A Demon broke into the house—this was nothing short of a disaster.
What’s more, it was a High-tier Demon, with unknown strength.
But right now, Goli hadn’t even noticed it at first?
“Oh no, the Demon that broke in seems really strong, and I didn’t even notice? This won’t do, I need to get serious.”
Although she was seriously wounded from forcefully breaching the Summoning Magic circle, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. Goli quickly pulled out all sorts of tools for defense and investigation.
She wore a gadget shaped like glasses on her face and held a platinum Cross, a meter and a half long, searching throughout the vast Crystal Palace.
Genas and Karu followed carefully behind her, frequently whipping their heads around, scanning the area, terrified that some enormous creature might suddenly leap out.
“This Demon must be crazy, fighting over a Summoning slot with low-tier Demons and ending up wrecking itself… Hold on, why would it even fight with low-tier Demons for a Summoning slot?”
Genas spotted a flaw.
Normally, this magic could only summon low-tier Demons, yet the High-tier Demon that forced its way in was right beside the target at the time, seized the Summoning slot, and broke through.
Why would it do that? For what? Some kind of masochism?
“Could it be that it was being hunted by some enemy, so it risked its life to steal a Summoning slot?”
Genas muttered to himself. The moment he finished, both he and Goli suddenly whipped their heads toward a corner. Genas shouted excitedly:
“Caught you! Show yourself!”
It was obvious—Genas had guessed right. The Demon made a faint sound when it heard this, finally exposing itself to their senses.
As they pressed in step by step, the Demon finally surrendered.
“Don’t attack. I surrender.”
The voice was sharp, neither male nor female, speaking to them in Demon language.
Immediately after, a ball of shadow appeared, forming a small black soul orb.
Clearly, it was in a weakened state; its true form was definitely not this feeble.
“Whoa, this little thing looks pretty unique.”
Genas curiously took a step closer, sizing it up and down.
Judging by the race, it seemed to be a Shadow Demon. It was so weak that it didn’t even have a hint of hostility—if anything, there was a pleading undertone.
“Don’t kill me, I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Oh~ anything at all~?”
Genas waggled his brows playfully, causing the Shadow Demon to flinch inwardly.
“Y-yes, anything…”
“Oho~ then I want you to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, at the same time. Remember, at the same time.”
“……” The Shadow Demon was silent, then Genas’s head got smacked hard by Goli.
“Can you be serious for once at a time like this?”
“Ahem! Fine, I’ll be serious. What’s your name, your rank, why did you barge in here, and do you have any treasures on you?”
Confronted with Genas’s questions, the Shadow Demon replied in terror:
“My name is Chuck, I’m a High-tier Envy-type Shadow Demon. I was originally fighting with my underlings against invaders in my territory, and we almost succeeded in driving them off. I didn’t expect them to summon a Gold Dragon! I really thought I was going to die. But then, I sensed a Summoning wave from one of my underlings, so I…”
A High-tier Shadow Demon—no wonder Goli hadn’t noticed it at first. Their talent was perfect concealment.
At this, Genas and Goli exchanged looks, uncertain if it was telling the truth.
“You—”
Just as they were about to speak, a knock suddenly came from outside. Goli hurried to open the door.
In an instant, golden light flared, shooting straight toward the Demon. But with a desperate twist, it managed to dodge.
In the blink of an eye, Bartok appeared in his dragon form, and his claws seized the shadowy ball.
“So you hid here, huh? You’re the boldest Demon I’ve ever seen!”
“Ah! Why are you still able to chase me? Why won’t you let me go? Are Demons really all doomed to die?!”
The Shadow Demon struggled desperately, its wails full of despair.
Bartok was ruthless; his dragon claws tightened.
“If you don’t die, am I supposed to?”
BOOM—
With his furious roar, the Shadow Demon dissipated within Bartok’s dragon claws.
Peace returned to the scene. Genas was dumbfounded, his mind full of question marks.
“Wait a second, did a Gold Dragon really just say that?”
Bartok transformed back into human form and approached them.
“You’re all unharmed, right?”
After confirming their safety, Bartok continued:
“Did you use Summoning Magic just now?”
Genas meekly raised his claw.
“I did, I just learned it for fun, but it’s only supposed to summon low-tier Demons. I never thought that guy would force his way in.”
Karu timidly raised her claw as well.
“Me too…”
“I see, that makes sense. He’s the leader of a Demon clan, powerful and cunning. I was just about to kill him when a Summoning Magic let him escape. I tracked the spatial aura and found it led here, so I had the human using the Miracle Gate send me back right away.”
“Uh… That’s really quite the coincidence.”
“It is, but we can’t relax just yet. Demons are crafty and evil; that guy might have left behind a doppelganger or some other nasty trick here. We need to thoroughly search the place.”
Without another word, they began to search the Crystal Palace.
After a while, Aixi, who had been in her room all along, suddenly appeared.
“Are you looking for this?”
She spoke calmly, holding a transparent Ice Orb in her claws.
Inside, a small wisp of black flame raged, roaring unwillingly:
“I am a dignified High-tier Demon! And I’m to die so humiliatingly at the claws of a few dragons?! I refuse!”
Genas ran over, took it from Aixi, stared at it for a while, and then broke into a wicked grin.
“How about this? Do you have any treasures or anything? Hand them all over, and I’ll let you go.”
Genas’s words seemed to calm the Shadow Demon a bit. It asked carefully:
“R-really? If I give you all my treasures, you’ll let me go?”
It knew well the greed of Red Dragons, but also their reputation—so it turned to look at Bartok. He didn’t say anything, which was tacit approval.
Though Gold Dragons disliked it, at least they disdained lying.
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you—it’s… here, here, here, and here…”
The Shadow Demon rattled off several locations in one breath—clearly, it had quite a stash, and Genas took careful note of every one.
“You’re sure it’s true? And you’ve told us everything?”
“I’m sure. If you’re worried, you can take me along, and if there’s even one wrong place, you can kill me on the spot.”
Seeing its pitiful attitude, Genas smiled and nodded.
“One more thing—are there any more of your doppelgangers in here? You’d better be honest, or else, even if I get paid, I’ll still…”
“Honest, totally honest!”
Several more shadows shot out in the Crystal Palace, trying to merge into the Ice Orb, but before they could, Bartok swatted them apart with a single blow.
“You—”
“Hm?”
About to get angry, it was silenced by a single glare.
Genas saw the house was finally clean and nodded in satisfaction.
“Seeing how honest you’ve been, I’ll let you go.”
“Ah, than—”
Before it could finish its thanks, Genas tossed it into Bartok’s hand.
“W-what? Why?!”
Faced with its confusion, Bartok’s face turned grim: “He’s the one who promised to spare you—not me. Prepare to die.”
Before the words were finished, golden light burst from his grasp.
“You bastards! I… No, please, spare me! I’ll be your slave! I’ll do anything, just let…”
“You’ve harmed too many innocent lives. With such evil, no matter how you beg, I won’t let you go!”
With Bartok’s resolute words, his palm tightened—and the Shadow Demon was scattered into dust once again.