While My Mage Wife Grinds, I Power Up Idly
Chapter 108: This Masterpiece Will Never Fail

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: This Masterpiece Will Never Fail

"Kill the Divine Mother Goddess."

Faced with the great Demon ’Shava’s’ pressing questions, Antikythera said just that.

As a Cidi Devotee, saying this was reasonable. He needed to act more like a cultist.

It was obviously difficult to prove how loyal he was to evil, but proving how much he rejected light and justice was easy.

As long as he attacked the Divine Mother Goddess, he would pass. Whether it was a spiritual attack or a physical one.

And Shava was exactly the type who bought into that.

He immediately grinned widely, showing a neat row of teeth.

"Interesting. You carry the Evil Power of Cidi God. You want to kill the Divine Mother Goddess, but you didn’t come to her—you came specially to see me?"

"Of course... We obviously can’t harm the Divine Mother Goddess. But our sect has a grudge against her faction—the Holy Cultivator Guild. When we planned to come back for revenge, we found that the Cardinal was missing." Antikythera smoothed over the story, "Through our investigations, we learned that the guy went down to Hell. According to some Demons’ rumors, that guy..."

Antikythera’s words were half-truth, half-lie. The Cidi cult had indeed made contact with a certain Cardinal, and that Bishop had actually been to the Netherrealm. His name was Kakarim.

These facts only became known to Antikythera gradually after joining the Cidi cult.

Once he said this, it instantly caught Shava’s attention and further eased the slightest trace of suspicion he had.

"That guy you mentioned is already dead." Shava’s guard lowered a bit, but at the same time, he pressed Antikythera into a corner. He said, "That guy could have been my masterpiece, but he’s dead. He was killed by the ’Death’ Devotee you sent here to the Netherrealm. There’s no chance for redemption. So now tell me—what is your relationship with the Death Devotee?"

Shava’s tone was filled with cold murderous intent.

If Antikythera said one wrong word, he could be killed on the spot.

Shava circled the topic deliberately to trap Antikythera in a dead end. He absolutely did not trust a human who suddenly appeared here. This human was sure to be full of lies, trying to trick him out of something. Only by cornering him with questions could he force the truth out.

If Antikythera dodged the question, he would be killed.

If his words or eyes faltered, he would be killed.

Only by answering truthfully would Shava consider sparing his life.

"I... am not familiar with the Death Devotee," Antikythera replied. "I’ve only seen him, never exchanged a word."

"Then have your Bishop come."

"Sorry, Lord Shava, my Bishop probably won’t come. He can’t risk it. Whether I die here or return with a message, he won’t come." Antikythera looked straight into Shava’s eyes as he spoke.

"You’ve been abandoned. You’re a pitiful creature after all."

"No, Lord Shava, it’s not like that. From the moment I set out, I knew my mission. Whether I live or die here, the only thing I must do is deliver a message. And you, Lord Shava, it is precisely because of your curiosity that you have kept me alive until now, isn’t it?"

At these words, Shava snorted coldly, turned his back, and said, "Speak. What do you humans plan to do... to kill the Divine Mother Goddess?"

"We intend to expand our cult in places where the Divine Mother Goddess’s faith is strongest, to erode them, corrupt them, and make them fall. That is the limit of what human power can achieve. The Imperial Capital of the Atras Empire is the place where faith in the Divine Mother Goddess is strongest." Antikythera stared at Shava’s back and continued, "I believe that fallen Divine Mother Goddess Devotees are the most favored material for demons. Even our Cidi cult prefers corrupting Divine Mother Goddess Devotees more than ordinary mortals."

"Is that all?"

"Of course not. The Imperial Capital not only has the strongest faith in the Divine Mother Goddess, but also gathers many powerful individuals. Our Cidi cult alone probably can’t crack such a hard bone. So, we want to invite you to join us as partners. With the power of the Death Devotee, we can help you sneak into the human world!"

Upon hearing this, Shava slowly turned around.

His goat-like sideways eyes fixed firmly on Antikythera.

Although the word "smuggle" sounded unpleasant, that was essentially how the process worked.

For a Demon to enter the human world was not so easy. It usually required a lucky encounter with some portal or a chance loosening of a seal somewhere, allowing them to surge into the human realm and breathe in its air.

Especially for powerful Demons, it was even harder to enter the human world.

Great power meant strong Evil Power, like a heavy burden. To slip into the human world, they had to drag this heavy load along.

But if they abandoned that burden, no one would want to.

Weaker Demons still had a chance to be summoned by some human Mage, but for a powerful Demon, the summoner needed to be of extremely high quality — the same "burden theory" applied.

"So, kid, you want me to be your free muscle?" Shava controlled his inner urge to wreak havoc on the human world, appearing extremely calm.

Every Demon wanted to rack up achievements in the human world. But as a great Demon, he couldn’t reveal his most primal desires too soon. He had to maintain a higher stance to gain more benefits on the human side.

Yes, he had already agreed to this journey in his heart — just hadn’t agreed on the price yet.

Seeing this, Antikythera thought, since his life was already hanging by a thread, he might as well go all in.

So he no longer negotiated from a lowly position but elevated himself to equal status with the great Demon Shava. With equal status, his vision widened and his mind calmed.

He said, "Free muscle? I don’t understand. Why do you think you’re a free muscle? It’s as if sneaking into the human world is our conspiracy by default. Isn’t killing the Divine Mother Goddess Devotees of the Holy Cultivator Guild a pleasure for you? Isn’t abducting the Divine Mother Goddess Devotees of the Holy Cultivator Guild a satisfaction? Wouldn’t destroying the thriving human society of the Imperial Capital boost your renown as a Demon?"

Listening to Antikythera’s proposal, Shava’s goat-like lips curled into an uncontrollable smirk.

His sideways goat eyes and neat, white teeth revealed a bizarre wickedness.

"Deal. You’ve convinced me, human. As long as you bring me and my legion into the human world, you may corrupt and preach as you please. By the Demon’s name, this masterpiece will not fail to impress."

Upon hearing this, Antikythera breathed a sigh of relief, feeling greatly eased.

Once the negotiation succeeded, no matter what happened next, he could accept it—even becoming Demon fodder.

But the great Demon Shava was also a Demon who honored his contracts. Since he swore by his own name, he would not do anything to harm his reputation.

"Go. Return and tell your Bishop that within twelve sunsets in the human world, a gate to the human realm must be opened for me!" Shava said.

Seeing Shava’s promise, Antikythera immediately withdrew.

Having already put life and death aside, he felt like he had just gained a free life—a guaranteed win.

...

At the church in the town of Riven.

After Ashu brought Antikythera back, the latter explained the details of the negotiation.

"So, in twelve days, a great Demon can be brought into the Imperial Capital, right?"

"Yes, Bishop."

There were still over two months until the Imperial Princess’s coming-of-age ceremony, but within twelve days, Shava had to be brought into the human world.

This left a gap of fifty days in between.

What if Shava was killed prematurely?

Ashu had no expectation that Shava would survive after entering the human world. After all, the goal was to assemble The Twelve Demon-Hunting Nuns. Once they were gathered, Shava’s death was inevitable.

The question now was how to make Shava last longer.

Changing the timing of the operation was definitely unrealistic. Since their side was the one requesting help, the schedule had to be set by Shava. It was already impressive that Shava agreed to cooperate at all. If they fussed over changing the date, it might anger Shava and cause the cooperation to collapse.

"Doesn’t Shava have any brothers or sisters? The Demon Huntress Nuns have twelve—couldn’t he have twelve as well?" Ashu asked.

"Shava said he would bring his legion," Antikythera explained.

"If his legion is a hidden elite force, that would be fine. But if it’s just the bunch from the camp—those weaklings—it wouldn’t make much difference whether he brought them or not," Ashu said.

He had personally fought some of those Demons. Even the inner circle guards were not that strong. The Demon Huntress Nuns could crush them as easily as snapping a chick.

And inside the Imperial Capital, there were certainly many experts.

It was the power center of the entire empire. Not only the royal family, but even some nobles kept large numbers of guards.

Ashu’s original plan was to ignite the "Shava Rebellion" three days before the Imperial Princess’s coming-of-age ceremony, inside the Imperial Capital.

Three days was enough time for any Demon Huntress Nun to return to the Imperial Capital from anywhere in the Atras Empire.

The plan relied on a blitz: a great Demon able to match Vivita in combat would surely cause panic and chaos in the Imperial Capital quickly.

But once the capital’s guards responded, the chaos would be swiftly suppressed.

At that point, the lives of the dukes and nobles would continue in order, just waiting for the Demon Huntress Nuns to exorcise the Demons.

If the timing went off, the plan would have to be extensively revised.

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