Chapter 187: Dealing With The Demons

"Pft, hahaha!" The demons burst out laughing after hearing the old man’s words.

"Did I say something funny?" Aurest frowned deeply, glaring at them. As far as he remembered, there was nothing funny in what he said.

"Hey, human, are you insane? Horvand? Zirham? Who the hell are they? Gods? What do they have to do with us? I can call myself a god too, but would you care? Anyway, forget the crap—now it’s ten thousand coins per person to pass." One of the demons growled.

"Ten thousand? But you just said it was a thousand a moment ago," Aurest said with the same frown, though he wasn’t surprised. He’d lived for centuries and had dealt with countless types like this.

You can’t talk reason with demons. They only understand fear and strength. He thought invoking the name of the Great God and the Prophet might scare them off.

But apparently, these demons either didn’t know about them or just didn’t care.

"I changed my mind. If you take too long, it might go up to a hundred thousand," the demon shrugged.

Aurest sighed and tried to think of a way. Even a thousand coins was too much for most of the pilgrims here, let alone ten thousand.

He himself only had forty-seven thousand left. He could barely pay for himself and maybe three others.

He turned back and looked at the pilgrims, who were staring at him with hopeful eyes. It was clear they were waiting for his guidance. How could he disappoint them?

"I don’t have the money to pay that," a voice suddenly called out from the crowd.

Everyone turned their heads. A handsome young man with white hair and golden-black eyes stood there, looking calmly back.

Aurest was about to speak, but Daniel stepped forward and appeared beside him, giving him a short glance and a smile.

Then he looked toward the demons. Just like Nariok had told him before, they were all B-rank demons and only Early stage at that. Dealing with them would be easy.

’Just one problem... they’re strong enough to become Fallen, but damn, they’re too ugly...’ Still, it would be a waste to let five B-ranks go to waste.

He could only hope the Fallen transformation would make them a little more tolerable to look at.

"I don’t have money to pay. So what now?"

"Hah, stupid human. Obviously, we won’t let you pass unless you pay... And what do you mean by we? Why are you including others?" one demon growled mockingly.

"Your problem is my problem. After all, in a few minutes you’ll all be my hounds for eternity." A smile spread across Daniel’s face.

"..."

All the pilgrims—especially Aurest—froze for a moment. Did this young man just insult the demons? Was he out of his mind?

Even if he wanted to die, provoking the demons would only lead to a slaughter of the rest of the pilgrims too.

"You dare say such blasphemous words, human!?"

"We’ll tear you apart with our own hands!"

"You’ll be tonight’s dinner! Not just you, we’ll slaughter all the pilgrims too!"

"Haha, you only have yourselves to blame for traveling with such a lunatic," one of them raised his hand to attack Daniel.

The strike came down slowly—but before it could touch Daniel, the demon was suddenly sent flying dozens of meters by a kick.

"Huh? What just happened?" The other four demons stared in confusion.

Not just them—even the pilgrims were stunned. Just now, the demon was attacking the young man, but suddenly he was the one flying? How?

"I don’t have time to waste. Hurry it up." Without any delay, Daniel pulled The Heavens Honor out from his inventory.

The remaining demons shuddered when they saw the weapon. For a brief moment, they could feel death creeping over them.

Without hesitation, blades shot out from their fingers and they lunged at him.

[Slash of Destruction]

Daniel didn’t hesitate either. A golden light flared from his sword, and as the blade connected with a demon’s head, a massive destructive explosion erupted.

"Fall back!" Aurest shouted when he saw the explosion and ordered the pilgrims to retreat.

"Run! While you still can!" The pilgrims panicked and began fleeing in disarray.

Daniel ignored them entirely and clashed with the other three demons. Their blows met in mid-air, but Daniel’s relentless, heavy strikes pushed the demons back.

He didn’t give them a second to breathe, hitting them with strike after strike.

[Crimson Demon Claw]

Suddenly, the demon he had kicked away at the start launched a sneak attack from behind.

[Royal Barrier]

Daniel immediately activated his defensive skill, and the demon’s strike bounced back with equal force.

"Argh! You cursed human bastard—I’ll kill you with my own hands!"

Daniel ignored the nonsense and activated [Destruction] to launch a wide-scale attack.

Beams of light surged from his eyes and shot toward the demons.

Boom!

Another massive explosion, and the bodies of four demons were torn apart. Only one of them managed to retreat in time.

"Wouldn’t it have been better to just die quietly?" Daniel stood and stared at the remaining demon with disdain.

The demon looked at Daniel in horror, then at the mangled bodies of his friends. They weren’t dead yet, but they couldn’t do anything either.

He turned and ran without looking back, using every bit of speed he had.

No joke—he might be arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid. This human was a monster. If he didn’t run, he’d end up just like the others.

"Ugh, how annoying..." Daniel sighed and activated [Shadow Weapons].

From the demon’s own shadow, a blade formed and stabbed through him before he could react. His body was split in two.

Still, that wasn’t enough to kill them completely—but it was good enough to turn them into Fallen.

He walked over to finish the job, but just then, Nariok’s voice echoed in his mind:

"My lord, some of the pilgrims have suddenly started attacking others without any reason, and they’re killing them."