Chapter 33: Chapter 30: The Blood Demon and Saving a Beauty

At night, Mundra Town was draped in a hazy veil.

Upon this veil were towering mountains—the shadows of countless, densely packed buildings. There was a flowing river, a river of red—a crowd of people holding torches.

Among them were Demon Hunters carrying blades and swords, as well as armor-clad farmers carrying a calf on a stretcher.

Yalilan rode at the very front, having ordered Baron to ride on another horse beside her.

He was now dressed in a brand-new, crisp black Hunting Outfit. His old one had been torn to shreds in the chaotic battle. This new attire had been sent by Yalilan; it was said to be a sample from the Rose Knight Order.

The material was wild bull leather soaked in Holy Water, with an Alchemy Array carved inside using Demon Blood, capable of withstanding a full-force blow from a Black Iron Tier Demon Hunter.

The collar stood high and the coat was open, revealing a Red Copper Cross sewn into the lining to ward off evil. The cuffs were embroidered with a Pure Silver Rose Cross Pattern—the symbol of the Rose Commerce Association.

Clad in the slender black coat, Baron seemed to flicker in and out of existence in the firelight.

In the darkness, the town’s windows opened one after another. Young women in makeup and thin gauze robes leaned against the sills, waving feathered fans and casting flirtatious glances at the procession.

Their gazes fell mainly on Baron.

"It seems L is quite popular with the young ladies," Yalilan said with a faint smile.

’They just want my body.’

"That’s because the night obscures my features," Baron said coolly. "And mystery is how one person begins to interest another."

’It’s the same principle as those faceless personalities online. Whether they’re muscular guys or cute girls, they’re all imagined to be supermodels. But the moment they do a face reveal, the fantasy shatters.’

Riding behind them, Andre overheard this. He mulled it over for a moment and thought it made some sense, so he resolved to maintain an air of mystery from now on.

The procession gradually left the stone-paved roads of the town, moving onto a deserted village path.

Listening to the soft whisper of the wind, Baron casually asked, "I heard Mundra Town hasn’t had any missing person cases in recent years. Where did all those girls come from?"

"I don’t know. Neither the townsfolk nor the villagers from the surrounding areas have ever seen them... It’s as if they appeared out of thin air, only to be suddenly killed by the Blood Demon," Yalilan explained.

’Appeared out of thin air...’ Baron fell into deep thought, but the horse beneath him suddenly let out a long neigh.

Baron quickly tightened his grip on the reins as he saw dozens of figures vaguely emerge from the deep darkness in the distance.

Yalilan frowned slightly and raised a hand, putting the entire party on alert.

On a country road, with a dark sky and a high wind, a gathering like this usually meant one of two things: either highwaymen or common bandits.

The firelight illuminated the figures. It was a group of peasant women in coarse, wrapped clothes. They looked travel-worn, carrying hoes and baskets filled with wild vegetables.

The farmers in the procession who were carrying the calf greeted the women, then reported to Yalilan that they had gone to the eastern mountains as a group to dig for wild vegetables.

"Then why are their faces sallow and their steps unsteady? Why are their eyes twitching, showing only the whites?" Baron asked from his horse.

"We were frightened," an old woman from the group said. "My lord, we were in a hurry to gather vegetables, and it got dark too fast..."

She didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone present understood what she meant.

Yalilan immediately ordered a few of the more dependable-looking Demon Hunters from the group to escort the women.

The procession continued onward. Baron seemed lost in thought, and Yalilan shot him a glance. "You suspect there’s something wrong with those peasant women?"

Baron hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "A few of the old women had red, swollen eyes, as if they’d been crying."

Andre rode up beside them and said in a low voice, "This is a disastrous year, with Magical Beasts running rampant. They’re just common folk. Crying is only natural."

Yalilan was silent for a moment before ordering an Attendant to send a few more people to investigate the women’s identities and origins.

The group arrived at a desolate, seldom-traveled area. Yalilan scanned her surroundings and ordered the procession to a halt.

She dismounted, took a Bronze Stone Slab from her coat, and infused it with Spiritual Power. It rapidly enlarged, spreading across the ground like an altar.

Attendants led the farmers carrying the calf forward. The calf had just let out a low moo when a burly butcher swung a cleaver, precisely severing its vocal cords, artery, and spinal nerve.

Before the calf could even struggle, it collapsed onto the altar with a thud, its blood filling the cracks on the surface.

"It’s an Array developed by the Alchemists of Fude City," Andre said. "Its main function is to make livestock blood mimic the scent of human blood."

"If the Blood Demon is nearby, it will be drawn by the scent. We just don’t know if it will actually show up..."

Baron looked up at the sky. "It’s here."

’It’s here? Who’s here?’

Before Andre could even process it, he heard the sound of wind.

A piercing whistle that tore through the air! The paper-thin tranquility was ripped apart in an instant!

Andre’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. He looked up to see a black shadow leap from the woods, shooting toward Yalilan at the foot of the altar!

"Watch out!"

That was all he had time to shout to the viscountess.

The viscountess’s expression hardened. She threw her torch at the monster and, in the same motion, drew the sword from her hip and flung it into the air!

By the fleeting light of the torch, the crowd got a clear look at the shadowy figure in the air.

It was over ten meters long, with bulging scarlet muscles, long fangs, and white claws. A pair of enormous bat-like wings sprouted from its back. Shaped like an Evil Ghost, it had a fearsome, horned head.

It stared straight at the fire and the silver gleam, its pair of blood-red, vertical pupils flashing with a cold, emerald light.

Everyone present held their breath. This was a Bronze Tier Blood Demon!

It swatted the torch away with a wing. The Silver Sword pierced its right foot, causing it to let out a bloodcurdling shriek as it dove toward Yalilan with even greater force.

Into the wind, against the sword, it flew!

It spread its arms in mid-air, as if to crush Yalilan in a brutal embrace!

Yalilan’s face fell completely. She wanted to dodge, but the Blood Demon’s roar made her body feel as heavy as lead.

’Is this the end?’

Facing the Blood Demon’s lunge, a silver glint flashed in the Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger’s eyes.

In an instant, the Blood Demon was upon her, bringing with it a thick stench of blood. There was no telling how many innocent civilians the creature had slaughtered.

But though it was inches away, the Blood Demon couldn’t move forward at all. It just roared and struggled, as if separated from her by an invisible wall.

’Does the Alchemy Array have a spatial barrier?’

The thought had barely formed before Yalilan dismissed it.

She knew those greedy, miserly Alchemists all too well. An Alchemy Array worth three Silver Coins would never include a feature that cost at least one Gold Coin.

’Then...’ Her gaze shifted downward and fell upon a tall, slender figure in black.

He held the Silver Sword Yalilan had thrown and had stabbed it into the Blood Demon’s relatively soft abdomen, holding the monster back in a deadlock.

Andre and the other Demon Hunters reacted quickly, swarming the creature with torches and slashing with their blades, preventing it from sinking its Sharp Claws into Baron’s exposed back.

The Blood Demon let out an enraged roar at the sky, its form dissipating like a black bat before solidifying again in mid-air.

The monster glanced at Yalilan and the cold-faced Baron, who was still holding the Silver Sword, and gave a cold snort.

Dragging its wounded body, it vanished into the woods.

"After it!"

Andre glanced at the still-shaken Yalilan, then at Baron’s nonchalant expression. He let out a breath and said, "Don’t let it get away!"

With that, he led dozens of Demon Hunters leaping into the dark woods.

Once he was sure everyone else had gone, leaving only a few farmers cowering in a nearby corner, terrified by the Blood Demon, Baron set down the Silver Sword, plopped down on the edge of the altar, and let out a long sigh as if he’d just survived a catastrophe.

"Lady Yalilan... you’ll have to pay me extra for this kind of physical labor."

Yalilan was somewhat amused. "I thought you only went up against it because you were confident, L."

Baron sighed. "There was no confidence, it was a gamble. If Andre and the others hadn’t come up to help, the Blood Demon would have killed me."

"Gambling with your life? You’re bolder than I imagined," Yalilan said. "I doubt Andre even knows you trust him that much. Especially since..."

She paused. "Especially since you two were at odds with each other at the beginning."

’Conflicts between men are normal. They’re usually about romance, lifestyle, or personal gain—all things that can be smoothed over by time, distance, or a greater common interest.’

’The only conflict that’s truly hard to resolve? Probably finding out the other guy’s is bigger.’

But Baron didn’t say any of this out loud. He just placed his hands on the ground and stared blankly at the torch lying there.

Yalilan faltered. It seemed rare for someone to dare not answer her question. She glanced at Baron’s mysterious profile in the firelight, brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, then turned her head and joined him in staring blankly.

The two of them sat there in silence by the altar, watching the torchlight on the ground stretch toward the horizon, as if reaching for the moon.

After a long silence, Baron suddenly spoke. "It’s not really about trust. I was just thinking... if a person can live just for the sake of living, then couldn’t they also die simply because they wanted to die...?"

He stood up and handed the Silver Sword back to Yalilan.

A short while later, the pursuers returned. Andre shook his head. "It’s too dark in the woods, and there might be other Demon Fiends. We didn’t dare to pursue too deeply."

"Are there any other homes nearby?" Yalilan frowned.

A wounded Blood Demon can recover by drinking blood, which was precisely why she had chosen this desolate wilderness for the mission.

Andre faltered. "Well..."

He hadn’t really thought that far ahead.

Yalilan sighed, but just then, one of the farmers came forward and said, "I know... I’ve been here before... Not far from here is Baron Camberra’s manor!"

"Please lead the way," Baron interjected suddenly.

Yalilan wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light, but she thought she saw a faint golden glint flash in his dark eyes.

Like an adventurer who had just discovered treasure.