Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

On her way here, she had already heard everything about this warrior from two children—

Alone in the cave, he expelled demons; in the battle against the orcs, he single-handedly turned the tide; at the ruins of the small town, he held the rear with three arrows to repel the enemy.

It was unimaginable how the military managed to train such an extraordinarily capable warrior.

With an unshakable mind unaffected by demons, his great benevolence saved many from disaster, and his combat skills were exceptional, surpassing even those battle-skilled officers of the Arbitration Place.

The reason for her visit was to see for herself what kind of person the true model of this warrior was.

After all, humans are creatures of emotion, and the narratives of Morphie and Kiro Lan inevitably carried the sentimental bias inherent to their humanity.

She needed to bring the owner of these deeds down to earth, strip away the emotional perspectives, and then see what kind of hero stood before her.

As for the facts themselves, she had already inquired with more refugees; facts were facts…

Now seeing him for the first time, he was neither humble nor arrogant, and maintained his self-opinion even when faced with skepticism.

This was indeed the demeanor of a warrior capable of all those feats, and should be the very object of extreme admiration spoken of by the children.

As Aglaya confirmed with her voice, the door curtains rose again.

Morphie and Kiro Lan rushed in from outside, and upon seeing Bai E, both children were instantly overjoyed.

"Sir!"

"Bai E, sir!"

Bai E's lips curled slightly as he smiled at them.

Seeing this scene, he probably also knew a bit of the truth—

The officer's words just now had not escaped the ears of their warriors, and the doubts he raised were actually quite reasonable.

But what he had failed to consider was... talent.

More than four hundred refugees, being ordinary people, did not have the capability to summon the true form of a primeval demon, but what if... there were extraordinary individuals among the refugees?

Yes, talent!

The learning abilities of the two children could even be compared to the system buffs on himself and the players, which had previously taken Bai E by surprise.

And now, it seemed that the children's talents were more fearsome than he had imagined, so much so that the real big shot of the city had rushed over to confront him immediately.

This tall and dignified woman with shiny black curls that gleamed blue, the floating damage numbers above her head confirmed the substance of her strength.

Only slightly less recognized by the system than Yue Ying.

The true core figure of the city in the field of Spiritual Energy!

"I'm asking you, what were you arguing about?" Aglaya spoke softly, her solid voice was calm and imposing, deterring any thoughts of deceit.

"This is Aglaya from the Spiritual Power Managers Center; answer her question seriously." Fearing that these soldiers didn't understand the severity of the situation, Weslin, who personally led the way and stood by smiling, gave a light cough before reminding them.

"I want the lords to focus on screening," Bai E said, meeting her gaze with parity, every word clear and distinct, "Our team has just encountered demons, and I don't know if I could be corrupted by the demons as a result, let alone if others could be subtly tainted."

"Do you know what kind of existence you're up against?" Aglaya gazed intently into Bai E's eyes.

Spiritual Energy is about confrontation.

But she was confident that no one in this city could lie before her.

"I know."

"After getting all your companions on that cart, you should have immediately retreated and brought the intelligence back to the military camp."

The two children had learned some details from the idle chatter of the warriors, but not in great detail.

Aglaya needed this rare case to analyze why this incident ended the way it did, and if possible, whether it could be applied to combat all demons.

Insects are the greatest enemy in the material world, and demons... are the greatest enemies for Spiritual Energy practitioners and the mental realm of all humanity.

"I couldn't retreat. I believed it was a trap set by the demon."

"A trap?" queried Aglaya, her eyebrows raised.

"He was deliberately letting us escape... Fleeing is a sign of weakness; once one fears, one is already within His grasp."

"On what basis?"

"Feeling," answered Bai E with a light blink, each refined movement played slowly in Aglaya's mind, "I deduced that this was a demon centered around 'fear,' and I thought it might be worth trying this line of thinking."

"…" Aglaya stared silently at Bai E before slightly tilting her chin up after a moment, "Do you have absolute confidence in defeating Him?"

"No."

"Then why not return to the city and report? Your actions could have deprived the city of key information, leading to history repeating itself," Aglaya said, her tone somewhat sharp as a keen edge faced head-on.

"I left comrades behind; if I didn't make it out, they could still come back and report after they recovered."

A flawless explanation.

Aglaya's piercing gaze softened slightly.

He was just braver, sharper, and more decisive.

Once he had decided to act... "how to achieve it" had already been demonstrated by facts.

All the refugees had witnessed that process.

The demon at the core of fear finally suffered a backlash, and the warrior's attack was merely going with the flow.

Or rather, it was precisely because of the warrior's selfless devotion that everyone's will to resist was awakened.

Humans have defeated demons countless times throughout history, thanks to the heroes who stepped forward at such critical moments.

However, this time the ability to push back the Primeval Demon was more attributed to the warrior's fierce courage, with few lessons that could be broadly applied.

This demon was special—

Based on more than four hundred refugees, the Primeval Demon's status was indeed lofty, its core tied to "fear," immortal and indestructible.

Even if destroyed in the material world, it would return to high-dimensional space and wait for an opportunity to resurrect.

But it was also weak, much like Morphie and Kiro Lan who supported its birth, possessing innate gifts and a high future potential, but currently lacking strong power, which allowed the warrior to delay it long enough for its "First Elect" to sense the master's "weakness" and thus betray it.

Yes... The Elect.

This is why all the refugees other than Morphie and Kiro Lan also had fluctuations in their Spiritual Energy talent.

In fact, the judgment of the military camp's Spiritual Power Managers and even the executioners was not wrong; even with supernaturally talented individuals like Morphie and Kiro Lan, a group of over four hundred people could not summon any Primeval Demon that had taken form in high-dimensional space into the material world.

So, this Lord of Fear was newly born.

At the initial birth of the Fear Demon, being inside the incubating demon's ovary, they naturally became the First Elect of this newborn demon.

In a sense, their souls were all extremely close to the high-dimensional space that ordinary people struggle to access, resulting in their now innate familiarity with Spiritual Energy.

This was also a method of awakening Spiritual Energy talent; any human who had the chance to touch high-dimensional space with their soul could possibly awaken the talent for Spiritual Energy and become a noble Spiritual Energy manager.

However, those who tried to glimpse the secrets of higher dimensions through this method were often first to be corrupted by the unpredictable high-dimensional space and turned into fodder for demons, with very few able to actively break free and return.

This batch that was rescued... or rather, that initiated resistance on their own to completely break free from the "gods" and return to the present world, was unprecedented!

Moreover, because they had once resisted a demon and shed their status as the Elect, they might be more resilient than ordinary Spiritual Energy managers when facing other demonic incursions in the future.

This was nothing short of miraculous wealth for the city!

And all this, was brought back by this warrior before their eyes!

The conviction from deep within him made his decision utterly correct.

If he had retreated even a step, his soul, his life, would no longer be his own.

There would be no chance of returning to the military camp, let alone passing on a message.

The scouts before him had also had the same thoughts, yet at the moment they decided to flee, they had already lost control of their own fate.

["Lucky Strike" energy recharge +1.]

Aglaya retracted the storm in her eyes, turning instead to look at Weslin, who was just waiting with a grin, "Marshal Weslin, could you please come here for a moment."

Aglaya and Weslin turned their backs, so all the sounds and movements they made were no longer observable by Bai E and the others.

"Marshal Weslin, I would like to see the personal information of this soldier, Bai E."

A warrior able to resist demonic assault and acutely detect the tendrils of its spiritual world invasion likely possesses some talent for Spiritual Energy as well. Even if not as extraordinary as Morphie and Kiro Lan, proper nurturing could definitely make him a powerful executor in the Arbitration Place.

Executors are "expendable" and need to be replenished at all times.

"I have brought it."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Weslin cheerfully took out the tablet he had been holding, prepared for when he knew this personage was coming for the joint squad. He had readied everything.

After all, the Spiritual Power Managers Center is this city's most vital core institution! It's the top priority echelon he needs to court.

The screen lit up and Aglaya's face, previously somewhat gentle, stiffened instantly, her sharp, narrow eyes immediately capturing the most crucial information—

[ID: 95B27]

Synthetic human...

Bai E was a synthetic human...

She held no factional bias against synthetic humans, but there was a prohibition associated with them!

Thought Dulling.

This innate restriction indeed allowed them a bit more resistance to high-dimensional demon corruption than normal humans, but also nearly cut off the possibility of their awakening to Spiritual Energy.

He might... not deserve such deep veneration and admiration from Morphie and Kiro Lan.

Suddenly, Aglaya fell silent.

Returning to face Bai E, Aglaya's expression became so calm it was entirely devoid of emotion.

"I need to conduct a test on you... to confirm there are indeed no remnants of the demon's tendrils on you."