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

“No need, Anne,” Doppler smiled at her as if nothing had happened. “Let them take care of the real wounded. I was just a little… indulgent.”

"That's all?" Angelita asked, half-believing. "But you looked absolutely terrifying just now, like a real demon."

“Perhaps it’s Rose’s influence,” Raslaufer raised his hand, “but she has now withdrawn her power.”

His eyes were still a little unaccustomed to the dim environment; actually, being able to see in grayscale was quite good. Unfortunately, Rose was a stingy goddess, and she couldn't possibly waste a single ounce of her power on a human like him.

But this is actually a good thing; at least we can consider this debt settled.

“On the contrary, Annie,” Leslaufer put his hand on Angreta’s shoulder, turning the girl around so Leslaufer could examine every ripped part of her clothes, “when I was fighting that boar-headed guy, I saw you actually fighting a priest one-on-one? You weren’t hurt, were you?”

Angelita was completely disoriented from being manipulated by Doples, and could only flail her fists haphazardly, weakly proclaiming her power: "I'm really strong now! That guy... that guy can't hurt me at all!"

"That's because I didn't have divine magic at the time, while you were able to cast spells."

With a cough, Van Zelin left her two older sisters and came over. She cleared her throat and asked, "How are you now? Can you understand what I'm saying?"

She must have used some kind of language-granting magic, but through divine rather than arcane means. The young priest shifted her gaze from the hostile Angelita to Leslaufer.

But there was only silence between them. Two full minutes later, unable to bear it any longer, Van Zelin finally opened her mouth, her tongue dry:

“Zaknavan…”

“I’m not the person you’re talking about,” Leslaufer replied so quickly that even Angelita didn’t have time to react. “Perhaps such a person does exist in infinite worlds, but he doesn’t exist here.”

"I thought you might have some ideas, but it seems you're not nearly as well-prepared as your sister, are you?"

Van Zelin stared at Doples speechlessly, and could only subconsciously follow his lead: "Yes, that's right, my elder sister was the one who endured Blar's tyranny the longest."

A vague sense of guilt even rose within her: perhaps he was expecting something from her? Expecting her to stand on his side? Or at least to pass on intelligence? Unfortunately, everything happened so suddenly. Suddenly they lost Rose's favor, suddenly they discovered the caravan used as bait, and suddenly the battle had begun.

Perhaps she should have been more perceptive and pretended to lose to the little girl in front of him? Or perhaps she should have been "more" perceptive and simply killed her?

Van Zelin was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice Leslaufer turning away decisively and heading towards Dieter and Dahl.

“See? Just like we said,” Van Zelin’s adoptive mother, who was also her second sister, walked up to her and patted her on the back, waking Van Zelin up. “She’s not good enough for you.”

“Ah, yes…” Vanzelin sighed, “He is no longer a dark elf, but just a human…”

"What are you thinking about?" With a "smack," the elf's long, slender fingers, unlike those of humans, lashed across Vanzelin's head like a whip. "I'm saying you're not good enough for her, tsk tsk."

Having regained her magic, the priestess's eye on her hand had mostly recovered and only needed some rest. However, she still scrutinized her sister with only her single eye: "You are a dark elf, Vanzelin, and a woman. You were born at the pinnacle of all creatures in this world, only dragons can rival you, but what about you?"

"You've been completely played by a man, and you still feel like you haven't done enough?" She let out a mocking laugh, just like their goddesses—priests who had heard such oracles would consciously or unconsciously imitate it. "You're a disgrace."

Although the ridicule from her mother and sisters was deeply etched in her memory, it also slightly awakened a part of Vanzelin's soul. At this time, their eldest sister had no intention of joining in the criticism of her younger sister. As the newly appointed matriarch, she had to meet with the other leaders here, as this concerned the future status and even the survival of the Mara family.

“Very good, it seems all of us have arrived.” The spider-shaped phantom on the dome disappeared without a trace, and Lilindra landed on the ground, sitting in the middle of a cave, looking at the people who had come on either side.

Dieter, Dahl, and Reslaufer are three humans who, along with herself, constitute one side of the surface world; the matriarchs of four families, including Madam Mara, represent the power of the City of Chouley; and then there's Black Lewin of the Stone Shield Merchant Guild—she carried out the most dangerous decoy mission in this war, and rightfully deserves a place in it.

As for Matriarch Siforn, she left alone without saying goodbye, and no one knows where she went. If she returned to her family, she probably wouldn't have a good ending.

“All of this conflict is the will of the Queen of Gods,” Lilindra set the tone first, “and any sacrifice is worthwhile to win her favor—even the rest of one’s life is worth it.”

"However, other problems caused by this also need to be solved, such as the future direction of the surface-underground trade route, and the future location of your families in Qiuli City."

The Larembass family has fallen from grace this time. Even if the priestess guarding the city were to become the matriarch again, this oldest family in Chou Li City would probably be doomed soon.

This should have been a good thing, but whether the Mara family, previously ranked second, could successfully rise to power was uncertain. After all, their internal strife had resulted in the loss of their previous matriarch, and the current matriarch was far from possessing the same power and influence as her mother. Although the other families had recently undergone a purge, they had not collapsed, and it was entirely possible, even inevitable, for them to seize the opportunity to retaliate.

All eyes turned to Matriarch Mara, who, after a moment of contemplation, made her decision. She looked up at Matriarch Lillindra:

"The Mara family can completely relinquish the profits from the trade route, charging only minimal fees for escort, maintenance, and other miscellaneous expenses. However, in exchange, I require all forms of assistance to ensure the Mara family's position remains unassailable."

“Fibanachi and the other two families, your losses are not small. If there are no more powerful families protecting you, do you think you can continue to stand firm in Qiuli City?”

"As for the Evans family... they're a piece of fat meat, a very, very fat piece. There are twenty or thirty families in Qiuli City. If our four families decline, are you prepared to fight three or five more wars like this until we completely occupy Qiuli City?"

Chapter 538 Halewin's Proposal

“If it were up to me, I should declare war on you again.”

Leslaufer grinned and stared intently at the four Dark Elf matriarchs: "Don't mention three or five times, even thirty or fifty times wouldn't matter. To be honest, this trip has been a very good experience for me, after all, my previous battlefields were all on the ground."

“But you’re not the boss this time!” Dahl interrupted Dople. “If we let you have your way, won’t we all be killed here? I agree with the matriarch’s suggestion! My chapter can stay here or in Alagi’Belbol for a while until the situation stabilizes.”

"—Of course, I can't bear the costs of the warband all by myself during this period."

The old mercenary seems to have been practicing his Dark Elf pronunciation quite a bit these past few days, as he speaks it extremely fluently.

“I also agree with Matriarch Mara’s conditions,” Dieter snorted, “but unfortunately, I can’t afford any more—these days, every time I open my eyes, I see thousands of people eating, drinking, and relieving themselves. Until I see enough profit, the Strongman family’s contribution is limited.”

This isn't something they can decide on their own. They are human, and their subordinates outside are human too. Nobody wants to spend a long time underground, mixing with a bunch of dark elves whose language, culture, and beliefs are completely different from theirs.

But this rendered the so-called "conditions of agreement" meaningless, and the people in the cave soon started arguing about it.

Leslaufer simply watched, the emptiness deep within his soul constantly itching at him. He couldn't wait to see who would be the first to make a move, so he could jump up and give that unfortunate guy a good beating.

But this never happened. Just as everyone was arguing fiercely, Halewin stood up and interrupted them.

"If no one else is willing, then I'll do it, how about it?"

“You?” Matriarch Mara looked at her. “What can the Stone Shield Merchant Guild do? Most of your members are nothing but underground dwarfs.”

It was already a great mercy of the dark elves not to treat them as slaves, so what use could they possibly be?

“It’s not the Chamber of Commerce, it’s me,” Helewin said, pressing the hilt of his curved sword. “I’m a wanderer whose family was wiped out, with no roots in Chou Li City. And now, the decline of the Larnbas family is a foregone conclusion, and a large amount of resources will flow aimlessly to various families.”

"But what if I could bring them together? As an intruder, a disruptor, a mediator."

“All resources pass through my hands before being distributed to Qiu Licheng. I am not a supporter of any side, at least not openly. By taking over, will I be able to keep the other families observing for a while?”

“And you take the largest share, ha,” a matriarch grumbled somewhat discontentedly. “The Eliset followers are full of tricks.”

But even she couldn't deny the allure of the proposal: none of them had to bleed; they could simply take it from the already-out-of-the-way Larembass family. Being generous with other people's money was something everyone would welcome.

As for the fact that they will not be able to obtain that part of the "inheritance" and other families will not be able to get it either, then it is very balanced.

“Let’s consider this a possible solution,” Matriarch Mara nodded after a moment of contemplation. “We’ll discuss the specific details later, but there’s a problem now: as she said, you are a follower of Elisetrix.”

As Rose's most rebellious children, the followers of the Dark Maidens certainly didn't have an easy life underground, and such an identity could not possibly be widely accepted by the matriarchs.

“No, I think it’s just right,” a sly glint in Black Lewin’s light green eyes. “You all think I’m easy prey, right? They probably think so too.”

"If everyone thinks they can control me, then no one can."

Unless she offends the vast majority of families in Qiu Licheng, her failure is entirely her own fault and she has no one else to blame but herself.

Ultimately, the profits from both the surface and underground operations were agreed to be split 50/50, with Dieter taking the lion's share from the surface side. Reislaufer's cut would be included in this deal. As long as Dieter didn't intend to give up the deal with the Dahl Chapter, he would continue to receive money. If calculated according to the overall percentage, it would be around 50% to 60%.

The remaining surface portion was divided 40/60 between Dahl and Lillindra, while the underground portion was given to Black Lewin to distribute among the four families. At the same time, a portion would also be allocated to other families in Chowlee, but that would be a matter for their Matriarchal Council.

“Sitting with these ruthless dark elves is incredibly stressful…” Once the trivial matters were settled, Dieter finally wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gave Leslaufer a wry smile. “Although your price is a bit high, to be honest, without you, this matter really wouldn’t have been completed.”

Regardless of the Pirnaen that were brought over, on the battlefield alone, if that Matriarch named Brar were to release that terrifying demon directly, it would surely sweep across the battlefield. Even if Lilindra's ritual spells weren't that slow, they probably wouldn't have enough time to take effect.

Whether the current Matriarch Mara will release the Purple Worm and stab her own mother in the back by that time will all be unknown, and the unrestrained Matriarch Larembass will become another big problem.

"Instead of thinking so much, let's do the math first," Raslaufer said casually, almost knocking the businessman, who had only received basic martial arts training, face-first into the mud. "Think about that demon, and then think about your money."

"Don't worry about that, don't worry at all!" Dieter quickly assured him. "If the gold coins don't reach you in full, may the purple worm eat me!"

"Reslaufer, you've really made a splash this time!" Dahl couldn't help but laugh. "Looks like you'll soon have a new nickname—'Demon Eater,' how about it? I heard you even stewed a legendary Nabasor demon's spine back at Ironforge!"

“At your age, stop gossiping,” Leslaufer said, pursing his lips. “I even ate raw Wax Melting Demon Ribs—if that stuff even exists.”

He got up and prepared to head deeper into the cave to find a place to rest for a while. The damn itching was getting worse, and at the same time, Leslaufer felt himself getting weaker and weaker, with waves of dizziness in front of his eyes.

This wasn't weakness in the absolute sense, but rather relative to his rapidly expanding "appetite." If he continued to stay here, he might suddenly go mad and actually devour Dahl and Dieter whole.

If it weren't for similar problems that have been present all along, Raslaw would probably have completely succumbed to his instincts by now.

He lifted his leg to leave, but just then, a figure appeared at the cave entrance after the meeting. The bard, clutching her matte, looked at Raslaufer with a pale face. She glanced at Dahl and Dieter beside her, and finally sighed deeply, with a hint of envy in her eyes for the happiness of the uninformed.

“I guess this is the curse of knowledge…” Daisy shook her head, flicking the messy hair behind her ear. “Old Lei, is it convenient for you to come over for a moment? There are some things you need to know.”

Chapter 539 The Lingering Poison After the Experiment

In a secluded place, as Daisy plucked the strings, melodies that Raslauver had never heard before surrounded him. To his astonishment, his mind and body seemed to find great satisfaction in the music, and the emptiness he had felt before seemed to have completely disappeared.

"What's going on here?" Dople looked at the bard, but couldn't see any change in him recently. "What did you do to me?"

"How did you feel?" The poet didn't answer immediately, but instead asked, "Was it nice? Was it alright? Or perhaps..."

Raslaufer checked his condition again. It was gone; the previous hunger and emptiness had completely vanished, and he was now more satisfied than ever before!

It was as if he had just experienced a battle!

"It's more than just whether it sounds good or not! I feel like I've become a better person, a 'better' in every sense of the word! Daisy, how about we do this every day from now on?"

That wasn't an illusion. After hearing Raslaw's reply, Daisy's expression clearly darkened: "Then that's it, Raslaw. I'd be happy to do this every day, but in fact, the effects of this spell can last for a whole month—as long as you don't intentionally resist it—we all know that most spells that manipulate your mind are ineffective. I just took advantage of your trust and took advantage of your lack of vigilance."

The man raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected this, but judging from the outcome, Daisy didn't seem to intend to harm him, so it wasn't a big deal.

"You just asked what this is? This is a hypnotic software—oh, sorry, I mean, a fifth-circle command spell. You must restrain yourself, restrain your craving to drain the life force of all living beings, and the emptiness that comes with being unable to do so. Can you imagine? I learned a fifth-circle spell before I even knew a fourth-circle spell, and it's being used on you!"

Daisy's frustration was palpable: "Come on, I have a well-informed devil by my side! The melody I painstakingly came up with could be adapted to other spells! And this is the result? Are you kidding me! Resurrection, group healing, advanced restoration... teleportation arrays, even overnight legends! Do you know how much effort it takes to change one of these?"

She sighed: "But what can we do, Lao Lei? Since the manipulation technique worked on you, it only proves one thing: what Zhengling said is true."

Raslaufer stared blankly at Daisy. He was used to the bard's occasional ramblings, but this time, he felt something was different.

"What exactly happened? Can you explain it to me in a way I can understand?" Leslaufer was utterly confused. "What did Zhengling tell you? She's a devil, you should know that, she's not..."

“They’re not entirely trustworthy, except when it comes to demons,” Daisy’s expression turned serious. “Old Ray, having that demonologist ‘heal’ you was the biggest mistake we ever made, especially in the latter part when we listened to Zhengling’s suggestion. To bring you back from your madness, we used materials we shouldn’t have used: a high-level demon and a soul-devouring demon.”

“For an ordinary person, this is no problem at all. The power extracted from the remains of a dead high-ranking demon can completely restore your sanity,” Zheng Ling’s voice resounded in both of their minds at the same time. “I know you are not an ordinary person, but I misjudged the distance between you and ‘ordinary people.’ I thought it could be ignored, but in fact, tsk, it can’t.”

“You deceived them,” Leslaufer snorted. “Weren’t you following your mistress’s orders? How could such a devil make such a mistake?”

“The dukes may live a long time, but they are far from being omniscient and omnipotent,” Zheng Ling paused. “I know that I am directly responsible for all the mistakes, so I will not shirk my responsibility, much less blame my mistress. But at least let me tell you the chain of events involved, which is also what my mistress wants.”

“Even before I met you, around the time you left Qingzun City, the mistress noticed your difference and was very interested in you. She had been studying you, but she couldn’t go any further using her expertise—when you were on guard, ordinary manipulation was no use at all, because your rationality and your true self were much looser than ordinary people.”

"So, she had to rely on connections with some colleagues, a certain master of arcane arts, who foresaw this before you lost control, or rather, before you did, and offered advice to my mistress, and then..."

"You really are loyal," Dubler sneered. "Not only do you intend to distance yourself, but you also plan to distance your mistress from the situation?"

"I'm just telling the truth." "Then tell me, what exactly does this 'adult' you're talking about want? What exactly did he do to me?"

"The first question is probably beyond my ability to speculate," Zheng Ling replied after a brief silence. "I can only think of two possibilities: one is that you didn't hand over both pods completely after killing the Wax Melting Demon, thus angering him, and he's using this as an opportunity to retaliate against you."

"Secondly, that Grand Duke started a research project a long time ago, attempting to reproduce the demons of the abyss into devils in a repeatable and large-scale manner, using methods such as swapping the hearts of one devil with another. Perhaps your experience was part of his experiment."

Raslaufer raised her hand, summoning the little devil Barbasabalon, which she kneaded and rolled in her hand like a jar of jasmine or her mistress: "Your wild speculation is quite specific—so what's next?"

"After that, your initial reaction should have been completely unexpected: there were no negative effects, and everything proceeded as if it were perfectly normal. The only suspicious thing was that you mentioned seeing a place that looked like a laboratory in your hallucination, but your description was very vague, so there was no way to find out."

"But now we know that there are negative effects, but your own power suppressed them. However, with your battle with that Soul-Slaying Demon and the subsequent coercion of the Wax-Melting Demon, the excessive overexertion and exhaustion finally gave it a chance to emerge."

"The power of the Soul Eater, and the demon's unrestrained desire for sustenance, have begun to manifest. It will grant you immense power, but as you use these abilities repeatedly, it will also pierce your body like a fishhook on bait. Until you 'come out of the water' and are completely pulled to the other side of the abyss."

“However…” Zheng Ling trailed off, her tone not feigned, but rather a summation of doubts from all the participants above her, “Your performance is still far from what the dukes expected. If you were a normal person, you would have been corrupted by that power long ago, but how come you are able to withstand it?”

"Even the Nabaso demons themselves couldn't do it—how did you manage to resist that emptiness?"

Chapter 540 Rumors from Hell

For Raslaufer, the answer to the question "How did you do that?" is just as numerous as the answer to "The principle behind the release of the Flame Arrow".

That means there is none at all.

The only certainty is that it was definitely not because of Raslaufer's exceptional willpower. Doppler would never underestimate himself, but the temptation to take the lives and souls of enemies while simultaneously absorbing their life force was not a matter of willpower at all—he simply could not find a reason to refuse.

Just to avoid becoming a demon? These two things are simply not comparable.

“Perhaps…” Leslaufer looked back in the direction he had come from, but apart from the lights, he could hardly see anything else. “Was it because of the Spider Queen’s intervention?”

"Rose?" Daisy and Zhengling spoke at the same time, one through telepathy and the other through mind link.

But why?

This question is even more unanswerable than the previous one, or perhaps, divine intervention itself can answer all questions. She is a true deity, and perhaps even her unintentional actions can have an indelible and profound impact on "mortals" in a broad sense.

“If this is the answer,” Zheng Ling said hesitantly, “I will report to the mistress truthfully. But it is probably impossible to find a solution from this perspective. Fortunately, at least our experiment has yielded a successful conclusion: the manipulation technique can suppress your tendency to slide into the abyss. As long as you do not actively resist it, this can be considered a solution.”

Even the most basic command technique can only last for a month at most. Once Daisy masters more advanced techniques, she can extend this time to a year or even almost permanently, which is more than enough for a mercenary.

“But until you find a better way, Old Ray, you have to restrain yourself and not be as reckless as before,” Daisy added. “Every time you use demonic power, you bring yourself closer to the abyss, just like the old saying goes:”

"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you, until you begin to gaze into the abyss—"