Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 403: Congratulations, you’ve successfully backed yourself into a corner.

Chapter 403: Congratulations, you’ve successfully backed yourself into a corner.

"Bang!"

That was the sound of shattering glass.

Figures suddenly appeared from outside the windows, breaking through the glass and swiftly surrounding Shane in the middle.

"Hum!"

Magic power surged over each figure, compelling them to cast their magic.

In an instant, Shane’s feet sank into the floor as though he were in a swamp, his feet immobilized and his body fully bound by chains, with layers of transparent barriers rising around him, trapping him inside. An intense pressure built up within, pressing Shane forcefully towards the ground.

At that moment, at least ten different binding and immobilizing spells were in effect on Shane, including ones that sealed off his magic power, subjecting him to severe restraints.

Shane seemed not to react immediately, silently watching the unfolding scene without uttering a word until he eventually turned his head to look at Barry.

There, Barry had slowly stood up, his face grim.

"You forced my hand."

Barry said this with an icy tone.

Shane had to admit.

"It seems I’ve overestimated you," Shane said, as if unaware of the gravity of his current situation, his tone unchanged, "I thought a cold-hearted Duke like you would understand that I am not someone you can just meddle with right now. But it appears you aren’t as clever as the rumors suggest. This must be what they mean by ’reality falling short of reputation.’"

He truly hadn’t expected the Duke to brazenly attack him.

Even though he had already sensed many magic reactions around the inn, and even some hostile ones, Shane had thought they were Barry’s guards, not an ambush. He had believed their hostility stemmed from Barry’s disposition, viewing him as a foe, not bold enough to actually strike.

Yet, Barry had indeed made a move against him.

Even knowing Shane had the backing of a Demon and the support of the Kingdom’s Treasure.

Barry, however, seemed to take none of Shane’s sarcasm to heart.

Have connections?

So what?

"Don’t forget, this is my domain, my territory," Barry spoke coldly: "The Old Demon Clan Faction just stirred trouble here. The incident has just settled down recently. With a little arrangement, it’s easy to disguise it as them attacking you, simple for the Sterling Family."

That was also why people like Lymco weren’t too frightened of Shane’s arrival, even considering making a move against him.

It wasn’t that they weren’t afraid of the people behind Shane, but here, they had many ways to absolve themselves and set traps.

If it weren’t for Ai Yi at Shane’s side back in Cosmos, preventing Lymco and his people from acting rashly, they would have struck at Shane sooner.

No matter how daunting the overt deterrence was, it could not avert some covert maneuvers; such was reality.

So, in other places, Barry indeed would not dare to offend Shane, but here, in the domain of Duke Sterling, he had the final say.

"Don’t blame me, at this juncture, I didn’t wish to openly turn against you, but this matter relates to the future of the Sterling Family, I have no other choice," Barry looked directly at Shane and said, "Tell me now where Lymco and his group are, let this incident slide, and we can keep to our own paths in the future, erasing past grievances."

"Really?" Shane glanced at Barry, ignoring his own restraints and state, and said sarcastically, "What if I refuse?"

"Then you’d have made an unwise choice," Barry said expressionlessly: "Actually, we hold no deep grudge, just some minor differences, not worth escalating to this extent. I believe you understand."

Indeed, superficially, there wasn’t much animosity between Shane and Barry.

Although Barry and Lymco had always been plotting behind the scenes against Shane, aiming to remove him as a thorn in their side, overtly, their dispute with Shane only involved denying Shane’s achievements when he was being honored by the King after the campaign against the Slaughterer Faction.

And after that, Lymco had personally apologized, settling their past conflicts.

Thus, on the surface, the only disagreement between Shane and Barry was that single conflict.

"Just tell me where Lymco and his group are, let them return safely, and then, our grudges can be completely offset, and actually, you might even gain the friendship of the Sterling Family," Barry said, "You know our standing in the Kingdom. With our support, it won’t be long before you rise to the rank of Earl, become a higher Noble, even advance to Marquis, becoming a true Great Noble, celebrated for millennia."

Barry resorted to both threats and enticements.

Unbeknownst to him, the sarcasm in Shane’s eyes grew thicker.

"Offset?" Shane looked around at his surroundings, then at the numerous binding spells imposed on his body, and said, "I’m already like this, and you still think our grievances can be completely offset?"

Shane just wanted to ask one thing.

"Who gave you such confidence to think this grievance could be offset?"

Shane’s calm words made Barry jittery again.

"I told you, it’s an unwise choice."

Barry’s tone grew dangerously dark.

But...

"You indeed made an unwise choice," Shane lifted his eyelids, looked at Barry, no longer masking his disdain, "Congratulations, you’ve successfully cornered yourself."

When these words left Shane’s mouth, the entire hall was suddenly enveloped in a terrifying pressure.

It was the breath that quaked the atmosphere.

It was the magic power that shook heaven and earth.

"————!"

Including Barry, all members of Duke Sterling’s family present turned pale as their expressions drastically changed.

They wanted to scream, but they found themselves unable to make a sound.

They wanted to flee, but they discovered their legs would not obey.

Their bodies trembled, their hearts shook, their brains boiled, their bones vibrated, and even their blood seemed to have stopped flowing, as if they had fallen into a frigid abyss.

Without a doubt, that was innate————fear.

The next second, everyone saw it.

"Click..."

"Click..."

Accompanied by the simultaneous sounds of doors opening, two little girls slowly walked out from two separate rooms.

Seeing those two little girls, everyone felt as if they were looking at demons, trembling with fear.

Especially Barry, his eyes bulging as he experienced an overwhelming fear like never before.

Because among those two, one was a girl Barry had recently seen at the Beizut Family’s mansion and learned her identity.

"You dare to disturb my sleep and even dare to harm my people under my watch, you should have prepared yourself to not leave here alive."

Ai Yi, holding a pillow, looked expressionlessly at Barry, causing his fear to erupt.

At that moment, Barry just wanted to scream,

"Why is Dragon Demon here...!?"

Duke Barry was completely unaware that Ai Yi had also come along.

No, Barry had received information about Shane being accompanied by two young girls. The leader of the Second Knight Order, Triss had told Barry that one of the girls might be Shane’s sister, and the other could possibly be the Resentful Spirit rumored in Duke’s Domain for years.

This led Barry, in a moment of panic, to fully misjudge, never expecting that Shane’s so-called sister could be a disguised identity of Dragon Demon.

In his view, one of the top echelons of the Demon Clan wouldn’t possibly disguise herself as an ordinary human sister, right?

Plus, since Triss hadn’t particularly described Ai Yi’s appearance, Barry was misled by this information, unlike Lymco, who deduced that one of the girls beside Shane was Dragon Demon.

Furthermore, Barry just presumed that an entity like Dragon Demon would not possibly follow Shane everywhere, even into his own territory. This made the Duke a classic case of being too clever by half, pushing himself into Hell.

As Barry felt fear at the sight of Ai Yi, on the other side, Lilith saw Shane bound tightly by magic and for the first time, her usually unfluctuating eyes surged with intense emotion.

That emotion was named anger.

"Boom!"

An astonishing evil energy burst forth from Lilith.

"Bang!"

The evil energy instantly shook those mages binding Shane, sweeping them away with screams, pulverizing the layers of bindings on Shane like a physical force, and freeing Shane.

"Ah!"

Barry was also blown away by the impact of the evil energy, crashing into a wall and crying out in pain.

But, this level of pain was just an appetizer.

The real Hell was still waiting for them.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah...!"

"Help... save me...!"

"No...! Don’t...!"

"Ah ah ah...!"

As the agonized screams rose, each mage attacked by the evil energy struggled and pleaded, gradually turning their eyes blood-red and descending into madness.

"You... you...!?"

Barry, bathed in the evil energy, clutched his head in agony and looked at Lilith in horror.

Based on the information he had gathered, this madness-inducing evil energy was the ability of the Evil God that had caused the destruction of Cosmos.

That meant the little girl before him was the Evil God who had turned the earth into Purgatory and had been sealed for nearly ten thousand years.

Now, the punishment of the Evil God had descended upon him.

"No...! No...! No...!!!"

Feeling his soul gradually falling into corruption, Barry let out his final scream.

Then, Barry’s consciousness completely vanished.

Thus, the head of Duke Sterling’s Family lost his self and his life.