Chapter 22: Battle in the Ruins

Phyllis continued, “Of course the crowd outside is here to see the dragon-slaying heroes.”

Lu Qiuchen was speechless. Don’t these people have anything better to do? It was just an evil mountain dragon being taken down by adventurers. Sure, it wasn’t common, but she had been on the Southern Continent for a while now, and she knew that sub-dragon hunts happened a few times a year. It really shouldn’t have caused this much of a stir.

Guessing her thoughts, Phyllis added, “The Adventurers’ Guild helped fan the flames. They even held a small celebration in front of the guild building.”

She went on, “Basically, the guild is trying to use our dragon-slaying feat to cover up the fact that demons were found in the Londo ruins.”

Now it made sense. Lu Qiuchen nodded. “So Audi and York agreed to it?”

“Of course. It’s free publicity for both our adventuring parties. Why would we say no to something like that? You’re dressed like that to go scouting?”

Lu Qiuchen nodded again and gestured toward the floor below. “I saw York and the others participating in the celebration. You’re not going?”

Phyllis smiled and pointed at the mountain dragon materials stacked in her room. “What’s a little ceremony compared to experiments? I have a few new ideas I want to test. If you’re free, want to help me?”

Lu Qiuchen wasn’t interested and politely declined. The conversation ended there. She returned to her room and stood by the window, watching the throng of people below—cheering, crowding together, flinging some unknown liquid at York and the others in the center of the street.

Must be some kind of local tradition. Lu Qiuchen wasn’t sure, but judging by the excited and proud expressions on the adventurers’ faces, being treated like this seemed to be considered an honor.

Once the celebration in the streets died down and the crowd began to disperse, she once again donned her hooded robe and stepped out of the Adventurers’ Guild.

The guards at the ruins had already seen her that morning. After she showed her adventurer credentials, they recognized her as one of the dragon-slaying heroes and let her through with praise and admiration.

Returning to the underground ruins, Lu Qiuchen carefully focused on the magical imprint left during her handshake with the demon earlier that day. Sensing its lingering presence, she selected a direction and began moving toward it.

*****

Earlier, in the depths of the ruins.

The head of the Londo Adventurers’ Guild branch, the Church’s combatants, and the vice president of the Royal Capital’s Adventurers’ Guild followed an adventurer acting as their guide into the heart of the ruins—toward the central altar.

Seeing the bisected corpse of the mountain dragon and the massive remains of the Mind Fiend before them, everyone’s eyes filled with undisguised shock.

A Holy Knight stepped out from among the Church’s professionals. He walked up to the enormous corpse, observing it closely, then turned around with a grave expression and said to the others behind him, “It’s confirmed. This is a Mind Fiend. After ten thousand years, the demons have once again appeared on the continent of Eternity.”

After speaking, he raised the greatsword in his hand and hacked off a small section of tentacle. A Priest stepped forward and used a spatial relic to collect the severed part as evidence.

Once his teammate had completed the task, the lead knight turned to the regional guildmaster, Grent, and asked, “We’ve already confirmed that there are no other traces of demons here. Where exactly did the adventurers say they encountered the Nightmare?”

Grent, whose body was trembling slightly, gestured for the guide to point out the location on the map. He glanced nervously at the massive Mind Fiend corpse, then at the eerie surroundings, and asked somewhat anxiously, “Sir, do we… still have to go there?”

The lead knight gave him a sharp, sweeping glance and replied with a trace of disdain in his voice, “If the guildmaster doesn’t wish to go, you’re free to leave. We still have a mission to complete. We can’t accompany you back to the surface.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

The vice guildmaster immediately stepped forward and reprimanded him sternly, “Grent, as administrators of the Adventurers’ Guild, how can we be cowed by mere difficulties in the face of such a major incident? This concerns the demons—we must investigate thoroughly!”

Grent realized that his moment of weakness had likely left a poor impression on the vice guildmaster. Yet at the thought of venturing deeper, his body involuntarily trembled.

In his younger days, he had been a bold and battle-hardened adventurer. But as age and status caught up with him, he’d grown more cautious. Now, faced with the massive corpse of a demon, he was struck by a horrifying realization—the demons had been dwelling right beneath their feet all along. His body quivered uncontrollably.

Forcing a bitter smile, Grent had just opened his mouth to speak—when a sudden pain stabbed through his head. In the next moment, he realized he could no longer control his body.

He could vaguely hear himself speaking, but the voice grew fainter and more distant… until finally, everything went dark.

*****

Lu Qiuchen was sprinting swiftly through the passageway. With no need to suppress her speed anymore, she was now moving several times faster than she had in the previous days.

She no longer had to worry about a demon ambush—or rather, she was hoping one would leap out at her. Though she didn’t know exactly what the demon hiding among the humans was planning, she only needed to disrupt that plan and kill him!

The hatred toward demons was engraved into every dragon’s heart. In ancient times, the demons had used diversionary tactics to lure away the dragon race’s main forces, then launched a surprise attack on the undefended Dragon Island. They had abducted almost all the hatchlings, transforming them into demonized dragons for their war efforts. It had nearly destroyed the future of the dragon race.

Even after ten thousand years of recovery, the dragons had yet to regain their former peak.

Maintaining her blinding speed, Lu Qiuchen reached the end of the passage in under an hour.

Though everything ahead was shrouded in pitch-black darkness, she—being a dragon—possessed the innate ability of darkvision. Her gaze pierced the shadows in the distance.

So, this is the goblin fortress… The demons sure know how to pick their burial ground.

Taking on her draconic form, Lu Qiuchen leapt into the air and vanished into the darkness.

*****

At the same time, the Church’s forces and others were beginning to explore the goblin fortress.

After a thorough search, the Church’s group found several disfigured adventurer corpses not far behind the castle. The clergy gathered together to discuss something in hushed voices, while the two members of the Adventurers’ Guild and the guide stood trembling nearby, visibly terrified at the sight of the bodies.

At that moment, the knight leading the Church delegation stepped forward.
“Mr. Glent, there are no traces of demonic magic here. The adventurers’ corpses have also been severely damaged—beyond recognition.”

Noticing Glent standing frozen in shock, the knight fixed his gaze on him and continued,
“I learned from some adventurers who returned to the surface today that on their way back, they discovered tampered directional markers set up by the Adventurers’ Guild. But during our march just now, I observed all the forks in the road—none bore those same markers.”

“In other words, those markers were deliberately erased sometime after they left the ruins. They suspect there’s a demon spy within the Adventurers’ Guild. Since you’re the Guildmaster of Londo, I believe you’re the one who should be able to explain this. Now, answer me!”

Glent still stood there, stunned and silent. The Vice Guildmaster beside him stepped forward, as if wanting to speak, but a sharp glare from the knight made him swallow his words.

The knight’s brow furrowed. Seeing Glent’s refusal to respond, he slowly lowered the greatsword from his shoulder and shifted into a combat stance.

The atmosphere turned tense in an instant. The guide and the Vice Guildmaster beside them fell completely silent, not daring to move. Then, without warning, the knight struck!

His sword slashed down with great force—not at Glent, but at the Vice Guildmaster standing beside him.

Clang!

The sharp sound of steel meeting steel rang out. The knight’s surprise strike was blocked. He immediately withdrew his sword and retreated swiftly back to the Church’s ranks.

All eyes turned to the Vice Guildmaster—only, he no longer looked remotely human. His body had grown to over two meters tall, the clothing on him torn and scattered on the ground. His skin had turned a deep violet, and both hands had transformed into massive black claws. It was these claws that had blocked the knight’s sudden attack.

The demon chuckled coldly, then spoke in the common tongue of the Eternal Continent: “So, how did you see through my disguise?”

“We only suspected at first. Your disguise was excellent. But you got impatient at the altar. When I stepped away, you took the chance to invade Glent’s mind. That’s when we realized.”

“So it was exposed there? What a shame. I had wanted to make your deaths a little more… exquisite. But since you’re so eager to find me out—very well. I’ll grant your wish and send you to meet your gods early!”

“Prepare for battle!” came the command.

The paladins summoned warhorses forged from divine power and charged in formation. The priests behind them cast a variety of blessings to enhance the knights, maintaining [Light] to illuminate the area, while some launched divine spells directly at the demon.

Hovering in the air, the demon easily dodged the attacks.

“With just a bunch of bugs like you, you think you can challenge a great High Demon like me—Shadow Fiend?!”

With a flicker of motion unbefitting his large frame, he became a blur and charged into the formation. As he neared the frontline, he twisted his body midair, veered to the flank, and slashed twice with his claws—tearing apart a paladin’s breastplate.

The armor, forged from fine steel and infused with trace amounts of mithril, was no match for the Shadow Fiend’s claws. Three deep gashes split across the paladin’s chestplate, blood spilling out from the cracks. Fortunately, the priests’ healing spells enveloped the wounded paladin in time, saving his life.

“Bastard! Form up!”

The knights, seeing one of their own downed in just two blows, were furious but remained level-headed. They regrouped and reformed their formation, preparing to charge again.

Then, a radiant light shone down upon the paladins from above.

They laid down their weapons. The light transformed into lances that dropped into their hands. With divine power flowing through them, a spectral spearhead formed at the front of their formation—aimed directly at the Shadow Fiend still hovering in midair!