Chapter 187: Demon Patrol

"Are you crazy, Silvia!" Delaford exclaimed, pointing at the surrounding houses. "You don’t really think those two were just unlucky and rushed into a house with zombies, do you? These buildings are almost all packed full of them!"

"Wait till dark? We might as well wait until the next day—it’ll be easier for someone else to collect our corpses!"

It was rare for the Goblin Hunter to say something so demoralizing. The main reason was that zombies, once they swarmed in large numbers, became incredibly difficult to deal with. Killing them over and over only for them to rise again with Undying Tenacity was a huge blow to morale. If they dragged this out until nightfall, the situation would truly become hopeless.

"What’s the rush! Can’t you see I’m clearing them out one by one!" Victoria sighed and threw another ball of Holy Fire Magic. Zombies killed by the radiant light couldn’t be revived by Undying Tenacity, but she was the only one in the group capable of this, making the cleanup quite difficult.

"It doesn’t matter if this drags on until night. I haven’t even used a single proper spell yet!" the Priest huffed. "This is my home turf!"

SMACK!

Nearly half an hour later, Aive used a Shield Strike to smash a zombie’s head against the wall of a house. From beyond the wide-open door, not another sound was heard.

"I-Is it over?" a few of the Cultists stammered, gaping in the relief of having survived a calamity. In contrast, the "villagers" looked ashen-faced. The defeat of the Holy Guard had all but shattered their fragile nerves.

However, it was getting late. Despite Victoria’s confident assurances that it wouldn’t matter even if it got dark, Ron decided it was best to withdraw for now and plan their next move. Spending the night in a village where they hadn’t seen a single living person was by no means a good option.

"N-No, it can’t be..." As Ron’s group led them away, the villagers’ eyes were vacant as they muttered to themselves, "The Holy Guard can’t possibly fail. They are the kingdom’s final wall..."

"Leaving aside what they truly are, a bunch of guys who hide in houses and only come out at night?" Yelena sneered. "How ridiculous. If something were to really invade you... would you have to pray it comes at night?"

"We have our own patrol during the day!" one villager bit out. "You were just lucky you didn’t run into them. If they had found you—"

"What would happen?" Sera grinned. "It’s not dark yet, so the patrol shouldn’t be off duty, right? Dare us to go take a look!"

"Don’t even think about tricking us! We will never reveal the village’s location to demons!"

"Head southwest. Their patrol should be on its way back to the village. If you’re fast, you can still catch them," a Cultist suddenly spoke up, earning unanimous scorn from his former companions.

"Gelan! How could you betray us?!" The villagers glared at the "traitor," their hearts filled with grief and indignation. He, however, didn’t even spare them a glance, his gaze fixed intently on Ron.

"I can tell you’re the leader. So, how about it? Can we trade this information for our lives? We went through a lot of trouble to escape the village, so this intel is definitely accurate."

"Following you would just slow you down. Why don’t you leave these few on the ground for us to watch? We’ll wait at the spot where we first met you. After you’ve dealt with them, don’t forget to come back for us."

"Without your help, the two of us will never make it out of Delusional Land."

"You know that no matter whose laws you follow, people like you who worship demons never come to a good end, right?" Aive said, looking at them.

The Cultists exchanged a look and said in unison, "Even so, even if we’re sentenced to be burned at the stake, it’s better than being a walking corpse here!"

"Look at them," Gelan said, pointing at the four villagers on the ground. "Do you think they’re still the people they once were? How is this any different from being dead? We didn’t join the cult to end up like this!"

"In the end, even if you hadn’t come here, your fate wouldn’t have been much better," the Ghost Witch said with a dark chuckle. "What was it you wished for? Power? Wealth? Strength? Believe me, the outcome of pledging allegiance to a demon is no better than theirs."

"Forget Cultists; even demons themselves can become sacrifices at any moment. As for them? At least they’re still alive."

"We’ll talk about this later," Ron said, waving a hand dismissively. "For now, at least, I can leave you two alone to watch these people for me."

"Don’t even think about running—like you said, the two of you will never make it out of Delusional Land on your own."

"You can rest assured. Is this... our penance? We won’t run," Gelan’s companion said with a slight bow. "Forgive my forwardness, but you should get moving. If you wait any longer, the patrol will be back in the village, and it’ll be much harder to find them."

With no more time to rest, Ron’s group immediately set off in the direction the two Cultists had pointed. They hadn’t lied. As the sky turned crimson, they finally found their target: a patrol team of twenty. Except the members of the team... weren’t twenty *people*.

"Just gouge my eyes out already!" From their hiding spot, the Ghost Witch cursed under her breath. "Humans and demons in a mixed unit?! What kind of nightmare is this!"

"It’s... unbelievable," Constance stammered, dumbfounded. "They’re even talking and laughing. Don’t those people know who they’re with?!"

Yelena frowned, her gaze fixed on the demons—tall, slender figures like human skeletons wrapped in a layer of slimy skin. "Babu Demons. Remember the stories about my Sect Leader? These demons were born from the wounds inflicted by the Grand Duchess, and they helped their master defeat Gracia."

"So?" Sera glanced at the Shadow Spirit. "If you go over and claim kinship, can we avoid a fight?"

"I suppose we could," Yelena snorted, "but not by ’claiming kinship.’"

"See that? It’s getting dark."

As the distant horizon swallowed the last ray of twilight, the pale Elf stood up from their hiding place. Her figure vanished in an instant, and in the next second, she reappeared at the very end of the bizarre procession.

The Thorn Chain in her hand shot out silently, wrapping tight around the neck of a Babu Demon at the rear of the group.

"The little princess sends her regards to your master." A mocking smile touched the Shadow Spirit’s lips. As the Thorn Chain in her hand suddenly went taut, the demon vanished from the Material Plane without so much as a sound!