Chapter 253 : Surrender
One hour later.
"Really such a fool. What dignified princess performs comfort shows by singing nursery rhymes?"
"Wuwu, the cookies suddenly ran out, so I could only do that... Besides, everyone's feedback seemed pretty good, right? What's the problem?"
"Hehe~"
Elucia smiled ambiguously. In fact, Lonis's comfort visit this time was indeed very successful.
Perhaps it was because Lonis had once been a hero? So this time her comfort had no sense of high-and-mighty distance, but seemed to know what everyone was thinking, being very tolerant and considerate.
The wounded's morale was greatly boosted, and the previously tense atmosphere in the hospital became orderly.
Seeing all this, Lonis felt extremely comforted.
However, she was still concerned about another matter:
"Elucia, are you alright?"
"Hah, what could be wrong with me?"
"I feel that compared to me, Elucia should want to play the princess more, bringing comfort to these soldiers, right?"
"Hmph, I'm not that naive. Besides, my current state is more like a demon than a human."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, as long as the hospital's wounded can be energized, that's good. What I need to care about are other problems."
Elucia's gaze drifted to the side. Although her tone remained calm, Lonis could still sense she was somewhat guilty.
However, Lonis didn't pursue further:
"Miss Elucia, what should we do next?"
"Hehe, intelligence... Although the demons are so crazy, they'll definitely suffer backlash."
"Uh...?"
"Wait and see. I estimate they'll come."
...
Just as Lonis was hesitating...
In the distance, a blonde little loli suddenly came running.
The visitor was Nalonaté. Although young, her work efficiency was exceptionally swift... These past few days she had been delivering intelligence to Elucia who was in closed-door training.
"Princess Sethilu, sorry to interrupt your inspection. I have an important matter to report."
"Mm, it's fine since we were about to return anyway. What is it?"
"It's not convenient to talk here. Actually..."
...
...
Lonis never expected that just when the demon offensive was fierce, demons would actually come to surrender!
After all, the demons had been unstoppable these past few days, attacking all the way to under the royal capital. Moreover, the person who came to surrender wasn't some minor character.
She was actually...
The vampire elite agent, Shiman.
...
This girl called Shiman, Lonis had seen before... Back then, she had infiltrated the Kingdom of Insolania, disguised as a maid and captured Lonis.
Her identity was equivalent to the demons' chief of intelligence.
According to the intelligence Elucia had gathered, Shiman and many vampires should submit to the current Demon Leader, an elder vampire named Mivira.
But now, Shiman had come to surrender. This made one inevitably suspect deception, so careful handling was needed.
...
...
In the meeting room, they met Shiman.
However, this vampire girl's condition couldn't be called "normal" at all. One of her arms was broken partway, and on her exposed skin, Lonis saw...
"This is... Black Scale Disease?"
"That's right, Black Scale Disease."
Facing the two people, Shiman had no concealment and said directly: "I came to tell you that the Demon Leader, Elder Mivira, has gone completely mad."
"Oh, how so?"
"Because the demon food storage was recently attacked, causing food shortages everywhere, Elder Mivira mixed meat chunks containing Exotic Decay fragments into the military provisions."
"What?"
"This resulted in many demons becoming deeply addicted and unable to extricate themselves. They began gradually losing their reason, becoming violent and dangerous existences."
...
...
No wonder the demon offensive was so fierce, almost sweeping across the entire Bright Ember Kingdom within three days.
So there was such an important factor involved... Back in the underground commercial street, the Ramlin Gang had become half-human, half-ghost monsters because they were poisoned by Exotic Decay fragments, and their boss had died in the basement from complete genetic collapse due to excessive mutation.
As for the demons?
There was a similar effect.
After consuming Exotic Decay fragments, the demons would become extraordinarily powerful and bloodthirsty like they were on stimulants, almost ignoring pain and becoming killing machines that only knew slaughter.
But the side effects were...
Strong withdrawal reactions and post-event muscle atrophy.
Simply put, for demons, Exotic Decay fragments were like drugs... They wouldn't be fatal, but were expensive and harmful to the body.
Then...
"Miss Shiman, do you know where Elder Mivira got the Exotic Decay fragments?"
"I don't know. The western demon territories don't produce Exotic Decay fragments, and Candel never allowed circulation of such goods... But from speculation, it probably came from General Caster."
"Mm, what about your arm? Was it also caused by something similar to Mivira?"
Although Shiman's left arm was already wrapped in bandages, dark red blood still seeped out continuously, looking particularly gruesome.
"Mm, we didn't want to consume food mixed with Exotic Decay fragments, so Elder Mivira sent people to forcibly inject them into our bodies."
"What?"
"Many vampires went mad under the fragments' influence. I don't know what Mivira wants to do, but doing such things to compatriots—he's truly completely insane."
"I see... Disobedient soldiers are made to obey only through special means. General Caster's move is really impressive. As long as all demons become addicted to Exotic Decay fragments, he can regain control of everything."
Elucia took a deep breath, showing an expression of complete understanding.
"Actually, I don't want to surrender to humans either. But I must see Queen Candel, must hear from her how to deal with Mivira. Otherwise..."
After speaking, Shiman looked at Lonis with somewhat awed eyes.
In fact, they also knew that Queen Candel had gone alone with slaves to White Mist Forest to meet Princess Sethilu, relying on her matchless strength.
Because with 8th-rank power, even Prince Ruowei Palace wouldn't be her match. Even if surrounded, Queen Candel could react and call out hidden reinforcements.
But no one expected that in the blink of an eye, Candel had been defeated.
She didn't even make a sound. These vampire higher-ups didn't even know how Candel had lost.
Such power was very frightening.
Therefore...
"Hehe, you want to see Candel? But... you'll probably be disappointed."
"What..."
"Because Queen Candel has become addicted to our sexual training and completely submitted. She's learned for the first time how pleasurable it is to be a girl and a submissive..."
"!"
"Come with me, I'll take you to see her~"