Inside the mansion.
Yanqing stood fully equipped and ready.
With Qingque's support, they had completely upgraded their gear.
Everyone was now decked out in high-end equipment.
"Lady Diviner, can you finally tell us now?" Yanqing asked. "What exactly is it that's worth waiting three days for?"
"Hmph. Naturally it is—"
BOOM!
Just as Fu Xuan crossed her arms and prepared to make a dramatic reveal, a sudden explosion rang out.
"That direction… the harbor!"
Keqing's expression changed.
If there was an explosion at the port right now, there was only one explanation.
The ships were in trouble.
"Damn it."
Yanqing also felt something was wrong.
He and Keqing were thinking the same thing.
Someone must have destroyed the ships.
For a brief moment, he even suspected Fu Xuan.
After all, three days ago she could have sent them across the sea.
Instead she insisted on waiting three days.
And now this happened.
"Why panic?" Fu Xuan said calmly. "Those ships were meant to be destroyed."
She turned to Qingque, who looked equally calm.
"You take them. I'll check the harbor."
Then she added coldly,
"And remember—if you fail to lead them to victory, you know the consequences."
Her tone was clearly threatening.
After all, she had already endured being Qingque's "butler."
If Qingque's plan failed now, guarding the gate would be the least of her punishments.
"…Okay."
Qingque nodded quickly.
Then she suddenly straightened her back.
"Hey, I'm Boss Qing, remember?"
"You go check the harbor. I'll take them downstairs."
Same plan.
But if Fu Xuan said it, it sounded like she was giving orders.
If Qingque said it instead—
Then clearly Qingque was the one giving orders.
The others covered their faces.
What was the point of arguing about that?
"Follow me."
Qingque waved her hand and opened the basement door.
She led them downstairs.
Fu Xuan watched them leave.
"Let's see what a Demon General is really like."
She gripped a small object in her hand and looked toward the harbor.
BOOM!
A series of explosions tore through the port.
Every ship was destroyed.
"Perfect."
Silver Wolf admired the chaos she had created.
Trying to escape by ship?
Not happening.
"Now… it's time to hunt Heroes."
Unlike Raiden Ei, who commanded armies of monsters, Silver Wolf's class was Bloodlord.
In simpler terms—
The leader of vampires.
Her personal combat ability was extremely strong.
Even if those Heroes had leveled up a bit, it wouldn't matter.
After blasting the remaining ship debris apart with another spell, Silver Wolf prepared to head into the city.
Then she saw someone standing calmly nearby.
A pink-haired girl.
"…Huh?"
"You're… Fu Xuan from the Divination Commission?"
"Correct," Fu Xuan said calmly. "Starhunter… you must be the Demon General."
"Yep."
Silver Wolf nodded happily.
During their last infiltration on the Xianzhou, Kafka had been captured by Fu Xuan.
Now she could repay the favor.
Silver Wolf moved instantly, rushing toward Fu Xuan.
She knew Fu Xuan was here to stall for time.
So she needed to capture her quickly.
Facing Silver Wolf's speed, Fu Xuan showed no fear.
She casually cast a detection spell.
Silver Wolf: Level 80
HP: 50,000 / 50,000
MP: 459 / 600
"Fifty thousand HP?"
Fu Xuan was slightly surprised.
But it didn't matter.
She should still be able to hold her off.
RUMBLE!
At that moment, the roar of engines echoed across the city.
A massive ship rose from the other side of the city and lifted into the sky.
"…No way."
Silver Wolf stared in disbelief.
"That's an airship!"
As a hardcore gamer, she recognized it instantly.
The classic RPG vehicle.
No matter what game it was—
If you wanted to freely traverse the world map, you needed an airship.
"No way I'm letting that happen."
The airship would massively increase the players' mobility.
Silver Wolf immediately abandoned Fu Xuan and flew toward it.
She silently thanked her luck.
Since she could transform into a bat, she could chase it through the air.
If another Demon General had come instead—
They might have had no way to reach it.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Fu Xuan smirked and casually threw a fireball.
Silver Wolf didn't even bother dodging.
She tanked the hit and continued flying toward the airship.
"She knows what she's doing," Fu Xuan muttered.
Silver Wolf clearly understood how important that airship was.
She would destroy it at any cost.
Fu Xuan's expression hardened.
She gathered all her magic.
"Bind!"
In an instant, Silver Wolf froze in midair.
She reverted to human form and glared at Fu Xuan.
Then she raised one hand and aimed it at the airship.
Blood magic gathered.
Silver Wolf prepared to sacrifice her own HP to unleash a massive spell.
Even if she couldn't destroy the airship—
She would at least cripple it.
"You're insane."
Fu Xuan frowned.
She had predicted many possibilities.
She might stall Silver Wolf.
Or she might fail.
But she never expected Silver Wolf to sacrifice her life just to destroy the airship.
"I can't hold back anymore."
Fu Xuan pulled out the object in her hand.
"Holy Light!"
Her strongest holy spell activated.
A pillar of divine light descended from the sky and struck Silver Wolf.
Silver Wolf's HP plummeted instantly.
Combined with the HP she had already sacrificed for blood magic, her health dropped into critical range.
"…Damn."
Now Silver Wolf was the one panicking.
She never imagined Fu Xuan had something like this.
That was basically cheating.
Now she faced a choice.
Destroy the airship.
Or survive.
If she insisted on destroying it, she might succeed—
But she would definitely die.
If she gave up, the airship would escape.
And catching players later would become far more difficult.
"Well?"
Fu Xuan folded her arms smugly.
"Why stop? The airship's leaving."
"You… you little brat."
Silver Wolf was furious.
Couldn't you see she was struggling with a decision?
"Y-you're not much taller!"
Fu Xuan snapped back instantly.
Silver Wolf was speechless.
After a long moment of silence, Silver Wolf finally chose survival.
Destroying the airship was too risky.
If she failed, she'd die for nothing.
But right now…
She was really annoyed with Fu Xuan.
Silver Wolf suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Have you thought about what happens after the airship leaves?"
Fu Xuan blinked.
"…Actually, no."
Until now she had assumed the worst outcome was simply being eliminated.
But seeing Silver Wolf's expression—
She suddenly felt uneasy.
Silver Wolf grabbed her collar and lifted her up.
A very "kind" smile appeared on her face.
"I won't eliminate you."
"But I will take you back to the Demon King's castle."
"And then… you'll learn what cruelty really means."
"W-wait—this is just a game!" Fu Xuan protested. "You can't go too far!"
"Relax."
"I won't."
"Then what exactly are you going to do?!"
Silver Wolf smiled.
"There's already someone in the prison."
"Her name's Yae Miko."
"You should go ask her."
"She has… quite a bit of experience recently."
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