Dekan's Foe Turns Out to Be an Old Acquaintance

"I really want to go straight to the next floor."

Dekan shook his head, sighed, and muttered to himself.

The rules on this floor are so strange that they are absolutely disadvantageous to the jailers.

If he were to actually fight Artis of Knowledge, in this environment, Dekan felt it was difficult to predict his chances of winning.

Strategically speaking, his best option is undoubtedly to quickly proceed to the fifth floor.

But he needs to confirm whether there are any companions on this floor.

Only as a prison guard could he lead his companions to other levels.

Objective 2 of the Shadow World mission requires everyone to leave the Demon Realm.

This prison can only go down, not up.

They'll send it off once they've left any challenger behind.

So Dekan still had to observe the prison from all angles within this level.

Besides their Beautiful Soul Squad of four, there are a total of six challengers.

That means there are two other people who also need to be found.

So Dekan turned back before the portal to the fifth floor, left, and began his exploration of the labyrinthine library.

Inside a spacious hall on the fourth floor of the Demon Realm Prison.

Every few seconds to tens of seconds, you can hear the crisp sound of the chess pieces gently hitting the chessboard.

This place feels very homey, like a combination of a study and a living room.

Although it still has the feel of a classic library, it is also the office of Jailer Altis.

Altis was sitting on the sofa, staring intently at the chessboard on the table, her face as perfect as if sculpted. If it weren't for the occasional blink, it would be hard to tell whether she was a work of art or a living being.

She didn't seem to possess the usual malevolence of a demon; on the contrary, she gave the impression of being the embodiment of reason.

At this moment, besides Altis, there was a young man sitting opposite her.

Despite the young man being dressed in prison clothes, Altis did not seem to make things difficult for him.

He had no injuries whatsoever, and there was even a cup of fragrant tea on the table next to him.

Is this tendency to set traps in chess a common human trait, or just your personal preference?

"My personal preference."

They exchanged a few words every now and then.

It didn't sound like an argument, nor did it sound like a conversation; only a few calm words could be heard occasionally.

Most of the time, he plays chess quietly.

Just as Altis was staring at the chessboard, deciding where to place her piece next, her outstretched hand suddenly stopped.

It seems that someone's arrival has attracted Altis's attention.

She looked up.

He frowned as he looked at the guests in the hall.

Altis clearly did not welcome the unexpected arrival of the jailer.

"You won your bet; the jailers came down so quickly."

Altis looked at the young man opposite her expressionlessly and said.

They had made a bet beforehand --

Regarding whether a prison guard will come down within two weeks.

If she wins, the young man will teach her some human magic she doesn't know.

If the young man wins, she will need to give the jailer a chance to take him away.

Statistically speaking, her chances of winning are definitely higher.

Because she knew very well how often a jailer would appear on the fourth floor.

But, by sheer chance, this human won.

"Hmph."

The young man with Pearwood- colored hair opposite her leaned back on the sofa, looking extremely tired and too lazy to turn around.

Playing chess with a demon like Altis who has lived for thousands of years is too mentally taxing.

But the young man still had a smile on his face and remained very calm.

He even calmly picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea.

When he arrived on this floor, he encountered the Jailer of this floor.

However, the demon showed no intention of attacking him.

I just wanted to have a chat with him.

After a brief exchange, he discovered...

This demon Altis Artis was quite different from any demon he knew from his current knowledge.

She seemed to have no desire to kill.

Instead, there was an unusually strong thirst for knowledge.

Moreover, Altis has a particular interest in humans, even a kind of obsession with them.

The desire is very obvious.

So he used his persuasive skills and the information advantage he had as the challenger to quickly reach a bet with Altis.

He had already guessed that the special challenger in this Shadow World was the prison guard who could lead them all the way down.

Although Morion didn't understand at first why he had been drawn into such a seventh-tier Shadow World.

He was being chased by a very troublesome guy at the time, and in his desperation, a small Void Gate happened to appear.

Morion was very familiar with this Void Gate.

It is a temporary entrance to the challenge of the Shadow World.

Small Void Gate occasionally appear at random locations.

"Don't touch these small Void Gate" was common sense he had been taught since childhood.

Accidentally entering an unknown Shadow World could very well be fatal.

Of course, for someone like Morion, an expert in navigating the Shadow World, it's not dangerous at all.

It's just a matter of how much or how little you earn.

After careful consideration, Morion decided to temporarily retreat into the Shadow World.

Who knew that once inside, it was a seventh-tier Shadow World he had never experienced before!

Fine.

From a mechanistic standpoint, his identity doesn't require him to do much.

Everything can be left to the chosen special challenger.

Morion wasn't worried at all about encountering seventh-tier Resurrection Cultist in this Shadow World.

In Shadow World that demands teamwork, challengers with strong rebellious tendencies are generally not chosen.

Otherwise, the Shadow World would fall into an unsolvable state.

His only worry was...

I have a few old friends; it might be troublesome if I run into them in this Shadow World.

"Jailer Altis, I would like to make a deal with you."

The demon jailer who arrived on this floor spoke in a clear, melodious girlish voice.

This unfamiliar voice reassured Morion.

As long as it's not that Gray-Haired Underworlder.

This time, my teammate must be a Shadow World strategy expert from the Kingdom Association or the Empire.

Being assigned to such a safe level of prison at the start of the game already made Morion feel incredibly lucky.

It seems someone did take him to lie down there.

Feeling comfortable.

What do you want to trade?

Altis was initially somewhat impatient with the jailer.

Because she had no interest in these demons.

Normally, she would have simply kicked the jailer out of her study.

But because of her bet with Morion, she now has to talk to this jailer.

If the jailer intends to take Morion to the lower prisons, then she needs to give him a sufficiently fair opportunity.

Generally speaking, even if a jailer comes to this floor, they might not necessarily want to take the prisoners down.

So even if Morion won the bet, it doesn't mean anything.

But now it's very troublesome.

This annoyed Altis.

Because the new jailer happens to be a Succubus!

They might really want to take this human youth away!