The more Lia listened, the more familiar it all sounded.
Ten thousand sarcastic remarks rose in her heart, yet she had no idea where to begin venting them…
The current year was **Imperial Calendar 1407**.
Sixteen hundred years ago—more than two hundred years before the Hero **Xin Meier** founded the **Kaldia Empire**—the world was in the midst of the **“Chaos of the Seven Demon Gods.”**
According to the *Imperial General History*, that era was plagued by demons ravaging the land, endless wars, and dark mages running rampant.
Meanwhile, priests of the Demon Gods and priests of the True Gods fought brutal religious conflicts while simultaneously indulging in wildly decadent and debauched lives.
*That Warhammer fan must’ve had the time of his life after transmigrating here.*
Unfortunately, his ending was rather tragic.
After hearing the story, Lia instantly understood why the woman in front of her—this crafty old fox—was staring at her so relentlessly even though she was already convinced that Lia was **not** the real Demon King Ria.
Because the fact that Lia had **not** been forcibly summoned by the Ascension Ritual itself proved something.
Just like Demon King Ria, she did **not** belong to this world.
She had to be an **“outsider.”**
This old fox probably had an extraordinary interest in **transmigrators**.
Lia quickly adjusted her mindset.
Since the woman was interested in her, that meant she wouldn’t kill her immediately.
If she stalled with words and played mysterious for a while, it might work.
*As long as the Hero returns from the Ascension Ritual, everything will be fine.*
Lia inwardly complained, yet her thoughts moved like lightning.
Within a few seconds, she had already decided on a strategy.
Meanwhile, during that captivating narration earlier, **Mavie** had secretly probed Lia’s background through various subtle movements.
Just as **Jiela** had said—this was merely a weak little *pupu*.
Her magic power was meager; by the Empire’s strength rating standards, she probably wasn’t even above **Tier Four**.
No high-tier magical items were found on her.
There were no traces of remote control by a beast tamer or summoner.
She didn’t look like a magical beast avatar of some supreme powerhouse either.
Nor like…
Once Mavie confirmed she could easily crush this “fake Demon King,” she quietly relaxed.
Her manner became more casual.
She sat directly on the rock in front of Lia and elegantly crossed her legs right in front of her.
The tip of her glossy black boot almost poked Lia in the nose.
“An outsider pretending to be another already dead outsider, inheriting his legacy. How interesting. You people must have some special way to communicate with each other, right?”
Mavie asked with great curiosity.
“What about the other outsiders? Did those ancient ones leave behind some kind of inheritance for later arrivals?”
“Or perhaps… you actually belong to the same enormous organization? All outsiders are serving this mysterious group?”
Lia swallowed lightly.
Her eyes rolled slightly before she let out a faint sigh.
“I didn’t expect… that you’d discover it in the end.”
“Hm?”
“Actually, we come from a place called the **‘Infinite Space.’**”
Lia looked extremely sincere and serious, while pretending to be very reluctant as she began fabricating nonsense.
“Of course, we have no ill intentions toward your world. We simply travel through different worlds, completing the missions assigned by the **‘Main God.’**”
“The Main God?” Mavie frowned slightly.
“Oh, that’s the boss of little pawns like us. The Main God is a gigantic glowing sphere. With the points we earn from completing missions in different worlds, we can exchange them with the Main God for anything—power, authority, secret techniques… everything.”
“Your organization sounds quite interesting,” Mavie nodded slightly.
Her gaze, however, remained subtly fixed on Lia.
“I just don’t know how much of what you’re saying, you mischievous little thing, is true—and how much is false.”
“I swear to heaven, not a single word I said is a lie!” Lia immediately vowed solemnly.
“Oh? Then tell me—what were the worlds you previously visited like?”
Mavie sneered and directly pressed for details, seemingly planning to judge whether Lia was lying based on the logic of those details.
However—
That line of questioning was exactly what Lia wanted.
“Well… that’s a long story.”
She narrowed her eyes and deliberately imitated Mavie’s earlier tone, speaking slowly and calmly.
“For example, the previous world I visited had no magic. Ordinary people there all pursued the Dao and sought immortality…”
Mavie listened attentively, nodding from time to time like a patient audience member.
Lia went from the *Perfect Trilogy* to *The Investiture of the Gods*, from *A Song of Ice and Fire* to *Harry Potter*.
Her strategy was simple—stand on the shoulders of giants so that the lies sounded logical and richly detailed.
From time to time, Mavie suddenly threw out extremely tricky questions, but Lia narrowly managed to deflect them all.
She felt her answers were fairly airtight.
And yet…
“Alright. No need to keep making things up.”
Mavie suddenly interrupted her with a disdainful chuckle.
“I didn’t expect you to be such a talented storyteller. With that ability to spin tales, I wonder how many men you’ll one day deceive into losing their souls and willingly becoming subjects beneath your skirt.”
“But… it doesn’t matter.”
“Once I bring you back and ‘educate’ you properly with the new interrogation toys I recently acquired, you’ll be the one crying and begging me for the chance to confess.”
She suddenly extended her hand.
Two thick shadow chains, dark as ink, burst out from her shadow like venomous snakes.
They swiftly wrapped around Lia’s shadow and bound it tightly.
Lia felt an invisible force restraining her body.
Very sensibly, she didn’t resist.
Instead she frowned, looking puzzled.
“Trying to bluff me like this—what’s the point? Everything I said earlier was the truth.”
“Still refusing to be honest.”
“Do you think there’s a flaw somewhere in what I said? You can point it out. I can explain—it might just be a misunderstanding.”
“No.”
Mavie shook her head with a smile.
“There are no flaws. It’s completely flawless.”
“But that is precisely the **biggest flaw**.”
She stared directly at Lia, her dark pupils deep as icy pools.
“You said earlier that your organization simply sends you to various worlds to complete missions. In that case, your understanding of those worlds should be **partial and limited**, filled with a kind of top-down arrogance.”
“Yet every question I asked—from the everyday lives of commoners to the power structure of royal courts, from military logistics to the flow of trade routes—you answered perfectly. Logical, precise, impeccable.”
“That is not the perspective of a **mission executor**.”
“That is the perspective of a **creator** who knows everything.”
Lia’s face froze.
“It’s over.”
Mavie lightly tapped the rock she was sitting on.
In an instant, violet light shot into the sky.
Dense, complex runic patterns appeared across the walls of the massive crater.
At some unknown time, the shadows Mavie had scattered earlier had already carved the area full of auxiliary shadow arrays that allowed her to instantly cast high-tier magic.
“We’ve stalled long enough. I’ve already made thorough preparations.”
“Next, no matter what tricks you have left—resurrection, teleportation, divine descent, self-destruction, a sudden breakthrough… or even exploding into pieces and escaping like Demon King Ria once did…”
“I can handle them all!”
After a brief moment of confusion, Lia suddenly felt both amused and helpless.
She finally realized something.
She had been stalling for time.
But the other side had been stalling too.
She was afraid of her opponent, while the opponent was actually even more wary of this mysterious “outsider” whose background was unknown.
Fortunately—
At that moment, **Jon’s voice** echoed in her mind.
Lia’s spirits soared.
She couldn’t help letting out a foolish little laugh.
“Hehehe…”
“What are you laughing at?” Mavie instantly became alert.
Looking at Mavie, Lia’s gaze now carried a hint of pity.
“Do you know something? The greatest realization I’ve had in life is this—”
“The abilities of the wise have limits.”
“The more someone relies on elaborate schemes, the easier it is for them to collapse when faced with unexpected variables… especially when they run into a **stat monster**.”
“?”
“So… feel my pain!”
“This is the ultimate finishing move I’ve been brewing for a long time!”
“What exactly are you planning to do?” Mavie felt a trace of seriousness rising in her heart.
Then she saw Lia suddenly raise her head, close her ruby-red eyes, gather her breath in her dantian, and shout in a sweet, coquettish voice:
**“Friend—! Help me!!!”**
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