words, the Great Demon Hektor, Sword Demon Pierre, Shadow Demon Shermen, Decay Demon Eris, Sorcery Demon Dian, and the white octopus la waving her tentacles. The seven "old" apostles made a vow before Reji. Due to the faceless spiritual army, if these old-generation apostles followed Reji to kill the Emperor, they would only be a burden. The "Hero''s knowledge" from back then had already seen through them. So the only two who could go with Reji to the Empire and assist the Demon King in confronting the Emperor were... After a brief hesitation, Reji still shook his head. He solemnly ordered, "I am clear about your determination, but... Vielsia, you stay behind too." "To fully unleash the power of the elf race, the presence of you is still needed. With you here, I can truly put my mind at ease." Seeing Leon being the first to frown and about to persuade him, Reji raised his hand, indicating that there was no need for further discussion. The apostles now were simply worried that without the elves as a main force, he would have a hard time confronting the Emperor. In response, Reji smiled and said, "What, you don''t believe in me?" Discover more stories at M-V-L Leon wanted to say something but stopped. But in the end, he still lowered his head and obeyed the Demon King''s arrangement. Seeing this, the other apostles also stopped persuading. They all understood that this was the Demon King allocating power to protect them. After all, the faceless spiritual people were the most restraining to this batch of old-generation apostles. Even just defending was not that easy. And with the addition of Vielsia, from the previous example, the pressure would definitely be greatly reduced. So Vielsia also said no more. The silver-haired elf only pursed her lips, but the gaze she looked at Reji with still had uncontainable worry. After all, if the elf stayed behind to defend, then on the contrary... The Demon King going to confront the Emperor would lose a powerful aid. So... When Reji''s gaze fell on thest apostle present, this apostle''s resolute eyes did not waver in the slightest. Even when facing Reji, she answered with a gaze that "would not ept any orders". Yes. The only two who could follow Reji to confront the Emperor besides Vielsia were the Subus Apostle Eileen. Although she inherited the apostle position of the "Subus". Eileen was a new generation. The previous Subus had already tested it herself. Those faceless spiritual people were indeed in a state of confusion and helplessness against her attacks, not knowing how to defend at all. In fact, Reji wanted Eileen to stay behind and defend as well. He alone would be fine going to the Empire to face the Emperor. But seeing the Subus''s stance and the simrly unyielding attitude of the other apostles - they no longer needed help, the Subus must go protect the King. Reji finally stopped insisting. He looked into the Subus''s pink eyes and reached out his hand, "Eileen, can I borrow your power?" "It will always belong to you, Your Majesty." The Subus did not hesitate to reach out, interlocking their fingers, firmly grasping Reji, as if her determination was such that nothing but death could separate her from her king. Eileen stood by Reji''s side. With this, all the arrangements wereplete. Reji took out the Starlight Crystal from his bosom, and the Hero''s Relic, the stone tablet "Map", floated in front of Reji. Then, under the power of the Starlight Crystal, Reji connected to the "anchor point" closest to the Empire and sent a teleportation. The other apostles remaining in the Demon Tower watched as the Demon King and the Subus Apostle quickly disappeared in the teleportation array. This scene actually brought a sense of familiarity to the hearts of many old apostles. This scene was so simr to a thousand years ago. Thest ones to confront that Hero were also the Demon King and the Subus Apostle. As if it was a cycle. But this time... Leon was the first to look away. He resolutely turned around, dutifully going to fulfill his vow to the Demon King, doing his utmost to dy these faceless armies behind them, slowing down the speed of human extinction, and buying time for his King. And he also equally believed that Reji would not break his promise. This time, the ending of the demon race... Would absolutely not repeat the tragedy of a thousand years ago. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 245 The Descender (To prevent misunderstanding of the plot, this is far from the end. There is at least one more major volume, so rest assured.) --- Thanks to the early resolution of the Psionic Wall, Reji and Eileen easily entered the empire''s territory. However, as they began flying towards the imperial capital, the scenes along the way frequently made Eileen frown. From a bird''s eye view, from small torge, whether it was viges, towns, settlements, cities, fortresses, or even the royal city, all areas within the empire had turned into dead zones. All signs of human lives had vanished. Those prosperous buildings and densely popted residential areas had now be empty shells, mere decorations. It was as if all the humans within the empire had been subjected to a paralysis spell. Their bodies emitted a radiant glow. Their skin, pupils, and even hair had all been dyed golden. Now, all the humans within the empire resembled lifelike golden statues. Many people''s facial expressions and bodily movements were frozen in the previous second. People shopping on the streets were still chatting andughing with each other, diners in the inns were still feasting heartily, and children in the academies were still reading aloud. It was as if in an instant, the next moment, they were enveloped in radiance and turned into the golden sculptures they were now. When they reached the royal city andnded, Reji observed these statues more closely and noticed some differences. Some of them had bright radiance, while others had very dim radiance. Take the nearest newsboy on the street, for example. The light on his body seemed to be constantly drained, and the direction of the drainage was precisely towards the demon territory outside the empire. As thest bit of lightpletely dissipated from this newsboy''s body, his entire sculptural form also copsed with a bang, turning into gray dust and quickly disappearing from the spot. This was consistent with what the Sorcerer Demons had observed before. The Emperor was using all the humans in the empire as fuel to supply the faceless spiritual bodies in the demon territory, supporting their battles. In other words, for every faceless spiritual body killed by them, there would be one, or even ten or a hundred human statues in the empire that would be drained and copse into dust. That''s why Leo finally told himself that he would definitely "stall" the faceless spiritual bodies. The Wisdom Apostle had long realized this point. Therefore, the demons remaining in the rear not only had to protect themselves and defend but also had to minimize the consumption of the faceless as much as possible and try to avoid killing them. Doing so was equivalent to dying the extinction of the human race and buying time for the Demon King to stop and even defeat the Emperor. Reji and Eileen no longer paid too much attention to these human statues. They advanced at full speed towards the magnificent Imperial Pce at the highest level. Because all humans had been transformed, there were surprisingly no faceless spiritual bodies on the empire''s side, leaving Eileen, who had been on constant alert, with little to do. They proceeded almost unimpeded. They easily entered the Imperial Pce. Even the guards and soldiers in the Imperial Pce had now emitted radiance and be statues like everyone else. It seemed that the Emperor treated everyone equally in this regard, regardless of their status and identity in the empire. Such a smooth journey without even a single battle made Eileen even more cautious and nervous when they reached the final hall where the Emperor was located. It was as if the Emperor had deliberately let them in. But did they have any other choice? No. Even if they didn''t go, the final oue would be the same once the humans were exhausted and the Demon King disappeared. The fate of the demons would remain unchanged. So this was an open conspiracy. She had no other choice. Even if there was a trap ahead, she could only face it. "Rx, Eileen." "Leave the rest to me." At this tense moment, Reji lightly touched the Subus''s palm with his fingertips, instantly pulling Eileen back from her tension about the unknown. Coming back to her senses, Eileen realized that she was already covered in cold sweat even before seeing the Emperor. She took a deep breath, then gripped Reji''s hand once again. The warmth from Reji''s palm was like the best calming spell for Eileen. The fear, dread, nervousness, and other emotions hidden deep inside her towards the Emperorpletely vanished, reced by confidence. Eileen believed that as long as she was with him, there would never be an insurmountable obstacle. The heavy doors of the inner hall of the Imperial Pce were kicked open by Eileen. And just as the grand and noble pce doors shattered into pieces, the person sitting steadily on a throne made entirely of gold, not far away, was revealed to Reji and Eileen''s sight. It was the head of the empire. The former Saintess of the "Hero''s Era" who had possibly lived for a thousand years. Yes, it was the Emperor. Seeing Reji and Eileen, the tall Emperor on the golden throne showed little emotion. Instead, a voice that seemed to have experienced too much vicissitude and past, no longer distinguishable as male or female, echoed in the great hall. "I have been waiting for you for a long time." "The new generation''s Descender." Descender? Eileen frowned, finding this new term very strange and confusing. Who was the Emperor referring to? The Demon King? Why use such a strange title? Seeing Eileen''s puzzled look, especially when the Emperor looked down, her gaze lingering on Eileen''s hand tightly grasping Reji''s, it seemed to make the Emperor fall into some past memory. Because she had once been like this too. So deeply trusting and relying on the Descender. "You must be the Subus apostle of this generation. Pitiful demon, you and I share a simr fate. We are nothing but the predestinedpanions of the Descenders assigned by fate." "Hehe." Eileen let out a coldugh. "What? Are you going to pretend to be my mother now?" Because ording to the Emperor''s logic, calling the Demon King a Descender, and the Subus race was indeed the natural spouse of the Demon King, so when the Emperor said she was simr to her, Eileen made a sarcastic remark. But the Emperor shook his head. "You should already know my identity. I am Freya, the Saintess from a thousand years ago, and also the lover of that Hero. No, maybe it was just my one-sided belief." Saying that, the Emperor shook his head. This time, it was Eileen''s turn to have a slight change in expression. She seemed to have vaguely grasped something. Seeing this, the Emperor, as if having let go of everything long ago, spoke in a calm tone: "Yes, the Hero from a thousand years ago was also a Descender. No, perhaps it should be said that... due to some twist of fate, a Descender who should have belonged to your demon race came to our human side." "And this is the reason why your demon race suffered a crushing defeat." "So, naive apostle, I''m sorry to tell you this cruel truth. From beginning to end, your demon race has been nothing but a ything for the ''Descenders,'' those Demon Kings from subspaces. The reason for your demon race''s existence is solely for the enjoyment of the sessive ''Descenders.''" "And whichever side the ''Descender'' belongs to, the scales of victory will tilt towards that side. This is fate, and I believe there is no need for further proof. The war from a thousand years ago is the best answer." "But now..." "You have a chance to help your demon race break free from the shackles of this fate, and at the same time, help our ne purify the source of the polluted Miasma. That is to join me and... eradicate the Descenders from the root." Chapter 246 The Last Heros Relic (Part 1) 2 more chapters will be rsed after 3h. ------ Eileenughed. She looked at the Emperor with the eyes of someone looking at a fool. "Are you trying to win me over? Or do you think I''m stupid enough to believe the nonsenseing from a human''s mouth?" Eileen always spoke like this. She didn''t care about the other party''s identity at all. But the Emperor didn''t seem to mind, or perhaps she had long lost interest in these worldly matters. Facing Eileen''s sarcasm, the Emperor still shook her head calmly. "Think back. Have your sessive Demon Kings rarely spoken? Have the so-called Demon Kings ever truly cared about you apostles? Throughout the generations, the Demon Kings have always focused solely on your Subus race among the nine apostle races. Is this really the loyalty of your love? No, all of this is nothing more than the rules of this World restricting those ''Descenders.''" "It''s just that the Descenders have no other choice besides you Subi. Fate has granted the Descenders great power but has also constrained their behavior." "Just like how the Demon King''s goal is always to lead the demon race to destroy the current world, rather than finding another path for the demon race." "Just like how the Demon King has unparalleled power but cannot harm you apostles in the slightest. Just like the other eight apostles who never change, except for you Subi." Actually, despite Eileen''s initial disdain, the Emperor''s words still had some impact on the Subus''s heart. Because it was indeed as the Emperor said. In the history of the demon race, more often than not, it was the Wisdom Apostles who gave orders on behalf of the Demon King. The Demon King was mostly a profound and silent figure. Moreover, many of the Demon King''s thoughts were not directly expressed by the Demon King himself. Instead, they were often first "spected and pondered" by the Wisdom Demon, who then asked the Demon King if they were correct. The Demon King was only responsible for nodding or shaking his head to make the final decision. Not to mention the Demon King''s feelings towards the other apostles. Apart from work andbat-rted matters, there was almost no interaction with the other apostles. This was why, despite the numerous sessions of Demon Kings, except for the Subus apostles, the other eight great apostles were almost indifferent to it, without any emotions like "reluctance." The Demon King was, at most, a cold, parachuted superior. Only towards the Subus race would he show a hint of emotion. Previously, Eileen and the other eight great apostles had never given this much thought. It wasn''t until the Emperor pointed it out that Eileen vaguely felt something was amiss. If this generation''s "Demon King" was also like this, perhaps she would really waver a little and reveal a weakness. But... Unfortunately. Her Demon King, the new King of this generation, negated everything before. The Demon King had taken the lead from the very beginning. Even the Wisdom Demon could only keep up with the King''s thoughts through constant spection. As for caring about the apostles and the rtionship between the apostles, Eileen had witnessed with her own eyes how Eris had always maintained the form of a little girl for the King, how the Sorcerer Demons often discussed spells with the King, and how the Great Demon and Sword Demon had always admired the King''s martial prowess since their initial sparring at the beginning of the descent. As for Shermen, hmph, that old hag pretending to be young, just thinking about her made Eileen''s teeth itch. This was the only thing she had a little emotion about. After defeating the Emperor and the demon race''s victory, I definitely have to teach Shermen, that cheating bastard, a good lesson. As for the Wicked Demon... "Heh, if Lordan heard your words, he would probably die with his eyes open." For Eileen, she had never felt that Reji was some kind of Descender from the Emperor''s "bewitching" words, but a real, flesh-and-blood, truly great Demon King. On the other side, the Emperor, who had been very calm until now, finally showed some change in emotion after Eileen''s words. First, there was a hatred for the name "Lordan." Even after a thousand years and experiencing so much, the Emperor still harbored such enmity towards Lordan, which was enough to show what the Wicked Demon had done during the human-demon war back then. However, the Emperor quickly adjusted back. Although her expression couldn''t be seen clearly under the golden mask, it could still be seen from some subtle body movements that the Emperor was currently puzzled. She didn''t understand why Eileen suddenly mentioned the Wicked Demon. And die with his eyes open? Seeing this, the Subus suddenly rxed a lot, not as nervous as before. It turned out that the Emperor was not as omniscient and knowledgeable about many inside stories as she appeared to be. At the very least, she didn''t even know that the Wicked Demon had died and the apostles had been reced. Eileen had no intention of exining to the Emperor. But the Emperor, who had already sensed something was wrong, immediately closed her eyes, as if sensing something. When she opened her eyes again, surprise could be clearly seen in the only pair of eyes exposed under the mask. "Who is she!?" The Emperor spoke and immediately projected an image in the air above the great hall. In the scene, a heroic and powerful silver-haired female elf was leading the elven race in constantly resisting the faceless spiritual army. Although they were far apart, the Emperor, who was extremely familiar with the demon race, could see a certain quality in this silver-haired female elf at a nce, which should have only belonged to the apostles. But the problem was that the Emperor was very certain that among the nine great apostles of the demon race, there was definitely no such silver-haired female elf. ording to her previous "Descender" theory, apart from the Subi, once the demon race began invading other worlds, the existing apostles should have been impossible to rece. Let alone... "An elf? An elf has be an apostle!?" From the voice alone, one could imagine the Emperor''s furrowed brows under the mask. "Her name is Vielsia, thest princess of the elven race, and also the..." Reji paused for a moment, finally staring at the Emperor and saying word by word, "Sixth Apostle of the demon race." For the Emperor, nothing was more memorable than the Sixth Apostle, because that was none other than the Wicked Demon Apostle Lordan, who had caused her the most pain a thousand years ago during the human-demon war. "Impossible." "This is impossible." The Emperor said it twice in a row. She was extremely shocked, her eyes fixed on Reji. "Did you do this? Are you not a Descender? No, that''s not right. Only a fellow ''Descender'' can use ''his'' relic. The fact that you are a ''Descender'' cannot be wrong." "But why..." The Emperor muttered to herself, but quickly returned to her previous calmness. Perhaps some error had urred in between, but as long as the core point remained unchanged, with the Demon King still being a Descender, that was enough. "After saying so much, you''re here to stop me, right?" "I think as the Demon King, you should have also realized that if you continue to let me consume humans like this, you, under the ''rules,'' will soon disappear. This is also why you are so anxious toe and find me." "But have you ever thought that once you kill me, as the leader of all humans and the strongest among humans, will the currently precarious humans be able to support your continued existence as the ''Demon King''?" Eileen was actually worried about this point too. Now that the Emperor had pointed it out, seeing her seemingly fearless appearance, the Subus said coldly, "Then we''llpletely seal you, just like how the Hero treated us back then!" "Is that so? It seems you really like him. Yes, I can understand you. I was once like you too..." The Subus was willing to spare her for the sake of preserving the Demon King, not killing her but going to greater lengths to seal her. The Emperor shook her head, as if touched by her, the few remaining beautiful memories deep within her. Unfortunately, memories were just memories after all. Sometimes, if happiness and beauty were destined to be lost, perhaps it would have been better to have never experienced them at all. Just like if she had never seen the sun. Then she wouldn''t be afraid of the darkness like she was now. "Thank you for being willing to talk with me for so long." "What I said just now might be more than what I''ve said in the past thousand yearsbined. I''m also aware of the reason why you haven''t taken the initiative to attack me. You want to probe me through conversation and figure out what the ''Hero''s Relic'' on me is, right?" Eileen didn''t show it on the surface. But in fact, her heart sank. Because the Emperor had hit the nail on the head. She didn''t have the mood to chat idly with the Emperor here. What Eileen hoped for was to lure the Emperor to speak more through her own efforts. The more the other party spoke, the more information the Demon King beside her could obtain, and perhaps find clues to open up a breakthrough for the uing battle. But it seemed that her little thoughts had long been seen through by the Emperor. Not only that... "The relic you want to know about is right here." The Emperor raised the scepter beside the armrest of her seat. In fact, it was discovered that the scepter was just an outer shell, and what was truly wrapped inside was a sword glowing with a strange light... a holy sword. Touching the holy sword, Eileen actually saw the two words "gentleness" on the Emperor''s body. The focused and obsessed gentle caressing movements on the holy sword were definitely not an act. But soon, the sword''s edge turned, and the aura on the Emperor''s body also rapidly rose, bing cold, resolute, ruthless, and even a little... crazy. The radiance on the holy sword instantly enveloped the great hall. This light force made Eileen''s skin sting, and she had to raise her hand to block it. But the Subus still kept Reji behind her, her entire body tense and on guard, ready to respond at any moment to the Emperor''s uing attack. Wait. What was she going to do!? Eileen went from being on high alert against the Emperor''s powerful aura to confusion, and finally to the current state of disbelief and utter shock. Because she saw that on the golden throne, the Emperor, who held the holy sword that had reached the peak of power, made a choice next. It was not to point the de at them. But at herself. The tip of the holy sword was only an inch away from the Emperor''s heart. By the time Eileen reacted and wanted to stop her, it was toote. Chapter 247 The Last Heros Relic (Part 2) St! The Emperor didn''t hesitate at all. Instead, she seemed to use all her strength to send the holy sword in her hand directly into her heart. The thick, holy radiance instantly pierced through her chest, and arge amount of purple, tainted blood stained her robe. The swaying Emperor fell from the golden throne. It was as if dering the fall of humanity. The Emperor, who had tumbled down, had disheveled clothes. Only then did it be clear that the Emperor no longer had a human form. Beneath the thick imperial robe was an obese, mutated flesh monster, just like the one seen in Stillwater Prison before, having be a child of the Evil God. The only difference might be that although the Emperor''s appearance had been corrupted and transformed, she still retained her own consciousness. "You... you madwoman!!" When the dazed Eileen came back to her senses and sensed the Emperor, who was now lying on the ground, on the verge of death, with her life force rapidly fading away, she screamed at the top of her lungs. At this moment, the Subus was also about to go crazy. Because... "King! King!!" Just as the Emperor had said before. If they wanted to preserve the Demon King, the Emperor couldn''t be killed. At least at this critical juncture, the Emperor couldn''t die. Otherwise, with arge number of humans already transformed into faceless people, and the Emperor''s death, under the judgment of the "rules," the human civilization of this world would be considered destroyed, and the "Demon King" would also disappear along with it. Eileen could see Reji''s body gradually fading away, and her connection with the Demon King was indeed disappearing along with the Emperor''s fading life force. "Is this what you wanted?! You want to use the entire human race to achieve your revenge?!" Facing the frenzied Subus, the Emperor, now a flesh monster with only a vaguely human face remaining in the pool of blood, remained silent and closed her eyes, as if quietly weing her death. And Eileen could only watch helplessly as all of this unfolded, with no way to stop it. For the demon race, this was undoubtedly a victory. With the Emperor''s demise and theplete destruction of humanity, their revenge wasplete. But... How could this be called revenge? What was the point of a world without the Demon King?! Summon a new king? No!No, no, no, no!!! Absolutely not! I would never ept any new king! Never! No! But the demon race couldn''t be without a king... What if the other apostles insisted on continuing the new summoning ceremony? Right. Got it. Kill them. Kill them all. The Demon King title forever belongs only to Lord Reji! If there must be a new king, then I... I would be that new king! I would temporarily rece Lord Reji and continue to rule the demon race. And then, then... yes. Destruction. A demon race without Lord Reji had no reason to exist anymore! Die! All of you, die!! A substance simr to "ck mud" gradually appeared on Eileen, who was close to going "berserk" at this moment. The Subus''s originally fair skin began to show bizarre ck stripes along with Eileen''s out-of-control mind. It was a pattern that would make people feel ufortable and extremely evil at first nce. The Emperor, who had been closing her eyes and waiting for death, now reopened them and looked at the Subus, who was currently being "transformed," with a look of sympathy, pity, and even more so... sorrow. She had said that Eileen was very simr to her. Even their reactions after losing the "Descender" were exactly the same, so familiar. "Sorry." The Emperor spoke in an extremely weak voice, emitting a faint sound. This was a heartfelt utterance because she had personally experienced it, so she also understood Eileen''s feelings at this moment. But for the Subus, who had already gone berserk and lost her reason, this was like adding fuel to the fire. Eileen, who was already enveloped by arge amount of "ck fog" and filled with evil patterns, vented her boundless anger on the Emperor. "Die! Die! All of you, die!!" Just as the thorn whip woven from ck mud was about tosh down on the Emperor''s head. Finally, another voice that had been "silent" for a long time spoke up at this moment. "Eileen, it''s not over yet." "She is deliberately provoking you. If you really do this, you''ll fall into her trap." Reji, who was about to disappear along with the Emperor''s declining life force, came to the Emperor''s side and stopped Eileen. At this point, the only one who could stop the berserk Subus was Reji. Reji''s voice made Eileen slightly more sober. The ck fog on her body also dissipated a little, and the vaguely visible evil patterns on her body dimmed reluctantly. "Yes, we can''t kill her, but she has already... wait, I know! Lord Reji, you must have a way to revive her, right? Right? It must be!" Eileen grasped at the straw of hope. Reji first nodded, then shook his head. "Eileen, thank you. If it weren''t for the time you bought me to think, I''m afraid the Emperor would have really seeded." "But now..." "Emperor, I have understood your true n. Your death is not the end, but rather the beginning of everything, right?" The Emperor still kept her eyes closed, unmoved. Until... Reji came to the holy sword that had pierced her chest. "Using the holy sword to disguise that relic, you were still trying to numb me until the very end? But actually, I knew. From the moment you started transforming all humans, from the moment you started destroying humanity, I understood what your final trump card was." "You had already created a certain save point at another node. I guess it should be before the humans were transformed, right? No, perhaps even earlier, a few months ago, when the demon race had not yet descended? The Descender''s words are a bit difficult to understand. To put it in simpler terms, it''s... time reversal." "Your biggest trump card, and also your strongest Hero''s Relic, is this, right? Time reversal." As Reji spoke, he reached out and touched the holy sword in front of the Emperor''s chest. Correspondingly, the holy sword itself did not respond to Reji. Instead, at the indentation of the hilt, a certain inconspicuous stone suddenly began to glow. "So as long as you eliminate me in this timeline, after you load the save, even if you return to the past timeline, it will still take effect? Meaning that the demon race will be unable to summon the Demon King, right?" "In this way, you can easily eliminate the demon race, allowing humanity topletely remove the greatest threat without deploying a single soldier or suffering any casualties." At the end, Reji sighed. Finally, he ced his hand on the Emperor''s ugly and distorted face, which had long mutated into a "flesh child," on her head. Then Reji leaned down and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "After a thousand years, you really haven''t changed, Freya." The Emperor''s eyes snapped open. She couldn''t hold back anymore. She stared with wide eyes, her pupils trembling violently. She finally realized something, but it was toote. Reji''s palm touched the "Philosopher''s Stone" on the holy sword. At that moment, everything around them seemed to be frozen. Then, the sttered blood began to retreat back to its original ce, and the Emperor, who had originallymitted suicide and rolled off the throne, began to be forcibly restored. To be precise, it should be... Except for Reji, everything else''s time was reversing. This was the strongest relic. It was also the yer''s strongest ability in the game, loading a save. In thest moment before being forcibly "time-reversed," the Emperor still stared fixedly at Reji, filled with countless emotions converging together. Because... Freya was very certain that the Descenders indeed possessed simr relics, but there was only one thing that was absolutely "exclusive" to each Descender. That was the only "special" relic. It was unique. It was something that other "Descenders" absolutely could not use. That was... the Philosopher''s Stone. Because what was preserved here were memories, precious memories, the proof of the "Descender''s" existence. Even a new "Descender" absolutely could not use this relic. Unless... Unless... Buzz! From the moment Reji touched the stone, Freya''s dominance disappeared. This Emperor finally became one of those who would be "reversed." The reversal power of the Philosopher''s Stone ultimately devoured everything. The gray light, with Reji, who had retained his "color," as the center, engulfed Freya, engulfed Eileen, engulfed the empire, then engulfed... the entire world. Chapter 248 Youre Awake, Hero "Saintess, are we sure we haven''t chosen the wrong person?" A skeptical young male voice spoke up. "Yeah, with the way he looks, is he really the child of destiny mentioned in the prophecy? Any random pdin from the Radiant Temple would be better than him, right?" Another male voice chimed in. The first male voice continued to persuade, "And Saintess, I... I secretly investigated his background a bit. This guy had the audacity to be blinded by lust and set his sights on the Earl''s daughter, intending to defile her!" "Now, Earl Nichs has already issued a warrant for his arrest throughout his territory and dispatched arge number of people to catch this guy! If we insist on protecting him, it''s equivalent to... equivalent to going against a great noble. Although our Radiant Temple isn''t afraid, is it really worth it..." The "unfamiliar" voices outside temporarily came to a halt. To be precise, they were interrupted. Next, another voice that brought a sense of "familiarity" to Reji spoke up in a gentle female tone. "Matthew, Tabor, I am very certain that he is the person chosen by the Light, the man of destiny. Moreover, in the uing ''cmity,'' he is the only one who can save us all, the Hero." "He may seem weak and immature now, but I believe that in the future, he will definitely grow up and shoulder the burden of humanity. That''s precisely why we need to help him, protect him, and guide him onto the right path as he grows in the days toe." Although the female voice was gentle, it carried a firm tone. "Regarding the Earl''s warrant, I believe there must be some misunderstanding. When the hero wakes up, I will ask him about it properly." "If he truly made a mistake, I will apany him to apologize to Earl Nichs and help them resolve their conflict." Hearing the woman''s words, the two followers became even more agitated. "What! Saintess, you''re going to personally apany him to apologize? This... this is too..." "Enough, there''s no need to discuss this matter further." "Matthew, we''re running low on firewood for boiling the medicine. Could you please go to the forest outside and gather some? And Tabor, could I trouble you to strengthen the patrols around the perimeter? We need to avoid the Earl''s search parties as much as possible until the hero wakes up." "..." After a brief silence. "Un... understood, Saintess." The reluctant voices still carried some other emotion. The footsteps of the two followers grew more distant as they left. The outside of the room becamepletely quiet. Next came the faint sound of a door being pushed open. Footsteps that could be heard as very cautious quietly appeared in the room, gradually approaching him. Someone sat down on the bedside. A faint fragrance like jasmine flowers quickly wafted into his nostrils. The person began to gently wipe his forehead with a damp towel, but those soft fingers kept identally touching his face. It was evident that the person was not used to taking care of others, and their movements were a bit clumsy. More and more memory were restored. Reji''s scattered consciousness gradually gathered once again. Finally. He opened his eyes. The first thing that came into view was a pure and pretty young girl. Although she was wearing ordinary casual clothes, it couldn''t conceal her sacred aura, as if some goddess had descended to the mortal world. And this young girl, after a brief moment of nkly staring at Reji, who had suddenly opened his eyes, reacted and became overjoyed. Her slightly immature face was filled with a surprised smile. Following that was her excited voice. "That''s great! You''re awake, Mr. Hero!" Reji propped himself up and sat up from the bed. Although he had regained consciousness, his thoughts were still a bit chaotic. Seeing this, the young girl was very understanding and quickly support Reji, letting him lean against the headboard. "Um... um, nice to meet you! I... I''m Freya, the current Saintess of the Radiant Temple. When we found you, you were covered in wounds and had fainted in the wilderness. Fortunately, we arrived in time." "Don''t worry, you''re safe now. I''ve already applied medicine to your wounds, and they should heal quickly. Then... then, what else should I say at this time... ah! Sorry, sorry!" "Anyway, could you tell me your name first?" Reji stared at the Saintess sitting by the bedside. After the initial joy and excitement of seeing him awake, she immediately became nervous around a stranger. Her lowered gaze and restless hands secretly fidgeted under the chair, a typical socially anxious Saintess. Phew... Reji let out a long sigh. "...Reji." As this name was spoken, a light suddenly shed on Reji''s right hand. A virtual stone faintly appeared¡ªit was the Philosopher''s Stone that brought the ability of time reversal. The Philosopher''s Stone seemed to only flicker before returning to Reji''s body. And throughout the entire process, the girl in front of him showed no reaction at all. It was as if she couldn''t see the Philosopher''s Stone. Only Reji could perceive these changes. After obtaining Reji''s name, Freya began to exin the cause and effect to him. It turned out that in a recent prayer, as the Saintess, she received enlightenment from the Light and foresaw an unprecedented disaster that was about to befall this world. Freya wasn''t clear about the specifics of the cmity, but she saw the suffering of living beings under it, the devastatednd, a world of destruction and doomsday. Fortunately, in the deep despair of this future, she still found a glimmer of hope, and that person... "Is you, Lord Reji!" "You are the child of destiny, the future hero of humanity. You bear the responsibility of saving the world. I, Freya, and the entire Radiant Temple, for the sake of the world''s future, implore you to ept this mission. In the uing cmity, please help humanity, turn the tide, and save this world!" At the end, Freya looked at Reji with an extremely sincere gaze. The sunlight outside the window seemed to be particrly bright at this moment, turning into radiance that shone upon the young girl, making her already pure and sacred face even more beautiful and moving, evoking a sense of pity and making it difficult to refuse. And Reji... he shook his head. "Sorry, can you let me be alone for sometime?" "Ah, o-okay, I understand. I''m sorry, I know this is abrupt. I was too impatient. The most important thing now is for Lord Hero to recover. I''ll be waiting outside. If you need anything or have any questions, you can call me at any time." Freya forced a smile on her face. A hint of disappointment and dimness could be seen in the girl''s azure eyes. She quickly left the room and carefully closed the door. Once it was only Reji alone again, he leaned against the bed, closed his eyes, and quickly sorted out all the memories and information. First. In the previous scene, he had seen through the Emperor''s n and intercepted it before the Emperor activated the "reversal" ability of the "Philosopher''s Stone." But he wasn''t clear about the specific time point he had been "reversed" to, as that was set by the Emperor. Reji guessed that the "save point" set by the Emperor should be when the demon race had just descended in the second ythrough. However, unexpectedly... The Emperor''s "save point" was much, much earlier than he had thought. It was actually... The "hero" period of his first ythrough!? To be more precise, it was when the game first assigned him the "main quest." It was also... The first time he met the Radiant Saintess Freya. The first point that needed to be confirmed, the "reversal time point," waspleted. Then, the most crucial second point... From Freya''s appearance, that simple, socially anxious, and slightly foolishly naive Saintess obviously had no simrity to the Emperor who could "destroy humanity" a thousand yearster. In other words, Freya had beenpletely reversed. Looking back at himself. It goes without saying that he retained his memories. More importantly... Reji opened his status panel. [Reji] [Main Fate Track¡ªDemon King] [Sub Fate Track I: Nature] [Sub Fate Track II: Hero (Not yet activated)] [Current Equipped Title: Child of Destiny] [Rarity: Supreme] [Equipment Effect: As the child of destiny, your Sub Fate Track limit +2, your "Attribute Growth Rate" increased to S+] [Current Attribute Values¡ªStrength: S+, Constitution: S+, Mental Power: S+, Skill Mastery: S+, Spell Power: S+] [Currently Activated Fate Track Effects¡ª"I-Hundredfold Reward Return," "II-Ignore Any Item/Weapon/Spell Conditions," "III-Own Attribute Values Increased by 100%, Effect uracy Increased by 100%, Critical Rate 100%, Immune to Instant Death"... "VI-Your Spells No Longer Consume Mana"] [Current Character Level...] [...] [...] [Lv99] Chapter 249 Level 99 in the Newbie Village Bad news: I was directly reversed to "the beginning of the dream." Good news: not only my memories but also everything from the Demon King in the second ythrough were inherited. Reji closed the status panel. He had somewhat noticed this point when he was still lying in bed. His perception was exceptionally astounding. He could keenly capture the conversations outside the door and even the emotional fluctuations of the speakers. This was not present in the "plot" of the game. Now, he had not only been reversed to the beginning of the game but also the unfolding plot was exactly the same as in the game, without the slightest difference. Before meeting Freya and officially entering the main storyline of Saving the World, the game had a short prologue where the yer would randomly start in different scenarios to help the yer immerse into this world. Reji''s random start was being born into a declining noble family. Because of the family''s decline, his childhood fianc¨¦e, the Earl''s daughter, nned to break off the engagement. Of course, he chose to divorce her first, which immediately made him an enemy of the Earl. To protect his daughter''s reputation, the Earl ndered and vilified him, framing him with fabricated charges, while also issuing a warrant for his arrest and constantly sending people to hunt him down. Reji remembered that at the end of the prologue, the Earl hired a fifth-tier archmage to kill him. At that time, he was only around level 20 or 30. He could not put up a fight at all. It was a definite plot kill. To survive, he could only keep running away. His injuries became more and more severe, and without being able to get supplies or rest, he finally copsed and fainted by the roadside. Afterward, it connected to what Freya had told him earlier. The Radiant Saintess rescued him. At the same time, the Saintess informed him of his mission, identity, and the responsibilities he would bear in the future. From then on, hepletely embarked on another path. The path of saving the world. The real game only officially began from here. So... If he hadn''t stopped the emperor, the person who should have had the memories and power from a thousand yearster at this point in time should have been Freya. And if it were just to eliminate the demon race and save humanity... The emperor should have had better "save points." For example, directly reversing to the day the demon race descended. With the Emperor''s strength from a thousand yearster, even the Demon King and the Nine Apostles together might not be a match. Moreover, it was questionable whether there was even a Demon King at this time. The question came back. So why did the emperor want to return to this past? Was it because he, as a Descender, had not yet grown at this time? In this way, would it be more convenient for the emperor, who wanted to eradicate the Descender, to kill him? No. Reji quickly shook his head in denial. He was indeed very weak during this period, only in his twenties in terms of level, and by the time the demon race descended, he had indeed grown quite a bit, approaching the threshold of level 60. But the problem was, for an Emperor who had parasitized on the Insect Egg and absorbed the magic power of humans for a thousand years, and might have even been tainted by the power of the Evil God, and had likely already reached Lv99... Was there a difference between a level 20 hero and a level 60 hero? Obviously not. They were both ants that could be crushed with a single finger. The only difference might be... Knock. Knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. The knocking on the door pulled Reji out of his thoughts. The door was gently opened. Through the gap, he could see Freya carefully standing at the doorway, holding a bowl of steaming medicinal soup that had just been prepared. "S-sorry! Excuse me! I apologize for disturbing you, Lord Hero, but this medicine is better to drink while it is hot. I was afraid it would cool down, so I... Can Ie in? I will just put the medicine on the table and leave right away!" "It''s fine,e in." With Reji''s permission, Freya let out a long sigh of relief, revealing two joyful dimples. She tiptoed in with small steps, carefully bringing the piping hot medicinal soup to Reji. However, when cing it down, perhaps by ident, her finger touched the edge of the medicine pot. She immediately retracted her hand as if slightly scalded and instinctively blew on her finger several times. After blowing, she realized that Reji was still beside her. Freya''s fair and immature face instantly turned red with embarrassment, and she lowered her head, looking like she wanted to find a crack in the ground to hide in. "I''m sorry, I... I don''t usually do these things. It is the first time I''ve done something like this..." "Thank you." "Then... then I won''t disturb you any further, Lord Hero. I will just..." The slightly embarrassed Freya just wanted to escape quickly. But Reji directly stopped her. "Wait, regarding what you said earlier, I''ve pretty much made up my mind. I can give you an answer now." "Re-really, Lord Hero! You..." "I''m willing." Reji said as he took Freya''s hand. The overly excited Saintess was still immersed in the joy of Reji finally agreeing. It took her a few seconds toe back to her senses, but by then, Reji had already let go. Freya did not think too much of it and just considered it a handshake betweenpanions, an establishment of a bond. She even wondered if it was her imagination. Even the slightly scalded finger didn''t hurt at all anymore. "That''s great, Lord Hero! Then let''s set out right away and collect the sacred relics before the cmity arrives!" Freya was in a hurry because she had foreseen that doomsday and wanted to urge Reji. But for Reji... Here ites. Everything from the past remained the same as history,pletely identical to the plot he had experienced, without the slightest change. It was the same in the game. After he epted the designation of "hero," Freya, as the officially appointed female lead, would transform into a guide to assign hero quests to him step by step, helping him advance the main storyline. The reason why the emperor from a thousand yearster could clearly know the functions of so many hero relics was that these former relics were all gathered by Freya who had apanied him as the hero. However... In Reji''s eyes, who was a yer at that time, Freya was just a very "tool-like" character, a clich¨¦d female lead guide who had no attraction to him whatsoever. He was more immersed in exploring the open world, finding side quests, secret realms, opening treasure chests, smashing pots, raiding mansions, stealing family heirlooms, and recruiting one newpanion after another to join his team. As for the main storyline and the Saintess... He had long since tossed them aside and only did them when he was forced to trigger them. Phew! Reji took another deep breath. He now seemed to have some understanding of why the emperor wanted to reverse to this point. "Alright, I''ll follow your lead." "It''s just that before that, if I remember correctly, we still have to deal with a small trouble first." Hearing that the hero was willing to cooperate with her, Freya''s anxious heart finally rxed, and her face was filled with joy. But Reji''s next words made the girl puzzled again. Small trouble? If he remembered correctly? What did that mean? Just then, from outside the small house where they were, the sound ofmotion and footsteps could be heard. Freya immediately became tense. She quickly ran to the bedside and lifted the curtain to look. Outside, there were twenty to thirty swaying figures, each holding sharp weapons, surrounding the small house they were in. From their equipment, they were clearly mercenaries at a nce. There was no need to mention who their employer was. Freya immediately realized that these were the pursuers sent by Earl Nichs. But... why? How did they find this ce? And what about Tabor, whom I had sent out to keep watch? Howe there was no news at all? Tabor was a fifth-tier pdin and couldn''t have been easily taken down. There is no time to think too much. "Lord Hero! Quick, hide! No, this ce is too small. You run first! I... I will hold them off!" The extremely anxious Saintess turned around, only to find that the hero on the bed was already gone. When she went to look for him in a panic, Freya''s heart nearly jumped into her throat. Because she saw that the Hero was actually... walking to the door!? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª (Regarding the information about the protagonist''s first ythrough, such as the Earl''s daughter, you can go back and take a look at Chapter 1. Well, well, well, this is how you pick up on foreshadowing, right?) Chapter 250 The Past and the Future "It''s him! It''s this guy!" "Hmph, we finally caught him!" "Hahaha, now Earl Nichs''s bounty is ours!" "Don''t let your guard down! Several groups of mercenaries have stumbled on this guy before. He''s very slippery!" "Don''t worry, boss. Didn''t the informant confirm with us that the guy''s injuries haven''t healed yet? And we''ve surrounded this ce. Let''s see where he can run to this time!" Reji, who had walked out of the house, looked at the mercenaries with fierce expressions on their faces and recalled for a moment. Indeed, even their opening lines were exactly the same as in the game''s plot. Moreover, from his urate prediction of their appearance, it further proved one of his previous spections. That is¡ªhis past self who had been reversed still walked on the trajectory of the original history. Hmm... No. One thing was already different. Seeing Rejie out and just ponder, which of course looked more like he was standing there dumbfounded in the eyes of those mercenaries, they became even more delighted. "Look at him. He must be scared silly! He doesn''t even know how to run anymore!" "That''s right. Our ck Lion Mercenaries are the most famous in Stone Sword Town. Otherwise, the Earl wouldn''t have sought us out." "You brat, stand still and don''t move. If you know what''s good for you, it''ll be better for both of us. This way, on the way to take you to see the Earl, we can let you live a little longer!" "Exactly! Reji! You have nowhere to run now. Surrender!" Ignoring these clich¨¦d minion lines, Reji''s expression turned solemn as he keenly captured a very interesting point among them. He immediately turned his gaze to a certain mercenary who had just been shouting. "W-what are you doing!?" Suddenly being the focus of Reji''s gaze, this young mercenary with a buzz cut and tattoos on his half-exposed shoulders instantly felt a chill, as if he had been stared at by some bottomless abyss in that moment. He was startled, and all the hair on his body stood up. He subconsciously took half a step back. Fortunately, this eerie feeling of being stared at by the abyss onlysted for a moment. When he regained his senses, it seemed as if nothing had happened. There was only the bounty target still looking at him. And... The strange question from this target. "What did you call me just now?" Reji calmly asked. "Huh!? You... you..." The buzz-cut mercenary was really annoyed. How dare a mere bounty target question him? Just as he was about to find his footing and scold Reji... "What did you call me just now?" Reji repeated it again. And this time, that chill from the depths of his soul instantly enveloped the buzz-cut mercenary''s entire body, making him tremble again, his lips quivering, his blood elerating, his pupils dting towards Reji''s direction, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying. Thud! The buzz-cut mercenary was so scared that he plopped down on the ground. He didn''t know what was going on. But his body''s instinct made him quickly answer Reji''s question. "Reji!" "You... you are Reji! Earl Nichs''s wanted target! And also our ck Lion''s bounty target! Reji! I... I called you Reji!" The buzz-cut mercenary screamed the answer to Reji''s question. Afterward, in front of everyone''s eyes, he had just been shouting with momentum, but now, after Reji got the answer and shifted his gaze away, the buzz-cut mercenary seemed to only dare to breathe. He even used his hands and feet to crawl away in a panic. The ck Lion mercenaries were a bit dumbfounded by this scene. And Reji... He raised his right hand and looked at the illusory gem that seemed to have merged into the back of his palm. The Philosopher''s Stone. The origin of all reversals and also the most powerful relic belonging to the Descenders. Earlier in the wooden house, when Freya asked for his name, the Philosopher''s Stone suddenly shed with light. Reji had already suspected it. Now, from these mercenaries, he had obtained his second guess about the reversal. The previous guess was¡ªhe was experiencing a reenactment of history. And this new discovery was¡ªhe was modifying history. No yer would be foolish enough to use their real name as their character name in the game. Okay. Even if there were, Reji wasn''t that kind of person, so the "hero" in the first ythrough wasn''t called Reji at all. In other words, after Freya''s "You''re awake, hero," what the original Reji in the game answered the Saintess was another name. But now... From the buzz-cut mercenary just now directly calling him Reji, it made Reji realize that history was being rewritten. After all, it should be known that Reji should be apletely unfamiliar new name to this world, and he had only mentioned it to Freya alone. Logically speaking, the mercenaries here should still be calling him the name set in the original game. So there was only one possibility left for this phenomenon to ur. The past was also being modified along with his actions. And whenever there was a huge change in the world line, the Philosopher''s Stone on his right hand would emit light to... warn him. That''s right. To "warn" him. Or rather, a certain kind of energy inside it was being depleted. The Philosopher''s Stone was noticeably dimmer than at the beginning, bing more illusory. Reji had a strong premonition. If he excessively "influenced" the past and excessively "rewrote" history, then the Philosopher''s Stone in his hand would only be more and more blurry and illusory until itpletely disappeared. And that would also mean... He could no longer return to the future. Reji would never abandon everything from a thousand yearster. So from the very beginning, when he intercepted the Emperor and used the Philosopher''s Stone to perform a reversal, at that moment, Reji had created a new save point, or rather, a space-time anchor point. As long as the Philosopher''s Stone existed, he could always return to the future a thousand yearster. Reji had never intended to abandon his Demon King self from the second ythrough, let alone Eileen, Vielsia, Leo, Shermen, Eris, and the other apostles with whom he had established bonds. His true purpose for reversing was to use the ability to modify history from guess two to overturn the tragedy that befell the Emperor. To save the Saintess who had lost the hero in the past. So that in the future, there would no longer be that crazy Emperor corrupted by the Evil God. But now it seemed... It wasn''t as simple as he thought. Just by modifying the hero''s name, the energy in the Philosopher''s Stone had been consumed by nearly half, let alone what followed. Reji could actually understand. The more drastic the changes he caused to the world line in the past, the more unrecognizable it would be when everything converged to the future. For example, if he directly killed Freya here... Reji believed the Philosopher''s Stone would immediately shatter and explode. It would mean that the "future" of the second ythrough could never be reached again. He would be... Forever stuck in this world line where Freya was already dead. To prevent this from happening, Reji had to find a way to restore the energy of the Philosopher''s Stone, a way to make the gem be more and more solid instead. It seemed like there was no clue? In fact, it was not. Looking back at the energy essence of the Philosopher''s Stone, Reji already had the answer. Chapter 251 The Converging World Line "Everyone! Stop! Cease your actions!" In just a short while, Freya had also run out of the house. The Saintes''s petite body directly rushed in front of Reji, using herself to shield Reji from all the mercenaries. "There must be some misunderstanding. I, Freya, swear on my name as the Radiant Saintess that I will ask him about itter and take him to see Earl Nichs. I will resolve this matter, so please... go back!" In this critical situation, Freya no longer cared about concealing her identity and directly introduced herself. She tried to use her identity as the Radiant Saintess to persuade these mercenaries, but at this stage, the Radiant Temple was far from being as vast as it would be a thousand yearster. It was still just an ordinary sect among the many fate-based beliefs. Moreover... Judging from the mercenaries'' reactions, they didn''t seem to be very surprised by Freya''s identity, as if they had already known. "So you''re the Saintess, hmph. I advise you not to meddle in other people''s business!" "Exactly. With such a delicate appearance, it wouldn''t be good if you got hurt!" "And you want to take him to see the Earl? Could it be that you''ve also epted the bounty and n to keep the reward for yourself?" "That''s right. If we let him go, what about our bounty? Step aside. We''ve got him this time!" The ck Lion mercenaries began to close in step by step. The sharp des in their hands glinted with cold light, and their fierce eyes were full of threats. Some of them even had other wicked thoughts towards Freya''s shapely and pretty figure, despite her casual attire, and showed lewd smiles. All of this made Freya feel immense pressure. She nervously clenched her fists, as if wanting to show these mercenaries a lesson. She directly chanted a spell, and soon, arge amount of light flickered in front of her chest. The thick radiance turned into a strong sh, directly causing several approaching mercenaries to hastily raise their hands to block it. "I warn you onest time. Stop and leave!" Freya seemed aggressive. The surging power of radiance enveloped the girl''s entire body, as if highlighting the Saintes''s powerful strength. But in reality... "Hmph, don''t be afraid. Have you forgotten what the informant said? She''s just a figurehead! She doesn''t know any offensive spells at all. Don''t be afraid. Keep going!" The leader let out a fierce shout. Those mercenaries who had been slightly intimidated by Freya instantly regained some of their courage. They continued to cautiously approach Freya and Reji. When they discovered that, just as their leader had said, the so-called Radiant Saintess had no follow-up after her previous disy and didn''t use that thick radiant power to attack them when they approached again, instead appearing even more nervous and uneasy, the mercenariespletely rxed and became bolder, increasing their speed of approach. Indeed. Freya''s role was that of a healer ss. She could only learn a few offensive spells in theter stages. As for this early stage... It could be said that her attack power was practically zero. Quietly watching from behind, seeing this scene that was exactly the same as in the game''s plot... Next, ording to the development of history, it should be the turn for the official "battle segment." It didn''t matter if Freya was a healer. Wasn''t there still him, the hero? In the normal plot, this was when he should step forward and engage in a fierce battle with those mercenaries. Just when he was outnumbered and about to be defeated, a holy light would shine down, directly restoring him to full health and allowing him to continue fighting. Afterward, relying on the "battle-healer"bination of him and Freya, with their powerful healing and recovery abilities, they would forcefully repel these mercenaries and achieve victory. "Freya, can you heal me?" Freya, who was extremely nervous and had been seen through, her palms sweating as she racked her brain for what to do, suddenly heard the hero''s voice from behind. Freya: "...?" "Oh, sorry. Can you use ''Light Healing'' on me?" Reji corrected his wording and gave the Saintess a reassuring smile. Although Freya didn''t understand, she quickly did as the hero said. Warm holy light instantly showered upon Reji''s head, enveloping his entire body. On Reji''s status panel, a prompt window immediately popped up. [You have received "Holy Healing" from "Freya". Since your health is already full, the extra healing effect is converted to a temporary maximum health increase of 109.] [Current Health: 8762839/8762839] Although Freya''s attack was very weak, in terms of being a healer, she was definitely the top 1 throughout the early, middle, andte stages of the game. This was the treatment of the female lead. When Reji was first healed by Freya in the game, seeing this extra healing converted into a health limit increase, he practically shouted "divine technique" on the spot. After all, at that time, he only had a total health of around 500 at level 20 or 30. This one heal was equivalent to a surge of one-fifth in his health. But now... "Thank you, Freya. This heal is crucial." Reji wasn''t joking. Although the number 109 was negligible in the face of millions of health points, through this act of healing, Freya had also joined the battle and be his ally. This was exactly the same as in the past history. This was also Reji''s goal. "I''m going in." Reji casually picked up a tree branch from the ground. Using it as a sword. Before the mercenaries opposite him could even mock him, Reji had already reached the frontmost mercenary and casually tapped him with the small tree branch in his hand. [Ding, you sessfully dealt 109283 points of physical damage to "Wilson" using the "Small Tree Branch."] This mercenary named Wilson widened his eyes. His bones and organs seemed to be instantly crushed by a tremendous force,pletely deformed, turning into a puddle of flesh as he fell straight down. Then, Reji had already flickered to the next person and swung the small tree branch. [Ding, you sessfully dealt 102832 points of physical damage to "Condren" using the "Small Tree Branch" and caused a knockback effect.] Bang! The mercenary Condren turned into a high-speed flying cannonball, directly crashing into several other mercenaries and smashing into the forest with them, stirring up clouds of dust. It seemed as if the trees hit in the distance also copsed with a boom under the immense force. Shock!? If Wilson''s scene hadn''t been fully processed yet, then when Reji used the small tree branch to send seven or eight mercenaries flying with a single strike, even the dumbest person would understand. "W-what is that!?" "Run, quickly run!" "The information was wrong! The information was wrong! With that kind of power, he... he must be an archmage!!" "Damn it! Retreat! Retreat!" The mercenaries thought Reji had used some powerful spell. But in fact, Reji was indeed just using a normal attack. However, it didn''t matter anymore. Seeing the mercenaries fleeing in a panic, discarding their armor and weapons, Reji could let the others escape. It was his intention to let them escape. But there was only one exception. The burly leader of the ck Lion mercenary group from before now looked at Reji in horror, as if in the blink of an eye, Reji had appeared in front of him, holding that small tree branch that was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper. St! The small tree branch easily pierced through the leader''s steel armor, leaving arge bloody hole in his chest. He died with his eyes wide open,pletely devoid of life. With the leader''s death and the other mercenaries fleeing in a sorry state, this scene finally came to an end. And Reji immediately looked at his right hand again. He saw that the Philosopher''s Stone, which had dimmed considerably due to the "name change," seemed to have collected a certain kind of energy again and had visibly brightened a little. At this point, Reji finally breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appearing on his face. As I thought. The method to repair and maintain the Philosopher''s Stone was indeed... "bnce". Chapter 252 The Saintess Wants to Become a Qualified Family Member Understanding bnce is simple. It''s just basic addition and subtraction. For example, if the total energy in the Philosopher''s Stone is 1, it also represents that the limit of world line fluctuations cannot exceed 1; otherwise, he would be stuck in this past forever. Modifying history is subtraction. Recreating the plot is addition. The greater the impact caused by the modification, therger the number subtracted. This can be certain. Changing the hero''s name to Reji directly dimmed the Philosopher''s Stone by half. If quantified, it was equivalent to doing a substantial -0.5 subtraction with just this one change. As for how to make the "recreation" of the plot increase the number... Reji thought there were two aspects. First, what was the "weight" of the plot in the past? In other words, was it important or not? Was it an insignificant minor plot or a crucial key point? Second, what was his "restoration degree"? Like in the battle with the ck Lion mercenary group just now, Reji had theplete ability to wipe out the entire mercenary group, but in order to "recreate" the past plot as closely as possible, he allowed the other mercenaries to escape and only killed the leader. Judging from the brightness restored in the Philosopher''s Stone now, Reji estimated that it was roughly +0.1 energy. In other words... He needed to recreate the plot at least four more times like this to make up for the energy loss caused by modifying his name, or in other words, the world line fluctuation. Reji believed that the reversal mystery of the Philosopher''s Stone was definitely far moreplex than this. What he had deduced might only be the tip of the iceberg. But in any case, at least he had a general direction. Rather than further analysis, it was better to truly explore through practice. With this in mind, Reji immediately acted on his thoughts and eagerly recalled in his mind what the next scene of the main storyline should be. Although this was a very early plot in the game... Even the Stone Sword Town they were in now was a newbie vige map. But for a hardcore yer, Reji easily found the corresponding memory. Whether it was the subsequent development of the main storyline or the entire map of Stone Sword Town and the distribution of various forces, Reji remembered it all clearly. After all, back then, in order to flip those hidden chests, collect items, andplete hidden quests, he had explored every map thoroughly, leaving no corner untouched and got the perfect clearance. So now that he was reying the first ythrough, he wasn''t just a Lv99 hero. The experience in his mind was sometimes even more important and useful than levels. For example... "Freya, I remember during mya, there seemed to be two other voices besides you, right? Are they yourpanions? Where are they now?" Being asked this by Reji, the Saintess finally came back to her senses from the shock of Reji''s powerfulbat ability just now. Defeating the powerful ck Lion mercenary group with just a tree branch? If it were anyone else, Freya would never believe it, but if it was the Hero... Freya became even more convinced of Reji''s identity. At the same time, because of Reji''s words, her heart, which had just rxed, immediately became anxious again. "Right! Lord Hero, I have two apanying guards. They are called Matthew and Tabor. I sent one of them to chop wood and the other to be a lookout on the perimeter, but... but now..." Seeing Freya''s worried and anxious expression, Reji secretly nodded. ording to the past development, although they had repelled the ck Lion mercenary group, the Saintess still couldn''t just leave her two missing guards behind and set off alone with him. So before leaving, Freya pleaded with him to assist her in finding the two missing guards first. In order to umte energy for the Philosopher''s Stone, Reji definitely had to follow this plot. However... "Leave it to me, Freya." Reji didn''t wait for Freya to speak and directly took on the task in a concise manner. "Really? But... but..." The Saintes''s eyes lit up at first, but she quickly struggled. In fact, it was difficult for her to ask because Reji was still wanted by the Earl, and they should leave as soon as possible, but... "It''s nothing. They are all your importantpanions, right? If so, you can''t abandon yourpanions. Moreover, you saved me back then, so now I''m repaying the favor." "I... I understand! Thank you! Lord Hero! I thank you on behalf of Matthew and Tabor for your assistance!" The delighted Freya kept bowing to Reji. Those who knew she was the Saintess wouldn''t think she was some vige girl with a pure heart,pletely devoid of any airs. "It''s alright. Also, next time, don''t use ''you'' anymore, and don''t call me ''Lord Hero.'' You know my name now, right? Just call me directly." Seeing the silly Saintess thanking him like this, perhaps because he was used to being the Demon King in the second ythrough, Reji subconsciously included Freya as a subordinate apostle and reached out to pat her head. Freya''s hair was very soft, feeling like cotton candy at first touch. After stroking it a few more times, it felt like the finest silk, gentle andfortable. Being suddenly hit with a head pat, Freya was stunned for a moment, not quite reacting. After a full two or three seconds, she let out an "ah," her face turning red with embarrassment, and quickly took half a step back from Reji, creating some distance. "Sorry, sorry. I have a younger sister about your age, so I acted on instinct for a moment." Reji exined. "It''s... it''s okay, Lord Hero. But you said you have a younger sister?" Regarding the issue of how to address him, it seemed that Freya still had difficulty changing, and Reji didn''t force it since they weren''t close yet. However, seeing that Freya seemed so interested in his younger sister, Reji shook his head and said, "Yes, her name is Eileen. She''s as beautiful as you, but... she''s not by my side right now. Many of my other family members have also gone far away. Everything I''m doing now is so that one day, I can find her, find everyone, and reunite with them." As Reji spoke, his gaze towards the distance somehow seemed to touch something deep within Freya''s heart. Freya didn''t know what it was. She only felt that her heart was being tugged along with Reji''s words, also feeling pain and sadness. Moreover, she vaguely sensed a kind of loneliness from Reji. As if he was out of ce with this world. Some blurry images shed quickly through Freya''s mind. They seemed like prophecies, or perhaps something else, images from a more "distant" ce. Suddenly... Freya felt her mind heat up. She suddenly took a step forward, approaching Reji again, and grasped Reji''s hand with her two fair and delicate hands. "Freya?" Facing Reji''s puzzled gaze, Freya didn''t avoid it this time, nor did she blush. Instead, with a serious expression, she looked directly into Reji''s eyes and spoke with a firm tone: "Lord Hero, you... you are not alone! You... are not by yourself! Whether it''s saving the world or... finding your lost family members, Freya will do her utmost to help you. I... I... I will always be by your side!!" "..." That''s right. I wasn''t fighting alone. In fact, bearing so much, although Reji appeared calm on the surface, deep down, he was still afraid and fearful. What if he made a wrong step somewhere, what if he failed somewhere? After all, the consequences were something he couldn''t bear. But now with Freya''s somewhat pure and foolish words, Reji felt that the previous negative emotions instantly vanished. He became more confident, and of course, he was especially doting towards the youthful version of Freya in front of him. "Thank you. Since you''ve said that, hmm! It''s decided. From now on, Freya, you are also one of my important family members!" "Ah!? Fa... family..." Before Freya could react, Reji''s sturdy palm once again patted her head with a smile. There was no helping it. The reason why the Saintess was called the Saintess was because she was fragrant and soft, like a small animal. Who could resist petting a cat? However, this time, although Freya''s face was still as red as an apple after being hit with a head pat, she didn''t take half a step back like she did at the beginning. She just lowered her head, her fingers intertwined at the hem of her skirt, and said in a mosquito-like voice, "I have been in the temple''s istion room since childhood and has never had a family. I... I don''t know what family members are supposed to be like..." "Haha, it''s okay. As we spend time together in the future, you''ll understand everything. However, hmm, when the timees, Freya, just don''t fight with them." Reji thought about that scene and still added a reminder in advance. As a result, the Saintess opposite him seemed to be a little angry. For the first time, Freya refuted Reji. "Ah!? How could that be! They are the family members that Lord Hero cherishes. I would never do such a thing! Hmph!" Freya, who had been a little shy just now, became flustered by Reji''s words, puffing up her cheeks as if she felt that her image as the Saintess had been seriously ndered. After all... Fight? With a name like Eileen, which clearly indicated that she would definitely be a very cute younger sister, II, as the older sister, would dote on her, let alone fight! The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 253 As the Demon King, I Will Take Good Care of the Saintess for You Letting Freya find a hidden ce to temporarily hide, Reji walked towards the forest alone. Yes, even though he knew that in the past plot, if he wanted to pursue a perfect recreation, he should have gone to find people together with Freya. But Reji still chose not to bring Freya. It wasn''t that he thought Freya was a burden. It was just... If he remembered correctly, the uing "search for people" plot would deal a significant mental blow to Freya, letting this Saintess, who had always been in the istion room and never concerned herself with worldly affairs, witness the fickleness of the human heart for the first time. Since he had already told Freya that she was family, Reji naturally had to do his best to protect his family. In fact, there were hints from many previous details. The ck Lion mercenary group frequently mentioned the term informant. In other words, the other party''s ability to find this ce andunch a surprise attack on them was all based on information provided by the informant. If this wasn''t enough to illustrate the problem... Thenter, when Freya disyed her radiant divine power, trying to scare away those mercenaries, the leader still remained unafraid and directly pointed out that Freya couldn''t use offensive spells at all, using this to dispel the fear of his subordinates. This was already very obvious. Just what kind of informant was so clear about Freya''s power? There was only one possibility... Following the coordinates in his memory, Reji arrived at a hidden cave in the forest. Even from outside the cave, Reji could already faintly hear the echoes of intense argumentsing from inside. "This is the weak little guy you were talking about!??" "Didn''t you say he was seriously injured? Where is he injured? How can he still beat up our people like this if he''s injured??" "You two are not allowed to leave today! You must give us an exnation! Otherwise, we can''t face our dead boss and brothers!" "Yes, that''s right! If it weren''t for your information, Boss wouldn''t have died!" This cave was the stronghold of the ck Lion mercenary group. The group of battered mercenaries who had been beaten and chased away by Reji earlier were now gathered here, surrounding two men. If Freya were here, she would recognize at a nce. Weren''t those two men Matthew and Tabor, her twopanions on this journey? Tabor frowned and repeated, "You said that hero not only didn''t run away but also killed your boss?" "What else could it be? Do you think we would joke about something like this?" "How is that possible! Even with Lady Freya''s healing, his injuries may have healed, but I''ve checked that guy''s strength. He''s not even at the third tier!" "Huh!? What did you say about the third tier?! It''s because of your crappy misleading information that we suffered such heavy casualties. Third tier, my ass! He''s definitely an archmage who can turn a tree branch into a sword. It''s definitely a spell above the fifth tier!!" The ck Lion mercenaries were furious and directly spat at the two pdins. "Killing so many of you with just a tree branch... No, there must be something wrong. Could it be... could it be that the prophecy Freya spoke of wasn''t fake, and that guy is really some kind of... chosen one?" One of the pdins panicked. He tugged at hispanion. "Tabor, let''s hurry back. If that''s really the case, let''s not go after that guy anymore! Maybe he''s really some kind of monstrous genius!" Before Tabor could say anything, the mercenaries heard it and wouldn''t let it go. What? They wanted to leave just like that? What about our dead boss? Until Matthew took out arge bag of gold coins from his robe and threw it on the ground. Seeing the glittering gold from the mouth of the bag, the group of mercenaries immediately threw their boss to the back of their minds and rushed to grab it on the spot, no longer caring about the two of them. Seeing this, Matthew was about to leave, but unexpectedly... St! A de of radiant light pierced through his chest from behind. Matthew spat out blood and looked at the light de in disbelief. He gritted his teeth, turned his head, and looked at the sneak attacker with an extremely puzzled gaze. "Ta-Tabor, you... you... why..." "I''m sorry, Matthew. If he''s really the hero, then I have to make sure this doesn''t get out. Don''t worry, not just you, but everyone here will..." Tabor didn''t continue. From the depths of the cave, holy light began to sh continuously. The screams of the mercenaries rose one after another. After about five or six minutes, everything finally returned to silence, leaving only the sound of a single set of footsteps walking towards the cave entrance. Tabor had prepared torches and oil barrels. He was going to burn everything to ashes in the mes. But as soon as he came out, all the hair on his body stood up, and he was so frightened that he dropped the oil barrel in his hand, the gushing oil staining his sacred robe. Tabor stared at the figure of the young man who seemed to have been waiting at the cave entrance for a long time, looking at him as if seeing a monster, his face filled with a panicked and shocked expression. "You-you! You are!" "Indeed, it was the right decision not to let Freyae along. You''re even more ruthless than I imagined." "Impossible, how... how did you find this ce!!" "Oh, you mean this stronghold? It did take me quite a bit of effort in the first ythrough, and I wasn''t able to enjoy such a good show like now. By the time I found it, you had already burned almost everything in the cave to the ground." Reji shook his head as if in reminiscence. But obviously, his exnation wasplete nonsense to Tabor''s ears, making no sense at all. Reji didn''t mind. He just curiously continued to ask, "I really want to know why? Tabor, I think we should have no grudges, right?" "No grudges? Ha... hahaha! What a joke, no grudges. What do you know! What do you know!! Freya and I grew up together since childhood. We were born in the same orphanage. When I learned that she was chosen as the Saintess, in order to stay by her side, do... do you know how much effort I put in?!" "I trained myself day and night. I prayed devoutly to the Goddess of Light every day, just to gain strength, to be a pdin, so that I could get close to Freya and continue to be with her!!" "That''s how it was supposed to be. I did it. I became Freya''s exclusive guard. I could see that girl in the istion room every day, that girl who couldn''t be tainted by any worldly things, that pure and wless girl, that girl who belonged only to me! But! But!!" Tabor''s expression became more and more crazed. Until finally, he directly roared at Reji. "It''s that damn prophecy! The chosen one, the hero who will save the world... Freya left the temple for the first time, left the istion room, saying she was going to find this person, saying she was preparing for the ''cmity.'' Ha, hahaha, why! Why!!" "I worked hard all my life to get close to Freya, and you, what have you done! What gives you the right to make Freya actively seek you out! What gives you the right to make Freya obey your everymand, what gives you the right to make Freya treat you so well!" "What prophecy, what cmity... what doomsday... Fake! It''s all fake! It''s you, you''ve bewitched my Freya! It''s you! Die! No one can take Freya away. She''s mine. Die! Die, die, die!!" Radiant power surged throughout Tabor''s body. At this moment, he seemed to have a sudden breakthrough due to his emotional fluctuations, and his strength skyrocketed. It was as if even the Goddess of Light took pity on this young man and showered him with blessings from the treetops in the forest. Bathed in holy light, Tabor was overjoyed. His expression also became crazed. "Yes, that''s right. If there really is a doomsday, if there really is a cmity, then that hero must... must be me! I am the chosen one! I am the hero of the Goddess of Light, I am the savior of the world!!" At this moment, Tabor felt unprecedentedly powerful, with unprecedented confidence. He directly charged towards Reji, the light de in his hand seeming to have be a holy sword as he swung a fatal blow at Reji. Then... Bang! Tabor flew back at ten times the speed he had charged at Reji. Retracting the leg that had kicked this pdin flying, Reji slowly walked over to Tabor, who was now lying in a pile of rubble, on the verge of death, his internal organs already shattered by a single blow, leaving only hisst breath. Reji actually felt quite sympathetic towards Tabor. Especially after hearing his outburst. So... "First of all, the prophecy is real. In a few years, a foreign invader called the ''demon race'' will invade the world. At that time, all of humanity will face a life-and-death cmity." "Secondly, I will take good care of Freya on behalf of your Radiant Temple. You can rest assured about that. By the way, just a short while ago, she already agreed to be my family member. This is thanks to the assistance of those mercenaries you sent~" Tabor''s eyes widened. Even on the verge of death, he couldn''t suppress his anger and jealousy towards Reji. Although he couldn''t speak, his crazed eyes seemed to be telling Reji to exin clearly what he meant by family and what exactly had happened. Seeing this, the kind-hearted Reji, in order not to let Tabor die with regrets, had no choice but to add one more sentence. "Lastly..." "I am the Demon King." St! Tabor''s chest heaved violently. He stared with wide eyes, but unfortunately, after spitting out this mouthful of blood, he fell silent forever. Chapter 254 The Lonely Observer After killing Tabor, Reji looked at his right hand. He had been waiting for the Philosopher''s Stone to consume more energy. But... It was a bit unexpected. The glow color of the Philosopher''s Stone above hadn''t changed. "Hmm?" Reji was quite surprised because in the normal plot of the first ythrough, Tabor had pretended to return to Freya and him and then secretly poisoned their food during the night''s camping, attempting to kill him and forcibly upy Freya. This incident had a great impact on Freya. After all, she had always treated Tabor as a brother and trusted him very much, never thinking that Tabor would be like this because of her. This was actually a ssic case of how everything bes veryplicated and painful when friendship turns sour. So Reji would rather sacrifice a bit of energy than let Freya experience it again. But now, he had taken a step ahead and killed this pdin who was crazy in love, sessfully deviating from the plot. Then, ording to the rules he had summarized before... The Philosopher''s Stone should have reacted to the modified history, shing with light and then dimming, just like when he changed his name before. But... Reji waited for a while longer, but the gem on his right hand still had no reaction, as if itpletely ignored Tabor''s death and the changes in this plot. Why was that? Reji immediately fell into contemtion. He paced to Tabor''s corpse and entered the cave stronghold of the ck Lion mercenary group. Inside the cave, the pungent smell of blood had already permeated the air. The bodies of mercenariesy scattered on the ground. Of course, there was also Matthew, Tabor''spanion and another pdin, who had been killed by Tabor to silence him. So in other words... In this area, there was no second living person except him. This also meant... How Tabor died, no, it should be said that including those mercenaries and Matthew, how these people died and the cause of their deaths were only known to him. Reji felt like he had grasped something in an instant. This might be the reason why the Philosopher''s Stone didn''t lose energy even though he had modified history. The key point was... Witnesses. Yes, there was ack of historical witnesses. Reji had a sudden realization. He was excited and immediatelyunched an experiment. If this was true, it would be an incredibly groundbreaking step for him to modify history in the future. The experiment was simple. Taking a deep breath, Reji spoke to himself in the empty forest air in front of him, "From now on, I''m changing my name to Calcaro." After saying that, Reji immediately looked at the Philosopher''s Stone on his right hand. He was actually a bit nervous. After all, the energy consumed by "modifying" his name before was very huge. If he guessed wrong, it would be troublesome. But fortunately... As expected. The Philosopher''s Stone remained motionless. Reji was a bit excited and immediately tried again, "I changed my mind again. From now on, I''ll be called Reji!" No reaction. Completely still. With this, Rejipletely breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face. Although this experiment was small, it verified an extremely important new discovery. Just as he had spected before... History without witnesses is not history. For example, him changing his name here was useless. There had to be witnesses, and this "new name" had to be heard by others. Applying this to the Tabor''s death plot... He was the only witness. Then, he could freely modify this piece of history without suffering any punishment. Because indeed, apart from himself, no one else knew the truth of this piece of history. Everything he said afterward... would be the truth. Would be the original history. Was this discovery useful? It was extremely useful. Previously, Reji had been restrained because he was afraid that he would cause world line fluctuations, leading to the consumption of the Philosopher''s Stone''s energy, so there were some things he didn''t dare to do. But now it was different. In the first ythrough of the game, Reji always had a big regret. That was, after escaping the pursuit of the ck Lion mercenary group, he directly went to explore the outside world with the Saintess. He didn''t kill Earl Nichs and his daughter at that time. The Earl''s daughter looked down on him, and breaking off the engagement was one thing. Later, the Earl kept sending people to hunt him down in order to protect his daughter''s reputation, and Reji endured it. However, it was onlyter in the plot of the demon race''s descent that the Earl Nichs''s family all became traitors and pledged allegiance to the wicked demons. They used their noble status to constantly sell information to the demon race, causing heavy casualties to the human army. Moreover, because of their old grudge with him, the hero, they repeatedly colluded with the demon race to surround and kill him. It could be said that the Earl Nichs''s family were thoroughly disgusting characters from beginning to end. But due to the issue of strength in the first ythrough... At every stage, Reji hated them to the point of gritting his teeth, but he couldn''t do anything to them. It wasn''t until almost the end that he finally exterminated this family of tumors. Now... Since he had this opportunity to return to this point in time in the first ythrough, and even brought the strength of the Demon King from the second ythrough... Hehe~. Reji didn''t need to identify the map or anything. He had long been familiar with Nichs''s manor like the back of his hand. He could fly there with his eyes closed. Tonight, he was going to let this Earl and that youngdy know what it meant to... Don''t bully the Demon King when he''s poor. Reji wasn''t in a hurry to leave. He did two things first. First, powerful mes spread from his hands, burning all the corpses in the cave, including Tabor, to ashes, leaving not even a trace of ash. Then, he used Megalith Technique topletely fill the entire cave stronghold. Finally, the light of natural magic flickered around Reji, and vines and nts grew wildly, covering all traces. After doing all this, even if the leader of the ck Lion mercenary group were to be resurrected, he definitely wouldn''t be able to find where his own stronghold was. Second, Reji wove a messenger pigeon with magic and simply told Freya, who was still waiting for him, not to worry. He was not in danger, but he needed to spend more time. He promised Freya that he would definitely return before dark. Afterpleting these two points... Reji put on his cloak, and his figure quickly disappeared into the shadows of the sunset. When he reappeared... He was already hovering high in the air. And below his feet was a very beautiful and tall castle. It was now sunset. The crimson sunset, like maple leaves, shone on the castle, as if draping it with a veil, making it exceptionally beautiful. The servants were busy preparing dinner. The gardeners worked tirelessly in the vast estate. From the luxurious room at the top of the castle, bursts ofughter could be heard. It was Earl Nichs''s family, chatting happily under the flickering candlelight. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 255 Listen to Me, Madam "Come,e,e, let''s raise a toast to our Rosa for being sessfully admitted to the Daran Magic Academy!" The pot-bellied middle-aged nobleman raised his ss, trying to straighten his body with a smile. The two women sitting on the other side were much more beautiful inparison. One was older and one was younger. From their features, one could see some simr contours, clearly a mother and daughter. As Earl Nichs''s wife, the middle-aged noblewoman also immediately stood up to echo, smiling, "Indeed, the Daran Empire is recognized worldwide as thend of magic. When you told me the news that our daughter was admitted to the academy there, I was really shocked, I never expected it." "Hey! What are you saying! I have always believed in my little angel. I knew from a young age that she was definitely a magical genius, so I''m not surprised at all by her sess today. I even think it''s a matter of fact, haha!" Being praised and ttered by her parents like this, the young girl in formal attire at the end of the dining table also lowered her head in a bit of shyness. However, Rosa quickly pouted and looked at her father with a puffed-up expression. "Liar! If you really cared about me back then, how could you have engaged me to that waste of space, hmph!" Seeing his daughter unhappy, Earl Nichs quickly consoled, "Uh, this, about this, hey! It''s all Dad''s fault. It''s indeed Dad''s fault. I misjudged. I originally thought that boy had potential, but... Sigh, let''s not mention it, let''s not mention it." "What do you mean not mention it! This concerns your daughter''s reputation! What if in the future, when I go to Daran Academy, my ssmates there inquire about these rumors? How... how will I find someone I truly like at Daran Academy then!" Rosa threw a tantrum, and the originally joyous dinner party seemed to have cooled down because of this. It was the noblewoman on the other side who acted as a mediator, "Don''t worry Rosa. Your father has already added more manpower and increased the bounty for Reji''s wanted notice. This time, even the ck Lion Mercenary Group has taken on the task, so you can rest assured. After all..." The noblewoman gently stroked her daughter''s beautiful hair, but the words from her mouth were very poisonous. "After all, a dead man can''t pester my precious daughter anymore." "Yes, yes, yes, he''s just a clown, a toad wanting to eat swan meat. Rosa, Dad promises you, within three days, the ck Lion Mercenary Group will definitely bring that boy''s head to you!" "Hmph, I''ll forgive you for now. Alright, let''s not talk about it. Just hearing that name makes me feel sick." The graceful noble girl''s expression finally softened a bit. Rosa knew about the ck Lion Mercenary. Each of them was ruthless and had considerable strength. With them hunting down Reji, just based on that waste''s ability, it was definitely a dead end for him. In fact, she didn''t hate Reji that much originally. After breaking off the engagement, she even nned to give Reji some cultivation materials or gold coins aspensation. But... Thinking of this, hatred now flickered in Rosa''s originally lovely eyes. But that ungrateful waste actually dared to take the initiative to divorce me first in front of everyone? Wasn''t that just pping me in the face? Forget it. Why bother with a dead man? Rosa changed her mood, and the noblewoman mother beside her also immediately brought up another new topic. "Rosa, you just said you want to find someone you like at Daran Academy. Could it be that you already have a target? Quick, tell Mommy about it~" After her mother''s words, the noble girl seemed to think of something, and her face suddenly turned shy. She stammered a bit embarrassedly, "Yes... yes, he is the youngest instructor at Daran Academy and also the most powerful mage in the world in my opinion. He is... he is..." "Professor Melvin!" Rosa mustered up the courage to say this resounding name, which was also the man of her dreams whom she had secretly admired for a long time. Hearing this, Earl Nichs pondered for a moment, then suddenly pped his thigh, as if he was also very familiar with this name. "Oh! I know, I know! He''s the champion of the previous Daran Empire''s Arcane Tournament, right? My, my, I also watched the projection of that magicpetition. It was really amazing! Melvin was on apletely different levelpared to the other contestants. There were hardly any who couldst more than three moves against him!" "Yes, Professor Melvin is a genius among geniuses in the entire world''s magicmunity. He has also researched and invented countless spells. I... I actually worked so hard to apply for Daran Academy just for Professor Melvin. I... I want to be his apprentice!" The noblewoman took the opportunity to interject, "Although Lord Melvin is a professor, he''s only around thirty years old and is very handsome, right, Rosa?" "Mm-hmm, Mom has also paid attention to Professor Melvin before!" Rosa''s eyes sparkled, and her cheeks seemed to turn red as well. The noble girl''s expression of admiration and adoration for Melvin waspletely different from the disgust and contempt she had shown towards Reji before, two extremes. "Hahaha, good, good, good. Dad believes you have this ability. Don''t worry, Dad will fully support you! If you can really do it, our whole family will rise to prominence. Go for it, my sweetheart~!" -"Unfortunately, she may not have this opportunity anymore."- The lively atmosphere at the dining table was interrupted by this sentence. The three members of the Earl Nichs family were all stunned at the same time. Hmm? Who was talking? "We meet again, Rosa." Reji leisurely tore through space and walked out from the void. With a wave of his hand, the expensive champagne on the wine table floated towards him, along with an empty ss from the wine cab. They seemed to be controlled by a magical spell, elegantly pouring a ss of wine for Reji. Holding the wine ss, Reji approached the Earl''s family, who were now staring with frightened eyes, possibly still in shock and not reacting yet. "Hm!? Miss Rosa doesn''t want to let me join this celebration?" Bang! The first toe back to his senses was Earl Nichs. He suddenly mmed the table, his plump body under his uniform abruptly standing up. He red at Reji, shouting angrily. "You... how did you get in here! Guards! Where are the guards!" "Don''t bother shouting. I''ve already ced a sealing spell on this room. Without my permission, nothing that happens in here will ever be transmitted outside." The stubborn Earl nervously ran towards the door. Reji didn''t stop him and instead sat in the Earl''s original seat at the head of the table, drinking the champagne in his ss. Hmm. Not bad. The wine chosen by the nobility was indeed good. Click, click! At the door, no matter how Earl Nichs turned the doorknob, the door remained motionless. And when the Earl wanted to use violent means to forcefully break through the door and escape... Buzz! A powerful repulsive force directly sted the Earl back. His plump body crashed onto the dining table full of dishes, causing the sauces to ssh and the shattered tes to fall to the ground with a piercing sound. There was a magical barrier in front of Reji, blocking all of this, but it wasn''t so good for the Earl''s wife and daughter. "Ahhh!!" The noblewoman and the beautiful girl, who had been elegant just now, were now in a sorry state, hugging each other in fear, trembling as they looked at Reji sitting in the main seat. "Who... who are you? What do you want to do? And why are you using that person''s appearance!!" Obviously, they didn''t believe at all that Reji was the "waste" Reji they knew. Did this matter? It didn''t matter. Reji didn''t intend to waste more words either. He came here just to make up for his regret from the first ythrough and... To do another experiment. On the way, Reji had changed his mind. Directly killing the Earl Nichs family was too simple. Moreover, this was actually different from killing Tabor. The Earl''s family had too much influence. Even if he was the only witness "at the time," the impact "afterward" would still be affected. Unless... "Come, look into my eyes." "Yes, just like that." Reji''s voice seemed to have a magical power. Rosa and the Earl''s couple felt their willpower being rapidly stripped away. Their minds were leaving their brains. The deep eyes of the young man in front of them were like ck holes, depriving them of their souls. Indeed. The eighth-tier spell "Mind Control" was indeed a bit overkill for these level 20-30 nobles. But Reji didn''t care. Anyway, under the Demon King''s fate track, all his mana consumption was zero. Seeing the Earl''s family''s expressions gradually bing dazed and confused, Reji nodded in satisfaction. He first approached Rosa''s well-mannered mother, using his hand to lift up the noblewoman''s chin. His mind entered the other party''s mind that had already turned nk. With an unquestionable absolute voice, he slowly said, "Madam, listen to me..." Chapter 256 Setting Off to Find the Holy Sword! The sparks of the bonfire crackled and danced under the night sky. The girl sitting by the bonfire, hugging her knees, tried to fight against drowsiness and cold. But as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier... Lonely darkness gradually enveloped Freya. Just then... A new faint light appeared in the distant night, apanied by the sound of approaching footsteps, making the girl''s sleepinesspletely disappear. Freya first showed a happy expression, but quickly became nervous and vignt again. As the figure holding the torch came closer, Freya saw who it was and finally breathed a sigh of relief, her expressionpletely at ease. "Sorry, I''mte." Because Reji had temporarily changed his ns, he spent more time at Earl Nichs''s residence, so by the time he returned to the temporary camp he had agreed upon with Freya, it was alreadyte at night. Seeing the Saintess who hadn''t slept yet and had been waiting for him to return, her face full of fatigue, Reji felt a pang of heartache and couldn''t help but feel a warmth in his heart. He immediately stepped forward, put down the torch, and draped his coat over Freya, who was still wearing casual clothes and was lightly dressed. The coat still retained Reji''s warmth, making Freya''s cold body much warmer. However, the Saintess then looked at Reji''s empty back and seemed to understand something, her eyes dimming a little. "I searched for a long time but still didn''t see your twopanions. I''m sorry for disappointing you." "No, no, no, Lord Reji has already done his best. I am very grateful to you. I believe they, like me, are prepared to fight against the cmity and save the world." Freya, who had lowered her head, quickly cheered up, her eyes even more determined and persistent, as if inheriting the will of her deceasedpanions, no matter what, she must help and assist Reji to be a true hero. Compared to the original history, the real plot where Freya was nearly upied by thepanion she trusted the most, and then Reji, as the hero, killed Tabor and saved the Saintess... Reji believed that this ending was undoubtedly better. Whether it was for Freya or for that crazily infatuated Tabor. At the same time, the Philosopher''s Stone on Reji''s right hand emitted a faint glow, reminding Reji that history had shifted, but the loss of energy inside was negligible, basically ignorable. This once again confirmed the previous conclusion. As long as the overall "ending" of the plot remained unchanged from history, the process in between could be freely modified as long as he became the only witness. So, at the end in Earl Nichs''s residence, Reji used mind control instead of killing the family of three and let them continue to maintain their original state. This meant that the wanted notice for Reji was still ongoing. And that Earl''s daughter, Rosa, who was admitted to Daran Academy, would still sessfully enroll as in history. And in the future Academy Tournament, she would encounter him. These public histories would not change. So the Philosopher''s Stone would not consume energy, and the world line would remain stable. However... In the "hidden" history that only he knew, it had already been quietly modified. To put it simply... The family of three, Earl Nichs, gained a new master. Reji would awaken their spiritual imprint at the nodes where he needed them in the future, bing important chess pieces for him to continue changing the future. The chapter of Earl Nichs was temporarily turned over. On the brand new tomorrow after a night, the hero and the Saintess embarked on a true journey of saving the world. Their first stop was Stone Sword Vige, the closest to here. In the carriage, Freya, just like in the game''s plot, was diligently informing Reji about the subsequent hero quests. As a hero, one definitely couldn''t directly go fight the Demon King. One had to first gather the Holy Swords. And Freya, ording to the prophetic revtion given by the Light, told Reji that the location of the first Holy Sword was their current destination¡ªStone Sword Vige. After riding the carriage and arriving at this secluded little vige, it was time for free exploration. Freya only knew that the Holy Sword was here. But as for the specific location and how to obtain it, she was also clueless. Fortunately... "Follow me." Reji directly walked in front, recing Freya''s position. He led the Saintess through several small paths in this little vige, skillfully making several turns, and finally arrived at a small waterfall behind the vige. "Has Lord Hero been here before?" Freya was very curious to see Reji''s familiar manner. "No, it''s just that after arriving here, I vaguely felt a summons. It should be that Holy Sword guiding me." Anyway, with the hero''s identity, Reji could make up any reason to fool her. Seeing Freya''s sudden realization and "so that''s how it is" appearance, there was not a hint of doubt. Reji led the Saintess through the waterfall, and sure enough, there was a hidden cave behind the water curtain. As soon as they entered, Freya''s eyes immediately lit up, and an excited expression appeared on her face. Her little hand tugged at Reji''s sleeve and said, "Lord Hero, look! That''s it! The Holy Sword in the prophecy!" In the center of the cave was a stone b with an ancient aura. On the stone b was a sword that looked ordinary. Just as Freya was excitedly about to run over, Reji pulled her back first. And in that moment, the stone b bearing the Holy Sword began to tremble. Sensing the two outsiders, it seemed to awaken the spirit sleeping within. [Hehehe, it''s been hundreds of years. Someone has finallye?] An illusory sword spirit rose from the stone b. It was extremely tall, wearing armor, very majestic, like some general. [Being able toe here proves that you should have already gained the trust of all the vigers, right? Otherwise, they wouldn''t have told you such an important location.] The sword spirit''s attitude towards Reji and Freya was very friendly. As it said, ording to the normal historical process, he should have gone to the vige to inquire with the cksmith, then the cksmith would have told him to find the vige chief. The vige chief would have been unwilling to tell him, an outsider, so in order to convince the vige chief, he could only go and solve various vigers'' requests and help them deal with troubles. After doing this whole set of good deeds, he would be able to raise the vige chief''s favorability. Once he had a high reputation among the entire vige, the vigers would be willing to tell him about the legend of the Sword in the Stone passed down from their ancestors. As for the current Reji... It was equivalent to speedrunning. Thinking it would end like this? Far from it. In the first ythrough, the Holy Sword was a divine weapon. How could it let the yer obtain it so easily? After passing the vigers'' hurdle, one still had to pass the sword spirit''s obstacle. [Adventurer who hase to seek the treasure, I regret to inform you that this sword was once the apanying sword of me, a general of a nation. It apanied me in expanding territory and fighting on the battlefield. Now that I am dead, the sword has umted too much killing intent. It has long since fallen from the founding divine sword to a demonic sword. Let alone pulling it out, just approaching it will affect and pollute your mind.] [Therefore, you must first find the [Pure Water], [Boundless Grass], and [Primordial Dew], these three heaven and earth treasures, and bring them to me. Only then can I help you purify the demonic sword and eliminate the killing intent.] [Secondly, to pull out this sword, you must possess the same talent as I did back then. With your current level, it''s far from enough. But don''t worry, you just need to go to my true burial ce and retrieve my [bones]. That way, I can temporarily return to my remains and take out the Holy Sword in your stead.] [Finally, to let the sword acknowledge its master, you also need to prepare offerings for the divine sword. There are a total of five items, namely [Flower of the Other Shore], [Resurrection Pill], [Sword Emblem], and...] Reji closed his eyes. He had been refraining from taking action just now tomemorate the hardworking first ythrough. Now, as Reji who had returned from the "third ythrough," he calmly said to the sword spirit who was still issuing quests, "Are you done talking?" "If you are, then you can be on your way." Chapter 257 Holy Sword? Demonic Sword! The fake yer, after going through countless hardships, running all over the various parts of the entire regional map, painstakingly collecting the quest materials, would still be tricked again when handing in the materials, and only after pleasing the sword spirit in every way possible would they finally obtain the Holy Sword. The real yer... Kill! The frowning and majestic sword spirit obviously hadn''t realized the seriousness of the problem yet. It seemed that its mind still hadn''t caught up, as if it didn''t believe and didn''t understand why and how Reji, such a small human adventurer, had the guts to say such things to it. Aftering back to its senses, the sword spirit immediately flew into a rage, its face darkening a lot. A powerful aura burst out from it, and the pebbles in the entire cave began to tremble and shake. If it were in the game, Reji estimated that a prompt would definitely float above the sword spirit''s head. [Demonic Sword Spirit''s attitude towards you -50] "Greedy and arrogant human, it''s not toote to apologize for what you said before, otherwise..." The sword spirit hadn''t finished the second half of its sentence, "otherwise..." It was seen that Reji, who was opposite it, had already impatiently raised the small tree branch he carried at his waist. "Is that so? Is this your choice? Hahahahaha! Since that''s the case, let me show you, this ignorant human, what power is!" The sword spirit finally stopped pretending. Its previous sense of sacred majesty had long since disappeared. The shining armor full of light on its body quickly corroded, turning into a purple-ck color surging with evil. The sword spirit''s expression was crazed, its eyes red, full of bloodthirsty killing intent. It turned out that it wasn''t the owner of the Holy Sword at all, not that dead general of some country. It was the spirit of this demonic sword. To be precise, it was an evil spirit that had fallen due to the pollution and influence of the demonic sword. Everything it had pompously told Reji before was just to make Reji work for it and help it collect materials that would allow it to "break free." Now that it saw Reji not cooperating, it had no patience to wear a false mask anymore. It had already thought it through. Anyway, Reji hade with two people this time. First, kill this ignorant young man, and then look at that female human girl who seemed to have been scared silly, make her its sword servant, and continue to help it find materials for resurrection. It had been waiting for this day for a long time. A seventh-tier spirit lord, sealed in such a broken ce, it had long been unbearable. This time, this time I must control these human''s body!! Must... Huh? "Heart Control." Reji lightly uttered two words, then pointed the small tree branch in his hand at the sword spirit''s position. Heart Control. An eighth-tier Mystery spell. Reji specifically chose a spell that wasn''t too shy. Although the sword spirit was a spirit creature... But as an eighth-tier spell, the ''heart'' here was just a concept. The sword spirit didn''t have a heart, but it had a spirit core, which was the same as a heart. The sword spirit, which was about to unleash its killing intent and was full of murderous aura, instantly stopped. It didn''t even dare to blink its eyes. Because it felt that a pair of hands seemed to have already grasped its spirit core hidden deep within its body. The other party only needed to exert a little force... And the spirit core would be crushed. At that time, it would instantly disintegrate, copse into fragments, and have no chance of survival. If spirit creatures could sweat... Perhaps the current demonic sword spirit would already be drenched in sweat. Of course... Compared to the fear of having its spirit core grasped by the other party, what shocked and terrified the demonic sword spirit even more was Reji''s power. This... how is this possible!?? It had no idea what spell Reji had used. Its knowledge of spells only went as deep as the sixth tier at most. But it didn''t matter if it didn''t recognize it. However, when Reji released the spell, the demonic sword spirit still keenly sensed the mana that burst out in that instant. And what was that concept? If it, a seventh-tier spirit creature made of pure mana, waspared to a flowing river... Then the amount of mana of this human youth opposite it... Was as vast and endless as the ocean. It wasn''t saying that the other party''s mana was the ocean, but with its limited vocabry, it could only use the ocean to describe its terror. So... "Ma-Master... Master!" Thud. The demonic sword spirit, which had been as fierce as a ghost in the previous scene, in the next scene, it was straightforward and directly knelt before Reji. It put its legs together and pressed its head tightly against the ground, not daring to make a sound, its trembling spirit body was enough to prove its extreme fear. "Do you still want the Flower of the Other Shore?" "No! No more!" "What about the prince''s bones from before?" "No!" "What about the Resurrection Pill and Sword Emblem?" "No! I don''t want any of them! I only want you, Master!!" The demonic sword spirit banged its head on the ground. Anyway, it didn''t have physical pain. Then it almost crawled to Reji''s feet and directly knelt. "I prefer your previous unrestrained appearance." "Understood! Master, I... I''ll change right now!" The demonic sword spirit seemed to suddenly understand something. Its spirit form began to blur, and when it reappeared, it had turned into the appearance of a demonic and enchanting beautiful girl. A spirit creature only had one chance to transform in its lifetime. Once the transformed form was confirmed, it would be difficult to reshape and modify itter. This demonic sword spirit, in order to survive, forcibly used its only transformation opportunity to shape itself into a witch sword spirit. Now she had really found a way to live. Reji, based on the principle of "not excessively modifying history," spared this sword spirit. When he released the Heart Control, the witch sword spirit''s body softened. The feeling of powerlessness from having her heart grasped finally disappeared, making her copse on the ground, taking deep breaths, as if thanking the preciousness of life and Reji''s mercy. Afterward, Reji ignored the witch sword spirit and directly walked to the ancient stone b, reaching out to grasp the end of that Sword in the Stone. "Master! No! That''s a demonic sword! I... I didn''t lie to you at the beginning. You must first purify the..." The little witch was almost scared to death seeing Reji''s actions. She had been corrupted into a demonic sword spirit because the sword''s killing intent was too heavy and its sins too deep. Now that Reji directly grasped it, Reji would also suffer the impact of the murderous and evil energy umted on the sword. It was hard to say, he might also be corrupted. At that time, if he lost his mind and started a killing spree on the spot, they would all die. However... "Hmm?" The witch quickly went from panic to confusion because she saw Reji just... ordinarily pull it out, as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, all the malice, killing intent, and evil energy in the demonic sword seemed to... curl up in the deepest part of the sword, also... Trembling? Chapter 258 The Great Guardian Melvin After walking out of the hidden cave behind the waterfall, Freya still felt dizzy. Although the result was achieved... The hero sessfully obtained the Holy Sword. But... Freya secretly nced at the sword emanating a strong evil aura at Reji''s waist. Could that really be called a Holy Sword? Moreover... That witch sword spirit floating around Lord Hero, dressed in revealing clothes, the kind that Freya felt extremely embarrassed just looking at once, exposing her chest, waist, and navel, something she would never wear out. Was this... was this really the spirit of the Holy Sword? Freya had a big question mark in her heart. But in any case... This process was much smoother than she had imagined. It had only been one day, and they had already obtained the important Holy Sword mentioned in the prophecy. Now, Freya believed even more that they would definitely be able to save humanity and the world in the future cmity. At the same time... Reji looked at the Philosopher''s Stone on his right hand. Afterpleting the "finding the Holy Sword" plot, just like the previous pattern, regardless of the process, as long as the result wasn''t too different, it could provide energy to the Philosopher''s Stone and stabilize the world line. But this time, the Philosopher''s Stone showed a new change. On the smooth surface of the gem, which was originally empty and only reflecting light, now Reji seemed to be able to see a vague phantom image. Although it was very blurry, there was no doubt that Reji was familiar with those distinctively featured races¡ªthe red-winged Great Demons, the de Demons with limbs like des, the bloated and massive Rot Demons... Those were the demon race. The Philosopher''s Stone was reflecting the phantom images of the demon race for him. If one looked more closely, one could see that these demons were all in a flying posture, as if traveling in outer space, heading towards a certain destination. Furthermore, at the very bottom of the image, there seemed to be a number representing time. Reji quickly understood that this should represent the time point of the demon race''s descent in the future. However, what did it mean for the Philosopher''s Stone to suddenly show this phantom image now? And was this time point a bit off? Reji tried hard to discern the time number disyed on the Philosopher''s Stone. When converted, it was a little over eight years. But ording to the original historical plot in the game, the demon race should have descended ten yearster. What exactly was this missing one or two years... Wait! Weren''t these two years the process of me "speeding up"? Originally in the game, in order to obtain the Holy Sword, he had to do lengthy quest procedures. When converted to the real world in the game, it might really take one or two years. In other words, because he had obtained the Holy Sword two years in advance, the demon race from beyond the sky would also descend two years earlier? Then did that also mean... II don''t really have to experience all of history. As long as I could quicklyplete certain key nodes, I can make the entire "demon race''s descent" plot speed up ordingly? It was as if the "demon race''s descent" wasn''t a fixed time. It was the endpoint of a "quest chain." It would change ording to mepleting various "prerequisite quests" like "obtaining the Holy Sword." The reason could be consideredter. Reji thought that it was at least good news. After all, the vast majority of the history he wanted to modify was after the demon race''s descent. But ording to the original plot, he still had to wait ten years. And now, as long as he elerated the process, the demon race could also speed up ordingly, which was equivalent to saving him a lot of time. Even if it was fast... Perhaps in a year, no, three months, the demon race could descend? Thinking of this, Reji quickly returned to Freya''s side. "Freya, now that we have the Holy Sword, where should we go next ording to your prophecy?" Although Reji was already clear about the subsequent development, to be safe, he still had to ask Freya. The Saintess pondered for a moment. "Lord Reji, for the next step... let''s go to the Daran Empire." "It has the best magic academy in the world. I believe that Lord Hero will definitely be able to make a breakthrough there and learn the true methods to save the world!" Freya waved her fist in an encouraging manner. The path of the hero, after obtaining the divine weapon, indeed still required the "guidance of a master." Reji nodded. It was exactly the same as the plot development in history. The Daran Empire... He felt a bit sentimental in his heart. As Freya had said before, another chosen one who, to a certain extent, was even more overpowered than him as the hero was about to make an appearance there. He was the absolute leader in the future fight against the demon race. He was also the great guardian of the human world. Moreover, he was the mentor of the hero. Melvin. --- -Daran Empire. The world-renownednd of magic, countless dazzling mages had emerged from here. However, even with such a glorious history, everyone had to admit that the Daran Empire was still reaching new heights. Melvin''s emergence made all the previous genius predecessors pale inparison. Melvin''s background wasn''t high. On the contrary, he came from an orphanage. Without any enlightenment, heprehended and deduced the theory of "magic rtivity" on his own. Afterward, he was admitted early to the Academy of Arcane Arts with outstanding grades in all subjects. Then, at the age of only 18, Melvin won the overall championship of the world''s Arcane Tournament, lighting up four fate stars. And now, he had long be the absolute leader of the human magicmunity. Countless mages regarded Melvin as a legend and firmly believed that under Melvin''s leadership, the development of humans in the field of magic would be elevated to another new height. Logically speaking, such a transcendent existence should rarely appear in public and live in seclusion. But just in the past year, Melvin announced that he would take up the position of professor and vice-principal of Daran Academy, expand the academy''s enrollment scope, and offer public magic courses that any student could attend and audit for free. At the same time, Melvin also vigorously promoted Arcane Tournament and personally hosted the Academy Tournament. There were rumors that whoever could obtain a title in the Academy Tournament would have the opportunity to be Melvin''s disciple and be the apprentice of this legendary human mage. Because of this, Daran Academy had almost be the center of the world. Geniuses from various countries across the continent were all eager for this, regarding it as a holynd. And the many mage students within the academy were all rubbing their fists and making preparations, doing their utmost to improve themselves for the uing Academy Tournament. Everyone hoped to gain Melvin''s favor. "Alright, students, let''s end here for today. Everyone has worked hard." In the huge auditorium, arge ssroom of three to four hundred people, Melvin on the podium put away his textbook and nodded to the students below. Each student stood up and bowed in return to the teacher, their faces filled with strong respect and admiration. No one dared to make amotion on such an asion. All the students quietly and orderly packed their bags and left one by one. It wasn''t until they left the ssroom and arrived in the corridor that the students felt relieved and began to talk to each other excitedly and happily. "Professor Melvin''s lecture was really too good. So many knowledge points were understood at once." "Yeah, he also expanded on a lot of cutting-edge developments in the field of magic that weren''t in the textbooks. Too amazing!" "I can''t believe such a legendary figure is willing to teach us. My god, I still feel like I''m living in a dream." "What a pity. Professor Melvin''s public course can only be registered once per person at most..." "This can''t be helped. After all, there are still so many students outside waiting in line to draw lots who haven''t heard it yet. The opportunity has to be shared with everyone." "If you really want Professor Melvin to guide you all the time, you can register for the Academy Tournament and get a good ranking. You''ve heard that rumor, right? Whether it''s Melvining to our academy to be a professor or holding a tournament, it''s actually to prepare to take in disciples!" "Hey, easier said than done. Everyone knows about this now. You can figure it out with your toes. This year''s Academy Tournament is going to be very bloody. It''s a gathering of geniuses from all over the world. I... I''d better forget it..." --- Melvin in the auditorium could hear the students'' discussions outside the corridor loud and clear. After he packed up the teaching aids on the podium, he waved his hand casually, and the space in front was torn apart, revealing a deep teleportation gate. Melvin adjusted his sses, and his figure quickly disappeared into the teleportation gate. When he reappeared... He was already at the top floor of his Mage Tower. In fact, the outside rumors weren''t wrong, and the students'' guesses were quite correct. The reason he would lower his status to be a professor and hold a tournament was to take in disciples, or to be more precise, it was to... Find hope for the future of humanity. Chapter 259 The Dark Forest After returning to the mage tower, Melvin''s previously amiable and kind professor image disappeared, reced by deep fatigue and worry on his face. He quickly walked to a ce simr to an observatory at the top of the mage tower. This was the most epoch-making magic he had researched and was most proud of back then. It could break through the barrier of the ''native world''. It allowed him to glimpse the other worlds that belonged to the "outside." Melvin vaguely remembered that when he first released this magic, he was extremely excited, gazing at the cosmic nes with anticipation and eagerness. However, the dazzling and colorful universe he had imagined did not exist. What he saw was a deste scene. It was... A dark forest. If it were just that, it would have been fine. But in his arrogance and ignorance, he made a fatal mistake, a mistake that could bring destruction and cmity to their world. He... Sent amunication magic to this Dark Forest ne. Melvin''s original intention was to find other civilizations andmunicate with other worlds. However... What responded to this munication magic" was not any world. But... A symbol of destruction. A reason why the cosmic nes were so "deste." The most powerful hunter in the dark forest. The demon race. Melvin knew so much, including the name of the demon race, thanks to another kind race, the elves. Fortunately, the kind elves also received Melvin''smunication magic and took the initiative to contact Melvin, which made this legendary human mage realize that he had caused trouble. It was also from the elves that Melvin saw the worlds and civilizations destroyed by the demons one by one, including the powerful elf race. Unfortunately... Because of his previousmunication magic, the coordinates of his world, the human world, were captured by the demon race, and now the demon race was... rushing towards their world at full speed. In other words... An unprecedented cmity was about to descend. The human race had reached a critical countdown of life and death. Now, every time Melvin stood here at the observatory, he felt extremely painful and guilty. It was him, it was him who, out of a moment of curiosity, had harmed everyone, harmed humanity, harmed the entire world. Although he learned about the terror of the demon race from the elves... Even the elves, a civilization much more advanced than the current humans, were destroyed by the descent of the demon race. But Melvin would never give up like this. That''s why he no longer kept anything private, took up the position of professor, set up public courses, and did his best to spread his knowledge, so that more humans could benefit, and the overall level of the human race could be improved as much as possible. But relying on this alone was far from enough. The great elder of the elf race Nazha told him that the true terror of the demon racey in the seven apostles and the Demon King. The confrontation between top-levelbat powers was the key to influencing the oue. And the top-levelbat power on the human side was him, but Melvin knew that he was only at the same level as that great elder Nazha, and even in terms of talent, he was far inferior to the little girl Vielsia, the princess of the elf queen. So Melvin could only ce his hopes on others. He vigorously promoted the Academy Tournament to select people from all over the world who truly had the potential to be "saviors" in this way. Unfortunately... Melvin let out a heavy sigh. A few strands of white could be seen in his sideburns. Such Arcane Tournaments and Academy Tournaments had been held for several sessions, and although each session could give birth to several students and participants who made Melvin''s eyes light up... It was not enough. They might be outstanding, but they were far from reaching the level of being able to save the world. They couldn''t even surpass the achievements he had made when he was young, let alone confront the terrifying cmity from outside the nes. A deep sense of powerlessness and anxiety enveloped Melvin. Unfortunately, he could do nothing. He could only rely on the "observatory" to constantly probe outside the nes, to observe the distance remaining before the demon race reached their world, and how much time was left for them. Melvin closed his eyes and stepped into the mana pool inside the observatory. With the help of the rich mana inside, when Melvin suddenly opened his eyes again, his eyes burst with a silvery-white light, gazing up at the sky overhead, as if his vision could prate everything and see the cosmic nes in the distant other shore. Melvin had long been familiar with this magic, but soon, he suddenly seemed to suffer a violent shock, his entire body swaying, and the mana pool below the observatory seemed to ripple and surge along with Melvin. Buzz! With a violent ripple, Melvin withdrew from that "observing" state, the white light in his eyes gradually dissipating, leaving behind... Shock, panic, confusion, and... anxiety. "Why..." "How could this be? Yesterday when I observed, the shadows of those demons were still very blurry, and they were at least ten years away from our world, but... but now, no... could I have seen it wrong?" Muttering to himself, Melvin immediately rearranged the observatory, preparing to perform the observation magic again. However... "No, no, no, no! They elerated, the demon race elerated? This... this is..." Melvin sat down in the mana pool, a bit of a breakdown. Now, this legendary human mage, with disheveled hair and a face full of despair, because no matter how many times Melvin observed, the answer was always the same. The demon race was indeed getting closer and closer to their world. From the original arrival in at least ten years, it had now been shortened to possibly descending in eight years. The time left for their human race was already short enough. As a result, this number was still elerating. What Melvin feared was not that ten years would be eight years, but that tomorrow''s observation might change from eight years to six years, and then shorten again with the next observation. This almost shattered his original n of trying to catch up and narrow the gap between human civilization and the demon race within ten years. What to do! What to do! Melvin, who was anxious as if on fire, could only think of one solution now. Seek help from his only ally, the elves. At least he had to find out from that great elder Nazha the reason for the demon race''s eleration. --- In the vast and boundless cosmic nes... A star raft made entirely of ancient trees floated in the darkness. They were thest survivors of the elf, the only group of elf refugees who had escaped the cmity of the demon race''s descent. At this moment, in the great elder''s room... A young barefoot little loli, who was also thest young princess the elf race had sent out with all their might, Vielsia, was now running towards the depths of the star raft. Her childish and anxious voice called out to a figure meditating in the depths of the room. "Grandma! The human... the human world has sent anothermunication, it''s red, the most urgentmunication!" Chapter 260 Nazhas Decision Nazha withdrew from her meditation. The elf elder looked at a withered yellow seed in the box in front of her and finally sighed. With the withering of thest World Tree sapling, the civilization and heritage of their elf race would also cease to exist,pletely dering the end of an era. She had tried to cultivate new saplings, but the result was only failure like now, the seed did not respond to her. Shaking her head, Nazha had actually expected this long ago. She was doing these things just to take a gamble. After all, the World Tree was the symbol of authority for the Nature fate track. Only the queen of their elf race had the ability to cultivate it, but... Nazha raised her gaze and looked at the anxious little loli who hade to report in front of her. The elder''s heart was both helpless and guilty. Vielsia indeed inherited the bloodline of the queen and was the purest princess of their race, but with their current wandering in the universe and scarce resources, it was simply impossible to supply Vielsia''s cultivation. Moreover, the previous generation''s Queen had already exhausted all her efforts just to cover their and Vielsia''s escape, leaving no inheritance or knowledge for Vielsia at all. And relying solely on her as an elder, it was impossible to truly awaken the royal power within Vielsia''s bloodline. This led to a dead cycle. To make the World Tree seed sprout again required an extremely high authority in the Nature fate track, and only Vielsia could do this. But without her mother, for Vielsia to improve the Nature fate track, she could only rely on drawing from the inheritance of the World Tree. Nazha knew that if this continued, for them, these wandering refugee elves, it was equivalent to a slow death. Without the World Tree, the inheritance was broken, and the power of generations of elves would only be weaker and weaker. She must not let down the sacrifices made by the Queen and so many elfpatriots for them. Therefore, Nazha was eager to find a breakthrough. This was also why, when she inadvertently discovered themunication magic Melvin had sent out to the cosmic ne, she chose to respond after much hesitation. In her view, the human world undoubtedly had great potential. If that human mage named Melvin wasn''t so ignorant and knew how to conceal himself in the cosmic ne to avoid being discovered by the demon race, then such a world would undoubtedly be a good ce for them elves to establish a new home. Unfortunately... If she could receive Melvin''smunication, naturally the demon race could too. To the demon race, a beautiful and rich world like this was no different from a piece of fat meat. The human world had already been targeted by the demon race. Destruction was only a matter of time. Having finally discovered a new home, only to find that it was destined to follow in the footsteps of their elves'' fallen nation, Nazha was really unwilling. That''s why she was willing to contact Melvin and gave this human mage a channel tomunicate with the elves. Just like she was betting on the tiny probability that the World Tree seed could sprout on its own. Nazha was also betting on whether her long-distance help to human civilization could allow humans to survive the cmity of the demon race. But now it seemed... "Vielsia, give me the Manro." "O-Okay, Grandma." The little girl carefully handed a nt simr to a conch shell to Nazha. Each civilization and race had its own unique magic. For the elf race, it was nature. As long as the corresponding seed was sent to the human side, they couldmunicate with each other through the nts without magic. Soon, the vines on the Manro began to grow and intertwine. In just a few short breaths, they transformed into a blurry human shape, which was none other than Melvin. "Ms. Nazha, this is mytest observation result of the demon race. Why did they suddenly elerate?" At other times, this great mage might have first exchanged a few polite pleasantries, but now that the life and death of the human world was at stake, Melvin didn''t bother with so many formalities and got straight to the point. Nazha didn''t rush to answer. At first, she thought it was because Melvin''s observation magic wasn''t mature enough. But after she personally took over and conducted the observation, the result was exactly the same as the image Melvin had sent her. This time, even Nazha frowned tightly. "The demon race... really sped up?" Unlike Melvin, Nazha was, after all, an elder and had seen a lot. After the initial puzzlement, she quickly thought of a possibility. "I think this might be good news, Melvin." "Good news!??" Melvin doubted his own ears. The demon race bringing cmity was moving faster and faster, yet it had be a good thing? "Looking back at the entire history of the cosmic ne, at least in the observation records of us elves, the demon race has never exhibited such behavior. They enjoy watching the prey struggle under the countdown to their demise, but now they have broken this tradition. I think the biggest possibility is a threat." "Something must have changed in your world, causing the demons to feel threatened, so they have no choice but to elerate their advance." After hearing the elf elder''s words, Melvin understood. The eleration of the demon race turned out to be a manifestation of... nervousness? Or in other words, they truly considered the human world as an "enemy" now? Thinking about it this way, their ability to change from "ants" to "enemies" could indeed be considered good news. Then the new question arose. What exactly was the demons afraid of? What exactly was the "threat" that could make the demon race elerate? "I''m sorry, I''m not sure about that either. You''ll have to find out for yourself. But I believe that it might be the hope to fight against the demon race and the opportunity for your world to survive." Themunication between the two sides ended here. Melvin hung up in a hurry to find out what the demon race feared for the sake of humanity''s hope. On the other hand, Nazha also fell into deep thought. The expression on her face was veryplex, as if she was hesitating about something. The only one who might be a little more rxed was probably the third person present, a certain little girl. Seeing Nazha looking so serious, Vielsia didn''t dare to make a sound or leave, afraid of disturbing her Grandma''s thoughts. The obedient little princess could only stand quietly in the room. However, when Vielsia''s wandering gaze inadvertently nced at a certain object in a box, the little loli suddenly widened her eyes, revealing an expression of disbelief. "Grandma! Grandma, look! The color of the World Tree seed has changed!!" The little loli in white stockings no longer cared about her elegant demeanor as a princess, nor did she care about disturbing Nazha. She ran to the wooden box that previously held the seed with excitement. As for Nazha... "What!?" The elder also quickly got up and came to Vielsia''s side. When she looked into the box, she showed an expression almost identical to her young granddaughter beside her. "It sprouted? It sprouted!?? This... what is happening...?" The previously withered yellow seed had now regained a hint of green. If one looked closely, one could even see tiny cracks on the seed, as if the small natural life inside was about to break out of its shell. Unfortunately, it stopped there, as if some kind of energy was insufficient and not enough to support itsplete development. "Was it themunication with the human world just now?" "The World Tree seed took advantage of the brief connection during themunication to absorb some kind of ''Nature'' energy emanating from the human world?" Nazha was indeed an elder, quickly analyzing the reason. And this also made her previous hesitation disappearpletely. "Vielsia, pack up. We''re preparing to leave." "L-Leave? Grandma, are we not going to continue wandering? Where are we going?" The young Vielsia was a little scared, but her tone still carried a hint of yearning and excitement. "The human world." Chapter 261 Freyas Satisfaction After a long journey of three days and three nights, Reji could vaguely see the magnificent arcane sculpture floating high above the city in the distance. The sculpture depicted an old man with a thick white beard, his deep, stargazing eyes visible beneath an ancient and simple wizard''s hat. There was only one ce in the world that could so extravagantly use the fifth-tier Levitation spell on its architecture. Darran Academy. As soon as Reji and Freya entered the city, they could feel the intense atmosphere of the Homnd of Spells. The main street was lined with rows of various magic potion shops, and even the small vendors on the street corners mostly sold spell materials. In fact, any randomly chosen vendor was likely a third or fourth-tier spellcaster. Freya, the Radiant Saintess, was amazed after just a cursory nce. She noticed that the rare spell materials, which were difficult to find in other ces, seemed to be readily avable and easily purchasable in Darran City, albeit at a high price. In addition to the abundant material resources, Freya also noticed that even the pedestrians on the street were almost all wearing robes and tall hats, with various magic wands hanging from their waists. The passersby were either reading grimoires while walking or gathering in groups of three to five, enthusiastically discussing thetest spells and academy news. In contrast, ordinary people like her and Reji, dressed in casual clothes, seemed out of ce in this Homnd of Spells. Freya was undoubtedly very happy and excited about this. This ce had gathered almost all the elites and genius spellcasters from the human world. Freya believed that they would be the backbone supporting humanity in the future catastrophe. And in the future, following the Radiant Prophecy, she would diligently lead the Hero to absorb knowledge and improve himself in this ocean of spells,ying a solid foundation for the future world-saving mission! Although... Her Hero seemed to be quite powerful already. Freya stole a nce at Reji walking beside her. On the way to the Darran Empire, she had been secretly looking forward to it. ording to the Radiant prophecy, the path to salvation would not be easy, and they would encounter various setbacks and hardships. As the Saintess, her responsibility was to stand firmly behind the Hero and be his most solid support. However... The arduous journey of salvation that Freya had imagined did not happen. On the contrary. Their journey had been smooth sailing. They encountered almost no trouble along the way. It was as if the Hero was born with some innate ability to seek fortune and avoid misfortune. He could always foresee and avoid trouble. Even on the rare asions when they encountered one or two issues, before she could intervene, Reji would easily resolve them in a few moves. This had made her very distressed. Freya always felt that she had somehow turned from a "Radiant Saintess" into a decorative "mascot". No... No, no! I also have an indispensable value! Freya did not lose heart. After all, no matter how powerful the Hero was, in the end, she was still the one who had to prepare his daily meals and wash his dirty clothes and underwear over and over again! Taking care of the Hero''s daily life was also a very important part of the Saintess''s training! Finally, after finding some of her Saintess dignity and encouraging herself, Freya perked up and took Reji to the nearest inn to check in. However, things did not start well. "What? You want two soft bed rooms!? What are you thinking? We only have one guest room left, the most basic hard bed. Take it or leave it." The innkeeper waved his hand impatiently at Freya. If it weren''t for Freya''s cute and pretty appearance, he wouldn''t bother with this kind of customer. "Ehh!? B.. but..." Seeing Freya''s hesitation, the innkeeper shook his head and kindly reminded her, "Little girl, let me tell you, it''ll be the same if you ask other inns. They''re all fully booked. You have no idea how many outsiders like you are sleeping on the streets!" "The only reason I still have one room left is because that unlucky guest injured himself while preparing a new spell for the ''Academy Competition'' and had to withdraw." "Academy... Competition?" Noticing Freya''s unfamiliarity with the term, the innkeeper looked very surprised. "No way, little girl. You don''t even know about the Academy Competition? Then why are you here? Although everypetition is very popr, thistest one has the most participants because the legendary mage Malvin recently announced that whoever wins the title in thispetition will be officially epted as his disciple!" "There were rumors before that Malvin wanted to take in a disciple, but this time, the legend himself confirmed it, causing such a huge sensation. Moreover, the participants in thispetition are no longer limited to internal students of Darran Academy." "Anyone with attainments in magic, even outsiders, can register. Why else do you think all those elites and geniuses from various ces are rushing into our city like crazy?" "I... I see." Freya nodded. Since they had been on the road for the past few days, their information was a bit blocked. But undoubtedly, the information brought by the innkeeper was exciting and great news for them. In fact, Freya felt that this might be the guidance of the Radiance, the inevitability of fate. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that as soon as they arrived at Darran Academy, that legendary figure announced his intention to take in a disciple? "That''s right innkeeper. We are here to participate in thepetition. Please give us the room!" "Alright, seven silver coins per day, plus an additional five silver coins as a deposit. If you want meals included, add one more silver coin." Freya, who had been in high spirits just now, deted upon hearing the string of numbers from the innkeeper. The Saintess gritted her teeth and secretly opened her small purse. Most of the funds from the Radiant Church were used for maintenance and operations, so the expenses during her journey with the Hero mostly came from her private savings umted over the years through frugal living and various cost-cutting measures. One silver coin was equal to one hundred copper coins. And ten copper coins were almost enough for a family''s daily meals. Freya was naturally reluctant to spend such an exorbitant price on amodation. It was the first time she had spent money sovishly. However... So be it! In order for Lord Reji to have a good night''s sleep and a good ce to rest, so that he could recuperate and be in the best condition for the uing Academy Competition, I don''t care anymore. Now was the time for me to shine up as the Saintess! Seeing that there seemed to be more guestsing to check in, Freya quickly paid the money. As for the meal expenses... "No need, innkeeper. Lord Reji quite likes the food I cook. I''ll handle it myself!" "Tsk tsk, a couple, huh? I''m envious. My wife and I were also as sweet as you when we were young, traveling everywhere. Too bad, until my knee took an arrow, I could only be an innkeeper." "Good luck, youngdy. I''m rooting for you!" In the end, the innkeeper even winked at Reji, who was standing behind, as if to say that having such a beautiful and virtuouspanion should be cherished. Reji smiled and nodded, of course. In fact, he had many ways to get better and free amodation, but how to put it... "Let''s go, Lord Hero!" Seeing Freya''s face, although pained from spending too much money, yet unable to hide her happiness and satisfaction, as if she could finally be of use as a Saintess and spend money for the Hero, making her feel extremely fulfilled. Reji admitted that on this journey, he had indeed neglected Freya a bit in order to elerate the plot, so at times like this, stepping back a little and letting Freya take the lead was a way to make it up to her. Just as the two were about to go upstairs to put away their luggage. Suddenly. Hmm? Reji''s powerful perception made him immediately turn his head and look towards the main street outside the inn. And it was this nce into the crowd that instantly turned his expression to surprise and... delight. Wait. Wait, could those two be...? Chapter 262 "..." "Freya, you can go first. I have some urgent matters to attend to. Don''t worry, it''s nothing dangerous. I just seemed to have spotted an old friend," Reji exined briefly to the Saintess before immediately rushing out. Reji wasn''t too sure about the shorter figure because they were quite short and blocked by the crowd, but the taller one, even if they used a spell to disguise their appearance, due to the vast difference in their levels, Reji could see through it at a nce. Wasn''t that the Great Elder of the Elven race? Why would she appear here? ording to the plot of the first ythrough of the game, the elves from a thousand years ago should only exist in Malvin''s notebook. No...That was only the yer''s perspective in the game. Perhaps in the first ythrough, many hidden events happened behind the scenes, but at that time, I, as the Hero, was too weak to be involved. Whether it was historical changes or hidden events, since Reji had encountered them, he definitely wouldn''t let them slip away. Moreover... What Reji was most concerned about was the little girl holding hands with Nazha. If I guessed correctly, she should be... Soon, Nazha led the little girl away from the main street and into a secluded alley with few people. After another turn, Reji continued to follow. There, by the wall, Nazha was already on guard, waiting for him, scrutinizing this stalker with a wary gaze. This was actually what Reji wanted. He didn''t deliberately conceal his actions. Rather, taking this opportunity, Reji could finally see clearly the little girl who was now hiding behind Nazha, her small hand tugging at the Great Elder''s clothes, peeking out with a mix of nervousness and curiosity, looking at him. The little girl''s face made Reji''s heart burn with excitement. No mistake. Although much more youthful. But after all, she was my future woman. Vielsia! It was really her! ¡­ Good news, I found my wife from a thousand yearster. Bad news, my wife had turned into a loli. Uh... It didn''t seem that bad, though? After all, even when she is small, she was still very cute! Ahem. Reji slightly restrained the expression on his face. It wouldn''t be good to be misunderstood as some strange man, although judging from the gloomy look on Nazha''s face, it was probably toote. "Sorry for startling you. I just saw that you both looked haggard and weak in your steps, so I thought you might need help and followed you on my own," Reji apologized first, but what he said afterward was all true. Nazha and Vielsia''s current appearance was indeed not very good. Both of their clothes were very in, a nice way of saying they were wrinkled and worn, as if they hadn''t been changed for a long time, looking travel-worn. The gaunt look of hunger on their faces was evident at a nce, especially Vielsia. The little girl''s cheeks were sunken, and her dry stomach was almost sticking to her back. "This is none of your business. This is thest warning. If you continue, don''t me me for being rude!" This woman was indeed as cold and proud as she was a thousand years in the future. She coldly dropped these words and was about to turn and leave when Nazha suddenly felt a blur in front of her eyes. The next moment, the strange young man who had been at a distance from them instantly appeared in front of them, blocking her way. Reji, of course, wouldn''t let Nazha leave. Although he wasn''t clear about what exactly happened to Nazha to make her so destitute, he didn''t care how the Elder was doing. But he couldn''t let his Vielsia suffer along with her! On the other side, Nazha seemed to have already prepared for battle. Although Reji''s teleportation surprised her, as a proud Elven Elder, how could she be afraid of a mere human? About five seconds passed. "¡­" With a cry of despair, Nazha knelt on the ground. This youthful version of the Elven Elder now looked at Reji with shock and disbelief, and of course, humiliation and fear hidden deep in her eyes. Nazha only felt that Reji had just poked her with a twig, and the surging magic power that followed immediately engulfed and filled her like a tidal wave from all directions. Her proud magic barrier, in front of him, was like a thin film that broke with a single poke. In contrast, his seemingly slender twig was like a scorching magic wand, leaving her powerless to resist. Now she was panting heavily, her body only able to stand up by leaning against the wall. All her strength seemed to have been drained, leaving her with an intense feeling of weakness. Seeing that Nazha still seemed to want to struggle. Suddenly, several thick vines broke through the ground on both sides of the Elven Elder. In the blink of an eye, the vines wrapped around Nazha''s hands, feet, and waist, and chest, fixing her directly to the wall. No matter how much Nazha struggled, it was to no avail. The winner was decided. The vast difference in strength between the two made Nazha doubt who she was facing. Thest time she felt such a desperate sense of disparity was when facing the world-destroying Demon King. Of course, what shocked Nazha even more was the spell Reji used to restrain her in the end. "Nature energy? You... you can manipte nts!?" "No, why can you... Even though my Nature fate track doesn''t work in this world, who... who are you!!" Nazha''s words piqued Reji''s interest. Come to think of it, indeed, although the battle was brief, Nazha didn''t use a single nature spell, which was very strange. So Nature didn''t respond to her? Reji had some realizations. He then quickly walked up to Nazha, lifted the cloth around her waist, and ced his hand on it under the angry gaze of the Great Elder, whose face was flushed with shame and anger. "Now try your nature spell again." Reji didn''t do anything excessive, just to make contact with Nazha with his hand. The embarrassed Nazha didn''t need Reji to say more and immediately tried to awaken the power of nature. And this time... Buzz! Several new vines indeed broke through the ground around them. This was Nazha''s nature spell, which surprised and delighted her. I can use it? I can use Nature spells again?? But before Nazha could be happy for long, these vines instantly left her, losing control, and all turned towards that human youth. Now even Nazha could see it. "You... you can control the Nature fate track!? No! Wait, there is a Nature fate track within you!! And this aura, royal? You... who you!" After closing her eyes and carefully sensing, when Nazha opened her eyes again, her attitude towards Reji had changed. There was much less hostility and more deep confusion. Chapter 263 Daddy! "First, tell me your story, and then I will answer your questions." Nazha hesitated for a moment at Reji''s condition. But she quickly chose to submit. As the Great Elder described, Reji finally understood the whole situation. First, as in the game''s information, his mentor Malvin had indeed already made contact with the Elven race. However, what Reji didn''t expect was that the reason the Demon race discovered the human world was actually Malvin''s fault. It was this Great Guardian''s momentary curiosity that sent a signal to the cosmic dimension, which led to the catastrophe. And because he had returned to the past and elerated the historical process, it indeed led to the elerated arrival of the Demon race, which shocked Malvin, so he chose to seek help from the Elves. As for Nazha''s purpose in descending to the human world... To put it bluntly, it was to find him. However, Nazha had a hidden agenda, a personal motive. She didn''t choose to tell Malvin but secretly descended, with the purpose of monopolizing him, the "threat feared by the Demon race", in order to help the Elves restore their kingdom. As a result... As soon as Nazha descended, she noticed something was wrong because her Nature fate track didn''t work in this world. The Elves, who were originally close to nature, couldn''t control nts now. This immediately greatly reduced her strength. It also disrupted her entire n. She couldn''t make nts grow to obtain fruit to fill her stomach, and she had no money. With her pride, she disdained to work in human society to earn money, which led to them having to go hungry along the way. Now, they were really starving and had no choice. Nazha had topromise and nned to find Malvin. As a result, before finding Malvin, she ran into him first. Hmm... After listening, Reji couldn''t help but ponder. So there could only be one highest-level fate track? His Nature fate track was higher than Nazha''s, so the nts in this world had no control rights for Nazha without his permission. Then, extending the reasoning. After all, it wasn''t just the Nature fate track on him, but also... the Demon King! Reji had thought about this question before. Since he had inherited the Demon King fate track, would there still be a Demon King among the Demon race that descendedter? Would they exist at the same time, or what? But now it seemed there was an answer. "You said when the Demon race destroyed your Elves, it was seven Apostles and the Demon King?" "Yes." Nazha nodded heavily, and the pain on her face was not fake. She had no need to lie to him about such things. So...Not only did the past affect the future. Even the future affected the past? In the previous world, the Demon race had always been nine Apostles plus the Demon King. But in this "echoed" past, history was rewritten, bing seven Apostles plus the Demon King. Two Apostles were missing. Which two? After further questioning Nazha, Reji got the answer. It should be said... An unexpected yet seemingly reasonable answer. One of the missing Apostles was the Subus race. As for the other... This lineage of Apostle couldn''t be described as "missing", but rather "promoted", or... ascended. Yes. The Wicked Demon Apostle Lordan no longer existed. Instead, it was... The Demon King, Lordan. "Thank you for the information, it''s very useful." "You''re here for the World Tree seed, right? give it to me." Reji took the box Nazha handed over. The Nature fate track within his body immediately reacted. Unlike the current young Vielsia, Reji had inherited the levels and power from the second ythrough. Now, he could easily stimte the seed to sprout, allowing the Elven race''s legacy to continue. However... Looking at the overjoyed Nazha, who was about to jump up and cheer at the sprouting seed, Reji didn''t directly return the seed to Nazha but shook his head and said, "Great Elder, I''m sorry, I can''t give you this seed now." In this short period of contact between Reji and Nazha. The Sage Stone on his right hand was shing crazily. The energy inside was being consumed rapidly. This was undoubtedly a warning to Reji that due to his excessive interference with history, the world line had already deviated a lot. And if he really gave the seed to Nazha here so casually, Nazha would inevitably be able to make the Elven race rise again. Like the pping of a butterfly''s wings, once stirred up, the consequences would be too far-reaching. Reji didn''t dare to gamble, so he absolutely couldn''t just give it directly. "The seed is still very fragile now and will quickly revert to its original state once it leaves me. So... Great Elder, you go back first and let this child stay by my side. I can sense the royal bloodline within her. With her, it can help the seed grow better." Reji lied to Nazha. He had to ensure that he modified the line of the Wicked and fallen Emperor first before considering helping the Elven race rewrite history. As for Nazha, she didn''t really have a choice. After all, she couldn''t beat Reji in a fight, and in terms of identity and status, she seemed to bepletely inferior to Reji in Nature. Nazha could only choose to obey, entrusting Vielsia to Reji, and then returned to the Elven star outside. After driving Nazha out of the human world, the crazily shing light of the Sage Stone on his right hand finally stopped, proving that the world line was no longer deviating. As for Vielsia. This young little girl should still be in a naive stage. Although she was a princess, she didn''t have power or manage affairs, so her impact on the world line was far less than Nazha''s. Reji could still keep the young version of Vielsia by his side by paying a little energy from the Sage Stone. What made him a little happy was. Reji originally thought that after Nazha left, Vielsia would be shy with him. He had already thought about how to coax the child, but unexpectedly, the little girl blinked her eyes and even took the initiative toe over and snuggle up to him. "You''re not afraid of me?" "No." The little princess shook her head in Reji''s arms. Seeing Reji''s curious look, Vielsia reasoned, "Grandma Nazha wouldn''t leave me with a bad person. And just now, you were able to help the World Tree seed sprout, which means you must have the legacy of our Elven race within you." "But you''re not an Elf, yet you can use the power of Nature and possess the royal legacy. And there''s a kind of... a kind of..." Vielsia tried hard to sniff with her little nose. Afterwards, the little girl nodded more firmly, "And you also have an aura that makes Vielsia feel veryfortable and close." "So..." At the end, the little girl suddenly became excited, waving her little hands, her amber-green eyes full of little stars, her sweet voice echoing in Reji''s ears. "So, you must be... Daddy!" "D¡­ Daddy!?!" 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