Chapter 207
Chapter 207: Small Fry, Small Fry
Within that boundless pitch-black space, it was as though everything around them had been inverted.
The sky lay beneath their feet, while the earth hung suspended overhead.
The Demon Hunters were battered from head to toe, their bodies covered in wounds, sprawled across the ground in every direction.
Severed limbs and broken arms were scattered all around, the vivid crimson of blood staining the darkness with color.
Bleached-white bones had burst through chests, seemingly turned entirely inside out.
They had lost all capacity to fight.
The remaining Demon Hunters labored with their last breath to lift their heads, red-eyed and shaking, staring up in stunned disbelief at the enormous demon looming beneath the sky.
Its entire body reeked of bloody filth and the rancid stench of rust, fresh crimson blood dripping slowly from between its claws.
A layer of crystal-red armor seemed to coat its body, gleaming in the darkness.
Red steel shards danced wildly through the darkness around it, gust after gust of wind churning up like a merciless meat grinder.
The Demon Hunters felt it.
Yes—a Demon.
The terrifying existence before them could only be a Demon.
When they laid eyes on this sky-piercing colossal beast shaped like a crocodile, they could feel their hearts hammering in their chests, blood rushing straight to their heads.
Every instinct in a Demon Hunter's blood had been fully ignited.
Their consciousness grew hazy, their reason slipping away like water.
Yet the final result was.....
In the blink of an eye—they were completely annihilated.
The sky-piercing Demon before them was absolutely not something that low-level Demon Hunters like themselves could handle.
It had grown strong enough to inspire utter despair.
Many of the Demon Hunters, after taking that terrifying blow, found their legs snapped, their backs wrenched, even forcibly jolted back to their senses.
Yet now—how desperately they wished they were still in their frenzied state.
That way, perhaps they could at least numb themselves when facing such a horrifying monster.
Rather than experiencing the Demon's terror firsthand, trembling all over, consumed by despair and anguish.
Demon Hunters—actually afraid of Demons.
How deeply ironic.
All of a sudden, that sharp voice rang out from the darkness:
"That's enough play, Wrath."
"We have other matters to attend to."
The enormous Demon tilted its head at those words, and seemed to let out a sigh.
The steel shards swirling around it gradually settled, returning to the Demon's crystal-red armor.
The Demon dragged its body—some 30 meters tall—and turned, walking deeper into the pitch-black space, its tail swaying back and forth.
Under the disbelieving gazes of the assembled Demon Hunters, the Demon's silhouette gradually faded from sight.
They could not imagine it at all.
That after facing such a terrifying Demon, they had actually survived.
Yet even having survived, a mark of shame had been carved into their careers as Demon Hunters.
When confronted with a Demon they could not defeat, they had actually felt fear.
Not only had they failed to deal the Demon any damage—they had come away gravely wounded themselves.
At last.
The moment after the Demon vanished, the space around them began to warp and distort.
The sky and earth that had been turned upside down began to spin at tremendous speed alongside the gradually shrinking darkness, while the soft, shapeless walls resumed their outlines and hardened once more.
When all the Demon Hunters came back to their senses, they had already appeared in the courtyard of the Clavena Manor.
They looked at one another, utterly incredulous.
Instinctively, they reached to feel their own bodies—and only then did they realize that the wounds they had sustained in the darkness had already healed completely.
Even the severed limbs and broken arms had been reattached without a single seam, and the protruding bones had retreated back into place.
As though the battle just now had been an entirely fabricated scene.
What on earth......had just happened?
Hadn't they just been fighting a Demon?
The Demon Hunters looked up, and found the vast manor ablaze with light, flames still flickering here and there without pause.
The sight before them was completely different from the dim and gloomy building of moments ago.
"......An illusion."
Someone suddenly murmured, and the other Demon Hunters nodded in complete agreement.
Aside from an illusion, they had no other explanation.
But......to silently and without warning drag every single one of them into the very same illusion.
Could a human being truly do that?
And then there was that Demon.
They recalled that towering crimson body and the crystal-red armor flickering with the specter of death—and couldn't help but shudder from head to toe.
Everything that had just happened—was it real, or was it fake.....
The Demon Hunters had barely come back to themselves when all of a sudden, they felt the sky above them instantly swallowed in shadow.
Looking up, a puff of white cloud drifted slowly downward from within the shadow.
"Hey, small fry. Breaking and entering is really not a respectable way to behave."
The voice rang out, and the Demon Hunters tensed at once, simultaneously drawing silver-white short blades from their waists.
But before they could mount any further resistance, the group froze completely where they stood.
The soil began to churn, trembling gradually beneath them.
The next second, the ground where they stood cracked open in an instant, a massive chasm splitting through it.
A giant flower bud burst open from beneath that trembling earth, thrusting its body skyward with gaping jaws, placing those Demon Hunters squarely in the center of the bloom.
And they finally got their wish—catching sight of the source of the voice seated upon the cloud.
It was......an Elf.
From her body, a boundless torrent of Magic Power poured forth, cascading down from the entire span of sky above.
As though the next second, it could completely swallow them whole.
And a Mage who could command such Magic Power could only be—
'Council Member'
Cocotte sat on her cloud, arms folded, head tilted back, regarding the Demon Hunters.
"I'm not in a very good mood right now, because someone is making me pay for the damage to their house."
"I have no money, so......"
She crooked a finger, and the enormous petals began to fold inward toward the center.
The Demon Hunters understood full well that if this continued, they would certainly be swallowed whole by this flower in a single gulp.
But Cocotte let out a light laugh—like a threat, it terrified them completely into silence.
"So I'll use you lot to pay off the debt."
***
The Imperial Palace was pitch-dark, lit only by a sparse scattering of flickering candlelight.
A Demon Hunter concealed herself in the darkness, quietly slipping past the guards' line of sight, then taking advantage of their inattention to move swiftly through the shadows.
She entered the Imperial Palace and walked freely through it, as familiar and at ease as if she were returning to her own home.
Just as she had anticipated, the Palace guards were few and far between at night.
She knew this.
Because she understood Aubrey better than anyone.
The arrogant Aubrey had no need of protection from any guards, which meant that at night, soldiers on alert were rarely seen within the Imperial Palace.
But all of a sudden, as though she had sensed a ripple of Magic Power, she turned sharply to look back.
Fixing her gaze on the corner of a wall, she said in a low voice:
"Quite bold of you, sir, to dare hide yourself within the Imperial Palace."
"Aren't you afraid the Emperor will discover you?"
The darkness began to stir, like stagnant water rippling to life.
The silhouette of a man gradually emerged from within it, the Coat on his body swaying faintly.
"Sharp powers of observation. Worthy of being 1 of the 7 highest-ranking cadres of the Demon Hunters."
Viktor, who had appeared in place, gave the Demon Hunter an elegant bow.
"I am Viktor Clavena."
The Demon Hunter cadre turned to face him, her gaze fixed on him as she spoke slowly:
"I know you, Viktor."
"The current Council Member of the Mage Council—a far more resounding title than that of Imperial Count."
Viktor straightened up, his expression calm, hands tucked in his pockets, speaking indifferently:
"Then I'll refrain from pressing the matter of you sending people to search my home."
"I have only 1 question to ask."
The Demon Hunter heard Viktor's words and her expression grew several shades more serious.
"Ask away."
In the darkness, the pair of eyes Viktor possessed seemed to shimmer with light as he looked at her intently:
"I want to know......"
"Does the child of a Demon Hunter automatically become a Demon Hunter?"
"......"
The Demon Hunter held a deep respect for Viktor's strength and standing—she even regarded him as a person of equal standing to herself.
So she could answer Viktor's questions.
But she never could have anticipated that Viktor would ask something like this.
Though somewhat at a loss for words, the Demon Hunter answered nonetheless.
"No."
"The way of the Demon Hunter can only be inherited through acquired means. No one is born a Demon Hunter."
Viktor appeared as though a long-held doubt had finally been resolved, and a relieved smile suddenly spread across his face.
"I see......"
"My sincerest gratitude for clearing up my confusion, Your Majesty the Empress."
The Demon Hunter started abruptly, the pupils beneath her mask widening in an instant.
"You......"
"Wondering how I knew?"
The words fell, and Viktor raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
With the sound that followed, the dark lanterns lining the walls of the Imperial Palace lit up one by one, as though flames were being passed between them.
The Demon Hunter cadre couldn't help raising a hand to shield against the sudden brightness.
A head of silver-white hair shimmered like a river of stars, flickering in the dark of night.
Within that slightly blinding light, she caught a blurred glimpse of Viktor, facing the corridor of the Imperial Palace, giving a slight bow.
As though realizing something, she froze.
All at once, a terrifying presence began to descend.
Like a great beast rumbling low in its throat, slowly emerging from the depths of its cave.
The air around them seemed to grow considerably more oppressive, pressing against her chest with a crushing weight.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One step, 2 steps, 3 steps......gradually drawing closer.
As though she had been locked onto, her muscles went completely rigid, unable to move.
Even though her mind was now razor-clear and she knew she should not linger any longer, for some reason she simply could not move her feet.
At last, Aubrey slowly walked out, standing at the top of the steps.
His clouded eyes trembled faintly, gazing at the woman before him.
That resonant and incomparably commanding voice detonated in the air around them:
"Claudia, you always say that you understand me better than anyone."
"Have you ever considered—how well do I understand you?"