“Y-You’re a demon?”
Eric trembled for a long while, his legs refusing to stop shaking as he looked up at the mad expression on Darkness’s face before him, asking cautiously.
Though Eric was a bad seed, at least he was a noble, and had studied at the Academy for a long time.
Seeing the strange black Magic Darkness used, Eric instantly understood her identity.
“Mmhm.”
Darkness only smiled faintly.
“So… what exactly do you intend for me to do?”
Eric’s heart had already sunk by more than half.
He certainly wanted revenge on Liakade, but to side with the demons… Eric was still hesitant.
After all, he was still part of humanity.
If he had refused when he first heard Darkness’s voice, perhaps she would have just left, since a small fry like Eric wasn’t even worth her time.
However, when Darkness revealed her true form and crushed the fat man, Eric understood—he no longer had any room to refuse.
If he tried to back out now, Darkness would kill him on the spot.
No… Continuing to stay in prison was also a dead end.
Not only would he have to serve his sentence, but he’d keep being humiliated by the fat man.
So… following Darkness now at least gave him a sliver of hope!
Besides, didn’t he want revenge on Liakade?
With the power of the demons, wouldn’t it be even easier to achieve vengeance?
Eric kept convincing himself in his heart.
“According to the Prophecy, the Demon King will resurrect in ten years. You’ve heard some of this, haven’t you?”
“I-I’ve heard!”
Though he had already steeled himself, Eric’s voice still trembled slightly.
“There are still ten years until the Demon King’s resurrection, but the Light Maiden’s growth has already exceeded my expectations. If she keeps growing like this, by the time the Demon King returns, she’ll already possess power that surpasses even him.”
Darkness’s expression was cold as she continued.
“So we must conduct a Blood Sacrifice to accelerate the Demon King’s resurrection and let him start the war as soon as possible, to kill the Light Maiden. Their overall strength has already become a troublesome problem for me…”
“The Light Maiden… you mean Alice?”
Eric recalled—the one who used light elements was the Alice always by Liakade’s side.
So, his and Darkness’s goals were actually quite close.
Since Liakade and Alice were allies, and even a trio couple, seeking revenge on Liakade was also seeking revenge on Alice, so their interests aligned.
“Since… you’re afraid of the Light Maiden’s growth, why didn’t you get rid of her earlier?”
Eric swallowed, forcing himself to ask.
“Heh, I’m the only demon spy in the Kingdom.
How could I act recklessly?
If I were discovered, even if I killed the Light Maiden, the Kingdom would surely become vigilant, right?
Besides, there were already others suppressing the Light Maiden for me…
Forget it, these aren’t things you need to know.”
Darkness stopped mid-sentence, irritation in her voice.
Indeed, this was Darkness’s mistake.
She had been lurking within the Academy, waiting for a Light-element Magic user to appear.
When Alice arrived, Darkness should have acted.
However, the appearance of Irina Zi made her lower her guard.
After Alice enrolled, Irina Zi and Liakade jointly bullied and oppressed Alice.
Liakade’s little tricks were not lost on Darkness, and she thought that under such pressure, Alice would break.
But contrary to expectations, after some time, not only did Alice and her group grow rapidly, they even turned Liakade against Irina Zi and overthrew her together.
Moreover, the resurrected Minotauros was only a Candidate for Demon King, and Korim was also eyeing the Demon King’s throne.
If Alice could wear down Korim first, and then let Minotauros profit as the fisherman, wouldn’t it be killing two birds with one stone?
But the development of events exceeded Darkness’s expectations.
Not only did Alice not fall, she quickly gathered allies.
Originally, Darkness did not want to reveal herself, but with Alice’s level rising and aided by Liakade and Field, it became much harder to kill her cleanly and without a trace.
So, Darkness set a trap, luring Liakade’s group into the Nasca Labyrinth.
The real purpose of this trap was not to kill Alice and her companions outright.
If she could, so be it; if not, dealing a heavy blow and probing their bottom line would suffice.
However, what she didn’t expect was that the girl named Liakade possessed demon blood, and her lineage was even higher than Darkness herself.
Fortunately, she had tested Liakade and her companions’ strength.
Had she acted rashly, unprepared, there was still a chance she would have failed.
After all, Darkness was a user of Shadow Magic.
Even though her level was LV.65, she was still countered by Alice’s light element.
While it would be hard for Alice to harm her directly, Alice could force her out of the shadows, which was troublesome enough.
The strength of Shadow Magic lay in its unpredictable movement through shadows.
Once that advantage was nullified, it was almost on par with the four elements humans used.
Furthermore, Liakade’s Blood Magic was extremely useful in prolonged battles.
Controlling blood was just one part; more importantly, it enabled nearly infinite regeneration.
As long as she wasn’t killed in one blow, Liakade could keep converting Magic into new flesh and blood.
Simply put, as long as Alice could force Darkness out of the shadows, Liakade could stand at the front, endlessly draining Darkness.
In a war of attrition, Darkness was no match for Liakade, as she had no regeneration ability and could only rely on shadow agility to tangle with Liakade.
But to slip back into the shadows, Alice would first have to be restrained.
Darkness, unable to hide in the shadows, could never bypass Liakade to attack Alice, thus trapping her in a loop.
Therefore, not attacking Alice and her group in the Nasca Labyrinth was actually the correct choice.
But now, another Sistem had joined their team, making it even harder to deal with them.
Against four, Darkness was sure she was no match for Liakade and her allies.
As a result, Darkness needed some power too.
She had infiltrated the Kingdom relying only on the unpredictability of Shadow Magic, bringing no intelligent subordinates.
Within her Shadow Domain, there were only some weapons and low-level monsters, which were of little use.
That’s why she sought out Eric, who was at a dead end and also resented Liakade and her companions.
Truth be told, Eric had miscalculated one thing.
Even if he had refused Darkness before she revealed herself, he still would have died.
No, rather, even now that he had agreed, Eric was still destined to die.
Because Darkness’s true aim was the Blood Sacrifice.
Sacrificing those with Magic made it more effective.
So no matter what, Eric would have been used by Darkness as a Blood Sacrifice.
Even if he agreed and completed her task, she would still kill him without hesitation.
Of course, Darkness would never tell Eric this.
What if he simply gave up?
Even a stupid pig should be put to use—time to make some pig blood buns.
Everything was simply for the resurrection of the Demon King.