Chapter 124: The Situation

As they walked a little closer, the girls could clearly sense the difference.

Compared to the army from Harbor City, these ones were neither as tall, nor as strong, and their equipment was much less refined.

“The differences between the Demon Tribe are huge.”

Ayla explained quietly.

“Some tribes differ from each other even more than humans do from demons.”

To be able to unite so many demon races of different bloodlines together—wasn’t that proof of the Demon King’s greatness and ambition?

Vina studied them carefully, a little curious.

“Theoretically, the Harbor City army counts as rebels. Why is it that the rebels are better equipped than the regular army?”

“.Yeah, it’s strange.”

As they spoke, a few scattered Demon Tribe Soldiers charged toward them.

Their height wasn’t much different from humans, though they were bulkier.

They wore armor, but only chest plates, and their weapons were all different—one held a spiked club, another a flail, and another carried a bow whose purpose was unclear.

When they saw the girls, their charging footsteps faltered, and their faces froze as if they couldn’t understand why a few humans would appear in the Forest of the Elves.

No pointed ears. Clearly not elves.

“What are you spacing out for?”

The demon holding the bow shouted loudly.

“Unexpected spoils delivered to our door—grab them!”

So he was a minor leader. No wonder he held the only ranged weapon in the squad.

There was no need for anyone else to act.

Celes stepped forward alone, slashing to sever the flail’s chain, then lightly flicked her sword to send both the spiked club and its wielder flying, while effortlessly deflecting a stray arrow.

It was weak, without follow-up shots, not even enough to test her newly practiced sword skills these past few days.

The two melee fighters were already down.

The bow-wielding demon realized things were turning bad, dropped his longbow, and had just reached for the sword at his waist when a vine sprouted from the ground, firmly binding his feet.

With a thud, he fell too.

“Strange, the wood element here is so hard to control.”

Vina shook her small hand.

“I’m not great at this element, but I shouldn’t be this weak.”

She had intended to tie the guy up completely, but after struggling, all she managed was to bind his legs.

Ayla glanced at the vine on the ground, deep in thought.

A few minutes later, the three Demon Tribe Soldiers were trussed up and dumped on the ground.

Celes walked over and directly questioned the bow-wielding minor leader.

“How many of you are here, and what scale of war are you planning to start?”

The question seemed to remind the other party that he wasn’t fighting alone.

His previously dejected face regained some spirit.

“We’ve mobilized 800,000 troops!”

He declared proudly.

“With unstoppable force, we will take the capital of the Elves!”

Celes and the other girls hadn’t even finished being shocked when Ayla said lightly:

“That’s a lie. Seems he doesn’t know either.”

At those words, the bow demon protested.

“Who are you to say that?”

“Half a year ago, the Demon Army had a standing force of just over 500,000, dispersed due to the vast territory, with much of it under the control of local tribal chiefs.”

“During a full mobilization, they could possibly field over a million, but that would require a powerful leader holding absolute authority, united tribal chiefs setting aside their differences, and a cause to make the whole tribe burn with passion for war. Do you have that?”

As Ayla stepped closer, the demon soldiers widened their eyes, but remained stubborn.

You can’t be right about everything just because your chest is big.

“And one more obvious thing—if there really were that many of you, why are there only scattered stragglers left after entering the forest? Shouldn’t the army be flooding the mountains?”

Her words stumped them.

Thinking it over, it did seem to make sense, and several heads drooped in defeat.

Celes frowned.

If these people didn’t know anything, what about intelligence?

She glanced at Ayla for help.

“Ayla, you handle it.”

“Okay~”

Ayla smiled sweetly, but as she turned to the three demon prisoners, her face grew stern.

“Who is your leader, and who started this war?”

The girl’s face was intimidating, but from their position on the ground, the prisoners couldn’t even see her expression.

Instead, her words reminded them of something.

Yeah, we’ve got someone higher up too.

“You’d better let us go! I’ll tell you—under the orders of the Bloodslaughter King, we marched south to conquer the Elves. You humans had best not meddle in this!”

Ayla instantly understood.

So the leader of the Blood Demon Tribe.

Unlike the Wolfhead Tribe, the Blood Demon Tribe didn’t look much different from normal humans, but their blood had higher vitality, giving them restless energy.

Their chief, the Bloodslaughter King, possessed the Burning Blood Secret Technique, granting immense speed and magic resistance for short bursts.

With magic resistance, no wonder he targeted the Elves.

He was probably aiming to use the war’s achievements to claim the Demon King’s throne.

As for the so-called 800,000 troops—clearly impossible. At most, he might have brought the entire Blood Demon Tribe, old and young included, which would barely reach a few hundred thousand.

Real combatants would only be a few tens of thousands.

Still, as the war heated up, the Bloodslaughter King himself would surely join the battlefield, providing plenty of chances to face him.

Ayla looked at the three on the ground and asked a new question.

“Why did you disobey Demon King Aio’s command not to attack the Elves?”

The minor leader sneered.

“Aio? What does he count for? The Bloodslaughter King says only the weak resort to tricks. After defeating the Elves, the King will be the true Demon King!”

Alright, what was I expecting?

Ayla turned to the girls, face serious.

“Leaving them here would risk leaking our intel, so it’s better to handle them on the spot.”

To avoid seeming cold and ruthless, she deliberately added a catchphrase at the end, trying to sound a bit cuter.

Whoosh–

A flash of icy blue sword light, and three heads rolled onto the ground.

Wait, that was way too fast!

At the sound, Ayla quickly grabbed Leah and Vina beside her and dragged them back.

She called out as she did:

“Zero, don’t come any closer!”

Thump thump thump!

Three powerful pillars of blood sprayed forth, proof of their pride as the Blood Demon Tribe.

Fortunately, the girls either reacted quickly or were pulled back by Ayla—otherwise, they’d have been drenched.

Celes sheathed her sword, looking a bit embarrassed.

Maybe she acted too quickly, but wasn’t it just to show she trusted Ayla?

“So where do we go now? Keep moving forward?”

“Let’s head back first.”

Ayla said.

“For us, this intelligence is enough. Let’s see what the Elves plan to do. They must have gotten the news too.”

Her guess was right.

While the girls walked back, the Elves’ Ranger Scout Team had already ridden their Dilu several times and brought the news to the Council of Elders, gathering once more outside the treehouse.

Just in time.