Manzhu soared into the sky, taking over Anxing’s battle with the two Natives.
The sudden appearance of a fully-restored Demon Emperor caught the two completely off guard. After a brief exchange, they decisively chose to retreat.
Anxing was only injured, not dead. In this environment, the recovery rate of demons was incredibly fast; it wouldn’t take long for Anxing to heal and return to launch a pincer attack on them.
With two against one, they could barely gain the upper hand.
But two against two—then the situation would be completely reversed.
Since the plan had already failed, there was no point in staying and increasing casualties.
As for those whose Mission was infiltration, they were probably already killed by this Demon Emperor who had been hiding in the shadows.
“Let’s go!”
“Click.”
Watching the two opponents choose to retreat without hesitation after her appearance, Manzhu clenched her fists, but ultimately gave up the idea of pursuit.
For the same reason that Anxing hadn’t chased before—there was no need, and the risk was too great.
Her Mission was to protect Anxing, not to bury these invading enemies here.
Turning back, she saw that Anxing had already been caught and safely set down on the ground by Luo Shuangyue.
She couldn’t help but feel a little dissatisfied in her heart.
Trying to play the good guy again at this moment? This little thing is truly sly.
“Anxing-senpai, are you alright? Is there anything I can help with…” Using softened thorny vines to catch Anxing as she fell from the sky, Luo Shuangyue spoke with deep concern on her face.
Anxing looked at the petite girl who appeared before her, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
A few seconds later, she finally recognized the girl’s identity from the familiar face and the almost unchanged Demonic Energy.
“Dark Moth? How are you…” She had only half asked the question when she suddenly realized how silly it was.
Why would Luo Shuangyue appear here? Wasn’t the answer obvious?
She knew what kind of personality Luo Shuangyue had; this child loved nothing more than sneaking snacks.
Facing this Feast, would she really not show up to join the fun and try to sneak a taste?
She should have expected the current situation as soon as she heard from Manzhu that Dark Moth was also nearby.
And compared to Manzhu, whom she’d always clashed with, Anxing was clearly more tolerant of Luo Shuangyue.
As for Luo Shuangyue’s sneaking snacks, she merely frowned and earnestly told her it was wrong.
“Don’t steal food again. The energy here is extremely important for the birth of our Kin.”
Her words had barely left her mouth when Manzhu’s voice drifted over, ruthlessly undermining her.
“Don’t say that. Everyone knows this energy far exceeds what one Kin’s birth requires. Us taking a little won’t affect her descent at all.” The enchanting woman in a black and red long dress slowly descended from the sky, casting Luo Shuangyue a meaningful glance.
This little one was not to be trusted. Right now, she should be on her side.
They’re all demons—who knows what the other is thinking?
A powerful Kin about to descend was no good thing for any of them present.
After all, protecting the Kin’s descent wasn’t the end of the Mission; they’d also have to make sure the new Kin obediently left with them.
And as for the temperament of demons—everyone knew it well.
If you didn’t beat the other into submission, there was no way you could take her away.
“Besides, do you really think you can talk her into joining our plan with just your words? If you ask me, it’s better to weaken her now, then slowly reason with her later.”
“Don’t judge others by your own standards! You think every Kin is like you, only ever thinking of themselves!”
“I’m always thinking of myself? Aren’t you the same? If you’re so capable, handle everything yourself and don’t ask for my help!”
The two Demon Emperors quickly erupted into a quarrel.
Luo Shuangyue, the cute little thing, quietly edged away, putting some distance between herself and the center of conflict.
Right now, she only feared these two turning their attention to her.
After all, she had a guilty conscience.
Her goal wasn’t just to sneak a bit of Demonic Energy, but to guide the Holy Sovereign’s attack to send this newborn demon straight back to hell.
Unfortunately, there were only three people here in total.
Once the other two got into a heated argument, they’d definitely look for an ally—even if that ally was just a little cutie with no real say.
“Dark Moth, tell us, who’s at fault here!”
“Little one, do you think this idiot’s brain has turned to mush?”
Both Demon Emperors’ gazes fell on Luo Shuangyue, causing a fine cold sweat to break out on her forehead.
She felt like a poor little white rabbit stared down by tigers and lions.
Either one could easily tear her apart.
So, she really couldn’t answer their questions!
Her relationship with Anxing was a bit better, but what Manzhu said made sense too.
Could anyone really expect to persuade a just-born Demon Emperor with mere words? In the end, a fight was inevitable, so weakening the opponent beforehand made perfect sense.
“I think… Manzhu-senpai’s idea isn’t wrong. Anxing-senpai, you know how hard it is to communicate with a newborn Kin. Even recalling our own pasts, you know that back then, none of us could listen to reason, right?”
After careful thought, Luo Shuangyue decided she had to side with the one who made sense.
Even if Manzhu had ulterior motives and talked big while caring only about herself, her point still stood.
In contrast, Anxing’s intentions were good and sincere, but when it came to a fight, her actions were no different from aiding the enemy.
A good person doing bad things, a bad person doing good things—so of course Luo Shuangyue, who was neither good nor bad but always after her own fun, would choose the side that benefited her most.
So she chose to help Manzhu convince Anxing. It was about the issue, not the person.
“Anxing-senpai, are you absolutely certain that you can convince our Kin to join us with words alone?” Luo Shuangyue asked seriously.
Anxing looked at Luo Shuangyue’s earnest expression and was momentarily speechless.
When she argued with Manzhu, she could avoid the issue by attacking Manzhu’s character.
But now that the question came from Luo Shuangyue, she had no way to avoid it.
Once she could no longer avoid the question, she could only admit that she was wrong.
Because deep down, she knew very well that it was impossible to convince a newly awakened kin to join simply by reasoning.
Demons don’t care for arguments—they believe in strength.
Whoever has the bigger fist is right.
“If a battle is inevitable, weakening the enemy beforehand becomes necessary. Besides, Senior Anxing, you’re injured now—you need that power, don’t you?”
“Injury is not the issue.” Anxing let out a somewhat helpless sigh and took out the Black Crystal that Luo Shuangyue had seen before.
Then, Manzhu’s voice sounded again, explaining to Luo Shuangyue the purpose of the crystal in Anxing’s hand.
“This crystal contains a kin’s gathered magic power. Absorbing it lets our strength recover at incredible speed.”
In other words, it’s an Energy Amethyst…
Every Demon Emperor who ventures out will carry such a crystal just in case, and now, Anxing’s injuries justified its use.
She crushed the crystal in her hand with force.
Streams of pure black demonic energy poured from the shattered crystal into her body, causing her pale face to quickly regain color.
“So, Anxing, what do you plan to do? The vote now is two to one, you know.”
…Don’t go too far. Everything must happen under my supervision.” Anxing let out a long sigh, glanced at Luo Shuangyue and Manzhu, and said coldly.
She knew the tide could not be stopped—even if she complained later, the seniors would not punish Manzhu and Luo Shuangyue over this.
Manzhu’s method wasn’t really wrong.
So, all she could do now was keep a close watch on Manzhu and Luo Shuangyue, making sure they didn’t damage the very foundation of their soon-to-be-born kin.
“I agree!” The moment Anxing gave in, Luo Shuangyue immediately raised her small hand and rejoined Anxing’s camp, earning a sharp glare from Manzhu.
In Manzhu’s plans, she was hoping to get some benefits out of Anxing, but with Luo Shuangyue’s lightning-fast change of sides, her small requests now seemed petty.
Just now, it was two against one. Now, it was one against two—justice had slipped away from her side.
“Fine, let them watch if they want.” Since the main objective was already achieved, Manzhu pinched her nose and accepted the compromise.
Anxing’s post was at the Black Vortex Core. She wouldn’t abandon her station, so Luo Shuangyue and Manzhu had to go with her to the core.
This gave Luo Shuangyue the feeling of searching far and wide for something, only for it to fall into her lap effortlessly.
She’d just spent so much time thinking up excuses to go to the Vortex’s core, and now Anxing was personally taking her there?
You really are my good sister!
As Anxing recovered, the two Silver Butterflies she’d absorbed began to be expelled from her body bit by bit.
After being in the Demon Emperor’s body for so long, the two butterflies had melted into two oddly-shaped pearls.
Anxing didn’t care—she clenched her fist, ready to crush the pearls.
But just then, Manzhu’s scheming mind kicked in again. She was rather displeased with Luo Shuangyue’s earlier betrayal, so of course she had to think of a way to make things difficult for her.
Look, these two pearls are also Holy Sovereign’s magic power.
You just ate a Holy Sovereign’s butterfly, so eating two more pearls shouldn’t be a problem, right?
So she spoke up, telling Anxing that anything she couldn’t consume could be given to their little Dark Moth friend.
Wasting food was a bad thing, after all.
“Eh?” Upon hearing Manzhu’s words, Luo Shuangyue froze.
I barely survived eating one butterfly. With three at once, I’d probably be killed by the Holy Sovereign’s magic right away.
Manzhu didn’t care what Luo Shuangyue thought.
She stepped forward, snatched the pearls from Anxing’s hand, and forced them into Luo Shuangyue’s hand, even pretending to be a kind senior encouraging her to appreciate the favor.
With the two pearls in her hand, Luo Shuangyue looked pleadingly at Anxing, her eyes full of misery.
These things were literally burning hot to the touch; all her power was being used to suppress the Silver Butterfly inside her, and she couldn’t control the pearls at all.
Pitch-black smoke rose from her hand holding the pearls, making her panic and constantly switching hands to hold them.
Seeing this, how could Anxing not realize that Manzhu was bullying Luo Shuangyue? She stepped forward, about to scold Manzhu.
“All right, all right, I’ll hold onto them for now. Once you finish absorbing what’s inside you, I’ll give them back.” Manzhu smiled and waved, taking the pearls back.
The meaning was clear: the three lumps of Holy Sovereign’s magic—Luo Shuangyue would eat them whether she wanted to or not. No running away.
What a narrow-minded jerk. Looks open-minded enough, but tsk, Luo Shuangyue cursed inwardly.
But actually, this wasn’t such a bad thing for her. Since Manzhu would carry the pearls, she’d definitely keep them close…
And once the pearls reached the vortex core, Manzhu wouldn’t have the final say anymore.
“Well then… thank you so much, Senior Manzhu.” Luo Shuangyue took a deep breath, forced a smile, and thanked Manzhu through gritted teeth.
“Hehe, you’re welcome.” Manzhu put the pearls away inside herself and flicked her hair.
She just loved hearing those powerless wails from someone who wanted to kill her but couldn’t do anything.
“Let’s go. We’re short on time, and we need to absorb our kin’s power as soon as possible.”
“How are you even back?” White Meteor stared at Xia Mo, who was flying in from the distance, her voice full of disbelief.
That’s not right. All four members sent for the infiltration mission ran into the Demon Emperor head-on.
There shouldn’t be any survivors.
Could it be she betrayed them?
No, those monsters don’t know the meaning of mercy—they’d never take in a traitor.
The Flower Sprite was just as curious. Of the four, only one returned. It was strange, to say the least.
“The intel was wrong. There was both a Demon Emperor and a Demon King guarding the place. The other three ran into the Demon Emperor—I couldn’t save them.” Xia Mo’s tone was full of confidence.
She hadn’t done anything wrong, and the facts were just as she’d said.
“I fought the Demon King for a long time, and only escaped because the fight between the other two drew their attention.”
This part wasn’t true, but to protect Luo Shuangyue’s important undercover identity, Xia Mo had to say it.
“But you’re the only one who came back. Who knows if you…” White Meteor began to argue, her anger rising.
Before she could finish, Xia Mo cut her off: “Are you saying, Senior, that I colluded with those monsters and killed my own teammates?”
Xia Mo stared at White Meteor, her gaze icy. She wouldn’t be kind in the face of such suspicion.
“I, I didn’t mean that, but the four of you…” White Meteor trailed off, her attention suddenly shifting to the sky.
“Anxing actually brought the Beacon to the Vortex Core?!”