NOVPUB
Chapter 189: The Condition of Ilyon Town
When Aldrian teleported near the town wall, he saw numerous blood trails and signs of fierce battles scattered everywhere. Corpses of townsfolk lay across the forest edge leading to Ilyon Town—men, women, the elderly, and children, none spared by the devils. Aldrian’s face darkened as he took in the horrific scene. After a brief moment of silent lament, he teleported again.
When Aldrian arrived at the edge of the destroyed town wall, he noticed a few devils acting as sentries. However, with his abilities, these low-level devil cultivators posed no threat to him. Using his illusion technique, Aldrian killed them from a distance without needing to make physical contact or eye contact. His illusions technique now were so complex that for those with a lower cultivation level, he only needed to look at them to cast an effect. This was possible because he had fused his technique with his mastery of karma laws, creating a deadly technique that was remarkably easy to use even broken.
If he wanted to use this technique on stronger cultivators, he would need a more potent karmic connection, such as the target looking into his eyes or even physical contact. The required connection depended on the opponent’s strength.
After killing the devil sentries, he leapt onto the ruined town wall. Only when he stood atop it did he fully see the extent of the town’s destruction. Most of the buildings were reduced to rubble and ash, with civilian corpses scattered here and there. Devils were everywhere on the streets below, patrolling what was left of the desolate town.
He killed those devils and teleported again. At this point, he was on a killing spree, every devil he saw fell instantly, one look from him and that was it. There were no high-level devil cultivators in this area, but he knew the stronger devils were all gathered in the town lord’s mansion. Taking his time, he searched for any trace of his mother while also cleansing the town of devils along the way.
Everywhere he passed, buildings lay in rubble or were engulfed in flames, with civilian casualties scattered around. Each time Aldrian saw this, his rage grew stronger. He had long despised the devils for their actions and their connection to ’that’ creature, but he had never directly witnessed such mercilessness before.
At one spot, where he had thought a beautiful park once stood, he now found a gruesome crucifixion field. Dozens of people were nailed to crosses, some of them children. Blood flowed from the poles, and many bodies were scattered around. Among them, he saw what he assumed to be their mothers, also slain in the same horrific manner.
In some places, he found many dead, naked women, and he couldn’t bring himself to imagine the horrors they must have endured before their souls departed. He also saw numerous heads impaled on poles throughout the town, a chilling sight among many other brutal scenes he encountered during his killing spree.
"The devils slaughtered all of them. The evacuation was not yet complete when the town was breached, and there was no chance for these poor people to escape."
He sensed a thick presence of death laws throughout the town, which he thought will increase his comprehension of the laws of death. However, he also felt an overwhelming aura of negative energy—resentment and wrath—pervading the area. It was as if he could feel the emotions of the people before their deaths, and he knew this was the lingering remnant of their souls’ suffering.
It made his blood boil, and his hatred toward them grew with each step. Throughout his journey, he had found no reason to spare even a single one of them. The brutality he had witnessed nearly triggered his strong killing intent, but he managed to calm his mind. Taking a deep breath, he focused and continued his mission of cleansing the town.
With his speed and teleportation, he moved like a grim reaper, reaping the souls of every devil he encountered. His speed increased even further, hoping to visit the town lord’s mansion—where the high-ranking devils resided much faster. His plan was to cleanse the entire city first before visiting the mansion last. He would give them a surprise, but not the kind they would enjoy.
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Inside one of the finest buildings in Ilyon town, numerous devils patrolled the area. The average cultivation of these devils was much higher than those wandering the streets. The weakest among them were at the Earl stage, while the stronger ones could be sensed within the mansion itself.
Inside the mansion, more specifically in the dining room, the scene was one of utter disarray. Bloodstains were splattered everywhere, and scattered limbs lay in various parts of the room. In the center, around the long table, six devils were gathered. They sat in their seats as though it were just another dining session—and indeed, the long table was filled with numerous dishes. Red meat and crimson sauce dominated the feast, and the devils appeared relaxed, enjoying their time as if nothing matter to them. n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
All of them, exuding the auras of the Grand Duke and King stages, were engaged in conversation.
"Ah, what a delightful taste. It’s been so long since I had human meat," one of them said, chewing a piece of meat.
"We’ve been confined in the devil’s territory for far too long. I envy those tasked with infiltration missions in other territories," said another.
"By the way, I’ve been wondering—what made our lord decide to attack the Doria Empire? Has the prophecy already arrived, or what?" asked the third devil.
"I don’t know, but it seems it has to do with the disappearance of Lord Greed. After that, our lord seemed eager to begin the invasion of the Doria Empire."
"I think Lord Greed didn’t just disappear—he was killed," said the strongest devil in the room, a middle King-stage devil.
All the devils stopped talking and turned to look at the one who had claimed that Lord Greed had been killed.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, I overheard from the higher-ups that Lord Greed’s life signs dissipated, and maybe because of that, our lord decided to attack this empire. But this is just my guess, as I really don’t know what’s on our lord’s mind," he replied.
All of them raised their eyebrows. If this news is true, then a new Greed Devil will be appointed, and they all knew that the successor of the Greed Devil is his right-hand man. The situation in the Devil Territory will change because of the death of the old Greed Devil.
"Who could kill Lord Greed? Is it one of the Ten Great Swordmasters? Or perhaps the bald donkeys from the Buddhist sect?"
The King-stage cultivator snorted. "There’s no way those weaklings of the Great Swordmasters could match Lord Greed’s strength. It must have been someone else."
They continued talking, and before they knew it, the food was gone as they had finally eaten their fill. However, the King-stage devil frowned when he looked at the communication device in his hand.
"It’s strange that we still haven’t received any update from the invasion force that attacked Vicanti Town," he said.
"Maybe they ran into some obstacles. Let’s wait a little longer. Even if something is blocking their way, there’s no way they’ll fail with Plan B as support," another replied.
However, the King-stage devil still felt something was off. Those devils should have at least given him an update or report on what happened in Vicanti. He was certain they had arrived there a long time ago.
He suddenly felt uneasy and looked at the others.
"Have you received any reports from the patrolling devils?"
The others were stunned but shook their heads. They finally sensed that something was wrong. They walked toward the door to leave the room, intending to check outside. But as they reached for the door, they sensed something strange—there were no living beings around the mansion!
"You sure are enjoying yourselves here. What a good time for you." Suddenly, they heard a voice that didn’t belong to any of them. Instantly, they turned around and assumed a wary stance as they saw a young man sitting in the middle seat at the long table.
"Where did this man come from?" the King stage devil thought to himself. To appear here without making any of them, not even the ’one’ in the bedroom, aware of his presence—this young man is an expert! The others reached the same conclusion as they focused on Aldrian, circulating their energy to unleash their own techniques.
However, suddenly, they found it difficult to control the energy around them, causing their eyes to widen. Then, they heard the young man’s voice again.
"Let’s play, shall we?"
At that moment, they didn’t know why, but they could feel that his smile was like that of a true devil itself.
