Hunting Target

Moreover, if he really could succeed... then as his guide, I...

But of course, that was impossible.

Mo Rui's heart clenched as she regretted her earlier impulsiveness once again, and she let out a heavy sigh.

Belphegor's trial—in other words, the trial of "Sloth"...

According to the legends passed down through their clan, that lord would never take action over anything worthless...

In other words, if the person who entered the seal failed to satisfy Belphegor, she would not even bother with them.

The gods watched the seal extremely closely. The Seven Demon Lords had once issued orders to their subjects: only demons powerful enough were permitted to enter the seal and undergo the trials of the Demon Lords.

That was because if the activity inside the seal became too frequent and attracted those things, all their plans would be ruined!

To prevent the plan from failing, every demon who entered the seal had to be prepared to die.

Not a single Demon Lord would show mercy... Entering the seal was easy, but earning their recognition and coming back out was anything but!

At the very least, among all the legends Mo Rui had heard, quite a few demons had entered the seal, but not one had truly succeeded.

Those young people who considered themselves outstanding talents, qualified to lead the demons toward revival, had all died inside the seal. They had vanished like mud oxen sinking into the sea, never to send back another word.

And that guy... the guy who had deliberately provoked her and tricked her into throwing him into the seal...

He was not even a demon. How could an existence like that possibly earn Lord Belphegor's recognition?!

Her first human friend... was he going to die just like this?

"Why are your eyes all red? Is losing me really that hard to accept?"

That frivolous, teasing voice rang out beside the succubus's ear again, making Mo Rui, who was sprawled over the table, stop breathing for a moment.

"Y-You came out?!"

Mo Rui frantically wiped at her eyes. After confirming that what she saw was not a hallucination, she was nearly moved to tears of joy!

Covering her lips in disbelief, Mo Rui could no longer control her emotions in her excitement:

"You were acknowledged by Lord Belphegor?! You passed the trial?"

Was this person truly the legendary existence capable of saving all demons from the abyss???

Overcome with joy, Mo Rui no longer had the heart to care about his verbal offense. Bright light shimmered in her eyes:

Their demon race had waited far too long for this day...

"That's wonderful..."

With nowhere to release the emotion and joy in her heart, Mo Rui opened her arms and was about to give the friend she had nearly lost a passionate hug...

"Hey, don't come over. We aren't close."

Showing no consideration whatsoever for the beauty before him, Xuan Sheng's expression stiffened as soon as he emerged from the seal, and he pressed a hand against her forehead.

"Miss Mo Rui, you're a good person, and I'm very touched, but love between different races can never bear fruit. Please allow me to refuse."

"I... you..."

The succubus's face, which had been filled with joy, turned purple with embarrassment, and her excellent mood plummeted...

She had only wanted to celebrate because she was too excited... This guy...

"Can't you be serious for once?! You're supposed to become the hope of all demons!"

"Can seriousness feed you? Rather than that, you should hurry up and tell me where the next Demon Lord's sealed page is, so I can continue completing my unfinished mission..."

"...I don't know."

At the mention of the seal, the succubus, who had been filled with joy, darkened.

"Huh?"

"After the Demon Lords were sealed, the demons grew weaker and weaker. We no longer even had the power to protect the pages sealing the Demon Lords... In the end, those pages were lost one after another, and their whereabouts became unknown..."

"Ah... All right."

He had not expected that he would have to rely entirely on himself for the rest of this mission... He was not going to receive even the slightest assistance...

"Are even the demons of today as useless as pure succubi?"

Xuan Sheng turned his head and muttered those words in an extremely quiet voice before smoothly returning to his room...

However, such a murmur could never escape the sharp ears of Mo Rui.

"You..."

After being teased yet again by that foul-mouthed man, the awe Mo Rui had finally managed to build up collapsed instantly, once again transforming into the same unwilling fury she had felt when they first met:

Someone like this... Someone like this...

How could she possibly fall for an existence like that?!

It was as if the tenderness and affection in her heart had been fed to a dog, leaving Mo Rui unbearably frustrated.

No, this fluttering feeling definitely wasn't caused by love. It was merely pure curiosity and attraction!

The succubus, who had been mercilessly rejected in love whether she hinted or spoke plainly, began to give up on herself and prepared to completely change her way of thinking:

Sure enough... She had pretended to be human for too long and had never done anything a succubus ought to do. That was why she had become so pathetic, to the point that even someone like him...

Mo Rui's face flushed red. No longer able to maintain her calm state of mind, she gritted her teeth as her thoughts gradually became dangerous:

Although it was a little embarrassing, as a succubus, she would choose this detestable man as her first hunting target!

Once his strength had improved a little... once he was no longer likely to be hunted to death outright...

She would strike without mercy!

Her former fondness gradually transformed into the excitement of a hunt. This unprecedented instinctive stirring as a succubus somehow aligned perfectly with the moral standards she had adopted while pretending to be human... An act permitted by both of her identities and circumstances was incredibly alluring... With all her inhibitions gone, Mo Rui curved her lips into a dangerous smile and returned to being that calm, confident, and exceptionally capable demon elite.

Whether she acted according to the human education she had received since childhood or followed her succubus instincts...

Love or feeding...

She would take him first and worry about the rest later!!!

"Mm, she seems to have calmed down... That's good."

Hiding in his room and spying on Mo Rui's changing emotions, the youth nodded, once again marveling at his own cleverness with satisfaction.

Compared to a servant who could only bow and scrape with a face full of reverence, Xuan Sheng still preferred a boss lady who was brimming with charm, confidence, and competence.

That was why he had not hesitated to provoke the succubus repeatedly, completely making her abandon her awe of him as the so-called "hope of the demons" and "divine being who represented the demons' future"...

He had already been exhausted from being a god in another world... If he were worshiped after returning to this world as well, he would suffer a mental breakdown.

He only wanted to live a stable life and handle his own responsibilities.

Now, it seemed that his plan had succeeded perfectly!

Mm-hmm. This was ideal. If it could put Mo Rui at ease and make her see him as nothing more than an ordinary shop clerk, that would be perfect.

No pointless admiration and no deliberate hostility.

Everything was just as Xuan Sheng had hoped at the beginning: he would be his little shop clerk and scrape by in Lone Star City, while Mo Rui would be a good store manager and avoid doing anything she shouldn't.

That would be absolutely perfect~

The delighted youth had no idea that his actions had completely awakened the predatory instincts of a certain succubus who was burning with embarrassment and rage...

The peaceful life Xuan Sheng envisioned... was probably not going to arrive as he wished...