“It’s more than welcome for you to help, but talking about conditions...”
Esther looked distressed as she glanced at the other two Legendary Great Demons busy with their tasks. After hesitating for a moment, she took out a peculiar silver gemstone polished into the shape of butterfly wings from her bosom and handed it to Violet.
“Lord Tiyelu cannot easily manifest in the mortal realm, but with this specially crafted magical artifact from the Spirit Butterfly clan, you can communicate with her without entering the sacred grounds. You can discuss the terms directly with Lord Tiyelu. As long as she agrees, we have no objections.”
“Oh? There’s something like this?”
What exactly was the state of that little butterfly? From what she said, it seemed like it could observe the situation in the real world, otherwise it wouldn’t have been able to pull people into the sacred grounds several times so accurately, but then it couldn’t appear outside?
Was it just a projection? Or maybe...
Casually playing with and appraising the butterfly-wing-shaped gemstone in her hand, Violet quickly understood how this thing worked.
In essence, it was similar to the seal used by Sethlin, but instead of consciousness being housed within a tangible statue, Tiyelu was probably in another special dimensional space, possibly the illusionary realm she mentioned before, or something else entirely.
Anyway, in a sense, Tiyelu had split countless special spiritual threads, each ending in this specially crafted gemstone. Each thread could directly connect to the consciousness of the other party, but in reality, the threads themselves had no other function besides mental communication.
This was a rather ingenious application of soul power.
Under normal circumstances, Tiyelu would need to initiate contact, and at least agree beforehand for external beings to contact the miss butterfly using this gemstone. However, after fiddling with it for a while, Violet didn’t see the other party picking up the phone, so she became a bit impatient and resorted to some minor manipulation.
Actually, it’s nothing much, just injecting a bit of extra chaotic SP into the butterfly-wing-shaped gemstone. If she were to describe it, it’s probably akin to sending a dozen or so window shakes in a row when dialing someone on a communication software.
The next moment, Violet heard a familiar crisp exclamation in her mind.
【Wahhhh! Who, who is it! Trying to deafen Lord Tiyelu’s ears!?】
Oh, the effect is remarkable.
【Hey hey, it’s me. Can you hear me?】
Violet was already very proficient in this kind of mental communication, ever since her time with Sethlin, so naturally, she could easily grasp the response method.
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【Violet? It’s you again! Curse you! Are you a robber? Can’t you knock properly!? No, I clearly warned South Blade not to... Ah, I see, it’s that idiot Esther, isn’t it? Oh, what a blunder!】
【What are you playing cute for... You’re the one who didn’t respond after we’ve been tinkering with this thing for so long. Now you’re blaming others for it? Taking the initiative, huh? Also, I remember a certain butterfly saying she would constantly monitor the battlefield situation. Is your attention just a sham?】
【Ahem! Who’s the one shamming here! There was a bit of a problem in the illusionary realm that needed urgent attention. Besides, with you being unreasonable out there, nothing bad will happen...】
【Another issue in the illusionary realm? So what exactly is that?】
【The illusionary realm is... Oh, explaining it is such a hassle. Let’s talk about it later. So, what’s the rush for you to find me?】
Tiyelu’s voice seemed to occasionally mix in some rumbling explosions and many strange screeches and roars, indicating that her side was indeed quite lively, and she wasn’t really slacking off.
Although a bit puzzled by why mental communication would also be crowded with external noise, since Miss Butterfly was busy, Violet didn’t want to waste time dilly-dallying. After a brief thought, she recounted her conversation with Esther and directly proposed the deal to help find someone and the previously undisclosed conditions.
【That’s it, huh... Well, it’s not a big deal. You’re not humans anyway. Alright, I fully agree! As long as you can help find the source of magic power, everything will be as you say!】
【Is there anything else? If not, I’m hanging up! Busy here!】
【Uh, no...】
Before the priestess could say anything else, the mental communication on the other end cut off abruptly.
Violet, with a strange expression, put down the butterfly-wing-shaped gemstone in her hand, returned it to Esther, then muttered in a voice only she could hear.
“She just said she’s hanging up...?”
......................................
After that, things were straightforward.
Since the conditions had been agreed upon, Violet decided to join forces directly with Esther and the other demons. As for the remnants of the Demon Suppression City who seemed to have some connection with the Ghost Thief Group, out of respect for Lilya’s face, the priestess had no intention of exterminating them.
In fact, except for those hunters who used despicable methods like poison and dirty tricks, essentially reformed thugs recruited by the poachers whom she had dealt with harshly, Violet had mostly controlled the intensity of her actions against the regular soldiers, at least not taking their lives.
Of course, if any of them happened to perform an acrobatic stunt resulting in their head hitting a rock and dying instantly, she couldn’t do anything about it. After all, these humans didn’t seem to have any intention of showing mercy when they attacked.
Although the human commander, supposedly named Ashibern, who fought Mr. South Blade to a draw, seemed desperate and was hell-bent on keeping them, Violet didn’t have the time to waste on him.
Seeing him persistently entangled alone, even intending to use some self-destructive move, a certain annoying dragon lady simply slapped him, sword and all, directly into the ground.
While those soldiers, pale-faced and panicked, were trying to dig Ashibern out, Violet, along with the equally dumbfounded group of demons and monsters, quickly departed.
The location of these mountains was not far from the Demon Suppression City and the kingdom’s border, which is within the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains. With a simple exploration, the priestess easily found the direction.
After a brief discussion, Walter dispatched four demons, led by the legendary demon known as Ewan, to escort Lulu and over a hundred other creatures with no combat capability back to the mountains. Mr. South Blade, Esther, and several other demons, along with Violet and the two girls, headed back towards the Demon Suppression City.
Little Blue, who had evolved into a Holy Light Slime, also temporarily went back with Ewan’s group. This was Violet’s idea, as slimes were somewhat inconvenient to move around in the Demon Suppression City.
Besides, sooner or later, they would have to go to the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains, so it was better to let Little Blue make some preparations first.
When she proposed the three-year contract to Little Blue earlier, the priestess had already considered this matter.
The news of Ashibern’s defeat and the others would likely spread to certain ears in the Demon Suppression City soon. Violet’s appearance as a meddler would probably change many of their deployments, but she was prepared for that.
After all, during their time in the underground black market, the priestess and the little dragon girl were always wearing 【Cognitive Obstruction Mask】. They only took them off when they met with Tiyelu, fearing a misunderstanding.
Even when possessing Little Blue and changing her appearance, Violet took care to cloak herself in a cape beforehand or avoid close contact with human military forces.
After all, Violet had been involved in quite a few things on the battlefield of the Western Beastmen and even spent a long time appearing frequently by Lilya’s side, which could easily be misconstrued as having a close relationship with the Queen.
Just ambushing a few soldiers or causing some trouble might not attract much attention, or even raise suspicion from those who might know Violet, but cooperating with demons to directly attack the elite forces of the kingdom was an entirely different matter.
If possible, Violet wanted to avoid causing trouble for Lilya as much as possible, so she wouldn’t have to work too hard and end up pulling her hair out from the stress.
Therefore, whether meeting with Eileen, visiting the underground black market, or beating up the kingdom’s army, those were all done by Miss Slime. What did they have to do with Violet?