From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 388 Raphael's Secret
"Damn Cambion!" Kalak cursed.

After a dazzling white light, the adventure team that was teleported by Raphael to his own mansion in Avernus was sent back by him.

"That's great, Ivy! You're okay!" Xie Nian was holding a fully loaded plate in his hand, on which were piled, from bottom to top, sizzling roast chicken, crispy bacon, various half-melted cheeses, and several beef ribs dripping with gravy.

"So - Raphael is going to treat you to a buffet?" Ivy's expression almost couldn't be suppressed. In addition to the occasional murderous impulse, his evil mind, which was not very good at using the brain, often did some stupid things.

"Of course not. He offered us a deal. The condition we got was to remove the mind flayer tadpoles in our brains. As for the reward he could get, the devil has not told us clearly yet." Gale touched the mustache on his chin, "So the reason why our bard was not invited to the banquet is very simple, because he was not parasitized by the mind flayer tadpoles... To be honest, I feel a little flattered."

"It seems that our definitions of being flattered are very different!" The smile on Asdeln's face disappeared. No matter what Rafael said, it had touched his forbidden zone. "Being haunted by a devil! The situation is getting better and better! And he mentioned 'comparing prices', which means he is very sure that we can't find it!"

“No, no, no…” Gale shook his head repeatedly, obviously disagreeing with Asdeln’s opinion. “Don’t be fooled by his bluffing! Those words that make you feel desperate are just his rhetoric.”

"Maybe!" Asdaelon's unhappiness was not so easily eliminated, "But his attitude of 'take your time, I'll wait for you'? That's playing with us! Kazador, my old master, also likes to play with others. Let his toys think there is still a glimmer of hope until the last moment... and then Kazador will suddenly appear and take everything away. People like that only play games that they must win! I know them very well!"

"I think he has something planned for us, and he's in a hurry. And this is our chance." Gail was not distracted by Asdeln's outburst, and he continued to calmly analyze Rafael's motives.

"He is not the only one who has plots against us! The mind flayer tadpoles in our brains are very special. Who transformed them? And for what reason? And what plans does he have for us?" Asdeln asked a series of questions, "And what is so important about us, a group of poor people who are about to die, that it is worth a devil to provide door-to-door service? He used magic to teleport us to hell, showed his true form, and brought us back... At a huge cost just to have a heart-to-heart talk? ... Only by figuring out all these questions can we find a glimmer of hope..."

"Rafael is not a devil!" Kalak emphasized, "He is a Cambion, I can tell at a glance! The next time I see him, I will tear his head off!"

"Cambion?" Ivy asked. "Half-demon, half-human? A hybrid born from a devil and a mortal?"

"That's right." Kalak nodded. "Although it's not common in Hell, you can still see some...especially when you serve a devil duke."

"But he behaves exactly like a real devil? He even deliberately reveals his true form?" Ivy looked at the other people who were rushing to the hell buffet.

"Even if he is not a real devil, his methods are not far off." Will's expression was very complicated. "When people's hope slowly turns into despair, he suddenly shows up... It's not pleasant to watch the chips in your hand get less and less... Especially when you have to drink the poison provided by the devil to quench your thirst... Whether he is Cambion or the devil, the rules of hell apply to him, and we should not agree to any of his conditions... Otherwise, we will naturally lose everything... Maybe tonight, you can see a lesson from the past..."

"On the contrary, I think the fact that he is a Cambion is the biggest gain of your trip." Ivy's pensive expression disappeared, and the familiar smile returned. "For a group of people who are in despair, there is no difference between Cambion's deal and the devil's conditions. But he still concealed this fact from you? Why? Because in his subconscious, Cambion is far less deterrent than the devil, and Cambion is far inferior to the devil."

"Do you think he is a bastard devil who is inferior, cowardly, timid, arrogant, and worships his devil father?" Asdeln spewed out a series of trash words.

"No." Ivy smiled and shook his head. "Raphael doesn't necessarily worship his devil father. Maybe it's a more complicated emotion. Well... if you use an analogy, think about the Cazador you just mentioned, Asdaelen."

"You hate what your old master did, but you unconsciously imitate him and get close to him... because you have witnessed and empathized with how he hurt others and took away everything through the cat-and-mouse game... Unconsciously, you began to fantasize about repaying him for all the harm you have suffered and taking away everything from him with your own hands... But the huge gap in strength means that you can only keep these thoughts in your heart. However, from the outside, you are beginning to become more and more like Cazador..."

"No... I didn't!" Asdaelen's face was full of panic as if his thoughts had been exposed. "We've only known each other for two days. You don't know me, nor do you know Cazador..."

"Of course, since we are talking about Raphael, this is just an analogy." Ivy did not continue to provoke the vampire spawn who was always unwilling to tell the secret. "If the situation I just mentioned exists... then it will only be more serious in Raphael, because Raphael is a Cambion, and his father is an absolute devil. The difference in identity will only make him more extreme and stubborn - wanting to defeat his father and then replace him. At least you and Cazador are only different in identity. One is the master and the other is the slave."

"But everything I just said is just speculation. No one can tell the real situation." Ivy looked around at the adventurers with different expressions in the adventure team. "But the fact that Raphael is a Cambion is still very beneficial to us. That means he is not like a real devil, who will die in the material plane and resurrect in hell. We can set a trap for him and capture him in one fell swoop, use his own life to force him to sign a contract, and let him clear the mind flayer tadpoles in your brain for you. This is definitely more convenient and faster than going to hell and fighting him in his lair, right?"

"Capture Raphael alive?" Xie Nian licked her greasy fingers. She had already stuffed all the high-calorie, high-protein food on the plate into her stomach. "I like this idea!"

“Raphael showed off his insignificant wings, as if to impress us. But you should have seen the scene where the red dragon melted the devil on the conch shell. Compared with the dragon, the devil is not worth mentioning.” Laizel’s training made her unafraid of any challenge, even if the opponent was a devil with powerful spellcasting ability. “When I become Kith'rak (Githyanki: Kesrak Centurion), I will definitely present his head as a trophy to Queen Vlaakis.”

"Well, it looks like none of us are prepared to accept Raphael's deal. I thought we would have disagreements because of his provocation." Yingxin turned and looked at the dilapidated village not far away. "It seems that this is the new camp that the bard pointed out to us. We should try to clear the entire village to prevent him from being disturbed by unknown sources when studying the mind flayer tadpoles in the werewolves' brains."

"Haha! I hope there are a few goblins here for me to kill!" Kalak rushed to the front again, with her anger and fire from hell.

"Listen, there's movement inside!" The gate of the dilapidated village was still playing its role. Kalak, who was unsure whether to kick it open, heard other sounds coming from the barn next to the door. "It sounds like panting and groaning... Since we don't plan to spend the night in the barn..."

The barn door was kicked by Kalak and broken into two pieces of wood, which flew backwards. The two ugly creatures that made the noise were a male bugbear and a female ogre.

At this time, the female ogre was lying on the ground, and the male bear goblin shouted embarrassedly and angrily: "What the hell are you doing?" "Ahahahaha——" After the initial shock, Kalak laughed out loud, "Look at that poor little thing, that's not where you should be, right?"

"Uh——" Ying Xin, who was following behind Kalak, showed an expression of unwillingness to watch and silently turned half of his body.

No male creature could stand being called a "little thing," not even a bugbear with a tall female companion.

But although the bugbear was anxious to prove himself, his female companion was obviously not prepared to cooperate. The kneeling ogre stood up. He was almost twice as tall as the bugbear and four times as heavy as him. "Enough! The atmosphere has been completely ruined! The passion has been trampled like a sheep. Let's go!"

The bear goblin, with his chest puffed out, put his hands on his hips back on his crotch, squeezed his buttocks together and ran out of the barn, just in time to run into the evil thoughts that came after hearing the sound.

"There's a bugbear here! Why did you let him go, Kalak?"

Evil Thought's rapier pierced through the bear goblin's soft double chin and pierced out from his eye socket. When it comes to finding weak tissues in living things, Evil Thought always gives people surprises.

The ogre's short lover turned into a corpse without a word. The ogre, who was trying to put on her clothes, also saw this scene. She stood there in a daze, seemingly unable to understand what was happening.

"I knew it would be like this. There have been enough battles today. Why can't we use words to resolve disputes?" Ying Xin slapped himself on the face, then raised his hand and threw out a ball of shining missiles.

The tracer bullet hit the ogre's face hard, creating a ball of dazzling light and providing an advantage in hitting for other teammates.

Will stepped forward quickly and swung his sword to chop the ogre's calf. Under the yellow fat was red muscle, and then hot blood spurted out.

The wailing ogre had no time to mourn his bugbear lover. He waved his hands around, trying to grab something to fight back.

With the Everburning Blade raised high, Laizer leaped high and slashed the ogre's forehead with the sword, ending her life completely.

Although it has only been two days since the team started to work together, the team's combat capability has been fully utilized. Teammates will not hinder each other due to overlapping positions, and they can also promptly fill in the gaps for their teammates and complete the shortcomings.

"An ogre and a bugbear couple? Considering other encounters during the journey, this kind of weird thing doesn't surprise me anymore." Asdeln found a gap in the village wall. "Aha, there is also a drunk bugbear here. How great! I don't have to witness how I was killed."

"It seems that the place Ivy chose for us has been occupied by the goblins, but it is still necessary for us to occupy this village. The village is not small, which means there may be other functional buildings here, such as a blacksmith shop or a pharmacist's cottage. We need to help Ivy find some useful tools - after all, he is our most reliable solution." Gale looked at the roof of the dilapidated house and then walked into the village wall.

Ivy walked at the end of the team, leading the way for the dazed and tightly tied up werewolf warlord. Under the influence of the fourth-ring spell Charm Monster, this believer of the Supreme God had no ability to resist.

"Who is the leader among you!" Xie Nian, who was standing next to the well, shouted loudly, and all the goblins scattered around the village looked over.

"Let's solve it with words, okay?" Ying Xin whispered, "Or let me do it?"

"If you like..." There was nothing wrong with evil thoughts. She had to try to suppress her bloodthirsty desire anyway. "You can try to suppress them with the power of the Mind Flayer Tadpole. It should be very useful."

"Like what you did to the gnolls?" Yingxin confirmed. Xie Nian nodded, "Very good, I will try..."

"Using the power of the Mind Flayer is very dangerous! It might even speed up our transformation!" Laizer objected.

"It's bizarre enough that we haven't seen any signs of transformation yet. We should at least try to understand it..." Shadowheart's words were interrupted by a noise.

"Who is it! Who is making the noise?"

A large number of goblins passed through the village. The one walking in front had many battle patterns on his face, but it did not make him more intimidating. Instead, it made him look more ridiculous.

"Are you new little birds?" the goblin asked in an angry voice. "I just hope you are not afraid of heights!"

(End of this chapter)