This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 586 - 522: Enemies on a Narrow Road

Chapter 586: Chapter 522: Enemies on a Narrow Road

Cambion furiously punched the nose of one of his own kind before him, striving to make their injuries as severe as his own.

The cambion who had been ambushed by him hadn’t had time to react. By the time the others realized something was amiss, Cambion had already succeeded in breaking the noses of four cambions to match his own.

Thanks to the Silence Barrier’s effect, he was able to smash a cambion’s nose with a punch without making any sound, making it easy to ambush the second one.

With a wipe of the blood, they all looked pretty much the same.

This was the survival tactic Cambion had come up with.

As a more experienced half-breed devil, he knew that to many races, cambions looked similar, and outsiders were often distracted by their red skin, twisted horns, and devilish wings, rarely able to quickly discern the real differences in facial features.

So as long as he smashed the noses of the other cambions, he might be able to create confusion.

Moreover, after his ambush, he paid close attention to the situation on the other side, until he saw that unfortunate soul turned into a zombie by the terrifying undead girl who glanced towards the barrier, at which point Cambion angrily grabbed a dazed cambion, roaring, "You damned bastard, you ambushed me?!"

Whether or not any sound could be made inside the Silence Barrier didn’t matter; he had to act out his part thoroughly. What if they could read lips?

By the time Melina looked towards the barrier, the cambions inside were already in disarray.

Cambion cunningly muddied the waters, with several dazed cambions not knowing who had ambushed them. They only saw a bunch of devils fighting and joined in anger.

Melina had to summon a large number of Whispering Tree vines to capture all the cambions.

Looking at the bruised devils, Melina asked puzzledly, "Mother, shall we... kill them all?"

Withered Rose hadn’t expected such an incident, but she was more attentive than Melina; even though the cambions were unrecognizable, she still knew where Cambion was.

After thinking for a moment, Withered Rose told Melina, "Just pick one out and ask again."

Melina obediently followed her mother’s instructions and picked out another cambion, repeating the earlier question.

This time, all cambions guessed what was happening—they were being interrogated separately.

No one knew what the last unfortunate had uttered, but in the current situation, it was impossible to concoct an identical lie, so telling the truth was the only chance to possibly survive.

The cambion, face covered in blood, pointed out the route honestly. It was not much different from the one Cambion had given: it still needed crossing territories belonging to three Hell Lords, and the most dangerous part was the thousand-mile stretch of Blood River.

Here lay a terrifying battlefield, an eternal, unceasing battleground for demons and devils.

Only by crossing this region and entering Blood River Fortress, passing through the Teleportation Circle within the fortress, was there a chance to reach Duke Zariel’s official residence.

Not to mention the authorization for teleportation, just crossing the Blood River Battlefield was an impossible task.

It was a constantly changing vast battlefield, every inch soaked with the blood of devils and demons, with even the weeds mutated into deadly creatures.

There was once a widely-circulated joke: No matter what crime you committed in other planes, surviving on the Blood River Battlefield meant your sins were fully redeemed.

Indeed, the Blood River Battlefield was recognized as the path of atonement within the Nine Layers of Hell.

Tired of punishments? Sure, join the Blood War!

Don’t want to be enslaved? Join the Blood War!

Desiring freedom and even resurrection on the Prime Material Plane? Perfect, join the Blood War and distinguish yourself!

Blood River’s grand stage offers all kinds of rewards—if you’re not afraid of death, come and take your chances!

Devil Lords were forbidden from obstructing sinners’ participation in the Blood War. This was one of Hell’s rules. In theory, as long as Melina took up the flag of joining the Blood War, the three Hell Lords en route shouldn’t pose an obstacle. Instead, they would likely open the doors of convenience, allowing her to pass quickly.

But such benefits precisely highlighted the horror of the Blood War.

Legends rarely seen in other planes were reaped like leeks on this battlefield.

Summoning two Balor Flame Demons on the Prime Material Plane may mean you could strut around, but on the Blood War Battlefield, Balor Flame Demons wouldn’t dare to show their heads indiscriminately, for appearing meant certain death.

With bad luck, one might encounter the shadowy incarnations of well-known Demon Lords right upon entering the battlefield. Hell was not the Prime Material Plane; Aeo did not restrict true gods from displaying their powers on the Blood War Battlefield.

These incarnations possessed divine power, and it wasn’t just weak divine power at that.

Dimogorgen often created avatars to throw onto this battlefield, bullying the weak; ordinary devils would be cruelly slaughtered upon encountering Dimogorgen. However, Dimogorgen ran into the equally unscrupulous Grim Reaper Kranvo, who also continuously transformed avatars to join the Blood War, reaping demons in droves.

After several battles, they eventually realized this was meaningless and slowly reduced such pointless slaughter.

Now, the Blood River Battlefield is in a state of equilibrium, with devils and demons continuing to die in waves, but it’s been a long time since a true god-like incarnation had appeared.

Withered Rose furrowed her brows upon hearing this; it sounded extremely dangerous, akin to certain death.

Withered Rose had Melina bring all the Cambions out of the Barrier, questioning them one by one, "Don’t you have any other methods to reach Zariel’s Official Residence? Do even the Hell Lords need to traverse the Blood War Battlefield to meet the ruler of the first layer of hell?"

Although she was addressing all the Cambions, Withered Rose’s attention was fixed on Cambion.

This Cambion seemed smarter than the others, and Withered Rose hoped to get an answer from him.

Cambion, too, seemed to feel Withered Rose’s gaze; knowing this formidable mistress had recognized him and that his little tricks hadn’t worked, the only reason he could stay alive now was his quick wit.

If he couldn’t provide a satisfactory answer now, he might well be turned into a zombie.

Blessings of Zariel, Cambion indeed had a way.

With crossed knees, he squeezed a path from the kneeling Cambions to the front of Melina and respectfully said, "Great Master, other Hell Lords certainly do not need to cross the Blood River to meet Duke Zariel; their fortresses have their own Teleportation Circles, which lead to Zariel’s Official Residence.

"But these Teleportation Circles are not for us to use. Even the Hell Lords cannot use them freely; they can only enter that magnificent palace through the Teleportation Circles when Duke Zariel summons them. Therefore, we don’t need to consider these Hell Lords, as they are not capable either.

"As for the Blood War Battlefield, I do know of a way that might bypass most of the dangers. If Master you trust me, I am willing to find the safest route to the Blood River Fortress for you."

After Cambion finished, the other Cambions broke into ridicule.

"Clumsy lies!"

"A safe path through the Blood River Battlefield? Why don’t you claim to be Duke Zariel’s illegitimate child?"

"If such a road existed, you would’ve already joined the ranks of the Blood River Fortress officers!"

...

All the Cambions were "exposing" Cambion’s lie, because it was laughably absurd. Not even the least intelligent Hell Worm would believe it.

Cambion didn’t explain, merely looking sincerely at Melina.

Melina showed no reaction, simply following Withered Rose’s orders and tossing a ring to Cambion.

Withered Rose commanded through the Magic Mirror, "Put on the ring and repeat what you just said."

Cambion hurriedly put the ring on his finger. Aside from the faint circulation of Magic Power, Cambion didn’t know its purpose, but he repeated his earlier words, and the ring remained inert.

Withered Rose then believed this half-blood devil’s words.

Because the ring Cambion was wearing was a lie-detecting ring, crafted by Amberser himself, and even Amberser, as a Legendary Divination Mage, couldn’t avoid its scrutiny.

The ring did not emit a red light, which meant what he said was true.

Yet Withered Rose still asked, not reassured, "Give me a reason, how do you come to know this secret?"

Cambion quickly answered, "Because this is a route that only appeared recently. Not sure if Master you have heard, not long ago, a massive number of Tiflins were sent into Hell—millions of them? Most of these Tiflins were thrown by Duke Zariel onto the Blood River Battlefield.

"It wasn’t me who found this route, but information exchanged with the lives of hundreds of thousands of Tiflins; unfortunately, the news leaked. Not many know yet, and I just happen to be one of them."

The ring still did not react; the Cambion wasn’t lying.

"Impure Chant’s Tiflins..." Withered Rose felt more of a headache than relief.

If that group of Tiflins found out Melina’s identity, then perhaps they would be even more dangerous than the demons on the Blood War Battlefield.

Nevertheless, there was no other choice at the moment, and Withered Rose could only say to Melina, "Melina, you need to change your attire; you cannot expose your true identity."

Upon hearing this, Melina immediately replied with confidence, "Mother, rest assured, I’m well-versed in this! I learned from father!"