Millennium Witch

Book 3: Chapter 302: The First Demon General

This was a mountaintop bathed in the light of a blood-red sunset. The Lord of the Abyss sat on a massive boulder, gazing into the distance at the eastern reaches of the Western Continent, veiled in dense fog.He wore a black robe, his entire body shrouded in ink-dark mist. Aside from his small frame, no racial traits were visible at all. Rather than a king ruling over the north, he looked more like a furtive wizard hiding his face. The silent vigil continued for dozens of minutes. When the sun at the horizon sank a little lower and dusk deepened, a streak of black light tore across the sky and transformed into an abyss demon clad in uncanny armor, landing steadily in the clearing atop the mountain.

The Lord of the Abyss turned his head slightly and said to the abyss demon behind him, “Surian, the one your master has been thinking about day and night may have arrived.”

As the words fell, the black mist cloaking the Lord of the Abyss dispersed, revealing, unexpectedly, the delicate face of a human girl. Even the voice, once androgynous, became somewhat more feminine.

The abyss demon named Surian froze slightly. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said, “I don’t understand… what you mean, my lord.”

“Your master has only ever kept talking about one person, hasn’t she? Of course, she may not actually be human.” In the form of a young girl, the Lord of the Abyss spoke calmly. “But I’ve already looked into her for you. She really is twelfth-tier. In the words used in the east, she would count as a minor god.”

“You mean… the Silver Witch?”

“Shouldn’t you be calling her your grandmaster? Though she probably still doesn’t know that Surian Sigurd, the First Demon General of the Western Continent, is actually her grand-disciple.” The Lord of the Abyss looked at him, a trace of amusement appearing on that beautiful face. The abyss demon fell silent. At that moment, his enormous body, over three meters tall, no longer seemed imposing or awe-inspiring, but slightly hunched instead. After a long while, he said in a low voice, “I am no longer my teacher’s student.”

The Lord of the Abyss gave him a half-smiling look. “Are you too embarrassed to face your grandmaster?” The First Demon General remained silent. This time, he did not even reply. The Lord of the Abyss had no intention of forcing an answer and continued, “Do you know what I’m going to have you do next?”

Surian’s expression barely changed. He had clearly already guessed the answer and said directly, “You’re going to take action yourself?”

“Of course,” said the Lord of the Abyss.

Surian said, “I hope you can promise me that you will not take her life.”

“All right,” said the Lord of the Abyss.

Surian was silent for a moment. He then bowed deeply to the Lord of the Abyss, spread the demon wings behind his back, shot into the sky, and vanished into the eastern horizon.

……

When Yvette finished reading Grus’s memories and returned to the outside world, it was already dusk. Under the evening sun, the miasma in the forest looked even heavier, staining the distant trees into layer upon layer of ghostly silhouettes. After spending a little time searching, she found Mudmouth Town’s ragtag militia hiding in a ravine. And when they saw her appear, this group of green followers immediately showed looks of excitement, as if they were looking at a savior.

In fact, that was not far from the truth. After Bobo returned and brought news of the threat posed by the Demon Armor Corps, the main force had instantly fallen into a vortex of panic. Many had even briefly believed that the witch had abandoned them and fled alone. Now that the witch had reappeared, no matter what, it was enough to reassure these low-ranking demonfolk.

Very quickly, Bobo was the first to step forward. With both hands, he respectfully returned the tactical knife, then reported how the four of them had been ambushed and fought desperately to break out. Finally, he asked cautiously, “Lady Witch, then Grus the Nightmare and the Demon Armor Corps…”

“They’ve been dealt with,” Yvette said.

“Dealt with?” Bobo could not believe his ears. He looked at the others beside him and saw that they were reacting the same way. Only then did he look back at Yvette and ask again, “Y-Your meaning is… when you went out earlier, you were dealing with that?”

Yvette gave a quiet hum of assent.

The crowd looked at one another. The vast majority simply could not believe that answer right away. And even if they did, they still did not think the witch had resolved the matter head-on. It seemed far more likely that she had used some strange method to lure the enemy away or something similar.

But however many doubts they had, none of them dared voice any challenge to her face. So they could only swallow down their worries and honestly continue on the road behind the witch toward Riftscar City.

……

The rest of the journey turned out to be much smoother than expected.

Before night had fully fallen, the group left the forest and saw, deep within the mist ahead, a huge and oppressive shadow.

They continued onward, and as the distance closed, the scene before them suddenly opened up. The dense fog seemed to have been split apart by an invisible giant hand, revealing a vast, majestic crimson canyon. At its far end stood a tiered, multi-layered city. Countless brilliant lights flickered in the twilight, winding like a river and painting a layer of warmth over this grim land.

What shocked Bobo and the hundred-odd Mudmouth Town militiamen even more, however, was that a force that looked fully assembled and ready to move out, nearly a thousand strong, was gathered at the entrance to the canyon. The one leading them was not Wev, the lord of Riftscar City, but a flame demon with the aura of a fourth-tier demon.

Before the ragtag troops could tighten their grips on their weapons and prepare for a fight, the flame demon’s face broke into a smile. He hurried over at a jog, dropped to one knee, and said respectfully, “I am Logro, acting city lord of Riftscar City. Greetings, Lady Witch!” Silence fell over the scene.

Other than Yvette, whose expression remained calm, everyone else—especially Mudmouth Town’s ragtag militia—looked at one another in confusion. They had thought the other side’s aggressive show of force meant they were here for a battle, just as they had first expected. But why had they surrendered the moment they showed up? No, really—Riftscar City was at least the only city within hundreds of miles. Had they not even considered putting up some resistance? They just… knelt?

Looking at the flame demon before her, Yvette thought for a moment and asked, “Where is your former city lord?”

Logro raised his head. A few drops of magma-like sweat seeped out on his forehead, and he tried hard to keep his voice steady. “He… after Grus the Nightmare was eliminated by you, former city lord Wev had his will to fight… completely crushed by you. Not long ago, he fled this place in panic with a small number of confidants, heading southwest…”

After a pause, he lifted his head and asked sternly, “Lady Witch, shall this subordinate lead troops to pursue him?” Even though he had not received any acknowledgment from the witch, he had already quietly begun treating himself as her subordinate.

Yvette shook her head. She had no time for that. Rather than wasting time on such a thing, she would rather first get the Silver Witch Church’s missionary work arranged.

“Let’s go into the city first,” she said calmly.

Soon, under the arrangements made by the flame demon Logro, Yvette led the bunch of country demonfolk behind her straight into the city along the broad stone road, with all the swagger in the world, amid the crude welcoming ceremony of nearly a thousand Riftscar City soldiers.

But unlike Yvette, who had already begun silently observing the street scenery, Bobo, Slippery Jim, and the other ragtag troops still wore somewhat dazed and absent-minded expressions.

That was right—they still had not recovered from what Logro had said earlier. Let’s spell it out: what did it mean that Grus the Nightmare had been “eliminated”? What did it mean that Ironwall Wev had “lost the will to fight”? The literal meaning was simple and direct enough… but that literal meaning was exactly what made it impossible to accept! That was a legendary eighth-tier powerhouse, one of the lord’s three ace war-generals, and he had even brought along the Demon Armor Corps he was so proud of. So how had he been routed? How had he been eliminated?

Could it be that when the witch left midway, she had gone off to kill Grus? But then why was there not the slightest trace of battle on her when she returned, as relaxed as if she had merely gone out for a casual stroll?

That was way too terrifying.

The more Bobo and the others thought about it, the more frightened and shocked they became, and the more they admired their original decision, thinking that following the witch really had been the right choice. Only at the very end did they belatedly realize one thing—

Where were their merits?

The whole matter had been resolved by Lady Witch alone, and even Riftscar City’s last defensive force had surrendered on its own… so what were freeloaders like them, who had come to ride an easy win, leech XP, and steal kills, supposed to do?

They had walked for a whole day, been scared half to death, and in the end it seemed they had gained absolutely nothing!