The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 376: “Times Have Changed, My Lord.”

“—!”

The moment Shien attacked, the Warfighters guarding Danas reacted instantly, rushing to his defense.

“Hum!”

With a tremor of magic power, a dark barrier appeared before the Warfighters, protecting both them and Danas.

“Boom!”

The raging flames, like a fiery storm, crashed against the barrier, creating a roaring sound before being blocked.

Waves of fire surged around the barrier, scorching the temple floor.

“Wha…!?”

The sudden change startled Oz and Maeve.

Shien, however, looked at the scene with a sneer, waiting until the flames dissipated and Danas and his group emerged from behind the barrier.

“…What is the meaning of this, Viscount Buztout?”

Danas’s expression remained unchanged, unfazed by the attack.

However, upon closer inspection, the smile in his eyes had vanished.

Shien, on the other hand, was smiling even more brightly than before, as if their positions had been completely reversed.

And Shien said,

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Don’t ask me why. You simply chose the wrong person.”

This reason was simple and crude, without any embellishment.

But when you got down to it, wasn’t that the case?

“I have no interest in conquering the world, let alone conquering the world with unfortunate ancient beings who were turned into victims.” Shien said nonchalantly. “Or rather, can’t you villains come up with something more interesting to persuade others to surrender? Always with the ‘conquering the world’ trope, painting a grand picture and expecting people to work for you. It’s so insincere.”

“…Is that so?” Danas was silent for a moment, then smiled. “I thought I was quite sincere, but it seems I wasn’t sincere enough in your eyes.”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Shien glanced at Danas, his expression turning sarcastic again. “If you were truly sincere, you would tell me about the human you’re cooperating with. Being so secretive and playing games, do you really think you can fool anyone?”

“So, you were referring to this.” Danas said as if suddenly realizing. “If you’re willing to break the seal now, I will definitely tell you about that human afterwards.”

“You still don’t understand.” Shien said with a smirk. “I mean, I don’t trust you, idiot.”

Danas’s smile finally vanished.

“…So, our negotiations have failed?”

Danas asked with an impassive face.

“Obviously.”

Shien replied without hesitation.

This was something that didn’t require any consideration.

Shien was already at odds with the Old Demon Faction, and he was also the Hero. Even without a grand ambition to save the world, as a condition for his second life, Shien would still help Nien deal with the Old Demon Faction. 𝐫ãŊ𝔬ВЕS

Under such circumstances, Shien also had a deep relationship with Airi, and Airi deeply loathed the Old Demon Faction. They even came here together with the purpose of annihilating them. Now, this guy was trying to persuade him to cooperate with a ridiculously clichéd and unrealistic “conquering the world” offer?

Shien wanted to ask, had he ever seen a villain successfully persuade a protagonist with such a reason?

Besides…

“If I cooperate with you guys from the Old Demon Faction, my wife back in the royal capital probably won’t let me sleep in the same bed with her anymore.”

Shien shrugged.

“Times have changed, my lord.”

Shien’s words made Danas fall silent and Oz and Maeve, who had been listening to their conversation, breathe a sigh of relief.

Clearly, they were still worried that Shien would switch sides and help Danas break the seal.

Now, Shien had decisively turned against him.

In that case…

“Since that’s the case, I hope you can accept my hospitality and try your best to survive.”

Danas relaxed his face, as if no longer caring about Shien’s existence, and waved his hand.

With this wave, Shien and the others discovered that the evil beings that had emerged from the seal and were about to rush out of the temple suddenly turned their heads and looked at them.

The next second, their eyes flashed with ferocity.

“Gaaaah…!”

“Uwaaaah…!”

The evil beings roared and charged towards Shien and the others.

“[Bestow: Fire].”

Shien instantly cast his magic, unleashing a large-scale AOE attack.

“Boom—!”

Flames erupted from around Shien, blasting away countless evil beings, engulfing them and burning them to ashes.

“I’ll help too!”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

Oz and Maeve didn’t stand idly by. Instead, they rushed out from behind Shien and confronted the army of evil beings.

“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”

Oz roared as usual, his fists like heavy meteorites, smashing any evil being that came into contact with them, scattering their flesh and blood, killing them instantly.

“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!”

Maeve transformed into a gust of wind, sweeping through the army of evil beings. Wherever she passed, claw strikes flashed, slicing the evil beings into pieces.

The two most powerful and skilled members of the beastmen priest group displayed their strength here, drawing away and blocking many evil beings.

As for Shien, he undoubtedly received the highest level of “treatment.”

“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!”

The four Warfighters appeared around Shien as if teleporting, surrounding him. Magic power surged in their hands, forming magic chains that they lashed out at Shien.

“I’ve seen this trick before.”

Shien calmly drew the Holy Sword from his waist. A moment before the magic chains hit him, his figure vanished.

“Over there!”

Danas, carrying the small, black-robed figure, was stunned for a moment, then immediately noticed something and gave orders to the Warfighters.

The Warfighters immediately turned and unleashed lightning at an empty spot.

Shien’s figure reappeared right there.

“Found me?”

Shien raised an eyebrow and stood still, letting the lightning strike him.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang…!”

Amidst the roaring sounds, bolts of lightning struck Shien one after another, but they didn’t even scorch his clothes, vanishing the moment they touched him.

“Is that… a resistance skill?”

Danas instantly saw through the trick, his eyes flickering slightly.

It had to be said that the leader of [Mirage] had good eyesight and was quite intelligent.

Shien noticed that he was constantly touching the small Warfighter, the magical lifeform created using Beatrice as a prototype, as if sensing something through her.

Shien immediately understood.

“Using the magical lifeform to sense the evil aura in the temple and confirm my location?”

This seemed to be the reason why he could see through [Instant Movement].

“Then I’ll deal with you first.”

Capture the thief first, capture the king. Since Danas was weak and also the leader, not taking him down and fighting the others instead would be foolish.

“Evolve!”

Shien immediately activated the [Limit Evolution] skill, letting magic power course through his body, greatly enhancing his abilities. Then, he created a gust of wind and charged towards Danas.

Danas didn’t panic at all.

“Warfighters!”

Under Danas’s calm command, the four Warfighters appeared before Shien as if out of nowhere.

“Boom!”

A roaring sound echoed.

This time, it was the Warfighters who unleashed a large-scale AOE attack, flames transforming into fire dragons that charged towards Shien.

Shien narrowed his eyes, feeling the intense heat, and once again charged forward without dodging or evading, rushing into the flames.

The flames immediately engulfed Shien.

However, Shien completely ignored the flames, as if he wasn’t being burned by intense fire but caressed by a spring breeze. He passed through the sea of fire at an astonishing speed, appearing before the four Warfighters.

“Hum!”

A trembling sound came from the Holy Sword in Shien’s hand.

The red light of [Demon Sword] covered the Holy Sword’s blade. With a swing of his hand, Shien slashed at the four Warfighters.

This slash wasn’t aimed at just one person, but at all four Warfighters at once, with the momentum of sweeping away an army.

The four Warfighters wanted to raise their barriers and defend with magic, but they seemed to recall how their defensive magic had been instantly broken by Shien’s [Demon Sword] earlier. They immediately scattered like ghosts in all directions.

“Boom!”

The powerful [Demon Sword] sliced through the air. Although it missed its target, it still created a gust of wind that blew away the scattered Warfighters.

The Warfighters crashed to the ground, rolling several times before getting up and using their high-speed movement skills again, appearing before Danas like ghosts.

“Not bad, you know how to learn from your mistakes.”

Shien wasn’t satisfied with this result. Curling his lip, he held the Holy Sword imbued with [Demon Sword] and walked towards Danas.

Looking at Shien slowly approaching, Danas didn’t feel relieved but instead felt immense pressure.

“I see. So, the strength that allowed you to subjugate the [Assassination Branch] isn’t just a rumor?”

Danas realized how troublesome Shien was.

However, troublesome as he was, Danas still didn’t think he would lose.

“I can’t hold back anymore either.”

Danas took out a book.

“Huh?”

Shien stopped and let out a surprised sound.

Because as soon as the book in Danas’s hand appeared, a surprising phenomenon occurred before Shien’s eyes.