Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

It was rather strange. When demons and devils died on the Material Plane, they typically didn’t leave a corpse. At most, they might leave behind a trace of energy or a lingering scent. Only the most powerful and well-prepared entities could manage to leave behind a tiny bit of flesh or carapace, which were considered exceptionally valuable materials.

But this rule didn’t seem to apply to Yelena. After she made her move, the Babu Demon vanished, but a thin layer of red slime remained on the Shadow Spirit’s Thorn Chain. With a slide of her fingers, the slime gathered into a sphere, which she then stored in her Dimension Bag.

”That’s a genuine Babu Demon!” Polly muttered under her breath. ”How bizarre! It’s one thing if the villagers’ perceptions were so twisted that they see Demon Zombies as their own kind, but why can these demons coexist peacefully with them, even laughing and chatting?!”

”Can’t you figure it out?” Ron looked at the Ghost Witch. ”We just need to capture one alive.”

”Easier said than done!” Polly shot him a glare. ”It’s not that simple! The only surefire way to capture a live demon is to go to their home in the Endless Abyss. On the Material Plane, trying to sweet-talk a Heartstealer would be easier than this!”

”Let’s just wait for Miss Shadow Spirit. It looks like she can assassinate the entire squad by herself. Interrogating the dead is always easier than questioning the living.”

The Ghost Witch was right. Rumor had it that those who fought a Shadow Dancer described the experience as battling ”living darkness.” If Ron hadn’t blasted one in the face with a Fireball earlier, their group would have had to endure the same fate. But the humans and demons in the patrol, who never even realized what was attacking them, weren’t so lucky.

When a comrade you were just laughing with suddenly goes silent, it’s bound to arouse suspicion. But just as the few remaining patrol members started whistling to signal a counterattack, Silvia unleashed a cloud of Dark Magic, providing the perfect cover for the nearly-exposed Yelena.

As the darkness dissipated, the Shadow Spirit withdrew her Thorn Chain. The last Babu Demon, caught by the force, spun like a top before silently dissolving into the wind, leaving only a hovering, writhing ball of red slime in front of Yelena.

”Was it necessary to kill them all?” Victoria frowned. ”You could have at least spared the humans...”

”To let them stay and fight back?” The Shadow Spirit separated three spheres of the slime and offered them to Ron. ”Here. Babu Demon slime. In the hands of a devil, it can be made into a Demon Trap or refined into Demon Blood for alchemy. Many Contractors like myself consider it a treasure.”

”There’s actually another extraction method that yields black leather instead of slime, but unfortunately, my Sect Leader never bestowed that knowledge upon me.”

”Why give them to me?” Ron didn’t refuse. A material like this was clearly valuable, and he had no reason to turn it down. ”If what you say is true, this is quite precious.”

”Because I want to trade it for my freedom,” Yelena said, licking her lips. ”Look, the only reason I can move about freely is due to your excessive mercy. I don’t like it. I want to buy back my freedom.”

”Attempted murder isn’t so easily bailed,” the Priest said with a pout. ”You’ll have to show a lot more sincerity than that.”

Although there was a hint of personal grudge in her words, Victoria had a point. In a kingdom with strict laws, even an attempted crime would be enough to send you to the gallows. The fact that they were even allowing bail was an extraordinary act of grace, a mercy beyond the law.

”It seems you haven’t earned everyone’s forgiveness yet,” Ron shrugged. ”If you’re really set on this, then by all means, continue.”

”But let me remind you: we haven’t built a prison yet, and we never intended to keep you in Delusional Land in the first place. You don’t have to worry about your personal freedom.”

”That’s a different matter,” the Shadow Spirit grumbled, kicking at the mangled corpse of a villager on the ground. ”Come on, does anyone here know Communication with the Dead? If not, I can do it.”

A dead person would be unwilling to answer questions from their killer, but as an expert in this field, the Shadow Spirit certainly had ways to forcibly pry open their mouth.

But that would require additional Casting Materials. It would be much better if an ”uninvolved” person could do the questioning.

Victoria’s eyes began to glow with an eerie fire. As she performed the Casting, the corpse on the ground sat up.

”Why were you mingling with demons?”

”Demons...?” The corpse seemed completely unable to understand Victoria’s question. ”No demons... only survivors... our kin...”

”Their perception has been twisted. Asking like that is useless,” Polly interjected. ”Ask it if there are any particularly long-lived ’people’ in the village or in that patrol.”

”Long-lived... the Wise Man...” the corpse’s voice was ethereal. ”Since the kingdom still stood... alive to this day...”

”A demon called the Wise Man. How absurd,” Yelena scoffed. ”Why did you people come to this place in the beginning?”

The corpse seemed to sigh. ”The queen... tempted by devils... fallen... Though we were victorious, we could not return home...”

”And yet, the devils’ side of the story is the exact opposite. They said they made a deal with demons, and that the last queen tried to solve the problem by pitting one against the other, but it backfired.” Ron recalled the words of that powerful Grand Duchess. ”These people most likely came here to escape disaster, but why are the demons with them?”

”Could it be they haven’t given up on this pawn? Are they trying to use them to make a comeback?”

”That’s obviously impossible,” Sera said, picking up a spear from the ground. Its former owner was a Babu Demon. While the demon had returned to the Abyss, this ordinary weapon could not. ”See this? Whittle-down wood, a copper spearhead. Even among the northern tribes, this would be considered uncivilized.”

”Here in Delusional Land, they could only compete with the likes of Mad Frogmen. How could demons end up in such a miserable state?”

”They clearly don’t have the ability to return to the Abyss on their own,” Yelena said, recalling the ”feel” of her earlier kills. ”Babu Demons are usually skin and bones to begin with, but this batch was even weaker. They could barely even display their characteristic rage and bloodlust.”

”Otherwise, my ambush would have been much more difficult.”

”It couldn’t be because there’s nothing for demons to eat here, could it?” Delaford guessed. ”A lack of food definitely affects combat strength, just like with us before—”

”Nonsense,” Polly said, rolling her eyes at the goblin, who was otherwise fairly easy on the eyes. ”Demons don’t need to eat or drink. My guess is it’s because of the being that altered their perception—probably that Wise Man. It forcibly changed the demons’ alignment, which caused them to lose a portion of their power source.”