NOVPUB
Chapter 746: Chapter 676 Fiends of the Domain of the Vague
Lancelot whirled around, with Frostslash firmly gripped in his hand. Before that woman’s voice had sounded, his Spirit Perception hadn’t given him the slightest hint, which alone was enough to indicate how terrifying the owner of the voice must be.
The figure that appeared before them was a woman with black hair and a well-proportioned body. She had a pair of thumb-sized horns on her forehead, which added an abnormal, otherworldly mystique to her already beautiful face; her skin was bronze, a color not uncommon among mortals, but it shone with a metallic luster that mortals could never possess.
Beyond the horns, there were other characteristics that betrayed her fiendish identity—such as the huge leathery wings on her back and a long, forked tail. At first glance, she could easily be mistaken for a Succubus, but everyone present was not misled by the particular scent that emanated from her.
"Demon..." Lancelot tensed, like a viper ready to strike, "what do you want to do?"
"If I were you, I wouldn’t draw that weapon. This is the territory of the King of the Dead, where any conflict is strictly forbidden..." The beautiful demon glanced at the longsword in the human knight’s hand and arched her attractive eyebrows, "However, you living souls, what brings you to the realm of the dead? Are you trying to imitate those three greedy mortals from the past?"
"That’s none of your business."
"Indeed, it’s not my business. I just noticed you seemed to be in some trouble and thought I’d come over and see if there was anything I could help with." The female demon took two steps back, "It seems my way of entering the scene has made you too nervous. Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Leya, and as you can see, I am a demon. As an official representative of Barto Hell, I offer those souls that are not accepted by the deities and those who still have unfulfilled desires in the mortal world another choice—to join Barto Hell and become one of us. As part of the agreement between the Lord of Darkness and the King of the Dead, I do not lie to the dead, honestly answer all their questions, and ensure that the requests of the dead are met one hundred percent ..."
"But we are not the dead," Lancelot quickly pointed out the trap in her words, "So you don’t need to be honest with us."
"Ah, it seems you’ve had dealings with demons before," Leya smiled beautifully again, "but I am not like other demons. I don’t need to deceive you. Do you know why?"
"Because of your power," Lancelot replied grimly, "But there’s a difference between not needing to and choosing not to. Stop playing word games with us, demon. Thank you for your enthusiasm, but we do not require your assistance."
"Ah, I truly want to know which individual left such a bad impression on you." The beautiful demoness took another step back, "Since you don’t need my help, then you can handle those guys on your own ..." 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝘤𝘰𝑚
A savage roar, laden with brutality, suddenly erupted. Lancelot turned his head and saw that about a thousand feet away, a portal edged with green flames had appeared out of nowhere, and dozens of ferocious demons were pouring out of it. These demons looked like Berserk Demons in their demeanor, but around their necks hung rotting, goat-like heads with evil red lights flickering in their eye sockets—Lancelot knew this meant the demons were affiliated with a specific Abyssal Lord, just like the followers of Yenogu they had encountered in Elgrand.
The moment these abyssal inhabitants left the portal, they immediately howled and pounced on the nearest ’dead’, who were mostly defenseless civilians; before they could react, these civilians were smashed to the ground with a punch, then stuffed into big sacks by the demons.
Lancelot turned his head again, looking at the beautiful demon with bronze skin, but the latter only crossed her arms with a cold indifference, as if it was none of her business.
"Big brother, what do we do?"
Bruto’s voice, laced with suppressed rage, rose. It was clear that he urgently needed to vent, and if no one interfered soon, some souls would indeed be taken by the demons. The King of the Dead forbade any fighting within the Domain of the Vague, but faced with these invading demons, Lancelot could only hope the stories about the deity once called Cranvo were true—that behind His mask known as the Grim Reaper, there still beat a sincere and kind heart.
"Kalalin, can you shut down the portal?"
"I can’t shut it down completely, but I can disrupt it for a while," the Scholar answered quickly. "Only, I need to get a little closer."
"Then let’s go. Bruto, stay with the group for now. You’ll get your chance to move around soon..."
The companions quickly formed into a combat formation and dashed towards the portal. These clearly non-’dead’ individuals didn’t immediately catch the attention of the demons, who were indulging in the plunder, relishing the process of inflicting pain and fear on others. It was only when their magic pouches could no longer contain more loot and they wanted to return to the Abyssal Plane that they suddenly discovered the path home was malfunctioning.
"Put down what doesn’t belong to you!"
A man’s voice suddenly rang out. The demons turned their heads, only then noticing the group of ’heroes’ who had seemingly appeared from nowhere—one of them was holding something that sparkled with the rainbow light of Secret Techniques, clearly, he was the one disrupting the portal’s function. No need for more words, the ram-headed Berserk Demons roared angrily and charged, eager to tear them to shreds.
"Alright, this should count as self-defense..."
Lancelot grasped his sword with both hands, stepped forward, and pointed it straight at the oncoming enemy, while Bruto and Alamir stood firm on his left and right, their faces showing no fear—with their current strength, these few Berserk Demons in front of them were no match.
Out of caution, the group planned to retaliate only after the enemy attacked, so if the King of the Dead pursued the matter, they could use self-defense as their reason. However, there was no rule stopping them from fortifying themselves with useful spells in advance: the Elf Priest had already cast Aid Spells on everyone, giving them an extra boost of life force; besides, he had unleashed a powerful Divine Art on his Hammer of Dissolution, making the Nail-headed Hammer shine like molten gold. Before engaging in continuous spellcasting, Kalalin also cast a Haste Spell on Bruto in advance. This would double his movement speed, likely countering what might be the stout warrior’s only weakness.
