Inside the city, within the Underground Passage.
“Ha, haa…”
The Siren, her entire body burned, leaned heavily against the filthy wall, gasping for breath.
Her coral-like long dress was now charred black from the flames and stained with dirt from the ground, making her look particularly disheveled.
But she no longer cared about appearances.
She had survived, and nothing was more important than that.
Beside her, the black-haired Succubus stood grimly.
Half of her clothes had been torn to shreds, revealing a shocking wound on her shoulder, and the remaining tattered fabric was soaked in blood.
Her pale face had long lost its usual frivolous expression, replaced instead by a look of utter hatred.
Just by the pallor of her complexion, it was clear her condition was also dire.
The Siren lifted her dim eyes to glance at her companion.
The effort seemed to drain her, and she slumped back, speaking in a self-mocking tone: “So, how’s it going? Got played around just like me?”
But the question fell into deaf ears.
“What exactly happened? Tell me,” the Siren rested her head on her own shoulder and asked again.
“You’re still asking me what happened? You tell me first,” the Succubus snapped irritably.
“I was the one stuck with that old man, helplessly watching my fish swarm get slaughtered.”
The Siren recounted how she had led her fish swarm out, how they had successfully hunted several guards, and how Angus had stopped her with a few words:
“Understand? I almost got handed over right there. We Sirens aren’t good at frontal combat, let alone facing two experienced warriors.”
“So what about your injuries?”
“A small price to pay. Better than dying on the spot. We just underestimated that human. Your turn.”
“My Ability doesn’t work on that princess, so I couldn’t kill her,” the Succubus said succinctly.
“So you just came back without doing anything?”
“Are you deaf? I couldn’t kill her.”
“Then what about the wound on your shoulder? Don’t tell me you stabbed yourself to please some man’s weird fetish.”
“If you want that confusing tongue of yours to stay out of your mouth forever, I wouldn’t mind helping.”
Pink mist flowed from the Succubus’s hand, forming a scythe-like blade that seemed solid, pressing against the Siren’s fragile neck.
The Siren raised her hands in surrender. The Succubus snorted coldly, crushing the misty scythe, then began to explain.
“On the way back, I ran into another Succubus. No idea what madness she was in, but she attacked me on sight.”
“You didn’t mistake her?”
“Would you mistake your own kind?”
“True, but there aren’t many Succubi in the city unrelated to me.” The Siren shifted her head to the other shoulder, resting again. “So, what’s next? Mission accomplished, great success. I can’t stay in the human city for even one more day. Shall we leave together?”
“Revenge first.” The Succubus clenched her teeth so hard they creaked.
“Don’t be foolish. The whole city is searching for us. If we don’t leave, we’ll never leave.”
“I can’t go back with a belly full of anger. As for who to find, I already know.”
As they talked, a third voice broke in at a terrible moment.
“You—you still have the nerve to say you’re full of anger! My people! All my people! They’re gone! This isn’t what we agreed on! Why did they resist? Why didn’t they collapse like you said they would? Why!”
Mel, her hair a tangled mess and eyes bloodshot, looked exhausted beyond recognition compared to a day ago.
Her carefully built power base was almost wiped out tonight because of their claim: “The enemy suspected us; it’s better to strike early.” She had thrown everything she had into this.
And what did they get? This ruined mess all over the city?
“Speak! Talk!” Mel stormed up to the two demonesses, venting all her fury.
She wanted to say more, but when she saw the two battered demons simultaneously raise their eyes to look at her—their crimson and watery blue eyes flickering with a strange glint, like a pack of wolves zeroing in on prey in the night—
“What… what do you want to do!” Mel started to falter.
“Oh right.” The Siren reached out her hand. The Succubus tugged the Siren up by the still-functioning arm, positioning her in front of Mel. “How could we forget about you?”
“Let’s go, this is the way.”
Rita led a squad of soldiers from the City Lord’s mansion at full speed toward the brothel she had visited a few days ago.
Almost all the fighting was over now. Dorothy’s flames had consumed nearly all the wanderers. Even if a few had survived, they posed no threat. That was why Rita could so confidently lead her team through the streets.
She had to admit, leading a group of people like this felt amazing!
Though the thrill quickly faded under the oppressive atmosphere of the streets, it somewhat lifted Rita’s heavy spirits.
The accompanying Commanders were curious why, with the city’s chaos nearly extinguished, Rita was leading them on another urgent deployment.
“Lady Rita, what exactly are we doing?”
“Looking for a path,” Rita answered.
“What path? Don’t we know the roads of Solus City well enough?” another soldier asked doubtfully.
Rita raised her left hand, pointing at the ground still marked with blood and sword scratches. “Not the roads on the surface, but underground.”
Though worried about Cecilia’s condition, Rita had no choice but to follow the order.
Cecilia, in a tone completely unlike herself, half-muttering and half-explaining, had given the reason for the operation.
“At first, I thought those little rats took advantage of the chaos to sneak in. Haha, I was wrong. Just those disturbances alone couldn’t have brought so many in at once. The soldiers aren’t stupid enough to make such a big mistake. So, there must be other secret ways into the city, and more than one.”
At the end, Cecilia smiled like she was comforting a small animal, tiptoeing to pat Rita’s head as if she were a big white dog.
“Go, my Rita, and bring me good news.”
Honestly, used to Cecilia’s usual poker face, this version of her was hard to accept.
But even thinking about Cecilia left Rita at a loss.
For now, they had to catch someone.
“That’s roughly it. According to Lady Cecilia’s deductions, this brothel not only appeared suspicious during earlier investigations but was also relatively safe during tonight’s operation. So this is the most suspicious place. The enemy’s leader might be hiding here.”
Rita explained everything to the others, who nodded repeatedly.
“So you’ve already gathered evidence to this extent? I heard Lady Rita once frequented this brothel at night, and I thought… Ah, not me! Donnie said that first!”
“Why are you betraying me? No, it was Kelik on patrol that night who said it!”
“This is by order of Her Highness the Princess!”
What is this? How did a trip to a brothel become city gossip?
Thankfully, she hadn’t messed up. If she had done something terrible, she wouldn’t be able to wash away the shame even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
Oh right, there’s no Yellow River in this world. Fine, no washing needed.
“All right, all right. Now is not the time to discuss this.”
Before the conversation took a stranger turn, Rita stopped everyone and pointed at the brothel’s tightly closed door not far ahead.
“Now, we have serious business to attend to.”
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