Flillian, I want to live.

I don't know why, but after Gutel said this, Fieren actually stopped crying, but...

Why is there such fear on this child's face?

After a moment of surprise, Guter slowly turned his head.

A huge demon was baring its fangs, looking at the two people in front of it with an amused look.

"A fish that slipped through the net? Just a good snack for me."

The giant demon opened his mouth wide, with human flesh and blood still stained on his sharp fangs. His expression was very relaxed, and it was obvious that he did not take the two people in front of him seriously.

"Are you the demon who attacked here yesterday?"

Gutel loosened her grip on Philen's shoulders, turned around and stood up, looking at the huge demon in front of her with a smile.

"My name is Bahata of Destruction, and I'm one of the generals under the Demon Lord," the demon named Bahata said with a proud look on his face. He took out a wooden stick and used it as a toothpick to pick at the huge gap between his fangs. "This town is the 100th human town I've conquered. How's that? It's quite memorable, isn't it?"

"That, that's Mom's..."

Behind Guter, Philen's face suddenly changed, because she recognized that the wooden stick used as a toothpick in Bahata's hand was the wand her mother took from the bedside yesterday.

"Are you the daughter of that magician? She caused me quite a bit of trouble yesterday, so I tortured her before eating her~ Hahaha~"

Bahata smiled happily, not caring at all that Philen's expression was getting uglier and uglier.

"I, I'm going to kill you..."

Philen stared at the huge demon in front of her and said something cruel that she could never achieve.

"Oh~ Such a deep mother-daughter bond," Bahata naturally didn't take Philen's threats seriously. "Don't worry, I'll reunite you two in a moment."

"Hey, this kid is my prey."

In this solemn atmosphere, Gutel took a step forward, stood in front of Philen, and said to Bahata in front of him with a smile.

"Your prey? What are you talking about? You must be a magician, right? Human, if you want to survive, try your best. You might be able to kill me~"

Bahata said to Guter arrogantly.

"Fighting? I don't think that's necessary, Master Bahatta."

Guter reached out and slowly took off the sun hat on his head.

"You fellow..." When Bahatta saw the horns hidden under Guter's sun hat, he showed a surprised expression on his face. He obviously didn't expect that the girl in front of him who looked just like a human was actually from the same tribe as him. "Are you a demon?"

"That's right, so will you please hand this prey over to me, Lord Bahatta?"

Guter saluted Bahatta very gracefully.

Gutel didn't want to see Philen being eaten by the demons, but she also didn't want to fight with the powerful demon general in front of her. Therefore, she revealed her identity. If this matter could be resolved peacefully, it would be the best for Gutel.

"Hahaha--"

However, Bahatta suddenly raised his head and laughed happily as if he had heard a funny joke.

"Why are you laughing, Master Bahatta?"

Guter asked somewhat puzzled.

"This is the first time I've seen a demon with such low magic power. It's almost like a third-rate human magician. A scum like you dares to negotiate with me, Lord Bahata?"

In Bahata's eyes, Gutel, who had been suppressing his magic power, was not like a great demon, but more like a weakling. For the warlike and cruel Bahata, such a weakling was not worthy of his respect even if he was of the same race.

"Ah this..."

Gutel wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand in embarrassment and said nervously.

"Since you're also a demon, I won't kill you. How about this, you become my subordinate? You seem very suitable for scouting human towns. This way, I can make the best use of you."

Bahata pointed at Guterdo.

"Become Lord Bahatta's subordinate?"

Guter's eyebrows raised.

"That's right," Bahatta opened his arms, raised his head and said with a conceited expression, "Pledge your loyalty to me. I won't lose..."

Accompanied by a flash of dazzling light, a huge hole appeared on Bahata's open chest, starting from Gutel's raised arm.

"I'm sorry, Lord Bahatta, but I don't have a penchant for being a trashy subordinate."

The smile on Bahata's face shifted to Guter's face. She looked at Bahata with an expression of disbelief and smiled particularly happily.

"You...you are hiding your magic power..."

Bahata's body began to decompose and dissipate bit by bit. Even so, his eyes were still full of unwillingness and confusion. He would never know until his death why his fellow tribesmen would deliberately hide their magic power and would sneak attack and kill him for a human.

Chapter 13: Reasons for Giving Up Life

Guter watched as Bahatta's body gradually disintegrated until it completely disappeared from his sight.

The demons are emotionless creatures. For Gutel, killing her own kind is just like killing humans, and neither of them can make her feel the slightest bit of guilt.

Gutel closed his eyes and recalled the unwilling expression on Bahata's face before his death. If the other party had not let down his guard because of his hidden magic power, it would probably not be easy to defeat him head-on, right?

That's really scary, Mr. Volame.

This method of easily defeating demons has been discovered for over a thousand years.

"Ah, right."

After some emotion, Gutel remembered that there was a little girl named Philen behind him.

Gutel turned around and looked at Philen who was standing there in a daze. She was obviously frightened by what had just happened. She stood there in a daze, her eyes bulging out, looking a little cute.

"You...you are a demon..."

Philen looked at the pair of sharp horns on Gutel's head and spoke with some trouble and sadness.

"Well, that's right. Sorry."

Gutel reached out his hand, touched the sharp corner on his head, and shrugged helplessly.

"Are you going to eat me?"

Facing the big demon who could kill the demon general with one blow, Philen behaved more calmly than Gutel had imagined.

"Well...at least not now."

Guter bent down, put his face close to Philen's, and answered with a hint of playfulness.

puff.

With the sound of a dagger piercing flesh, young Philen used all her strength to stab the dagger her father gave her for self-defense into Gutel's soft abdomen.

As blood gushed onto Philen's face, the girl, who was hurting someone for the first time, was frightened herself.

"That's really decisive."

Gutel stood up, looked at Philen with fear on his face, and slowly pulled out the dagger from his stomach with his hand.

Restoration magic.

Under Philen's desperate gaze, Gutel's wound and the blood-stained clothes instantly returned to normal.

"A sneak attack is a good decision. The demons are a race not to be trusted," Guter said, looking at Philen with admiration. Although he was young, he possessed a decisiveness unmatched by many adults. "However, if you want to kill a demon, you should still aim for their head and heart. The demons' vitality and recovery abilities far surpass those of ordinary humans. Even the weakest demons cannot be killed by your sneak attack."

"Just kill me……"

Philen lowered her head, her body trembling slightly. The other party seemed to be mocking her foolish resistance, but she was not angry. Having lost her parents overnight, she had lost the will to live.

"Don't you want to live anymore?"

However, what Fellen was waiting for was not Guter's attack, but a question from the opponent.

"……Um."

Philen was silent for a moment. She raised her head, looked into Gutel's dark and deep eyes, and nodded slowly.

"What's the reason?"

Gutel asked relentlessly.

"..." Feilun opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. In the end, he could only answer in confusion, "I don't know."

"Is that so? Then live on until you find a reason."

Gutel handed the dagger stained with his own blood to Philen and said with a smile.

"why?"

Philen took the dagger handed to him by Gutel and looked at the demon girl in front of him with some confusion.

"what why?"

Guter asked rhetorically.

"The reason for doing this..."

While wiping the blood off the dagger with the corner of his clothes, Philen asked Gutel.

"Because I'm also looking for the answer to this question," Guter said, putting her hands behind her back. Over the years, she'd done many things that seemed unusual to her fellow demons, but none of her actions were without purpose. "I've always believed that no living creature could give up its desire to survive, but humans are different. They seem to be willing to give up their lives for something more important. I want to know what that something is."

"..."

Philen didn't quite understand what Gutel said, but since the demon in front of her had no intention of killing her, she really had no reason to give up hope of living.

"Well, anyway, I won't kill you for now, but if you ever find out the answer to your question, I hope you can tell me."

Gutel did not expect the little girl in front of her to help her solve the doubts that had troubled her for years, and she was not in a hurry to get the answer to the question. For the demons with almost infinite life, the time to solve the problem was far beyond human imagination.

"Ah."

Philen nodded. No matter what, the demon in front of her did save her life and killed the demon general who killed her parents. In a sense, Gutel could even be considered her benefactor.

"But this town is ruined. Even if there are survivors, there's no way to rebuild it to its original state, right? Do you have any other relatives you can turn to?"

Gutel looked at Philen who was gradually accepting him, and once again used the rationality of the demon to make realistic suggestions to the other party.

"Really? This place is already..."

This time, Philen did not act so willful. Perhaps it was because she had lost too much overnight, which made her grow many years older. Looking at the town full of ruins and corpses around her, she accepted Gutel's statement.

"My condolences, Miss Phelan."

Gutel stretched out his hand, and after confirming that Philen had no objection, he stroked the other person's hair, imitating the way someone comforted someone else.

"Mom once told me that my grandfather seemed to be a nobleman in the capital..."

Philen raised his head, looked at Gutel, and slowly told him the clues about his life experience.

"Is that so? Then I also happen to be going to the capital to meet an old friend." Guter's face showed a happy expression. "Would you like to come with me, Philen?"

"Um……"

Philen nodded. Although traveling with the demons was a dangerous and crazy thing, she was also very clear that without anyone to accompany and take care of her, there was no way she could cross the desolate Gobi Desert and reach the vicinity of the royal capital with her current strength.

"Then let's go. There's nothing worth staying here for."

Gutel stretched his body and said to Philen beside him.

"Please, please wait a moment..."

However, Philen reached out and grabbed the hem of Gutel's skirt, and said nervously.

"what happened?"

"At least...at least everyone..."

Fellen plucked up the courage and made a request to Guter.

That night.

A raging fire broke out in the square in the center of the town. This place was originally a place for the townspeople to celebrate festivals, but now it became the place where the bodies of the victims of last night were burned.

"Really? Are you going to go to Grandpa with this wizard lady?"

The neighbor's grandmother stood with her hands behind her back, looking at Philen who was sitting solemnly at the edge of the square.

"Well, do you want to be together?"

Philen nodded and then extended an invitation to the old man.

"No, I'm already old," Grandma said, smiling and refusing Philen. "Besides, this is our home anyway."

"Really...our home..."