The endless terror that one felt when facing an Abyss Demon—

A terror akin to being dragged into the deepest abyss—

Was instantly overwhelmed by an unprecedented surge of confusion after Boluoge witnessed the scene behind him.

Trembling uncontrollably, he slowly raised a shaking finger toward the front.

“W-What exactly did you do?!”

Abyss Demons.

They were cruel, merciless, bloodthirsty monsters.

To them, every living thing that wasn't an Abyss Demon was prey.

A target.

Something to kill.

They didn't care about skin color.

They didn't care whether you were male or female.

Old or young.

The moment they saw you, they attacked.

True equality in its purest form.

There was no way such monsters would spare someone simply because they were young or looked pitiful.

That...

That was how it was supposed to be.

But...

But why?!

Why was that little girl unharmed?!

Not only was she unharmed—

She was even acting intimately with the Abyss Demon?!

What the hell was going on?!

In an instant, it felt as though a bolt of heavenly lightning had struck Boluoge.

His brain nearly shut down completely.

His thoughts became a chaotic mess.

All he could do was continue trembling while staring fixedly at the pink-haired girl.

Faced with his questioning gaze—

The pink-haired girl calmly turned around and looked at the mentally collapsing knight.

At that moment, Boluoge suddenly noticed something.

The terror that had previously filled the girl's blue eyes had vanished completely.

The despair.

The sadness.

All gone.

What remained was an indescribable coldness.

And amusement.

That gaze...

Seemed to be looking at a clown.

And that clown...

Appeared to be him.

“I didn't do anything.”

The girl replied playfully.

However—

Boluoge was obviously not satisfied with that answer. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Noticing that the surrounding Abyss Demons had all mysteriously entered a state of observation rather than attack, he shouted hysterically once more:

“What exactly did you do?! Why isn't that Abyss Demon attacking you?! Why isn't it killing you?!”

“Hm? Attacking me?”

The pink-haired girl covered her mouth and let out a mocking laugh.

“My child is so obedient and adorable. Why would it attack me?”

??!!

What?

Child?

Obedient and adorable?!

That two-headed Abyss Demon?!

Looking at the terrifying monster beside the girl—the hideous creature with fangs exposed, a savage face, and unknown chunks of flesh still hanging from its mouth—Boluoge seriously began doubting his hearing.

The muscles in his face twitched wildly.

“That thing is adorable?! Are you kidding me?!”

“I think it's pretty adorable.”

The pink-haired girl—

Or rather, Miss Yumo—

Spoke matter-of-factly.

As she spoke, she continued gently scratching beneath the tiger-shaped Abyss Demon's chin.

The brutal sixth-tier monster obediently closed its eyes and appeared to thoroughly enjoy Yumo's affection.

The sight left Boluoge completely dumbfounded.

For a long time, he couldn't recover from the shock.

Indeed.

From the perspective of ordinary people, most Abyss Demons were terrifying monstrosities.

The words adorable and obedient had absolutely nothing to do with them.

But—

For Yumo, things were completely different.

Over the past five hundred years as the management consciousness of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, she had seen very few humans.

The beings that had accompanied her through countless lonely years were these Abyss Demons.

In Yumo's eyes, Abyss Demons had long ceased to be monsters.

Those higher-ranking Abyss Demons that possessed a bit of intelligence were actually quite cute from her perspective.

Take this peak sixth-tier Abyss Demon before her, for example.

Other than looking like it had taken revenge on society, possessing slightly excessive attack power, being a little too durable, a little too large, eating a little too much, and occasionally wanting to bite people...

Wasn't it basically just a cat?

Patting the Abyss Demon's head, Yumo smiled slightly.

The monster immediately responded by rubbing its head against her cheek.

“Meow~”

—

Watching the interaction between the pink-haired girl and the Abyss Demon—

Watching behavior so absurd that it completely overturned common sense—

Boluoge couldn't help repeatedly slapping himself in the face.

He wanted to know if he was trapped inside some nightmare.

However—

The burning pain on his cheeks told him otherwise.

This wasn't a dream.

This unbelievable scene was reality.

How could an Abyss Demon...

Be so affectionate toward a little girl?

This...

This was impossible!

Completely unheard of!

No, wait...

!!

Wait a second!

Maybe the girl possessed some special method.

Some ability to control Abyss Demons.

Yes!

That had to be it!

There had to be some secret behind this!

And if he could learn it...

Maybe he could survive!

Realizing this, Boluoge immediately discarded the contempt he'd shown toward the girl earlier.

His face instantly transformed into a flattering smile.

Like a shameless bootlicker, he carefully approached her.

“L-Little sister? Could you tell big brother what exactly you did? Why are these Abyss Demons so obedient?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Uh... if you tell me, we can save more people! Afterward, I'll tell the captain about it. Your big sister Mengxi will definitely be happy!”

“Oh?”

Yumo tilted her head.

“You still plan on going back to Sister Mengxi?”

“O-Of course! She's my captain, after all!”

“You still consider her your captain?”

Yumo spoke coldly.

All traces of her previously cute and cheerful tone vanished completely.

“Then do you remember what your captain told you?”

“Told me? What?”

“Hehe. To protect me, of course. But what exactly did you people do?”

“N-No! That was all a misunderstanding! At the time I was—?!!!”

?!!

What?!

Before Boluoge could finish speaking—

His pupils suddenly contracted.

An unprecedented and incomparable pressure descended upon him like Mount Tai crashing from the heavens.

His entire body trembled.

With a thunderous crash, he fell to his knees.

The overwhelming pressure—

A pressure hundreds of times greater than that emitted by the surrounding Abyss Demons—

Instantly robbed him of the ability to speak.

Even his soul felt as if it were being mercilessly crushed into dust.

Barely maintaining consciousness, he collapsed face-first onto the ground.

His terrified eyes stared at the seemingly harmless little girl before him.

Abyss Demon?!

A humanoid Abyss Demon?!

How was that possible?!

At that moment, Boluoge felt as though heavenly thunder had struck him repeatedly.

Staring at the pink-haired girl whose eyes now glowed crimson, he recalled all of her previous actions and the bizarre reactions of the surrounding Abyss Demons.

Suddenly—

Everything clicked.

And once it did—

An indescribable terror and anxiety flooded his heart.

An intelligent Abyss Demon.

One capable of taking human form.

One that had deliberately approached the Child of Destiny.

“Y-You... what exactly... what is your purpose?”

However—

Yumo clearly had no intention of explaining.

Instead, she revealed a chilling and cruel smile.

“I'm very busy, you know~”

“I'm too lazy to waste any more words on you.”

The next moment—

Under Boluoge's despairing gaze—

Yumo raised her head and looked behind him.

“Children, time for a snack~”

“N-No! No! Please don't—!”

Driven by his desperate desire to survive, Boluoge immediately began screaming and begging hysterically.

His face twisted into a grotesque mess of tears and terror.

It looked almost comical.

Unfortunately—

The pink-haired girl paid him no attention whatsoever.

She merely watched him coldly.

Soon—

Boluoge was no longer able to make a single sound.

Because in the very next second, the two spider-shaped Abyss Demons behind him pounced.

As their venomous fangs pierced through his neck, Boluoge's consciousness sank completely into endless darkness...

—

Watching the Asumos Church knight get torn apart and devoured by the Abyss Demons, Yumo felt remarkably indifferent.

She had long since become accustomed to such scenes.

As for Boluoge's desperate pleas for mercy—

Yumo couldn't have cared less.

She still remembered quite clearly how he had thrown the other slave children from the horse while fleeing from Abyss Demons.

Afterward, he had even abandoned the heroine and attempted to escape alone.

He was completely unqualified as a companion.

Likewise, his willingness to disobey his captain's orders proved he was equally unqualified as a subordinate.

A person like that would probably sell out the heroine someday if it benefited him or protected his own life.

In that case—

There was no reason for him to remain by the heroine's side.

He might as well become monster food.

Besides...

'The quality of the heroine's companions really isn't great.'

'The only decent one was Garona, but she's far too weak... and she's already gone down.'

If the future trials were to be completed successfully...

It seemed she would need to find some suitable companions for the heroine.

Thinking this, Yumo unconsciously raised a hand to her chin and fell into brief contemplation.

Just then—

As if sensing something—

Her eyebrow lifted slightly.

A playful look appeared within her blue eyes as she gazed toward the southwestern region of the fortress.

'Oh ho?'

'Reinforcements finally arrived~'

If they had come any later...

'I honestly wouldn't have known how to keep acting anymore~'