The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 849: “He’s Ruthless, We Can Be More Ruthless.”

According to Lucy, several Old Demon Faction groups had attacked the Buztout House, all of which were far stronger than the [Assassination Branch], though not quite on par with the [Original Demon].

After all, the [Assassination Branch] had lost many members in the large-scale assassination incident in the Royal Capital ten years ago, and coupled with Leisha’s betrayal, they had suffered heavy losses, becoming the weakest among all the Old Demon Faction groups for a time.

If it weren’t for Bedo and Killian supporting the [Assassination Branch], this Old Demon Faction group might have already been eliminated.

Even Bedo and Killian were only experts in their eighties and seventies, respectively, a far cry from Legendary Level.

It was understandable that such an Old Demon Faction group would be at the bottom of the barrel.

Of course, although the [Assassination Branch] didn’t have any Legendary Level experts in the past, they had thousands of assassins, making them a large and influential group, not inferior to the other Old Demon Faction groups.

In other words, the Old Demon Faction groups that invaded the Buztout House were at least on the same level as the [Assassination Branch] before its decline.

Perhaps, in terms of manpower, they were inferior to the [Assassination Branch] in its prime, but these Old Demon Faction groups were filled with experts, each having at least one or two Legendary Level experts, comparable to some of the powerful clans in the Demon Race.

Naturally, no Legendary Level experts participated in the invasion of the Buztout House this time.

Legendary Level experts weren’t cabbages. Even in the Demon Race, known for having the most experts, enough to overwhelm the combined forces of the Divine and Human Races, experts of this level were high-ranking existences.

There were certainly many Legendary Level experts within the Old Demon Faction, but distributed among all the groups, apart from the [Original Demon], which was led by a half-Demon Lord, experts of this level were rare in other Old Demon Faction groups.

Naturally, such rare existences held a very high status within their groups, second only to the leader, if not equal. They wouldn’t casually take action and invade a noble house with an unknown threat level.

Because of this, Vivian and the others were able to successfully capture these invaders with the help of the Buztout House’s defense system and Lucy’s reinforcements.

However, these invaders were also quite powerful. The strongest among them had even reached level eighty-nine, only one step away from becoming a Legendary Level expert.

According to Lucy, if this Old Demon Faction member hadn’t failed to awaken a Unique Skill, limiting his potential and making it unlikely for him to reach Legendary Level in his lifetime, he definitely wouldn’t have been sent by the organization to carry out this mission.

For any faction, someone with the potential to become a Legendary Level expert was definitely worth focusing on cultivating and protecting. If this Old Demon Faction member had awakened a Unique Skill and had sufficient potential, he wouldn’t have been sent on such a risky mission.

Without awakening a Unique Skill and lacking the potential to become a Legendary Level expert, he was nothing more than a high-level thug to some factions.

Thus, under Vivian’s formidable defense, this Old Demon Faction expert, delayed and unable to conquer the Buztout House, was ultimately killed by Diere’s [Magic Sword] in her demonified state.

“His name is Shudy. He’s an expert from the Old Demon Faction group [Hundred Beasts’ Nest]. He was once the clan leader of a group called the Beast Claw Clan in the Ghost Demon’s territory. Although he doesn’t have much potential, he’s ruthless. In order to completely eradicate a clan that was his enemy, he didn’t hesitate to abandon his own clan members as bait. In the end, the enemy clan was destroyed, and his own clan suffered heavy casualties, leaving only him to be recruited by the leader of [Hundred Beasts’ Nest], becoming a deranged Old Demon Faction member.”

Lucy explained to Shien as they walked through the underground prison.

“The things he has done are no less heinous than those of the [Assassination Branch] led by Bedo. Who knows how many priests he has killed, and how many large-scale attacks he has launched on human factions and nations. He’s an extremely sinful person.”

“Thanks to this, this Shudy is highly valued by the leader of [Hundred Beasts’ Nest]. If he had more potential, that leader wouldn’t have sent him to invade the Buztout House.”

“He’s also a troublesome person for us, because he’s ruthless to others and even more ruthless to himself. After the mission failed, he wanted to commit suicide on the spot, but Vivian and Diere stopped him.”

“After imprisoning him here, we interrogated him many times, even having the palace mages cast suggestion and hypnosis spells on him, but each time, he resisted with sheer willpower, enduring mental damage, bleeding from his seven orifices, but refusing to reveal any information about the Old Demon Faction.”

“He even pretended to be on the verge of death several times, only to suddenly lash out when the knights and palace mages came to check on him, injuring and even killing several people.”

Speaking of this, even Lucy seemed to have lingering fear.

To her, Shudy was undoubtedly an insignificant character, but his ruthlessness and wickedness did make her instinctively afraid.

Lucy hadn’t met Shudy in person, only hearing about these situations from her subordinates, but she couldn’t help but click her tongue.

“Although most of the Old Demon Faction are deranged and insane, impossible to reason with, and many captured members successfully committed suicide, leaving only a few, including Shudy, still alive, among these Old Demon Faction members, Shudy is particularly crazy. That’s why, after almost a month, we haven’t been able to extract much useful information from him.”

Lucy turned to Shien and asked,

“Facing such a person, how do you plan to find out about the Old Demon Faction’s movements?”

Shien hadn’t thought about this question carefully.

However, it wasn’t difficult.

“A ruthless person, is he?” Shien’s expression turned meaningful, and he said casually, “Actually, the method to deal with a ruthless person is very simple.”

“What?” Lucy was slightly taken aback.

“Nothing.” Shien smiled faintly. “I just wanted to say, he’s ruthless, we can be more ruthless.”

Hearing this, Lucy shivered involuntarily.

“W-what… what do you want to do to him?”

Lucy asked timidly.

There was no helping it.

She was one of the people who knew Shien best and was very aware of how terrifying this person could be when he became ruthless.

Someone who could even be so ruthless to his own wives, how could he not be terrifying?

Therefore, if Shudy was a ruthless person, then this damned man was definitely a bit more ruthless, a complete and utter wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Unfortunately, the wolf in Lucy’s eyes didn’t directly answer her question.

“You don’t need to come in later. Let me meet this Shudy myself.”

Shien simply said this, then walked towards the deeper parts of the prison with apparent interest.

Seeing this, Lucy began to silently mourn for Shudy in her heart.

“Don’t blame me. Blame yourself for provoking someone you shouldn’t have.”

…

The deepest part of the royal palace’s underground prison held several specially treated cells.

Not only were they located in a remote area, but the scale of the barriers and magic formulas set up here was also several levels higher than the outer cells.

Imprisoned here were either madmen whose existence wasn’t tolerated by the world, or extremely dangerous and threatening experts. Even several vicious Legendary Level criminals were held here, showing how much higher the security level here was compared to the outside.

Even Shien felt a slight sense of oppression after arriving here.

An extremely dangerous atmosphere permeated the air.

Figures were hidden in the darkness within the cells, some sitting, some lying down. They only glanced up when Shien appeared, then indifferently looked away.

They weren’t like the noisy people outside.

Nor were they like the blustering criminals outside.

They simply stayed there coldly, yet the scene felt like a battlefield, filled with killing intent and the stench of blood.

Shien couldn’t help but glance at them a few times before looking at Lucy beside him.

“That’s him.”

Lucy immediately understood, pointing to one of the cells.

Shien immediately looked over.

In the next second, Shien saw him.

In that cell, a demon man, looking dirty and disheveled, with messy hair, sat cross-legged on the ground.

He wasn’t tall, even quite short. His height of less than 170cm made him look like a larger dwarf, but dwarves were stocky and muscular. This demon man, however, looked like a frail old man, his muscles withered, not at all like the ruthless Old Demon Faction member Lucy described, but more like an old homeless man who would die without care.

Shien just looked at him, but he kept his head lowered, as if he had lost all signs of life, his body stiff like a corpse.

“Interesting.”

Shien narrowed his eyes, smirking, and without hesitation, he used Instant Movement to appear inside the cell.

“—”

At this moment, the atmosphere in the air changed.

The criminals present seemed to have seen this, their eyes flickering.

Lucy also opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn’t, taking a step back and leaving the space to Shien.

Shien then walked forward, approaching Shudy.

Just as Shien stepped within a meter of Shudy…

“Roar!”

Shudy abruptly raised his head, roaring like a beast, like a monster that had smelled blood, lunging towards Shien ecstatically.

Upon closer inspection, Shudy’s hands resembled beast claws, sharp and cold. As he clawed towards Shien, the air seemed to scream as if being ripped apart.

This was the Beast Claw Clan, a type of demon born with beast-like claws, using them as their primary means of attack. They didn’t need weapons, able to cut through iron and steel with their bare hands.

Their most famous fighting style was covering their claws with [Magic Sword], using a claw version of [Magic Sword]. They could even crush high-level magic with their bare hands, considered beings that absolutely couldn’t be touched, as any contact meant certain death.

Relying on these claws, even with his magic power suppressed and his body constantly pressured by magic formulas, making it difficult to move, Shudy could still, taking advantage of his opponent’s unpreparedness, suddenly lash out, mustering enough strength to kill several people while imprisoned.

However, he had provoked the wrong person today.

“Clang!”

The sharp claws slashed across Shien’s throat, yet they didn’t cut his skin or sever his head. Instead, it was like striking steel, creating a metallic clang and a shower of sparks that flickered in the air.

“Wh-… !?”

Shudy’s pupils constricted sharply. Then, he immediately reacted, gritting his teeth, ignoring the pressure of the magic formulas in the cell, letting out another beastly roar, raising his claws, and trying to attack Shien again.

But a foot landed on his face before his claws could reach Shien.

“Thump!”

With a muffled sound, Shudy was kicked away, crashing against the cell wall, sending chips of stone flying.

“Pfft!”

Shudy immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

Clearly, Shien hadn’t held back at all with that kick.

Moreover, Shien flashed before Shudy, grabbing his collar and lifting him up before he could slide down the wall.

“You stray dog, do you really think acting ferocious makes you a wild and untamed beast?”

With a sneer, Shien slammed Shudy onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust and dirt.

“Cough, cough…”

Shudy coughed up more blood, on the verge of death.

However, this former Beast Claw Clan leader struggled to raise his head, his crimson eyes staring intently at Shien.

That gaze, as if wanting to tear Shien to pieces, was unimaginably ferocious.

It had to be said, it was quite intimidating.

Let alone someone timid, even a brave person would feel a chill down their spine being stared at so fiercely.

Moreover, his eyes were bloodshot to an incredible degree, making them look like the gaze of a devil, ferocious and bloodthirsty.

He was definitely memorizing Shien’s appearance, thinking that if he ever had the chance, he would torture Shien to death in the most painful way possible.

A madman who could sacrifice his entire clan for revenge, just to eradicate his enemies completely, could he be expected to not hold a grudge?

Don’t even think about it.

There was only one problem.

The person he wanted to intimidate didn’t take him seriously at all.

Since he wasn’t taken seriously, he naturally wouldn’t be intimidated.

Thus, in the next instant, Shudy saw a foot enlarging before his eyes.

“Thump!”

The sole of the shoe landed heavily on Shudy’s face, stomping his head down onto the ground, causing blood to gush from his head.

Shien didn’t say anything, simply stomping on Shudy’s head repeatedly with a calm expression.

“Thump!” “Thump!” “Thump!” “Thump!” …

Muffled thuds echoed through the dimly lit underground prison, creating a terrifying atmosphere.

In the surrounding cells, the criminals, watching this scene, all trembled.

At this moment, they only had one thought in their minds.

“What kind of demon has come here?”

That was precisely the case.