So Milin reached out and grabbed the shadowy sphere, now the size of a human head, from the tabletop.
It felt like she was grabbing a handful of cotton.
The shadow contracted and deformed slightly between her fingers, but eventually bounced back into a sphere.
‘Was Feiyin’s original form also like this…?’
Milin found it somewhat amusing. But thinking of the maid she treated like a sister, she felt a pang of sadness.
Yet looking at this spherical shadow demon, she immediately cast aside those unnecessary emotions.
“I’ll ask, and you’ll answer. Don’t think about lying to me.” She made her voice as stern and cold as possible. “What is your purpose for infiltrating this place?”
‘Ah… how is a ball supposed to talk?’
Just as she was wondering this, a voice came from within the sphere.
“Because I was invited. Just like the other guests.”
The voice hadn’t changed much from when he was in his elf form, but it now carried a quality of echoing in a confined space. Milin frowned. Instead of refuting immediately, she pressed on:
“What is your connection to the demon race that attacked the Northland? Where is the Daughter of the Demon King now?”
The sphere was silent for a moment, then spoke:
“I have no connection with them. I also don’t know where that girl who calls herself the king’s daughter is.”
Milin’s hand-chopping strike fell, slicing off a part of the sphere.
The shadow on the sphere’s surface trembled for an instant… but quickly calmed down, reforming into an even smaller sphere.
“I already told you, don’t try to deceive me. Speak quickly.”
“I don’t know.”
Even after being reduced by a quarter, the sphere still gave that answer.
“……!”
Another strike from Milin’s hand lopped off more of the shadow.
In the venue, the music still flowed.
The guests surrounding the dance floor were either standing or simply pulling up chairs to sit, as if watching a farcical play.
Some of them even cheered for her, while others worriedly warned her not to go too far and kill the demon before getting any answers.
Milin still couldn’t get the answers she wanted. Staring at the shrinking shadow demon, she asked anxiously:
“I’ll give you one last chance! Tell me where those demons are… where is your Shadow Demon Lord!”
“You want to look for the Demon Lord’s Wife? Wasn’t she killed by you? By that hero’s illegitimate daughter—”
“She’s not dead! I already told you to tell the truth—”
Milin was about to strike again… but this time Carol stepped forward and grabbed her arm.
“Lady Milin, you can’t cut anymore.”
Her reminder brought Milin back to her senses. Considering the shadow demon was now only the size of an apple… if she cut again, it would probably stop shrinking.
“Is that so? As I thought… the Demon Lord’s Wife cannot be defeated by you humans.” The shadow demon laughed contentedly, and Milin’s expression turned terrifying. But after a brief pause, the shadow demon spoke again.
“Believe it or not, young hero girl. I left my demon realm kin over seven hundred years ago and came to the human realm.”
“You’re still spouting nonsense…!”
“The reason I did this was because I grew tired of the then-king’s endless war on the human realm. I didn’t want to answer the king’s call, so I had to find a way to hide myself, escape the demon realm, mimic the form of another race, and blend in among them. And I wasn’t the only one. When I escaped the demon realm back then, there were others of my kind with the same idea who followed me. We scattered across the human realm… choosing places where we wanted to live. I chose the Sea of Trees, which wasn’t caught up in the war at the time. I mimicked an elf and lived in the Sea of Trees as an elf for seven hundred years.”
With that, he gave his name and title—Baron of the Western Highwind Forest Domain. He mentioned his estate, his family, and a series of things corresponding to that identity.
“Carol, get the guest list.”
Nephtalia raised her hand to signal Carol to verify… but before Carol even returned, murmurs arose from the surrounding guests—
“I’ve heard of that family name. That guy is the famous tailor from Highwind Forest Domain… Our family used to order clothes from him.”
“I also think he looks kind of familiar…”
Soon, Carol returned with feedback.
“Lady Milin, Lady Nephtalia. What this person said matches the guest list. We did invite him.”
“No way… This person disguised as an elf and lived in the Sea of Trees for over seven hundred years? Then what about us—”
“Don’t be fooled by him! He’s a shadow demon! He most likely replaced that tailor!”
The venue grew restless… This result clearly caught everyone off guard.
“Don’t joke around…!”
Especially Milin—she could hardly accept this outcome.
“I already told you, I know nothing about the Demon King’s remnants—I swear by my true name. If you don’t believe me, I can make a covenant with you not to lie.”
A red hexagram emerged from the sphere Milin was holding. After a moment of hesitation, she pressed her hand onto it.
“The covenant is established.”
The same hexagram appeared on her hand. She heard the shadow demon say:
“Are you a remnant of the Demon King?”
“No.”
“…Do you know where the Daughter of the Demon King and the Shadow Demon Lord are?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did you come here for?”
“I heard about what happened in Northern Elancia, and I wanted to see the one who has been called the ‘New Hero.’ Moreover, you’re about to be summoned by the Queen, which might change the future of the Sea of Trees, so it was worth my attention.”
The answers were complete. The hexagram didn’t change… and the shadow demon remained unharmed.
“No, no…”
Milin wore a confused expression and stepped back two paces. She couldn’t believe that the demon she had gone through so much trouble to catch had nothing to do with the incident—
“At this rate, where am I supposed to find clues…? How am I supposed to find those two damned demons… and Feiyin…?”
“Milin, calm down.”
Just then, Nephtalia aptly grabbed her arm and put an arm around her shoulder.
“Let’s lock this guy up first. We can’t fully trust his words; I’ll immediately send people to investigate whether everything he said is true. And didn’t your sister Lian tell you? Those two who kidnapped her wanted to leave through the Grand Teleportation Array.”
She leaned close to Milin’s ear and quietly reminded her.
“Right… you’re right. We just need to guard the Grand Teleportation Array from now on.”
Nephtalia’s words finally calmed Milin down. She nodded at her friend.
“Alright. Then take this sphere away first.”
“Yes.”
Just as the surrounding guards were about to step forward, hurried and chaotic footsteps came from the direction of the passage. A servant stumbled into the venue, panicked, and ran to Nephtalia:
“Lady Nephtalia…!”
“Speak.”
“Something huge has happened in the city…” The servant took a deep breath. “That hero… your sister, Lord Iyue, has returned! She’s in Fenglin City right now!”