The damp, putrid smell, mixed with the scent of blood, assailed them, and water droplets seeping from the cave ceiling splattered on the stone slabs, making a faint dripping sound.
Diana stepped forward, removed her helmet, and her silver-grey hair fell loose, her ice-blue eyes seemingly radiating a cold light.
Looking at Diana, who was disguised as a man, Iron Lily Squad Captain Isotta was somewhat surprised, but she had never met Diana before and only felt her presence was intimidating:
"Oh? From your tone, did you discover us from the start?"
"Heh… why don't you guess who Mr. Just really is?"
The Iron Lily Squad's gazes shifted to Mil, and Diana sneered:
"That's right, it's the Holy City Hero you speak of, Milfak of the Tribunal!"
"What?!"
The Iron Lily Squad members gasped in astonishment…
Diana flicked her hand, shattering the wrapped linen cloth inch by inch. Gilded patterns spread from the sword hilt to the blade tip, radiating a sacred halo in the gloom.
"So many Cultists and Abyss Scholars in the Holy City were all caught by him in one fell swoop, and you few? Do you really think you can deceive his eyes?"
The flickering firelight cast the shadows of the wall cabinet's iron bars onto everyone's faces. The bodies bound by chains squirmed in the wall cabinet, emitting faint whimpers, like the dying cries of wild beasts.
Everyone except Diana looked at Mil with shocked expressions;
Mil, however, widened his eyes, staring at Diana, who was speaking to herself.
After falling into the trap, the panicking Black Magician Aserville immediately recognized the Holy Sword in Diana's hand and smiled, letting out a sigh of relief:
"Excellent, you are… we are saved!"
Captain Isotta frowned sharply. Only then did she realize that this designated mission was not an easy target…
But a grand scheme by Mil!
"Impossible… When did he discover us?"
"From the very beginning! The Goblin kidnapping villagers has never been witnessed! And the people captured were a mix of men and women, which should already raise suspicion that the perpetrators were not Goblins!"
Captain Isotta gasped sharply, clenching her fists tightly, but couldn't help but sneer:
"Heh heh, as expected of Mil… to be so keen, but that's just suspicion, what's the evidence?"
"Secondly, a careful investigation of the records would reveal that the Goblin attacked you each time to protect the villagers you abducted!"
"Tch… What does that prove?"
"For us, it indeed doesn't form a chain of evidence, but for Mil, it's enough to see through everything!"
Diana spoke with conviction, her firm eyes reflecting the firelight, and continued:
"Finally, what convinced me was your clumsy lies… Did you really think yesterday's capture operation went unwitnessed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Coincidentally… I found a villager yesterday who witnessed the capture. In fact, the Paladins had already succeeded in the capture at first. It was your verbal lure that tricked the Paladins into going deeper into the cave!"
Upon being exposed, Isotta's face instantly turned pale, her eyes filled with fear, and she took half a step back.
"So what? Because of this, you dared to set such a plan?"
However, this was not the end; Diana continued:
"Not only that, I also found the records left after your first expedition with Mr. Machilo, the Golden Swordsman, to subjugate the Goblin cave; at that time, you never mentioned a Hero Goblin, you only changed your story later!"
After speaking, she looked at the Hero-level Goblin tied to the cross:
"So, if I'm not mistaken, that Hero Goblin is Mr. Machilo…"
"Hahaha! Good… brilliant, truly worthy of Milfak! That's right, that Goblin over there is Mr. Machilo. All the people whose souls have been transferred have gone mad, he is the only successful experiment, but unfortunately, I don't know why? We have never been able to control it, which is also frustrating."
Captain Isotta, instead, burst into laughter, clapping her hands while looking at Mil with a mocking gaze.
The bubbling crucible on the alchemy table emitted eerie green bubbles; the rising mist, laden with the scent of sulfur, drifted across the ground, intertwining with the blood pool to form a viscous, cloying sweetness.
For a moment, even Lilith truly believed that this was Mil's plan…
But after thinking about it, she suddenly realized something was wrong and covered her mouth, giggling quietly.
Under everyone's surprised gazes, Mil's expression was very distorted…
The Iron Lily Squad only felt that the sword in Diana's hand contained immense power;
But with their knowledge, they did not know the true value of this sword.
Iron Lily Captain Isotta's brown leather armor gleamed with sweat, and the scar on her collarbone rose and fell with her rapid breathing.
She suddenly scoffed, and her blood-stained short sword scraped against the stone wall with a piercing screech:
"So what? You've rashly intruded into our territory, how do you plan to deal with us?"
As she spoke, the Iron Lily Squad's Magician opened a magic circle in her hand…
"Roar—!"
The sleeping troll nearby suddenly stood up, picked up its greatsword, and let out a furious roar.
"Allow me to introduce you, this is your Fifth-Tier Paladin, his soul has been transferred into the troll's magic core!"
At this moment, Mil suddenly remembered the soul containers that Professor Victor had repeatedly mentioned in the "Essence Entanglement Theory" class.
Indeed, studying still has its benefits; at least one can understand what happened…
But it was also mentioned that the magic cores of monsters, mixed with dark magic, would quickly cause souls to deteriorate;
No wonder people go mad.
Diana smiled calmly:
"Even without the sword in my hand, Mil had already prepared! Do you remember the potion I made you drink at the beginning?"
As she spoke, she turned to Mil, her firm eyes filled with trust:
"Mil, go with your plan! I'll listen to you…"
Mil slapped his forehead hard, sighing wearily…
Although the direction of events was somewhat abstract, at least in the end, things were still under control.
Then, two wind blades shot from his hand, first unlocking the Hero Goblin's shackles, and he stepped forward to examine it carefully;
It was still alive, but its breathing was very faint, and this Goblin, indeed miraculously, retained human will.
"Princess Diana, please deal with the Black Magician, Mr. Aserville, first."
Hearing this, Aserville's face became unsightly, and he took half a step back:
"Why? I was also tricked here by them! I am innocent!"
For Mil, the only difficult one to deal with was Aserville;
Because his rank was higher, the sedative might not work on him, and there wasn't enough time for a temporary dosage test, so the bottle given to him initially had no medicine in it.
Diana smiled faintly, tightened her grip on the sword, and thrust it through Aserville's chest.
Aserville hadn't even had time to escape before he spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling to utter his last few words:
"Why… He… How did he see through me?"
In reality…
From the very beginning, Diana could feel the trembling Holy Sword's warning, which also included Aserville;
Actually, Diana was also a little worried if Mil could see that they were all working together?
Now it seemed she had worried too much.
And for Mil, after the Blade of Blasphemy was shattered, he no longer harbored any killing intent towards Diana.
Watching Aserville fall into a pool of blood, the Iron Lily Squad members gritted their teeth, glaring at Diana:
"Who exactly are you?"
Mil squatted in front of the Hero Goblin, his back to everyone, and a Black Magic array appeared in his palm:
"Sleep for a while… Just for a bit."
As the magic activated, everyone suddenly felt light-headed, and waves of dizziness assaulted their brains…
"What's going on… My head is so dizzy, they drugged us from the start!"
The Iron Lily Squad members clutched their foreheads, gradually unable to stand;
But Lilith and Fafner also began to feel dizzy:
"No, why even us…"
Within 10 seconds, everyone collapsed to the ground.
Turning around, Mil glanced to confirm that everyone present had fallen, then drew an Abyssal Contract magic array in front of the Goblin:
"Mr. Machilo, your unwavering will is admirable, but if this continues, you will still lose your sanity. Because your soul is in reverse flow with dark magic, sign this contract, sell your soul to the Abyss, and I will promise you lucidity."
The weak Goblin raised its hand, reaching towards Mil's magic array, but its pupils trembled, seemingly unwilling to cross this forbidden line…
"I remember… your daughter is still young, live on, you can at least watch her grow up."
The Goblin suddenly trembled violently, its pale yellow vertical pupils sharply contracted, and blurred syllables squeezed from its festering lips.
Finally, it placed its green claw on the magic array, and as a light flowed, the pain in its eyes gradually disappeared;
It seemed utterly exhausted, though, gasping for breath, and closed its eyes, falling asleep.
With all this done, the next step was to activate the Demon God's Imprint and take in this Hero Goblin, and the task would be complete!
Just then, a cackling sound suddenly came from above. Mil turned his head and saw two young women slowly descending:
"Mil, you seem to have forgotten, the Iron Lily Squad originally had six people!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the troll nearby, infused with the soul of a Fifth-Tier Paladin, tightened its grip on its greatsword and let out a roar…