“—!”
The moment Shien attacked, the Warfighters guarding Danas reacted instantly, rushing to his defense.
“Hum!”
With a tremor of magic power, a dark barrier appeared before the Warfighters, protecting both them and Danas.
“Boom!”
The raging flames, like a fiery storm, crashed against the barrier, creating a roaring sound before being blocked.
Waves of fire surged around the barrier, scorching the temple floor.
“Wha…!?”
The sudden change startled Oz and Maeve.
Shien, however, looked at the scene with a sneer, waiting until the flames dissipated and Danas and his group emerged from behind the barrier.
“…What is the meaning of this, Viscount Buztout?”
Danas’s expression remained unchanged, unfazed by the attack.
However, upon closer inspection, the smile in his eyes had vanished.
Shien, on the other hand, was smiling even more brightly than before, as if their positions had been completely reversed.
And Shien said,
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Don’t ask me why. You simply chose the wrong person.”
This reason was simple and crude, without any embellishment.
But when you got down to it, wasn’t that the case?
“I have no interest in conquering the world, let alone conquering the world with unfortunate ancient beings who were turned into victims.” Shien said nonchalantly. “Or rather, can’t you villains come up with something more interesting to persuade others to surrender? Always with the ‘conquering the world’ trope, painting a grand picture and expecting people to work for you. It’s so insincere.”
“…Is that so?” Danas was silent for a moment, then smiled. “I thought I was quite sincere, but it seems I wasn’t sincere enough in your eyes.”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Shien glanced at Danas, his expression turning sarcastic again. “If you were truly sincere, you would tell me about the human you’re cooperating with. Being so secretive and playing games, do you really think you can fool anyone?”
“So, you were referring to this.” Danas said as if suddenly realizing. “If you’re willing to break the seal now, I will definitely tell you about that human afterwards.”
“You still don’t understand.” Shien said with a smirk. “I mean, I don’t trust you, idiot.”
Danas’s smile finally vanished.
“…So, our negotiations have failed?”
Danas asked with an impassive face.
“Obviously.”
Shien replied without hesitation.
This was something that didn’t require any consideration.
Shien was already at odds with the Old Demon Faction, and he was also the Hero. Even without a grand ambition to save the world, as a condition for his second life, Shien would still help Nien deal with the Old Demon Faction. râNȱ฿ƐꞨ
Under such circumstances, Shien also had a deep relationship with Airi, and Airi deeply loathed the Old Demon Faction. They even came here together with the purpose of annihilating them. Now, this guy was trying to persuade him to cooperate with a ridiculously clichéd and unrealistic “conquering the world” offer?
Shien wanted to ask, had he ever seen a villain successfully persuade a protagonist with such a reason?
Besides…
“If I cooperate with you guys from the Old Demon Faction, my wife back in the royal capital probably won’t let me sleep in the same bed with her anymore.”
Shien shrugged.
“Times have changed, my lord.”
Shien’s words made Danas fall silent and Oz and Maeve, who had been listening to their conversation, breathe a sigh of relief.
Clearly, they were still worried that Shien would switch sides and help Danas break the seal.
Now, Shien had decisively turned against him.
In that case…
“Since that’s the case, I hope you can accept my hospitality and try your best to survive.”
Danas relaxed his face, as if no longer caring about Shien’s existence, and waved his hand.
With this wave, Shien and the others discovered that the evil beings that had emerged from the seal and were about to rush out of the temple suddenly turned their heads and looked at them.
The next second, their eyes flashed with ferocity.
“Gaaaah…!”
“Uwaaaah…!”
The evil beings roared and charged towards Shien and the others.
“[Bestow: Fire].”
Shien instantly cast his magic, unleashing a large-scale AOE attack.
“Boom—!”