LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 273: A Hidden Plan
"Ummm, excuse me, can we just leave? Or preferably just send us away."
Upon hearing the sudden voice, Lorien, who was at his wits end and just on the brink of collapse due to exhaustion, found himself rendered speechless.
'Do I look like I have time for your shenanigans?'
Sensing the impending headache from the imminent idiocy he was about to endure, Lorien decided not to waste any time as he raised his hand and summoned his sword's scabbard, which housed a substantial reservoir of Source Energy, allowing him to replenish his spent energy even as he contended with the nuisance beckoning him.
Grabbing the scabbard, Lorien siphoned the energy within and quickly began replenishing whatever he could of energy before the next wave of attack began.
Doing so, Lorien then finally turned his head towards the source of the voice as there wasn't anything else for him to do right now.
'Guess, a bit of amusement in this tense situation won't hurt, moreover, it's time to plant the seeds.'
'One can only harvest what was sown.'
Shaking his head, Lorien threw these distracting thoughts aside as there was already a preliminary plan brewing in his head prepared to deal with the situation he was currently in.
Additionally, he knew that he should first respond to the inquiry as these devil hunters were still useful.
"You want to leave?" Asked back Lorien as he looked at Denji.
Right now, in stark contrast to his previous fearless demeanor, the young man appeared considerably more restrained, with fear finally surfacing within him.
It seemed that witnessing the previous attack and experiencing this power firsthand had been enough to finally evoke this emotion within him.
After all, while he had remained unafraid of Lorien even after witnessing his domain expansion, that was primarily because Lorien hadn't yet demonstrated any destructive actions.
Primarily, despite the fact that creation was inherently more challenging than destruction, the latter was far more feared.
Moreover, the fear gripping Denji at this moment was more instinctual than emotional or rational.
'Well, no matter how fearless one is, when confronted with the power of the world that gave birth to him, there is no way to maintain such bravery without sufficient power.'
'And, of course, he lacks that.'
'...'
However, just as Lorien was observing Denji, the latter didn't give him much time as he quickly responded in an attempt to extricate themselves from the messy situation they had involuntarily found themselves in.
"Yes, I believe we're more of a hindrance here; It's best if we leave."
This sentiment was quickly echoed by Power, who nodded in an exaggerated manner, her fear also evident as she shook in her boots.
"Yes, Yes, we should leave."
However, this sudden interruption prompted Lorien to redirect his attention towards her and the other members of the demon slayer team.
At this moment, apart from Aki and Himeno, who still maintained relative calm and appeared rational despite their fear, the others didn't seem to be faring as well.
For instance, Power, who had just echoed Denji, seemed on the verge of collapse; As for the other two, they had already fallen to the ground, each hugging their own body in fear, attempting to minimize their sense of presence to their maximum capacity.
Seeing this Lorien just shook his head and responded.
"You can leave whenever you want, my domain only acts as a shield to prevent attacks from entering, I won't use it to prevent anyone from leaving."
Upon hearing this, a glimmer seemed to instantly light up in everyone's eyes as hope ignited in their hearts.
It's just that before they could fully embrace this sensation, Lorien swiftly extinguished what he had ignited.
"However, considering that another wave of attacks is imminent, you probably won't get far before getting reduced to ashes by the aftermath."
"This..."
"Don't bother; You don't have any choice; All you can do is bet your lives on whether I can hold on or not."
"Can't you send us away?"
"Send you away..."
Hearing this, Lorien fell silent, his gaze fixed on Denji for a moment before shifting his attention to all the ordinary people within his domain.
At this moment, those people had either collapsed from fear, lost consciousness, or simply resigned themselves to despair, awaiting the outcome.
Looking at them, Lorien then shifted his attention to the scabbard he held and his recovering energy reserves, before turning his gaze towards the sky.
'Tsk, only about half is restored, and it seems that the next attack is coming soon; I can feel it gathering energy.'
'Ugh, if it weren't for needing to maintain the domain, I would have created a separate dream realm where time is chaotic and just restored my energy there.'
'In such a realm, no matter how much time passes, it would just be an instant outside.'
'It's a pity that I can't do this right now.'
Shaking his head in pity, Lorien then turned his attention back to the people around him.
'This might actually be an opportunity.'
'As people born in this world, these individuals can even be considered extensions of the world itself. Therefore, the world is essentially witnessing whatever is happening here.' Lorien mused silently.
'If I try to do something and then send these people away, the world would realize my plan.'
'However, now that Denji is asking me to send them away, I can simply go with the flow.'
'Moreover, I can use this opportunity to mislead the world.'
Thinking of this, Lorien's eyes gleamed with a faint twinkle as wisdom illuminated them from within.
So, making his decision, Lorien swiftly mobilized his power once again, however, this time, his target was all the humans within his domain.
'There are about 4 million people within my domain right now. These are all the individuals who were within my 19-kilometer radius domain before I shrank it.' Lorien noted inwardly, calculating the amount of energy he needed to spend for his plan to succeed.
'Well, it should be enough, moreover, I don't have to target all of them now.'
'Alright then, it's time to begin!'
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