Chapter 84: Fear of Death

The sky prison of Demon Town is naturally not as intricate as the three-layered design of the City of Courage, guarded by hidden powers like the “Guardian of Sins,” and even led by the exceptional noble Edith. But overall, it’s still not bad.

Here, prisoners are usually not Magical Beasts; if they were found in the city, they would either be expelled or directly killed. Hence, most in the sky prison are bona fide human criminals, and it’s said that at least one-third were personally sent here by Miss Lan.

With the Acting City Lord leading the way, Vilyric and her party had no obstacles and quickly entered the depths of the sky prison.

The jailer brought them to a heavily guarded cell and knocked on the dark metal bars with his gun hilt.

“Oliver! Get up! Someone important wants to see you!”

Inside the cell was a middle-aged man in his thirties, somewhat handsome but scruffy; his short hair and beard were messy from neglect. He wore the standard gray short robe of prisoners in the United Kingdom, sitting on a hard straw bed, shackled, staring blankly at the wall. Hearing the jailer’s call, Oliver turned his head wearily, a puzzled look on his haggard face.

“Didn’t the interrogation end days ago? What big shot would want to see me now?”

“No more nonsense! Get up now! You think you’ve had enough of this yet?!”

“…”

After being scolded like it was routine, Oliver fell silent, stood up obediently from the dark corner of the cell, facing the girls through the bars, slightly dazed, then a smirk crept onto his lips.

“Who do I see here… Oh, it’s Lady Lan. Come to mock me, the defeated one? You seem to be living quite comfortably after forsaking everything. Should I now call you Acting City Lord?”

“Impertinent! You…”

The jailer’s face changed, ready to raise his spear, but was waved off by Lan.

The girl with the twin ponytails only replied blankly to his taunt.

“Oliver, everything I, Lan Tuls, have done is with a clear conscience, and I don’t need someone like you to judge me. Spare us the extra chatter.”

“Today’s visitor isn’t me, but someone else. By the way, your final judgment hasn’t been passed yet. Your every word and act now might determine whether you live or die in the future. It’s in your hands.”

“Hmph… Well then, I wonder what advice Lady Lan and her noble guests have for me today?”

The Acting City Lord didn’t engage with him further, stepping aside to dismiss the surrounding jailers before nodding to the black-haired girl beside her.

“If you have questions, you may ask now.”

The Priestess stepped forward, glancing at the dejected man.

“Hmm? So it’s this guy…”

The Priestess recognized him somewhat. That night, after Lan and Mona led the troops to eliminate the remnants of the Ghost Thieves, the captive covered in blood that Lan was talking to was Oliver.

It seems she already knew his identity back then.

“Who are you?”

However, it seemed Oliver didn’t share Miss Vilyric’s impressive memory; even though they had met, he frowned as if facing a stranger.

Not giving a good face to a leader of a major criminal organization, Vilyric said slowly, “You don’t need to know who I am; just answer my questions honestly. Don’t try to lie or hide anything, or you will regret it.”

After a bit of mock intimidation, regardless of whether Oliver was paying attention, the Priestess went straight to the point.

“How did your Ghost Thieves steal the Moonshadow Royal Family Youngling from the Magical Beasts? Who was backing you up?”

“Uh…”

Oliver’s disdainful expression suddenly stiffened; clearly, this first question hit close to his taboo.

He averted his gaze nervously, still trying to argue, “You’re not a Magical Beast, why do you care? Poachers have their own ways, even the royal officials didn’t dig deep into this, do you think you can bring back the old trade with this?”

“…?”

Not deceived by such a poor attempt to change the subject, the black-haired girl squinted, her lips curling into a dangerous smile.

“I’ve noticed lately, many people really don’t want to answer questions properly… What gives you the courage to be so audacious in front of me… Human?”

“Human…? You!”

As if suddenly realizing something, Oliver was about to say more, but his pupils swiftly constricted!

The brilliant golden Light Spear had penetrated his chest through the cell bars without anyone noticing, spraying a large spatter of crimson blood, and at its other end was gripped by the small, fair hand of the black-haired girl!

What… when?

Oliver felt fear and confusion, an instinctual response unavoidable when life approaches death.

He didn’t understand why, as one of the Earth-level strong leads of the Ghost Thieves, he hadn’t even had a chance to see it coming before someone pierced his heart instantly.

He couldn’t comprehend why, even though the other party clearly wanted to extract information from him, they resorted to murder at the slightest disagreement?!

No, she isn’t human; she is definitely not human! She’s something far stronger and colder than a human! She…

The scene quickly blurred, the girl’s golden eyes reflecting in his gaze, and Oliver’s panicked thoughts abruptly ceased; that decisive thrust had effortlessly claimed his fragile life as a human.

“Damn it, just because the tiger doesn’t show its power doesn’t mean I’m a sick cat…”

Scoffing, the black-haired girl dismissed the golden Light Spear into sparkling light, while Oliver’s lifeless body slumped down, eyes wide open, blood flowing from the hole in his chest, staining the filthy floor of the prison red.

“Eh? Huh?! What just happened?!”

“Vilyric? What are you…?”

After a moment, Tilysha, who hadn’t encountered much of the world, finally realized and suddenly exclaimed, while the Acting City Lord’s corner twitched involuntarily.

She wasn’t particularly upset that the Priestess killed Oliver; after all, a guy like him was likely going to face the death penalty anyway; what she just said was merely a bluff.

However, like the fleeting thought that crossed Oliver’s mind before his death, Lan couldn’t understand why, with such crucial information needed, Vilyric went straight to execution after being dodged a few times?

As for her not seeing the Priestess’s action clearly in time to stop it, such trivial matters were conveniently filtered out by the weathered mind of Miss Lan.

   

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