Strangely, the beasts passed right by Lin.

It was as if they couldn’t see him, or as if there was some sort of barrier that prevented them from stepping on or crossing over where Lin stood.

The beasts rushed past, shaking the ground as they went.

“We’ll save formal introductions for later,” Adora reappeared beside him, leaving Lin bewildered. She was a figure who shifted from a thief to smoke, an utterly unpredictable presence.

“For now, it’s more important to verify whether the warrior can be trusted to protect you, at least for the time being.”

“Trusted to protect me? I’m not some pet.”

Lin’s sharp response made Adora flinch in surprise.

“Of course, I never meant it that way.”

She gently stroked Lin’s left arm. Given the situation, Lin could do nothing but allow it. Yet as she touched him, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion swept through his entire body.

“As I thought.”

Adora felt sorry for the struggling Lin.

“You haven’t fully recovered.”

“How… do you…?”

Suddenly, an intense drowsiness overcame him. Lin struggled to resist sleep, but Adora soothed him as he fought to stay awake.

“There’s no time to explain everything right now.”

He couldn’t hold out any longer. Ever since Ephalte, Lin had found it increasingly difficult to resist sleep.

“You’re at your limit. Even the Sacred Sword deemed it dangerous not to force you to rest.”

The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. As Lin collapsed as if fainting, Adora gently lowered him onto her lap.

“I won’t let anyone disturb you. Sleep well.”

Of course, Adora had no intention of forgiving anyone who dared to interrupt her time with Lin.

“Liiiin-!!!!”

Lin was nowhere to be seen. He had vanished from sight the moment the beasts charged. Lucy had seen it, seen Adora approaching Lin from behind in the last moment she caught a glimpse of him.

“Damn demon!”

From the moment Adora appeared at the black market, she had made no effort to conceal her demonic aura. When Lin had outright asked if she was a demon, Lucy hadn’t sensed anything suspicious at the time, not even the faintest hint of demonic energy.

She should have investigated more thoroughly when Lin asked her directly. But instead, she had wasted time playing power games with Ravin, leading to this disastrous situation.

She was furious with herself, unable to contain her anger.

“Get out of my way!”

Lucy grabbed the jaws of a beast lunging at her and tore them apart, pulling them up and down. When another beast bit her arm, she gouged out its eyes. Her kick, infused with magic, created a crescent-shaped clearing, but it was quickly filled again with beasts.

“Warrior!”

Fortunately, because Lucy was blocking most of the beasts from the front, Waltercrua’s forces were able to push forward more easily. Though that didn’t mean there were no civilian casualties. Ravin, consumed by rage, sought out Lucy.

“What the hell are you doing, showing off alone?!”

“Did you know that Adora is a demon?!”

“The informant…?”

Lucy suddenly realized that even though she had told Ravin Lin’s name, Ravin stubbornly kept calling him ‘that guy.’

“Did you tell that woman Lin’s name? And why do you keep refusing to call him Lin?”

“Why would I tell her?! And how could I call him by his name when he didn’t ask me to?!”

“…Hah.”

In the end, it was her carelessness that had brought about this situation. There had been enough clues—Lin’s suspicion, the way Adora called him Lin without hesitation.

No, Adora must have deliberately left those gaps. But she had ignored it all, treating it as trivial. Even though a demon had targeted Lin, she hadn’t noticed anything.

Swallowing her tears, Lucy had to admit it. She was more useless now than when her limbs were severed.

“Why are you just sitting there with your head down?!”

Ravin wasn’t going to let Lucy off easily.

“Find that guy! You were so sure he was yours—so why are you just sitting there now?!”

“Ravin….”

“Oh, come on!”

Even as she scolded Lucy, Ravin slashed through the beasts that charged at them.

“What are you waiting for?! Go find him now!”

“But there are too many of them… I can’t tell where he is….”

“You…!”

Furious to the point of exploding, Ravin yelled at Lucy.

“You shameless fool!”

Ravin’s shout echoed across the field that had once been the black market.

“That guy didn’t worry about whether he could save you or not—he just did it!”

“He saved you because he wanted to! He wanted to save you!”

“So what the hell are you now?!”

Ironically, Adora didn’t attack them while Ravin was venting her anger. She merely let the beasts wander around them, observing as Ravin grabbed Lucy by the collar.

Realizing this, Ravin rejected Adora’s condescending mercy and drew her dagger.

“Enough, you’re out. I’ll save that guy myself.”

“You can’t handle this alone….”

“But!”

Ravin cut Lucy off, her eyes blazing as she focused on one spot. It was a place where, just like the area around them, the beasts were only lurking, not attacking.

“If I save him, he’s mine. I won’t give him up.”

“What…?”

“Stay back and watch, you little brat!”

“You’re kidding!”

Lucy shot to her feet.

“I haven’t lost yet!”

“I don’t have time to argue with you!”

Ravin pointed at the unique mutant beast.

“I’ll take care of it. I’ll kill it, I’ll save that guy, and I’ll have him for myself!”

Lucy wouldn’t back down.

“Adora, you, whoever—you’ll never take him from me! Lin is my only ally, my greatest companion!”

Lucy picked up the sword that had been lying on the ground after the black market thugs had died and unleashed her magic, swinging it wide.

“You’ll never take him from me!”

“Just try!”

Both of them charged forward at the same time. Cutting through the beasts that attacked them as they ran, the warrior and the thief split in opposite directions.

The warrior surrounded her sword with crimson-golden light as she leaped toward the unique mutant beast. The thief, on the other hand, broke through to the spot where she had noticed the beasts were only lurking.

They each made different choices to turn the tide and save Lin.

Naturally, the beasts targeted Lucy, who was in the air, aiming to protect the unique mutant beast.

“Damn it!”

She had no choice but to slash the beasts, which cost her the chance to deliver a killing blow to the mutant beast.

But, Ravin had a clear path to the mutant now.

“This is just for this time!”

She pulled out a blood-red potion from her coat and downed it in one gulp. Her heart pounded fiercely, and the world around her slowed down.

Stepping on the corpses of the beasts that had fallen from the sky, Ravin reached the underside of the unique mutant beast.

Ultimate Skill

“Secret Technique: Thousand Strikes!”

Blood streamed from her eyes and nose, but her momentum didn’t waver. With speed even Lucy would struggle to follow, Ravin’s countless thrusts shredded the beast’s jaw into tatters.

But she didn’t stop there. Like a drill, Ravin burrowed into the beast’s skull and emerged from its crown.

Adora, who hadn’t anticipated such a cooperative attack, gasped.

“There you are.”

Lucy had pinpointed Adora’s location.

“Did you really think you could hide from me with just a little masking scent?”

There was nothing visible, but Lucy could detect a faint stench of underground water coming from that spot. Lucy punched toward it.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

The demon was hit squarely in the stomach and flew backward. As the illusion broke, Lin, who had been lying there, was revealed.

“Lin!”

He didn’t move, but he was still breathing. Relieved that he was unharmed, Lucy picked him up, and Adora, who had been knocked away, quickly reappeared.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t touch Lin with those filthy hands.”

“I thought I hit you pretty hard!”

Lucy felt utterly defeated, painfully aware of the absence of the Sacred Sword. While she could deal with the beasts using normal attacks, it was a different story with demons.

Without the Holy Buff from a Saint or the Sacred Sword, physical attacks on demons did only one-tenth the damage, and magical attacks only did half, making it nearly impossible to land a solid hit.

The surroundings were still a scene of bloodshed and chaos.

“Huff… huff…”

Ravin, suffering from the potion’s side effects, was on her knees, blood dripping from her mouth. But the hostility in her gaze toward Adora hadn’t diminished.

The three guilds—thieves, mercenaries, and merchants—were still fighting hard. It was a continuous, meaningless slaughter.

Even Lin, who had been protected by the illusion, was starting to wake up from the smell of blood and sand in the air.

Adora knew it was time to end this.

“You’re awake, Lin.”

“Adora.”

“You could’ve slept a little longer.”

She admired how calm he remained even in the midst of such chaos.

But Lin felt anything but calm.

“Ravin, you…”

The moment he saw Ravin, bleeding, Lin immediately understood the situation. The side effects of the potion she had used the day the Filthy Water Alley disappeared were still the same.

Even as she coughed up blood, Ravin felt a surge of emotion seeing Lin’s worried expression directed at her. In contrast, Lucy, who was right beside him, felt the sting of being treated like she was less important than a sack of barley.

Just then, an intruder burst through the uneasy truce.

“Now! Kill that bitch Ravin!”

“The contract was to eliminate Ravin! Now’s our chance!”

The mercenary and merchant guild leaders.

“You’ve got some nerve, making demands in a situation like this.”

Even Adora was taken aback by their audacity. But the merchant guild leader didn’t care.

“You’re just an illusionist! Just like you’ve filled part of Waltercrua with illusions, it should be nothing for you to manipulate the memories of everyone here!”

“Shut up.”

Thud!

The merchant guild leader’s head exploded, bursting like a rotten fruit. Adora was genuinely enraged. That filthy creature had stolen the timing of her introduction—an introduction meant for Lin!

“You broke the contract! This is a violation of the pact! If he finds out…!”

“I don’t care about the little brat who’s controlling you. And honestly, I’m quite pissed off because of him.”

It was Adora who had first noticed when Lin arrived in Waltercrua with the warrior. Although it was only a superficial alliance, she had shared that information. But both the subordinates and the higher-ups had interfered with her, using underhanded tactics that only angered her further.

“I told you I’d handle it!”

The illusions were just for show. Adora didn’t need to painstakingly craft them, as just sending out her demonic aura could choke the life out of the mercenary guild leader, slowly strangling him to death.

“Khhk, urgh!”

“This is a warning. Don’t get cocky.”

Clearing her throat, the illusionist amplified her voice with dark magic.

“I am Adora, an illusionist and a member of the Demon King’s Party.”

Despite the shocking confession, no one dared to interrupt her speech.

“Originally, according to my agreement with the leaders of the mercenary and merchant guilds, I was supposed to kill Ravin, the thief guild leader. But since these two have acted on their own, I’ve decided to make them pay for ignoring a demon.”

“Urk…! Illusionist, you bitch…!”

“Let me make this clear: the leaders of the mercenary and merchant guilds made a secret pact with me, a demon. Well, they’re not my allies anymore.”

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Absolutely not. Lin, I wanted to introduce myself to you properly.

Adora sent a mental transmission to Lin, Lucy, and Ravin. To Lin, she pleaded with heartfelt desperation.

“Our goal as the Demon King’s Party is to defeat the warrior’s party and resurrect the fallen Demon King, securing victory in the war.”

Foolish warrior, do you really think you can protect Lin from us without the Sacred Sword?

To Lucy, she taunted with disdain.

“So, you guild leaders are no longer necessary. Just die quietly.”

It’s not just because you don’t have the Sacred Sword that you couldn’t detect me.

Thud!

The mercenary guild leader’s head also exploded, effortlessly destroyed.

“I’m bored now, so I’m leaving.”

Since you lost your limbs, you’ve been forced to stay close to Lin. Over time, you’ve become accustomed to his aura.

“Remember, though the Demon King is dead, we demons still stand strong, guided by the will of the Demon God.”

Even now, Lin’s aura is laced with demonic energy—specifically, the Demon King’s energy. You’ve become so accustomed to pure demonic energy that you couldn’t even recognize the same aura in me.

“And also remember, the next time our entire Demon King’s Party reveals ourselves to the world, the resurrected Demon King will be leading us.”

You know why Lin became like this, don’t you?

The warrior, in shock, turned her gaze to Lin.

Lin remained silent.

Desperately wanting to apologize, Lucy kept tugging at his sleeve, but Lin continued to ignore her.

And Ravin, who had also heard everything through the mental transmission, could barely contain her rage.

Adora, sensing his pain, sent a special message just to Ravin.

You know why I went through the trouble of staging this ridiculous drama here in Waltercrua, right?

Ravin’s bloodshot eyes focused on her.

You have something you desire, Ravin the Thief. Coincidentally, what you and I want aligns perfectly.

The reason Adora had infiltrated Waltercrua with such an elaborate ruse was to recruit Ravin into the Demon King’s Party.