Chapter 113: The game’s not reliable?
He raised it again, deliberately, until the tip hovered just in front of her trembling form.
The lightning that danced along the blade pulsed violently, sending arcs of blue-white energy lancing through the damp air, hissing sharply as it struck the air around her.
"I asked you a question… didn't I?" His voice was calm, smooth, yet sharp—like a blade drawn from its sheath.
The crackling electricity only made his words even more terrifying.
Lindsey shivered violently, her small frame trembling under the oppressive presence that emanated from him.
Her knees threatened to buckle, and yet she forced herself to remain upright, her hands fiddling nervously as if the motion could somehow steady her racing heart.
Her lips parted, voice fragile, hoarse:
"I… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… attack you… or your family… for that matter…"
Each word trembled like a fragile glass, barely holding together under the weight of fear.
"It's just… I had no choice… please believe me… I really had no choice." She bit her lip, blinking rapidly, as though willing the tears back. But they came anyway, slowly sliding down her cheeks.
Damien's brows furrowed slightly, his sharp gaze never leaving her.
For a long moment, he said nothing, studying her intently.
'It doesn't seem like she's lying…' he thought, letting the observation settle.
Her fear was genuine, as well as her apology. She had not come here of her own free will, and the desperation radiating from her made that clear.
Yet, despite that, he did not trust her.
But the system's information confirmed her words, since he was sure even if she was lying, the system wouldn't lie to him.
"…What's your name?" he asked finally.
Her body stiffened instantly. Lindsey's lips parted, quivering, her gaze dropping to the ground for a moment before snapping back to his.
Her voice stuttered, frail and soft, the words struggling to escape her throat:
"I-it's… L-Lindsey."
Damien's eyes narrowed faintly, the cold glow of his sword reflecting in the sharp planes of his face.
A part of him had expected her to lie about her name, which would only prove that she was indeed trying to deceive him.
However, she didn't, which meant she had no plans to lie to him.
'It's… a bit surprising,' he thought, his mind quiet for once, letting the moment settle. 'She actually understands me…'
The demons came from another world, and spoke an entirely different language from the people in this world.
Normally, there would be no way for them to understand human language, or even communicate properly with one.
Damien's sharp gaze never left her, yet the realization in his mind grew heavier with every passing second.
It meant the infiltration he had been aware of, the subtle spread of demons into this world, had begun far earlier than he had anticipated.
For a moment, Damien's mind ran through the implications.
If demons had started their infiltration longer than he realized, then every encounter, every subtle disturbance in the surrounding lands, could have been part of a larger scheme.
After a long moment, he exhaled softly, the tension in his shoulders easing just slightly.
Slowly, he lowered his sword.
The arcs of lightning that had danced violently along its edge vanished, retreating back into his hand with a soft hiss.
Lindsey exhaled sharply, a sound that was almost audible relief.
The invisible weight pressing down on her chest, the suffocating tension of being at the mercy of a force she could neither predict nor resist, lifted almost entirely.
She slumped slightly, though her trembling hands remained tightly clasped.
Her bunny ears twitched faintly, white tipped with red, and she let her gaze fall to the ground for a fleeting second, savoring the small reprieve.
Yet the relief was fragile and the terror in her eyes remained.
She had seen the power Damien could wield—the blue lightning, the controlled destruction, the aura of dominance that seemed to warp the very air around him.
Even now, though the sword was lowered, she knew in her heart that he could annihilate her in an instant.
Her body remained taut, fingers still twisted and interlocked as if ready to flee at the smallest provocation.
Damien's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her, the silence stretching between them like a drawn blade.
His voice broke the quiet, calm but sharp, slicing through the fog:
"How… come you can understand me? Demons shouldn't understand human language."
Her entire body stiffened at the words.
She gasped faintly, the sound sharp and surprised, her large, dark eyes widening as if the question itself had struck her chest.
'He knows I'm a… demon,' she thought, a shiver running down her spine.
She swallowed hard, her throat moving visibly, and for the briefest moment, a sad glint flickered across her eyes.
Then, with a soft sigh, she bowed her head, the gesture heavy with submission and lingering shame.
"I… I was given a skill," she whispered, voice meek, barely audible. "A skill… that lets me understand human language."
The words were hesitant, almost fearful, as if speaking them aloud carried a weight heavier than her exhaustion or wounds.
Her small hands, still clasped tightly together, flexed slightly, knuckles whitening again as she tried to maintain composure.
Damien's eyes narrowed..
'A skill that helps communicate fluently in an entirely unknown language…?' he thought, tilting his head slightly, lips pressing into a thin line. 'I didn't hear about that in the game. Not once.'
The realization made a cold edge creep along the back of his mind.
The system, the game's mechanics he had relied on… incomplete.
This demon—weak, trembling, terrified though she was—possessed an ability that didn't exist in the game's files.
And that meant the infiltration, the plans, the presence of demons here… was far more sophisticated than he had ever anticipated.
He exhaled, the tension in his chest coiling into a sharpened focus. His voice turned colder, sharper, cutting into the mist and the silence, leaving no room for evasion.
"Tell me everything. And I mean… everything."
The words hung in the air, and Lindsey's eyes widened further, the small tremble in her shoulders intensifying.
She nodded rapidly, fingers flexing in her clasped hands, her voice barely above a whisper, trembling with fear and urgency:
"Yes… I will… I will… just don't kill me… please…"
Her plea was sincere, desperate. Her lips quivered, and a faint tear broke free, running down the curve of her pale cheek. Even in her exhaustion, even in her near-collapse, she made the effort to meet his gaze fleetingly, as though promising her honesty through the small act of submission.
Damien's lips pressed into a thin line, the faintest curl at the corner of his mouth betraying nothing. Then, with deliberate calm, he said softly, almost detachedly:
"Don't worry. I don't plan on killing you."
The words seemed to reach her, and yet her trembling didn't fully subside.
Every instinct told her he could destroy her in an instant, and even though he claimed he would not, the memory of the crackling lightning and the sheer force radiating from him lingered in her mind.
Damien tilted his head slightly, observing her.
The fear radiating from her, as well as the terrified expression on her face felt… strange.
He had seen how demons acted in the game, and they had always been blunt, brutish and battle-crazed.
They had never been shown… like this, terrified and fearful of a strong opponent.
To demons, it was usually an honour to be slain by a strong opponent, as long as they could go out in a grand battle.
It was a subtle shift, almost imperceptible at first. And yet, deep within him, the realization grew: this changed everything.
The way he had perceived demons from the game, the way he had expected them to behave, had been entirely one-dimensional.
Lindsey had shattered all of that.
For the first time in a long while, Damien found himself feeling… unsettled.
Demons, the game, the system—all the things he thought he understood—were no longer as simple, as clear, or as predictable as they once had been.
And Lindsey… Lindsey was living proof of that shift.
*
A few minutes later…
Damien's face squeezed into a frown, and his eyes darted back to Lindsey.
'What…?!' he thought, clenching his fists.
The bunny demon on the other hand, more her face lowered to the ground.
But now, her expression was a bit more relaxed, and even though she was still terrified, it was clear it wasn't as much as before.
This was because she was now sure Damien indeed didn't plan on killing her, which made her feel more secured.
Nonetheless, she was still wary of him, especially his strength.
'Surely… he won't report this right? This mission… is meant to be a secret…' she thought, her eyes darting from Damien's face back to the ground.
Meanwhile, Damien was preoccupied with thoughts of his own.
'Bunny demons… to think they're nothing but sacrificial pawns. How evil.' he thought. 'Now I know, I need to go into the demon world.'
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