Xia Li was quite curious about the strength of the Saints.
In the game, she was a hero affiliated with the Englia Empire, and was on friendly terms with the ten Saints, with no conflicts ever arising.
So much so that even when she was about to finish the game, she had never seen a Saint take action.
With Verennica about to lead the human army into the magic crystal mine in just a few days, Xia Li thought it wouldn’t hurt to gather some intel early on as the Demon Lord.
However, reality turned out to be beyond her expectations.
She had assumed that when Saints dealt with low-level monsters by the roadside, it would be as easy as crushing a bunch of ants.
But the truth was, it wasn’t that simple.
Verennica was just walking on the dirt road, and the invisible holy light radiating from her body incinerated all monsters within a 300-meter radius into ashes.
Xia Li even felt a bit sorry for those monsters.
The only trace they left behind was their crystal cores.
These little things didn’t even hit the grass before being drawn by magical power towards Verennica, disappearing into her storage magic.
Non-stop wide-area damage combined with automatic collection…
This was basically a monster-farming god tool!
If, like in the game, teammates sharing monster kills also gained experience, she would be leveling up nonstop right now.
“I don’t really understand adventurer rules, so just split these crystal cores evenly among you,” Verennica said, handing some to both Xia Li and Furse.
Xia Li held over a dozen crystal cores in her hand, somewhat dazed.
Good heavens, Lady Verennica!
Just these alone would be worth 100 copper coins.
And they had only walked about a kilometer outside Steinburg!
Xia Li stored the crystal cores in her ring, recalling the strange look Verennica gave her when she asked about her greed.
Could this Saint lady really be interested in her body?
There was an indescribable awkward feeling about it…
Xia Li took stock of the traits she had revealed in public.
Above-normal physical constitution, Saint-level blessing from the Night Goddess, and highly efficient mana regeneration.
Plus her yet-unrevealed dual identity.
Any one of these would make her a target for research in today’s magical world.
A bad guess popped up in her mind.
Could Verennica be planning to trick her into going back to the Holy City as a test subject?
“Xia Lili, what are you thinking about~” Furse came close, wrapping her arm around Xia Li’s.
“I’m wondering, since Verennica is so strong, why she’s bringing the two of us on this commission mission,” Xia Li asked softly, testing the waters.
“Hmm… maybe Verennica thinks it’s too boring to go alone?”
“Do you think her personality is like yours…”
“Hehe, maybe~”
Xia Li twitched at the corner of her mouth and switched angles. “Are you very familiar with Verennica?”
“Of course!” Furse nodded eagerly, counting on her fingers, “We’ve known each other for exactly seven… no, eight hours and twenty minutes!”
“Didn’t you just meet last night?”
“Yeah~”
“Then why are you so close with her?”
“What’s wrong with that, Xia Lili~”
As expected, asking her was pointless!
Xia Li felt a headache coming. She honestly found it hard to deal with girls like Furse.
“Verennica talked to me a lot last night. I felt that the Aiden Forest area was very interesting, so I came along,” Furse murmured. “She said there’s also a plan to infiltrate the demon tribe later… hmm, I probably shouldn’t say that.”
“No matter, I was just about to invite you, Xia Li,” Verennica smiled gently. “I’m preparing a mission to infiltrate the demon tribe’s territory in five days, at the magic crystal mine west of the demon lands.”
“What are you going there for?” Xia Li asked, curious.
She had wanted to know this for a long time.
A Saint specifically leading a human army to infiltrate an abandoned mine? What was the purpose?
“Clearing out monsters.”
“Clearing out monsters by infiltrating the demon tribe?” Xia Li couldn’t help but laugh.
As a Saint of the Englia Empire, sneaking into an enemy country to help solve a monster crisis?
If the Empire were truly that kind-hearted, the demon tribe wouldn’t have had to live in frozen wastelands for so many years!
They might as well come up with a better excuse, like the demon tribe possessing weapons of mass destruction, or that human soldiers had gone missing inside demon territory.
At worst, they’d say the demon lands were the promised lands given to humans by the Night Goddess since ancient times.
Either way, it would have the same effect.
“Humans and demons have been enemies for generations, but when facing monsters, we should stand on the same side,” Verennica said solemnly as she gazed toward the demon lands.
“I can sense a dangerous monster aura growing deep within the demon tribe’s magic crystal mine. Ignoring it would threaten not only the demons but also Steinburg. That is why I have come here.”
“I see.” Xia Li chuckled dryly.
Lies.
That excuse wouldn’t fool even the simplest human, let alone her.
She was also the Demon Lord!
There was no such thing as what Verennica claimed in the abandoned magic crystal mine.
So why did Verennica make up this lie?
To get the human army into demon territory?
Hah, ever since the Demon Lord fell asleep, the Englia Empire had done this at least eight hundred times in a thousand years.
No need for any excuse.
This time, the operation was definitely bigger than usual!
Could it be that they planned to set up a forbidden-level large magic array through the mine?
Even though the crystals in the mine were mined out, the environment there still naturally contained powerful mana.
But why bring such a large army for something like that…
Xia Li couldn’t think of any reason for Verennica’s true plan.
“In five days, will you come with me?” Verennica smiled at her.
“Sure, sounds interesting. Make sure to call me then,” Xia Li grinned.
She was curious to see what kind of trick Verennica was really hiding!