Chapter 126: The Difference between a Devil and a Devil (1/2)

Ignoring the girls’ opposition, I reached for my silver mask and took it off, dropping it to the ground with a dramatic clang.

With his goal accomplished, Dohby no longer had any interest in killing the hostages but instead turned his attention onto my obscured face. “Raise your head and take off that hood!” He yelled impatiently.

Now that we reached this point, there wasn’t much point in hesitating any longer thus I obediently did as he said. As the golden rays of the afternoon sun shone onto my exposed face, I couldn’t help but close my eyes from the glaring light.

“Red skin and a horn on her head?”

“De…devil!”

“She’s actually a devil…”

“How could it be…how could she be a devil!?”

Having been exposed, the person who reacted the most wasn’t Ancarin or Regine but rather Dioh. Even after seeing my face, he couldn’t seem to accept the fact that I was a devil. The kid seemed to have gone mad with grief as he continuously tugged at his hair, turning it into a tangled mess while he wept hysterically.

“Impossible, there’s no way Lady Mo Ke is a devil…it has to be a lie, it has to be…Lady Mo Ke, tell me, tell me you’re not a devil, say it!”

How should I face this kid who trusted me so much…it’s not like my identity was something I could decide. The notion that devils were inherently evil wasn’t something that could be changed overnight after all. Plus, you seemed to have gotten something wrong kid; it’s not Lady Mo Ke, it’s Mister Mo Ke. Please do not call me Lady. Damn it, now’s not the time to be thinking about this.

“*spit* So it’s a beautiful Lady Devil, no wonder she travels around with a mask on.” He said excitedly as he pointed a finger at me while lightly tapping on the other villagers with his other hand.

“I was wondering why your village seemed to be so unlucky recently, it turns out you had a devil hiding inside your village. No wonder I kept getting this urge to kill people today, haha, so it’s because of you.”

“…” I, had nothing to say to that, such was the fate of a devil in the Western Human Realms; your mere existence would be blamed for any calamity and be used as an excuse for any evildoer. If I tried to explain myself…all I would get was a “the words of a devil can’t be trusted”. Thus the moment my identity was exposed, I was destined to be the center of a maelstrom.

“Die you devil!”

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“Kill that devil! She’s the cause of all our misfortune!”

No matter how evil those bandits were, they were, in the end, humans. As for me, I was only a devil, a devil that everyone wanted dead.

The villagers began clamoring for my death as they turned their hate-filled eyes towards me. Had it not been for Dioh being so close to me, the hunters would’ve probably fired their arrows at me already.

At a corner of the battlefield, the two three-stars were still in the midst of their fighting when the clamoring began. The clamoring grew ever louder to the point where even George and Dawson were startled by the reaction and ended up calling a temporary ceasefire as they turned around to face me, a broken horn devil.

George’s face underwent a gamut of changes as he took in the revelation; how he felt about this wasn’t clear at a glance. As for Dawson, he was just as silent as George; however, he had a nonchalance to him as if this matter didn’t concern him.

In the minds of the villagers, I was the source of this calamity since I was the one who killed those tamed wolves and gave those bandits an excuse to raid the village. In a sense, they were right about that, but if Plateau Village was truly as peaceful as they thought then why would they even have a bandit troupe nearby? I’m not the source of the calamity, I was merely the catalyst that accelerated it.

However, humans didn’t care about such nuances, all they needed was an excuse, an excuse that will explain “why is it always me that is so unlucky”. My appearance just so happened to fulfill this role; especially given the fact that Dohby had been trying his best to slander me since he arrived.

With his murderous greatsword and a few choice words, he had already begun pushing me to the opposite side of the villagers. The moment my identity was revealed, his plan experienced an unprecedented level of success.

Right now, there was nowhere for me to run, all that awaited me was certain death. No wait, I could still kill off Duran. Without him as my medium, I would be sent back to the Prison of the Dead. But if I were to leave now, what would happen to Ancarin and Regine? Should I just leave them here? The angry villagers might…no, no way!

“Regine, get to the carriage now, the moment Master is in danger, you must destroy that thing.” Ancarin gave out that instruction with an undisguised anxiety in her voice. Due to all the witnesses nearby, she didn’t dare to say “kill him” but instead referred to him as an object.

I immediately grabbed ahold of their hands and tightened my grip on them. Shaking my head, I said: “Don’t do anything silly.”

If I were to get sent back like that, there would be no outlet for their fury, and these two pitiful girls would most likely end up as sacrificial lambs; frenzied beasts weren’t known to listen to words after all. If it’s possible, I would claim that these two were bewitched by me to become my followers. While some people might still detest them, at least this would garner some sympathy from them and guarantee their survival.

They had suffered so much already…no matter what, I must protect them from any further harm.

Sensing my intention, they no longer tried to leave and instead hid behind me without saying a word. It was then that a hunter finally couldn’t rein in his anger and fired an arrow at me while yelling: “Devil, let go of those girls!”