Queen of Revenge - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 30
Unable to bear it any longer, Lucian questioned the soldiers.
“Don’t we need to consult a map?”
“The terrain of the Unregistered Territory shifts constantly. Mapping it would be pointless. Among ourselves, we call this place the Desert of Snow.”
Thick snow blanketed the vast expanse, undulating like waves. The entire Snowy Field seemed to writhe with living breath.
Lucian withdrew a compass and clicked his tongue softly. The needle spun wildly, possessed. It was impossible to gauge direction.
“Then what are we using as a reference right now?”
“We simply follow their lead….”
I could quickly discern who ‘they’ were.
Beyond the pristine snow, the ruler of the Unregistered Territory revealed itself.
According to ancient texts, Demons appeared remarkably similar to humans on the surface.
Their true forms were four-legged monstrosities covered in horns and scales, but when they assumed human shape, one could not distinguish them from humans at a glance.
The Demon before us wore the appearance of an adult male.
It was clad in distinctive garments rarely seen anywhere on the Continent, with hair that shimmered in blue-violet hues and eyes that burned crimson.
Snow did not accumulate on its head and shoulders, and no footprints marked the Snowy Field beneath it.
When the Demon opened its mouth, sharp fangs gleamed within.
[Quite a few unfamiliar faces this time, hmm?]
Even those few words felt as though they would split my ears. The voice was like sandpaper scraping raw against my eardrums.
[Four again, as always. Growing scarce, though….]
The Demon’s gaze swept across each member of the Guerrilla Forces, including me, before withdrawing.
It licked its lips greedily and fingered the jewel hanging from its neck.
It resembled mine in appearance. A deep red glow lay dormant within the obsidian-like mineral.
In that moment, words Kairon Winterbark had mentioned in passing struck my mind.
“No matter how many times you kill them, they resurrect endlessly. You must carefully sever their bodies and burn them to ash to truly end them. But if you destroy that substance, they cannot revive even if their vital points are pierced.”
I understood in a flash of lightning.
This Demon Stone was a conduit capable of containing human lifespans, and Demons were beings of immortality and resurrection that could not be killed by ordinary means.
And they had been ceaselessly attacking humans in this Unregistered Territory.
The reason being…!
‘They need human lifespans!’
[Well, a contract is a contract. No helping it. Come now, choose four. If you don’t decide quickly, I’ll pick them myself.]
The Demon crossed its arms and tapped one foot against the ground rhythmically.
Its gaze upon the Guerrilla Forces was merciless, like a butcher selecting fresh meat.
Then, at some point, our eyes met.
[…What.]
In the blink of an eye, the Demon closed the distance to my face.
The Demon examined me from head to toe, then curled its lips upward.
[There’s one that looks defective. I can’t consume this one. This is troublesome. Marcel?]
Marcel.
Marcel Lefebvre.
Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard.
Lucian swallowed hard.
“Commander, surely not…!”
The Demon Tribe’s human supply contract partner was Lefebvre.
Rather than conducting operations disguised as Kalande forces to provoke the Demon Tribe, he had been offering live sacrifices to them.
Only then did Iolet comprehend the unnaturally consistent casualty figures.
The Demon Tribe, which required human lifespans, demanded the number of live sacrifices squared each year, and Marcel Lefebvre, unable to devise countermeasures, had continued honoring the contract to this day.
Four lives per dispatch, eight per month.
All offered as live sacrifices to the Demon Tribe.
Growing impatient, the Demon began pointing directly at its selections.
[Fine, humans are so slow anyway. You, you, you. And—.]
Upon spotting Lucian, the Demon licked its lips slowly with its tongue.
[Wow, premium quality.]
Iolet reached out to push Lucian away. But someone else was faster.
Thud—!
“Your Highness!”
The knight standing behind Lucian shoved her forward.
Losing her balance, Iolet stumbled and fell into the snowy field.
Lucian’s brows shot up sharply as he glared at the knight.
“Sir Lexer, what are you doing?”
“Vice Commander, this is our chance.”
“What?”
In the moment of his bewildered response, Lucian grasped his subordinate’s intent.
A perfect opportunity to eliminate the Princess cleanly, leaving no evidence.
Coincidentally, three of the victims the Demon had designated were Border Guard soldiers.
The last target it had pointed to was Lucian, but his subordinate had presented Princess Iolet instead.
Thus four sacrifices were prepared.
The knight who stepped forward cried out.
“You chose three, so we choose the last one. You have no objection, right?”
[Huh? No, no. I want quality goods, you know? Hey, you there, black-haired one.]
The Demon grumbled while glaring at Lucian. Yet it did not move its feet.
Rising from the snowy field, Iolet seized the Demon’s ankle.
“He’s not an option.”
Her voice carried an irresistible force.
Iolet stared directly at the Demon.
“Not just my knight, but those soldiers either. Let’s make a different deal.”
[Oh, are you perhaps their liege?]
“That’s right. I can give you far more than Marcel Lefebvre.”
The Demon licked its lips as if intrigued.
Iolet recalled Kairon Winterbark’s explanation that these creatures possessed intelligence and excelled at negotiation and seduction.
‘What they desire is human lifespan. Then naturally, they’d value humans of higher status more greatly. Typically, the higher the rank, the more subordinates one commands.’
The Demon’s reason for collecting human lifespans was easily deduced.
Every five hundred years, the Demons return to their realm through the Gate of Banishment.
The Gate had last opened two hundred years ago, meaning they would have to endure the Unregistered Territory for another three hundred years.
Even for Demons, lifespans were not eternal.
To avoid dying in human lands before the Gate opened, they needed to stockpile as many human lifespans as possible.
If that was their objective, then the Demons were the ones at a disadvantage.
So all I needed to do was sit down at the negotiation table. Drawing them to want negotiations—that was the next challenge.
Iolet had staked everything on this moment.
The Demon crouched before Iolet.
[So? Are you really that impressive? I need quite a lot of humans.]
“Decide whether you’ll accept the deal. I’ll tell you the conditions afterward.”
[Usually, high-ranking humans cower behind their underlings and never show themselves.]
“Those who don’t understand responsibility would act that way. I protect what must be protected, no matter what. So if you want to negotiate, step back and don’t touch the rest.”
“Your Highness!”
Lucian shouted in protest.
Whatever he was crying out seemed not to reach Iolet.
The Demon’s whisper crashed against her eardrums like a tempest.
[Really? Do you think they see you that way too?]
The Demon rested its chin on the back of its hand, lost in thought. Then it rolled its glossy eyes toward Lucian and the knights.
A mischievous smile bloomed across the Demon’s lips.
[Alright, I’m curious now. Ha, this is going to be fun. Listen, if you kill this woman here, I’ll let the rest of you live. What do you say?]
“What?”
Iolet’s pupils dilated.
Behind her, the Guerrilla Forces began to stir with unease.
Lucian felt the shift in stance among the Guerrilla members excluding himself. It was deeply unsettling.
[If you fail to kill her, everyone except this woman dies. In exchange, I’ll send this woman back unharmed.]
The Demon flashed its wicked fangs as it laid out the choice.
[So, what will you do?]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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