CHAPTER 184: JUST THE MESSENGER

He had never read in any book that said Demons are naturally fond of setting traps for others!

Illiya once again had his impression of demonkind thoroughly refreshed.

He honestly didn’t know whether what he’d done was a good thing or a bad thing.

On the good side, he might have triggered some kind of incredible mechanism that made these demons shed their arrogant disdain for others.

On the bad side... well, it seemed they had instead fallen in love with scheming against others.

Couple that with their natural tendency to stir up trouble, and now that such a mechanism had been activated, any race that encountered demons from here on might find themselves completely overwhelmed.

Illiya wiped at imaginary cold sweat and then forced a weak smile. "Heh... what a pity indeed."

"I truly didn’t come here for that reason," Illiya quickly added, patching things up to redirect the conversation before it went too far off course, "but I do have a major discovery to share—based on intelligence from Drow!"

The moment he heard that, Sebastian snapped to attention, his expression becoming much more earnest. "Oh? Illiya, why are you still standing outside? Come in and find a place to sit. It’s not good to remain at the door."

Illiya: "..."

He didn’t know why, but he had a strong feeling that if he hadn’t just said that last line, he probably wouldn’t even have been allowed into the study today.

He’d likely be sent away with some weird excuse or another.

Tsk. Is this what demons are really like?

Sebastian led him into the study.

Before Sebastian could even finish his invitation, Illiya had already found himself a comfortable seat. Then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he picked up a cup from the table and poured himself a glass of water, acting like he wasn’t a guest at all.

Sebastian noticed but said nothing that might ruin the mood.

After all, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Even back when he hadn’t yet become the Chief Steward of the Demon Realm, both the Elf King and his High Priest had behaved the exact same way in his study.

So sometimes, one might say that fate (or karma) truly worked in mysterious ways.

Sebastian waited until Illiya had finished his first sip before finally asking, "So, Illiya, what interesting thing have you brought me this time?"

Illiya gave a sly smile. "Nothing particularly special. It’s just that Drow accidentally captured footage of the Yaguk Theocracy’s Royal Knights meeting and discussing things with the so-called ’Fallen Demons.’"

As he spoke, he reached into his spatial ring and pulled out the memory crystal Drow had recorded.

With a gentle activation of magical elements, the crystal began to play.

The recording displayed the entire scene with a seamless 360-degree view, showing every angle without missing a single detail.

Both Illiya and Sebastian were treated to a complete visual experience.

And what they saw was baffling, a group of people who were clearly planning to do something shady, yet were dressed in grand formal attire.

Were they trying to make sure that even the most paranoid observer would realize something fishy was going on?

There was another person speaking, and his voice sounded so familiar to Illiya, familiar to the point that Sebastian could recognize who it was just from the voice alone.

"Although I had already suspected it for a while, when the truth is laid out before your eyes, you still can’t help but feel a bit of doubt," Sebastian finally let it go. "So, you still haven’t figured out what the previous Demon King meant?"

Illiya was shocked.

Wait... this was connected to the previous Demon King?

What kind of twisted and convoluted development path was this?!

The conversation abruptly ended at the point when it involved the former Demon King.

Illiya wisely chose not to probe any further.

Sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss.

In situations like this, curiosity was the most useless thing one could have.

Moreover, the other party involved clearly had no intention of sharing any more, which only made it more obvious that this wasn’t something good.

It was very likely something deeply buried and complicated.

And as an outsider, it was best for him not to get involved in what was obviously an internal matter of another race.

Besides, he had already accomplished what he came here for.

With his thoughts spinning briefly, Illiya decisively chose to come up with a casual excuse to get out of this place, which was beginning to feel more and more like a hotbed of trouble.

"I’ve told you everything I know," Illiya said, curving his lips into a gentle smile, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes. "The rest is up to you demons to figure out on your own. The Elven race never gets involved in such petty wars, you’re aware of that, aren’t you?"

His whole body seemed to be screaming I’m out of here.

Sebastian was a tactful demon, otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived long enough to become the Demon Realm’s Chief Steward (self-proclaimed or not).

Having dealt with the elves for so many years, he was very familiar with their ways.

Illiya was basically one step away from directly saying this has nothing to do with me, don’t drag me into your domestic squabbles. What reason could Sebastian possibly have to stop him?

Sebastian also smiled, and compared to Illiya’s half-hearted social smile, his was much more sincere or at least it appeared that way on the surface.

"Oh really? Illiya, are you sure you don’t want to stay a bit longer? Was your visit today really just to deliver a single message?" Sebastian deliberately paused.

But this little ploy didn’t go unnoticed by the elf, nor did it receive any cooperation.

Sebastian helplessly lifted his hand to rub his nose, this was exactly why he disliked dealing with elves.

"So uncooperative..." he muttered. Then, still unwilling to give up, he tried again, "So you’re really just here to tell me one piece of news, and then you’re leaving?"