"So you’re Dilaka?"

The high-ranking demonman wrapped head to toe in a black long robe appeared out of nowhere and looked Dilaka over.

"You’re the one who wants to trade a human female adventurer for a reward from Lady Enchantress?"

"Y-yes, yes, yes, I’m Dilaka. So you’re a lord under the Enchantress Grand Duke? I—"

That arrogant, high-and-mighty manner quickly put Dilaka at ease, because in the demonfolk’s strictly stratified society, basically no demonman would dare casually impersonate someone of a higher rank. If it was discovered, the consequences would be extremely severe. And in a rendezvous point this hidden, other than the person he had arranged to meet, there was absolutely no way a third party could know.

But for some reason, deep in Dilaka’s heart, an odd feeling suddenly rose.

As if... this scene felt strangely familiar?

"May I ask, my lord... how should I address you?" Dilaka asked cautiously.

"Gowilt. I think I already told you in the communication, didn’t I?" The high-ranking demonman said coldly. "Or do you think someone would come impersonate me?"

"N-no, no, no. I’m only confirming. I absolutely don’t mean anything else... just a hallucination?" Dilaka shook his head and muttered.

And Gowilt was already a little impatient with Dilaka’s rudeness. "The adventurer?"

"She’s right here, my lord. Look."

Dilaka didn’t dare delay again. He forced out a flattering smile, quickly stepped aside, and revealed the female adventurer behind him.

The female adventurer struggled violently and glared at the two of them even more viciously, like an angry little beast, but Dilaka couldn’t help sneering inside, because at this point, no one would care about the feelings of mere merchandise.

But then he vaguely felt something was off...

Did that female adventurer’s chest look this ridiculously exaggerated before?

"Mm, not bad."

Gowilt didn’t approach. Lady Enchantress didn’t like anyone touching her things, so he only examined the captive female adventurer from a few steps away, then nodded.

"Good quality. With this level of ‘finish,’ Lady Enchantress will like her."

"Then... the thing I want?" Dilaka temporarily shoved those doubts aside and rubbed his hands nervously.

"Here. Take it."

Without asking anything else, Gowilt directly pulled out a huge box as if it were nothing.

A burning heat flashed through Dilaka’s eyes. He hadn’t expected the other party to hand over what he wanted so easily. He had thought he’d have to spend a lot more words.

But when the box opened, Dilaka abruptly discovered that inside was not the thing he had been longing for, but...

A set of old armor?

"This..."

Dilaka froze. "How could it be this kind of thing? Didn’t I ask for blood-and-flesh essence that can make me stronger? Blood-and-flesh essence refined from several overlord-class demonic beasts... how did it suddenly become armor?"

"What’s the difference?" Gowilt said indifferently. "This can make you stronger too."

"Th-that’s not how it works."

Dilaka’s cheek twitched. He wanted to explode, but forced it into a strange smile instead.

"My lord, that kind of joke isn’t funny. How much stronger can this junky old armor make me? Compared to blood-and-flesh essence, this is completely—"

"Enough bullshit! Take it or leave it!"

Gowilt frowned, growing even more impatient as he barked,

"You really think this armor is simple? This is a magic-guided armor seized from humans. It can increase your defense by a full ten percent! An ordinary demonman—do you think you’d even be qualified to receive something this good?"

"Ten percent..."

Dilaka clenched his teeth so hard his jaw creaked. His eyes practically bulged out.

What do you mean, “something good”?

What do you mean, “a full ten percent”?

He’d been stuck at Fourth Rank for so long. If he got blood-and-flesh essence to break through his realm, his strength would increase by several times over.

This measly ten percent...

How was it any different from tossing scraps to a beggar?

No matter how strict the hierarchy was, being humiliated like this made it impossible for Dilaka to keep suppressing the fury in his heart.

"Lord Gowilt, isn’t your behavior going too far!" The crimson light in Dilaka’s pupils surged violently. "This reward was personally set by the Enchantress Grand Duke. Do you really dare to swallow it like this as you please?"

Battle qi roared. Gale-force pressure swept out, instantly stirring the scattered stones around them into a tremor. Even the crimson stone walls nearby sprouted spiderweb cracks.

But Gowilt didn’t evade the incoming gale pressure at all. He let that dangerous wind pressure—sharp enough to split stone and tear the earth—rip his...

...his robe hem.

"Of course I don’t dare casually violate Lady Enchantress’s rules."

Gowilt lowered his head, putting on a heartbroken look as he stared at the tear in his hem...

Yet the smile at the corner of his mouth was impossible to hide.

"But... since you dared to take the initiative and attack me, then me carrying out a ‘self-defense counterattack’ is normal and reasonable, isn’t it?"

"What?"

Dilaka blanked for an instant, then violently reacted—he had clearly fallen into the other party’s trap.

But by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

A terrifying battle qi several times stronger than his erupted from Gowilt in an instant, booming skyward.

"Initiating an attack on a Flayer under Lady Enchantress—this is a grave crime!"

Gowilt slowly drew a crescent-shaped, vicious razor from his waist.

"Even in this special period where the front line urgently needs cannon fodder, if I kill you for committing such a grave crime, Lady Enchantress won’t blame me, will she?"

"N-no... you can’t... you can’t do this..."

Dilaka woke up as if from a dream.

From the very start, he had made a huge mistake—actually thinking of making a private deal with these selfish, cold-blooded, insatiably greedy wolves in order to trade for the greatest profit.

But when a sheep stands face-to-face with a wolf in private...

Where could a fair trade even exist?

He didn’t even have the right to decide whether he would step into the trap.

"No! Gowilt! Even you can’t just kill me however you want! This is—"

"I already told you. This isn’t ‘just however I want.’"

Gowilt walked closer step by step. On that cold face, a mocking smile appeared.

"To use human words... I’m killing you in accordance with law and principle. There’s nothing to criticize."

...

...

A few minutes later, Ariel stared at the blood flowing to the edge of her boots and subconsciously twitched at the corner of her eye.

What the hell? She ran into a black-eats-black situation?

Black-eats-black was one thing—she’d seen that plenty of times—but she hadn’t even made a move yet, and the only flaw in her bait-and-switch was solved like this?

She’d originally been thinking about whether she should secretly poison this guy named Dilaka. Otherwise, if her teacher’s mental suggestion failed, it would be trouble. It might directly affect her infiltration plan.

But now, it seemed unnecessary.

She had to say, demonfolk sure had a lot of “good people.” First they gave her intel, then they helped her clean up the loose ends. She had never enjoyed this kind of treatment while causing trouble elsewhere. The service was so good she almost couldn’t resist giving it a five-star review.

"The blood-and-flesh essence that should have belonged to you—I’ll enjoy it in your place."

Gowilt watched as Dilaka gradually died in venomous resentment, and even waved the blood-and-flesh essence in front of him.

"Next time, remember to be smarter. Otherwise you’re no different from those low-ranking demonmen."

After finishing his mockery, Gowilt put away the razor, then casually used some kind of tool to directly incinerate Dilaka’s corpse. When the ashes dispersed into the sand and dust filling the sky, his attention finally fell on Ariel again.

"Scared, human?"

"..."

Ariel said nothing, still wearing that expression of furious glaring mixed with helplessness.

"Heh. You didn’t get scared. Not bad—you’ve got a bit of backbone. You might really receive Lady Enchantress’s favor."

Gowilt picked up the chain and sneered.

"Come with me. What awaits you... might not be such a terrifying future."

...

...

Following Gowilt forward, Ariel also drew closer and closer to Gutongs Castle.

Finally, in an open area outside the city, Ariel saw two carriages pulled by Abyss demonic beasts.

There didn’t seem to be many guards around the carriages, but all of them wore mysterious black robes, dressed exactly like Gowilt. They were probably all the “Flayers” he mentioned—obviously not opponents you could deal with easily.

"Found another one?"

The Flayer in the lead took the initiative to speak to Gowilt.

"A fool delivered her to us."

"Good quality."

"Too bad we can’t enjoy her."

"Heh heh. Whatever Lady Enchantress doesn’t want will naturally be handed to us to enjoy. Don’t be impatient. For now, put her away properly. It’s about time we went into the city."

"Yes."

Gowilt nodded, then took Ariel to one of the carriages.

The carriage compartment was huge—big enough to hold over ten people. When Ariel was shoved into the carriage, she discovered that inside the dim compartment, there were already several female adventurers scattered about.

"Stay put. There are restrictions on the carriage and on your chains. You can’t run."

Gowilt coldly warned her once, then shoved Ariel into the compartment and immediately shut the heavy carriage door.

You could tell even the door was specially made. It probably wouldn’t be easy to open.

But no matter what, the first step of her plan to save pitiful, helpless beautiful girls started here.

Ariel’s heart surged, yet she still kept calm. She lightly observed her surroundings, then turned her head and began sizing up these captured female adventurers.

Most of them looked just as bedraggled as Ariel. Their belongings had been confiscated clean. They had injuries of all sizes on their bodies, and their skirts were covered in red stains.

But thankfully, the wounds had all received emergency treatment. The demonfolk probably wouldn’t let them die easily before they met that legendary Enchantress Grand Duke—or before they lost all value.

"Did another person get caught?"

Ariel slightly tilted her head and looked toward the speaker.

It was a beautiful young girl who looked extremely fragile. Her long hair fell to her waist. She had none of an adventurer’s heroic sharpness. Instead, as she spoke, she lazily stretched her beautiful waist, looking especially languid.

As if this wasn’t a cage imprisoning captives at all, but a soft bed, and she was just waking from a nap.

What was even more surprising was that while she spoke, the fragile beauty’s gaze didn’t turn toward Ariel at all. Her eyes had no focus, staring blankly at an empty void.

"Sorry. Because I used a forbidden art I haven’t fully mastered yet, I’m temporarily blind. I’m not used to it." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The languid beauty seemed to sense Ariel’s surprised gaze. She gave a small nod of acknowledgment, then slapped the back of the person next to her with a single palm.

"And this one—there’s a newcomer and you still won’t even greet her. Are you really scared?"

"Who are you calling scared?!"

The small figure beside the languid beauty abruptly lifted her head and bared her teeth at her in fury.

Like a little wildcat with its fur standing on end.

And after seeing what this “little wildcat” looked like, even Ariel—who had a powerful teacher, had broken into ancient ruins multiple times, and could be considered widely experienced—couldn’t help sucking in a cold breath.

One word—flat.

Way too flat.

Who would’ve thought that after surviving countless crises and hardships, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) she could still run into someone in a place like this whose “broad-minded openness” was on par with her own.

For a moment, Ariel felt a sense of kindred spirit...

Ah—no...

Ariel abruptly reacted.

She couldn’t say that. After all, she wasn’t “that side” right now!

"You wouldn’t have forced me into this hellhole if you hadn’t come up with something so stupid...! I’m supposed to be angry right now!"

The “little wildcat” viciously glared at the languid beauty, as if she wanted to carve right through that heavy, lavish upper curve with her stare.

But no matter how fierce a stare was, it was useless against a blind person. After snorting coldly, the “little wildcat” turned and swept an annoyed glance over Ariel’s chest, then said coldly,

"Nian."

"Feifei," the languid beauty said as well.

"...Oh, oh. Hi."

Ariel—who felt like something was a little off—froze for a long while before following up with her greeting.

"My name is... Yali."