Chapter 57: The Current Situation of the Demon Alliance

Upon returning to the gates of Demon Town, the atmosphere was still tense and kill-hungry, even more so than when Miss Vilyric and the others first entered the city.

Perhaps it had to do with a series of recent events, or maybe it was simply because they had initially entered through the southern gate leading into the kingdom, while this was the northern gate directly facing the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons.

The number of people passing through the northern gate was fewer than that of the southern gate. This city was less than twenty kilometers from the kingdom’s border, adjacent to the boundary of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons. Since the magical beasts had blocked most of the roads leading north for humans, merchants had lost the purpose of their travels.

Now, the only ones still entering and exiting Demon Town through the northern gate were some adventurers tasked with defending and rescuing the northwestern villages from frequent magical beast attacks, as well as some innocent civilians fleeing the chaos.

Hiding from a distance, Miss Vilyric quietly observed for a moment before curiously turning to Mr. Nan Dao beside her.

“By the way, if you believe it’s unnecessary to involve innocent civilians in high-level disputes, why do you send magical beasts to frequently harass human villages, even killing people?”

This perspective was something Walter, during their casual conversation on the way here, had shared with her. It seemed that this Oni Warrior Man and others of the Demon race believed that besides those despicable and cruel poachers who kidnapped and killed many of their kind, other humans, while disliked, weren’t deserving of death.

Thus, members of the Moonshadow Clan, like Aiste, had not actually killed those soldiers but merely rendered them incapable of fighting. It was said that during battles with those encircling armies, the demon race acted on the same principle.

This approach seemed to avoid completely angering humans, thus preventing the situation from escalating into something irreparable.

However, this made the act of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons sending magical beasts to harass humans somewhat contradictory, after all, magical beasts were less intelligent. While they might be manageable at times, once they fought at full strength, it was hard to control them, leading to inevitable casualties.

Walter paused for a moment, then exchanged a glance with the Moonshadow Clan’s great demon general Aiste before giving a wry smile.

“Well… sigh, there isn’t really a complex reason. Miss Vilyric should know that the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons are primarily dominated by the three powerful races: Moonshadow, Steel Claw, and Fiery Feather, along with countless other magical beast races, right?”

“Uh-huh, so?”

“This settlement is commonly referred to as the Demon Alliance. With such diverse types of magical beasts, differing lifestyles and personalities, the situation of the young prince being kidnapped has given rise to three factions in their approach toward humans.”

“First, there’s the faction that believes they should fight the United Kingdom with full force, make them fear and submit, and force humans to willingly give up the young prince and those of their kind who were abducted. This faction is led by the Steel Claw race, the largest of the three pillars.”

“Oh… interesting! So you guys can’t even come to a consensus internally? What about the other two factions?”

Miss Vilyric nodded with deep interest, her silver-blue eyes blinking, prompting Walter to continue.

“The second faction is led by the Fiery Feather race, comprised of fewer but individually strong yet indifferent races. They believe that human hunting is a natural selection process, and getting captured simply indicates a lack of strength, or that the defenders of their kin were too lax. Thus, they think that outright attacking humans would be a foolish act that would only bring disaster to the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons.”

“This faction believes in clarifying the young prince’s situation to the humans and proposing to negotiate for his return at a cost.”

Before Miss Vilyric could urge further, Mr. Nan Dao stated all at once.

“As for the last faction, you probably have already guessed that it represents us from the Moonshadow Clan. We believe in actively striking, retrieving the prince through force while doing our best not to completely enrage humans, and rescue as many of our kin who have been sold as possible.”

“The three major factions each form a part of the alliance, and none can convince the others, so in the end, we can only act at our own pace. Those magical beasts attacking the human border villages are subordinates of the Steel Claw faction, and I truly apologize for that.”

“Uh-huh…”

Who would’ve thought there would be such divergence and discussion among magical beasts? It felt no different from humans; it’s just the classic war hawks, appeasers, and moderates.

“What about Tiyelu? Isn’t she something like a saint? What faction does she belong to? Or is it that even with her presence, she can’t change the opinions of the other two factions?”

“Tiyelu, you say…?”

For some reason, Walter looked around furtively as if confirming something before he turned back and whispered mysteriously.

“Lady Tiyelu doesn’t belong to any faction. She has a much more solemn and heavy mission and rarely interferes in the internal affairs of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons. If this incident hadn’t involved the young prince, she probably wouldn’t have stepped in at all. Strictly speaking, while Lady Tiyelu has helped us before, she isn’t technically on our side; it seems she has her own plans.”

“A heavier mission? What does that mean?”

Miss Vilyric tilted her head in curiosity.

“Ahem, this… I’m not very clear on, you see. After all, Lady Tiyelu is an extraordinary existence who once served the Demon God directly, and it’s said that appearances are rare. Even my teacher, the Gatekeeper, holds her in high regard. How could a young one like me, who hasn’t even lived for three hundred years, possibly know what that lady does each day?”

Hmm, that’s a lie.

From the suddenly evasive look in Walter’s eyes, Miss Vilyric immediately realized this.

Moreover, he had just been very adamantly talking about a heavy mission, only to turn around and say he knew nothing. The contradiction was too evident; did he really think she was a fool?

However… since Nan Dao seemed intent on keeping this a secret, it must be something quite serious and important. It might be best to build a relationship first and find a better opportunity to ask later.

But… the title “Gatekeeper” had been mentioned by Walter more than once, and it was clear he respected the guy whose name hadn’t even been revealed, which made Miss Vilyric a bit curious.

To be referred to as a teacher by someone of nearly legendary peak stature, could it be that he was some hidden master in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons? Surely it couldn’t be another mythical beast, right?

Who knows if there will be an opportunity to meet him in the future.

With that, there wasn’t much more to discuss, and Miss Vilyric did not expose Walter’s clumsy lie, simply redirecting her gaze toward the heavily guarded gates of Demon Town.

“By the way, how do you plan to sneak into the city? Xiao Guang and I shouldn’t have any trouble getting in, but you lot—without even bringing up your vaguely magical features, your faces must’ve long been remembered, right?”

“Ah? Uh, well, that is indeed a problem…”

“?”

Looking at the suddenly awkward expressions of the men and various magical beings, Miss Vilyric couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of her eyes, several black lines slowly appearing on her forehead.

Wait, these guys didn’t… ever think about this, did they? Considering how confident they were before, she really thought they had some special method! Wasn’t this just digging their own graves?!

Seeing the increasingly bizarre expression on the black-haired girl, Walter cleared his throat and quickly began to explain.

“Well! Actually, last time, Iwen helped us sneak into the city! She’s one of those incredibly rare Puppeteer Clan members, blessed with a very miraculous talent, and she’s quite clever. She’s the brain of our little team! How about… we wait outside and rough it for a night, then head in together once she arrives?”

Well, Miss Vilyric understood now.

So the bunch of people left to her were all just muscle-headed fools who didn’t know how to think and could only fight, huh?

No wonder that Iwen looked so strange when she left!!

Tiyelu! You scheming butterfly! You set me up!!

   

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