Following Isavel’s words and the mage’s reaction, Leanna’s longsword silently left its scabbard, and Teresa’s magic was already aimed at the mage’s vitals.
They weren’t fools; the moment the mage showed his guilt, they had guessed the truth. Conversely, the more soft-hearted girls turned red, lowering their heads, not daring to look at Isavel.
If the Rose Knights had truly made the choice they had considered, they would have certainly fallen into an irrecoverable abyss. If not for Isavel, they would have been the sinners of the Rose Knights.
The mage, his lie completely exposed by Isavel, felt the last bit of color drain from his face.
He stumbled back, his lips trembling and his eyes flickering wildly as he tried one last struggle.
“You… you… I don’t know what you’re talking about! Me, siding with demons? How could that be possible?”
“What… what benefits could they give me?! I… I am a human!”
Just as his voice fell, the ground behind him — which had seemed empty — suddenly writhed.
Viscous blood erupted from a fissure in the earth, quickly condensing into a twisted, humanoid figure.
It fit the world’s image of a demon perfectly: blood-red skin, white horns growing from its forehead, interlocking sharp teeth, and crimson pupils.
“It seems I still underestimated you, outsiders.”
This demon, clearly a leader, spoke with a voice like sandpaper rubbing against bone, carrying an ear-piercing rasp and a hint of excitement.
The mage, as if catching a lifesaver, scrambled to the demon’s feet.
Tears and snot streaming down his face, he pointed at Isavel and the others.
“Lord Demon! They… they’ve seen through — “
His words came to an abrupt halt.
The demon looked at him. In an instant, its head expanded several times in size. Then, it bit off the mage’s head in one mouthful and began to chew slowly.
Thud!
The mage seemingly hadn’t expected the sudden attack. His headless corpse slowly slumped to the ground, blood spurting from his neck, making the already crimson ground even darker.
After the demon finished eating the head in a leisurely manner, its head returned to its normal size.
Simultaneously, it shook off the bloodstains on its appendages as if dusting off dirt, its eyes sweeping mockingly across the corpse. Its voice was chillingly calm.
“A guy who’s more of a hindrance than a help has no reason to exist.”
Witnessing this, the members of the Rose Knights caught their breath and subconsciously tightened their grip on their weapons. Isavel, however, was not surprised.
This was the nature of collaborating with demons; there was no end other than death.
Soon, the demon refocused its attention on Isavel and the poised Rose Knights.
After sensing their strength, its gaze finally locked onto Isavel.
“You must be the Oracle Maiden, right? And those following you… are they the Rose Knights from the prophecy who are supposed to kill Lord Evil Dragon?”
Without waiting for an answer, it let out a series of ear-piercing laughs like metal scraping together, as if it had heard the world’s biggest joke.
“Heh… I wonder if this prophecy is even accurate. With such a weak Order of Knights, I honestly don’t see how Lord Evil Dragon could lose…”
As a Demi-God Level demon, it could sense Isavel’s terrifying power, but the young girls behind her were pathetically weak.
At first, it thought it had sensed wrongly. After all, according to the prophecy, they were the culprits who would kill the Evil Dragon. How could they be so weak?
However, after sensing them several times, it had to admit that they were indeed that weak.
It was too absurd! Truly too absurd!
How could the great Evil Dragon die at the hands of people like this?
Malice surged in its eyes. The demon reached into its own abdomen, pulling out a rib to use as a weapon.
“Regardless, just to be safe, I’ll deal with you for Lord Evil Dragon first, outsiders.”
“If you take your own lives now, you might be spared from my torture. I promise the process will be quick… probably.”
Its mouth curled back to its ears, and the demon erupted with Demi-God Level Abyssal Magic.
At the same time, all the demons hiding nearby revealed themselves, surrounding them.
There were a total of thirty-some demons present. The weakest were Level 50 or higher, while the strongest was their leader — the Demi-God Level demon known as a Great Demon.
This was the manpower they had stationed here.
If the Rose Knights had believed that mage and followed him to the fake stronghold, they would have faced an onslaught of hundreds or even thousands of demons.
Unfortunately for them, the knights were a bit too smart.
Faced with this blatant threat, Isavel’s expression remained indifferent, though the chill deep within her eyes intensified.
Not only that, but she caught a key piece of information in the demon’s words.
“As a creature of this battlefield, you actually know our identities?” she asked in return.
According to Kurt, the Tower Master of the Archmage Tower, the Abyssal Ancient Battlefield was merely a projection of the war between the Evil Dragon and the Goddess from ancient times.
The demons and humans living here should have died long ago.
Yet, the demon before her seemed truly alive.
The demon seemed to enjoy the pleasure brought by this “information advantage.” It straightened its body with a twisted sense of pride.
“Of course I know! I even know that this battlefield is essentially illusory! Not only that, I know that we demons should have died clean off in that Divine War a thousand years ago, along with those ridiculous human spirits!”
Speaking to this point, its voice rose, filled with fanaticism.
“The reason we can still remain here, still think, and still fight is all because of the great Lord Evil Dragon! It is his will that allows us to persist, making us a part of this battlefield!”
It suddenly pointed at Isavel’s group, its tone turning into a cold threat.
“But you are different! You are real intruders! If you die here… then you are truly dead! Your souls and bodies will become nutrients to nourish this battlefield!”
‘So it really does have a clear sense of self-awareness,’ Isavel remarked to herself.
Coldly, she suddenly threw out a crucial question, attempting to gain more information.
“Since you know so much, do you know where the Root of the Evil Dragon is?”
“Root of the Evil Dragon?”
The demon’s eyes rolled, revealing genuine confusion. “What is that? The great Lord Evil Dragon’s power is infinite and boundless; what root could there be?”
Receiving this answer, the last flicker of probing light in Isavel’s eyes died out.
She nodded slightly and took a light step forward. A black longblade appeared in her hand, and the air around her remained calm.
“Since you know nothing, then you are just a pathetic worm driven by residual power. There is nothing more to say.”
She raised her eyes, her gaze piercing the demon like an icicle.
“Make your move. Seeing as you went through so much trouble to ambush us, I will give you the chance to strike first.”
As her words fell, Leanna waved her hand. The girls behind her all drew their weapons and prepared for battle.
At this moment, if any demon nearby dared to take a step forward, they would encounter a thunderous counterattack.
In front of Isavel, the Great Demon was easily ignited by her words. Its eyes instantly turned crimson with rage, and it let out an air-splitting shriek.
“Arrogant! You will pay the price for your pride!”
Its sturdy body didn’t charge directly. Instead, it suddenly spread its arms.
In an instant, with the demon as the center, the crimson earth cracked, and countless blood-red tentacles, soft as hair, burst from the ground.
Like a wild forest, they lunged at Isavel from all directions!
Simultaneously, it kicked off the ground, its entire being striking toward Isavel like a cannonball.
The rib in its hand had completely transformed into its weapon, seemingly possessing the power to tear through space.
A Demi-God Level demon… If a demon of this level appeared in the Mortal World, it would be a disaster.
However, in front of Isavel, its attack was not even worth mentioning.
Facing the sky-blotting tentacles, Isavel simply stood still. Her eyes didn’t even flicker.
She didn’t even chant; she merely swung the blade in her hand slowly.
The world seemed to be split in two. All the tentacles were sliced in half at the waist.
The demon’s sneer froze on its face, and for the first time, a flicker of alarm and doubt crossed its eyes.
However, it continued its assault on Isavel.
In its view, no matter how strong the human before it was, it was impossible for her to kill it in an instant.
Yet…
Faced with the demon’s attack, Isavel took a step forward. At the same time, she raised the blade high and then brought it down rapidly.
The world was split in two once again.
“Paltry tricks!” the demon roared.
The blood-red light on its body flared as it tried to tank the strike through sheer force, intending to tear the opponent apart with absolute power and close-quarters combat!
But when the world divided by the blade light began to shift out of alignment, the demon’s figure froze in mid-air.
In that moment, it realized it was dead.
Cobweb-like cracks began to appear on its flesh. The cracks spread rapidly, covering its entire body in the blink of an eye.
Then, as if weathering away, its body continuously turned into fine red dust, scattering into the air.
“No… impossible! What kind of power is this?!”
The demon let out a horrified howl. It couldn’t believe that it, a Demi-God, couldn’t even withstand a single move from the human before it!
“I’m just sending you to rest for a while,” Isavel said as she put away her blade and brushed some dust off her skirt.
The demons of the Abyssal Ancient Battlefield were different from real demons.
These demons had died long ago; they only existed because of the Abyssal Dragon’s power.
Without resolving the power of the Abyssal Dragon, even if they were killed, they would reappear in this ancient battlefield before long.
Thus, Isavel killing it only made it disappear temporarily.
After finishing this, she turned her gaze toward her surroundings.
Just as the leader had launched its attack, the nearby demons had also struck, intending to swallow the Rose Knights whole.
Isavel would not help against them.
She had brought the Rose Knights to the Abyssal Ancient Battlefield not only because she wanted to sever the Root of the Evil Dragon herself, but also to train them.
However, the Rose Knights did not disappoint her.
After obtaining equipment crafted with the Pure Heart, the Rose Knights’ ability to deal with demons had reached a new level.
Leanna was like an unsheathed holy sword, turning into a straight golden line that cut into the densest cluster of demons.
Her swordsmanship, combined with magic, was devoid of unnecessary flourishes.
Every swing landed precisely on a demon’s weak point.
Even when facing a Level 80 demon in a one-on-one duel, she didn’t fall into a disadvantage in the slightest.
Teresa was the same, perhaps even a step above. Her magic was extremely powerful, often enveloping a large area of demons at once.
Simultaneously, she possessed terrifying defensive capabilities.
A magical Ice Shield that was close to the level of a Forbidden Curse was enough to make many demons hesitate.
In addition, there was Iserine’s Support Magic, Seli’s arrows, and Aixi’s Training Hammer…
The current Rose Knights were like a powerhouse without a single weakness, wantonly slaughtering the demons that approached on the battlefield.
The battle was almost a one-sided massacre.
These demons, who had wandered the ancient battlefield for a thousand years and possessed rich combat experience, still appeared clumsy and powerless before the perfectly coordinated Rose Knights.
After seeing their companions continuously fall, the fear and betrayal hidden deep in their hearts surfaced once more.
The remaining demons quickly fled in all directions.