Chapter 736: The Hunt Continues
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 736: The Hunt Continues
"Has Kadosh been taken care of?"
Zagu looked at the scene before him and couldn't help but let out a cold sneer.
"What a beast... not picky about its food at all."
Despite being the site of a recent, fierce battle, there wasn't a single bloody image to be seen. No corpses, no wreckage, not even a stray drop of blood. It was as if a professional cleanup crew had scrubbed the area; it was unnervingly clean.
Aside from a few shattered rocks, the cracked earth, and the boning knife thrust into the center of the clearing like a makeshift tombstone, there was no evidence that a fight had ever taken place.
Every trace of flesh and blood had been erased—or rather, devoured.
Muen Campbell didn't do things without a reason.
Did that mean those strange black flames could actually grow stronger by burning and devouring others?
No... considering those flames could treat the Holy Light of the Church of Human Life as fuel, such an ability wasn't entirely unexpected.
But there had to be a limit.
Power bolstered by external sources was never truly one's own. Even if it was refined by those peculiar black flames, using such power surely came at a price.
Otherwise, why would that cross-dressing Muen Campbell bother with a disguised infiltration? He could have simply marched onto the battlefield, incinerated every member of the Demon Race, and challenged Lord Divine Will with the strength of a million "kindling" souls.
Either it left behind indigestible residue, or it placed an immense burden on the mind.
In any case, it couldn't be used without restraint.
"Based on the previous situation, I'm leaning toward the latter," Zagu deduced quickly, despite never having encountered that specific power before.
The essence of power was always the same; there were no free gifts in this world.
That power likely required a corresponding level of spiritual power to control. Otherwise, the result would be a loss of control or being consumed by the eerie power itself.
So the question was: after using that power so excessively just a moment ago, how much spiritual power did Muen Campbell have left?
Or rather, how much more would it take for him to completely collapse?
"I'm truly curious."
Zagu pulled the boning knife from the ground and toyed with it in his hand.
There were no special marks on it, but the lingering aura confirmed it belonged to Kadosh.
Leaving this boning knife here certainly wasn't meant as a memorial for Kadosh—a coward rare even among the Demon Race.
Was it a provocation? An attempt to lure him out, the commander of the Hounds?
Poor Kadosh. He had been so close to moving up in the world, but that final step had cost him his life.
But then, he had been too impatient.
The favor of the Grand Duke of Bewitchment wasn't so easily earned.
...Though the Grand Duke of Bewitchment certainly didn't care about someone like Kadosh. She had likely already forgotten the fellow's name.
But it didn't matter. For the Demon Race, death wasn't necessarily the end, was it?
If he worked hard enough, he might have the chance to be a sycophant again in his next life.
"That said, no matter how fast Kadosh died or how incompetent these Hounds are, they can still tear a few chunks out of the prey. That is why I let them loose," Zagu remarked, a flash of mockery appearing in his eyes beneath his cold visor.
That human woman who refused to die, clinging to life like a cockroach.
And Muen Campbell, the Son of the Lion King, who possessed that bizarre power.
Those two, despite their youth and low realm, were absolute monsters from every perspective.
They even instilled a faint trace of fear in Zagu himself.
Aside from Lord Divine Will and the high-and-mighty Demon Grand Dukes, how long had it been since he felt this kind of fear from someone weaker than himself?
Fortunately, even monsters as terrifying as those two could bleed.
"So, let us continue."
As Zagu spoke, numerous shadowy figures flickered beside him. Following the direction indicated by the chains, they vanished into the distance.
Shadowing, biting, bleeding... they would wear down their lives, stamina, spirit, and hope of escape bit by bit.
Until the prey collapsed completely, the Hounds' assault would never cease.
"After all, the one thing the Demon Race has in abundance... is cannon fodder."
*
"Cough, cough..."
Muen coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. He glanced at the crimson in his palm before casually wiping it off on a nearby stone wall.
"Tsk, coughing up blood already? I look like some frail, exhausted pretty boy who just finished an all-night marathon."
And yet, his best record was "one tiger against three wolves"! A mere night of battle should have been nothing!
Well... though the result back then was also being drained dry and becoming temporarily frail and exhausted.
Muen gave a self-deprecating smile, stopped his pace, and pulled out a pocket watch to check the time.
They had been fleeing non-stop for two full hours. Based on their speed, they should have earned enough time for a brief rest.
After he had woken up earlier, he had been shocked by the unacceptable reality of the situation. Fortunately, after everything he had been through, Muen Campbell’s mental resilience was top-tier, if nothing else.
After all, he could calmly mock the Love God to his face; there was no need to be shocked multiple times by the fact that "Ariel caught me while I'm disguised as Miss Muse, and she even risked her life to save me."
Run.
Fleeing was the only logical choice at that moment. If, as Ariel said, the enemy had already pinpointed their location, then after killing those Skinners, reinforcements would surely arrive soon.
So, he had immediately taken Ariel and left that place, running blindly for two hours.
For martial artists of their level, running was usually the easiest form of exercise. Forget two hours—they could run for an entire day without breaking a sweat.
But now, Muen felt that if they didn't stop to recover, not only him, but Ariel behind him might die in her silent sleep.
Their injuries were just that severe.
"So you actually have a bit of a chest after all."
Muen first set Ariel down from his back.
Because of the close contact, he could finally feel the slight rise and fall of Ariel's chest, which was almost invisible to the naked eye.
Well, at the very least, this girl was a normal female.
"If only your hobbies were normal too, I wouldn't have to live in constant fear because of this mess," Muen thought bitterly.
How could there be such a coincidence in this world?
He had been teleported by An to a strange place even he didn't recognize, and he just happened to run into Ariel there.
Then, he just happened to still be under the effects of the transformation potion, and Ariel just happened to be obsessed with his current form...
What kind of twisted fate was required to bring about such a series of coincidences?
However, setting aside the accidental drama, Muen had to admit one thing.
It was precisely because of this coincidence that he had been saved by Ariel. Otherwise, if the Skinners had caught him while he was unconscious, the consequences would have been unthinkable.