Chapter 96: Game Over! Demon King: Come, cash in your “bet”!

Using her body as a node for the Mana Cycle?

For an entire day?!

Lilia’s mind exploded.

How massive was the Mana Cycle of the Evernight Palace?

If that energy passed through her body just once… she would be blown apart!

Even if she survived, that force would wash over her until she didn’t even know who she was.

This was crueler than just killing her! Her breathing quickened, and her small hands gripped the hem of her skirt.

“What? Are you afraid?”

Lucia let out a soft laugh, looking at her terrified expression.

“Who… who’s afraid! Meow!”

Lilia stiffened her neck, her voice trembling violently.

“It’s just hide-and-seek, isn’t it? Anyone can do that! Meow!”

She shouted those words, but in her heart, she was deathly panicked.

This bedroom was ridiculously large, like a small plaza.

Furthermore, the mana currents were a mess right now, filled with false signals left by Lucia.

Each of those fake mana sources radiated an aura identical to Lucia herself.

Some were strong, some weak, some moving, and some still.

Finding the real one among so many decoys?

Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than this.

“Very well.”

Lucia stood up from the bed and walked over to her.

“To be fair, before you start searching, I must eliminate your ‘interference factors’.”

‘Interference factors?’

Lilia was stunned for a moment.

The next second, she saw Lucia reach out, her target being… the cat ears atop her head.

“No! Don’t touch those! Meow!”

Lilia’s body shuddered violently as she tried to dodge.

But it was too late.

Cold fingertips had already pinched the tips of her ears.

“MEOW — !”

A numbing sensation exploded from the base of her ears, instantly spreading through her entire body.

Lilia’s legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to her knees.

“Your ears are too sensitive to mana,” Lucia’s voice rang in her ear.

“It will affect your judgment.”

As she spoke, she took two small, black, earplug-like objects from her pocket.

“These are Stasis Earplugs. They can temporarily block all your perceptions of external mana.”

Lilia’s eyes widened.

‘Block my mana perception? Then how am I supposed to find her? Use my nose to sniff her out?’

“You… you’re cheating! Meow!”

“No, this is called increasing the game’s difficulty.”

Lucia pinched her chin, forcing her to look up.

“Aren’t you already Tier 3? Are you telling me you don’t even dare to accept this small challenge?”

Lilia was left speechless by her words.

Lucia didn’t give her another chance to resist, gently inserting the two cold earplugs into her ears.

The moment the earplugs entered, Lilia felt the entire world change.

The chaotic mana currents and the noisy fake signals all vanished.

The world became deathly silent.

She could no longer feel any mana fluctuations.

Currently, she was nothing more than a blind mage.

“Alright, you may begin now.”

Lucia let go and took a few steps back.

Her figure began to blur before Lilia’s eyes, and then, she vanished completely.

Lilia stood in the center of the vast bedroom, her mind in a jumble.

She couldn’t see, hear, or perceive anything.

How was she supposed to find her?

‘Do I really have to rely on my nose like a dog?’ Lilia wanted to cry but had no tears.

She tried taking a few steps in the bedroom, moving cautiously for fear of stepping on a trap.

But after walking for a long time, nothing happened.

‘That pervert really seems to have just hidden herself.’

No, I can’t just give up.

Lilia stopped and forced herself to calm down.

Since her external perception was blocked, she could only rely on her internal self.

She closed her eyes, sinking all her mental energy into her own body.

To feel, to search…

Wait.

A flash of insight struck Lilia’s mind.

The Contract Ring!

That brand Lucia had forcibly etched into her soul!

That collar was the most direct connection between her and Lucia!

‘As long as I use this connection, I can reverse-locate that pervert’s position!’

Lilia’s heart raced.

She felt excited about her own cleverness.

She immediately mobilized her mental energy, reaching toward the black collar around her neck.

Then, she began to track along that invisible ‘thread’ connecting her soul to Lucia’s.

The thread was long and blurry, stretching toward an unknown direction in the chaotic space.

Lilia held her breath and poured all her mental energy into it, bit by bit, ‘crawling’ forward along that line.

The process was mentally exhausting, but Lilia found it incredibly exciting.

‘I feel like a top-tier hacker infiltrating the world’s most secure firewall.’

Finally — she ‘saw’ it.

At the end of that thread was a massive energy core radiating a terrifying aura.

It was her!

Lilia found her!

That energy core was quietly floating in…

Lilia snapped her eyes open and looked toward the northwest corner of the bedroom.

There was a huge floor-to-ceiling window there.

Outside the window was the endless darkness of the Evernight Palace.

She was right there!

Lilia’s heart pounded as a triumphant smile appeared on her face.

She broke into a run, rushing toward that direction.

As she ran, she laughed wildly in her heart.

‘Lucia, oh Lucia, for all your calculations, you never would have guessed this. The dog leash you placed on me yourself will be the key to finding you! Hahahaha!’

She rushed to the window and stared at the deep darkness outside.

Then, she reached out, pointed out the window, and shouted with all her might, “I found you! Meow!”

However, just as the words left her mouth, a familiar voice rang out from behind her.

“Is that so?”

The smile on Lilia’s face froze.

Bit by bit, she turned around stiffly.

Then, she saw her.

Lucia was standing right behind her, holding a cup of black tea.

Her face wore that expression Lilia least wanted to see.

“My little pet, what are you looking for?”

Lilia’s mind went blank with a loud buzz.

‘How… how is this possible? I clearly… I clearly found her…’

“Are you thinking about why you were wrong?”

Lucia set down her teacup and walked over to her.

She reached out and lightly flicked the collar around Lilia’s neck.

“Because this Contract Ring wasn’t connected to me from the very beginning. It’s connected to a… tiny ‘avatar’ of mine.”

She snapped her fingers.

Outside the window where Lilia had just ‘found’ her, a figure identical to Lucia slowly emerged.

Then, it turned into specks of light and dissipated into the air.

Lilia’s legs gave out, and she slumped onto the floor.

She had been fooled again.

From the very start, she had fallen into the trap set by this pervert.

“Now, the game is over.”

Lucia leaned down and pinched her chin.

“You lost. So, it’s time to fulfill your ‘wager’.”

Lilia opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She wanted to resist, to run away, or to do something, but her body was already as limp as mud due to the excessive consumption of mental energy.

Lucia let go and turned toward the massive black bed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be very gentle.”