The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 566: A Troublesome Token

The next day.

Just as dawn broke, many people in the Elven Homeland began to wake up and leave one after another.

Shien Buztout’s group also set off, with everyone present. Even Airi woke up early, whether because she hadn’t slept last night or because of their departure. Although she didn’t seem very energetic, she didn’t appear sleepy-eyed either.

Everyone left the treehouse and came to the ground.

“Roar—!”

Yulin immediately flew from the direction of the Queen’s Palace, roaring as she landed, kicking up dust and causing many to exclaim.

Not only Shien’s group was present, but many elves had also come.

Some were watching, while others, along with Carol, were maintaining order. Even Sophie, the Elven Queen, appeared with Leia and Nia, seemingly to see them off.

“Such courtesy? Your Majesty?”

Shien raised an eyebrow.

Sophie seemed to have adjusted her mentality, recovering from Machi’s incident, and gave Shien and the others a beautiful smile.

“Since the Kingdom’s princess, her fiancé, the Evil God of the God Race, and three Demon Lord princesses are all here, as the Queen of the Elves, I naturally have to come and see you off.”

Sophie said this first, then added with a wry smile,

“Moreover, my people are quite reluctant to part with you. For this reason alone, I must represent them and offer you blessings for your journey.”

Hearing Sophie’s words, Shien couldn’t help but look around.

Indeed, many elves were staring at him with reluctant expressions.

No, not just the elves, even the fairies flew over in droves, surrounding Shien as if they didn’t want him to leave. They tugged at his collar and pulled his hair, their reluctance evident.

Incidentally, at the end of the Peace Festival, many elves had given Shien flower garlands.

Lucy’s words had come true. Many elves gave Shien flower garlands, clearly having a deep impression of him.

That’s why they came here.

“I haven’t even had a proper conversation with him…”

“I should have been bolder…”

“Yeah…”

Many elves whispered such things.

This made Shien very awkward.

There was nothing he could do.

“Hmph.”

“Hmph.”

Two cold snorts came from behind him.

He didn’t need to think to know who they came from.

“Why don’t you just stay here?”

Lucy directly expressed her dissatisfaction to Shien.

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Airi also appeared cold and indifferent.

Besides these two, two elves also voiced their opinions.

“I really don’t know what’s so good about that guy. Isn’t it just because he was recognized by Goddess Nadue and defeated a Demon Spirit?”

Jenom, standing among the Elven Corps, said this, seemingly unable to accept it.

“Our people are just like that, too naive, too innocent.”

Carol sighed softly.

Shien immediately shut his mouth.

It wasn’t appropriate to say anything at this time, right?

It was better to say nothing at all.

Sophie seemed to sense something and smiled gently, taking the initiative to speak.

“Although many things happened in the Tegor Forest and the Elven Homeland this time, overall, the Peace Festival wasn’t affected, and everyone is safe and sound. There’s no better outcome than this.” Sophie said to Shien, “Through this experience, we’ve also come to realize that such a remarkable person has appeared among humanity. As the Queen of the Elves, I assure you that the Elven Homeland will always welcome you. You are welcome to visit again at any time.”

These words made many people’s expressions change.

“The Elven Homeland is going to welcome a foreign man at any time?”

Jenom was stunned.

“…”

Carol and the others fell silent.

“This…”

Shien and his companions looked at each other.

Because this wasn’t a small matter.

“Is this really alright?” Shien looked directly at Sophie, “The Elven Homeland is isolated from the world. Except for festivals like the Peace Festival, I remember that you normally don’t interact with the outside world, right?”

Normally, not to mention foreign men, even friends of the same sex weren’t usually allowed to enter the Elven Homeland.

Of course…

“We simply prefer not to interact too closely with the outside world.” Sophie shook her head, “This is also to protect our innocent people and fairies. You should understand.”

Outsiders were too curious about elves and harbored too much covetousness, even wanting to sell elves as slaves. The Elves naturally had to be cautious and maintain a certain level of vigilance to avoid being harmed.

But this didn’t mean that the Elves wanted to completely isolate themselves from the outside world.

“We are only wary of outsiders, not rejecting everyone. If there’s a valid reason, the Elven Homeland will still welcome outsiders. For example, if someone is in distress in the Tegor Forest, or gets lost and wanders in here, or comes to us for help, we will accept them depending on the situation.”

Sophie looked at Shien and said,

“And for those we trust, we naturally welcome them to visit at any time.”

In fact, some foreign friends deeply trusted by the Elves would occasionally visit the Elven Homeland. There were even some trading companies that cooperated with the Elves, coming to the Elven Homeland from time to time to purchase magic potions, tools, and other goods, transporting them to the outside world to sell at high prices.

And envoys from other countries would sometimes visit the Elven Homeland, representing their nations in talks with the Elven Queen, or interacting with the Elven Corps. This was also why the Elven Corps occasionally received information from the outside world.

“Please accept this.”

Sophie handed something to Shien.

It was a rolled-up map.

“This map marks some safe routes. Following these routes, you can reach the Elven Homeland more quickly and safely, avoiding overly dangerous monsters.” Sophie smiled, “Although I believe that with your strength, you don’t need to worry about the threat of monsters, it should still be useful when you don’t want to be harassed by monsters and want to reach the Elven Homeland quickly.”

The Elven race had given out quite a few of these maps.

Visitors and trading companies trusted by the Elves would use them to avoid many dangers and troubles.

Shien thought for a moment, then accepted it.

“Thank you.”

Shien expressed his gratitude.

“It’s what we should do.” Sophie said, “You are someone recognized by Goddess Nadue, and the person who invited you here has now become the Goddess of Nature’s blessed one. Moreover, you are all important figures in your respective races. If we can’t even trust you, then there’s probably no place for our Elven race in this world.”

Whether Sophie’s words were sentimental or genuine, Shien couldn’t tell.

However, Shien understood the Queen’s purpose.

It was simple. The Queen just wanted to befriend him.

After all, he was not only a foreign man recognized by the Goddess of Nature, Nadue, but also a friend and lover of Melika, the blessed one. Furthermore, he had close relationships with Airi, Lilith, Lucy, and other influential figures. From a queen’s perspective, she definitely wouldn’t want to make an enemy of such a person.

Moreover, when dealing with Machi, Shien had also demonstrated the combat power and potential to reach Transcendent Level.

Under such circumstances, as long as she wasn’t foolish, she would definitely try to befriend him.

Even if they didn’t become close, she at least wouldn’t want to offend him.

This was probably Sophie’s true purpose, right?

“Then, we’ll take our leave.”

Shien didn’t dwell on this matter too much and nodded to Sophie.

“Alright.”

Sophie returned the gesture, then raised her scepter.

“—ki sa o ga chi i a e o tsu pu ro (Corridors of the forest, labyrinth of the fairies, by the traveler’s command, open!)—”

The familiar ancient Elven language flowed fluently from Sophie’s lips.

Instantly, the barrier enveloping the Elven Homeland rippled and slowly opened.

Shien and his companions leaped onto Yulin’s back one after another.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty.”

Lucy bowed to Sophie from Yulin’s back.

“See you again, Sophie.”

Lid also called out.

Airi, Millu, Lilith, and Lasha didn’t seem to want to talk to Sophie, just watching quietly.

As for Sophie, she led all the elves present and bowed deeply to Shien and his companions, offering a farewell salute.

“—a shi chi na ha wa da a (May the Goddess of Nature protect you)—”

Sophie prayed sincerely.

“—a shi chi na ha wa da a (May the Goddess of Nature protect you)—”

Leia, Nia, Carol, Jenom, and the others all echoed in unison.

Shien and his companions might not fully understand the meaning of these ancient Elven words.

But seeing the expressions and gestures of Sophie and the others, they understood that it was a blessing, a prayer.

The Light Trees swayed, emitting rainbow-colored light.

The fairies also danced around, reluctant to part, yet bidding them farewell obediently.

Shien suddenly smiled.

“Until we meet again, everyone.”

Shien said loudly.

“Roar—!”

Yulin immediately roared, offering a magnificent farewell.

In the next second, Yulin flapped her dragon wings, creating a gust of wind as she soared into the sky.

She circled in mid-air, then turned her head and flew towards the outside of the Elven Homeland.

The elves, led by Sophie, watched this scene.

They didn’t disperse until a long time later.

…

Tegor Forest.

Perhaps because of the recent commotion, this ancient forest seemed much quieter than when Shien and the others first arrived.

Many monsters no longer wandered around casually. Even those that did were extremely cautious, seemingly frightened by the recent evil aura incident, less ferocious and more timid.

Thanks to this, this time, no monster dared to block their path, allowing Yulin to fly unimpeded through the Tegor Forest. Even when passing through the territories of some Legendary-level monsters, there was no movement at all.

Shien watched this scene, then turned to the three Demon Lords.

“What are your plans?”

Shien asked.

Lid didn’t answer, glancing at Airi.

Airi also didn’t respond, seemingly still sulking with Shien, pretending to be indifferent.

Lid gave her an exasperated look.

“Let’s part ways here.” Lid said straightforwardly, “The entrance to the Demon Realm isn’t far from the Tegor Forest. The three of us will fly there ourselves.”

“Alright.” Shien didn’t dawdle, thinking for a moment before asking, “Speaking of which, how does one usually go to the Demon Realm?”

The Divine Realm was connected to temples in various locations in the human world. Through rituals performed in these temples, one could open a gate connecting the two realms.

So, what about the Demon Realm?

Lid answered this question readily.

“The Demon Realm is different from the Divine Realm. The entrance isn’t opened through facilities like temples, but exists at the bottom of large magic power sources that are over a thousand years old.” Lid explained, “Usually, the entrance is closed. Only by holding a special token and approaching the bottom of the magic power source, entering the detection range of the entrance, will it open automatically.”

“Token?” Shien asked almost subconsciously, “What kind of token?”

“It’s a crest.” Lid replied truthfully, “Just like your human nobles have their own family crests, some high-ranking members of our Demon Race also have their own crests, such as the six of us sisters and the officers under our command.”

These crests were the tokens of the Demon Race, used to open the entrance to the Demon Realm, but they could only be used in specific locations.

Besides this, there were also places in the Demon Realm that specifically issued temporary tokens for passage, allowing some demons to come to the human world when necessary.

“Of course, some factions also possess the means to open the entrance, such as the Old Demon Factions.” Lid looked at Shien and asked, “What? Do you want to go to the Demon Realm?”

“Well,” Shien shrugged, “If I have the chance.”

Upon hearing this, Airi finally spoke.

“If you want to go to the Demon Realm, use this.”

Airi tossed a pendant to Shien.

It was a black pendant.

On the pendant was a crest, depicting a terrifying dragon breathing dragon breath, much fiercer and more ferocious than the dragon on Shien’s Buztout family crest.

This was undoubtedly Airi’s token.

“Hey, Airi.”

Seeing this, Lid called out to Airi in astonishment.

“This is…!?”

Lucy, who had been quietly observing, changed her expression slightly.

Airi ignored them.

“Once you’re in the Demon Realm, use this token, and most things can be resolved. Do as you see fit.”

Airi said this casually.

Everyone was stunned.

Including Shien, who held the pendant in his hand, feeling that it was somewhat troublesome.

Had he received something incredible?