A Demon's Journey

A few moments later, Azaroth finished stating his demands. When Erica heard those demands, she was startled.

She had been expecting Azaroth to use that threat and have some excessive demands. If that occurred, she was willing to bet her life and kill him.

Azaroth also knew that even if he could normally handle a 6 Star Expert, if Erica really wanted to kill him while betting her own life, then he might truly be killed.

However, she was caught in a dilemma. The demands Azaroth presented were nothing to Erica. But she didn't want Azaroth to know that.

If he knew that, he might feel that he wasn't taking complete advantage of her and increasing his demands.

However, Erica also knew that if she hesitated too much, this guy might take advantage of this information and harm the Black Lake Sect. It wouldn't be a good idea to make him furious.

Thus, she acted extremely hesitant and unwilling before slowly agreeing to Azaroth's demands.

Azaroth saw through that act and felt like chuckling. It felt like a joker was performing his act in front of him.

Soon, Azaroth turned to get out of this meeting hall. He had accomplished what he had come here to do.

"Wait… You can't go out like this," Erica stopped Azaroth as she stood up from her seat.

Meanwhile, Azaroth's eyes turned colder as he glared at Erica, "You will attack me?"

Erica was truly planning to attack Azaroth and injure him. However, when she saw Azaroth glaring at her like that, she immediately paused in her tracks.

She had a feeling that if she dared to step forward, it would be a massive blunder on her part.

Erica remained silent for some moments before she spoke, "…No. But you need to suppress your spirit."

Azaroth completed her sentence with a devious smile, "If not, it would affect your prestige among your subordinates. You want your subordinates to think that you have punished me by injuring my spirit. Those poor lads have no idea their sect mistress is forging a deal with me."

Erica gritted her teeth as she knew that Azaroth had realized her trick. She was pretty much speechless as she didn't know what she should say.

"Very well. I will allow you to maintain your prestige among your subordinates. However, you owe me another favor, Miss Erica," Azaroth suddenly finished speaking as he began to walk out of this tent that had acted as the meeting hall.

His spirit was truly suppressed to one-tenth of its power. This would allow the elders outside to judge that even though Azaroth hadn't screamed aloud, he had been gravely injured.

At the least, he wouldn't act as arrogantly as before and attack them.

Meanwhile, Erica fell on her chair. She was mentally exhausted.

Someone seldom managed to intimidate her in such a sense. Furthermore, she couldn't take the initiative as she faced Azaroth.

'I can't just remain dispirited like this. He knows my secrets, so I need to figure out his secrets as well. Or else, he will continue to threaten me like this. But how can I figure out his secret?'

She let out a sigh as this task was going to be truly challenging. Around this time, many elders returned to this tent.

Most of them had wide grins on their faces. They were all 5 Star Warriors and had managed to sense that Azaroth's Spiritual Energy had weakened considerably.

They were happy that their Sect Mistress had upheld justice for them. They had even arrogantly glanced at Azaroth as if to say that even if he was stronger than them, then so what?! They were still his boss in this area.

However, a single individual hadn't returned to this meeting hall. It was the Black Lake Sect's Inheritor, Christina.

"Why hasn't Christina returned yet?" Erica asked with an annoyed frown on her face. She thought that her daughter had gone to play at such a serious moment.

That girl truly didn't know that there was a time and place for everything.

At that moment, her husband spoke with an irritated tone, "That girl has gone to meet someone from that guy's group. From what I found out, the two had forged a strong friendship during Eclipse Battleground's Tournament."

Erica raised her brows as she heard that statement. She did remember Christina mentioning Tiana. She had also seen the clips of Tiana's battle against Christina, so she could be considered slightly familiar with her.

"Do you want me to bring her back? I did order Christina to stop spending time with that group, but she ignored my words," Erica's husband added. He had even gotten up as if he was ready to charge out and bring Christina back by using force.

Erica suddenly raised her palm and ordered, "There is no need for that. Let her spend some time with her friend. She hardly has any friends in the sect, and I don't want her to feel sad to be forcefully parted from her good friend."

Her husband was startled to hear that statement. He was slightly unwilling, but he saw the logic in her words as well and sat down again.

"I doubt that man would try anything against her. He should have realized that he won't have a good ending if he did," Erica spoke those words with a tone that promised a lot of pain.

This was the truth. Erica hadn't directly attacked Azaroth earlier because when he attacked everyone with his Spiritual Energy, he hadn't targeted Christina.

If he had indeed targeted Christina, Erica would have immediately attacked him without thinking about the consequences. Even the Great Kun couldn't have stopped her at that moment.

Since Azaroth wouldn't target her daughter, she knew there was no harm in letting Christina spend some time with Tiana.

Moreover, she also wanted Christina to figure out some secrets regarding that group by using her friendship with Tiana. Only then would she be free of Azaroth's threats.

However, Erica also knew that she couldn't tell Christina that she had such thoughts. If Christina knew about this, she would immediately oppose her mother.

Her moral integrity would prevent her from spying on her friend like that. She would rather stay out of this event than betray her friend like that.

Thus, Erica knew she had to be greatly careful to not alert Christina regarding her plan.

"What should we do regarding this group, Sect Mistress?" One of the elders suddenly asked.

They were all displeased by Azaroth's conduct. Some wanted to chase away Azaroth and his group. Some wanted to slaughter them. While some only wanted Azaroth to go away as they felt that these women behind them were beauties.

They couldn't see the faces of these beauties because of the veil, but they still felt that these women were beauties. They couldn't give a reason for these thoughts. Perhaps it was because of that sacred aura they radiated.

These men had analyzed their bodies. In any case, if their face was average, their bodies, especially their curves, were more than enough to cover that fact.

Erica didn't allow these elders to indulge in their fantasies for too long. She quickly spoke, "…I have already thought about it."

"I plan to give this group a part of the battlefield where they will operate independently. We won't send any reinforcements to them or try to monitor them. My condition is that no enemy must come from that side, or else the deal would be off. Naturally, since they will be monitoring independently, everything they loot is their reward. They won't give us any tributes," Erica spoke with a calm voice.

Her words somewhat annoyed many elders. They felt that they were being too generous to this group.

Erica noticed this animosity and knew that these elders would be unconvinced if things were left as they were.

Suddenly, one of the elders spoke out, "What a wise decision it is, Sect Mistress." He had a devoted look on his face and a bright smile.

One of the elders who was annoyed by the decision asked him angrily, "What do you mean?"

That elder calmly explained his thoughts, "Sect Mistress has already upheld justice for us by gravely injuring that man's spirit. Since justice had been delivered, there could be no further animosity from Sect Mistress's side. She has now generously given them a part of the battlefield to operate independently."

"This doesn't just display Sect Mistress's magnanimity, but also her trust in their strength. Furthermore, she is using them to create an example so that more allies would join us in this conflict against the Night Mountain Sect."

Even Erica was startled to hear all these reasons. She had clearly not thought all that much. In reality, she had been threatened to accept the terms. It wasn't something she could decide.

However, this elder had spoken all this nonsense and actually made it sound as if this was a great decision by Erica with profound reasoning behind it.

Erica felt like rewarding him with ten thousand Spirit Coins and drops of Red Maple Sap. This would greatly strengthen the vitality of this elder and allow him to live for many more years.

He could then use this nonsense to assist Christina as she becomes the Sect Mistress of the Black Lake Sect.