Just after entering the forest, Sephirena keenly sensed that something was wrong.

“Demonkind is just ahead. And this forest... it’s crying right now,” Sephirena said.

“...It’s true. I can also feel it a little.” The bracelet on Liana’s wrist was currently emitting a faint glow.

She had received the blessing of the Tree of Life, so she had a certain connection to plants. She, too, could feel the forest’s sorrow, its weeping.

“Where exactly?” As Liana went deeper into the forest before them, the vibrant green leaves slowly turned yellow. The deeper they went, the worse it became.

In the end, all the leaves had fallen to the ground, leaving only bare tree trunks.

And at the end of the path was a giant wolf with gray fur. It didn’t look too different from the ones Liana had encountered before, perhaps just a bit larger in size.

Liana looked closely at the wolf. A huge chain was bound around its neck. It opened its blood-red eyes, looked at Liana and Sephirena, and roared at them, as if its territory had been violated.

“Reno, quiet.” Karen popped out from somewhere at this moment.

The giant wolf named Reno instantly fell silent, though its blood-red eyes remained fixed on the two of them.

Karen smiled. “This is my mount. I was thinking of keeping it as a surprise. When the Lisat Kingdom is in danger, I’ll ride it in for a dashing rescue. So, ladies, could you help me keep this a secret?

“The issue with demons has everyone on edge. We should also prepare some special measures to better deal with them. What just happened is the best proof, isn’t it?”

He says it like it’s true.

But Liana indeed couldn’t sense any aura of demonkind from this wolf.

This was also normal. Since he dared to raise a demon, he must have put a lot of effort and thought into this aspect. It would be strange if they could just walk over and discover it.

“This is your mount? That’s really something. Such a huge monster,” Liana said, playing along with Karen.

“Eh, saying that will hurt Reno’s and my feelings. He’s not a monster,” Karen said, gently stroking Reno.

“Then why are you raising it in a place like this? The surrounding environment has withered to this state, as if... its life was sucked away by something,” Liana said.

“Sucked away its life? An interesting way to put it.” Karen didn’t refute Liana’s words. “Looking at the surroundings, it does look a bit like what you said. With Reno at the center, everything around is withered and dead.

“But it would be great if Reno really had that kind of ability. It would make things much easier for us.” Karen shrugged. “If you two don’t believe me, you can come and try. See if Reno really has that power.”

Karen looked extremely confident, not at all worried about being found out.

“Se... you go take a look,” Liana said.

“Okay.” Sephirena walked up to Reno. “Please control Reno well, Karen. If he does anything to threaten me, I will counter-attack without hesitation.”

“Of course. I’ll control him.” Karen gripped Reno’s chain tightly.

“Very well. What you need to do now is pull Reno aside,” Sephirena said.

“Okay... Eh? What did you say?” Karen clearly hadn’t expected Sephirena to make this request.

“Move. This big guy is blocking me,” Sephirena repeated.

“...I understand.” Karen nodded and pulled Reno aside.

Liana caught a glimpse of Karen out of the corner of her eye. After Sephirena made that request, his expression changed, and all his previous confidence vanished.

Sephirena walked to the spot where Reno had been lying on and said, “For certain reasons, demons are also very skilled in the elven illusion magic.” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

She’s actually saying this for Liana’s benefit, because Liana already knows that demonkind was once part of the elven race, so it’s not strange that they can use illusion magic.

“So, from the moment we arrived, we entered an illusion. Everything we see here is false. Whether it’s this forest, that demon wolf named «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Reno, or even... Karen. They are all fake.” Sephirena raised her hand.

She smashed it down on a certain point in space. At that moment, Liana heard a shattering sound, and the surrounding space began to distort.

When Liana opened her eyes again, everything around her had changed.

Liana had thought the withered plants at the center were already abnormal, but the truth was often far worse than what one sees.

Liana looked around. There were no plants at all, not even bare tree trunks. Everything was a wasteland. But that wasn’t the most important part. The most important part was the many sinister white bones scattered around.

And that giant wolf had now turned into a blood-red demon wolf, blood dripping from its mouth. But even more important was Karen leading it.

“Why were we discovered? Even if you’re an elf, you shouldn’t be able to do this. To so accurately find the barrier’s entrance in one go... why?” Half of the current Karen’s body was black, and he emitted the foul stench of demonkind.

He continued questioning them, confused, “You clearly just arrived. Why were you able to come here so precisely? It’s like you knew something was here.”

He could understand them knowing something was wrong in the Laurent Marquisdom. He could even understand them investigating as far as Angu.

But Karen couldn’t understand why they came straight here and broke the barrier.

“Who told you?”

“You just can’t wrap fire in paper.”1纸包不住火 (zhǐ bāo bù zhù huǒ), the truth, like fire wrapped in the paper of lies, will always come out. A weapon appeared in Sephirena’s hand. “Have you given up on being human? Why turn into this thing, neither human nor a ghost?”

“It’s simple. Power.” At this point, Karen didn’t want to hide it anymore. “If you ask me, the King of Lisat’s judgment is terrible. He doesn’t deserve to be king. He can’t even manage his own territories. It’s utterly laughable.”

“Oh, right. It’s not just the territories. He can’t even control his own children. Both Oester and Hodwen have contacted me. Their goal was simple: for me to support them in reaching the throne. It seems they’ve also been unhappy with the King for a long time.

“Of the King of Lisat’s three children, only Mephilia is worth a second look. And she really is...”

“A vain person like you has no right to point fingers at others.” Liana took off her mask. “After I rejected you, you can only get this feeling of vanity from others? How pathetic, Karen.”

“Liana? It’s you?” Karen’s face darkened. Liana had made him lose a lot of face back then. “I didn’t expect the wielder of the holy sword to deliver herself to my doorstep. Don’t think you’re so great just because you have the holy sword, Liana. You think too highly of yourselves.”

“It’s more than enough to deal with someone like you.” Liana didn’t plan to give him any face. “But I’m still curious, why choose demonkind? Did you turn into this thing, neither human nor ghost, because you realized you’re a waste of space?”

“Hahahaha!” Karen laughed instead. He wasn’t in a hurry; Liana couldn’t escape anyway. “In the end, what we need is just one thing. power. If you are strong enough, you wouldn’t need to seek help from others. You could solve all your problems yourself. And demons... just so happens to give me that ability.”

“Wow. I didn’t expect you to admit it, that you’re a waste of space. My opinion of you has changed a little,” Liana smiled.

“You can’t provoke me; you only make me laugh. Haven’t you noticed? It’s already reached this point, right under the King of Lisat’s nose, and he still hasn’t noticed. Is he fit to be a king?”

Liana shook her head. “If you had said something else, I might have refuted it. But on the matter of the King of Lisat, he really is a good king.”

“I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that, brat.” A familiar voice drifted over.

“Who?!” Karen hadn’t realized at all that someone else had appeared.

He looked back and saw a person standing on Reno’s head.

“Orleya?” Liana recognized her. “I didn’t expect you to be the one following me. I thought you’d go find your student.”

Liana hadn’t expected Orleya to follow her. She didn’t know whether to be happy or unhappy.

After all, Liana really couldn’t stand her, but her combat prowess was the real deal.

“The little brat from Laurent has actually turned into this kind of monster? What a disappointment,” Orleya shook her head.

“Who are you?” Even Liana barely knew Orleya, let alone Karen.

“Go ask your father... no, wait, it seems you won’t get the chance.” Orleya’s casual tone really annoyed Karen.

Karen wasn’t stupid. Even if he couldn’t sense any magical fluctuations from Orleya, the fact that she could enter this illusion on her own—and without him noticing—spoke volumes.

Orleya was definitely not a simple person

“Are you that confident you can escape from my grasp?” Karen thought Orleya meant she was going to take him down right here.

“You seem to have misunderstood something.” Orleya shook her head. “No, wait, maybe you haven’t misunderstood.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Karen glared at her. “But it doesn’t matter. I won’t let any of you leave this place.”

“Not even that guy, Noel has the right to say that to me.” Orleya’s casual remark stunned Karen.

Noel, the Judge of the Laurent Marquisdom.

“Who exactly are you?” Karen felt the pressure on him increase dramatically.

He knew basically all the Judges, but he had never seen this old woman before.

“Who I am isn’t important.” A dagger appeared in Orleya’s hand.

“If it’s alright, can you leave him to me? I hold a grudge,” Liana spoke up.