A Demon's Journey

The formation around the encampment was complete. Now, all the fighters in the camp were ready for a decisive battle against the beasts.

An elemental wood user sensed the beasts approaching and immediately informed this information to Brynn Gaynor.

Once he heard this news, Brynn Gaynor's expression turned solemn, and he gathered all the fighters in the camp.

"Everyone, I am utmost thankful to all of you who have come to assist our weak town against this beast raid. I shall give out great rewards according to your contributions against the beast raid. I care not about the method but the result."

"The beast raid has already come out of the inner region and is in the Alpine Gerbil Woods' outer region. After a few hours, they will come out and fight against us. Prepare yourself! Get all the weapons you need. Archers, make sure to carry lots of bolts with you! Also, Alchemy Division, it's time you distribute the potions or pellets to everyone here." Brynn Gaynor gave these orders quickly.

"Yes, town lord!" Nearly all the fighters from the Kloras Town spoke with a respectful look on their faces.

Meanwhile, Acadia School graduates and the Palm Valley School graduates hardly cared about Brynn Gaynor's speech.

However, at this time, the Alchemy Division's head stepped forward, "I had something to talk to you, town lord."

"Speak quickly. We don't have time to lose." Brynn Gaynor spoke with a stern voice.

"Then don't mind if I do. So, town lord, the Alchemy Division would be willing to relinquish any reward you might have for us." Those words surprised many people in the camp. After all, it was well known that they would get quite a bit of wealth and secret recipes that had been guarded by Brynn Gaynor.

Brynn Gaynor still had the same neutral look, though.

"In return, we request, we need the recipe of the secret pellet that Edwin Rhodes possesses, which has allowed his strength to rise so drastically." The Alchemy Division's head spoke with a clever smile.

"I don't possess the authority of requesting for a Noble Family's secret." Brynn Gaynor gave a quick and sharp response.

"Please calm yourself, town lord. I can assure you that this is not a Rhodes Family's secret. Isn't that right, Edwin Rhodes?" The Alchemy Division Head turned his head to stare at Azaroth.

Azaroth gazed at this man and replied soon enough, "You are right. This is indeed not a Rhodes Family's secret."

Those words had excited the Alchemy Divison Head and even Myles standing on the sides. They never expected that Azaroth would actually admit it so readily.

Meanwhile, Sophie was quite confused as Azaroth never mentioned it to her these days. However, she didn't care much about such a pill. She wanted to rely on her own effort instead of pills to get stronger.

The Royal Alchemist in the Palace had told her that if she took too many pills to enhance her rank, the pill poison would start gathering in her body, making it much harder for her to ever break through to a higher rank.

'Looks like Edwin doesn't know about it. I need to tell him about it later, or else it will be too late if his body is flooded by pill poison.'

Sophie was worried about Azaroth just as a friend would be. She had a good opinion of him since he had seemed to grown out of his crush on her and had actually changed for the better.

Meanwhile, the Alchemy Division Head spoke up, staring at Azaroth, "So, Edwin, do you have an issue with this?"

"Wait a second, Sir Simeon. I don't think it's alright to ask for Sir Edwin's secret. I don't have any real power over Sir Edwin, and it would be quite inappropriate if you were to force it." Brynn Gaynor spoke with a stern look on his face.

"Town lord, I can naturally understand why you are saying this. But do understand that if you don't assure us about getting Edwin's secret recipe, then the deal is off. You will get no pills from us." The Alchemy Division head responded with a slight smirk on his face.

"What?!" At those words, it wasn't just Brynn Gaynor but many other people who were startled and angered.

"You mean you are pulling back after coming so far?! After using our precious herbs to make the pills, but you won't give them to us?!" Brynn Gaynor looked really angry as he shouted at Simeon.

Simeon calmly replied, "Please don't shout as if we are stealing them from you. Our Alchemy Association would send you worthy compensation for this, so it will be okay."

Many of the Alchemy Division's members were part of a gigantic existence in the Sinyalian Kingdom, the Alchemy Association.

However, those words from Simeon made Brynn Gaynor even angrier.

And now, just as Azaroth was about to speak something, a few people from the Palm Valley School began shouting, "Town Lord, I think you should get the secret recipe from Edwin and hand it over to Sir Simeon. Without pills, we would be slaughtered by the beasts in a fight!"

"Yes, town lord. You need to make Edwin give his secret to the Alchemy Division, or else we won't be able to stop this beast raid! You don't want the Kloras Town to be destroyed, right?"

One by one, many people from the Palm Valley School were shouting at Brynn Gaynor, telling him to accept the offer.

They didn't entirely understand the situation, but they noted that the Alchemy Division was against Azaroth for some reason.

Such reason was enough for them to support the Alchemy Division unconditionally. After all, they hated Azaroth much more than the other Acadia School Graduates.

He had made them lose face twice in just 2-3 days.

Now that the opportunity had come where they could force Azaroth to take some loss, they were naturally going to take full advantage of it.

Azaroth suddenly started chuckling…

His laugh caught the attention of everyone who had gathered by Brynn Gaynor.

"What's so funny?" Simeon asked with a frown as he stared at Azaroth.

"I thought it was fairly obvious considering how hilarious you are, senior Simeon," Azaroth spoke with a light tone as he slowly stopped chuckling.

Before Simeon could even reply, Azaroth added, "You had a good plan. You mentioned something like this at such a time because you wanted everyone to understand just how important the pills are since there can be no substitute for those pills in such a short period. Also, in case I remained stubborn and refused to give away the secret recipe, you would also have enough time to run away."

"Senior Simeon, do you want my secret recipe that much?" Azaroth asked Simeon while looking at him with a disdainful look. He slowly began walking towards Simeon.

"Y-You… Don't slander me for no reason! You are just looking for excuses…" Simeon spoke when suddenly, he saw Azaroth raising his hand.

Soon enough, everyone in the area listened to a loud resounding sound and had a shocked expression on their faces.

It was all because Azaroth had just slapped Simeon's face very firmly. The sound was quite crispt, and it resounded in the area for some time.

Simeon's right cheek turned crimson after that slap, and he immediately covered it with his hand. He could still feel the heat from his cheek because of that slap.

Azaroth raised his hand and stared at it, "You know, I never expected to feel such pain after slapping you. But it does explain how you can be so shameless without even batting an eye. You have cultivated such a thick skin after all."

He continued speaking with a light tone, "I am curious senior Simeon. Do you think that your subordinates are wholly loyal to you and they would fight for you to the death? Let's suppose that you die an unfortunate death, then do you think your subordinates would obey your last wishes and still persistently seek my secret recipe?"

Simeon's face turned ugly as he heard those words. After his death, he was sure that the one who would replace him would definitely offer all the pellets to Azaroth just to save himself from becoming a pile of bones.

However, not just him, but all the Palm Valley School's graduates felt as if the situation had turned far too strange.

"It appears that you have gained enlightenment. Now, either follow the original agreement, or I can help you in becoming a ghost." Azaroth's words were spoken with dense killing intent.

Simeon now looked at Myles, who had a helpless expression on his face as he gave an imperceptible nod.

"…Alright, the Alchemy Division is willing to follow the original agreement," Simeon spoke with a red face.

Azaroth spoke with a commanding tone, "Get the pills now and distribute them to everyone."

Even before Simeon spoke anything, his underlings from the Alchemy Divison pulled out the pills' bottles and began distributing them to all fighters.

This scene made Simeon so angry that he wanted to kill Azaroth. He knew that this scene today had utterly destroyed his prestige even within the Alchemy Division.

And he naturally blamed all that on Azaroth.

Many Acadia School Graduates, the village's fighters, and the Palm Valley School's graduates were shocked at what had happened, but they quickly stored the pills in their pockets or within their spatial treasures.

Once all the pellets had been distributed, Azaroth spoke to Simeon, "That's all you were needed for. Now, if you want to run away, you can scram. Unlike you, the Kloras town will fulfill the agreement and send you sufficient compensation for those pills."

Simeon angrily raised his finger and pointed it at Azaroth, "Y-You… You are taking it too far!"

"So what?" Azaroth said while stepping forward, "You should have been prepared for such a scene when you were lusting after my secrets. Now though, it's too late."

"Scram!" Azaroth gave a firm slap to Simeon once again. This time, it was strong enough to throw Simeon far away.

However, after slapping that guy, Azaroth suddenly held his hand and spoke, "Ouch. I forgot about that guy's thick skin."

Meanwhile, Simeon crashed into a tree with a crimson color hand-printed on his left cheek.

Some of his teeth also fell on the ground, but he didn't stay there any longer and ran away.

Once Simeon was gone, many of the people from Acadia School who had a fair relationship with Azaroth went over to his side and began speaking, "Damn. That was badass! You really made that guy look as if he was about to cry. Haha…"

"Yup! He was getting on our nerves when he said he won't distribute the pills. He deserved that slap!"

Meanwhile, Sophie was quite surprised at this whole scene, but at the end, she was slightly smiling. If Azaroth hadn't actually taken action, she was the one planning to force out the pills from Simeon.

Meanwhile, some of Acadia School's graduates stared at the Palm Valley School's graduates and said, "Didn't you want the pills? Now at least prove your usefulness during the beast raid."

The Palm Valley School's graduates had no response to those words other than gritting their teeth angrily. They understood that they had once again made the wrong decision.

Meanwhile, Azaroth cleared his throat and spoke, "Everyone, we have no time to fight internally. Get ready and take your positions. We must stop the beasts here…!"

His voice resounded in the area, and all the fighters there agreed with his words.

"You are right, Sir Edwin. Now, I will assign you all to your positions that you must guard at all costs." Brynn Gaynor stepped forwards at this moment. He turned his head towards Sophie and spoke, "Miss Sophie, would you please ask Sir Peter to join as well?"

"He is here. He will listen to your words." Sophie nonchalantly replied.