To be honest, this completely upended all his perceptions of demons.
After all, the demons in his mind were either monsters with bared fangs or creatures reeking of malice.
But the delicate appearance of the demon girl before him made Natsuki Subaru feel as if he'd stumbled into the wrong place.
"I-I'm sorry, we lost…"
Seeing that Natsuki Subaru didn't attack immediately, the demon girl hurriedly fell to her knees with a thud. Her knees sank heavily into the black glazed floor as she pressed her clasped hands to her forehead, continuously kowtowing and begging for mercy. Her forehead was soon covered in a layer of dust, and even her once-neat purple hair became disheveled,
"Please, be magnanimous and spare my life! I promise I will never appear before you again, and I'll never dare to be your enemy!"
"You were the ones who attacked me first. Only now that you can't win, you remember to beg for mercy?" Natsuki Subaru's gaze swept over the scattered demon corpses as he spoke in a cold voice,
"Your companions are all dead here."
"A knight's duty is to protect their lord. They died to protect me, so it is their honor…" The demon girl's shoulders trembled visibly, but she quickly raised her head and explained timidly,
"As long as I'm safe, they should be happy too."
"How selfish."
Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but curl his lip, sneering at her statement.
He had initially felt a flicker of interest because the demon girl could speak, but now he was just speechless.
This girl was not only afraid of death, but she also framed her companions' sacrifice in such sanctimonious terms. She had truly set a new low for his opinion of demons.
He couldn't be bothered to waste any more time on this cunning creature and turned as if to leave.
The most important thing now was to find the Floor Pass and get to the next level as soon as possible. He had no time to waste on a demon girl who only knew how to beg for her life.
"A perfect chance!"
A glint of cunning flashed in the demon girl's eyes. She suddenly drew a green-glowing dagger from her waist and lunged toward Natsuki Subaru's back with lightning speed.
Clang!
Without even looking back, Natsuki Subaru blocked the strike with a precise backhanded move of his dagger. The sparks from the clash of metal were particularly stark in the twilight. He then slowly turned, staring at the demon girl with a blank expression.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I was wrong! I was truly wrong! As long as you spare my life, I'll do anything!"
Seeing this, the demon girl immediately dropped her dagger and, at the speed of light, knelt to kowtow and beg for mercy again. The swiftness of her change in demeanor was astonishing. She touched her forehead to the ground, letting out low, muffled gasps.
"So please, I'm begging you, let me go!"
"I wonder with what level of resolve you're saying that."
Natsuki Subaru stared speechlessly at this demon girl who had no integrity whatsoever, thinking to himself: One second she's trying to stab me, the next she's on her knees begging!
Really—not an ounce of integrity. I'm impressed! Her face-changing skills are truly top-tier; she could perform in a theater.
"But I'm being completely sincere!"
The demon girl smiled shamelessly, blinking her crimson eyes and clasping her hands, trying to put on the most innocent expression possible.
If the memory of her sneak attack wasn't still fresh in his mind, he might have almost believed her performance.
Natsuki Subaru's mouth twitched slightly. He suppressed the urge to retort and, after a moment of silence, asked the demon girl in a calm tone:
"Well then, the Floor Pass. Can you get it?"
Hearing the words 'Floor Pass,' the demon girl's expression immediately switched to one of fawning eagerness as she said:
"The passes are all kept by my family. As long as you're willing to spare my life, I will definitely retrieve the pass after I return and present it to you with my own two hands."
As she spoke, the demon girl continuously watched Natsuki Subaru's expression, trying to gauge his attitude from his reaction. Seeing that he didn't immediately refuse, she continued,
"It's not just the pass for the current floor. I also know the exact locations of the passes for the next few floors. As long as you promise to guarantee the safety of myself and everyone in my family, I can guide you the whole way and help you pass through the upcoming floors quickly, without wasting any time."
"Oh, so the passes are hidden away by you lord families." Natsuki Subaru nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. A question that had been bothering him was finally answered.
"No wonder I couldn't find a single trace of the pass, no matter how many regular demons I killed."
"But the problem is…"
At this point, Natsuki Subaru's tone shifted. His eyes became sharp, locking onto the demon girl before him.
"Are you trustworthy? Why should I believe someone who just tried to ambush me?"
In the next second, he suddenly activated his Bloodlust skill on the demon girl.
A terrifying pressure, almost tangible, surged from Natsuki Subaru like a tidal wave, precisely locking onto the demon girl.
The Bloodlust skill, by consuming 100 mana points, could plunge a designated target into a state of fear for one minute, decreasing all their stats by 50%.
"O-Of course… I wouldn't dare to lie…" The demon girl instantly began to tremble violently. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, quickly soaking the clothes on her back.
Under this suffocating pressure, her legs grew weak, and even standing became difficult. She had to use all her strength just to support her body and keep from collapsing to the ground.
"I swear on my family's name, I will absolutely not deceive you…"
"Alright then."
Natsuki Subaru kept his eyes fixed on the demon girl, thought it over for a moment, and then spoke.
Honestly, keeping this demon girl as a guide offered quite a few benefits.
The most direct one was that it would significantly speed up his progress through the Demon Castle, saving him from searching aimlessly on the preceding floors and avoiding wasting too much time.
More importantly, she was the first demon he had encountered since entering the Demon Castle who could communicate normally and maintain her rationality. This sparked a certain curiosity in him.
If not for this, given Natsuki Subaru's usual style when facing enemies, he would have already drawn his dagger and finished off this fickle demon girl to save himself from her nonsense.
Now, by deciding to spare her, he might be able to learn more information about the Demon Castle and its internal structure through her.
"It seems the secrets hidden within this Demon Castle are far more complex than I imagined," Natsuki Subaru thought to himself.
Judging from the demon girl's words and behavior, the demons here weren't just scattered randomly but had formed an organized society.
They even had a clear hierarchical system, which was completely different from his previous understanding of demons.
"Fine. As long as I get the pass, I won't harm you," Natsuki Subaru said slowly, staring at Esil.
"But let me make it clear beforehand: if you dare to pull any tricks, our previous agreement is immediately void."
He had to lay out the harsh terms upfront to prevent her from entertaining any foolish ideas.
"Th-Thank you! I absolutely won't pull any tricks!"
Hearing this, the demon girl's tense shoulders suddenly slumped. Her long purple hair fell to the sides of her face, hiding most of her expression, but her voice still carried a residual tremor, tinged with the relief of having survived.
"Speaking of which, who exactly are you people?"
Natsuki Subaru wasn't fooled by her submissiveness. His gaze remained sharp as he took a step forward, his shadow falling over the demon girl.
After all, every demon he'd met before either just shrieked and charged or couldn't even form a complete sentence. The demon girl before him was completely different.
"I am Esil, the eldest daughter of the Radiru Family."
Esil raised her head. A hint of cunning was still hidden in her eyes, but she tried to maintain a docile posture, her hands placed properly at her sides.
"The Radiru Family? Are there other demon families on the other floors?" Natsuki Subaru caught the key information, raising an eyebrow.
"So, the demons in this dungeon are divided by family to guard different areas? How many people are in your family? Besides guarding, do you have any other duties?"
He needed to understand the scale of their forces as much as possible to avoid any unexpected encounters later on.
"Including me, our family has several hundred members," Esil replied, recalling seriously, her fingers unconsciously counting.
"Besides guarding the floor, we also have to regularly inspect the magical barriers on the floor to ensure no outsiders damage them."
"Magical barriers?" Natsuki Subaru pressed. "What are the barriers for? To defend against intruders like me, or something else inside the Demon Castle?"
"I don't know." Esil shook her head, her eyes looking a bit lost. "The voice in our minds only tells us to maintain the barriers, it never explained their specific purpose."
"I see." Natsuki Subaru nodded thoughtfully, then returned to his initial question. "I didn't want to ask about your family's duties. I want to know why you can communicate normally like humans. According to my understanding, you should be NPCs set by the System, only capable of executing fixed commands."
"What is an NPC?" Esil's brow furrowed even deeper, her red eyes filled with confusion. "Is that some kind of weapon, or the name of another demon? I've never heard that word."
"Never mind, let's put that aside for now." Seeing it would be too complicated to explain, Natsuki Subaru gave up and moved on to a more critical question. "Then why are you in this Demon Castle? Were you here from the very beginning?"
"Only since we arrived here," Esil answered softly.
"Arrived here?" Natsuki Subaru caught the key phrase and immediately asked, "What do you mean? Where were you before that?"
"We originally lived in the Demon Realm."
Esil shook her head, her gaze growing distant as if she were reminiscing about the far-off past.
The Demon Realm… That sounds like a typical game setting.
"In the Demon Realm, did you ever see any races other than demons? Like humans, or other monsters?"
Natsuki Subaru continued to press, trying to confirm if multiple races existed in the Demon Realm, which might validate the authenticity of this dungeon.
"I've never seen a human," Esil said after a moment of thought.
"But the elders used to say that there are other worlds outside the Demon Realm, inhabited by beings different from us. But we couldn't just leave the Demon Realm; they said it was dangerous outside."
"Dangerous? What kind of danger?" Natsuki Subaru asked immediately.
"I don't know, the elders never specified." Esil's tone was a little disappointed. She continued,
"They just said we would naturally find out when we were strong enough. Then… one day, I was practicing magic when I suddenly felt a strong wave of dizziness, and my ears were ringing. When I opened my eyes again, I was already in this dungeon, along with the other members of my clan."
"Transported here suddenly…?" Natsuki Subaru's confusion deepened. He then asked Esil, "So, what were you doing in the Demon Realm?"
Esil froze for a moment, her eyes suddenly becoming vacant:
"War… We were preparing for war."
Her voice became robotic, as if she were reciting some predetermined lines.
"War? A war with whom?"
Natsuki Subaru pressed urgently, feeling that he was approaching an important truth.
"A powerful enemy that required the combined strength of all demons to fight… The war was about to break out…"
Her voice suddenly cut off, her eyes turning dull as if a pause button had been pressed.
Immediately after, Esil's lips began to move mechanically, and she stated in a toneless voice,
"Information exceeds permitted scope… cutting off dialogue…"
The moment her words fell, with a soft 'thump,' Esil's body fell backward rigidly, her eyes shut tight, completely unconscious.
"What's going on?"
Natsuki Subaru immediately leaned down to check on her and found that she was only temporarily unconscious, her breathing steady.
Information exceeds permitted scope? Cutting off dialogue?
This was clearly some kind of protective mechanism.
It seemed this world truly did have strict rules and limitations.
"Looks like I can't get any more out of her." Natsuki Subaru knelt, checked her one last time to confirm she was only unconscious, then slowly stood up.
"Even information about the enemy is restricted. This System's control is even stricter than I thought."
The sun had long since set, its last rays swallowed by the night. The once pale blue sky was now stained a deep, dark purple. Only the faint phosphorescence seeping from the cracks in the distant stone walls provided enough light to barely illuminate the surrounding few meters.
"Is the will of the world intervening behind the scenes, or are these restrictions simply built into the System's rules?"
Natsuki Subaru looked up at the changing environment, his brow furrowed.
Ever since entering the Demon Castle, he had been puzzled about the true nature of this world, and Esil's words had only deepened that confusion.
He knew very well that he clearly hadn't escaped the System's control yet; every step he took seemed to be guided by an unseen force.
From the few fragments of information Esil had revealed, the origin of these demons seemed far from simple, possibly even involving connections between multiple worlds.
Esil had clearly stated that she came here from the Demon Realm.
To be able to transfer living beings from another world completely intact, and even build a complex space like the Demon Castle and create a system that could support combat and leveling—the power behind it all was absolutely terrifying, beyond imagination.
_____
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