B2 Ch 98 - Lady Zorvaya [Bonus]

“Lady Zorvaya!”

The crown-horned demon stepped forward toward the demon commander. The others followed behind him, including Jester, who simply went along with the group as they approached the figure who looked noticeably different from everyone else in the camp.

It was honestly a little hard to explain. Most of the demons Jester had seen around this camp had gray skin, with strange and random features that barely looked human. They were not all men either. There were female demons among them as well, each with their own unusual appearance.

But this particular figure, the demon commander standing before them, looked completely... different.

Her skin was gray too, although not nearly as dark as the others, leaning more toward a pale ash-gray. Her short hair was silver-white, while a pair of horns rose from her head, and honestly, those things looked almost twice as long as the horns of every other demon around her.

Her lower body was protected by full armor, with a deep red cape hanging from her left side. Meanwhile, the clothing covering her upper body was honestly far more revealing than Jester expected someone with the title of commander to wear.

But the thing that caught his attention the most was probably her face because... damn. This demon was incredibly beautiful for someone who was, well, a demon.

Maybe Jester had simply imagined demons too differently before coming here, so seeing one who looked this beautiful left him genuinely surprised. And this was still only a demon commander. What the hell would demons with ranks even higher than hers look like?

“Speak clearly and tell me what happened from the beginning,” the demon commander named Zorvaya said coldly.

Her eyes settled on the crown-horned demon without the slightest hint of patience. “Do not waste my time by stumbling over every other word. If you have something important to report, then speak properly.”

The crown-horned demon quickly began explaining everything that had happened earlier, including the trouble Jester had caused. He was clearly still furious about the whole thing, but he forced himself to arrange his words more carefully instead of letting his anger turn everything into a mess.

Zorvaya listened without interrupting, her eyes stayed fixed on him with such an icy stare that the surrounding demons remained completely silent.

“So you came all the way here merely to tell me that an unidentified demon fooled all of you, walked away unharmed, and none of you were capable of doing anything to stop him?”

Zorvaya asked. Her voice remained calm, but somehow, that only made every word sound colder.

“How pathetic. If soldiers under my command can be deceived so easily by a single stranger, perhaps I have been giving all of you far more credit than you deserve.”

“Lady Zorvaya!” The demon immediately stiffened. “This is far more serious than a simple failure on our part. That demon claimed to serve under the Fifty-Fifth Ranked Demon, and judging by the strength he displayed, he was clearly no ordinary demon.”

“He stood nearly twice our height, and there was something about his presence that none of us had encountered before,” he continued hurriedly. “We did not simply allow him to escape because we were careless. I am certain someone has infiltrated our forces.”

His voice grew more serious as he tried desperately to make his point.

“If a demon like that managed to enter this camp without being detected, then someone from within may have helped him. This could be an act of betrayal among our own ranks. We need to investigate before he has another chance to...”

His voice suddenly stopped. The rest of his words became trapped somewhere in his throat as his eyes widened. His hands slowly moved toward his chest, gripping at something that had suddenly pierced straight through his armor.

The entire area fell silent. The other demons did not move or make a sound as the crown-horned demon dropped onto his knees, and only then did Jester realize what had happened.

Zorvaya had pierced him directly through the heart. She had moved so quickly that Jester had barely noticed her doing anything at all.

“L-Lady Zorvaya...” the demon forced out with difficulty, blood beginning to slip from the corner of his mouth.

“I have devoted everything I have to serving you. My strength, my loyalty, even my life belongs to you,” he pleaded. “I have never questioned your command, not even once. Give me another chance, my lady. Let me prove that I am still worthy of standing beneath your banner.”

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“I will find that intruder myself. I will tear apart this entire camp if that is what you command. Whatever you ask of me, I will do it without hesitation. So please... Please do not cast me aside like this.”

Zorvaya merely stared down at him. Her expression did not change, and she did not offer him even a single word in return. A moment later, whatever strength remained in the crown-horned demon faded, and his body collapsed heavily onto the ground before becoming completely still.

Jester stared at the corpse for several seconds. Then he slowly shifted his gaze toward Zorvaya before looking back at the dead demon again.

Wait… Did this demon commander seriously just kill one of her own demons?

The camp, which had been filled with noise and angry voices only moments ago, became completely silent. If there had been crickets anywhere around this place, Jester was pretty sure he would have been able to hear every single one of them chirping.

Zorvaya then began walking toward the remaining eight demons, with Jester standing among them. Her red eyes slowly swept across each face one by one as she approached, and wherever she stepped, the demons immediately moved aside to give their commander a clear path.

Until...

Damn! She stopped directly in front of Jester.

Jester found himself staring straight at the demon commander, and instead of lowering his eyes like the others had done, he instinctively stared right back at her.

Was that the wrong thing to do?

Zorvaya's red eyes remained fixed on his face for several seconds. Then, unexpectedly, the corner of her lips lifted into the faintest smile.

“Where did you find the courage to meet my gaze when everyone around you knows better than to do so?” the demon girl asked, her voice calm but carrying a clear warning beneath it. “Are you truly that confident, or are you simply too ignorant to understand who is standing before you?”

“Lady Zorvaya,” Jester replied without hesitation, keeping his voice steady and confident. “That courage comes from my own capability, and from knowing exactly what I can offer you. I am confident that I can lead this scout team far better than the brainless fool who was in charge of them until a moment ago.”

Several demons around him visibly stiffened, but Jester continued as though he had said nothing unusual.

“They have grown weak, careless, and stupid under the leadership of that equally stupid demon with those stupid curled horns. He lacked judgment, failed to control his own soldiers, and then came crawling back here with excuses after allowing an unknown demon to make fools of all of them.”

Jester placed a hand against his chest. “Give them to me instead. I will serve you better than he ever could. I will make this team useful again, and whenever you give me an order, I will bring you results instead of excuses.”

Zorvaya stared at him in silence before stepping even closer.

Honestly... now that she was standing this close, Jester realized she was actually quite tall by human standards. She had to be close to two meters tall, but since nearly every demon around here was naturally huge, she looked completely normal among them from a distance. Standing directly in front of her now made Jester realize just how tall she really was.

Zorvaya tilted her head slightly, those red eyes still studying him as if she were deciding whether his confidence amused her or irritated her. That faint smile remained on her lips.

“Then show me,” the demon commander finally said. “If your capability is truly as great as your confidence, prove that your words are worth more than his were.”

Jester spoke again without the slightest hesitation.

“We already have a good idea where their forces will strike tonight, or at least sometime soon. But that does not mean we should sit here like idiots and wait for something to happen while we know there are humans scattered throughout this region. No, not just humans. Players. Those strange outsiders who appeared from places none of us seem to know.”

His expression grew more serious as he met Zorvaya's gaze.

“So instead of waiting for these players to come here and bring destruction to this outpost, we hunt them first. We surround them before they even realize they are being hunted, then strike while they are still unprepared. Before they can organize their equipment, gather their teams, or come up with whatever strategy they intend to use against us.”

“We have scouts, we know this land better than they do, and most importantly, they do not expect us to be the ones hunting them,” Jester continued. “That gives us an advantage we would be stupid to waste. We find the smaller groups first, follow them without being noticed, learn where they gather, and attack when they are separated from the rest. No fair fights, no warnings, and no giving them enough time to prepare themselves.”

Jester paused for a moment, still holding Zorvaya's gaze.

“If we keep doing that, we can reduce their numbers before their main force even reaches its target. And if we capture one alive, even better. We can find out where the other players are gathering, what they are planning, and how many of them have entered this region. Why wait for the enemy to choose when the battle begins when we can choose it ourselves?”

“That is quite a confident proposal,” Zorvaya said, studying him for several seconds. “And somehow, every word coming from your mouth makes you seem less and less like an ordinary demon.”

“Lady Zorvaya, I will take that entirely as a compliment,” Jester replied without missing a beat.

“And you are right. I am not like an ordinary demon. I am already only one step away from rising in rank, and I have no intention of remaining where I am for much longer. Give me the opportunity to prove my capability, and I will make sure you have no reason to question whether I deserve that promotion.”

“Give me this scout team and permission to hunt those players. I will return with results worthy of your attention, and I will prove that placing them under my command was the right decision.”

The demon commander remained silent for a moment after hearing Jester's words, seemingly considering his proposal. Then she turned toward the demons gathered around them.

“I suppose we have something entertaining planned for tonight after all,” Zorvaya declared, a faint smile returning to her lips.

“We are leaving this outpost and hunting those players ourselves. Find them before they reach us, surround them before they can gather their forces, and destroy as many of them as possible. Tonight, we will remind those outsiders exactly whose territory they have wandered into.”

For a brief second, the camp remained silent. Then the entire place erupted.

Tonight, they were going hunting!