Powerful to This Extent

The wind of the wasteland howled past, rolling up clouds of black dust. Ye Chuan flew through the air, holding Kalisia in his arms. Unsure of the direction, he could only fly slowly to test the boundaries of the area.

The little girl in his arms had long since recovered from her initial panic, staying as motionless as a little penguin being held.

Just then, Ye Chuan's pace abruptly halted, and he hovered in mid-air.

His gaze fell upon the ruins of a village in the distance.

Among the broken walls and debris, a few scattered campfires were lit. Over a dozen figures sat around the fire, wearing washed-out, coarse hemp clothes. They looked no different from ordinary human refugees.

However, what Ye Chuan found strange was their soul fluctuations—they were completely dead and silent.

There was no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness that humans should possess. There was nothing at all, just like empty shells draped in human skin.

They lacked any sense of being alive.

"Pinky, look at the people over there. What's going on with them?" Ye Chuan raised his chin and motioned toward the ruins.

"I can't see."

"Here." Ye Chuan used Source Magic to cast a magnifying telescope spell for her.

Kalisia immediately poked her head out. With just one look, she frowned, her teeth grinding together.

"Demons! These things!" The little girl's voice carried an uncontrollable hatred.

"Your Excellency, don't be fooled by their appearance. They are not humans at all; they are demons wearing human skin!"

Although she didn't know why Ye Chuan was so clueless, Kalisia still took the time to explain.

Demons?

Huh?

Ye Chuan was a little surprised. "They look exactly like ordinary people. They don't even have horns, pointy ears, or tails."

This seemed quite different from the demons Ye Chuan was familiar with.

"Those are the lowest-level monsters. The truly dangerous ones are these high-level demons who look exactly like humans." Kalisia took a deep breath and lowered her voice.

"The most terrifying thing about them is not the strength of their magic, but the fact that they have no emotional fluctuations whatsoever."

"All the expressions and emotions we see are entirely faked by them to imitate humans!"

"They don't feel happiness, anger, fear, or even pain! All their expressions are merely a disguise to paralyze and hunt humans!"

"They massacre villages and cities not out of cruelty, but simply because they need to collect human souls to sacrifice to the Demon King."

"Previously, they disguised themselves as fleeing pregnant women and children. Overnight, they slaughtered the surrounding villages clean, not even sparing newborn babies."

Kalisia's voice trembled slightly—not out of fear, but from a deep-seated hatred embedded in her bones.

She had seen it too many times: these demons, wearing harmless faces, committing the most atrocious acts, while from beginning to end, their souls showed not a single ripple of emotion.

The moment her words trailed off, the dozen or so figures sitting around the fire in the ruins all raised their heads in unison.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, without the slightest deviation, like puppets controlled by the exact same strings.

Over a dozen pairs of eyes locked simultaneously onto Ye Chuan and Kalisia in mid-air.

The tall man in the lead instantly plastered a good-natured smile on his face, looking just like an honest, fleeing farmer. He waved his hand and shouted in a hoarse voice:

"You two friends up there! We are refugees fleeing from the south, and we mean no harm! Do you want to come down, rest your feet, and have a drink of water?"

His tone, expression, and demeanor were flawlessly imitated, completely indistinguishable from real refugees.

But Ye Chuan could see it clearly. When the man smiled, the movement of his facial muscles carried a barely perceptible stiffness, and the dead silence in his eyes didn't ripple in the slightest from the smile.

How very interesting.

Imitating humans?

Ye Chuan then flew toward them.

"Wait, wait—" Seeing Ye Chuan fly straight over, Kalisia seemed a little nervous.

The instant they landed, the demon man was still smiling.

"Are you hungry? I have some food here."

Before he even finished speaking, a pitch-black beam of magic had silently gathered at the fingertips of the hand hanging by his side.

"I'm not eating," Ye Chuan smiled.

"Is that so?" The demon man suddenly raised his hand—

The next second, a magic spell powerful enough to pierce right through a shield tore through the air, shooting straight for Ye Chuan's heart!

"Watch out!" Kalisia cried out in fright, instinctively hugging Ye Chuan's neck tightly.

But Ye Chuan didn't even bat an eyelid. A faint, almost invisible barrier automatically materialized around his body.

The moment the menacing magic struck the barrier, it was like a stone sinking into the ocean, failing to stir up even a single ripple.

With their strike missing its mark, the dozen or so demons in the ruins didn't hesitate for a moment. They instantly sprang up from their spots, surrounding the two in a perfect fan shape, completely sealing off all routes of escape.

Among these figures, there was no communication between companions and no shouts for tactical coordination. Their tactics were orderly and flawless.

"Hmm... demons, huh." Ye Chuan glanced at them. Although their external appearances were the same, their souls were fundamentally different.

Indeed, very different.

"We're surrounded," Kalisia said. "Flying over here like this was too reckless."

A mage's physical body is very fragile. In Kalisia's eyes, Ye Chuan's actions were tantamount to willingly throwing himself into mortal danger.

"Reckless?" Ye Chuan couldn't help but chuckle.

When you're max level, why would you be afraid of low-level mobs?

The leading demon man spoke indifferently, "Kill the man immediately. The woman seems to be from the Storm Territory; keep her alive, she's useful."

With that, all the demons attacked at once.

Kalisia squeezed her eyes shut in terror.

But the expected impact never arrived. Before those demons could even launch their attacks, they were instantly suppressed by Ye Chuan's aura, rendering them completely unable to move.

The leading demon was stunned for a moment. "What's going on... my body... I can't move."

The other demons also began to struggle.

Realizing that Ye Chuan's strength far exceeded everyone present, the demons instantly adopted pitiful expressions and began to wail and beg for mercy.

"Forgive us, my lord, please! We still have children and pregnant women at home..."

Cries rose and fell. There were even demons with the appearance of children among them. Faced with such a pathetic sight, a soft-hearted person might truly be unable to deliver a killing blow.

But Ye Chuan was different.

"Pfft." In the next second, Ye Chuan crushed the demons with the appearance of children using his aura. "I never kill women."

After saying that, Ye Chuan crushed the other female-looking demons with his aura.

"I don't kill children either."

Leaving only the demon who had just been giving orders, Ye Chuan's gaze fell upon him.

The demon man clearly hadn't recovered his senses yet, seemingly unable to fathom that Ye Chuan could be this overwhelmingly powerful.