Chapter 919
Father and Daughter Reunion?
—The trope may be old, but as long as it works, it’s fine.
Even if this scene was deliberately clumsy and would be seen through by many, as long as the percentage of people who believed in Fallen Heavenly Envoys reached a certain point and continued to rise, the Fallen Heavenly Envoys’ plan would succeed. To achieve this goal, the demons needed to accurately identify and kill these intelligent individuals to prevent the plan from failing unexpectedly.
Therefore, having someone take away these “intelligent people” who could see through the deception was actually a good thing for the Fallen Heavenly Envoys’ plan because it meant potential resisters were taken away as well! If these resisters weren’t taken away, the demons would have had to deal with them themselves.
Demons are selfish beings; they can abandon their teammates and companions, so naturally, they would avoid such tasks if possible. They preferred to complete the Fallen Heavenly Envoys’ mission without any danger and receive their own Mark of Sin! “I just don’t want to work but still want to get paid a lot, is that a problem!?” They probably thought.
“…So that’s how it is!”
This perspective made Zhu Tang suddenly enlightened. He had always viewed demons as terrifying, incommunicable beings from another realm, whose appearance in the Material Realm was for invasion and destruction. He hadn’t considered that demons also had their own societies and individual needs.
“Demons are intelligent beings, and they have their own societies. If their adaptability to most Paths hadn’t been stripped away, they might have even possessed their own unique ‘civilization,'” Eivass shook his head slightly. He then ordered everyone, “Leave two Pope’s Guards to guard the ship. The other two guards, along with Zhu Tang and Mu, you will accompany me into Star Antinomy. We will go rescue the first group of people first. Once the Eye Demon clearly sees our actions and realizes our purpose, they will stop dispatching Upper Demons to the seaside. Because they are afraid that if our ship is damaged and we get stuck in Star Antinomy, they will have to deal with the ‘bandits’ themselves…”
“…I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.”
Hearing this, Zhu Tang gradually understood. He slapped his hand in realization, “We can just think of demons as ‘every bandit is intelligent and absolutely selfish,’ right!”
“Yes. At the same time, above them, there is a bandit leader who holds their life and death in their hands. This bandit leader is also intelligent and won’t casually issue orders that will lead to certain death. But this also means that other colleagues can complete their missions, and the rewards the bandit leader can give are limited, so each one given out means one less for others.” Eivass affirmed, “Therefore, lone demons are terrifying, but as long as demons gather in groups, they become less frightening. They immediately become much tamer… They become hesitant to act rashly and conserve their power out of mutual distrust. Unlike the coordinated hunting of beasts, humans are selfish creatures; demons are even more selfish than humans. —Preserving strength, staying low-key, waiting for opportunities, luring colleagues to deplete their strength, venturing into dangerous areas, even framing superiors, and looking for opportunities to take their place with their own stored power… this is also the philosophy of Transcendent behavior.”
The result was exactly as Eivass had predicted. Eivass recalled the King of the Wild Hunt, transformed it into its travel form, and mounted it. While being watched by countless Eye Demons, Eivass rushed into Prince Xiardo’s manor. At this moment, Honey Badger, Lily, Selene—and Leviathan were all there.
As Eivass approached the manor, the shadows before him writhed for an instant. The two Pope’s Guards beside him frowned and were about to make a move, while Zhu Tang subconsciously twitched his sleeve, letting a small figure fall silently into his palm.
“Don’t make a move!”
“Young Master!”
Both Eivass’s and Lily’s voices rang out simultaneously. Seeing the very agitated Lily, Eivass hugged her and comforted her, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here…”
At this moment, Honey Badger also appeared silently at the manor’s entrance, bowing respectfully to Eivass. She glanced at the two Pope’s Guards beside Eivass, who were clad in elven silver armor and looked as dashing as Valkyries, with a hint of vigilance and fear in her eyes. Although Honey Badger was a Fifth Tier expert, Lily was the first to sense Eivass’s arrival. Perhaps it was because Lily was sharp enough—and perhaps because Lily believed she wouldn’t be accidentally injured by Eivass or those around him, while Honey Badger dared not take that gamble. As an assassin with exceptional stealth abilities, she was accustomed to appearing from a distance. It was a form of reluctant politeness; getting too close might easily make others nervous or uneasy.
At this moment, Prince Xiardo and the astrologer Fenrir rushed out. Bringing up the rear was Selene, with Leviathan. They appeared to have packed their luggage in advance, ready to leave at any moment. This surprised Eivass a little: “You guys are…?”
“Young Master mentioned this possibility to me before,” Lily said without hesitation. “Fallen Heavenly Envoys might descend upon the mortal world. Therefore, I was the first to realize what was happening and had everyone pack their belongings, ready to evacuate at any time.”
“…Did I say that?”
Even Eivass was slightly stunned. He completely didn’t remember… Perhaps he had mentioned it inadvertently while chatting with Haina or Isabel. Eivass himself didn’t remember, but Lily kept it in her heart and had no doubts about it… This touched Eivass deeply for a moment.
Seeing Prince Xiardo about to speak, Eivass shook his head and placed a finger to his lips, “Let’s not waste time—we’ll talk when we get back. Fenrir, take a few people in the car—Zhu Tang, you ride with them too. Leviathan… take Lily and Selene, and Honey Badger. The others should be able to keep up with my speed…”
“I can hide in the shadows.” Honey Badger shook her head. “I don’t need to.”
Upon seeing each other, Leviathan looked at Eivass with a distance and wariness, like a puppy that hadn’t seen its master for a long time. Yet, there was an instinctual closeness… After watching from afar for a while, it hesitantly approached, sniffing Eivass’s scent.
Eivass was stunned: “Sharky?”
In that instant, Leviathan finally confirmed. It whimpered and cried tears. It licked Eivass’s cheeks, becoming more enthusiastic, even agitated.
“Mama! You left me—”
This terrifying monster let out a sharp and childish voice, intermittently wailing, “Even when you became Papa, you didn’t come back…” Its cry was not like a child’s tantrum but more like a mournful wail.
“There, there, good child…” Eivass felt a pang of tenderness. “It was my fault for not taking you with me before…” After all, in a sense, Leviathan could be considered Eivass’s first child.
(End of this chapter)
