Chapter 10: Fallen Demonspawn
“Hey! Little Sister Bai~”
The letter began with Sasha’s characteristic greeting. Even through the paper, Xu Bai could picture her winking.
However, the handwriting was unexpectedly messy, like that of a child just learning to write.
Xu Bai had expected a girl’s handwriting to be more delicate; it seemed Sasha was an exception.
“If you’re reading this, it means I’ve escaped danger for now, but I might be stuck for a bit.”
“Don’t worry about me, though. Even without the old geezer’s help, those useless City Guards are no match for me.”
“I’ve looked into what happened last night. Someone in the North Empire is targeting the old man, and we just happened to get caught in the crossfire.”
This aligned with Xu Bai’s suspicions. Sasha, called the “Bounty Fox” by Commander Lugner, likely had her own unique information network.
“Sorry to leave you hanging, Little Sister Bai, but I have to investigate this mess. I can’t just let someone pin this on me.”
“Of course, even if it wasn’t for you, I’d still give it my all! You just go have fun in Vikarn Port for now~”
“Love ya~ Sasha.”
Looking at the last few words, clearly written with more effort, Xu Bai twitched her lips, still puzzled by Sasha’s inexplicable attachment to her.
After checking the letter again to ensure nothing else was hidden within, Xu Bai channeled a surge of psychic energy, crushing the paper into dust, completely destroying it.
Despite Sasha’s usual cheerful tone, Xu Bai read between the lines.
“She doesn’t want me to get involved…” Xu Bai thought.
But how could she not? This involved Commander Lugner’s safety. As his former subordinate, Xu Bai couldn’t stand idly by.
She was inevitably caught in this brewing storm…
Whoever was behind this knew that Lugner couldn’t die yet, not now.
Assassinating a renowned legendary knight before everything was in place would have unpredictable consequences for the Empire.
However…
The constant patrols, the complete lockdown of the old port district…
While they had spared Lugner’s life, they clearly wanted to prevent Sasha and Xu Bai from clearing their names.
“This is a headache.” Xu Bai rubbed her forehead. She had always avoided political maneuvering and never questioned the decisions of the higher-ups.
Despite the Sharp Assault squad’s unmatched combat prowess, they never got involved in the power struggles within the Knights.
Perhaps that’s why they ended up trapped and abandoned in Saint Noyes…
Suddenly, a commotion erupted in the bustling crowd, distant screams echoing, the chaos rippling outwards.
“Demon! It’s a demon…the demon is here!”
The screams grew closer, and Xu Bai finally heard them clearly, her expression freezing.
“A demon? But I’m right here? Wait…”
Instead of fleeing with the crowd, Xu Bai moved against the current, towards the source of the chaos.
Indistinct roars echoed, accompanied by the crashing of dilapidated buildings.
Dust filled the air, screams mingling with the rumble of collapsing structures…
Reaching the center of the chaos, Xu Bai finally saw the “demon,” her face hardening. “So that’s how it is…”
Several monstrous, barely humanoid figures rampaged through the alleyways, attacking indiscriminately.
Their limbs were elongated and twisted, ending in sharp claws. Their exposed skin was covered in pustules, oozing corrosive, purplish-black fluid.
Several mangled bodies lay scattered nearby, some in City Guard uniforms, others ordinary civilians who hadn’t escaped in time.
The remaining City Guards kept their distance from the monsters, their faces pale with terror, too afraid to advance. Most of the civilians had fled.
Xu Bai recognized these monsters, or rather, she was intimately familiar with them.
They were known as “Fallen Demonspawn.” Most were originally ordinary humans, corrupted by demonic power, stripped of their humanity, and reduced to monsters driven by primal instinct.
The Empire held a number of these Fallen Demonspawn captive, many ordinary civilians who had accidentally come into contact with demonic power, others knights who had succumbed to its allure and lost themselves.
But cruelly, the Empire imprisoned them not to find a cure, but for experimentation, to understand the nature of demonic power, the power of their enemy.
Xu Bai had dealt with numerous Fallen Demonspawn that had gone berserk due to failed experiments; she knew them all too well.
Ironically, true demons held even greater disdain for these Fallen Demonspawn than humans. To the proud demons, these creatures were an abomination, their very existence an insult.
Therefore, a true demon wouldn’t control these Fallen Demonspawn. The only possibility was… humans.
The monsters continued their rampage, their corrosive fluids splashing and burning the approaching City Guards, forcing them to retreat further.
“To solidify the frame-up, they’ve gone this far?” Xu Bai couldn’t bear to watch, but she restrained herself from intervening.
Although her psychic circuits had changed after her transformation, making her less proficient with her usual techniques, dealing with a few Fallen Demonspawn wouldn’t be a problem.
Most beings on the continent of Solor channeled power through psychic circuits within their bodies, even the invading demons. The names varied between races, but the essence was the same.
However, compared to the elves’ “Elven Corridors,” the demons’ “Demonic Runes,” and the beastkin’s “Bloodline Origins,” the humans’ “Psychic Circuits” were vastly inferior, with a much lower upper limit.
Xu Bai’s former strength placed her near the peak of human capabilities, an “Eighth-Order Grand Knight,” second only to “Ninth-Order Legendary Knights.”
But compared to demons, this was only equivalent to a squadron leader. Above them were legion commanders, legion generals, and the unfathomable Demon Lord, whose power had never been witnessed.
These weak Fallen Demonspawn could easily be defeated by a Fifth-Order Knight Commander; Xu Bai could dispatch them with minimal effort.
But… was it necessary to intervene?
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