The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Royal Palace, Underground.

In this place housing the magic library and other important facilities, there was a prison.

This was where the kingdom specifically held important criminals.

Only the most vicious criminals, those who were basically impossible to release or even allow to live, were imprisoned here, making this one of the most important facilities beneath the royal palace.

The prison was also managed year-round by confidants of the royal family. Although there were no guards, dozens of high-level magic barriers and formulas were deployed, transforming this place into an impenetrable cage from which no one could invade or escape.

Naturally, on ordinary days, very few people came here, sometimes even years would pass without a single visitor.

And today, led by Lucy, Shien arrived here.

“Those Old Demon Faction members are imprisoned here.”

Lucy pointed to the prison area ahead, heavily shrouded in barriers, her tone seemingly back to normal.

Clearly, under Shien’s “dimension-reducing strike,” Lucy had resigned herself to fate and faced reality, no longer trying to oppose him.

Naturally, Shien wouldn’t make things difficult for this poor, slacker princess anymore.

He had already benefited a lot from her, so when it was time to forgive her, he should forgive her.

“Is this the place?”

Looking at the barrier before him, Shien didn’t ask Lucy to open it. Instead, he directly used Instant Movement, passing through the layers of barriers and entering.

A second later, Lucy also rushed in from outside.

“Are you crazy?!” Lucy complained to Shien, looking as if she had almost been scared to death. “There aren’t just barriers here, but also magic traps specifically designed to prevent prisoners from escaping. What if you accidentally triggered one?”

“Relax.” Shien waved his hand dismissively. “I have a special skill that can sense the presence of those magic traps. I won’t trigger them.”

Shien’s [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] was indeed activated, allowing him to perceive the presence of each magic trap.

Structurally, these magic formations were cleverly designed, forming a very complete and comprehensive system, undoubtedly constructed after careful consideration of various situations.

The Buztout House also had similar setups, but in terms of level, they were far inferior to these.

After all, those were things Shien had set up at a lower level, only capable of defending against petty thieves, not truly formidable opponents.

Otherwise, those Old Demon Faction members wouldn’t have dared to brazenly invade his residence and try to cause trouble.

“Where are those guys?”

Shien asked Lucy beside him.

“Inside.”

Lucy pointed towards the depths of the prison.

“Let’s go then.”

Shien didn’t hesitate and walked straight inside.

“Careful!”

Lucy reminded Shien at this moment.

Shien immediately stopped.

At the same time, a loud bang suddenly erupted from the cell closest to Shien.

“Let me out! Let me out!”

A ferocious-looking criminal slammed against the iron bars, reaching out a dirty hand from within the cell and yelling at Shien.

A startling amount of magic power emanated from him, telling Shien that he was no ordinary criminal.

However, magic runes within the cell were glowing, firmly suppressing the magic power on the criminal, preventing it from being released.

Thanks to this, this powerful criminal seemed completely unable to utilize his magic power, only able to struggle and roar hysterically like an ordinary person.

At the same time, as if triggered, banging sounds erupted from other cells.

“Let me out!”

“Get me out of here immediately!”

“Damned kingdom lapdogs!”

“Just you wait! Just you wait! I’ll kill you all!”

Criminals appeared at the front of their cells, slamming against the iron bars and roaring hoarsely.

The incessant roars intertwined, coupled with their ferocious and terrifying behavior, created a truly horrifying and terrifying atmosphere in this dark, underground prison.

If Lumia or Melika were here, they would definitely be scared out of their wits.

Even someone braver would likely feel a chill down their spine.

Shien wasn’t scared, but he frowned at the scene before him.

Lucy came to Shien’s side and said helplessly,

“The ones imprisoned here are all criminals who have harmed the kingdom, all with violent personalities.”

“Some of them have been imprisoned for several years, some for several decades, and there are even a few dwarves who have been imprisoned for over a hundred years, who knows how long it’s been since they’ve seen the sun.”

“Under such circumstances, their reactions are usually the most extreme when they see strangers.”

“There have been many knights escorting prisoners here who, because they got too close, were grabbed by these criminals. Some had their ears bitten off, some had their throats slit, some even had their eyeballs gouged out, their faces mangled.”

“So, it’s best not to get too close to them.”

Lucy explained this.

However, before Shien could react, many criminals in the cells, hearing Lucy’s voice and seeing her appearance, became even more frantic.

“A woman!”

“There’s actually a woman!”

“And such a beautiful woman!”

“Give me that woman! Give her to me!”

“Hey! You bastards over there! Do you hear me?”

“Hand over that woman obediently!”

“Hahaha!”

The vicious criminals started clamoring, shouting threats at Shien and staring intently at Lucy, their eyes filled with obscene lust.

Those unrestrained gazes, filled with greedy lust and possessiveness, made Lucy frown deeply.

As the kingdom’s treasure, the number one princess, when had she ever been stared at so blatantly with such filthy gazes?

Even those dissolute noble youths wouldn’t dare to be so blatant in displaying their desires in front of her, because they at least knew that Lucy wasn’t someone they could offend.

But what kind of people were these?

Desperadoes who defied all laws!

Such vicious individuals naturally wouldn’t be afraid of Lucy’s status, nor would they know her status, only knowing how to vent their desires.

Thus, a stream of vulgar words reached Lucy’s ears, making her expression turn ugly.

In a cell closest to Lucy, the criminal stuck out his tongue and reached out his hands, as if trying to grab Lucy’s chest, desperately clawing at the air.

In the next second…

“Swish!”

With a flash of sword light, the criminal’s tongue and both hands were cleanly severed, blood splattering everywhere.

“Ugh…!”

The criminal let out a silent scream, collapsing in his cell, covered in blood.

“…!”

The clamor of all the criminals present abruptly ceased.

Shien still stood there, but at some point, he had drawn his Holy Sword.

Looking at the gleaming Holy Sword, all the criminals seemed to be stunned, freezing on the spot.

“Come on, try yelling again.”

Shien glanced around, his voice full of mockery.

The entire prison fell silent.

Clearly, these criminals were scared.

Precisely because they were desperate criminals, they knew that this seemingly unremarkable young nobleman before them was definitely a ruthless character.

“Trying to scare me?”

Shien turned to look at the criminal who had charged forward at the beginning.

“Eek…!”

The criminal whimpered and scrambled away from the iron bars.

The remaining criminals did the same, some silently retreating from the front of their cells, some scrambling away, and some remaining in place, their eyes flickering, their expressions fierce, seemingly not scared by Shien.

But a single emotion surged in the eyes of these people.

Apprehension.

Seeing this, Shien glanced at them.

“Get lost!”

Magic power quietly burned on his body, making the apprehension in the eyes of those desperadoes grow stronger.

And the result proved that even so-called desperadoes weren’t completely indifferent to their lives.

Before long, those people were also forced back, leaving the entire prison deathly silent.

Shien then sheathed his Holy Sword and looked at Lucy beside him.

“I’m fine.”

Lucy, noticing Shien’s gaze, shook her head while muttering in her heart,

(You have some conscience, at least you still care about me.)

The grievance of being utterly defeated by Shien finally disappeared from Lucy’s heart.

“Let’s go then, let’s go inside.” Shien wasn’t sentimental, nodding as he casually said, “Actually, you can tell your father that there’s no need to keep these people.”

These words made all the criminals’ hearts clench.

“I know.” Lucy, seeming to understand Shien’s thoughts, said with an expressionless face, “But keeping them is indeed useful. Some shady magic experiments still need them.”

So ruthless!

All the criminals were filled with a mixture of shock and anger.

But Lucy wasn’t completely lying.

Some of the criminals here were indeed difficult to deal with, and some were kept for their usefulness.

And one of their uses was as test subjects for magic experiments.

Being imprisoned here was equivalent to receiving a death sentence.

Therefore, the kingdom wouldn’t show them any mercy or sympathy. Some things that couldn’t be done openly were basically all done on these guys.

In other words, although these people seemed vicious and terrifying, they had already lost their human rights and weren’t treated as human beings.

Shien certainly wouldn’t sympathize with these scumbags, so he nodded.

“Next time there are any severed limbs or body parts, I’ll pick them up and take them back as test subjects for magic experiments.”

Leaving behind these terrifying words, Shien walked towards the depths of the prison.

Lucy smiled faintly and followed gracefully.

And this time, no one dared to make a sound.

Only fearful gazes emerged from within the cells, one after another.