How to Live the Life of a Demon

The cards left Arnold’s hand and soared high into the sky.

The students chased after the scattered cards, banding together because of the directions they were headed in.

After the students left, Lucius set off and hid himself deep in the woods to avoid them.

After meeting Hamel, it became rare for him to spend time alone.

He languidly closed and opened his eyes. Then he looked up at the sky visible between the trees of the dense forest.

Deep jade-colored leaves and long-stretched yellow branches. The sunshine and refreshing forest energy in between.

Lucius smiled slightly, and lightly tapped the ground with his foot.

In an instant, his demonic energy spread throughout the forest, like ripples across the ground.

Soon, the location of the students and the cards were relayed to Lucius. He went and picked up the closest card.

After examining the front and back of the card, Lucius tucked it inside the inner pocket of his school uniform. Then, with a few gestures, he cast a concealment barrier.

When most of the students found a few cards and started moving to steal from each other or increase their allies, it would be the chance for Lucius to secure his position.

Once he secured his spot, he summoned a spherical plant.

A stem grew along the round roots, and at the end of the stem, a flower bud formed. It then burst open to reveal soft, fluffy cotton.

Next, he wove vines together to create a table.

Finally, he summoned plants with pleasant scents and calming effects, creating scenery reminiscent of a garden in the forest.

Feeling a bit bored, Lucius plucked one fully bloomed flower and placed it in his mouth.

The sweetness of flower nectar melted in his mouth.

“Shall I leisurely observe the other’s skills?”

* * *

“What on earth is Lucius thinking?” (Rayel)

Rayel took the card hanging on a tree branch and jumped down to the ground.

Kian frowned as he caught Rayel’s body.

Kian also couldn’t understand Lucius’ thoughts.

“Did he give up?” (Kian)

Rayel shook his head and immediately denied it, “It didn’t look like that.”

And then he thought back to what Lucius said before class started.

Lucius had mentioned that everyone would have their cards taken away anyway.

Lucius had also suggested that Rayel should ponder the teacher’s words.

Kian, who was agonizing over their dilemma, continued in a small voice, “He has confidence.”

“Confidence?”

“Confidence in completing the class perfectly.”

Rayel pursed his lips with a stunned expression.

Rayel is a clever demon. He is quick-witted and good at calculating, so he has always taken control of situations.

To him, Lucius was a variable he had never encountered before, and an obstacle he wanted to overcome.

“I can’t really figure out Lucius. Is he weak or strong? What on earth is he thinking…?”

They have six cards.

Kian suddenly felt the weight of those cards as if they were immensely heavy.

Will they be able to properly defend their cards from Lucius?

Kian, who had assessed Lucius’ skills, shook his head.

Among the freshmen with amazing skills, Lucius was the only student whose skills were difficult to judge.

Rayel bit his lip, as if Kian’s silence made him even more anxious.

“Rayel.”

He placed his hand on Rayel’s head.

Two round eyes opened wide.

Kian patted Rayel’s head as he looked up at him.

“Don’t think too deeply. You said there is more than one way to solve a problem.”

“Kian…”

“I trust you.”

At those words, Rayel’s eyes widened.

Kian smiled faintly as he looked at Rayel, who soon calmed down and smiled.

Rayel took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

“That’s right. I will do my best!”

At that time, Kian’s round ears caught a distant noise.

Kian whispered quietly to Rayel.

“It seems like it has started in earnest.”

* * *

Lucius cleaned up his cozy garden and started moving right around the time the students collided.

When he summoned a trumpet plant from a reasonable distance, he heard voices talking.

On one side was Irinushka.

The cards created by Arnold have a weaker signal due to Lucius’ influence.

Irinushka was probably the only student who could find 5 cards in a short period of time by herself.

The corners of Lucius’ mouth slowly turned upward.

The three students who blocked Irinushka also had a total of five cards.

“Hi?”

While Lucius was checking their cards, Esf from the Wisp clan who wields blue flames greeted Irinushka.

“My name is Esf. I’ve heard a lot about you, Irinushka.”

Esf said, spreading his palms to show his empty hands as if to lower her guard.

“I have no intention of fighting you. We’re in the same class, and we can’t growl at each other from the first day. I’d like us to get along if possible.”

“Are you saying we should go together…?”

“That’s right. I think the topic of this class, hiding and exploring, which teacher Arnold said at the beginning, is bait. Maybe the real thing is to test your ability to win over your colleagues?”

There was confidence in Esf’s words.

Irinushka relaxed her posture and closed her eyes. And then she nodded inwardly. There was enough reason in Esf’s opinion to agree with it.

“We need to form teams of up to 10 people to gather the cards. It’s probably better to have fewer team members, since it was mentioned that it’s good to collect a lot of cards.”

“True…”

When Irinushka nodded, Esf continued speaking excitedly.

“That way, we can gather the cards by combining our strengths with our teammates and distribute them evenly to complete the lesson.”

“Hmm…”

“Recently, there’s been a trend of emphasizing teamwork even in the upper echelons. How about it? Don’t you want to get a good score too? If you follow my lead, I’ll guarantee you a good score.”

On the other hand, Lucius, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, also nodded his head.

As Esf said, these days, the Demon King’s Army has been conducting training that values teamwork over individual skills.

However, Lucius’s idea of the correct answer for today’s class was different.

It was easy to form a team and snatch cards from other students to claim victory.

Because it was simply a matter of recruiting as many strong allies as possible.

However… 

If it were just a test to assess teamwork, Arnold would have formed the teams in advance.

“Now I understand why Arnold is scoring students individually.”

Lucius exhaled lightly.

Arnold had too many expectations for the students.

He would hide what he wanted to teach them every time, like a treasure hunt. That’s why many students couldn’t grasp the true meaning of the lesson.

“Well, I liked this class too, so it’s no different.”

Lucius injected an excessive amount of magical energy into the back of his neck.

In response to the sudden stimulation, sparks flickered, and his disheveled hair settled down after a short while.

Lucius intended to bring out the best results that Arnold hoped for.

His plan was perfectly calculated, to the point of being flawless.

“I should look like a reasonably capable student.”

Lucius stretched and snapped his fingers.

Immediately after, the ground the students were standing on began to shake.

Irinushka, who felt the ground shaking, shouted to Esf.

“Watch out!”

“What, what! Ugh!”

“It’s an attack! Who is it?”

“I didn’t feel anything!”

Thorns rose up through the bare ground. Irinushka kicked off the ground and climbed onto a nearby tree branch.

The twin demons that accompanied Esf, Hurn and Bern, unleashed their magic to find the attackers.

However, they couldn’t find anything, and their confusion led them to panic.

Esf shouted in a stern voice.

“Hurn, Bern! Are you properly on guard?”

“I’m doing it, I’m doing it…”

“I can’t find them. There’s no one here but us!”

While they were struggling, Lucius’ attack continued.

The protruding thorns sank back under the ground.

However, after a moment of calm, the ground cracked and tentacle-like vines appeared.

The vines began to bend like whips and entangle anything they touched.

Irinushka jumped as fast as she could and moved to another tree.

Esf, on the other hand, instead of dodging, burned the vines that attacked him and shouted.

“Irinushka, see that! It’s such a dangerous forest, wouldn’t it be good for us to go together?”

Her gaze slowly moved to Esf, and then back to the clouds of dust.

A familiar demonic energy.

Why didn’t she notice it? It was approaching so closely…

“It seems like I’m a bit late.”

Irinushka was quite taken aback by the familiar magic she felt within the rising dust.

It was the appearance of a person she knew but had never thought would attack.

“Lucius… Kendrick.”

Esf’s mouth dropped at Irinushka’s muttering.

He had a memory of seeing him once when he heard that there was a rare dryad in their class.

However, he never imagined that person would appear here.

“Isn’t that guy a dryad? That guy did this?”

Each time the vines wrapped around each other, the trees collapsed, one by one.

Even with such a powerful attack, Lucius showed no signs of fatigue.

Esf could not hide his shock and glared at Lucius.

“I don’t have to explain why I showed up here, do I?”

“Are you planning to turn us all into enemies?”

“Well.”

When Lucius lightly stamped his foot, a long thorn vine sprouted, and when he snapped his fingers, the explosive plant ‘Lero’ exploded due to the movement of the vine.

“Ugh.”

Although Irinushka and Esf were hit, another presence was felt behind them.

Lucius turned his head.

Taking advantage of the smoke created by the explosion, the twin demons managed to retreat and came face to face with Lucius.

Lucius waved his hand quickly. Then another vine appeared. The vine whipped around and knocked the twins away.

Feeling a solid impact through the vine, he knew that they were hit directly.

Lucius then jumped backwards at the sound coming from both sides.

Scarlet flames flew from the left and blue flames flew from the right, landing right where he had just jumped away from.

With a wry smile, Lucius summoned a broad-leaved plant to shield himself from the heat.

The leaves that blocked the heat withered and crumbled in an instant.

Lucius glanced around and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, the forest is a mess.”

The pure energy of the forest became clouded by the heat.

He looked back at the blackened trees with quite a bit of regret.

As the smoke dispersed, the figure of Lucius, standing with his arms crossed, and the fallen twin demons became visible.

Esf exclaimed in astonishment.

“This can’t be real!”