Chapter 168 : Quite Well-Behaved
Chapter 168: Quite Well-Behaved
Although Lilia didn’t know why the ferocious-looking monster had suddenly become like this, her on-the-spot acting ability—comparable to that of a top actress—instantly kicked in.
Her eyes shifted, and she immediately understood something.
She raised her left hand.
“Know your place.”
A meaningful smile curled at the corner of Lilia’s lips as she extended her left hand forward, almost shoving it right in the monster’s face.
“See clearly?”
“I work for that lord.”
Lilia pointed at her own nose, then at the mist-covered sky above, her tone arrogant beyond measure.
“Right now, I’ve got some official business to handle. I need to interrogate this human.”
“Got a problem with that?”
Although the sludge monster couldn’t understand human language, it understood the gesture—and even more so, it felt the instant burst of cold, almost tangible killing intent emanating from the ring.
Just a trace of it.
But this pitiful sludge monster immediately collapsed like its bones had been removed, its massive body slumping into the mud, trembling violently.
Even though it didn’t have bones to begin with.
Its eyes spun wildly, seemingly searching for a way to escape.
“Scram.”
The next second—
This sludge monster, which had just wiped out a Hero squad and looked so imposing moments ago, truly turned into a pile of mud, scrambling and slithering away into the depths of the swamp.
When it passed by Lilia, it even carefully made a wide detour, as if afraid of touching even the corner of her skirt.
A few seconds later—
The once-noisy battlefield fell into complete silence.
Only the half-eaten corpse of the female mage floated in the mud, silently telling the tale of what had just happened.
Lilia withdrew her hand and looked toward the direction where the monster had disappeared, unable to resist letting out a whistle.
“Tsk.”
“Monsters these days have pretty good manners.”
She clapped her hands and turned around.
“Hey, have you seen enough?”
Arms crossed, she looked down at Lucy on the ground.
Lilia’s words caught in her throat.
The ground was empty.
The priest girl who should have been lying there trembling, crying, waiting for interrogation—
Was now lying quietly in a pool of blood.
Completely motionless.
Her golden hair stuck to her face with cold sweat and mud, her complexion pale as a corpse, and the rise and fall of her chest so faint it was almost imperceptible.
Blood was still seeping from her severed leg, dyeing the surrounding black mud a dark red.
She had passed out.
While Lilia had been confronting the sludge monster, showing off, and putting on a full performance—
This girl, from blood loss and excessive shock, had simply rolled her eyes back and fainted.
“……”
The expression on Lilia’s face froze.
A gust of cold wind passed by.
It carried a few dried leaves, swirling between them.
This was… awkward.
She had gone through all the effort to set the stage, even preparing those classic villain boss opening lines.
And the audience just left midway?
It felt like saving up money for an entire year to buy a front-row ticket to your idol’s concert—only to get diarrhea right as it started and spend two hours in the bathroom.
That kind of frustration was indescribable.
“Seriously…”
Lilia crouched down and poked Lucy’s slightly baby-fat cheek with her finger.
Soft. Cool.
No response at all.
“That’s it? These human Heroes have such poor physical condition?”
“When that female mage blew your leg off earlier, weren’t you holding on pretty well?”
Lilia sighed and scratched her head irritably.
She glanced around.
Ghostly shadows flickered everywhere, miasma filled the air.
In a place like this, if she left the girl alone, she’d probably become extra food for that sludge monster within five minutes.
Or fertilizer for some unknown swamp plant.
Although she was indeed a cold-hearted maid of the Demon Realm, she couldn’t just waste a perfectly good source of information like this.
And besides—
Lilia’s gaze fell on the severed leg.
The wound was a mess of flesh and blood, with bone fragments faintly visible.
If it were an ordinary person, they would’ve died from the pain long ago.
Yet this girl had endured it silently until now.
That alone made her quite formidable.
The tentacle monster might have fled, but this swamp was no place for humans.
The stench was overwhelming, poison gas filled the air, and there wasn’t even a proper place to step.
Lilia looked down at Lucy, who lay unconscious in a pool of blood.
Even though she only had one leg left—
If Lilia dragged her through the mud like this, she’d probably die from infection before they even made it five hundred meters.
“Sigh…”
Lilia let out another sigh.
Since the mission was complete, that green-haired turtle who liked throwing people around like bowling balls—ah no, Lady Vivian—should fulfill her promise, right?
After all, the boss had been “supervising remotely” the entire time.
Thinking of this, Lilia immediately put on a flattering expression. Not caring whether Hera could see her or not, she bowed and nodded toward the air.
“Hello? Master? Can you hear me?”
Lilia tapped lightly on the Conjoined Heart Lock engraved with complex runes using her finger.
“Your loyal employee Little Lilia has successfully completed the mission, and even brought you some local specialty… I mean, captured a live one.”
“The road here isn’t easy to walk—could you have that… Lady Vivian come pick us up?”
A faint red light flashed across the ring.
No voice responded.
But the next moment—
The previously silent swamp suddenly began to tremble.
“Crash—”
Several thick, thorn-covered vines burst out of the ground like giant pythons that had smelled fresh meat, appearing especially ferocious in the dim swamp.
Lilia’s eyelid twitched, and before she could complain about this ridiculous entrance—
Those vines wrapped tightly around her waist, and even thoughtfully extended one to bundle Lucy up like a dumpling.
“Hey! Be gentle! She’s injured!”
That was all Lilia managed to shout.
Then once again, she experienced the ultimate thrill known as the “giant pendulum.”
Her vision rapidly pulled backward as the wind howled in her ears.
The sensation of her organs churning made Lilia swear she would never ride a green train again in her life.