Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

As the officer stepped into the demon's arm span, the evil of the abyss immediately extended its claws, piercing through Scheinhailig's head. The power of life surged into the demon's body, and as its outstretched tongue curled back, it fiercely sucked at the victim, even turning his soul into part of its nourishment. On the body concealed by the bat wings, the wounds that were difficult to heal were immediately slightly healed.

“Fool,” the Soul Eater grinned, looking at the nearly desiccated corpse on the ground. “Thanks to you, I had the opportunity to recover faster than Heinrich… Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t even have had the strength to go over and kill you.”

“However, all these years of business have been dug up by that mortal. It’s not a good idea to take action now…” The demon pondered for a moment, then suddenly snapped his fingers. A moment later, a shadowy mass began to wriggle abnormally on the wall, then descended and finally stopped on the ground in front of the Soul Eater, trembling slightly.

The Soul Eater will devour any soul it deems worthy of consumption, including other demons and even its own kind. This "shadow" has reason to be feared, but for now, it will not face such a fate.

"Go, crawl into this body and get me more," the Soul Eater sneered, pointing a claw at the desiccated corpse in front of it, and commanded, "The key is those teachers and students who attended last night's banquet, understand? They hold the high ground in this trial, and no one will doubt them. And that scholar is also very weak now, and doesn't have the energy to distinguish them one by one."

“Using this trial, we will re-expand our influence, in a more covert way. You will have many, many of your kind. We will hold a grand feast here.”

"A feast of 'hunting demons'."

A moment later, "Scharnheig" stood up again. His face was pale and gaunt, and he looked like a completely different person. But because of this, if he changed his clothes, probably no one would associate "him" with the officer who was being chased and captured.

His limbs contorted as he inexplicably shed his clothes, then changed into a similar set of clothes he usually wore. The real demon stood before another demon, humbly placing his legs on his shoulders, burying his head between his chest and abdomen, and emitting hoarse sounds:

"Yes, my lord."

Chapter 443 Angelita's New Friends

The situation in Ironforge seemed to stabilize over the next two weeks. Under everyone's unspoken agreement, everything returned to normal—at least until Heinrich recovered.

Although both internal and external injuries are easy to heal, the life force he had absorbed from his long battle with the Soul-Eating Demon was not so easy to replenish.

While awaiting the demonologist's recovery, Raslaufer and the others temporarily stayed at the Arcane Academy. The others had no objections, but Duple was the only one who suffered. He felt completely out of place in the atmosphere. A few days ago, he could spend his days relaxing at the mercenaries' meeting points, but now his only companions were the constantly changing dummy wooden stakes in the academy.

As for Angelita, the princess still showed no intention of joining the academy, but she made several new friends, which made Mary seem somewhat worried lately, fearing that her position would be replaced.

“Especially that Ursula,” Mary sighed. That day, instead of staying with Angelita, she was on the training field acting as Raslaufer’s sparring partner. After yet another predictable defeat, the girl sighed, “How can that girl have so much in common with His Highness? I don’t understand!”

“I guess they became friends after a fight,” Raslaw shrugged. He didn’t care how Anne made friends; even if he wanted to, he couldn’t figure it out.

"'No fight, no friendship'?" Mary rolled her eyes. "I heard that there was supposed to be a paladin traveling with His Highness before. How come you and he didn't become friends after a fight?"

It's not hard to understand why Ursula started to grow closer to Angelita. The latter saved her life, defended her senior Brandon, and, more importantly, she was convinced that Brandon had absolutely no feelings for Angelita—a savior who posed no threat was, of course, her best friend.

Just then, Angelita walked in from outside, looking excited and seemingly quite thrilled.

“Uncle Raslaufer,” the girl walked quickly up to Doppler and handed him a pink invitation, “you must be getting moldy from sitting here so long, I’ve got you something good!”

"This?" Leslaufer was puzzled. The color scheme didn't seem like it was for him at all. But as his gaze moved down, a string of cursive characters caught his eye: "Gladiator arena...exhibition match?"

“Hehe, I got it from Miss Ursula,” Angelita chuckled slyly. “I heard that her family runs an underground gladiatorial arena. Seeing how bored you are here, I was thinking of finding some entertainment for you.”

So that's why she approached Ursula?

Leslaufer was momentarily at a loss for words: "Well... I appreciate the sentiment, but to put on a show for a bunch of slaves? I'd better not."

That guy, Thunder, claims to be the number one gladiator in Eastern Inas, but his skill level is just so-so. And since it's an exhibition match, he'll probably have to hold back. This kind of "sports" probably won't be able to fill the void he's currently experiencing.

To everyone's surprise, Angelita had an "I knew it" look on her face and simply urged Raslaufer to open the invitation and read its contents.

As he saw the specific details marked on it, Dople's eyes finally began to light up.

"A beast fight? A land shark?!"

“A giant predator that doesn’t care about strength, only about filling its stomach,” Angelita said with no small amount of pride. “The terrain will be soft enough for it to dig burrows and ambush its opponents. The only problem might be that it doesn’t like the current temperature in Eastern Inassassins, so it might be a little sluggish.”

“No, no, no, that’s not a problem, Anne!” Leslaufer interrupted Angreta impatiently. “I want to kiss your little face right now! It’s perfect enough! Shall we go now?”

A bloody battle ensued after those thirty or so useless men! He desperately needed this!

“Calm down, Uncle Raslaufer,” Angelita had anticipated Raslaufer’s excitement. “After all, this is someone else’s arrangement, so you’ll probably need to be patient for a day or two. The date is set after dinner the day after tomorrow, so you can eat your fill before going on stage, while the land shark will remain hungry for the next few days.”

Angelita urged Ursula to make the land shark appear as ferocious as possible, because she was certain that even the most terrifying monster could be defeated by Raslaufer. Although the fight was a "performance" for the audience, it had to be intense enough for Raslaufer to justify his boredom over the past few days.

“Very good, very good…” Leslaufer nodded repeatedly, his gaze seemingly glued to the invitation. “I once saw a land shark in Corazond, but it was chasing a halfling mage and quickly disappeared—halfling flesh is their favorite food, and humans come after them, only before dwarves and elves.”

"But it doesn't really matter. I heard them say that these guys only realize what they've eaten after they've finished eating their prey. I don't think I'll disgust it—and then disgust me."

"but……"

Raslaufer paused suddenly, holding up the invitation in his hand and examining it carefully for a while: "You've also arranged an exhibition match for yourself, and your opponent is... Ursula?"

"I heard you two have already reconciled?"

“That’s it,” Angelita shrugged. “She thought the way I used swords and magic at the same time was very interesting, very… worth watching, so she wanted to do it again. She thought it was the main event and should be saved for last, but I think that would never compare to your ‘performance’.”

Angelita actually wanted to make Raslaufer's match the grand finale, but that went against Ursula and her father's plans. Moreover, Angelita was certain that Raslaufer didn't care about the order of events, so on that day's schedule, her real exhibition match with Ursula was placed last, while Raslaufer's was second to last.

Just as she expected, Raslaufer was very satisfied with this, and Angelita's performance was a true one, with the script pre-designed, so there was no possibility of danger. Raslaufer didn't need to worry. Faced with such a good opportunity, Doppler had no reason to refuse and readily agreed to the gladiatorial match the day after tomorrow.

After this "more important matter" was settled, Angelita began to recount what she had seen and heard over the past few days: "As you may have heard here, because that officer named Scheinhailig went into hiding, the victims have had to start looking for his 'accomplices' who harbored him. This shouldn't be a big problem in theory, but..."

"It seems there are far too many demon cultists being unearthed recently..."

Chapter 444 Underground Arena

"Although I don't know exactly how vigilant Ironforge is against demons, even by the most sensitive standards, it's already excessive. Heinrich's manuals are being treated like rules and laws, and everyone's behavior cannot deviate from their contents. Areas that were previously treated vaguely, such as spitting in public, are now being deliberately and explicitly addressed, which is very strange."

When Angelita mentioned these things, Mary shared a similar view: "And what's most damning is that a large portion of those who pushed this forward were people who attended the banquet that night, the teachers and students of this academy. Some of them even skipped classes to try and find the evil spirits—but they should be the ones who know best which ones are and which ones aren't!"

The reason is obvious: the trick of framing someone was demonstrated to them in person that very night!

Reislaufer wasn't really aware of the situation; things hadn't turned out this way when he went to his old buddies for some comfort: "What was Heinrich and the others' reaction?"

“Yes, but very limited. Although Master Heinrich is much better than before, he still needs a lot of rest and meditation every day to recover his energy, so it’s hard for him to take care of all the problems,” Angelita sighed. “As for Brandon, that guy has a terrible personality and can’t make any decisions. I heard that the number of people detained and awaiting trial is about thirty times the number of people he has decided to sentence.”

As a person, Brandon is undoubtedly a good man, and he doesn't want to wrong other good people, which is why this situation has arisen. But from Angelita's educational perspective, this is completely unacceptable.

Unfortunately, they have no power to influence the situation, not even the power to offer advice—things are already chaotic enough, and any more ideas will only bring more trouble.

“I’ll go and ask around about this,” Raslaufer nodded. “But there shouldn’t be too much to worry about. It’s probably just those noble lords scheming against each other behind the scenes. That’s not uncommon in Ironforge. Once they’ve dealt with them, everything will naturally get back on track. But during and after that, those involved will inevitably suffer some injustice.”

He had never been particularly enthusiastic about these things, since mercenaries were usually not needed in this area. However, given that Angelita was somewhat bothered by it, Raslaufer decided to put some effort into it anyway.

All of this, of course, cannot delay the beast fight scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

The Ursula family's "gray business" is, as the name suggests, an arena built on the fourth level of the Ironforge, beneath a large area of ​​shops. Various forms of magic provide excellent soundproofing, protection, and lighting, making it one of the top choices for many nobles to enjoy.

Perhaps one day Ursula's family will be purged because of some conflict, and this arena will become one of the pieces of evidence against them, but the arena itself may continue to exist—in whatever form.

As you emerge from the spiral staircase behind the hidden door, all you can see is the arena at the very center of the space, and the spectators who have come to watch the battle. Some of them manage to maintain the dignity of nobles, chatting with those they need to befriend, while others are more like gamblers with bloodshot eyes, clutching gold coins and money bags, their bloodshot eyes fixed on the crowd below, occasionally letting out low growls more frenzied than the wild beasts below.

The strong, lingering scents of alcohol, perfume, and other herbal incense were an indispensable part of the occasion. Daisy and Pauline covered their mouths and noses from behind, while Leslaufer and Angelita held their breath in front, trying to prevent the unpleasant aromas from entering their airways.

“Miss Anne, Mr. Raslaufer,” Ursula personally greeted Raslaufer and his party when they arrived as promised. The girl still had her wavy hair, but she had changed into a set of ornately decorated leather armor instead of the banquet dress. “Please come this way with me. We don’t need to hang out with these guys.”

As she spoke, Ursula enthusiastically led everyone to a special private box: "Making incense with things like 'Burning Stardust' was an idea a master gave my father to match the color scheme of the surrounding walls and other parts, making it easier for the audience to empty their wallets. But later we found that the old customers had already started to be self-sufficient, so this money was left over."

"Although it was a good thing for the arena, my family has rarely come here since then—after all, we know that using that stuff too much is not good for people."

Even though these incenses are more commonly used by spellcasters, who are more resistant to them, they still need to use them with extreme caution.

Flashing Stardust... Reslaufer remembered that back in West Inasas, there was a retired mercenary from a small town who was competing with another gang called the Bigleaf Gang for this stuff.

“If you absolutely had to come, you would have chosen this room anyway,” Paul said, looking at the runes placed throughout the box. “It’s a nice design, but I think there are some areas for improvement. You can take a look. It’s a pity I haven’t been to a similar place in Magpares, otherwise I might be able to offer more suggestions.”

The old mage naturally reciprocated with goodwill towards his student's new friend, and Ursula, having already witnessed the Imperial Mage's erudition in recent days, quickly and humbly recorded this information.

At that moment, the first few gladiatorial matches of the day were taking place, including one featuring Thunder. Raslaufer had ample time to adjust her condition, while Angreta and Ursula huddled together, discussing what aspects of their performance could be improved.

Unfortunately, this atmosphere was soon interrupted by a knock on the door, and as the door opened, a young man who looked like a waiter hurried in.

"What did you say?" Ursula recognized the insignia on the other person's chest; it was one of his staff members. "Is Senior Brandon here?"

She turned to Angelita apologetically: "Sorry, Anne, you know, I have to... um, excuse me for a moment."

Naturally, no one would stop them in this situation, and Ursula soon followed the other party out. They passed through two or three areas, while the waiter in front still showed no sign of stopping.

“Ah, Senior Brandon is really diligent. He actually came from the entrance on the fifth floor? It’s kind of him to still worry about my affairs…” Ursula was very familiar with this path and did not suspect anything. However, after following the other party through a hidden door, she looked at the empty corridor ahead and there was not a trace of Senior Brandon.

Something was wrong; a chill ran through Ursula's heart.

She drew her staff and pointed it at the back of the person who had also stopped in front of her: "What's your name? I didn't know that my father recently hired a new person."

“It’s alright,” the waiter said, his head spinning 180 degrees as Ursula’s eyes widened in terror. “I was summoned by the head waiter, and you’ll soon find out…”

Chapter 445 Clues to the Devil

Ursula did not return, but instead sent a message through the servant to everyone, saying that everything was proceeding as usual. No one doubted this.

A girl who could disregard all manners in public for "Brandon" is now perfectly normal to be accompanying her senior.

However, as the waiter politely pushed open the door and left, a clear, melodious voice echoed in Daisy's heart.

“That’s strange,” the devil muttered. “Look at that guy, how he’s shaking his head.”

“It should be ‘bowing and scraping,’ right, Zhengling?” Daisy raised an eyebrow. “What kind of adjective is ‘shaking one’s head’?”

“A literal adjective,” the devil’s voice grew a little louder, “take the harp out the door and let me take another look—he wasn’t like this when he first came in.”

Daisy left as instructed, but the waiter had vanished without a trace. Zhengling, not wanting to risk her life in such a crowded place, could only return empty-handed. However, her suspicions didn't disappear; instead, they became even clearer.

“Daisy, if you trust me, let Leslaufer come out for a moment. Something might not be right.”

"Old Lei, um, can you come out for a bit?" Daisy asked herself honestly. After spending so much time with Zhengling, she realized that this devil really had nothing that couldn't be trusted, so she quickly called out to Leislaufer.

"What's all this secret? Why are you keeping it from us?" Mary scoffed, teasingly.

"I...I'm not familiar with this area. I'd like to ask Lao Lei to come with me to the restroom!"

How could this guy say something so self-righteous?!

The poet's bad habits weren't new; her lame excuse only convinced the others that it was something important. Raslaufer immediately got up and followed Daisy to a quiet, secluded corner. After confirming that everything was alright, Zhengling pulled Raslaufer into a mental link.

“That waiter who called Ursula away, although I don’t have enough evidence, he’s definitely suspicious,” Zheng Ling said quickly. “Your Excellency Raslaufer, Daisy may not have noticed, but think back, when that waiter came over twice, was his neck the same?”

"Isn't this the first time he looks more 'normal' than before, when it looked like his cervical spine was broken, and he had to barely keep his head on the chest cavity!"

“This…” Leslaufer couldn’t possibly notice so many details, but since a devil insisted on pointing this out, it certainly wasn’t without reason. “You suspect, a devil?”

Given the deep-seated grudge between the Nine Hells of Bathor and the Abyss, it's unlikely that a demon would set a trap in this regard. Even if he did, there would certainly be a step involved in scheming against the demon.

“I know of a kind of demon called the Evil Spirit Demon, Your Excellency,” Zheng Ling’s tone didn’t sound like a joke. “They possess corpses to pretend they are still alive, but the maggots in the abyss are all beasts driven by instinct.”

"Since the true form of the evil spirit is something like a shadow, stain, or jellyfish, if it is not particularly restrained when it possesses someone, it will often do unnatural things that are different from normal creatures, damaging the originally intact corpse. I suspect that is the reason for the waiter's neck problem."

"You mean we have to find that guy?"

“No, we shouldn’t alert them,” Zheng Ling pondered for a moment. “Considering the escaped Soul Eater, if we startle them rashly, it will cause even more trouble. We can only wait and see, and then take them down the moment they make their move.”

"Unfortunately, although I would be happy to help you find people to deal with these maggots, the treatment of devils and demons in Ironforge is probably not much different. Moreover, we cannot stay here for long, and the problem of those who escaped the net will still not be solved. So I asked Miss Daisy to call you out to suggest that you make preparations now, so as not to be caught off guard."

Getting Raslaufer to gather manpower wasn't difficult, but the problem was that he probably couldn't leave easily now. Fortunately, Zhengling and Dubule both came up with a solution to this problem.

"Barbasa Balon!" With Raslaufer's call, the little devil quietly appeared on his shoulder. Its presence was so subtle that Raslaufer wouldn't have even been able to sense it if it weren't for its weight.

“There are a few locations here, you may have already been there with me. In short, find them and leave a message,” Leslaufer didn’t specify the method, as the little devil was clearly more knowledgeable in this area than he was. “And while you’re at it, let me mention the time I was fighting that land shark. I need to get word of their arrival before that monster falls.”

There are about three more gladiatorial matches ahead, all with pre-booked scripts and predetermined end times. Including breaks and cleaning time, the match in Leslaufer will take about an hour and a half. Although the time is a bit tight, Leslaufer is confident they can manage.

They have to do it.

Barbasabalon intended to be as talkative as ever, but the current atmosphere prevented him from being negligent, and he quickly vanished into thin air again. The little devil, a messenger and spy within the Nine Hells, could carry out this task perfectly.

Meanwhile, Raslaw and Daisy returned to the private room. Although they didn't know what had happened, Raslaw's expression sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"Uncle Leslaufer, what happened?"

“The devil’s problem will probably spoil our fun tonight,” Raslaufer snorted. “Everyone, including you, Mr. Paul, be prepared.”

“As for Angelita,” he suddenly thought of something, though the devil hadn’t mentioned it, but the possibility was very high, “when you fight Ursula later, you need to be very careful. If things don’t go well, don’t ‘perform’ according to your pre-arranged plan anymore.”

Angelita's expression shifted for a moment, and then she nodded solemnly, indicating that she had remembered.

An hour and a half is neither a long nor a short time. Soon, with the announcement from outside, Raslaufer picked up his two-handed greatsword and walked straight to the entrance of the "stage".

Meanwhile, at the other end, a huge, magically encased iron cage was lowered into the arena by pulleys. Everyone could see that inside the cage, a colossal beast five meters long was greedily and bloodthirstyly scanning the crowd with its small, yellowish-brown eyes, occasionally letting out roars, as if it were the gluttonous diner outside the cage, and everyone else was merely dinner to be devoured.

The appearance of the Land Shark, a monster with a shark-like head and naturally armored plates, drew screams and cheers from all directions. What surprised the audience even more was that standing opposite the monster was just a single person!

Despite the man wielding a greatsword and clad in armor, he faced a ravenous land shark! What were the organizers thinking? Were they planning to kill this man?!

A flood of gold coins poured into Land Shark's side, but about 30% of the bets were still placed on Raslaufer. Amidst the deafening cheers of the audience and gamblers, Land Shark's cage was opened by a mage's hand. As the creation, entirely composed of arcane magic, was instantly swallowed by Land Shark, the lump of succulent meat wrapped in an iron can opposite it actually began to move first.

They launched an attack on it!

Chapter 446 Food Chain