Chapter 730: [Arrival in the Demon Capital City]

The Demon Imperial City was the largest city in the Demon World.

It was situated close to the Demonic Beast Wilderness.

It was also Allen and Asmodeus last stop.

With the Demon Imperial Demon City in front of him, Allen could see the towering Demonic Palace. The Demonic Palace building was as thick as a mountain, and on its small towers, was like small palaces. No one knew how many tens of thousands of years this palace had existed. Despite the elements, they remained as strong as ever, not rotting or cracking one bit.

The streets were filled with people, and the crowd was bustling.

"Entry is one low-ranked artifact per person!"

The moment Allen arrived at the entrance, the guards demanded an entry tax from him.

A low-ranked artifact was nothing to Allen. But if it were demon warriors from some desolate land, an artifact was enough to transform their powers fully and change their fate.

After all, this land was the land of the strong, and only if you are strong, will you survive. It means power is everything in this land. If you are weak, then, even if you are the most influential man in some land in the demon world, then here, you are nothing but a beggar!

To receive one artifact per person, with a countless number of people entering each day, the amount of wealth obtained by the Demonic Palace over thousands of years was very substantial. And Demonic Palace was controlled by the Demon Imperial Clan, so this wealth also flowed into the Demon Imperial Clan.

One could imagine that over these years, the foundation which the Demon Imperial Clan had built up was immeasurable. Not only that, the road-side stalls and shops in Demon Imperial City were all taxed. There were auction houses established here which similarly charged a fee. And the biggest trade center, the Demon Treasure House, was directly set up by the Demon Imperial Clan.

In the Treasure House, there were large amounts of Ancient and Powerful treasures sold. Their prices were 20-30% higher than the normal trade value in the market. But even so, there were still large numbers of warriors who traveled from all corners of the Demon World to buy the items they needed from the Demon Treasure House.

Firstly, it was because the Treasure House had a full range of items.

Many of the items were priced so high that there was no market, but they could be found in the Demon Treasure House.

Secondly, the Demon Treasure House was reputable and the items were guaranteed to be genuine, so there was no fear of being cheated.

As a result, people were willing to spend a bit more. Just as Allen was about to summon an artifact for both him and Asmodeus, he heard a clear voice that came not far from him, "Ah? So expensive!?"

Allen turned around and saw a guard stopping three people at another entrance fee collection point. They consisted of; a demon with the look of a tyrant bear with horns and wings, a human-looking young man in his twenties, with the difference of his arms and legs were covered of reptilian scales and eyes dyed in bright red. And lastly, a 16 or 17 year old girl obviously with a fallen angel bloodline due to the black feathery wings on her back.

The exclamation came from the girl.

"We are a group of three, doesn't that mean we need to pay three artifacts?"

The girl amongst the three was embarrassed.

This was the first time she had come out of her family and didn’t know the custom of the Demon Imperial Capital. She was dressed in cyan-colored clothes and she had a floral scarf over her head. She exuded a rural village girl's delicate charm, but from her shabby appearance, she looked slightly haggard.

From their shabby dressing or their manner of speech, it was easy to tell that these three people did not come from a large faction. The elites of large factions were always adorned with one or two treasures, and they wore nice clothes and had this, ‘I’m an elite so bow down to me’ kind of aura.

Those who wore the clothes of mortals like them most likely came from unimportant backgrounds. The Demon Imperial City guard glanced at the three people in disdain. By collecting artifacts here every day, he had seen warriors from all over the Demon World, so he was impatient with warriors who dragged their feet by being unwilling to pay.

"This is the Demonic Imperial City's rule. Everyone has to comply with it. If you can't pay an artifact, then you can’t enter!" After the guard said this, he impatiently waved his hand, "Stop blocking the way. There are many people behind you. Next!"

The three people were pushed to one side. The youth in his twenties smiled obsequiously and tried to be in the good books of the guard, "Brother Guard, my dear Brother Guard, please calm down. We come from a small area, so we did not know the rules.” then he turned around towards the girl; “Haptiel, hurry up and pay the artifact." The youth urged the girl.

The fallen angel girl gritted her teeth as she tightly clenched the blue-clothed bag hanging on her body. This girl did not even have an interspatial ring. A bag that mortals used was not only inconvenient to carry around, but its capacity also was not large.

It was imaginable how tiring it was to carry these things while traveling long distances.

"Elder sis… "

The demon with the look of a tyrant bear with horns and wings tugged at the girl. The demon was not very tall. His skin was dark and hairy, and his facial features looked average. The fallen angel girl felt the pinch in her heart as she grabbed the bag. She turned to the bear looking youth and said, "Dowan, it's alright. Our trip here is to bring you to Demon Imperial City. Our family clan might be small and unable to nurture you, but out of good luck, you have such good qualifications. It's worth it to invest the entrance fee for you. Besides, don't we still have some elixir potions? After selling it, we will also be somewhat wealthy. When that happens, it's nothing to buy my dear little brother some power increasing tonic and artifacts. As long as you amount to something, it is better than anything."

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The bear looking demon, who was addressed as Dowan, knew that the fallen angel girl was putting a front to put him at ease. He bit his lips and did not say a word. However, one could see the stubbornness in his eyes. He knew very clearly that his elder sister had put in a lot of effort into this trip to Demon Imperial City. And these artifacts were a large amount of the family clan's fortune. It could be said they were staking it all on him!

"So it's a brother-sister duo… "

Allen sighed lightly. As he looked at the girl's expression, his mind could not help but recall his time back in the Mortal World, especially the hard times when his beloved sister Layla would come back home tired from work. Even still, she would still look at him with a gentle and loving smile.

His sister had sacrificed a lot for her younger brother, and this made Allen miss his own elder sister.

With a sigh, Allen turned towards them, "Let me pay your city entrance fee." he muttered with a faint smile.

Asmodeus beside him frowned. She was already used to this kind of scene and just like the guard, she felt some kind of disdain for these poor wretched people. However, knowing the kindness within her master’s heart she could only sigh in helplessness and smile faintly. Her master is really too kind…

These people are still demons…

Of course, Allen knew that.

In fact, normally, he would not bother about strangers. Everyone had their own difficulties, and with the world so big, he could not care about everyone. Especially in his current situation and circumstances. However, Allen was filled with emotions when he saw this sister-brother pair, causing him to miss his most beloved sister in the entire world.

Unfortunately, Layla at this moment was not in Solheim and instead had returned to the mortal world for the time being, if not he would surely return and spent some time with her.

I guess I’m going to find some time to connect my consciousness with the doll to see them…

Allen smiled as he made his decision.

When Allen opened his mouth, the guard gave Allen a stunned look. In his entire life guarding the Demon Imperial City, although there was some similar situation before, and some kindred(?) who had offered help but with just one look, one could immediately tell that they possess motives for doing such things.

This is the Land of Tyrant Demons and Devils.

Where would you find a kindred spirit that would offer help without exchange?

However, this man…

The Guard didn’t doubt or made any suspicions about Allen and Asmodeus appearance, after all, currently, both of them were wearing the image of a Fallen Angel, with both black hair and red eyes. So he would surely not think that the most wanted criminal ‘Demon Prince Dante’ in the Imperial Demon City was the person before him.

As for the demon in his twenties behind the siblings, he was slightly taken aback before he looked pleasantly surprised, "This esteemed brother sure is chivalrous. Aiyah... You are really making us feel embarrassed. We come from a humble background, so our wealth embarrasses us. For you to spend on us, we are really so thankful… "

However, before the demon finished his words, he was interrupted by the fallen angel girl.

"That… Thank you to the generous sir, but we can't accept your artifacts."

She answered very seriously. Beside her, the youth with the appearance of a bear also blinked with his dark but bright eyes. Clearly, he endorsed the actions of his elder sister. To not receive generosity that came out of nowhere was not a matter of face, but one of human principle. This was what their deceased parents taught them.

After all, this is not the mortal world where a kindred spirit might appear in the time of need, nor the Celestial World where good courtesy is being practiced, but the land of the Demons where everything carried has an equivalent exchange.

Allen was stunned for a moment. He was quite surprised by the siblings, but as a result, he had a favorable impression of them. He smiled gently and said, "Alright, I was being reckless." He nonchalantly said that before keeping the artifacts. He believed that even if the demon youth did not soar in the future, it was likely he would amount to something.

Suffering a bit now was nothing!

"This… Erh… "

The youth in his twenties, that had accompanied the siblings, wanted to stop him, but he was too late. He was naturally upset and was even grumbling about the foolishness of the siblings in his heart.

At that moment, the fallen angel girl had taken out two low-ranked artifacts from her cloth bag. These two low-ranked artifacts looked to be polished clean, but their quality was the lowest of the low.

It was not something to mention.

The guard looked at such artifacts in disdain, but he patiently accepted it. Following that, the guard looked towards the youth in his twenties. However, the youth looked on helplessly at Allen, "That… This esteemed brother, do you think… "

His meaning was very clear. The siblings might have rejected it, but he did not, so he could still be helped. Allen did not have any good impression of this youth. Although artifacts were worth nothing to him, as he might lack everything in this world, only artifacts were overflowing in his possession, he would not give it to such a person.

Allen ignored him, while Asmodeus stepped forward and glared at the youth. Do you think you can take advantage of my master? The aura within her exploded causing not only the demon youth but also the guard to step backward in fear.

This demonic aura was just too strong.

Allen disregards what had happened and entered the city directly, leaving the youth standing there, stunned. Asmodeus scoffed and followed immediately. The guard just stared at them, terrified.

Very soon, Allen heard from behind him, "Aiyah, look what you have done! I can't afford the city entrance fee!" the demon youth was shooting his mouth. "Haptiel, if not for me leading the way, both of you might not know how to get to the Demon Imperial City. You need me to find a place for you to sell the potions in your possession too, right? Without me, won't you be flying blind? I might not have done anything meritorious, but I had put in some hard work. Are you expecting me to pay this kind of petty money?"

"Cousin, you can't say such words. You wanted to come to the Demon Imperial City yourself. Along the way, we have spent a lot of money. In the future, when Dowan apprentice himself under a good master, there are further expenditures… "

"Are you fussing over that bit of money of yours I spent en route? In the future… "

As Allen and Asmodeus carried on moving forward, the voices of the three people turned distance. He stopped suddenly and turned back to take a glance. He saw the girl named Haptiel, red in the face as her eyes seemed to be welling with moisture...

Finally, she bit her lips and used her snow-white hands to reach into her blue bag after some hesitation...

Allen let out a light sigh and stopped watching them.

This world is indeed, a corrupted world…

Even if you share the same blood, those who you treated as close people would still bare their fangs at you.

Allen shook his head with a helpless smile.

The world of Beasts. Kindness is truly something out of place in this world. If you want to survive, then you should know how to steel your heart. Or else, without you knowing anything, you will be devoured. This is the world of the Demons.

... ...

Walking through the familiar, yet also unfamiliar roads of the Demon Imperial City, Allen stepped on the thick granite-paved streets. The morning dew was still on the granite. Between the slabs’ crevices, there was green moss that made it look like lush greenery.

He mused. How long has it been?

These granite slabs had witnessed all sorts of people. They had witnessed prosperity and hardship, joys, and sorrows. Every stone was like a thick history book that encompassed the long history of the Demon Capital City, ever since its creation. Including his.

However… this history might shortly cease to exist.

Just thinking about it made Allen sigh.

The war had already started.

Everything from now on would change...and perhaps, this road will also be unable to exist, again.

… …