Silver Demon! You Smell Delicious

Inside the cabin, Gu Xin and the other three gathered around the princess's soul.

"It seems to be a soul with absolutely no consciousness. How strange."

Blue Lotus looked utterly bewildered. She was only a nun and truly knew very little about souls.

Not just Blue Lotus—Wang Quan and Meng Xiu knew nothing about it either. After all, the only experts who specifically studied souls were necromancers.

Necromancers dealt with corpses and souls every day.

"It must have been the demon's doing. This is utterly evil. She was only fifteen."

Gu Xin was furious. Fifteen—she had merely been a young girl in the bloom of youth, not even an adult yet.

Yet they had turned that girl into this. It was truly vile.

"In any case, I'll put this princess's soul away for safekeeping first. If we can find her body, perhaps we can put it back."

Gu Xin then cleared his throat and spoke to the three of them with a solemn expression.

The three exchanged extremely strange looks.

Never mind where they were supposed to find the princess's body—even if they did, how the hell was he supposed to put the soul back?

And if they failed to find it, was he planning to use the princess's soul himself?

"Student Gu Xin, this is the soul of an innocent young girl," Blue Lotus subtly reminded him.

Gu Xin swiftly stored the completely unconscious princess's soul inside a spatial scroll, replying to Blue Lotus at the same time.

"Don't worry, Miss Nun. I have principles. I won't use innocent people as card-refining materials."

"I think you should have some faith in me, right?"

Blue Lotus nodded at that. Although they had only met today, Gu Xin had indeed left her with a good impression.

It was just that Gu Xin's covetousness toward the princess's soul had been far too obvious, so she had felt compelled to remind him.

Wang Quan did not really care. It was only a wild soul, and one without consciousness at that.

"Hey, brothers, I think we should pay attention to what's outside. Something feels wrong."

Meng Xiu's gaze settled beyond the cabin, his expression turning grave.

"What a dense demonic presence." Blue Lotus's expression changed as well. "It's outside!"

Outside the cabin, a black magic formation emerged from the ground, completely enveloping the entire wooden cabin.

"Hehehe~"

An evil, hoarse, inhuman cackle drifted over. Its shrill pitch sounded like fingernails scraping against glass, making their eardrums ache.

"Looks like we fell for it." Wang Quan narrowed his eyes and glanced at where the princess's soul had originally been.

"That soul was bait, used to lure us in."

Gu Xin walked out of the cabin and saw black magic power rising around them like curtains, completely sealing off the clearing.

This was a magic formation that had been prepared long ago, and the princess's soul had been its "key."

Once someone approached the princess's soul, the dark formation would activate, transforming into a cage to trap anyone who entered this area.

"It has to be that demon."

Blue Lotus forced herself to calm down. Through the surging, rippling curtain of darkness, she could vaguely make out a humanoid black shadow outside.

"Such dense dark magic power, with incredibly strong corrosive properties. Wang Quan, can you break it?"

"I'm a magical genius. I can do it, but I'll need time."

Wang Quan examined their surroundings. Even for him, a pre-arranged magic formation like this would take time to dismantle.

But clearly, the demon would not give them that time.

"Hehehehe~"

That sinister, evil cackle sounded again as a figure slowly emerged from the curtain of black magic power.

He had a huge belly, a bushy beard, and a crown atop his head. It was the king.

But the king no longer wore that kindly expression. Scarlet light gleamed in his eyes, while beneath the skin of his fat face, it seemed as though demonic insects were crawling and writhing, making him resemble a vicious ghost.

"As expected, you are all such excellent blood food, hehehe~"

The king's mouth stretched nearly to his ears, making for a terrifying sight.

"Good lord, how many Soul Hall elders do you eat per meal? How are you this good at cackling?"

Gu Xin clicked his tongue as he looked at the king, who was barely human anymore. This guy was just too good at going "hehehe."

"?" The king's expression froze. What did that mean?

And why were these humans not afraid? They had clearly fallen into his trap.

Also, wasn't the fact that this "king" was the mastermind supposed to leave these humans utterly shocked?

What the hell?

Having failed to reap the fear and despair he had expected, the king felt deeply displeased. But it did not matter anymore.

"I waited a whole week before you lot finally showed up—such exquisite food. Ah~ you smell absolutely delicious."

The king stretched out his tongue and kept licking his lips. The red glow in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his tone became increasingly deranged.

"So the princess being abducted really was a show you directed yourself. Where's the princess's body?"

"Hehe, I ate her a long time ago." The king grinned wickedly.

"And next, it'll be you lot. Humans, are you ready? Enjoy your final moments upon this dark altar."

"Hehehe, fragrant bodies like yours, brimming with magic power... just smelling you makes my mouth water. Once I eat you, I'll definitely be able to advance."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you right away. I'll savor you slowly, and then..."

"Who the fuck do you think you're showing off to? Eat my Great Fireball!"

Wang Quan impatiently cut off the king's "speech." A massive fireball condensed into existence and shot toward the king at high speed.

He hated people showing off most of all, especially when they did it right in front of him. More importantly, this guy was obviously not human.

"Hehehe, Great Fireball?"

The king did not get angry. He continued to grin sinisterly as his body rapidly swelled and twisted. His luxurious royal robes burst apart, and a pair of enormous fleshy wings grew from his back.

In the blink of an eye, the king had transformed into a demon a full five meters tall.

It resembled a gargoyle, but its skin was silver-gray like mercury. It had scarlet eyes, a mouth full of fangs, and a tail that swayed leisurely behind it.

Faced with the incoming massive fireball, the demon merely swung its thick arm, casually batting the Great Fireball away as though it were a ball.

At the sight, Wang Quan's brows instantly furrowed. He stared at the demon, his eyes filled with disgust and loathing.

"This is bad, guys! That thing is a high-ranking Silver Demon!"

Wang Quan had absolute confidence in his magic, but he was only Rank 2 at the moment. Therefore, what he hated most were opponents with magic resistance.

And Silver Demons happened to be one of the monsters with magic resistance.

Not to mention that it had casually swatted away his Great Fireball—the Silver Demon's strength was probably at the peak of Rank 2.

He had truly run into his nemesis.