After some time, Mariel finally found the master bedroom. He immediately sliced through the door and stepped inside.
What greeted Mariel's eyes was not much different from what he had seen in the residences of his previous two targets. However, compared to them, the situation here was slightly better. Perhaps that was because the owner of the house was already fast asleep. If not, things might have been worse.
Mariel's gaze landed on five women lying asleep on the floor, each bearing a slave brand on their foreheads. None of them wore a single piece of clothes, with only the carpet beneath them offering any protection from the cold night. Their faces looked utterly exhausted, and for a moment, Mariel felt pity.
His eyes then moved to the large bed. Three individuals slept in comfort—a man and two women, with the two women flanking the man on either side. They looked peaceful, completely unaware of the world around them. The man was unmistakably Albeth Earnest Hecktacular, while the two women were his wives.
How could they sleep so soundly while the five women on the floor shivered in the cold?
Mariel couldn't understand it, and that realization made him act without hesitation. He created ten wind blades—three for each of the women and four for the man. Each woman was targeted in the forehead, throat, and heart. As for the man, the last blade was aimed right between his legs.
With a snap of his fingers, the blades shot forward, piercing their targets instantly. They died without even having the chance to cry out in shock. Their deaths were silent; the five slave women were too exhausted to awake.
Mariel then searched the room for anything valuable, storing everything in his dimension. Only after he was done did he leave, making sure not to disturb the slave women.
There was nothing he could do to help them. He couldn't erase the slave brands that had been burned into their foreheads with hot iron.
Waking them up and telling them to flee would be useless. The brand would ensure they were caught and put through even greater suffering. He could take them to Camelot, but what if they were too broken to live a normal life again? What if, instead, they chose to take their own lives, unable to endure the burden of their past in an unfamiliar place?
In the end, Mariel decided to leave them be. He figured that if Empress Lasyana had ordered him to eliminate the traitors, her soldiers were likely already watching. Mariel didn't know if those soldiers were corrupt or not, but if they had been trusted to clean up after his and Celinee's work, then they could probably be relied upon to take care of the slaves.
When he reached the ground floor, he found Celinee standing with her arms crossed, leaning against one of the mansion's pillars. More than twenty bodies lay sprawled across the floor, drenched in blood. Mariel knew that wasn't all of them—perhaps a dozen more had been killed elsewhere.
"Any basement?" Mariel asked.
Celinee shook her head. "That bastard noble was still better than the last ones. Let's go. We're done here." She immediately headed for the shattered front door. "How much did you get?" she asked as they walked side by side. "I got fourteen thousands escal from the guards."
Mariel chuckled at that. "Weren't you worried that I'd get addicted to stealing? And now you're doing it as well?" he teased.
Celinee shrugged. "Dead people don't need money," she reasoned. "Rather than letting it go to waste, I might as well take it. So, how much did you get?"
"More than ten millions."
"That's more than before."
"Yeah, but it'll be gone as soon as we buy all the slaves. We don't—ah, we can just destroy that illegal slave market and take back all the money. We can also take all their funds and distribute them to the townspeople."
"The slave trade is under One Eye's control. If we destroy their business, they'll hunt us down. You're already being hunted in Camelot. Add them to the mix, and life will become even harder."
"Heh, didn't I already say the only thing I need to worry about is Primordial Demon?"
"What if One Eye is led by one of the Primordial Demons?"
"…That's an interesting assumption, C. But don't worry, we'll be fine. I'll protect you. Besides, we're not the only ones trying to fix this rotten world. Many people have been fighting long before we were even born."
Celinee scoffed. "I'm not some weak woman who needs protection," she muttered. "So, where to go next—ah, looks like we've been watched for a while now."
"Who?"
"Demons. They might be acquaintances of the two we captured last time."
"Them? How many?"
"Three are watching us, but I suspect many more in the city are on the move."
"Oh, we can sell their hearts. Come on, we need to get out of this city."
"Which city next?"
"Obviously, the slave trade hub. We're going to Agarentha."
-----ooOoo-----
Nell had evolved into a high-class demon just three weeks ago. He had lost all the distinctive traits of a lower-class demon. Except for his eyes and nails, his form had become perfectly human-like. Now, he only needed to focus on getting even stronger so he could break the hell's chain at his navel.
The city of Marzaretha was a paradise for demons seeking power. There were many demons around the city, and the human population was abundant. However, the high-class demons here had established rules that all demons had to follow. They were only allowed to consume one human soul every seven days. This was crucial for the preservation of humans. Anyone who violated the rule would be exterminated.
Lower-class demons could consume each other to accelerate their evolution. This was also a solution to the restriction on consuming humans. It was an instinct of the lowest demons, Lesser Demons, to devour any soul—including those of their own kind. The same applied to Rare Demons. However, Extra Demons possessed enough intelligence to distinguish their prey.
Nell had become an Ultimate Demon by continuously devouring the souls of Extra Demons like himself. Only after that had he shifted his foot to human souls.
But he wasn't satisfied. He wanted more and more. Human souls couldn't satisfy his cravings. Consuming the souls of fellow demons was far more gratifying for Nell. Because of this, he sought to establish contact with all the Ultimate Demons in the city—so he could devour them when they let their guard down.
However, a week ago, two of the nine Ultimate Demons he knew had been captured. Now, they were dead. Including himself, only eight Ultimate Demons remained in the city. Nell didn't want them to become victims as well—he wanted to consume them before they died. That was why he had gathered the demons to hunt down the killers of their two fallen comrades.
And that was why he and his seven companions were now in the eastern part of the city.
One of the three Extra Demons they had sent to spy had just reported that the two humans were heading east. They were most likely leaving Marzaretha for Agarentha. That was good. Nell, his seven companions, and thirty Extra Demons would be able to eliminate them without causing panic in the city.
"Get ready," Nell ordered. "We move as soon as they leave the city."
-----ooOoo-----
Mariel and Celinee arrived at the eastern edge of the city without any obstacles. The three demons tailing them continued to move stealthily, following their every step, but they didn't attack. They only observed—nothing more.
"There are a total of thirty-five demons around here," Celinee whispered. "Thirty-eight if we include the three demons following us. Eight of them are Ultimate Demons, the rest are Extra Demons."
"This should be a little fun. Let's pretend to run away."
Celinee agreed to Mariel's suggestion. Without hesitation, the two of them dashed forward at high speed, leaving the city behind. They headed straight east. Marzaretha had no city walls, making entry and exit incredibly easy.
And within just a few minutes, they had already put a great distance between themselves and the city's edge.
"Are they chasing us?" Mariel asked.
"Yes. If we slow down, we'll be surrounded in no time."
"In that case, let's just walk."
Celinee nodded. Their sprint slowed into a steady walk. However, neither of them showed any sign that they knew they were being followed. Mariel and Celinee kept their focus ahead, walking through the dark night toward the next city.
"You won't be going any farther than this."
A demon revealed himself just minutes after Mariel and Celinee started walking. He emerged from behind a tree, stopping several meters in front of them. The demon looked young, with short white hair and glowing green eyes with vertical pupils. He carried no weapons, but his sharp black claws were already prepared to strike.
His sudden appearance caused both Celinee and Mariel to halt their steps. Soon after, more demons appeared. Seven others joined the white-haired demon, while thirty Extra Demons clustered behind Mariel and Celinee. Some had tails, others had horns. They looked like hybrids of humans and beasts.
"That woman will die a cruel death," the white-haired demon declared on behalf of his comrades. "But you—we will devour you and savor your powerful soul."
"C, I changed my mind. I'll only sell the hearts of those eight. As for the ones behind us, kill them however you like. Let's finish this quickly."
"You'll take on eight Ultimate Demons, and I'll handle thirty Extra Demons?"
"What? Do you want to switch?"
"No."
Mariel nodded, and in an instant, Celinee turned around, standing back-to-back with him.
"Do you really think you can defeat all of us with just the two of you?"
As the question was spoken, Mariel created two wind swords. At the same time, Celinee pulled out a kunai while forming a hand seal with her left hand. A wind armor enveloped Mariel, while Celinee immediately activated her demonic power and her Devil Curse.
Then, exactly one second later, both of them lunged at their respective opponents.
Mariel couldn't look back; the eight demons in front of him also rushed forward. The white-haired demon led the charge. He seemed more cunning than his seven fellow Ultimate Demons.
"Water Release: Exponential Water Bullets!"
The moment Celinee unleashed her technique, Mariel activated his spirit power to nullify the demons' abilities in front of him.
That caught them off guard—a costly mistake that they paid for with their heads.
With both of his wind swords, Mariel decapitated them all. Before their bodies could even collapse from losing their heads, their legs followed suit, severed cleanly. The headless corpses crumbled to the ground.
Without hesitation, Mariel conjured dozens of wind needles and barraged the demons' bodies, preventing them from regenerating. Then, with swift precision, he severed all their hands. A dimensional portal appeared between the fallen demons. Mariel kicked their remains into the portal. As it closed, the wind armor that enhanced his physical strength and speed dissipated as well.
Mariel had defeated all eight Ultimate Demons without giving them a chance to use their power—in less than ten seconds.
When he turned his gaze to Celinee, the ninja was still fighting off the remaining Extra Demons. Her earlier technique had only managed to kill a dozen of them. However, the surviving ones were agile and experienced—likely close to evolving. It wasn't surprising that Celinee had to put in more effort.
It took her nearly five more minutes to kill the last Extra Demon.
Mariel smirked as he watched the ninja approached him. He enjoyed annoying Celinee.
"Don't get cocky," Celinee huffed. "You only won quickly because of that cheat ability of yours. If you didn't have it, you'd still be fighting them right now."
"How many times have you beaten me when I didn't use that ability?"
"..."
"Hahaha. Let's forget about that. I'm sure one day you'll be able to defeat me without that power. Come on, we still have a long journey ahead. Or do you need to rest?"
"One day, I'm going to kill you." Celinee scoffed and started walking. "When that time comes, I'll give you the same smirk you just gave me."
"Eh, how cruel." Mariel caught up with the ninja. "There's only one situation where that could happen," he said as their steps aligned.
"Oh, really~? And what kind of situation would that be? Please, entertain me."
"When you get me drunk and lock me in a room with you—"
"Do you want to see the real version of what you're saying?"
"—uh, no?"
"Let's rest. We'll continue the journey tomorrow morning."
"Wait, didn't you start walking ahead because you refused to rest and wanted to look strong?"
"Mariel."
"Okay, okay, we'll rest. No need to say my real name, Celinee."