Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 209 Mission: 06-6 Exchange of Interests
When Nero and V arrived at the scene, the fight between Izayoi and Shuten-doji had already ended, and both sides had even started drinking and chatting happily.

The two of them used the roots of the Demon World Tree as a table, drinking rice wine from their cups. Leticia also sat on the other side, and the three of them had become very familiar with each other.

"You're not bad at the drinking table either, kid!"

"Uncle, you should be careful not to get drunk by me!"

The two of them burst into laughter, so loud that Leticia rubbed her ears.

Nero was not sure yet that the burly man who was almost two people tall was the so-called Shuten-doji, but his aura made him hesitate to approach.

These two people were probably at least at the peak of five figures - Nero judged so.

"But so, uncle, you've fought with several groups of gods before?"

"The term 'fight' is a bit frivolous." The burly man put down his glass, frowned and squinted his eyes. "That was a war. A war in which many people died."

"Oh? That sounds like a good topic to talk about over a drink."

"You're quite right. The heroic tale of seven demon kings who rebelled against the gods—it's certainly a good topic to discuss while drinking."

But at this point, Shuten-doji finally stopped and said, "But let's leave this topic for later. Little girl over there, you seem to have something to say?"

Izayoi also turned his head and said with a smile, "As expected, you're here."

Nero knew very well that they were talking about him, so he walked up to them without hesitation.

"Drinking underage doesn't seem to be in line with the rules there, right?"

Facing Nero's reminder, the unkempt man leaned back and laughed: "Oh, this is something I overlooked - after all, the rules in modern times are different from those in the past."

"Rules are dead, but people are not." Izayoi ignored the reminder and poured the entire contents of the wine glass into his mouth. "It's not like I can get drunk. In this case, there's no difference between wine and ordinary drinks, right?"

"You're right, kid. Do you know each other?"

"We have a little bit of a relationship, I guess."

V finally arrived, jumped down from the surging shadows, and landed on the ground with the help of crutches.

"You go first," Nero gestured toward him. She had already said that V would have to convince the others. This was a difficult task. Without a common interest, how could one expect others to provide free assistance?

At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on V.

"Nice to meet you all."

V placed his hands on his shoulders and bowed gracefully. "My name is V, and I've come here to ask for something."

"Oh?"

The glances directed at him suddenly became more questioning. V accepted this calmly and continued, "But before that, I have a few secrets about the victory conditions of this game. I wonder if you are interested?"

This was V's first method: exchanging benefits. He would exchange information for help. "If it's that puzzle, we've already solved it," Izayoi replied calmly. "If you have any other suggestions, please share them."

Undeterred, V followed up with further explanation: "Solving the mystery is only the first step. To seize the 'Kingdom of the Beast', you must defeat its guardian."

And that's the second step, creating common interests.

Urizen is still the master of the Demon World Tree, and he is the obstacle that everyone who wants to obtain the fruit and win the game must overcome. So yes—he must be defeated.

The difficulty for V is that he must be present when Urizen is defeated, and he must take action. Because only in this way can the cause and effect be complete, and can the fact that "V defeated Urizen with the help of others" become an established fact and be returned to the outside world.

Otherwise, the Demonic World Tree would still destroy Red Grave City and kill countless humans.

Then everything V did would be meaningless.

Therefore, he gave his conditions: "The demon guarding the fruit has a strength of high four digits, and will rise again in the tree, reaching the peak of four digits, infinitely close to the three-digit 'omnipotence realm'. If he himself eats the fruit, he will reach the full three digits, and the game will end.

"If you are determined to win the game, please join forces with me temporarily."

To everyone else in the game, Urizen is the hidden leader and final boss. If you fail to defeat him, you can't complete the game.

However, this BOSS has a time limit. If you fail to defeat it within the specified time limit, the game will fail.

Izayoi lowered his head in thought. "I see, that's what the time limit means. We have to knock it down before the tree fully grows..."

It was Shuten-doji who raised the objection at this moment: "As a reason for joining forces, this doesn't seem to be enough."

He said, "Since that guy and I both have four-digit strength, I'm pretty sure you can't help me in this battle. In that case, why should I join forces with you instead of challenging him alone?"

Faced with this question, V was speechless and could not give a perfect answer.

"Can't tell?"

Shuten-doji stared at V, his eyes burning. "So, can I assume that you're just hoping to use this information to get a piece of the pie from the victor? Or do you have ill intentions and want to profit from it?
"Can I even doubt that your intelligence is false, and that the powerful tree guardian does not need to be challenged?"

The words of those without power are still too pale.

But who could say Shuten was wrong? V had indeed concealed many things with malicious intent. Most importantly, he didn't want the fruit of the Demon World Tree to fall into the hands of the "Six Hundred and Sixty-Six Beasts," nor did he want these demons who followed Sparta so timidly to gain a new Demon King.

And to do this, he would of course reap the fruits alone—after defeating Urizen. This also meant that he didn't want anyone else to win the game.

But if that’s the case, why should others come to help him?

V knew that only the blood of Sparta could unlock the seal of the Demonic World Tree, which was why the puzzle instructed one to "search for the breath of the Second Beast." However, there was more than one way to crack this puzzle, and he simply had the advantage of being the first to do so. If the puzzle was truly solved, then—

Do we really want to let the [Beast of Six Hundred and Sixty-Six] succeed?
Frenzied thoughts filled V's brain like a ball of thread, leaving him unsure how to respond to these sharp questions.

It was at this moment that a figure replaced him and met the burly man with an oppressive gaze.

(End of this chapter)