The Mythical Path of a Princess from a Destroyed Kingdom

"Ok?"

Just as she was about to go back to continue pondering spiritual techniques, Maginus looked up at the top of the room, her gaze passing through the ground to the door. Mani was pounding on the door, looking very nervous.

Nei Ke gripped the scimitar in her backhand and opened the door. Upon seeing the person she had met before, she stepped aside and asked him what he had come for.

The two talked for a while, and judging from their lip movements, it seemed to be from him. Maginos sheathed her silver sword, emerged from the basement, and looked at Mani:

"Don't rush, if it's really urgent, we can talk on the way."

Chapter 345 Missing Persons Are Always Related to the Church

One of Mani's friends has gone missing.

To elaborate, the child of his neighbor went missing; the neighbor was a recent migrant worker who had moved there not long ago.

Although he is currently being kept by Rosley Holly, he can't live at Holly Manor forever, so he still has his own place to live.

He had received help from his neighbors before, so he specifically accepted the commission to find the child.

However, this search led to some surprising discoveries. His residence was located in a low-rise house in a working-class area. After just one day of investigation, Manny found that many of the migrant population in Red Sparrow City seemed to have disappeared recently, and most of them were young people under the age of twenty.

In this era, having one or two fewer migrants is not a big problem; it's just a matter of buying and selling people. But when the number of migrants increases, the problem becomes serious, and there are only two or three possibilities.

Evil nobles want to use humans to perform life-extending spells; sorcerers want to use humans for mass research; cultists want to sacrifice humans to evil gods...

In the past, Maginus had experienced several urban disasters, and in the early stages of the chaos, there were always cases of people disappearing.

Red Sparrow City is a place with a huge flow of people, so the probability of missing persons is very high. Most of the time, the Red Sparrow City authorities don't really care about the lives of these non-city citizens.

Because of this situation, there are actually many cults in Red Sparrow City doing some extra work, but because there are too many legendary and high-level figures in the city, they have not taken any action.

However, no matter how many people go missing, it will be kept under control to some extent. This is a consensus among the city's underworld organizations, which try to avoid attracting the attention of the open church.

Even when cults want to cause trouble, some evil but orderly organizations will help provide intelligence.

"In short, there have been quite a few missing persons lately, so I'd like to ask you for your help, Ilsis. As for the reward..."

“We can discuss the reward later,” Maginus interrupted Mani, her eyes flashing with interest. She hadn’t taken action in a long time. “I’m quite interested myself, but if it’s a cult, the two of us probably can’t handle it.”

"No, of course we'll go and scout ahead first. It would be best if it's not a cult. If it is, we'll definitely have to tell the church and the authorities."

The four great families of Red Sparrow City tolerate darkness and evil, but not chaos, which will greatly affect their rule.

Walking briskly down the street, Maginus followed Mani to a dark, damp alleyway that smelled foul all year round. It was better than the slums, but not much better.

A middle-aged couple stood by the door, their faces showing anxiety and exhaustion. Upon seeing Mani, their expressions brightened, and they quickly approached.

“Mr. Mani, my son…”

"Don't panic, listen to me. This is very serious. Let my companion go in and check first, and I'll explain everything to you slowly."

Maginus ignored the couple's astonished gazes as she entered their home, her eyes flashing with a blood-red light as she switched to a hunting mode, scanning the entire small room.

"About how long ago did he get lost?"

The girl asked Mani outside the house, and the detective flicked the brim of his hat: "Four days ago."

"You called me a little late, so I can only say don't get your hopes up too high. I know roughly where he went missing."

As mentioned on the way, the child, who was about eight or nine years old, disappeared around dusk. If no bloodstains were left when he was taken away, Maginus would not have been able to find him.

The weeping woman led her to an open space formed by the crisscrossing alleys, pointing here and saying:

"The other children said that he was the last to leave this place on the day he went missing, and the second-to-last child to leave called out to him..."

There was a smell of fresh blood, but it was mixed; the smell from four days ago was only two-fold.

With very little empathy, she ignored the woman's complaints and long-winded explanations. She glanced at the few bloodstains on the ground, flicked her fingers slightly, and took some of the blood from her mother and father who were not far away.

By comparing the two streams of life force with the life force that flowed out four days ago, Maginus concluded that this should be the blood flowing from that child, while the other stream was probably from the person who took him away.

The child struggled violently, even biting through the kidnapper's skin and causing him to bleed, before the kidnapper slapped the child until he bled.

Having read the message aloud, Maginos opened her eyes and beckoned Mani to come over:

"Found it, let's go."

"...Are you sure we're here?"

Mani's expression was somewhat unpleasant. Maginos remained silent, only nodding slightly.

The two were standing on the outskirts of the Jackson family estate, one of the four major families, but they were still far from the manor and thus undetected.

"Around what time period did the large-scale disappearance of migrant workers begin?"

Maginus countered with a question, and Mani knew what she was worried about: whether the disappearances were related to the refining of the longevity potion.

“No,” Mani said with a sigh of relief after calculating the time. “It started a month after Maginus was captured.”

"That should be irrelevant, but if it really involves the Jackson family, it's probably beyond our control. Take me to see the other missing persons."

The two had no reason to go in; if they said they were there to investigate missing persons, they might very well disappear themselves the next day.

Maginus wasn't worried. If her life was truly threatened, she could simply abandon her principles and completely side with the chaotic evil, unleashing her psionic powers to absorb the life force of civilians and escape.

Oh, no, I should say she would decisively abandon the mission and let Mani investigate on his own. It has nothing to do with her anyway, and Mani doesn't seem like a nice guy, so she probably won't pursue the matter any further.

They were taken to other locations where they had disappeared. Based on the time of their disappearance, Maginus then investigated by checking for bloodstains. They passed through more than twenty locations.

There were about ten bloodstains, three of which led to Jackson Manor, three to the slums, and four to the slum sewers.

They weren't too unlucky. If it really was a scheme orchestrated by the Jackson family, they wouldn't have needed to put people in the sewers of the slums; the location was too far away.

“Someone in that large family has joined a cult?” Mani was very skeptical, but it was only a hypothesis.

"Just go and see where it is. As for you, your strength is not an issue, is it?"

The girl wasn't too worried, and the detective uncle lightly flicked his cane: "Don't worry, my escape skills are top-notch."

They were standing in the sewers. Compared to the chaotic slums above, this place was much more suitable for exploration; they could just kill any monsters they found.

As she continued forward, the girl, sensing a strange life force, suddenly stopped, drew her longsword, and prepared for battle.

There is a devil here.

Chapter 346 Bayer Again

Since there are weak demons here, it can be basically determined that the person doing this is either a spellcaster or a cult follower.

There are many kinds of cults: those that believe in evil gods, those that believe in devils, those that believe in demons, and even those that believe in mind flayers. More importantly, as long as the believer is a demigod and powerful enough, the priest who is a fanatical follower can actually obtain divine magic.

I wonder what kind of being summoned the demon.

Maginos warned Mani of an evil presence ahead, and, holding her longsword, went straight ahead, then turned the corner and lightly slashed to the side.

The lesser demon wielding the tattered scimitar was instantly killed with a single sword strike, its upper and lower body split in two. Mani's pupils constricted upon seeing her movement, realizing that "Ilsis" had become stronger again.

The two cautiously ventured deeper, where more demons appeared, though for the time being they were still at the level of inferior demons and lesser demons.

Upon approaching an abandoned sewer, Maginus's slowly extending life force finally detected the location of a large number of life forms, and then began to spread.

Since that great battle, without supplies, she tries to minimize the loss of her life force, preserving as much as possible, and always uses it with great care.

Many people were locked in the same abandoned water pit at the same time, and could even be said to be squeezed together, with little space to stand. The ground was full of remnants and food scraps, and everyone's face showed pain, fear and despair.

Near the crater, a chain demon, its entire body wrapped in chains, watched the suffering people below with satisfaction and laughed heartily. It held a small bottle in its right hand and waved its left hand continuously, its emotions materializing and falling into the bottle as droplets of liquid that dripped down the bottle wall.

It extracts bitter water from people, but also feeds them to ensure their survival.

This would actually result in the Pain Water not being pure enough, indicating that the Chain Demon's refining of Pain Water was only a secondary action; the main task was for people to survive.

As the life force continued to expand, and the chain demon gradually identified some of its surroundings, Maginus finally confirmed its identity after about four or five minutes, and her emotions became slightly serious.

Regardless of who its superior is, it currently obeys the current demon duke, Bayer, of the first level of hell.

That's right, it's still the same demons we encountered in Lake Crystal City. We don't know what they're doing here.

Perhaps those trapped know the situation: the Chain Demon isn't very strong, and it would be easy for Maginus to deal with it.

Let's rescue them first and then ask them questions. If something big happens in Red Sparrow City, I'll get dragged into it too.

In the blink of an eye, the girl decided to get involved, of course, only to help out initially, and then see how things went. She would inform the church and the succubus Laura about the appearance of the devil cult, as they would definitely be very interested.

With a single thrust of her sword through the little devil's heart, Maginus drew her sword and turned to look at Mani, who was fighting the little devil. She then swung her sword and pierced the little devil's body.

“Mr. Mani, you should stay behind and provide support for me.”

The girl glanced at the somewhat embarrassed detective, then continued deeper inside, sheathing her longsword and taking out a black greatsword instead—the weapon she had commissioned the legendary mage Bennia to make more than half a year ago.

Her height is growing rapidly, and she has now surpassed 1.65 meters. She is also much more adept at wielding the magic greatsword, and as Ilsis, she no longer needs to use ordinary weapons.

"Ah~! What delicious pain! It's a pity you all have to be intact, otherwise the taste of this painful water would be even better!"

After collecting the Pain Water, the Chain Demon held it to its nose and inhaled. The wonderful sensation made it tremble all over, and it couldn't help but drink the Pain Water in one gulp.

The effects of the Pain Water on demons and devils are different from those on humans. Humans will feel pain after absorbing it, and the effects will only take effect after they recover from the pain. It gives them a wonderful feeling as if they have ascended to a heavenly mountain, and then slowly return to the starting point over time.

These lower-level creatures simply enjoy human suffering; they experience pleasure from absorbing it, but once the initial excitement wears off, they immediately feel unpleasant.

After drinking the water of suffering, the Chain Demon collapsed onto the chair, motionless, its humanoid face clearly showing signs of enjoyment.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Maginus led Mani inside. They saw the Chain Demon slumped in a chair. Mani was initially startled, then puzzled, and covered his nose, asking:

"How did he end up here?"

"You've drunk too much of that painful water."

With a back kick, the girl swung the greatsword down, cleaving the chain demon and the chair in two. Mani behind her shuddered and swallowed hard.

This was the first time he had seen Maginus wield a greatsword. The sight of his small body combined with the greatsword was quite awe-inspiring, and the power he wielded was simply too great.

Mani looked down by the torchlight, and the scene below almost made him vomit. Suppressing the urge to vomit, he immediately shouted to the crowd below:

"Everyone, come up here quickly! We've already taken down the devil!"

A commotion broke out below, but most people looked incredulous. Maginus, with a cold face, walked to the side, raised half of the corpse high, and threw it down. Immediately, people below cried out.

I don't know who shouted first, "It's that devil! It's that devil's corpse!"

The crowd fell silent. Maginus, exuding a slight aura, commanded the somewhat nervous crowd:

"Now all of you come up here and come with us to the church for the victims."

……

That's the situation. Do you have any leads?

Leading the crowd to the vicinity of the Church of the Victims in the slums, Maginus left the matter to Mani and went to the Lusty Lips Ball to find Laura.

"Ha, that big red lizard, his army really hindered a lot of our demons during the bloody battle."

Upon hearing that a devil was up to something and that she hadn't even noticed, Laura immediately stood up and gave an angry laugh, revealing that she had been tricked. It was clear that the relationship between the devil and the devil was indeed not good.

After all, the two sides share a direct land border, and at the first level of the Abyss and the first level of Hell, demons and devils have been fighting all along.

"You really didn't notice? I thought you were very well-informed about the Lusty Lips Ball."

“No, the news has probably been blocked,” Laura said, her spiky tail popping out in anger. She calmed herself down, retracted her tail, and sat down again. “Red Sparrow City isn’t just about our Lusty Lips Ball.”

There are also three other underground forces. The one related to population is probably the Stealing Life Society. Laura will investigate this area next.

Chapter 347 The Legendary Mage's Request

Maginos did not intend to participate in the events that followed. Instead, she returned to her basement and planned to curl up again to increase her power.

Before she could even close her eyes, Neko excitedly ran downstairs: "Master, it seems like there's another big auction starting in the Dark Street!"

An auction... let's see what we can get from Benia this time.

"Okay, I'll take you with me tomorrow."

When the girl opened her eyes again, she saw Neko wagging her tail and looking at her expectantly. She agreed to take her there, and the cat immediately jumped up happily.

Since she was going out tomorrow, there was no need for her to enter a deep state tonight. Maginos, who hadn't rested much lately, walked to the ground, waved her hand, and flicked out a rope made of life from her fingertips, which rolled up a decorative wooden sword on the wall.

Gripping the wooden sword, Maginus pointed the tip at Neko, signaling her to attack him quickly: "Let me see if you've been training properly these past few days."

"Hmph, don't be scared by my speed of progress."

The cat was full of confidence. It drew two bone scimitars from its waist and rubbed them together in the air. Its body bent and contracted like a spring, and its wild pupils contracted into vertical pupils.

An electric current flashed through the air, and the girl with the wooden sword, who could launch herself forward, appeared in front of Maginus. She raised her hand to stab, maintaining the same level of physical fitness she had before entering the intermediate stage.

The sword tip came straight at her, and she could crouch down with incredible agility, a posture that is difficult for humans to achieve. She leaned her body and straightened up again, passing under Maginus's armpit. While dodging the sword, she slashed her scimitar towards her armpit.

The girl kicked out, but the cat felt no real impact when it hit Neike. The cat, which had been relaxing its whole body, arched its back and kicked out with its legs, dodging the kick that was powerful enough to rupture its internal organs.

"Master, do you want me to die!?"