Five minutes after the failed attempt to capture Norton, the commotion here had already drawn quite a crowd.
Heavily armored knight Kavel arrived at the scene alone, only to find his five subordinates sitting in a row, taking turns being treated by an unfamiliar young priest.
“Where does it hurt? Here? Anywhere else? I’ll do my best to heal you…”
Truth flitted among the five, quickly realizing they were all only lightly wounded— barely worth any experience. Seriously, how could that Norton be so weak?
Upon seeing Kavel arrive, the five demon hunters immediately stood up and called out:
“Captain!”
It had to be said— Kavel carried quite an intimidating presence. He was probably at the mid-tier level, right?
He examined the ground that Truth had torn up with a single kick.
There was no lingering trace of magic— pure brute force? Then he turned and asked:
“That was quite a racket. Report what happened, Morpheus. Did you encounter that blood demon?”
“Probably not. The demon we fought was only around Tier 3. Just got a little unexpected and let it get away.”
The brawny man answered— his name was Morpheus.
Morpheus gave a rough account of the events, prompting Kavel to bow his head in thought.
He also glanced at Truth, whose petite frame made her look completely out of place among the group.
Since Kavel wore a full-face helmet, Truth couldn’t see his expression.
This was her first time encountering a native mid-tier powerhouse since transmigrating— how interesting.
“Sudden collapse, and a mist-based healing spell… Little priest, what’s your name? Isn’t Deya City under curfew? Why are you out here alone?” Kavel asked as gently as he could, not wanting to frighten the small figure before him.
“My girlfriend dumped me today, so I came out for some air. Saw a fight going on and thought I’d check if anyone needed healing,” Truth made something up on the spot.
“Your girlf—”
Kavel, a man of vast experience, was momentarily speechless at that.
Choosing not to dig further into Truth’s backstory, Kavel asked her to demonstrate the mist healing spell.
Hmm… just a low-tier area healing technique. Not common, but probably picked up from the nearby fog region.
This priest didn’t seem suspicious… Tier 1, no demonic aura. Then how did that fleeing demon manage to wreck this whole stretch of road?
“Morpheus, collect the demon’s blood from the scene. Take people and track it down immediately. That demon is full of red flags.”
“Yes, sir!”
Kavel then turned to Truth and said:
“There aren’t many priests as selfless as you. Thank you very much for your help.”
He meant it. Back when he’d first joined the military and was gravely wounded, he’d been sent to the rear for treatment— and he still remembered the look of disdain on the military priest’s face:
“Saving you a lot is such a pain. Why don’t you just die on the front lines instead?”
Even after leaving the military and becoming an adventurer, Kavel found that the priests at the Adventurer’s Guild weren’t much better.
Less snarky maybe, but always talking about money. What happened to the kind, gentle priests he’d imagined?
At least there were still pure souls like Truth among the priesthood — not only easy to talk to, but didn’t even ask for payment.
That gave him a bit of renewed faith in priests:
“Also, avoid walking around at night for now. Deya City’s dangerous these days. I’ll have someone escort you back.”
“No need. I live nearby.”
With no more experience to farm, Truth decided to head back to find Reg and the others.
Under the watchful eyes of Kavel and the others, she slowly disappeared down the dark street…
Once the demon hunters had finished their cleanup, a battered and twisted figure appeared on a nearby rooftop.
It was Norton. He hadn’t run far— instead, he’d been lurking in the shadows, watching the demon hunters with hatred burning in his eyes.
Pain. Everything hurt. All he’d wanted was to leave, but they just kept pushing him into a corner!
“They took my blood… What are those demon hunters planning to do with it?” Norton muttered to himself.
Then a chilling, raspy voice echoed in his mind:
“Your blood carries my essence. The demon hunters will use it to track us. We must flee immediately. The black market crowd can’t be trusted— we need another plan.”
“I’ve got one,” Norton said, his darkened right eye gazing toward the distant city gates, heavily guarded even at night, though traffic still bustled through.
“See those carriages, Mogros? They’re the lifeline of Deya’s upper class— gold… magic items… even rare potions are loaded onto them.
The curfew’s just a smokescreen, meant to ensure the safety of nighttime deliveries. The elites even grease the hunters’ palms so they won’t notice the contraband on board.”
“You want me, a demon, to bribe the demon hunters?”
“Go die yourself if that’s your plan, idiot!” Norton snapped.
After escaping from the Suho estate, Norton had no choice but to survive by hiding in the sewers.
Just as he was about to lose all hope, a similarly desperate Tier-3 dark demon named “Mogros” approached him.
One was trying to avoid prison, the other wanted to escape being hunted by demon slayers — and their goal aligned perfectly: get out of Deya City!
The two quickly struck a deal, signing a fair contract that allowed Mogros to possess Norton’s body. Thus began their search for a way out of the city…
Now that Plan A had failed, it was time to initiate Plan B. Norton continued:
“What I mean is, it’s time to ‘cooperate’ with a few nobles. Their influence in Deya City is practically omnipotent. This was part of my plan from the start—take Earl Suho for example. He definitely has ways to help me escape.”
“Haha, after all that, you still want revenge on those nobles. So petty— I love it! So what’s next?”
“Next, we deal with that priest from earlier. It was her!”
Norton leapt across to another rooftop and spotted Truth walking alone on the wide street.
That little priest definitely knew something about Klar. He had to find out!
But in his current state — severely wounded and with this area under demon slayer lockdown — it wouldn’t be easy to make a move… So Norton summoned his demonic power and silently placed a tracking mark on Truth:
“I’ll come find you myself.”
With that done, Norton leapt from the rooftop and disappeared into the shadowed alley.
“Hmm?”
On the street below, Truth suddenly felt an itch on her neck, as if something had been etched into her skin. She summoned a magical hand to swipe the spot.
“Is this a hunting mark?”
Which demon cast this? Can they release this remotely? Even I can’t do that! Back before I transmigrated, hunting marks could only be used at close range.
Guess I underestimated these demons — five hundred years and they’ve made a bit of progress.
“Still, using such a low-tier mark to hunt me — don’t you think that’s a bit insulting?”
Truth focused her mind, and her crimson pupils locked onto the hunting mark in her hand…
Tftc!