Chapter 163: Bandits

“Stop right there! Don’t move!”

In front of Via and Kurei, someone holding a weapon blocked their path.

Via lifted her head and looked ahead. She noticed that on the mountain slopes lining both sides of the road, many more figures had appeared. They held long-range weapons like bows and arrows, all aimed squarely at her and Kurei.

Every last one of them was a demonkin.

“Ha!”

Little Ha jumped down from atop Via’s head, arched her back, and hissed fiercely at the blocking demonkin.

“You two young ladies, should we say you’re lucky or unlucky? Of all the roads you could have chosen, you picked this one.”

The leader was a bald demonkin wielding a massive axe. His face was savage, an eyepatch covering his left eye.

A scornful smile hung on his lips as he swaggered toward Via and Kurei.

“But since you’ve run into me, I’m a very reasonable gentleman.”

“Gentleman?” Kurei frowned.

“That’s right. Hand over all your valuables and don’t put up any resistance. I won’t hurt you two. In fact, I’ll even escort you to a safe place.”

However, Via had already guessed roughly what these people were.

The Desolate Fallen Continent had scarce resources and a harsh environment. As a result, rather than working honestly, quite a few demonkin chose to band together into bandit groups, roaming everywhere and plundering others’ survival resources.

The bald demonkin before them was a textbook bandit boss, and the rest were clearly his subordinates.

“Looks like you’re carrying quite a few good items… Huh?”

The bald demonkin clearly froze when he saw Via’s face, looking genuinely surprised.

What was going on? How was there a human here?

The other demonkin noticed as well. This pink-haired girl was not a demonkin but a member of a race extremely rare in the Desolate Fallen Continent.

“Human?”

“Why would a human come to our Desolate Fallen Continent?”

“What’s with that demonkin hanging out with a human?”

The demonkin were all puzzled.

After all, the Desolate Fallen Continent was demonkin territory. Humans were their enemies—how could one possibly venture this deep?

“This is an unexpected bonus. Humans are rare goods in the Desolate Fallen Continent. If we catch her and sell her to the big shots, we should make quite a profit.”

The bald demonkin beamed with delight.

His subordinates grew restless.

In a place like the Desolate Fallen Continent, there were no real laws or rules. Might made right. Things strictly forbidden in other countries were commonplace here.

“What a bunch of ignorant fools. Of all people to rob, they had to pick Lord Demon King.”

Kurei set down the items she was carrying, raised her hand, and summoned her personal weapon.

The petite demonkin maid lifted the heavy giant hammer with one hand and pointed it at the roadblock ahead.

“Time for a big garbage cleanup.”

“We’re back!”

Kurei pushed open the door and shouted happily.

Fresh blood still stained her cheerful face, yet she grinned brightly.

Melu looked up, saw the returning Via and Kurei, and immediately stood.

“Dinner is already ready.”

“Hehe, I’m starving~”

Kurei was about to sit down when Melu stopped her.

“Kurei, wait. Wash your face first. The smell of blood on you is too strong.”

“Mm, fine.”

Little Ha noticed Melu had prepared food for her too. She grabbed the little bowl in her mouth and trotted to the corner to enjoy her meal. Kurei headed to the washroom.

“Lord Demon King, did something happen while you and Kurei were at the Demon King’s Castle ruins?” Melu asked curiously.

“We ran into some bandits.”

Via pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Kurei took care of all of them.”

“Oh.”

“Melu, you don’t seem very surprised?”

“There aren’t many people in this town precisely because bandit groups like that are always active nearby. Those bastards even raid the town itself to plunder the residents,” Melu explained. “A while ago Kurei killed one of their minor leaders, so they gathered a force and attacked.”

“And then?” Via asked with interest.

“After that, Kurei and I smashed all those bandits flat and buried them in the mass grave east of town.”

Kurei walked out of the washroom, her face now clean after wiping away the blood with a towel.

“Lord Demon King, the world is just this chaotic now. When you were still around, at least those bandits kept a low profile. Now they’re completely unrestrained. They dare charge into towns in broad daylight.”

“Even after the royal court was dissolved, don’t the ancient families do anything about it?” Via asked, displeased.

“Not really. Some of the bandits actually have backing from those ancient families,” Kurei said helplessly. “Lord Demon King, think about it. Resources in the Desolate Fallen Continent have always been scarce. Those ancient families are so wealthy—how could they possibly earn money honestly?”

Via grew even more displeased.

She had never liked those ancient families rooted in the Desolate Fallen Continent.

Those old fossils basically never considered the future of demonkind. They only cared about their own interests.

In her previous life she had already begun forming plans to strike at those ancient families, weaken their power and influence.

Unfortunately, before she could officially carry them out, she and Selina had fought to their mutual deaths.

“Alright, enough of those mood-killing topics. Tell me, how was today’s haul?” Melu changed the subject.

“We picked up some junk in the Demon King’s Castle ruins and came back,” Kurei said with a laugh. “There wasn’t really anything valuable, but on the way back we ran into those bandits. After dealing with them, we got some pretty good stuff off their bodies.”

“Oh ho, an unexpected bonus?” Melu looked at Via. “Lord Demon King, how do you plan to use this income?”

“I want to buy some magic stones to replenish the Demon King Armament’s energy,” Via replied. “First, it will let me use my previous-life identity as Demon King Ville, which will make the next steps more convenient.”

“Next steps?” Melu caught the notable phrase. “Lord Demon King, have you already decided on your next move?”

“Yes,” Via nodded. “Next, I plan to go find the Abyssal Demoness.”

“Abyssal Demoness?”

Kurei exclaimed the moment she heard the name.

“Lord Demon King, that’s not good! It’s too dangerous!”

Even Melu lost her composure, her expression changing. “Lord Demon King, are you serious? You’re actually going to seek out the Abyssal Demoness?!”