Discovering that his own Pupu might be a high-IQ genius left Jon with complicated feelings.
There was a bit of parental pride, but also a vague sadness.
After all, if Lili was too smart, someday she would have her own ideals and pursue her own life—which meant leaving him.
When that day came, as a “friend,” no matter how reluctant he felt inside, he could only silently bless her with tears in his eyes.
Because of this special melancholy, Jon found studying dull.
After forcing himself to memorize four or five words, his neck felt stiff, so he rotated his shoulders and walked out of the tent for some fresh air.
Just then, a few Security Guards rushed over, looking for him.
“Big Brother Jon, there’s a convoy of grain carts parked outside the camp. The leader is a very beautiful girl… She seems, um, seems to be the Saint.”
The burly man in front sounded unsure.
[Yuna?]
[What did she come looking for me for?]
Jon was quite surprised.
He nodded at them.
“I understand. You all get back to work. Leave this to me.”
The Security Guards let out a sigh of relief and bid Jon a warm farewell.
Jon was just about to set off when, suddenly, Liya darted out of the tent, rushed to his feet, grabbed his pant leg, and climbed onto him in the blink of an eye.
“Lili wants to go too! Please~! Take Lili~! Pretty please~!”
Liya curled up inside Jon’s collar, pleading and shouting, her tiny, adorable face peeking out.
She looked like a mecha pilot about to drive the “Hero” to battle an old nemesis.
And that was exactly the case.
As the unlucky Demon King defeated by the Hero’s party, she harbored varying degrees of resentment towards each member.
She was more tolerant of Jon—after all, Jon had earned her respect as a male through strength and character.
Setting aside their positions, she actually liked his type.
As for the others…
Princess—a useless idiot who only knows how to slack off and mock others!
Elf—a disgusting, evil, food-obsessed idiot!
Saint—a shameless, manipulative, lowlife green tea!
On the battlefield, anything goes, but even so, there are limits to how low you can stoop!
The Saint’s cunning wasn’t just about “poisonous schemes” that hurt others without regard for morals, but about using lies and rhetoric to manipulate hearts, seeking breakthroughs from those around Liya.
For example, to the Succubi, she’d borrow the mouth of the Holy Army to say:
“Demon King Liya may have changed your former predicament, but that was only to use you. It’s not kindness, but a shackle. You never owed her anything.”
“What good is it for Demon King Liya to give you more? Does she understand you? No, she doesn’t understand your art, your suffering, or your noble, interesting souls. She only sees you as a pile of rotten meat earning her money!”
“Look at us humans. We admire and love you so much. In Human Society, you shine like pearls. We can discuss art, literature, and succubus troubles with you—doesn’t that beat those uncouth Demons? You Succubi should join us humans.”
“I remember your favorite female lead in the White Rose Troupe. Don’t you want to become her? Don’t you want to stand out, dazzling like her?”
“In appearance, figure, and temperament, how are you any worse than her? It’s obviously those savage, cruel Demons, and Demon King Liya, who took away the brilliant life that should have been yours.”
“Abandon darkness and embrace the light. Leave the muddy swamp of the Demons forever and return to the high society where you belong.”
“After we defeat Demon King Liya, I’ll marry you.”
——A significant number of Succubi were swayed by this rhetoric.
Maybe they weren’t foolish enough to openly betray the Demons, but in their actions, they inevitably leaned more toward their “future husband”—after all, that was the ladder to climb the ranks of Human society.
It was the same for other Demons.
To Liya’s politically married wives and concubines, Yuna would tempt them by saying:
“Do you really think the Demons can win? In over a thousand years, when have the Demons ever won a major war? Think carefully—kings come and go, but families endure.”
“The prosperity of Demons doesn’t mean the prosperity of your family.”
“He gives you businesses to run, and you’ve seen how much gold flows in every day. So much gold earned by your hard work, yet he demands seventy percent of it to give to the other poor Demons. How is that different from robbery?”
“Defeat the Demon King, and all that money is yours. You won’t have to share it with the poor, or support a useless army. After all, you can’t win anyway—rather than throwing it away on the military, it’s better to give half to us as tribute.”
Thus, after Liya lost to the Hero, her wives and concubines betrayed her at once, exposing the secret base where Liya was recovering to the Humans, and surrendered to the Human side on behalf of the Demon Government.
The families behind them would rather hand over all their savings to Saint Yuna, who came to plunder, begging her to spare their industries, than use it to heal Liya, restore her strength, or fund the army.
For Liya’s high-ranking officers, Yuna would say:
“Demon King Liya is stingy and unkind—she doesn’t allow you to embezzle military funds, doesn’t permit you to beat or humiliate soldiers, or even burn, kill, pillage, and eat people after capturing a city. Then what’s the point of fighting?”
“Do you actually believe her talk about World Unity?”
“When Demons were weak, you could invade, eat humans, and do as you pleased. Now that Demons are strong, you have to follow Demon King Liya’s orders and abide by military law. What does Demon strength have to do with you then?”
“Better to make preparations for both sides. That way, if you lose, at least you can preserve your own power.”
The generals would think about it and realize she had a point.
So, when Liya was strong, everyone feared her revenge and behaved.
But if she lost even once, the generals would immediately become spectators—if an ally was in trouble, they stayed unmoved.
……This was Saint Yuna, someone adept at exploiting psychological weaknesses and using finely crafted, half-true “words from the heart” to tempt and destroy opponents, achieving her own ends.
She was also the black-bellied backstabber Liya hated most!
The Hero could never deal with such a backstabber—in fact, he might still be counting money for the Saint even after being sold out.
So when the Saint arrived, bringing a convoy of grain carts, Liya instantly smelled a plot and insisted on joining the excitement.
“Okay, okay, together, together.”
Jon instinctively wrapped his clothes tighter, worried the wind would chill Liya.
The Hero’s Gundam quickly arrived at the convoy outside the camp.
Saint Yuna, dressed in a pure white dress as elegant as the moon orchid, wore a gentle, serene smile, waiting for the Hero.
“Jon…”
Her bright eyes sparkled, lively and vivid.
First, she seemed happy, then shy.
No one could tell how much of her expression was genuine, and how much was fake.
“Did I do something wrong? Why are you avoiding me on purpose?”
Being stared at by such a beauty, her tone half sweet, half aggrieved, made the Hero flustered.
He wanted to explain that he wasn’t avoiding her, but no matter how he tried, he felt like he was falling into a trap.
At that moment, Liya suddenly bit his chest muscle lightly.
“Quack!”
She jumped out.
“Friend didn’t avoid anyone! Friend was playing with Lili! Evil villain! Why are you avoiding Lili? Is it because you don’t want to apologize?”