Chapter 172 - 8: Preparing to Kill Them All

Chapter 172: Chapter 8: Preparing to Kill Them All

Several Demons looked Lilia up and down.

Lilia stood her ground, allowing their scrutinizing gazes to rake over her.

They showed no signs of attacking, so Lilia, of course, had no reason to cause trouble for herself.

Just as expected.

Just as the Little Demon had said, they didn’t care about a change in leadership.

The only thing they cared about was...

"New here?" the lead Demon asked, its voice low.

Lilia nodded.

"Did you kill the last guy?"

"Sort of."

"Yes is yes, and no is no." The straightforward Demons couldn’t comprehend humanity’s convoluted rhetoric. "What’s ’sort of’ supposed to mean?"

Lilia said, "...Just assume that I did."

"Fine."

The Demon didn’t seem to care. "Today is the day to collect the offering, but since you’re new, we’ll give you two more days to prepare."

Lilia’s eyes widened.

’She hadn’t expected this.’

’Demons... were they really this reasonable?’

’She’d thought they were all just beasts who couldn’t even speak properly and did nothing but fight all day.’

She couldn’t be blamed for thinking that way.

After all, the first two Demons she had encountered upon her ’birth’ fit that description perfectly.

Seeing that they seemed capable of proper communication, Lilia decided to ask directly, "What kind of offering do I need to provide? A Demon Core? Or something else?"

"And... if I provide the offering, what do I get in return?"

"Your protection?"

’A lone wanderer living on the outskirts of a tribe paying tribute for protection. It was a reasonable arrangement.’

But who could have known.

Upon hearing Lilia’s words, the Demons opposite her froze for a moment.

They exchanged glances, then erupted into a fit of raucous laughter.

The sound shot into the sky, startling several birds from the trees.

To Lilia, the sound was incredibly grating.

After more than a minute, they seemed to have finally laughed themselves out and stopped.

The lead Demon looked at Lilia. "Did you just get here from somewhere else and are genuinely clueless, or are you just playing dumb?"

"Protect you? What part of you is worth our protection?"

"As for the things you’re offering... that’s to buy your own life, of course!"

’Money to save her life.’

Lilia understood.

The offering was indeed protection money—not to protect her from others, but to protect her from them.

In other words, if she didn’t pay them tribute, they would turn *her* into the tribute.

’...Such tyrannical terms.’

Lilia narrowed her eyes.

Demons are extremely sensitive to malice.

The instant Lilia showed a hint of displeasure, the lead Demon said coldly, "What’s with that look in your eyes?"

It took a step forward. "Keep looking at me like that, and I’ll dig your eyes out."

As it spoke, the other Demons’ muscles tensed.

The surrounding atmosphere instantly grew taut, a battle imminent.

Just as the two sides were locked in a tense standoff...

"My lords!"

A shrill voice broke the silence. "We have indeed only just arrived... If I may ask, what would be a suitable tribute to offer?"

The Little Demon’s tone was as sycophantic as ever.

The Demons glanced at it and sneered. "Humans, of course!"

Lilia’s brow furrowed tightly.

’Not Demon Cores, but... humans?’

"In two days is a very important occasion. We need ninety-nine living humans to liven things up," the Demon added. "Originally, you only needed to provide five humans. But given your attitude today, you must provide ten... no, twenty!"

"No problem!"

Before Lilia could say a word, the Little Demon answered for her. "Two days’ time, right? Feel free to come and collect them then."

The Little Demon’s sycophantic attitude seemed to mollify them somewhat.

The lead Demon added a final warning that the humans had to be alive, with no missing arms or legs, as their leader disliked "defective products." Then it left with the other Demons.

Low-level Demons never conceal their emotions.

Thus, as they departed, Lilia could clearly see the cruel smiles on their faces, as if they couldn’t wait to partake in the feast two days from now.

A few fragmented bits of conversation were carried to Lilia’s ears by the breeze.

Talk of how to torture humans, how to skin them, pull out their tendons, and drop them in boiling oil.

This made Lilia a bit uncomfortable.

Very uncomfortable.

"My Lady." Once the others were gone, the Little Demon whispered, "What was that all about? Even if you’re unhappy with them, we don’t have the strength to fight them..."

’In the Spirit Realm, you have to know when to back down.’

’Otherwise, you could be a corpse in the next second.’

Lilia took a deep breath. "It’s nothing."

She had no need to explain to the Little Demon.

In its eyes, humans were just another species. Offering them up was probably no different than offering up Demon Cores.

Even if she explained why, Lilia didn’t think it would understand.

Of course, Lilia didn’t need its understanding either.

"Can we catch humans here?" Lilia was focused on a different problem.

"Of course not!"

The Little Demon shook its head vigorously. "This is the Spirit Realm! How could there be humans in the Spirit Realm?"

"However, I know a few locations that lead to the Human World... It’s just that the journey there and back is quite dangerous. Demons are easily surrounded and annihilated by Mages in the Human World."

’Especially for Demons like us, whose strength isn’t that great.’

’Ordinary humans are weak, but their Mages are a different story!’

’Even a Low-level Mage would have a good chance of winning against us.’

’Their Magic really hurts when it hits you!’

’But, speaking of Magic...’

The Little Demon suddenly thought of the scene of its fight with Lilia.

’When My Lady captured me, didn’t she use... Magic?’

’The implications were terrifying!’

"I see."

Lilia didn’t care what it was thinking.

Whether the Human World was dangerous or safe, it had nothing to do with her.

Anyway, she hadn’t planned on going there.

...For now.

Lilia closed the cabin door and turned, heading east toward the Red River.

The Little Demon flew around her. "My Lady! Are you going to look for a passage to the Human World?"

"It’s true, capturing twenty living people in two days is just too hard. Those guys are deliberately making things difficult for us!"

"But even if they’re deliberately making it difficult, we still have to do it..."

"I know the locations of several passages, if you need them I can take you there right now!"

"It’s just that, my strength is too weak, besides leading the way I probably can’t help you with anything..."

Lilia cut off its attempt to justify bailing on the mission. "No need."

The Little Demon asked, "...What did you just say, My Lady?"

"I don’t need you to lead the way," Lilia said nonchalantly.

"But, the path to the Human World isn’t easy to find..."

"Who said I was going to catch humans?"

Lilia continued walking, paying it no mind.

The Little Demon flew beside her, its big eyes blinking.

It was suddenly struck by a bad feeling. "Then... what are you going to do?"

"Of course I’m going to hunt Demons."

Lilia’s expression was matter-of-fact. "Their attitude was terrible. Giving them an offering would just leave a bad taste in my mouth."

The Little Demon froze for a moment, feeling its limbs tremble. "...So?"

"So..."

Lilia smiled. "I’m planning to kill them all."