Chapter 209
Chapter 209: Become My Servant
Claudia scanned the darkness around her, the expression hidden beneath her mask utterly grave.
What.....had just happened?
To have been silently and without warning dragged into this strange space—who had done it?
Could it be......that crow?
Claudia's gaze settled once more on the body of that pitch-black crow.
But the crow's behavior sent a chill running through her.
Because it was watching her in silence—with that single solitary eye.
"A......One-eyed Crow?"
Something inexplicably familiar rose in Claudia's heart.
As though she had realized something, she froze abruptly.
Hadn't there always been a......pitch-black One-eyed Crow perched on Viktor's shoulder?
Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Viktor knew this well.
The crow seemed to have always remained at Viktor's side—it had even become something of a hallmark symbol associated with him.
Yet she had just seen Viktor in the Imperial Palace not long ago, and at that time, the crow had not appeared to be with him.
At first, Claudia had paid it no mind—after all, she had taken the crow for nothing more than a pet.
But now, Claudia's expression grew increasingly grave.
"A crow that can speak......as expected, you are the one who made Viktor so strong."
Weija, in the manner of a gentleman, placed one wing against its chest and gave Claudia a slight bow.
"While I would very much like you to think so, I'm afraid, my lady, you may be laboring under a misunderstanding."
"He is my proudest partner. Even without me, he would still be that brilliantly shining black star rising right on schedule."
Claudia struggled back to her feet, her limbs somewhat unsteady, and even so simple a motion had very nearly exhausted every last ounce of strength in her body.
The recovery effect of the potion was ultimately far too poor.
For someone like Claudia—a powerhouse who had already approached the very pinnacle of what a human could achieve—that pale-red potion's restorative capacity was barely enough to allow her body to move a few times.
And now she was faced with a mysterious talking crow, with no way of knowing whether it was friend or foe.
Its appearance had indeed brought an extremely intense sense of crisis crashing down on Claudia.
In the midst of her apprehension, the crow gave its wings a single beat.
A black feather drifted slowly downward, landing before Claudia.
Then, in the darkness, that nearly invisible black feather began to transform.
A flash of red light. And then, a glass bottle filled with crimson potion stood silently on the ground.
The color of the liquid was extraordinarily vivid—so dense it had taken on the faintest tinge of black.
Like fresh blood.
Claudia stared at the red potion at her feet, her mind a blank.
A recovery potion? But that color......
"Drink it."
The crow's voice rang out, sharp and commanding.
Claudia's gaze slowly rose with the sound.
Within that single eye of the crow's, there seemed to dwell a playful, mocking quality—as though it held everything in the palm of its hand.
"You have no choice."
The words fell, and her heart clenched as though seized by a heavy fist.
A sense of urgent compulsion surged abruptly from Claudia's chest, leaving her unable to resist.
She could only bend down, pick up the potion from the ground, and open the stopper.
She removed her mask, brought the bottle to her lips, tilted her head back, and drank it down.
The vivid red liquid ran down her cheek, tracing along the line of her slender neck.
Very soon, something remarkable happened.
Claudia's body began to suffuse with a green glow, and she felt strength returning throughout her body.
The physical burden left behind by her earlier use of the Blood Secret Technique vanished entirely without a trace.
She experienced a pleasure and ease she had never felt before.
As though even the old chronic ailments that had settled into her body over the years had been wiped clean.
What on earth was this.....
A miracle?
"Now. Let us make a deal."
That sharp, bewitching voice rang out once more from the crow's beak:
"I have a great interest in you Demon Hunters, so—defeat it."
Before Claudia had even managed to recover from her earlier shock, a sky-piercing Demon appeared in the depths of the darkness.
The crimson body came walking out of the dark, the crystal-red armor on its body once again cracked and broken.
Mingled with an endless stream of steel shards, swirling ceaselessly around the Demon.
The high-speed swirling steel shards scraped across Claudia's cheek in that moment—a mere graze was enough to slice open her skin, and blood began to flow.
Claudia slowly raised her head.
The crimson eye on that half of her face seemed to have dilated wider, flickering with a deep-red light.
Her body entered a state of fierce excitement, rising and falling, her breathing growing heavy and ragged.
Like a great beast awakening, thunderous rumbling erupted from within Claudia's body in wave after wave.
1 of the 7 most powerful Demon Hunters.
What kind of performance would she put on when facing a Primordial Demon?
Weija was very curious.
Its voice continued:
"If you win, I will let you and your subordinates leave the Empire safely."
"But if you lose."
An aura seemed to emanate from the crow's body, climbing gradually into the sky, swallowing the darkness entirely.
The endless dark was gradually blanketed by rolling storm clouds, and the grey-black cloud mass began to churn.
A massive solitary eye burst through the cloud layer, its slit pupil snapping open, gazing down at the earth below as though it commanded all things.
"Your life—"
"Will become my servant. Mine to command as I will."
***
Beyond the Royal Capital, a boundless, level grassland swayed gently in the soft breeze.
The moonlight seemed to lay a sheer curtain across the entire plain, and a sky thick with stars hung suspended overhead, twinkling without cease.
The appearance of a figure shattered the peace that had originally settled over the place.
Blue streaks gradually fell from the sky, converging on the ground below.
The Coat on the figure who appeared was pitch-black, swaying continuously through the air.
Viktor stood in place without moving, as though waiting for something.
Above, Weija beat its wings and descended.
It landed steadily on Viktor's shoulder.
In that sharp, unpleasant crow's voice, it spoke beside Viktor's ear:
"Who would have thought—the Empire's Empress turns out to be a Demon Hunter cadre."
"Viktor, did you already know about this?"
Viktor strolled at an unhurried pace across the tranquil grassland, speaking as he walked:
"The Demon Hunter bloodline must be passed down through inheritance. Only after the previous Demon Hunter dies does it transfer to the next."
"The one who passed it to Claudia was her father—the head of the Storc Family."
Within all of this, there were very deep and entangled reasons.
It was only through his conversation with the old Emperor that Viktor had managed to piece the full picture together.
He tucked both hands into his pockets and tilted his head back to look at the stars:
"Her father was indicted by Empress Claudia—sent to the executioner's block by her own hand."
The Storc Family was wiped out entirely, leaving only Claudia to inherit her Demon Hunter father's bloodline, as she departed the Empire carrying her grief.
Yet Viktor narrowed his eyes:
"But in any case, the matter is considerably more complex than what I've described."
"Well, I don't actually care about any of that."
Weija simply let out a mischievous laugh, then said:
"But just as you planned, Viktor—I do indeed have use for these strong and capable Demon Hunters."
That's right—a scheme.
Viktor had never once been worried that Kavra would suspect his household of harboring a Demon.
On the contrary, the conduct of these Demon Hunters had given Viktor an even better reason to keep them.
If Leah wasn't a fool, those Demon Hunters who had invaded the Manor had probably already had an employment contract thrust under their noses, ready to work for the Clavena Family for the rest of their lives.
***
Leah stood in the living room—which now resembled a ruin—without a trace of regret on her face.
She was even tallying up the household's losses in her hands, calm and unhurried.
All around her, a group of Demon Hunters had been trussed up in vines one after another, standing with their heads hanging low beside Leah.
Cocotte lay draped over her cloud, drifting back and forth above them, watching with the air of someone supervising a work crew.
Leah finished her calculations quickly, then took the bill in hand and addressed the Demon Hunters with a bright smile:
"The damage to the house itself is a minor matter. But the golden-oak furniture, the antiques, the collections, the calligraphy and paintings—all destroyed. Their value is......"
Leah seemed to deliberately draw out her words, keeping the Demon Hunters in suspense:
"You owe 20,000,000 Geo in compensation."
"And that's with the small change rounded off."
The Demon Hunters' bodies gave a violent jolt at that figure.
Several of them immediately began to protest:
"Those losses weren't our......"
"But if it weren't for you, our home wouldn't have been destroyed either. Oh, and speaking of which."
Leah narrowed her eyes, arms crossed, her tone carrying a distinctly dangerous note:
"If you hadn't reminded me, I'd have nearly forgotten."
"Breaking into my home, and then knocking out our Demi-human guards—leaving our household's defenses completely exposed—that was you too, wasn't it."
"Add another 1,000,000 as compensation for them. No objections, I hope?"
Her voice was like a Demon's whisper, spiraling endlessly around the Demon Hunters' ears.
No—even more terrifying than a Demon.
At the very least, compared to Leah, they would rather go up against a Demon.
"But we don't have that kind of money......"
"That's simple."
Leah seemed to have anticipated this all along. She suddenly smiled and pulled out a pre-prepared stack of contracts, producing them all at once.
She distributed them one by one to the Demon Hunters.
They took the contracts, read through the terms, and looked somewhat dazed.
"There are 20 of you. Each person works for my household for 10 years, and you'll have paid it all back."
"Oh, and just so you know—during the working period, none of you will have any free time. Is that understood?"
The Demon Hunters began to tremble all over, crying out:
"You—you demon, this is illegal imprisonment!"
"Illegal imprisonment? When you were sneaking across the border, did you stop to think about what the consequences might be?"
The expression on Leah's face remained that same smile, as she looked the shouting Demon Hunters up and down.
They grew even more frightened.
Because they were, for the most part, not Imperial residents.
The Empire was so powerful that it had no need for any outside forces—not even something as zealous as a fanatical religion.
As a result, the Demon Hunter organization could barely gain any foothold within the Empire.
And Imperial law was extremely strict. For something like illegal border crossing, being immediately expelled from the country if caught was actually getting off lightly.
To say nothing of the fact that they had not only crossed the border illegally—they had charged straight into an Imperial Count's home and caused destruction.
If the Empire got hold of them, being locked up until they died was entirely plausible.
And so, they had no choice but to capitulate.
Just at that moment, a plank of wood on the ceiling began to sway and shake.
Creak—
The enormous swaying board came crashing down from above, landing squarely on an intact and expensive vase in the corner of the living room.
Crash!
The vase shattered under the massive impact.
Fragments of the broken body even struck the Demon Hunters in the face.
The Demon Hunters: "......"
Leah, upon hearing the sound, didn't even turn her head to look. She simply continued smiling, and said lightly:
"Add another year."