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Everyone’s attention was caught.

The leader of the Luminous Theocracy party was a tanned and bald young man. He scratched his shiny bald head in embarrassment. “We’re really sorry. We have rummaged through these ruins yet found nothing of value. I can’t possibly go back to the Pope empty-handed, so I thought we should mine for a few rare ores to bring home.”

“……” Everyone’s gaze slowly turned unfriendly.

A few moments later, Diana watched as the tanned boy finally returned to his seat with a swollen nose and bruised face.

“How can the Luminous Theocracy not feel anything when the great enemy is just right in front of us? Did your Pope really let you guys come here to sightsee?” she sighed.

“I swear in the name of Goddess, His Holiness never said that. He only asked us to bring more souvenirs home. He didn’t mention a word about sightseeing or anything else!”
“…..”

Diana rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was never a busybody but now that the enemy was still at large, she couldn’t accept such dilly-dallies as allies.

She never really liked her martial aunt who happened to also be her assistant. But as her martial niece, she couldn’t possibly leave things as they were since Lilith died at the hands of that Golden Demon Htilil and her master had also given her an order.

Otherwise…

Otherwise, no one would dare to apply for the vice president position and pick up her mess in the future.

That fellow named Kieran looked like he had fallen into despair at the news about Lilith’s death. It was almost like he woke up only to find out that he had lost his d̲i̲c̲k̲. He could barely focus on his work.

In any case, she had to redeem her reputation so that she could find her next victim.

After all, someone had to settle the mountains of documents on her office desk.

Thinking of this, Diana smacked the table again in annoyance. She looked at Coleman and his companions who were squatting at the side in despair. “I hope you guys didn’t leave out any other vital information.”

“What are you trying to say?” Coleman raised his head and glared at Diana. “Do you think we would joke about the princess’ safety?”

“That is precisely why I think you guys would be hiding something for us.”
“W-What did you say?”
“Based on the information you all provided, the Golden Demon still retained some power. So having a hostage or not is just the icing on the cake for her. That’s why if she finds out that you guys revealed certain information about her, she’d definitely kill the hostage. So you all shared most of the information about the Golden Demon except for the ones she didn’t wish for you all to disclose.”
“……”
“Judging by the look on your faces, I guess I hit a nail on the head.”

Coleman nodded sullenly.

“And if I’m not mistaken, you guys are probably hiding that Golden Demon’s real identity.”
“What?”

The others couldn’t help but look at Diana in shock when they heard her.

Golden Demon Htilil was born like a shooting star. Her real identity and appearance had been hidden behind that golden demonic mask, which gave people the urge to rip it off to uncover the whole mystery. Hence, the fact that someone had seen her real face was shocking news.

Coleman shot Diana a conflicted glance. “As expected of the best student from St. Caroline Academy. You are right. We do possess knowledge of the Golden Demon’s real identity. But it is as you said, we won’t be disclosing that information for the time being since the safety of our princess is at risk. If we reveal the secret, that Golden Demon might just do something unthinkable to her.”

The old man stood up and bowed deeply to everyone. “We are extremely sorry for the inconveniences we have caused, but we have no other choice. As the citizens of the Macedonian Empire, we do not want to see Her Royal Highness suffering again.”

Again?

Diana narrowed her eyes as her keen senses allowed her to read between the lines of Coleman’s words.

At the same time, she also knew that she wouldn’t be able to get to the bottom of it. For royals, their reputation was always far more important than their own life.

On top of that, Princess Lesiah was the actual power holder of Macedonian Empire. Even if she managed to get out of this unscratched, gossip would still go around.

This wasn’t a responsibility that an ordinary student with neither power nor influence like her could take.

“Forget it. This information wouldn’t help us to hunt down the Golden Demon anyway. It’s fine for you to keep it to yourselves. But you are still required to cooperate in other aspects.”
“Yes, definitely!”

Coleman and the rest breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that no one under Diana’s lead pursued the matter any further.

Truth be told, other than the princess’ safety, there was still another important reason behind their refusal to reveal Golden Demon Htilil’s real identity.

And that was…

Fear.

The immense fear that the Golden Demon had instilled in them on the previous night.

Diana turned her gaze to Durance, the leader of St. Caroline’s party, next. Judging from the thoughtful look on his face, it would seem like he had also figured something out.

“Well, it looks like the Great Durance has figured out a way to deal with Golden Demon Htilil?” Rosdell suddenly asked.

Durance was taken aback by the mention of his name, but quickly regained his composure and grace. He smiled but shook his head. “The Golden Demon isn’t an easy target to deal with. I could only think of one stupidest way.”

“Tsk, useless.”

Diana threw Rosdell a side glance for his sarcastic remark then said, “A stupid way is better than none. Go on, senior Durance.”

“Fine, I’ll get straight to the point.”

Durance intertwined his fingers. “First of all, we must deny any request for external support. Due to the limitations of the ruins, it’s no use even if we go out to request for more support. We’ll get nothing other than a few more cannon fodder from various nations. However at present, we have good knowledge of Golden Demon Htilil’s general strength and the advantages on her hands. As elites selected by nine nations, we might stand a chance against her.”

“But we’re like a sheet of loose sand right now. Not only that, not all of our so-called elites are worthy of their titles.”

Rosdell sneered and pointed to the hundreds of elites sent by Luminous Theocracy, who were now playing poker and mahjong after mining.

“That’s why…” Durance scanned everyone with a serious face, “I want to form a team that is made up of elites among the elites. It will be a special assault team that would take Golden Demon Htilil head-on.”

“As for the rest, they will form guerilla groups and fight with the goal of weakening the Golden Demon.”

“Okay, let’s do that. Rather than scattering our fighting power, we should gather all the elites together for a final showdown. This will no doubt significantly improve our chances of winning.” The leader of the Luminous Theocracy’s party, that tanned and bald young man continued announcing righteously, “So I have decided that we will be the first to volunteer in joining the guerrilla team that will contribute to weakening Golden Demon Htilil!”

“……”

Durance shot him a weird look. “Lucas, I think you should be part of the special assault team.”

“Why? Won’t you feel guilty about making a delicate and feeble boy like me join you brutes in the special assault team?”

The tanned young man by the name of Lucas held his face like a shy girl, causing the others around him to barf in disgust.

“I’d feel guilty letting the second runner up from the last competition join the guerrilla team instead.”

“…..”

Looking at Durance’s increasingly serious expression and unfriendly gaze, Lucas had no choice but to agree. “Fine, I’ll join you. But I’m feeling rather unlucky today, so don’t blame me if something goes wrong.”

“Poor luck is fine, as long as you’re not weak.”

“Hmph, never underestimate luck. Although this ruin isn’t terrifying, it may just be that its terrifying parts remain undiscovered as of now. Once someone triggers some kind of trap, it’s gonna get dangerous.”

“How dangerous can it get?”