Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

Ryuka braced herself, gathered her magic power in her chest, and unleashed a roar like that of a raging dragon! It instantly shattered Hefren's battle technique, blasting her off her warhorse and sending her crashing into the army behind her!

This roar shook the very ground beneath their feet, and the tremors were felt throughout Sochi...

Two kilometers away, in the castle of Sochi, a man had just finished listening to his subordinate's report and ordered his men to retreat when he heard this thunderous roar.

"Huh? That's quite a loud voice. An interesting guy has appeared."

The man, who was between thirty and forty years old, had a head of dark blue slicked-back hair, with a few strands of hair sticking messily to his forehead. The deep dark circles under his eyes made him look very tired.

He went to the window, looked at the dust rising from the distant city, and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

Ah~~~ Unexpected events always happen, and no matter how you plan, things will always change, but that's what makes life interesting~

"Is this a good idea? Quaid, aren't you afraid the plan will fall apart?"

A flippant voice came from behind Quaid. On the sofa behind Quaid, another adult man was holding a teacup, legs crossed, looking at Quaid by the window.

"Chaos is what makes things interesting, and besides, that brat is no longer useful to us. He's actually created an interesting situation." Quaid turned around and asked the man who was drinking tea:

"I'm going to have some fun. What about you? Want to stretch your legs a bit, Hayden?"

In Quaid's room was Mr. Hayden, the magician and representative of the Chamber of Commerce who had been to Linhu Town.

He put down his teacup, shook his head, took out a box, opened it, glanced inside, and said with a smile:

"I don't like fighting and killing. I'm only interested in business, especially big business that can control the fate of countless people!"

In the box in front of Hayden, complex magical instruments were protecting a glass test tube containing bright red blood.

"With this, the Third Prince has a reason to send troops, and my mission in the East is over."

Hayden checked everything and closed the box, complex magical runes appearing around him. Before teleporting away, he left Quaid with a piece of advice:

"By the way, you should still keep an eye on Linhu Territory next door."

Quaid was stretching his arms and legs, looking ready to pounce, and asked without turning his head:

"Are you talking about the little girl from the Tartu family, or the Snowfield family? Or that brat named Ryusha? I've read their files. Although they have some outstanding qualities, they're not worth worrying about. To be honest, I still don't know what the thirteenth princess is up to."

“Neither…” Hayden adjusted his hat. “It’s that nun named Luminova. That girl’s aura is very strange… No matter what that princess is planning to do, the Vatican has clearly gotten involved. You’d better not get caught up in this.”

"Are you warning me to be careful not to die? Haha! As long as I'm having fun, I don't care if I die~ I'll be satisfied as long as I can cause chaos in Otto~"

Quaid turned around, his eyes weary yet carrying a strange smile, and looked at Hayden, who was about to be teleported away:

"May the glory of wealth bless you, my friend." (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentence.)

"You too, have fun before you die."

Hayden smiled slightly, and his figure vanished without a trace in the glow of magical runes...

Meanwhile, to the east, dozens of kilometers away in the Linhu Town church, Luminova, who was taking a nap on the roof, suddenly had a snot bubble pop out.

Meanwhile, to the east, dozens of kilometers away in the Linhu Town church, Luminova, who was taking a nap on the roof, suddenly had a snot bubble pop out.

"Ok?"

The white-haired nun rubbed her eyes and looked towards the west, her gaze seemingly unfocused.

"Sister Luminova! You're slacking off again! It's your turn to watch the children's lunch with Atina today!"

Below the church, Lindsay was pushing a cart full of unwashed dishes, shouting angrily at Luminova on the roof.

"Ah~ really? Sorry, I forgot!" Luminova's unfocused eyes suddenly cleared, and she looked at Lindsay with a carefree smile.

"Seriously! How many times has this happened already! Wait... what are you going to do?"

Lindsay was grumbling when she suddenly saw Luminova pat her skirt and assume a pose of gathering strength on the roof.

Boom!!! The holy energy erupted from under Luminova's slippers, blasting a huge hole in the entire roof of the church! Luminova shot off like an arrow, reaching the edge of Linhu Town in an instant.

Boom! Her second acceleration landed on the edge of the field, the mud she kicked up engulfing the freshly harvested wheat field like a wave, leaving the farmers nearby staring in astonishment...

Luminova vanished from his sight in an instant, leaving only one sentence echoing in the air.

"Sorry! Please send the bill to Sister Lindsay at the church! And tell her to save me extra dinner!!!"

"Ah~~ I yelled too much, I'm a little short of breath..."

Ryuga straightened up and looked at the soldiers sprawled out in front of him. A violent urge welled up inside him to step forward and crush them, armor and all, into a pulpy mess.

Behind them, the buildings across the street had cracked, and everyone was screaming and running away!

So annoying, I want to strangle them all one by one...

Ryuka was shocked by her own thoughts. Although she had similar evil thoughts when using [Witch Invasion] before, this time they were even more difficult to control!

And she hadn't even used [Witch Invasion] yet! She had already entered a state of violent rage!

What happened? Was it a loss of control over the power brought about by the advancement? Or was the previous cruelty having too much of an impact on his mind?!

Looking at the destruction she had caused, Ryuka realized that this was clearly not the strength of an ordinary high-ranking official. After all, neither Megan nor Melanie were nearly as exaggerated as she was now!

After all, it was just a casual shout! It was just a little louder than usual!

Chapter 20 Demonization

Something is wrong.

"Calm down, don't let the witch's power lead you astray."

Ryusha noticed that Zona had taken advantage of the chaos to sneak away with the slaves into the crowd, but she needed to create even more chaos to attract attention.

He wanted to open the city gates, which were under martial law, but a sense of danger came from his body!

Boom! A figure descended from the sky! Like a falling meteor, he crashed down upon Liu Xia! When the dust settled, a crater large enough to bury a dozen people appeared on the ground! And in the very center, a weary-looking man gradually emerged…

"Did you dodge it? Your reaction was really fast."

"Lord Quaid!"

Hafulian's men gasped in surprise, but Quaid ignored them, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding ruins.

"Take your young lady back; there's nothing more for you to do here."

Quaid said calmly, causing Hafulian and her warriors to show expressions of resentment.

“We can still fight! At least we can wear him down! Please return to the castle to keep the Duke family at bay!”

While the main class has incredible destructive power, its continuous combat time is only about two hours. A sufficient number of main class warriors can continuously deplete the opponent's fighting spirit through repeated attacks and kiting, which is essentially risking lives to gain an advantage.

But Quaid was unmoved, simply turning his head to look at Heflian's knights with icy eyes:

"Just leave when I tell you to."

Suddenly, a shadowy figure of Ryūka appeared behind him!

The longsword swung down! A metallic clang rang out! The longsword, imbued with dark purple demonic energy, was blocked by magical runes that appeared on Quaid's arm!

Demon Warrior!

Ryuka's eyes narrowed. The man in front of her looked sickly, but his fighting style was surprisingly hardcore!

Quaid unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks, his limbs blurring like a storm, forcing Ryuka back and taking several more blows himself.

"Wow~ Your body is pretty strong~" Quaid shook his slightly numb hand and strolled towards Ryuka. In an instant, the difference in strength between the two was obvious.

This is a high-ranking official position! Not on the same level as Megan and Melanie!

Ryuka raised the corners of her mouth, wiped away a trace of blood, and felt an unparalleled sense of exhilaration as the pain from her injuries stimulated her fighting spirit.

Interesting. Without using other skills, could you defeat Quaid?

Aside from Kania's witch-type abilities, both her crimson battle aura and ice magic are too conspicuous, and the dark magic she just learned from Zona could easily draw attention to Count Duke.

Well... stalling for time and then escaping is something I can do...

Right?

The sound of air being torn apart suddenly came from behind! Liu Xia's eyes narrowed, and he turned around to slash with his longsword to collide with the oncoming battle aura, while Quaid approached from behind!

"Oh, you dare to look away? You're really underestimating me, aren't you?"

Thud! A solid sweeping kick landed squarely on Liuxia's side waist. Even with the protection of his fighting spirit, Liuxia could clearly feel his internal organs rupture!

He withstood the attack head-on, activating the [Charm] ability, and his figure vanished from Quaid's sight in an instant.

"Ok?"

Although it took less than a second, Quaid reacted immediately, instinctively protecting his vital organs and searching his surroundings with his senses.

"Tsk, two senior officials, huh..."

Liu Xia caught her breath and looked into the distance, seeing where the sword energy behind her had come from.

On the distant castle rooftop, a knight in iron armor and a mask stood, his steel-like body like a sturdy shield, while behind him stood an elderly noblewoman.

Lady Mara and her guards? Ryuka's heart skipped a beat! Nearly two kilometers away! Could such sword energy be unleashed from that distance?!

The charm ability couldn't affect that far. The guard's gaze met Ryuka's directly, but he didn't seem interested in what was happening here.

It seems he won't leave Mrs. Mara's side easily.

Quaid caught sight of Ryuka again, indicating that the [Charm] spell could only have a fleeting effect on him. However, Quaid seemed to have no intention of attacking again, instead engaging Ryuka in conversation with great interest.

"Hey, who exactly are you? Your abilities are weird." Quaid's smile was still more like a grimace.

The information he had didn't include this person in front of him. Was he a savior hired by the Duke family? In any case, Quaid was more concerned about the letters in his hands.

Quaid was devastated when he learned that Heflian hadn't destroyed the old letters.

"You have no chance of winning against me. Your strength as a senior officer is hard-earned; there's no need to throw your life away for someone else. Hand over those letters, and we can talk about anything."

Behind Quaid, Hefren, struggling to her feet, leaned on her spear and roared angrily, prompting Quaid to scoff in dissatisfaction.

If it weren't for the fact that Alvarez's little girl has a Heavenly Rank expert backing her, I would have twisted her head off long ago!

Judging from the fact that they kept the letters, it seems that the Alvarez family's cooperation with this side wasn't all that sincere...

"Idiot! I told you to leave now!" Quaid cursed at Hefren. In a battle between two high-ranking knights, even the strongest knight could easily become a weak point.

The moment Quaid spoke, he had already rushed in front of Ryūka. He would not give Ryūka any chance to kidnap Hafren!

Tsk, I can only hope I don't accidentally kill him, I still have so many things I'm curious about!

Ok?

In Quaid's eyes, it was as if he saw a pair of evil, dark purple eyes through the shadows on Ryusha's body, which sent chills down his spine in just a moment.

[Witch Invasion]!

Although Lady Mara's guards could only interfere from a distance, once she realized that she was facing two high-ranking officials, Ryuka disregarded her unstable mental state and immediately launched [Witch Invasion].

His aura instantly rose from the middle level of the Grand Master Rank to the upper level!

Boom! Instead of swinging his sword, Ryuka met Quaid's fist with a punch, and the buildings on both sides of the street collapsed under the huge impact! Upon seeing this, the masked guard in the distance raised his longsword again and condensed an astonishing amount of fighting spirit!

In the guard's eyes, the shadowy figure instantly swelled in size, transforming into a distorted humanoid silhouette three meters tall! And as his longsword slashed down, the sharp sword light arrived in an instant!

Bang!

what? !

The twisted figure bared its fangs like a terrifying beast, biting down hard on the crescent-shaped sword energy! Then it shattered with a deafening roar!

Ryūka's consciousness began to blur. He couldn't discern the changes that using [Witch's Invasion] had brought to his already near-demonic state. But the punch he'd just landed made him realize that there was still a gap between him and Quaid! After all, Quaid had only used a skill that enhanced physical techniques; there was a high possibility he would unleash another powerful combat technique later!

The fact that I cannot use other skills means that I must improve my strength again to have a chance of winning!

"interesting……"

From within the shadows shrouding his body, Ryuka uttered a hoarse voice. The blackish-purple demonic energy surrounding his gigantic form swayed like tentacles, instantly expanding before plunging into the ground!

The earth trembled! Quaid's attack failed! His eyes finally turned serious, and he quickly moved away to avoid Ryuka's inexplicable movement, preparing to adjust his state.

Rumble!!! As the stone slab shattered, black demonic tentacles emerged from the ground! The ends of countless tentacles were wrapped with writhing 'clumps of flesh'!

Those were the nobles that Liu Xia had thrown into the third basement level, where they had been slashed into human form. They were forcibly pulled out by the demonic tentacles that extended into the ground! Not only did their ice shackles shatter, but some of them also perished in the process.

But those living human pigs were lifted high by Ryūka's tentacles! They were squeezed and screamed like wild beasts. With their tongues cut off, they could only let out hoarse and miserable roars from their throats. This sound, like a hellish symphony, sent chills down the spines of everyone present!

"Heretical, heretical!!!"

Even if this evil scene is not heretical, it is still an evil spell of the necromancy and sacrificial school that is rejected and forbidden!