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Chapter 244

Yaheim grinned amusedly at Lenia’s fearless, irreverent, and sinister smile. Mazfelo, who would sacrifice her own life for Yaheim, and the rest of Yaheim’s guards reacted differently. They marched forward with rage settling in their hearts.

These guards were clad in demi-orichalcum armor made from the divine metal orichalcum. They pointed the muzzles of their long rifles that were radiating powerful magic at Lenia.

Mazfelo shielded Yaheim behind herself as she glared murderously at Lenia. Fury was in her purple gaze at this insolent intruder who had disrupted the peace of her revered demon lord. An unbeknownst hint of anxiety bubbled within her chest as well.

The crooked smile that hid an unfathomable abyss caused the anxiety within Mazfelo to take firm root in her mind. In this state of frenzy, she spat out a flame mixed with pestilence along with a cracked shout.

「How dare you show your impertinent, brutish, and ignorant face before the almighty Demon Lord Yaheim? Nameless fool, I will have you slaughtered in this spot!」

The smog of Mazfelo’s pestilence dissolved into the dark atmosphere. A single huff of Mazfelo’s deadly poison could kill or injure countless creatures at once, but Mazfelo herself was unaware of this fact as she puffed in fear.

The only ones who noticed this were Yaheim, and Lenia who was evaluating the Demon Lord and the value of his subjects in the darkness. These two understood that Mazfelo was right to be overwhelmed by fear.

Mazfelo quickly raised her hand, and the guards tightened their grip on the triggers of their long rifles.

Seeing the fear that gripped the hearts of Mazfelo and the guards, Lenia’s warped smile soothed into a gentler one. It was a smile filled with contempt for others, a mixture of utmost pity and mockery.

「Why are you hesitating? What are you waiting for? What are you afraid of? Come on, show me the formidable barrage of attacks you boast of. Get rid of me at once, the intruder who disrupted the peaceful slumber the revered demon lord that you puny folks worship. Of course, only if you’re capable of doing so.」

Mazfelo yelled the order to fire, and the guards pulled their triggers almost simultaneously. Their long rifles could fire up to six shots, and red magic bullets shot forth one after another. All twenty men fired without stopping, until all the magic power from the specially processed magic crystals that served as bullets were exhausted.

A total of 120 destructive magic bullets hit Lenia’s body. Not a single shot had missed its target. Even if a strong barrier or ward had been deployed, the impact of such a high density of magic bullets could not be reduced.

That was the reason the guards believed that there was no way Lenia could fend off an attack by Mazfelo, the Sixth Demon General, or an unlikely blow from Demon Lord Yaheim.

In fact, the rifle barrels were made of mithril and enhanced to amplify magic power and reinforce penetration. The magic bullets were formed by extracting magic from magic crystals, and they had the power to shoot through an entire ward. Even the scales of a faux dragon would be pierced if shot this many times.

In other words, this was a weapon that was only effective against ordinary faux dragons. It was useless against Lenia.

「Those magic guns or whatever they’re called that you have are much better than the ones from other lands. I’m sure that’s because didn’t hold back in utilizing your materials and labor! Humph! What a waste of great treasure when placed in the wrong hands. Since these will never work on me, make sure you hold on to them dearly in your afterlives!」

Lenia scoffed, finding it far wiser to hold fire than to waste bullets by firing. Naturally, she was unscathed. The Thought Guardian that had formed in a spherical shape around Lenia’s slender build shattered into tiny pieces as it caught all of the magic bullets.

The guards were quick to move when they realized that they could not even scratch Lenia’s defense, let alone try to get a bullet through.

Astonishment, fear, and panic terrorized the guards. However, all of these feelings were suppressed immediately as the guards let go of their exhausted long rifles. They scattered and simultaneously drew the magic swords at their waist. This feat of reflexes and mental strength made one thing clear—they had undergone intense training.

The fluid movements of the guards, each of whom was a first-rate warrior and magician, made Lenia think of the Bern soldiers who occupied the same position as these guards. She calmly assessed the skill of the Bern soldiers to be superior to that of the Demon Lord’s troops.

The average combat power of demons was one of the best among humanoid creatures, but the Demon Lord’s army had a great deal of actual battle experience in the dark wilderness. Moreover, their history of struggles and the lessons they could draw on from their past gave the Demon Lord’s army a large advantage.

「I’m not interested in useless losers.」

Once Lenia entered the Demon Lord’s military camp and grasped the skill level of these insignificant soldiers and guards that had been shoved about, she lost all interest in them.

As Lenia made her mocking and flippant comments, the guards felt their necks tighten as they attempted to attack Lenia from all sides.

This was nothing particularly impressive. Lenia’s invisible thoughts penetrated the guards’ armor and protective gear, as well as their magic defenses to strangulate their necks and knock them out. Whatever Lenia’s intentions were, none of the guards lost their lives. Yet, the fact that Lenia had incapacitated all of them without lifting a finger certainly astounded Mazfelo; the feat served to prove that Lenia was a formidable foe.

「I’m done assessing those insignificant fools. Time to evaluate the quality of the general.」

Those who took on the positions as generals for Bern village were Dramina, Selina, Diodora, Lynette, Gundeus, and Kyrlinne. Quite a number of them had no experience leading troops, but they were capable enough to take on an enemy army on their own; there were no real disadvantages to such a bunch.

Christina, the baroness of Bern should be the supreme commander, and her aide, Dran, should be one of the generals. That being said, Lenia held the perspective that Dran was the actual supreme commander, while Christina was just temporarily taking up the title because of her official title.

In Lenia’s eyes, Dran, the supreme commander of Bern, had no need to be compared to Demon Lord Yaheim, the supreme commander of Mundus Carnus. She had entered the Demon Lord’s military camp not to make comparisons, but to see what Yaheim was made of.

The general Lenia was speaking about—one of the six demon generals—was the pestilence-spreading evil dragon queen who ruled over the faux dragons in the Demon Lord’s army. She was the evil dragon who inflicted pain, blizzards, frost, scalding heat, and corruption on all life.

Mazfelo left the fallen guards behind her as she closed in on Lenia viciously. Lenia snorted and let out a huff as she rated Mazfelo’s intimidation as mediocre. After that, she leaped back over the terrace railing and left the place.

As Lenia plunged downward, she gazed up at the night sky. Mazfelo’s black breath of pestilence was right before Lenia. The very individual who had released that puff of smog had also spread her wings and dived after Lenia to attack.

Mazfelo’s entire body was radiating with the magic of a faux dragon and a curse that would bring about countless diseases. Lenia, who was relatively close in species to Mazfelo, casually wondered whether this was how her father felt whenever he met an earthly dragon.

Lenia was created with a spirituality comparable to that of a great god and molded for combat. From her point of view, Mazfelo was a decent fighter for a faux dragon from earth, though still an unsatisfactory opponent.

It was a true mystery as to how Mazfelo would react if she knew Lenia’s true thoughts.

Lenia’s black hair whipped in the strong wind as she spiraled downward. Mazfelo continued to direct her anger at Lenia while suppressing the fear within herself.

「Seems like you don’t have the competence to match your barbarism in stepping foot in our territory, little girl!」

「Little girl? Hah! I see, so that’s how you see me.  A faux dragon like you is just a fake created by the evil god in an attempt to eliminate real dragons. Even though you’ve been created in a manner that I share a great affinity with, how about you show me if you have what it takes to be a worthy opponent of His Lord?」

「His Lord? Are you one of those god underlings?」

As Mazfelo mentioned, Lenia’s soul was indeed a follower of the great evil god Caravis. However, Caravis had not instructed Lenia to act in this manner, nor was she here at the behest of Dran. She was simply carrying out her own plans for the sake of those she treasured.

Mazfelo was certainly reading too much into this situation, but Lenia did not feel bothered by that. Rather, it was the perfect chance. Lenia immediately decided to confuse Mazfelo and the Demon Lord’s army by pretending to be sent by some evil god to conquer this planet, just like the Demon Lord’s army.

「Muahahaha! Don’t think you’re the only followers serving the war god Sacurabus on earth. I’m here to judge whether your existence is a hindrance to him, or whether you can remain the insignificant and neglected dust you are. Weep and be thankful!」

Lenia’s single comment insulted Mazfelo and every dragon serving Yaheim. Even Sacurabus had been slagged in the process. Mazfelo’s fury was further inflamed to an unprecedented peak.

The graceful female dragon’s body overflowed with pestilence, turning her into a walking plague that spread disease endlessly wherever she went.

「You’ll never be able to take back those words you just uttered!」

「Hahahaha! Bring it on! I’ll play with you, “little girl.”」

With a thrilled chortle, Lenia deployed the Thought Dragon within herself and soared into the night sky just a few seconds before she hit the ground.

Lenia soared straight up, passing Mazfelo along the way. At that moment, Mazfelo released countless shells of disease the size of both her hands. With a single swing of the Thought Dragon’s left arm, every single one of these shells dissipated.

The invisible particles of Mazfelo’s pestilence were meant to bring about vicious harm, but Mazfelo clicked her tongue loudly when she noticed that her pestilence had been completely eliminated by Lenia.

It would not be a surprise for Lenia to manage such a feat if she were the follower of an evil god of plague and poison. With this thought in mind, Mazfelo obtained a new piece of misinformation. Who could really say whether this mistake would ever be corrected over time.