Kurose Akira swept his gaze around the room.
There was only a single rectangular jade table inside.
An exquisite tea set rested atop it. Though this place was a café in name, the leader of the Fairy Consort Guild clearly preferred tea over coffee.
Akira took a seat opposite the dark teal–haired woman. Ivsha and Lucía sat to his left and right respectively, while Red Lotus silently moved behind the woman and stood straight, like a guardian.
"This is our first meeting."
The woman smiled faintly as she poured Akira a cup of tea.
A rich, heady fragrance instantly filled his nostrils. Yet he couldn't identify the tea—its liquid was a deep bluish-black, with several strange black seeds floating within.
[Seeds of the Purple Enchantress Flower (Elite): ?]
Purple Enchantress Flower?
"Hello," Akira replied politely.
"Although revealing one's real name in this world is rather foolish…" the woman said softly, "my name is Xu Feiyan."
"Kurose Akira."
"I've long heard Red Lotus mention you," Xu Feiyan said with a smile, resting her chin lightly on her hand. Admiration and expectation shimmered in her eyes. "She spoke highly of your adventurer team. It wasn't until the recent Demon Den event that I truly saw it for myself. Just as she said—your adventurers are exceptional."
As she spoke, Xu Feiyan's gaze shifted toward Lucía and Ivsha.
"Thank you for the compliment," Ivsha replied with a gentle smile.
Lucía, however, casually reached out, lifted the tea cup in front of Akira, and took a light sip—clearly indifferent to Xu Feiyan's praise.
"The members of the Fairy Consort Guild are outstanding as well," Akira replied with a faint smile.
Red Lotus, the centaur female warrior, and the human mage—every member of the Fairy Consort Guild possessed Epic-tier or higher quality. Their strength was not to be underestimated.
"You flatter me~" Xu Feiyan chuckled softly, lifting her own tea cup for a sip.
Then her tone shifted.
"Let's set the pleasantries aside~ and get straight to the point. The remaining two Extremely High-Risk Demon Dens are… special. They're connected to each other."
As she spoke, Xu Feiyan handed a dossier to Akira.
Akira took it and read carefully.
According to the information, neither Demon Den contained a BOSS-class demon. However, together they housed over a thousand demons between levels 30 and 50—and three Demon Den cores.
If each demon was worth ten contribution points, then the combined value of these two Demon Dens exceeded ten thousand points.
A glint flashed in Akira's eyes.
The current top-ranked guild only had around 6,000 contribution points. If he could truly shine in this Demon Den event, surpassing them was absolutely possible.
However—
Only two Demon Dens remained.
Which meant every guild participating in the event would converge on these two high-level Demon Dens.
Nearly a hundred guilds competing over just two targets.
The intensity of the competition was self-evident.
"Although the two Demon Dens are connected, the battlefield is divided into three zones," Xu Feiyan continued. "To maximize profits, we need to spread our adventurers across all three. You understand what I mean, don't you?"
"I do."
Akira nodded immediately.
If they fought in only one battlefield, they'd forfeit the rewards from the other two. But to secure profits from all three, they needed sufficient manpower.
And Akira's guild only had seven adventurers.
That was… clearly not enough.
"So~"
Xu Feiyan extended her slender fingers and lightly tapped the jade table.
Seven blue points of light and eight red ones appeared in midair above the table.
She skillfully manipulated them, merging the blue and red lights together. In the end, she grouped them into three teams—five lights per group.
"I'd like to cooperate with your guild and jointly compete for the profits of all three battlefields."
"Just us?" Akira asked, looking at her with a hint of doubt.
"Lu Bo's guild and a few others will also assist with the Demon Den purge," Xu Feiyan explained. "They'll ensure we aren't interfered with by other guilds."
Akira's eyes narrowed slightly as understanding dawned.
Since there was no BOSS, the difficulty of the Demon Dens was relatively low.
However, the sheer number of mid-tier demons made them deadly for weaker guilds—yet a delicious feast for powerful ones.
If you wanted a bite of that feast, clashing with other guilds was unavoidable.
Which meant—
Guilds from other factions became obstacles.
Xu Feiyan continued, "We have a total of fifteen adventurers. We'll divide them into three teams of five and send them to the three battlefields respectively. We'll command them jointly to ensure every adventurer performs at their maximum potential. What do you think?"
"That works."
Akira nodded in agreement.
If it were only his own guild, he wouldn't consider splitting forces across three battlefields.
Spreading his combat power too thin would be dangerous.
But with Xu Feiyan's cooperation, it was acceptable.
As the leader of a B+–rank guild, she clearly held cards he hadn't seen yet.
He still hadn't witnessed the true strength of the Fairy Consort Guild's top two ranked adventurers.
And Red Lotus had once said that the guild's number-one adventurer was ten times stronger than her, a Legendary-tier unit.
That alone filled Akira with curiosity about the guild's real combat power.
"By the way~" Xu Feiyan took another sip of tea, her amber eyes turning toward Akira with interest. "Did you recruit your adventurers yourself, or… do you have some other method?"
"Just good luck~" Akira replied calmly with a smile.
"Oh? Then you really are fortunate~"
A trace of amusement flickered in Xu Feiyan's eyes as her gaze briefly lingered on Lucía and Ivsha.
She had seen countless adventurers—many Epic-tier, and even two or three Legendary-tier ones. Yet compared to the two beside Akira, those adventurers seemed slightly inferior.
Even when compared to the two Legendary adventurers in her own guild, Lucía and Ivsha showed no signs of falling behind.
More importantly—
Akira's guild had several adventurers of this caliber.
That alone was enough to spark Xu Feiyan's curiosity. Still, she understood that this was Akira's secret, and didn't pry further.
After carefully finalizing the tactical distribution for the Demon Dens, Akira and Xu Feiyan parted ways.
"Then, see you in three days~"
"Mm."
Akira stood and left the café.
According to the schedule, the remaining two high-level Demon Dens would open in three days. Seven days later, the Extremely High-Difficulty Demon Den would open as planned.
Once those three were cleared, the Demon Den event would officially conclude.
Immediately after, the Star Kingdom would host the grand Stellar Coronation, marking the birth of a new king.
And one day after the coronation—
The college entrance examination.
One month after that…
The game would officially launch.
Which means… I've already spent nearly two months inside the game?
Akira pondered silently.
His progress felt… slow.
Far too slow.
He needed to reach C-rank guild status as soon as possible.
"Let's head back."
Just as Akira was about to lead Ivsha and the others back to the guild, a woman suddenly entered their field of vision.
He looked over.
She wore a flowing blue dress and walked toward them with elegant, measured steps.
As she appeared, the surrounding believers fell to their knees in reverence, bowing with absolute devotion.
"Is she a Saintess?" Akira asked Lucía instinctively—
Only to realize that Lucía was gone.
Gone, as if she had evaporated into thin air.
Where did she go?
At the same time, the blue-dressed woman passed by Akira. Her gaze suddenly settled on Ivsha.
Ivsha felt that look and couldn't help but feel confused.
Has she… noticed my succubus identity?
Akira felt a flash of tension as well.
This woman's status was clearly extraordinary.
Could she be a Saintess too—like Lucía?
After observing Ivsha for several seconds, the woman withdrew her gaze and continued forward, entering the café.
That left Akira stunned.
Don't tell me… the Fairy Consort Guild's Legendary adventurer is actually a Saintess of the Holy Church?
"Let's go."
While Akira was still confused, Lucía suddenly reappeared beside him without a sound.
"Where did you just go?" Akira asked curiously.
"Drank too much tea."
"…?"
"And that woman just now?"
"You guessed correctly. She's one of the Seven Saintesses…"
...
Meanwhile—
The moment the blue-dressed woman entered the café, her thoughts churned violently.
Strange… why does that nun carry the Pope's aura?
"Delorie, you're late."
Xu Feiyan's voice came from within the room.
"My apologies. Something came up."
The blue-dressed woman quickly stepped inside Xu Feiyan's room…
...…
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