"This is the last known large gathering place for demons."
Standing in the forest outside the town, several small figures gazed into the distance, relief visible on their tired faces.
"We succeeded… finally we didn't betray Eren's trust."
Mujika lowered her eyes to the empty bottle in her hand, her expression complicated. The last bottle of [Evil Blood · Modified] had already been poured into the settlement's daily drinking water supply. Based on their previous tests, it would take no more than a week for every demon in this large settlement to become infected.
The reason was simple—this modified evil blood possessed a terrifying ability: infection.
Even something as minor as saliva, or simple physical contact, could allow the highly permeable "poison" to spread rapidly from one body to another. And demons had absolutely no resistance to the power of Evil Blood.
Soon, an epidemic known as [Evil Blood · Modified] would erupt among the demon population.
The infected demons would panic. They would begin to question their own existence. The spreading [Evil Blood · Modified] would slowly swallow the last stable territory demon society once possessed.
Over the past half year, this invisible and terrifying plague had already become the greatest nightmare of demon civilization.
Strangely, it caused no direct physical harm. Yet demons feared it more than death itself.
Because they could no longer eat humans.
For demons, consuming human flesh was the only way to maintain their intelligence and stable form. Without it, their bodies would gradually degenerate until they eventually became mindless beasts. This was common knowledge among even the youngest members of demon society.
But after contracting [Evil Blood · Modified], something horrifying happened.
The delicious human meat they had once devoured so eagerly became poison the moment it entered their mouths. Their bodies violently rejected it—vomiting, stomach cramps, and uncontrollable physical reactions made it impossible to consume even a single bite.
They could no longer eat humans.
And without eating humans, degeneration should have been inevitable. Panic spread rapidly through demon society as fear, confusion, and desperation began tearing their world apart.
But not long afterward, something unexpected began to emerge.
The first demons infected with "[Evil Blood · Modified]" gradually discovered that even after more than a month had passed, their bodies had shown no signs of degeneration. Their intelligence remained intact, and their physical forms were still stable.
As the spread of [Evil Blood · Modified] continued to expand, more and more demons began reaching the same realization.
Aside from being unable to consume human flesh…
There were no other negative symptoms.
Which meant only one thing.
If demons no longer needed to eat humans to survive…
Then the entire foundation of their society had just been overturned.
This meant that human meat, once an expensive commodity monopolized by capitalist nobles for breeding and sale, would no longer be a necessity.
If it were merely a matter of not needing human meat to maintain their state, perhaps some demons would still consume it for its flavor. But now that human meat had become something their bodies instinctively rejected, no demon was willing to spend enormous sums on meat that would only make them sick.
Thus, the greatest profit empire once controlled by the noble capitalists collapsed almost overnight. More and more demons even began traveling to areas already infected by the Evil Blood Plague, hoping to become infected with the [Evil Blood · Modified] themselves.
Who could have imagined that behind the extravagant price of human meat lay such a cruel truth? Humans were also a fatal chain restricting the survival of demons. If they stopped eating human flesh, their bodies would degenerate and eventually turn into wild beasts. In other words, for demons, human meat had always been a kind of slow-acting poison.
Without humans, demons would no longer remain demons, they would become beasts.
Countless demons had once wished to break free from this dependence, but their survival instinct made it impossible. That was also the reason the former Evil Blood Maiden clan had been persecuted. Their existence threatened to awaken the consciousness of demon society.
Once demons realized they no longer needed to rely on human meat… once they realized they could maintain their intelligence simply by receiving the blood of an Evil Blood Maiden… then how could the noble capitalists continue monopolizing human farms and controlling the lower classes?
It was absurd. Demons were nothing more than aberrations clumsily imitating human civilization, yet they had perfectly inherited humanity's most ruthless systems—class opposition, exploitation, and control. The worst traits of human society had been reproduced by them to an even greater extreme.
Mujika lowered her gaze to her own hands, still finding it difficult to believe. The beings who had hunted and persecuted her for more than seven hundred years were now collapsing in less than a single year.
Eren had truly fulfilled the promise he made in that dark underground cave. He had given her the chance to change the world with her own hands.
Even Sonju, whose heart had once been restless and filled with ulterior motives, was now fighting under Eren's command. Of course, Mujika understood very well that Sonju wasn't motivated by noble ideals, he simply couldn't defeat Eren and had no choice but to obey.
She still remembered the day Sonju, unable to suppress his desire for battle, challenged Eren to a duel. Yet Eren hadn't even used his terrifying weapon. With nothing more than an ordinary wooden sword, he completely suppressed him.
For someone as proud as Sonju, that humiliation must have been painful. But such lessons were something every demon had to experience in life.
What Mujika didn't realize, however, was that Sonju had already been completely convinced by Eren.
What he had always longed for was pure combat. Hunting human children had long ago lost its appeal—they were simply too weak. But after following Eren, every day was filled with endless battles, and their enemies were the increasingly powerful demon nobles.
For someone like him, this life was exhilarating.
For more than seven hundred years, he had been the one hunted by those demons. Now he could stand alongside the human children they once treated as food and smash their arrogant faces.
It was incredibly satisfying.
As for challenging Eren again? Sonju had long given up on that idea. He knew very well that Eren hadn't been serious during their duel. Once that strange long blade with black patterns appeared, even a single scratch would mean death.
He had seen far too many demons lose their lives to that terrifying weapon.
He loved fighting, but he had no intention of throwing his life away.
"It's finally coming," Mujika murmured softly.
There was something deeply ironic about it. Something that once seemed possible only through divine intervention had now been accomplished so easily.
Now they were only one step away from true victory. As long as they overthrew the final ruling class of demon society, the Queen who sat at the peak of the Royal Capital, the world of demons would enter an entirely new era.
A world where demons no longer fed on humans.
When that day arrived, what difference would there even be between demons and humans?
Mujika gazed toward the distant horizon, imagining a future completely different from the past. It was the long-cherished wish of her fallen clan.
"I heard Eren and the others are about to begin their final operation."
Finally completing the task assigned by Blank, Liza and Sophia both felt a deep sense of relief. For a long time, they had been worried that even the slightest mistake on their part might disrupt Blank's plan and cause the entire layout he had prepared to collapse.
Perhaps Blank himself would still have been able to salvage everything even if something had gone wrong. Even so, they didn't want to reveal any trace of incompetence in front of him.
Fortunately, after so much time and careful effort, they had successfully completed their mission before the appointed day.
[Ding! You have triggered a World-Class Team Quest — Road to a New World!]
[Road to a New World: Using the power of humanity itself, attempt to carve out a brand new future in the world of demons. The moment the opportunity to change the former fate of humanity was born, this world itself began to change. Your actions will become the direction for the new humans, guiding them toward a future illuminated by light!]
[Quest Status: Unfinished]
The two girls looked at each other, smiles slowly appearing on their faces.
"Well then—" Sophia said, showing a confidence she had never displayed before. There was even a slightly flamboyant smile on her lips, and within that expression one could faintly see the shadow of Blank's influence.
"Let's go meet up with them."
Liza nodded firmly, her eyes filled with determination.
"To the Royal Capital!"