4: Location

Consumed by shame and self-reproach, Eddie failed to notice that his brother's crying had stopped at some point.

"Oh my, he really died." Avilan looked at the young man before him, his face full of delight.

For some reason, he particularly wanted to see the young man's expression of despair.

Just like when he had discovered his brother and wife's betrayal all those years ago, when he had no one to turn to and still faced the threat of death.

"Can I leave now?" Eddie asked as he struggled to his feet.

"Leave?" Avilan shook his head and said with an evil smile, "I only said I would let you live. I never said you could leave this place."

"You devil!" Eddie roared, flinging the dagger in his hand at Avilan.

But the dagger stopped in midair. With a light tap from Avilan, it rebounded and nailed itself directly into Eddie's ankle, completely crippling his right foot.

The only sound left in the entire hall was Eddie's heart-wrenching cries.

Avilan looked regretfully at the dead Agonsi. That had been his true target.

It no longer mattered. Holding the badge in his hand, Avilan's expression turned solemn.

"Radiant Knights."

This was a guild that had opposed Despair Fortress ever since Myth began operating. Like Despair Fortress, it was one of Myth's ten great guilds. This Silver Badge was the insignia of an official Radiant Knights member. It granted bonus damage against undead and evil creatures, one of the Radiant Knights' guild benefits.

As sworn enemies, Avilan knew the Radiant Knights extremely well. This badge was undoubtedly the badge of an official Radiant Knights member.

"Could someone from the Radiant Knights have crossed over too?" At that thought, a sharp gleam flashed in Avilan's eyes.

"Honored Supreme One." Arthur approached at that moment.

"I know." Without even turning his head, Avilan put away the Silver Badge. He silently made up his mind that, once things had stabilized, he would immediately search this world for information about Myth players. For now, the priority was to understand the surrounding situation and prevent such incidents from happening again.

After dealing with the intruders, Avilan used more than forty corpses to summon over forty Horned Demons ranging from level twenty to around level thirty.

Horned Demons were the type of demon closest to humans, the product of unions between humans and demons. Their strength was relatively low, though that was only relative to the overall strength of the Demon Realm.

However, their enormous population formed the foundation of the Demon Realm's population.

The summoned Horned Demons were no different from those in the game.

They looked much like humans on the surface, except their faces were exceptionally savage and ferocious, and sharp horns protruded from their heads. Ordinary Horned Demons reached around level twenty after adulthood. Some outstanding Horned Demons evolved a pair of horns and became Horned Demon Commanders in their thirties.

He had summoned more than forty Horned Demons in one go, yet only one was a Horned Demon Commander.

Avilan did not even spare them a glance before handing them over to Arthur. He ordered them to gather all the gold coins and useful resources in the ruins as quickly as possible, while Arthur was to set up defenses in the forest surrounding the ruins to prevent further intrusions.

Avilan sat in the study within the castle. Decorations that had once existed only in the game had now become real objects, and he could truly take books from the shelves and read them.

He specifically found a book that recorded information about demons. One passage left a deep impression on him.

Demons were the symbol of evil. They were the enemies of all gods and humans, and they loved using their power to deceive, manipulate, or torment humans. They greatly enjoyed the wails and cries humans made in despair.

After reading that passage, Avilan closed the book. Since he had crossed into another world, his demon character from the game had naturally become his current body. The emotional fluctuations and strange preferences from before were likely the instincts of his demon body.

Having figured it all out, Avilan instead felt relieved. Demon instincts were nothing more than a psychological illness.

He firmly believed that any psychological illness could be corrected with enough time and self-control.

More than forty Horned Demons were far too few for the enormous Despair Fortress, not to mention its four major districts.

Avilan rubbed his temples and looked at Arthur. "The Demon Fortress is now in need of restoration in every respect, and we are severely short-handed. Arthur, do you have any good ideas?"

When not in battle, Arthur wore a black tailcoat with a simple bow tie around his neck, looking every bit like the chief steward of Despair Fortress.

"Honored Supreme One, this subordinate is ashamed. Construction and internal administration are the areas I am least skilled in. Though I serve as chief steward, I am merely a warrior. Protecting the guild core is no problem, but these matters are truly beyond me." Arthur knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and looked utterly ashamed.

Avilan held his head, somewhat speechless.

"I was asking whether you had any good suggestions, not telling you to do it. Besides, the summoned Horned Demons only have three days. We have to make good use of them. We can't have them scavenging scraps the whole time, can we?"

"This subordinate has a suggestion. Please revive Admiral Zhou Yu, the administrator of the South District. With her abilities, she should be able to help you solve quite a few problems," Arthur said after thinking for a moment.

"Admiral Zhou Yu." Avilan thought of that character. She had been one of the characters created by Zheng Xiuqi, the only woman among his close friends.

Compared with the others, Zheng Xiuqi had been quite fortunate. At the height of the guild's glory, she had chosen to leave the guild, get married, and have children.

Thinking back to the last gathering when all of them had been present, it had been for Zheng Xiuqi's child's one-month celebration. At other times, for various reasons, they had rarely managed to gather together at once.

"Revive Admiral Zhou Yu, the level fifty guild city South District administrator?"

Avilan opened the button to revive Zhou Yu. The prompt stated that reviving Zhou Yu required one hundred thousand gold coins and that she could only be revived one more time. If she fell again afterward, she would disappear completely and cease to exist.

"One hundred thousand gold coins? Do we have that?" Avilan asked uncertainly.

Arthur thought for a moment before replying, "We will need a few more days. This subordinate will immediately send the Horned Demons to search all the gold coins in the four major districts."

Avilan nodded.

"How is that human called Eddie doing now?"

"Very well. This subordinate has already obtained quite a bit of important information from him. We are currently on the outskirts of the Messiah Great Forest, at the border of the Roen Kingdom, Kompno Duchy, and Kate Empire. The nearest town to us is Essin City of the Kompno Duchy," Arthur answered respectfully.

"Our location is unfavorable." After muttering that, Avilan continued, "What level has Essin City's strongest expert reached?"

At the mention of this, Arthur immediately fell silent. Only after a long while did he say, "That human's level is too low. He himself has only just entered the second tier, so he knows little about Essin City. This subordinate cannot obtain precise information on that matter."

After saying this, Arthur dropped to one knee and pressed his head tightly against the floor.

"This subordinate is incompetent. This subordinate deserves death."